Work Text:
Missing Carter
By PattRose
Summary: It's the anniversary of Carter's death and everyone seems to be down in the dumps.
Fusco sat at his desk, not able to do much of any work, instead his mind was on his old partner. Today was the anniversary of her death and he couldn't seem to shake the sadness from his body or his mind. He missed her. He wished he was closer to Harold and John and he could call and ask them to have a drink with him, but alas, they didn't have that type of working relationship. Besides, it's not like he drank, anyhow. Sighing, he tried to go back to filing his report and his phone rang.
"Fusco."
"When are you going to be off?" John asked without identifying himself, as usual.
"I get off in about an hour, why?"
"Meet me at the bar in an hour. Harold and I will be waiting for you." John hung up as quickly as he had called.
Fusco wondered what in the heck that was about, but he liked the idea of having a drink, they knew he couldn't actually drink, but he could at least be there to help John out.
John, Harold and Shaw were sitting at a table when Fusco arrived. He walked over and sat down in the empty chair. "I'm a little worried here, guys, what's going on?" Fusco finally asked.
Shaw smiled sadly and said, "It's an Anniversary party for Carter. We thought you would want to be here."
"I'm going to be a non-alcoholic drinker tonight, but the rest of you can have a drink for her. Thank you for asking me along."
Harold looked surprised. "We know you remembered what today was, so why would you be surprised?"
"I'm not sure, Harold. But thank you for including me."
John said, "We decided that since you were her partner, we would all drink a non-alcoholic drink tonight and it would be our way of toasting her. She would do this for any of us, with you, so we figured we could do the same."
"What are we having?" Fusco asked.
"Now, you're asking the right question. It's called a Cherry Bing. It's an excellent drink. I've had two already before you got here. You're all going to love them," Shaw said.
John looked surprised and asked, "Cherry Bing?"
Shaw smiled. "I knew that Carter would get a kick out of you ordering one. So, I decided it would be the drink of the night."
Harold asked, "What's in it?"
"I watched the bartender build the drink. It was four shots of cherry juice, one shot of orange juice and one shot of club soda. He poured it all over ice in a Collins glass. I'm telling you, it's delicious."
When the waiter came up they all order two drinks a piece, since they were sort of small. The waiter looked at them like they were insane, but he went off to have the bartender mix them up anyhow.
"I miss her a lot," Shaw admitted.
Fusco nodded in agreement and said, "I think we all do. Some of us more than others. But there isn't a day that goes by that I don't feel her watching me. So, she's really not gone. Not all the way."
Harold smiled. "Very well put, Lionel. I feel the very same way. I think we should all tell our favorite stories about her tonight and even though we'll be sad, we'll be here for each other."
So, that's exactly what they did. They told stories all night and had non-alcoholic drinks and laughed and cried in memory of their friend. It was a good night. Only one thing would have made it better. And that would have been if John had chimed in with his favorite stories, but he wasn't strong enough for that yet.
The end