Chapter 2. Asshole Feds

Killing makes mere men gods. To hold the life of someone so securely in yours. To decide whether the person sees another day or not....

|~| The Mailman.

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Present day...

Kory walked into her office and sighed as she sank into her comfortable chair.

The day had only just begun and she had already stopped an armed robbery and a cat fight between two women over a Gucci handbag. The two crimes were in no way related. She happened upon the robbery as she was getting a Coca-Cola close to her apartment and stopped it, getting a graze from a gun and a few bruised ribs for her efforts. Then after making sure that the criminals were taken to booking by some uniforms, she endured a patch up by the medic and then drove off.

Next, she stopped at a store to get a present for her 16 year old neighbor, Missy, and the fight began. That time, she got a black eye, more bruised ribs and a headache to boot.

"Hello pretty lady!" Michael said, or to her sensitive ears which had to listen to two screaming women at close range, shouted.

"Tone the enthusiasm down a notch Mike. I have a massive headache!" Kory complained as her best friend sank into her visitors chair.

"I would expect that. You've had quite the morning" Mike said with a smirk. She groaned.

"That's one way to put it. The graze from the gun doesn't even feel as bad as the black eye from those tigers, sorry, women. And my ribs hurt like hell!" She complained.

"Women. They can be terrifying creatures" Mike shuddered, then laughed. "I'm sorry I can't help it. You look like crap. Please get your ass to the infirmary before I drag it there myself"

"Gee thanks for the compliment" she said and made Mike laugh harder.

"Seriously though K, to the infirmary. I'm sure you don't want your whole bull pen to see you dragged out by a computer geek, hot as he may be"

She laughed. "As if you could manage it" He raised a brow.

"You haven't slept or eaten anything other than Coke and biscuits for the past few weeks and you've been beaten up twice today, it'll be pitifully easy to drag you" he said pointedly.

She sighed "How'd you know I wasn't sleeping?"

"The bags under what I can see of your eyes" he said and snickered again.

"Yeah I get it. I look like crap. Did you just come here to make fun of me?" She asked.

He sobered up. "Your guy has struck again" that caught her attention.

"What happened?" She asked. He stood up and stretched his arm out to her.

"On our way to the infirmary" he said pointedly. She got up and slapped his hand away. He laughed and followed behind her. They walked out of her bullpen and started walking side by side.

"A woman was found murdered in her house. She had a knife stuck in her back with a letter. I personally analysed the writing. More legible and organized than the one he wrote when he killed Queens but it's the same handwriting" he said.

"But why now after all this time? Why resurface this year? For one year we don't hear a peep from this guy and now just this year he's suspected to have killed six people. All different ages, different races, different genders. Nothing ties them together apart from the knife in the back and the notes. Serial killers usually have a particular type, a pattern to how they pick their victims. What's his pattern?!"

"Maybe that's his own MO. He doesn't have a type, he kills randomly" he said.

"It just doesn't feel that way Mike. The notes, they're so passionate, specific. They're angry and punishing. He's emotionally involved, that's why more often than not, he bashes his victim's heads in. Crime of passion in it's twisted way" she said. Mike shrugged.

"Well you're the shrink"

"I hate that the Feds took that case from me, from us" she sighed. He ran his hands through his hair.

"K, please don't start. You know why. I was just detective then and you didn't even have a badge. Plus it was an international celebrity. Wether or not we were the ones with the case, the Feds would have snatched it up anyway" he said.

"And what good did that do us? He escaped capture and the Feds were just chasing their tails and too arrogant to admit it" she replied hotly.

"You won't let this guy go will you?"

"You won't either Mike. You saw Queens that night. You felt the terror she must have felt. Her pain, you felt it all. You were there when we had to tell her friends, her Agent, God Mike her brother broke into pieces in front of us" she said. Mike ran his hands through his hair again. It was a habit that signified his frustration.

"I know. But K, I'm no shrink but I can see that's not the only reason this one is personal. You're feeling guilty. You believe if you'd sent dispatch immediately the call came in she'd still be alive" Kory sighed.

