Kirsty Cotton will never surrender. (bloodonsnow) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-02-16 00:38:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, kirsty cotton, leonard mccoy |
Who: McCoy and Kirsty
When: This week
Where: His office
What: Meeting and discussing a case
Rating: High
Status: Complete
Trigger Warnings: Professional discussion of rape / beatings (think a police procedural).
McCoy was going through the paperwork in his office. He had the girl’s file in front of him. He’d only assisted in the surgery, wasn’t really in there. His specialty wasn’t gynecology. But as Head of Surgery, he was in touch with all the different goings-on in his department. He had been completely briefed when the girl came in, and was ready to give a full report to the woman officer working the case. Unfortunately, when she came to the hospital to meet with McCoy and the OB/GYN who’d performed the actual surgery, the OB was called off to deliver a baby. McCoy was on his own to give the information to the officer.
He leaned back in his chair, frowning considerably at the case in front of him.
Kirsty Cotton didn’t look like a patient in the hospital. No, it was fairly obvious she was a cop, even though she refused to wear dress code business wear. Her jeans were tailored, her t-shirt was tapered, and her motorcycle boots were clean - that should’ve counted for something. Her leather jacket hid her holstered gun, and her hair was back in a high ponytail.
The beating had been severe, even by Kirsty’s jaded standards, and she was chomping at the bit to find anything on the perpetrator. The asshole had made the girl need cosmetic surgery, not to mention the gynecological surgery - all of which pivoted Kirsty’s interests toward people who knew her and carried a grudge. But getting information on what had happened exactly would help, any little idiosyncratic gestures would help her find the fucker.
Knocking on the door to the head of surgery’s office, Kirsty stuck her head in. “Dr. McCoy?”
McCoy looked up from his notes. He pulled himself up to his feet at the sight of her in his doorway, then reached a hand out toward her in greeting. “That’s me. You must be Detective Cotton.” He motioned for her to take a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk.
“I am.” She reached out to shake his hand, sitting down and crossing her legs. “I’m sorry we have to meet like this.” Seriously, he was a good looking guy, and a doctor? But she focused on business first. “You assisted when she was brought in?”
“Indeed,” he agreed. Absolutely the worst circumstances to meet under. But hey, they were meeting. McCoy sat down in his chair and opened the folder once more. “I did. Unfortunately, the OB/GYN on duty that night has been called away to deliver a baby today, but she and I were able to discuss the case in detail before she left. She knew we had this meeting today, and sends her regrets that she can’t be here herself.”
“It’s fine, it means I got to meet a hot guy doctor.” Kirsty winked, shaking her head. “Sorry. Job’s depressing, I try to take my laughs when I can.”
McCoy was a little taken aback. That was very much not expected. But it wasn’t entirely unwelcome. He gave her a little smirk, a little, bashful chuckle. Did it just get hot in his office?
“Well, by all means.” He said, then nodded his head once. “Take your laughs.” He didn’t mind being the source of amusement for her.
Kirsty grinned in response. “I’m not used to the guy blushing either. Shit, sorry, I shouldn’t flirt or sexually harass you when creepy things are afoot. Case first, lame pickups second.”
She leaned forward to look at the paperwork McCoy was looking over.
McCoy gave a laugh at the word ‘blushing’ and shook his head. “Sorry. Can’t help it.” He gave her a smile, though. “We’ll have to reschedule the sexual harassment for another day.”
He leaned forward, and started to go over the poor girl’s injuries with the detective, trying to make sure and hit every point that the OB/GYN wanted to make sure were hit. It was a grisly case, the poor girl was abused in a terrible way, with foreign objects used in a way that they should definitely never be used. They were able to repair most to the damage and stitch her up, but she would never be the same.
Kirsty’s brows knit angrily, but she remained her professional composure, taking notes and asking questions where appropriate. She sighed at the photos, biting her lip and eventually looking away, standing up and turning her back on them. “I think I have enough. Thank you, Doctor. Sometimes I think that I have a bad job, then I realize that yours is far worse.”
