Partners

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Good news traveled fast, but it appeared that bad news traveled even faster. It seemed that everyone at the precinct knew about the break up when Chad walked back out the doors of Metro, judging from the looks he was getting which ranged from malicious amusement to outright disgust. He dreaded having to go home, not knowing if he’d find Andrea there or not – he hadn’t even thought of what would happen after he’d achieved his goal.

He found Andrea’s Jeep parked alongside the curb with a few boxes already piled on the passenger seat, and Chad slowly walked up the driveway just as the door opened and she came out with another box in her arms. “Let me help you with that,” he said automatically, reaching for it and flinching when she drew back with a hurt expression on her face. The door was nosed open by Meredith, who came to sit between them wagging his tail hopefully.

“It’s nice that, after all we’ve been through together, you’re so eager to get rid of me that you actually want to help me leave,” Andrea said, her eyes narrowing. “Get out of my way.”

“Andy, can’t we just-”

“Can’t we just what, Chad? Can’t we just pretend that it’s okay that you’ve probably been fucking your ex-wife for who-knows-how-long? Sorry, but no. Now get out of my way,” she hissed. If looks could kill, she probably could have taken out an entire city block with the glare she aimed at him.

“But it’s not like that,” he tried, the urge to tell her the truth welling up inside him again.

Her anger dissolved into a look of such defeated sadness, it felt like someone had clamped a vise around his chest and was squeezing so hard he could barely breathe. “I don’t want to talk to you right now, Chad. Right now I want to put this in my car, and I want to leave. Please just move so I can go?”

Chad shifted to allow her to go by and Meredith pushed past his legs to follow Andrea to her car, obviously remembering their moving day when she’d allowed the pitbull to ride with her when she moved her things from her old apartment, and expecting to be taken along. “Andrea,” he called after her as she put the last box in the back and circled around to get in the driver’s seat. Chad felt the beginnings of tears start to sting behind his eyes, and he blinked rapidly to curb the impulse – he couldn’t afford to indulge in self-pity, however tempting it might be.

Andrea looked back over her shoulder at him, and started the car. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected her to do, but it sure hadn’t been to look at him like that. She turned her gaze to the street and started to drive away, his world dropping out from under him just a little more the farther away she got. Meredith trotted after her, and then broke into a run as he realized that he was being left behind – Chad felt like doing the same thing, but his feet felt as if they were rooted to the steps of the house. The Jeep’s taillights receded into the distance and down the street Meredith gave up the chase, settling on his haunches in the middle of the street and howling after her. Chad sat down on the front steps and waited to push the door open with his fingertips when Meredith finally slunk back up to him, whining. “Don’t look at me like that.”

Meredith went inside and Chad climbed to his feet slowly to follow. The house felt so empty without Andrea there to harass him about throwing away the pile of advertising circulars she had no intention of reading anyway, or tease him about the way he always made the bed so neatly because it was a habit left over from boot camp. And, of course, there’d be no Andrea to steal all the sheets in the middle of the night because she was cold.

He walked through the house, picking up the things Andrea had left on the floor in her rush to be gone before he came home and mentally itemizing each thing that she took in case that gave him an excuse to go after her and demand its return, thus forcing her to interact with him. Stopping at the bedroom closet, he reached for one of the suits he couldn’t fit in anymore and drew the small ring box out of the inside pocket. Chad studied the engagement ring closely for a few minutes, then slid it back into the velvet-lined box and put it back in the jacket pocket – there was no need for him to even think about it, anymore.

Trying to turn his attention back to the danger that Detweiler represented, Chad brought out the folder he’d taken from IA and went through it several times before dropping the whole thing into a box and shoving it in the closet where he didn’t have to see it. If Andrea were there, they’d be nearly finished with dinner already and thinking about how they were going to spend the rest of the evening – they’d most likely end up sprawled out on the couch together, Andrea turning on the TV while he flipped through a book and made rude comments about whatever it was she was watching. Then they’d walk Meredith together and go inside where Andrea would tease him by undressing very slowly, and…

Chad smiled humorlessly at his reflection in the bottle of bourbon he found himself holding, and poured a glass. “Here’s to me.”


_ _ _ _ _ _


She hadn’t even been sure of where she was going until she found herself pulling into the driveway of her father’s house. Knocking on the door, she braced herself for the inevitable explosion when he found out why she was there. “Hey, Dad,” Andrea said awkwardly when he opened the door. “You still got that extra room?” Within minutes he pried the whole story out of her, and Joseph Battle was nearly ready to lead a group of their relatives to beat the living daylights out of Chad, saying that it was an insult to ‘Battles everywhere’. “That’s not going to solve anything, Dad.”

