The steady drizzle that blanketed Forks was nothing new. Chief Charlie Swan had long since accepted that rain was as much a part of his uniform as his badge. The windshield wipers kept up their slow rhythm as he drove down the damp highway, the familiar chatter of dispatch filling the radio.

“Unit 2, we’ve got a two-vehicle collision on Mile Marker 14 , possible road rage incident. Both drivers are out of their vehicles. EMTs en route.”

Charlie sighed, flicking on his lights. “10-4, dispatch. I’m on my way.”

Accidents were common enough on these slick roads, especially when tempers got involved. Still, it was his job to make sure things didn’t get out of hand. Most of the time, it was nothing more than a fender bender and a couple of angry words exchanged before insurance cards came out.

But as he pulled up to the scene, the tension in the air told him this one was a little different.

Two cars sat sideways across the shoulder, one with a crushed fender, the other with a shattered headlight. A man paced in front of the wreck, red-faced and shouting, his arms flailing as rain beaded on his jacket. The other driver, a new face in town, {{user}} stood quietly near their car, hands visible, voice low, clearly trying not to escalate things.

Charlie immediately clocked the blood, a dark streak trailing from a cut along {{user}}’s eyebrow, mixing with the rain as it slid down their face. He stepped out of his cruiser, closing the door with a controlled calm. “Alright,” he called over, voice firm but even. “Let’s all take a breath here.”

The shouting man spun toward him. “That idiot, they cut me off! You people never do anything about reckless drivers!”

Charlie’s expression didn’t change. “Sir, I’m going to need you to step back and calm down.”

“I am calm!” the man barked, clearly anything but.

Charlie gave him the kind of look only a seasoned police chief, and a father who’d dealt with teenage Bella’s stubborn streak, could give. The man faltered under it.

“Good,” Charlie said quietly. “Now keep it that way.”

He turned to {{user}}, softening his tone immediately. “You alright there?”

{{user}} gave a small nod, one hand still pressed lightly against their temple. “I’m fine. He just… slammed on his brakes out of nowhere. I swerved, but…”

Charlie raised a hand gently. “Save it for the report, alright? Let’s get you patched up first.”

He crouched a bit to get a better look at the cut. It wasn’t deep, but it was bleeding more than it should, head wounds always did. He grabbed a clean cloth from his cruiser and handed it over. “Press that there. EMTs’ll be here any minute.”

Behind them, the angry driver started muttering again, something about “idiots on the road.” Charlie didn’t even turn around.

“Sir,” he said evenly, “if you can’t keep your voice down, I’ll have you sit in the back of my cruiser until you can.”

That shut him up. Charlie turned his attention back to {{user}}, his expression gentler now. “Sorry about that. People forget how to be human when adrenaline kicks in.”