Looking For Trouble 
 
Author :Eileen Thomson:


E-mail: indigotoast@yahoo.com

Summary: Another in the Trouble Series
 
Rating: PG


Authors Notes: Tahnks again goes to Suzanne for all her suggestions
and all the added `bits' which make this readable

--+-- 

Burton paces the hospital corridor, waiting for news of Nicholas.
The smells here make makes him slightly nauseous, and the fright has
given him a bad migraine. The Doctor comes out of the examination
room and walks towards him.

"How is he," Burton asks worriedly.

"We are taking him down to theatre in a few minutes. The bullet is
lodged in his side. It is not a danger to him. He will recover in a
few weeks. We have had to sedate him though, he is so traumatized .I
think you should, in the future, look at having him talk to someone,"

Burton frowns, he knows that Nick is not going to be open to that
suggestion. Suffering is what he does in private. Building the wall
just a bit higher each time something goes wrong.

"Will I be able to see him? I want to let him know I am here."

The doctor answers, "He won't know you are there, but go and sit
with him until they are ready for him. It will make you feel better."

Burton walks into Nick's room and sits down next to the bed. He
gazes at his son. He is pale and very still. Burton feels the tremors
build up in him. The elder Fallin puts his head in his hands and
starts to weep.

-*-
After Nick has been taken down to theatre, the police come to see
Burton.

"The way we have it is this. When the first shot was fired, Nick was
standing in front of the young lady. He had the box of files in his
hands. He must have started to turn at the sound. The second bullet
entered at an angle into the box, and exited at the opposite corner,
then into Nick. All that paper and the thick binders slowed down the
bullet and probably saved him from a more serious injury. It spun
him round and the third bullet hit the girl, Melissa, right in the
chest. This bullet was hollow point and she had no chance of
survival at that range. Two dead, Durkin with the first bullet."

This cold and dispassionate statement riled Burton.

"He had *hollow* point bullets? Why?" Burton asked. "I will not let
this go. I want to know how many more officers are carrying illegal
bullets!"

At midnight, Burton creeps back into the room. He puts his hand on
Nick's head.

"It wasn't a dream then?" Nick whispers disconsolately.

"No son, I'm so sorry." Burton says quietly.

"Where did they take Buck?" Nick asks.

"I don't know, but I'll find out."

"You have to help him. Go to the Club, and tell them I said I wanted
them to help. We did this to him Dad; it's our responsibility to see
this through."

Nick falls into a deep sleep and dreams of green grass and a
beautiful, bright, and animated girl.

-*-


Three days later Nick is surprised to have a visit from Amanda.

"What on earth so you want?" he says uneasily at idea of her being
there.

Amanda spoke earsently. "I'm here from the club Nick. To explain
things to you. To keep you in the loop."

"Sounds like lawyer talk! What is going on?" Nick gasps as he tries
to get up. "Say what you have to, and then get out."

"We can't help Buck," she states quite baldly. "We have to stay
clear of it. He doesn't remember anything Nick. He says he wants his
dog, that's all anyone is getting out of him.

"We are morally responsible for what we did to that man. We cannot
let him be tried and found guilty for something we pushed him into."

"The answer is no! Please, Nick, don't make any waves over this. If
any scandal starts, then the Willows would be freed on a
technicality. Nick, think what you are doing! We sent you up there
to get him. There will be questions asked. More harm than good will
come of this. You could be implicated in misconduct."

-*-

Nick cannot hide his fury, and when the area has quietened down, he
slowly sits up. The pain is not too bad, and he gets his clothes out
of the locker. He has no shirt so he puts on his jacket. He takes a
cab outside of the hospital. He heads for the Serendipity Club.

Judge Tilson does not seem too surprised to see him.

"Nick, how are you? You should not be here." She watches him with
worried eyes.

"Ah, so now I'm not welcome in the Club," he snarls

"The Club is yours, Nick, of course you are welcome, I meant you
should not be out of hospital," she says gently. "You are not ready
to be up and thinking about anything--- except getting better."

"Tell me what you are doing for Buck. You *are* going to do
something for him?"

"The transcripts of the trial are in the hands of the best criminal
lawyer we have. He will put the case down to pro-bono. We have
witnesses from the trial who will testify as to the way Buck was
treated. He will be put in a hospital, Nick. He wants his dog-- that
is all he wants. There is a new wing opened at Meadville and we will
ask to send him there. We know the people who run it. They are far
removed from the normal mental facility and treatment is good. His
dog is there already. They encourage a certain amount of animals,
and I have had a photo of the dog sent to him."

"That's the best we can do? He gets put in a hospital just because
he helped us!" Nick is astonished at how blasé the judge is.

"Nick, you saw how he was living. This is better, and he will be
helped to come to terms with what happened to him at the hands of
the Willows."

Nick puts his head down and rubs his eyes, "And, will he be helped
to come to terms with what we did to him?"
-*-

3 Months Later

James and Alvin are sitting in the Incline and arguing about what is
to be done about Nick. Tempers are getting out of hand.

"We have to give him time to fully recover," says Alvin. "He would
be no good to anyone if he came back and couldn't handle the strain."

"Rubbish, he thrives on the strain. It's what gets him through his
days sometimes. If we keep on mollycoddling him he will be stuck in
that house till Hell freezes over!"

"He lost the most ground when Melissa's folks took her back to
Montana to be buried and said they didn't want him there at the
funereal," said Alvin sadly. He did not like to admit to anyone, but
he missed the constant verbal sparing with his young friend. The
office seemed a duller place without Nick.

