Chapter 39: Marianne
Gus nervously yanked down on the hem of her very short, and very glittery silver tank dress. She felt like a walking disco ball and was praying that she didn't run into any midgets less they see more of her than even her gynecologist saw.
Thank god she was able to slip out of the precinct wearing a tench coat, otherwise she never would have heard the end of it from the guys.
Unfortunately, she had to leave the protective covering of the coat in the car and was now tottering up the street in what could only be described as 'hooker heels' and was praying she didn't fall flat on her almost exposed ass.
"This isn't going to work", she groaned, surveying the line snaking around the club behind the velvet ropes that were headed up by a very nasty looking, and apparently very discriminating bouncer.
"We'll be fine, just remember the cover story," Doyle said, leading her by her elbow.
Gus sniffed, "I've got the cover story, I just don't see how anyone is going to buy that I am am still a co-ed, for Christ's sake."
"You've seen these girls, they've done a lot of hard living in a short amount of time," Doyle countered.
"Are you saying I look like I've done a lot of hard living?" Gus shot back.
Jimmy Doyle looked stunned for a moment and then shook his head, "I've been married far too long to fall for anything like that."
Gus sighed with relief once they were past the bouncer, who waved them in after leering at Gus and taking the money Doyle slipped deftly into his giant paw.
The club was packed, on multiple themed levels and the lighting was such that you couldn't tell anyone's age very accurately. Gus felt this was good for her and very bad for potential victims.
She was perched on a bar stool when a sleazy looking man in a long leather coat sidled up next to her. Doyle had been running interference all night on the college boys and Wall Street types that had come her way, but he let this man get very close with no warning. Gus assumed this had to be a player.
"May I buy you a drink?" the olive skinned man asked, leaning in close so Gus could hear him over the music.
She took note of his accent, trying to place it, while taking in every detail about his face. "I already have one," she replied, gesturing at her cranberry and soda.
"Perhaps, some champagne in the lounge. Lovely drink for a lovely girl," the man continued, gently stroking her forearm.
Gus suppressed a shudder, this man had evil oozing from every pore. "But I don't even know your name,"she twittered, twisting a lock of hair around her finger.
"You may call me Marco, and what may I call you?" he prodded, looking around the room in a practiced manner.
Gus barely caught the hand signal he gave to anther man standing near a railing above them, she was praying Doyle had caught it as well. "I'm Savannah", Gus answered, extending her hand.
"Ah, Savannah, beautiful place, beautiful name, beautiful woman. So, are you visiting the city?" he asked, shaking her hand and then pulling her to her feet.
"No, I'm a student." Gus didn't give him anything more, wanting to see where he was going.
"A student, I see, and what do you study?" Marco pressed on, leading her up a set of stairs.
Gus tried to keep her story on script, while not falling in her tall heels, "Um, I haven't really decided yet, but I need to soon, or my parents will stop paying tuition and then I will have to move home to Alabama and I really don't want to do that, I hate it there."
Was it wishful thinking or had she seen a predatory gleam in Marco's eyes?
She followed him up the stairs, to a cushy area filled with couches and loungers and curtained VIP areas, hoping Doyle had seen which way they had gone.
Her heart both dropped and skipped a beat as Marco continued through the lounge to a hallway manned by another bouncer. Marco nodded at the bouncer, who barely even glanced in their direction. Gus knew there was no way Doyle was getting past that hunk of flesh.
She gulped, and asked, "where are we going?"
"Just to a special place, you see the owner of this club is my cousin and he has a place especially for the most beautiful girls", Marco explained, leading her down the hallway and through heavy velvet curtains.
Gus took a deep breath as the curtains parted, not knowing what to expect on the other side. She hoped this case went better than her last undercover episode, and wondered why she kept getting the prostitution cases.
The room was spacious enough, but windowless. Lit by hundreds of candles. A bar lined one wall, a wall of what appeared to be platform beds lined the other chaises and stools in the center.
Gus could barely make out three doorways in the black paint of the back wall. Marco nodded to the bartender, who in turn gestured to a scantily clad server. The server quickly brought over champagne in a bucket.
"Thank you, Kara", Marco said, grinning a wide smile at the server.
Gus sighed in relief that the champagne was still sealed, lessening the chances of it being drugged. She accepted the glass that Marco offered her, and sat on a lounger as he gestured for her to.
"So, undecided Savannah, which learning institution do you go to?"
"Chelsea", Gus answered quickly.
