Summer of Oz: Familiar
Title: Familiar
Pairing/Main Characters: Sean Murphy/Tim McManus (implied), Holly Beecher, Victoria Beecher
Rating: PG (some strong language)
Word Count: 2,430
Setting: post-Season 6
Summary: Sean's people skills come in handy during a Visiting Day at Oz.
Note: Inspired in part by remarks made by drsquidlove in a comment to another story I wrote.
_____________________________
Sean Murphy opened the door to the Visiting Room and escorted the cautious Busmalis inside. Mineo slowly moved along the wall to make way for them, and Sean noted that the old man looked like he could really use a nap. With a sigh, Sean wondered if he looked the same way.
Sean spotted Norma and gave Busmalis a quick, gentle shove toward the table where she sat. Once he got moving, Busmalis practically bounced toward her. Sean tried to suppress a smile as he watched Norma's face light up.
It had been months since Sean had held the duty of monitoring the Visiting Room, and it was an assignment he always enjoyed. It was interesting to observe the inmates interacting with people other than their demoralized fellow prisoners, their disgruntled lawyers, or the weary staff. After Busmalis had settled into place, Sean looked around the room, contemplating all the different people:
Pancamo's elderly mother was poking away at him, clucking about his weight and asking if he was getting enough to eat...
(Doesn’t she remember that he runs the kitchen?)
Fiona was waving her hands in the air, involved in a heated discussion with some girl...
(Wait, that might be a guy.)
Dr. Jackson was repeatedly drumming her fingers along the tabletop, waiting impatiently for her brother...
(No surprise, Poet will be late for his own funeral.)
Guerra was draped all over his prison-groupie girlfriend...
(Better keep an eye on them.)
Busmalis and Norma were chastely holding hands and giggling...
(Still can’t believe she married him.)
And then, finally, two members of Beecher’s family were sitting as still as could be:
his mother...
(Maggie? Peggy? Virginia?)
and daughter Holly, too old for the children’s playroom now.
(Whoa, looks like she's grown a good two or three inches.)
Holly and her grandmother were both intently watching the door behind him, oblivious to their surroundings, clearly waiting for Beecher with hopeful anticipation on their faces. Sean vaguely wondered why Beecher hadn’t been the first one in line to get down here.
Suddenly, the door opened, and Tim McManus came into room, looking as flustered as ever. He walked over to Sean, red-faced and breathing heavily, and not in the way that Sean liked. Tim rubbed a shaking hand over the top of his balding head and huffed.
Their vacation was still a couple of weeks away, but Sean knew that it couldn’t come soon enough for Tim. A nice, quiet week of fishing at his dad’s old cabin upstate was just what both of them needed.
"You’re not going to believe this," Tim growled to him in a low voice. "Let’s go out in the hall to talk."
Hoping that Tim was just exercising his flair for the dramatic, Sean glanced at Mineo, who gave him a nod of acknowledgement. Tim staggered back out of the room, and Sean followed, closing the door behind him.
"What’s wrong now, Tim?"
Tim rubbed his forehead. "I just sent Beecher to the hole."
"What?!"
"He got into a big fight with one of the bikers in the cafeteria during lunch," Tim explained. "Beecher was beating the living shit out of the guy."
"Jesus, Tim, his mother and little girl are sitting in there right now, waiting to see him."
Tim put his hands on his hips. "I know that, Sean, but it’s not like I had much of a choice!" he exclaimed in exasperation. "You know how he gets!"
"Who started it?"
"I never got a chance to find out! The guards tried to break things up, and that’s when Beecher started throwing punches at them, too. He was still whaling away as they carried him off to the hole."
Sean shook his head. "By then, he'd probably realized just how badly he'd fucked up," he muttered.
"Maybe, I don’t know. It’s hard to tell with him sometimes."
"What are you going to say to his family?"
"I’m going to tell them that he’s a goddamn idiot, and it’d be best to not to visit him anymore."
"Tim… "
"Maybe that would teach him a goddamn fucking lesson."
"I really don’t think you want to do that."
"Well, Sean, maybe you can figure out what to say to them! Go ahead and explain to them just why they wasted a trip down here. Be my guest!"
