Fic: Steady As She Goes (71/86), blue cortina, dakfinv
Title: Steady As She Goes (71/86)
Author: dak
Word Count: 2248 this part; [126,227 overall]
Summary for Whole: After an accidental shooting at the station, Gene struggles to keep his team from tearing themselves apart while his and Sam's friendship is pushed to the limits.
Summary this Part: The team have major breakthroughs in the case.
Rating: still Blue-ish Cortina, uhm, what's slightly darker than blue?
Warnings: angst, swearing, violence, violent imagery, minor drug use, mild sexual situations, self-harm for whole
Spoilers: none here; see each chapter for specific spoiler warnings
Pairing: mild Sam/Annie, Sam/Maya, Gene/missus
Disclaimer: Belongs to BBC/Kudos
A/N: A longer section to try and make up for the fact that I probably won't be able to update again until Thursday or Friday. Please enjoy!
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29 Part 30 Part 31 Part 32 Part 33 Part 34 Part 35 Part 36 Part 37 Part 38 Part 39 Part 40 Part 41 Part 42 Part 43 Part 44 Part 45 Part 46 Part 47 Part 48 Part 49 Part 50 Part 51 Part 52 Part 53 Part 54 Part 55 Part 56 Part 57 Part 58 Part 59 Part 60 Part 61 Part 62 Part 63 Part 64 Part 65 Part 66 Part 67 Part 68 Part 69 Part 70 Part 71 Part 72 Part 73 Part 74 Part 75 Part 76 Part 77 Part 78 Part 79 Part 80 Part 81 Part 82 Part 83 Part 84 Part 85 Part 86
Sam stretched and woke, yawning as he wiped the crust from his eyes and adjusted them to the morning light which peaked through the dusty curtains. He assessed his body as he woke, stretching out the tight muscles around his chest and ignoring his typical morning headache and tremors.
Finally he pushed off the bed and headed immediately for the shower. The hot water poured over his skin, loosening his tense body and clearing his cloudy mind. He remained under the hot water until the temperature started to decrease which, in his shoddy flat, took only about fifteen minutes.
Stepping out of the bathroom and over to the closet to search for fresh clothes, he noticed a note resting on his table. Only then did he remember that Chris hand spent the night. Sam picked up the note and read it as he dressed for the day.
Dear Boss,
Left round 8:30 for work. Helped meself to some of your eggs for breakfast. Sorry. I can pay you back. And I took some of your pills for my headache. Sorry. I can pay for that, too. Thanks for letting me sleep it off here. See you at the station.
DC Skelton (Chris)
Sam chuckled and tossed the paper on his bed as he buttoned up his shirt, then saw the small stack of dirty dishes by his sink. His face screwed up in disgust, he walked closer to examine the mess, sighing as he saw dried egg waste and other former food products glued to his best pan.
“Just eggs, Chris?” Sam shook his head and turned on the sink, filling it with soapy water. “Not exactly the next Naked Chef are you?”
Not wanting to return home to a dirty kitchen, Sam washed all the dishes, the counter tops, and even wiped up the floor before checking the clock and deciding it was time to head to work.
*
“Chris? Where’s the Guv?” Sam asked as he unbuttoned his jacket and sipped his morning, or rather afternoon, coffee.
Chris wiped a bit of mayonnaise from his chin and left his chair to follow Sam to his desk. “Dunno sir. Left this mornin’ with Ray. Hasn’t been back since.”
“Did he tell you where he was going?” Sam sorted through some new papers that had been set on his desk since last night.
“Not me, Boss. I were with Annie doin’ an interview when they went off.” Chris finished his sandwich and absentmindedly wiped his hands on his pants.
“Hm,” was all Sam said as he sat down and started flipping through a new file.
“You...” Chris started then turned away.
“What is it Chris?” Sam asked without looking up.
“Nothing, sir. Just...I was only going to say, you look alright today. Healthy, like.”
Sam raised his head to see Chris staring at his feet. “I feel alright today, Chris. Not great but...alright.”
“Alright’s good, isn’t it?” Chris asked somewhat sheepishly.
“Alright is very good,” Sam smiled and Chris grinned back. Sam looked at the file then back at Chris before the young man had a chance to return to his desk. “Chris? What’s this?”
“It’s the transcript of the interview Annie an’ I did...conducted this mornin’. With DS Bolger.”
