Work Text:
One of the problems with beings the newbies of the force was having to do the worst of all the jobs. It wasn’t that Rick minded having to do the night shifts, heck, having Shane as his partner made it more than bearable since they could endure it together. The worst part of being the newbie’s was having to travel around the area, covering any shifts needed no matter how far out of the way the stations were. Right now they were somewhere up in the mountains, somewhere where the paint was peeling, the paperwork didn’t really matter and the local drunk was locked up so often he was on first name terms with the sheriff.
Still, it may be a sucky shift, but aside from old Albert asleep in the drunk tank, it was a damned quiet time, meaning he and Shane could just while away the hours doing whatever they wanted. Right now that meant sitting at the front desk with Shane complaining about how much he hated this place. Rick himself was sat with their paperwork, crossing the ‘I’s and dotting the ‘t’s so it at least looked as if they’d worked hard tonight.
“I’m telling you Rick, this place is like somewhere between Buttfuck Nowhere and You’ve got a Purty Mouth. I keep expecting everyone to have webbed hands and be married to their cousin. I think it’s surprising that everyone in this town isn’t sharing the same surname.” Shane is loving this, just the two of them hanging out like they used to in school, laughing and not worrying about the pressures of the academy or the watchful eye of their superiors.
“Watch your mouth around the locals man, these kind of people know how to hide a body.” Rick’s enjoying this, ever since he and Lori had moved in together he and Shane had only really gotten to see each other at work. Not that he didn’t love spending time with Lori, she was his best friend as well as his wife, someone he shared everything with and got to love even more every day. But there were some things he could only really share with Shane in moments like this, and he only finds now they’ve been so rare, he’s really missing them.
Snorting to him Shane glances around the deadly quiet station, raising an eyebrow with a chuckle. “Yeah. This place is just crawling with hard core criminals.”
Rick nods, trying to keep a straight face whilst Shane watches him, daring him to crack with his eyes, it’s enough and before he knows it the two of them are laughing like the couple of high school kids they used to be. They’re laughing so hard that Shane is practically burying himself beneath the desk from being so creased up, meaning it’s only Rick that hears the station door open.
“Shane.” In a second his voice in hoarse, catching in his throat as the scene before him unfolds. The kid keeps stepping closer, almost seeming in a daze as he approaches the desk. “Shane.” Rick ends up practically punching his friend in the shoulder, getting his attention and hearing when the laugh dies in the air.
The kid is covered in blood, his face smeared in a mess of red with clear streaks of tear tracks marked down to his chin. He looks lost as he stands before the front desk, shaking, barefoot and awfully small whilst dressed in a shirt that’s far too big for him. The kid can’t be more than fifteen years old and yet when he speaks, he sounds a lot younger by far. “I need to b-be arrested. I killed my dad.”
Rick can feel Shane move beside him, his hand automatically going to rest on his holster, ready to defend them against any perceived threat, and someone covered in blood and claiming to be a murderer was definitely a threat. Standing from his seat, Rick’s careful and slow in his movements, trying not to startle the kid and placing a hand over Shane’s to stop him from drawing his weapon. Nodding a little to his friend, they manage to convey the plan without needing words, just knowing how to handle this without causing any incidents.
“Okay.” He keeps his voice steady, a hand held out to the kid, wanting to seem approachable and friendly. “Can you tell me your name?”
“D-Daryl.” The kid draws back, flinching a little and wrapping his bloody arms around himself, glancing about nervously. He looks terrified, and Rick withdraws his hand, placing them on his hips so they’re within clear view of him and not held in a threatening manner. “Daryl Dixon.”
The atmosphere is intense, but Rick is determined to get this under control as soon as possible. “All right Daryl, I’m Rick. Now my partner Shane here, he’s going to stay here and get you some clean clothes to change into, and a can of soda. Daryl I want you to come with me and we’re going to go sit down and have a talk okay?” He continues nodding, wanting to keep this positive and make the kid feel as safe and comfortable as possible.
Daryl nods, shifting a little on the spot but trudging over to follow Rick when he opens the door to the interview rooms. The kid is pretty slight, he’s clearly a teenager but doesn’t look to be filling out quite as quickly as he should, his hair looks a state and he’s spattered in slowly drying blood. Rick feels sorry for the poor kid, even though he’s currently admitted to murder. Pulling out a chair for the kid he sits opposite, smiling tightly and trying not to look as lost as he feels right now.
He’s dealt with murderers, with rapists, with drug dealers and even paedophiles, but dealing with a fifteen year old capable of killing his own father was far more disconcerting than any of those. There was an awful feeling of innocence mixed with bewilderment and right now Daryl looks tiny. “Now Daryl, I don’t want you to be frightened right now, I’ll let you know what’s going to happen. After you get changed we’re going to take your messy clothes and then you and me are going to have a talk okay? I’m going to have to ask you some questions and you need to tell me the truth. Understand?”
