[color=lightgray][center][right]
[sub]Timestamp: Tuesday Evening[/sub]
[sub]FT: [color=567157]Sylvester James[/color] & [color=9f372b]Victoria James[/color]
As well as: [color=50c878]Colin Brady[/color] [@metanoia][/sub][/right]
[b][color=#567157]_[/color][color=#577056]_[/color][color=#586F55]_[/color][color=#596E55]_[/color][color=#5A6D54]_[/color][color=#5B6C53]_[/color][color=#5C6B53]_[/color][color=#5D6B52]_[/color][color=#5E6A51]_[/color][color=#5F6951]_[/color][color=#606850]_[/color][color=#61674F]_[/color][color=#62664F]_[/color][color=#63654E]_[/color][color=#65654D]_[/color][color=#66644D]_[/color][color=#67634C]_[/color][color=#68624C]_[/color][color=#69614B]_[/color][color=#6A604A]_[/color][color=#6B5F4A]_[/color][color=#6C5F49]_[/color][color=#6D5E48]_[/color][color=#6E5D48]_[/color][color=#6F5C47]_[/color][color=#705B46]_[/color][color=#715A46]_[/color][color=#725945]_[/color][color=#745944]_[/color][color=#755844]_[/color][color=#765743]_[/color][color=#775642]_[/color][color=#785542]_[/color][color=#795441]_[/color][color=#7A5341]_[/color][color=#7B5340]_[/color][color=#7C523F]_[/color][color=#7D513F]_[/color][color=#7E503E]_[/color][color=#7F4F3D]_[/color][color=#804E3D]_[/color][color=#824E3C]_[/color][color=#834D3B]_[/color][color=#844C3B]_[/color][color=#854B3A]_[/color][color=#864A39]_[/color][color=#874939]_[/color][color=#884838]_[/color][color=#894837]_[/color][color=#8A4737]_[/color][color=#8B4636]_[/color][color=#8C4536]_[/color][color=#8D4435]_[/color][color=#8E4334]_[/color][color=#8F4234]_[/color][color=#914233]_[/color][color=#924132]_[/color][color=#934032]_[/color][color=#943F31]_[/color][color=#953E30]_[/color][color=#963D30]_[/color][color=#973C2F]_[/color][color=#983C2E]_[/color][color=#993B2E]_[/color][color=#9A3A2D]_[/color][color=#9B392C]_[/color][color=#9C382C]_[/color][color=#9D372B]_[/color][/b]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/9sAGhCk.png[/img]
[b][color=#567157]_[/color][color=#577056]_[/color][color=#586F55]_[/color][color=#596E55]_[/color][color=#5A6D54]_[/color][color=#5B6C53]_[/color][color=#5C6B53]_[/color][color=#5D6B52]_[/color][color=#5E6A51]_[/color][color=#5F6951]_[/color][color=#606850]_[/color][color=#61674F]_[/color][color=#62664F]_[/color][color=#63654E]_[/color][color=#65654D]_[/color][color=#66644D]_[/color][color=#67634C]_[/color][color=#68624C]_[/color][color=#69614B]_[/color][color=#6A604A]_[/color][color=#6B5F4A]_[/color][color=#6C5F49]_[/color][color=#6D5E48]_[/color][color=#6E5D48]_[/color][color=#6F5C47]_[/color][color=#705B46]_[/color][color=#715A46]_[/color][color=#725945]_[/color][color=#745944]_[/color][color=#755844]_[/color][color=#765743]_[/color][color=#775642]_[/color][color=#785542]_[/color][color=#795441]_[/color][color=#7A5341]_[/color][color=#7B5340]_[/color][color=#7C523F]_[/color][color=#7D513F]_[/color][color=#7E503E]_[/color][color=#7F4F3D]_[/color][color=#804E3D]_[/color][color=#824E3C]_[/color][color=#834D3B]_[/color][color=#844C3B]_[/color][color=#854B3A]_[/color][color=#864A39]_[/color][color=#874939]_[/color][color=#884838]_[/color][color=#894837]_[/color][color=#8A4737]_[/color][color=#8B4636]_[/color][color=#8C4536]_[/color][color=#8D4435]_[/color][color=#8E4334]_[/color][color=#8F4234]_[/color][color=#914233]_[/color][color=#924132]_[/color][color=#934032]_[/color][color=#943F31]_[/color][color=#953E30]_[/color][color=#963D30]_[/color][color=#973C2F]_[/color][color=#983C2E]_[/color][color=#993B2E]_[/color][color=#9A3A2D]_[/color][color=#9B392C]_[/color][color=#9C382C]_[/color][color=#9D372B]_[/color][/b][/center]
[indent][indent][color=9f372b]“You let her do what?!”[/color] Victoria James was heaving, her hands holding herself up as she stood hovering over her desk at her little thrift store. She didn’t know if she was hearing correctly but her husband, [i]the apple of her eye[/i], and [i]love of her life[/i], permitted their living daughter to stay at a place that they knew nothing about not for just one night but for two nights. This night specifically, her friends were coming back and she was [i]not[/i]. [color=9f372b]“Are you fucking stupid, Sylvester?”[/color] What made him think this was a good idea? In what world would this make any sense when their other daughter was murdered when she strayed too far from the nest, at the Boston Convention Center. 

