The walk back to SPD Headquarters had taken some time for Lina. Eventually though Lina realised she had to face the music and return to Headquarters. It had been several hours since Z left in the squad car but strangely there hadn't been any calls through her morpher. She wasn't expecting anything from Z but to hear nothing from dispatch was unusual. Either it was a quiet day or Tate had found out about the bust up and was on the war path. As Lina glumly approached Headquarters, she prayed that it was the former.
The blue ranger entered the building and immediately headed towards the dispatch center, a room where you confirmed your return from a patrol, but she was stopped by the voice of Kat Manx, "Officer Song", the chief scientist began, "you're wanted in the briefing room".
Dread filled the blue ranger and she hesitantly followed Kat towards the elevators. Mentally she had resigned herself towards a quick return to containment. If she couldn't get along with the team then her mission for the Supreme Commander was pointless. The elevator doors opened and the pair stepped inside. As they began their ascent the mood was silent and tense. Lina didn't dare speak, fearing the wrath of the feline woman. "I hear that you bumped into Jack earlier", Kat said, breaking the silence, "and that you apprehended a shoplifter".
"The suspect was already restrained when Officer Delgardo and I arrived", Lina replied curtly, "unfortunately the proprietor refused to press charges against the individual".
Kat nodded, taking the words onboard, "It's a shame you chose to stay behind and sort out the paperwork whilst Officer Delgardo assisted with the attempted robbery on the other side of town". Lina's head snapped towards Kat and she desperately tried to keep her face as neutral as possible. Kat quickly thrust a tablet in the blue ranger's direction, stealing her thumb print in the process. The manoeuvre had been too for Lina to react, she was still stunned that Kat appeared to be covering for her, "I hope your grateful for this", Kat added with a hushed whisper, "but let's make this clear, I'm doing this for Z's benefit and not for yours".
Lina's eyes scanned the report, somehow the document contained every detail of the incident, right down to the name of the young thief. "I'm very grateful", the blue ranger began hesitantly, "but I don't understand why or even how you got hold of this?"
"Dispatch contacted Tate when only Z reported to the robbery", Kat began, "fortunately he was away from the office so they called me. I contacted Z and she told me about the little incident you two had". Lina could feel the green eyes of the scientist piercing into her conscience, "Against my better judgement she convinced me not to report it to Tate. One quick call to Jack later and voila, one completed report.
Fortunately he still remembered how to complete an SPD incident report". Kat sighed and looked away from Lina, "This is the only time I'm covering for you and if you upset one of the team again, it won't be Tate you'll have to worry about, it'll be me".
Silence descended on the elevator until a soft ding indicated their arrival on the top floor. Just as Kat was about to exit, Lina offered her a soft, "Thank you". The scientist looked surprised at the gesture before nodded in acceptance. A small flicker of hope burned through the blue ranger but she was still curious as to why Z had covered for her. Back on her old squad something like that would've been jumped upon, especially by a lower rank. Z's actions would've been seen as a sign of weakness by the old A Squad or Timeforce but somehow Lin knew that wasn't how this team worked. She had been given a lifeline and she wasn't about to let the opportunity slide.
Inside the command center, Tate and the rest of B Squad were already waiting. The blue ranger could almost feel the simmering anger from the brunette, even from this distance. Feeling deflated once again, Lina tried to turn her attention back to the briefing but the towering presence of Tate blocked her vision, "You're late", he growled.
"My apologies Commander", Lina replied as politely as she could and offered him a salute, "I'm still getting used to filling out the bureaucratic SPD paperwork". A small snort of laughter emanated from the corner of the room. The sharp glare Sky gave Syd told her it was the pink ranger who found that funny.
"Hmm", Tate practically snatched the tablet from her hand and began to read, "this hasn't been filed with the desk Sergeant yet?"
"Didn't get a chance Sir, Doctor Manx told me my presence was needed immediately", Lina lied smoothly, her face a total blank mask.
"I see", Lina wasn't sure if the Commander brought her excuse but as he placed the tablet on his desk, she knew that he wasn't going to question it further. For now at least.