"Ah, yes, the Chelsea is very expensive, but very nice. I know lots of girls who...", Marco paused, "work for my cousin, who pay for school themselves. No worrying about meddling parents that way."
"As bartenders or something?" Gus queried, widening in her eyes in what she hoped was an innocent way.
"Or something." Marco displayed all of his many white teeth, reminding Gus of a shark.
She took a moment to glance around the room. The energy and tension in the room was palpable, but Gus knew she had to play somewhat dumb.
"Is your cousin hiring, because my job at the library pays jack," Gus giggled, leaning in towards Marco, while trying to not feel acid in her throat.
Marco slipped a finger under her chin and studied her intently. "It depends on what skills you have, how much experience."
"Oh," Gus started in, "I haven't really done much bar tending, but I am a real quick learner."
Marco opened his mouth to reply, but a raven haired beauty came up behind him and ran her hands over his shoulders and down his chest.
"Marco, I am bored, and I have the cutest pair of boots on hold at Bergdorf's, I promised the sales clerk I would pick them up tomorrow. I really really want these boots," she whined. The girl slithered between Marco and Gus, placing herself in his lap and pouting.
"And how much are these boots you want so badly, Marianne?"
"$1600, but they are Prada!" Marco looked at Marianne for a long beat. Marianne stretched out a long skinny leg and purred,"they would look so gorgeous on me, Marco, boys love girls in boots."
Gus inched out of the way, but not out of earshot.
"How short are you?" Marco asked.
"Two," Marianne answered.
"If you do not make enough tonight, I will give you the difference. Mr. Jefferies has made a reservation, and you know he tips well if he is treated well,"Marco gestured.
"Do I have time before he gets here?"Marianne asked, looking around the room with a predatory gleam. "Yes, now leave me alone, so I can talk to pretty Savannah here."
"Savannah, huh?" Marianne asked, taking stock of Gus for the first time. She looked her up and down, appraisingly. "Some men really do love that peaches and cream thing," Marianne said finally, before flouncing toward a man in a five thousand dollar suit.
"So what do you think?" Marco asked, looking Gus square on.
"$1600 is a lot of boots where I come from", she laughed.
"Oh, my cousin, he will like you."
"Does that mean you can get me an interview?" Gus gushed, hoping to sound sufficiently desperate.
Marco nodded, "Yes, but not tonight, tonight he is a very busy man. Come back on Monday, that is slow night."
"Oh, okay, I can come after my class", Gus replied, starting to rise.
Marco latched on to her wrist. "What is your hurry, you can stay and enjoy champagne with Marco, can't you, even if I can't give you a job, I can put in a very good word."
Gus pushed down the urge to twist his arm behind his back. "Sorry, I just thought you may be busy as well." "
Never too busy for drink with beautiful woman", Marco said, patting the empty space beside him.
Petty flirting and a little too much champagne later, Gus was thankful for a scuffle in one of the beds a while later. Marco rushed over to see what was the problem.
Which resulted in Gus being unceremonious pushed into the outer lounge area. She struggled to keep on her feet, more than a little relieved to see Jimmy Doyle sitting at the bar, chewing on a stir stick. She walked passed, catching his eye, heading for the stairs and exit.
Gus was around the corner, and freezing by the time Doyle caught up with her.
"You can move fast in those things", he remarked, slipping his jacket over her shoulders.
"When I am not falling on my ass that is," Gus joked back, looking around to make sure no one had followed them out of the club.
"So how did it go?" he asked.
"The guy was a total creeper, Jimmy, but it is not really a well hidden business. I just have to hope the girls are willing." Gus still shivered, despite the extra layer.
"Well, let's get back to the station and get the report written up. He didn't like touch you or anything?" Doyle studied her carefully.
"He was a little handsy, but not too inappropriate. How about you, did you raise any suspicion?"
Doyle shook his head, "luckily they had the game on, so I just tipped really well. I sort of felt like a creeper myself in there, everyone seemed so young."
"Which is why I was amazed Marco even picked me up", Gus replied.
"Oh come off it, Gus, you don't look any older than the co-eds."
"Thanks Doyle, you just made my week", Gus grinned, sliding into the car.
The hour was late enough that the pit was practically empty. Gus and Doyle steamrolled through their reporting, both eager to put the night behind them.
When his phone buzzed for what seemed like the hundredth time, Gus said looked at him pointedly, "Jimmy, I can finish the report on my own, get out of here."