Sean rolled his eyes back at Tim and stared at him for a long moment. "Fine," he said. He turned back around and opened the door. But as Sean walked into the room again, he could feel the eyes of Beecher’s family on him, and the resulting disappointment that he wasn’t the person they were waiting for.
Sean paused to collect himself and clear his throat. He slowly made his way over to their table, and both of them watched his approach with solemn eyes. Sean mentally cursed Beecher as he grabbed a nearby chair and sat down to join them.
"Hi, I’m Officer Murphy," he introduced himself. "You might’ve seen me around here before."
Beecher’s mother gave him a small, tentative smile. "I’m Victoria (Victoria! That’s right.) Beecher," she answered. "And this is my granddaughter, Holly."
Holly looked at him with her big, suspicious eyes and didn’t say anything.
Sean drew a deep breath and addressed Victoria. "I’m afraid I got some bad news. Your son seems to have to come down with a pretty bad case of the flu. It hit him hard, all of a sudden, at lunch time. Unfortunately, he’s really in no condition to receive visitors at the moment."
Sean glanced at Holly as she dropped her head down to stare at the table. Softly, he added, "I’m sorry."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Victoria purse her lips, narrow her eyes, and furrow her brow. "The flu?" she repeated.
Sean turned back to face her. "Yes, ma’am," he said with as much conviction as he could muster.
Victoria looked him straight in the eye. "I hope he will be feeling better soon."
Sean felt his stomach clench. "I’m sure he will, ma’am. These things usually run their course in a few days."
"Well, that’s good," she replied shortly. She softened her expression and looked over at Holly, who still hadn’t said a word. Holly looked back at her grandmother and, covering her mouth with her hand, mumbled something to her that Sean couldn’t quite make out.
Victoria nodded her head and looked back at Sean. "If it’s not too much trouble, perhaps you could do us a favor. Holly had made a card to give to her father. We would be very grateful if you could give it to him for her, instead."
Holly slowly pushed a square envelope across the table toward him. The envelope had originally been white, but now much of it was covered with glitter glue, colorful doodles, stickers of flowers and books and cats, and a loopy handwriting indicating it was "For Daddy."
Sean felt his throat tighten, and he looked back at Holly’s face and into her sad, damp eyes. Holly covered her mouth again, and shakily said, "Yesterday was his birthday."
Ah, that might explain a few things, thought Sean to himself. He nodded at Holly. "No problem," he replied. "I’ll be glad to do it."
Then, from behind her hand, Holly clearly replied, "Thank you."
Sean studied her for a moment, then gave her a serious look. "I have one condition, though."
Holly’s eyes grew slightly bigger.
"I want to see a smile from you before you leave. And I want it to be a nice, big one-not just a little grin."
Holly glanced at her grandmother with a look of alarm. But Victoria just looked back at Holly with her own slightly amused smile and nodded her head.
So, Holly took her hand away from her mouth and gave Sean a timid smile, revealing a mouth full of metal wire.
"Ah, that’s beautiful!" Sean told her. He paused before gently adding, "And in another year or so, it will be even more beautiful."
Holly quickly looked down again, but Sean still saw the roll of her eyes.
"She just got them last week," Victoria explained. "She’s not feeling very comfortable about them yet, as you can see."
Sean nodded his head. "It’s rough. I was lucky, I never needed them."
"None of her friends have to wear them, either," Victoria added. "At least, not yet."
Suddenly, Sean chuckled softly. "You know what?" he said to Holly. "You remind me of a certain girl I knew as a kid. She looked a lot like you-long blonde hair, blue eyes. She was quiet, too, and kinda shy."
Sean leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.
"Her name was Maureen," he continued. "Like you, Maureen had to get braces when no one else in her class had them, and of course the other kids just had to tease her. Not to be mean, really, that’s just what kids do. They started calling her Metal-Mouth Moe. She tried to keep a stiff upper lip, but you could tell it bothered her.
"Then, one day, a boy in her class had had enough, and punched another kid on her behalf. That boy got a three-day suspension from school, but no one ever called her Metal-Mouth Moe again."
Sean slowly rubbed his chin. "You may be interested to know that Maureen turned out to be the prettiest, most popular girl in school. In high school, she was elected homecoming queen, class president, valedictorian… you name it. And that boy who defended her when everyone else called her names? She went to the senior prom with him. Everyone thought he was the luckiest guy in school."