As the Commander loaded up the briefing, Lina could see out the corner of her eye that Z was staring in her direction. Maybe she was expecting the blue ranger to land her in hot water with Tate. Leaving your partner alone in the field was a serious offence, even if you had been the one offended by the other. Throw in taking their only mode of transport and that could've seen Z suspended. This was why Doctor Manx had covered for the yellow ranger Lina realised, to protect Z not her.
If the rest of B Squad knew what had happened in Jack's store, Lina noticed they weren't letting on. She knew the squad was tight so it was pretty certain they knew something was off between the pair. Lina might not have been Bridge's biggest fan but he would do what was best for the team and for now, that appeared to be silence. "For the benefit of our newest addition can someone recap the last assignment we were working on", Tate said to the rest of B Squad.
"Ooh I've got this one", Bridge raised his hand enthusiastically, drawing an eye roll from the rest of the room, "we were gaining intelligence on whats left of Ransick's empire".
"Ransick" Lina asked, "I didn't know they had a presence in the city now".
"They haven't really", Kat fielded the blue ranger's question, "they've attempted to gain a foot hold in the city two years ago". Kat said.
"Things have changed since you've been away", Tate said and Lina immediately picked up on the hidden context of his statement. Although she was a little annoyed, suddenly everything felt right with the world again. "After we arrested the Scorpion Cartel, Ransick used Grumm's invasion to sneak under our radar and set up a few operations in Newtech".
"What kind of operations are we talking about?" Syd asked, "must be pretty serious to get B Squad involved".
"Last time it was drugs", Lina interjected, "they wanted to use Newtech as a stopover point so they could continue their drug route towards DC. If I recall A Squad were sent in to prove a point, I believe they were the words Commander Cruger used" she added with a triumphant smirk.
Tate growled, leaving Lina feeling extremely satisfied with getting her own back. "Whilst I'll admit a show of force worked last time, this is different. Ransick isn't running drugs, they're running people".
"Illegals?" Bridge questioned.
"Mutants and hookers is more their style", Lina shrugged, "preying on the venerable, usually the young girls that are dependent on their drugs, plus getting mutants around unnoticed" The rest of B Squad looked at her in surprise, "We spent the best part of a year trying to flush them out of our city", she shook her head, Tate nodded sadly, "Yes that was a tough time but that mission was flawed", he said firmly, "that's why we're having this briefing today". He pulled up a map of the city, focusing on the area down by the city airport, "Our intelligence is telling us that Ransick have opened a brothel just outside the airport. That allows them to bring in girls and mutants from outside the city as well as clients quickly. Some have come all the way from the West Coast, that's how far their reach extends". He allowed that to sink in for a few moments before continuing, "Our plan is to send one of you in undercover as a sting".
"Alright when do I start", Lina interrupted the Commander. There was silence as Tate stared back at the blue ranger, "That is what you were going to say right? After all, no one knows Ransick better than I do".
"Which is exactly why you can't go in", Tate said firmly, "every effort was made to keep your identity safe but we can't run the risk that someone in the operation could ID you. Plus I think you're forgetting Officer Song that you're not cleared for field work yet".
"Come on Doggie that's crap and you know it", Lina snorted, "you could sign me off right now if you wanted to". Anger swelled inside the blue ranger, trust issues between her and the rest of the room were beginning to swell, "Still dont trust me then?" she asked hotly.
"That will do Officer Song", Tate growled.
"I won't be silenced on this", Lina spat, "so what's my role in this assignment". Once again there wasn't a response from the Commander, "Yeah nothing, that's what I thought".
"Commander I think it would be prudent bring Lina into this", Bridge interrupted Lina's rant. The blue ranger suddenly thought hell had frozen over. Never in a million years did would she think that Bridge Carson would stand up for her, "Her knowledge and experience could be invaluable in the field in some capacity".
"The decision has been made Officer Carson" Tate replied firmly.
Lina snorted angrily and shook her head in frustration, "Forgive me Sir but what was the point of me being here if I'm not needed?" She gave him the middle finger, "I believe my shift ended twenty minutes ago and I know how SPD feels about overtime".
She turned and stomped out the room, fuming from the snub from the Commander. Since she was now off duty there was only one way she wanted to unwind, by consuming a vast amount of alcohol. Had Lina turned around, she would've noticed the annoyed face of Bridge sticking out the Command Center.
