1 Prologue

People have different reasons for becoming a cop. You here it all the time.  'I became a cop to do good.' 'I became a cop to prove that I was a good person.' 'I became a cop because it's like a family business.'  Yeah.  Well, I became a cop to protect the weak.  And my ulterior motive is to catch the guy that killed my mother while we walked home one evening twenty three years ago.

My 'partner' is sitting beside me fuming that I wouldn't take a call.   A call that would turn out to be a crock of shit.  That call has come in at this time of month every month for nine months.  He says I'm not being fair to the victims if I pick and choose.

I slam the brakes and look at him, "You want us to settle this?  I can prove it's the store managers nephew every time.  That's why at the end they retract their statement."

He looks at me and hangs his head, "You don't have faith in people Stevens."

He is impossible.  I turn the car down the street parking where other officers are dealing with it  and walk up to the other cops.   The store owner sees me and runs out. 

"Officers, I made a mistake.  Please, I apologize.  My nephew was trying to prove that we still have weak security." He says retracting his statement.

"Mr. Zari, thats nine times in one year.  We are going to have to start billing you for wasting time.  Hopefully you never truly need us because this has gotten to the point where your Nephew should be locked up for criminal mischief." I say. "Last chance for him.  Before he ends up with more regrets than he can deal with."

"Thank you, Detective Stevens.  I'll tell him what you said." Mr Zari states emotionally. 

My partner looks at me and shakes his head and goes back to the car.  Almost sulking that I was right.  I groan because it proves that some detectives just don't seem to understand what others are going through. 

"How'd you know?" He asks once I'm behind the wheel again.

I think, "There's shoddy cameras in the store. But his nephew has a distinctive tattoo on his hand.  So I put two and two together.  While I was talking to him his nephew came into the office with the money that was 'stolen' handed it back to his uncle and said that security for the store wasn't enough.  The kid means well has just been going the wrong way about it.  But the nephew was not going back down until to old man did something about his safety."

"And here I thought you didn't have a heart, Stevens." He chuckles.

I arch a brow at him and he stops.  The rest of the ride is silent.  That day I don't get the chance to reread the old case files.  But my partner and I get into a fight.

"Being a cop to be a hero makes you a selfish cop not a good one." I raise my voice at him.

He snorts, "This coming from the revenge cop? Ha!"

I growl at that.  This is why I hate partners.  They wiggle past things you can't change out of you and then use it as a knife to slit your throat when you think your safe.  But he didn't. That makes it worse.

"I protect those who are weaker.  I help those who need help.  I have caught more criminals than you could even imagine because at least I care about the victim!" I yell, "Which is more than what I can say for you or your old man.  I provide closure, what do you two do?"

"Both of you my office." The captain says loudly.

I'm walking into the captains office and I lean against the wall. I don't sit. Never sit in the bosses office. It makes you feel more comfortable than you should be while in here.

"What is the problem now?" He asks as my partner for a month sits down getting cozy.

"She is. Like always." He grumbles.

I arch a brow, "I want to make a formal complaint. As an officer of the law and as a past victim. His father had no right to tell him anything about my past which is still an open, albeit cold, case."

My 'partners' face goes ashen. He knows what that means for his fathers reputation. Once you out a cop as a past victim or talk about another cops personal life... No cop trusts you again. You become a larger pariah than I am now. I'm just difficult to manage.

"Please don't." He whimpers.

I look disgustedly at him. "After what you called me? Give me one damn good reason."

"Because he didn't tell me anything.  I tried to figure out what your deal was and came across the redacted case file." He admits

The captain watches on. He knows my history. But he never brings it up because I do my job. I do what's right before I do anything else.

There is no good reason that my partner can come up with and he is devastated. He tries to pull the partner card. That we have each other's backs and I ask him a simple question.

"Do you know why I don't 'bond' with partners? It's so that less people question my dedication to the job. And now thanks to you that whole bull pen is going to be wondering about shit that doesn't concern them." I grit. "Request a partner transfer, I am too angry about this shit to care about my partner status. But if my safety or reputation as a good detective who get results goes down because of this... Just know I will be coming after you and your father for leaking my past."

Completely white he shrinks into the chair and looks at the captain for assistance. The captain is rubbing his temples like the mother of all migraines is coming on. Usually when something involves me that's when it begins.

"Get out, call your father I want to speak with him. You." He stops and looks at me, "You stay put. We have a different conversation to have."

Once the door is closed he looks at me again.

"Is that true what you said to him? About why you don't try to bond with partners?" He finally asks.

I nod.

He huffs, "How would you feel about being transferred?"

"To where?" I snort derision.

He stands, "I've called a few old friends of mine. One has his eye on you to go to his specialized unit. He calls them the misfits, but they do the job and get results like you. They however, bend the rules sometimes, and don't enforce partners after the first six months working with them."

"Who exactly wants me with the misfits?" I ask. Nobody follows my work that closely.

He sighs, "Deputy Chief Connors."

My eyes widen, "The youngest of the brass?"

He nods. But then hands me my transfer papers. I'm to report to the misfits office tomorrow morning. The captain looks at me and smiles sadly.

"I'm gonna miss getting the awards for highest arrests in the city now that you're moving on."

I look back and ask one question, "Why me?"

The captain looks up and shrugs, "He likes your dedication and tenacity. Connors is a pretty big playboy too. But you'll find that out. Your new CO is MacKenzie. He's a big old teddy bear who is a giant hard ass at times. Maggie, make me proud."

I walk out of the office and sigh. Here we go again.