Deep In The Heart of Texas (Bullock)

[Lt. Vic Valentine]

Vic and Harvey had some acation time coming their way. being that they were partners is was more balanced for them to take vacation at the same time. Also, they had indeed been together for a while in a more intimate sense.

So, with some vacation time to take the week of the 4th of July off they would escape Gotham for a week or so and head to Houston. Vic insisted she show him her town.

After getting off the flight at Houston at about 5pm, they would be met by a police detail with a red truck sent by her brother, to get them to where they were staying. They ended up at a nice hotel in downtown Houston. The owner's were old friends, buddies from college, so they got whatever they needed, free. As it was dark in Houston Vic took Harvey to the Alamo Draft House, a place where you could be served food and drink while watching a movie. They showed current movie as well as classics and movies from allover. They were showing Casablanca, so she thought she would suprise him. After the movie she looked to him with a smile.

[Lt. Harvey Bullock]

Harvey hated planes. When she suggested they....fly.....to Texas for vacation, he first went pale, then green, then out the door. He returned still a bit ashen. It took Vic a few days to convince him it'd be worth the trip, but he agreed reluctantly. Secretly, he was still unsure if some brainwashing tactics were used but there he was....on a plane.

He fidgeted the whole trip with his belt, and had to tell off another passenger to keep their kid quiet, but enjoyed the meal and the complimentary headphones, that actually cost him about fifty bucks in the misc charges.

He was never happier to be on the ground, and tried his best to put out of his mind that he was going to have to get back on one of these birds to get home.
The reception although well appreciated made him feel awkward. Gotham never treated their cop heroes like this. You were lucky to get a free cab ride to your room.

He felt very culture shocked on how bright everything was, how nice everyone was, and how clean the air smelled. He was definitely out of his element. The theater brightened him up. Watch a flick and have dinner at once. When Casablanca started rolling he'd forgotten about his dinner. he'd never seen it on the big screen. Valentine could hear him let out a sniffle or two during the movie, and wiping his face with his tie, claiming it was the jalapenos. After the movie he turned to Vic giving her a big kiss of gratitude.

"Baby, yer one in a million."

[Lt. Vic Valentine]

She kissed him back and smiled to him.

"Only for you, handsome."

After the movie she would take the red chevy truck her brother sent, a vehichle she owned but left with her brother in Houston, just in case she ever needed it.

Later they would meet with her brother for a drink. He sat at the bar, but when he heard his sister he would turn and stand, giving her a big hug, lifting her off the ground as he did so.

"Hey, Sis! Wow, you look fantastic, Momma's gonna think you haven't been eatin' 'nough. And this is Harvey, I prsume."

He started to offer his hand but then just gave Harvey a hug.

"Sorry, but I gotta hug my sister's partner, she used to be my partner once, man."

Vic took the opportunity to introduce them.

"Darren, this is Lt. Harvey Bullock, Head of the Major Crimes Unit in Gotham City. Harvey, this is my brother, Lt. Darren Valentine, head of Homicide here in Houston."

He let go of Harvey, patted his back, and beckoned them both to sit with him at the bar. He ordered them all a round of tequila shots. Vic looked over at her brother.

"You bastard, you know I have to drive us back to the hotel."

"Oh, whatever, its not even a block from here, Sis. C'mon, you're back in Texas, you're having at least one shot of good tequila, and so is your man."

Vic told her brother pretty much everything, so he knew about them being together within a couple weeks of it first happening.

"Oh, you got me, asshole."

Vic raised her shot to her brother and Harvey, smiling a bit reluctantly as she looked at the shot. Her smile then changed to a winning one once she looked at them again.

"To my former partner and current partner, both of you put up with my crazy ass."

[Lt. Harvey Bullock]

Harvey smiled and kissed her back with a huge bear hug then quickly finished his forgotten dinner. He was starting to allow himself to have a good time. It did take some getting used to not hearing as many sirens as you do in Gotham.

He was caught by surprise when her brother hugged him. In Gotham that would have been appreciated with a solid Bullock right hook to the jaw. he had to remember this wasn't Gotham. This was not home. So he tried to give Darren a smile and shook his hand after the greeting and introductions.

Ah, tequila. In his old days, he was very familiar with this drink in his dealings with some of the gang bosses in Gotham. It was a drink that took an acquired taste, and he hadn't had it in years. He raised his glass to Vic's Toast and added his own.

"and to new places and new people."

He threw it back. The burn. He forgot about the burn. He winced a little and tried not to show it affected him as he put his glass down slowly. His stomach was going to hate this vacation.