"It's true isn't it?" She said. He grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"It's not and you'd know it too if you weren't always so hard on yourself. There's no way to tell that dispatch would have gotten there in time to help her. Plus, there was no way to tell that the call wasn't a prank call. Hell if it hadn't been for your intuition, we wouldn't have found her for maybe days!" Kory nodded, even though she obviously wasn't convinced.

They continued walking.

"On a scale of one to ten, how bad does my face really look?" Kory asked after a few minutes of silence. They were walking down the stairs.

"Baby, you know you're always beautiful to me, regardless of whether your face is bashed in" he said. She rolled her eyes.

"You say the sweetest things. But that's not what I asked" she said.

"Since when have you cared about what you looked like?" He asked, perfect blond brow raised.

"Touche" she said. They strolled into her least favourite wing of CPD headquarters. The infirmary.

"Hello Lieutenant Hannagan, Lieutenant Dover. I'd ask what brings you here but her face says enough" the nurse, Nancy said.

"Nice to see you too Nancy" Kory said dryly.

"How're the kids?" Mike asked, a lot more friendly and less sassy than Kory.

"They're great, thanks. Sit down grumpy pants so I can take a look at you. What did you get yourself into this time? An elephant stampede?" Nancy asked.

"Worse. Women fighting over a Gucci handbag" Kory said. She and Nancy shuddered.

With her dark hair with graying strips, soft brown eyes, and her calm understanding voice, Nancy was the picture of a mother figure. She was the closest thing Kory had to a mother.

They chatted as Nancy dressed Kory's injuries. When she was done, Kory was somewhat reluctant to leave, but wouldn't show it, even though everyone in the room knew.

"I'll see you tomorrow maybe" Kory said.

"Don't be so sure. With the way you're going, I'm thinking you'll be back by noon" Nancy said. Kory and Mike laughed as they exited. Just then, her pager beeped.

"Commander wants to chat. Ciao" she said and left.

She arrived at the commander's office and took a deep breath before knocking. The commander, Brandon White was a very intimidating man and few were even able to look him the eye without flinching and trying to hide.

"Enter" his authoritative voice came to her through the door. She pushed open the door and entered. He sat on the large chair behind his desk and stared at her through hard icy blue eyes. His chin rested on his entwined fingers which in turn, supported by his elbow, rested on the table. The whole situation reminded her of walking into the principals office when you weren't quite sure what you did wrong but you had a past history of detentions and reprimands.

She closed the door behind her.

"You asked to see me Commander, Sir" she said.

"Sit down Lieutenant Hannagan" she sat.

"As you know, you were first on scene on a case two years ago and it was taken from you and handed to the Feds. Of course, you didn't have a badge at the time due to your... misdemeanor but your partner could have handled it. But the Feds played politics and got the case. I believe this was the Marlena Queens case?" He asked as if he had forgotten. He never forgot anything.

Her heart began to beat faster in her chest and her palms became sweaty.

"Yes Sir" she replied, voice calm and level, at odds with the erratic beating of her heart.

"Knowing you, you've been keeping tabs on the case so you know that there's been six homicides that resemble the killer's MO this year" she nodded, then on a second thought, added; "That's correct sir"

"There's been pressure from Queen's family, specifically her Brother, to reopen the case. He has apparently been following the case just as you have and has connected his Sister's murder to these six killings. Her brother is very influential. He puts pressure on the mayor's office, the mayor's office pressures Chief Claud, and Chief Claud, me. I've decided to reopen the case and I want you to take it" her heart stopped, then began to beat a million times faster. There was a deafening roar in her ears.

"Sir?" She asked even though she heard him clearly.

