Title: Goodbye Darling

Author: Python

Fandom: Law & Order

Pairing: Briscoe/Green

Series: In the same universe as all my other Briscoe and Green fics. They're archived at my site: http://www.geocities.com/bikertaker2000/Python.html

Disclaimer: These guys don't belong to me. This is just for fun. Please don't sue me.

any feedback is appreciated, in fact, I'm begging for it.

Goodbye Darling
by Python

"Oh man," Ed said, looking at himself in the mirror.

"What is it?" Lennie asked, leaning against the doorframe to the bathroom.

The younger man ran his fingers through the hair at his temples. "I've got gray hairs," he announced in dismay.

Lennie chuckled. "How many? Two?"

"Do you think is funny?"

"Yes."

"Don't you realize. I'm forty-two with gray hairs. This means I'm getting old."

"No, you're not," the older man responded with a smile. "I'm the one that's old and you don't hear me whining about it."

"Lennie," Ed pouted.

"I've got news for ya, kid. It's only gonna get worse. But, you know what?"

"What?"

"I think it's sexy," Lennie stated.

Ed eyed his lover's reflection in the mirror. Deciding that Lennie meant it, he grinned and turned around. "I guess I'll keep 'em then." Then he gave the older man a soft kiss and went back into the bedroom. He grabbed a sweater and asked, "So, what do you want to do for your birthday next week?"

"Nothing," Lennie answered flatly.

"Nothing?"

Lennie really didn't look forward to his birthday anymore. The last few years, he let Ed drag him somewhere. This was the first time that the younger man had actually asked him what he wanted to do. "Ed, when you get to be my age, birthdays become an enemy."

"Come on, Lennie. We should do something special."

"My birthday just makes me one year older and closer to death," Lennie said.

"That is one way to look at it, but I prefer a more optimistic approach," Ed replied. "What's your best birthday memory?"

"Ed..."

"Just indulge me," Ed said with a grin. He sat on the edge of the bed and held his lover's gaze.

You're so weak, Lennie told himself. The voice in his head sounded sarcastic. He couldn't tell Ed no, when the younger man looked at him like that. He sighed in defeat and sat next to his lover. Then Ed put a hand on his knee. "The most fun I ever had on my birthday was with my dad. When I turned seven, he took me to his pool hall. I watched the first game he played with his buddies. He mopped the floor with 'em."

Lennie paused. He smiled at Ed, who was gently rubbing his knee. "Then he put a cue in my hands and started teaching me how to play. After that, he and I went to the hall once a week to shoot a game or two or three. It was our time together and, believe me, my dad didn't have a lot of free time."

"That sounds great," Ed stated.

"And dad wasn't finished. Later that afternoon, he took me to the Yankees/Giants game. Every year after that on my birthday, we played pool and went to a baseball game. We only stopped when he died. I was fourteen that year."

"No wonder you became a pool shark."

Lennie laughed. "When I got old enough, I went to the hall by myself to practice. It took a long time, but I eventually beat him."

Throughout the story, Ed saw a childlike look in the older man's eyes.

For that brief span of time, his lover could remember what that innocence felt like. "Was he mad when you beat him?" he asked lightly when Lennie's blue eyes focused on him.

"No. He never cut me any slack when we played. So, when I beat him, I earned it. I was good and he was proud. I haven't lost since, not even to him."

Ed gently cupped Lennie's chin and leaned in to brush his lips against the other man's. "You're just an old softy."

Lennie's eyebrow rose. "If you say that to anyone else, I'll deny it."

"So what do you want to do next week?" Ed asked again.

"Nothing."

Ed puts his hands up in surrender. We'll just see about that, he thought.

A couple days later, Lennie got a call from Maggie. "Maggie? I haven't talked to you in a couple months. How was the honeymoon? Venice right?"

Maggie laughed over the phone, but it sounded hollow. "We didn't get to go."

"Why not?"

"Mark couldn't go, but he's promised to make it up to me," Maggie answered.

"Why couldn't he go?"

"It doesn't really matter," Maggie stated, trying to sound as if it really didn't matter. "Anyway, I'm calling because I'm here in New York for the weekend and I want to treat you to lunch today for your birthday."

"My birthday's not until Wednesday."

"But I won't be here then. Come on, Lennie. Let me be nice to you," Maggie coaxed. Please, I need to see a friend, she almost added.

"What about Mark?" Lennie asked. He would not deal with his ex-wife's new husband.

"He's back in Middlewood. He didn't want to come with me this trip," Maggie explained in a deflated tone of voice.

"Ok. I'll meet you in an hour," Lennie responded. There was an odd tension in Maggie's voice and he had a feeling that she had a major problem.

"What is it Lennie?" Ed asked after Lennie hung up the phone.

"That was Maggie."