[color=567157]“Please, Vicky, breathe and let me explain,”[/color] Sly cautiously took a step forward, glad that all her employees had left already for the day and he was just making sure she ate something. Still in his uniform, with exhaustion written all over him, the strong, muscular man known on the streets as Rocky approached a woman growing more and more unhinged, the more these letters stirred something in this town. Dear David was no exception. [color=567157]“Baby, Penelope is improving. There’s more color in her face. I can see her eating. She’s not wearing a mask anymore. She’s—”[/color]

Her nails dug into her wooden desk, where there were already numerous scratch marks from her and her fluctuating mental health. Her episodes. She grabbed a glass mug off her desk and flung it to the man who was midway in the room, encroaching her personal bubble. The officer ducked and let the mug hit against the door, shattering, shards flying every which way. [color=9f372b]“Do you think I give a fuck about that? How does any of that matter when [i]someone[/i] wants her dead?!” [/color]

[color=567157]“No one wants her dead. Victoria, please, sit down,”[/color] Sly held his hands up, beckoning his wife to halt and not let her paranoia overtake her. A lot of times it felt like a losing battle especially since he couldn’t force her to take her meds. 

[color=9f372b]“Bullshit, bullshit, BULLSHIT!”[/color] The unstable woman slid her arms on her desk, forcing everything on the floor. [color=9f372b]“Someone MURDERED our daughter and you’re letting our other one stay with STRANGERS? I don’t give a shit if they’re connected to Charlie and she’s trying to heal or whatever the fuck. That doesn’t change that this hellish town seems to be crying about a boy that drank too much and drowned because he was fucking dumb and NO ONE is talking about Maxine.”[/color]

There it was. 

The cause. 

Closing his eyes, Sly tried to center himself and pace his breathing as he listened to his wife cause wreckage in her office. He let the wave of pain wash over him and through him, waiting for this to pass. He knew this would pass. It always did. At least that was what he told himself everytime he had to calm her down. 

[color=9f372b]“My BABY didn’t commit SUICIDE! And you’re still working for the assholes who blamed you for her decision to off herself. Someone fucked with the reports, you know someone did and yet you’re still working for those bastards! Protecting people who would sob over a privileged white boy’s ass instead of a girl who worked her ass off for this town. THIS IS ALL SO FUCKING STUPID!”[/color] By the time she was holding a lamp, Sly was in front of her. She swung it at him and quickly, he forcibly grabbed it from her and pinned his wife against the wall. 

Taking the lamp out of her hand, he put it down, never releasing her or giving her much wiggle room,  before wrapping his arms around her, letting her spike of anger turn into guilt, remorse, and uncontainable sadness. He made sure to hold her in a way that she couldn’t move much, knowing if given the chance she would try to reach for his gun. [color=567157]“You don’t think I’ve been trying? I know it’s been years but if we bring that shit in the streets it’s going to escalate. We have enough shit happening already. This burden, it’s my burden to carry and I’m going to fix it. I don’t know how, but I’m going to figure it out. I just need you to please, for Christ’s sake, take your meds.” [/color]

Her face soaked, his uniform wet from her tears, and her soul drowning, Vicky glanced up at him but didn’t say anything. Her eyes were distant as she looked at the man she married. A decision she made a long time ago to protect herself and there were times, she wondered, what if she didn’t choose him. What if she ran away. Would she be alive? Happy? Or would she be drugged up and dead somewhere? 

