The Contingency Plan (Frerard)

One

30 Days

His hands were shaking.

He didn't know why he expected anything different really. His hands were always shaking. Every. Damn. Day.

As soon as he realised this, he noticed the stains on his shirt. His clean shirt. Clean on today. A new record.

Again, not a surprise; just an inconvenience. It wasn't enough to spoil his mood. What little mood he had anyway. Which was still a lot for him at half eight on a Wednesday morning.

His hands were still shaking.

He grasped them together and placed them on his lap, trying to ignore the distraction. This just caused his leg to start shaking on its own accord.

Why was he like this?

He swore under his breath and gave up. He needed a smoke badly.

Thank God his stop was next. Fucking public transport. The bus braked to a slow stop, earning a mumble from one of the passengers.

Every morning, he had the same thought: this was the easiest part of his day. It wasn't necessarily a depressing thought; it was just an observation. Easy fucking peasy compared to the shit he has to deal with.

Nodding to the driver, he climbed off the bus and crossed the road to his destination. His office was only a five minute walk from the bus stop and when he reached it, he looked it up and down. He had always thought it was an ugly bitch of a building. All dark and depressing. It didn't exactly emit a welcoming atmosphere.

Of course, he didn't go in straight away. That would be boring. Instead, he pulled out a cigarette and lit it with a match. He was running low.

After leaning back against the building and puffing for a few minutes, he was aware someone had approached him. Being the recluse he was, he didn't acknowledge this person. That would make things too easy for them.

It only took a further minute for the stranger to speak. Although, as soon as they spoke, it was apparent that they weren't a stranger.

"That's not really the sort of welcome you want to give people is it, Detective?"

The detective slowly looked up from his cigarette, obviously unhappy to have been disturbed. "What's it to you?" He raised an eyebrow at the sergeant.

The other merely smiled at him, shaking his head slightly. "You know how easily I could get you fired?"

What else was new? Officer Reed was always throwing around empty threats. He wouldn't do shit.

"Nothing's stopping you." The detective held his arms out to the sides. "Go ahead." He enjoyed provoking little weasels who thought they were above him.

"Captain would never let you go." Reed shook his head. "For some reason, he's rather fond of you. No idea why."

If that was supposed to be an insult, it didn't do any damage. The detective shrugged it off, taking another drag. Couldn't he just enjoy a morning smoke in peace?

"You do realise you're late?" Reed was talking again and to be perfectly honest, it was a really fucking annoying sound. Didn't he realise he wasn't wanted?

"The thought never crossed my mind." The detective muttered, dropping the rest of his cigarette on the ground and stepping on it to put it out.

"Do you purposely make yourself late or are you just a bad time keeper?"

The detective was already losing interest in the conversation. "You know you're just a cop right? You have no authority in this building."

Reed was the sort of guy to think he deserved a promotion. He thought he had what it took to be a detective but the captain had other ideas.