realityshifted | (no subject)

Nothing. No point. No point to anything I say. Let's talk about football. City won't win the League Cup again until 1976, you know.

One of these days, you're gonna make some bloody sense. And when you do, I'll shit myself. [oooh, no he did not] Don't you start with that 'Hyde' bullshit. Reds'll kick Blue's arse any day.

It's true. Place your bets on it. Oh! And The Exorcist comes out this year. You should see it. I didn't like it much, but. Was Karras's suicide an act of martyrdom, or is he going to hell? They should ask the next demon to come along.

And I said stop. [reaches out to grab Tyler by the lapels, trying to shove him off his stool] I don't wanna hear about your bloody 'Hyde' or your daft ideas of what's gonna happen in the future. All that matters is right here, right now, you got it?

[grabs one of Gene's wrists, balancing himself by putting his free hand on the counter] Is that why you don't want me around Fumie? Are you afraid that the future'll take me back?

I'm not afraid. [shoves him away angrily, going back to his whisky] You're not going anywhere, Tyler. This is where you belong. The hell would I have to be afraid of? You don't have any bloody future calling you back. You haven't gotten there yet.

[looks at his glass for a moment] I never did National Service. What's it like?

What do you think? [examines his whisky now, leaning on the bar and swirling the glass about, lost in thought] Never did get to fight in the war. Wanted to, though. Wouldn't let me, though; said I was too young. [shrugs] Learned not to take shit from anyone, though. I worked with some real bastards that year. 's how I learned to hold a gun or strong-arm a man 'til he can't move. [takes another drink, running a hand over his face] Then I joined the force here and never went back.

Seems the military lessons on discipline and orderliness weren't lost on you either.

You want to keep your team safe? You run a tight ship. That's all there is to it, Tyler. [sips at his whisky some more, lighting up as well] Why didn't you serve?

It ended in the 60's, Guv. I was born in '69.

[purses his lips and opts to Ignore That because he can and it's easier for him than trying to reconcile his feelings with Sam being From The Future] Gonna ask you again, Tyler. There a point to the interrogation or you just like hearing yourself talk?

It's not an interrogation. I just felt like having a few pints with you. [takes a drink from his glass]

You? Just having the sudden urge to get pissed? Now I know you're hiding something, you tosser.

I don't want to get pissed. I just.... Forget it. If you don't want to drink with me, don't. I can find someone else.

[frowns, because he's not about to say 'I want to drink with you,' as that's far too gay. so he just shrugs] So. Your 'Hyde.' What's so good about it?

My family's there. Well, some of them are here, too, but Auntie Heather yelled at me when I met her, and mum... She's all alone, there. I mean, she has some family, but Dad didn't have any siblings, and we never really connected to that side of the family, and mum's older now. I should be there for her. [drink to fortify against emo!] Maya... Maya's there. The woman I loved. She's a DI, Guv, believe it or not. Thirty years, and a part-Ugandan woman is a DI in Manchester's finest. I hope she's been Acting DCI in my absence. She'd be good at it. And there's Pete and Mary and my other mates, all back there.

There's... there's a whole life there, Guv. I've got a whole life waiting for me.

Bird would make a better DCI than you, anyway, the way you go on and on about paperwork. Surprised you got out of the damn department to do your job in the first place.

[finishes off his whisky to pour some more, cause he's in need of more alcohol to make this conversation easier] You've got all these people you're connected to, all these people you're responsible for, and you want to have a pint or six with me? If it's so important to go back there -- and I'm not saying it is, I'm not saying I believe a jot of what you're saying -- why are you so intent on fitting in here with the rest of CID? You're either my DI or you're some bloke from 'Hyde,' but you can't be both, and I don't want to waste my time on you if you don't intend on keeping my City safe.

I don't go on about paperwork because I like it, you know. I do all the paperwork here because no one else does. And it has to be done. Back home, everyone did their share of that work, so they all could do their share of field work, too. No one... slacked off at the boring parts of the job, only really working hard at the 'fun' parts.

I want a pint with you because you're my mate. Fitting in... [snorts and takes a long drink] I've never 'fit in' with the rest of CID, and you know it. But keeping Manchester safe has always been my intention.

[snorts] If I didn't know better, I'd say you snog those files every chance you get, you pansy. And I did my fair share of the 'boring' shit when I was working up through the ranks. But you don't catch baddies sitting on your arse, and that's what I do: I take down scum. Who gives a shit if that means some paperwork gets tossed aside? The ruddy div's behind bars and that's all that matters.

[nurses his own glass] You can't be mates with a bloke who's dead back in 'Hyde,' now can you?

If you don't get the paperwork done properly, criminals won't stay behind bars. You need watertight cases, so not a single one of them can wriggle out through a loophole or a gap. Catching them might be hands-on, but once it hits the courts it's bureaucracy. If you don't satisfy those requirements, you might as well've not wasted police time catching them.

[chooses to drink, rather than respond]

I make sure everything's settled by the time we go to court. But that's what lawyers are for, Tyler, to handle all the little shit. Coppers shouldn't have to worry about sodding paperwork to do their blasted job.

[notes the silence, tightening his jaw. is he willing to push it? he doesn't know. because if he does, it's admitting Tyler really is from the future. but if he doesn't, the bastard gets off without answering a Very Important Question. and if the Guv's learned one thing through interrogating suspects, it's that you can't let the Important Questions go] You've got a tongue. Use it.

We shouldn't, but we do. We're responsibility for giving lawyers something they can work with.

I don't know if you're dead. You could still be alive. [a pause] I hope you're dead. [it's a very loving statement, really]

Maybe. Hasn't proved a problem yet, though. Not when I can get the bloody confession from 'em.

[...] The hell is that supposed to mean?

The city changes. Policing changes. The world changes. They'd tie you down in bureaucracy and political correctness. Maybe if you retired early from the force, or moved up to Super... But you'd hate that, wouldn't you?