Fic: Old Harry's Game - part 6
Title: Old Harry’s Game, Chapter
Author: Kirsteena
Fandom: Life on Mars
Spoilers: Set after 2.02, spoilers for 2.07 and 2.08
Rating: Green Cortina.
Pairings: None
Word Count: 2159
Summary: Will the team find Glen safe?
a/n: Here endeth the lesson! part 1 here, part 2 here , part 3 here, part 4 here, part 5 here . Thanks to marsorbiter for the bunnies, and emeriin for her help with ideas through this, and her beta reading.
DISCLAIMER: Life on Mars is copyright Kudos and the BBC. All Rights Reserved. No copyright infringement is intended and no money is being made.
Harry screeched to a halt about half a street away, and ran the rest of the distance. He couldn’t let Fletcher die, not now. He couldn’t have that on his conscience. There was a car there, with Alfie and his usual two thugs standing next to him. He assumed Fletcher was in the boot of the car.
“Alfie, let him go.” Harry panted out.
“Are you prepared to take all the consequences, and let us get out of here?”
Harry nodded, what else could he do? “Just let him go!”
“What has gotten you so squeamish Harry? You were going at this hell for leather not long ago.”
“Does it matter? Just, let the man go. I’m prepared to take the fall for this.”
“Boss, who is that?” One of Alfie’s henchmen interrupted, pointing at a figure half crouched in the shadows - watching every move.
Alfie swung round at Harry. “Do you know him?”
“H...he has been following me - I could have sworn I shook him off, but...”
Alfie pulled out his gun, and fired. Harry watched in horror as the innocent police offer - the poor bugger who had done nothing more than accept the duty of following him - fell. He knew he was dead the second the shot was fired.
“Why?” Harry heard himself screaming, too shocked to do anything else. “Why did you have to kill him?”
“He was getting too close. I would have thought that was obvious!”
“So what if he found Fletcher? You didn’t have to kill him!”
“I refuse to go to prison for anyone - especially a bent ex-copper, Mr. Woolf. Dump Fletcher somewhere, Jonas. Time we cut our losses here.”
“What about me?”
“We will be out of the country before your protégé catches up with us. We will drop you off somewhere where you can’t cause problems.”
After Harry had been dropped off in Rochdale, the first thing he did was ring the station, telling them where to find the body of Harrow. Next was a taxi back to Manchester. He didn’t have much time to do what he needed to before they came for him.
Gene was leading the door to door enquiries himself, when suddenly his radio crackled into life.
“Alpha One, come in Alpha one.” Phyllis’ voice was clear.
“What’s up Phyllis?”
“Body found in the textile district, Guv.”
“Fletcher?” Gene snapped as Sam spun to stare at Gene.
“DC Harrow.”
“Shit.”
Mayhem had broken loose in CID. Gene had been called upstairs, his superiors demanding to know why a detective had wound up dead, and why they were no further forward in finding Fletcher. Annie looked scared. A week in CID, and she was involved in the middle of this mess. The rest of the officers were figuring out where they had been, and where was still to be checked. Sam’s phone suddenly rang. He stared at it for a few seconds, scared of what mysterious voice had to say to him today. He inhaled, then picked it up. “Tyler.” There was coughing at the end of the line. Not your usual behaviour for these conversations, he thought. “Hello?”
“Sam? Don’t talk, just listen.” It was the voice of Glen Fletcher on the other end of the line.
“Gl... Where the bloody hell are you?” Sam turned his back on everyone in the room and pulled the receiver close. “Are you ok?” he whispered.
“We need to talk. Now. Alone.”
“What?”
“Trust me?”
“Yeah.”
Sam pulled up in the unmarked car, and scanned the area. No-one was there. Where was he? Suddenly out of the shadows, Glen appeared. Sam ran out of the car, grabbing Glen before he toppled to the ground. “Easy there.” Sam led him back to the car. “You need a hospital” was the only thing he could think of to say.
“In a few. I wanted to talk to you first.”
“Why me?”
“Because you are in more danger than you know. They are scared you have lost yourself Sam.”
“Lost myself?”
“Look, I don’t know much. Really. But I do know that you ended up in A Division for a reason.”
“I asked for the transfer there Glen. I ended up there off my own bat.”
“Maybe, but doesn’t stop you being there for a reason.”
“Wait - is this why you were kidnapped?”
Glen nodded. “Kind of. Mr. Woolf wanted to find a way of getting to you. Why you left Hyde was the best route he had, especially as I had mentioned about it that time.”
