Fic: Five Times Sam Missed Not Living in 2006 Anymore, green cortina, dak
Title: Five Times Sam Missed Not Living in 2006 Anymore
Author: dak
Word Count: 828 words
Rating: green cortina
Warnings: just the teensiest bit of blood, and some mentions of abuse
A/N: A few days ago I posted a request for "Five Things..." fic prompts at my journal here. (I'm still taking requests, if anyone has anything they'd like to see/read.) This first one is for
space_oddity_75.
1.
He loved albums, he really did. Everyone knew the sound quality was better, even in 2006. Some days, though, some days like today, when we was stuck alone in CID late at night, left to fill out all the paperwork on his own, Sam really missed his iPod. He missed all the times, back when he’d first made DCI, that he’d be alone in the office and would set his second favorite toy on its docking station, put it on shuffle, and listen while his favorite songs blasted away the boredom.
It used to sit right there - his special BOSE speakers - right where Ray’s dirtied issue of Just Jugs was laying crinkled on the desktop. He’d tried listening to the radio, but even when it played a song he did like, the sound was too fuzzy to enjoy the best parts. So, he sat at his desk in the near dark, humming as much Pulp as he could remember, trying to keep the loneliness at bay.
Everyone wondered why DI Tyler often sang to himself.
2.
The bruises covered her arms and back. She smiled nervously and told him she was perfectly fine. She was very accident prone, she was. It was a silly misunderstanding that her husband had been brought in at all. It was her father who had called the police. He hadn’t understood that they’d just been having a little argument. Sure, he pushed her, but she had slapped him first. So, it was really her fault after all. She’d started the fight in the first place.
As Sam watched that sleezebag of a man slip possessively slip his arm round her waist, he could think of a dozen women’s shelters that he could tell her to call, that could get her out. Unfortunately, they were all in 2006. Disgustingly, at least half the station didn’t think there was anything wrong at all.
Everyone wondered why DI Tyler worried so much about young June.
3.
Sam really wanted to reread The Da Vinci Code. It would be the perfect book for a day like today. It was sunny, not a cloud in the sky, but it wasn’t sweltering hot. He knew this nice, little cafe on the other side of town. It served magnificent scones and indecently delicious cups of tea. What was even better, was that Sam had this beautiful day off. He needn’t step one foot into the station, argue with the Guv, berate Ray, or sigh at Chris. He had the day all to himself, and nothing would be more perfect than to pick up his favorite book and attempt to reread it in one sitting.
The only problem was that Dan Brown was only nine-years-old at present. Sam didn’t think a very early edition would be hiding somewhere in the library stacks.
Everyone wondered why DI Tyler only read procedural manuals.
4.
He missed the match. He had every intention of going to the pub, grabbing a pint, and watching United wallop Everton, like he already knew they would. The local, criminal constituency, however, were unaware of DI Tyler’s plans to relax and watch the match. They decided to rob a post office, fail to escape, and hold the employees hostage until after the final buzzer had sounded.
Normally, this wasn’t a problem for Sam. Police work had often come before important sporting events or television shows. He’d simply set the timer and record whatever he planned on watching, just in case work would arise unexpectedly. However, that had been normal for 2006. Right now, it was another two years before Beta Max, three until VHS, and God knew how long until DVRs became affordable. Once again, he’d have to settle for reading the highlights in tomorrow’s paper.
Everyone wondered why DI Tyler never watched telly.
5.
Emergency Response Services were shite. Sam remembered this time, back when he was a DC, that his Inspector had been shot. He’d stayed with the man, pressing on the wound and stemming the bleeding, until the ambulance arrived. It had only taken four minutes for the medics to get there. Once they had, they immediately took over - starting saline, checking his heart rate - and rushed DI Roberts to hospital. The man had recovered in only three days time, thanks to professional, quick-thinking, and well-trained first responders.
Sam had been holding his hands to DC Skelton’s shoulder for fifteen minutes now, and still there was no sign of the ambulance. Somewhere, Gene and Ray were pounding on the shooter, and Annie was helping to keep the crowd at bay. Sam focused on nothing but keeping his hands tight on the bleeding wound and constantly encouraging Chris to stay awake.
When the ambulance drivers did arrive, they simply loaded him onto a stretcher, threw a blanket across him, and drove too slow for Sam’s liking to hospital.
No one wondered why DI Tyler slammed his blood-coated fist into the brick wall.