Fan Fiction

Part I: Crockett's Return
Chapter 1 :: Chapter 2 :: Chapter 3 :: Chapter 4 :: Chapter 5 :: Chapter 6 :: Chapter 7 :: Chapter 8

Part II: New Beginnings
Chapter 9 :: Chapter 10 :: Chapter 11 :: Chapter 12 :: Chapter 13 :: Chapter 14 :: Chapter 15 :: Chapter 16

"So where do we start Senior Detective Crockett?" Rico asked, snapping his heels together, and raising his hand in a quick sharp salute as he barked out: "Sir!"

"Get off it Rico," Sonny playfully growled back at him while shaking his head from side to side.

Just then the door to the briefing room opened and a head poked itself inside the door.

“There a dude in here name o’Crockett?”

From the body shape, Sonny figured the intruder had to be female, his guess bolstered by the sickly sweet smell of cheap gardenia fragrance wafting past his nostrils.

“Yeah, who wants to know?” Sonny replied. As she pranced into the room, Crockett wondered who this strange-looking character might be. The young woman was dressed in hip-hugging, striped jeans, tight through the hips and thighs and flared at the bottom, topped by a skin-tight, spaghetti-strap, neon yellow Tee that seemed two sizes too small. It did nothing to hide either the faux diamond decorating her navel or the multi-hued dragon-shaped tattoo on her left shoulder. The purple and red hair standing straight up from the top of her head was unusual to say the least, but what caught his eye more was the incredible number of metal pieces piercing her body - a ring through the septum of her nose, three pointed studs adorning her lower lip and how many circles through the rims of her ears he didn’t bother to count.

“We got ya a desk out here,” she slurred in between chomps on an oversized wad of chewing gum. “ The ‘Castle’ said to get ya one.”

“The ‘Castle’?” Sonny asked. This scenario seemed more than a bit bizarre and he found himself wondering who this person was and what she was talking about.

“Yeah,” she replied still chomping away on the gum. “You know, the main man, Castillo, like a rock and all that - the boss man with the skinny ties and the black zoots.” She blew a bubble that miraculously didn’t burst all over her face. “Don’t worry Sunshine.” She paused briefly to look at him. “That’s the name ain’t it - James ‘Sunny’ Crockett? Cool name dude, good one, that. Like I was saying, the Castle comes off pretty dry, but he ain’t half bad once you get ‘im trained.”

Sonny looked at Rico, both trying to hold back the laughter - neither was very successful.

“So where ya wan’ it Sunshine?”

“You go with the lady, Sunshine,” Rico barely managed to get out without bursting at the seams. “I’ll start with these files and catch you later.”

Crockett, still feeling a bit stunned, followed her into the squad room where a new desk had been placed in the middle of the room close to the central pillar.

“This okay?” she asked after she spit the wad into the garbage can beside the desk. “Before she left, the Dago Lady said to put it here, and Turdy and Ears said it’d be okay.”

Stan was sitting at his desk, his face buried in his forearm to hide the laughter. Beside him stood Trudy with the biggest smile he had ever seen on her face. ‘Sunshine’, ‘Dago Lady’, ‘Turdy’ ‘Ears’, ‘the Castle’ - was this person for real? Surely this had to be a joke. Goodness knows he had played enough of them on new recruits in the past and he figured his friends were getting him back with a prank of their own.

“Thanks Tiger,” Trudy said sounding as though nothing out of the ordinary was happening. “We can take it from here.”

“Yo! Off we go! I’ll be back with Mutt and Jeff and another hardtop, a couple of adding machines and the rest of the loot,” she said on the spin and headed back down the hallway.

“What the hell was that?” Sonny’s voice didn’t sound nearly as bewildered as he felt.

“Welcome to the 21st century at the OCB Sonny,” Stan said in between fits of laughter.

“That, Sonny, is our new Unit Clerk, Tiger,” Trudy proclaimed . “She was off on leave and just back today. Has she picked a nickname for you yet?”

“Good one ‘Turdy’,” Sonny said, emphasizing the nickname, laughing and shaking his head at the same time.

"It’s no joke Sonny.” Trudy was laughing herself now. “Really,” she explained, finally getting back her composure. “Her real name’s Maryanne, but she goes by Tiger. Jessica rescued her from the streets and she had nowhere to go. I don’t know how she did it, but Jess talked Marty into giving Tiger a job here for a while until something else comes along.”

“You won’t believe it Sonny,” Trudy continued, “but she’s the best clerk we’ve ever had here. It’s a riot. She’s the only person I ever met who could order the lieutenant around and actually get away with it. He’ll never admit it, but I know he really likes having her here.”

