Chapter Text
~After years apart, you come face to face with an old flame, as Micki Ramirez did in 'The One That Got Away'...she's with~
~a man who she loves now (TREY BARNETT); they have already taken the step of meeting one another's PARENTS and are not~
~just TOGETHER~they are IN LOVE and very much dedicated to making their relationship work...seeing GARRISON MURPHY~
~again, though really has the female half of 'Team Sassy Boots' shook ...
*****Del Rio, Texas (GARRISON MURPHY*****
After the initial burst of excitement from seeing 'the one that got away', once the adrenaline rush (driven by what some refer
to as the MIDBRAIN, partially responsible for controlling emotion) dissipated Micki Ramirez's logic center of her brain (aka the
CEREBRUM) took over, and she's reminded of the reason why she left-ran away from Garrison Murphy THEN, as an 18-year-old:
his penchant for reckless and self-destructive acts...YES, the devil-may-care attitude excited her in the beginning and is what
initially drew her to him (as a welcome departure from her widowed mother's strict and staid upbringing), she soon saw the danger
posed if she continued to stay with him. It pained her beyond words to leave her 'first love' at the altar, she did what was best for her
at the time. He stopped the car in the parking lot of that long-forgotten church...the sight of her 'flight to freedom' seventeen years
ago...
"Why are we here, Garrison? Hmmm? That was a long time ago; we were teenagers, and a lot has happened since then."
"Yeah, it has...the one thing that hasn't changed is that I still love you."
"I'm SORRY; I am. I've lived a lifetime since then, and so have you."
"I guess you know as well as I do what my life has been like Ranger Ramirez", Garrison, unable to keep all of the
bitterness out of his voice.
"So you know...why didn't you 'out' me to Serrano?"
"Hazte si quieres ; you KNOW WHY."
"T-That's...LO SIENTO, Gar ; I am...but I'm in love with someone else now. Not 'teenage first love'; grown woman
love and caring.”
Murphy smiled sadly. "Figures. Why wouldn't a woman like you have someone else in her life after all of these years...OKAY,
cool...I'll still help you with Serrano, but I want a deal. In my version, I get a full walk, $100 gee, and relocation outside'a Texas.
Can the DA make that work?"
"Let's put it to them. They're probably back at my 'cover' apartment by now, waiting for me to come back...we'd better get
back before I'm 'blown' an' call in the local Rangers."
Safely inside MIcki's 'cover apartment', she explained to new Travis County District Attorney Denise Davidson, her partner
Cordell Walker, and Ranger Captain Larry James that Garrison hoped to turn state and federal evidence against Northside Nation
and its leader, the brutal Tomas Serrano. "He wants full immunity...can we make that work?" she finished.
That's entirely dependent on what verifiable, credible, and indictable information you can provide, Mr. Murphy. And I don't
mean that you witnessed him take an extra newspaper from the vending machine: MAJOR FELONIES, Mr. Murphy. That's all that.
"I get it, Mrs. DA," Murphy drawled. Just to prove that I'm on the 'up'...I know where he keeps his paper files. You'll
find everything you need at a certain building not far from here, in a file cabinet on the first floor. Take off these cuffs and
I'll write down the address and draw you a map."
Denise nodded to Micki, who unlocked the criminal's handcuffs. "That's your ride." she nodded to the idling DPS (Texas
Department Of Public Safety) SUV about twenty feet away. "You're not ridin' with me?" Garrison grinned.
"I drove down on my own." She slapped the side of the black and white and it slowly drove away. "I call shogun!" Walker called;
but his partner shook her head no. "I have...a lot to figure out, like what I'm gonna say to Trey when I see him."
Walker nods. "Copy you. If I, uh ride along, y-you could bounce some ideas off of me."
Denise eyes them both before Ramirez says "Good idea. It's a long drive back...AI can go, Cap?"
"Go ahead. Take the weekend but I'll need that write-up by Wednesday latest."
"Copy you. DA Davidson; let's go, Walker." Denise continues to watch Micki's truck as it exits the parking lot, at least until
James interrupts her musing: "Yo, Denise! We're rollin' out."
////////
About twenty miles outside the city, Cordell said "Trey ain't happy to say the least. He's real confused about why he heard
from you exactly THREE TIMES in the 124 days you were down here-there...He uh...he's got a point."
"He does" Micki sighed. "I-I think part of the reason I took this assignment was things were getting 'too real' back in Austin.
I had a Mom's Brunch with his Mom and mine: A FUCKING MOM'S BRUNCH, Walker! I don't do those..I-I have
never in history been with anyone this long and...I dunno..."
"Scares you shit-less."
She glanced over to comment "That."
"Look...I can see that what you feel for Trey is real-as real as it gets. I uh...I think seein' Murphy again kinda solidified in your
mine that uncertainty. And if I guess right you haven't even called to let him know you're on the way back?"
"Right again. You were married a long time; I can fix this: right?"
*****Austin, Texas, Texas (CORDELL WALKER and GERI BROUSSARD*****
Geri Broussard shook her head, exasperated that once again, Cordell Walker is about to buck protocol and leave Austin for DEL
RIO against his boss' orders.
"James didn't say not to go down there." He reddened a little, aware that his counter-argument is weak, even to
his own ears.
"CORDI...forget it! You're going no matter what I say; just...please take Hoyt with you."
"Ummm-what the fuck for!"
"You can't take back up from DPS, and Trey has his hands full with your young'uns. You're takin' HOYT...or I call James"
Grumbling, Walker conceded. "It's gonna come out, Ger-that kiss. Sooner or later."
"It will...but we should make it LATER, yeah?"
He nodded. "Copy that...it was GOOD, though right?"
Geri said "More than good."
At the door, he turns to say "Me and...and Hoyt have been like brothers since-for YEARS, and...he-he's tryin', Ger."
'I know that Cordi; I do, and I'm worried about his reaction just as much as you; probably more. We have to explain
it but where do we even begin? Just blurt it out, like 'Hey Hoyt; I kissed your brother because you keep gettin' arrested'?"
"W-Welll...not uh quite like that," Cordell said. Let's sleep on it, ah look at it fresh tomorrow."
One more thing, Cordi...aside from the Hoyt issue...are we cheatin' on EMILY?"