I've worked for a lot of precincts. Most times, I'm in and out, never really gaining ties, solving what I can in the time I'm given and then moving on. The truth? It sucks. Hard. I'd joined the NYPD hoping that I'd be able to find people that I could trust and who would trust me, people that could replace a family that had moved on from me a long time ago. Which gets kind of hard when you're never with the same people for more than a year. I tried when I first started, after awhile though I started asking myself "what's really the point in building a relationship with coworkers you're not going to talk to ever again?" To many I seem cold, callous, which is mostly my fault. I do it to keep them distant, so when I leave it's easier. Not easy, but easier. This is why, when I first stepped into precinct 99, I didn't nod hello, I didn't introduce myself, I simply walked up to the CO's door, knocked and then entered.
"Captain Holt?"
He looked up from the sheave of reports that he had been poring over, his face completely emotionless, "Detective Dentoro, I presume?"
As I nodded he stood up and outstretched his hand. A handshake later (up, down, release) and I was motioned to be seated in front of his desk. He removed his glasses and simply said,
"You will be covering former detective Peralta's cases and you will partner with detective Santiago. She will be responsible for showing you around. Dismissed."
And that was it for introductions. I simply nodded, stood up and walked out the door…...right into a loose semicircle of the other detectives. Pulling up short, I gazed coolly at them from behind the mirrored sunglasses that I'd replaced after my meeting with Holt, taking them in. I know the sunglasses make me seem like a douche (I kind of am sometimes), but people not knowing where you're looking could be quite the advantage. Immediately though, my gaze was drawn to a mountainous black man in the middle of the group, who was easily 6'3" and 250 pounds of pure muscle, which was contrasting starkly with the warm smile he had on his face. Next to him was a significantly smaller male that looked like he was about to jump out of his skin in excitement. For some reason, he was wearing an apron that had what looked like cupcakes on it. I chose to ignore him for the moment and let my gaze move on to the two women situated to the left of the men. The first was Latino and, if looks could kill, holy shit. She looked like she wanted to kneecap me just for breathing the same air as her. She looked about 5'7 and had the body and physique of a gymnast, or maybe a ballerina. I filed her away as someone to keep tabs on. The other woman standing was really nothing to get excited about. She was shorter than the first, but not by much, and she was wearing the classic power pant suit of a serial people pleaser and had her hair pulled into a tight pony tail. I wasn't sure which of the two of them was Santiago, and I really wasn't looking forward to finding that out.
Of course, the observations you just read about only really took a second or two per person, so just as the silence was about to get awkward, I stepped forward and simply stated:
"Detective Santiago." To which the detective with the ponytail stepped forward. Great, I thought, I'm stuck with the goody-two shoes.
"May I please speak with you in the evidence lock up?" Before getting a reply, I turned on my heel and walked towards the room that was almost ninety percent of the time the evidence room. I'd been to enough precincts that I knew they all had the same general layout. I reached the door and waited for her. When she arrived, she punched in the code on the second try and we walked inside. I turned to her and started reciting to her the exact same speech I'd given to every partner I'd had since my sixth move.
"I work by myself. It's nothing to do with you, but I work better alone. If you need me to assist in an arrest or secondary on a case, then I'll be happy to help. But other than that, I plan on keeping my head down, getting my work done and maintaining as few interactions as possible."
And with that, I let myself out of the evidence room and walked towards the bull pen, already sensing that my normal "leave me alone, I'm only really standing you" attitude more than likely wouldn't work during the time I spent at Precinct 99.