LITTLE SISTER 
 
Rating: R-Restricted **You must be over 18!**
 
Profanity, Sexual Themes

Author: Limonize

E-mail: spiral@spinfinder.com

Summary: Shannon misses Burton



LITTLE SISTER – Part I


"Hey Shannon! – heard your brother got arrested last night for having
sex with an underage hooker!" taunted Ashley.

"He did not! Like HELL!" yelled Shannon, angry at one of the girls
who tended to like to bug her a lot since her arrival at the group
home six weeks before. Being teased about her father, Roy, was bad
enough, after she had been foolish enough to confide in one of the
girls about Roy's arrest - only to discover that everyone knew about
it the next day. The grapevine worked liked lightning around the
group home

"You'll need to watch your language, young lady! That's not how we
conduct ourselves around here," reprimanded Olive Paulsen, one of the
group home parents, upon overhearing Shannon.

"She started it! She's lying about my family!" snapped Shannon
defensively.

"Ashley? Have you been trying to upset Shannon?" She now turned on
the second girl, aware of her propensity to cause ill feeling.

"I only told her what I heard. She thinks I don't know, but I know
about her brother, the hot-shot lawyer. I saw him before at Legal
Services! He was arrested for having sex with an underage hooker. I
saw when they took him away!"

"Ms. Paulsen, please tell her how *ridiculous* that is! Shannon
pleaded. "My brother would never do that! He's going to be a father,
and he…would never do something like that!!" The shame and pain of
the past weeks brought tears to her eyes: She missed Nick and Burton,
and had already once run away from the home, but having lost her
money, she had to return, feeling more humiliated and unimportant than
ever before.

"It's probably just a mistake, Shannon. Why don't you go upstairs and
start your homework, now?" replied Ms. Paulsen.

~ ~ ~

"Burton?"

"Shannon?!"

"Burton, I'm so sorry. I want to come back. I made a big mistake,
but I'll never do it again. I'll never leave again. I'll obey the
rules and I won't lie again. I promise Burton."

"Well, er Shannon…it's…it's not quite that simple now…you know…a lot
has happened…and right now it's probably better that you have some
maternal guidance in your life. I failed you, Shannon, and I don't
think maybe I was enough for what you needed, so I don't think..."

Shannon began to cry. "You were enough, Burton! I was just too
much…please, Burton?" her voice was choked with pain.

"If you want, I'll come and visit you, after I've had a talk with
Laurie. How's that sound?" he said, not sure how to placate her,
feeling badly. He had missed her more than he thought possible.

"Okay," she sniffled morosely. "Burton?"

"Yes, dear?

"Nothing happened to Nick, did it?"

"We'll talk about that some other time, dear. Would you please put
Ms. Paulsen on the phone now?"

~ ~ ~

//So it's true! Nick did pick up a teenager hooker! Else why
wouldn't Burton say something?// Shannon felt a big heavy lump of
guilt in the pit of her stomach. //It's my fault - If Nick had never
gone looking for me, he probably wouldn't even be thinking about
anything like that! It's all my fault! If I had have listened to
Burton, my dad wouldn't even be in jail and Burton would have never
gone to hospital. I'm just a bad girl from a bad family…

I was born to be bad.//

~ ~ ~
 
LITTLE SISTER – Part 2


"Oh Jesus, Nick!…" Jake looked at him horror.

~ ~ ~

Fifteen minutes earlier, Alvin had stumbled hard walking to his
office, hit his head sharply and called out Nick's name as he
collapsed beside the LSP elevators. Nick ran over to help and was
about to call 9-1-1, when Alvin screeched, "NO ambulances! Don't want
an ambulance! Just get me…home…okay?". At that precise minute, Jake
emerged through the elevator doors and spotted them almost at his
feet. He was hurriedly searching to find Nick because Burton,
urgently wanting to get a hold of him, had sent Jake over to hunt him
down.

Seeing Nick bent over a glassy-eyes, collapsed Alvin, on the floor,
Jake asked Nick, "Is he conscious??"

Nick nodded.

"I'm not dead, yet. I can still hear the both of you - I'm in the
same room. I'm not dead YET!" Alvin moaned, disturbed that Jake had
referred to him as if he were not even conscious enough to answer the
question himself. "You tell him, Nick! Tell him, I'm not dead!…YET!"

"Alvin, I don't have my car here today. I lent it out. I should call
an ambulance!" Nick pleaded. A crowd began to gather around the
three of them, effectively blocking access to the elevators.

"Please stand back everyone, it's okay..." said Nick, grateful that
Lulu did not seem to be among the concerned or curious. Pregnant, he
felt she needed no more worries than she already had.

"Um, I have my car here…" offered Jake. "Matter of fact, I parked
right in front of the building in the "No Parking" zone!"

Nick smiled at him. "In the "No Parking" zone?"

Jake answered somewhat embarassedly, "Well, you know…". He looked at
Nick's smirk, feeling irritated. "Burton wanted me to come and get
you, and I didn't see any sense in wasting time…"

"Oh," replied Nick. Why would Burton send Jake over as messenger,
particularly at this time of the morning? Why had he not simply
called? Then Nick remembered he had not caught up with his voice
mail, and no one was manning the phones that morning because Barbara
had gotten sick shortly after arriving at work. Lulu had put LSP
public inquiries on the answering machine until a replacement arrived.

"Is my dad, okay?"

"He seems disturbed about something!" replied Jake. "But he didn't
discuss it with me."

"Okay, let's take your car then," replied Nick, beginning to help
Alvin to his feet.

"About time," Alvin grumbled. "That floor was getting cold…"

~ ~ ~

Against Nick's better judgment but at Alvin's insistence, they dropped
Alvin off at home and went on their way.

