Disclaimer: Portions of Frank Capra's "It's A Wonderful Life" and L&O
characters were used without permission.
Lennie pushed through the door leading to the squad room and headed to his desk. Bleary eyed, he was oblivious to the usual hubbub and activity of the other detectives as they went about their daily routines. After dumping more paperwork onto his ever growing 'to be typed' pile, he slid out of his all-weather coat and draped it haphazardly over a hanger before shoving it into the overfull rack.
He wasn't feeling it today. The ever present desire that he'd always felt for 'the job'. It seemed to be on hiatus and quite possibly, checked out for good. Jack McCoy had just busted his chops over some ass backward ruling that threw out a suspect's confession. Lennie knew things had changed a lot over the years, but in the past whenever he'd asked someone in English if they understood their rights and they answered in reasonably comprehensible English that they did, any confession that came afterwards was good enough to take to the bank.
Now some idiot defense attorney had convinced some equally moronic judge that just because the suspect's first language wasn't English he hadn't fully understood, and therefore his rights had been violated. Lennie snorted as he remembered the interrogation. The guy had understood enough English to try and get his ass out of the fire once he smelled the smoke and felt it burning. This latest 'no comprende' routine was a load of bullshit.
Lennie watched his young partner breeze in and immediately felt the energy that seemed to charge the air wherever he went. Ed Green was a good kid and a good cop. His temper had occasionally landed them both in tight spots over the course of their partnership, but Lennie always knew his intentions were honorable. Ed pursued every case with the drive and single- mindedness of someone who genuinely believed that he could effect change. The job got to him, sure. It got to everybody from time to time. But Ed possessed something that was essential to doing what could, over time, begin to feel like a thankless job; the ability to shake it off and bounce back. Lennie envied him that because, as much as he'd fought admitting it to himself, he felt it slipping away.
"Hey man." Ed chirped brightly. Lennie responded with a lack luster wave that seemed more like he was swatting flies than greeting someone. "Where'd you disappear to?" Ed asked as he slipped out of his suit coat and hung it over the back of his chair. "I thought we were gonna meet up outside the court house and go check out that tip Roscoe's girl gave us."
Lennie grimaced, stupefied that he'd completely forgotten all about that after running into McCoy. Truth be told, he hadn't been particularly looking forward to chasing down some half baked lead supplied by a pipe head that more then likely would amount to nothing. Plus, he had kind of a weird feeling about it that he couldn't explain. But it was part of the job, and God forbid they didn't exhaust all possible sources to bring a perp to justice. They knocked themselves out everyday building credible cases only to have their conduct and professionalism put under a microscope if some crook's feelings got hurt in the process. And he was tired of it. Tired of what seemed to have turned into a game where every call the officials made went in the bad guys favor.
"So you wanna get on that?" Ed had been talking to him, but he hadn't been listening.
"Get on what?" Lennie grabbed his mug and got up to get coffee. As he reached for the pot, he noticed that someone had put it back on the burner empty and the heat had cracked the glass bottom. "Damn!" He groused. "Is it asking too much to turn off the burner if the pot is empty?"
Ed turned around in time to see him chunk the ruined coffee pot into the trash. "Geez Lennie, calm down." He cautioned. "Man, it ain't that serious."
"You think?" Lennie shot back as he crossed the squad room to the other coffee station. He poured his coffee and was heading back to his desk when Anita called him.
"Say, Lennie?"
Reluctantly he backtracked to her office and popped his head in, hoping she wasn't about to deliver news that would make a crappy day even crappier.
"You bellowed?"
Anita got up from her desk and walked to where he stood at the door. "You can wipe the scowl off your face, Detective. This isn't official business."
Lennie feigned a pathetic smile and Anita snorted. "My goodness, you're in a bad way today. Wanna talk about it?"
"Pass." Lennie said and sipped the hot coffee.
"Well anyway, I just wanted to invite you guys to come by the store tonight for the annual Christmas blowout. Donnie's closing things down at seven and he thinks we should be ready to roll around eight." Lennie nodded and Anita relaxed against the door frame as she spoke to him. "Rick's about to pop waiting to hear your latest---" she cleared her throat and paused for affect, "jokes, I believe you call them."
This revelation managed to elicit a genuine smile. "Hey Lieu, that's real nice of you, but to be honest I'm not really in a festive mood."
"What?" Anita laughed. "You mean you're gonna pass up the chance to corrupt my child? C'mon Lennie." She urged, poking him in the side. "It ain't a party without your one liner's. Besides, you know we love having you."
Lennie appreciated the sentiment, but he just didn't feel like socializing. He shook his head definitively. "No, I think you guys are gonna have to take turns going into the men's room and read the wall." He quipped. "That's where I get most of my material anyway."
"Okay, Lennie." Anita sighed, disappointed. "Are you sure you don't need to talk about anything? You seem a little out of sorts." He raised an eyebrow and she shrugged. "Well, I mean even for you."
