Your Just an Old Man (Lestrade/Casual)

[MONA LISA DRAGOTI]

"You know what ,Fuck you, Fuck all of you!"

Mona slammed out of the small conference room in the library . She was so sick and tired of her group counselling. It was a pointless stupid activity that made her want to kill someone. A scary thing to see from someone who used to be so passive. Today she had pushed a man out of his chair because he had called her a pretty little thing. She had felt so disgusted with him and with herself. She hated when people, especially men , commented on her appearance. It made her feel sick, almost like she was just a piece of meat. She supposed that problem came from her Mother and her obsession with beauty. And her disgust with men must of been from her father.

How she hated them.

Her parents used to fill her with thoughts of sadness and depression. Now it just filled her with rage. A deep , dark rage, that made her wish they were alive...just so she could kill them herself.The therapists told her that it wasn't normal, she should be calmer now that they were gone.

What the hell did they know?

She quickly pulled out a chair at a near by table and fell into it. She put her booted feet up on the table as she leaned back in the chair and pushed her dark sunglasses from the top of her head and over her eyes. She turned her head to the man sitting across from her and her face made no expression change.

Greg or Old Man Sholto , as she liked to call him, sat in the chair across the table from her. It had been 7 weeks since their first lunch together, and now it was as regular as breathing. Just as her insults were as close to affection he would ever get from her.

They weren't friends, she made sure he knew that. He was basically just the only person she could stand to eat with. He was also the only one brave enough to confront her after therapy.

"Where's my food?" She almost growled out in her anger. Then she took a deep breath and released it.

"excuse me I meant , Dear Old Man Sholto what food have you dug up from your magic Mary Poppins bag this time? I'm so excited to see what kind of sugar makes this medicine go down" She said in a sarcastic manner, insulting his age with the Mary poppins reference and her therapy at the same time.

[GREGORY LESTRADE]

"You know what, Fuck you, Fuck all of you!"

Gregory looked up from his book and Tupperware full of leftover rice and chicken from last night and rolled his eyes before looking back down and continuing eating. That girl could be ever so dramatic. He chewed thoughtfully and counted backwards under is breath: "Three... two... one."

And there - Gregory didn't bother looking up from his book as Mona flopped unceremoniously onto the chair next to his and made an obvious effort to look as FUCK SOCIETY as possible. "Morning," he said, his voice monotone. The girl really did have to learn to control her temper.

"Where's my food?" Mona snapped, then corrected herself without something more annoying than anything - "Excuse me I meant , Dear Old Man Sholto what food have you dug up from your magic Mary Poppins bag this time? I'm so excited to see what kind of sugar makes this medicine go down."

"Nice to know you're learning manners," Greg said tiredly, and put his book down to look at Mona. They'd be meeting for weeks now, and Greg had to like her for some reason, despite the abuse he put up with. And the fact that she actually said his middle name out loud. Why he had ever actually told her what it was he wasn't sure. He held out a second Tupperware with a plastic fork on top of it towards Mona to take. "Here. I made it myself. So I expect you should like it."

[MONA LISA DRAGOTI]

Mona grabbed the tube of food out of his hands and opened it quickly . She would never tell him, but his food was about the best darn thing she had ever eaten. It was the highlight of her food intake for the week. She herself couldn't be bothered to make any food for herself and all the places she ate at were dirty dives.

She practically dived into her food, almost inhaling it like air. She didn't even say thank you to Greg. She just took the fork and stabbed the chicken with a force that almost broke the plastic fork.

"So tell me Sholto, why on this green earth people feel the need to piss me off?" She waved the fork in the air , stabbing it towards him for emphasis.

"I mean it's like the whole human race all came forward and thought today, how can make Mona want to shoot someone and go to jail?"

She pushed her glasses up to stare at him from across the table. "And a better question is why do they insist on me coming to these functions when I just end up hitting someone and getting kicked out?"

[GREGORY LESTRADE]

Mona quickly took the Tupperware out of Greg's hands and began to eat at a speed and fervor that simply wasn't proper for a young lady. Or anyone. Call him traditional, but there was really no need to eat so fast. He knew Mona secretly enjoyed his food (at least he thought she did, he didn't think she'd stand it if she didn't) so he wasn't too worried about her rude comments. Still, he felt the need to say, somewhat amused, "I take back the comment about manners after all."

"So tell me Sholto, why on this green earth people feel the need to piss me off?" Mona said sharply, stabbing the air in front of him with the fork to make her point. Greg quietly continued to eat his own food while he waited for Mona to continue to rant. He knew the drill by now. Interrupting Mona was ensuring a lot more time listening to the rest of her rant and another rant about how Greg always interrupted her. He didn't mind, but he did actually have to get back to work in a half-hour.

"I mean it's like the whole human race all came forward and thought today, how can make Mona want to shoot someone and go to jail? And a better question is why do they insist on me coming to these functions when I just end up hitting someone and getting kicked out?" Mona seemed quite serious, though Greg wasn't all too worried about her actually killing someone. Mostly.

He finished chewing before he pointed his fork at her, though not nearly as pointedly as Mona had, as he said, "People who do therapy generally had to have it themselves at one point, Mona. Besides," he added thoughtfully, "You shouldn't give a damn about them if they're such idiots. Though I wouldn't suggest shooting someone. Or at least not telling me about it. I am a police man."

[MONA LISA DRAGOTI]

"Though I wouldn't suggest shooting someone. Or at least not telling me about it. I am a police man."

