Author's Note: I would like to give a huge thank you to my betas –Sam and Amber– for being such lovely ladies and helping me out on something that really took a lot out of me. I had to do a lot of research for this fic, but I am of the opinion that it needs a hell of a lot of work, so reviewers! Please do let me know what you think I should improve Please read and review if you have anything to say!
Warning for Police!AU.
QL Author's Note: With help, I have interpreted the main quote to mean: "I will make tough, questionable decisions to get the desired result but I won't feel bad about it." (Angel) This is why, by the end of the story, there is some criticism against Harry, and he isn't regretful of his previous actions. The Kelly Clarkson quote, "We are all misfits living in a world on fire," I used it metaphorically in the sense that they were both trying to help the community, so they might as well have pooled their efforts and research together.
Title/Link: Choosing Right Over Easy
Team: Kenmare Kestrels
Position: Beater 2
Extension Used: No
Season 6, Finals, Round 2: "I don't cross the line, I stand on it." (Kate Beckett, Castle)
Optional Prompts: (dialogue) "Please leave me alone.", (word) ravage, (location) tower, (lyric) "We are all misfits living in a world on fire." – Kelly Clarkson, People Like Us, (word) cajole
Choosing Right Over Easy by ValkyrieAce
The first time Harry had ever heard of the vigilante, he'd been walking across the precinct under a summons from their captain. If it was to commend him on his impeccable arrest records or to justify an impulse decision he'd made on his most recent case – which involved a precarious leap off of a tower that disregarded the instincts of self-preservation– he didn't know. But it was enough to send his senses into a hyperactive mode, and he'd ended up catching the end of a conversation that left his palms clammy for the rest of the day.
Vigilantes were tricky business.
They were helpful to the community and to some of the overtaxed policemen, sure. And there really wasn't a definite law against them. But being a vigilante toed the line between right and wrong quite easily. While their moral decision-making skills could be assessed, the whole point was for their identity to be kept a secret. How was anyone supposed to trust an unknown person with the safety of their lives, based on a few actions of good ol' justice?
It wasn't right for the citizens of their city to be cajoled into trusting in someone who could cross the line so easily.
It especially wasn't right for the policemen of the city to be working on the documentation of a case, only to have a vigilante claim the take down. The policemen work hard to ensure the criminals are put behind bars, but it is also their job to make sure that there is enough substantial and concrete proof of their misdeeds. You never know if a vigilante really knows of all the crimes their captives had committed.
Harry walked into Captain McGonagall's office with his attention concentrated to her, lest he face her wrath for inattentiveness. She called him in for a personal briefing, emphasizing the safety measures that they have all been working hard to acclimate to – the very same ones he'd neglected – and was given a warning for his reckless behaviour that did nothing to dampen his unease. And even as he slumped against the rough back of his desk chair, long after the summons and the end of the shift, he thought back to the vigilante and really wondered how safe their city was to have to need vigilantes to protect them.
So lost in his thoughts he was, it was only when he was putting away his belongings in his briefcase that he noticed a manila folder, almost new in the way the cream-coloured edges weren't creased and the blue post-it note –placed for any side projects– wasn't crinkled. He grinned as he skimmed through the contents of the folder.
It seemed he wouldn't have to wait to pursue the vigilante.
Two weeks later,
There was a full-scale briefing taking place in the conference room of the precinct. A high-profile narcotics case had needed a few detectives to take part in their sting operation, and while their precinct was small, they possessed a high level of moral judgment. The disillusionment of fame and fortune never crossed their mind as easily as it does others, and it leads them to make well known arrests that helped the city, even if minutely.
The drug cartel, going by the questionable name of Death Eaters, ravaged the city with their new drug, Dark Mark. It was spreading quickly, too quickly for the meager narcotics division of their precinct to follow. They weren't very sure of where it was produced, but through the analysis of the drug they had confiscated in the past, they were able to find some of the dealers who were sprinkled throughout the city.
The mainstream drug, as it were now, had been used as part of several crimes throughout the city already. One, a car crash in which the driver was influenced by the drug, and three others in which the victim was fatally attacked while exhibiting symptoms of the drug, two of whom were having hallucinations and the inability to utilize motor functions properly.
