Tempers Break

Who: Brett and Danny
Where: ECPD
When: late morning

Danny had left the interrogation room and wound up just heading to the locker room to punch something. That something wound up being a wall of metal lockers, which had been hit before and were mostly bent out of commission. It was just understood that you hit the already broken ones.

Feeling a little better he nipped a drink off his flask and went back to his desk, going through the files from the gallery murders again. Self defense or not, Danny still saw them as murders. The bodies were still in the process of being ID’d, but Danny studied the photos of their dead faces, trying to make them seem familiar.

Brett was far from in the best of moods when he left the interrogation room himself, but then that was the norm for the guy, and more so these days as lack of sleep, poor food grabbed when he could and general stress took their toll on his attitude. He headed straight for Danny when he could, stopping by his desk. “McKinnon - any chance of a word?” he asked, all polite formality, not wanting to talk about any of this anywhere it could actually be overheard, but he did want to talk about it. he’d give the guy that much, for all that Brett had a real and proven tendency to write people off completely at the first possible opportunity.

The answer to that was no, no chance. He didn’t want to be lectured about his attitude or whatever else Brett had up his sleeve to lecture him about. Of course saying no also meant whatever Brett was trying to keep under control would likely explode right here in the middle of everything which wasn’t good either. After a long moment of studying the other man Danny got up, handing off one of the files. “Sure,” he agreed, then pointed to the picture. “This guy look familiar?”

Brett gave the photograph a cursory glance. “No,” he dismissed. “And how about you and I go get a coffee?” he suggested, also of the opinion that him letting loose in the middle of the department wasn’t the best of ideas, and Brett had a temper on him.

Danny didn’t answer right away again looking at the picture. He swore the guy looked familiar, but he arrested a lot of thugs in his time. Maybe they all looked the same. Tossing the folder aside he shrugged. “Sure, lead the way.”

Doing just that, Brett turned and headed out of the main department, not stopping until he reached a quiet corner, a corridor away from everywhere else.

Following at a safe distance Danny stopped when Brett did though he was smart enough to stay out of arms reach. Not wanting to give up any ground, he waited, letting Brett say his piece.

Brett took a moment before he said anything, trying to line up his words before he began. Only then he gave that up as a bad job - he’d never been good at it - and just launched straight in. “Fucking tell me that you weren’t trying to just fucking pin all of this shit on some random fucking guy, McKinnon,” he snapped, that coming out first, though that wasn’t all that was on his mind right now.

Danny wasn’t one to keep his temper either, but for the moment he held on to it. “No, I was trying to figure out why the fuck he was shooting people at an art gallery. What reason he had for carrying a weapon in the first place and why he decide to shoot people as a reaction.” It wasn’t like the attackers had come in guns blazing.

“Well, that’s not what it fucking sounded like from where I was standing. I heard a lot of what you said. the guy told you he was a fucking veteran - and your reaction was to decide that he had something to do with the fucking park attack. Even though we have his statement and the statements of the people he helped that clearly fucking show he couldn’t have had anything to do with that unless he was some kind of fucking magician. Masked men headed into that fucking gallery and started killing people. If you, or I had been there, I’m pretty fucking sure we would have had the same fucking reaction,” Brett continued, his temper off the reins now.

“I don’t care if he’s a goddamn veteran or not,” Danny spat back, not afraid of Brett even if he was much taller. “We’re just sitting by and letting any old citizen take the law into their own hands. Maybe we would have done the same thing but we’re fucking cops. There is a difference.” Though Danny still felt like it was bringing his gun to church, which he didn’t do. “We’re not getting fucking anywhere and this damn bastard is laughing at us. Now we finally get someone for something and we’re gonna just let him walk away like it was no big deal. Whatever kill a few men and not give a shit. This is our city Trent, not a fucking warzone.”

“‘Finally got someone for something’?” Brett asked, as though he couldn’t actually believe what he was hearing. “Fucking... A group of fucking masked men walk into a public place, armed with knives and other weapons and start killing people? Tell me that you haven’t forgotten your first fucking day as a fucking rookie - anyone who retaliates does so in self defence. Now, if you think that we have the fucking time to waste dealing with a case that the fucking attorney general will laugh out of his fucking office... Except, no - that’s not what you were doing, was it? Not just what you were doing - you were taking out your fucking frustrations on that guy, because I heard you and the moment he tried to point out the fact it was fucking self defence, you started in on the park. Which, again, he could have had nothing to do with. So either you were trying to set him up to just arrest someone for something, whether he did it or not - or you really need to get your priorities straight. Because, you acting like this? Your no help to no one and you’re gonna find yourself kicked off this case.” Not that Brett had the authority to do that, but if Danny continued on like this, someone else would notice.

“Just because the district attorney doesn’t like it doesn’t mean it isn’t valid. Fucking self defense.” Murder was murder. That shade of gray was a waste of time. “It’s not like we’re getting anywhere! Every fucking morning is more fucking chaos and we’ve got nothing.” He narrowed his eyes at Brett, not pleased with the threat. “Don’t you threaten me either. They need me on the case just as much as they need you. No one’s kicking me off this.”

"First off, that wasn't a threat, you moron - it was a friendly piece of damn advice," Brett told him. "Do you get what you did in there? You took your frustrations out on someone who could have been a helpful and useful witness. hell, possibly even an informant. Eyes and ears. He was a veteran. He has links to that community. We already know that whoever pulled that shit at the park probably has see service. He could have been useful - but by the time you were through with him, what he was was a hostile witness. He wouldn't tell us anything, even if he knew. So, maybe you think that they 'need' you on this case - but you keep on acting this way, the captain's gonna decide that you - are a liability. See it happen before. We both have and you know it. So grow yourself a brain, suck it up and do your damn job. Take your frustrations out on something else. Hell - if I can do it, so can you." Brett had a temper, and the personality of a bear with a sore head most of the time, but he knew when to swallow it for the sake of getting things done. "Secondly - go take a refresher on the difference between vigilantism and self defence. You need it - and I doubt this is the last time we'll see shit like that."

Danny’s fists clenched at his side, but it was for the best that he’d stayed out of reach. It meant Brett couldn’t hit him and he had to think about it before he could hit Brett. There was an urge there though and he somehow managed to quell it. He’d hit something else later. “Are you done?” he asked to clenched teeth. There was no use in arguing, they weren’t going to agree or come to some agreement.

"Yeah, we're done," Brett said. He wasn't speaking just to hear himself talk, but he couldn't force Danny to take in what he was saying either. And hell, maybe the guy just didn't care. More than likely, in Brett's general opinion of the force at large.

Taking a step backwards Danny nodded. “Thanks for the advice,” he said, not able to get the gruff out of his tone. “I’m going back to work.” He turned and left headed back towards his desk though the tension still rippled through his shoulders, making his hands twitch in and out of fists. The department hadn’t needed Trent before, and Danny was determined to prove they didn’t need him now.