Sonny could believe that Jess could charm anyone into just about anything, but he found it hard to believe that even she could be this good. He rolled his eyes back into their sockets and shook his head in amazement, but from the looks of things, it seemed as though everyone else had already become used to the latest staff member.

“Oh Sunshine,” Rico blurted out joining them from the briefing room, a hint of laughter in his voice. “You got a minute?” A loud guffaw was heard coming from the direction of Stan’s desk.

Sonny just glared. This, he knew, was going to be a hard one to live down. Tiger had better come up with a name for Rico too or he knew he’d never hear the end of it from his partner. As if she was reading his mind, a voice piped up from behind him.

“Yo, TeleTubbie. We got another hardtop for you.” This time she was accompanied by ‘Mutt and Jeff’ wheeling in another desk on a trolley. “You want it parked beside Sunshine’s here?”

“Good idea Tiger.” Sonny replied. “You just put TeleTubbie’s hardtop right here.” It was Sonny’s turn to look at Rico and laugh. The office was certainly going to be an interesting place with Tiger around, but now it was time to get back to business.

“So TeleTubbie, what gives on the Fuente case?” Sonny asked, still fighting the laughter.

“Nada, Sunshine.” Rico couldn’t help giving it one last push too. “There’s nothing in the files to go on. We need some fresh input.”

“And I think I know exactly where we might be able to get it.” Sonny answered.

He called to Driscoll and Cortillas to join him and Rico in the briefing room. Once inside, he filled the two young detectives in on the Fuente situation and suggested they make use of their new relationship with Alberto to see what information he might have on the Fuente murder. In the meantime, he and Rico would be paying their old friend Izzy a visit.

When they walked out the rear exit of the OCB building the afternoon heat hit Crockett and Tubbs like a blast furnace, but at least the worst of the summer humidity was gone. It was a perfect day for cruising the streets of Miami in a convertible with the top down to search out Izzy and his latest scheme. Sonny had figured that the crazy Cuban would have scammed enough to retire by now, but scamming was as much in Izzy’s blood as police work was in Crockett’s. Izzy, Sonny figured, would be running swindles until the day he died and even afterward. He laughed to himself thinking about it - God help St. Peter and the angels when Izzy passed through the Pearly Gates.

They found their favorite snitch right where Cortillas had said he would be, in the shade of a large beach umbrella in an ocean-side park hawking fake brand name watches.

“Say Crockay, congratulations man,” he said raising his hand in a high five greeting. “I hear you’re back in the business of fighting the criminal ailment of Miami.” He picked up one of the watches off the display table. “Now that ju got a reg’lar job mang, ju need a new timepiece. Ju gotta know the right time mang.” He took Sonny’s right arm and put the watch on his wrist. “This here is a genuine Oyster Rolex made in Japan. I sell it to you cheap mang - only 500 dollars ‘cuz you’re my very special friend.”

“Give me back my arm you worm,” Sonny scowled as he pulled his hand away. He shoved his other wrist in Izzy’s face. “See this hair brain. This here is a real Rolex. Why would I want that piece of crap?” He took the fake watch off and slammed it down on the table. “Rolex’s aren’t made in Japan you nitwit, and that’s not even a No. 1 grade fake. It’s way too light and the gold is too shiny. That thing ain’t worth more ‘n 10 bucks. I should bust you right here and now?”

“Say, maybe my supplier made a mistake. I better get him to check on tha,” he mumbled under his breath. “But Crockay - ju know ju should not be wearing a watch like that around the criminal ailment. Some dishonest person might try to steal it from ju. Why not take one of these imprints.”

“Izzy, I don’t want a new watch. What I want is what you’ve got for us on Dominguez and Sanchez.” He sounded annoyed, but Sonny was enjoying the banter. It was a part of police work he had missed when he worked contract for the DEA. “I need to know what’s “hap’n Izzy?”

The skinny little snitch shrugged his shoulders. “I don’ know nothin’ mang,” he proclaimed, but like usual, by the time he finished, Sonny and Rico knew more than what they had come with. No one on the street knew much about this Sanchez except that he was Colombian and itching to set up business in Miami, and it seemed as though the man had every intention of keeping his past hidden. Word was that Sanchez had a contract out on some lady who knew his real identity and that he was laying low until the hit was in the bag. This wasn’t really news to Crockett and Tubbs, but it confirmed their suspicion that Sanchez was behind the attempts on Jessica’s life.

