Fan Fiction

Part I: Rebirth
Chapter 1 :: Chapter 2 :: Chapter 3 :: Chapter 4 :: Chapter 5 :: Chapter 6 :: Chapter 7 :: Chapter 8

Part II: Reunion
Chapter 1 :: Chapter 2 :: Chapter 3 :: Chapter 4 :: Chapter 5 :: Chapter 6 :: Chapter 7 :: Chapter 8

Rico had been able to get two seats together on the plane and another one farther down the aisle. Rico and Sonny took the two seats side by side, but they didn't talk much on the way to Miami. Sonny was thinking about how he was going to get Billy to go back home to Ocala. Rico was thinking about Angelina and the possibility that their son may be alive. Billy had volunteered to take the single seat down the aisle. Now was not the time to argue with his father. He was going to Miami, and that was the first step. He'd figure out a way to stay involved in this thing after he got there.

While they were waiting for their bags to unload, Sonny spoke quietly to Rico. "While you're getting the car I'll walk Billy to his car and send him on his way. Do you mind waiting?"

"No sweat. But you may find it harder than you think to lose him. He seems to have a thing about sticking around."

"I know Rico -- that kid can be stubborn. But he will be going home whether he wants to or not. You can count on that." Sonny half turned so he could speak quietly into his friend's ear. "I just need one favour Rico. Can I borrow your piece?" Rico looked at him with a strange look in his eyes.

"Don't worry - I'm not gonna shoot him. Maybe I won't even need it."

Their bags finally circulated around on the carousel. Rico picked up his and headed to the washroom. Sonny asked Billy to grab his and look after it while he used the facilities. Then he followed Rico into the men's room. Inside, when no one else was around, Rico took his holster, gun and a speed loader out of his bag and handed them to Sonny. "It's your call Sonny - whatever it takes man. I'll wait for you in the coffee shop."

They returned to Billy at the carousel. Sonny left his bag with Rico, picked up Billy's and started walking towards the exit and the parking lot. As they walked to the car Sonny asked his son if he needed any money to get him home.

"I already told you - I'm not going home. I'm staying here with you and Rico. Whatever you're into I want to help you with it. I'm not a kid anymore you know."

Sonny turned his head and looked at the boy. "Oh really?" Then he spied a picnic table in the shade of an old oak tree at the side of the parking lot. The older man pointed to the table. "Let's talk," he said in his best no-nonsense voice, and headed to the table. They sat on opposite sides. Sonny insisted that Billy go home and Billy insisted on staying.

"I don't know what you're up to dad, but it must be heavy. You're too old to be going off half-cocked with Rico after bad guys. I'm coming with you. You need someone younger to look out for you."

Sonny was angry and frustrated. And he was scared that he wouldn't be able to shake Billy's resolve. He had never raised his voice in anger at his son, but he had to get the kid to go home, no matter what it took. This time anger seemed to be the only way to make the kid see reason.

"What do you think this is Billy, a game or something? This is real man. Why do you think I've never talked about what I do? Why do you think I spent all that time in the hospital and at the centre? Do you think I want to see you there? Do you think I want to bury you? I've buried too many people already."

He raised his hands and gestured them pleadingly towards Billy's face. "Take a look at the marks on my back sometime, son. Do you know how I got them? They tied me to a tree and beat me until I almost died. Do you want to see the other scars I've got over the years? I've got one right here," he pointed to his chest. "It's from a bullet that almost killed me." And then there's the scars inside that you can't see."

He lowered his voice. "These are not nice people we're after -- they're bad dudes. They'll do whatever it takes to get what they want. And I'll do what ever it takes to stop them."

"But I can help you, dad.," his son pleaded.

The frustration was obvious in the older man's face. "Help! How can you help?" He shook his head and looked at his son again. "You have a university degree in computer science -- you can get any job you want. If you want excitement, write yourself a shoot-em-up computer game or go to an arcade. That way you can shoot all the bad guys you want to, and they won't shoot back. And if you lose, all you have to do is start the level over again or put in a cheat code. This is not a game Billy."

