WHO: Victor Brannigan (and his late wife, Sarah) WHAT: Scenes from a life WHEN: 1990-1995 WHERE: NYC NOTES: Just sort of establishing their cuteness and ending with him hearing about her murder. These are in chronological order, but when they happened is random. There is talk about violence at the end, obviously!
He was new to the precinct, a probationary police officer on his first assignment. They were having their annual Christmas party and the precinct house was covered in bright decorations and tipsy police officers. Victor didn't know many people yet, so he hung near the back of the room, leaning against a wall.
A woman approached him, a wide grin on her face. She was wearing an elf-hat on top of her copper-coloured hair, and Victor found that terribly charming. "You're new!" she pointed out.
"You must be a detective," Victor joked with a wink. "Officer Brannigan. Victor."
She grinned and stuck out a hand for him to shake. "You don't look like you're having much fun, Officer Brannigan Victor," she said with a smile. Then she leaned up and stuck a red pair of antlers attached to a headband on his head. "There you go."
"Oh, this will make them take me seriously," Victor said with a laugh. He did not remove the antlers.
"Being taken seriously is overrated, Vic. Come meet everyone." And she took him by the hand, pulling him off the wall and out of his semi-isolation.
*******
He arrived at her door, looking terrified. Sarah was two years his senior and sharp as a tack. He was sure she wouldn't be interested in him at all. When her door swung open, however, he schooled his face into something a little more appropriate. A mask of slight worry and awe of her beauty. She was so breathtakingly gorgeous and finally his lips curled into a smile. "Good evening, Sarah. You look lovely tonight."
Sarah closed the door behind her and then she slipped her hand into Victor's. "You sound like you're in a classic film."
"I'm nervous!" Victor admitted with a grin.
Sarah gave his hand a comforting squeeze. "You have nothing to be nervous about, Officer Brannigan."
And for some reason, he believed her.
*******
"Could you ever stop being a police officer?" she asked, rolling on to her stomach on the grass.
Victor was resting beside her on his back, staring up at the sky. Central Park really was the best place for a picnic and it had been incredibly romantic. He had to think about her question for a moment before nodding. "I could, yes. If I had a child." He had already told Sarah about the fact that he might have a kid running around somewhere, but she also knew he had been barred from having anything to do with the child. "It can be a dangerous job, and I wouldn't want to risk it."
"Anything can be dangerous though."
"True," Victor agreed. "I still think I would try to get another job if that ever happened."
"I don't think I could ever stop being a cop," Sarah admitted with a grin. "I love it too much. And I think I'll make detective in Vice soon"
Victor leaned up and he was momentarily dazzled by her hair, all lit up by the sun. "Tell you what," he said, leaning in to kiss her. "If we end up having kids, you can keep on busting drug dealers and pimps and I'll stay at home and raise the children."
Sarah laughed and she returned the kiss. "Deal."
*******
"Your parents are going to hate me," Victor said as he fumbled with his tie. Why were his fingers so big?! "They are going to hate me so much."
"You are being stupid!" Sarah called from the other room.
Victor snorted and he finally managed to get his tie on mostly straight. He went to join her in his bedroom where she was pulling on a green dress. "That's helpful, thank you."
"You're welcome," she grinned devilishly at him and Victor knew he was done for. She was perfect; an extrovert who spoke her mind and liked to laugh. She had her mischievous side, and Victor loved that about her. "Victor they will love you. Everyone loves you."
"Considering my last relationship ended with her father shoving a gun in my face, you can understand my worry."
Wordlessly, Sarah stopped messing with her hair and she moved to take his hands. "You are a good man, Vic. That's all they will care about. You support me and care about me, which is all they would really ask for. You don't need to worry. No one will be pointing a gun at you. And if they do, they will have to deal with me getting in their face."
Victor gave her a fond smile. "Lord have mercy on them should that ever occur," he said before leaning in to kiss her.
"You also have a great ass," Sarah informed him.
"I will be sure to mention that to your parents in case it gets overlooked," Victor said with a grin.
"Your tie is crooked," she mentioned, and she straightened it.
*******
Her hair was splayed out across the pillow, bright auburn against stark white. He turned and propped himself up on his elbow before leaning down to kiss her neck. She stirred and turned to smile up at him. "Good morning," she said softly.
"Marry me," was his reply.
Sarah stared at him, stunned for a moment before her face broke into a grin. "Did you just ask me to be your wife?"
"Mmhmm." Victor leaned down and he trailed kisses from her neck to her chest. "Marry me."
"You're only asking because there's a naked woman in your bed," she said, her eyes falling closed at the feeling of his lips on her skin.
"Nope." More kisses. "Marry me."
"As if you even have to ask," she breathed.
He lifted her head to look at her, his heart felt like it would pound right out of his chest. "I just did. Three times."
Sarah laughed and put her hand over his face.
*******
There was a knock at the door while Victor was standing in front of a mirror, fixing his cummerbund. "Come in," he said and then he turned to see his bride walk into his dressing room, already in her wedding dress. "Sarah! I'm not supposed to see you, you know."