The disturbing news from Izzy was the buzz that Sanchez had picked up a new ‘silent partner’ in Miami, who was already setting up the marketing end of things of their new illegal drug operation. According to the informant, this partner was a new player and people knew even less about him than they did about Sanchez. The only thing Izzy could tell them was that the man was supposed to have some high-powered and influential contacts, and that he was ruthless. Word on the street had it that after the lady was taken down, Sanchez would be completing one last solo deal before going into business with his new partner. The Colombian was supposedly sitting on a big stash of number one grade Peruvian nose dust somewhere outside the limits, just waiting for the right buyer to come along. Izzy had even heard that Sanchez already had a buyer named Cooper lined up through a runner named Burnett.

“So if ju know all this mang, why disrupt my business affairs?”

“Just keeping ya on your toes Izzy, ” said Crockett sarcastically. He wasn’t about to let the snitch know how much they didn’t know. “So why don’t you tell me something I don’t already know.”

The little Cuban swore he had nothing else, but the sweat on his brow and nervous twitching told Crockett there was something else he hadn’t told them yet. He grabbed the Izzy’s arm and positioning himself behind the man, he pulled the man’s arm behind his back while reaching for the other arm.

“You’re holding back on me Moreno. If you’re not gonna tell me what you know, I’m taking you in.”

“Wait,” he pleaded. “Maybe I did forgot something mang. The sun - you know. It fries my brain corpses sometimes.”

“You are holding back on me weasel - aren’t ya?” Sonny could see that the man was worried about passing on this last bit of information. It must be something pretty important. After he heard it, he knew why Moreno was nervous about passing the information along. According to Izzy, after the deal, Sanchez and his new partner were planning to make their first move together - obliterating the old Fuente organization and taking control over the southern Florida drug trade. This was something that Sanchez would definitely want kept quiet until he was ready to make his move.

How Izzy managed to get the inside scoop on so much information always amazed Crockett, but whatever he came up with was almost always on the mark. The news about dealing with Burnett and Cooper was good - it meant that they were definitely on the inside track with Sanchez. But news of a silent partner and an impending drug war was bad all around. They would have to take the Colombian down in this drug deal or Miami could find itself swimming in blood with a lot of innocent people caught in the cross-fire. But if they didn’t to find out who this new player was and take him down at the same time, snaring Sanchez might not stop the bloodshed from happening anyway.

"Who’s this partner, Izzy? I need a name.”

“Ju know me Crockay. If I knew, I’d tell ju mang.” Crockett glared at the trembling Latino. He raised his eyebrows as if to ask ‘and what else’.

“Okay, okay, Crockay,” he continued. “I’ll do what I can mang. Just gi’ me a li’l refraction time.”

It was late afternoon by the time Crockett and Tubbs arrived back at headquarters. Driscoll and Cortillas arrived at about the same time with news that Alberto had come up with the same story about the contract taken out by Sanchez and a mysterious new partner on the horizon. But Alberto had provided one extra bit of information. He was certain that Dominguez was NOT behind Fuente’s murder. The two of them were far too close, like brothers almost. Talk on the street said that it was the new player on the block, Sanchez’ mysterious partner, who had masterminded the hit, but the why and how remained anyone’s guess.

After the debriefing, Rico and the two junior detectives decided to call it a day, but Crockett stayed behind to go over the case files and wait for Marty. After the others left, he made himself a fresh pot of coffee and sat down in the briefing room with the files Castillo had left for him, but his mind refused to concentrate on the words on the paper. He knew it was partly because of the emotional high of returning to the job that had always been his passion. But the main reason was what had been on his mind all day. He had forced himself to keep the thoughts on the back burner and concentrate on the work at hand. But now, in the silence of the empty room, with the hustle and bustle of the daily activity in its after-hours ebb, those thoughts surfaced. He set the files aside, leaned back in his chair and sipping on the freshly brewed coffee, he contemplated the other recent change in his life - Jessica.

When they had first met, the possibility of them becoming involved hadn’t been an issue - they both knew that the everyday realities of their lives would make it impossible for the relationship to continue beyond the short time they had together. He had thought about her often since then. One part of him had urged him to seek her out. But that part was always overruled by the inner voice that never let him forget the utter devastation he had felt when he lost Caitlin. It was the same voice that had kept him isolated on Salt Cay for so many years. But that voice had been muted when the incident with Fuente had forced him out of his self-imposed exile and back into the arms of the people who cared most for him in this world. It was ironic when he thought about it. Fuente had tried to destroy him, but instead his actions had resurrected that part of him that made him whole once more - the part that allowed him to be in touch with his inner self, the part that allowed him to take risks with his emotions and live in the real world again.

