Second Chances (Closed to corwincorvus)

[AlwaysFaithful]

29 year old Katherine Doyle woke up in her childhood bedroom for the first time in a little over seven years. Sighing she sat up slowly, a wince of pain crossed her face, reminding her exactly why she was back in her home town of Dutton, South Dakota. She pushed her long mahogany hair out of her face, tying it up in a messy ponytail as she stood, walking to the adjoining bathroom. Standing before the mirror, the petite, 5'6" 120 pound woman eyed her body. She was toned and fit, made from years of hard work, a few scars marred her body, but more noticeable was the stitches that trailed along her left hip, just narrowly missing the four leaf clover tattoo that was about the size of a silver dollar. She had a white patch covering an area just to the right of her heart. She had bruises on her ribcage.

She was a SWAT officer in Chicago, her and her unit had been ambushed. She didn't remember much, only a few pieces, and what her partner had told her. She remembered that she had wanted to die, because of the pain, she'd accepted that she was going to. She remembered her partner telling her that she wasn't allowed to die, that he would kick her ass if she even thought about it. The doctors aren't sure why she was still alive, but she was. And after two weeks in the hospital, with her parents hovering, she finally agreed to come back home to be tended too, as she had six weeks of recovery, before the doctor would even consider putting her back to work on desk duty.

So here she was, back in the home she'd spent most of her teenage years. Angela and Richard Doyle had decided to foster a child, not knowing they were going to get this bratty, disrespectful 14 year old who already broke the rules, drank when it suited her, and did as she pleased. Well, they had been firm and loving, and they'd gotten her back in line, and she was thankful everyday for it. It was only a year later that they had officially adopted her, and she took their last name.

Walking downstairs, after dressing in a pair of jeans and a men's button up shirt. She wasn't allowed to lift her arms above her head for a while, so all of her male unit mates had given her a couple of their button up shirts, to make dressing easier for her. "Morning," She greeted her mom who was in the kitchen, Katherine's voice was a unique mix, it held a faint western drawl, from growing up in Montana before moving here, and a whisper of Irish, both Angela and Richard were Irish and their accents had rubbed off on Kat. "How are you feeling, hon?" Angie asked. Kat shrugged, "After my pain meds, I'll be feeling pretty good."

After breakfast, Kat decided to take a short walk down the block to the grocery store. The town of Dutton had been rather tiny, when she'd left seven years ago to pursue her law enforcement career, but not, Dutton was growing into quite the little suburb of Souix Falls. It wouldn't be such a bad place to live now. She mused, as she looked around the town, as she finally made it to the little corner store.

 

[corwincorvus]

Eric McCormack remembered learning to drive on these streets when they were only two lanes and the road was only peppered with an occasional stop sign. Now the roads were four lanes, six in some places, with a traffic light every few hundred yards and that still didn't seem to be enough to keep traffic moving. He sighed in exasperation and glared at the light ahead of him. This was supposed to be a quick errand - drop off a few crates, pick up some coffee and supplies for break room, drop by the barber's for a trim and a shave, then hopefully get back in time for lunch before the field trip showed up. His hand grazed the stubble over his chin, dark whiskers scratchy from going nearly a week without being trimmed. At least the stetson he wore at least partially covered the fact that he was a couple weeks overdue for a haircut. "Got to do a better job of keeping up appearances, you're in charge now." Eric told himself. The light changed to green and he nearly lept off the line.

The corner store was good for them. He parked along the sidewalk in front, stretching his 5'10 frame out after sitting in the cab much longer than he wanted. He pulled open the tailgate of his truck, emblazoned with the colorful McCormack Orchards logo, pulling out a few wooden crates with the same logo on them.

Locavores, Hipsters and the Bed & Breakfast crowd all went gaga for farm fresh products, but they got a lot more revenue selling in quaint places within walking distance of tourist attractions. He started unloading the truck, crates of fruit, jams, jellies, bottles of their new line of 'country wines', there was plenty for the discerning customer. Part of him resented this. His father never needed to worry about branding, developing a comprehensive product line, or marketing and promoting themselves as an agritourism destination.

For pushing 30, he was still in remarkably good shape. Years of manual labor around the farm had left him heavily muscled, recent stint doing desk work be damned. Pushing himself to get this errand over in a hurry, he stacked up three crates and hefted them up. He could see over them just enough to make out the door and shuffled towards it. Just drop these off, make sure they're keeping the displays stocked and pretty, and back on the road.

 

[AlwaysFaithful]

From inside the little store she heard the door dont, years of habit had her glancing out the window. McCormack Orchards was printed on the side of a truck. She was suddenly hit was flashbacks, date nights, laying in the orchard with Eric, and the rather angry break up when Kat disagreed with staying in Dutton her whole life, doing the marriage and motherhood thing. But still, they'd dated for five years, and they had much more good memories than bad.