Ed tensed. He couldn't help it and would never forger what happened to him and Lennie because of their experiences in Middlewood. He almost totally destroyed his relationship with his lover because of his own anger. "What did she want?"

Lennie smiled. "To treat me to lunch today."

"Oh."

"You don't mind do you?"

"No. Go ahead. I'm meeting with Linda anyway," Ed answered.

Lennie stared into his lover's dark eyes. "Are you sure?" He didn't want to risk setting off Ed's temper.

Ed chuckled. "Yes."

Lennie was surprised that he got to the restaurant before Maggie. She was almost always early. A few minutes later, she sat down across from him. When he saw her, he took a double take. She was wearing a heavy sweater and dark sunglasses, but he could still see bruises on her face and wrists and her hands were shaking. "Maggie?"

"Hi, Lennie," Maggie said, trying to keep her tone light.

"What happened to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean your face," Lennie said gently.

Maggie brought her fingers up to the bruises, inadvertently causing her sleeve to ride up, and revealing more and deeper marks on her arm. She felt her face and took the glasses off, showing Lennie a bad, black eye. "I had a little accident."

"Uh-huh," Lennie responded. "An accident and what about the marks on your arm?"

Maggie quickly pulled her sleeve back down as if his words stung her. "I fell down the stairs," she explained weakly.

"How many times?"

Maggie didn't want to talk about this any more. She was embarrassed and ashamed. "It's no big deal, Lennie. I went to the doctor and he fixed me up. I'm fine. I just have to be more careful in the future."

"Did Mark do that to you?"

Maggie hesitated for a moment, but then answered, "No."

"Maggie..."

"Lennie," she said, cutting him off. "I'm telling you that I had an accident. That's all. Can we drop it now?"

Lennie had dealt with battered women before. He knew that pushing Maggie would only make things worse. She'd have to admit there was a problem before he could do anything to help her, but it was hard for him seeing her like that. "All right, Maggie, but you know I'm here if you want to talk about it."

Maggie gave a small smile. "I know. Thanks."

When they were done, Lennie walked her out to her car. He decided to gently try asking her about the true nature of her injuries again. "Does Mark do this a lot?" he asked quietly.

"What?" Maggie asked, even though she knew exactly what he meant.

"Take his problems out on you."

"I told you that he didn't do this," Maggie said sharply.

Lennie put his hands up. "I know. Jut be careful. Things like this only tend to get worse."

Maggie bit her lip. Lennie was right and she knew it, but she couldn't admit that Mark had become a totally different person since they got married. He became possessive and insanely jealous. He hardly ever showed her any tenderness anymore. And the worst part was, her feelings for him hadn't changed. "I still love him."

"But does he love you?"

Maggie got in her car. "Happy Birthday, Lennie."

Lennie watched her car disappear and went home. The apartment was empty and he sat down on the couch. He couldn't get the sight of Maggie out of his head. Some of the bruises looked recent and how many did she have that he didn't see? She said that she'd had an accident. Yeah, she walked into Mark's fist, he thought.

The retired detective sighed in frustration. There was nothing he or anyone else could do for Maggie as long as she kept maintaining the accident story.

After Ed came home, Lennie told him about Maggie. "You really think Mark's beating her?"

Lennie nodded in complete certainty. "You should've seen her, Ed. She looks like she went a couple of rounds with Mike Tyson."

Ed put a comforting arm around his lover's shoulder. He wished there was something he could say, but there wasn't. He and Lennie both knew that the police couldn't arrest Mark until Maggie admitted that he beat her. Without her help, there was nothing they could do to her husband.

"Ed, what can I do to help her?"

"Be there when she wants to talk. I don't think she'll put up with it forever."

"I came to the same conclusion, but I hoped that I missed something."

In response, Ed pulled Lennie into a tight embrace. No more words were needed.

The next couple days, Lennie didn't hear from Maggie. He hoped that she was all right and went on with his daily activities.

"Lennie, are you ok?" Ed asked.

"Yeah. I just..." the older man trailed off in exasperation.

"You can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped."

Lennie knew that was true. "I know, but that doesn't make me feel any better."

"Maybe I can take your mind off this for a little while," Ed suggested, running his hand up Lennie's spine.

Lennie let go of his tension. There really was nothing he could do for Maggie, if she didn't want help. He grinned at Ed. "What do you suggest?"

"It is your birthday tomorrow. We could start the festivities a little early," Ed replied. The next morning, he woke up before his lover. The older man was on his side, back to him. He slid close to his lover, pressing his body against Lennie's. Then he put an arm around the other man's waist. He smiled when Lennie pushed back into him. "Good morning and happy birthday."

Lennie grunted. "I told you. I don't want to do the birthday thing."

Ed didn't answer with words, but began kissing his lover's neck and shoulders. He heard the moans start from deep within the older man's throat.Lennie enjoyed the sensations produced by Ed's mouth on his skin. "Shit," he muttered when the phone, on the stand next to him, rang. He reached for the receiver, but Ed stopped and reached over him to still his hand.