“Shit, we knew he was involved in this but...” The news shocked Sam, even though he knew it shouldn’t.
“He wants to take you down personally, but he wants to do it in front of Hunt.”
“Did you give him anything? Shit Glen, what do you know?”
Glen looked at Sam, wondering how much to say. Then he sadly shook his head. “No, I can’t. You are already in danger. If you go digging around, they are going to get angry...”
Sam closed his eyes, breathed slowly, trying to stop his heart from racing.
“Was Harry involved in Harrow’s death?”
“Paul Harrow? He’s dead? Oh shit - that shot...”
“Yeah, they found him dumped in the textile district.”
“He was close to finding me - so they shot him. Oh god... Sam, you really have to take care, because I don’t want another body on my conscience.”
“Glen, you can’t just do this to me!”
“Get me to a hospital Sam.” Defeated, Sam strapped Fletcher into the car, and drove off.
Gene slammed the car into another handbrake turn to enter the street where Harry’s flat was. As soon as Sam had dropped Glen off at the hospital, he then dashed back to CID to pick up Gene. Some deep part of him admitted he couldn’t do this without Gene, and that he needed him to be there, so see exactly what had happened, to help them both to make sense of it. The expression on Hunt’s face when Sam explained things had gone from anger, through betrayal, hitting fear on the way and settled somewhere around resigned. He grabbed his coat, nodded at Sam to follow him, then the pair of them raced out of CID.
“Harry, open the door, we know you are in there” Gene pounded on the door. “Open the bloody door Harry!” When there was no response, Gene took four paces back, and threw himself against the door - Sam had an odd flashback to the amount of times that his own door had been abused in exactly this way. It splintered under Gene’s weight, and he stumbled forward into the room. Sam immediately knew something was wrong - it smelt wrong - smelt like…
…singed flesh with a hint of gunpowder. As Sam slowly walked into the room he could take in the final act of Harry Woolf. Harry had taken his own life sitting in the shabby old chair Gene had given him from his own house, and was slumped over one arm of it, eyes staring out at the room. The gun he had used had fallen to the floor. Gene stood in front of Harry, his face filled with horror as he realised what his mentor had done.
“Guv?” Sam stopped his slow walk next to Gene, and put one hand on his shoulder. Gene turned to look at Sam, his green eyes moist with tears which both he and Sam knew would never fall in front of anyone. “Gene?”
“He crossed the line.” It was a simple statement, Gene’s voice full of suppressed emotion.
Sam sighed. “Yes, he did. His actions killed one police officer. They nearly lead to the death of another. He crossed the line.”
Gene crouched down on his heels, ran his hand over his mouth, and looked into the face of the dead man before them. “This…” He couldn’t carry on. He stood up, reached over and closed the eyes that were staring at him. “Oh Harry. Why?” he muttered. Shaking himself, he pulled out his radio. “Alpha One to …” his voice cracked. Clearing his throat, he tried again. “Alpha one to base.”
“Come in, Alpha One” Phyllis responded.
“Phyllis, I need someone to come pick up a body at 82b Coronation Road, take to the morgue. Get Ray and Chris to come here and secure the scene.”
“Ain’t that…”
“Yes, Phyllis, it is.” Something in Gene’s voice must have penetrated through to Phyllis.
“Understood Guv. Are you and Tyler ok?”
Gene looked at Sam. “We’ll be fine.”
“Base out.”
“Are you sure you’ll be ok Guv?”
“One copper died because of Harry and his dealings, a second very nearly did. My job is what it has always been, to protect MY city. To make it safe for my wife, my mother, and all those around me to walk about.” Gene looked at Sam sadly. “Thank you” he murmured.
Sam smiled gently at Gene. “Let’s get out of here.”
Three days later, all was quiet in CID again. Harry’s involvement had been covered up by the top brass - and for once, Sam agreed with the decision. They blamed everything on Grayson. They had caught Alfie and his two henchmen at London Airport, heading on the first flight out to to the Costa del Sol. No-one took kindly to men who killed policemen. They had a rough transfer back up to Manchester to come. No-one was laying money on whether it would get as far as a trial.
Gene had told Harry’s family that he had committed suicide because of the cancer - he hadn’t wanted to suffer. Sam had little doubt that this was in fact true. Harry had been too proud. He wouldn’t have waited till the end. After all the people it seemed quieter, seemed more - normal. He smiled to himself. 1973 was normal? When did that happen?
Chris was bouncing a football about, Annie was doing paperwork and Ray was sleeping, once again, when suddenly the phone rang. Sam knew who it would be, and slowly walked over to it, and picked it up. “Tyler.”
