© Karrie V. 2012
Disclaimers: None. The characters in this story come from my imagination and belong to the author. So if you recognize any of them it's pure coincidence. J
Violence: Yes but not too graphic.
Love/Sex Warning/Disclaimer: This story involves both love and sex between two adult women. If you're under 18 or if this type of story is illegal in the state or country in which you live, please do not read it.
Feedback: I enjoy hearing from people good or bad! If you have a comment or a question please let me know. Specific feedback is greatly appreciated. This is my first time at writing any sort of fiction and therefore would love to hear from you and whether or not you want to get to know these characters below better. You can email me klvach@yahoo.com
Part 2
March 31, 2012 - 11PM – Los Angeles, CA – Kate's Apt
As Kate walked into her home she was greeted by her dog, Mikey. He jumped up and began licking her like crazy, greeting his owner as if he hadn't seen her in days. While giving him some love, she turned off her alarm and walked toward the kitchen for a drink of water. She was utterly exhausted after being on set for over 12 hours. Having never been on a movie set before, she was pretty shocked by the amount of work that was done and how quick the pace was. She felt her leg ache again from having to stand so long and proceeded to the bedroom to get some pain medication. As she walked into the bedroom and headed toward the bathroom, Kate looked over to her clock on the nightstand and couldn't believe that she had to be up in just 6 hours to be back on set. She stripped her clothes off and discarded them in the hamper just before she hopped in the shower. She felt dirty and grimy from the day and couldn't wait to feel clean again. Five minutes later Kate walked back into the bedroom and began her night time routine of laying out all of her clothes and items for the following day. Her father had instilled that in her at an early age and she found it not only very useful and efficient but also relaxing and calming. Once she was all finished she collapsed into bed and within seconds Mikey had hopped up assuming his position beside her. As she lay in the dark stroking his hair she began reviewing the events of the day.
In the morning once the introductions to the cast and crew were finished by Peggy, she was given a script and shown to a trailer in which she could read it right away. They gave her only an hour before she was thrown into the craziness of the actual production. As Kate read the script over she could see why the big wigs wanted a professional on the job. There was a lot going on in the storyline. It had stakeouts, hand to hand combat, shootouts, political corruption, stings gone bad, etc. Only a real cop would know the proper knowledge for such intricate situations. Of course Kate would be making some modifications since she couldn't give all of the department's secrets away, but she promised Peggy that she would give as close to the real deal as she could.
Kate was quite intrigued with the two lead characters, Dustin Walker and Allison Jones. Allison's background was quite different from her own and Kate would readily admit to anyone that there really weren't many female police officers that had a life and family like hers. Kate had always been a straight shooter, even at a young age. You always knew where she stood, whether you liked it or not. Coming from a large Italian family, she definitely wasn't shy and her humor could often be described as a little wicked. She was the youngest and only girl of the Nuccio clan, so she learned very quickly how to survive in this world with a lot of elbow grease and good morals. Having had a traditional family, Kate was proud to follow in the family tradition of joining law enforcement. Her grandfather was a captain in New Jersey , her father a Detective and all three of her brothers even became police officers in their own time. The last was Kate. It wasn't a big shocker when the day after her High School Graduation she walked through the front door and at the young age of 18 announced her life long career choice. The real shocker came when she announced she was moving to Los Angeles to become a part of the L.A.P.D and not the N.J.P.D. The crestfallen faces of her family did not go unnoticed by the tall brunette and as sad as she was to leave, she knew that it was something she just had to do. Her parents were very concerned with her moving so far away and to a town she'd only visited once as a child. After many long nights of discussion they had approached Kate with a proposition of sorts. They offered to fully support her financially in Los Angeles as long as she went to college first. Kate was stunned by the offer and happily agreed knowing full well that the more experience she could gain, the better. It gave her time to familiarize herself with the city and build a strong foundation in the City of Angels . She finished college in 4 years and on the eve of her 21 st birthday she found out that she passed the written test for the LAPD.
She met Mark during training and they became fast friends. As they moved up the LAPD ladder they kept in touch and when they both became Detective III's they were thrilled to learn they would finally become actual partners in crime. They became known as the new Scully & Mulder and wore the nicknames proud. When she moved into her new home, Mark and his wife were the ones who helped her move in and when Mark's wife went into labor, she was the first call they made, even before their parents. For the first time in a long time, she had been moved to tears when they asked her to be the Godmother of their first born child.
With a heavy sigh Kate had to admit that the relationship between the partners on the show was very much how hers had been with Mark, except for the fact that she and Mark were never romantically involved. They were supportive of each other, honest, respectful and in the end, had become family. They seemed to always be on the same wave length, even till the very end. The fact that in the script the lead character also loses her partner didn't help matters much. She was shocked to read that portion and could relate with the character of Madge. It was hard for her to read, still feeling the loss of her partner so profoundly. It may have been over a year since his death but….well, if you asked her, it had only been a little over a year since his death.