[Lt. Vic Valentine]

Vic and Darren knocked theirs back. The way they took their drinks showed they were siblings. They both had blonde hair, Darren's shorter, but long enough to call him a long haired country boy. He was a very handsome man with a million dollar smile.

He wore a pair of jeans, short sleeved button up shirt, boots, and a crisp white stetson like the one Vic was wearing. Aside from her stetson she was wearing dark jeans, boots, a white t-shirt, and a GCPD jacket.

Vic looked over at Harvey as the sounds of Janis Joplin lingered through the smoky bar. Darren then ordered them each a bourbon and coke.

"Momma's fryin' up Gator tomorrow. I wasn't supposed to tell you, but I figured you'd never had none before, Harvey. Gator's good eatin. Oh and Momma wants y'all to go to Uncle Willie's 4th of July picnic, too, he heard you were in state and wanted you to pay him a hello."

Vic shook her head laughing.

"Oh, Uncle Willie, yeah, do need to say hello to him."

Vic rolled three cigarettes and lit them together, handing one to her brother and the other to Harvey. She looked back to Harvey.

"Yeah, it's a picnic he does every year, lots of people come out for it, always nice to get a personal invitation."

[Lt. Harvey Bullock]

The culture slam continued. He did a double take once Darren mentioned gator. He adjusted his trademark fedora and cleared his throat imagining Killer Croc on a giant spicket with an apple shoved in his mouth.

"Gator? As in aligator? The....lizard? No, I really can't admit that I've had that."

A family picnic? He'd heard of these. A bunch of relatives get together & talk about each other and who's pregnant, who's getting married, who just got out of jail, and mask it all pretending it's a good time with a mountain of food.

Harvey felt a little woozy and loosened his tie, maybe it was the drink, or the jet lag had just hit him. He wasn't just going to meet the parents but the whole clan. Vic's reaction to the mention of Uncle Willy unnerved him.

He slammed back his drink. Ah. better and motioned to the bartender for another..

"Skip th' fizzle. Straight on rocks. So, uh...what's so special about yer Uncle?"

[Lt. Vic Valentine]

Vic smiled to Harvey. She smoked her cigarette a bit and flicked the ash off in an ashtray as he asked for his bourbon to be straight on the rocks.

"Awww, don't worry so much, handsome, it ain't no family picnic, really. It's fun, over in the hill country. A lot of green rolling hills with good music, good beer, and good food."

After a drink or two more Harvey and Vic would retire at their room for the night. She was looking out the window to Houston. The downtown area wasn't huge, but not small either. The multiple suburbs spread out along with oil refineries and palm trees bustled in the evening as the wind gently blew through the sky.

She turned to him, wearing a thin nightgown that she had changed into earlier. It came remarakably high up on her legs, the fabric somewhat transparent and showing the outline of her bra and underwear.

"Ah, welcome to Texas, sug."

[Lt. Harvey Bullock]

Harvey was trying to feel a little better after her reassurance and the drinks helped. He was wearing her hat which she stuck on his head after getting back to the room. It didn't fit but he didn't care.

He'd been looking out the window at the city in appreciation. No matter where you are or what town you're in, a city at night always gleams like a black diamond. It did remind him of home a little at night.

He turned and smiled drinking her in and came up to her taking her in his arms and after her greeting his only reply before giving her a passionate kiss was...

"Ye haw."

[Lt. Vic Valentine]

The next morning Vic would rise and snag a shower before Harvey. After getting dressed and ready they would pack up and head back out in the truck to Vic's favorite place to grab a mexican breakfast.

By the afternoon they'd be enjoying the sun in Galveston. She was in the mood for some raw oysters and they would stop off at a bar and grill on the beach. The waves rolled in lazily as she sucked her oysters down like a pro. She also had a craving for some flounder, so she ate that too and inisisted Harvey try a fried twinkie for desert. Not long after eating they would walk the beach for a while and check out a few little bars here and there for a shot or drink. Come about 4 pm she would drive them over to her parents house. It was a large white french chateau looking property with a generous amount of land around it for a stable and a pack of 4 dogs. One a Basset hound, one a blood hound, a Cane Corso, and a German shepard. As they were getting out Vic caight the inmistakeable smell and instead of going to the front door she made them walk around to the back. Her father had a large pot with a fire under it standing with her brother and few family friends. Vic's father would set the lid to the pot down and open his arms out to his approaching daughter.

