+18 - eps.33-35 - The shadow of an old foe leaves Gillian fighting for her life. And as the team hunts down the attacker, Brock and Gillian run out of time to come to terms with their feelings for each other. BONUS TRACK: episode 36 - the breakfast
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The team plus Banks and Cassidy gathered in front of the plasma screen to watch the video Kurt had finally found.
The black screen with red letters sent chills down their backs as the mugging boy shouted his smart title.
The video was recorded at night. The same three boys with their yelling got in their car and drove to a residential area, past a solitary man hurrying down a quiet street. They pulled over and the boy with the phone got out of the car. The image bounced at his quick steps when he pressed on to catch up with the man.
"HEY, GOMEZ!" he called out.
The man stopped and turned around to look back. "Who's that?"
The boy took four quick strides, stretched out his arm holding a twenty-two pistol and yelled, "BYE-BYE, DOUCHE!"
He shot the man several times in his chest. The man crumbled down and the boy leaned in, to get a good picture of his agony.
"See, my friends?" the boy said, scornful. "They ain't no superheroes. They're just the same shit we all are."
The dying man looked up at the boy, his face contracted in pain, and moved his lips. The boy stepped back, spun around and sprinted to the car. He jumped in as the other two cheered for him. The boy behind the wheel geared in and stepped on the gas, making the car squeal as it skidded away.
The boy with the phone showed his veiled face, smiling eyes to say, "And that, my friends, is how you shut a cup. See you soon!"
Everybody grunted when the video ended. Aldana turned to Kurt.
"Kurt, go back right after he shoots Gomez and play it in slow motion."
Kurt did. They watched a few seconds and Aldana pointed at the screen. "There! Stop it, Kurt! Look at Gomez's face."
Ron frowned. "He recognized the shooter."
"Look how he moves his lips," said Russell. "He's saying something to the boy. Kurt, can you enhance the audio to hear what he says?"
"Right away."
Fred turned to Banks. "Is there any record of what gang Gomez was working with lately?"
"Brian Hall told me Gomez used to keep notes, but they're not at his office. Maybe at home. He promised to get them for us."
Cassidy shook his head. "Did you hear what the boy told him?"
"They ain't no superheroes, they're just the same shit we all are," Ron quoted.
"That's what they're trying to prove?" said Aldana. "That cops are only human?"
"How was this Gomez at work?" Cassidy asked Banks.
"Great. Everybody liked him well in the force."
"Was he the heroic type?" asked Hank.
"In his own fashion," Fred replied. "You need a nice pair to do what he did and earn the trust of so many gang leaders. He's the reason why there hadn't been any bloodsheds over the last years."
"Got the plate!" said Tanya. "Running them now!"
Ron's phone buzzed and he checked a text. "Ballistic. The same gun on Gomez and Reg, no local matches. They're still running it nationwide."
It was the turn of Russell's phone to buzz. He signaled the others to keep quiet and took the call.
"Hey, Brock, you're on speaker."
At the hospital, Brock sat by Gillian's bed with his phone on speaker too, holding it between them. His other hand still rested on hers—out of Connor's sight as the boy sat at the other side of the bed.
"Hey, brown sugar..."
The team squeezed around Russell at hearing Gillian's weak thread of voice.
"Hey, babe! You're up!"
"How are you feeling?" asked Ron.
"Appreciating morphine?"
"C'mon, two years in Vice and a twenty-two kicks you to the dark side?"
Gillian smiled and closed her eyes to hold back the tears at Fred's tease.
"I always knew she wasn't that straight."
She still felt so numb that she needed a moment to say, "Is that my Belly-Banks?"
"Hey, you yourself said I'm weighting down on Carmen's diet."
"No sex until he loses fifty pounds," said Ron.
"Fifty pounds? By the time he gets there, he won't recall what sex is," said Russell.
"Triplets on the way," said Hank.
"Blue pills!" coughed Fred.
They all chuckled. Even Gillian at the hospital, not caring it hurt. Hearing them all there was just frigging great. But she was so weak that feeling happy made her want to cry. She saw Brock at the brink of a smile, but he anyway called them to order. Basically to honor tradition.
"What do you have?"
"It's the same boys that shot Gomez," said Aldana. "We just watched the video."
"Anything to work on?"
"Nothing specific," Fred replied. "Gomez was shot by the boy that takes the videos, and we think Gomez recognized him."
"He shot Gomez three times straight to the heart," said Russell. "No hesitation."
"Pretty personal," Ron said.
"Maybe not his first kill," said Brock.
"Got the plate!" said Tanya from her desk. "The car was reported stolen two weeks ago."
"Tell me about clichés," grunted Hank.
"Coleman, come to the hospital to interview Connor."
"On my way."
"Wait," said Tanya. They all turned to her. "Wait... Got it! I just located it!"
Tanya showed on the screen a capture from a street camera and circled in red the car parked in front of a housing project.
"Where is it?" Gillian asked.
"Eighty-Five territory," replied Fred.
"Take Ron and Al with you," Gillian muttered. She hated being so weak, but the conversation had exhausted her.
Brock noticed. "Keep us up," he said and disconnected. He leaned to her, concerned.
Gillian shook her head slightly. "I'm fine..."
"That's my line, Gillian," he said, with an offended scowl.
She would've laughed out loud, but she could only try a smile. A sigh escaped her lips. She could use a shut-eye. And knowing Connor was fine and Brock would be there when she woke up felt even better than morphine.