Her thoughts lingered on that painful and heart-wrenching time. The incident may have happened over a year ago but the memories were fresh in her mind. And as sleep took her, her dreams were filled with memories of that day.
It was Memorial Day weekend and she and Mark were throwing their annual barbeque. Everybody in the precinct was looking forward to it. Even her family planned on coming this time around, all of them excited to finally meet Mark's newest member of the family. His child had just turned 8 months old and they knew from the pictures that he was the spitting image of his Daddy. Kate was thrilled beyond belief to finally have her entire family come out to Los Angeles . She, of all people, knew how hard it was to get time off as a police officer, so for all three of her law enforcement brothers to get the time off was just short of a miracle. To top it off, her parents decided to fly in as well and make it one big happy family reunion. The prospect of having all of the people she cared most deeply about in all of the world in one room was unfathomable. She had decided to take the whole week off hoping to spend a little extra time with her brother's families. Little did she know that instead of her family coming together for a happy celebration it would end up being a tragedy.
Her house was bustling with friends and family. Everybody was having a grand time and of course, little 8 month old Mark Xavier was stealing the show. She and Mark were grilling the hot dogs and hamburgers when both of their cells went off. It was a 911 page from the station. With a sigh, Kate went into the house to return the page. It turned out that a suspect she and Mark had been tracking for a double homicide the last 6 months was spotted not three blocks from the station and being followed by a squad car awaiting orders. As the lead officers on the case, it was their call on how to proceed. Kate figured it wouldn't take took long to nab the violent criminal and hopefully be back in time for dessert. Seeing how happy Mark was showing off his son, she approached him preparing to give him an out.
As Mark saw her walk up he asked, “So what's up?”
“It seems they spotted Jose Ramirez and are trailing him as we speak,” she replied.
“No kidding! Where did they catch the little shit?”
“Honey, watch your language!” his wife chastised.
“Sorry sweetie,” he replied.
Kate jumped in, “Anyways, I figured I'd just swing on down and check it out myself and if it looks good, take him in. It shouldn't take too long and I can be back by dessert. Why don't you stick around and watch over everything for me here?”
“I don't think so partner, I've been waiting a long time to finally get this guy behind bars.”
“Well if we both go who's gonna hold down the fort?”
Mark looked over towards Kate's father, Tony, and called him over.
Tony looked at the anxious faces in front of him and asked with a twinkle in his eyes, “What's going on you two; you looking for trouble again?”
Kate chuckled in reply, “Now Dad, as I've told you before, I never LOOK for trouble; trouble just seems to always find me.”
Without a beat Mark chimed in, “Now, you know Mr. Nuccio, I always have Kate's back…we were hoping you could hold the fort down while we go nab a bad guy and then we will have a really great story to tell when we come back!?!”
Tony couldn't help but laugh at the two of them. His daughter was lucky to have a partner like Mark and he thanked God every day that she had someone looking after her and caring for her the way he did when he wasn't around.
Tony waited a beat before letting them off the hook and told them to go “play cop”.
Little did he know that it would be the last time he would ever see Mark and the last time he would see that sparkle in his daughter's eyes.
Mark and Kate got to the station within 20 minutes, then rushed to change clothes and go get the murderer.
They radioed the car following Jose Ramirez and were given directions to the house where Jose was hiding out. As they surrounded the house, Kate and Mark decided to take the lead in front and slowly approached the front door. So in tune with each other Mark nodded to Kate and internally counted down by 3…2...1. Mark bolted open the door as Kate charged in, gun drawn. Mark quickly followed with his gun at the ready. As they swept the first room and found nothing, they began searching the kitchen and then onto the bedrooms. As Kate took the lead into the hallway Mark was right behind her. They both heard a window open in the bedroom and quickly barged into the room. Kate slammed the door open and saw Jose scurrying out of the window. Both she and Mark screamed for him to stop. As Jose turned around to the screams, he reached for the gun in his pants, ready to shoot.
Time froze for Kate as the door to the bathroom behind them slammed open and one of Jose's goons started shooting. Pure instinct drove her now. Her trust in Mark was so absolute that she never even turned around, kept her composure and fired 2 shots at Jose Ramirez. The shots propelled him out the window, taking him down, but not before Jose got a round off himself. Kate heard several shots behind her being fired and once she saw Jose fall out the window completely, everything came back to real time for her and she felt a hot burning sensation rip through her leg. Taking quick stock of herself, she knew she had been shot in the leg and that's when the silence in the room seemed eerily deafening. As she turned around to check on her partner, what greeted her was the most horrific sight she thought she would ever see in her life. Both Mark and the man he shot were down on the ground bleeding. Kate quickly ran over to assess Mark's wounds. She saw that he had been hit 3 times, once in the chest, which thankfully was saved by his bullet proof vest. Another one hit his arm and the last one seemed worst of all. It hit right under his arm pit and appeared to be very bad by the amount of blood gushing out.
