A Special FX-mas Story
by Peggy Kimbell
Happy Holidays to all my FX friends!
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Disclaimer:
FX: The Series and its characters are not mine. I'm just borrowing them for fun - no profit involved. They belong to Winterset Productions, Inc., Orion Pictures, Fireworks Entertainment Inc. Productions, Rysher Entertainment and Hallmark Entertainment. Based on characters created by Robert T. Magginson and Gary Fleeman.
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Rollie Tyler woke, shivering in the frigid cold air in the loft. Just bloody great, he thought, as he shook under the bed covers. The blast of Arctic cold air that had been forecast for the last three days had finally arrived and the furnace that heated the old brewery appeared to have left for Florida. The Aussie peered bleary eyed at the clock next to his bed. BLOODY GREAT, it was six A.M.; he had gotten a grand total of three hours sleep, probably less. Steeling himself to set foot on to the ice-cold floor, Rollie felt like the whole world had turned against him. It was the day before Christmas and he had been in a blue funk for almost a month. There was no joy for the special effects expert this holiday season. It was the first Christmas since Leo McCarthy had died and Rollie desperately missed his friend.
Lucinda Scott had invited Angie and Rollie to join her for a white Christmas in Vermont four days earlier. Rollie had smiled and told them to go without him, that Christmas wasn't suppose to be white and he'd just as soon stay home. However, he had actively encouraged Angie to go. He packed up the presents he got his partner and the actor, and admonishing the women not to open them until the big day, wished them a joyous holiday.
Rollie's gifts from them were sitting on his workshop bench along with his gifts for the Gatti family, because there was no tree to put them under. He hadn't put one up or decorated the loft in any way. This was the first time Rollie had not decorated for Christmas. Even when he didn't have much room and couldn't afford anything, there was a little something to honor the holiday. This year, Rollie couldn't find energy or interest in putting forth the effort of decorating.
Francis and Sarah had extended an invitation to the Australian to join the Gatti family for Christmas. Last year, when armored car robbers shot Rollie, he, Angie and Leo had spent the holiday with them. He had thoroughly enjoyed the time spent at the Gatti apartment, especially watching the excitement of their two young daughters. The Aussie and his tales of Christmas in the Outback fascinated the girls and they had equally charmed him. This time, he told the detective and his wife that he was sorry, but he just couldn't make it. Francis had tried to change Rollie's mind, telling him that the girls would miss him if he weren't there, but Rollie remained adamant. He didn't want his mood spoiling their Christmas. Of course he didn't tell Francis that was the reason why, he made other excuses.
Taking a deep breath, Rollie jumped out of bed and dressed as rapidly as possible. It was a relief to get his socks and hiking boots on, the floor was freezing. With a loud sigh, Rollie plodded downstairs and headed for the tiny room where the furnace was hidden.
It was almost ten o'clock when Francis parked next to Rollie's red pickup. He was digging out the Christmas presents for his special effects friends from the trunk, when Angie Rameriz hurried up behind him.
"Hi, Francis! What's up?" The pretty blonde asked the detective.
Francis jumped at the words and hit his head on the hood of the trunk. "Angie! I thought you were out of town. Grab that bag, I brought Christmas presents for you and Rollie."
"I decided I'd rather be with Rollie. Besides, he's been so down lately, I think he's really missing Leo right now."
"Yeah, I noticed he hasn't been himself. Sarah and I have been trying to get him to join us for Christmas, but he keeps refusing." Francis looked sadly at the closed doors to the loft. "I miss Leo, too, Angie and that's all the more reason Rollie needs to be with his friends now."
"Yeah, well, Rollie keeps trying to act like nothing's wrong. He thinks we won't notice anything, if he doesn't mention it." Angie and Francis shared a rueful look, as she opened the door. "What the hell? It's FREEZING in here!?!"
"It sure is, I think it may be warmer outside," Francis said as his breath fogged the air in front of him. He looked around, put the bags on Rollie's desk and called out, "Rollie? Are you in here?"
"Rollie! Why's it so cold in here?" Angie hollered to her boss, placing the bag she had brought in next to the others.