"Well hey there, sweetheart, Y'all are early. Your Momma is inside cookin' stuff up. We decided we can't have gator without some crawfish to go with."

Vic hugged her father who kissed the top of her head, but he didn't hug back.

"Sorry, hon, but my hands smell like crawfish and bourbon. "

Vic kissed her father's cheek and then turned to Harvey.

"Harvey, this my Daddy. Daddy, this be my partner Lt. Harvey Bullock."

Waylon strated to offer his hand to shake but then took it back giving Harvey a 'sorry, man' kind of look.

"Waylon Valentine, formerly a Texas Ranger, but currently happily retired. I'd shake your hand but I smell like mud bugs, buddy."

Vic father was about the same height as his son, Darren. Darren waved to Harvey and Vic before walking away to go pour them each a drink at a wet bar outside, in the shade. Waylon had brown hair under his own white stetson. Waylon looked like an older Darren just with darker hair. he had on jeans, a button up short sleeve shirt, and a red and white apron on over it.

A moment later a woman, buxom and blonde, wearing jeans would emerge with a young dark haired woman in a Military Police Officer Uniform. The older woman would look up and quickly set her whatever she had in her arms down and hurry over to Vic and Harvey. She would scream and quickly give them each a big momma bear type of hug and kiss their cheeks. The young woman would run up to Harvey right after Mrs. Valentine and jump at him giving him a big hug. It was his sister Laverne, her arm was in a sling, too though.

Mrs. Valentine would put her arm around Laverne and smile to her and then Harvey after she was done hugging her big brother.

"Ha, ha, gotcha Detective! My daughter got a hold of this sweet young lady and it turned out her shore leave would be this week so we thought we would swing her out here. Had to call in a favor to a few friends of mine in the defense department, but here she is, sug."

[Lt. Harvey Bullock]

Today was officially dubbed Gator Day by Harvey when he got in the car. Harvey was basically a meat, potatoes, doughnuts, and pizza man. His diet rarely strayed from that so when he was told what was on the menu, he was a bit apprehensive.

Breakfast was good. He'd never thought of having his eggs and what was this white stuff? They said it was called grits. He wasn't so sure about it but he cleaned his plate trying to fill up on as much as he could. He secretly hoped that'd last him through the day and he'd have to respectfully decline said gator. He was sure those famous words 'tastes like chicken' would be uttered.

When they got to the house he was a bit nervous and squeezed Vic's hand tightly but remembered to let go quickly so her parents wouldn't get any suspicions. The smell was strange. It smelled like boiling salt and a fishy smell but he couldn't tell for sure. Maybe it was the gator.

He had to question what a mudbug was as he started to turn a shade of green. Bugs? They ate bugs in Texas? He quickly opted that if he had a choice he'd eat the whole gator. Once it was clarified that they were crawfish, he felt a little better. He'd had some in some creole dish long ago that Montoya forced down his gullet. It was ok. Kinda, shrimpish in taste, he recalled. He decided he'd settle for the jambalaya, but looked curious at the pot when he didn't see anything else in the big cauldron other than the crayfish.

He was about knocked over when Mrs. Valentine hugged him when she stepped aside and saw his sister Laverne he gave her a big hug of his own. She squelped in pain and he released her immediately and spotted the arm sling and apologized for not seeing it. He asked her what happened.

"It wasn't much just a land mine blew up our convoy. It got broke, but I'm fine. Really."

She could see his face was starting to turn red, and she reassured him that she was a big girl now & she knew the danger when she joined. She was given light duty until it healed which satisfied Harvey. He gave her another hug but more gentle.

He finally was more at ease to allow himself to check out the area and the house and finally gave Darren a wave hello. He wore a white fedora with black band, a Hawaiian shirt and white slacks.

[Lt. Vic Valentine]

The four dogs came running to them and vic got knocked over by the Cane Corso and German shepard. She fell onto her side and then sat up, all the dogs licking her in the face.

"Well hey there, kids."

While she pet and hugged all the dogs around their necks Darren brought drinks over to all of them on a tray. He smiled at Harvey's sister winningly. Mrs. Valentine gave him a little glare. Waylon made it over too, grabbing a drink and then handing one to his wife and squeezing her tush. She was startled by it and Waylon took the opportunity to pull her in and plant one on her lips. She pulled away from him smacking him on his shoulder and laughing.

"WAYLON, you old dog."

He took a drink of his bourbon and smacked his lips looking at his wife.

"Sorry, baby, can't help it, such a nice sight that I can't help but squeeze, ha ha."