The older man's hand rested on the phone and Ed rubbed it with his own.

He trailed his fingers up Lennie's arm to shoulder.

Lennie let Ed lightly pull him onto his back. He stared up into his lover's lust-filled brown eyes and felt the intense heart from the hand, which Ed firmly planted on his chest. Then the younger man leaned down and kissed him passionately.

Ed's tongue swept the familiar confines of Lennie's mouth. He felt the older man's arm around his neck, pulling him as close as possible.

Lennie heard the answering machine pick up the call. He was about to tune it out totally because Ed's tongue found that sweet spot on his neck. But he couldn't ignore it when Maggie's voice came over the line.

"Lennie, if you're there, please pick up. Please! I don't know what to do," Maggie pleaded. "He's after me," she said on the verge of tears.

Lennie put a hand on Ed's chest, kissed his lover fiercely, and pushed the younger man away. He quickly rolled back onto his side and picked up the receiver. "Maggie."

"Lennie," she said in panicked relief.

"What's wrong?"

"I left him and he's coming after me."

"Calm down," Lennie said in a soothing voice. He knew who she was talking about, but had to be clear. "Who's coming to get you?"

"Mark. He was beating me up against last night. I thought he was going to kill me. And I hit him with a fireplace poker and ran. I drove all night to get here," Maggie explained.

"Where are you?"

"The Lexington Motel."

"Have you called the police?" Lennie asked. He felt Ed roll out of bed.

"I tried telling the police in Middlewood, but they didn't believe me. Lennie, please. He swore that he was going to get me," Maggie said. She was trying not to cry, but she'd never been this scared in her life.

"Maggie, listen to me. We're going to come and get you. Then we'll take you to the police. Then Mark won't be able to hurt you again. Ok?"

"Ok. Please, hurry up."

"I will. See you in a little while," Lennie responded and hung up. He looked at Ed, who was already dressed.

"Hurry up and get dressed so we can get going," Ed ordered.

Lennie nodded and got up. Ten minutes later, they were in the car on the way to the motel.

"I guess she finally had it," Ed said.

"Yeah or Mark decided to get bolder," Lennie replied. When they got to Maggie's room, they found the door unlocked. They traded weary glances, but cautiously went in.

The motel room was quiet. "Maggie," Lennie called. There was no answer and he turned to Ed. "Call the police."

Ed nodded and took his cell phone out of his pocket. He had trouble getting a signal and went back to the open door. He stood halfway in and halfway out. As he finally got a weak signal, he watched Lennie disappear into one of the other rooms.

Lennie went into the small bedroom. he didn't see anything at first, but found Maggie when he walked around to the other side of the bed. "Ed! I found her. Call an ambulance."

Ed heard Lennie and began heading to the bedroom. "Come on. Stupid phone," he muttered under his breath. He heard a noise behind him, but didn't have time to react. Suddenly, someone hit him on the back of the head and knocked him out cold. Then the assailant picked up his cell phone, flipped it closed, and dropped it back on the floor.

Lennie knelt down next to Maggie. He fought the panic rising in his throat and checked for a pulse. He cursed quietly when he couldn't find it. He shook his head and let his detective's instincts take over.

Lennie began listing the facts of the crime in his head. After almost forty years on the force, that's how his mind operated and he was actually happy about it. If he couldn't partially detach himself from the scene in front of him, he'd break down.

Maggie's skin was still warm and there were marks on her throat. Strangled, the retired detective thought, I'm sorry that I didn't get here sooner, Maggie.

Lennie heard movement behind him, but the footfalls were different from Ed's. "Why did you strangle her, Mark?"

"She wanted to leave me."

Lennie cautiously turned his head to see Mark. The other man was holding a fireplace poker. "And where's Ed?"

"He's taking a little nap now."

Lennie swallowed and gestured to Maggie. "I thought you loved her."

"I do. I couldn't lose her," Mark stated and swiftly hit Lennie across the back.

Lennie went down on his stomach. He tried to get up, but Mark kicked him in the ribs."I'm. Tired. Of. Being. Compared. To. You," Mark said, accentuating each word with a savage kick to Lennie's ribs. "You and your perfect relationship with a nigger," he spat out in disgust, along with another kick.

By this time, Lennie stopped trying to get up. He was having trouble breathing and hugged his arms around his abdomen. He tried to curl up as small as possible. He rocked slightly as the pain surged through him. Mark kicked him a couple more times and he began coughing, gasping for air.

Mark stopped when he finally saw Lennie begin coughing up blood. The other man passed out, but still couldn't control the periodic coughing. Then he knelt next to Maggie and caressed her cheek. He closed her eyes. "Goodbye darling."

END