"Actually, I'm not really feeling so hot today. I think I'm coming down with whatever's going around." He lied, making little effort to sound convincing. "If it's all the same to you, I think I'm gonna knock off early and go take something for it."
Anita nodded as she studied him and he shifted uncomfortably. He needed to get out quick because she had a knack for rooting stuff out of people. Lennie threw in a forced cough for good measure.
"All right, Lennie. You can go ahead and take off. I'll let Green know what's going on." She said and before she could finish the sentence, he was halfway to his desk. He deposited the half empty cup on the pile of paperwork he'd dumped earlier. If he was lucky, somebody might knock it over. Anita and Ed watched as he trudged over to retrieve his coat and slung it over his shoulder.
"Feel better." She called after him and he waved over his shoulder.
Confused, Ed turned to look at Anita who shook her head and shrugged. She continued to mull it over as she walked back to her desk and sat down. She was tempted to phone Lennie's apartment and leave a message for him to call her when he got in, but she didn't get to finish the thought. Another one of her detectives knocked on the door and stepped into her office.
"Say, Lieu. Can you take a look at this?" He asked before shoving a report under her nose. Whatever was going on with Lennie would just have to keep until tomorrow.
****
Lennie unlocked his door and pushed it open. He walked into the living room and dropped his keys and coat onto the couch before shrugging off his suit coat and tossing it on top. He slid into his recliner and picked up the remote. After clicking it on, he settled on a re-run of 'Columbo' and leaned back into the soft leather of the chair. He only half watched the show, and as he sat there many thoughts ran through his head.
He'd stayed too long. A few years ago, if anybody brought up the subject of retirement, he'd cringe and fire off one of his signature wise cracks.
"Retire? And do what? Take up needle point? No thanks!"
Now he was beginning to seriously consider hanging up the shield. It was a different world. He couldn't turn on the t.v. or pick up a paper without seeing how some crook had walked free on a technicality. His job was useless. Justice, it seemed, had become the exception and not the rule. It didn't make sense to continue to exert the physical energy (which required a greater effort for him with each passing year) and the emotional investment it took to be a good cop because it didn't make a difference. It hadn't made a difference in a long time. At least he hadn't.
Lennie yawned and his eyelids felt heavy with sleep. "Hell. I shoulda retired years ago." He mumbled to himself. As he drifted off to sleep, he chuckled at a joke someone made about Columbo's infamous overcoat.
Lennie pushed through the door leading to the squad room and headed to his desk. Bleary eyed, he was oblivious to the usual hubbub and activity of the other detectives as they went about their daily routines. After dumping more paperwork onto his ever growing 'to be typed' pile, he slid out of his all-weather coat and draped it haphazardly over a hanger before shoving it into the overfull rack.
He wasn't feeling it today. The ever present desire that he'd always felt for 'the job'. It seemed to be on hiatus and quite possibly, checked out for good. Jack McCoy had just busted his chops over some ass backward ruling that threw out a suspect's confession. Lennie knew things had changed a lot over the years, but in the past whenever he'd asked someone in English if they understood their rights and they answered in reasonably comprehensible English that they did, any confession that came afterwards was good enough to take to the bank.
Now some idiot defense attorney had convinced some equally moronic judge that just because the suspect's first language wasn't English he hadn't fully understood, and therefore his rights had been violated. Lennie snorted as he remembered the interrogation. The guy had understood enough English to try and get his ass out of the fire once he smelled the smoke and felt it burning. This latest 'no comprende' routine was a load of bullshit.
Lennie watched his young partner breeze in and immediately felt the energy that seemed to charge the air wherever he went. Ed Green was a good kid and a good cop. His temper had occasionally landed them both in tight spots over the course of their partnership, but Lennie always knew his intentions were honorable. Ed pursued every case with the drive and single- mindedness of someone who genuinely believed that he could effect change. The job got to him, sure. It got to everybody from time to time. But Ed possessed something that was essential to doing what could, over time, begin to feel like a thankless job; the ability to shake it off and bounce back. Lennie envied him that because, as much as he'd fought admitting it to himself, he felt it slipping away.
"Hey man." Ed chirped brightly. Lennie responded with a lack luster wave that seemed more like he was swatting flies than greeting someone. "Where'd you disappear to?" Ed asked as he slipped out of his suit coat and hung it over the back of his chair. "I thought we were gonna meet up outside the court house and go check out that tip Roscoe's girl gave us."
Lennie grimaced, stupefied that he'd completely forgotten all about that after running into McCoy. Truth be told, he hadn't been particularly looking forward to chasing down some half baked lead supplied by a pipe head that more then likely would amount to nothing. Plus, he had kind of a weird feeling about it that he couldn't explain. But it was part of the job, and God forbid they didn't exhaust all possible sources to bring a perp to justice. They knocked themselves out everyday building credible cases only to have their conduct and professionalism put under a microscope if some crook's feelings got hurt in the process. And he was tired of it. Tired of what seemed to have turned into a game where every call the officials made went in the bad guys favor.
