A couple quick notes before I begin! This is actually co-authored with my good 'net friend Ayala Atreides, who has also posted CoD fanfic. In fact, she got me into CoD in the first place! :D This kind of all got started when I got to thinking of the Genevieve Collins storyline and her eerily accurate diagnosis of Natara, in particular. Thus, this story.
Disclaimer: This work of fan-fiction is not intended for personal profit. All the Cause of Death canonical characters used in this fan fic are the property of Electronic Arts and/or other designated copyright and/or trademark holders.
Chapter 1: Different Decisions
Mal Fallon stood woodenly, staring out of the window in Chief Yeong's office as she, along with the Internal Affairs head, waited for a response.
Finally, after he decided there was no point to making them wait any longer, he shrugged. "Do what you will."
"Mal, I'm only going to say this once, so listen, and listen well." Maria's voice was brusque and her words were clipped. "I am offering you one chance to leave the Force without your entire career being ruined on the front page of every newspaper in this city. You resign here, now, in my office, and that's it. You lose your pension and any severance pay, but you gain – perhaps – some sense of self-respect you still have."
The IAB head took over. "We've got enough here to try you, you know. Witness tampering, bribery, evidence tampering – the list goes on."
"So prove it." Mal smirked.
He sighed. "Fallon, who do you think rolled over on you? Your old partner, Ken. He'll testify against you if we bring it to trial. But I don't think either you, nor we, want the publicity of a trial. So do us all a favor and just resign and walk into the wind."
Mal snorted derisively. "Ken, huh? So much for that thin blue line! Think his character will hold up in court when my lawyer brings up some of his more... aggressive moments with suspects? Or that little fling he had with that Data Analyst?"
"All of those things have been properly documented, and you damned well know it," Maria told him sternly. "You're grasping, Fallon. You know we've got you cold. You might as well make this easy on yourself."
Mal bristled at that, fists clenching... but he already knew they were right. His eyes went from the IAB head to Maria, back and forth between them. That stare had helped crack more suspects than he could count, but his superiors didn't even flinch. His gaze locked on Maria and she stared right back at him, her chin held level, her eyes stone-cold.
Mal pulled his badge out, studying it for a moment as the fury drained out of him, replaced by a grim sense of defeat. He watched the overhead fluorescent lights glint off the metal of the badge, and then shook his head.
With that, Malachi Charles Fallon picked up the pen on the chief's desk, and scribbled out his resignation. He threw his badge across the desk (his service revolver had already been 'requested' earlier that day by the IAB), and turned around, stalking out of Yeong's office, never to return.
.oO[CoDCoD]Oo.
Natara Williams stared, aghast, as William Blaire lowered the boom on her.
District Chief Blaire stared over his glasses at her. "I don't care how you justify this. You shot through your partner to kill a suspect after having barged into that building without calling for backup. You made no attempt to de-escalate the situation—"
As soon as Natara opened her mouth, he held up his hand. "Don't bother me with your profiling. It's not gonna amount to a hill of beans if this ever goes to trial for involuntary manslaughter."
"But sir, I made a justifiable shoot!" Natara retorted. "Had I not shot, it is very likely the suspect would have killed several more people in the time it would have taken backup to arrive."
Blaire heaved a sigh and clasped his hands in front of him as he rested his arms on his desk. "You're a good agent, but you just can't play God like this. Had Agent Mallory moved even an inch to one side or the other—"
Natara gulped. "I understand, sir. Will he…?"
"We don't know. He's in preparation for some delicate surgery. He may walk again, or he may not. We just can't know, Agent Williams.
"And this brings me to you. You've been here for almost six years. You're experienced enough to know what to do and when to do it. That's why it's all the worse that you made, in my opinion, a reckless decision. I'm sorry, but I think the time has come for me to ask for your resignation."
Natara breathed, "No." She looked at the Chief with wide eyes. "Please, put me on suspension, but for God's sake, don't – don't make me resign!"
"I don't see that I have a choice. My superiors are asking me what the hell I'm doing – if I even have control over this office! It just doesn't look good, letting two agents run into a highly volatile situation without backup and without apparent de-escalation." He fiddled with a pen on his desk. "I'm sorry. I really am. Look, I'll authorize two months of suspension pay plus severance. All right?"
Natara stood up, primed to let loose a torrent of rage and desperation at the Chief. This job was everything she had ever wanted... her decision to take it had put a rift in her family, one she wasn't sure she could ever repair. How could this man take that away from her?!
But then she pulled herself back. A lifetime of her father's teachings took over, making her force her anger down, pushed behind a calm, cool mask. Bile rose in her throat as she forced herself to stand rigidly, politely saying, "Of course, sir. I understand."
Outside the FBI building, Natara stopped dead in her tracks on the sidewalk, pressing her knuckles tightly to her temples. How could this have happened? She had made the right call... hadn't she? No, she had to believe she'd called it right. And yet, the Chief had taken it all away from her... all that she had worked so hard to get...
Natara Williams whirled around to glare up at the towering edifice looming above her. Her eyes narrowed in a hateful glare, and cold fury boiled inside her heart. She balled her hands into tight fists and spun on her heel, striding away.
Author Notes: Stay tuned! :)