Alvin knew that an ambulance would make his work at LSP more
questionable with the board members, and more than likely they would
vote to suspend him from work duties. But he did not want that, so he
wanted the tripping episode to quietly go away. He knew there would
be more of them. But he wanted to keep on working as long as
possible. Although he had not immediately explain this to Nick, when
they had a few minutes to spend alone together, he determined that he
would, and cue him to him on a desired response to his increasing ALS
symptoms.

"So tell me, what was Alvin going on about?"

Nick pretended to play dumb and ignored Jake's question.

Jake looked at him questioningly, sensing something in Nick's silence.
"He kept on shouting `I'm not dead yet?'" ensuring Nick understood
what he was driving at, unwilling to have his question ignored or
brushed aside.

Nick stared at him, saying nothing.

"He's dying?" Jake asked, feeling now uneasy that perhaps he had
guessed right.

Nick continued to stare at him, not blinking.

"Omigod." As the realisation sank in, Jake began to shiver
uncontrollably.

Nick finally broke his silence.

"That's why I had to go to California…"

"Oh Jesus, Nick!…" Jake looked at him horror, a tear of guilt welling
up for the jealousy he had felt. "You know…I could do with a drink
right about now…"

But he drove Nick to the Fallin and Fallin offices before instructing
Nick before he alit the car:

"Tell Burton I won't be in until after lunch. I'm going to take a
couple of hours off…"

"Yeah, okay. I'll tell him." Nick got out then, and turned to him.
"Thanks for the ride, and for helping with Alvin!" he said
appreciatively.

Jake looked at Nick in his perfectly tailored dark blue suit, and his
dark blue and green tie which seemed to set his gentle looking eyes
off perfectly. At that moment, he looked beautiful to Jake. His
arrogance seemed to have diminished significantly since rehab. Jake
actually liked being around him these days. But as he found his eyes
roving down to Nick's shoulders and chest, he tried to contain his
thoughts from moving further. Even thinking of mentally perving on
Burton Fallin's son was about professionally suicidal a thing as one
could possibly conceive of. Not to mention that Nick was about to
become a father to Lulu's child, and was in love with her.

"You're welcome. Catch you later - I'm off my cell, but for your
information only, I'm down at Delaney's if it's REALLY urgent. Okay?"

"Fine." Nick closed the door and walked off quickly.

~ ~ ~

"You wanted to see me?" Nick appeared rather suddenly at Burton's
open door.

"Close the door, son," Burton said quietly. Nick could hear the
edginess in his voice.

"It's about Shannon…and about you, too."

"Shannon? And me? – I haven't seen Shannon…"

"Nicholas, I don't have a lot of time to explain…I was hoping Jake
would have brought you back before this…"

"Sorry."

He indicated that Burton should continue.

"Shannon called about a week ago, wanting to come back…"

With difficulty, Nick resisted the urge to make disparaging noises or
to comment.

"And I told her it wasn't going to be that simple, even if I wanted to
take her back. I told her she needed some maternal guidance and that
I'd come and visit." Burton paused to let this sink in. "Then she
ran away from the group home – for the second time – but this time she
had stolen some girl's money, and eventually…" Burton paused for
effect, "wound up at my place. She had broken in, and was drunk and
she had a small knife on her, and she threatened to cut her wrists if
I called Laurie or anyone connected with the group home. I explained
to her that she had to go back, that I wouldn't be allowed to look
after her under the circumstances,"

"But you called them, right?"

"Nicholas, what else could I do?"

"Then she cut herself, and I fought with her to get the knife away
before she did any more damage to herself. When the ambulance
attendants arrived, she tried to lie about it and say she just fell on
the knife, but they accepted my story, and took her away to a
psychiatric facility!"

"Are they going to keep her there for awhile?"

"Yes. She's considering "high-risk for self-injury". I just don't
know what I'm going to do Nicholas…"

"I'd be glad to help. But I don't know what I can do…"

"Well that brings me to one other thing…I spoke to one of the group
home parents, a Ms. Paulsen, and she told me one of the girl's had
been bullying her, and telling her that you got arrested for being
with an underage prostitute. Apparently Shannon was quite upset about
it. She even asked me over the phone if everything was okay with you."

"Shit," responded Nick.

"So you know you have to deal with this in some way…it would help if
some kind of explanation was delivered personally by you, Nicholas."

"I'm compromising a bust operation if I say anything, Dad!"

"She's still my foster daughter, Nicholas!"

Nick did not feel the urge to correct him on technicalities. He knew
Burton felt deep concern for her.

"I'll try and think of something, Dad."

"I'd appreciate that, I really would."

"Okay. So, where are they keeping her?"

~ ~ ~

At 5:00 pm, Jake had still not returned to work. Gretchen called Nick
on his cell phone. Nick went to Delaney's to check just in case, as
it was not too far from his route home.

"Jake?"

"Oh hi, Nick," Jake answered, throwing back the last contents in a
shot glass he held in his hand.

"You been here all afternoon?"

"You know Nick, that suit and tie really suits you…let me buy you a
drink…!"

Nick was about to refuse, but realized it would be seen a rebuff.
Used to Alvin's "dry drunk" antics when Nick would refuse to play
buddy to him, he uncharacteristically relented. It had after all,
been a stressful day.

"I guess I can handle a marguerita…"

"Marguerita?" Jake choked. "That's a sissy drink, Nick. You don't
want the bartender to think you're a poof, do you? Sorry! That
didn't come out right!" Jake quickly corrected his bad manners. "It
doesn't matter if what people think. Drink whatever your heart
desires. It's on me."