McCoy cleared his throat. He’d maintained his composition through their briefing, but when she turned her back on the photos, he was glad to close the folder and tear his eyes away. “A good portion of my job is instant gratification. Or near instant, anyway. I get to see results almost immediately. That helps me, I think, maintain my sanity.” He paused, “if it was my daughter with these scars... I don’t know what I’d do.”
“You’d want to kill the bastard.” That’s what her father had wanted. Her father had tried to hit his brother at his trial, and only Kirsty’s tears had made him stop. “That’s what any good father would want. How old is she?” Kirsty smiled a little, genuinely interested in his life.
“Eight.” McCoy said, giving a little nod. “And you’re right. They’d have to lock me up or I’d go bash his head in with a baseball bat.” It wasn’t an exaggeration, either. It was a good thing that he didn’t go after criminals like this. It would tear his life apart. “Lives ‘cross country with her mother.”
“Eight’s a fun age, or so I hear.” Kirsty smiled, looking at the photos on McCoy’s desk. “It’s a shame she doesn’t live closer.” The man was obviously an invested father, would obviously see his daughter as often as he could. She couldn’t help her detective’s mind clicking away at a fast gallop - he seems upset beyond the photos and not because of the divorce either - and her mouth got ahead of her. “When did whatever you’re upset about happen?” Could be a fight, or a dumping, or having to dump someone, oh god I hope he’s single.
“Yeah, that’s up to her harpy of a mother.” McCoy said. He would support the woman, he most certainly had to, but he wished she would bring their daughter closer. Then again, that meant he’d have to see her more, and not just Joanna. He was torn.
“What?” He asked, glancing up and over at her, a little surprised that she could tell he was upset about something. Well, something other than his harpy of a wife and missing his daughter.
“You just look upset is all. Your jaw, it keeps tightening and relaxing.” Kirsty smiled a little. “Cop. I notice these things. Want to go grab a coffee? Non-business, promise.” She was a confident, self-assured woman, but sometimes she even surprised herself.
“Oh, the things you cops notice.” McCoy said, torn between amused and exhausted at the idea. He slipped the paperwork into an envelope, nodding. “Yeah, coffee sounds good.” He held the envelope out to her. “Your copies.”
Kirsty nodded, taking the envelope and smiling. “Thanks. Do you guys have any good coffee here? Or do you want to go to that Starbucks across the street? You probably can’t, huh.” She fished one of her business cards out of her wallet, leaving it on his desk when he wasn’t looking or likely to see it. Her cell number was jotted on the back.
“I should probably stick around, just in case.” He lifted his beeper from his pocket as he stood. It was clear, and he glanced at the time quickly. “But they’ve got fairly good coffee down in the cafeteria.” ...great. Coffee date at the hospital cafe. Smoothe, McCoy.
“Good.” She grinned at him, amused that he seemed so nervous. “You don’t have to be all jittery around me. I’m forty-three, never been married. So you have way more experience than I do. I’m practically the innocent ingenue here. Be gentle.” She batted her eyelashes, hoping to make him laugh. She’d bet money he had a gorgeous smile.
McCoy chuckled. “You’ll have to pardon me. It’s been... quite literally years since I’ve gone out for coffee with a beautiful woman.” Well, excluding Neena. Though, he hadn’t actually gone to coffee with her. Just drank brandy by the fire. And, of course, he’d had coffee with Anya, but she was one of his interns, and that was a completely different scenario. “So maybe you’re the one who should be gentle.”
“See, you beat me again. I’ve never been out for coffee with a beautiful woman.” Kirsty had to tease him, otherwise she’d pay too much attention to the fact he’d called her beautiful and that would make her blush. He stood much taller than her 5’4” frame, and she couldn’t help but note that he looked well built under his oxford shirt. “You don’t sound like you’re around here, where are you from, anyway?”
