STALEMATE [MAFIA] [MXM] ✓

10: THE RIGHT DECISION

As it turns out, either Atlas or Maeve had retrieved Salem's car for him. It's in the garage in the morning, which Salem is thankful for since when he wakes up, he and Ruby are the only ones in the house. He can't really tell how he feels about this, because on one hand he's happy. Yay! He doesn't have to face Atlas after embarrassing himself yesterday. Then again, now Salem's even more on edge.

Still, because of this, the morning goes by uneventfully. Salem drops Ruby off at school and goes into work, going about his day and following his usual routine. When he gets off, he has to force himself to drive to Atlas' house instead of his own. It feels weird, yet sadly not unnatural. When he gets there, Ruby is in her room, studying. Atlas is nowhere to be found, and Salem makes them dinner and goes to bed.

The whole time, he doesn't see Atlas at all. How in the world is Salem supposed to check in with him if Atlas is never even home? These rules are stupid, Salem doesn't even care. He's done, he is no longer taking any of Atlas' bullshit seriously.

Salem doesn't see him the next day, either. He's pretty sure Atlas has been coming around, because stuff gets moved and Salem notices things missing. Still, he doesn't see him, and before he knows it, he's been living with Atlas three days. During that entire time, Atlas is completely MIA. Again, Salem doesn't know how he feels about this.

He should be happy, right? To an extent, he is—less stress, less worry about slipping up, less risk for Ruby to feel unsafe. Still, Salem would like to have at least been able to check in once. He hates to admit it, but that was a good idea.

Anyway, pretty soon it's his third day living in the house. He follows his usual routine, making breakfast, taking Ruby to school, etc. However, when he gets to work, he's met with an... unforeseen situation.

He gets ready and attends roll call and everything, but once that's over, he is pulled off to the side by his sergeant. Her name is Sonia Miller, and she's generally a decent boss. There are absolutely worse people out there that he'd have to answer to.

"Heart," she says, and he glances up, wasting no time before standing in front of her, at attention. He replies with a formality, and she continues.

"Chief Turner would like to speak with you."

Salem can't help it, he falters a bit. In the couple years he's been with the department, Catrine has never requested to speak with him one-on-one. He didn't think she'd have the courage, that she'd spend forever unable to face the son of the man she murdered. Salem wouldn't blame her—he couldn't live with himself if he'd done what she did. Then again, Salem also has a conscience.

Salem replies with an affirmative before heading to her office, feeling a bit antsy. He has no idea what she wants from him, he seriously doesn't have the slightest guess. He does everything right, has amazing behavior, gets so much done. Surely it's not for punishment?

The entire way there, Salem is going through every possible scenario, and every possible response he could have. He doesn't come up with much, and by the time he reaches Catrine's—no, Jack's—office, he's actually a bit nervous. He doesn't like it when he can't predict things, doesn't like going into situations blind. It seems as though he won't have a choice this time, unfortunately.

Salem knocks, waits for an answer, then enters. He decides to maintain absolute professionalism, despite how hard that will be. It is in his best interest, so he will make due.

Catrine looks the same as ever. Dark curly hair, skin of a slightly lighter tone. She's wearing glasses and a bun, as well as her police uniform. Salem knows immediately that this will be difficult, because all he wants to do right now is exact revenge. Right here, in this moment, he wants to just fucking snap. Abandon all consequences and go to motherfucking war. He feels like he did back when he was a teenager. Thankfully, he has better emotional control now.