"I know it's not a game," the voice sounded defensive, "but I don't want you to get hurt again. I want to help."

How could he convince his son to leave? On the plane, he had thought about what he might have to do to get Billy to see reason. He didn't want to go any farther than what he had already, but now he knew he had to go all the way - to be totally blunt and hit him full face with the ugliness. He leaned over table, stared into his son's eyes and softly asked, "Have you ever held a gun Billy? Have you ever even seen one?"

He took Rico's Smith & Wesson out of its holster and slammed it onto the table. His voice was louder this time and more forceful. "Pick it up. See what it feels like." He pulled out the loader. "Here're the bullets. Do you even know how to load this thing? Here, let me show you."

He grabbed the gun and loaded it. "Here, Billy take it. See what it feels like to hold a loaded gun in your hand." He put the gun into his son's hand. "Look. There's a squirrel over there." He pointed across the lawn. "It's easy - just aim at it and shoot. Bang -- he's dead. There's nothing to it."

Billy's hand was shaking as he put the gun back down on the table.

Sonny shook his head. He hated doing this, but he had to make his son realise that this wasn't a game. "Hell you can't even kill a fish when you catch it. How could you possibly ever point this thing at a person and pull that trigger. And where we're going, there's a good probability that we'll have to do just that."

He pointed to the gun. "Do you know how may people I've seen killed with one of these things, Billy? Do you know how many people I've had to kill? Do you know how many people have tried to kill me? This is not a game -- it's real. You can't start the level over if you lose. You don't get a second chance. With these guys, if I'm not on top of my game, I'm dead. And if I have to look after a green kid who couldn't shoot his way out of a paper bag, I might as well write my ticket right now." He turned his head away. "It's time to face reality kid. Go home son. And let me do my job."

He picked up the gun, emptied the bullets from the cylinder and dropped them back into his pocket. He stood up, shoved his hands into his jacket pockets and walked away, back to the coffee shop to meet Rico.

He hated what he had just done. Nearly eighteen years ago, Caroline had torn his life apart when she had taken Billy and moved to Atlanta. He knew why she had decided to leave, and he let her go. He felt the same way now.

Billy picked up his bags and headed over to his car. He felt empty. Did his father really think so little of him? "Go ahead and die," he said to himself. "See if I care. I never want to see you again." It would be a long drive back to Ocala.

Sonny had been too involved in his conversation with Billy to notice that here had been someone sitting in a nearby van within hearing distance -- someone who had recognized him and was very interested in what had just transpired. Ramon started the van and followed the boy. "So, Crockett has a son," he said to Carlos. "Senor Fuente might be very interested in that piece of information."

Sonny walked into the coffee shop and over to the table where Rico was sitting and stood there. "Everything okay?" Rico asked.

"No," The reply was terse. Crockett pressed his hands deep into the pockets of his jacket, pulling the back tightly across his shoulders. He turned his head away from his friend, heaved a sigh and breathed a few heavy breaths. "Yeah," he changed the answer. "He's on his way home." He looked at Rico. "Let's blow this pop stand, man." He picked up his bag and started walking. "God I hate Miami!" he muttered.

As they headed out to the car Rico turned to Sonny and asked, "OCB?"

"Not right now...later. I'll drop you there if you want and check us in at the hotel. I just need some time Rico." He got into the car and gave Rico back the holster and gun. "Thanks," he said.

"Sure, any time." Rico let it go at that, and stowed the gun. He didn't ask his friend what had happened. He sensed it hadn't been a friendly goodbye.

After he dropped Rico off Sonny stopped at a liquor store and bought a bottle of bourbon. He drove to the hotel, checked them in and headed up to the rooms. Rico had booked a two-bedroom suite in an apartment hotel. Sonny dropped his bag by the door and headed to the kitchen. He pulled a glass out of the cupboard and poured out a big shot of the bourbon. Then he went into the living room, sat down on the sofa and held the glass in his right hand. His left hand was in his jacket pocket. There was something at the bottom. He pulled it out, stared at it for a few minutes and then dialed the number on the card.