McCoy gave a laugh. “Fair enough.” He moved with her out of his office and turned to lead the way down the hall toward the elevator. “Raised in the south, schooled in the north-east, I’ve been in California for over a decade.” He responded.
“Must be the Southerner I hear. I was born and raised here, so I pick up on accents pretty fast.” She smiled up at him, standing not too close to him in the elevator, but close enough to smell his aftershave. “Is it against the rules if I try to pick you up? I don’t want to get you fired.”
McCoy wasn’t really used to this kind of attention. He shrugged gently, his neck slightly pink. “You’re not a patient, so... I don’t think it’s against the rules.” He gave a little chuckle. “I’m head of my department. Not likely to get fired by the board unless I do something absolutely terrible.”
“So we’ll be okay unless we have sex on top of one of your patients. Good to know.” She winked at him, laughing at her own boldness. “Sorry, don’t listen too much to me. I’ve had a pottymouth on me since I was born. Dad always used to say my first sentence was ‘Dad, give me a damn bottle’. Fibs, but still.”
McCoy was shocked by how forward this woman was. She was beautiful, and he was enjoying her company, though. He laughed and shook his head. “We’ll just have to put that on the list of things not to do.” He said, then led the way out of the elevator toward the cafe. “I wouldn’t blame you if you did, though. I get cranky when I’m hungry.” He teased, then held the door open so she could step into the cafeteria ahead of him.
“You have no idea. I have a nuclear reactor for a stomach, I swear.” She grinned, walking through the door. It was warm in the room, and she wanted to take off her jacket, but flashing her gun wasn’t high up on her list of things to do. “You must have to have lots of snacks during the day. Can’t have you all stomach growly and needing to pee when you’re surger...y...ing.” She laughed at her own made up word, queuing up to get a coffee and a muffin. “My treat. You’re putting up with me, after all.”
“I can’t say no to that.” McCoy said, nodding. He stepped up beside her in the line and glanced at the menu--though he knew it like the back of his hand. “No, I make sure that I’m well fed, rested, and use the toilet before performing surger...y...ing.” He repeated her words after her, teasing.
She couldn’t help but laugh at his teasing. “You’re better than most of the people I work with. We mainline coffee so we’re like jittery dogs. And don’t get me started on diet.” She wrinkled her nose. “The cop and doughnuts thing? Yeah. It’s not a myth.”
“You should see the specials here in the cafeteria.” He didn’t eat there every day, but McCoy enjoyed having a hot lunch every once in a while. Most of the time he either popped home for a sandwich or brought something from his house to munch for lunch. “Such healthy food. I think they’re trying to teach us something.”
“Probably how to fend for ourselves. I make sure to stash dried fruit and nuts all over my desk, like some sort of squirrel. I don’t want to be the first scurvy case in the last hundred years.” She grinned at him, ordering her coffee and her muffin and motioning for him to get whatever he wanted.
“You’d be surprised how many cases of scurvy there have been in the last hundred years.” McCoy said. The girl at the register knew his drink order, and she made it for him with a tinge of pink on her cheeks, then slid it across the counter for him to pick up. He gave her a gentle “cheers” and a wink as he picked it up and sipped.
Kirsty couldn’t help it, giggling to herself. “And you say you have no game. You could have that girl without even talking you smooth bastard.” She shook her head. “Must’ve been a really bad divorce, she got your self-esteem in it.”
“She’s just that.” McCoy said, turning to lead her away from the counter. He didn’t want the girl to hear him say it. “She’s just a girl.” And she was, too. McCoy was probably twice her age.
“Yeah, well... she took my daughter across the country.” He said, darkly. His eyes narrowed over his cup.
Kirsty saw his eyes and reached out to put her hand over his. “Which is a bitch and a half move. You’re a good dad, I can tell just from sitting here. I know when I was a kid, I’d have done anything to have my mom nearby, and I’d never really even met her. Not enough to make memories, anyway.”
