Fic: Blurred Blue Lines - Part 3 (Ensemble, Sharon Raydor- The Closer) - M
Title: Blurred Blue Lines- Part 3
Word Count: 1980
Rating: M
Fandom: Closer
Characters: Ensemble, Sharon Raydor
Warnings: Language, Mention of Assault and Violence
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. No copyright infringement intended.
Summary: Major Crimes has had their share of cases where the violence of the crimes committed caused its wear and tear on the team, but nothing was worse than when the victim was someone they knew, someone who wore the badge just as they did.
A/N: A special thanks to oncebrokengypsy for reading this before hand and giving it a once over. Previous parts here, 1 / 2 .
Brenda watched as Will Pope walked through her squad room, he stopped and talked to various members of her team as he went. This was Will at his best, the persona and person that had vanished during the debacle race for Chief of Police months ago, this was the man she knew and respected, as did so many others. She hoped that Chief Delk would realize Will was an asset to this force and not a broken cog in the previous Chief’s administration. As she stood leaning against her doorframe she looked over her squad focusing on Lieutenant Andy Flynn, he looked quiet and he had a stillness about him that was unsettling.
Normally Lieutenants Flynn and Provenza would be playing-off each other, biting remarks aimed at the other, their friendship an oddity of jests, innuendos and jeers that neither man seemed to be currently participating in, it was off-putting them behaving so different from what she had become accustomed to. Provenza was being the soul of seriousness and discretion not allowing pictures of Captain Raydor’s injuries on the board simply stating there was no reason to display them for all of sundry to walk in and see. Provenza was making all the others call the woman by her title when addressing any information in regards to the Captain’s person, he was constantly correcting Gabriel and Sanchez that is was Captain Raydor not Raydor. She supposed, like with Commander Taylor, both Flynn and Provenza knew Captain Raydor for a while, probably as long as Taylor did, not that they had seemed overtly friendly in their past dealings with the woman. It was Captain Raydor that Flynn called directly after his attack, leading Brenda to think that perhaps they had once been close or at least close enough he trusted the other woman to aid him when he had been in need of assistance. As much grief as Provenza gave over any involvement with Captain Raydor dubbing her the Wicked Witch he now seemed determined to preserve the other woman’s dignity making her think that maybe he didn’t dislike the Captain as much as he liked to pretend.
Out the corner of her eye, she saw Will talking quietly to Sergeant Alvarez and Lieutenant Provenza seemed to be paying particular attention to conversation between the two men. Deeming if Provenza was interested in what they were saying she needed to know what was going on so she made her way over to the conversation. As she got closer to the two men, she couldn’t help but notice the rapid flashing of emotions of various ranges of intensity running across Sergeant Alvarez’s face. The mask of placid neutrality Alvarez had fixed in place since reporting to them last night vanishing quickly from sight not leaving a trace. Provenza stood abruptly as Sergeant Alvarez jerked away when Will had tried to place a comforting hand on the younger man’s arm. Brenda could see clearly the look of contempt, disgust and rage the younger man was trying to reign in. The whole squad room was riveted to the scene, Gabriel and Sanchez standing at the ready should they need to take action, she waved them all off as she went to stand in front of the extremely angry young man. While standing there in front of him, examining him closer than she had when he first appeared, she couldn’t help but notice how young he was, he couldn’t have been too far past his twenty-fifth year, practically still a baby.
“Sergeant Alvarez, do you need a moment to compose yourself?” Brenda questioned, the man before her closed his eyes and took a few deep settling breaths, she assumed this was his equivalent to counting to ten. When he opened his eyes, he was once again in control, his face a picture of neutrality with an air of superiority as he raised his chin slightly and looked down his nose at her. Brenda was sure his snobbish smug behavior was a complete manifestation to keep those around him unsettled and not an essential part of who he was as an individual. She doubted Sharon Raydor would tolerate the man if he were in fact the boorish stooge he was trying to portray.
Sergeant Alvarez chided himself internally for his minor lack in self-control. It had been years since he allowed a case or words from another officer to affect him, he repeated in his head the instructions Captain Raydor first gave him when he joined her team, always stay calm, don’t lose your temper, if you do the suspect will have the upper hand and then where will you be. Chief Pope was expressing his concern over Captain Raydor’s condition and safety, maintaining that it was best for the LAPD that Major Crimes led the investigation but all Alvarez could think about was all the times Major Crimes had interfered with an Internal Affairs investigation. How little respect this squad showed the Captain during those times their cases crossed paths, they had called her names and made a mockery of all the work the Captain did for the department. Since being assigned by Chief Keating to watch over and report on any progress Major Crimes ‘s made on the case, Alvarez had seen what little they had accomplished and he couldn’t help but wonder if Major Crimes was dragging their feet because they felt a lack of regard for the Captain. When Chief Pope reached out to touch his arm, he jerked away not wanting to be marred with the lies and injustice of the words the man was saying to him. Alvarez’s dark angry orbs met the blue shocked ones of Chief Pope, and he could once again feel himself losing control over his emotions and before he could stop them, words escaped his mouth and sound given to them through his tightened lips and clenched teeth. “This investigation is a joke, Captain Raydor deserves better than some ragbag assortment of renegades who think they are above police standards and regulations investigating what happened to her. She has served the LAPD with honor and distinction for years this alone should allot her respect and consideration but if you think she gets it from these people then you are surely mistaking. Perhaps it is your own delusions where certain members of this squad are concerned, that has clouded your perceptions of what classifies as justice.”
