musesandlyrics | 5.17 True Blood Quote
5.17. "I always thought as different as we are, some how we could still be together. And now I don't know."
True Blood
Co-written with scotcopper
[Follows THIS]
As soon as Stuart's detective mind cottoned on to what they were dealing with from their latest victim, he immediately started to feel sick. The anxiety clawed in his gut and it became difficult for him to concentrate. He had no choice but to push on, though. It didn't help when one of the guy's friends was brought in for an interview and she was quick to spout how infatuated this LeFevre was with Tom and how much his life was ruined when Tom turned down his romantic advances which forced him to quit his job. The whole of her interview was how much of a bastard Tom was, and that she wouldn't be surprised if he was sexually inappropriate to her friend in the work place, but probably paid him off to keep quite. Her swan song was that if anyone had cause to kill her beloved friend, it was Thomas Hunt because Levre 'had shit' on him that could 'ruin him'.
Stuart hadn't had a chance to reveal to Gee what he had found about the victim being Tom's ex-employee, whom Tom had a fling with on his own admission. Before he could tell her how much the shit could be about to hit the fan, the friend had rocked up to the station with 'information'. Two uniforms ran the questioning and now Stuart and Gee were watching the video recording of the interview. As soon as Tom's name came up, Stuart could feel Gee's eyes on him, but his eyes remained stonily on the screen as they watched. The woman's last statement got too much, though, and Stuart stormed out of the viewing room, the door slamming behind him. He kept going until he got up onto the roof, hoping that the fresh air would at least quell his turmoil a little. It didn't. It couldn't, because he knew no matter what happened with the case now, their next move was to called Tom in for interrogation, as a possible suspect.
He grabbed hold of the metal rail, gripping it until his knuckles were white and trying to swallow back the threatening nausea, and maybe even tears. Mixed in there was probably a want to smash his fist through a wall. He couldn't be sure. All he knew was this was every copper's nightmare, having to haul in someone they loved over something as horrific as murder. Why the fuck did it have to be Tom?
Gee hadn't rushed out after Stuart straight away. She'd let her partner bolt, and then calmly rewound the tape to give him a few moments. She took a wild guess as to where he'd gone, figuring after their initial misunderstanding when they were first partnered up that he wouldn't go into the mens' room. Gee didn't know the suit personally, but she trusted Stuart's judgement, and was finding it hard to believe that Tom was capable of killing an ex... paralegal. Lover didn't quite seem appropriate. If anyone was bitter about the whole debacle, it was the friend. She was actually surprised it wasn't Tom's body they found. All that bitterness couldn't be doing the woman any good. You get involved in a player, and of course you're going to come out burned when he's not ready for commitment.
Gee pressed her lips together as she made her way up the stairs. And yet, in her own personal life, she was all too ready to about to try and do anything to get involved with a player for a couple of weeks. Time was ticking down, and she hadn't made progress. She couldn't even ask him straight out for a fling without getting an arsehole answer. But he had warned her, she did have to concede that. She just really, really wanted to fuck his brains out again.
She pushed open the door to the roof, grateful this wasn't one of those buildings where they could get locked out up here if they weren't careful. She came up behind her partner, and rubbed her hand against his back as she indulged in a moment of comfort before crossing her arms over her chest, and arching an eyebrow. "So... you had no idea that was coming? Nothing in your investigation of his professional life gave you a hint?"
"Of course it did!" Stuart snapped before he could hold himself back and then he pushed off the rail to hold his hands up in apology. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I was just hoping it wasnae relevant. I saw it in his employment history, and I put two and two together. I didnae have time to say anything before that bitch came in here spouting of fucking hearsay! He didnae do it! He didnae! I was with him that night, and he isnae capable of it! But you know what pisses me the fucking hell off? I cannae be a sound alibi, because I was so fucking tired and was practically passed out the whole night. He could have gotten up, and I wouldna have known. The fucking body was found five minutes away from his house!"
He started pacing with a hand pressed over his forehead, feeling like all the emotion had lodged up into his throat. "If they know I'm seeing him, I'll be off the case. That cannae happen. I have to work this one. I need to prove he didnae do it. If this bloke has one pal coming in with information like this, there could be others. And I know what you're thinking, and I'm nay too off my rocker with emotion to nay think straight. I just need a few minutes to try and get my head around all of this. I didnae exactly expect him to land on our list of murder suspects the day after he told me he loved me!" He lost his steam and his shoulders slumped. "He was... he told me he had a thing with one of his paralegals in the past. Said the guy wanted more than just sex, Tom didnae, so he stopped it and the guy left the job. That's why I was so hesitant in the start. I thought he'd wake up one day with me like he did the paralegal and decide relationships really werenae his thing." He squeezed his fingers into his eyes. "He isnae even gonna know the bloke is dead. We've gotta go tell him that, then in the same breath, bring him in for questioning."
