2x09: Breaking Point

***

Hunter walked over to Tim after roll call, Grant had called in sick after being sent to hospital for a broken wrist and then he caught a flu from a patient after being sneezed on as he left. "Mind if I ride with you and Lucy?" She asked.

"Sure." Tim said, shrugging, he loved riding with Hunter, it was fun for him not that he'd ever admit it to anyone including Hunter herself.

The two of them walked into the reception area where Lucy was taking a dog out of a woman's arms as Tim and Hunter walk up to her. "What's the holdup? Also, Hunter's riding with us." Tim pointed to Hunter.

"Great," Lucy showed Tim and Hunter the dog. "We need to swing by a vet, see if there's a chip in this dog. She could have come from a crime scene." She said.

"My familia vet is nearby, we can take the dog there." Hunter said, Tim and Lucy both look at her confused. "I don't have a pet my Mami does though and we had pets as kids." Hunter shrugged.

***

Tim, Hunter and Lucy are returning the dog to its address. Hunter grabbed her radio out. "Control, show us Code 6 at 819 Rivera." She said.

Tim knocks on the door. "Police! We've got your dog," there's no answer and Tim knocks again. "Police." He said. There's no answer. 

Hunter looks in the window and sees a body on the floor of the front room. "Body."

Tim kicks the front door in and they enter. Hunter finds no pulse on the body; the three of them hear a slight noise from elsewhere in the house and proceed to check the other rooms, weapons drawn. "Clear." Lucy whispered.

They stand in front of a closed door, probably the bathroom. "This is the police! We're coming in, so get your hands where I can see them!" Hunter yelled, she nodded and Tim opens the door and they move quickly into the bathroom, where they find a boy curled up in the tub, rocking himself silently.

***

Malcom Tucker is sitting in a patrol unit, petting the dog. "Hey, Malcolm, That was a great hiding spot. You thought fast, and you kept yourself safe. Malcolm, can you tell me who hurt your mom?" Lucy gets no response. "I'll be right back." She goes over to talk to Tim and Hunter just as Detective Nick Armstrong arrives on scene. "He's in shock. We got to get him to the hospital, make sure it's not something worse." Lucy said.

"Heard there might be a witness." Armstrong comments.

"Malcolm Tucker. But he's unresponsive." Hunter said.

"Mother was stabbed at least a dozen times. Not sure what he saw." Tim said.

"So, a crime of passion. Fits the history. I ran a record search. Between us and social services, this house was visited half a dozen times in the last year. Domestic strife between the victim and her boyfriend, Carson Gomes. I sent officers to his house and job site." Armstrong said.

Armstrong gets out a report and shows it to Tim, Hunter and Lucy. "Rachel was the caseworker," Hunter's jaw clenched remembering seeing Rachel talking to Tim at the station before the false alarm, Lucy turned to Armstrong. "We're old friends." Lucy said.

"Well, good. Give her a call. Have her meet you at the hospital, and she can brief you on the history in person. There's bound to be something she left out of her reports." Armstrong said.

"You're not coming?" Hunter asked.

"No. I still got work to do here first. You guys will fill me in after. Yeah." Armstrong replied.

"Okay." Tim said.

"You know as much as I love a witness, I just really hope he didn't see anything. Yeah." Armstrong said, they leave and he walks over to the crew on scene.

***

Rachel Hall comes up to speak with Tim, Hunter and Lucy in Shaw Memorial's waiting room. "How's Malcolm?" She asked.

"Uh, he's still in shock. He's lucky it wasn't a lot worse." Lucy said.

"I can't believe Julie's dead. Did Carson do it?" Rachel asked.

"We don't know yet." Tim said.

"Was he abusive?" Hunter asked.

"Uh, not physically, as far as I could tell. He has a criminal record, but honestly, Mom was the eye of that storm. I tried to get Malcolm removed, but I couldn't get a judge to sign off. What's gonna happen to him now?" Rachel questioned.

"Well, once we get clearance from the doctor, we'll take him down to the station. We'll need to get a statement." Tim said.