Joe glared at her. “It’d make me feel a lot better,” he argued. “In fact, your brother…”

“…isn’t involved in this, and will stay out of it. You know he’s never really gotten over the fact that Chad was once IA,” Andrea said tiredly. “Look, can I just bring my stuff in and get some sleep? It’ll only be for a few days until I figure out what to do next.”

Her father drew breath for more castigation of Chad’s character, but let it out with a noisy sigh when he saw how distressed she was becoming. “You go on to bed and I’ll bring your things in, sweetheart.” He kissed her forehead and sent her off down the hall, and Andrea quickly showered before changing into the long shirt she sometimes used for pajamas…the tears she’d managed to hold at bay finally started sliding down her cheeks when she realized that the shirt had been one of Chad’s before she’d appropriated it for her own use.

She wrapped her arms around herself, curling up into a ball underneath the covers. Why is this happening? We were supposed to be happy, Andrea thought miserably. Any minute now, she’d wake up and find that the entire day had just been a nightmare – she was going to wake up, and Chad would be there, and he’d hold her in his arms and tell her she was being silly if she thought he’d ever look at someone else… Andrea sobbed into the pillow as the memory of Chad and Rita’s embrace resurfaced in her mind; she hardly registered it when the door opened and her father came in to take her in his arms with only a hint of the awkwardness he usually displayed when dealing with ‘female emotions.’

When she’d finally cried herself out, Andrea was exhausted and had a headache that felt as though a construction crew was building a parking garage between her ears. “Sorry,” she snuffled.

Her father just smoothed her hair back from her forehead and offered her the tissue box he’d apparently brought in with him. “Are you sure we shouldn’t go on over there and-”

She blew her nose loudly. “No, Dad.”

After blowing her nose for what had to be the hundredth time and going for her sinus medication, Andrea came back to bed and let her father tuck her in. “I…I know I should be better at this, but your mother always…she’d have known what to do,” Joe said, stroking her hair.

Andrea managed a smile. “You’ve always done just fine, Dad.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to-”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Well, if he thinks he can mess around on my little girl, he’s got another thing coming. You sleep in as late as you want tomorrow, I’ll make sure your brother doesn’t wake you up.” Joe stood up to leave after placing another kiss on her temple and pulling the covers up over her; Andrea drifted off into an uneasy sleep without hearing the sound of a car pulling out of the driveway.

In the days that followed, she found an insanely expensive apartment that would do for a short-time solution to her housing problem until she could get up the courage to go talk to Chad about it…she didn’t trust herself not to either break down in tears in front of him, or beat him senseless. Hopper was taking pains to never mention Rita around her, and Andrea didn’t feel up to finding out exactly what her partner’s girlfriend was up to these days – knowing her, she’d most likely spun the story so that it was only a friendly embrace and Hopper had fallen for it like always. He hadn’t been there to see her jump away from Chad like a child with a hand caught in the cookie jar.

Coming to a sudden decision, Andrea stood up from her desk. “I’ll be on 2 if you need me,” she said, her voice sounding a great deal calmer than she felt.

Hoppe looked up in surprise. “Are you…are you sure? If you need something from that jerk, I can get it for you.”

“No, it’s something I need to do for myself… but thanks.” She took a deep breath as she stepped onto the elevator. She hadn’t been up to IA ever since the day she’d come up to ask Haight where Chad was, and then found him in Rita’s arms. Haight looked up from his desk when she stopped in front of him, her heart pounding. “Is he in there…?”

Haight shook his head. “Didn’t he tell-” he bit his lip and started again. “Preisser’s back, so the lieutenant went back to 6th street.”

“Oh,” she said, feeling stupid. “Of course he did…thanks.”

The other man smiled at her sadly. “Sure thing, Detective. Listen, I’m really sorry about…what happened.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Haight,” Andrea said, knowing how guilty he felt over essentially pointing the way to Chad with Rita when he’d told her that Chad had gone to the hospital.

“Still…I’m sorry.”

“Me too.” With another forced smile, Andrea left to go back down to Narcotics and ignored the murmurs of the people behind her.


_ _ _ _ _ _ _


Chad read through the arrest report one last time before signing it and reaching for another file just as Steve Romero came through the door. “I see they finally let you go,” the senior lieutenant said by way of greeting, sitting down in a nearby chair.

