bradygirl_12 | Fic: When The Leaves Fall (15/15) (Reply)

Title: When The Leaves Fall (15/15)
Author: BradyGirl_12
Pairings/Characters (this chapter): Mike Parker, Leo Durkin, Frank/Adam, Elmer Bainbridge, William Eldridge, Paul Pilewski, Sofia Arcaro, Libby Kingston
Fandom: Naked City
Genres: Angst, Drama, Historical, Holiday, Romance
Rating (this chapter): G
Warnings: (this chapter): None
Spoilers: For Today The Day The Man Who Kills The Ants Is Coming (3x21)
General Summary: After the fallout from a violent confrontation with a fleeing killer, Adam is broken.
Chapter Summary: Sunrise.
Original DW/LJ Date Of Completion: January 23, 2025
Original DW/LJ Date Of Posting: January 29, 2025
Disclaimer; I don't own 'em, Screen Gems does, more's the pity.
Original DW/LJ Word Count: 1311
Feedback welcome and appreciated.
All chapters can be found here.

They say,

When a bell rings,

An Angel gets his wings,

Or a new soul

Is welcomed into Heaven.

Clarence Bailey

"Bells"

1946 C.E.

November 1, 1968

Mike drove as fast as he dared. Dr. Eldredge's call had been urgent. Mike couldn't believe the news, though part of him wasn't surprised. How much pain could a man take? How much, indeed..

& & &

February 24, 1964

Mike and Officer Leo Durkin ran onto the rooftop of the crumbling tenement. Mike swore.

"Wrong building," he snapped.

On the neighboring rooftop they saw Adam struggling with Elmer Bainbridge. Durkin took aim but hesitated to shoot as he could hit Adam.

Bainbridge grabbed Adam's hand, trying to get the detective's gun when the rooftop door opened. Bainbridge squeezed and Adam involuntarily pulled the trigger. The bullet discharged and landed square in Frank's chest.

& & &

Mike drove onto the grounds of Ocean View Hospital. Halloween decorations always looked a little tawdry and forlorn the morning after the holiday. Last night's wind had left many trees bare.

& & &

Frank looked down at the growing crimson stain on his crisp white shirt. He looked at Adam, who stared in horror as Bainbridge disentangled and ran off, patrolmen pounding up the stairs as Frank's eyes closed and he slid to the roof.

"Come on," Mike snapped to Durkin.

& & &

Mike parked his car in the visitors' lot and hurried up the stairs into the hospital.

& & &

Mike and Officer Durkin ran up the steps of the crumbling tenement. Mike could feel his blood pounding as he was desperate to reach the rooftop.

"Nooo!!!"

Adam's scream froze Mike's blood. "C'mon," he barked at Durkin. They ran up the endless stairs.

They burst onto the rooftop and saw a horror neither would ever forget. Adam was drenched in his partner's blood and was cradling Frank, who was not breathing. He rocked back and forth, tears streaming down his face. A patrolman was hovering over the scene, the other officers gone in pursuit of the killer Adam and Frank had been chasing.

"No, no, no," Adam repeated over and over in a hoarse voice. "Please, Frank, no."

"Adam..." Mike laid a hand on the younger man's shoulder. He could feel the muscles trembling.

Off in the distance a siren blared. An ambulance was on the way. Probably the patrolman had called for it.

& & &

The morning was bright, just before sunrise.

Mike entered the hospital and swept by the empty reception desk. He strode down the hall to the stairs and began to climb.

& & &

Adam's shaking hand brushed aside strands of silky white hair from Frank's pale brow. His blood-soaked shirt showed no movement. Mike felt cold inside.

Adam turned his head slightly and Mike saw the ravaging of a soul in shimmering eyes. Pieces of his brilliant young subordinate were slowly breaking away.

The patrolman looked at him. Mike shook his head. There was nothing to do but wait.

The siren wound down and a few minutes later the sound of footsteps clattered up the stairs. The ambulance attendants sized up the situation quickly and Mike shook his head to confirm that there was no hurry.

