m o r e . r e l e n t l e s s . t h a n . a . a.

More Relentless Than AA
[by victoria p.]

Rating: PG

Summary: Bayliss quit smoking.

Notes: Thanks as always to Jen, Pete/Melissa, Dot, and Meg. Written for darthrami, who requested "Tim. Cigarette. Cranky." Takes place sometime shortly after the episode "Smole Gets In Your Eyes," from whence the title comes.

Date: March 22, 2004

The smoke rose and curled around Frank's face like a halo. Tim found himself inhaling deeply, trying to draw it down into his lungs, craving that sweet nicotine rush.

Tim missed the sweet, earthy smell of tobacco, the soft, silky slide of paper against his lips and fingers, the ritual of striking a match and lighting the tip.

He missed the tart burn of smoke in his lungs, and the assurance of always having something to do with his hands. His hands never felt too big, too clumsy, when he held a cigarette between his fingers. When he smoked, he felt like the movie version of himself -- smarter, better looking, more confident. All the things he usually wasn't.

He'd upped his daily coffee intake, wondering if caffeine addiction was any healthier than nicotine addiction, and he missed the subtle interplay between the coffee and the cigarettes, so soothing to his jangled nerves. He wondered if it was simply the ritual that calmed him, but then he inhaled again, and realized, no, he needed the smoke, almost as much as he needed oxygen.

Frank smirked at him, cigarette dangling from one corner of his mouth, and in that moment, Tim hated him. Hated his smug superiority, his belief that he knew everything about everything, including Tim, and his insistence that Tim wasn't cut out to be murder police.

But mostly, he hated Frank in that moment for flaunting that cigarette, knowing that Tim had quit and was currently in the throes of a desire so desperate that even if he hadn't understood the criminal mind before, he did now. Because he wanted to kill Frank and take his cigarettes, and smoke them all in some orgy of nicotine worship that would make the most notorious smokers in the world sit up and take notice.

"You know, Bayliss," Frank was saying when Tim tuned back into the conversation, "I'm not one to comment on your personal life, but maybe you need to go out and get laid, because you've been crankier than a colicky baby for the past few days."

Tim came close to snapping in that moment, to just reaching out and grabbing the cigarette from Frank's mouth and sucking the smoke into his lungs.

But that would be giving in.

He knew Frank was simply tempting him, testing him. And for once, Tim was determined to pass, even if he was the only person who ever knew he'd been tested at all.

end

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Disclaimer: All Homicide characters belong to Tom Fontant, Barry Levinson, Baltimore Pictures, NBC etc. This piece of fan-written fiction intends no infringement on any copyrights.