the rookie

Who: Danny and Parker
Where: The Sprawl
When: early

This was disgusting. Actually disgusting didn't’ cover it, but it was something nonetheless. Danny fumed about the crime scene not even sure where to start and really hating that everywhere he stood seemed to wind up with him in blood. Fucking crazy people were at it again. He was off the other case which just meant waking him up this morning was totally reasonable and he was on this case. Though from the look of it, there was a good chance it would wind up being related to the others. This kind of death didn’t come from different angles on different days for kicks. It usually had one origin point.

Frowning he pulled out his flask, snagging a swig off of it before tucking it back into his jacket pocket. He was nursing one hell of a hangover and the smell was making his stomach turn over. The whiskey helped, but it didn’t solve the problem. “We got anything on these idiots?” he asked, not really speaking to anyone in particular, but there were a variety of people around. Someone was bound to answer.

Parker had his issues, but a crime scene wasn’t one of them. He was fascinated by it, in a very detached and clinical sort of way. Focusing on the details rather than allowing himself the awareness of the larger reality of the gruesome event. He hadn’t expected to be assigned something this big quite so soon, but he’d jumped at the chance to work the scene, especially
with one of the more veteran detectives. A good opportunity for a rookie. He shook his head at Danny’s question, looking over at him briefly, a hint of distaste on his features as he saw Danny put the flask away. “Not yet.” He turned back to his task of observing and recording evidence, making a mental note to talk to Danny about it later.

Danny had made it habit of knowing just about everyone on the force. Well not really a habit but it was a thing. He’d been one of the best as a young cadet and he’d been a beat cop a lot longer than most people expected him to. By the time he made it to detective, everyone knew him and he knew almost everyone around him. So much that when the voice that answered him wasn’t familiar he looked at the officer next to him with something that bordered on distaste on his features. “Who the hell are you?” he asked, not bothering with the kid’s answer since he’d given just about nothing in return.

“Officer Parker McClelland. I’m new.” New and nervous, but that was beside the point. The crime scene gave him something to focus on outside of himself, and that calmed his nerves considerably, regardless of the scene before them. He didn’t offer a hand to shake, nor a smile. In the back of his mind was the idea that he wanted to impress his superiors, but this was not the time for niceties. “Doesn’t make for a very pretty picture, does it?” he said, as the big flash bulb popped. He was already moving farther in amongst the carnage, stepping carefully even as he spoke, lining up the next shot for the camera he’d been assigned.

“No shit you’re new,” Danny grumbled. He should probably be more pleasant, but he wasn’t the type, plus this kid was giving him a weird vibe. “Not at all,” he added, shielding his eyes from the flashbulb. “Makes for another big fucking mess is what it makes for.” He was complaining, he knew that. “Look don’t step in anything you shouldn’t and if you decide you’re going to lose your breakfast, do it outside.”

Parker blinked at him, as much for the language as the admonition. “I know how to do my job.” He wasn’t even close to losing his lunch, unlike some of the others. Even though it was his first big crime scene, he was surprisingly unaffected by it. He’d seen some questionable things in his time, and witnessed incidents in his youth that he probably shouldn’t have - in that, he was no different than many of the other street kids growing up in the Sprawl. Death and gore didn’t really bother him. He glanced over at Danny again, chancing a question that he wasn’t sure he should ask. “Do you think this is related to the others?” Another pop of the flashbulb.

“Just because you know how to do your job doesn’t mean you’re actually going to do your job,” Danny pointed out. It was a tough, but life as a cop wasn’t easy. He’d gotten the same lectures as a rookie. Moving a step away from the kid he crouched down next to one of the bodies, one that seemed to have something stuck in its mouth. There was likely a coroner around somewhere who was going to yell at him but that didn’t stop Danny from taking out his pen and poking a little at the guy’s jaw. At the kid’s question he looked up frowning some. “Maybe. There also seems to be some sort of family war started as well so maybe it’s related to that. Something sparked all of it though.” He wasn’t pleasant as he answered, but Danny answered. Asking the right questions had gotten him moved up in the ranks and he could appreciate that
about this kid even if the rest made him look at the guy sideways.

Danny didn’t have to worry about Parker doing his job. It was the one area of his life where he actually felt halfway competent. He was determined to ensure that it remained that way. “I didn’t become a cop not to do the job.” He suddenly realized he didn’t know Danny’s first name. He’d been so concerned about getting to know the people on his beat that he’d neglected the same courtesy with his colleagues. He watched Danny curiously as he poked at the body in front of him, forgetting for the moment to take more photos. “What is it?” He gestured down to indicate what Danny was looking at before glancing around, almost furtively, then moving slightly to block Danny from being seen by some of the others. “Any ideas as to what you think sparked all this?” Being new, he was fully prepared to play follow the leader on this.

