Who:D'Artagnan and Athos What:Working the terrorist site. When:Backdated to the night of the event. Where:The mall in Irvine Warnings:Trigger warnings, bomb talk STATUS:complete
D’Artagnan was young, and it was his first assignment that had dealt with bombings of such a large scale. Yet he managed to remain calm. Of course who knew what his nerves would do later, but he wasn’t focused on worrying about that. He was focused on his job, taking orders and direction fairly well throughout the ordeal. He’d obviously paid a great deal of attention during training, he didn’t get confused by the various commands or anything of the sort. He just went with the flow. Mainly he took his cues from Athos and Aramis. Porthos was off helping with the heavy lifting, but the others seemed to be pretty well versed in knowing what to do. He followed their example. His first priority seemed to lean toward whatever civilians were left, helping them safely get to their vehicles.
That lasted a few hours, and then it was mainly a security detail. It was one of the few times he opted to wear his badge visibly so people knew he was one of the good guys and listened. Finally he was able to find a break in the ordered chaos to check back in with Athos. “Looks like all the civis are out on my end.”
Athos had taken charge of his unit as soon as he'd arrived. They'd set up a good perimeter and system in a short amount of time. Not knowing if this was an isolated attack yet or not the civilians had been their priority. This was not Athos' first time dealing with a bomb situation and his training served him well as he remained calm and authoritative. He'd once again been impressed by D’Artagnan, he was a good officer and someone Athos thought he could have enjoyed training. He nodded as the boy came over, "Well done. You holding up okay?" he checked, "This is your first situation of this kind right?"
“Thanks. Yeah, I’m good.” He wasn’t even running out of steam just yet as some of the others were starting to. “You?” He looked up at him curiously. D’Artagnan was glad to be in the same area as Athos, Aramis and Porthos. Maybe it was the dreams talking, but it was a comfort to know they were there and in one piece.
“Yeah. Was it that obvious?” He gave him a faintly amused look. “Murders I’m used to, but not so much this.” He didn’t know how to react on a more personal level. When he was working it was fine, but when it came to emotional response, he was worried. Had he done it right? There were many questions and few answers. “Think there’s going to be any other attacks?”
“Glad to hear it” Athos said, impressed with his performance. For someone so inexperienced he was doing good. “I’m fine” he said with a shrug, “Unfortunately this isn’t my first experience of this kind of thing” Athos had yet to dream but he too felt a kind of camaraderie with the others. “Only to the trained eye. You’re doing well. And I have to say I’m glad you aren’t used to it. It’s not a situation any of us should ever feel comfortable about” Especially, he thought, in a nice place like this. “Intel is unsure but it’s not looking like it. We’re still on alert, just in case”
He seemed a bit relieved at that. At least it wasn’t terribly obvious. “Glad I wasn’t making a fool of myself then.” He’d done quite a lot of that the past few days it seemed. First when Rose had left he basically announced to the world how he felt, and to him he felt rather foolish about it. And now he was worried of this. This was quite a bit bigger than Rose leaving. He wasn’t sure if it had affected his work or not, and he was glad that it didn’t. “I’m usually sent out to murders. Not quite as many living civis to deal with. But..its not so bad actually getting to see them alive for once.” He offered a small smile. “Kinda nice really.” Sometimes he got to the point where all the death was quite draining. But he didn’t say anything on it.
“Not at all. You’ve been impressing a lot of the guys around here” Athos told him. He’d seen the post about the girl leaving and had actually felt bad for him. Athos didn’t think it had been foolish or embarrassing, he’d seen much worse statements aired on the net thing. “Yeah, leaves you with a nice feeling when you can actually see the good you’re doing. You chose homicide or just end up there by chance?” he asked, wondering how attached to the force the kid was. If it was a life’s ambition it would be hard to tempt him away. Athos actually surprised himself with the thought, was that what he was going to do?