Sean leaned forward again. "Last summer, they celebrated their twentieth wedding anniversary," he said with a wink and a smile.
Holly smiled back at him, unknowingly giving him a full view of her braces in all their glory. "Let me guess," she said. "Metal-Mouth Moe is your wife."
Sean looked at her in surprise, and then started to laugh. "No," he replied, shaking his head. "No, not my wife. Maureen was my kid sister. My brother-in-law, Kevin, is her knight in shining armor."
Sean turned serious again before continuing. "Let me tell you, though, watching her go through that was tough, but I thought it was best not to interfere. I wanted her to be strong, to learn how to fight her own battles. But I still kept a close eye on the situation. I was getting ready to do something before Kevin stepped up."
Holly nodded her head in understanding. She turned to her grandmother and smiled again. "I bet Gary would’ve been like that," she said to her.
Sean froze as his blood suddenly ran cold. He had momentarily forgotten the pain that Holly had already endured in her short lifetime, and he quickly hoped that his little story hadn’t brought back upsetting memories for her or her grandmother.
But Victoria just returned her smile and nodded her head. "I bet you’re right, Holly," she agreed.
Sean pushed back his chair and stood up. "I'll make sure your dad gets your card, Holly, and I'll wish him a happy birthday on your behalf. I'm sure it'll help make him feel better."
"Thank you, Mr. Murphy," said Victoria as she stood up, too. "We'll be back next Visiting Day."
"Oh, please, call me Sean," he said with a wave of his wand. "Maybe I'll see you then."
"Sean?" inquired Holly in a small voice. "Do you mind escorting us back to the front desk?"
Sean grinned, pleased with the sudden trust he seemed to have built with her. "Of course," he replied. "I'll just have to let the big boss over there know where we're going." He glanced toward Tim.
Tim made eye contact with him and nodded, smiling. Sean could tell by the look on Tim's face that he had overheard the entire conversation.
Sean helped Holly out of her chair. Slowly, he led Holly and her grandmother across the room and out the visitors’ exit. By the time they reached the front desk, he had learned the names of Holly's cats, her favorite subjects in school, and which teen idol's posters were hanging on the walls of her bedroom.
*~*~*~*
Sean handed Tim a beer, and they both collapsed onto the couch. Sean picked up the remote control and began flipping through the channels, stopping when he found the ball game.
Tim brought the bottle up to his lips and took a good, long swig. He leaned his head back and sighed in contentment. "How much longer 'til vacation?" he asked.
Sean looked at his watch. "Twelve days, twenty-one hours, and sixteen minutes," he answered. He stuffed a pillow behind his back. "Approximately."
Tim groaned and took another drink. After a moment, he said, "Nice job with Beecher’s family today."
"Thanks," Sean replied. "They’re nice people. And they’ve had to deal with more than their fair share of crap."
"If Beecher could just get his head on straight… "
Sean raised his hand up. "Enough shop-talk, Tim."
Tim was quiet for a moment, then he turned slightly to look at Sean. "That story about Maureen... did that really happen? Or were you just making it up so that Beecher’s daughter would feel better?"
Sean gave small laugh. "Oh, that happened."
Tim shook his head. "That’s funny. I don’t remember that at all. I don’t even remember Maureen wearing braces."
"Well, that doesn’t surprise me. You were pretty clueless back then."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tim asked defensively.
Sean shifted uncomfortably and sighed. "I guess you never realized that Maureen used to have a huge crush on you when we were kids."
"What?! No she didn’t!"
"Yeah, she did."
Dumbfounded, Tim shook his head again. "She barely knew me! She always used to disappear whenever I’d come over to your house to hang out."
"Oh, no, she was still there, watching us-you just didn’t know it."
"You’re serious?"
"Absolutely." Sean grinned and playfully dug an elbow into Tim’s ribcage. "That’s why I never put any moves on you back in high school."
"Huh. How about that," grunted Tim. "I guess I was distracted by… other things," he explained.
"You missed a golden opportunity, Tim. You could’ve been Kevin," Sean declared. "You could’ve been the luckiest guy to come out of Attica Central High."
Tim reached over and tapped Sean’s hand. Quietly, he replied, "I was, Sean. I was."
