Partners? - Vancat (Book 1)

~Part 11~

Evan and Tyler both sat at their desks in their office in complete silence. They had been like this ever since David and Brock sent them here when they left to report to the chief.

Tyler had his face pressed up against his desk and had folded arms in front of him.

His mind was clouded with memories of his sister and the night she was murdered. It wasn't uncommon for him to think about what happened so often.

And although 8 years had passed, her death still struck Tyler as strong as when it happened.

On the other hand, Evan was messing around his computer, trying to keep himself entertained since he was bored.

He wanted to start up a conversation many times, but whenever he glanced at Tyler, he would stop himself from doing so.

He could practically feel the depressed state Tyler was in, and he sympathized with him no matter how much they hated each other.

Eventually though, Evan couldn't withstand the silence anymore and spoke up.

"Wanna talk about it?"

Tyler, who was lost in his thoughts, jumped a bit at the sudden sound of Evan's voice. He sat up straight and turned to look at him.

"What?"

"Whatever you're thinking about right now - does it have to do with your sister?" -He asked, even though he knew the answer.

Evan spotted a sense of pain flash in Tyler's eyes. Tyler nodded and let out a sigh, leaning back against his chair and staring at the ceiling.

After a few moments of silence, Evan spoke again.

"What was she like?" -He asked.

Another few moments of silence went by, and Tyler let out a chuckle.

"Smart. She used to love studying and learning new things. She was such a nerd." -Tyler said, smiling sadly at the thought.

"She had the best grades, and was pretty popular at school for that. But she didn't mess around with guys or go to parties. Heck, she wasn't even a cheerleader. The reason people loved her was because of her personality."

Tyler sighed again, and paused for a longer time before talking again.

"It's infuriating that good souls die while scumbags prevail." -He spoke with a frown.

"I second that." -Evan agreed.

"But that's ironic coming from you."

Tyler shot him an annoyed look.

"I'm not a scumbag."

"No, you just commited a bunch of crimes that might've endangered other innocent people, ran a drug and weapon smuggling business fueling some people's drug addictions and basically indirectly killing them by providing them more while also indirectly killing other people by smuggling weapons for other people to use to kill people. Totally not a scumbag." -Evan replied, sarcasm evident in his voice.

"It's not my fault people were willing to ruin their lives and buy drugs from us. If they weren't willing, the marketing for drugs wouldn't be successful and I wouldn't get myself involved with it. We didn't smuggle weapons to just anyone, we only supplied our connections across the country. Plus, like you heard, we stopped smuggling those already." -Tyler said, a frown settling itself on his face.

"And for the record, you didn't even know of my existence before we met at that abandoned building. You have no idea what kind of 'crimes' I've commited."

"A crime can only be commited when you break the law. You can't justify a crime, no matter your intentions." -Evan reflected.

"Besides, I have heard of you. The name just didn't register that night. You've fucked around our department at one point and freed other criminals a few times."

Tyler snorted and rolled his eyes.

"The ones I've freed - I was returing the favor. And what do you mean 'fucked around'? I've left murder and rape culprits right at your departments doorstep, got witnesses to talk to you and even punished several maniacs. You should be thanking me." -Tyler noted.

"You deciding to play 'investigator' left LAPD disorganized and scratching their heads for a while. It also created a giant mess until you finally moved on somewhere else after you got bored. It took us months to get the fucking paperwork done and we were also sued for not taking care of the cases ourselves, plus not catching you in the process." -Evan spat.

"That's not my fault."

"It is! You act like a fucking child!"

"So do you! I'm surprised by that since you're allegedly the best of the best officers is LA!"

"I'm surprised you managed to last this long without being killed, you immature jackass!"

The both of them were now on their feet, standing close to each other and yelling in each other's faces.

"You know, I actually sympathized with you for once - losing your sister must be heartbreaking - but I don't care anymore. You are the most accurate description of a scumbag and deserve to be treated like one. Breaking the law and breaking peace for others while directly and indirectly killing people can't be justified - you selfish bastard! " -Eva exclaimed.

Tyler's anger peaked and he grabbed Evan by the collar of his shirt.

"You have no idea what I've been through! Throwing all criminals and law breakers into the same fucking basket is dumb and simple-minded!"

Evan opened his mouth to retaliate, but Tyler kept talking.

"I don't know why you think all criminals shouldn't be taken seriously and treated like trash. You don't even know their reasons for commiting the crimes they did. Maybe the reason is small, or maybe even a big deal, but sometimes it can justify their actions. It depends on the crime and the reason, but they can be justified."

Tyler's face softened a little and he let go of Evan's shirt. His sudden change of demeanor surprised Evan.

"You don't know my reasons for becoming a criminal. And for as long as you don't, I'd suggest you change your perspective on all criminals and open your eyes along with your ears."

He let out a tired sigh and walked back over to his desk. He sat down on the chair and planting his head on the desk, closing his eyes.

After their very intense verbal fight, which surprisingly didn't result into a fist-fight, plus crying in the morning, Tyler felt emotionally exhausted and contemplated taking a nap.

Meanwhile Evan stood in his place watching Tyler with a thoughtful expression on his face.

===

1 hour left 'till midnight of this week. I hit close to the deadline. Sweet.

This part turned out way more intense than I expected at the beggining of it.

But oh well.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed reading.

The two weekly updates will be here soon next week, or this week techincally already.

That's all.

Fibbi Out!