Nick laughed nervously. "Margueritas aren't "poof "drinks, are they?"

"Naw, cocktails are cool – they stop you from getting drunk as fast,
but they're cool…"

This sounded dangerously like the language of an alcoholic to Nick,
but he was schooled in not passing judgment on colleagues and would
not say anything directly to Jake. He would just try to be a friend,
as they had encouraged him in rehab to do – to cultivate friendship on
more than a professional level.

"I have a confession to make, Nick. I'm not doing any twelve steps or
anything, but I feel there's something I should level with about,
something I did to you…"

"Me?" Nick looked at him questioningly. "You don't have to tell me
Jake. It's okay, really."

"No. No, I HAVE to tell you. Just like you had to tell me, right?"

"Okay…" Nick looked at him dubiously.

"You remember when you went to California?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I was really jealous that you could pull something off like
that because you were Burton Fallin's son…"

"I understand."

"Will you stop being so understanding and let me confess, already?"
snapped Jake, clearly more abrupt for having spent the afternoon drinking.

"Okay."

"So I bitched about it to your old man, complaining about preferential
treatment."

Nick found this interesting. Not surprising, really. But interesting.

"What did he say?"

"Hm-m-m…" Jake looked up at him with a wily look, admiring the way
his wavy locks seemed to spring out in an untamed manner that no
amount of hairstyling could completely suppress. "I don't know if I
know you well enough to dance with you, yet…"

"What??" Nick smiled at this comical sort of come-on, not quite
believing what Jake had just said.

"Maybe I'm in over my head in the confession department. I'll quit
while I'm ahead," said Jake cryptically.

Nick's drink was placed before him and he quickly paid for it.

"That actually is a very nice looking drink you have there!" commented
Jake. They decorate it nicely with a lime and a swizzle stick – I
obviously have no class when it comes to ordering drinks…I bet you
joined the wine-tasting club in law school too, didn't you!" jibed Jake.

"It's just a drink, Jake," and no, I didn't join the wine-tasting club
– I joined the "Fifty-down club".

"Fifty-down club?"

"Yeah, you had to drink 50 beers down in one weekend to become initiated."

"You did NOT!"

"No," confessed Nick "But I wanted to. I never had the nerve. I did
coke instead."

"Well that's a lot wilder!" affirmed Jake.

"I didn't think so. It was just pushing a little bit powder up your
nose – not guzzling and puking for hours like the diehard frat types."

Jake began to laugh at Nick's teenage version of macho behavior.

"Do you need a lift home? I can give you a lift home, seeing as you
don't have your car today," offered Jake, losing his bearings and
inhibitions. Nick was beginning to look luscious.

"It got dropped back off to me. But you're in no condition to drive.
I'll have to drive you…" He thought about Shannon, and concluded
that it would likely be too late for visiting hours before he got Jake
home and finished supper. He would go tomorrow. Right now he had
frazzled nerves to sooth: "After I finish my next drink that is…"

"Okay," responded Jake. He could deal with Nick driving him home,
provided he didn't lose his company right then. He needed to not be
alone after the news about Alvin.

"Nick?"

"Yeah?"

"Alvin's really gonna die?"

Nick's eyes misted over. "Yeah. Not right away, but, yeah."

"Don't cry, Nick. We're all dying. It's just that some of know when,
and some of us get hit by surprise.

"My father's dying…" Nick's tears began to swell more.

"Oh, man – but he did well after his hospital stay, didn't he?" he
protested.

"He's a dying age. If won't be his heart, maybe it will be a broken
heart…he's already talking about his will a lot…"

Jake felt very guilty, thinking once again about how he had been
trying to usurp Nick's legacy at Fallin & Fallin. Realizing how hurt
Nick felt about the idea of losing his father.

"I'm such an asshole!"

"What?"

"Disregard that comment. I'm just a little drunk today!" Jake
corrected himself.

"A little?" Nick smirked, wiping away his tear.

"You don't want to see me when I'm really drunk!" Jake said with
steely eyes.

"No one wants to see anyone when they're really drunk!" Nick countered.

"You're wrong about that!" Jake argued.

"Whaddyou mean?" Nick began to sip on his second drink.

"Never mind."

"You're starting to play head games with me," complained Nick. That's
the second thing you've started, and not finished.

"Yes, well…maybe I shouldn't use a bar as a confessional…"

Nick giggled. "You think the church confessional is a better place?"

Jake eyed him with a serious expression. "You've got a point." He
did not add that his first experience of being touched by a man was
when he had been altar boy. And it had been with a priest, right
after confession.

"At least at a bar, you don't wind up having to repeat ten "Hail
Mary's!" added Nick

"True. So…so you grew up Catholic, too?" surprised that he had this
thing in common with Nick.

"Don't all we Irish-Americans?" quipped Nick.

"Yeah, I guess it should have been obvious. You just never seem to
talk about things like that," Jake said, momentarily lost in thought.
"I heard someone once say that those Catholic school blazers were
good training for wearing those business suits that grab you up the
ass and ties that choke you when you're trying to drink, without
complaining about it!"

Nick spluttered his drink across the counter, laughing and choking on
his drink at the same time.

"God, can't take you anywhere…" Jake smiled, reaching for a couple of
napkins and handed them to him. "It wasn't THAT funny!"

Nick began to feel much more warmed from his laughing and alcoholic
drinks, and removed his jacket. And loosened his tie, almost in
revolt to the Catholic imperative that Jake had referred to.

Jake watched him raptly, as he made himself more comfortable. Nick
seemed oblivious to his staring.

