Just Like Old Times (closed)

[zydrate]

"Fuck Cowboy.." Nicole said as she lowered her weapon. She was already on edge and this wasn't helping any. She had hoped she had subdued him long enough to finish the job tonight.

"Like I said before, I didn't want to get you in any deeper than you were... this is my fault and I wanted to fix things for you.." she said as she turned from him and walked away. It was time to find Draco and the Captain... it bugged her to know she trusted the Captain and that he was the one who almost got her killed.

Well, payback was a bitch.

"Stay out here, you'll be safer.."

 

[BeachBum25]

What the fuck don't you understand? You are not going in on your own. I am here and I am going with you. Stop being so damned stubborn. I am a big boy and I can take care of myself."

He stepped in behind her and followed her as she headed inside.

 

[zydrate]

"Fine! Just watch my six..."

He was right but Nicole didn't say anything as she walked toward the back entrance of the club. One thing she knew about Draco was that he under estimated Nicole.

The only reason the hit was on her was because he was scared. And he should be.

 

[BeachBum25]

"I've got it. You know that."

He followed her to the rear door. He wasn't sure exactly what she had in mind, but, he was ready for anything. He felt like he was back on a mission with her.. .just like the old days.

He looked both ways as they entered the club... making sure that there were no threats to Raven.

 

[zydrate]

There was too much going on in the club that no one really noticed Nicole and Cowboy there. She knew better than to draw attention to herself so she had changed into a black dress that stopped halfway between her knees and ass. Under her jean jacket she had a holster for her gun...a knife rested on her hip in a protective sleeve.

It all happened so fast, she had knocked one guard off the way and knew that Cowboy would take care of him as she advanced over to Draco... the captain was no where in sight so before he could issue any orders, Nicole grabbed Draco up by the collar and pushed him toward his office.

Before Nicole could even ask the first question, a shot was fired from behind them, making the entire crowd scream and scramble...

Nicole didn't even get a chance to get control of the situation when she felt the barrel of a gun at her temple and a familiar voice, "Let him go Nicole..."

She should have done as Captain Williams had asked but there was too much riding on all this, "Or what?"

 

[BeachBum25]

Carroll stayed far enough back so that nobody would think he was with Raven. Whoever she was dealing with here would have no idea who he was. He was far enough in her past that nobody would put the two of them together.

When the shot was fired, Carroll knew the approximate location, but not who fired the shot. He maintained a low profile; waiting to see what would happen next. That was when he saw the gun placed to Raven's head. He paused and looked around. He wanted to see where the back-up was for the guy that was holding Nicole at gunpoint.

He noticed their mistake. All of the backup was right behind the man holding Raven. Carroll's first shot blew the top off of the man's head. His second shot took out one of the guys backing him up.

 

[zydrate]

Nicole's only focus at the moment was Draco at the end of her gun. She didn't dare take her attention off of him even as the shots behind her sounded. Cowboy could take care of the situation...

"You won't shoot me Captain." Nicole said as she could sense him wrestle with the idea. "I call a few people to help me and guess what, you're surrounded... I'm sure you could tell."

"It wasn't my idea Mason. Things just got out of hand."

Sirens could be heard as people continued to scream as they rushed out of the club...it was probably a weird scene, her standing with a gun to a man's head as another was behind her with his gun...

Before she could continue, the club was rushed by officers and the entire scene turned into a big ol' clusterfuck....

****

It took a few months of interviews before Nicole was cleared. She pulled what strings she had left and got Carroll in the clear but that was several weeks ago and she hadn't heard from him since... it wasn't a surprise since she had spent a few days in jail when she was arrested along with Draco and the Captain.

It worked in her favor seeing as how the Captain was already under investigation with I.A...

 

[BeachBum25]

He was handcuffed and thrown against the wall. He had been smart enough to ditch the weapon as the police rushed in, but people had pointed to him as one of the people who had been shooting. The fact that he was wearing gloves was probably suspicious, but it proved nothing.

He saw Raven talking with the police. A white shirt came over and said something to him about being lucky he had important friends. Then he was uncuffed and told to leave through the back door.