THE END
Pairing/Main Characters: Sean Murphy/Tim McManus (implied), Holly Beecher, Victoria Beecher
Rating: PG (some strong language)
Word Count: 2,430
Setting: post-Season 6
Summary: Sean's people skills come in handy during a Visiting Day at Oz.
Note: Inspired in part by remarks made by drsquidlove in a comment to another story I wrote.
_____________________________
Sean Murphy opened the door to the Visiting Room and escorted the cautious Busmalis inside. Mineo slowly moved along the wall to make way for them, and Sean noted that the old man looked like he could really use a nap. With a sigh, Sean wondered if he looked the same way.
Sean spotted Norma and gave Busmalis a quick, gentle shove toward the table where she sat. Once he got moving, Busmalis practically bounced toward her. Sean tried to suppress a smile as he watched Norma's face light up.
It had been months since Sean had held the duty of monitoring the Visiting Room, and it was an assignment he always enjoyed. It was interesting to observe the inmates interacting with people other than their demoralized fellow prisoners, their disgruntled lawyers, or the weary staff. After Busmalis had settled into place, Sean looked around the room, contemplating all the different people:
Pancamo's elderly mother was poking away at him, clucking about his weight and asking if he was getting enough to eat...
(Doesn’t she remember that he runs the kitchen?)
Fiona was waving her hands in the air, involved in a heated discussion with some girl...
(Wait, that might be a guy.)
Dr. Jackson was repeatedly drumming her fingers along the tabletop, waiting impatiently for her brother...
(No surprise, Poet will be late for his own funeral.)
Guerra was draped all over his prison-groupie girlfriend...
(Better keep an eye on them.)
Busmalis and Norma were chastely holding hands and giggling...
(Still can’t believe she married him.)
And then, finally, two members of Beecher’s family were sitting as still as could be:
his mother...
(Maggie? Peggy? Virginia?)
and daughter Holly, too old for the children’s playroom now.
(Whoa, looks like she's grown a good two or three inches.)
Holly and her grandmother were both intently watching the door behind him, oblivious to their surroundings, clearly waiting for Beecher with hopeful anticipation on their faces. Sean vaguely wondered why Beecher hadn’t been the first one in line to get down here.
Suddenly, the door opened, and Tim McManus came into room, looking as flustered as ever. He walked over to Sean, red-faced and breathing heavily, and not in the way that Sean liked. Tim rubbed a shaking hand over the top of his balding head and huffed.
Their vacation was still a couple of weeks away, but Sean knew that it couldn’t come soon enough for Tim. A nice, quiet week of fishing at his dad’s old cabin upstate was just what both of them needed.
"You’re not going to believe this," Tim growled to him in a low voice. "Let’s go out in the hall to talk."
Hoping that Tim was just exercising his flair for the dramatic, Sean glanced at Mineo, who gave him a nod of acknowledgement. Tim staggered back out of the room, and Sean followed, closing the door behind him.
"What’s wrong now, Tim?"
Tim rubbed his forehead. "I just sent Beecher to the hole."
"What?!"
"He got into a big fight with one of the bikers in the cafeteria during lunch," Tim explained. "Beecher was beating the living shit out of the guy."
"Jesus, Tim, his mother and little girl are sitting in there right now, waiting to see him."
Tim put his hands on his hips. "I know that, Sean, but it’s not like I had much of a choice!" he exclaimed in exasperation. "You know how he gets!"
"Who started it?"
"I never got a chance to find out! The guards tried to break things up, and that’s when Beecher started throwing punches at them, too. He was still whaling away as they carried him off to the hole."
Sean shook his head. "By then, he'd probably realized just how badly he'd fucked up," he muttered.
"Maybe, I don’t know. It’s hard to tell with him sometimes."
"What are you going to say to his family?"
"I’m going to tell them that he’s a goddamn idiot, and it’d be best to not to visit him anymore."
"Tim… "
"Maybe that would teach him a goddamn fucking lesson."
"I really don’t think you want to do that."
"Well, Sean, maybe you can figure out what to say to them! Go ahead and explain to them just why they wasted a trip down here. Be my guest!"