"Oh shhh," she said, moving to kiss him. "This is our wedding day, why in the hell should I spend most of it with my cousin Rachel while she pokes me and pulls my hair?"
"She is your maid of honour and I think she's probably trying to help you put your makeup on and get your hair ready. Though I honestly don't know why it would be necessary, you look perfect right now."
"Why didn't we elope?" Sarah lamented.
"Because you love your family and you know they would be heartbroken if they couldn't share this with you," he went to kiss her. "And it'll all be over soon and we can go home and forget all about it."
Sarah looked like she was considering something and then she looked up at him. "We still have three hours until the ceremony. Let's go have sex in the closet."
Victor arched his eyebrows at her and then he pulled his cummerbund off. "Yeah, alright!"
*******
He had been working late, despite the fact that it was his birthday. When he arrived home, he actually expected Sarah to be in bed. When he flicked the light on in the kitchen, however, his wife was sitting there on the counter, clad only in black and red lingerie. His breath caught and he had to swallow a lump in his throat before finally managing to say, "wow."
Sarah grinned and she jumped down off of the counter and she moved to wrap her arms around him. "Happy birthday, Vic."
"Best present ever," he said, leaning down to kiss her.
*******
The door slammed and Victor looked up worriedly from his spot on the sofa. "Sarah?" His inquiry was met with the sounds of shoes being thrown on the floor so he stood and went to find her. "Sarah, what's wrong?"
His wife looked up at his miserably. "They want me to go undercover, which I hate, so I can bust people trying to hire prostitutes. I didn't become a cop so I could arrest lonely men. I told the Lieutenant I wanted to keep working drug busts, but Regina just transferred to homicide and I'm a woman and I'm pretty so of course I should dress up like a hooker every night and try to trick people into buying me so I can arrest them. I would even be happy going after pimps, but no, I have to bust wanna be johns."
Victor didn't like the idea of his wife being put in a compromising situation like that, but it came with the job. He was also fairly sure he would never truly understand her frustration. He was a man. He never would have been put in her situation. "I'm so sorry, Sarah."
"I just...I like making the streets safer, and I am sure some of these guys who hire a prostitute are dangerous but most of them are probably just men who are shy or lonely or hell, even unhappily married. Whatever the reason, they aren't the kind of people I feel I need to keep off the streets. This is bullshit."
"It is bullshit," he agreed. "I wish there was something I could do."
Sarah sniffed and then she shook her head. "Just hold me."
*******
Victor had been in bed trying to read when he heart feet thundering down the hallway. He looked up in alarm but grinned when he saw his wife run into the room. "Geronimo!" she yelled, before taking a gigantic leap right into the bed. Victor had to hold his book tightly so it didn't spill to the floor. He laughed loudly but was suddenly distracted by his wife removing her clothes.
"Shirt off, Officer," she commanded him with a grin.
"Yes, Ma'am!" and he immediately put the book aside. Reading could wait.
*******
Sarah spun the last of her pancakes around in the syrup and she popped the bite into her mouth. She looked up as she chewed thoughtfully and she caught sight of Victor watching her. "What are you doing?" She said with her mouth still full.
Victor snorted and he grinned at her. "I was watching you be dreadfully cute. And then I watched you be dreadfully obscene too, and now I can't decide which one I liked better."
Sarah swallowed and she laughed. "I could be both at the same time!"
"You often are." Victor said with a wink. "But that's why I love you.
*******
"Do you want to have a baby?" Sarah asked.
Victor blinked and then he tried very hard to concentrate on what he was doing and not on his suddenly shaking knees. "I love you very much, dear, but why would you ask me that while I am on top of a ladder?" He was trying to change one of the lightbulbs in their high ceiling. It was precarious to say the least.
Sarah laughed. "Sorry, I was just thinking how cute the guest room would be if it was a nursery."
He screwed the lightbulb into place and descended the ladder without managing to fall off. He took Sarah into his arms and he said, "I would love to have a baby if you're ready. What about your job though?"
"Oh, you mean busting men with hard ons? Boy would it be a tragedy if I had to do desk work for a while!" she said with a laugh. "When I start to show, they would transfer me somewhere else. And believe me, I would be grateful for it. That's not why I want to have a kid, of course! But it's a bonus."
Victor grinned and he pulled her into a hug before planting a kiss on her hair. He was ready too, and he was thrilled she was as well. He wanted nothing more than a few kids with his loving wife. It was a happy and stable home to bring children into, and he wanted very badly to be a father. "Then let's do it."
*******
"I'm running late!" Sarah yelled, darting back into their bedroom from the closet. "Have you seen my skirt?"
Victor watched her with worry. She was dressed in her undercover clothes, which meant she wasn't wearing much at all. "I think it's the bathroom cupboard. Are you feeling alright?"
"Better today!" she called over her shoulder before rushing into the bathroom. "I blame the salmon at that restaurant my parents took us to. I think it was off."
Victor was concerned, but if she wasn't worried, he would try to calm down. He took his uniform jacket off, having just returned from work. Sarah spent a lot of nights out and sometimes it made their schedules difficult to synchronise. "When do you think you will be home?"