“Who’s DS Bolger?”
“Well, he were DC Bolger a few weeks ago, in RCS. One of the few that weren’t directly involved with Graham’s cover up, prob’ly cos he were home sick the day I was shot. The Superintendent promoted him when he reorganized the department.” Chris finally pulled up a chair and sat across from Sam as Tyler leaned forward and folded his hands on top the desk.
“Go on,” he encouraged.
“Well, Annie knew we were havin’ trouble talking to the other officers involved so she thought we should try ‘im. First he din’t want to say anything but DC Cartwright did this thing where she batted here eyes an’ smiled then leaned forward...”
Sam held up his hand. “Focus Chris.”
“Sorry Boss,” Chris adjusted his tie. “It’s just...”
“I know. Now, what did DS Bolger tell you?”
Chris shifted forward in his seat. “He said all ‘e knew was that Martin was brought in on a drugs charge. They’d been followin’ ‘im a few weeks, thought maybe he an’ ‘is mates were smugglin’ shooters or summit in addition to the drugs. ‘Parently, DCI Litton got tired of waitin’ to bring ‘im in so the day of the accident they had caught him buyin’ cocaine and decided to haul ‘im in.”
Sam swallowed nervously. “When you say ‘his mates’ you mean...”
“Same blokes that took you, Boss.”
Sam didn’t know why his mouth went dry but it did so he simply nodded in response.
“DS Bolger came back day after the accident all set to help out with the Martin case but Graham told ‘im it were all settled. That they’d been wrong about the shooters.”
“What did he mean by wrong?” Sam had found his voice again as he focused his brain on the new details of the case and not who it involved.
“Well, Bolger said when he pressed Graham for details all he would say was that...” Chris pulled out his notebook and read the statement word for word. “Due to his guilt over shooting a police officer, Mr. Martin confessed the full details of his drugs operation, admitting that he and his associates had only been considering purchasing illegal firearms.” Chris double-checked that he had read it properly, then nodded and flipped his notebook shut.
“But Martin didn’t shoot you. Graham did. Why would he confess to that?”
“Maybe he thought no one would believe him,” Chris shrugged.
“Why not still peg him for the guns though?” Sam started searching through the scattered files on his desk. “I’ve read the file on Martin. I was looking over it yesterday. The amount of evidence they had on him and...his associates,” Sam’s speech halted as his mind stumbled over memories of those associates.
He quickly swallowed and continued. “It was nearly airtight.” He found the correct file and opened it, eyes scanning the pages. “It should have been obvious to a four year old that they were trafficking illegal firearms. If RCS had continued on their previous line of inquiry they would have gathered enough evidence not only to charge Roy Martin but his three mates.” Sam set down the file and looked up, not at Chris but into space as the cogs that worked his typically overactive brain creaked into gear. “Martin was the only one involved with drugs. By shutting down the firearms case, Graham was allowing the other three to walk free.”
“Why would he do that?” Chris scratched his head.
Sam’s reverie was broken by a commotion in the corridor. Both his and Chris’ heads snapped towards the sounds of shouts and curses. Before they could wonder what was happening, Annie’s head popped through the door.
“Guv’s back,” she announced and Sam immediately left his desk and trotted towards the door, eager to divulge his newfound information. “Sam...” Annie stepped fully inside, holding her hand out to stop him. “I don’t think you should go out there.”
“I don’t care what kind of mood he’s in Annie,” Sam sighed as more shouts echoed down the hall. “This is important.”
“Sam!” She called out but couldn’t stop him as he pushed past her out the doors and into the face of his kidnapper.
The whole world stopped on its axis as Sam and the man stared at each other. Either no one spoke or Sam couldn’t hear them as his mind emptied every thought he had and left only fear behind. His hand remained clutching the door. It was the only thing he could feel, the only thing preventing him from collapsing to the floor. In his periphery, Sam could see Gene and Ray holding the handcuffed man’s arms unnecessarily tight but to Sam it was this man who had complete control.
“So,” Deep Voice spoke, “you’re still alive then.” He smirked and the moment was broken as Gene yanked him out of Ray’s grasp and threw him against the wall.
