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Gil had planned this night off for his team, nothing special, just a few drinks around the pool table JT frequented. The team seemed unimpressed at the idea at first, sitting in the conference room at the precinct, but of course Malcolm worked his magic as the kid does.
“C’mon guys, we all know I’m the obsessive workaholic here and I’m the one agreeing with Gil!” He gave that bastard of a grin that JT hated, Dani rolled her eyes with her own returning smirk.
“It’s been quiet and after some heavy cases, I really think it’ll give the benefit to just have some sense of normalcy, make sure we stay grounded and not too caught up in everything,” Gil gave a specific look at Malcolm who held up his hands.
“I don’t know if I ever told you, but he’s a terrible pool player.” JT nodded at Malcolm who gave a mock look of hurt,
“Me neither, guess we’ll have to split the teams- one professional, one amateur” Dani grinned.
“Pfft, professional,” Malcolm chuckled, raising his eyebrows in defiance to JT’s glorious death stare.
“Then it’s sorted, first round of drinks will be on me,” Gil patted Malcolm on the back.
“No one will argue that one, boss.” JT smirks.
JT said Tally would drop him off when Gil offered to pick him up in a cab, so Gil first drove to Malcolm’s place. Surprisingly, he was sitting on the steps outside his apartment dressed down from his suits, looking casual for once. He wondered how much was Jessica’s influence. Gil had been the most surprised when Malcolm had jumped at doing something not homicide related and Gil took that as good news, that his kid was going to be alright.
“Look sharp, Bright,” Gil greeted as Malcolm jumped in
“Since you picked me up first, I want to be on your team.” Gil huffed a laugh as the cab pulled back into evening traffic.
“I already said yes to Dani, she messaged me earlier, sorry,” Gil said seriously, he watched Malcolm’s face fall slightly before recovering. Gil chuckled deeply “I’m kidding!”
“Gil!” Malcolm barked, grinning as he relaxed back in his seat as Gil patted his shoulder. They pulled up at Dani’s apartment just as she came out of the complex, Malcolm was already opening the cab door for her.
“I already dibbed Gil,” he smirked so smugly, Dani looked between him and Gil.
“Ever the gentleman,” Dani returned his smirk getting into the cab. Gil rolled his eyes, these kids would be the death of him one day, he wondered if this evening was a good idea after all. He felt a sense of relief when they got out of the cab and joined JT at the door, if Malcolm and Dani were the kids of his team, he was sure glad to have JT to back him up with what a handful they were, even if he was reluctant to be in such a position.
As promised Gil got the first round of drinks, he was happy to see his team relaxed. They had easy smiles, eyes alight and messing around with each other. A far cry from hard and stern faces they wore at the precinct. Even Malcolm’s tired and withdrawn face was practically glowing, he even had a little blush. Gil could only pick it out because he was always so pale. This was the Malcolm he wanted to see more of.
They all took their drinks and began the game, at first Gil thought JT and Malcolm had joked about how bad he was, he even thought Malcolm’s first go was part of the joke, but it quickly became apparent he REALLY was bad at pool. Dani found this hilarious, especially because it proved she was a terrible player, but nowhere near as bad as Malcolm.
“Kid, you’re making me wish Dani was on my team.” Gil laughed as Malcolm took his turn.
“You’re breaking the guy’s heart, man.” JT smirked taking his go. Malcolm held up his hands in surrender
“What can I say? I can’t be good at everything.” Malcolm exaggerated.
“In your dreams,” Dani teased taking her go. The group laughed; their witty banter seemed more powerful outside of the office.
With each game one of them went up for a round of drinks, Gil even managed to force them into a group photo, his face in the corner looking like a proud dad while everyone else smiled with awkward ease. Admittedly, it wasn’t even forced, they enjoyed the mad five minutes of confusion trying to find the right position for them all to get into. To everyone’s surprise, a couple of games in, Malcolm even began to quickly improve, much to Dani’s annoyance. Suddenly he had more precision and Gil found himself smugly looking over at JT and Dani as he and Malcolm began to win.
“Okay, hang on. Were you really that bad or were you messing with us?” JT asked as he reset the table.
“I can’t say,” Malcolm tapped his nose.
“God, you’re such a little bastard.” And they all laughed.
“I’m a quick learner, James.”
“Of course, Brian.”
“Uh, wait, sorry? Brian?” Dani looked between JT and Malcolm
“If he’s going to butcher my name, I’m gonna butcher him back” JT shrugged
“Mm, Brian, very creative,” Malcolm nods with approval.
“Oh my god.” Dani puts her head in her hands as Gil gets ready to play the first move.
They played one more game and came to a tie, much to the annoyance of Gil and JT who had become very competitive as the games became tighter. JT organised the pool table while Gil took their empty glasses back to the bar. They headed to the door and Malcolm held it open for everyone, all laughing and talking as Dani phoned for a cab home and JT rang Tally. Malcolm shivered as the cold breeze brushed past him.
“You good, Bright?”
“Perfect.” He smiled as he stood outside with his family. He smiled as the windchime on the neighbouring take out building turned into chain rattle.
“Bright?”
He smiled as a cold sweat broke out. He smiled as a chill settled within him. He felt the dampness of a spilt drink. He smiled as he blinked and woke up in a dim room in a pool of his own blood. Then he stopped smiling, and wept.