"I'm not quite sure why I'm doing this Hannagan, I'll admit. You are obviously too emotionally attached to be objective during this case, but the fact is, you know this case. You've lived and breathed it since it happened. If I put someone new on, they'd have to get acquainted. You could just jump right back in like you never left. Plus, you have a sharp eye for details and reliable instincts"

She felt like dropping on her knees and thanking him while weeping on his feet. Instead, she settled for a simple;

"Thank you Sir"

"Don't thank me yet Lieutenant, there's a catch. I can't reopen a case the FBI were working on and give it to one of my people without including them, that'd be asking for a territorial war" her heart sank again. She knew where this was headed.

"This is Special Agent Carter Cross, your partner for the duration of this case" she turned to where the Commander's hand pointed and almost jumped. She didn't notice the lone figure relaxing in the shadows in his office until the Commander pointed him out. That told her that she really needed to get some sleep if her reflexes were that slow.

Special Agent Carter walked forward. He had shaggy brown hair that covered a portion of his face and the most fascinating amber, almost golden eyes. His eyes were cold and all cop as he eyed her, judging her. He was lean but obviously built behind the stylish tailored black suit he wore. He had this arrogant tilt to his chin and his swagger that told her he'd be trouble.

"Special Agent Carter Cross" he said as he held out a hand for her to shake.

"Lieutenant Kory Hannagan" she said and took his hand. His grip was firm and testing. Good. So was hers.

"I hope that you will both get along. Special Agent, our facilities are available to you at anytime during this case. Lieutenant, you're free to pick anyone you feel would be instrumental in this case, have them assign their current case load to someone else for the time being. I trust that your working relationship will be cordial and cooperative" he paused to give them both a warning glare. "You're dismissed" he said. Kory nodded and walked out with the Agent behind her.

"So, first thing we do is re-interview the witnesses. I reread the files, the interviews done by the agents in charge were poorly conducted due to the presence of the media. We start at her brother's. I'll meet you there" Agent Douchebag said and began walking away.

"Hold on. First of all, this isn't a dictatorship, it's a partnership, which means you don't get to boss me around. Second, we'd have to organize a team, pick a room to set up, organize our board and assign tasks to the team, then we do the interviews" she said. He stared at her through the curtain his hair made.

"You know I never understood women in law enforcement. I mean the job requires stealth and trustworthiness, both of which they don't possess" she blinked. Then blinked again. She just restrained herself from cleaning her ears to hear him better.

"I can see that you're a chauvinistic son of a bitch, and really I don't give a damn. As long as it's on your spare time and does not hamper the job in anyway. Now shall I show you to the conference room?" She asked calmly when she found her tongue.

"After you" he said in a condescending, patronizing way.

She gritted her teeth but walked in front of him. She stopped at the geek division, as she liked to call it, and grabbed Mike.

"Special Agent Carter Cross, this is Lieutenant Michael Dover. Mike, Special Agent Carter" she said. They shook hands and sized each other up.

"What's this about?" Mike asked. She filled him in as they walked.

"So now we're gonna have Broody over there sticking his nose in our business?" Mike asked, uncaring that Carter was just a few feet behind them.

"I prefer Agent Douchebag" she said. Mike sniggered.

"Look the important thing is that we got the case, officially" she said to him when he stopped laughing.

"Listen up people, no this is not roll call but if you do hear your name it means I want you in Conference room 5 in 3 seconds" Kory said as she stepped into her bullpen. "Detective Lois, Detective Macy, Detective Gray, Detective Alan. Officers Mendez, George and Gregory. If I called your name, consider yourself lucky or unlucky, depends on how you look at it. Pick a friend or an enemy and dump your workload unto them. We've got work to do" her detectives groaned and she fought back a grin. "Did I stutter?" She asked. They picked up the pace.

She continued on her way with Mike beside her and Agent Douchebag following behind.

"I'd like you to pick some Detectives you trust in your bullpen Mike" she said. He nodded.

"I'll meet you in the conference room in five" he said and slipped away.

She kept walking even as she felt the eyes baring into her neck. When she could no longer take it, she turned and glared.

"What?" She asked.

"Anyone told you you look like crap today?" Agent Douchebag asked. She groaned.

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xoxo,

Mimi.