“Don’t you dare talk to him!” The man went down and Gene followed up with a hard kick to the ribs. “Don’t you dare say another fucking word to him! You don’t deserve to even lick his fucking boots you disgusting piece of dog shit!” He was kicked again and no one even bothered to stop Gene Hunt. The DCI grabbed him by the arm so roughly that he nearly dislocated the suspect’s shoulder, then tossed him to Ray. “Chuck this garbage in a cell an’ leave ‘im there til the stench is so rotten even my old mum wouldn’t be able to scrub the smell from the walls.”
Ray happily did as he was told and carted the now wheezing man away as Gene paced on the spot, hands planted firmly on his hips as he tried to get his anger under some sort of control. The various spectators that had appeared to watch the exchange slowly returned to their proper places, no one wanting to be the next focus of DCI Hunt’s rage.
“Sam?”
Gene recognized the plonk’s coaxing voice as she tried to speak to Tyler and turned his head to check on his officer. Cartwright had placed a hand on his arm but Sam wasn’t moving, wasn’t even blinking. His hand was fixed to the door like it was the last lifeboat off the Titanic. His eyes were clouded, locked on the spot where Bobby Walsh had spoken to him.
Gene walked over, calming himself for Tyler’s benefit. “Shove off Cartwright.”
“But...”
“Do as your told DC Cartwright before I have you back in uniform so fast your knickers won’t know what hit ‘em!” Annie was gone in a flash and Gene immediately tried to catch Sam’s unfocused eye. “You in there Tyler?” He snapped his fingers in front of the vacant man’s face. “Sam?”
His eyes didn’t move as he opened his mouth to speak. “You didn’t believe me,” he said in no more than a whisper.
“Tyler...” Gene sighed but suddenly Sam was mobile and he pushed the larger man out of the way and ran towards the stairwell. Gene decided it was in the interest of all parties involved if he followed the distraught detective and raced after him up the stairs.
Sam burst out on the roof, pacing like a caged and cornered animal, his eyes wild with fear and helplessness. Gene arrived on the roof and kept a safe distance as he tried to calm the frenzied man.
“Sam...”
“You didn’t believe me!” He shouted it this time and his voice was already hoarse. “I told you last night and you didn’t believe me! You could’ve found him last night!”
“We have him now Sam.”
“Three blocks!” Sam continued to scream, every word twisting into Gene’s chest like a knife. “He was three blocks from my flat, wasn’t he? Wasn’t he! He could’ve had me then. Last night! He could’ve taken me again cos you didn’t believe me!” Sam was quickly wearing himself out. Gene could see it as Tyler struggled to form each hurtful word, the force of the shouting shredding his throat and lungs.
“But we have him now. Locked up. He can’t get you Tyler.” Gene took a step forward and Sam took three back.
“Stay away from me!”
“Sam, let’s...
“I trusted you and you did nothing!” Sam kept moving backwards as Gene slowly approached.
“You want to talk? Fine. I got a new bottle of Glenlivet in my office. Let’s go down and talk about it there, okay?” Gene held up his hands, trying to indicate he meant Sam no harm but the panicked Tyler kept moving away.
“I said stay away from me!”
Gene noticed that Sam was still backing up even though he, himself, had stopped moving. Sam refused to take his eyes of Gene. Gene saw the railing guarding the edge of the roof. Gene saw that Sam didn’t see the railing guarding the edge of the roof.
“Sam. Stop moving. Stay where you are.” He took a tentative step forward.
“Why should I listen to you? You’re not even real!”
God, not this, Gene thought as he continued forward. Not this. Not now. “Sam. I need you to stay where you are. Can you do that?” He stated calmly though his voice was tinged with fear.
“No. No! Keep away. Keep away from me!” He screamed and moved backwards briskly, running into the railing, the unexpected blow to his back catching him off-balance.
“Sam!”
Gene raced to the edge and was just able to grab at the black leather and pull him forward before Sam toppled over the edge. Tyler collapsed into him and both men crumpled to the ground as Gene held him tight and refused to let go, the adrenaline from the near fall causing both of them to shake, though it affected Sam more than Gene.
Sam’s limp arms hit at his superior’s chest but caused no damage and so he finally gave up, letting his arms fall. “You didn’t believe me. Why didn’t you believe me?” He sobbed, not caring as the tears stained Gene’s yellow shirt.
“I know. I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Sammy.” Gene held onto him, hoping the panic would subside quickly and praying to God that his actions hadn’t fractured the lost man any further.