[color=567157]“We need to trust that Penelope can take care of herself. She doesn’t deserve to be afraid to live life. I didn’t raise a little girl afraid to walk out of the fence. No, I raised a fighter, you raised a clever smartass. Not an idiot who will let someone take advantage of her. She has the best of the both of us, she’s going to be okay. You are going to be okay. And these letters,”[/color] Sly scanned her demeanor and expression, her body growing limp in his arms. He helped her to her seat and backed away. [color=567157]“I’m on it. Do you think I like that someone has Charlie’s journal? Fuck no, Victoria. And if that means I have to work double shifts to get to the bottom of this, I will.” [/color]

Turning her chair to her desk, she grabbed the one thing that didn’t fall off from her rage. A picture of her and her family. Her crazed eyes weakened as she got lost in Max’s smile. [color=9f372b]“Charlie dying was kind of cathartic don’t you think?”[/color] 

[color=567157]“What…?”[/color] Sly was taken aback by the words coming out of his wife’s mouth. 

[color=9f372b]“He broke my Penelope’s heart and was killed by you. What goes around, comes around,”[/color] Vicky chuckled to herself, gliding the back of her pointer finger on Max’s face. [color=9f372b]“Not just for Charlie, I mean, but for you too.”[/color] She knew that day haunted her husband’s mind, just like the happy person he used to be, especially the moment he shot someone that was like a son to him. She knew he deserved it. To live with that guilt. That pain. The memories. “It’s almost as if it was fated.”

[color=9f372b]“You did teach Penelope how to use a gun, and she taught him. Funny how that works.”[/color] She gazed up at him, with the eyes of a serpent girl who no longer saw the light. A girl who was never given a chance to live a life she wanted, always thinking of ways to protect herself and survive. A girl stuck in the past, unable to keep her head above water, pulling a good man down with her. She was drowning and she wanted him to drown too.  

Ever since Rusty died, he lost his touch and she thought she could build him up, but he let this town assimilate him to the environment, following the way of the world like clockwork, the American dream, losing his strength along the way. [color=9f372b]“Maxine died because of you. Ronan died because of you. James and Charlie because of you. You’re no protector, Sylvester. If you think that, you’re just like your brothers who believed they were defending the Constitution and our country from all the big bads. [i]Please[/i]. Maybe it’s time to take matters into my own hands.”  [/color]

It was an understatement how badly Vicky had wounded the man that tried to stand everyday to support her, his daughter and this town. She knew what he was doing but as much as he wanted to sit and feel this stab wound, he couldn’t. He needed to take care of her. [color=567157]“Let me take you home. I’ll get this cleaned up. Please, baby.” [/color]

Putting the photo down, Vicky opened one of her desk’s drawers and put a couple of pills in her mouth, swallowing it without water. [color=9f372b]“I’m medicated now. Yes I ate dinner. Specifically chicken parm from Palermo. You can go now.” [/color]

[color=567157]“I don’t think I should leave you…”[/color] Sly hesitated, worried she was going to do something else that needed his intervention. 

[color=9f372b]“You will leave me be or I’ll call your friends saying my husband hurt me. You know better than anyone that I’m not afraid to bleed and we know they’ll believe me over you. People always do. We’ll talk later, when I’m ready. Go now.”[/color] Shooing her husband away once more, Vicky returned to the picture, her dark gaze never leaving Max’s hopeful, youthful eyes and bright smile. 

She missed her baby. 
[center][h3][b]~[/b][/h3]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/3EPlagj.gif[/img]
[h3][b]~[/b][/h3][/center]
As it neared the end of Colin Brady’s shift, having wrapped the last bit of paperwork for the day, he was driving down Main Street. Earlier he dropped off what he picked up from Beau’s at the house. His wife and kids weren’t home, so he left a note for them. He had texted Marlie just a few minutes before he left the station, saying he was on his way home. He made sure to put an emphasis that he wanted to talk to her about something. 

