pamela knight is working (incognito) wrote in theaurors, @ 2017-06-05 21:54:00 |
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Entry tags: | arc: salem incident, c: audrey jo parker, c: pamela knight, d: october 21 2017 |
WHO: Audrey Parker & Pamela Knight
WHAT: Therapy session of sorts
WHERE: Audrey’s temp office, Federal building
WHEN: Saturday, October 21, 2017 morning after the staff meeting
WHY: Because Audrey wanted to talk about the psych report on Daniel Williams
RATING: PG
STATUS: Complete
While Audrey was hesitant about leaving the New York Office, she was grateful for the opportunity to see the field team in person, in their new context. Although many members of the department had their own issues to work through, she could appreciate that this specific team was an interesting mix of complications. It had been a risk sending them all together and letting Simon in charge. At the time she had thought it was a reasonable risk, but once it had proven to not stand, sharing the responsibility between Preston Graves and Pamela Knight was the best solution available.
Of course that meant, she put more priority in making sure she was able to meet with Pamela. She was already in a stress situation and this would only add more. Audrey anticipated that as long as the case was fruitful, it wouldn’t be a problem, but a good deal of mitigating the aftermath and fall out if things went poorly could start now.
Audrey had claimed one of the larger private offices on the same floor in the Federal Building as the field office. It lacked the certain charm of her office back in NYC, and certainly the very comfortable chairs she had, but it would certainly made do for the morning. After the all staff meeting, Audrey pulled a copy of the case file and whisked herself away to the office an invitation to anyone who would like or need some of her time.
Pamela had agreed to see Audrey, and she understood why she had to after reading the report on Daniel. Daniel had been a little crazy, but as they'd both agreed, you had to be a little crazy to want to go undercover in the first place. And if you weren't when you started, the job did it to you. Being undercover for a long time did things to your sense of self. Pamela had learned characters she'd built for undercover roles so well that some of their tastes had stayed with her for years.
And yes, Daniel had gotten killed on the job, and it was upsetting, and Pamela very much wanted to know who'd murdered him. But on the other hand, it was a risky business and both Pamela and Daniel knew the risks. His death was a shock, but not entirely unexpected. It would take some time to settle, and the talk therapy wouldn't hurt, but honestly Pamela was far more concerned about the career implications of the leadership position that had been thrust on her this morning.
That was an easy start, so she strolled in and grabbed a free chair, shutting the door. "Auror Knight, reporting as requested," Pamela said, but the grin softened it a little.
As Pamela entered the office, Audrey shuffled the files on her desk, preparing for the new task. She smiled easily, the motion pulling on her scars in a familiar way now. What was becoming less familiar was they way she needed to move in and out of chairs as she stood from behind the desk. “Pamela, please have a seat,” she said more for sake of expectations than need as Pamela had already sat. Audrey sat opposite her in matching chair.
Audrey found that with many of the aurors a more casual approach worked best. Some broke that mold requiring a very formal structure, but if she had to pick she preferred the more casual sessions. “So, you have had an eventful week, and now, this morning, a new level of responsibility.”
"I hadn't expected that. Jack's putting a heavy load on our shoulders. Normally I'm in the back line or off to one side, not out in front. I expect Preston will end up doing all the face work, or most of it, since he's got the name." Pamela said this cheerfully, because honestly she didn't want to put on the role of Pamela Knight, Senior Auror. "I appreciate that he trusts me to help rein Ariel and Ben in, but I'm not sure I'm ready for it, honestly."
“It is certainly a new role to take on, but also one you are not alone in facing.” Behind closed doors, it had been an interesting discussion with the director. Audrey had reservations about any single member already assigned to the team being able to step into leadership, and was equally uncertain that bringing in someone new would work. Moreso, it caused Audrey to pause and consider the staff profile of the NYC office a whole. Some of the best field operatives were often unable to work on teams, and in many way they were all still so young. It would be a matter she made mental note to further investigate once she got back home and especially when she started evaluating academy applicants.
However, the task at hand was to start Pamela on the right track to be successful. So, she would allow the conversation to be about leadership and carefully direct it back toward Williams if able. “It sounds like your biggest concern right now is being able to manage the people on the team.”
"It's not in my wheelhouse by instinct or training, and I don't want to damage my relationships inside the team." Audrey knew that Pamela relied on her teammates when she came back from a job, so Pamela didn't elaborate. "And I know I'm going to have to ride herd on Ben and ET. Plus Preston and I haven't worked this closely together before. I think we can do it, but I wish we'd been told in advance and had a chance to work things out together. You know?" Pamela made a reluctant grimace-looking face that was supposed to be a smile.