"Really Sholto, you think I'm worried about what you could do to me? Or in any body could do to me? Honestly anything that anybody in the world could do to me could hold a flame to what has already been done."

Mons suddenly didn't feel like eating anymore. With a glare she pushed the Tupperware away from her and leaned her arms on the table in front of her.

"I could kill every person in this damn Library, and it wouldn't hurt me not one bit. Why should I care about what happens to others, if it eases the pain that I feel?"

Mona looked to wear the people from the therapy session were leaving and clutched her hands into fists.

"you say that people who do Therapy usually need it? I guess it's true isn't it, I was a therapist and look where the hell I am now. Nothing anyone could do could hurt me anymore then I have already done to myself."

She turned her gaze to her fists, "And everyone else in the world is to damn stupid to see that I don't want there damn help!"

[GREGORY LESTRADE]

"Really Sholto, you think I'm worried about what you could do to me? Or in any body could do to me? Honestly anything that anybody in the world could do to me could hold a flame to what has already been done!" Mona exclaimed angrily, pushing away her food and crossing her arms to pout quite childishly. Greg kept on eating; he certainly hated to hear Mona going on about how tortured she was, one because it did get on one's nerves after a while (really, you can only be so angsty before that's all it is), and two, it made him uncomfortable, of course, he hear her speak so lowly of herself. Still, he was used to this act by now; he had no doubt the pain Mona felt was real, but he was pretty sure nothing he said really did much. Better to listen.

"I could kill every person in this damn Library, and it wouldn't hurt me not one bit," Mona continued, and Greg looked up, a little startled. Mona'd said things like I'M GOING TO KILL EVERYONE before, but it really did alarm him. "Why should I care about what happens to others, if it eases the pain that I feel? You say that people who do Therapy usually need it? I guess it's true isn't it, I was a therapist and look where the hell I am now. Nothing anyone could do could hurt me anymore then I have already done to myself. And everyone else in the world is to damn stupid to see that I don't want their damn help!"

"I can assure you, they knew perfectly well you don't want their help," Gregory said, careful to keep his voice both indifferent and even. We he to act like Mona was perfectly in the right by saying all this, it'd be showing her it was just that: all right, when it wasn't. But he wasn't going to proclaim his distaste or contradiction at her words either, because it'd be just as contradictory.

"The fact is, nobody ever wants anyone's help, it's just that usually when you're forced to get it, it works." Greg glanced up at Mona's fuming body language and sighed, shaking his head lightly, "Forced help works for most people, including myself in the past. So the fact that it truly doesn't help a certain few people isn't something they take into account. Statistics are more important than individuals, you see."

He'd always been sure of himself, that it was only right to give Mona hard fact. He was not going to indulge her, or join her self-pity party, or baby her. He felt bad for her, sure, but there were other people in the world who'd had it just as bad, and they'd made it through. He would do all he could for her, but he would not spoil her.

[MONA LISA DRAGOTI]

"Statistics are more important than individuals, you see."


Mona hated that statement, and every time, someone (Mostly Lestrade due to her having this rant often) spewed it to her, she felt like punching them in the face. In fact even before her break down she would of done it, and she was not that violent back then.

You see, Mona used to be very protective of people, of every person. She would fight for anyone's right to be whoever they are. So to say that Statistics were more important then a person , was going against the nature that she had ingrained in herself since she was young.

"And I guess you see nothing wrong with that, do you Lestrade?" She was pretty pissed off now, so pissed off that she used his real name. She may not care about people and there characteristics any longer. Hell she didn't even cared if they were alive or dead. But she still could recognize that they were people.

"So when you see a dead guy on the street he is nothing to you but a statistic? he's not important as an individual? Isn't that a little cold? I mean it's almost like your becoming me."

Mona didn't have an angry look on her face , in fact it looked calm and collected now. Which was another sign of how truly angry she was.

"But lets say I agree with your statement, that I'm nothing but a statistic. Lets see what statistic I am? A former therapist , who is younger then 20, with a darker complexion, who was abused by everyone, and is a lesbian. Oh and ,can't forget this, is suicidal. Mathematically speaking I am in the less then 1 percent range. So why the hell won't they leave me alone?"

Mona waited a few minutes before answering him in a serious voice, but it was still calm.

"because I'm an individual, and people always try to fix individuals, since there's nothing wrong with statistics."

[GREGORY LESTRADE]

"And I guess you see nothing wrong with that, do you Lestrade?" Mona snapped, "So when you see a dead guy on the street he is nothing to you but a statistic? he's not important as an individual? Isn't that a little cold? I mean it's almost like your becoming me."

Gregory gave a short sigh of annoyance, and that way Mona just had to insert a self-deprecating tone to everything. He went back to eating. He was a good cook, wasn't he? Mona kept going, of course.

"But lets say I agree with your statement, that I'm nothing but a statistic. Lets see what statistic I am? A former therapist , who is younger then 20, with a darker complexion, who was abused by everyone, and is a lesbian. Oh and ,can't forget this, is suicidal. Mathematically speaking I am in the less then 1 percent range. So why the hell won't they leave me alone? …Because I'm an individual, and people always try to fix individuals, since there's nothing wrong with statistics."

"There are plenty of people like you out there, and there are plenty who aren't,"[/b] Gregory sighed, knowing his lunch break would be ending in a few short minutes. While he enjoyed talking to Mona in a strange, somewhat sadistic way, he was usually glad to get it over with at the end of the day. "You think too much, my dear. You already don't care what other people think, so stop caring what you think. Just do whatever it takes to be happy. The pursuit of happiness and all that."[/b]