Sean rolled his eyes back at Tim and stared at him for a long moment. "Fine," he said. He turned back around and opened the door. But as Sean walked into the room again, he could feel the eyes of Beecher’s family on him, and the resulting disappointment that he wasn’t the person they were waiting for.
Sean paused to collect himself and clear his throat. He slowly made his way over to their table, and both of them watched his approach with solemn eyes. Sean mentally cursed Beecher as he grabbed a nearby chair and sat down to join them.
"Hi, I’m Officer Murphy," he introduced himself. "You might’ve seen me around here before."
Beecher’s mother gave him a small, tentative smile. "I’m Victoria (Victoria! That’s right.) Beecher," she answered. "And this is my granddaughter, Holly."
Holly looked at him with her big, suspicious eyes and didn’t say anything.
Sean drew a deep breath and addressed Victoria. "I’m afraid I got some bad news. Your son seems to have to come down with a pretty bad case of the flu. It hit him hard, all of a sudden, at lunch time. Unfortunately, he’s really in no condition to receive visitors at the moment."
Sean glanced at Holly as she dropped her head down to stare at the table. Softly, he added, "I’m sorry."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Victoria purse her lips, narrow her eyes, and furrow her brow. "The flu?" she repeated.
Sean turned back to face her. "Yes, ma’am," he said with as much conviction as he could muster.
Victoria looked him straight in the eye. "I hope he will be feeling better soon."
Sean felt his stomach clench. "I’m sure he will, ma’am. These things usually run their course in a few days."
"Well, that’s good," she replied shortly. She softened her expression and looked over at Holly, who still hadn’t said a word. Holly looked back at her grandmother and, covering her mouth with her hand, mumbled something to her that Sean couldn’t quite make out.
Victoria nodded her head and looked back at Sean. "If it’s not too much trouble, perhaps you could do us a favor. Holly had made a card to give to her father. We would be very grateful if you could give it to him for her, instead."
Holly slowly pushed a square envelope across the table toward him. The envelope had originally been white, but now much of it was covered with glitter glue, colorful doodles, stickers of flowers and books and cats, and a loopy handwriting indicating it was "For Daddy."
Sean felt his throat tighten, and he looked back at Holly’s face and into her sad, damp eyes. Holly covered her mouth again, and shakily said, "Yesterday was his birthday."
Ah, that might explain a few things, thought Sean to himself. He nodded at Holly. "No problem," he replied. "I’ll be glad to do it."
Then, from behind her hand, Holly clearly replied, "Thank you."
Sean studied her for a moment, then gave her a serious look. "I have one condition, though."
Holly’s eyes grew slightly bigger.
"I want to see a smile from you before you leave. And I want it to be a nice, big one-not just a little grin."
Holly glanced at her grandmother with a look of alarm. But Victoria just looked back at Holly with her own slightly amused smile and nodded her head.
So, Holly took her hand away from her mouth and gave Sean a timid smile, revealing a mouth full of metal wire.
"Ah, that’s beautiful!" Sean told her. He paused before gently adding, "And in another year or so, it will be even more beautiful."
Holly quickly looked down again, but Sean still saw the roll of her eyes.
"She just got them last week," Victoria explained. "She’s not feeling very comfortable about them yet, as you can see."
Sean nodded his head. "It’s rough. I was lucky, I never needed them."
"None of her friends have to wear them, either," Victoria added. "At least, not yet."
Suddenly, Sean chuckled softly. "You know what?" he said to Holly. "You remind me of a certain girl I knew as a kid. She looked a lot like you-long blonde hair, blue eyes. She was quiet, too, and kinda shy."
Sean leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.
"Her name was Maureen," he continued. "Like you, Maureen had to get braces when no one else in her class had them, and of course the other kids just had to tease her. Not to be mean, really, that’s just what kids do. They started calling her Metal-Mouth Moe. She tried to keep a stiff upper lip, but you could tell it bothered her.
"Then, one day, a boy in her class had had enough, and punched another kid on her behalf. That boy got a three-day suspension from school, but no one ever called her Metal-Mouth Moe again."
Sean slowly rubbed his chin. "You may be interested to know that Maureen turned out to be the prettiest, most popular girl in school. In high school, she was elected homecoming queen, class president, valedictorian… you name it. And that boy who defended her when everyone else called her names? She went to the senior prom with him. Everyone thought he was the luckiest guy in school."