"Around 5," Sarah answered, darting back into the bedroom to grab her purse. Then she headed for the front door.
"Hey!" Victor jumped up and chased her down the hallway. "Be careful, okay? And you forgot something."
Sarah grinned and she turned to kiss him deeply. "There we go. Wouldn't want to leave before I did that." And then she was gone.
*******
The page summoning him to the precinct house came at 6:21 in the morning. He had been working as a uniformed cop in homicide for awhile now and when they needed him he was beeped in to interview witnesses or to maintain a safe perimeter while the detectives did their job. He dressed tiredly and noticed vaguely that Sarah was not home yet before heading in. She was probably caught up at a bust.
He arrived on site, and the moment he set foot inside the hotel, his sergeant moved to take his arm. "Brannigan, come with me."
Victor allowed himself to be pulled along, glancing behind him once at the crowd of people in the lobby, looking distressed. The sergeant pulled Victor into the hotel's office and he sat Victor down in one of the chairs. "Did I do something wrong, Sarge?"
"Brannigan, I-" The man shook his head sadly. "When we paged you, we didn't know."
"Didn't know what?" he asked, utterly lost. "Do you not need me? It's okay, I can go home."
"Bran- Victor. The vic, it's- It's Sarah."
"What?" Victor asked, not quite understanding what his sergeant was trying to tell him. "Sarah-?"
"Victor, I am so sorry. She was working in one of the rooms upstairs. The person in the room next to hers heard a commotion but they didn't report it to the front desk for hours. When they did, they sent a maid in to investigate and they found her."
"They found Sarah?" Victor asked, feeling dumbstruck. It had to be his wife, or they wouldn't be talking about this secured in the hotel office. But she had to be okay, Sarah was strong. Victor could feel his stomach turning to ice as he asked, "was she hurt?"
"Victor-" His sergeant reached out to touch Victor's shoulder. "She didn't make it. She was dead when we got here. Had been for a few hours. I am so sorry."
"No." Victor said, shaking his head. He stood up, throwing the other man's hand off of him. "No, she's fine, we just have to get her to a hospital."
"Vic-"
"Stop!" Victor yelled at him. He hardly ever lost his temper and yelled, but this man was lying to his face about his wife who absolutely could not be dead. He wanted to strangle his sergeant right there. "Stop fucking lying, just stop!"
The sergeant stood there, helplessly, looking pale and horrified. Victor's breath came unevenly and his heart leapt into his throat, threatening to choke him. "Sarge-" Victor's voice caught. "My wife can't be upstairs dead. She can't be. Please-" Silence.
Victor sank to the floor, his hands over his face. "What did they do to her?"
The sergeant sighed heavily before he said, "she was stabbed multiple times and then the perp fled the scene."
Victor was shaking and he sniffed as he gritted out, "did they rape my wife?"
"Only forensics can tell us that, Victor, but it doesn't look like it."
"Did she suffer?" He had to know. These were things he had to know right now. The blood had drained from his face and he stared up at his sergeant, begging for answers.
"Victor-"
"Answer me!" Victor screamed.
"She didn't die right away. She- Aw, Jesus. She had crawled for the phone but she just didn't make it."
An inhuman wail escaped Victor's throat and he curled up there on the floor, too distraught to cry. "I'll get someone to take you home, Victor. You can't be here right now. You'll have to come by later to identify the body-" Victor stopped listening. All he could hear was the blood rushing in his ears and his heart beating strongly against his chest. His beautiful wife. His best friend. She was gone. She was just upstairs, her body broken and bleeding. And he would never laugh with her again.
*******
Victor entered the morgue, his heart feeling like it was made of cement. He knew the coroner well and the man held his shoulder as he lifted the sheet so Victor could identify his wife's body.
She looked almost normal, except that her skin was pallid grey. Her bright hair didn't look as lustrous as it once had. Her eyes were closed and her lips were purple. Victor swallowed roughly and then he nodded so that the coroner could indicate everything had been done above the board.
Victor was left alone with her for a moment. He reached up to stroke Sarah's hair. "I'm so sorry, baby," he said, bursting into tears. "I'm so sorry." He leaned in and kissed her forehead, struck by the coldness of her skin. "I love you."
The coroner re-entered the room and he said, "Officer Brannigan, did you know your wife was pregnant?"
It was like another blow right to his heart, but he felt numb to it. "No," was all he said.
"She wasn't that far along. Just six weeks."
"Oh." That was why she had been sick. Of course.
"We'll do what we can to find the asshole who did this to her," the coroner promised.
Victor just nodded. Once outside the morgue, he fell to his knees and vomited into a trashcan in the corner of the waiting room. In one night he had been robbed of his love and the promise of a child he hadn't even known about.
Firming his jaw, he rose from the floor and he managed to get home without crashing. Once there, he went to the bed he had once shared with is wife, and he wrapped his arms around her pillow. It smelled like her shampoo, and there he cried, great heaving sobs until, exhausted and alone, he fell asleep.