Will had flinched back from Sergeant Alvarez in shock and even Brenda was stunned in place not sure what to say to the angry young man, “Okay, Kid, you’re angry, we get that, believe me we get that, and maybe it’s justified.” Lieutenant Flynn’s brisk voice sounded from beside Brenda, she turned her head to look at him and then back to Alvarez, noticing that Commander Taylor and Lieutenant Provenza were both standing around his desk directly behind Sergeant Alvarez. “What happened to the members of your team has you out of sorts, hell it has us all out of sorts, but don’t you think for a minute we don’t want to find the assholes who did this to them. We are doing what we can, there just isn’t much to go on, at least not yet, but there will be, we will find it and we will find these sons of bitches that did this to them. I can assure you they will pay for what they did. Hell Russ, Provenza and me,” Flynn waved a hand at the two other men, “We have known Sharon for almost twenty years, I was partnered up with her back in the day and she was a damn fine officer, she still is. Believe me when I say we respect her and all of us here are taking what happened seriously. No one assigned to this case thinks what happened to her was a joke. I probably shouldn’t tell you this seeing as you are an Internal Affairs by the book kind of guy and I think Sharon wouldn’t like me too much if I corrupted you. Provenza and I decided we sure hope when we get these bastards they resist arrest so we can personally kick their asses before clasping cuffs on their wrists and sending them to the darkest dankest cell in County.”
Brenda watched as Sergeant Alvarez visibly swallowed, the pain expressed in his eyes making her heart clench painfully in her chest in sympathy, “I was supposed to be with her last night, not Hudson.”
Brenda snatched in a breath wanting to say something but finding she was at a loss, so far this case was an emotional rollercoaster she could barely keep up with, thankfully Will took the initiative, speaking firmly and not holding the man’s earlier remarks against him, “Sergeant Alvarez, you can’t blame yourself for what transpired. This heinous act was not of your making, none of this was your fault.”
Alvarez shook his head, “That’s just it, in a way it is my fault. If the Captain had been with me we wouldn’t have been in that alley, we would have been almost twenty minutes away picking up the witness just as I had arranged. I don’t understand why Lieutenant Hudson and Captain Raydor were where they were but that wasn’t the address I gave to Hudson before I left for the day.”
Brenda’s head was spinning, they had needed a lead to follow and here it had been the whole time right in front of them and they had been busy trying to ignore his presence instead of talking to him. She heard a few muffled curses around her and what sounded like the lord’s name escape Will’s mouth before Provenza grabbed Alvarez’s arm spinning the younger man around to face him, “Just what the hell are you trying to say here, kid, are you suggesting that Hudson could have somehow been involved in the attack.”
Alvarez shook his head in a negative, wrenching his arm from Provenza’s grasp taking steps away from the older man, backing into Chief Pope in an attempt to escape Provenza’s reaching hand. Will clasped his hands on Alvarez’s shoulders in an attempt to steady the younger man. “I don’t know! I don’t know what happened, I don’t know why they were there! All I know for sure is that alley they were in was not the location for the meeting. Before I reported to Major Crimes last night, Lieutenant Belmont and I secured the witness, who was still waiting for the Captain at the address I had given Lieutenant Hudson earlier. I just don’t understand how this happened.”
Brenda’s mind was going a million miles a minute, the information Sergeant Alvarez revealed suggested this could have been a set-up, giving credence to their belief that the main target was Captain Raydor. The attack was directed at the Captain, it all centered round the Captain. Brenda saw that Will still had a firm grip on Serenest Alvarez's upper arms, her eyes met with his and she gave a nod looking back over her shoulder at Sergeant Gabriel, “Lieutenant Tao if you and Detective Sanchez could please start going through Lieutenant Hudson’s personnel file and find out his home address, see what you can find there. Lieutenants Flynn and Provenza please see if Lieutenant Belmont could come to Major Crimes for some questions and find out the names of the rest of Captain Raydor’s team. See if you can organize something with Lieutenant Belmont allowing us to interview the rest of the members of the Captain’s team. Detective Gabriel and Sergeant Alvarez you can both join me in my office along with Chief Pope.” Muttering an absent minded, “Thank-you” Brenda marched to her office, her mind already focused on the case and what had been revealed, not bothering to check to make sure the men were following behind her.