Kate immediately put pressure on the wound and radioed for an ambulance. She was trying to figure out how things had gone so wrong, so quickly, when she heard a moan in front of her and saw the man Mark had shot stumble upon his knees with blood gushing from his chest wound and grab his gun from the floor. Without hesitation, Kate pulled her gun from her holster again and fired one shot between the man's eyes. As he began to fall, several other officers ran into the room and took care of the fallen murderers while Kate kept her hands firm on Mark's wounds.
She could see Mark was fading fast, his face very pale now and he began to cough up blood. He looked into her eyes and reached up to hold her hand.
Kate became frantic at the sight of her best friend and partner in crime dying in front of her and began begging, “Hold on Mark…please hold on…come on partner... you can do it…the ambulance is almost here, ok!?!”
Several officers looked on with knowing expressions and just bowed their heads in prayer.
Mark could only whisper back, “K-Kate ppplease take care of Molly and Little Mark…pplease?”
Tears began to well up in Kate's eyes as she responded, “Don't you dare leave me with poopy diapers! Mark, you know how I hate poopy diapers! Molly needs you, buddy, and so does Little Mark and so do I, ok?”
Mark let out a little chuckle before he let out the last words Kate would ever hear from him ever again...“You were the best partner I've ever had, ya know?…Love you…Kate…K-Kate tell them I love them…p-promise me you'll tell them? P-Please…?”
As Kate looked into her partner's eyes she nodded her head and said, “I promise...I promise.”
Mark squeezed her hand one last time and then lost consciousness. The paramedics came moments later and took Mark directly to the hospital. Still in shock, Kate was checked out by the EMT's for her leg wound. It was the first time she had ever been shot and if not for the numbness that over took her from holding Mark's lifeless body in her arms, she was sure that she would be feeling a lot more pain. Her clothes were sticky and drenched with blood, the majority of it from Mark. Everything that happened next was a blur, the ambulance ride to the hospital, her parents by her bedside, her demand to be released to see if Mark was ok, the doctors promising updates on Mark's surgery, the doctor coming out to say that the injuries were worse than expected and that she would need surgery immediately, and waking up to her parents forlorn faces and knowing in her heart that Mark was gone. Mark was gone. He had been watching her back for 3 years and now he was gone. Not even six hours earlier they were at her home laughing and grilling hot dogs, but now there would be no more get-togethers, no more poker nights, no more family dinners because her partner, her best friend and brother was gone.
Her entire family stayed for the funeral and offered as much support as possible to Mark's family and Kate. Kate's mother even stayed an extra week, seeing how hard her daughter was taking his loss and also to help with the baby, knowing how difficult it had to be for Molly, being a first time mother and now, new widow. It was a tough adjustment for all and as the days and weeks went on, Kate took on a level of shame, guilt and blame for his death. What made it worse was that she had a reminder of that horrific time every single day because of her leg injury. The bullet that hit her was in an area of her leg that could be even more damaged if surgically removed and therefore, the doctors had decided to leave it in until it migrated to a safer area. She had to have physical therapy weekly and had attained a prominent limp from the entire experience.
Throughout her days and haunted dreams, Kate kept replaying that tragic day over and over, seeing so many moments in which she could've changed fate. After a month off, Kate was itching to get back to work and was thrilled when she got cleared from the doctors to return. Even though it was only desk duty, she was happy to be back in a more familiar environment and daily structure. The moment she sat in her desk and looked up to see Mark's empty desk space she had a panic attack and had to run to the bathroom to throw up. It took her a week to finally gain her composure and not leave her desk every morning when she glanced over. She decided to focus solely on work after that and thought she had been doing a pretty good job dealing until she received a firm slap on the wrist from her captain about not going to all of her mandatory shrink appointments. It was just too hard for her to keep re-living that day. So, she swore to him that she would be stronger and better than ever. She realized she had allowed herself to get too personal with work and promised herself to never get that close to a partner ever again, not realizing that the barrier blocked her from anybody's and everybody's love and trust. She would never be able to trust again and she certainly didn't want to feel anything. She found life was easier to manage this way and felt a sense of control over her life that she had yearned for since his death. Yet, in the deep, dark recesses of her dreams, something formed and she saw green eyes looking down at her and for the first time, in a long time, her heart didn't have the strength to look away.
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