watch her back

Who: Danny and Jakob
Where: Police HQ
When: Morning

Jakob was loving the whispers, no two ways about it. Sitting at his desk as he put the final touches on a report, Jakob smiled smugly to himself as he caught a stare from a passing officer. Oh yes, Jakob Hollis was up for Commissioner, and no one could believe it. He was Spooky Hollis, the cold bastard with a smile for no one but himself, always seeming to take humor where there was none to find. Really, it hadn't been a fluke that he'd gone so long without a partner before Sam; no one wanted to work with him.

But he'd always closed cases, even on his own, and it was never going to stop paying off for him. Promotions, money, and delicious secrets all added up higher and higher, and now here he was. One case in front of him that needed solving, and no way could any of them deny him the new position. All he needed to do was catch the arsonist, because this was officially a homicide now. Possibly a multiple, though he couldn't be sure until the fire crews were done at the Drake. In any case, he only needed one dead body before he got to grab the reins. And now that he had them? Now I need to secure what I'll be leaving behind, he mused, looking up from his paperwork and scanning the sea of cops for a familiar face.

Danny had taken a rare moment from Janey's bedside to come into work. She was getting out of the hospital today, which meant he'd need to be back over there soon, but for now he could clean up some things at his desk before he took some times off again. There was still a stack of files, some where he typed up the reports, some that still needed work. He'd sorted the completed ones to take to be filed, the others to be handed off to the cops who could do their own damn work. The sling was gone, but he was still obviously favoring the shoulder he'd injured.

Ah, McKinnon, Jakob thought with a spark in his eyes, slipping from his desk and moving to top off his coffee before he started towards the patrolman. He made one brief stop on the way, catching the duty sargent to clear Danny from whatever work he might have lined up today. Maybe there was none, given what Jakob had heard about his wife, but if there was? It was gone now. And with it gone, he headed over to the pair of desks Danny shared with another cop, giving the man a withering glare from behind Danny's back that sent him off under a weak pretense. Coughing lightly to announce himself, Jakob rounded the edge of the desk with a small, curt smile in place. "Officer McKinnon," he greeted, "How is your wife doing?"

Danny glanced up at Jakob, with a small look of surprise. The guy didn't talk to people, even if he and Hollis had worked together before. "She's doing alright, getting out of the hospital today." Did Hollis just ask him a personal question? Anyone else would have thanked the man for asking but Danny wasn't the type. Instead he just leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest with a wince. "I hear you're taking over."

Jakob laughed at that, a rare enough sound that it drew a glance or two from people around them. He shook his head slightly, blowing on his coffee before sipping it. "Pure speculation," he insisted, "I'm sure my name ranges towards the bottom of the list of candidates. But I am glad to hear about your wife, Detective Tyler had told me she was unwell." He'd been too preoccupied with the bodies found out at Bedlam to hear the widespread news as it carried around the force, not to mention that he didn't give two shits about Danny's wife except as a way to manipulate the younger cop. "I assume, if she's discharging today, that you won't be here long?"

Danny raised an eyebrow at the laugh but didn't comment. "At least you made the list." They both knew that Danny hadn't made the detective list in years, no matter how well he tested. "And she was hit by a car," he clarified since that ranged a little higher than just 'unwell'. At the question, he motioned towards the papers on his desk. "Trying to clean up my desk duty bullshit until lunch. Then I go get her."

"Did you find the driver who'd hit her?" Jakob asked, brow raising in surprise. No cop liked when something happened to an officer's family, after all, which meant there must've been plenty of them looking, if the driver had taken off. "My apologies for making you rehash old events too, it's a pet peeve of mine when others make me do so. But the fire chiefs have requested help with the arsonist striking town, and this is... well, it's a new sort of hunt to work on. It's left me behind on events with my fellow officers."

"Yeah, the guy didn't flee," Danny explained though it was obviously a sore subject. There hadn't been much to hold the man on, especially when he stayed with Janey until the ambulance arrived. Even with pressure, the DA had only been able to revoke the guy's license and not much more. Add in that no one would tell Danny who the fuck hed was so Danny could dole out his own version of justice it was all around a bad topic. "What can I do for you Detective?" he asked completely ignoring Jakob's excuses because Danny really didn't give a damn and if Hollis had an interest in his fellow officers the guy wasn't very good at showing it.

Casting a cursory glance to each side to make sure no one was lingering and eavesdropping, Jakob smoothed his tie back in place as he looked back to Danny. "As I'd said, I'm working the arson cases, and was going to do some patrol work. Interviews, returning to the scenes, nothing terribly exciting. I'd thought to invite you along, but I wouldn't presume to even offer if your wife is coming home today," he explained with what was supposed to be an encouraging smile, "Instead, a simple thing. If I somehow become our city's acting commissioner? Take your exam again, McKinnon. And prepare to work with detective Tyler when you pass it." When, not if. Because Jakob had some strange fondness for his current partner, and Danny was useful. Pairing the two of them would just make both easier to find whenever he needed one.