The only answer they got was the sound of a loud clang and clatter of metal. Francis followed Angie as she wove her way to the back of the first floor workshop. They found Rollie sitting on the floor of the tiny furnace room, a wrench lying beside him. He was nursing his right hand and looked absolutely miserable. Rollie was wearing jeans, a navy sweater and his black leather coat, but no gloves.
Looking at the shivering distress of her boss, Angie didn't know whether to be exasperated or mothering. Angie squatted down in front of Rollie, removed one of her gloves and gently touched his right hand. Angie gasped as she felt the iciness of his skin. "Rollie, you idiot, you're freezing! Come on, get up, we need to get you warm," Angie said in a firm tone. "What happened to the heat?"
"Angie?" Rollie blinked at his assistant. "I thought you went to Vermont with Lucinda."
"I came back," Angie replied dryly. "Now get up." With help from Francis, she got Rollie on his feet and moving. Angie paused uncertain what to do to get the Aussie warm. Staying in the loft was out of the question and the van would take too long to warm. Rollie needed warmth NOW.
Angie was debating between Rollie's pickup and sports car, when Francis spoke, solving her dilemma. "Come on, my car should still be warm." He guided the shaking man toward the doors. "Angie, see if you can find something warmer for Rollie to wear and a couple of blankets." The shorter man shook his head as he pushed the lanky special effects expert into the front passenger seat. Shutting the car door, he hurried around to the driver's side and got in. Francis started the car and turned the heat on high. He reached across his friend and angled the vents to give Rollie the most warmth. "Rollie, are you trying to make yourself sick for Christmas?"
Rollie stared at Francis with wide brown eyes, it sounded as if Francis was really mad at him. The Aussie was uncertain how to answer his friend's question. He didn't want to be sick, he just wanted the holidays over and to get back to work. When he was working, he didn't have time to think about anything, but the job at hand. Rollie turned away and looked down. He hadn't wanted to ruin anyone else's Christmas with his bad mood. Now, it looked like he had managed to mess up anyway. Why couldn't he do anything right any more? Rollie sighed silently and rested his head against the cold window, his eyes closed. "I'm sorry." The words were muffled and tiny - barely audible to the man sitting next to him.
Francis watched Rollie with concern. He wasn't angry with his friend, just worried. Unfortunately, it had sounded like anger and Rollie seemed to be pulling deeper into himself. Francis thought a moment, then reached out and gently turned the Aussie to look at him. "Rollie," Francis began, then paused. When he was certain he had Rollie's attention, he continued gently. "It's okay to miss Leo. I miss him, too." The New Yorker watched sympathetically as Rollie got a slightly wild look in his eyes. Realizing the Aussie wasn't ready to face his grief, Francis changed the subject. "Why's the loft so cold? What happened to the furnace?"
Rollie looked grateful at the questions. "I don't know. I woke up this morning and the loft was cold. I was trying to find out what was wrong when you and Angie got here."
Seeing Angie coming with a duffel bag covered with the Tyler FX logo and some blankets, Francis unlocked the rear doors. Reaching behind Rollie, he popped open the door and Angie climbed into the back seat. "Why didn't you call a repair service?" Francis asked reasonably.
"I did," Rollie said, careful to not look at either of them. "I called everybody listed in the phone book in fact. With the holidays, they all said they won't have anyone available for two or three days." He glanced at Francis and Angie and gave them a wan smile. "Seems mine isn't the only furnace with problems right now."
Angie wrapped two wool blankets around Rollie, with some help from Francis. "I thought you got the furnace checked out a couple of months ago."
"Did," Rollie answered quietly, "It was fine. It's not, now." He shrugged and pulled the blankets tighter. To his friends' relief, he wasn't shivering as much as he had been.
"Well, you can't stay here with no heat," Angie told Rollie. She said a silent grateful prayer for the broken furnace. This gave them the perfect excuse to get the stubborn Aussie out of his place. Rollie might balk at it, but there was no way Angie was leaving him alone this Christmas. Now, he would HAVE to stay with her or Francis, there was clearly no other option.