Sean leaned forward again. "Last summer, they celebrated their twentieth wedding anniversary," he said with a wink and a smile.
Holly smiled back at him, unknowingly giving him a full view of her braces in all their glory. "Let me guess," she said. "Metal-Mouth Moe is your wife."
Sean looked at her in surprise, and then started to laugh. "No," he replied, shaking his head. "No, not my wife. Maureen was my kid sister. My brother-in-law, Kevin, is her knight in shining armor."
Sean turned serious again before continuing. "Let me tell you, though, watching her go through that was tough, but I thought it was best not to interfere. I wanted her to be strong, to learn how to fight her own battles. But I still kept a close eye on the situation. I was getting ready to do something before Kevin stepped up."
Holly nodded her head in understanding. She turned to her grandmother and smiled again. "I bet Gary would’ve been like that," she said to her.
Sean froze as his blood suddenly ran cold. He had momentarily forgotten the pain that Holly had already endured in her short lifetime, and he quickly hoped that his little story hadn’t brought back upsetting memories for her or her grandmother.
But Victoria just returned her smile and nodded her head. "I bet you’re right, Holly," she agreed.
Sean pushed back his chair and stood up. "I'll make sure your dad gets your card, Holly, and I'll wish him a happy birthday on your behalf. I'm sure it'll help make him feel better."
"Thank you, Mr. Murphy," said Victoria as she stood up, too. "We'll be back next Visiting Day."
"Oh, please, call me Sean," he said with a wave of his wand. "Maybe I'll see you then."
"Sean?" inquired Holly in a small voice. "Do you mind escorting us back to the front desk?"
Sean grinned, pleased with the sudden trust he seemed to have built with her. "Of course," he replied. "I'll just have to let the big boss over there know where we're going." He glanced toward Tim.
Tim made eye contact with him and nodded, smiling. Sean could tell by the look on Tim's face that he had overheard the entire conversation.
Sean helped Holly out of her chair. Slowly, he led Holly and her grandmother across the room and out the visitors’ exit. By the time they reached the front desk, he had learned the names of Holly's cats, her favorite subjects in school, and which teen idol's posters were hanging on the walls of her bedroom.
*~*~*~*
Sean handed Tim a beer, and they both collapsed onto the couch. Sean picked up the remote control and began flipping through the channels, stopping when he found the ball game.
Tim brought the bottle up to his lips and took a good, long swig. He leaned his head back and sighed in contentment. "How much longer 'til vacation?" he asked.
Sean looked at his watch. "Twelve days, twenty-one hours, and sixteen minutes," he answered. He stuffed a pillow behind his back. "Approximately."
Tim groaned and took another drink. After a moment, he said, "Nice job with Beecher’s family today."
"Thanks," Sean replied. "They’re nice people. And they’ve had to deal with more than their fair share of crap."
"If Beecher could just get his head on straight… "
Sean raised his hand up. "Enough shop-talk, Tim."
Tim was quiet for a moment, then he turned slightly to look at Sean. "That story about Maureen... did that really happen? Or were you just making it up so that Beecher’s daughter would feel better?"
Sean gave small laugh. "Oh, that happened."
Tim shook his head. "That’s funny. I don’t remember that at all. I don’t even remember Maureen wearing braces."
"Well, that doesn’t surprise me. You were pretty clueless back then."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tim asked defensively.
Sean shifted uncomfortably and sighed. "I guess you never realized that Maureen used to have a huge crush on you when we were kids."
"What?! No she didn’t!"
"Yeah, she did."
Dumbfounded, Tim shook his head again. "She barely knew me! She always used to disappear whenever I’d come over to your house to hang out."
"Oh, no, she was still there, watching us-you just didn’t know it."
"You’re serious?"
"Absolutely." Sean grinned and playfully dug an elbow into Tim’s ribcage. "That’s why I never put any moves on you back in high school."
"Huh. How about that," grunted Tim. "I guess I was distracted by… other things," he explained.
"You missed a golden opportunity, Tim. You could’ve been Kevin," Sean declared. "You could’ve been the luckiest guy to come out of Attica Central High."
Tim reached over and tapped Sean’s hand. Quietly, he replied, "I was, Sean. I was."
THE END