Chapter 10 - Shaw

"Sir, is this an order?"

As soon as the words had left her mouth, she debated the wisdom of saying them. She didn't like questioning Agent Booth and rarely had occasion to do so. On the other hand, he seemed to appreciate it when she challenged him; he said it made them both better agents. Working with a wide variety of agents throughout her tenure at the Bureau quickly showed her how each one got into his/her own current position. Some trusted her with more than just gopher-type tasks, but also warned her against speaking out too much. Others said if she didn't speak out more, she wouldn't get anywhere. Still others, like Booth, made it so that it wasn't so much of a guessing game in what to do or how to act. Booth was straightforward. If he viewed her work as effective, he told her so. If not, he told her that, too.

Agent Flynn, on the other hand, fell into the smaller camp of assholes. Men like him were everywhere, but with this job it felt much more oppressive. If you lose your traction in the FBI, there isn't really another option. You get transferred to other branches, but everyone figures out quickly that it's because you stir up trouble. She'd worked very hard to get to this point, and in spite of not wanting to let Agent Booth down, she would not work with Flynn again unless there were no other options.

And so, she posed the question.

Booth looked at her in surprise. "No. It isn't. Is there something you want to tell me?"

She looked down at her hands uncomfortably. She predicted the question, but still wasn't sure about whether or not to answer fully. She could just say no and they would move on, but she also knew it would just be hanging there between them and she hated the idea of shifting their future interactions.

"Is there something you need to tell me?"

She glanced up at him as he set his lighter down in front of him on his desk and leaned forward, hands clasped and waited patiently.

Here goes nothing, she thought to herself. "I've worked with Agent Flynn two times before now. The first time was two years ago and I had only recently gotten promoted and transferred to homicide. Agent Flynn was one of the first Special Agents I worked with. Almost right from the start, though, he grilled me about everyone I had ever worked with since starting at the Bureau. I was ready for that since someone had warned me about the situation with his partner. But it was more than just his mistrust. He would also make side remarks about different women at the Bureau, then was much more direct." Please don't make me repeat all of the awful things he said, she followed up in her thoughts.

When Booth didn't say anything right away, she gathered more courage. "I didn't report it then, even though I should have. I know I should have, but my husband had just left me, and Danny was barely a year old and I didn't do a good job of handling everything. I should have been able to manage that better and stand up to Agent Flynn."

"You shouldn't have even had to deal with that crap at all. That's all on Flynn, not you."

She looked up and could see him trying to keep a calm and cool exterior. The tension below, evident in his voice especially, was what buoyed her and also validated her decision when she'd had to work with Flynn again. Shaw gave Booth half a smile in appreciation. "Some of it is on me. Especially this next part, which may jeopardize my chances of being able to work with you again, but you've always been fair and honest with me, sir."

"The second time you worked with him?"

"Yes, sir. He started talking inappropriately to me again and this time it was just after working the Broadsky case with you and I was worried about officially filing a complaint against Flynn because often that means the woman is transferred and the man only has to attend some sort of sensitivity training, which, begging your pardon, sir, is bullshit. So instead, I may have threatened Flynn that I would go to you, instead, unless he stopped harassing me that way."

Booth raised his eyebrows at Shaw's admission. "And that worked?"

Shaw couldn't seem to help herself and smiled. "As a matter of fact it did." Flynn had been suitably cowed by this threat, and while he was still difficult to work with as he became patronizingly polite, it was still better than it had been.

"Agent Shaw, you're right. It's all bullshit, but I wish you had come to me sooner. As it turns out, using me as a threat might just work out in the right channels, instead."

Shaw's expression quickly turned serious again. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have used your name like that, and I'll understand if you think I need to be transferred."

Booth shook his head. "You're not going anywhere. I'm sorry I suggested you work with the son-of-a-bitch again."

"You couldn't have known. And thank you."

Booth stood with her and started to walk her out of his office when he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"Speak of the devil," Booth muttered to himself.

"Excuse me?"

Booth looked up at Shaw. "I think we just came up with more solid corroborating evidence to help you out in ways you didn't expect."