Work Text:
Walsh finds out Schraeger’s secret on a Thursday.
Given the choice, Walsh would have preferred to never find out, considering he paid the price for it with blood on his hands, his shirt cuffs, and the knees of his pants. Weeks later Walsh was tying his left shoe and noticed blood in one of the eyelets. He froze for a second, until Schraeger kicked him lightly in the ass and said “Well, hey, if you’re down there, how about picking up the pen I dropped yesterday?”
Walsh had laughed it off and Schraeger had smiled and said “No, really. I dropped my favorite pen under my desk and uh. I can’t…it’s. You know. Reaching. And stuff. “She made a face; one that he was learning meant “I can totally do this myself. I choose to let you help me. “
It was a nice pen.
Silver, good weight to it, but not too heavy. Walsh handed it back to her with a smirk that he hoped hid the familiar cold sliver of guilt trickling down his spine. Desk detail for Schraeger until she was cleared for duty and he’d been avoiding her while trying to look like he wasn’t avoiding her. Walsh knows he’s not fooling her. And he sure isn’t fooling the Sarge, who kept coming into the squad room at looking at Walsh and then looking at Schraeger and then leaving.
Walsh caught Delahoy chatting up Schraeger the other day, half sitting on her desk, while she leaned back in her chair, clearly amused about something. They both stop talking when he walked in the squad room. Walsh pretends not to notice the eyebrow Delahoy quirked in his direction and Schraeger’s half shrug. Delahoy clapped Schraeger on the shoulder (the one that doesn’t have a hole in it) and meandered back to his desk but not before managing to kick Walsh’s chair accidentally on purpose.
When Eric Delahoy thinks you’re being a dick, you’ve got problems.
The pen‘s engraved. To: Casey, With Love: Dad and Mom.
He gave it back to her and tried on a smile. It felt a little shaky, but got stronger when Schraeger snatched the pen back and told him if he wanted to spend that much time on his knees, Delahoy was in serious need of a blowjob.
**
It goes down like this:
They’re taking a door, Schraeger’s fifth and Walsh can still see the first door in her eyes when she looks at him in the hallway of some 10th floor walk up. This time it’s some wannabe skinhead asshole whose buddy gave him up to get out of a drug charge. Banks is sweating up a storm next to Schraeger, adjusting his vest every ten seconds and telling quietly telling Delahoy that he knows, he knows that his racist asshole is going to take him out today and would Delahoy please kill that fucker for him when it happens please?
The door goes down and it all happens so fast. Walsh is through the door, yelling “NYPD! NYPD!” and Schraeger is right behind him, covering his ass, moving with him, next to him, gun out and searching. Racist Asshole -- AKA Jimmy Carraway, AKA Dumb fucker who told all his friends he was going to bomb a predominantly black church – is sitting on his couch in his boxers about to smoke a bowl while he enjoys an episode of Golden Girls. Jimmy’s mouth drops open and puts his hands up, dirty white rocks falling from the pipe onto the couch.
That’s when Jimmy’s heretofore unknown live-in girlfriend makes an appearance. She’s got a .9 mill, meth face, and eyes for Banks.
Walsh hears Schraeger’s sharp intake of breath before the shooting starts and then she’s not at his side anymore, she’s tackling Banks. Who happens to be frozen in place, gun at his side with an “Oh shit” look on his face.
It’s hard to say who fires first: Walsh or Delahoy. Girlfriend goes down, screaming obscenities.
There’s no need to secure Jimmy. His loving girlfriend managed to put a bullet through his head. Junkies have the worst aim.
Walsh makes himself clear the rest of the apartment, in case there are any other skinhead meth addicts hiding in the closet. He doesn’t find any and he doesn’t find any explosives, either. By the time Walsh gets back into the front of the apartment, Schraeger’s propped up against a wall and Banks is puking in a garbage can. Delahoy’s stripping off his windbreaker and wrapping it around Schraeger’s upper arm, smacking her hand away when she tries to touch the blood.
Schraeger looks up when Walsh kneels on the dirty carpet in front of her and says “You are not, under any circumstances, allowed to call my parents, got it?”
Walsh doesn’t answer, too busy pushing Delahoy’s hands away from the windbreaker bandage, taking over while Delahoy calls it in and ignoring the blood soaking into the knees of his pants and slowly welling up through the makeshift bandage.
“I mean it, Walsh. You promise me.” Schraeger is in shock and dead serious. She grabs onto his vest and won’t let go until he promises not to call, not even when the paramedics get there. They give her a shot of morphine and her grip relaxes, but that doesn’t stop Schraeger from telling everyone in the room that if they call her parents she’s going to kick each and every one of them in the balls once she’s done at the hospital.
****
He doesn’t call her parents.
Eddie Alvarez tells his wife, who tells his in-laws, who tell Schraeger’s parents.
They show up at the hospital, wearing clothes that probably cost more than Walsh makes in a year. They look shell shocked at all the cops milling around in the hallway. Schraeger hasn’t been at 2nd Squad long, but pretty much everyone likes her. Her old partner, Evans, shows up with half of Vice in tow. Once they’re satisfied Schraeger’s not on her deathbed, they all go downstairs and donate blood. Walsh’s elbow is still stinging from his turn.
The Schraeger’s demand to see Casey’s doctor, right now and when that doesn’t work, her father gets on the phone and all of a sudden the Mayor is there with his entourage and Walsh realizes why Schraeger didn’t want her parents here.
The Sarge arrives around the same time the Mayor does and takes a moment to stare at the ceiling before heaving a huge sigh. He sends the patrol officers back to their radio cars, tells Delahoy to take Banks home or back to the station. Delahoy nods and grabs Banks by the vest. He stops to look Schraeger’s parents up and down, salutes the Mayor, punches Walsh in shoulder, and then he’s gone, towing Banks behind him.
Things descend into chaos after that. Walsh finds himself telling and retelling what happened until Schraeger’s mother looks at the Mayor and asks if there isn’t something he can do. Can’t he just…fire Casey? Or transfer her? Clearly no one at the 2nd Squad is taking proper care of Casey. Sarge takes offense to that and everyone starts arguing.
Walsh sighs from his spot leaning against the wall and slides down it until he’s sitting on the cold linoleum. He still has dried blood under his nails and he can’t stop staring at it.
Around hour three of arguing, Walsh’s ass is numb and he goes looking for Schraeger. He finds her hiding in the cafeteria, slumped in a chair and staring at a cup of coffee. One arm’s in a sling and the hospital gave her a green scrubs shirt to wear. It’s too big for her and Walsh suddenly doesn’t know what to say. So he sits down next to Schraeger and steals her coffee. Its long cold but he drinks it anyway.
Walsh clears his throat. “So.”
“So.”
“So. Uh.” Walsh shifts uncomfortably. “Your parents. Um. “
Schraeger looks up at him. “It’s okay. I know it wasn’t you.”
“Good, because I didn’t want to get kicked in the balls.”
She laughs a little. “I would totally do it, too, you know.”
“They, uh. They called the Mayor.”
“Oh, Jesus. Kill me now. “ Schraeger lets her head fall onto the table with a soft thunk.