//Damn! I've gotta stop this!// Jake chastised himself. He knew ten
"Hail Mary's" were not going to solve "the problem" either. Said
problem was now also sprouting a new problem – a problem which was
beginning to feel very uncomfortable as he crossed his leg over to
conceal it from Nick's view..

//It's just because I'm drunk// he prayed to himself. //I don't even
like Nick most of the time.//

He felt lonelier than ever.

~ ~ ~


LITTLE SISTER – Part 3

"I think we better head out of here. It's already…holy shit!"
muttered Nick, looking at his watch.

"Ten "Hail Mary's" for you Nicky – you swore!" babbled Jake.

"C'mon. I'm not even supposed to be here!"

The both walked unevenly into the street.

"I can't drive safely either…" thought Nick.

Just then, a taxidriver at a nearby stand spotted them. He pulled
from the curbside and drove until he was directly in front of them.
Lifting his eyebrows, he activated the power window until Nick had a
clear view of him.

"Want a ride?"

"Yes," replied Nick.

~ ~ ~

"I'll pay…" said Jake, and then allowed his eyes to droop closed.

"Don't fall asleep, Jake…" Nick protested. Jake opened his eyes and
looked up at him, blinked a couple of times, and allowed them to close
again.

But it was a long ride. Nick would eventually have to rouse him when
they got there. If he too, did not become overly drowsy! He felt
very relaxed as the large taxi glided through the many intersections,
into the mature, treed neighbourhood where Jake lived.

//God he comes a long way into work…// mused Nick. //Why doesn't he
just live in some new development downtown, near the Fallin offices.
He can certainly afford it.//

"Okay buddy," signalled the driver to Nick. Nick dug into his wallet
and extracted a credit card. While the driver processed it, with his
portable machine, Nick began to shake Jake to waken him.

"Jake, wake up! Jake? We're here…"

But Jake could barely be provoked to open his eyes for more than the
time it took for him to decide he wanted to sink back into whatever
unconscious nirvana someone was trying to bring him out of.

"Jake!" Nick began to shake him roughly. "Jake? C'mon! We've got
to go! We're keeping the cabdriver waiting!"

"Just carry him to the doorstep and leave him there," said the
cabdriver. "After they wake up from the cold, it smartens them up,
and then they get up and go in the house."

This was no answer for Nick. Jake had to be woken somehow. But he
was not even close to stirring back to consciousness, fighting Nick's
attempts and shakes, swiping at him aimlessly. At the same time
curling up and trying to avoid Nick's voice and the cold inrush of air
into the cab.

"Here's your card," The cabdriver leaned his arm over to hand Nick his
card, along with the machine. "Just sign by the "X"…"

Nick inserted a gratuity onto the line above the total and scribbled
his signature, handing the machine back to the driver.

"I'll help you carry him to the door," offered the driver, seeing
Nick's generosity on the slip.

"Thanks," replied Nick.

The driver hoisted Jake up rather easily, with the experience of a man
who had obviously handled a lot of unsteady drunks in his day.

"Grab his other arm," he instructed. Nick complied, pulling Jake's
arm over his, as they walked slowly to the porch.

"Grab his keys from his pocket before I let go," suggested the driver.

//Good thinking!// thought Nick relieved. He did not want to leave
Jake on the steps. It seemed too dangerous an idea. There was no
telling how many people might take advantage of a well-dressed young
man who had passed out on the steps – or anyone with a wallet, for
that matter…"

He reached into Jake's jacket pocket and sure enough, found a pair of
keys. But Nick hesitated – //No...//

"Those look like car keys," commented the driver. "Try his pants pocket."

Nick dove his hand down, immediately conscious of Jake's body warmth
there, but felt his fingers connect with something that felt like a
key fob.

Jake groaned feebly, apparently uncomfortable from being made to
stand. He kicked a leg forward, bumping the front door aimlessly.

"We're gonna get you home, buddy!" assured the driver, trying to
pacify Jake while he struggled to free himself of the man's strong
grip. "Just settle down for a minute!" By this time, Nick had been
able to extract the fob which held three keys one of which, he was to
discover, did indeed unlock Jake's front door. As the door flew open
after a good prod from the driver, the driver slowly released Jake.
Jake crumpled to a heap just inside the doorway, landing first on his
knees, and then falling sideways, his shoulder breaking the fall
somewhat, as Nick felt his body weight pulling through from his other
arm which he had not entirely released.

"All yours! You have a good day, now!" The driver quickly
disappeared as Nick contemplated his next action. //Get him over to
the couch?// He looked over toward the couch and saw a woman lying
there, sleeping in semi-darkness. But the cool night air had roused her.

"Jake, is that you?" she called out.

Nick did not know how to respond.

"Yes, he's home, he's fallen asleep" he announced. Sliding his arms
through Jakes' armpits, he hauled him in a semi-prone position to the
other side of the living room until he was near the stairwell, and
tried to upright him into a sitting position. She called out again.

"Who are you?" She was a middle-aged woman. Jakes' mother, no doubt.

"I'm Nick, I'm..Jakes' friend," he answered cautiously.

"Is he drunk?" she asked.

"Yes," Nick replied, sensing that announcement would cause some tension.

"Then you're not really his friend, are you? Jake doesn't come home
drunk. He's always been a good boy," she challenged.

"He heard someone was going to die, today. I think it upset him,"
offered Nick by way of defense.

"Oh dear! He's such a sensitive man. I'm sorry...who did you say you
were?"

"Nick?"

"Nick, tell me something honestly…"

"What's that?"

"Are you Jake's lover?"

Nick blushed profusely. "No, no I'm not."

"It's nothing to be ashamed of. He's very ashamed you know. He
thinks I don't know."