"I don't want to be a bother," Rollie said decisively, "I can get a hotel room. No problem."
"Uh uh," Francis responded skeptically. "A hotel room. In Manhattan. On Christmas Eve? Right. No way, Rollie! You have two choices. You stay at Angie's or you stay at my place."
"He's right, boss. Me and Chiops or Francis and his family, take your pick." Angie hid her smile of satisfaction. No matter what Rollie chose, he wouldn't be shut off with nothing but his memories and grief.
Rollie hadn't been allowed to mourn Leo's death with everything that happened at the time. In clearing his detective friends and himself, Rollie's grief had been shoved aside. When it finally came time to mourn, the Aussie had quite simply been unable to release the tears that had been locked away for so long. His
friends had watched helplessly as Rollie struggled to find an outlet for his grief. Francis had hoped visiting Leo's graveside and drinking the beers in honor of their friend would help Rollie. It had helped a little, but the tears remained dammed deep inside. With Christmas almost here, Rollie's sorrow was rising to the surface once more. Christmas was a time for families and Rollie had considered Leo part of his family. Now memories of past Christmases, joyous memories of days spent with Leo and Angie, and last year with Frank's family, were warring with the more recent painful memories of Leo's death.
"Rol," Angie said, "how's your hand? What did you do to it?"
Rollie replied meekly. "It's okay, Ange. I just took some skin off and banged it up a bit when the wrench slipped."
"Let me see," Angie told him. She wanted to be certain it was as simple and harmless as Rollie claimed. Sometimes, the ex-stuntman downplayed his own injuries and Angie felt she had to protect him from himself.
Rollie heaved a long-suffering sigh and turned toward the rear of the car. He tried to sit patiently while Angie checked his right hand. She was relieved to discover Rollie's skin wasn't as cold as before. He had scrapped quite a bit of skin off, leaving his knuckles and the back of his hand bloody and his hand already showed signs of heavy bruises. Undoubtedly painful, but that was all - nothing broken, nothing serious. Normally, they would put an ice pack on it for the bruising, but considering how cold Rollie had been Angie decided they could and should skip it. A little cleaning and first aid would take care of the injuries. Good thing Rollie is left-handed, Angie thought as she released his hand. "We'll clean it up and bandage it when we get to wherever you're staying. So, have you decided yet?"
Rollie shot a glance over at Francis and then back to Angie. The nearly identical looks of determination told the Aussie there was NO WAY he could get out of this. He might have been able to resist one, but not both. Rollie knew he wasn't fit company, but fate had decreed he would spend the next few days at one of his
friends' homes. Now, if he could just decide who should be subjected to his depression, Rollie stared at them, unable to make a choice.
Francis, tired of waiting for Rollie to make a decision, turned to look at Angie. "Angie, why don't you join us at my place. Sarah and the girls would love to have you and Rollie there."
Angie considered her friend's offer. It would be nice, if they could be together. The more friendly faces Rollie had around when the walls erected so many months ago finally came crashing down, the better for the Australian. But there wasn't a lot of room to spare at the Gatti apartment. "Frankie, I'd love to, but if I remember right, you only have one guest room."
"The couch folds out, it's a sleeping sofa. It's actually pretty comfortable. You can use that and you can bring Chiops, too. Just be prepared for the girls to spoil him rotten and to want to keep him."
Angie smiled at that. She wondered idly just how Frank knew the sleeper was comfortable. "Sounds good to me. How 'bout it, boss? Both of us and Chiops at the Gattis for Christmas." Angie and Francis held their breath as they looked to the tired man, waiting for a decision.
"Okay, you win. I'll stay, too." Rollie surrendered to the inevitable. Looking at the bag on the seat next to Angie, he continued. "What did you bring, Ange? Let me see."
"Umm, just some warmer clothes," Angie responded, doubtfully. She hesitated a moment, then passed the duffel to her best friend. He'd have to see what she had packed sometime.
