Brenda arrived at work, a shell of herself. The realization she'd given up her husband for her job was like a stake through her heart. She knew it was wrong, knew it. But she also knew that if she did go with him, it wouldn't be good. Not at all. She checked her car mirror, seeing her puffy eyes. There was no hiding the fact that she'd cried most of the way to work, and she quickly put on her sunglasses for her three block walk to the headquarters. She hoped her hat would help hide her face til she got safely to her office, and could lock herself away from everyone for awhile.
Unfortunately for Brenda, her plan went awry from the beginning. She reached the building and took off her sunglasses, hurrying on to the elevator with her head bent down. Not seeing where she was going, she ran smack into someone. Whoever it was put his hands out to steady her, and she almost burst out crying again. She immediately apologized, looking up as she did so and into the brown eyes of one Andrew Flynn. Quickly she looked down again.
"I'm so sorry, Lt. Flynn. I wasn't watching where I was going."
"No problem, Chief. If you don't mind me asking, are you okay?" Flynn asked her, concerned by how she looked. It was obvious the Chief had been crying, and he knew very little could get her to do that, only her parents and husband.
"I'm fine, Lt., just feeling a little unwell. Thanks for asking, though." Cringing that she was once again lying to someone, exactly as Fritz accused her of, Brenda prayed the conversation would end.
Flynn could tell she didn't want to talk, so he let it drop, ending it with a "Whatever you say, Chief." in a tone that let Brenda know he knew she was lying.
They rode the rest of the way up to Major Crimes, and Brenda hurriedly went to her office, offering a quick hello as she passed her team. Flynn followed into the room more slowly, staring after Brenda's retreat to her office. The closing of her blinds immediately followed, and he knew the day at Major Crimes was going to be a rough one.
Provenza looked at Flynn and asked what he had done to piss the Chief off now, considering they hadn't even started work yet. Flynn immediately defended himself. "I didn't do anything! She ran into me in the elevator, you could tell she'd been crying before she ever got to work. Whatever happened, it wasn't because of me!"
Gabriel took interest in the conversation then, because the Chief had been so happy when she'd left work yesterday. It had been her anniversary, and she'd had a big night with her husband planned, from what she'd told him.
"That's strange, cause yesterday was her anniversary. Maybe Agent Howard forgot it and that's it." Gabriel said.
Flynn bristled at the mention of the Chief's husband. He didn't like him much, but he hated to think the guy would hurt the Chief like that. Where he'd once lived to torment Chief Johnson, now he was extremely protective of her, considering how many times she'd come through for him and saved his ass.
"Big FBI guy, he'd remember the date. I'm thinking something else happened. Question is, do we let her stew, or do we have Tao talk to her again, make sure she's okay?"
"What do you mean, have Tao talk to her? I talked to her last time, it's someone else's turn to make sure she's okay." Tao objected.
"Tao, it's the Chief. She likes you. And she already told me she's fine. Which she's not, but she's obviously not going to talk to me about it." Flynn replied.
"Well, I still elect you Flynn. You always manage to get out of it, it's about time you had your turn." Provenza spoke up.
"Gabriel can do it. He's still her favourite." Flynn scowled.
"Flynn, I want to stay her favourite. So, I elect you too." Gabriel smiled as he watched Flynn squirm.
Sanchez chimed in, making it four to one against Flynn. Throwing up his hands, he marched towards the Chief's office, stating as he went "If I get fired for this, I'm taking you all with me." The other four laughed as they watched Flynn knock on her door.
"Can I come in, Chief?" he asked tentatively.
"Is it important, Lt.? Something about the case?" Brenda said in way of answer.
Flynn let himself into her office and looked at her face. Her eyes were puffier than he'd thought, and red also. He felt for her, unexpectedly so.
"Chief, we can tell something is wrong. Is there anything we can do for you? You can take the day off, go home, we'll handle things on this end, only call if it's really important." Flynn said.
"No, no, no, Lt., I'm fine, I told you that. Nothing that going home will solve. It's the last place I want to be right now, anyway." Brenda shut up then, realizing she'd revealed more than she'd wanted to.
"You know I hate to pry about you, Chief. But it's obvious that something happened and we're all concerned about you. Are you sure you won't just take the day off? You look like you need it."
"Lt. Flynn, as much as it touches me that y'all are concerned about my well-being, I'm fine. My personal life will not interfere with my job. Now, have you got anything new about the case? " Brenda changed the subject.
Flynn sighed, realizing she wasn't going to talk about things at all. This is why Tao or Gabriel should have come in, he thought. At least she likes them. Damn the rest of them ganging up on him.
"No, nothing yet. We're waiting for you to come out, do the roundup, and get back to work. If you want, I can do it, if you aren't up to it." Flynn said, offering to help.
"It's okay, Lt., I'm fine, really I am. Just let me gather my files, I'll be out shortly." Brenda sighed. Escaping from anyone really wasn't going to work today, not at all, she thought to herself. Oh well, it's my job. It's why I'm staying here, not going with my husband. She caught herself before she teared up again.
"And Lt., I'd appreciate if you don't say anything to the rest that I might be having trouble at home. It's not something I really want to discuss right now." she lightly pleaded with him.
Flynn stood up, getting ready to leave. He looked at his Chief and said "Well, if you ever want to discuss it, I'm willing to listen. I know I'm not someone you'd normally confide in, but I promise you I'd never tell anyone anything you told me. If you need to vent, let me know. We're all here for you, Chief."
With that, he went out the door, surprised that he'd offered to be the Chief's confidant. Inside the office, Brenda was even more surprised. She stared at the door, shocked that she'd almost felt the need to tell Flynn about her awful night and morning. Flynn knew about the job taking its toll on marriages, he'd been through two wives. The job had won out for him too, making him a lot like her. Maybe someone did understand what she was going through. Turning back to her paperwork, she threw herself into it, wanting to forget.
The others questioned Flynn in the squad room, but he had nothing to tell them. What little she'd let slip, he'd keep secret. Instead he said "Well, if Tao or Gabriel had gone in like I wanted, maybe you'd have all your answers. I told you, the Chief isn't exactly one of my biggest fans. Whatever made you think she'd tell me anything?"
"Well, it was worth a shot, Flynn. First time for everything, you know." Provenza said.
"Very funny, Provenza. Next time, I volunteer you!"
"Not a chance, Flynn, not a chance." Provenza laughed.
Flynn chose to ignore his friend for now, instead turning to the work on his desk. He was more worried about the Chief then he let on, and wasn't quite sure why.
Brenda eventually entered the room, more composed, but not herself. She quickly ran through what they had so far, assigning Gabriel and Sanchez to go bring in a suspect for questioning. She asked Tao if the phone logs were dumped yet, and when she got a negative she snapped a little. Tao promised to have them done as soon as possible and went to work at it. Provenza was sent to review the security camera tapes with Bud in the hopes of finding some missing clue as to who had killed their victim. That left her with Flynn, and they went to question the victim's wife, who had professed to know nothing of her husbands activities and had refused to talk to them yesterday.
Brenda returned to her office to grab her purse before heading out. Flynn followed her in.
"Chief, are you sure you're up to this? You really aren't yourself."
"Don't worry, Lt., I can do my job. It's what I'm good at, remember?" she snapped back at him.
"Yes, ma'am, can't argue with that." Flynn replied, not pushing her any further. Whatever had happened between her and her husband had been bad, he had no doubt. The Chief was off her game today, which made him worry about the forthcoming interview. Still, he had faith in her. She was good at what she did, and even on an off day for her, she was still better than most, of that he was certain.