The last couple times they’ve attempted to talk, it went nowhere and if it did go somewhere, it wasn’t anything of substance. Or just became another argument to add to the list. Today would be different. Colin would be different. Antoine’s advice helped him see clearly and though he was exhausted from work, he wasn’t going to use it as an excuse again. Marlie deserved better and it was about time he was showing that.

Colin was pulling up on Well Loved Wonders. He saw Sly sitting on a bench just a few yards left of the shop. Initially, he wasn’t going to stop because he really wanted to hurry home. Maybe beat Marlie home so he could surprise her, but as he slowed down to just greet Sly, Colin’s perceptive eye caught onto something almost immediately and that prompted him to park. Turning his truck off, the dark-haired detective joined Sly on the bench. [color=50c878]”Been a long day, Sly. Chief has given me enough paperwork to seriously consider an early retirement. My pension will be crap, but just look at these hands--”[/color] Colin flashed his calloused hands and the little scrapes on them. [color=50c878]“I’m gonna need Marlie’s good lotion to save this tragedy.”[/color]

Sly hadn’t expected company but he wasn’t going to refuse it either. Pushing himself off from leaning on his knees, he straightened himself and tried his best to hide the fact that his right hand knuckles were bleeding from punching a dent into the postal mailbox. Smiling at the remark of his wife’s lotion, Sly mused, [color=567157]“Does she have the kind that relieves stress? Because boy, I could use some.”[/color] 

Tapping his finger on his leg, the bruised knuckle hand, making eye contact with his fellow comrade, Officer James continued, [color=567157]“I’m about to head back and do my own paperwork. I’ll probably be there all night. With Clay out, I’m a bit behind. It is what it is though. What’cha goin’ to do?”[/color] 

[color=50c878]“We can send the stacks of paper to his room at Sinclair Health while we go home and relax?”[/color] It was a jest but Colin had a stone-faced expression. After a half of a moment of silence, he laughed. It lingered between the two men for a few more seconds. Colin was facing forward but turned his head partially to look at Sly. [color=50c878]“You’ll be good, Sly. You’re strong, but if you need anyone to help lighten the load, hope you know we have your six. Always.”[/color] Subtlety was never Colin’s forte. Sly had to know what he meant without saying it. Being brothers in blue, there was this unwritten rule that Colin always believed in: even if life doesn’t, your brothers always got your 6. Colin believed that ever since he first became a cop back in Phoenix and continued to believe in that very philosophy when he joined Eden’s police force. 

Years it’s been since Sly had people he considered brothers. Once Rusty passed away and both Rooster and Reaper went through their own heartbreaks, while battling their personal demons along the way, they fell off. They all fell off. Rooster became exactly what he hated the most. Reaper vanished and a stranger came back to take his place. Barely recognizable. Not the man Sly grew up with. And Rocky, he never changed. He stood at his post and took the hits as they came but he never left. He never changed. He became a fixture in this town, where something was always happening to force change. Force men to adapt or get left behind. 

Well, that wasn’t completely true seeing how he did change a bad habit of his. Drinking was a bad habit of his. Now he traded one problem with another, obsessively working around the clock to make a difference. Problem is everyone in this town was finding a fixer and a healer in someone, especially with the men in blue. Not once did they look inward and think, this person deserves to be seen at face value. People weren’t fixer uppers like cars or a house. You take men as is. Broken, damaged, and living by a code so they don’t give into the part of them that was absolutely fed up with everything. The part of them they weren’t proud about.

Sly knew, in time, he could meet his breaking point. He carried a lot of weight on his shoulders and secrets from the dead that were tearing away at his heart, making him question what the hell was the point of all this and why did he bother. Sly knew, in time, a hit would come for him so hard, he won’t be able to pick himself up. Not like how he always could. He was a punching bag absorbing pain, grief and trauma and still finding the energy to get out of bed every morning. Sly knew, in time, he would be the one that needed to be lifted up, led to a calming glade, to rest and take in the fresh air, told finally, by someone, it was okay to rest. It was okay to breathe. It was okay to drop the armor and not be strong. It was okay to not be okay.

That time was not right now. 