Digging into the tote, Rollie immediately found the reason for his partner's anxiety. She had packed the wool sweater that Leo had picked out for Rollie's birthday, the gift Leo had not lived long enough to give. He stroked the softness of the natural wool, then dug deeper, checking the other items. "Well, if I'm going to be staying with you for a few days, Frank, I want more than just this. Especially, if it's going to stay this cold." Rollie passed the bag back to Angie.
"The last forecast I heard said this cold snap would last at least a week," Francis told his friend.
Rollie nodded, "Wait here, I'll just go grab some more stuff, then we can get out of here." Before his friends could object that he was still too cold, he darted out of the car and back into the loft.
Ten minutes later, Francis and Angie were ready to go drag the Aussie back out, when Rollie came back. A heavy shearling jacket replaced his leather coat. Rollie was wearing a pair of shearling boots and gloves as well. To finish his warmer outfit, Rollie had on his black wool FX scarf. Rollie handed a FX logo carry-on bag and a bag full of presents to Angie in the back. "Okay, let's go to Angie's and collect her gear and Chiops."
Francis started to put the car in gear, then paused. "Wait a minute, our presents for you are inside. I'd better get them first."
"I'll help." Angie said and the pair headed into the old brewery.
"Why didn't you think of this earlier?" Rollie called after them and settled back into the front seat.
By the time Francis and Angie returned and placed the bags in the trunk, they found Rollie had fallen sound asleep. Seeing how exhausted Rollie looked, they tried to not wake the sleeping man. Francis reached around Rollie and carefully fastened his seat belt. The Aussie slept the entire trip to Angie's apartment and
the loading of her things into the trunk. Angie settled into the back seat with her pet. Chiops meowed at the sight of Rollie and tried to climb into the front seat with him. For some reason neither of them understood the cat always tried to climb into Rollie's lap every time he set eyes on the Aussie.
"No, Chiops. Let Rollie sleep," Angie said sternly as she grabbed her pet. She was careful to hold onto the cat the entire trip to the Gatti apartment. They let Rollie sleep during the entire process of unloading the car, but finally the only thing left was to get the special effects expert inside.
Angie shook Rollie's shoulder. "Rollie, wake up. We're here."
"Hmm. What?" Rollie mumbled sleepily. He yawned and stretched as best he could in the car, then looked around. Seeing they were at Francis' place, he climbed out. Rollie rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he followed Angie inside. The special effects experts were greeted cheerfully by Sarah. After hugging the pair, she escorted them to the kitchen and sat Rollie down at the table. Chiops took advantage of the moment and leapt into Rollie's lap. Francis brought a first aid kit over and Angie stripped the gloves off of Rollie's hands. She cleaned the torn skin, thoroughly salved the injury and wrapped gauze around the battered hand. Rollie just sat there, blinking heavily and let Angie work.
Sarah, having heard of Rollie's misadventures with the furnace from her husband while Angie was packing, had made some hot soup and brewed a pot of herbal tea, which she now served to the grateful Aussie. He smiled slightly at the wonderful smell and sipped the hot drink. Sarah had been very glad when Francis had introduced his FX friends to the Gatti family. She had always loved hot tea and frequently brewed pots of various types of tea. Unfortunately, she knew very few people who appreciated the drink. Rollie and Angie were always ready to have a cup when they came to visit. As Angie was putting the things she'd used back into the first aid kit, Sarah brought another serving for her and Francis.
"I'm glad you both decided to join us for Christmas," Sarah told the friends. "The girls will be overjoyed to see you, when they get back."
"Thanks, Sarah," Angie smiled at the other woman, "and thanks for letting Chiops come visit, too. Where are the girls?"
Sarah's smile widened as she answered, "Visiting with their grandparents, getting totally spoiled."
Rollie noticed some cheerful, Christmasy red and green clothes hanging in a dry cleaner's bag, on the back of the kitchen door. "What's that?" He asked, curious.
Sarah laughed as Francis blushed slightly. "Frankie is playing one of Santa's elves this evening. He's going to visit the children's ward at St. Vincent's this evening."
"Yeah?" Rollie perked up. "That's really cool, Francis," the Aussie said wistfully.