"I'm not his lover, really," protested Nick.

"Then why are you blushing?" she asked.

"He's my co-worker," Nick explained.

"Well it explains why you would want to keep it a secret then, doesn't
it?" she replied.

"Really! I'm not!" frustrated with her logic.

"All right, dear. Well...you may as well put him in the chair. He
can sleep it off that way. Thank you, Nick. You are a good friend to
him. Would you like a cup of something?

"I have to go. Could I call myself a taxi?"

"Why certainly! But they take so long to get here – I'm sure you'll
have time for a couple of teas before they're here!"

"Em. All right then..." He manoevered Jake into a chair, and then
phoned for a taxi. He was warned that the waiting time would be
twenty minutes. By the time he was off the phone, he noticed with
alarm that the chair was empty. He heard ghastly wretching coming
from the kitchen.

"Jakey! Couldn't you even make it to the bathroom? What on earth
were you doing, drinking so much?? I thought you had more sense than
that! Aren't you embarassed, carrying on like that while your friend
Nick is here? Look at all the problems you're caused."

"MA-A-A!!!" he cried out in protest and anger at a volume designed to
silence the most hardened chastiser of sins. But it did not work.
Years of practice had made his mother impervious to the most
entreating of pleas and angriest of protests.

"Jakey, when you're cleaned up, you go and apologize to Nick…he had to
carry you inside!"

"MA-A-A-A!!!" he screamed, almost threateningly, and emptied more of
his stomach's contents. A wave of weakness overtook him.

"Enough said…" she waddled out of the kitchen to rejoin Nick.

"I've put the kettle on…he's a little testy right now. Sometimes he's
like his father, although thank goodness, not *usually* the worser
parts, " she smiled at Nick.

Nick returned her smile wanly.

They both heard a thump, and all went quiet, save the continuous
running of tap water.

"Excuse me, Nick…" She walked back to kitchen. "Oh!" she said in
surprise. "He's passed out again!"

"I'll see if I can get him upstairs," volunteered Nick, again locking
his arms across his chest from under his armpits. He trailed him
ungraciously up a flight of stairs leading to a second floor, half
pulling a throw rug along the hallway, he eventually managed to twist
him through a bedroom doorway, and finally prop him against the bed.

Then he went to lift Jake up off the floor, bride style, but found him
too heavy. Jake was also coming to, again.

"What are you doing?" Jake asked, seeing Nick towering above him,
feeling his arm muscle pushed tightly into his neck from the back,
smelling his male scent.

"Trying to get you onto the bed," huffed Nick. "You're too heavy!"

"Don't bother…" muttered Jake, his head flopping to one side. His
stomach felt terrible. The room was still spinning a bit on him.

Nick released him, and the rest of him flopped limply along the floor.
He debated whether to give it another go, or just simply leave him
there. But he felt partially responsible, as he had sat with Jake for
a number of drinks after he had arrived at the bar, even buying him some.

"Look, Jake…" He spoke to him in the hope that even with his eyes
closed, he could hear Nick. "I've gotta go. At least try to hold on
while I pull you up, or something!" He reached down and tried to
scoop Jake up again. But this time, Jake seemed to offer him enough
limb tension, that he was not lifting dead weight. Jake brought his
arms around Nick's neck and tightened them enough to give Nick
purchase as he uprighted himself, and was finally able to heave Jake
onto the bed in a somewhat curled position.

Jake immediately released Nick, as he hit the mattress. He opened his
eyes slowly and looked into Nick's eyes, noting his eyes reddened by
alcohol. Nick sank down onto the edge of the bed, heaving, catching
his breath from the exertion. Some moments later, Jake reached up
toward him with one arm and began to trail his fingertips gently along
Nick's cheek, allowing a finger to very lightly linger a little over
the edge of Nick's lower lip.

"Thanks, buddy," he said in low voice, withdrawing his arm. He rolled
onto his side, closing his eyes. "I owe you!"

"You don't owe me," replied Nick, feeling quite speechless. Jake's
touch had not repelled him, as he would have imagined. On the
contrary. As his lip continued to tingle, the image replayed in his
mind pleasantly. He would have liked Jake's finger to continue it's
ultra-light exploration of his lip.

But Jake had already drifted out of consciousness again.

//Getting drunk – sucks. No wonder Alvin had to quit...compared to
coke, it's a total downer…// rationalized Nick. He determined not to
let this happen to him again, as he walked slowly back down the stairs.

* * *


 

Little Sister – Part 4


 
 
"And you are? – " the nurse said.

"Nick Fallin. I'm Shannon's foster brother. I'm just here for a
short visit," explained Nick with some trepidation.

"Mr. Fallin…well, you can see Shannon for a little awhile. She's
quite sedated right now. She's not been particularly forthcoming
about the things that are bothering her - meaning we are having
difficulty making much progress with her! Can you enlighten us a little?"

"Er…my father…she wanted to come back and live with my father. Her
mother and grandmother both died in tragic accidents…she's had
problems at her group home lately. And her father is in jail for
homicide."

"That's quite a hurdle for a young girl…poor thing," commented the
nurse. "She's lucky there is someone who cares about her. She's had
no other visitors, except a social worker. The social worker seemed
reluctant to provide details."

"She probably wants to maintain Shannon's trust," offered Nick,
surprised actually that Laurie would not have been forthcoming.

"Follow me," answered the nurse.

They walked through an electronic control entry set of doors. Nick
immediately noticed the wire-wrought glass, designed not to shatter.
He had learned in visiting certain LSP juveniles, that a significant
number of patients would attempt to shatter glass when hallucinating
or feeling provoked.

