Holding On - Part 5

Dawnmei has inspired me to add another section. I've been going through a dry spell, so I figured I'd seize the moment.

***************

McCall knew without even hearing his words that her partner was thoroughly annoyed. And she knew why. But she honestly thought it really wasn't such a big deal. But his self-righteous air of superiority was starting to piss her off.

The suspect, Hayden Lewis, was hiding in the alley, and they split up, north and south, to flush him out. As she recalled the events that had occurred less than hour earlier, she could already feel her heart beat faster as she remembered seeing Lewis emerge from behind the dumpster, aiming his .22 Rueger at Hunter's back.

"Hunter!" she screamed, a split second before she fired her own 9 mm semi-automatic. She watched in horror as Lewis fell over, dead, with her single shot. Time seemed to stand still as Hunter moved in slow motion toward the body while she kept both hands on her pistol in anticipation of Lewis to stop playing dead.

But her gaze was interrupted by Hunter's own squint as he looked at her with a combined look of gratitude -- and anger. She broke the cardinal rule. She should have shot first, announced herself later. And at that, she didn't yell "Police" or "LAPD" as was written in the rule book. She was lucky, as was Hunter, that she had been quick on the trigger after screaming Hunter's name, alerting Lewis to their presence.

"When partners care too much about each other, bad things can happen," Hunter snapped at McCall as she rolled her eyes at him in between bites of chicken with cashew nuts. Despite his annoyance with her, it certainly didn't hinder her appetite.

"Hunter, partners are supposed to care about each other," she argued.

She was grateful for the ringing phone, breaking up what was soon going to escalate into a full-scale argument. But as he carried on a brief conversation with the person on the other end of the phone, she rationalized that perhaps, he had a point.

He glared at her as he hung up the phone. It was time to acquiesce, she decided. It wasn't worth all the negative energy between them.

"All you have to do is tell me not to do it again, and I won't," McCall instructed. Despite her admission of wrongdoing, she was close to losing her patience with him. She did not like being lectured, especially by him.

"Okay, don't do it again."

"Okay, I won't," she retorted, having to get the last word in. She was rewarded with his boyish grin. All was forgiven. He couldn't stay angry with her for long. He left to retrieve his drunken friend, and left her in his house, surrounded by containers from the Hunan House.

"Eat all this food," he ordered as he grabbed his favorite light blue sportcoat. She made a mental note to buy him a new one for Christmas.

"I not going to eat all of this," she protested.

"And clean it all up. Everything. Clean all of this up," he teased as he gestured around his living room.

Like hell. She rewarded him with a roll of her eyes as she laughed at his joke. And she made another mental note to herself to trash the living room before she left.

--------------------------

McCall could only stare at her new captain in disbelief. The stout Irishman stared back, his face reddening as she started to argue her point. Seperated? She and Hunter were splitsville? It couldn't be. To McCall, it was as if she was being handed divorce papers. She felt the nerves in her chin begin to tingle as she fought the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes.

Finally, she turned, hands on her hips, shaking her head in disbelief. She wouldn't allow Captain Devane to see her in tears. It was hard enough being a woman on the force without being labeled an emotional wreck. With a deep breath, she turned again on her heel and stared him down with the best look her dark eyes could offer.

"Captain, I can't believe you're telling me this," McCall heard herself say.

"McCall, you and Hunter are getting too close," Devane tried to explain. He told her about how it was dangerous. That there would be no long-term partnerships while he was in command of L.A. Metro Homicide. His words echoed in her ears, meaningless, making her bristle with anger. It all made sense now.

Hunter squealed. It had nothing to do with long-term partnerships and friendships. Hunter was still mad at her. And he didn't have the balls to tell her to her face.

Coslin's name snapped her out of her fury. Coslin? Her new partner? The day just couldn't get any better.

While he was cute, and the same age as McCall, in her opinion, the boy was a greenhorn. He puked in a cruiser after a hostage crisis, for godsake. His experience entailed only public relations and computers, immediately giving McCall a bad taste in her mouth for this entire snafu. It would be like babysitting.

She bit the inside of her lip as she came to the realization that Devane was not going to budge. Damn that Hunter. How could he do this? Especially after last night, when she thought their little spat was over. It was all a ruse. A lie.

He didn't want her anymore.