He waited across the street from the club for Raven to come out, but there was no sight of here. After two hours, he decided to head home. He expected to hear from her the next day, but heard nothing. Then nothing the next day. Now it was weeks since the encounter at the club and there was no word from Raven. He assumed that he had outlived his usefulness to her.

 

[zydrate]

She was jobless.

Although she was clear of the chargers and the investigation found no wrong doing on her part, Nicole didn't want to stay with the job anymore.

Now, she felt useless. But even during that time, she thought of about Cowboy and the hell she had put him through. She had told IA she wouldn't cooperate until he was cleared of all charges... and IA needed her cooperation in order to put both the Captain and Draco away.

Well...now she found herself outside the city hospital where he had gotten his job back...it was 3AM and she waited for him by his car in the parking lot.

 

[BeachBum25]

Working in the ER had helped him to put the events with Raven behind him. He was still the best damned emergency room physician around. Nobody had the experience he did. Most of the primadonnas he worked with had been spoon fed their education. His came in battle.

His shift was supposed to end at midnight. He walked out of the hospital at 5 a.m. As he approached his car, he noticed someone standing by it. He hesitated, and then caught a glimpse of who it was. He approached the car.

"hello stranger. What's new?"

 

[zydrate]

Even though she had to wait over two hours, it gave her time to think. Security had come back several times to ask if she was OK... she knew they were only doing their job but when they asked for the third time, they were getting on her nerve.

That's when he showed up.

She smiled and shook her head, "Not much... can we go some place and talk?"

 

[BeachBum25]

He looked at her. He wasn't sure he wanted to get involved with her again. He was just getting back to normal after their last interaction.

He couldn't resist her though. There was something about Raven. It drove him crazy but he agreed to go.

"Do you want to go to a coffeeshop, or do you want to have a cup of coffee back at my place?"

 

[zydrate]

She thought about the morning crowd at a coffee shop... so she opted for the latter, "Your place is fine..."

The ride to his place was quiet. She didn't want to talk to him in the car about she what she wanted to say to him so she kept silent. Once they got to his place...a different apartment building... she followed him until they reached his place.

Nicole wasn't surprised he had moved. Hell, she would have probably done the same thing. His new place was a little bit more lavish. He deserved it. She had heard some stories about lives he had saved and although that didn't surprise her, she knew he earned it all.

 

[BeachBum25]

He parked the car and walked toward his apartment building. He held the door open for her, and the walked together over to the elevator.

Once they were in his apartment, he asked her to have a seat and he walked over and put on a pot of coffee.

"You want breakfast? I am not sure what I have, but I might be able to whip something up."

 

[zydrate]

Nicole shook her head, "No, just coffee is fine."

She looked over the new place, "Nice upgrade. I-- I'm sorry about ruining your last place. That was never my intention." While she was talking, she decided to keep going, "I'm sorry about everything. The way I treated you by not involving you when we raided the club..." Was this all difficult to say? Yeah, it was so she just kept going.

"I'm also sorry for using a taser on you. I just wanted to protect you because to be truthful, I didn't think I was going to make it out alive that night."

 

[BeachBum25]

"Nicole" Yea, he used her real name and not her code name. That was probably a clue that he was still pissed at her. "I do not need to hear you say you are sorry about anything. When we worked together, there was no saying sorry. There was just complete the mission. You didn't worry about other people getting hurt or killed. Everyone knew the risks."

He paused for a second to get his breath.

"I knew the risks when I came to take care of you. I knew it was going to be more than just treat you and get you well. I knew you would want to extract your revenge. Am I pissed that you didn't involve me? Fucking right I am. That told me you didn't trust me, and, if you didn't trust me, why did you call me in the first place?"

 

[zydrate]

"Holy shit! You seriously still don't get it, do you?!" If there was something to throw or perhaps punch, she wanted to do it so it took a lot to stay in one place, "I called you because I trust you! I didn't want you involved because I fucking care about you!!"

And there it was.