“You can talk like that all you want, but you’ll have to show people to impress them.” Danny was that green once, that much of a believer. He still was now, but he was more practical. He showed that he was there to do his job, which was why the breakdown he’d had a few days before had been so shocking he supposed. He never lost it like that, not over this. Going back to poking at the body he manged to expose the piece of paper enough to catch a glimpse of the edge of it. “Looks like pages out of a book,” he said, looking up to see Parker blocking him from view. That got a rare hint of a smile from him, something appreciative. “I have a million ideas of what sparked it, but I’m assuming none of them are right.”
Danny’s words brought him up short; blinking. For all of his abrasiveness, Danny had finally gotten through Parker’s defensiveness about his abilities. He nodded slowly in agreement. “I intend to.” He looked at Danny with a new appreciation, for all that he disapproved of the man’s drinking and swearing so early in the morning. But then the moment was gone as he re-focused on what Danny was prodding at. “A book?” He raised his eyebrows - that gained his attention. He moved a little closer to Danny, not quite craning his neck to see, but still making the attempt to hide their activities. “Like the poem,” he murmured to himself, remembering December had sent him to research what had been found on a previous body. “They don’t have to be right. I just want to know what you think is most likely.”

Danny stopped poking at the body and looked at the kid next to him. “Like what poem?” he asked deeming that more important than anything else.

“Hmm?” He hadn’t realized he’d said anything aloud. Would December be angry with him if he revealed the information? Probably. More than likely. Then again, maybe Danny could make a connection that no one else had. It was worth the risk. “William Blake’s The Tyger. Do you know it? Could there be a connection?” His curiosity was piqued now.

“Why would I know it?” Danny asked tone irritated for a moment. Pausing he forced himself to relax, not punch this kid on his first day. “Go back and start over. Tell me everything.” It was something he didn’t know about from the last case, but he was going to fix that.

Okay, so not everyone read the classics. That was all right. “I really don’t know a lot. A poem was found on a body Doctor Trent was working on. She sent me to the library to research it, to see if it might provide some additional clues. I did as she asked, but I haven’t been informed as to any conclusions she might have drawn from it. I don’t even know where on the body it was found, or what condition the body was in.” He’d probably already said too much, but he was curious to see what Danny would make of it. Without being in the loop, there were no connections he himself could draw.

“A poem?” Danny asked, looking down at the paper again. It was too hard to read between the scattered bloodstains and the position of it, but that wasn’t a coincidence. Those sort of things didn’t happen. Frowning again he forced himself to ignore the fact that this kid, Parker or whatever, talked weird too and just focus on the situation. “To answer your first question, yes. I’m guessing it’s connected. Which one is Dr. Trent?” he asked having never really considered December’s last name before.

“December.” Whatever he might have added to that, he kept to himself. Parker had deliberately cultivated his speech after he’d grown and left the Sprawl; perhaps too much? He’d wanted to be taken seriously, but maybe it only served to make him more of the outsider that Rosalie had implied. He nodded to another officer who wandered by, making a show of taking another photo while sticking close to Danny. “You never answered my question. What are you thinking about it all?”

Danny nodded in understanding then scowled again. December’s last name was Trent? That he hadn’t put together before though it wasn’t likely to be a connection he still had to wonder about it. Another thing to be tabled for a later day. Standing Danny looked at the room again as a whole. There was more than one. Probably all of them minus the gallery maybe. “I’m thinking somoene’s got a plan and he’s not done yet. I don’t think they’re entirely random. Maybe the park but the rest...shit.” Reaching into his jacket he pulled out the flask again, swallowing a swig before putting it back.

That earned him more of Parker’s disapproval, but he bit his tongue on the comment he wanted to make about it being a bit early for whiskey. He sighed, moving off a bit to take another photo, following Danny’s advice about avoiding stepping on anything. He turned back to look over his shoulder for a moment at Danny’s words. They made sense, about the having a plan and not being random, but, “why wouldn’t you include the park?” Not that Parker would either, because it didn’t seem to fit the pattern, but there was always the possibility. He was more interested in Danny’s thought processes at the moment than whether or not there might be an actual connection. He stooped to snap yet another photo, but stayed within earshot.

Danny wasn’t sure how he felt about explaining the thing to the rookie, but it was good to have a sounding board and at the moment there wasn’t anyone else around. “I’m not sure. It seemed to have too many targets or no targets at all. Too many people died. These are more calculated, more direct. I think these guys were sought out, killed on purpose. The park seemed to be sort of fish in a barrel scenario.” A fish in a barrel scenario that had almost gotten his wife killed.

