Bulletproof

Epilogue – 6 years on.

After losing someone you are never the same. Flack is no exception, in fact he's probably the prime example of the rule. Short affairs, with short lifespans are the way forward for now. Safe women, women who cook him dinner, call him darling, and work in an office. Not women who are hard work and risking their lives everyday for what? A cap on top of a pine box? No, he was done with adrenaline filled, high action relationships. He'd eventually ask one of his 'safe' dates to marry him he expected, have some kids, buy a Labrador. That'd be safe, a hot dinner and a warm woman at home. He'd always preferred it the other way round, and look where that got him. He would love her, but not be in love with her, he'd treat her well, see he gave what she needed, be a good father and live his life. Make provision for the future, should he not be around to provide it. That was how Donald Flack Junior saw his life panning out from 34 onwards, he figured he needed to get a move on, he didn't want to be teaching his kids to play ball with a walking stick. Yes, he had his life planned out, what he wanted all slotted neatly into boxes.

This all started at the bust he, Danny and Mac had done over a year or so ago , Danny had kissed his photo of Lucy, Mac kissed his crucifix necklace, and Flack? Well he taken a long hard look at his badge. That was his life now, with the exception of his friends on the team and hockey, it was his passion, and always would be. But he wanted more from life, his line of work had a short life span and he couldn't see himself riding a desk until retirement, but he needed to face facts, if he lived long enough, one day he'd be a lonely ex cop, sitting in a tiny apartment, having achieved nothing more than catching some bad guys, and loving a woman, many decades before.

…...

But life didn't work like that did it? Don Flack reflected on what he'd planned, and what he'd got, and how the two were similar, almost as if it had gone to plan, yet how different his life had turned out to be.

He was married, he had two kids and he even had the Labrador. And his life was utter chaos. Nothing neatly placed in boxes, no one doing as they're supposed to. He was in love with his wife, despite her penchant for sulking and adult tantrums when she didn't get her own way. Despite his protests, she had him whipped, totally.

His son was someone who had completely changed his life, for the better. He was proud and showed it, he refused to hide behind convention like his own father had, he loved his son, and he never failed an opportunity to show it.

As for his daughter, he smiled, she was always his daughter when she was acting up, not their daughter, and there was a reason for that. He seemed to be the only one who could handle her. She was stubborn, strong willed and single minded, and so much like her mother it scared him. It was probably the reason that he could get through to her, tried and tested methods that worked with Kate also worked with Mollie.

As a family they seemed to run from one crisis to another, dog going missing, children misbehaving, wife throwing the contents of a cupboard at him. But he loved it.

He stood at the grave side. Sadness overwhelming. He would miss his Grandfather a lot, more than a lot. He was the foundation for him, the start of what he wanted from his life, seeing the tall man in the NYPD uniform, seeing how his father idolised his own father, had impacted from an early age.

"I love you Grandpa" he said, turning to leave. Taking a different path to the one he'd used when visiting his grandfather's fathers grave, he found himself in front of a worn headstone, one he hadn't seen for nearly 15 years. It still hurt.

"Life's weird huh?" he asked the settled grave "But I think you had a hand in all this Jess"

He stood for a long time, wondering what might have been, what would have happened if she'd lived. Would they have made it? Or would he have ended up with Kate anyway? Would they just be two 40-something Detectives that were always too scared to do more than have a work based relationship, or would they have more? He still loved Jess, a feeling like that could never go away, he'd realised that long ago, but that didn't mean he needed to spend his life in mourning for her, and he hadn't.

He loved Kate too. She drove him crazy, and he did her, their marriage was stable and secure but there were fireworks, regular fireworks, which were exacerbated by the arrival of two copies of their parents. The house was always a mess, it was hit and miss to whether there was an actual cooked meal to come home to, or an empty house because they were both still at work and the kids at the child minders.

He drove home slowly, pulling into the driveway he reflected that Kate would go nuts when she saw that Mollie had been digging the lawn up again. Correction, he thought, Kate was already going nuts. He could hear her as he got out of the car.

"Damn it Mollie!" he smiled as he heard the exasperated tone "Will you stop tying the dog to the fence!"

DJ waved from his bedroom window, at 6 he was already tall and promising to be broad, and an utter Mommy's boy. Mollie at 3 was screaming back at her mother.

"I want Daddy!" he heard.

"Me too!" Kate agreed back. He grinned at the possessiveness in her voice "But he's out, so we have to wait!"

"He's home" Don said warily as he came through the door to be assaulted by his daughter throwing herself at him.

"Dadeee!" she whined, burying her face in his shoulder, he could feel the crocodile tears already "Mommy shouted at me"

"Mommy shouts at everyone" he laughed.

"Hey Dad" DJ paused on the stairs, he was quiet in nature and Don wondered how, with his parentage, he was so well balanced.

