They lose a lot of officers that night. To the vigilante, to the Russian, to fire and collapsing buildings and smoke inhalation as they rescue the citizens of Hell's Kitchen. There's a memorial service for the fallen officers, and Tim attends, done up in his dress uniform. Not because he's particularly close to any of the dead officers, but because he's expected to be there.
Close or not, losing a fellow soldier is not easy, and this is the same exact thing.
He's angry. He's angry and he's relieved and he's concerned, all at once. Matt's alive, though Tim hasn't seen him since before the attacks. He's relieved that Matt's okay and concerned with his absence and angry because he knows — he knows — Matt is lying to him.
He hasn't been sleeping well. Some combination of his concern over Matt and working overtime every night with the vigilante task force and still thinking he can taste smoke in the back of his throat. He's been going non-stop, more or less, throwing himself into work and glasses of bourbon and cups of coffee just to avoid the nightmares.
He tells himself repeatedly that it doesn't matter. That they're not dating and Matt doesn't owe him anything. Doesn't owe him an explanation, or even the truth. But Tim's still angry. He's angry and he's hurt.
Enough so that he considers ignoring Matt's text. Or telling the other he's busy, just out of spite. But he can't. It doesn't matter how much Matt lies to him or strings him along or slowly breaks his heart, Tim will always come when Matt calls. This is no exception. So he texts back (On my way.) before leaving the office (he was working overtime, anyway) and knocks on the door when he gets there.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2016-01-15 09:27 pm (UTC)Close or not, losing a fellow soldier is not easy, and this is the same exact thing.
He's angry. He's angry and he's relieved and he's concerned, all at once. Matt's alive, though Tim hasn't seen him since before the attacks. He's relieved that Matt's okay and concerned with his absence and angry because he knows — he knows — Matt is lying to him.
He hasn't been sleeping well. Some combination of his concern over Matt and working overtime every night with the vigilante task force and still thinking he can taste smoke in the back of his throat. He's been going non-stop, more or less, throwing himself into work and glasses of bourbon and cups of coffee just to avoid the nightmares.
He tells himself repeatedly that it doesn't matter. That they're not dating and Matt doesn't owe him anything. Doesn't owe him an explanation, or even the truth. But Tim's still angry. He's angry and he's hurt.
Enough so that he considers ignoring Matt's text. Or telling the other he's busy, just out of spite. But he can't. It doesn't matter how much Matt lies to him or strings him along or slowly breaks his heart, Tim will always come when Matt calls. This is no exception. So he texts back (On my way.) before leaving the office (he was working overtime, anyway) and knocks on the door when he gets there.