"Are you sure?"
"Used to do all the paperwork with Flack", she replied offhandedly.
"So that's why he liked being partnered with you so much."
"Oh yeah, I am sure it was just that and not the fact that we were sleeping together."
The words came out of Gus' mouth without her meaning for them to. Doyle looked more than a little uncomfortable. "Er, sorry, inappropriate," Gus stammered.
"Nah, it's fine, I mean, everyone knows you two were more than just partners."
Gus raised her eyebrows, "yeah, well I suppose they do."
"Look, I'm going to head, Penny is actually giving me a few minutes of her precious time to talk so..." Doyle trailed off.
"Good for you, Jimmy, I hope you too can work things out."
"Me too, goodnight Broussard, take it easy in those heels."
"I plan on changing before I leave, thank you very much. See you later, Doyle", Gus waved him off and turned back to the paperwork.
Gus hustled down to the women's locker room, praying no one saw her. She groaned as she heard a voice behind her.
"Thought you said you were working a case tonight," Flack said, his voice full of something Gus couldn't put her finger on.
"I was, and now I am changing my clothes and going home," Gus shot back, bitterness filling her voice, her palm on the locker room door.
She stopped, not liking the continued tension between them. Flack had been short with her most of the week, after checking in with her to see how she was doing post Mac's latest debacle. "I'm sorry, Flack, I'm just tired," she apologized, turning and leaning against the door.
"It is late," Flack replied, shifting his weight as he stood before her.
"Yeah, it is, what are you doing here so late?" Gus said, looking at the clock above his head.
"Got called out to a scene at a cigar bar. Guy got half his face blown off. Lindsay and Stella are up in the lab processing stuff now. I'm just waiting."
"Smoking does kill," Gus joked, but stopped, taking in Flack's somber expression. She didn't say anything, just cocked her head to the side and hoped he would open up.
"Jimmy is a good guy," Flack said finally.
This was not what Gus had expected, and not sure what to make of it, she countered with, "he said the same about you."
Flack nodded before pressing on. "He and Penny still separated?"
Gus drew in a deep breath, not liking where this was going."Seems that way, not by his choice as far as I can tell though."
Flack made a strangled noise, his jaw set, "yeah right."
"Flack, don't start, please," Gus said, slumping down on the bench outside the locker room.
Flack waved his hand in front of her."What, look at you! You are barely wearing clothes, he's a hot blooded guy and you two are having to spend a lot of time together."
"And he is married." Gus felt compelled to bring this fact up, while she rushed to sort through the emotions flooding her.
Flack shot back, "You just said he is still separated. And so was Matthews."
Gus settled on anger. "That was different and this is a job, my job and Jimmy's job. You expect me to dress like a nun when trying to break up a prostitution ring? What does it matter what I am wearing anyway?"
"I know it is your job, but even if you are in Special Vics I still think of you as my partner and I just..." Flack trailed off, leaning back and looking at the ceiling for answers.
Gus stood up, a hand promptly placed on her hip."Don, we can't keep doing this, maybe I should put in for a full-time transfer."
Flack's head shot back as he stared her down, "is that what you want?"
Gus shook hers, "No, I don't think so, I like working homicides better, it is easier when the vic's are dead. I know that sounds cruel, but it's the truth. I just can't keep dealing with you everyday, with you questioning every male you see me within fifty feet of, with the team walking on eggshells, and with Angell..." Gus trailed off, stepping back towards the locker room.
"What about Angell?" Flack asked, opening a door he didn't know if he should.
Gus looked into his blue eyes for a long beat, not wanting to expound on her own jealousies. She reached behind her for the handle to the locker room door and opened it. "I'm going to change and then I'm gonna go home", she said finally, about to step back through the doorway,"I need to get some sleep."
Flack nodded slowly, "you wanna lift?"
Gus thought about it for a second before frowning slightly, "nah, I'll just get a cab."
Chapter 40: Catch Up
Gus sighed as her phone range and the precinct's exchanged showed up on the caller id. She closed the menu, left a couple of crumpled bills to cover her drink and hoped she might actually get a chance to eat that day. "Broussard," she answered wearily.
"Something really bad happened." It was not Lindsay's words that caused Gus' heart to drop, working for the NYPD meant bad things happened everyday, but her distraught tone.
"Linds, what's going on?" Gus wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer, the latest fiasco with Mac had been more than enough for her. Plus, she was working out the details on her current case and trying to sort out her feelings for Don.