“It’s not a fair thing to do to a kid.” McCoy said, sounding absolutely bitter. And he had a right to be. He shrugged one shoulder. “Whatever. It’s in the past. I’m just making the best out of the situation as best I can.”
“It’s not, and I really hope she knows it.” Kirsty sipped her coffee. “You know, it pisses me off how most judges just default to custody to the mom. I was raised by my daddy, I turned out okay.” Larry Cotton had been the most amazing man she’d ever known.
“I knew it wouldn’t be fair to her if she was with me all the time. Her mother was moving back to the east coast, and I was working sixty to eighty hours a week, it just wasn’t a good situation for a young girl.” Back then he’d been working his way up in the world. Now-a-days he was much more stable. Being Head of Surgery meant that he could make his own hours, pretty much. But the situation had already been decided. Wouldn’t be fair to Joanna to uproot her and move her across country again.
“And it’d be too hard for you to move over to where she is - lateral job changes don’t happen often in your line of work.” Kirsty shook her head. “She knows you love her though, right? That’s important.” Somehow it had gone from flirting to her wanting to hug him. She wondered if he knew that he was a dangerous combination of attractive and vulnerable.
“I tell her every day.” McCoy said, giving a nod. It was probably his relationship with his daughter that made him so endearing. That and the scruff. The scruff was hot. McCoy didn’t know it, though. And he didn’t flaunt it. He simply didn’t think about his appearance, or how it might affect other people. Which was why he showed up to Neena’s house wearing button-down shirts and slacks when she was a super casual girl. He simply came in his work clothes, not bothering to change for their dates. Maybe that was the reason they didn’t click.
“Good.” Kirsty smiled, leaning back. “Forty-three and I have no kids, but I’ve got one of the best clearance rates in the state. It’s a good payoff. Besides, too much shit in my past, I’d be a crappy mom.” She smiled a little sadly. “Kind of jealous of you. I mean, you’re attractive and smart, and you’ve got a great kid. Fucker.” Her tone was teasing, but she was being honest.
“Sometimes the best moms are the ones who know better from experience.” McCoy said, sagely. Not that he was looking for a mom. Or even looking, really. He had a lot of stuff going on, and... well... getting dumped made him a bit bitter about it all. The whole thing. He was going to take some time to heal up and figure out what he wanted to do.
A little laugh escaped him. “Fucker? Me? I guess... thank you?”
“It’s a compliment, promise.” Kirsty warmed her hands on her cup of coffee, amused that she managed to make him laugh. “I’m glad I got you to do that, you know. You seem like you should be laughing more. But I guess not in your line of work, huh.” That and his daughter being so far - he probably needed a hug and a drink.
“No. Not really in my line of work.” He paused. “Or yours, really.” He added. “I’ve just got to find some good stand-up on the Netflix.” That’s right. The Netflix. Joanna knew how to use the technology in his condo better than he did. “That should help.”
“The Netflix is awesome,” Kirsty teased, grabbing one of her business cards. She jotted down the name of a comedian that she knew was on instant view, and handed it over. “Jim Gaffigan. He’ll fix you.”
“Jim Gaffigan.” McCoy repeated, accepting the little note. “Got it. I’ll find him.” He could search, Joanna had shown him that much. With a smirk on his face he pocketed the note. “Thanks. It’ll give me something to do tonight to lift my spirits.”
“Trust me, I know all about that.” The case she’d have to investigate further hadn’t left her thoughts, even though she’d been joking with him, the photographs were still burned into her memory even though she was flirting.
“So. I should head out,” Kirsty sighed, standing up and finishing the last of her coffee. “Bad guys to catch.”
“Understood.” McCoy said with a nod. He held a hand out to her after tossing his empty cup into the trash. “Thank you for the coffee,” he added, shaking her hand once. “Please feel free to contact me if you need anything else for the case.”
“Hey, if I can’t buy hot doctors coffee, I’m not really living, right?” She smiled as she shook his hand, waving a little as she left. It was a small bright side to having gotten the case at all.