002: Rising Tempers

It took Angela a total of seventeen minutes to figure out which payphone it was and another twenty-two minutes to make a list of all the numbers and their owners.

Quiet satisfied with her work, she picked up the phone and was halfway through dialing Danny's number (which was conveniently taped to the top of the phone) when she changed her mind. That annoyingly attractive smirk was still replaying in her mind and she didn't want to take anymore of his sarcastic attitude at the moment. Angela pressed the receiver and dialed Martin's number instead.

After a few rings, Martin's voice crackled from the other end. "Agent Fitzgerald."

"Hey Martin, it's Angela," she said, resting the phone between her cheek and her shoulder as she flipped through her payphone list. "Listen, I got the payphone Roger Stein was using, and it looks like he's got a sister in Atlanta named Dawn Hadley. I did a brief background on her, and no red flags. But he kept calling this guy… James Ritter. And his background check says that he's a repetitive sex offender and works at the county hospital. Red flag."

"Stein could have gotten the sedatives that we found in his house from him…" Martin said slowly, taking in the information. "Ok, well, thanks for the heads up."

Dial tone.

Slightly put out, Angela hung up the phone. Martin seemed at least interested in what she had to say, and she was quite sure that his abrupt hang up had just been to keep Danny and the rest of the team happy. He didn't seem the type to be condescending. He had been new once.

Angela turned to her computer to run an in-depth background on James Ritter when her cell phone rang.

"Harper," she answered.

"This is Agent Spade," Samantha said coolly. "We need the surveillance videos from last night from all of the ATMs in the area of the victim's disappearance. The area's marked on the map in the bullpen."

Dial tone.

Angela frowned and hung up the phone again. She could understand Samantha's resistance to Angela's joining the team because she had probably gotten used to being the only single female agent around the three male agents. Angela understood it, even if she didn't like it. It probably also had to do with the other female agent who had just gotten transferred. Helen. Ellen. Or something.

"Yes, I need the surveillance videos from your ATM," Angela said into the phone as she printed off James Ritter's background. "No, I'm with the FBI. Yes, you're required to do this. Because I'm with the FBI," she said irritably. "Yes, the whole day. Right and—oh, hold on." Angela's other line was beeping. "Harper."

"Agent Harper, this is Agent Taylor."

What was it with forcing new members to endure the team calling each other by their titles? Oh, right. Superiority. And because it was just too easy to say "Angela, this is Danny."

"Have you figured out which pay phone Stein used yet?"

"What? Yeah, about an hour ago. I called Martin and told him about his sister and this James Ritter fellow. I would have faxed them, but I didn't think you guys carried a fax around—"

"Why did you call Agent Fitzgerald?"

"Because Martin was the number on top of my phone list," she said crossly, emphasizing the first name use. "I guess I didn't get the memo that everything had to be run by you first. Since, you know, I'm not "really" part of the team like you and Martin are."

With that, Angela hung up on Danny, feeling both victorious and frustrated. She understood Samantha's resentment and Martin was quickly warming up, but she couldn't find a way to justify Danny's hostility.

She sat there for several more seconds thinking before she realized that she still had a bank on line one.

---

It was an absolutely exhausting next few weeks. Every fifteen minutes, Vivian or Martin or occasionally even Samantha would call her for credit card records or a background check.

At 3:36 on a Thursday morning, Angela was still at the office when her cell phone rang.

"Harper," she said, failing to stifle a yawn.

"Hey," Martin's voice came softly over the phone. "How are those credit cards coming?"

"Brilliantly. This woman was definitely having an affair. She checked into the Hilton downtown at least once a week, and you should see how much she spent at the bar—"

"Well, hate to break it to you, but it looks that the affair had nothing to do with her daughter's disappearance. We found her."

"Really?"

"It was the crazed nanny."

"Ha! You owe me ten bucks."

Martin laughed. "Fine. Tomorrow morning."

"Along with the paperwork."

"Can't wait," Martin said sarcastically. There was a small pause before he said, "Hey, uh, Angela?"

"Hmm?"

"Listen, I'm sorry for how everyone's been… well treating you. They're just…"

"It comes with the territory. I should have expected it."