He nodded, filing away the information in his brain. “It’s more personal. Intimate, you could say. Whoever did this had to interact with both bodies after they were dead. He got his hands dirty.” Some ideas were starting to turn themselves over in his mind, not suspects, as he certainly didn’t have any, but possible scenarios at least. He appreciated Danny sharing his insights with someone so low on the totem pole.

“And before,” Danny pointed to the body which hadn’t been shot. “No, he’s good. These guy don’t look like average joes. I can’t tell you who they are but they look like thugs. The kind of guys that get the drop on people, not the other way around.” Danny frowned, glancing at Parker then back at the carnage. “Get a shot or two of that guys’ mouth. Just so I can remember.” He said waving towards the paper they’d looked at. Reaching up he rubbed at the stubble on his chin, something he hadn’t taken care of that morning.

“And before,” Parker agreed, nodding. He was sort of halfway hoping that Danny wouldn’t mind if he trailed him for the rest of the morning, as he was beginning to realize that Danny could teach him a lot of things - things he wouldn’t have been privy to otherwise. He appreciated the fact that Danny was willing to share so much already. “Do you think they might have known him? Or that he had his own accomplices?” He moved back to take the photos Danny had requested. He hadn’t before because he wasn’t sure if Danny wanted anyone else to know about his prying into the dead man’s mouth. Parker played on the straight and narrow, but even he knew that sometimes the rules could be... flexible. Sometimes. “Did you want the photos?” He couldn’t believe he was asking the question, but maybe it would earn him a bit of trust from Danny. Or it could completely backfire on him, but he’d have to wait and see.

Danny took in the scene again wishing there was someone other than the kid to talk to but the kid would have to do for now. “Someone they know would make sense from a vendetta point of view, but I don’t even think there are names on the streets being tossed around as targets.” That was something to double check on, see if there were bounties on people’s heads for these murders. At Parker’s question he glanced back, eyeing the kid suspiciously. “Yes, in the file. Why would I have you take them if I didn’t want them?” Now he was starting to worry this kid was an idiot in addition to being weird. Great, just his luck. He’d wind up with a cop on his team who didn’t know his ass from his face.

Parker actually rolled his eyes, his meaning completely lost on the older man. “I meant copies of the photos for you personally.” He kept his voice low - he knew he wasn’t being on the up and up, and he was taking a risk just asking. It wasn’t exactly being dishonest, but it might be considered tampering with evidence. Then he shook his head. “Nevermind. These people are messages. You said yourself they were thugs, so they’re not the main target. We just have to decipher whatever message is being sent.” Then he rolled his eyes again, this time at himself. Excellent work there, Parker. Offering to pocket a roll of film AND stating the obvious? You’re off to a great start, kid! He sighed, stepping away to hide his embarrassment at being such a rookie.

Was Danny ever that blatantly green? He leaned towards no since his own father had been a cop and he’d been riding around in a squad car since he could walk, but maybe not. “No I don’t want a copy other than what goes in the file. The coroner will sort out what it is.” He didn’t want to glare but it was hard not to. “Obviously,” he stated, not feeling bad that the kid was ducking away. The message itself puzzled Danny. He’d need to know who these guys were before he could piece that together.

In his own defense, which wasn’t all that great, maybe there was still something left of the Sprawl in Parker after all. He generally wasn’t willing to compromise his morals so outright, but he’d genuinely thought that Danny might be able to ferret out something from the photographs that the others might miss, and for the greater good of justice served, Parker had gone against his better judgement. It was a lesson he wouldn’t forget, if the heat in his cheeks was anything to go by. Wandering away might be his best move at this point.

Danny wasn’t the type to coddle, especially not new blood on the force. That was this kid’s mother or wife’s job. Danny was here, if anything, to teach him something. “Well don’t stop flashing pictures now,” he said with a wave of his hand pointing back to the crime scene. Not using in crying over a mistake. What he needed to do was take care of it.

Parker would have been indignant had Danny suggested anything else. He was embarrassed, but it wasn’t going to make him stop doing his job. He wasn’t thrilled with the way Danny was speaking to him, but at least he still was speaking to him, and not harping over his indiscretion. Best to just do as he was told, and hope that first impressions wouldn’t be lasting ones.

“Go on,” Danny said, this time it wasn’t urging but more an annoyed comment. “Stop lolly-gagging.” He nodded back towards the crime scene then turned towards the door. Someone had to deal with the press.