Part 1

Best stood at his spot in the parade room and eyed his officers about to start the day shift. "So get out there protect and serve. And don't screw up." He told them, making eye contact where he could. He hadn't been Staff Sergeant long but so far it was working out. The white shirt and the pay bump were nice and he was getting used to them. "Dismissed."

As the detectives left the room for their own desks and the uniforms wandered over to check the board for their assignments Frank got some company out front. "Rookies." He said loudly making heads turn back his way. "Stay seated." He told them.

Andy and Traci gave each other questioning looks before sitting back down beside each other. Chris and Dov took the desk one over from them and Gail took a seat at the back, her break up with Chris sending her back out of the inner circle.

As the room emptied of everyone else Frank cleared his throat and turned to the man stood beside him. "This is Detective Donovan Boyd, he works narcotics and every so often we run a scavenger hunt with the new rookies here at 15, but I'll let Boyd fill you in."

Donovan stood there with all the eyes on him. He wasn't sure how this group measured up but being at 15 meant they were supposed to be the best the academy had to offer. Despite a couple of blips they'd all passed their evaluations which meant they should be ready for this.

"It's real simple, we drop you off in the middle of Nowhereville, no wallet, no money, no guns, no phones. We'll give you a bus token, and at any time, if it becomes too hard, you can just flag down a cab and have them brink you back here." He scowled at the faces in front of him. "Let me be clear, if you make that cab ride then you are at the wrong station." He let that comment sit with them for a while as he openly glared at each rookie in turn.

Frank eased back over as he saw more than one panicked look. He smiled at his rookies. "This is tradition, and just like Fight Nite, 15 Division has a reputation to uphold. Listen to instructions, go home and get some sleep then come back in here by six." Frank nodded then started for the door.

Gail frowned. She remembered Steve bitch about something like this because he hadn't been allowed to take part. Their father had just reminded Steve that he was a Peck, and if he wanted to make a name for himself to do it by making arrests, not by playing games with his superiors.

So there had to be a mistake with her being sat there. "Sir?" She asked softly, catching Frank's attention just before he could leave.

Frank quirked an eyebrow at Gail and waited.

"Am I? I mean, are you sure I should-"

"No special treatment Peck, you can't handle it, you take a ride." Frank told her then pushed through the door to get to his office. He was now short five officers and if that wasn't bad enough it was Friday. He could have strangled Boyd for picking the busiest night of the week to send his rookies out there but in a way Donovan was right, it would test their characters.

Gail slumped in her chair a little as she saw Dov shaking his head in front of her. The rest of the room had obviously just heard that conversation which made it sound like she was asking to be excused from taking part.

Which wasn't the case at all, she was just wondering why she was being allowed to take part in the first place.

Donovan sat on the front desk and offered a smile. "The objective for those of you capable of handling yourself out there without someone there to hold your hand," He eyed Gail for a moment then smirked at the rest of the rookies. "Is to bring back as much contraband as you can; guns, drugs, money-"

"What?" Andy asked in surprise. "How are we supposed to do that?" She asked in concern. The few times they had been involved in operations that dealt with big hauls of contraband they were placed firmly on the outskirts. How were they supposed to get their hands on anything illegal?

They were cops. They didn't do illegal.

"Stop with the whining." Boyd to them impatiently. "And I don't care how you do it, you want to be cops so go out there and be cops." He informed them. "By now you should be able to figure out who sells and where they sell, use what you know, know what you don't know. That clear enough for you?"

Dov snorted quietly to himself. "Crystal."

Donovan clapped his hands. "Good then we're done, come back in here for six, anyone not up to it, stay home, we'll find a division more suited for you." He told them then waved his hands at them in a shooing motion.

They all scattered and he finally let himself sigh. He really wasn't sure about this bunch. McNally and Diaz had almost screwed up his case against Bergen and the Landry gang. Luckily that had been salvaged by Sam and by turning Lessing into a snitch. Which was still paying off for him.

So maybe he could let that slide and he'd go off of tonights performance.

"So, what do you think?"

Donovan looked up to see Frank stood back in the doorway. He shrugged. "Not a clue." He said then Frank came in followed by a few of the more seasoned officers and Detectives Barber and Callaghan.

Luke took a seat, unknowingly at the desk Gail had been sat at. "They'll be okay." He offered.

"Even Peck?" Sam asked.

"You think they still need babysat?" Donovan asked with a scoff. "They've been cut loose for over three months now, if they can't handle tonight then bump them back with TO's or kick them out." The division didn't need cops that had to be spoon fed how to do their jobs.

