What Hurts the Most, for the HC Bingo prompts 'Sacrifice' and 'Group support'
Title: What Hurts the Most
Fandom: Common Law
Rating: G
Characters/pairings: Wes, Travis, Dr. Ryan, therapy circle
Warnings (including spoilers): None
Wordcount: 741 words
Author’s notes: Written for the hc_bingo prompts ‘Sacrifice’ and ‘Group support’.
Summary: Wes shares his feelings with the group.
[*]
Dr. Ryan tilted her head to the side to examine her most challenging case- well, one half of it, at least. Peter and Dakota were bickering with each other, but when they noticed that Dr. Ryan wasn't paying attention to them, they followed her gaze.
And so it came about that the entire group was staring at Wes, who glared, stony-faced, at the window, pretending not to notice any of them. His partner, seated beside him as always, watched him with sad eyes, and after a few moments of silence, turned to the circle. “I'm sorry we're not very involved in group today, guys. The department suffered a great loss today.”
Dakota gasped. “Oh my goodness, did someone die?”
“You don't just ask like that!” her boyfriend hissed.
“No, it wasn't a death,” Travis told them. “But it may take some time to recover.”
Dr. Ryan tapped her pen against her notepad, twice. Travis was definitely hiding something. But Wes was nearly always harder to read, and the less emotive of the pair had not moved a muscle since the conversation had turned to him.
“Wes, would you like to tell us what happened?” she requested sympathetically.
Wes's jaw twitched. “There was a chase,” he began in a rough voice. “Some filthy, two-bit con artist who wanted to break into the big time.”
“Sounds like you two shouldn't have had a problem with him,” Clyde commented. His wife elbowed him, though, and he shut up.
Wes swallowed. “Under normal circumstances, we wouldn't. But this guy, he's evil. There are some things even criminals-” He broke off, voice shaking with anger, and Dr. Ryan decided that was enough sharing for today.
“Travis, would you care to continue?”
Solemnly, the other detective nodded. “It turned into a gunfight. Our suspect started shooting at us in the parking lot, but before we could take him down, he'd...” Travis looked anxiously at his partner, whose fists were shaking. “He shot up Wes's car.”
There was a moment of complete silence.
“Hi car?” Rozelle repeated, curling her lip. “Your 'terrible loss' was your car?”
Wes twitched. Travis put a comforting hand on his arm. “Wes's car means a lot to him. I'm actually surprised that guy made it to lock-up without injury.”
Dr. Ryan observed Wes’s red face and ramrod-straight posture. “Wes. It looks like you’re holding in a lot of anger. This is a safe place, you can share with us.”
For a few seconds, it looked like Wes might disagree. Then he took a deep breath and relaxed his hands. “I put a lot of time, energy and money into that car. I realize it may seem like just another investment to you people, but I take pride in these things.”
One of the group members stifled some sort of noise, and Wes’s eyes flashed. “What, you think this is funny? I could be out thousands of dollars in repairs!”
“If you don’t mind me saying, son, you’ll be paying more than that for the therapy,” Mr. Dumont warned him, holding off a smile.
“That’s it.” Wes stood up and brushed off his jacket.
“Wes, come on,” Travis tried, but he was ignored.
“No, I said I shouldn’t have come in today. It was a waste of time.” He strode out of the room without looking back. Travis glared at the group quickly and followed.
Dr. Ryan dug one of her fingernails into her pen. “I have to say, I’m very disappointed,” she told the remaining members of their circle. “All of us have a right to our feelings, no matter how unusual they may seem. At one time or another, all of you have had something potentially embarrassing aired in the group, and you’ve been accepted. That is what builds trust.”
The others all looked mildly ashamed of themselves. Dakota, however, looked hopeful.
“Maybe this will bring Travis and Wes closer together?” she suggested.
“I do hope so,” Dr. Ryan agreed. Then she gave them all a kind smile. “Next week, we’ll all apologize to Wes, okay? And maybe he’ll be in a better place to take some friendly jokes.”
The assembled couples nodded, and the discussion moved on. Dr. Ryan made a note to herself to talk to Captain Sutton about the situation, however. When she’d been at the police station that afternoon, and she hadn’t heard about any such shooting.