Gee took the outburst in stride, and let him get it out of his system. She understood she wasn't the intended target, but she was here, while the bitch from the video wasn't. She pressed her lips together as she waited for him to go quiet enough for her to speak. "You do realise he's still going to have to tell him where he was, aren't you? He can't lie. He shouldn't lie. They'll need to know who he was with unless you genuinely want him to lie. But then you have the issue of how you're supposed to do that, when we'll be the ones questioning him. Stuart, I realise this sucks, and if you believe he honestly isn't capable, then so do I, but right now we have to follow the information, and unfortunately we have a victim's friend pointing at your boyfriend. We also might have a tiny issue about you never telling anyone you're seeing him," she added as she visibly winced, and held up her hand to hold her finger and thumb close together.
Then she blinked. "He told you he loved you?"
"Why should I have told anyone? Is there a little check in system on fucking right next to the clock-on system? Do I have to walk around with a pink hat that signals to everyone I'm bedding a gay guy? Do cops need permission to fuck a lawyer?" The words were falling out of his mouth like verbal diarrhoea. He was upset and he was frustrated. He had no idea how he was supposed to be handling this and there was a big part of him that wanted to go right into his superior officer and plead conflict of interest so he could go home with Tom and bury his head in the sand. The only thing was, if he did that, he probably would have to keep his distance from Tom. He wouldn't be allowed to talk to him or discuss anything to do with the case. There had to be a way to get this over and done with as soon as possible. Tom didn't deserve to have it hanging over his head, and something like this could fuck his career up if it dragged on.
He stopped, needing to take a few deep breaths so he didn't throw up. "We told each other. I'm going to be moving in with him."
Gee held her hands up and backed away a couple paces. "No, there isn't. But you told me, and I might have mentioned something to Devlin. If he gets wind of this, I don't know what he'll do..." She wasn't trying to make her partner mad, but he was already volatile. She just figured it was best if he knew now. "It's not about sleeping with gay men, or lawyers, or anything like that. I'm just trying to make sure we cover every base, because if we're keeping quiet about this so you stay on the case, I'm not having it crumble down around us, and then bite us on the fucking arses."
She smiled a little, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Congratulations. I'm glad you took the leap. I'm sorry about the timing."
Stuart could hardly even look her in the eye. He averted his gaze and started to pace again. "Dinnae be counting your chickens. I've seen less than this ruin relationships. It was fucking hard enough for him to get this far as it was. He's not going to want to continue this. Why the fuck would he continue this with all this shit? He's not going to risk his career for a regular lay. Once again, I get shat on from great heights when I think I've found someone worth laying my heart on the line for." He shook his head, rubbing his hand over his face again. Hearing Devlin knew just put the wind up him even more. How was this all going to work? Was he really supposed to just step aside and be a spectator while he watch some fucking incompetent bastards screw up the case. "If I'm off this, so are you. They'll hand the case over to another team, nay just let you continue with it. Fucking hell, I think he broke it off with the paralegal because he started to have feelings for him. He said as much. How is this... how did the shit all hit the fan like this?!" He held his hands up helplessly. "Things were going to good, I should have fucking known it!"
Gee frowned as she stepped forward and placed her hands on Stuart's shoulders to make him stay still. "Hey! Don't make me slap you, Evans. Stop throwing your chickens away before any of this actually happens. You're really willing to just assume he's going to chuck you away when he has already made it this far? He's told you he loves you. He wants you to live with him... Tell me right now if he's really the type to give this all away? If he's innocent, and he knows it, then he's not going to let this phase him. The question is whether you can still live with him after this. He's being accused of murder. If you can honestly stand here and tell me there isn't the slightest niggle of doubt in your mind that's wondering if he did this, then I will help you find a way to stay on this case, and we will not give up. Okay? Fuck some other team, this is our case. He's your suit. We'll clear him."
Stuart's head felt like it was information overload, and it didn't help that he was dreading going over to Tom's workplace. He hoped to all hell Tom had at least told his receptionist or PA that he was fucking Stuart because then if Stuart showed up, it wouldn't raise suspicions and they could meet with him in his office discreetly. A feeling something akin to the want to cry snuck up on him but he swallowed it back, clearing his throat. "He's the type to give all this away," he had to say flatly. "Our stiff in the morgue is not-so-living proof of that. Innocence doesnae come into it. He's a lawyer, Gee. If anyone is aware of how easily a case can be fucked up, it's him. Innocent people get taken down all the time on technicalities. He could lose everything with this. I'm just a drop in the fucking ocean of shit that could be about to come down on his head."