She gathered the things she needed, only taking about ten minutes, she walked to the counter, managing to balance all of her items in her arms. She wasnt looking for Eric as she assumed that he wouldn't still live in town. After all it had been seven years. After paying for her groceries she eyed the bags, she really shouldn't be carrying all of that for several blocks. But shrugged and picked them up

 

[corwincorvus]

This part he was practiced at, he balanced the crates on one knee, jerked the door open and caught the crates, then caught the door with his foot and kicked the door open the rest of the way, practically sprinting sideways through the doorway. He guessed that he made it about 4 steps into the doorway before he collided with someone. She fell to the ground making a noise somewhere between pain and surprise and dropped the arm load of paper bags she'd been carrying.

"Shoot..." he muttered to himself, squatting to set the crates on the floor and pick up a few of the groceries that has toppled out of her bags. "I hope I didn't break anything," he said turning to her and offering a hand up, "Here, let me give you a-". He stared down the length of his outstretched arm. A few hundred words flooded into his mind all at once, though not a single one succeeded in escaping his mouth.

 

[AlwaysFaithful]

Katherine really wasn't paying attention to where she was going, she was focusing on the pain in her body, and if carrying these groceries that far was actually a good idea. Suddenly she slammed into someone carrying a bunch of crates. "Fuck!" She yelped, falling backwards, she twisted her body, trying to protect the parts of her that were already hurting. She landed awkwardly on her hip, cursing harshly under her breath. She closed her eyes momentarily, pain racing through her body, both from the impact and the landing. Opening her eyes, she looked up, seeing a man standing over her. "Not too worried about my groceries, more worried about my body." She muttered, when he mentioned hoping nothing was broke. At his offered hand, she took it with her right hand, letting him help her to her feet.

Her face contorted in pain, as she stood up, and she had to blink several times to fight off the pain. She began to collect her groceries, limping a bit on that sore hip, and favoring her left arm. She knew she'd pulled stitches in the fall, but seeing as she wasn't bleeding, she didn't think she tore any intirely. As she picked up some things, she eyed the man, he looked awfully familiar. and it finally hit her, with a rush of memories. "Eric?" She asked, her voice holding surprise in it as she stopped and looked at him.

 

[corwincorvus]

"Well look what the Kat dragged in, Dutton's favorite stray." He regretted it almost as soon as he said it. They'd gotten together the summer between their junior and senior years of high school, but he knew her years before then. Dutton was the kind of town where everyone knew everyone else's business. It took hardly any time at all for it to get out that the new girl staying with the Doyles was a foster case and just like that "Stray Kat" was the nickname of the day. Teenagers were fucking cruel.

"I didn't mean it" he told her, giving her a disbelieving look up and down. "I must have hit you harder than I thought, you're limping like I got you with the truck. What the hell are you doing back here?" He held her hand, not quite letting go even after pulling her to her feet. His left hand reached out, sandwiching her hand between the two of his, as if his left hand thought the right might be lying to him and she might not really be here after all.

 

[AlwaysFaithful]

Kat didnt mind the nicknames, they'd bothered her a bit in the beginning but she'd grown use to them. "It's alright, they don't bother me much anymore." She said with a shrug, not even seeming to mind he still held her hand. "You really didn't hit me that hard. I was hurt before this." She assured. "I'm back to heal up. My mom insisted, couldn't stop worrying after I was hurt, so I agreed t0 come home for my six week recovery." She said, shifting her weight to release stress off her Now sore hip. "I didn't think you'd still be here. Running the family business yet?" She asked, knowing that was always the intention, but she thought perhaps he'd g9 explore the world before settling down. Though knowing him she wouldn't be surprised if he ran the family business, was married with two kids by now. He always seemed to know what he wanted. She smiled slightly up at him as they talked, still not minding that he held her hand.

 

[corwincorvus]

"Yeah, dad had a stroke last fall. Figures that'd be what it took to get him to finally retire. Lot of work to be done these days" He withdrew his hands slowly. "Six weeks? You fall off a building or something?"

He watched the way her grip sagged from the bags as she winced. Groceries, even that was too much for her. He bent down and scooped up the couple remaining bags from the floor. "Come on then, I'll give you a lift where you're going" he turned and walked through the door, hoping she'd grown a little less stubborn in the last 7 years and might just accept the gesture without a fight.

 

[AlwaysFaithful]

Katherine raised a brow "Fall off a building? What the he'll do you think I do?" She laughed. "I'm a cop, I was shot in the line of duty, multiple times." She said. When he offered his helo she wanted to refuse, she didn't like accepting help but then pain flashed through her. "Yeah, alright, a ride would be nice." She said as she shifted her trip on her groceries.