____________
Part 72
Author: dak
Word Count: 2248 this part; [126,227 overall]
Summary for Whole: After an accidental shooting at the station, Gene struggles to keep his team from tearing themselves apart while his and Sam's friendship is pushed to the limits.
Summary this Part: The team have major breakthroughs in the case.
Rating: still Blue-ish Cortina, uhm, what's slightly darker than blue?
Warnings: angst, swearing, violence, violent imagery, minor drug use, mild sexual situations, self-harm for whole
Spoilers: none here; see each chapter for specific spoiler warnings
Pairing: mild Sam/Annie, Sam/Maya, Gene/missus
Disclaimer: Belongs to BBC/Kudos
A/N: A longer section to try and make up for the fact that I probably won't be able to update again until Thursday or Friday. Please enjoy!
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29 Part 30 Part 31 Part 32 Part 33 Part 34 Part 35 Part 36 Part 37 Part 38 Part 39 Part 40 Part 41 Part 42 Part 43 Part 44 Part 45 Part 46 Part 47 Part 48 Part 49 Part 50 Part 51 Part 52 Part 53 Part 54 Part 55 Part 56 Part 57 Part 58 Part 59 Part 60 Part 61 Part 62 Part 63 Part 64 Part 65 Part 66 Part 67 Part 68 Part 69 Part 70 Part 71 Part 72 Part 73 Part 74 Part 75 Part 76 Part 77 Part 78 Part 79 Part 80 Part 81 Part 82 Part 83 Part 84 Part 85 Part 86
Sam stretched and woke, yawning as he wiped the crust from his eyes and adjusted them to the morning light which peaked through the dusty curtains. He assessed his body as he woke, stretching out the tight muscles around his chest and ignoring his typical morning headache and tremors.
Finally he pushed off the bed and headed immediately for the shower. The hot water poured over his skin, loosening his tense body and clearing his cloudy mind. He remained under the hot water until the temperature started to decrease which, in his shoddy flat, took only about fifteen minutes.
Stepping out of the bathroom and over to the closet to search for fresh clothes, he noticed a note resting on his table. Only then did he remember that Chris hand spent the night. Sam picked up the note and read it as he dressed for the day.
Dear Boss,
Left round 8:30 for work. Helped meself to some of your eggs for breakfast. Sorry. I can pay you back. And I took some of your pills for my headache. Sorry. I can pay for that, too. Thanks for letting me sleep it off here. See you at the station.
DC Skelton (Chris)
Sam chuckled and tossed the paper on his bed as he buttoned up his shirt, then saw the small stack of dirty dishes by his sink. His face screwed up in disgust, he walked closer to examine the mess, sighing as he saw dried egg waste and other former food products glued to his best pan.
“Just eggs, Chris?” Sam shook his head and turned on the sink, filling it with soapy water. “Not exactly the next Naked Chef are you?”
Not wanting to return home to a dirty kitchen, Sam washed all the dishes, the counter tops, and even wiped up the floor before checking the clock and deciding it was time to head to work.
*
“Chris? Where’s the Guv?” Sam asked as he unbuttoned his jacket and sipped his morning, or rather afternoon, coffee.
Chris wiped a bit of mayonnaise from his chin and left his chair to follow Sam to his desk. “Dunno sir. Left this mornin’ with Ray. Hasn’t been back since.”
“Did he tell you where he was going?” Sam sorted through some new papers that had been set on his desk since last night.
“Not me, Boss. I were with Annie doin’ an interview when they went off.” Chris finished his sandwich and absentmindedly wiped his hands on his pants.
“Hm,” was all Sam said as he sat down and started flipping through a new file.
“You...” Chris started then turned away.
“What is it Chris?” Sam asked without looking up.
“Nothing, sir. Just...I was only going to say, you look alright today. Healthy, like.”
Sam raised his head to see Chris staring at his feet. “I feel alright today, Chris. Not great but...alright.”
“Alright’s good, isn’t it?” Chris asked somewhat sheepishly.
“Alright is very good,” Sam smiled and Chris grinned back. Sam looked at the file then back at Chris before the young man had a chance to return to his desk. “Chris? What’s this?”
“It’s the transcript of the interview Annie an’ I did...conducted this mornin’. With DS Bolger.”
“Who’s DS Bolger?”
