Father First| An Alan Rickman Story

A Special Place in Hell

     It was time for Alan to be shown what the cameras outside of his home had captured. Officer Bailey turned the computer screen towards Alan and started the recording from the beginning."

     The porch light didn't shine bright enough for the entire yard to be lit. He could see two shadows making their way to his front door. They were holding hands. As they moved into the light, he could see Makenzie's blonde hair walking with a man who didn't look familiar at all.

     "Sir, do you know these two people?" He raised an eyebrow, he seemed suspicious. Alan thought to himself. He must already know the answer to his question. He's testing me, seeing if I lie.

     "The woman is my daughter's mother. I'm assuming the man is her husband. I've not actually met him." His answer seemed satisfactory to the officer.

     "Yes, he is her husband. Does your daughter know him? What were the arrangements for tonight? Why were they at your home while you were away?"

     "Ashleigh has never met the man either. Her mother was meant to come and help her write an essay for school. She has been granted unsupervised visitation so I left to allow them some space. As far as I knew, she was going to be alone. We hadn't agreed for her husband to come at all." He was bouncing around ideas in his head of what may have happened. Did they leave early and someone tried to break into his home?  He just couldn't quite piece together  a scenario that really seemed correct.

     The door cracked open and another officer stuck his head inside asking for officer Bailey to meet him the hallway. They were speaking loud enough for Alan to hear that there had been a confession. Officer Bailey returned and sat back down, crossing his hands on the desk.

     Alan had relaxed slightly, assuming a confession meant he was proven to not be involved. Officer Bailey sat down, completely stoic, "I want to continue with this footage. This one was taken from the camera on the backside of your home." He was still staring at Alan and clearly still judging his responses.

     He was looking at an overhead view of his back patio, it was empty for a moment. Then, he saw Ashleigh run out with the man from the first video following right behind her. Makenzie stopped in the doorway just watching the events unfolding. The man grabbed Ashleigh by the wrist, turned her around and laid his first across her face. Alan's heart rate began to rise. She took her foot and shoved it hard into the man's groin and tried to run. He reached her first, kicking her in the small of her back, knocking her down the patio stairs. He let her fall to the bottom before he pounced on top of her and continued to beat her.

     Alan had sweat falling down his face. He threw his hands over his mouth and spun around grabbing the trash bin behind him. He pulled it up to his face and vomited violently. "Turn it off, please turn it off!" He couldn't take another second of helplessly watching his daughter getting beaten to a pulp.

     Officer Bailey could see Alan's eyes filling with tears again and gave him a minute to compose himself. "I've studied people for decades, looking for fake reactions, looking for even the tiniest of lies. I know you had nothing to do with what happened tonight. Her husband admitted to doing this. She admitted to allowing it to happen. Trust me, they will pay for what they've done." He went to the door and opened it to allow Alan out in the hall.

     "I've sent for a nurse to come get you and take you to a room to wait. Your daughter is continuing to have seizures. They are working very hard to stop them and tend to her injuries. She's very critical so you cannot see her right now. I hope..." he was interrupted by the sound of the door beside them opening.

     The officer who had brought Alan to be questioned was walking out with Makenzie and her husband. Anger overtook Alan's body and mind and he lunged forward tackling the man to the ground.

     "You bastard!!" He pulled his arm back and slugged the man across the face and then pulled back again for another and another. The officers seemed to freeze for a moment, as if they were allowing Alan to get a few hits in. They grabbed him by the arms and pulled him off the man who was bleeding from his nose and mouth. Alan was acting on pure instinct he was fighting hard to get free from the officer's grip and yelling at Makenzie's husband, "there's a special place in hell for you!" He kept swinging trying to break loose and destroy that man, "let me at him! You saw what he did to my daughter!! I'll kill him!" He felt two hands gently grab either side of his face.

     "Al, stop." Emily had moved in front of him, her eyes pleading with him to calm down.

     "He put his hands on my daughter!!" He was still frantic, but she remained calm.

     "Alan... please. He deserves to hurt, but legally, you can't just attack him. You'll get yourself arrested and Ashleigh will be alone. She needs you right now, you have to stop." He slumped, immediately giving up the fight. She was right. He wasn't sure if Ashleigh would make it out of this, but if she did, he was going to be there.

     She took his hand and walked him to a long couch in the waiting room. She sat down and patted her legs, he nodded and laid down on the couch, resting his head on her lap. He stared up at the ceiling, the images he had just seen on the computer screen still playing in his head. Please don't let me loose her now. I've never loved anything as much as I love her. I didn't even get to tell her I loved her. Please don't let me loose my daughter.

     He was completely oblivious to the two girls sitting at the other end of the waiting room. They had begun to whisper and one of them pointed to him. "That's Alan Rickman!"

     "Alan! Why are you here? You're covered in blood, what has happened?!" He jolted up. She had pulled out a camera and he knew she'd gotten the picture. She had gotten a picture of him in a hospital waiting room, laying in a woman's lap, and completely covered in blood. Fuck.

     "Ladies, please... this is a hospital. Obviously, I'm here for a personal reason. Please respect my privacy. Please delete that photo." He was trying to keep his cool, hoping they would listen without him having to raise his voice.

     "I'm so sorry, of course I will delete it. I hope that whatever you're here for works itself out." Maybe he was paranoid, but the apology didn't feel sincere to him. He just had to hope she actually deleted that photo. Emily was leading him off again, she had requested a private waiting room and thankfully, the hospital receptionist obliged.