Work Text:
Micki was working on a painting when she got the call. Though she didn’t have the time to go down for Stella’s graduation, she wanted to send a gift. She’d spent a few hours every day for the past week putting together a small canvas painting of a quote from Stella’s favorite feminist and Walker would be picking it up next week.
Or, at least, that had been the plan.
She carefully set down her brush to answer the phone. It was Liam; Micki thought he might have been calling to ask about the painting to try to guilt her into coming to Austin after all.
“It’s- It’s Cordell. He’s missing. We- James thinks he was taken by someone. We were just out on a morning run and he was so far ahead…. We didn’t even know until we got back to the house.”
Micki missed her stool on the way down and landed hard on her ass, though the pain barely registered through the shock.
“That doesn’t make any sense,” she said. “He- I mean, you were all running together. You really didn’t see anything?”
“He cheated and ran ahead before Trey and I even started. We thought it was a joke so we were pretty far behind him. We didn’t even hear anything, honestly.”
“That still doesn’t-” Micki didn’t even know what to think. “So we just ended up with the luckiest kidnappers in the world? How does that even-”
“I don’t know,” Liam said helplessly. “We’re all just in shock right now. James is already starting the investigation and he and Perez went to HQ to gather everyone together and start going through his old case files for leads.”
Micki almost retorted that James couldn’t have started the investigation yet because nobody called her in, but then she remembered. She wasn’t a ranger anymore. She’d left behind her badge, her career, to start on a new path. One that took her far away from Austin and the Walkers and everything that came with them. She was lucky Liam had even bothered to let her know what was going on. She could’ve been left in the dark until it hit the news (assuming it would). “I’m sure you are. This is…rough.”
“Yeah, that’s one word for it.” She heard some clamoring on the other end of the line. “I should probably go help with that. I’ll call you later, alright?”
“Yeah, talk to you later.” She doubted he would actually call her back. He had enough on his plate as it was.
She set her phone on the floor between her legs when the call ended and stared at it, as if it could give her answers. Her mind ran at a mile a minute, trying to think of how and why this could’ve happened. This was Cordell fucking Walker they were talking about. Sure, he could be a bit stupid sometimes but he was a perfectly capable ranger. The mere concept that he could be taken like that was frightening.
Walker had been there for her through so much. He was there to support her and lift during her first embarrassing moment as a ranger. He’d believed her on a wild hunch. He’d made every effort to get closer to her, even when she kept pushing him away. He’d let her lean on him when she learned the truth about her mothers and encouraged her to talk to Trey. He’d believed in her at her lowest moments and brought out the best in her. Leaving him had been the hardest part of leaving the rangers, and even then he’d been there for her.
The idea of him being gone, no matter who was responsible for it or why, was terrifying. Even when they weren’t working side-by-side, she still felt like she could rely on him if she ever needed him. Sure, in theory she knew that one day he would be gone and she’d have to deal with that. But knowing something intellectually and realizing it in reality were two very different things.
And then it hit her; he wouldn’t be gone one day . He was gone now . And with the kind of enemies a law enforcement officer made, especially one with his record…. He may very well stay gone.
She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t breathe and she was very, very alone in more ways than one.
She tried to remember the breathing exercises she’d learned from her mother but her mind was completely blank. All her brain could conjure up were images of a very dead Walker. Her vision clouded with spots as she hyperventilated and she curled up into a ball on her studio floor. She couldn’t think, she couldn’t breathe and she was alone, so very very very alone-
“Micki? Are you almost ready, mija? The meeting starts in ten-”
Mercedes’ voice snapped her back into reality for a brief second and she clung to it like a lifeline. Slowly, Micki sat up and wiped away tears she didn’t remember crying. She looked up and saw her birth mother staring at her from the doorway. “Hi….”
Mercedes stared blankly at her. “I… I’ll be in the car. Come out whenever you’re ready.”
Micki stayed on the floor for a good while (she wasn’t sure how long and she couldn’t be bothered to check) before she stood up, got back on her stool, and continued Stella’s graduation gift.