James looks at Alvin with serious eyes" I'm going to see him and get
him out of that house. I'll get him out if I have to lift him and
carry him!"

-*-

Nick hears someone at the door but chooses to ignore it.

"Nick, you may as well open up, I'm not going away! Nick Fallin
open the door."

Angrily, Nick pulls the door open and Amanda pushes past him and
asks, "Where is the kitchen? I've brought dinner. Nick.. Earth
calling Nick."

"I don't want you here. I don't want anyone from the Club here. I
could have been dead for all they cared. I haven't heard or seen
anyone for weeks and weeks."

"Nick you needed time. You don't like people to see you hurt, and
you needed to get some space between the trauma of the shooting and
going out into the world."

"I could have been high every night-- and you would never have
known," he said in a low ominous voice.

Don't even think that! Look outside. See the blue car? That's David
Everson. This is his watch. Mine is next, but I'm tired of sitting
in the car listening to you wreck your house. By the way I don't
think much of your new design plans!" She indicates the broken
coffee table and the coffee stain down the wall where obviously
something had been thrown.

"What do you mean yours is the next watch?" Nick suddenly thinks
about what she has said.

"Nick, when I joined the Stress Club, I joined for all the wrong
reasons. I'm not saying I have not benefited, I have. But now I know
the work we do. I'm so proud to be a member. Now, you are the one
who is in most need, so, we watch over you. Day and night. You were
never going back on drugs, you were never alone, we were always just
outside your door, and if we thought you were in trouble we would
have been here."

"I could have committed suicide. How would you have known?"

"That was spoken about, but dismissed out of hand. Nick you're too
strong for suicide, far too strong. Eat your meal. James is coming
by to take you somewhere." Come on Nick, please. Eat?"

-*-

James knocks on Nick's door. "Come out to play," he says, laughing.

"Come in." Nick opens the door to let James past.

"No, you come out. Get a jacket." James tone is brusque.

"Where are we going?" asks Nick, curious despite himself.

"You are going to love this Nick. Just love it." James responded
enthusiastically.

-*-

They stop at a dirty old building in the poorest part of town and
James gets out of the car. Nick sits where he is.

"Don't you trust me?" asks James. "Come Nick, do this for me."

Inside the place is empty but for one old man who seems to have been
waiting for them. James tells Nick to put on shorts and to let the
old man help him put on gloves.

"You want to beat the crap out of me? What did I do to deserve
this?" Nick is confused. He has never boxed and James looks mighty
big right now.

"No, this round I let you beat me, if you can. Tell me what you
think while you are doing it and tomorrow I want you back at work.
The time for wrapping you in a soft blanket is over."

"Do we do the Rocky bell thing?" Nick asks. The sense of ridiculous
is overcoming his sadness and he is beginning to feel like this
could be fun.

James puts the padded face guard on them, "Don't want the girls to
maim me because I hurt your pretty face. Here is your gum guard as
well."

Nick pulls away. "I'm not putting that in my mouth!"

"Burton had your dentist make it up for you."

*Ding, ding..*

For someone who does not box, Nick is surprisingly quick and fluid.
He punches James on the shoulder and laughs. James punches him on
the chest and Nick staggers back. Furious, he comes at James again,
determined not to let him get at him, but James has a huge advantage
in the length of his arms. There are no `rounds' and after some time
has
passed Nick is tiring.

"Come on, Nick, hit me, and get all the badness out of your system!"
James mocks him.

Nick looks at James and he starts to move round the ring. He wants
to go home now, but he knows that is not an option. Finish this or
be beaten. And Nick does not like to be beaten.

James is standing in the middle of the ring saying, "Come on, Come
on," when Nick's fury breaks. He swings at James. There is no
finesse in the punch, but it is the perfect upper cut and James is
surprised when it connects with his chin. James lifts off of the
floor and lands over at the other side of the ring.

Nick sees his friend down and is horrified by what he had
done. "James! Are you all right?"

James speaks to his friend in an urgent tone. "Tell me how you
feel. Tell me now."

Nick sits down in the middle of the boxing ring, his head lowered
and the tears nipping at his eyes. "The pain of Melissa's death
drives me insane some days. I dream at night of saving her, of not
taking the damn files, and the bullet being stopped by them. I dream
that Buck is well, and living in good place, and his burns are all
gone. Most of all, I dream that I am dying, and there is no one
there, just me, and I am being smothered, and I cannot get the
weight off of me." He pauses and slowly shakes his head. "Yet I was
never alone... ever."

-*-

The phone rings the next morning and Nick reaches to answer it. He
winces at the pain he feels all over. "Nicholas Fallin"

"Thespian… I'm… ah.. Looking for Trouble…"

His suit hangs a little bit looser than before, but he looks good.
Nick stands outside the court house and looks up at the massive
building. The sun is beating down on him, and he feels a small piece
of contentment flow over him. This is where he belongs. Inside, he
keeps his head down, as he does not wish to speak to anyone yet. He
smells again the polish on the wooden stairs, and feels the smooth
wooden hand rail as he ascends the steps.

He is stopped by someone and lifts his head. Laurie Solt reaches out
and puts her hand on Nick's chest. She says nothing. Nick nods his
thanks. He looks over to the corner and sees the boy sitting hunched
up, arms resting on his knees, the perfect picture of misery.

Nick stands in front of the boy, his feet slightly apart, arms
folded over his chest. One hand plays softly with his bottom lip. He
is contained and calm. Buttoned down and in control.

"Hunter, you needed me?"


The End