“Well, he were DC Bolger a few weeks ago, in RCS. One of the few that weren’t directly involved with Graham’s cover up, prob’ly cos he were home sick the day I was shot. The Superintendent promoted him when he reorganized the department.” Chris finally pulled up a chair and sat across from Sam as Tyler leaned forward and folded his hands on top the desk.
“Go on,” he encouraged.
“Well, Annie knew we were havin’ trouble talking to the other officers involved so she thought we should try ‘im. First he din’t want to say anything but DC Cartwright did this thing where she batted here eyes an’ smiled then leaned forward...”
Sam held up his hand. “Focus Chris.”
“Sorry Boss,” Chris adjusted his tie. “It’s just...”
“I know. Now, what did DS Bolger tell you?”
Chris shifted forward in his seat. “He said all ‘e knew was that Martin was brought in on a drugs charge. They’d been followin’ ‘im a few weeks, thought maybe he an’ ‘is mates were smugglin’ shooters or summit in addition to the drugs. ‘Parently, DCI Litton got tired of waitin’ to bring ‘im in so the day of the accident they had caught him buyin’ cocaine and decided to haul ‘im in.”
Sam swallowed nervously. “When you say ‘his mates’ you mean...”
“Same blokes that took you, Boss.”
Sam didn’t know why his mouth went dry but it did so he simply nodded in response.
“DS Bolger came back day after the accident all set to help out with the Martin case but Graham told ‘im it were all settled. That they’d been wrong about the shooters.”
“What did he mean by wrong?” Sam had found his voice again as he focused his brain on the new details of the case and not who it involved.
“Well, Bolger said when he pressed Graham for details all he would say was that...” Chris pulled out his notebook and read the statement word for word. “Due to his guilt over shooting a police officer, Mr. Martin confessed the full details of his drugs operation, admitting that he and his associates had only been considering purchasing illegal firearms.” Chris double-checked that he had read it properly, then nodded and flipped his notebook shut.
“But Martin didn’t shoot you. Graham did. Why would he confess to that?”
“Maybe he thought no one would believe him,” Chris shrugged.
“Why not still peg him for the guns though?” Sam started searching through the scattered files on his desk. “I’ve read the file on Martin. I was looking over it yesterday. The amount of evidence they had on him and...his associates,” Sam’s speech halted as his mind stumbled over memories of those associates.
He quickly swallowed and continued. “It was nearly airtight.” He found the correct file and opened it, eyes scanning the pages. “It should have been obvious to a four year old that they were trafficking illegal firearms. If RCS had continued on their previous line of inquiry they would have gathered enough evidence not only to charge Roy Martin but his three mates.” Sam set down the file and looked up, not at Chris but into space as the cogs that worked his typically overactive brain creaked into gear. “Martin was the only one involved with drugs. By shutting down the firearms case, Graham was allowing the other three to walk free.”
“Why would he do that?” Chris scratched his head.
Sam’s reverie was broken by a commotion in the corridor. Both his and Chris’ heads snapped towards the sounds of shouts and curses. Before they could wonder what was happening, Annie’s head popped through the door.
“Guv’s back,” she announced and Sam immediately left his desk and trotted towards the door, eager to divulge his newfound information. “Sam...” Annie stepped fully inside, holding her hand out to stop him. “I don’t think you should go out there.”
“I don’t care what kind of mood he’s in Annie,” Sam sighed as more shouts echoed down the hall. “This is important.”
“Sam!” She called out but couldn’t stop him as he pushed past her out the doors and into the face of his kidnapper.
The whole world stopped on its axis as Sam and the man stared at each other. Either no one spoke or Sam couldn’t hear them as his mind emptied every thought he had and left only fear behind. His hand remained clutching the door. It was the only thing he could feel, the only thing preventing him from collapsing to the floor. In his periphery, Sam could see Gene and Ray holding the handcuffed man’s arms unnecessarily tight but to Sam it was this man who had complete control.
“So,” Deep Voice spoke, “you’re still alive then.” He smirked and the moment was broken as Gene yanked him out of Ray’s grasp and threw him against the wall.
