Page 3 of Dead or Treat

“I get what you’re saying, Ronan.” Ten sighed. “Fitz doesn’t see shooting Jude in the shoulder as a victory. Do you even know how you were able to break Crawford’s spell?”

“No,” Ronan admitted, feeling defeated himself. “I’ve pictured that moment over and over again. My gun was raised at Jude and somehow, my hand started shaking and I dropped my gun. I know I was thinking of you and the kids while everything was happening. I believe in the power of love, but I have to imagine Jace and Aurora were top of mind for Fitz too. Jude and I have both tried to let Fitz know he’s not at fault, but he refuses to listen to either of us. How is he going to come back from this when there are days when Fitz can’t get out of bed?”

“You and Jude need to keep loving Fitz. Don’t change your behavior toward him. Keep asking him to join you for coffee or to come for pizza night. Don’t leave him out of activities you usually include him in.” Ten sighed, setting his hands on his hips. “What if you bring him a case you’re stuck on and ask for his help? Working cold cases is what the three of you live for. Make it a juicy case and see if you can attract Fitz’s interest like a dog with a fat steak.”

“I’m sure Fitz is gonna love that analogy.” Ronan snorted. “I’ll talk to Jude about your ideas and we’ll go from there. We need Fitz back to his usual self by Halloween. We’ve done a group costume ever since Everly was a baby. I don’t want to break our streak now.”

“If the girls are going as Disney villains, what will the adults go as?” Ten asked, with a glint in his eyes.

“Princesses!” Ronan bolted for the princess aisle and began searching for a Snow White costume in his size. Jude could be Ariel and Fitz could go as Sleeping Beauty, which would be cute, since the actual Aurora was going as Maleficent.

As Ronan searched the racks for his size, his mind turned back to Fitzgibbon’s predicament. Fitz, Jude, and Ronan had all shot suspects over the years, with some living and some dying. Getting over the mental trauma had always been hard for Ronan, even if the person he’d shot was a stone-cold killer. He’d never once shot a fellow officer, and up until September, neither had Fitz.

Several years before, Jude had taken two bullets meant for Ronan, and his guilt over Jude’s injuries had been nearly overwhelming. He couldn’t imagine adding the guilt of shooting a best friend to what he’d dealt with at the time.

Ronan had done everything he could think of to soothe Fitz and get him back on his feet again and nothing had worked. Not only was he not coming to work, but he wasn’t spending time with Jace or Aurora. More often than not, Aurora stayed with Everly.

Something had to change and soon or Fitzgibbon might lose himself entirely.

Ronan wasn’t about to let that happen.

2

Tennyson

October was Tennyson’s favorite month of the year. He loved the crisp smell in the air, sweater weather, and hot apple cider. He also loved the fact that the school year was nearly two months old. Both kids had settled in well. Everly loved her third grade teacher, Miss Weatherfield. Ezra was making friends in kindergarten and seemed to enjoy the new all-day format. Ten had been worried that a full school day would be too much for Ezzie, but thankfully, his fears had been unfounded.

Ten sat on his stoop waiting for the kids to get off the bus. Fitz had texted him earlier in the day and asked if Ten could keep Aurora for the rest of the week. Ten had agreed, but was starting to wonder how much longer he should keep saying yes. He understood how upset and broken Fitz felt, but if this went on much longer, Jace and Aurora would start to feel that way too.

Aurora had broken Ten’s heart more than once when she’d asked why her Daddy didn’t want her to come home. It wouldn’t be long before he ran out of excuses entirely. He was going to have to summon his courage and talk to Fitz. He’d use his gift and see if he could find what was affecting him the most about the shooting so that Jude and Ronan could help put Fitzy back together again.

“Hey, Ten!” Cope hurried across the street. He wore a fuzzy black sweater with jeans and his black watch plaid scarf draped around his neck.

“Hey, yourself. How’s Jude?”

“Jude’s great, according to Jude.” Cope rolled his eyes. “I keep trying to find new ways to get him to talk about the shooting, but he keeps telling me that he needs to work things out for himself. I don’t know what the hell that means.”

“I’ve been thinking about that too and I might have found the answer.” Ten had done almost nothing but think in the weeks since the shooting.

“Thank fuck! Let’s hear it.”

“What if he’s waiting for Fitz to open up to him? We both know Fitz has apologized a hundred times and Jude has accepted those apologies, but what if he’s waiting for Fitz to go back to his usual old self?” In Ten’s mind, it was the only solution that fit.

“I hadn’t thought about that,” Cope muttered. “It makes sense though. Jude’s the one with the physical injury, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t hurting for Fitzgibbon’s suffering too. There has to be a way we can help, especially since Fitz is usually so easy to read.”

“I was thinking the same thing before you came over.” Ten paused. “Should we go see him after Ronan and Jude get home? The guys can stay home with the kids.”

Cope shook his head. “My gift is telling me to hold off on that, but I can’t pinpoint why that would be.”

“Maybe Fitz will snap out of it tonight?” Ten crossed his fingers and hoped this was the case.

“Or maybe something else will happen that won’t give him a choice to stay on the sidelines anymore.” Cope shivered in the warm autumn sunshine.

Ten opened his mouth to respond when the school bus trundled down the street. He could see Everly and Aurora waving from their seat. Aurora’s face fell and Ten knew she’d noticed Fitzgibbon wasn’t waiting for her. “Shit, here we go again. Whatever is going to happen with Fitz needs to happen soon. Aurora’s tears are breaking my heart.”

Cope nodded. “Let’s do pizza tonight and talk about what we can do to help. It might be time to bring Everly into this conversation.”

“I think you’re right,” Ten agreed. He’d avoided the topic of Fitzgibbon with Everly. He knew his daughter could possibly have some insight into the matter, but he hadn’t wanted her to explore Fitzgibbon’s guilt, or see the shooting first hand through Fitz. Seeing that would be another piece of Everly’s innocence gone. On the flip side, if anyone could get through to Fitz, it was Everly.