Facial Assault
Detective Alex Eames was walking from the mall with the presents she had purchased for her families upcoming reunion. She was pleased with the gifts she had gotten. This was going to be a combination family reunion and engagement party for her youngest brother. He'd finally popped the question to the woman he'd been seeing for two years and she'd told him ring or door and he'd given in somewhat ungraciously.
So this was a surprise, but the surprise was on him. The bride-to-be had even chosen a theme for the day. The presents were to be related to sticking to things, marriages, anniversaries, children…..long term commitments. Alex's mind was on the part ahead. She was in charge of buying Slow Poke Suckers, multiyear calendars, anything for the party that said "forever" on them. She'd happened to find a picture frame that had multiple picture holes on it that she was going to write the years ahead on them and put funny family photos in each one that depicted Ted doing embarrassing things. Then she was going to write note that said the only way to change the picture was to put another anniversary picture there.
She passed an alley that caught her attention. It was bright and sunny out but the alley was in the shadow and she heard noises. She stopped but didn't hear it again so she took another step and heard it again. She set her bags of presents down and listened again. It sounded like someone weeping. She was off duty but a cop with no gun is fair game so she pulled her small backup piece and her badge out of her pocket.
Using her cop training to make sure she didn't run into a scene that would be potentially fatal she crept down the alley way, giving her eyes a chance to adjust to the darker area. The alleyway turned a corner and she leaned against the wall to peer around the corner and was slammed sideways against the far wall.
Gasping for breath and unable to see she dropped to the ground, still holding her gun and tried to blink. Water streamed down the front of her from her hair to the bottom of her blouse. Her assailant, or rather assailants, were two screaming, teenaged girls who then stared horrified at her, still holding a garden hose that dribbled water from the end.
"What the hell…..?" Alex demanded of them looking around through water soaked eyelashes for the perp and not seeing anyone.
"We're sorry, officer. I told you this was a bad idea, Meredith." The smaller one told the larger one.
"She wasn't supposed to come down here. He was supposed to get it." Meredith said. "We are so, so sorry. We thought you were George. He was supposed to come down here."
"Who is George?" Alex demanded.
"He's a guy that works with us. He's been chasing, Patsy here and we were going to cool him off as a warning. He said he'd be right out. We were just trying to play a trick on him, honestly. We never meant to hurt anyone….Are we going to jail?" Meredith asked obviously petrified of the idea.
"No, but I could. You could have drowned someone." Alex said crossly, but she had to give the girls credit for trying to handle the situation themselves even if it wasn't exactly the way she would have handled it.
"Let's go talk to George. I think I'd like to meet someone who caused this. I have a few words to say about this. Come on."
Alex put her gun in her waistband and motioned the girls to proceed ahead of her. They got out of the alley in time to see a homeless man picking up Alex's bags to walk off with them. "Drop them!" Alex told him.
"They were just laying here. I was going to turn them in…." he protested snatching his hands back.
"They aren't lost. Just leave." Alex snarled at him.
Sirens from the other end of the mall parking lot sounded and a mall guard came charging up then. "What's going on here? There's reports of screaming?" he demanded looking eagerly for someone to collar.
Alex flashed her badge. "It's all under control here." She said. She explained the predicament to him and left him to take care of Meredith and Patsy and that man "George." She picked up her bags and resumed her trek back to her SUV.
Nearly there her phone rang. "Eames." She said.
"We have a case. Where are you?" Bobby asked.
"Almost to the precinct. Where are you?"
"On the way there. I'll meet you there." He hung up before she could say she needed to go home and change. With a sigh she got into her vehicle and headed for the stationhouse. She walked in, minimally aware of the stares she was getting. Her mind was on her job.
She walked into the bullpen and stopped dead still. All the male eyes were on her and she looked around. "What?"
Bobby got red in the face. "You, uh, you might want to change your, uh, shirt."
Alex looked down and her cotton blouse was soaked and clinging to her showing her blue lace bra through the fabric. It left nothing to the imagination. Alex looked at her embarrassed partner, then at all the others in the room. "Not one word. Not from anyone." She barked at them and marched to the locker room. She kept an extra suit in there just for such emergencies.
Unfortunately the dry blouse couldn't contain all the water from a wet bra. It immediately started to get soaked. Alex sighed, go without a bra or wear another wet blouse. Luckily for her still in the back of her locker was a sweater vest she'd never gotten around to taking home from the winter. She pulled it on over her dry clothes. It was going to be uncomfortable but the legend of Alex Eames had already been soaked enough for today. Head held high, she headed back out to the bullpen to do her job. Nobody had better say one single joking word to her the rest of the day or they'd find out just how ornery she could be.
TBC