“Sam.” No surprises there. “I just wanted to tell you well done. You were strong, and everything worked out well.”
“Two men dead is ‘worked out well’?”
“There are always casualties in the fight, Sam. At least it wasn’t you. Remember Sam. Job’s almost done.” The line went dead, just as Gene walked back into CID. He nodded at Sam as he went into his office. Sam followed.
“Fletcher will be off work for a couple of weeks to recover, but will be fine” Gene said, pouring two whiskys out, then handing one to Sam.
“Glad to hear it Guv” replied Sam, taking the proffered drink.
“How are things out there?” Gene asked. Since he had found Harry dead he had spent most of his time alone in his office, instead of outside.
“We are doing fine” Sam smiled at him. “How are you doing?” He knew he was on dangerous ground - men like Gene did not talk about their feelings.
After a pause, in which Gene downed his drink, he replied “I’m fine Sam. I bounce back quickly.”
Sam nodded, and quietly left the room. Gene sat at his desk, lit a cigarette, and reached for his newspaper. An envelope dropped to the desk, addressed to him, care of the police station. Type- written. Frowning slightly, he ripped it open. Two sheets of paper were there. As he unfolded them to read, his heart was hammering.
Gene
By the time you read this, I will be dead - terribly clichéd, but the truth. I don’t have much time for this, but I owe you an explanation.
I don’t blame you for having me followed - I would have done the same in your position. I never even knew the name of that detective. I saw Alfie pull the trigger, and I knew then that I had gone too far. Even Dickie Fingers wasn’t as bad as this. But, believe it or not, I was doing it for you. Tyler is your wonder boy, but there is something about him I didn’t trust. And I was right. He has powerful people protecting him, Gene. I got bitten when I got too close. One day, he will betray you. I have never been so certain about anything in my life. He, and his Hyde connections, are rotten to the core. Protect yourself.
Find enclosed my will. I have left what little I have to you - do as you see fit.
Be safe Gene, and don’t remember me like this.
Harry
Gene looked through the blinds of his office at his team, joking with each other at the end of the day. Will you betray me, Sam? He went to crumple up the letter, but changed his mind, carefully uncreased it, and placed it in his drawer. Picking up his coat, he left his office.
“Beer o’clock, gentlemen. And lady. My round.”
Author: Kirsteena
Fandom: Life on Mars
Spoilers: Set after 2.02, spoilers for 2.07 and 2.08
Rating: Green Cortina.
Pairings: None
Word Count: 2159
Summary: Will the team find Glen safe?
a/n: Here endeth the lesson! part 1 here, part 2 here , part 3 here, part 4 here, part 5 here . Thanks to marsorbiter for the bunnies, and emeriin for her help with ideas through this, and her beta reading.
DISCLAIMER: Life on Mars is copyright Kudos and the BBC. All Rights Reserved. No copyright infringement is intended and no money is being made.
Harry screeched to a halt about half a street away, and ran the rest of the distance. He couldn’t let Fletcher die, not now. He couldn’t have that on his conscience. There was a car there, with Alfie and his usual two thugs standing next to him. He assumed Fletcher was in the boot of the car.
“Alfie, let him go.” Harry panted out.
“Are you prepared to take all the consequences, and let us get out of here?”
Harry nodded, what else could he do? “Just let him go!”
“What has gotten you so squeamish Harry? You were going at this hell for leather not long ago.”
“Does it matter? Just, let the man go. I’m prepared to take the fall for this.”
“Boss, who is that?” One of Alfie’s henchmen interrupted, pointing at a figure half crouched in the shadows - watching every move.
Alfie swung round at Harry. “Do you know him?”
“H...he has been following me - I could have sworn I shook him off, but...”
Alfie pulled out his gun, and fired. Harry watched in horror as the innocent police offer - the poor bugger who had done nothing more than accept the duty of following him - fell. He knew he was dead the second the shot was fired.
“Why?” Harry heard himself screaming, too shocked to do anything else. “Why did you have to kill him?”
“He was getting too close. I would have thought that was obvious!”
“So what if he found Fletcher? You didn’t have to kill him!”
“I refuse to go to prison for anyone - especially a bent ex-copper, Mr. Woolf. Dump Fletcher somewhere, Jonas. Time we cut our losses here.”
“What about me?”
“We will be out of the country before your protégé catches up with us. We will drop you off somewhere where you can’t cause problems.”
After Harry had been dropped off in Rochdale, the first thing he did was ring the station, telling them where to find the body of Harrow. Next was a taxi back to Manchester. He didn’t have much time to do what he needed to before they came for him.