"Hey bud" he smiled.

"DJ!" Kate heard him "If that laundry isn't in this basket in 10 seconds flat, it ain't gettin' washed!"

"I got it mom" he said, smiling at his father he carried a pile of dirty hockey gear to the kitchen, Don following with Mollie hanging around his neck still, sniffing loudly.

"Good boy" Kate smiled at her son, touching his face before she took it from him "Thank you, what would I do without you huh!?"

"Can I go out?" the boy asked.

"Of course" she said, but her face belied the easy tone "Not off the street though, and don't be long, dinner will be ready soon"

"You're overprotective you know" Don told her quietly.

"Huh" Kate muttered from her prone position, stuffing laundry into the machine "And you're not?!"

She straightened to look at him, Mollie turned, giving Kate a smile of pure smugness from her place in her fathers arms.

"I guess so" he smiled "I can't help it if I love you all can I?"

Kate paused, looking at him "You OK?" she asked, rubbing her back.

"Yeah" he smiled a genuine smile "Yeah I am"

"Good" she touched his face, the way she had with her son as a jingle from the TV pealed through the air.

"Ha!" Mollie shouted excitedly nearly causing Don to drop her as she bounced about "Disney! Put me down!"

"Go on then" he said fondly, setting her down.

Kate flew around the kitchen, throwing things all over the place in preparation for dinner. Don opened the fridge, taking himself a beer and sitting on the stool, watching her.

A cold nose in his hand distracted his attention, he stroked the top of the dogs head absently, adoring brown eyes looked up at him, tail wagging slowly.

"Mom!" a yell came as the front door crashed open, Don winced, that'd be some more repair work on the house. When they'd moved from the city to a bigger house in a better area, the house had been well appointed and kept. Now it was full of patches and missing bits, life with two kids he supposed.

"Yeah?" Kate shouted back.

"Dylan wants to know if I can have dinner at his house?" DJ shouted back "Can I?"

"Is it OK with his mom?" she shouted back, Don and the dog looking back and forth between them.

"She's gonna call you" he shouted "Can I?"

"If you want, one of us will come for you at eight" she said back as the phone rang.

"Hello?" she wedged the phone between her ear and shoulder, chopping vegetables awkwardly "Yeah, uh-huh. Eight yup, that's great thanks Susie"

"Anything I can do?" Don asked, half laughing.

"You been at work for twelve hours" she said, brushing hair out of her face irritably "Sit and drink beer, you're off tomorrow and I'm on the midnight tonight, your turn then" she laughed.

"Does that mean we get a couple a hours on our own tomorrow afternoon?" he asked with mock amazement. His face falling as he saw Kate's expression.

"No" she sighed, stopping what she was doing and looking at him "Shift change, back on at 4"

He sighed deeply.

"Sorry" she said with true regret "I miss you too"

"Family life" he said lightly as she turned back to cooking.

The dog yawned, sitting down next his master, nudging his leg for some attention.

The dog was the only one in the house that was sane, Don reflected.

...

Sergeant Kate Flack frowned as a bulletin flashed up on the screen of the central booking computer. Tapping a few keys she read it:

APB on Craig Lewes escaped prisoner.

Escaped at final appeal hearing.

Consider extremely dangerous.

Kate punched a few buttons, frowning. She recognised the name but couldn't remember why. She shrugged, in her time with NYPD she'd made hundreds if not thousands of arrests, and as an ESU officer and sniper, helped with many more.

Since leaving ESU and taking the sergeants position in central booking at the 12th precinct, she'd booked thousands through central booking in her 5 years, and taken her share off the street when she was assigned to the beat a few times a month. Not to mention sharing a bed with a homicide detective for nearly 9 years, pillow talk usually consisted of the day's cases and collars.

She put the bulletin out to the street beat cops by cell, then moving on to the detectives and brass via email. She looked up sharply as the doors flew open, five uniformed officers fighting with a large man, already cuffed and not happy about it. Her assisting officer in booking, Georgia, jumped up to help.

"He-ey!" Kate yelled "Calm the hell down!"

"Pig bitch!" The man said, rushing at her. She stepped smartly out of the way, allowing the other officers to bring him down.

"Real charmer aren't you" she muttered, feeling for her keys and unlocking a vacant cell "Lets see if a couple of hours in here can cool your temper"

She watched as the officers threw him to the ground, removing the cuffs and making a dash for the door. They held it shut as she locked the door soundly.

"Oh I love this job" she rolled her eyes at the now grinning uniformed officers panting in central booking "Now, who's gonna get sarge a coffee while I sort the paperwork huh?!" she grinned back.

…...

That was the last in the bulletproof series, Kate is no longer ESU and therefore, bulletproof :) Not done with this yet though. The Craig Lewes story is to be continued...