Suppressing an admiring smile, Dr. Ryan went on with her work.
My H/C Bingo Card
Fandom: Common Law
Rating: G
Characters/pairings: Wes, Travis, Dr. Ryan, therapy circle
Warnings (including spoilers): None
Wordcount: 741 words
Author’s notes: Written for the hc_bingo prompts ‘Sacrifice’ and ‘Group support’.
Summary: Wes shares his feelings with the group.
[*]
Dr. Ryan tilted her head to the side to examine her most challenging case- well, one half of it, at least. Peter and Dakota were bickering with each other, but when they noticed that Dr. Ryan wasn't paying attention to them, they followed her gaze.
And so it came about that the entire group was staring at Wes, who glared, stony-faced, at the window, pretending not to notice any of them. His partner, seated beside him as always, watched him with sad eyes, and after a few moments of silence, turned to the circle. “I'm sorry we're not very involved in group today, guys. The department suffered a great loss today.”
Dakota gasped. “Oh my goodness, did someone die?”
“You don't just ask like that!” her boyfriend hissed.
“No, it wasn't a death,” Travis told them. “But it may take some time to recover.”
Dr. Ryan tapped her pen against her notepad, twice. Travis was definitely hiding something. But Wes was nearly always harder to read, and the less emotive of the pair had not moved a muscle since the conversation had turned to him.
“Wes, would you like to tell us what happened?” she requested sympathetically.
Wes's jaw twitched. “There was a chase,” he began in a rough voice. “Some filthy, two-bit con artist who wanted to break into the big time.”
“Sounds like you two shouldn't have had a problem with him,” Clyde commented. His wife elbowed him, though, and he shut up.
Wes swallowed. “Under normal circumstances, we wouldn't. But this guy, he's evil. There are some things even criminals-” He broke off, voice shaking with anger, and Dr. Ryan decided that was enough sharing for today.
“Travis, would you care to continue?”
Solemnly, the other detective nodded. “It turned into a gunfight. Our suspect started shooting at us in the parking lot, but before we could take him down, he'd...” Travis looked anxiously at his partner, whose fists were shaking. “He shot up Wes's car.”
There was a moment of complete silence.
“Hi car?” Rozelle repeated, curling her lip. “Your 'terrible loss' was your car?”
Wes twitched. Travis put a comforting hand on his arm. “Wes's car means a lot to him. I'm actually surprised that guy made it to lock-up without injury.”
Dr. Ryan observed Wes’s red face and ramrod-straight posture. “Wes. It looks like you’re holding in a lot of anger. This is a safe place, you can share with us.”
For a few seconds, it looked like Wes might disagree. Then he took a deep breath and relaxed his hands. “I put a lot of time, energy and money into that car. I realize it may seem like just another investment to you people, but I take pride in these things.”
One of the group members stifled some sort of noise, and Wes’s eyes flashed. “What, you think this is funny? I could be out thousands of dollars in repairs!”
“If you don’t mind me saying, son, you’ll be paying more than that for the therapy,” Mr. Dumont warned him, holding off a smile.
“That’s it.” Wes stood up and brushed off his jacket.
“Wes, come on,” Travis tried, but he was ignored.
“No, I said I shouldn’t have come in today. It was a waste of time.” He strode out of the room without looking back. Travis glared at the group quickly and followed.
Dr. Ryan dug one of her fingernails into her pen. “I have to say, I’m very disappointed,” she told the remaining members of their circle. “All of us have a right to our feelings, no matter how unusual they may seem. At one time or another, all of you have had something potentially embarrassing aired in the group, and you’ve been accepted. That is what builds trust.”
The others all looked mildly ashamed of themselves. Dakota, however, looked hopeful.
“Maybe this will bring Travis and Wes closer together?” she suggested.
“I do hope so,” Dr. Ryan agreed. Then she gave them all a kind smile. “Next week, we’ll all apologize to Wes, okay? And maybe he’ll be in a better place to take some friendly jokes.”
The assembled couples nodded, and the discussion moved on. Dr. Ryan made a note to herself to talk to Captain Sutton about the situation, however. When she’d been at the police station that afternoon, and she hadn’t heard about any such shooting.
Suppressing an admiring smile, Dr. Ryan went on with her work.
My H/C Bingo Card