Gene was leading the door to door enquiries himself, when suddenly his radio crackled into life.
“Alpha One, come in Alpha one.” Phyllis’ voice was clear.
“What’s up Phyllis?”
“Body found in the textile district, Guv.”
“Fletcher?” Gene snapped as Sam spun to stare at Gene.
“DC Harrow.”
“Shit.”
Mayhem had broken loose in CID. Gene had been called upstairs, his superiors demanding to know why a detective had wound up dead, and why they were no further forward in finding Fletcher. Annie looked scared. A week in CID, and she was involved in the middle of this mess. The rest of the officers were figuring out where they had been, and where was still to be checked. Sam’s phone suddenly rang. He stared at it for a few seconds, scared of what mysterious voice had to say to him today. He inhaled, then picked it up. “Tyler.” There was coughing at the end of the line. Not your usual behaviour for these conversations, he thought. “Hello?”
“Sam? Don’t talk, just listen.” It was the voice of Glen Fletcher on the other end of the line.
“Gl... Where the bloody hell are you?” Sam turned his back on everyone in the room and pulled the receiver close. “Are you ok?” he whispered.
“We need to talk. Now. Alone.”
“What?”
“Trust me?”
“Yeah.”
Sam pulled up in the unmarked car, and scanned the area. No-one was there. Where was he? Suddenly out of the shadows, Glen appeared. Sam ran out of the car, grabbing Glen before he toppled to the ground. “Easy there.” Sam led him back to the car. “You need a hospital” was the only thing he could think of to say.
“In a few. I wanted to talk to you first.”
“Why me?”
“Because you are in more danger than you know. They are scared you have lost yourself Sam.”
“Lost myself?”
“Look, I don’t know much. Really. But I do know that you ended up in A Division for a reason.”
“I asked for the transfer there Glen. I ended up there off my own bat.”
“Maybe, but doesn’t stop you being there for a reason.”
“Wait - is this why you were kidnapped?”
Glen nodded. “Kind of. Mr. Woolf wanted to find a way of getting to you. Why you left Hyde was the best route he had, especially as I had mentioned about it that time.”
“Shit, we knew he was involved in this but...” The news shocked Sam, even though he knew it shouldn’t.
“He wants to take you down personally, but he wants to do it in front of Hunt.”
“Did you give him anything? Shit Glen, what do you know?”
Glen looked at Sam, wondering how much to say. Then he sadly shook his head. “No, I can’t. You are already in danger. If you go digging around, they are going to get angry...”
Sam closed his eyes, breathed slowly, trying to stop his heart from racing.
“Was Harry involved in Harrow’s death?”
“Paul Harrow? He’s dead? Oh shit - that shot...”
“Yeah, they found him dumped in the textile district.”
“He was close to finding me - so they shot him. Oh god... Sam, you really have to take care, because I don’t want another body on my conscience.”
“Glen, you can’t just do this to me!”
“Get me to a hospital Sam.” Defeated, Sam strapped Fletcher into the car, and drove off.
Gene slammed the car into another handbrake turn to enter the street where Harry’s flat was. As soon as Sam had dropped Glen off at the hospital, he then dashed back to CID to pick up Gene. Some deep part of him admitted he couldn’t do this without Gene, and that he needed him to be there, so see exactly what had happened, to help them both to make sense of it. The expression on Hunt’s face when Sam explained things had gone from anger, through betrayal, hitting fear on the way and settled somewhere around resigned. He grabbed his coat, nodded at Sam to follow him, then the pair of them raced out of CID.
“Harry, open the door, we know you are in there” Gene pounded on the door. “Open the bloody door Harry!” When there was no response, Gene took four paces back, and threw himself against the door - Sam had an odd flashback to the amount of times that his own door had been abused in exactly this way. It splintered under Gene’s weight, and he stumbled forward into the room. Sam immediately knew something was wrong - it smelt wrong - smelt like…
…singed flesh with a hint of gunpowder. As Sam slowly walked into the room he could take in the final act of Harry Woolf. Harry had taken his own life sitting in the shabby old chair Gene had given him from his own house, and was slumped over one arm of it, eyes staring out at the room. The gun he had used had fallen to the floor. Gene stood in front of Harry, his face filled with horror as he realised what his mentor had done.
“Guv?” Sam stopped his slow walk next to Gene, and put one hand on his shoulder. Gene turned to look at Sam, his green eyes moist with tears which both he and Sam knew would never fall in front of anyone. “Gene?”