The kid nods, his eyes focussed on watching as he picks at his fingernails free of blood. “Yes sir, then will I be arrested?”
Rick tries to smile reassuringly, drumming his fingers on the tabletop when Shane enters with clean scrubs and a can of coke. “We’ll see. We’ll give you a few minutes to get changed, you need to leave the dirty clothes on the table, understand?” When the kid nods Rick and Shane leave, waiting by the door and meeting each other’s eyes properly.
They don’t need to speak, they can see the horror and unease that this situation has placed on both of them. There’s no more time for joking, right now they’re working and the only way to get through this would be to knuckle down and keep their opinions to themselves. “The Dixon place is up out the edge of town, last house before you hit the forest. There’s been a number of drunk and disorderly arrests on the father, and the kid’s brother Merle has a rap sheet that’s growing by the day.”
“Where’s the mom?”
“Died a few years back in a fire. I’ve got nothing on the kid, he seems pretty clean, and when Merle, the eldest, was his age he was already causing chaos. I’ve called in the sheriff, he’s on his way to the house with backup, ready to document and take any evidence. He wants us to stay here with the kid and question him, he’ll call to confirm any findings.” Shane lets his head fall back to hit back against the wall, closing his eyes for a moment and Rick knows he’s feeling the awkward hour of the night just as he is. This was going to be tough, for everyone involved.
Knocking on the door Rick hears the confirmation that the kid is ready and turns to Shane before going in, clapping a hand on his shoulder to share in his strength. “Where’s the brother?”
“Part of a motorcycle gang according to the last report. I’ll call around the town, find him. Get him here. You talk to the kid.” With a firm nod they’re both determined in their duties and ready to do what they could.
Entering the room again Rick smiles to the kid, noting that the smallest men’s size scrubs were too big for the kid, leaving him swamped in his seat. Hooking some evidence bags over, Rick slides the clothes into them before sitting opposite again, bringing over an evidence kit before explaining further. “All right Daryl, I’m going to scrape beneath your fingernails and later we’re going to have to take some photographs before you can get cleaned up.”
Daryl slumps in his seat a little, fingers picking at the can of drink in between taking sips. When he holds out his hands to the officer Rick can see he’s still trembling, looking frightened and lost.
“Why don’t you tell me what happened Daryl?” He keeps his eyes off the kid, focussing on scraping beneath his nails and preserving the evidence and trying to stop the kid from feeling so uncomfortable. “Start from the beginning, and take your time.”
“I…I just…” Daryl’s trembling increases, and Rick takes a moment to pause in his work to just let him gather himself, to take a deep breath and calm himself down. “I was late home. I was in the woods and lost track of time and…and…” Rick looks up when Daryl stumbles into silence, shrinking back in his seat and withdrawing his hands when Rick releases them.
“It’s okay buddy. Take your time.” Rick nudges the can of drink closer, giving the kid a chance to take a break to have a drink, which he does for a few moments whilst Rick packs away the evidence. “There’s no rush here, you just need to tell the truth, that’s all. Take as long as you need.” They sit for a few moments, Daryl picking at the tab on the can, and Rick trying not to look too intimidating to the kid.
“H-he was so mad at me.” Daryl continues, pinging the tab on the can between his words. “He j-just wouldn’t stop, and I didn’t mean to I swear, really I didn’t but I j-just…I just wanted him to stop.”
“Stop what Daryl?” Rick leans a little closer, not to intimidate but to give a little support to the clearly upset boy. It’s not enough and Daryl continues babbling, setting down his can of drink and dragging his legs up from beneath the table to wrap his arms around them.
“I didn’t mean to, I didn’t even realise until I’d hit him round the head with the iron and then I hit him again and again and again and…and…I killed him. I killed my dad. He’s dead and I did it.” Daryl’s breath is hitching, catching in his chest and hiccupping as he tried to calm himself down to no avail.
Rick’s seen people have panic attacks before, but he really didn’t want to have to deal with one right now, especially not from the visibly upset kid. “Daryl, you need to calm down for me okay buddy?” He doesn’t want to get too close to the kid, if what he suspects is true then he has a feeling it wouldn’t help at all.
Daryl crumples in an instant, collapsing onto the tabletop and burying his head in his arms with a loud sob. “Merle is gonna be so mad at me.”
He can feel his chest tighten at the sight, the kid looking so vulnerable and upset, hunkered down in his seat and crying as hard as Rick had ever seen. Though it breaks his heart even more to know the kid felt so alone. Setting his palm on the table closer to the boy he tries to give some kind of support without intruding on his space or giving any unwanted contact. He doesn’t know what to say, how to help and make the kid feel any better when if what he says is true, he’s going to be facing repercussions.
