Aimlessly: A TGSC Short

HQ
Tokyo, Japan
August 2014

“You’re working supremely hard on this investigation.”

“I’m not just jokes and sarcasm,” Peters snorted. “Despite what A and Touta may tell you sometimes. Or despite what it seems to look like on the outside. I’m as dedicated as the rest of them,” he told Mack. The man nodded thoughtfully, watching as Peters quickly typed words and whatnot onto the open .doc file.

“Were you always this motivated?”

“Maybe?” Peters shrugged, “I don’t know, really. All I remember is my dad being a cop and myself wanting to follow in his footsteps. As I told you guys before, I wanted to be an athlete. But the police calling just maintained a harder pull on me.”

“I can imagine the father and son duo just taking down criminals together,” Mack chuckled. Peters flashed an amused half-smirk.

“You know it. If I didn’t move all the way to Tokyo, I would have been stuck there working alongside him. Not that I’d mind,” he added quickly, “But I’d rather have found what I really want to do here instead of there. Bronx was choking me and I wanted out – I wanted new,” he mused. Peters rubbed his chin, “That’s the thing about moving away, I guess.”

“I have to agree with you there,” Mack replied quietly. Peters paused to look at him, raising a brow. “It’s nothing. Fuck – what time is it?”

“Almost two but the weather makes it seem like five. Why?”

“I just remembered that I have shit to do for the forensic side of the investigation,” he sighed. Peters gave an understanding nod. “A lot more paper and a lot more analyzing of dead bodies and shit. Amazing.”

“Finish it up and we’ll go somewhere,” Peters invited. “A and Touta have their own shit to do today. We can have our own.”

“That isn’t really required,” Mack said in return. Peters rolled his eyes.

“Just fucking say yes. There’s going to be tea in there.”

“…deal. I’ll finish up soon.” Satisfied, Peters turned back to his work and Mack rolled his eyes before leaving for the elevator and back to his own floor.

* * * * *

“So what was up with you a while ago?”

“What?”

“You.” Peters pointed his chopsticks at the other, “What was up with you? You became all broody and shit after we talked about my life back in America.”

“I’m not broody.”

“Broody people say that,” Peters said in reply. Mack made a face and Peters leaned back, taking a calm sip from his cup of Americano while Mack swished the tea in his own. “But what the fuck was up with you? You never get broody unless you talk extensive lengths about what you were and who you were back in England,” the American noted, making a face. “A is somehow convinced that you were doing shady shit, which is why you’re not so open with your life pre-Tokyo.”

“I just don’t like sharing,” he replied calmly. “I don’t like talking about the past. I’d rather focus on the present and do my best to have a better future than I intended for myself back when I was younger.”

“Which was twenty years ago.”

“Fuck off,” Mack groaned. “I’m just not a fan, really. That’s it.”

“Sure.”

“That’s it, really,” the other defended, “Some of us don’t like talking about our shit. You don’t like talking about Jake. A’s sore about her childhood. Touta refuses to let us find out too much about his old investigations. This is mine.”

“Your whole past.”

“Most of it,” he confirmed. Mack finished his tea, “Others are okay. Others I can’t remember. Like being pushed out of my mother’s–”

Peters interrupted before the other could finish the sentence. “I get it.”

“See? The more you do,” Mack replied a little cheerily. “It’s nothing too personal, Pete. I’m just not big a fan.”

“Mm. You’ve been with us for two years and we still don’t know much from you aside from that you’re the King of Snark.”

“And maybe that’s all you guys have to know,” Mack shrugged. “Again: I’m not fond of sharing my story. Maybe when I’ve come to terms with it. Maybe that’s going to be soon. Who knows?” he glanced at the menu scribbled on the café’s chalk boards, “But not now.”

It wasn’t that Mack was purposely hiding things from the rest of them because he was a shady person deep down, not really. Mack didn’t really have anything to hide aside from how he was as a person many years ago.

It was just that Peters suddenly bringing up his own past brought upon a few sore spots when it came to his own. He knew Peters noticed.

“I didn’t really care.”

“Sorry?”

“I didn’t care much,” he sighed. “Don’t ask me why. I never really achieved when I was younger.”

“Why are you–?”

“I’m explaining my life story, asshole.”

Peters blinked yet nodded anyway, deciding to listen to the squad’s forensic scientist. “I can’t explain why. I don’t want to explain why. Constantly pondering my life during college didn’t really give me the reasons so I just learned to accept it and move on with myself.”

“Apathy?”

“Christ, no. Apathy is much different from having no direction in life,” Mack answered. He made a face. “I don’t know which I’d prefer more. All I know was that I was a kid with no direction who went from aimlessly wandering to sort of making it around. The keyword being ‘sort of’.”

“So how did you get direction?”

He smirked. “Fuck if I should know. It just hit me halfway through second year. I was studying my shit and then it just came to me that studying something like IT wouldn’t be ideal. So I thought, why not choose something even more horrible and shift into ForSci – or to be more specific, why not fucking study biochemistry and see where shit goes from there? A shift, minor, and lots of bullshit later…I’m here. College made me get my shit together, really.”

“You said something.”

“I’m saying things right now.”

“No – I mean, you said something when I said being choked.” Peters lifted a brow, ‘What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Simple. My apparent lack of direction made me feel like I was being forced to do shit just for the sake of doing shit,” he explained. “Not even for myself. Just to satisfy life and all that shit.”

Peters stayed silent and listen to the other talk.

For once, it was nice to be on the receiving end.

Eventually, Mack stopped and gave him a wry smile. “So there’s the confusing, shitty part of my life story.”

“I don’t mind, actually.” Peters shrugged, “I get you more, now that you were able to explain all of that. And to think you were insistent on not telling.”

“Your charisma is infectious,” the other deadpanned. Peters grinned.

“What can I say – people are just drawn to the P.”

(Mack then proceeded to groan and smack Peters up the head for that comment.)