Flashpoint Fic: Living with Ghosts (Greg, Ed, PG)
Title: Living with Ghosts
Characters: Greg, Ed, PG.
Word Count: 500.
Rating: PG.
Warnings: None.
Spoilers: 2x03 - Haunting the Barn.
Summary: "I’m talking about us.” Finally, Ed's eyes lay on Greg’s. “The weight we carry on our shoulders."
Written for: flashpoint_sru, Prompt #9 - Sorrow.
Disclaimer: I don't own Flashpoint.
Betas: The lovely AnaklusmostRiptide from FF and the great lillyg.
Living with Ghosts
They’d spent the last five minutes silently, sipping their steamy cups of coffee at the same table. The latest case had been especially hard for the two of them. They’d been forced to face their fears.
Greg wanted to tell Eddie that they would be able to survive the job, but the other man turned out to be the one to spill out his feelings first.
“He taught me everything I know,” Ed muttered. “He was an incredible leader, helped so many people, and then he just…” His lips trembled and he hesitated to continue as he avoided eye contact. Greg couldn’t blame him for it. Danny had been Ed’s mentor, an example to him, the best cop he’d ever known, and then he’d lost it. Greg understood that a big part of Ed’s world was falling apart and that he was looking for a new piece of safe ground to hold on to.
“Eddie…” he whispered, but the other man cut him off.
“No matter what I do… I wonder…”
“Wonder what?” Greg wanted to know. The more he knew about Ed’s exact thoughts, the more he could help him out.
Ed ran one hand over his face, like he was both exasperated and tired or fighting a situation that was unavoidable. “I wonder if it’s the right thing to do. I don’t mean for the people, because I’m very aware of how we make their lives better. I’m talking about us.” Finally, his eyes lay on Greg’s. “The weight we carry on our shoulders. Not just the deaths we’re responsible for, even if they’re very few. What about our own minds? Psychologically speaking, every time we connect with a subject and share, something clicks inside of us.”
“I know.”
“And I tell myself I can handle it, you know? It’s always hard, but usually, I find a way to move on.” Ed took a deep breath. “This time… it was different. I can’t stop thinking of him. I remember Danny and ask myself how could he end up like that? Will I someday take a gun and…?”
Again, his words hung in the air. Overwhelmed by Eddie’s passion as he spoke, Greg tried to find the right words to speak his mind. “I don’t know what to tell you. I wish I did, but… You know there will always be regrets and ghosts we can’t predict or forget about. We’ll just have to live with them.” He wasn’t giving Eddie much hope, as he could see how broken the other man was. Greg also knew that he had disappointed himself with his own answer. So he leaned in and didn’t speak as a fellow cop. He spoke from the heart, as a friend. “But as long as I’m here, buddy… you can count on me. I won’t let you fall.”
With those simple lines, the tension in Ed’s body seemed to visibly disappear. Greg nodded at Eddie’s little smile. He knew it meant, “And I’ve got your back.”
The End.
Characters: Greg, Ed, PG.
Word Count: 500.
Rating: PG.
Warnings: None.
Spoilers: 2x03 - Haunting the Barn.
Summary: "I’m talking about us.” Finally, Ed's eyes lay on Greg’s. “The weight we carry on our shoulders."
Written for: flashpoint_sru, Prompt #9 - Sorrow.
Disclaimer: I don't own Flashpoint.
Betas: The lovely AnaklusmostRiptide from FF and the great lillyg.
Living with Ghosts
They’d spent the last five minutes silently, sipping their steamy cups of coffee at the same table. The latest case had been especially hard for the two of them. They’d been forced to face their fears.
Greg wanted to tell Eddie that they would be able to survive the job, but the other man turned out to be the one to spill out his feelings first.
“He taught me everything I know,” Ed muttered. “He was an incredible leader, helped so many people, and then he just…” His lips trembled and he hesitated to continue as he avoided eye contact. Greg couldn’t blame him for it. Danny had been Ed’s mentor, an example to him, the best cop he’d ever known, and then he’d lost it. Greg understood that a big part of Ed’s world was falling apart and that he was looking for a new piece of safe ground to hold on to.
“Eddie…” he whispered, but the other man cut him off.
“No matter what I do… I wonder…”
“Wonder what?” Greg wanted to know. The more he knew about Ed’s exact thoughts, the more he could help him out.
Ed ran one hand over his face, like he was both exasperated and tired or fighting a situation that was unavoidable. “I wonder if it’s the right thing to do. I don’t mean for the people, because I’m very aware of how we make their lives better. I’m talking about us.” Finally, his eyes lay on Greg’s. “The weight we carry on our shoulders. Not just the deaths we’re responsible for, even if they’re very few. What about our own minds? Psychologically speaking, every time we connect with a subject and share, something clicks inside of us.”
“I know.”
“And I tell myself I can handle it, you know? It’s always hard, but usually, I find a way to move on.” Ed took a deep breath. “This time… it was different. I can’t stop thinking of him. I remember Danny and ask myself how could he end up like that? Will I someday take a gun and…?”
Again, his words hung in the air. Overwhelmed by Eddie’s passion as he spoke, Greg tried to find the right words to speak his mind. “I don’t know what to tell you. I wish I did, but… You know there will always be regrets and ghosts we can’t predict or forget about. We’ll just have to live with them.” He wasn’t giving Eddie much hope, as he could see how broken the other man was. Greg also knew that he had disappointed himself with his own answer. So he leaned in and didn’t speak as a fellow cop. He spoke from the heart, as a friend. “But as long as I’m here, buddy… you can count on me. I won’t let you fall.”
With those simple lines, the tension in Ed’s body seemed to visibly disappear. Greg nodded at Eddie’s little smile. He knew it meant, “And I’ve got your back.”
The End.