The Answer is Yes (fic)
Title: The Answer is Yes
Character/Pairing: Jim Shannon, Alicia Washington
Word Count: 654
Genre: humor
Rating: PG
Warning: gratuitous vomit
Spoiler Alert: none
Summary: When the one in charge gets DnD, Jim Shannon's the one to handle it.
Author’s Note: Inspired by beer in the shower at 11 am, and http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/Dbv/
A knock on his door at this time of night could mean nothing good. To see a soldier standing there, looking very nervous, actually got him a little worried.
"Sheriff, there's a problem at Boylan's."
With a sigh, he headed out. At least he'd had a chance to finish dinner this time before people started getting rowdy. "At least give me an idea of what's going on."
"A disagreement over a game of cards. Sanders might have been playing under the table."
Sanders. A familiar name, the fun-loving sort that sometimes took things a step too far and got himself in trouble with his fellow soldiers. "Did you tell Lieutenant Washington?" Her being in charge with Taylor gone, this was her problem ultimately.
"Uh, well..."
"Oh shit." Jim broke into a run.
The scene at Boylan's was carefully controlled chaos. Sanders was running for his life while Wash was doing her best to end it.
Boylan greeted Jim at the bottom of the steps. "Do you think you could do something? The lieutenant is a little perturbed. She already broke one table. I only have so many left." He held his hands up suddenly. "I didn't serve them. I know better."
The last time Wash had gotten a little DnD had been downright terrifying.
"All right, just get ready to clear out if things go bad."
That was all it took, and Boylan was gone.
Jim shouldered his way through the crowd watching the ongoing fight. Even if Sanders was currently running, he was sporting some impressive bruises, a split lip, and a bloody nose to give evidence to the fact he'd already been at the receiving end of his CO's fist. This was exactly why Jim avoided playing cards with Wash.
"Break it up!" he shouted, trying to catch the shoulder of the soldier as he darted past.
With a squawk, ducking from a flying chair, Sanders shouted, "She's gonna kill me!"
It took a full-body tackle to stop Wash, driving her breath from her lungs as they fell to the floor. A moment of being stunned, and she started to struggle against his hold.
"Lieutenant!" he yelled, directly in her ear. "Stop!"
It took a moment for his words to sink in, but she did eventually stop her struggle. "He cheated," was all she said.
"I know, and you attacked him and busted a table and threw a chair at me. You know what that means." Jim stood and kept a very close eye on Wash. She very well knew what it meant, and seemed resigned to it. "Someone get Sanders to the infirmary; his nose looks broken. Wash, let's take a walk."
***
Sitting in the brig, Wash looked more miserable because of her hangover than anything else.
Taylor grinned. "How does the other guy look?"
Jim shook his head and sighed. "Don't think he'll be cheating at cards any time soon. But this is serious. We can't have the second-in-command getting drunk and disorderly every other weekend."
"Every other weekend?"
"Fine, every fourth Saturday. It erodes the confidence of the civilians."
"All right, settle down. I'll handle it." The smile disappeared from Taylor's face to be replaced by a disapproving frown. Only then did they enter the brig. "Wash."
She groaned at him, holding her head in her hands.
"What have I told you?"
Unceremoniously, she threw up, almost splattering Jim's boots. After wiping her mouth on the edge of her shirt, she fixed her bleary gaze on the two of them. "Violence isn't the answer. Sir."
"No, it is not."
That seemed rather simplistic to Jim, but Wash looked chastised by it, so maybe--
"Violence is the question, lieutenant."
Wash smiled. "And the answer is yes." And then she threw up again.
Jim rolled his eyes. The two of them would never change.