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_fn_2187_ is a Finnamon Roll (_fn_2187_) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2020-03-24 17:14:00

Who: Finn and Laurel
When: Mid-February
What: New Partners
Where: Irvine PD, then driving to a cafe
Status: Complete



Leon and Laurel had talked over the weekend when they got the news that their partnership was being dissolved. She was saddened by it but Laurel knew it was part of the job. Plus the duo would keep in touch and what not. She had just sat at her desk, Leon was on a different shift now or different parts of the building. The chief has called her in and she met Finn, her new partner.

She looked across from him, smiled, “What you say we get out of here? The cases that I have, we are waiting for some DNA test to get back.” She shifted to toss the folder over on Finns desk, “you can look over everything, maybe a fresh pair of eyes can help crack this one.” Laurel stood up, she shifted to put her jacket on, “I know a good cafe, coffee is descent with great food.”

Finn was having a day. He had expected to be joining a Narcotics unit not Homicide. Whoever had it out for him at his old precinct clearly had felt a parting shot was needed, and had modified some paperwork or made some call and let the powers that be know that he was to be assigned to Homicide instead. Needless to say he hadn’t realized this up until the Chief was introducing him to Laurel, and while after introductions he tried to straighten things out alone with the Chief, it was becoming clear that nothing was going to change anytime soon. They needed him here and while the Chief would look into the paperwork snafu, Finn would be Laurel’s partner in the meantime.

He looked over at the folder tossed onto his new desk, then looked up at Laurel. “Listen, I’m not saying it won’t be cool to work with you. I’m sure it is, what was it, Laurel? I mean, most TV shows are about homicide detectives right?” He was starting to talk quickly and he knew it; Finn did so when he was nervous. “Which is cool. But I was just...I mean, I told the Chief I think someone messed up my paperwork. I had requested a Narc unit.” He picked up the folder anyway and started to put his coat on, switching hands with the folder as he shoved one arm then the other into the coat sleeves. “So I dunno how long this is gonna last. Just saying.”

“As long as you are here, you help with the case,” she said simply with a shrug of her shoulders. “Paperwork is slow, so you’ll be here a few days or a week,” she pointed out, “so even if you don’t stay, a fresh pair of eyes is needed now.” She grabbed her bag and keys, “And it’s Laurel or Lance, whatever you want to call me by.”

She nodded her head for him to follow her, they could take her car. As she headed outside, “where are you from?” she asked him, “what department are you coming from?”

Finn's eyebrows went up at the assertiveness but he respectfully replied with a "Yes, m'am." as he followed her out.

Exiting into the bright California sunshine he squinted as they walked, finally shading his view with the folder. "L.A. Born and raised. I was LAPD, patrol officer. Took my detectives exam here and passed a few weeks ago." So yes, he was very green to the detective arena.

She smiled at him, “I know that feeling all too well, been a detective for a few months myself, I’m from here as well, but ended up moving to New York and became a cop there. My daughter and I moved back after my father passed,” she pointed to the right, “car is in the direction.”

Shifting her bag to her other shoulder as she headed to her car, “So why Narc?” she asked him as she finally moved to her four door impala and unlocked her door, hitting the unlock button for he could get in on the passenger side.

"Wanted to try to help make a difference in neighborhoods like the one I grew up in. Drugs really take a toll on a community. Brings in dealers, addicts, gangs, theft, violence. I realized being a patrol officer wasn't doing enough." Finn replied as he got into the car. Strapping himself in he glanced over at his new partner. "So we're both newly minted detectives huh?" And he gave her a lopsided grin.

She nodded her head, she got what he meant, it was one of the reasons why she was a cop, she saw her dad helping people all her life and she wanted to be like him. Opening the back door, she tossed her bag in, closing it with her hip she opened her door and slid in, “I just wanted to be a cop like my dad,” she told him and then nodded her head , “We are.”

A smile graced her face and then she looked on dashboard and saw gummy snack, “sorry,” she reached for them, “Olivia like a snack on the way home from school,” she tossed them in the backseat.

Finn smirked. “Oh you have a kid? That’s cool. Hey, you can’t go wrong with gummy snacks.” He chuckled. “I’m more a Red Vines guy tho.” Then he flipped open the folder and his expression zipped straight to shocked. He shut the folder, paled a little and sucked in a big breath. “Okay. This is...gonna take some getting used to.” He glanced over at Laurel. “So...how old is Olivia?” He’d rather talk about something else while his brain tried to stop flailing at what he’d just seen in the photos.

“Dead bodies are awful, but you just need to look past that and look for clues,” she started the car and pulled out, “She is three turning twenty, smart and sassy,” she smiled as she turned out of the parking lot “her birthday is coming up, I can’t decide if I want a massive party for her, I’m sure her father would like that, but she’s three….will she really enjoy that?”

Finn would keep that piece of advice in mind. Maybe after some coffee and a snack he’d be better able to stomach the pictures.

“I’m sure she’ll love whatever you do.” Finn shrugged. “So long as she’s got some friends over and presents. And you know, the cake of course.” Finn had grown up hovering just above the poverty line, better off than most in his neighborhood but not as great as he wished he had looking back. So birthday parties hadn’t really been a big affair - just some friends over, a homemade cake from someone in the neighborhood his grandmother knew, and two or three presents. It hurt as he got older because neither of his parents were around - his mother dead from gang violence and his father had left before he was even born.

“I am sure she will,” she smiled at him as she pulled up to a light, “So any questions you have to ask?” she inquired as she started to drive again with the flow of traffic, “I can answer anything.”

"Not sure where to start." Finn replied, glancing at the closed folder. "What's the case?" Maybe if she told him the details it’d be easier to take. This was going to take some serious adjusting until he could get things sorted out.

“Young woman, twenty-eight, last seen out with co-workers, found the next morning, and you’ve seen the picture already. She was last seen at ten at a bar, took an uber to another bar, and from there, it’s hazy. Some people say she left alone, some people never saw her leave. Leon and I went through photos of the bar that night and cam, found her talking to a few people, on the phone mainly, which is MIA."

"Hmm," Finn intoned thoughtfully. "What about tracking the phone? Did the carrier have any info?" They turned into the parking lot of the coffee place. His stomach rumbled a little despite the topic of conversation.

She nodded her head “It was turned off right after she left, so no hope of tracking it, we do have a request to be notified if it turns up and phone records should be on our desk later today.” She parked the car and turned it off, “Honestly, it doesn’t look like a crime of passion, there’s pure rage in the markings she carries. So she pissed someone off or a love affair turned hateful.”

"And that's why I'm still single," Finn said pointedly, eyebrows raised before getting out of the car. "So recommendations?"

Laurel offered a small smile to words, but then in all honestly it’s why she doesn’t do dating apps. “I’m a bagel woman myself,” she told him, “Got hooked on them in NYC.” She looked for cars before crossing the parking lot to the door, “I heard the donuts are good.” Laurel jokes..

Finn chuckled. “Well, we can’t disappoint the stereotype, right? Maybe I’ll get both.” He was really hungry. He held the door for her and gestured. “After you.”

Laurel laughed as she nodded her head, “thanks,” and walked through the door. Perhaps they would make a good team, at least till his paperwork came through to transfer him where he wanted to be.