"She has her own room here. Please leave the door open so that she
does not miss giving blood samples…"

"Oh. Yes."

"Shannon? You have a visitor," she smiled.

Shannon looked up at Nick sleepily, eying him with some skepticism.
"Didn't think you'd come here…" she said dismally. "Burton doesn't
want me back."

"It's not simple as that, Shannon. He cares about you a lot, you
know," said Nick, pulling a chair under him, but not removing his coat.

"So why'd he call Laurie?"

"He can't look after you right now. You know he's getting older.
It's not so easy. And you told him before that you were in the wrong
place."

"I said that because of my dad." She stared off dreamily into space.
A tear began to well. "It's like he was telling me not to love my dad."

"He was worried about you," offered Nick.

"So why hasn't he come to see me? He doesn't want a lot of trouble,
and I'm trouble," she said, looking at more directly now.

"Do you think you really gave him a chance?" countered Nick. "Or even
yourself? Maybe you should try trusting him a little more…"

"You're just always going to tell what a screwup I am, Nick. I know
it's true. But I'm sick of hearing it."

"I didn't come to tell you you're a screwup. I came here to see how
you are."

"I heard you got arrested. Looks like you're a screwup too," too
indifferent to care that she was being rude.

Nick laughed. "We're all human, Shannon. I make mistakes like
anyone. But it was the police this time that made a mistake. That's
why they had to let me go."

Shannon searched his face, and saw no expression. His lawyerly mask
was effectively in place.

"I should have tried a little harder to be nice at first to you
Shannon, but I was jealous," he added

"Of me?" she asked, incredulous.

"Burton didn't give me a lot of attention when I was young – he sent
me off to boarding school and I hardly ever got to saw him, and
suddenly he was fussing over you so much," admitted Nick in a low voice.

"Boy, Nick, I can't believe what you're saying," she looked at him,
hardly daring to believe that Nick would have been jealous of her. "I
think you're just saying that!"

"I'm not just saying that."

"And now Burton doesn't…why doesn't he come and see me, Nick? Did he
send you, instead?"

Nick was momentarily at a loss for words. "He told me you were asking
about me."

"I thought maybe…"

"Maybe?"

"I thought maybe it was my fault that…"

"What?"

"That you were with someone young, you know…" she looked as if she
were about to cry.

"I would never…" he held his head low and shook it.

"So what were you doing with my mom?"

"Your mom??" Nick asked in alarm, raising his head.

"I know what she used to do…"

"I was…Shannon, listen…you know I'm going to have a baby…do you really
think I would do something like that?"

"Lots of men do things like that."

"Lots of men don't."

"You said you're human. You said so yourself."

"I'm not that human," he grimaced, stroking the back of his neck.

"Right," she said in a tone that mocked his statement of innocence.

"You still hate me."

"I just don't trust you."

"Okay. I guess that makes us even, because I've had a hard time
trusting you, especially when Burton gets hurt because of what you
told that photographer. But I hope you get better. I hope things get
better for you. And I know my dad will visit you when you get out.
Try and get better Shannon." He hesitated and then remembered the
gift he had brought for her. "Oh, before I forget, I brought you
something…that is, if you want it."

"What's that?"

"I brought you the "Lord of the Rings" DVD set."

Shannon swallowed and then sat up more. "Cool! Thanks, Nick! I saw
the first one already, but I didn't see the other two…that's cool…"

"You're welcome…so I'll see you in a couple of weeks?"

"Yeah! Okay." Shannon smiled for the first time. "Bye."

~ ~ ~
 
 
Little Sister – Part 5


 
 
Detective Madison surveyed Nick's living room, as Nick went to make he
and Detective Radisson some hot refreshment. He surmised that it must
be a departmental joke on the Vice Squad that "Radisson and Madison"
got partnered together on a lot of the cases. They had rather sharp
senses of humor themselves, so Nick did not doubt that they gave back
as much as they had to put up with.

"So Nick, with all that money you make – you're so busy you don't have
time to buy yourself a few things? This place looks like a mortician
lives here!" wisecracked Madison.

"Em, well, "more things, more maintenance", right?"

"That's what wives are for," joined in Radisson.

Nick laughed awkwardly. "I'm working on it; so far, no luck."

Both Detectives started laughing. "C'mon! You telling us you don't
have the pick of the litter? A pretty, rich kid like you?"

"I didn't say I didn't have the pick," grinned Nick, trying to fit in,
"I just seem to wind up falling for the picky ones, is all." He tried
to sound cooler than he felt. He knew that many of the detectives
liked to good naturedly razz each like that; jibing each other
however, in a way his own colleagues would have found intrusive and
offensive.

Radisson and Madison cackled again.

"Okay, I guess we better get on with it, here…" said Radisson, setting
down his cup of strong coffee.//These high powered lawyers like their
strong brew – at least they "get" that much. Now if only they would
discover the virtues of good fresh donuts, instead of those flimsy,
overpriced croissants…//

"Want some donuts?" asked Nick, having made his stop at the donut shop
before returning home.

"Yeah!" they both chimed in at the same time.

"Hope ya got a jelly one!" Radisson said in a greedy booming voice, as
Nick brought the box in and set it down.

"I think there's a couple…"

"That's what we like – the essentials of working life! Junk food to
work by!"

"Is that why you two are always so hyper?" asked Nick, joining in
their donut feast.

"Hyper? Nope. We come by it naturally. That's why they've got us in
vice. So we can act like idiots, and no one notices…"

"You should see him do a strip tease, trying to train the strippers to
do it right," joked Madison.

"If ya got it, shake it. You got nothin' to shake Radisson – that's
why you're jealous."

"How I can I be jealous of something you haven't got!"

