I r prolific

[serafina20]

Title: Accidentally
Author: serafina20
Rating: Brown Cortina
Pairing: Sam/Gene
Summary: Sam accidentally finds out something about the Guv. And accidents continue to happen.
Spoilers: Major for 2.08

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4



Monday morning dawned with a painful brightness and a renewing of Sam's headache. A headache brought on by the concussion and exasperated by his first cooking lesson with Gene. A cooking lesson that was little more than Sam cooking dinner as Gene sat at the table with a bottle of scotch, watching.

"Just this time," Sam had said as he set dinner on the table. "Next time, you are going to cook. Or at least help me. Got it?"

Gene had given him a smile that didn't look the least bit sincere and told him he understood.

Sam didn't believe him for a second. Still. The man had made breakfast for him, so that was something. And even if Sam didn't usually start the day with bacon and eggs, he appreciated the gesture. Plus, it wasn't as if he could gain too much weight in one day. He'd just run extra tomorrow, when he could. And dinner would be something light and easy to make. At least Gene had made the gesture.

"Morning, Sam," Annie greeted as Sam went through his desk, looking for a pen.

He glanced up and smiled, eager to continue the not-quite-awkwardness they'd had on Friday after the case closed. "Morning, Annie. How are you today?"

Her eyes went wide. "What happened?" She moved closer to him, backing him against his desk, and reached out to his forehead. "You didn't have this on Friday. Just a hurt wrist."

"It's just a scratch."

"You have stitches."

"A deep scratch." He touched the sore spot gingerly. "And a bit of a concussion."

"What happened? Another car accident."

"Well, it was a run-in with a large and unmovable object." He glanced across the office to where Gene was talking with Ray.

Annie followed his eyes. "What did he do this time?"

"Honestly, nothing much. Just gave me a little shove and I fell over. Still working off the hangover from Friday night, I guess."

She looked at him a moment, eyebrows lowered, that little wrinkle between her eyes. "You came to the station Saturday?"

He hesitated. Gene's wife leaving him obviously had to remain a secret, at least until Gene decided to let the others know. But she was always out of town for one reason or another; no reason to hide where he'd been when the accident had happened.

So, he told the truth. "I was at his home. Wife's away, I drove him home from the pub and stayed."

"So he knocked you around."

"It wasn't like that."

"I don't know, Sam. I've seen the way he throws you around. I'm just surprised this hasn't happened before. Sam, you need to be careful around him."

This was one of the reasons it hadn't worked out between them. It always seemed that no matter what he did or said, she didn't quite believe him. Of course, she had her reasons. He'd behaved like a raving loony when they first met. With everything he'd told her about the future, she had to take what he said with a grain of salt.

But this was different. "Look," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Gene knocking me about sometimes, that's just..." Foreplay, his mind supplied. His stomach tightened, and he pushed that thought away for later examination. "Just male bonding and stuff. His way of trying to exert authority. Keep me in line. But he'd never hurt me. Never... not really. Not on purpose. This was an accident. I was tired, off balance. He pushed, I fell. End of story."

"But, Sam..."

"Annie. I don't just lie there and let him pound away." And, coupled with his previous thought, that just sounded... bad. Bad enough to bring heat to his cheeks and his head spin and for him to wonder where the hell this was coming from.

Obviously, the concussion was more serious than he'd thought.

"I mean," he sputtered, "I mean that, I fight back. And it's just the way he is." He glanced over his shoulder to where Gene was.

At the same time, Gene looked up. His eyes met Sam's.

And all the sudden, Sam couldn't breath. A thrill of panic went through him. Intense and dizzying. His throat closed and palms began to sweat. His heart pounded and the headache intensified.

"Sam?" Annie's voice came to him as if through a long tunnel. "Sam, you all right?"

He blinked. Looked at her. "I'm fine. I've just... I'll be back." Sweat stinging his eyes, Sam pushed away from the desk and headed to the loo.

It was empty, blessedly. Sam went to the sink and turned the water on, sticking his head underneath. The cool water hit the back of his neck. The panic began to wash away.

He had no idea what had happened. Why he had panicked like that. There'd been nothing in Gene's look to warrant it. Nothing unusual in the situation. Just another morning at the station when no case was on their minds. Him talking with Annie, Gene with Ray. All normal. Even with his and Annie's break-up, they'd still talked to one another. Still were friendly. Gene knew that. He had nothing to be angry about. No reason to...

That thought brought Sam up short. Gene had no reason to what? What was Sam afraid that he'd do?

He turned off the water. Pulled a towel from the dispenser and wiped off his neck and face, straightening.

"God!"

Startled, Sam jumped back from the sink. His image in the mirror did the same. At the same time.

Heart pounding, he approached the mirror. Placed his hand against the cool, smooth surface.

Nothing. Just his reflection.

But for a moment, he could have sworn...

"Oi, Gladys!"

Sam jumped.

"If you're done fixing your face, we got a robbery."

"Right, Guv," Sam said, not quite able to tear his eyes from the mirror. "I'm coming."

There. The image flickered, just a moment. Replacing his image with....

"Today, Dorothy, today!"

Right. He had a job to do. Time to do it.

Comments

[serafina20.livejournal.com]

Love Sam defending Gene's actions, even if it does indeed, smack of the battered wife making excuses.

I know, it did. And that's not how their relationship is, not really. They just fight. A lot. Sam does it too. It's just how they are and it's why we love them. :)

Thank you!