Francis exchanged looks with Sarah and Angie. "Yeah, I guess it is." He paused, then said casually. "You know, Rollie, we could use a couple of more elves. Maybe you and Angie could join us?"
Rollie looked interested as he turned to look at his shorter friend. "That would be fun," Rollie started, then looked dejected "but, I'm too tall for an elf. Angie would make a good elf though."
"Are you calling me short, boss?" Angie tried to sound angry, but couldn't. She knew Rollie would love to do this for the kids. For that matter, so would she.
Rollie stared with wide-eyed innocence at his assistant. "No," then added in a stage whisper, "but you are short." His smile got a little bigger as he said it. Considering she was over a head shorter than her six foot two boss, Angie had to agree with him. To Rollie, she was short, but so were a lot of people.
"That's okay, Rollie. Elves don't have to be that short." Francis told the tall Aussie. "Why don't you and Angie come, too? The lady organizing this is bringing extra costumes in assorted sizes. Just in case, we found some more suckers, uh, volunteers."
Rollie pushed Chiops out of his lap, got up and examined the costume with an experienced eye. It did look good, very professional. In fact, it looked as if the costume had been hand-stitched. He saw the red shoes with a curled toe in the bottom of the bag and had to laugh at them. It would be fun to see his friends dressed up. He noticed the pointy ears in there as well. He frowned at them. "I can do better than these ears, Frankie." They looked like the cheap Vulcan costume ears that showed up every Halloween.
"Are you offering to do the make-up, Rollie?" Francis asked. "Cause it would be great if you would. We have a really authentic looking Santa, he has a real beard and everything, but those ears are pretty lame."
"Okay, I can do that," Rollie returned to the table, shrugging. He sat down and picked up his cup of tea. Chiops immediately jumped back into his lap. "Angie, what is with this cat? Why does he always have to be in MY lap?"
Angie grinned at the peeved man. "What can I say, Rol? For some strange reason, he likes you! Normally, Chiops has much better taste."
"Well, he's YOUR cat! Why doesn't he sit in YOUR lap?" Chiops was now staring at Rollie and Rollie was staring back.
"He's not mine. Not really. Don't you know anything about cats? They don't have owners, they own people." Angie wanted to laugh at the sight of the Australian and cat in a staring match. Anybody who knew a thing about cats would know there was no way for Rollie to win, but he seemed determined to try.
"I don't belong to him! And Chiops can just get that thought out of his head." Rollie directed his words more toward the cat than to Angie, just like Chiops knew what he was saying. Much to the others' surprise and amusement, Chiops blinked and began to groom himself, completely ignoring the man that had been the entire focus of his attention a second before. Rollie looked smug at staring down the cat and continued to eat his soup.
Angie laughed, totally amused by the actions of her boss and pet. "Frankie, I'd love to be an elf. Count me in." She said, returning to the topic at hand.
"Great, I'll let Mrs. Simms know. How about you, Rollie?"
"Sure," Rollie, warm and relaxed by the tea and soup, answered sleepily, "whatever."
"Sounds like you're ready to go back to your nap, boss." Angie looked at him with an experienced eye. It seemed Rollie had gotten a lot less sleep last night than normal. Not that he ever got a 'normal' amount of sleep. As long as she could remember, Rollie had possessed a disrupted sleep pattern. He would sleep a few hours, be awake awhile, then sleep again. He repeated that pattern two or three times a night (or day, if they were working nights). The only time he seemed to get the recommended hours of sleep was when he was drunk, drugged or sick. Lately, sleep had appeared to be a lot less than was 'normal' for Rollie. "Just how much sleep did you get before the furnace broke down?" She asked, curious.
The Aussie blinked at the question and thought about it for a moment. "Three hours... I think."
"Three?" Angie asked skeptically.
"Well, maybe. It could have been two." Rollie shrugged.
Francis and Sarah looked concerned at Rollie's response. Angie sighed, shook her head at them and said, "Go back to sleep, Rol. We'll wake you up in plenty of time to play elf."
"Okay. Sarah, thanks for the lunch." Rollie said, stumbled to his feet and ambled off to the guest room and his temporary bed.