[color=567157]“Nah, I won’t relax at home,”[/color] Sly sighed out of his nose before turning to his coworker and chuckling, [color=567157]“Haven’t you heard I have a whole little family living there and it isn’t my own.”[/color] There was no malice in his tone. Actually it was quite the opposite. To have his home filled with laughter and smiles or just be lively again definitely helped him get through his days. It was his offer anyway, since there was no way he would let Mordechai live in small apartments with his lady friend and children. Plus, by doing that, he felt an extra push to finally start fixing up his other place and maybe officially move to the other side of the train tracks. Sage would love to hear her family’s home being brought back to life and no longer a ghost story. He just needed time to do so. His job left little room for leisure time. [color=567157]“Thanks, though, for checking up. If I’m being honest, Colin, I wouldn’t even know where to start. I’ve never been good at talking about myself unless it’s a story from my Rocky days trying to get kids to see beyond that life. Even now, I’m here with you, someone I’ve worked with for years, and I’m searching for words to say.”[/color] 

[color=50c878]“You know, technically, you’re saying words to me right now.”[/color] Colin let out a chuckle that came deep the depths of his gut, something Colin was known for. When he wasn’t burying himself in paperwork and actually allowed himself to live a bit, Colin was a lighthearted individual. [color=50c878]“But I know what you mean. You don’t need to say anything, Sly if you aren’t feeling up to it.”[/color] There were days where talking and opening up felt counterproductive and Colin could understand that mindset. Having been there himself too many times, Colin understood it more than anyone. And there were days where he’d feel tempted to hit the bottle just once to silence the demons in his head and those were the days when he really didn’t want to talk.

A day like today. A day when he went to a place that he knew he’d get unsolicited advice and he was grateful for Antoine in that sense.

[color=50c878]“You hungry, Sly? Because I’m starving.”[/color] With a completely change of topic, Colin knew what needed to happen. Sly needed to get away from that mindset. If there was one thing Colin could take away from his father and the rarity he had good advice, it was when a friend of yours was down and out, treat them to some food. Food always solved most of life’s problems. [color=50c878]“Been craving some insanely cheap and delicious tacos. Westbrook’s got the best in town. Let me treat you to some. And if you feel like talking, you can thank me for treating you to some bitchin tacos.”[/color]

Sly smiled at that. He realized over the course of years, yes he considered his colleagues family but not in the same sense he considered those he grew up with as [i]family[/i]. He separated his worlds, not wanting them to collide and cause a big mess for him to clean up. When he went to work parties and the like, he gave his regards and had a good time, cracking jokes and giving advice, but not once did he try to build bridges with the other officers, detectives and civilian staff members. Work and personal life were a rare combination for him. Never mixed to avoid disaster. Maybe it was time to change that mindset and take Colin’s offer at face value. His colleague wanted to see if he was okay and he cared more about his coworkers than Sly expected. Giving the other man a chance, Officer James shrugged and stood up,  [color=567157]“I could eat.”[/color] 

Taking out his keys, he unlocked his vehicle which was right behind the bench they were sitting at.  [color=567157]“Your family okay with this? I don’t have dinner plans, but do know if you got somewhere to be, you got somewhere to be. I can handle dinner alone. I’m a big boy.”[/color] Sly humored, knowing more often than not he ate alone at the office. He wasn’t one to impose and family was far more important than some sad cop going through marital issues. 

[color=50c878]“The kids are practically adults now. Marco texted me about an hour ago, saying he’ll be at swerve until closing. Said something about needing to decompress because Lollipop did it again. What [i]it[/i] is, I don’t know, but Marco has always been my little mystery. Emil is, in his own words, ‘kicking it with my bro’. And Marcy, she’s probably somewhere being her own person.”[/color] Colin couldn’t shut up about his kids. He was so proud of them all. Mostly Marco because just a month ago, he wasn’t sure Marco would break out of the shell Decker forced him into. God helped him find his way. “As for my strong, lovely wife, she doesn’t get off close to seven, so you’re stuck with me for the next hour or so.” 

He reached into his pocket, his keys in hand and twirled it between his fingers. [color=50c878]“You know the street, right? Basically where all the food trucks linger. See ya there, Sly!” [/color] 

[color=567157]“I’d say race you there but we’re above that life,”[/color] Sly bid his brother in arms adieu and went in his car. He sat there watching the other man walk to his truck and drive off. Taking a couple moments to breathe in and out, he prepared himself to try to talk. Or just eat. 

He was fucking hungry.  

 [/indent][/indent][/color]