"It's Danny." Lindsay said these words with such finality in her voice, that Gus quickened her step towards the precinct, all thoughts of a relaxing day off quickly vanishing her mind.
"What happened? Is he okay?"
"I don't know," Lindsay's voice cracked, Gus could clearly hear the tears in them.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Gus felt agitated at having to pull teeth. "Wait, never mind, I'll be there in less than 10."
"Hey, Gus, where's the fire?" Flack called out to her as she brushed passed him in the pit as he was slipping on his coat to leave.
"Lindsay called and I need to..." Gus tried to move around him, but his frame blocked her path.
"I didn't think you needed the lab on your case," Flack replied, eyebrows raised.
"It's not about my case, it's about Danny." Gus said through clenched teeth.
"Yeah, about that." His tone said a lot more than his words. Gus was about to press him for more information, but he moved in towards her, his voice lowered. "I was just hoping we could talk, you haven't returned my calls."
"It's been a busy few weeks Flack, and I don't think we have anything to talk about." Gus tried to keep her voice equally low, and looked around surreptitiously.
Flack moved in closer, reaching out for her, but withdrawing at the last second. "I think we do."
"Fine, whatever, but right now, I am going to see my friend and you can wait."
"Okay, but I 'm calling you when I get done clearing this up with Messer."
Gus raised an eyebrow at him in question, but turned toward the elevator to get the scoop from Lindsay.
Gus caught sight of Lindsay busy in one of the labs, but could see the tears threatening to fall from her friend's eyes on to the evidence she was processing.
"You don't want to compromise any evidence there Linds," Gus joked as she entered.
Lindsay jumped, "God, you sound like Mac. Of course we are getting reevaluated, so you are probably right."
Gus made a face. "I'll let that comment about sounding like Mac slide because I want to know what the hell is going on."
"Just let me finish this," Lindsay replied, making a final notation on a report before closing it.
Gus groaned, but didn't press her. She figured Danny had to be generally okay otherwise Flack would have said something downstairs, but was guessing something must have happened between him and Lindsay.
Gus wasn't really looking forward to playing relationship counselor at the moment, feeling like she had nothing useful to add given her own sad state of affairs.
"Do you want to grab a coffee?" Lindsay asked after sliding out of her lab coat.
"Does the Pope wear a dress?"Gus mumbled.
Lindsay cocked her head at the other woman, "what?"
"Nothing, let's go", Gus said, leading the way.
"Oh, I am sorry, Lindsay, I had no idea," Gus murmured after Lindsay told her about Ruben's death while under Danny's care and his withdrawal from the world.
"I know, but he totally brushed me off when I tried to talk to him, and I'm not very good at this sort of thing. And now he isn't answering my calls and he didn't show up again for work today. I keep covering for him but I am not sure Mac believes me. Plus, I never know what to even say to Danny when I do talk to him. I worry that he might be reconsidering...everything."
Gus patted her on the arm. "There is nothing to say, Lindsay. Did you tell Danny any of this?"
Lindsay cracked a small smile, "Now you really sound like Mac, he told me the same thing."
Gus rolled her eyes. "Just what I love to hear."
"You aren't supposed to be at work are you?" Lindsay asked suddenly, looking worried.
Gus shook her head, "Nope, couple of days off after going undercover, brief tomorrow before going back in again this weekend."
"Undercover?" Lindsay asked, "what have I missed?"
Gus quipped, "apparently about as much as I have," before briefing Lindsay on the prostitution ring running out of the nightclub.
"So you have to try to get them to get you to be a hooker?" Lindsay squeaked last words loud enough to cause others on the street to stare at them.
"Remember the undercover part?" Gus seethed.
"Sorry," Lindsay took a gulp of her coffee and then leaned in, "what's it like working Special Victims?"
"I'll tell you the same thing I told Flack, I like the DBs better, they don't talk back."
"So you are still talking to him?" Lindsay fished.
"I suppose you could say that", Gus answered, not really sure what was going on with Don.
Lost in thought, Gus didn't catch that Lindsay was talking until the other woman leaned across the table and waved her hand in front of her face, "Earth to Gus."
"Sorry, what?"
"I was asking if Jimmy Doyle was as nice of a guy as I heard he was."
"Why does everyone seem to care how nice a guy Jimmy Doyle is?" Gus huffed. Lindsay looked at her crestfallen. "Sorry, I didn't mean anything, Linds, he is nice, too nice for a cop if you ask me."