"I'll meet you. I have to reach out to family, see if anyone can take him, so he doesn't end up in a group home."

"Hey, Rachel. You did what you could." Lucy said to her friend.

"It wasn't enough." Rachel replied.

***

Tim, Hunter and Lucy look on as Armstrong faces Malcom across a table, with Rachel nearby. "I know this is painful. I promise I'll make it as quick as possible, okay?" Armstrong asked.

"Okay." Malcom said.

"Did you see what happened?" Armstrong asked.

"They had a fight - Mom and Carson." Malcom said.

"About what? Do you know?" Armstrong asked.

"Hey. It's okay. Take your time." Rachel said to Malcom.

"About me. Mom was mad 'cause I left out the peanut butter. She yelled at me, sent me to my room. But we were supposed to play Xbox."

""We" who?" Armstrong asked.

"Me and Carson. Carson was nice to me. He spent time with me. He yelled at her, told her she was being a bitch. She started screaming." Malcom said.

"Had he ever hit her before?" Armstrong asked.

"No. Never. He's never hit her."

"O-Okay, tell me more about the fight. Did you see it or or just hear it?" Armstrong asked.

"I heard it. A door slammed. My mom threw a plate. She was so mad when he left." Malcom said.

"Uh- When who left? Carson?" Armstrong asked.

"Yeah." Malcom said.

"Mm. And she was still alive?" Armstrong, Hunter and Tim shared a look knowing what that could mean unless it turned out Carson came back, Malcom would be arrested for murder.

"Yeah." Malcom said.

"And did Carson come back?" Armstrong asked.

"No, she chased him away." Malcom said.

"Did anybody else come over?"

"Um, w-we should stop." Rachel spoke up.

"Rachel -" Tim was about to say.

"No. Malcolm needs a lawyer." Rachel said.

"Miss Hall, you don't have standing to make that request." Hunter deadpanned.

Rachel spoke to Malcom directly. "Ask for a lawyer." She said.

"Rachel." Tim said.

"Miss Hall." Armstrong said.

That's when Lucy spoke up. "She's right. Malcolm should have a lawyer, and we should want him to have one." Hunter and Tim stared at Lucy, Malcom had pretty much just confessed to murdering his mother.

"It's your right, son. Do you want a lawyer?" Armstrong asked reluctantly.

Malcom looks at Rachel, who nods. "I guess so." Malcom said.

"Officer Chen. Would you take Malcolm to the break room?" Armstrong asked Lucy.

"Yes, sir. This way." Lucy led Malcom out.

"So, you got a lawyer in mind, Miss Hall, or are we calling legal aid?" Hunter questioned Rachel.

***

Hunter and Tim were speaking to Rachel, well it was more Tim and Rachel speaking with Hunter feeling out of place as if intruding on a private conversation even though Tim and Rachel have spoken once so far as Hunter's aware. "Malcolm didn't do it, he couldn't have." Rachel said.

"We hope you're right." Tim said speaking for himself and Hunter, who nodded in agreement.

"But you both think I'm wrong." Rachel sees Wesley coming up. "Wesley. Thanks for coming." She said.

"Of course. Where's my client?" Wesley asked.

"Break room with Chen." Tim replied.

"She's not questioning him?" Wesley questioned.

"No. She knows the rules." Hunter said.

"I'm gonna go talk to him." Wesley starts moving towards the break room.

"Great." Rachel started walking with him.

"You can't come with me." Wesley said to her.

"I'm his advocate." Rachel said.

"Rachel, you work for the county. I work for Malcolm. Sorry, but you're on the outside now." Wesley departs to go talk to Malcom.

"I'm guessing I'm on the outside with you two, too, huh?" Rachel mused.

"Not with us personally." Tim said.

"He's just a traumatized kid, Tim." Rachel said earnestly.

"Yeah." Tim said.

"Tim's been alive longer, he knows more about trauma than Malcom does and he's got more trauma too. Malcom hasn't severed his country four times. But he was abused by a parent which I guess in some ways is worse than war." Hunter said before walking off.