Shaking his head Donovan got up and walked out. "I'll be back later for a quick brief with them before I dump out in the burbs somewhere."

Sam watched the detective go, his mind still not made up about the undercover job Boyd wanted him on. He still had time to think about it but maybe the time away would give him a fresh start with Andy when he got back.

"Okay well my money's on Nash." Noelle cut in getting straight to the point of them being there and counting out five twenty dollar bills that she slapped down onto the table.

Oliver grinned and pulled out his own wallet. "Oh no, not a chance, my money is on Epstein." He said dropping another hundred dollars down onto the growing pile.

"McNally." Sam cut in not able to leave it alone when he could score a direct hit with Callaghan.

Luke snorted but got his wallet out and made his way over to the pot. "Peck." He said as he added his own contribution.

Jerry scowled. "I thought you didn't want her taking part?" He said as he put down a hundred. "And I'll happily split that with you Noelle." He winked at the officer.

Luke shrugged. He didn't think Gail should be sent out on the scavenger hunt but that hadn't been his decision to make. If Frank was happy enough to risk the wrath of the Superintendent if anything went wrong then that was just fine by him, maybe he'd even make some money out of it. "She's still a Peck."

Sam eyed the detective as he left the room. A few other cops added to the pot before heading off for their own work leaving the rookie's TO's and Frank still in the room.

No one had bet on Diaz.

"Poor Chris." Oliver said with a smile. He liked the kid he just didn't think he was going to get out of a uniform. If he tried really hard he might one day become a TO but Oliver had his doubts.

Noelle tried not to laugh. While she put her money on Nash she was guessing because of where the rookie had grown up. Another few months with a decent pay cheque and maybe she'd get out of the projects but there wasn't a doubt in Noelle's mind that Nash would be able to spot a dealer. It just came down to who'd be better at stealing or playing their way into obtaining some drugs.

"He'll be fine." Frank added. He'd reviewed all of the rookie's personal files, gone over the few mistakes they had made and decided that they'd all be capable of handling themselves on the streets for a night.

No one said they had to do anything stupid. And as much as they said they had to come back with contraband Frank knew from experience that they'd be lucky to get anything back to the station beyond a few ounces of class B come tomorrow morning.

It was a rite of passage, just like getting the rookies to work as prostitutes on their first undercover work. It was baby steps towards becoming seasoned professionals. This was just another of those steps. Not that all divisions did this with their rookies, it was really only a competition between 15 and 27 because they got the top preforming cadets from the academy.

And the only ones that paid really close attention were the bosses in the big building.

Sometimes a rookie would offer something different, and this was one of those opportunities to do just that. Nothing about this would end up on any of their jackets but when it came to undercover operations, task forces, or trainee detective rotations, a good performance tonight could be that leg up they needed to advance.

Frank gathered in the money. "Okay, you all have work to get on with so get to it." He told them.

Sam lingered.

"What?" Frank asked as they were left alone.

Sam shrugged. "They won't have anyone watching their backs tonight."

"Boyd was right, you've got to let go sometime Sammy." Frank said before patting his friend on the shoulder and walking out of the room.

Sam sighed but got up to find Williams. They were riding together today. He wondered if she'd be feeling as nervous as he was.

The truth was he didn't know how well Andy would cope on her own, she'd been made as a cop when she'd been catching John's on the prowl, if she got made tonight no one would be there to help her get out of it.

It was going to be a long twenty-four hours.

xxxxxx

Andy glanced around the table she was sat at with Traci, Chris and Dov. "Aren't you guys excited?" She asked, practically bouncing in her seat as she thought about going out there tonight.

Traci grunted and sipped at her coffee. Her mother hadn't taken her phone call earlier too well, she'd had to cancel plans to stay in and watch Leo tonight. "I don't know." The part of the plan she kept getting stuck on was the no money. If they had no money to buy drugs how else were they supposed to get their hands on it?

Drug dealers didn't exactly just hand their stash of product over to anyone that asked.

That was likely to get them beaten up or worse.

"Come on Trace, this is going to be great." Dov said, he was just as pleased with the detail as Andy was. "This is our chance to prove ourselves. Show that we can work the streets, blend in, and do a little sleuthing."

"And stealing." Chris cut in sounding as unhappy with that prospect as he looked. He eyed the others. "We're cops, we're not supposed to break the law like this."

Dov scoffed at his friend. "Please, this is just a game." He offered.

Chris didn't look convinced.

Dov sighed. "Tell you what, why don't you and I work together and Traci and Andy can too. It's be like girls versus boys."