"Nice isn't such a bad thing, Gus."
"Married is," Gus shot back, but Lindsay was cut off by her phone ringing before she could reply. Gus cocked her head to the side as she listened to Lindsay's half of the conversation.
"Danny?" Lindsay nodded, "yeah, seems he finally wants to talk."
"Do you want me to walk back with you?" Gus asked, laying a hand on Lindsay's arm.
Lindsay shook her head, "No, I'm okay."
"Call me if you need anything."
"I will," Lindsay promised, giving Gus a quick hug.
Gus quickly discovered how much slower things moved in divisions other than homicide, especially when building an intricate undercover case. She was used to trying desperately to solve a crime in the first 48 hours after it happened, running high on adrenaline and bad coffee, in hopes of putting the bad guy away.
Instead, she was forced into endless surveillance, briefings, intelligence gathering, analysis, and the occasionally short stint in the club wearing something as a dress she would normally wear as a shirt. The team was great to work with though and they all appreciated having her assistance, even if they did have to constantly reign her in and tell her to calm down. Doyle threatened more than once to cut off her coffee supply, but luckily never did.
The case was complicated enough to step on a few toes on both Vice and the Feds, but they were able to leave the Brass to fight those battles.
Despite having been welcomed by the guys on the team and the about to go in to labor at any second Fields, Gus still felt isolated from her homicide and Crime Lab family.
She felt even more of an outsider being forced to watch the Suspect X case unfold on television like any old member of John Q. Public. Maybe she did have a little bit more insight, but not a lot.
The isolation and separation was almost enough for her to return one of Don's phone calls, but even those seem to have tapered off somewhat. Gus instead chose to call her uncle and convince him it had been too long since he had actually used his state of the art kitchen in his condo.
"So you are calling to invite yourself over for dinner, Gussie?" Mac asked with a straight face.
"You want to see me or not, Uncle Mac? I'm tired of take out."
"You do know how to cook, Gus, I know you do."
"Fine, fine, you can come over here then, I'll make a big pot of spicy nutria gumbo," Gus teased, knowing Mac had never quite acquired as taste for the don't ask, don't tell qualities of South Louisiana cooking.
"I'll see you at 7, Gus, though Stella will be joining us, she has been staying here since her apartment fire."
Gus wasn't barely able to squeeze out a squeak of shock, feeling further and further left behind.
Gus and Stella were deep into the bottle of red wine she had brought, while Mac finished up cooking dinner while catching Gus up on all the exploits of the team and the Suspect X case.
He tried to not notice the glare in her eyes as he described Flack and Angell going undercover as a parks worker and a Marilyn Monroe wannabe. He didn't want to push, despite the fact that he knew his niece could use a good pushing to get out of her head and actually admit that she was still in love with her possibly former partner.
But Mac didn't want to go there, he had enough trouble dealing with Lindsay and Danny, not to mention the dance going on between Kendall and Adam. Besides, he had witnessed time and time again how bad work relationships could go.
"Sounds like I've been missing out on a boatload of fun." Gus drawled as she emptied her glass.
"Special Victim's not exciting enough for you, Gus? Figured you would enjoy the break," Stella asked after briefing Gus on her hunt for a new apartment and the reason for needing one.
"Exciting in a different way, it is difficult having to interact with people who are alive." Gus shrugged, feeling more than a little depressed.
"Says the former psychologist," Mac chided.
"Yeah well..." Gus caught a look between Stella and Mac. "What?"
"Are you going to ask her or not Mac?" Stella asked pointedly.
"Ask me about what?" Gus prayed it had nothing to do with Don or her personal life.
"We're working a case. I think, no I know, it is a serial killer, but I can't seem to get the time or resources to spend on it and 1PP doesn't want to start a public panic because we are pretty sure the killer is a cab driver." Mac rubbed a hand over his face and Gus realized how worn her uncle looked.
"Jesus, Uncle Mac! Is there anything I can do?"
Mac looked at Gus for a long moment, studying her carefully not sure if she could handle any more on her plate.
"Mac," Stella whispered.
"Do you have any time to look over the file, see what you think?" His tone was hesitant.
"I'm not an official profiler, Mac, you know that, but yeah, I can have a look. This case has a lot of hurry up and wait. And too many short dresses," Gus said with a grin as Mac slid a plates of food in front of the three of them.
Chapter 41: Outside Looking In
Gus was deep in the files from Mac while waiting on the rest of the Special Vics squad to assemble for the meeting Fields had called.