"Are all you vice guys this crazy!?" asked Nick, amazed at how they
carried on.

"Yep. Basically, yep," they both chimed.

"So anyway, Nick. Tonight, we're gonna set it up, so that when the
john comes for Violet's mom – I forget her name again- you step in and
tell him you're her new pimp…

"Do I *look* like a pimp? I mean, I don't have any gold chains or
anything like that, or..."

"We'll fix you up; we've got a few things in the trunk…"

Nick looked at them skeptically…"I don't know…I think pimp is really
stretching it…"

"Don't worry. We'd do it ourselves, except too many people in that
area have seen us already..."

"This guy is a certified, low-life, Nick. If you knew what that
scumbags been up to -"

"I get the picture. Do I go in wired?"

"Well, it's up to you. He might pat you down. Which would you prefer?"

"Without," Nick replied without hesitation. If he pats me, the girl
could be in danger."

"Just worry about your own skin. Legal clients don't like their
lawyers looking beat up when they show up at court."

Nick's jaws tightened at the reminder. He hoped they knew what they
doing, setting him up as `the pimp'.

"We'll go get bring you that gear now. You be ready to roll around
eight. We'll come and pick you up, in an unmarked yellow sedan."

"Right," affirmed Nick quietly.

"Don't worry...we'll give you a little more briefing before we cut you
loose with him. Better we do right before though, you know?"

"Got it."

~ ~ ~

"So it wasn't that they made a mistake! It's that you were
undercover..." he heard a familiar voice say.

Nick spun around, but could not see where the voice came from. Then
from the dining area, a shadowed figure emerged into the light, and
the sheen of gold hair could be seen trailing along the doorframe.

Startled, Nick cried out.

"Shannon??"

He was greeted by silence, as her face slowly came into view and he
found himself stared at by liquid eyes.

"I have to talk to Burton," she said with quiet intensity.

"Shannon, you can't..."

"I have to talk to him, Nick," she repeated tensely. "They were
abusing me at the hospital."

"You have to stop lying to get what you want, Shannon," Nick replied.

"I'm not lying. Jeremy lied, Burton lied, my dad lied, Malcolm lied,
you lied – men are liars – so don't you go calling me a liar, Nick!
The only one who hasn't lied to me yet, is Laurie!"

"What did they do to you at the hospital?"

"Like I want to discuss it with you!"

"Look Shannon, I'm willing to call Lulu, but once you've talked to
her, you have to go back to the hospital."

"NO WAY!!"

"Okay, listen. Talk to Lulu, and then do what she says, okay?"

"Okay,"

"And if you breathe a word to anyone about what you heard tonight and
cause more serious trouble, I'll make sure they lock you up and throw
away the key – do I make myself clear? You are not going to worsen my
dad's health or cause problems in a police investigation!"

"I wouldn't do that."

"That's good to hear - now I'll call for Lulu to come and pick you
up...don't run off on her or give her any trouble...she's going to do
her best to help you."

"I promise."

Nick stared at her, wondering if he was making a bad decision.

"I promise, Nick! I won't say a word, I promise!"

Nick said nothing.

~ ~ ~

Nick sighed when Lulu finally arrived to pick Shannon up. It had been
a tense day at work, and things were threatening to erupt into more
problems if he had not been effective in persuading Shannon to remain
silent. Growing up, Nick had sometimes wished he had a little sister
for company, after his mother had passed away. It some fateful sweep
of irony, he had gotten what he wished for: a little sister.

But he had never imagined a `little sister' quite like Shannon.

~ ~ ~
 
 
Little Sister – Part 6
 


"Platform sneakers?" said Nick skeptically, impressed that they had at
least brought him his correct shoe size.

"Gotta be cool dude!" pattered Radisson who now wore a chain choker,
offering Nick a leather one with a pink jade mermaid attached.

"We're gonna give you a bit of a goth look here..."

"Goth makeup??"

"Helps distort your looks; makes you more of a night creature..."

"And a studded belt..."

"Guess I'm not going to need to worry about someone recognizing me..."

"We don't want you goin' in lookin' like a hush-puppied yuppie now, do
we?" said Madison, as he worked an eyebrow pencil into the corners of
Nick's eyes, giving him a more sinister look.

"I look like a rock n' roll guy..."

"You've gotta be a little hip. Okay and some leathers...got any
chains, black leather?"

"No," replied Nick. "Oh wait a minute...is a black leather vest, okay?"

"Let's see it. Then we'll tell you..gotta black T-shirt?"

"Yes, I've got a black T-shirt," Nick yelled from the hall closet,
starting to feel adrenalin move through him, as he searched for his
leather vest.

"Hold out your arm!" said Radisson. "Don't move…"

Nick watched while Radisson pushed something onto his arm that smelled
of ink and felt itchy and as he squeezed and held it there.

"Don't move!" Radisson repeated again in warning, counting to twenty.
"Voila – instant tattoo!" he grinned, as Nick looked at his arm and
saw a shockingly realistic tattoo on his arm. There was a picture of
a lewdly exaggerated posterior with an inscription under it which read
"Kiss my Ass - and I'll kick yours to hell and back!"

"No one said you guys lacked realism!" commented Nick still quite
taken aback at the transformation. He felt like a completely different
person, walking in his elevated shoes. "But don't I need a hat, or
sunglasses, or something?"

"I'm glad you asked..."

~ ~ ~

Jake brooded over his morning coffee. He had noticed that Nick had
looked haggard coming into work this morning. But more relevantly,
Jake could have sworn he saw traces of eye makeup in the corner of
Nick's eyes! It had given him a somewhat gaunt, haunted look.