And now the drug had victimized a millionaire heiress to the brink of catatonia, bringing the importance of the case into national and international levels.
Harry listened to the briefing with rapt attention. He found it odd that the cases related to the use of the drug hadn't been brought up before. He remembered hearing about it once, but the involvement of narcotics was dampened by the violence of the attackers. It was highly unusual for any precinct to have overlooked such a vital piece of information, and he was curious as to why.
What was odder was the fact that the vigilante – whose name he'd discovered recently to be 'Defender' – had stopped at least one of the attacks from happening. It wasn't mentioned explicitly by the captain, but he could tell by the stony gaze and the way she clenched her shaking fists. It was obvious that Defender had done something when they hadn't even known it.
At the end of the briefing, he volunteered his time to help on the case as part of sting operations, and he walked out feeling satisfied by the day, but unnaturally dreadful.
There was something bigger taking place with this drug, and he was going to find it.
Two months later,
It was during Harry's stakeout on one of the dealers that he came across Defender. He had been on the Ravenclaw Tower all night, integrating himself deeply into his mission of surveillance. He had on a thick jacket and a pair of binoculars, as well as a few warm drinks to keep him warm. His new partner, a narcotics detective named Neville, kept an eye for his blind spot, his eyes vigilant yet fearful, an obvious sign of a beginning officer.
Suddenly, Neville slumped over beside him, invoking a string of curses from Harry until he noticed the approaching figure.
He moved deliberately, his hand hovering over his gun, when the vigilante began to speak.
"Great night, ain't it, Detective Potter?" Defender spoke, his voice strong and clear.
"Yes, it is," Harry replied tensely. "Please leave me alone."
He wasn't giving the man an option, but by the smirk the vigilante donned, he knew it just as well as Harry had intended it. Ignoring Harry, he spoke once more.
"There's a reason why you've never heard about the drugs until recently."
Harry was visibly taken aback. He wasn't sure if the man in front of him could read his mind, but it had been something he mulled over. To hear the other man have a semblance of an idea as to why was both intriguing and suspicious.
"And this reason is…?" Harry asked.
"It's easy. There's a leak in one of the precincts," the man responded.
Harry was shaken. He didn't factor in mutinous factions in a precinct, and worried
"How do you know all this?" Harry asked, his voice strong although he was still shaken by the discovery.
"I've tailed them for eight months," he said as he enjoyed the shock that coloured Harry's face, "I just can't do anything until your precinct finds concrete evidence to put them away."
That took Harry in for a surprise. The vigilante in front of him was probably able to provide him with an extensive list of the processes and transportation of the drugs, as well as the dealers and a lead towards any evidence they could use to put them behind bars. In the two months that had passed since the briefing, they had only found minimal evidence of the drug cartel's production unit. Harry wasn't usually supportive of vigilantes, but the one in front of him had taken measures to ensure the prolonged prison time for the criminals, and he could respect that.
"What would you say if…" Harry started, already unsure if his Captain would kill him or give him a reprimand. His resolve strengthened as he thought of all the people who are still at risk, who will still be at risk if the Death Eater drug cartel was allowed to function for just another day. A day could lead to thousands of deaths.
"Would you be amenable to providing as much information as possible in exchange for your involvement in their capture and arrests?" Harry asked calmly.
The masked man grinned predatorily. "I thought you'd never ask."
The sting operation was successful, but he had received a lot of backlash from some of his fellow officers for his allowing the involvement of Defender. It didn't matter to them that he had chosen this path to minimize the risk of casualties and consolidate the safety of the city. It didn't matter that the fame wasn't at all important in the grand scheme of things. It didn't matter that they had made their biggest takedown and made record number of arrests.
He would take the hate and the taunts and the disapproval any day.
It wouldn't change the fact that he chose to do what was right over what was easy.
Fin
Word Count: 1,511
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry Prompts:
365 Prompts – 77. Proof
The Insane Prompt Challenge – 62. Character – Harry Potter
Yearly Scavenger Hunt – 77. Write an AU you've never written before.