Kat ignored the looks she knew would happen because she got a ride from Eric. By tonight the town would be raving about how they got back together, she remembered how small towns worked. But it was either this or making a reluctant phone call to her parents for help then she'd never be allowed to get grocies again while she was healing.

 

[corwincorvus]

He set her groceries in the back of his truck gently, carrying the last few crates in with a great deal more care than he'd shown barreling through the door the first time. He returned smiling widely, dusting a few stray bits of packing material off his shirt and opening the passenger door for her. "Multiple times eh? Jeez Serpico, don't they make vests for that?" The truck started with a rumble. "Still, it's been 7 years Kate, injured or not I'm still surprised you ever came back. Where we headed?"

 

[AlwaysFaithful]

Kat snorted "That's why I'm broken instead of dead." She said quietly when he mentioned the vest. "My team was ambushed. I took several rounds to the vest, one grazed my hip and the other just missed vest came dangerously close to my heart." She said, leaning against his truck. Smiling she shrugged "I didn't want to come back. My partner offered to take care of me. But my mom, hell she wouldn't stop worrying and she pushed for me to come back." She paused, looking up at the sky before climbing sorely into the truck. "I decided I needed some time out of the city to heal. So here I am." She mused, looking back at Eric "To my parents house, they still live in the same place.) She said, settling back in the seat.

 

[corwincorvus]

He didn't want to tell her he was really hoping there were more errands she needed to run. He wanted any chance he could get to catch up. "Why you dumb idgit?" he asked himself. She was the one that ran off and broke his heart. It's not like there hadn't been girls since either. He shook his head.

"Well I'm glad to hear that warden mama is keeping an eye out for you and letting you off your chain once in a while to mingle with civil society." He chuckled to himself. "That was a dumb joke. What the fuck Eric?" he thought to himself. "How'd you settle on being a cop anyhow?"

 

[AlwaysFaithful]

Kat chuckled "She's good to me. Keeps me from doing stupid stuff. Barely convinced her I could do this errand on my own." She smiled. When he asked how she became a cop she laughed. "I just sorta fell into it like everything else in my life. I was at a bar, hooked up with a guy who turned out to be in the police academy. This was not long after I moved to Chicago. I decided 'what the hell' and joined too. Turned out I had a knack for it. I had a special talent with weapons. I'm one of Chicago's elite snipers. So I got tagged for SWAT pretty early in my career." She explained. "Didnt think I'd like being a cop, after all I wasn't exactly a rule follower as a kid." She grins. The two of them had gotten into some trouble together both before they dated and during. Hell they'd gotten drunk at 19 which was shy she now bore that clover tattoo on her hip.

 

[corwincorvus]

He laughed heartily. "Yeah, pretty sure you egged me into more than a few petty crimes back in the day. I didn't figure you for a crack shot, but maybe it's for the best that we didn't have any hunting rifles around when things got real heated." He grinned at her.

There was a moment of panic in his mind. Major streets were crowded as hell, but the old neighborhood streets were quiet as the grave, he could only buy himself so much time driving safe.

"Who knows though, six weeks is a long time, your mom may get lax and slip up like the old days. Lord knows when you were living with them, she didn't manage to stop you from staying out all night and coming home inked up."

They were turning onto her street, dammit this drive was going by way too quickly.

 

[AlwaysFaithful]

Kat laughed "Oh she might. And now I have the benefit of being an adult on my side and a decorated officer so I've got a bit more freedom.." She saw her house approching and found she was disappointed. Frowning she looked over. "We should grab lunch or dinner sometime soon, and catch up some more. This was a nice surprise." She said smiling gently. Kat really had enjoyed seeing him and talking, though next time she could do without literally running into each other. Finally th3y arrived at her house, "Thanks again. I overestimated my ability to carry all of that. And I did not want to call my mom for help." She chuckled

 

[corwincorvus]

"Don't worry, I won't tell her you needed help or anything, just accepted a ride to catch up and whatnot." He pulled into her driveway, hopping out and grabbing the groceries, handing her a bag or two to carry herself. "Yeah, hell of a surprise but a nice one. You should come out to the farm some time, see all the things that have changed. You'd hardly recognize the place." He walked with her to the front porch, stopping before he climbed up the steps. He had this strange feeling that there was more he had to say but couldn't find the words.

 

[AlwaysFaithful]

Kat nodded, taking a bag "Thanks." They walked together and she smiled. "I'd love to. I had nothing but free time on my hands." She chuckled. The door opened as they approached. "Eric? Its good to see you" Angie smiled, "How have you been?" She asked, taking a few of th3 groceries from him. "Come on in." Angie had always liked Eric, even if him and Kat had gotten into trouble as teens she figured it was Kat being the bad influence. "Thanks for helping Kat out." She said leading them into the kitchen to put the groceries down.