She realized she was yelling so she lowered her voice as she walked right up to him and poked him in the shoulder, "I didn't want you hurt, is that so hard to believe?! I was willing to die for the shit I was in! Why can't you understand that?!"

 

[BeachBum25]

"Nicole, if you really cared about me, you would have let me do anything I could do to help you. That is what people that care about each other do. They work together. Is it so hard for you to understand that by shutting me out, you were sending a different message? Couldn't you see that I wanted to help you because I care for you and I didn't want anything to happen to you? What good would have caring for me have done if you never came out of there alive?"

He realized his voice was elevated and quieted his tone.

"Maybe we should have done this somewhere else. I don't want to bother my new neighbors."

 

[zydrate]

He cared for her.

That statement floored her. She thought she was the only one to feel that way.

But when he mentioned his neighbors, she just sighed and nodded, "Right, I wouldn't want to ruin your reputation again." Grabbing her jacket, she headed to the door.

This was what was best. To walk away. "Don't worry about doing this else where...I'll get out of your way."

 

[BeachBum25]

"See, there you go again. Why do you have to be that way?"

He looked at her as she walked to the door. There was something that pissed him off about her. She seemed like she was always willing to give up when it came to them.

"I am not going to stop you if you want to leave. Make sure you really do though, because I never said you were in my way, and I never said anything about you ruining my reputation. There is no way you could do that, because I am so fucking good."

 

[zydrate]

"You think you're good?!" That statement got to her.

"You think so, huh? Yeah, sure, you might be good in saving lives, but who was the one out there saving your ass?! ME!" She walked up to him, dangerously close before she pushed him, "You couldn't hold your own out there even if you tried!" She pushed him again, her anger fully charged.

 

[BeachBum25]

"Right." He almost laughed at her.

"Here you go again. Start your insults Nicole. Yes. That is your defense mechanism. Come on. Tell me how bad I was. Tell me how you had to constantly save my ass."

He stood right in front of her; allowing her to push him...making no attempt to move out of her way or to avoid her pushes.

"Go ahead and leave. I guess I will hear from you the next time you get yourself shot and you have nowhere else to turn. If you are so good, how did you let them get the drop on you and get yourself shot?"

He had enough. he turned and walked toward his bedroom. "Just close the door on your way out."

 

[zydrate]

The sound of the door slamming from afar made Nicole jump.

She cursed outloud and turned to leave... so this was how it was going to end?

Fuck.

****

Once Nicole got home, she kept replaying all that Tim had said. And in the end, she knew he was right. She thought she was doing good by not getting him involved anymore than he already was.

She was slamming things around as she continued to pack her shit up. She had loud music blaring and after about an hour or so, she found herself crying like an idiot in the middle of her kitchen...on the floor no less.

God, her life was a big mess. Her career was finished. She pushed away her one friend.

 

[BeachBum25]

Carroll buried himself in his work. He took on extra shifts, and worked extra hours after his shifts. It was all an attempt to get her out of his mind, but no matter what, Nicole was always there.

He spent less time at home despite the fact that he had a new place. Going there only reminded him of the last time he saw Nicole... when he had told her to leave. He did not regret what he had done.. it was the right thing. He just wished she had handled it all differently.

 

[zydrate]

Even after all this time, with Draco behind bars, there were still lingering hits out on Nicole. She had taken on a job as a consultant for the DA, doing a little of investigative work for them..It wasn't what she had seen herself do but it paid the bills nonetheless.

She had been warned several times...either by her car being broken into or random phone calls in the middle of the night. Nicole wasn't bothered by it...just fucking annoyed.

So, she should have been more careful..but again, her ego got the best of her.

It happened one night on the way home from turning in her latest evidence to the DA before heading home for the night. It was pretty late and she had stopped for some groceries before heading home...

At the stop light, she was looking at her phone, following up on some other leads she happened to get during the day. In her head, she mentally made a note on what needed to be done the next morning... and that was all before hearing a loud crash...

Her car was rammed from behind, pushing her into the middle of the intersection as a large truck came, t-boning the driver's side.... she had woken up a few times, but just barely consciousness enough to see paramedics and then other police officers......