Vic stood once again, she stuck a hand out to Harvey's sister and hugged her as she shook it.

"Glad to meet you, Miss Laverne. You're a lot prettier than your ol' brother here."

She gave a sideways glance to Harvey, winking to him. Darren then approached, sort of pushing his sister out of the way. He smiled to Laverne. He would take her hand and kiss it.

"Darren Valentine, much obliged, ma'am."

Waylon laughed and held his drink up, pointing his index finger at his son.

"Now see there, Mother, that there boy of yours leanred that from me."

Waylon would walk back away to tend to the crawfish and on the way would smack his wife's rear end. She jumped a bit, putting her fists on her waist and looking back at him giving him a smirk. She then turned back to Harvey, Vic, Darren, and Laverne and then specifically to Harvey. She was an attractive woman, Vic had her mother's figure, but an attitude much like her father's. For 65 she looked damn good.

"Oh forgive me, Detective, didn't properly introduce myself, Mrs. Doris Valentine, former FBI operative."

She extended a hand to Harvey, as she had already hugged him before. After shaking hands she put her arm once again around Harvey's sister.

"I just adore this sister of yours. Pretty tough little ticket. Sometimes I had to ask her to slow down when she spoke, she's got that Gotham speed in her voice."

Vic smiled to all of them and took a drink from the tray her brother brough over. All the dogs were galavanting about the area, occasionally tumbling over eachother and biting eachother at the necks. Vic lit herself a cigarette. Her brother would take her pack, as if ift were natural, and light one too, then hand it bak to Vic. She offered one to Harvey. Waylon looked up at them and then turned to the cigar box behind him and pulled out a cigar for himself and walked over to offer one to Harvey, they were cuban and illegal.



"

[Lt. Harvey Bullock]

He gave the dogs a little pet and encouraged them when they tackled Vic and started playing & wrestling with her. he rolled his eyes when Vic paid him back by complimenting his sister's looks over his.

"Well, I got th' brains!"

Laverne replied by socking him hard with her good arm. It was a good blow, but she knew her brother could take it.

He shook Mrs. Valentines hand in greeting & shrugged off her delay in introduction and chuckled when she mentioned her sister talked very fast.

"Aw it ain't th' gotham in her. She's never been able ta shut up."

He smiled at Laverne who replied by sticking her tongue out at him and replied.
"Nice outfit Harvey. Did you rob Bob Hope's closet?"

Harvey was about to accept the cigarette when his eyes lit up seeing the cigar and accepted one and ran it under his nose.

"Been a while, but nothin' beats a god Cuban."

He lit it and just indulged in the cigar as if he was somewhere else completely.

"Oh yeah...."

[Lt. Vic Valentine]

Waylon smiled, taking his out of his mouth and holding it out for a moment as he spoke to him.

"Yeah, my son Darren tried to point out to me once that these were illegal but I told him 'Son, don't think of it as supporting their ecnomy, think of it as burnin' their fields.' "

Waylon chuckled and then once again looked onto the crawfish. He lifted them out and dumped them on a table all that cajun red. Mrs. Valentine hurried back into the house and soon brought out more stuff to grub down on. There was fried Gator tail, fried frog legs, potato salad, chicken and sausage gumbo, boudain, cole slaw, beans, salad, aand so much more. Without waiting Vic and Darren darted toward the crawfish. Vic began breaking them and then peeling their tails.

Mrs. Valentine shook her head at them.

"I cook all day and you two go straight for the crawfish everytime.'

"Momma, it's only 4:30, I will not be done for a while. C'mon you yankees, come try these."

Vic would show Harvey how to peel a crawfish while Darren would help his Laverne. Waylon wanted to smoke his cigar for a while. Eventually Vic would start after alligator and frog legs within a half hour and her brother would eat gumbo. When Vic got to the gumbo she was putting potato salad in it, foregoing the rice altogether. Within a few hours most of them had eaten their fill. There were several hammocks in the shade. Vic wa laying in one as it swung gently in the breeze. A coconut fell off a palm tree and smacked her snoring brother in the head, waking him up.

Vic was drinking some tropical concoction her mother had made up and her other hand was on the basset hound lying in her lap. She laughed at her brother who seemed confused.

A few minutes later a police car shows up and two officers come running out onto the property.

"Lieutinant Valentine!" one exclaimed. Both Vic and Darren bolted up, their mother and father's attention was grabbbed too and they were both bolting to their feet. All four of them answered "Yes?" simultaneously.

The detectives shrugged it off, realizing they were all police. They looked specifically at Darren.