As nice as it was to be requested for something, Danny was fine with having an excuse to get out of patrol work. There was still a bit of pent up anger over the whole thing with his wife and his shoulder wasn't healed enough yet for him to be getting into scrapes. The second part though, that had Danny raising his eyebrow at Jakob. "I thought it was merely speculation that you were stepping up and into that position." He knew what Jakob was offering, a chance to ignore the issues that had held him back from making detective before. Danny had no doubt he'd pass the exam either, but he had no reason to believe someone would promote him. Yet here was Jakob, making promises. Danny was already in the pocket of the DiGiovanni, he didn't need to owe anyone else anything.

"It is speculation, yes," Jakob agreed, "And truthfully? It is not a job I would seek out myself. I prefer to work a crime scene, to review case files and consult with the coroners. Yet, I wonder." He sighed for a moment, glancing around again as the last of a fresh wave of patrol headed out, diminishing the crowd in the station noticeably. Grabbing an empty chair from the desk behind Danny's, Jakob slid it over and settled in. "Do you know that I have not ever asked for anything like this? That, indeed, my name made this list entirely unknown to me? Because what I know is very simple: I have been given work beyond my division of the police force, high profile work like task squads, abandoned bodies, and now a firebug. I believe that someone is grooming me for the position, Danny, and that I may have very little choice about it. If this is true, I want someone reliable to watch Sam's back."

"Yet it seems to have become a job you want," Danny said as Jakob moved to the get the spare chair and slide in closer. Grooming him for the position? That seemed a little far fetched, bu with the way the crime families ran the city, Danny never ruled anything completely out. "So you'd ignore the years of excuses they've made to move me up the chain, just because you trust me to keep Tyler in check?" Danny asked, not sounding convinced yet. He liked Tyler, they'd gone and mutually saved each others' lives, but it wasn't her need for backup that had him doubting Jakob.

Jakob smiled thoughtfully over that, shrugging just a bit. "First, have you never wondered about those excuses?" he asked simply, "In light of our previous commissioner's hidden past? Is it possible, or believable even, that some form of nepotism or fraternity exists among our ranks? That perhaps this is why you were passed over?" Sitting back in his chair with his cold coffee, Jakob shook his head over the question about Sam. "Keeping her in check runs counter to my hopes. Samantha is a sharp detective indeed, a boon to our ranks, yet I believe only you and I have any real gratitude for her efforts. Most of our brothers have particular preconceptions about a woman with a badge. I do not, neither do you, and if I am no longer her partner? I want whoever is to be someone who can see her value, not her curves."

"No I hadn't thought about it like that," Danny said, not quite convinced. Yes, the bosses had been on the wrong side of things, but Danny wasn't all clean himself. Plus he was pretty sure they passed him over because they didn't like the way he drank. Jakob had one good point though, Danny had developed a good amount of appreciation for Sam, but her comment about sleeping with him was still lingering in the back of his mind. "Are you saying you've lost your appreciation for her curves?" he countered instead giving Jakob a wicked smile. There was something in his eyes though that spoke to agreeing with Jakob. Danny would take care of her, watch her back though he doubted he'd be doing it from a detective position.

"Spending your waking hours with someone, pouring over corpses together will do that," Jakob answered, chuckling quietly. "We are friends, partners, but nothing more. I think Sam and I are similar in that any dalliances we might have are just that, passing distractions and nothing more. I can't imagine having to see someone in that capacity repeatedly." Which was why he rarely took a woman home at all, and never repeated partners. "It takes a wholly different stripe of patience than the one I possess to be able to sustain a relationship." Which might have been a compliment to Danny, the happily married man, but Jakob Hollis was rarely direct in giving praise.

Danny couldn't imagine actively resisting someone like Sam without the whole wedding vows hanging over his head, passing distraction to her he might be or not. He hadn't been faithful before, but that was a one off thing. He'd fallen in love with Stella and at the same time stayed very much in love with his wife. It had been complicated. "It's not patience, it's humility. You learn to not be right a lot," Danny said, though he did take the vague comment as a compliment. "So if I agree to this, what more do I owe you besides watching out for your old partner?"

Putting on an offended expression, Jakob shook his head slightly before washing down the rest of his cold coffee. "This is not about debt, McKinnon, nor favors. I appreciate my partner, and would prefer to know she has a partner she can work well with if I am no longer there," he scolded, "Nothing else. If you fear some repayment, do not take the exam again. As for humility?" He rose from the chair easily, glancing down at his watch for an instant. There was work to do. "Perhaps I could grasp it better if I were wrong more often. I am not, though, so a bachelor's life it is."

Danny watched Jakob closely, arms still crossed over his chest, even though his shoulder had started to ache again. If Jakob said there was nothing else than Danny believed him, but the man had been burned too many times to not at least ask once. "If it happens, odds are she'll have a partner she can work well with," Danny said finally, agreeing but still somewhat vague about it.

"If it happens," Jakob agreed simply, nodding without saying anything else. He could work with that bare agreement, play it so that Danny might have actual gratitude and want to repay him in the future. It always worked so much better when people were willing instead of forced, after all. "I have ashes to sift through, officer. Enjoy your day, though, and give your wife my regards. I hope she mends well." And then he was off, moving for his desk and grabbing his coat without breaking stride. One more case to crack, and no one could keep Jakob from claiming what was his. And when I do, he thought with a cold smile, Oh, what a game we shall play. All of us, everyone in the city.