out_there | SN AU Ficlet: To Accept the Bullet

Title: To Accept the Bullet
Fandom: Sports Night (AU)
Disclaimer: The boys aren’t mine. Neither is Dana.
Notes: Short sequel to Cannon Fodder written for

phoebesmum. Following a theme, the title also comes from Rilo Kiley’s Love and War.

To Accept the Bullet

Dan wasn’t surprised that Casey wasn’t enjoying his enforced leave. Casey never did. Oh, sure, he’d complain -- about the long hours, about the cold, about the heat, about the inability to impress strangers with their incredibly cool jobs -- but he still loved every minute of it. A working Casey was a happy Casey. A non-working Casey, with his fractured wrist in a cast, was a misery to be around.

"Surveillance," Casey was yelling over the noise of gunfire. Dan had foolishly assumed that taking Casey to the shooting range would be an opportunity to show support without having to talk about this ever again. Instead, Casey was taking ruthless advantage of Dan’s ability to read lips. "I’m saying surveillance. I could sit in a café, take photos, discreetly follow people."

"And that," Dan said, pointing at the white cast around Casey’s right hand, "wouldn’t stand out at all. Certainly not an easily identifiable weakness or anything."

Casey pulled a face and used the Beretta in his left hand to shoot a curving line across the paper target’s torso. "It’s a tiny, little fracture."

"In a great, big cast."

"I’m just saying," Casey said, handing over the gun when Danny gestured for it. "Surveillance. Semi-active duty. I could be doing something useful."

Dan rolled his eyes. Then he lined up the sights, pulled on the trigger and let off three quick shots: one to each side of the chest, one right below the sternum. Combined with Casey’s uneven curve, the bullet holes made a smiley face. "You’re inactive until that’s healed. You know that."

"I’m just saying--"

"And I’m saying Dana will kick your ass down to archives if you don’t drop this." He rested the gun on the bench and stared at Casey, who looked annoyed and tired, restless for a fight Dan didn’t want to have. "Do you want to spend the next six weeks filing? I’d rather spend it running around and shooting things."

"Anything would be better than being stuck in my apartment all day long. Dr Phil, Danny. I’m watching Dr Phil. Are you at all surprised that I’m going out of my head?" Casey reached for the gun, but Dan stopped him with a hand on his forearm. Dan brushed his thumb against the smooth skin of Casey’s inner wrist and waited for the tension to bleed out. "I’m bored, Danny. And sitting at home while you’re out and about, risking life and limb…"

Dan grinned. "And you’re missing out on all the fun?"

Casey shrugged, pulling his hand back. "Every time you stay back, I worry that you won’t be back at all. It’s different when I’m out there with you. Then I know that you’ll be fine. But Bobby..."

"Is a very competent agent, who’s had fewer injuries than you. Her partners have had fewer injuries than you. If you combine her injuries and their injuries, they’ve *still* spent less time around doctors than you have."

Casey looked offended. "She thinks you’re womanising slime, Danny, so excuse me for being a little bit concerned that in the worst case scenario, she might not risk her life for yours."

"You have an overactive imagination, my friend. She’s not going to throw me to the wolves," Dan said, and Casey gave a half-shrug, showing that he’d go along with it for the moment. "Come on. You know Dana wouldn’t let anything happen to me. She’d have to find someone else willing to work with a compulsive worrier who feels compelled to leap out of exploding rooms. That’s not an easy position to fill."

Dan turned back to the target and started shooting a line along one of the shoulders, concentrating more on watching Casey than on his aim.

It took four shots before Casey smiled. "Has anyone ever told you your pep talks could do with a little work?"

"I knew there was a reason I didn’t become a motivational speaker."

"You thought about becoming a motivational speaker?" Casey asked.

"I toyed with the idea," Dan said, shooting a second eyebrow onto the smiley face. "Then I realised that my strengths lay elsewhere."