***

Tim, Hunter and Lucy are watching the interrogation in the Observation room.

"So, here's where we stand, Malcolm. You admitted that you saw your mother after her boyfriend, Carson, left the house. Did you get into a fight with her, too?" Wesley asked.

"You don't have to answer that."

"She said she was done with him. It wasn't fair." Malcom said.

"Are you mad at me, for insisting on a lawyer?" Lucy asked Tim and Hunter.

"You gave the kid time to think, strategize, get his story straight. If he killed her, and we can't convict, it's on you." Tim said not glancing at Lucy.

"That's a bit cold, Tim." Hunter commented.

"He's a child." Lucy said.

"And kids can't be monsters?" Tim asked.

Angela enters Observation in street clothes. "Hey. How's he doing?" She asked.

"Wesley? Oh, he's fighting the good fight." Tim said.

"You recognize this knife, Malcolm?" Armstrong shows Malcom a photo of the bloody knife from the crime scene.

"You don't have to answer that."

"He's right. You don't. But I think you want to. I think the truth is eating at you. And you need to let it out. Do you recognize this?" Armstrong asked.

"It's from the kitchen."

"Let's go back to what we know, okay? Carson leaves the house. It's just you and your mother. Then, what?"

"She left the room. And I grabbed it." Malcom said.

"The knife?"

"I picked it up, and followed her. She was yelling about how it was over. Carson was gone. We'd never see him again," Malcom's voice started breaking. "I started crying. And she laughed at me. She laughed at me."

"What'd you do to make her stop?"

"Malcolm -" Wesley started to say.

"I hit her with the knife."

"You hit her with the knife? You mean you stabbed her?" Armstrong asked.

"Yeah." Malcom replied.

"Where?"

"Her back."

"Then what?"

"She turned to me."

"Uh-huh." Armstrong said.

"Not even mad. Like she didn't even feel it." Malcom said.

"Did she cry out?"

"I guess so." Malcom said.

"You guess so? Which hand did you use?" Armstrong asked.

"Right." Malcom answered.

"How many times did you stab her?"

"Okay, that's enough. We're done for now, okay?" Wesley said about to break down.

"Do you need a break?" Armstrong asked Malcom.

"No. I just want it over."

"Okay, you stab her in the back. She turns and looks at you. Then what?"

"I stabbed her again in the front. And then, I couldn't stop." Malcom said.

Wesley leaps up and bursts out of the room. In the hallway he leans on the wall, eyes closed, breathing fast. Angela comes out of Observation, Hunter, Lucy and Tim stay there, waiting for it to be over, but Malcom would convicted.

***

It was nighttime, Hunter and Tim were watching TV it was late and Lexi had taken herself to bed around ten seeing as it was a school night. "What are you thinking about?" Tim asked Hunter.

"My DSC. The reason I got it." Hunter said, she shivered while getting the award was an amazing achievement she just wished things hadn't happened the way they did.

"Well, you deserved it and what happened wasn't your fault." Tim replied.

"You could've died." Hunter said.

"Well I didn't. We all survived because of your quick thinking. Now, you staying the night?" Tim asked.

"I'm staying till Grant's no longer contagious." Hunter replied and Tim stood up grabbing Hunter's hands and hauling her off the couch.

***

Hunter walked into her bedroom at Tim's house, she opened one of her cupboards and inside a gun safe that had a touch ID was her DSC in a box, she never took it out, she wanted to forget she had it.

The DSC reminds her of the first time Ray Watkins started working with the enemy the first time around on their first tour of Iraq but their second tour in the United States Army.

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Also, head canon Tim did four tours even thought he probably only did two but the way he worded him telling Lucy that by the time he was her age (younger than her in this story and no, Tim's not actually younger than Lucy he's 36 in this story.) he'd done two tours of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Hunter's DSC Medal and the reason she doesn't like getting awards without Tim are connected.

Also, yes, it's my head canon that Ray Watkins (from what I remember he worked with the enemy and I really don't want my heart to break again watching Chenford break up) worked with the enemy twice in both tours of Iraq.