Gee didn't know what to say. It hurt her seeing Stuart beat himself up so easily, and she slipped her arms around him in a hug. "You're not a drop of shit, Evans. You're a great guy, and you're better than anyone in that damn ocean. He has to see it. He wanted you, not the paralegal. And I know he's our stiff, but come on... He wants to take the leap with you, no one else. Just because he gave this other guy the flick doesn't mean he'll flick you."
Stuart hugged her back, remaining silent for the moment as he tried to gather all his thoughts into something that he could rationally deal with. "The friend is so fucking convenient. She's rocked up too soon. What if someone is trying to frame him? And what if it's someone who has a grudge against him? What if we cannae find enough to prove he didnae do it?" he asked, his voice catching. They were all mostly rhetorical questions, but seemed to be what was swimming in the forefront of his mind. Tom was one of London's top lawyers. People could have grudges. People could just want to knock him down a peg or two.
Gee rubbed his back, and stayed quiet as she tried to formulate an answer, even if she realised they were rhetorical questions. The friend did seem awfully convenient, though. Especially with her undisguised hatred of Tom. She hated that all this had led back to Stuart's lover, but what could they do? They couldn't ignore the lead. They had to follow it even when they didn't like it. "Then we'll bust him out of prison, and run away to Tahiti," she offered finally, trying to lighten the mood just a little.
Stuart really wished he could manage to find humour in it but he just closed his eyes briefly, wishing the nausea would stop sloshing around in his gut. He cleared his throat again, but his voice was rough and hoarse when he spoke again. "We'll get our shit together and go see him. Cannae wait til something leaks and someone else tells him."
Gee gave a nod, and pulled back. She briefly cupped his cheek with her hand, and looked at him. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?"
Stuart had to give his head a slight shake. "Not til this is over," he said in a small voice.
"Then we better get this fucking over with," she murmured, but made no move away from him in case he needed a couple more moments of so-called fresh London air before they had to go face Thomas M Hunt as their suspect.
Words: 2631
True Blood
Co-written with scotcopper
[Follows THIS]
As soon as Stuart's detective mind cottoned on to what they were dealing with from their latest victim, he immediately started to feel sick. The anxiety clawed in his gut and it became difficult for him to concentrate. He had no choice but to push on, though. It didn't help when one of the guy's friends was brought in for an interview and she was quick to spout how infatuated this LeFevre was with Tom and how much his life was ruined when Tom turned down his romantic advances which forced him to quit his job. The whole of her interview was how much of a bastard Tom was, and that she wouldn't be surprised if he was sexually inappropriate to her friend in the work place, but probably paid him off to keep quite. Her swan song was that if anyone had cause to kill her beloved friend, it was Thomas Hunt because Levre 'had shit' on him that could 'ruin him'.
Stuart hadn't had a chance to reveal to Gee what he had found about the victim being Tom's ex-employee, whom Tom had a fling with on his own admission. Before he could tell her how much the shit could be about to hit the fan, the friend had rocked up to the station with 'information'. Two uniforms ran the questioning and now Stuart and Gee were watching the video recording of the interview. As soon as Tom's name came up, Stuart could feel Gee's eyes on him, but his eyes remained stonily on the screen as they watched. The woman's last statement got too much, though, and Stuart stormed out of the viewing room, the door slamming behind him. He kept going until he got up onto the roof, hoping that the fresh air would at least quell his turmoil a little. It didn't. It couldn't, because he knew no matter what happened with the case now, their next move was to called Tom in for interrogation, as a possible suspect.
He grabbed hold of the metal rail, gripping it until his knuckles were white and trying to swallow back the threatening nausea, and maybe even tears. Mixed in there was probably a want to smash his fist through a wall. He couldn't be sure. All he knew was this was every copper's nightmare, having to haul in someone they loved over something as horrific as murder. Why the fuck did it have to be Tom?
Gee hadn't rushed out after Stuart straight away. She'd let her partner bolt, and then calmly rewound the tape to give him a few moments. She took a wild guess as to where he'd gone, figuring after their initial misunderstanding when they were first partnered up that he wouldn't go into the mens' room. Gee didn't know the suit personally, but she trusted Stuart's judgement, and was finding it hard to believe that Tom was capable of killing an ex... paralegal. Lover didn't quite seem appropriate. If anyone was bitter about the whole debacle, it was the friend. She was actually surprised it wasn't Tom's body they found. All that bitterness couldn't be doing the woman any good. You get involved in a player, and of course you're going to come out burned when he's not ready for commitment.