 

[corwincorvus]

"Thank you ma'am. I've been good, busy these days but good. Wasn't any bother, I ran into her at the corner store and wanted a chance to catch up. She was just telling me about the mean streets of Chicago and having to gun down dangerous perps on the daily." He laughed as they walked into the kitchen, setting down some of the groceries on the counter. "I'm just impressed you managed to convince her to come back to heal up."

 

[AlwaysFaithful]

Angie frowns, she was proud of her daughter, of course, but she hated the danger, the fear that someday she would receive a phone call that her daughter was dead. "Oh it wasn't easy. And her team didn't make it any easier." She shook her head. Kat grinned, eyeing Eric. "My unit is made up of five other men, four of them offered to move in with me, tend to me while I healed. They all had already all but moved into my hospital room." Her team was a family, they looked out for each other. "But ultimately I knew it would add unnecessary stress so I chose to come home. Kat said as she helped put away groceries. "Its nice, oddly enough, I kinda like being back, it's nothing like when were were kids. "

 

[corwincorvus]

"I can only imagine what it would be like having a big SWAT officer guy as a roomie" he laughed warmly. He happened to glance at the clock over the stove and froze. "Is that clock right?! I need to go, I'm sorry I'm supposed to be leading a tour at the farm in 20 minutes!" He turned to Angie, "Happy to see you again ma'am." then turned to Kate and gave her a brief hug. "Let's get together again soon," he said smiling and hurried out, not realizing until he was halfway back to the farm that he'd failed to get her number.

 

[AlwaysFaithful]

Kat saw Eric eye the clock then freeze. She just nodded as he said he was late for a tour. "Go go, we'll catch up later." She returned the hug as she watched him go. Once they were alone she saw her mom's look. "Don't even." Kat warned. "I'm not looking to get back with him. Or anyone for that matter." Angie sighs. "You were just kids. Now may be different. You are always so good together." Kat shook her head. "We'll have the same problem Ma. I have a life in Chicago. He has a life here. Neither of us are looking to change that. Besides not many can hack dating a cop, let alone a SWAT officer. There's a reason five of us are single." Kat said firmly. Even if a pet of her was curious what a relationship with Eric Might be like this time around.

 

[corwincorvus]

The tour started rough, but he noticed as he went through the motions there was a bit of a pep in his step that made pandering to small children all the more agreeable. He sent them on their way, then rolled up his sleeves to help pen up the animals in the petting zoo and close up the gift shop. It was dark by the time he started headed back to the house to heat himself up some dinner and turn in for the evening. His thoughts drifted back to their chance encounter this morning, replaying it in his head, hoping he hadn't sounded like an idiot. He shook his head. What did it really matter? She was only back for a visit, right? Not like she was moving back here. He wasn't even sure the local PD had a SWAT team. Probably would have to bus one in from Souix Falls if they ever needed one badly enough... The thought of that made him laugh to himself. All the same, maybe he should go look her up tomorrow, he thought to himself.

 

[AlwaysFaithful]

Kat spent the rest of the day relaxing. She napped a bit, read a little, spent some time talking with her unit mates. She'd been gone four days, which didn't seem like much, for for a group that routinely spent 12 hours or more together nearly every day, it was strange to be separated. "First day we all get off, we're coming down to harass you." Kat laughs. "Good I miss you're ugly faces."

She helped make dinner and went for an evening walk. She knew she'd be stir crazy inside a week or this routine continues. She cleaned herself up and settled into bed for the night. Her mind drifting back to Eric. How she had really enjoyed seeing him, and she did wonder what it might be like. To give their relationship a try.

 

[corwincorvus]

He rushed through his workload the next day, thankful for a lack of tours and deliveries to attend to. Still, he didn't manage to excuse himself until late in the afternoon.

As he walked the short path to her steps, he wondered if he was coming on too strong. He'd just run into her again yesterday after all. "Too late to worry now," he thought, tracing up and knocking on her door.

 

[AlwaysFaithful]

Katherine Slept poorly which was usual for her. The next morning she was up, trying to help make breakfast, which her mother didn't allow much of. She went for a walk, and then took more pain pills, at her mother's insistence. Which knocked her out, so she was just waking up from a nap and was just lounging on her bed, when she faintly heard a knock on the door.

Angie answered, smiling at Eric. "Well Hi there, Come on in," She smiles, urging him inside. "Kat just woke up from a nap, go ahead on up, if you'd like, she's still in the same room." Angie said, with a smile. She really would like to see her daughter happy with someone, whether that was Eric or someone else. But personally she preferred Eric, over any others she'd seen Katherine date.