“Don’t you dare talk to him!” The man went down and Gene followed up with a hard kick to the ribs. “Don’t you dare say another fucking word to him! You don’t deserve to even lick his fucking boots you disgusting piece of dog shit!” He was kicked again and no one even bothered to stop Gene Hunt. The DCI grabbed him by the arm so roughly that he nearly dislocated the suspect’s shoulder, then tossed him to Ray. “Chuck this garbage in a cell an’ leave ‘im there til the stench is so rotten even my old mum wouldn’t be able to scrub the smell from the walls.”
Ray happily did as he was told and carted the now wheezing man away as Gene paced on the spot, hands planted firmly on his hips as he tried to get his anger under some sort of control. The various spectators that had appeared to watch the exchange slowly returned to their proper places, no one wanting to be the next focus of DCI Hunt’s rage.
“Sam?”
Gene recognized the plonk’s coaxing voice as she tried to speak to Tyler and turned his head to check on his officer. Cartwright had placed a hand on his arm but Sam wasn’t moving, wasn’t even blinking. His hand was fixed to the door like it was the last lifeboat off the Titanic. His eyes were clouded, locked on the spot where Bobby Walsh had spoken to him.
Gene walked over, calming himself for Tyler’s benefit. “Shove off Cartwright.”
“But...”
“Do as your told DC Cartwright before I have you back in uniform so fast your knickers won’t know what hit ‘em!” Annie was gone in a flash and Gene immediately tried to catch Sam’s unfocused eye. “You in there Tyler?” He snapped his fingers in front of the vacant man’s face. “Sam?”
His eyes didn’t move as he opened his mouth to speak. “You didn’t believe me,” he said in no more than a whisper.
“Tyler...” Gene sighed but suddenly Sam was mobile and he pushed the larger man out of the way and ran towards the stairwell. Gene decided it was in the interest of all parties involved if he followed the distraught detective and raced after him up the stairs.
Sam burst out on the roof, pacing like a caged and cornered animal, his eyes wild with fear and helplessness. Gene arrived on the roof and kept a safe distance as he tried to calm the frenzied man.
“Sam...”
“You didn’t believe me!” He shouted it this time and his voice was already hoarse. “I told you last night and you didn’t believe me! You could’ve found him last night!”
“We have him now Sam.”
“Three blocks!” Sam continued to scream, every word twisting into Gene’s chest like a knife. “He was three blocks from my flat, wasn’t he? Wasn’t he! He could’ve had me then. Last night! He could’ve taken me again cos you didn’t believe me!” Sam was quickly wearing himself out. Gene could see it as Tyler struggled to form each hurtful word, the force of the shouting shredding his throat and lungs.
“But we have him now. Locked up. He can’t get you Tyler.” Gene took a step forward and Sam took three back.
“Stay away from me!”
“Sam, let’s...
“I trusted you and you did nothing!” Sam kept moving backwards as Gene slowly approached.
“You want to talk? Fine. I got a new bottle of Glenlivet in my office. Let’s go down and talk about it there, okay?” Gene held up his hands, trying to indicate he meant Sam no harm but the panicked Tyler kept moving away.
“I said stay away from me!”
Gene noticed that Sam was still backing up even though he, himself, had stopped moving. Sam refused to take his eyes of Gene. Gene saw the railing guarding the edge of the roof. Gene saw that Sam didn’t see the railing guarding the edge of the roof.
“Sam. Stop moving. Stay where you are.” He took a tentative step forward.
“Why should I listen to you? You’re not even real!”
God, not this, Gene thought as he continued forward. Not this. Not now. “Sam. I need you to stay where you are. Can you do that?” He stated calmly though his voice was tinged with fear.
“No. No! Keep away. Keep away from me!” He screamed and moved backwards briskly, running into the railing, the unexpected blow to his back catching him off-balance.
“Sam!”
Gene raced to the edge and was just able to grab at the black leather and pull him forward before Sam toppled over the edge. Tyler collapsed into him and both men crumpled to the ground as Gene held him tight and refused to let go, the adrenaline from the near fall causing both of them to shake, though it affected Sam more than Gene.
Sam’s limp arms hit at his superior’s chest but caused no damage and so he finally gave up, letting his arms fall. “You didn’t believe me. Why didn’t you believe me?” He sobbed, not caring as the tears stained Gene’s yellow shirt.
“I know. I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Sammy.” Gene held onto him, hoping the panic would subside quickly and praying to God that his actions hadn’t fractured the lost man any further.
____________
Part 72