She sighed, shaking her head at what she read. Hairs stood up on her neck. While Gus had been honest with her uncle, she wasn't a profiler, but enough work with some seriously demented individuals had taught her more than a little about the mind of killers.
Not to mention she had read everything ever released on the subject of serial killers since the death of her parents. She didn't even hear Jimmy Doyle enter the room until he sat across from her, sliding a coffee in her direction.
"That all new info on the case?" he asked, as her head jerked up.
"No, it's all from Mac Taylor, about the taxi case. He wanted my other professional opinion on it."
Jimmy was an intuitive enough cop to decipher what she was saying. "They calling the feds in, think it is a serial?"
"Mac wouldn't call the Feds in if he had twenty serials he was chasing. I never have understood how a Marine could hate the FBI so much."
"I don't hate them, I just don't like them taking all the glory!" Lieutenant Fields remarked as she entered the room, one hand on her lower back and the other on her enormous belly. She was seemingly seconds away from going into labor, a fact that put the whole squad on edge, loosing leadership while making such a big case paved the way for Major Case or the feds to swoop in and pick it up.
"I wasn't talking about you, Loo, I was talking about my uncle, but it seems to be a common sentiment."
Fields looked at the folders spread around Gus, studying the younger woman carefully. "You need to take some time, help him out? I was calling this meeting to try to ramp up this case, but I understand-"
Gus put up her hand in protest, "No, of course not, Loo, I just was looking over some files while I had some downtime. I am 100% on board with this case. Mac can afford a professional consultation."
Fields raised her eyebrows, "if you say so," she replied as Doyle found the most comfortable chair for her.
The rest of the team assembled and listened to Fields rant about all the other squads that wanted in on their case and how tenuous a hold they had on keeping it.
"And in case you hadn't noticed, though I don't see how unless you are blind, I am about to drop this baby at any second. In order to ensure that the vultures don't steal this case from under us, I am naming Doyle as acting Lieutenant as of now. Given what happened with Inspector Gerrard recently, it is important we dot all of our is and cross all of our ts. He's now the man with the plan, so please turn your attention over to him."
Gus cocked her head as Jimmy moved to the head of the table, despite plenty of time together, he hadn't mentioned anything about being named acting Lieutenant, so she had to wonder if he knew about it before now.
Judging by his well crafted action plan, she only could assume he had. She tried to listen to him carefully, knowing she was going to be saddled with infiltrating the club, but her eyes kept wandering to the stack of files Mac had given her and her silenced cell phone that kept blinking with calls from Reed.
After finally leaving the conference room many hours later, Gus attempted to find a place to listen to the stream of voice mails from her cousin. The precinct was in an uproar, and it didn't take long for Gus to decipher that Mac had lost his patience with the NYPD regarding the taxi cab killer and had called a press conference revealing the presence of a serial killer in the city.
"Way to light it on fire, Uncle Mac," she groaned, watching a replay of the evening news. Gus picked up her cell phone, eager to see what trouble Reed was getting into, given his public questioning of Mac.
"Detective Broussard, hold up," Fields said, wobbling towards her.
"Lieutenant, what's up?" Gus asked, locking her phone again.
"I meant what I said earlier, even before I knew about all this," Fields gestured at the televisions blaring around them. "If you need time, you can take it, Doyle has some other avenues to pursue, you can wait to go back in UC."
Gus looked up at the television and then around the chaos around her. She was torn, being back as part of the Lab team, her family really, was something she yearned for in her heart.
But Gus felt she had a chance to prove herself as a good cop in her own right with the SV squad, with no one pulling strings or accusing her of unprofessional behavior.
She caught sight of Flack in the homicide pit, angrily growling into the phone. He slammed it down with great force, causing Gus' heart to lurch. It dropped into her stomach though, as she saw Detective Angell swoop in and grab his arm to calm him down.
It was time to let go of the past and this was her chance to do so.
"Nope, I meant what I said before, I am 100% on board with Special Vics and this case, I want to give it my all. Thank you, Loo, for giving me this chance."
Fields smiled, "don't thank me, thank Doyle, he's the one who threw your name out in the first place."
Gus looked at her with her head cocked, about to question when Fields clutched her stomach. "Before you get changed, can you call my husband? I'm pretty sure I just went into labor."
Gus' eyes went wide as she reached for Field's cell phone and prayed the woman didn't give birth in the hallway.