“And I see that no one’s filed these properly,” Chad responded, hoping the other man wouldn’t want to talk about Andrea. He needed a drink.

“Maybe fixing other people’s mistakes will make you realize that you need to fix yours.”

Damn it. “I don’t feel like talking about it, Steve.”

“What the hell’s wrong with you, Shelten? I don’t believe for a second that you cheated on that girl, and I sure as hell don’t believe that you don’t care that she left you.”

Chad was taken aback – most of the team hardly wanted anything to do with him ever since the news had started circulating. Was he truly that transparent? “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Steve leaned back in his seat to close the door and fixed him with a glare. “You put on a good enough act and I can appreciate that you think you’ve got a good reason for it, but the next time I catch you coming in here smelling like a liquor cabinet I will throw you off the team so fast your head’ll spin.” He waited for Chad’s mouth to open and close in surprise, then leaned forward again. “Whatever’s going on in that pea brain of yours is your business – but if you want to tell me about anything, now’s the time.”

Rubbing a hand over his face, Chad sighed. “If it was only about wanting to tell you…or anyone else…” He looked back at the other man. “I bought her a ring, Steve.”

Whatever Steve had been expecting Chad to say, that clearly wasn’t it. “Hunh. Why didn’t you give it to her?”

Chad shook his head. “I can’t. Look, I shouldn’t have said anything – forget it.”

“You can’t tell me something like that and expect me to forget it,” Steve said angrily. “What the hell’s wrong with you? Did you cheat on her or didn’t you?”

“She thinks I did, and that’s what’s important. Haven’t you ever had to do something you didn’t like because you thought it was the right thing to do?”

“I’ve been married three times and you’re asking me this?”

Despite himself, Chad grinned. “Yeah, I should know better.” Sobering, he reached for the stack of files again. “If I could tell you, I would.”

Steve shook his head. “But you think you can’t, so you won’t.”

“Something like that,” Chad sighed.

The senior lieutenant got to his feet, shaking his head again. “Since it’s so damned important for the rest of ‘em to think you can’t keep it in your pants, I won’t let on that I know anything different…but my warning still stands. SWAT’s got no place for a drunk, no matter what you’ve got going on in your personal life right now. Sober up or get out, Lieutenant.”

“Yes, sir.” Chad stared down at the arrest reports as the other man left, angry that he’d lowered his guard enough to allow himself to confess even a little of his problems. Knowing Detweiler, the man would be in contact with him any day now and Chad needed to stay on guard to conceal any perceived weaknesses.

Faith came in to collect his gear for cleaning in the Cage, and he noticed she was limping slightly. “It’s nothing, I just wrenched last week,” she said stiffly in response to his look, still offended at the way he’d spoken to her about Andrea.

“Have you been to the doctor?” Chad asked, knowing she hadn’t.

“Yes.”

“Liar.”

She looked down to conceal a smile, and looked back up at him. “Steve just told me to go easy on you. Does he know something I don’t?”

“No.”

“Now who’s the liar?”

“Faith…”

His partner tilted her head, brushing the hair she’d just dyed bright red out of her eyes as she looked at him. “There’s something going on with you, and I’m gonna find out what it is.”

“Good luck with that,” Chad said, wondering what tricks she’d play on him to make him talk – knowing Faith, she already had a plan or two in mind.

She grinned and stood up with his helmet tucked under her arm as he went back to the paperwork. “I have to say I’m pretty interested in what would make you lie to Andrea like that.”

“You can be interested in it all you want, but that doesn’t mean I’ll tell you.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Chad realized what he’d just implied and his head snapped up. “Because there’s nothing to tell since I didn’t lie.”

Faith was nearly bouncing up and down, crowing “I knew it!” and Chad could have kicked himself – this was the second time in nearly as many minutes that he’d nearly ruined his plans. “I knew you’d never…oh, I gotta go tell Justi-”

He cut her off by slamming a hand down on the desk. “You’re not telling anyone anything,” Chad growled. After doing some fast talking and managing to convince her that keeping silent was the best thing for everyone, Faith was pissed at him again and stomped back out the door while he pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers wearily. His phone rang suddenly, and he seized upon it as a welcome distraction. “Shelten.”

“Well, well – Shelten. It’s been far too long. Corner of Olympic and Hope, nine o’clock,” Detweiler’s voice said. “Don’t be late.” The line went dead and Chad hung up the phone slowly, his mind racing. The game had begun.


tbc…
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