BAPA One-Shots

Mini One-Shots 11

A/N: mainly Stranger Things and Power Rangers.

(Warning: swearing)
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At The Swellview Post, Bose and Chapa are sitting out front of the office of their boss, Tom. He then calls them in, but he looks weird. He's sweating really badly, and he has a bandage on his forehead. Once they're in...

Tom: "I've worked at this paper for 25 years. Twenty... five... years. Now, we're a small-town paper, but we have something the big papers don't: trust, the trust of our community."

Chapa: "Tom, if you'll just let us explain-"

Tom angrily kicks his chair.

Tom: "You know how I built that trust?!"

This startles the pair.

Tom: "By placing my faith in something you two don't seem to value a whole lot: facts. Facts. So, while we're here, let's go over the facts: fact number one, you disobeyed a direct order to STOP pursuing this story. Two: you falsely identified yourselves as reporters, repeatedly lying to an elderly woman! Three: you broke into her home, committing trespass! Four, she almost died en route to the hospital!"

Chapa: "She would've died if we hadn't shown up! Whatever disease that rat was carrying obviously passed on to her-"

Tom: "FIVE: Mrs. Driscoll is a paranoid schizophrenic!"

This came as a shock to both Chapa and Bose.

Tom: "You didn't know that, did you? Now, disease-carrying rats? The second coming of the plague? Does this sound credible to you, or perhaps does this sound like the delusions of a very sick old lady?"

Chapa: "I... didn't know that."

Tom: "Her family's furious, so furious, in fact, they've threatened litigation."

Bose: "Litigation?"

Chapa: "That's crazy."

Tom: "For once, we agree. This is crazy. In fact, in my entire professional career, I've never dealt with anything quite like it. But hopefully, you've learned something from this experience. You've learned... how in the real world, in the workplace, there are consequences to your actions, which brings me to my sixth and final... fact: you're fired... both of you."

This stuns the two. Later, on the car ride home...

Chapa: "It's bullshit. So, according to Tom, Mrs. Driscoll is a schizophrenic, and that rat is a rat, and this is all a big coincidence? You know what I think? I think Tom was on drugs."

Bose looks at Chapa with a bit of a confused look.

Bose: "What?"

Chapa: "Did you see him? His forehead was sweating, his palms were clammy, he looked awful."

Bose can't help but chuckle at the fact that Chapa would think that.

Chapa: "Oh, is this funny to you?"

Bose: "No... no, it's just kind of incredible."

Chapa: "Incredible?"

Bose: "Yeah, incredible how you just continue to convince yourself."

Chapa: "What's that supposed to mean?"

Bose: "I told you over and over to drop this story, that it was a bad idea, but you refused, now, I'm screwed."

Chapa: "It's a summer job. Your life is hardly over."

Bose: "I don't live in a two-story house on Maple Street, my dad doesn't earn six figures, hell, he isn't even around."