"So you wanna get on that?" Ed had been talking to him, but he hadn't been listening.
"Get on what?" Lennie grabbed his mug and got up to get coffee. As he reached for the pot, he noticed that someone had put it back on the burner empty and the heat had cracked the glass bottom. "Damn!" He groused. "Is it asking too much to turn off the burner if the pot is empty?"
Ed turned around in time to see him chunk the ruined coffee pot into the trash. "Geez Lennie, calm down." He cautioned. "Man, it ain't that serious."
"You think?" Lennie shot back as he crossed the squad room to the other coffee station. He poured his coffee and was heading back to his desk when Anita called him.
"Say, Lennie?"
Reluctantly he backtracked to her office and popped his head in, hoping she wasn't about to deliver news that would make a crappy day even crappier.
"You bellowed?"
Anita got up from her desk and walked to where he stood at the door. "You can wipe the scowl off your face, Detective. This isn't official business."
Lennie feigned a pathetic smile and Anita snorted. "My goodness, you're in a bad way today. Wanna talk about it?"
"Pass." Lennie said and sipped the hot coffee.
"Well anyway, I just wanted to invite you guys to come by the store tonight for the annual Christmas blowout. Donnie's closing things down at seven and he thinks we should be ready to roll around eight." Lennie nodded and Anita relaxed against the door frame as she spoke to him. "Rick's about to pop waiting to hear your latest---" she cleared her throat and paused for affect, "jokes, I believe you call them."
This revelation managed to elicit a genuine smile. "Hey Lieu, that's real nice of you, but to be honest I'm not really in a festive mood."
"What?" Anita laughed. "You mean you're gonna pass up the chance to corrupt my child? C'mon Lennie." She urged, poking him in the side. "It ain't a party without your one liner's. Besides, you know we love having you."
Lennie appreciated the sentiment, but he just didn't feel like socializing. He shook his head definitively. "No, I think you guys are gonna have to take turns going into the men's room and read the wall." He quipped. "That's where I get most of my material anyway."
"Okay, Lennie." Anita sighed, disappointed. "Are you sure you don't need to talk about anything? You seem a little out of sorts." He raised an eyebrow and she shrugged. "Well, I mean even for you."
"Actually, I'm not really feeling so hot today. I think I'm coming down with whatever's going around." He lied, making little effort to sound convincing. "If it's all the same to you, I think I'm gonna knock off early and go take something for it."
Anita nodded as she studied him and he shifted uncomfortably. He needed to get out quick because she had a knack for rooting stuff out of people. Lennie threw in a forced cough for good measure.
"All right, Lennie. You can go ahead and take off. I'll let Green know what's going on." She said and before she could finish the sentence, he was halfway to his desk. He deposited the half empty cup on the pile of paperwork he'd dumped earlier. If he was lucky, somebody might knock it over. Anita and Ed watched as he trudged over to retrieve his coat and slung it over his shoulder.
"Feel better." She called after him and he waved over his shoulder.
Confused, Ed turned to look at Anita who shook her head and shrugged. She continued to mull it over as she walked back to her desk and sat down. She was tempted to phone Lennie's apartment and leave a message for him to call her when he got in, but she didn't get to finish the thought. Another one of her detectives knocked on the door and stepped into her office.
"Say, Lieu. Can you take a look at this?" He asked before shoving a report under her nose. Whatever was going on with Lennie would just have to keep until tomorrow.
****
Lennie unlocked his door and pushed it open. He walked into the living room and dropped his keys and coat onto the couch before shrugging off his suit coat and tossing it on top. He slid into his recliner and picked up the remote. After clicking it on, he settled on a re-run of 'Columbo' and leaned back into the soft leather of the chair. He only half watched the show, and as he sat there many thoughts ran through his head.
He'd stayed too long. A few years ago, if anybody brought up the subject of retirement, he'd cringe and fire off one of his signature wise cracks.
"Retire? And do what? Take up needle point? No thanks!"
Now he was beginning to seriously consider hanging up the shield. It was a different world. He couldn't turn on the t.v. or pick up a paper without seeing how some crook had walked free on a technicality. His job was useless. Justice, it seemed, had become the exception and not the rule. It didn't make sense to continue to exert the physical energy (which required a greater effort for him with each passing year) and the emotional investment it took to be a good cop because it didn't make a difference. It hadn't made a difference in a long time. At least he hadn't.
Lennie yawned and his eyelids felt heavy with sleep. "Hell. I shoulda retired years ago." He mumbled to himself. As he drifted off to sleep, he chuckled at a joke someone made about Columbo's infamous overcoat.