"We have a situation in La Porte, there's a bomb that's been planted by some sort of terrorist cell and we need someone that can disarm."

Darren took his hat off and rubbed his head. "But I thought we had a bomb squad, I'm homicide, but Vic can disarm."

He looked to his sister who nodded and began to stand.

"Yes, the bomb squad is being held hostage, we have no officers at the moment that can do it. It's a mess down there."

Darren looked again to Vic and then to Harvey and Laverne.

"I know you're all on vacation, but it looks like we got something hairy about to blow up. You mind?"

Vic straightened her hat and caught a shotgun her father tossed to her. He tossed her a bag full of rounds and she tied it to her belt loop on her hip.

"Houston needs me, then she needs me. Harv, Laverne, you guys up for saving the day?"

Waylon and Doris walked over and did the same as their daughter, loading their guns and putting them on safety. Waylon tossed a rifle to Harvey and a .38 Special to Laverne. Doris Valentine pulled her own Desert Eagle from the handbag she had sitting on a table nearby and Waylon checked his .44 Magnum that he carried and concealed on his hip.

Vic cocked her shotgun.

"Momma, Daddy, go with Darren. We'll be behind in the pick up. We'll bring Lady Bird."

The three of them nodded and took off with the officers. Vic turned and hollared at the dogs.

"C'mon, Lady Bird!"

The blood hound came forward, sprinting. Vic opened the gate, letting her out. She jumped up into the truck bed and Vic held it open for Harvey and Laverne.

"

[Lt. Harvey Bullock]

Harvey gave in and tried a little of everything and when he ate the gator he raised a brow.

"Huh....it does taste like chicken."

After he'd had his fill he relit his Cuban and was enjoying it when the car drove up. Bad news he was sure, and it was very bad. He knew Vic could disarm he'd seen her run drills at least twice a week. he wasn't sure about laverne going with her broken arm. She looked him dead in the eye.

"I'm in the middle of a war, Harvey. I have a duty to perform. If we can catch these guys before they blow themselves u, I need to be there."

He caught the rifle Darren tossed at him and put out the cigar and started walking towards the pickup and stopped. He looked at Vic as if to say he forgot something, but it was really that he didn't have his trench or normal fedora. They were part of his ritual when going out on a job. He muttered to himself.

"This is not good."

When she had asked him what the look was for he brushed it off & replied it was nothing, but he was worried. He got in the truck and tried not to look like he was.

[Lt. Vic Valentine]

Once the three of them were loaded up in the pick up with Lady Bird in the back Vic took off behind the black and white. They had little time and La Porte was at least 45 minutes away, however, Texas a 75 mile per hour speed limit on high ways and given that they were tailing a black and white they made it in less than twenty, as Vic was driving at at least 100 miles per hour most of the time over to La Porte. When they fianlly got there it was hell getting into the area.

After getting through they pulled up to a refinery. As they got out Darren was tossing them Houston PD badges so they would have no problems, Vic was still technically an active Texas Ranger and she had that badge on her hip at the moment. He hung up his phone and looked at them.

"Ok, so our group has the entire Houston bomb squad holed up in there. They refuse to negotiate. Scuttlebutt says that they are having problems with the device. It's wired down somewhere on the ground, but they have the detonator on one of the towers. Mom, Dad and I are going to head up, cause a distraction to buy the three of you time. Laverne, Harvey, if you can stay with Vic and cover her while she disarms and get out of there, you'll signal us and we will have a swat team to assist us in taking them out. A unit will stay behind you guys to makesure you guys don't have any problems coming in from the outside. What you face on the way in is up to you to deal with. I can't lose anymore people today."

Vic nodded to her brother and then looked over to Lady Bird.

"C'mon old girl, do what you do best."

The dog began moving forward into the refinery. She was a retired canine officer that sniffed out bombs. She was of instrumental help during Vic's days as a Ranger. The old dog moved through, sniffing around and Vic would duck in and out of cover, ahead of Harvey and Laverne because she had the shotgun and it was better at closer range anyway. They each had a flashlight Vic had given them on the way over.

After about two minutes in Vic could hear gunshots somewhere off in the plant. She knew it was her brother and parents. She gritted her teeth and hurried forward behind Lady Bird to cover her as she tried to find the bomb. Eventually a group of guys came around a corner and shot at them. Vic unloaded her first two shots on two guys, but didn't see a guy coming up behind her with a gun pointed at her back. This was a kill or be killed situation, she was showing no mercy and expected Harvey and Laverne to do the same.