"Hello Doc, it's Sonny Crockett. I need to talk." He waited for an answer, hung up the phone, walked into the kitchen and emptied the glass and the bottle down the sink. Then he picked up the car keys and headed out the door. There was a time when he would have drunk himself into a stupor.

When Rico walked into the vice office at OCB, Castillo immediately nodded him into his office. "Welcome back to Miami. I didn't expect to see you back here so soon." Castillo sat down at his desk and invited Tubbs to take the chair opposite. He told him that New York had called and requested special status, but they hadn't provided much in the way of details. "What's this all about?" he asked.

Rico told him what he knew, including Sonny's suspicion that Ricardo was his son.

"How is Crockett? Can you work with him?"

"He had a bad time with his kid this morning." Rico told Castillo about the incident at the airport. "He just needs some time to work it out. Yeah, I can work with him. He's cool."

At least that's what he hoped. It had been a long time since they had worked together. When they parted, Sonny had been pretty disillusioned about work, and life in general, and he had been through a lot since then.

"Alright, but I want to know right away if there are any problems." Castillo stood up again and walked towards the wall. "I spoke with DEA before you arrived. They're willing to back Crockett on this and provide assistance. The Bureau wants in on this too. If we can deliver Fuente here, they're ready to charge him with kidnapping and extortion. They both want Fuente, and they want a meet at 4:00 today. Do you think you can find Crockett and get him here?"

"He'll be here," Tubbs answered with a certainty he didn't feel.

"How about you Rico? Can you handle this? What if Crockett is right about the boy?"

"I can handle it," he replied, but he wasn't certain about that either. He got up to leave. "I think I'll head to the hotel and freshen up a bit. I'll bring Sonny back at four."

He took a cab to the hotel and got the second key from the desk. The clerk told him that Mr. Crockett had checked in, but that he had left shortly afterward, and no, he hadn't said when he would be back. When he went in, he saw Sonny's bag still by the front door and the empty bottle and glass on the kitchen counter. He wondered what he got himself into. Crockett had seemed okay in New York. In fact he seemed to be in better shape mentally than Tubbs had ever seen him. He had to face reality though. He hadn't worked with Sonny for a long time, and the guy had been through a lot in the intervening years. Had that episode with Billy this morning pushed him over the line? If so he wanted to know about it now.

It was a typically hot and muggy Miami day. Rico needed to wash the sweat off and freshen up before the meeting. He took his bag into one of the bedrooms, took out some fresh clothes, and headed for the bathroom. While he was in the shower, he worried about what might happen. He didn't know when Sonny would show up and what state he'd be in when he did. While he was drying off, he heard the door open, and someone walk into the kitchen. He heard a cupboard open, a glass hitting the counter, a bottle open and a drink being poured. "That you Sonny?" he called out apprehensively.

"Yeah. Wanna drink?" Rico's heart fell when he heard the words.

"I've got some freshly squeezed Florida orange juice. One thing about Florida -- it has the best orange juice in the whole world."

"Sure, pour me one. I'll be right out." Rico answered. He breathed a sigh of relief, and put on the fresh clothes he had taken out of his suitcase.

When he came out he told Crockett about the meeting. Then asked him about the bottle on the counter. "You okay Sonny? Can you handle this?"

Sonny walked over to his friend. "When I first got here, all I wanted to do was to get drunk. But when I sat there with the glass in my hand, I just couldn't do it Rico. But I did need to talk to someone about what happened this morning. So, I called Dr. Price. She's good people." He poured himself another glass of orange juice. "Everything's okay now. I just needed some time to deal with it. I'm okay Rico." He downed the rest of the juice. "Hey, do I have time to grab a shower?"

"Sure. Just make it quick." Sonny was going to be just fine.

Part I: Rebirth
Chapter 1 :: Chapter 2 :: Chapter 3 :: Chapter 4 :: Chapter 5 :: Chapter 6 :: Chapter 7 :: Chapter 8

Part II: Reunion
Chapter 1 :: Chapter 2 :: Chapter 3 :: Chapter 4 :: Chapter 5 :: Chapter 6 :: Chapter 7 :: Chapter 8