"They're just having issues with getting back on their feet after Elena. She really messed us all up. If you think we're territorial, you should have met her."

"I think I'll pass on that."

"Good choice. But I just wanted to say that I think you're going to be great with the team. And the others… they'll come around."

"I know. In time."

There was a small pause as the friendship between Angela and Martin solidified its bond. She couldn't help but thinking one down, three to go.

"Alright, well, get some sleep. Night," he said.

"Good night, Martin."

---

Feeling a little more confident with Martin's approval under her belt, Angela walked in with a sense of belonging the next morning.

"Don't you look happy," Vivian smiled as she passed her with three large files tucked under her arm. "I knew you'd find your niche here."

"It just took awhile. And waiting for everyone to… come around, I guess."

Vivian chuckled. "They'll come around. Especially with your background checks. You dig that stuff up in half the time that we used to be able to do it. I can't even remember life without them."

"What can I say?" Angela smiled. "I have fast fingers."

"And a sharp mind. Not to mention you're about a thousand times warmer than Delgado. I think you might be able to tame this team."

Angela cocked an eyebrow as she scoffed. "Let's not get our hopes up just yet."

"You just wait," she replied. "Oh, and Martin was asking about all of those background checks in Rico's buddies. I'm telling you, we love the background checks."

"Right, they're on my desk. I'll go get them."

"And the tech guys have a surveillance video from the electronic store that was robbed in that same area that he lived in. You could probably go check on that afterwards," Vivian added before going into Jack's office.

Angela nodded and headed for her desk. She passed Danny's desk along the way and saw him sitting there, looking at his computer screen. In one window there was a picture of a man and a caption that said "Rico Sanchez." Other windows were popping up with pictures of other men.

"Oh, Danny," Angela said, feeling a bit guilty but also irritated. "I hope you're not running a search on Sanchez's men."

"Why not?" His reply was impatient and he didn't even turn around to look at her.

"Because Martin asked me to do it last night. The papers are all on my desk."

Her eyes canvassed his desk and noticed a large yellow book. The words "BAR Exam" were written in bold, black letters along the spine of the book.

"Why would he have come to you?" He swiveled his chair around to face her and if she wasn't so irritated with him, she would have thought that he looked quite dashing in his striped blue and black tie.

"Because it's my job,Danny. And if you would just let me help you instead of resisting my help, I think we'd actually make a pretty efficient team."

"If you think that we have a good team, then why aren't you a field agent?" Danny was standing now, and Angela hadn't really realized how tall he really was.

The question caught Angela completely off guard and her mind raced for a lie to tell him, but the insensitivity he asked her with simply maddened her.

Angela did not need to give him the reason for her choice of occupation. He didn't even know that there was a reason why she wasn't a field agent anymore. He didn't know what happened last May. How dare he treat as if he was better than she was!

Her eyes narrowed, and she knew he was angry with her. Angry at her daring to intrude on his territory. On his team. On his life. But she was just as angry as he was.

She picked up the yellow BAR Exam book off of his desk. "Why aren't you a lawyer?" she asked him in a dangerously low tone as she held it up to him.

Danny's eyes flashed and his jaw clenched. He grabbed the book from her hands before giving her a scathing look as he walked away with heavy and angry footsteps.

That was as much as a victory for Angela but now she was convinced that there was no way that she and Danny would ever see eye to eye.

A/N: I have issues with resisting posting all of my chapters up at once. It's because I love reviews. And more chapters mean more reviews. And so about an hour after I post a chapter, I'll be like "Can I post another one now? How about now? Can I post it yet!"

Hahaha. Anyways, reviews would be very much appreciated. And if you actually sign in, I promise I'll reply. :)

Oh, and questions for this chapter… hmm… Well, of course, "What's going to happen between Angela and Danny?" gasp, gasp, gasp "Will Samantha ever warm up to Angela?" dramatic music "And why isn't Angela a field agent and what does that have to do with what happened last May?" dramatic music and gasps Haha. Anyways. Ponder those questions as you leave a review! And have a lovely weekend!

-Laura