The attendants tried to gently disengage Adam from Frank's body, but Adam fought them, screaming in desperation. Patrolman Pilewski and Mike pulled him away, having a hard time controlling him. Durkin joined in to help.

"Adam," Mike pleaded, knowing he was wasting his time. The young detective was totally focused on Frank, the iron smell of blood sharp in the cold winter air.

One of the ambulance attendants picked up a blanket after he and his partner got Frank's body onto the stretcher. He shook the blanket out and carefully draped it over their charge's entire body. Time to take away the dead.

& & &

The stairs creaked slightly as Mike walked up, then down the hall, stopping in front of Adam's closed door. He stood immobile, trying to collect his emotions.

& & &

That was when Mike saw the remaining light go out of Adam's eyes. Adam screamed one final time, cracking like an Arctic glacier where chunks of ice broke off in great pieces to drop into the frigid sea. He collapsed into the abyss.

& & &

Mike opened the door.

The room was quiet, Dr. Eldredge standing at the foot of the bed. Light was beginning to seep in around the edges of the closed drapes.

Adam lay stretched out on the bed, his black cape fanned out beneath him. His hands were clasped over his stomach, and he looked peaceful.

Mike walked around to the other side of the bed and sat on the edge, clasping Adam's joined hands. The skin was cool.

Probably died before midnight on Halloween.

Eldredge opened the drapes, pale light flooding the room. Adam looked pale, golden glints in his hair. Eldredge returned to the foot of the bed.

"He was never going to leave here," Mike said. It wasn't a question.

"No, not likely."

Mike looked down at the peaceful face. The lines of suffering were smoothed out now. "He could never accept what happened. It was an accident, but that well-established Catholic guilt wouldn't let go."

He remembered Sofia Arcaro coming up to him at Frank's funeral and saying in an accusatory tone, "I thought you said Adam Flint would have my Frankie's back?" Libby had been standing next to him and squeezed his hand, but he said nothing. What could he say? It was an accident, but Sofia's son was still dead.

"Whenever he remembered, his mind broke," Eldredge said quietly.

"Frank would have forgiven him."

The sun was beginning to rise over the horizon. Mike squeezed Adam's cold hands and stood.

"I need a smoke. I'll be back in to make arrangements for the body."

He stood and glanced out at the deck. A splash of light illuminated what he could swear was a small harp on the table. He rubbed his eyes. Too early in the morning for this stuff.

Mike left the room and took the familiar route out of the hospital, going down the front steps and stepping onto the front lawn. He took out his pack of Camels and shook one out, taking out his book of matches. He lifted the cigarette to his lips and turned his head as the sun blazed. When he turned back he nearly dropped his cigarette.

Frank and Adam were walking away from him over the leaf-strewn lawn, wearing the suits, overcoats and fedoras required of NYPD detectives. They were holding hands.

Frank looked back and smiled his warm smile. He was wearing a yellow rose in one lapel, his sparkling gold sapphire pin in the other. He waved at Mike with his free hand.

Adam turned around and his smile was dazzling. His eyes sparkled with happiness. He waved, too, and he was also wearing a yellow rose and his glittering gold emerald ring. Probably from his garden plot here at the hospital.

Somewhere a bell was ringing softly. Both men were surrounded by an aura of golden, sparkling light.

The sunlight grew incandescent and Mike turned his face away again. When he turned back, they were gone.

Mike lit his cigarette with shaking fingers. The ocean was sparkling with a million tiny diamonds. He smoked slowly, staring at the portion of lawn approaching the cliff where he had seen his old friends. He finished the cigarette and dropped it to the ground, grinding it under his heel.

Mike turned around. Time to go in and take care of Adam's body.

His soul was finally free.

________

When the leaves fall,

I'll come with you,

Wherever you may go.

Because,

In the end,

I love you,

With all my heart

And all my soul,

This i know.