Gee pressed her lips together as she made her way up the stairs. And yet, in her own personal life, she was all too ready to about to try and do anything to get involved with a player for a couple of weeks. Time was ticking down, and she hadn't made progress. She couldn't even ask him straight out for a fling without getting an arsehole answer. But he had warned her, she did have to concede that. She just really, really wanted to fuck his brains out again.
She pushed open the door to the roof, grateful this wasn't one of those buildings where they could get locked out up here if they weren't careful. She came up behind her partner, and rubbed her hand against his back as she indulged in a moment of comfort before crossing her arms over her chest, and arching an eyebrow. "So... you had no idea that was coming? Nothing in your investigation of his professional life gave you a hint?"
"Of course it did!" Stuart snapped before he could hold himself back and then he pushed off the rail to hold his hands up in apology. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I was just hoping it wasnae relevant. I saw it in his employment history, and I put two and two together. I didnae have time to say anything before that bitch came in here spouting of fucking hearsay! He didnae do it! He didnae! I was with him that night, and he isnae capable of it! But you know what pisses me the fucking hell off? I cannae be a sound alibi, because I was so fucking tired and was practically passed out the whole night. He could have gotten up, and I wouldna have known. The fucking body was found five minutes away from his house!"
He started pacing with a hand pressed over his forehead, feeling like all the emotion had lodged up into his throat. "If they know I'm seeing him, I'll be off the case. That cannae happen. I have to work this one. I need to prove he didnae do it. If this bloke has one pal coming in with information like this, there could be others. And I know what you're thinking, and I'm nay too off my rocker with emotion to nay think straight. I just need a few minutes to try and get my head around all of this. I didnae exactly expect him to land on our list of murder suspects the day after he told me he loved me!" He lost his steam and his shoulders slumped. "He was... he told me he had a thing with one of his paralegals in the past. Said the guy wanted more than just sex, Tom didnae, so he stopped it and the guy left the job. That's why I was so hesitant in the start. I thought he'd wake up one day with me like he did the paralegal and decide relationships really werenae his thing." He squeezed his fingers into his eyes. "He isnae even gonna know the bloke is dead. We've gotta go tell him that, then in the same breath, bring him in for questioning."
Gee took the outburst in stride, and let him get it out of his system. She understood she wasn't the intended target, but she was here, while the bitch from the video wasn't. She pressed her lips together as she waited for him to go quiet enough for her to speak. "You do realise he's still going to have to tell him where he was, aren't you? He can't lie. He shouldn't lie. They'll need to know who he was with unless you genuinely want him to lie. But then you have the issue of how you're supposed to do that, when we'll be the ones questioning him. Stuart, I realise this sucks, and if you believe he honestly isn't capable, then so do I, but right now we have to follow the information, and unfortunately we have a victim's friend pointing at your boyfriend. We also might have a tiny issue about you never telling anyone you're seeing him," she added as she visibly winced, and held up her hand to hold her finger and thumb close together.
Then she blinked. "He told you he loved you?"
"Why should I have told anyone? Is there a little check in system on fucking right next to the clock-on system? Do I have to walk around with a pink hat that signals to everyone I'm bedding a gay guy? Do cops need permission to fuck a lawyer?" The words were falling out of his mouth like verbal diarrhoea. He was upset and he was frustrated. He had no idea how he was supposed to be handling this and there was a big part of him that wanted to go right into his superior officer and plead conflict of interest so he could go home with Tom and bury his head in the sand. The only thing was, if he did that, he probably would have to keep his distance from Tom. He wouldn't be allowed to talk to him or discuss anything to do with the case. There had to be a way to get this over and done with as soon as possible. Tom didn't deserve to have it hanging over his head, and something like this could fuck his career up if it dragged on.
He stopped, needing to take a few deep breaths so he didn't throw up. "We told each other. I'm going to be moving in with him."
Gee held her hands up and backed away a couple paces. "No, there isn't. But you told me, and I might have mentioned something to Devlin. If he gets wind of this, I don't know what he'll do..." She wasn't trying to make her partner mad, but he was already volatile. She just figured it was best if he knew now. "It's not about sleeping with gay men, or lawyers, or anything like that. I'm just trying to make sure we cover every base, because if we're keeping quiet about this so you stay on the case, I'm not having it crumble down around us, and then bite us on the fucking arses."