“I have?” D’Artagnan hadn’t really been paying much attention to people around him as far as other authority type figures went. He kept his mind on his job, and basically reported back to the people he needed to. His own fellow officers were basically impossible to impress with his young age and quick advancement. He really didn’t think anyone was paying him much mind. He missed Rose still, but he was glad she hadn’t been around for the attack just now. It was something in the back of his mind that would wonder if she was safe- but in his heart he knew she was. She’d left days before. Just vanished, and didn’t end up on his Jane Doe list. He checked to make sure. “Much nicer. I can’t say nice is often a feeling I’m left with when I leave a crime scene.” He frowned a bit at the question. “Not either really..” He looked around to see if anyone was actually watching them. Most people seemed to maintain their focus on their own jobs. “My dad was killed in high school. I didn’t really know why, I thought maybe I’d catch wind of something if I joined up..but..”He trailed off with a small frown and folded his arms uncomfortably. “Not even a single clue so far..” It became increasingly more frustrating to him, but it was basically just obligation. And one that wasn’t really working out as he’d hoped.
“You have” Athos replied and to be fair even if he had been paying attention D’Artagnan wouldn’t have noticed the guys watching him. They weren’t obvious about observing the new guy but they had definitely been taking notice. Unlike the force, the agency and those who worked for it appreciated good people - no matter of age or rank. But of course they had yet to see much reaction to anything from Athos so this boy he was taking an interest in was bound to receive some sort of assessment. Not that it worried Athos, so far the reports had simply been proving he was right about him. “I’m sorry to hear that” Athos offered honestly, “Cold cases are extremely hard to close with any satisfying conclusion. But if I can be of help, I will do what I can” he offered, knowing more than anybody how hard it was to move on without closure. In fact he was the prime example of what happened when you didn’t obtain that peace of mind.
D'Artagnan obviously didn't seem to mind that he was getting attention. Least of all from Athos. Athos, Aramis, and Porthos had just accepted him. Almost as easily as Rose had. They didn't expect anything from him, they just wanted him to be himself. He was fairly bad at socializing, but the three of them didn't seem to care. It made him feel more at ease around them. Being with them almost felt like having family again. He didn't know what it was about the three men, maybe it was just the dreams but he was more content with them than he had been in years. The past few years had been trying on him, focusing on moving up in the ranks and attempting to find anything about his family-of course there was no information at all. He felt like he'd been running on empty until he met them. Pouring his heart into a job surrounded by death had been difficult on him and his social life.
"They told me it'd be a long shot..But he was the only family I had." He didn't often discuss his past, it wasn't the happiest of memories. Bouncing from place to place, and nearly ending up a kid in the Foster system. He'd only evaded it by being entirely too clever and doing possibly many illegal activities as a kid, forging documents to stay in school, faking addresses, that sort of thing. Lately all his struggles hadn't brought him any sort of real satisfaction or results for that matter. Only headaches. "I came home from school and there were police at our place. I never saw him again. We weren't important or influential in any way..nobody tried all that hard to bring the men responsible to justice." He folded his arms uncomfortably and shrugged, attempting to play off the hurt it brought on as annoyance. Maybe that was why he couldn't just click with the guys at the station, he was still somewhat resentful.
"I have no leads to even take you up on that. Dad never was very open about the company he kept." D'Artagnan had literally come from nothing, crawled his way up the ranks and still he wasn't satisfied. It was clear without some sort of closure he might never be. But he tried. He tried not to let it consume him on a daily basis, but days like this were difficult. --tag Athos wasn’t sure why he was paying so much attention to D’Artagnan but there was something there. He didn’t dwell on it long, he now counted the boy among his limited circle of friends and was glad of it. Athos himself wasn’t a social creature by any stretch of the imagination so he would never push D’Artagnan into being one either, Aramis may have other ideas but Athos had managed to evade too much social awkwardness.