But not exactly unattractive.

He couldn't have been...//There had to be some rational explanation!//
Jake reasoned, trying hard not to let his imagination run away with
him. But what? Did he dare to confront Nick to satisfy his burning
curiosity?

He could finally stand it no longer, and decided to take his curiosity
to the next level. But he would do it discreetly, rather than just
blurting something out that would be likely to shut down any
communication between them. He moved confidently forward toward
Nick's office and poked his head in.

"I've been meaning to "thank you" for the other night...but up to now,
I've just been too damn embarassed!," confessed Jake, as he poked his
head into Nick's office.

"Oh, forget about it. I have," replied Nick, waving him off.

"Hope my mother didn't talk your ear off?"

Nick smiled.

"I owe you for cab fare too!" Jake reached into his pocket and
withdrew a couple of twenties and handed them to Nick.

"Okay, thanks," replied Nick, raising his head only briefly,
apparently rather reluctantly away from his notes.

"Um, Nick?"

"Yeah?"

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but.."

Nick looked up and gave him his undivided attention now. Jake then bit
his lip to help him resist the urge to laugh as he continued.

"But your mascara is running..."

"Mascara?" Nick looked up at him quizzically, clearly not understanding.

Jake pointed to the corner of his eye to make his meaning more clear.

Nick rubbed the corner of his eye, and noted a black smudge on his
finger. Realizing how this might have looked, he blushed deeply and
muttered "Thanks, I..."

Spotting Nick's blush immediately, he nodded reassuringly, "You don't
have to explain," smiling gently,"Really!"

Nick blushed even more, but by then Jake had turned and walked away
leaving him alone in his office. Nick then realized he wasn't even
prepared to explain himself. And would anything he said at that
point, even be believed?? Exactly what had he gotten himself into?
The undercover stuff that Lulu had negotiated reduced probationary
hours for - for helping the vice squad when they had originally
approached him due to his role in locating Shannon - was beginning to
seem now, like a very bad idea. He resolved that he tell her so, very
soon.

He rose to go to the washroom to wash his eyes more thoroughly. Once
there, he double-checked himself for any leftover tattoo ink at the
same time. It had taken a considerable amount of scrubbing that
morning to get it off.

He felt a new appreciation for what women put themselves through for
the sake of looking attractive. Applying and removing mascara on a
daily basis would surely have been worse than applying and removing a
bit of eye pencil!

~ ~ ~

end of Part 6
 
 
 
 
Little Sister – Part 7
 


"Then she told me some orderly had been coming in after the lights
went out..." explained Lulu.

Nick was skeptical. "Do you think she was making it up?"

"No, I don't think so...she talked about his body odor. It seemed
like a detail someone her age would be unlikely to make up," answered
Lulu.

"Possibly," Nick responded, unsure about just how creative Shannon was
capable of when it came to lying. He did not doubt that she was both
willing and capable of bending truth as it suited her purposes - her
deceit with the detectives to conceal Malcolm's activities, was ample
proof that she had not yet reformed.

"Are you going to tell your dad?" Lulu asked.

"He's going to find out from Laurie or someone eventually, if she
doesn't go back to the hospital..." deduced Nick.

`Do we go ahead and press charges then?"

"I think only Laurie can do that..."

"No, I think we can do that," replied Lulu.

"And then what?"

"Then we convince her to go back to Laurie...Nick, do you think I
would get approved to foster parent her for awhile?"

To say her question shocked Nick, would have been an understatement.
He looked at Lulu in mild horror, a sinking feeling that she had
somehow succumbed to some of Burton's irrationality. Shannon was a
girl that no sensible adult would actually want to try and take
responsibility for, regardless of how unfortunate her circumstances
had been.

Except perhaps by someone as experienced as Laurie.

"Lulu..." he said, shaking his head, distressed at the thought.

Picking up on his dislike of the idea, she tried to assuage him:
"Nick, we're not talking about a long stretch. Just as an emergency
placement until Laurie finds a place for her."

"It's more complicated than...her schooling for instance, keeping
track of her – she's at boy crazy age...it's not like just babysitting
for the weekend..." he stammered. And she'll be even more upset, when
she has to leave, because she knows my dad and we..."

"She's upset about that already, anyway...it could be parenting
practice for me," smiled Lulu, her eyes twinkling. "Seriously, Nick,
it's not like we haven't already gotten to know her a little..."

"You said a mouthful," concurred Nick.

"She really needs someone," persisted Lulu.

"Do you realize how much trouble she could be? Do you, Lulu? You're
pregnant. You don't need the stress. And what about after school? You
have to manage things at LSP!"

"You really think it's over my head?" pouted Lulu.

"I...just hate the idea...", he reached over and began to softly
stroke her thigh. "Of being outnumbered, when I drop over to your
place..." some merriment began to surface. " As if you weren't already
to enough to try and handle..." His eyes now locked with hers as he
trailed his fingertips along the calf of her leg.

"Hm...I'd have to make sure she joined some after-school team, to keep
her busy and out of mischief, wouldn't I?" pondered Lulu, pretending
not to pay attention to his fixed stare and wandering hand.

"Preferably from Monday to Sunday," affirmed Nick. "Idle hands are the
devil's tool..."

"Aren't they, though!" whispered Lulu, leaning toward him and nuzzling
his cheek. "I think I already see some horns emerging, just below your
hairline!"

"Horny enough, pretty lady...horny enough!" he whispered, as he
grasped her hair and began to fondle it, touching his lips to her
forehead.

Lulu finally slipped her arms around his neck, drawing closer, and as
their lips finally touched, she began to lose herself in his most
fluid, intimate kissing.

~ ~ ~