"Two, three hours? Angie, that's not good. How much sleep has Rollie been getting lately?" Francis spoke anxiously.
"Not enough," Angie spoke calmly as Chiops leapt into her lap. "We can all see that. Look, I've known Rollie since I was a kid. He's never gotten the proper amount of sleep, ever. But he usually gets enough... for him."
Francis and Sarah nodded at the blonde's words, looking concerned.
"We all know he's been down lately," Angie continued. "Well, I think Leo's death is finally getting to him and I think he's been having nightmares. That's happened before, too. Until Rollie opens up and let's that out, he is not going to get enough sleep. That's going to happen, soon. I know that, I can feel it. We just have to be ready and be here for him when it does. Okay?"
"Okay, Angie." Sarah answered.
"Okay, Angie." Francis echoed. "You've known Rollie a lot longer than we have. If you think he's going to be all right and that's what's happening, we'll be here for him." Francis hesitated, then continued. He wanted to say this, he wasn't sure if he would ever get to say it to Rollie, but he wanted to tell Angie. "I just want to say one thing. One of the best things... maybe THE best thing Leo ever did for me was to introduce me to you two, Angie. To share your friendship with me. You know, I think Leo knew that it was good for me, that he wanted that and I really appreciate having that friendship. You and Rollie are the best! One of the things in my life, I know I would never want to change is knowing you, Rollie and Leo."
Angie smiled gratefully at Francis. "Thanks, Frankie. It's one of the best thing's Leo did for us, too. But it's especially good for Rollie. He's never had many close friends. He has a lot of friends, but not FRIENDS, if you know what I mean."
"Yeah, I think I do know what you're saying, Angie." Francis frowned for a moment, thinking. "He's always there for everybody else, but hardly anybody is there when HE needs them. And it's like he doesn't expect ANYBODY to be there when he needs help. Except Leo and you."
Angie nodded. "And you now, Francis. But yes, I think that's it. I think it goes back to his dad never being there when Rollie needed him... And I think part of it is Rollie thinks HE wasn't there when his mom needed him. Rollie's never understood there was nothing he could do, not really, he just blamed himself. So he THINKS he doesn't deserve the help he naturally gives everybody else."
Francis nodded thoughtfully "I can see that."
"Angie, how long have you known Rollie?" Sarah asked curiously.
Angie thought for a moment, doing some quick mental arithmetic. "Thirteen years now."
"Wow," Francis said, startled, "I knew you had known each other a long time, but not that long!"
"Yeah, it's kind of hard for me to believe, too. It sure doesn't seem that long." Angie sighed, "And to think I almost ended it, before it could start."
"What do you mean?" Francis asked, he always wanted to know more about his friends.
"Well, let's just say I was a total brat and almost ran Rollie off in the beginning, okay?" Angie replied, embarrassed by the memory.
"That's okay, Angie," Sarah told her, "you don't have to explain. The main thing is you didn't run him off and you're really good friends now."
"The best! I don't know what I would have done if it hadn't been for Rollie after my dad died." Angie sighed. "He kept me going then. And whole." She remembered like it was yesterday, Rollie walking up to her in the lawyer's office and pulling her into his arms without saying a word. She finally broke down and cried in the safety of that strong loving embrace. She had been in shock when Manny was killed in the explosion, and had only shed a few tears until that moment. Angie shook herself. Now, somehow, she had to give Rollie the same release he had given her. She frowned as she continued. "I should have done more when Leo died. I... I knew what Rollie was doing and I just let him do it. I should have paid more attention."
"Angie, stop that," Francis said sharply. "We all knew what Rollie was doing. You TRIED and so did I. There wasn't anything, anyone could do until Rollie was ready to accept it. You did pay attention and you've done the only thing you could do. Angie, you stood by Rollie, waiting until HE was ready. Sometimes... sometimes that's the way it has to be. But now, he is almost ready and you're here waiting, ready and willing to help him handle it. That's all Rollie could ask for, that's all anyone could ask for. Don't blame yourself, for something you couldn't help."
"I know you're right, Frank," Angie answered, "I just wish..."
Page Two
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