2007-03-19: Broken Rules

Starring:

Ed_icon.gif Viola_icon.gif

Summary: Ed asks Viola to reinstate Mara as a full detective.

Date It Happened: March 19, 2007

Broken Rules


Police Station

It's early afternoon. There's a knock, knock, knock at Viola's door.

Inside Viola's office, the reply doesn't come immediately. When it does, the lieutenant sounds exasperated. "Come in."

It's Boone. He sticks his head in first. "Lieutenant. Do you have a few seconds? I'd like a word with you about the case."

Viola's face turns into a wary mask when she sees Boone's face poke in from her doorway. In the spirit of cooperation, though, she gestures for him to enter. "Come in, Agent Ed." It's not really the most welcoming of tones, however.

Ed steps in and closes the door behind him. "May I sit down?" he asks. If he gets permission, he sits himself down. "I need to talk to you about Detective Damaris. I'd like to have her reinstated on duty, at least on probationary status. I know she crossed the line, but I need her with a badge and a gun and full access to the resources of the NYPD. She could be the key to this case."

"Sit," Viola nods toward the empty seat. However, the request that Ed has for her raises her eyebrows. "Really." It's supposed to be a question, but the way that it comes out is definitely not one. "What makes you think she is the key to this case? What is so important that I should turn my head when one of my detectives so clearly breaks the rules?"

If he said that Mara had psychic powers, it would not go altogether well. "Honestly? It's not just that she knows Sylar as well as she does. It's that Sylar's taken an interest in her. He wants her. And cutting her off from the force isn't going to help. It could be one way to draw him out of hiding," Ed says. It sounds dangerously like he's using her as bait. It's better than psychic powers, though.

"What is it with Damaris that makes everyone wants to make her the bait?" Oh yes, Viola can read subtext. "And that's something that she can do without being reinstated. She broke the rules and she shouldn't get a get out of jail free card because some freak with a decapitation fetish takes an interest in her." There's a distinct frown on her face for Ed. "She's not cut off from the force, she's just at a desk job for now. You want to use her as bait, you have my permission, she doesn't need to be a detective for that."

"She needs a gun," Ed says. "Listen, I'll take full responsibility," Ed says. "She broke the rules, and IA can look through it all she wants. I need her to be able to do her job — without me or Parkman shepherding her around. All I'm asking is that you put her on duty for now. Just for a few days. Just until the case is done."

"What do you have planned?" Viola isn't saying outright no at the moment. She desperately wants this case to be finished, but she also takes a large stock in the rules.

"She's got connections and contacts that she can't share. People who trust her and nobody else," Ed says. "And she's got as much of an insight on the case as anybody. Listen, I know she broke the rules, and it's probably going to mean the end of her job. But if you let her close out this case, we get a killer of the street. She got him once. She can get him again."

"And if he kills her, you're going to take responsibility for that, too?" Viola's face is neutral when she asks the question. "The last time she talked to him, he put her into the hospital. And /she/ went to /him/. You think you can control her? Keep her from putting herself into danger? There's a reason she's at a desk job right now."

"I don't know," Ed says, evenly. "But I do know that it's worth getting this guy behind bars. Or shot," Ed says, earnestly. "And I know you know it, too. I know you don't make exceptions to the rules. I'm not asking you to. I'm just asking you to let her finish this assignment before she faces the music."

"So you know what I know now?" Viola doesn't take that too well. It's not all defensive, she's also a little taken aback by his attitude. "I know you haven't been around here too long, so I'll just tell you about it. These are my detectives. You might not care if they're shot or killed, but I damn well do. Don't tell me her life is worth a perp behind bars like she's some woman I don't know."

Ed rubs his eyes with his thumb and his index finger as she speaks. "Look, I'm sorry. That didn't come out right. I don't want anyone — especially not an officer — to die beacuse of this guy. You could say I'd kill to stop it. But she's the first solid lead. The /first/ lead that we've had for months. We've never been this close."

"I think maybe you've been on the case too long, Detective," Viola tells Ed with a decisive frown. "You're becoming obsessed." Of course, she should have seen this coming from the first time he walked in the door, but it was a weak moment. And now she's trapped. That gamble with fooling the public and press and now she needs results. "If you see Damaris on your way out, tell her I need to see her." For what, it's hard to say. But it sounds like she /may/ be leaning toward granting Ed's request.

Ed looks at Viola earnestly. "That's why I want this case closed sooner than anyone," Ed says, before standing up. "Thank you, Lieutenant. I appreciate your at least considering it," he adds, before heading out the room.

Viola eyes Ed when he stands up. "What's your deal with this case, Boone?" she asks, hopefully before he reaches the door. Finally, she sounds like she's interested in this agent.

Ed stops, and turns around, one hand on the doorknob. "Sylar's not like other killers. He doesn't fit any profile. He's a monster among monsters, and he took somebody important to me. It's not revenge. I have to catch him. Otherwise, this?" Ed holds up his badge. "Doesn't mean a damn thing. He's why we exist."

"I've seen the pictures from those files you gave us," Viola tells Ed, but doesn't elaborate on that. She doesn't really need to. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were fresh on the job. Everyone has a case that haunts them. There's a hundred killers a day that get out for one reason or another. This Gray guy is no different. Profile or not. He's just another monster."

"Maybe," Ed says. "We'll see. Thanks for your time, Lieutenant," Ed says, before slipping out the door.

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