Since he never spoke about his own past, Athos should maybe have been more attuned to the reluctance in D’Artagnan’s voice and stance but honestly he really just wanted to know him better. To understand him more before he put any plans into motion. As he listened to the young man speak Athos was disappointed in the police service he’d received, it was no wonder there was so much anger out there when cases like this were deemed as not worth the full effort of investigation. Athos couldn’t blame him for the resentment. “I am sorry D’Artagnan” he said, “It may not be my place to say but I think he would be proud of you, to see you trying so hard and helping those in need” He clapped a hand onto D’Artagnan’s shoulder squeezing briefly before pulling it back. He could tell D’Artagnan had found it hard to talk about.
He had no idea why he felt like he could trust Athos so soon, but he was practically pouring his heart out to him anyway. It’d been a long time since he could trust anyone. He craved the companionship, but he didn’t know how to get it without questioning it constantly. And suddenly, Athos, Aramis and Porthos came into his life and he was spilling his guts to them. There wasn’t even a hint of doubt that he could trust them, and he didn’t know why. He’d never been the sort to be able to let go of things. “Since then I guess I just pushed everyone away. Figured it wasn’t worth it.” He hadn’t wanted to be hurt again like he had as a kid. Practically brushed away like a fly by the police who were supposed to help. He thought if he became one of them, things might change, but he was still treated often like the rookie. Which to be fair, he was. He hadn’t been there nearly as long as some of the others, but it was a tiring struggle to keep up on a daily basis.
“It was a long time ago now.” Though still it was fresh in his mind. He was quite young. It wasn’t a thing easily erased. “Thank you. I hope he would anyway. He used to tell me if I was in the position, always help those who can’t help themselves.” At the touch he looked up at him and smiled some. His past wasn’t a thing he liked to talk about, but it was nice someone actually bothered to listen to it anyway, “Seems like everyone’s going home now. How long will you stay?” If Athos stayed, then so would he. --tag If there was anybody D’Artagnan could trust with his past it was Athos. He knew the importance of loyalty and despite having only met recently Athos was already a loyal friend to the younger man. “Understandable” he nodded, he’d done exactly the same years ago. It wasn’t until he’d been recruited that he’d managed to find a reason to carry on. Even then though he hadn’t really made close or lasting friends. He hoped for more for D’Artagnan. “You’re definitely doing that, your help is appreciated” Athos was a good listener despite his gruff exterior, not that he’d been too gruff with D’Artagnan ironically. Looking around he took note of who was still hanging around, “Oh I’ll probably be the last to leave, though I doubt it will be that long. Please don’t feel like you have to stay, you’ve done more than enough” he offered D’Artagnan a way out should he wish to go home.
So far it seemed like he was doing a lot of talking, he couldn’t quite help but wonder more about Athos. It probably wasn’t the right time to ask though considering they had just possibly been attacked by a terrorist. He would save his questions for another time. He hoped there would be more anyway. He didn’t know why, but he felt a desperate need to be the mans friend. “It’s the least I can do.” He’d been off that day, but Detective work wasn’t your average nine to five. He understood that when he took the job. Giving him a small shrug as he looked around at the now seeming to be organized chaos. Athos really had been efficient. He wanted to stay. “I don’t have anything else to do.” He said with a small smile, despite the tragedy laid out infront of them. He’d seen tragedy before, was no stranger to it really. Besides he liked the company even in the madness.
Athos didn’t tend to be as forthcoming about his past and his job was kind of need to know though D’Artagnan must have figured out by now that he was involved in slightly more than just ‘security’ especially having seen him giving orders and direction to others. But that wasn’t to say he wouldn’t answer questions the young man asked, he would depending on the question. As he too wished to be friends. Athos returned the slight smile before nodding, “Then come with me around the perimeter then once things are sorted we can grab a drink before heading home. We’ll need to wind down anyway” he instructed moving off and knowing D’Artagnan would follow. He couldn’t say he minded the company at all, which was curious but welcome.