Traci grinned. "Who gets Frostie?"

Chris swallowed his still hot coffee but said nothing. The thing between Dov and Gail was still eating at him and although he'd forgiven Dov and eventually made some sort of peace with Gail, it had cost him his girlfriend. He still liked Gail but he just couldn't trust her again.

Dov kept his expression neutral as he felt Chris eye him. He offered Traci a shrug. "She's a Peck, I'm sure she can handle it on her own."

The blonde had changed out of her uniform and left the station before any of them. She obviously wanted nothing to do with them and he was okay with that. He'd always known she thought she was better than they were and her comments to Frank had proven it once again.

"Maybe she'll take that cab ride or better yet, she'll have mommy and daddy call Frank." He added bitterly.

Chris scowled but wasn't in the mood to listen to more crap about Gail being a Peck, he'd heard it all through the academy and he still had to listen to it. Gail was a good cop, and Dov wasn't fooling anyone about how jealous he was of her.

"I'm going to bed." He said as he stood up.

He wasn't sure how it would go out there. He just planned to do his best, even if it made him uncomfortable.

Dov watched his friend leave then sighed.

"He still hung up on her?" Andy asked softly. "But I thought he was the one to break it off?" She asked in confusion.

Dov winced. "It's complicated."

Traci rolled her eyes. "Maybe if you didn't try sleeping with Peck they'd still be together."

Andy blew out a breath. How had she missed that? "Is that true?" She asked turning to Dov.

Making a face Dov wiggled his hand. "Kinda." He admitted. "But I was high and out of my mind, which Chris totally understands now."

Traci shook her head. Dov had had a crush on Gail Peck since their first day of the academy together. He wasn't fooling anyone. That was probably the real reason Chris had broke it off, not wanting to loose Gail and Dov.

"We should get going anyway." She said as she gathered her jacket. Is was going to be a cold night and some sleep was probably a good idea, they'd need to keep their head if they were going to pull off the scavenger hunt.

Andy scrambled to her feet as well. "We'll see you tonight." She said pulling on her jacket and following Traci who was giving her a ride today.

xxxxxx

Her parents' cars were missing when Gail pulled into the long driveway, so as usual no one was home when Gail walked inside. Which was a blessing really because explaining why all of her things were sitting in the back of her car wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation.

Especially if they insisted she move back in, because hell would have to freeze over before she ate that humble pie. She'd had to endure hearing all about Chris Diaz's background and how Elaine had him pegged as a career beat cop if he didn't screw up and get kicked out before he reached retirement.

Admitting that they'd been broken up for weeks would just be another failure her mother could hold over her head.

Yeah, that wasn't happening.

The house was cold enough to make Gail shiver as she walked through the entrance and headed towards the den. She walked through it and into the small office her father used when he worked from home.

She sat down and waited for the desktop to boot up. The password wasn't rocket science, Steve had figured it out when he'd been fifteen and it had never changed in all the times she'd used it.

William Peck

How arrogant did someone have to be to use their own name as their computer password?

It played right into all the comments she heard about Peck's being an over privileged dynasty that should have been past it's sell by date.

The only problem with trying to end the Peck reign in the Toronto police force was that there was just so damn many of them. Right now Gail had a cousin about to head to the academy and when he graduated he'd be one of almost forty members of the family still wearing the badge.

But Gail was trying not to care.

She was used to being the outsider, used to having no one to talk to at the academy, to eat with, so being frozen out at the station again was nothing new.

She'd been the idiot that thought things had started to change. That she was finally part of the group, but now she knew that had all been down to Chris.

And with Chris gone the others quickly stopped talking to her.

She should have seen that coming.

But she hadn't and that hurt.

The screen cleared and she connected to the network from the central building under her father's account. It wasn't the first time she'd used it and it probably wouldn't be the last.

She logged into a section and typed in a query.

Besides, her parents would have approved. Calling it initiative.

Her request returned a list of six files, she watched as more started to load into the open window on her screen.

"Great." She muttered with a sigh, before getting up to go get herself something to drink and some snacks. When she returned the list had grown to almost eighty case files. She picked up a can of soda and opened it before she clicked into the first file.

She had a couple of hours to try and form a solid plan for tonight, and then maybe she'd get to show Epstein and the rest that she was more than just a name.

She pulled over a writing pad and started making notes.

xxxxxx

AN/

I know, I know, but I just can't help it.

I think there's only five parts to this so that's something, right? Next part will be up at the weekend.

Thanks for reading ;)