“He crossed the line.” It was a simple statement, Gene’s voice full of suppressed emotion.
Sam sighed. “Yes, he did. His actions killed one police officer. They nearly lead to the death of another. He crossed the line.”
Gene crouched down on his heels, ran his hand over his mouth, and looked into the face of the dead man before them. “This…” He couldn’t carry on. He stood up, reached over and closed the eyes that were staring at him. “Oh Harry. Why?” he muttered. Shaking himself, he pulled out his radio. “Alpha One to …” his voice cracked. Clearing his throat, he tried again. “Alpha one to base.”
“Come in, Alpha One” Phyllis responded.
“Phyllis, I need someone to come pick up a body at 82b Coronation Road, take to the morgue. Get Ray and Chris to come here and secure the scene.”
“Ain’t that…”
“Yes, Phyllis, it is.” Something in Gene’s voice must have penetrated through to Phyllis.
“Understood Guv. Are you and Tyler ok?”
Gene looked at Sam. “We’ll be fine.”
“Base out.”
“Are you sure you’ll be ok Guv?”
“One copper died because of Harry and his dealings, a second very nearly did. My job is what it has always been, to protect MY city. To make it safe for my wife, my mother, and all those around me to walk about.” Gene looked at Sam sadly. “Thank you” he murmured.
Sam smiled gently at Gene. “Let’s get out of here.”
Three days later, all was quiet in CID again. Harry’s involvement had been covered up by the top brass - and for once, Sam agreed with the decision. They blamed everything on Grayson. They had caught Alfie and his two henchmen at London Airport, heading on the first flight out to to the Costa del Sol. No-one took kindly to men who killed policemen. They had a rough transfer back up to Manchester to come. No-one was laying money on whether it would get as far as a trial.
Gene had told Harry’s family that he had committed suicide because of the cancer - he hadn’t wanted to suffer. Sam had little doubt that this was in fact true. Harry had been too proud. He wouldn’t have waited till the end. After all the people it seemed quieter, seemed more - normal. He smiled to himself. 1973 was normal? When did that happen?
Chris was bouncing a football about, Annie was doing paperwork and Ray was sleeping, once again, when suddenly the phone rang. Sam knew who it would be, and slowly walked over to it, and picked it up. “Tyler.”
“Sam.” No surprises there. “I just wanted to tell you well done. You were strong, and everything worked out well.”
“Two men dead is ‘worked out well’?”
“There are always casualties in the fight, Sam. At least it wasn’t you. Remember Sam. Job’s almost done.” The line went dead, just as Gene walked back into CID. He nodded at Sam as he went into his office. Sam followed.
“Fletcher will be off work for a couple of weeks to recover, but will be fine” Gene said, pouring two whiskys out, then handing one to Sam.
“Glad to hear it Guv” replied Sam, taking the proffered drink.
“How are things out there?” Gene asked. Since he had found Harry dead he had spent most of his time alone in his office, instead of outside.
“We are doing fine” Sam smiled at him. “How are you doing?” He knew he was on dangerous ground - men like Gene did not talk about their feelings.
After a pause, in which Gene downed his drink, he replied “I’m fine Sam. I bounce back quickly.”
Sam nodded, and quietly left the room. Gene sat at his desk, lit a cigarette, and reached for his newspaper. An envelope dropped to the desk, addressed to him, care of the police station. Type- written. Frowning slightly, he ripped it open. Two sheets of paper were there. As he unfolded them to read, his heart was hammering.
Gene
By the time you read this, I will be dead - terribly clichéd, but the truth. I don’t have much time for this, but I owe you an explanation.
I don’t blame you for having me followed - I would have done the same in your position. I never even knew the name of that detective. I saw Alfie pull the trigger, and I knew then that I had gone too far. Even Dickie Fingers wasn’t as bad as this. But, believe it or not, I was doing it for you. Tyler is your wonder boy, but there is something about him I didn’t trust. And I was right. He has powerful people protecting him, Gene. I got bitten when I got too close. One day, he will betray you. I have never been so certain about anything in my life. He, and his Hyde connections, are rotten to the core. Protect yourself.
Find enclosed my will. I have left what little I have to you - do as you see fit.
Be safe Gene, and don’t remember me like this.
Harry
Gene looked through the blinds of his office at his team, joking with each other at the end of the day. Will you betray me, Sam? He went to crumple up the letter, but changed his mind, carefully uncreased it, and placed it in his drawer. Picking up his coat, he left his office.
“Beer o’clock, gentlemen. And lady. My round.”