She smiled a little, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Congratulations. I'm glad you took the leap. I'm sorry about the timing."
Stuart could hardly even look her in the eye. He averted his gaze and started to pace again. "Dinnae be counting your chickens. I've seen less than this ruin relationships. It was fucking hard enough for him to get this far as it was. He's not going to want to continue this. Why the fuck would he continue this with all this shit? He's not going to risk his career for a regular lay. Once again, I get shat on from great heights when I think I've found someone worth laying my heart on the line for." He shook his head, rubbing his hand over his face again. Hearing Devlin knew just put the wind up him even more. How was this all going to work? Was he really supposed to just step aside and be a spectator while he watch some fucking incompetent bastards screw up the case. "If I'm off this, so are you. They'll hand the case over to another team, nay just let you continue with it. Fucking hell, I think he broke it off with the paralegal because he started to have feelings for him. He said as much. How is this... how did the shit all hit the fan like this?!" He held his hands up helplessly. "Things were going to good, I should have fucking known it!"
Gee frowned as she stepped forward and placed her hands on Stuart's shoulders to make him stay still. "Hey! Don't make me slap you, Evans. Stop throwing your chickens away before any of this actually happens. You're really willing to just assume he's going to chuck you away when he has already made it this far? He's told you he loves you. He wants you to live with him... Tell me right now if he's really the type to give this all away? If he's innocent, and he knows it, then he's not going to let this phase him. The question is whether you can still live with him after this. He's being accused of murder. If you can honestly stand here and tell me there isn't the slightest niggle of doubt in your mind that's wondering if he did this, then I will help you find a way to stay on this case, and we will not give up. Okay? Fuck some other team, this is our case. He's your suit. We'll clear him."
Stuart's head felt like it was information overload, and it didn't help that he was dreading going over to Tom's workplace. He hoped to all hell Tom had at least told his receptionist or PA that he was fucking Stuart because then if Stuart showed up, it wouldn't raise suspicions and they could meet with him in his office discreetly. A feeling something akin to the want to cry snuck up on him but he swallowed it back, clearing his throat. "He's the type to give all this away," he had to say flatly. "Our stiff in the morgue is not-so-living proof of that. Innocence doesnae come into it. He's a lawyer, Gee. If anyone is aware of how easily a case can be fucked up, it's him. Innocent people get taken down all the time on technicalities. He could lose everything with this. I'm just a drop in the fucking ocean of shit that could be about to come down on his head."
Gee didn't know what to say. It hurt her seeing Stuart beat himself up so easily, and she slipped her arms around him in a hug. "You're not a drop of shit, Evans. You're a great guy, and you're better than anyone in that damn ocean. He has to see it. He wanted you, not the paralegal. And I know he's our stiff, but come on... He wants to take the leap with you, no one else. Just because he gave this other guy the flick doesn't mean he'll flick you."
Stuart hugged her back, remaining silent for the moment as he tried to gather all his thoughts into something that he could rationally deal with. "The friend is so fucking convenient. She's rocked up too soon. What if someone is trying to frame him? And what if it's someone who has a grudge against him? What if we cannae find enough to prove he didnae do it?" he asked, his voice catching. They were all mostly rhetorical questions, but seemed to be what was swimming in the forefront of his mind. Tom was one of London's top lawyers. People could have grudges. People could just want to knock him down a peg or two.
Gee rubbed his back, and stayed quiet as she tried to formulate an answer, even if she realised they were rhetorical questions. The friend did seem awfully convenient, though. Especially with her undisguised hatred of Tom. She hated that all this had led back to Stuart's lover, but what could they do? They couldn't ignore the lead. They had to follow it even when they didn't like it. "Then we'll bust him out of prison, and run away to Tahiti," she offered finally, trying to lighten the mood just a little.
Stuart really wished he could manage to find humour in it but he just closed his eyes briefly, wishing the nausea would stop sloshing around in his gut. He cleared his throat again, but his voice was rough and hoarse when he spoke again. "We'll get our shit together and go see him. Cannae wait til something leaks and someone else tells him."
Gee gave a nod, and pulled back. She briefly cupped his cheek with her hand, and looked at him. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?"
Stuart had to give his head a slight shake. "Not til this is over," he said in a small voice.
"Then we better get this fucking over with," she murmured, but made no move away from him in case he needed a couple more moments of so-called fresh London air before they had to go face Thomas M Hunt as their suspect.
Words: 2631