August, 1998:
It's been almost two years since Sergeant Raydor's reassignment from Homicide to Internal Affairs. Two years since she'd had to part ways with her former partner, Detective Andy Flynn, for whom she still has some fondness. That same fondness, however, is the exact reason she's exasperated by each use of force investigation she's forced to open against him – and since her departure from Homicide, she's been seeing his name on her desk with alarming regularity.
So, when she sees the fresh manila folder on her desk stamped with 'HOMICIDE' in bold letters, she's appalled at the thought of investigating her former partner for the umpteenth time this month. Dropping her bags by her desk, she lowers herself into her seat with the utmost care, procrastinating the moment she'll have to open the folder. Finally, unable to put off the moment any longer, she flips the file open to the first page and is pleasantly surprised by the fact that the name greeting her isn't Andy's. She's especially pleased that she's been called to investigate an issue of sensitivity towards suspects involving her least-favourite Lieutenant and his equally irritating partner. Yes, Dumb and Dumber themselves, Lieutenant Provenza and Sergeant Detective Andrews.
Smirking, Sharon can't help the thought that strikes her in that instant: So there is a God, after all.
Recalling the manner in which Lieutenant Provenza had introduced himself to her almost seven years ago, Sharon has little doubt that he is in severe need of sensitivity training. Still, she resolves not to judge the case by the accompanying (incredibly full) personnel file, and begins her investigation of Lieutenant Provenza and his partner. She can't help but hope, however, the he does come up guilty – sending him to Sensitivity training would be some kind of divine retribution.
"What the hell kind of bullshit is this, Sergeant?" storms Provenza, slapping the order for him to attend Sensitivity Training down onto Sharon's desk as though it is of personal offence to him.
"That," replies Sharon, revelling in the taste of every word in her purposefully slow delivery, "is a direct order for you and your partner to attend Sensitivity Training as a result of conclusions drawn by Internal Affairs with regard to one of your recent cases."
"Which case would that be?" huffs Provenza, eager to leave the irritating (though still incredibly attractive) Sergeant's office as quickly as possible.
"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to say," she responds, smirking at his growing ire. "Though, might I suggest being more sensitive in future?" a laugh dances in her eyes, though she dares not do so openly. She might have the authority to mandate the training Lieutenant Provenza sorely needs, but he is still her superior in the chain of command, and she therefore must still respect his authority.
"I'll bet it was that ass-wipe we brought in a few nights ago, what's his name, Pierre," grumbled Provenza, "I'll bet that snot didn't tell you what an asshole he was."
"It's that kind of language, Lieutenant, that has forced me to mandate the training," replies Sharon smugly. "You see, I understand that suspects can be a nightmare to collar, but you should have the professionalism to refrain from using such language – particularly in front of the ass-wipe you've just arrested."
"So it was him," growled Provenza, irritation flashing in his eyes.
"Again, I'm not at liberty to say. Though, if you have to ask, it makes me wonder how many of your cases I should be looking at, Lieutenant."
"Well, Sergeant," he spits furiously, "You waste your time on that, and I'll be out looking for the real dirt-bags."
Provenza stomps out of her office without so much as a backwards glance, and Sharon finally allows herself to release the laughter she'd been fighting to stifle throughout the encounter.
Sobering slightly, Sharon reviews the actual case that had allowed her to exact her retribution against Provenza.
It was a decidedly bad move on Provenza's part to refer to the suspect as an asshole when discussing him with his lawyer. It was a worse move to equate his bad behaviour, or as Provenza had deemed to call it: 'dirtbaggery', with the suspect's sexuality. It's astonishing to Sharon that he'd even managed to say that with a straight face, let alone defend his actions when called out by the suspect's lawyer. Worse still, his partner had offered to take the lawyer to his 'frou-frou' client moments later, cementing their overt prejudice against the client and their resulting need for Sensitivity Training.
Was it the worst case she'd had this week? Not by a longshot. Was it the most entertaining? Damn straight. Not to mention, Sharon could recall each and every incident of sexual harassment that hadn't been called out in their murder room just because Provenza and Andrews had such a high closure rate. There'd be no more of that, not on her watch.
Laughing internally, Sharon seals Provenza's fate as she enters the information for his first training course into their database, along with the disciplinary actions to be taken against him when he doesn't turn up.
Smirking, Sharon hopes that the Lieutenant and his partner will enjoy learning to be sensitive, compliments of Internal Affairs.
I thought I was done with this, but I guess not. Still, Hope you've enjoyed reading the last chapter (for sure, this time!). If you did, please leave review and let me know what you think :)