I do not own Cold Case.
The Newbie: First day on the job
"Detective...Lily Rush, I presume?" John Stillman eyed he over his paperwork, while ushering her to sit down.
"Yes sir. I am from the academy, newly graduated, but did so with top honors. I was told to report here for assignment," Lily stated.
A few moments of dead air collected before Stillman continued on with his instructions for her regarding the field and department training.
"Now detective, you will be shadowing one of our veterans for a couple of months before we can release you out on the field by yourself. You'll be working with Detective Partin, lead on one of our best homicide teams. He'll get you acquainted with the ropes and various in and outs of the department. Make sure you're comfortable before letting you go solo. It's procedure as you may understand for all detectives to go through this type of mentoring first," He finished, nervous of how she would react to his last statements.
Many young detectives found it offensive to suggest that after all the schooling completed and what not, that such detectives were still not ready to go it alone. Some even turned on their heels and walked out in search of better hopes of getting a case all their own first time out of the gate. They always came back apologetic, though wiser in the end.
"Of course, sure. I understand," She answered back compliantly.
"Good. I'll go and see if Detective Partin is ready for you," and with a flash he was out the office door leaving a fresh Lily Rush to sit alone with her thoughts.
She could hear various paper shuffles and muted conversations streaming in from outside desks, but most importantly she heard the muffled sounds of Partin and Stillman as they made their way to the latter's office.
"Yes, she will be with you..." Stillman was cut short by Partin's sudden salutation.
"Well, you must be Lily Rush," a little man of no more than five feet and four inches tall anxiously stuck out his hand towards the obviously taller blond before continuing "I have heard so much about you already and you still smell like you just came out of the oven," it was the last line of sentencing that shot a grave look upon Partin's face, effectively draining all color from his protruding features.
At this revelation, Lily simply gleamed back at the poor man, while releasing her trademark smile. Partin took this as a "no harm, no foul" response, gladly basking in her forgiving nature.
"So, I guess we'll be on our way. Lots of work to do and so little time," Partin stated more out of uneasiness.
"You'll do fine Detective Rush...," and for the second time within a ten-minute span, Stillman was yet again interrupted in mid-sentence.
The cause of the interruption came blazing up to Stillman, face set and hands balled into fists.
"Boss, tell me why Angless decided to take over my case! It was MY case!" the man shouted furiously.
Stillman sighed automatically and put a comforting hand upon the wounded detective's shoulder and walked towards an empty office leaving Partin and Rush to their own devices.
Staring after the two men, especially the dark-haired Latino, Lily finally grabbed some courage and inquired, "Who was that?".
"Oh, that was Scotty Valens-Cold Case Division extraordinaire," sensing her knowledge for more information, he continued on in his blasé manner "He used to work in homicide, but now only has an affinity for cold cases. He was transferred a few years back to his current department after his girlfriend of six years threw herself off a bridge. So sad really, but just steer clear of him and no harm will come to you."
Lily had already tuned out the annoying clanging of Partin's voice, instead choosing to focus on the handsome man standing just a few feet away in Stillman's office.
Can he be all that bad?, she thought silently as Partin walked past her.
"You coming?" he asked innocently.
Recovering slightly, she nodded and followed her mentor to his desk.
"Oh, Miss Lily, I have to go take a personal call here so just go grab some coffee and have a seat-oh, and the break room is over there," he pointed sharply straight ahead and with a huff he was gone.
She could certainly use about a bucket full of coffee, but for now a cup would have to sustain her until lunch. Defeated, she walked into the break room, hung her coat up lazily, and grabbed a cup. Filling it almost to the brim, she treaded softly back to the desk, which was still unoccupied by Partin.
Where the hell is he?, her thoughts mulled around in her head, one not necessarily leading to the next, but they sufficed as entertainment for her while she awaited the return of mentor in shining armor.
Her reverie was smashed to bits as the sound of a slamming door brought her attention to the present.
"Fine, but if it happens again..." Valens decided not to pursue that line of thought effectively ending his tirade.
Lily continued to sip her coffee unaware of Valens' wandering eye.
"Who's that?" Valens asked abruptly.
Lily shot her head in the asker's direction and came face to face with the piercing stare belonging to the inscrutable Scotty Valens. Something inside of her melted, yet outward appearances remained status quo-expressionless.
"That's one of our newbie's-recently graduated at the top of her class. If she backs up those school credentials, well then, she's gonna be a firecracker out there on the field," Stillman finished up with a slight smile.
"Humph," was all that Scotty sought to bestow upon Stillman's biopic summary before taking his leave.
What is his damage, Lily mused for a moment before Partin came slinking up to the side of her chair.
"Yeah, sorry about that. Wife problems. So, you, uh ready to go catch some criminals?"
What a winner. I hope his field tactics are better than his conversational skills. What an ass, she thought, but she still willingly followed the detective out into the cold bitter day.
(Five hours later, Noon)
Trudging in from the snowy streets and freezing winds, both mentor and newbie ran straight for the break room for some nice warm coffee and a bite to eat before the next phase of training. Their flash marathon did not go unnoticed by one Scotty Valens and his group of friends: Vera, Jeffries, and Miller.
"So tell me, is it policy now to make a mad dash to the coffee pot every time you come in from the cold, because I have noticed that..."
"Oh brother, here we go again," Miller interjected causing a wave of irritation to form over Vera.
"Look this is important to me and the only reason I ask is because I'm the one remaking the coffee more often than not and I think that we all should have designated days so that way everyone feels the annoyance and pain of having to be the only one," Vera finished triumphantly.
"You whiny, whiny baby," Miller teased as the tiny group of friends burst into laughter.
"Whatever, I surrender okay," Vera waved his hands in the air before continuing "So who is this new chick-you know blond, blue eyes, tall, nice..."
"Enough," Miller warned.
"She's some new detective trainin' with Partin for homicide," Scotty replied flatly.
"Partin. Homicide. You're joking! He is a special case all his own. Does Stillman want her to quit-no, I've got an idea. How about she take Sharon Karr's old spot on our division?" Vera reasoned.
"What. No. No, no, no, no, no, and finally no. I paid my dues as far as trainin' new detectives an' I ain't doin' it again. I'm out," Valens stated coldly as he took off towards the break room.
"What a doof. Nobody said he had to train her anyhow," Vera added.
"Yes, but he is the one who usually does," Miller shot back.
Lily had been watching the happenings of the bustling detectives with peaked interest, but quickly focused down at a spot on the floor as Valens came rushing into the room. Despite the absence of words, she could still feel the eyes in the back of his head stalking her every breath and then...
"Hey, watch where you're goin'," Valens hissed as Lily shrunk back a few inches.
She hadn't meant to crash into him, but she had forgotten to release her eyes from the floor as she traveled over to the sink, thus effectively causing a head-on collision. Her stomach dropped to her feet, but with the best of courage, she managed a small "I'm sorry" before taking a seat at a nearby table. She received no reply or consolation from Valens unless you count a glare as such.
"It's going to be a long day," she whispered.
TBC