Looking up at the knock on the door he glances up to see Shane peeking in, a stern look on his face and when Rick sees the way he looks at the kid, he knows it’s all true. “Daryl, I need to go out and talk to Shane for a moment, but I’ll be right back okay buddy?” The kid doesn’t answer, still crying and lost in his misery. Rick feels bad leaving him like this, but he was a criminal right now and shouldn’t be treated any different from anyone else he would deal with.
“The dad’s dead. Beaten to death, hit in the head multiple times, the place is a blood bath Rick.” Shane informs him, shaking his head and pacing a little like he does when he’s agitated, Rick knows he’s tense and worked up, needing a break. “If that kid did it, he’s fucking dangerous.”
“Shane I think it was self defence.” He hisses, wishing he had more evidence than purely his gut feeling.
“You kidding me?” His partner scoffs, walking away for a few paces before returning, shaking his head. “One hit is self-defence, this was brutal Rick. The kid is going down for this.”
He can’t believe that, he just can’t believe that kid in there would do such a thing without reason. “Shane he just doesn’t seem the type. That kid in there, I think he’s been abused. He said something about wanting his father to stop, that his dad was mad at him and Shane I just know this kid isn’t dangerous.” Trust your gut, it was something he always found worked for him, but didn’t apply to the job.
“Rick, I know you always want to see the best in people, but we’ve got a dead body, a family where everyone else has some sort of prior and a fifteen year old covered in blood admitting to the crime. I know it’s hard, but this is what they do, give a few tears and play it up for the courts, you know that.”
Shaking his head Rick presses a finger to the window in the interview room door, gesturing for Shane to peek through and see the kid that was sobbing his heart out. “Shane, you look at that kid in there and you tell me he planned to murder his father today.”
“I don’t know how these people’s minds work, but if it were an adult, would you be questioning this?”
“If I thought there was a reason to question it then yes I would.”
“Rick…Rick I know this is tough.” Shane takes a deep breath, running his fingers through his hair and gritting his teeth, looking more tired than before. “We can’t do anything anyway, not until all the evidence is collected and the sheriff is back. The fact is Rick we don’t get to decide what is the truth or not, we just have to do our job and keep the kid detained. What happens after that isn’t up to us.”
“I know, I know but that kid Shane…”
“Yeah I know.”
The door slams open, bouncing back off the wall and in strides a leather clad man smelling of smoke and beer. He doesn’t look anything like Daryl but in a second Rick knows this is Merle Dixon, breaker of many laws and brother to the kid still crying in the interview room. “Hey pigs! Where’s my baby brother?”
Like a red rag to a bull, the insult and the attitude has Shane riled up, standing tall and already bracing for a fight. “He’s in a spot of trouble right now, and if you don’t adjust your attitude then you might find yourself in some of your own.”
Rick can see how much it takes for Merle to reign himself in, his fists are clenched tightly, but they remain at his sides all the same. “He’s still a minor, I get to see him and I wanna see him now.” It’s a testament to how many times he’s been here that Merle knows where he’s going already, keeping pace with Rick as he leads him through instead of following behind.
When they enter the interview room Daryl looks up, face smeared with blood and tears, hiccupping on his sobs. As soon as he sees his brother he’s up, knocking over the chair in his haste and burying himself in his brother’s chest. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry Merle, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to, please don’t be mad at me, please don’t be mad at me…” Daryl’s litany of sobs continues into Merle’s chest, his older brother’s arms wrapping the leather jacket around him and keeping him close.
Rick knows he’s not meant to take sides; he has to do his job and focus on the evidence. Being a police officer isn’t about forming personal relationships or having sympathy for the emotional cases, but right now he’s glad that Daryl clearly has someone who cares for him. Merle Dixon doesn’t seem the type, but he hushes his brother, keeping him close, stroking his hair and muttering something into his ear that seems to calm him down a little. Shane comes up beside him, the two of them standing in the doorway and blocking any exit for the two of them.
They allow them the time together, getting Daryl calm and comfortable was important, their interview wouldn’t be continuing until that happened anyway and at least now they had a next of kin for him. Leaning against the door post he wishes there was more he could do to help, but right now it’s not his place to do anything other than keep the two of them here, detained and ready for the Sheriff to get back. Shane sighs beside him, rubbing at his eyes and looking exhausted. Rick tries to give a reassuring smile to him, figuring that really in comparison to some people, their night hadn’t been that bad.
“I got you baby brother.” Merle mutters, stroking through Daryl’s hair, uncaring of his bloody state and keeping him held tightly. “I got you, it’s going to be okay. I’m not mad at you. It’s okay; it’s going to be okay. I got you, I got you baby brother.”
He knows he shouldn’t, but Rick finds himself hoping it’s going to be okay for the kid as well.