“There are different leadership styles and a reason for each in the right context.” This was in reference to the leadership assessment that every auror had to take at the Academy. Audrey wasn’t the biggest fan of the metric, but it was a good conversation starter when she did evaluations. “Surely you could think of something you might bring to the table that makes you the right candidate for the job.”
"I know what I bring to the position. I'm one of the grownups." Which Pamela said with a head tilt and eye roll that made her look more like a teenager. After a moment, she straightened. "I mean, I didn't let my dog or my golem out at a funeral or anything. But it's easy to stay in line and look good next to some of my colleagues. They do good, solid work, don't get me wrong, but it's a high-pressure gig even on good days, and they like to kid around. More serious types like Preston, like me, look good on paper next to Ben or Ariel--or Miles given that this is his first field job since, well, what happened to him. But I honestly think that if he recovers to where he was, he'd be a better candidate.
"I think I can lead from the front. It's not my ability to get people to do things that I'm concerned about." Pamela found herself feeling around for the right words. "It's ... I guess my ability to enforce a no. Not to say it, but to say it in a way that makes it stick without it becoming a confrontation, you know?"
Audrey giggled briefly at Pamela’s first statement. It was reassuring to see that she didn’t take herself too seriously. Although that might also be a statement about the others on the team sne she wasn’t wrong in her assessment either. “So you might be valued for you ability to set boundaries and keep the team focused on the case?” It was an appropriate reframe of the Pamela’s statement, and certainly part of why Audrey had made the recommendation she did.
“I have read your reports, Pamela. They have a well constructed narrative and already seem to encourage action among others.” Auror McMullen came to immediate mind as a person who needed supervision to file anything at all. Singleton and Hastings were only barely ready for field work. While O’Brian hadn’t exactly made a great impression the past week. Now what was left, was for Audrey to build further allow Pamela to build herself up and ready her for the task at hand. “But it sounds like maybe your real concern is you would rather have peers than be placed in a position where you have subordinates.”
Pamela nodded. "That's a good way of putting it. The thing about authority is that it really only means something in a team like this if other people are willing to follow what you say without you enforcing it. Preston has a name and a rep. I ... don't. And that's not a criticism of him or saying that he rides on the Graves coat-tails or I resent him or anything like that. But facts are facts and I acknowledge them. Also, frankly, he's a man and where I think ET or Ben might mouth off to a woman, like me, I think they're less likely to do it to Preston." Her brow furrowed and she found herself looking into space, trying to find a good way to say it.
"I think maybe it would be easier for me with a smaller group or a less high-profile case." Now Pamela's gaze was resting on Audrey again. "Not one where everything is going wrong already."
Audrey nodded along as Pamela spoke. She did her best not to smile at the final sentiment and keep a neutral expression. Wouldn’t it be nice to be handed something small and easy the first go around? But then whatever would there to be learn?
“What if instead of looking at this as a high profile case, but rather you are being assigned to pick up where Auror Williams left off? To finish his assignment?” She and Director Duvall had quite the debate around this particular point and while no concrete conclusion had been reached, Audrey felt it within her right to offer. At least to see where it landed.
"That's why I'm here in the first place. Why I wanted this case. I'm just used to operating from the shadows for something like this--not in the front with the light shining on my face." Which was really all Pamela thought she had to say about Daniel. "I thought you were going to want to talk about his psych profile. And I guess the implications of it for mine--which you'd think would suggest putting me out front might not be the greatest idea except for my sterling leadership assets that clearly overrode any cautions." Pamela cracked another grin to show she wasn't being entirely serious about any of that.
“The intricacies of either your psych profile or his aren’t really a surprise,” said Audrey. It was a very typical psych profile of a person who worked in law enforcement, who personally experienced 9/11, added with the layer of undercover work. Not to say that it wasn’t a valid context or relevant to the case at hand, but it wasn’t the crux of things. “Am I concerned about how you might see yourself reflected in his case? Yes.”
“What matters is that without a field promotion, even temporarily, I wouldn’t be able to share this with you.” With a flick of her wrist she summoned a case file into her hands. “This folder contains all field notes from Williams around his last undercover stint. No one else on the team has the clearance or experience to look through this file and pick out what’s relevant moving forward. You, however, are in a very unique ability to do that.”
Audrey held out the file. “And this isn’t a trap, take the file, look through it and if you decide you would rather step back into the shadows and work on your own, we’ll honor that choice. We’ll honor whatever you decide.”
If that was a bribe, it was a remarkably well-calculated one. Pamela reached out to take the file, riffling through the edges. "I'll see what I can find," she said after a moment. "He was a good man. He didn't deserve what happened to him."