A/N: I'm finally doing one of these challenges in the hope that, one of these days, I might actually finish something I start. All of the stories are for the Brenda/Fritz pairing. They're in no particular order and the stories DO NOT follow one another in any sort of timeline.
Also, I'd like to give a big apology to all of my reviewers. Until recently, I had no idea I could respond to reviews, so I missed out on my opportunity to thank all of you!
048.
Diamond
She got to the crime scene three hours after Gabriel had called to inform her that Priority Homicide had a new case. Provenza and Flynn cracked a few mostly-good-natured jokes about her late arrival, but she ignored them as usual, inspecting every inch of the blood-soaked alley with her usual aplomb before assigning duties to the squad. She watched them carefully for their reactions as she gestured to the paint transfer on the brick wall and the partial footprint next to the car's rear tire. Her male detectives seemed uniformly clueless, but she saw Daniels do a surreptitious double-take when the high-powered crime scene lights glinted off of the diamond on her left hand. The younger woman said nothing, however, and she'd almost made it back to her car before a tentative hand on her shoulder stopped her.
"Chief?"
She turned.
"Yes, Sergeant Gabriel?"
Gabriel glanced back toward the crime scene, and she followed his gaze to find the entire squad watching them, their expressions ranging from Tao's gleeful grin to Provenza's wry amusement to Daniels' quiet approval.
"We just wanted to say congratulations. To you and Agent Howard."
For the first time since she'd arrived at the scene, she let herself smile.