Rules of Engagement : Cop AU


There was a lot of commotion coming from one the interrogating rooms. Everyone in the bullpen had a fairly good idea what was going on, but they kept their heads down out of respect. It wasn't their business anyway; however, if Detective Lance yelled any louder everyone would be privy to it.

Laurel stood patiently in the bullpen waiting for the argument to go from a rolling boil to a slow simmer. There was a young and anxious man sitting in the desk beside her and he kept glancing from her to the closed door nervously. Laurel surreptitiously side-eyed him with a raised brow. He was a fresh-faced brunette, probably recently earned his detectives shield, and he was in for it if this is how he reacted to in-house drama. He didn't even look like he belonged there. Laurel saw a box under his desk which confirmed her suspicions.

"Um...should I..." He floundered for some kind of appropriate response when the 'silence' became stifling.

"How long has this been going on?" Laurel kept her gaze on the door and mentally went through her errands for the rest of the day. Meeting with a client, lunch with Tommy, dinner with the family -she was cooking. A trip to the store was in order.

"I dunno, almost a minute?" He failed to keep the curiosity out of his voice.

He had a lot to learn. Laurel decided to throw him a scrap of advice, "This happens at least once a week. If they don't get it out of their system then it makes work miserable. For all parties involved," she looked at the name plate on the desk, "Detective Allen." Laurel was compiling a mental grocery list when the door opened and her father stepped out, closing the door behind him.

"Laurel, daughter of mine-" Detective Quentin Lance stopped short at the look she gave him as she crossed her arms. He should have known better than to try redirecting the issue with one of Starling City's best lawyers. Quentin ran a hand over his face and pointed a finger a her, "Now don't you star-"

"Dad, its a bogus case that wouldn't hold up in any court. You know it, I know it, and she knows it. You wanna tell me what that was really about?" Laurel could hear Allen shuffling awkwardly in his seat.

When it didn't look like he was going to answer Allen stood up. "Detective Lance?"

Quentin swiveled his head towards him. "And you are?" He didn't bother hiding the irritation from his voice.

"Detective Barry Allen, sir." He stuck out his hand.

So he was a new partner. Laurel put the issue on the back burner and watched in amusement as her father made no effort to hide the way he sized up Barry followed by a simple "you" in a rather disbelieving tone. Barry just put his arm down.

Quentin saw Felicity Smoak walking into the bullpen with a file in her hand and welcomed the chance to avoid his discussion with Laurel. "Ah, Miss Smoak, please tell me you've got something."

Laurel rolled her eyes at her father's evasive technique and caught Barry looking at Felicity, the tech specialist. Felicity was the only MIT graduate in the precinct, and, as far as tech analysts went, she would make one hell of a detective if she didn't prefer working with computers. Something occurred to Laurel.

"Detective, who were you assigned to?"

Barry whipped his head around so quickly Laurel was surprised he didn't give himself whiplash. "Please, call me Allen, everyone else does," he lamely joked and cleared his throat. "I've been assigned to Detective Lance." He looked back at Quentin with a small frown before his gaze fell back to Felicity again. "Uh, you know everyone around the precinct, right? Do you know her?"

He had no idea what he was walking into and Laurel decided to have a little fun at his expense, "You mean Felicity? She's works with the tech crews, real nice, too." It wasn't a lie. Laurel really liked Felicity, loved her even. She couldn't say the same about Nyssa from Major Crimes; not that she could deny her skills, they were as legendary as her father Ra's, but Laurel was hoping that she would follow in her fathers footsteps and Inter Pol would snatch her up -for less than altruistic reasons.

Laurel noticed Felicity waving her hands around while she talked with her father and looked back at Barry as he sported a ridiculous grin. She had half a mind to bop him on the forehead with his own badge. He'll learn. "I suggest you be careful with her. The entire precinct will have it out for should you hurt her." That was a little bit of lie, not that he needed to know. The door to the interrogation room opened again.

"By the way," when Barry looked back at her she pointed to the door, "there's your new partner."

Sara strutted over to where Laurel was standing and gave her a hug. "Laurel, I wasn't expecting to see you here today. Is everything okay?"

"I came in to pick up some files and remind my little sister that tonight we're having a family dinner." Laurel caught Sara glancing over her shoulder at Barry and narrowing her eyes a little. As much as she wanted to stick around to see how this played out she needed to leave. "Well I'll leave you to it, and dinner is at eight. Detective, it was nice meeting you." With that, Laurel left, but not without whispering "play nice" to Sara.

Sara looked at the man in front of her as he stuck out his hand. He looked like the kind of guy that probably lived in his mothers basement.

"I'm Barry Allen, your new partner."

She waited a beat before she shook his hand, "Detective Sara Lance. The transfer from Central, right? Welcome to Homicide à la Starling City." Felicity walked over to her with a file in hand Sara didn't miss the way Barry's eyes followed her. "Felicity, meet my new partner Detective Barry Allen."

Felicity shook his hand. "Felicity Smoak. It's a pleasure to meet you." Sara caught Barry glancing at her hand and kept her face perfectly neutral. Felicity must have seen the mischievous glint in her eye and said, "Don't let her give you any trouble. If she does just come see me."

Barry laughed at that. "That shouldn't be a problem."

Sara ignored the comment and purposefully put her left hand on Felicity's arm when she had Barry's attention "By the way, Laurel wants the family over for dinner at eight tonight." The look on Barry's face when he finally puts two and two together would be well worth any imminent backlash Felicity would give her for that little display.

He didn't disappoint. Barry cleared his throat and Felicity had to walk away before she started giggling.

"Well, now that you're here why don't I bring you up to speed on the case I'm working?"