So when Jessica came back into his life and the memories of their time together had flooded back as though the eight long years in between had never existed, the feelings for her that still simmered somewhere deep inside rose to the surface again, unhindered by the voice that no longer controlled his thoughts. In a way, it had alarmed him. It had been a long time since he allowed anyone to affect him this way. He knew it was another one of those head and heart matters. The head said he had lived through too much pain to get involved with another woman, but the more they were together, the more he realized that he was already deeply involved. Rico was right when he told him that he couldn’t live with his head in the past or worrying about what might happen in the future. But it wasn’t until after she was shot and he found himself living through the agony of not knowing whether she would live or die, that his head finally accepted what his heart had known all along - he wanted to be with this lady and share his life with her. Where this relationship would lead only time would tell, but one thing he knew for sure was that, whatever happened, he didn’t he didn’t want to have to say good-bye again.

These past few days had seemed like hell. It had been hard to keep from visiting her in the hospital, but he knew he had no choice. They were pretty sure that Sanchez’ men were keeping the hospital under surveillance waiting for a chance to finish the job his goons has started on the dock. It would blow his cover if Burnett was seen anywhere near the place. But now, after moving her to a different location and releasing the story that Jessica had died, Sanchez would no longer be keeping an eye on her and there was no reason anymore why he couldn’t go to see her. Sonny was sure that Marty would be coming back here after the plan to hide Jessica from Sanchez was set in motion. When he arrived, he had every intention of telling the lieutenant that he planned to visit Jessica in the hospital. In the meantime, to pass the time away, he took the case files to his new desk in squad room and sat down to go over them.

He was still absorbed in the files when Castillo strolled quietly through the glass doors into the unit. Seeing Crockett at his desk, the lieutenant summoned the detective into his office. Once inside, he assured Sonny that everything had gone as planned and Jessica was safely installed at Carson Memorial under an assumed name. The story about Jessica’s death would be on news at 11 and in the papers the next day. Castillo had no problems with him going to see Jessica, but he warned the detective to keep a low profile, not to use Burnett’s car when he went to the hospital and to make sure no one was following him. Sanchez had proven to be a resourceful adversary - it would be unwise to let their guard down now.

Before he left, Crockett filled Castillo in on the day’s intelligence gathering. The good news was that Sanchez was ready to deal with Burnett and if everything went as planned, they would soon be setting up the transaction. The unsettling part was that they didn’t know the identity of the silent partner. Somehow, during the course of their deal making, they would have to find out who he was so they could take him down at the same time.

It was a dark, muggy night in Miami when Crockett finally left the building and climbed into the sleek red sports car parked behind the building. The air had an earthy smell charged with ozone that said a storm was on its way. He drove back to the apartment, and after a shower to wash away the day’s grime and a quick bite to eat he headed out again. He walked for a while, making sure no one was following him and then hailed a cab to take him to Carson Memorial.

The hospital was smaller than Biscayne General, but large enough to be more than an oversized clinic, and it had the same antiseptic smell of any hospital he had ever been in. Staff and visitors quietly ambled up and down hallways, talking in muted voices. Following Castillo’s directions, he took the elevator to the third floor and walked down the hall to the surgical recovery wing. He stopped at the unit desk where a nurse checked his name and ID before directing him down the hall to the last room on the right. the scene was less intimidating than the last time he had seen her. There were still tubes and machines, but not nearly as many, and she looked more comfortable and at rest. He leaned over to kiss her on the forehead, and taking her hand in his, he squeezed it gently.

“Hello Sunshine,” he whispered softly.

When he felt in return the faintest pressure clasping his hand and he caught the slightest flicker of her eyes, relief flooded his senses and he felt himself starting to believe that she was out of danger. More relaxed than he had been in a while, he sat back in the chair beside the bed and took out the tattered copy of the book he had been reading to her before. As he read the first words aloud he noticed the faintest smile cross her face and for the first time since the shooting he knew in his heart that she really was going to be okay.

Part I: Crockett's Return
Chapter 1 :: Chapter 2 :: Chapter 3 :: Chapter 4 :: Chapter 5 :: Chapter 6 :: Chapter 7 :: Chapter 8

Part II: New Beginnings
Chapter 9 :: Chapter 10 :: Chapter 11 :: Chapter 12 :: Chapter 13 :: Chapter 14 :: Chapter 15 :: Chapter 16