This Isn't My Idea Of Fun

[Derek Jackson]

Derek knew what this was about. Of course he did. He had this sort of meeting with the chief of police almost every other week. This time however, twelve cars were involved and he had been driving three of them. All at different times of course. It didn't help that they were civilians cars either. Oh and there was that little incident with blowing up the gas station. But, he had caught the guy in the end so the rest didn't matter. Not to him. Clearly, it mattered to his boss. Derek walked right into his chief's office, immediately taking a seat in the chair that had his permanent butt print. His chief started at him. Naturally, Derek stared back.

"Get this lecture over with," he mumbled, despising how his chief was prolonging the inevitable yakking that he would always zone out during. "I don't know what we're gonna do with you Jackson," his chief stated. Well, that was nothing new there. He always said the same damn thing. "Same thing you always do with me. Give me a lecture, put me desk duty for a week, and then send me back on the streets." Something in his gut was telling him that there was something more. So maybe it wasn't so much his instinct, but his observation... because he saw a file sitting on the man's desk, and it wasn't his.

"Actually, we're giving you a new assignment." Well darn. This actually peaked Derek's interest. He wasn't going to bother with useless questions of 'what kind of assignment' because he was going to tell him anyway. "Agent Grayson. Heard of her?" He questioned. "I heard whispers about a Feeb comin' in." He paused. "Get to the point already." What did this have to do with him? "She got hurt recently." Boo hoo. Who the hell cared. That's what happens in this job. "Department decided that with her high rank, we need to make sure she's better protected." That gut feeling turned into a nagging one... something that told him he wasn't going to like where this conversation was going. "We are gonna be assigning someone to her." Uh oh...

"And-" "Oh" "That-" "Hell" "Someone's-" "No!" "You." "You've got to be kidding me!" Derek said as he leaped out of his seat. "There ain't no way I'm gonna be her glorified babysitter!" His superior seemed to expect this reaction, because he was unmoved by it. "You don't got a choice. With the amount you racked up in property damage, somethings gotta be done to get you off the street for a while. Plus, the joys of my job is that I can tell you what to do. And in this case, I'm not asking. You're going to be her bodyguard." The man was smiling, Derek saw it. That smirk on his face which only made Derek give him a death glare. He was enjoying this. "Lose the uniform. You don't need it for this assignment." Great. Just... great. Derek headed toward the door, needing to punch something, or someone, before he lost it right here in his boss's office. "Jackson, remember... if something happens to her, it's your ass." That threat meant nothing to Derek. Because she meant nothing to him, and he was going to make that very clear. With the wheels turning in his head as a plot began to form, he left the room, slamming the door behind him.

[Tag: Julianna]

[Dr. J. Grayson]

Julianna had never been to one of these meetings before, and she felt butterflies in her belly as she walked down the hall. Her short black hair did nothing to hide the cut on her cheek, or the burned / bruised skin around it. She knew she was in trouble. She had ASKED for this assignment, so they put her 'on loan' to the local PD. Which meant until she did her job the local boss was her boss.

Which wasn't pretty. In hindsight, nor was her actions. Who would take care of Gabby? "I know what you are going to say," She began as she entered, and perched on the edge of a rather uncomfortable chair. "I made a mistake, and I should have been more careful. I completely agree." 'Agree or not, Dr. Grayson, you do realize that a dead FBI agent is not something I want in the press, or to have to call to explain to your bosses.' When he put it so colorfully, she felt herself pale. "I know, I will be more careful. I have--" Rule three. She had to break it a little. "I have family that I do not wish to leave. You can rest assure that next time I will be sending in backup, and waiting for things to be cleared before entering any buildings."

'You'll do a bit more then that, Dr. Grayson. I'm assign one of my own to escort you around. Make sure you don't get hurt.' Oh! That was a rather good idea. She liked that. "You will find me willing! Completely!" She told him with a smile, knowing she would feel better about someone there with a gun. He slid the file toward her, and she opened it, saw only the name before closing it sliding it back. "I retract my last statement." Julianna slid it back.

He only slid it back to her. 'It's a good thing I'm not one to ask.' She slid it back, "I have enough to deal with, when trying to handle the criminals of this city, I don't need to have a cop one step away from them attached to my side." He only slid it back, 'This is a direct order.' She slid it back, and stood. "I would be in just as much danger from him, as from them!" He picked the file up and held it out to her. 'This has been approved by your superiors. We are done here Agent Grayson!'

Reaching for the file and jerked it toward her. "It's doctor." She reminded him, before walking out and wishing she could slam the door.

[Derek Jackson]

This was ridiculous. Every curse word possible was racing through Derek's mind. He'd rather have desk duty for a month than have to chase after some random feeb just because she got a boo boo. Talk about an overqualified bodyguard. But he had no choice. Literally no choice. They hadn't even given him an ultimatum! He would have taken option B, whatever it was. As he was making his way through the main areas, the other cops were giving him teasing remarks and Derek clenched his fist, about to knock a few of their teeth out. Had it not been for the fact that he was so near her office, maybe he would have. But apparently, he had to play nice. Yeah right. Derek was prepared to do whatever it took to get out of this assignment and back to real work. He didn't know Grayson but he already despised her. Nothing personal of course...... ok, so maybe it was a little personal.

Her office door was locked, and turning the handle again and again wasn't going to help. Clearly she wasn't in there, but he wasn't going to wait out here like an idiot. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a couple of undone paperclips, oldest trick in the book, and began to pick the lock. Successful, he stepped inside, looking around her office. It was disgustingly neat. He walked over to her desk, looking over whatever was on there. Nothing interesting. He just... wanted to do something to mess up this freakishly neat area. Flip some papers over, throw her pens on the floor... just, something. Whatever. He would have time for that. Instead, he went to the other side, and took a seat on the chair. Leaning back in it, he put his feet up on her desk so that his shoes rested against the surface of it, even purposely over some of her papers. Now this was better. Much, much better.

[Dr. J. Grayson]

Julianna walked down the halls, and turned into her office, only to pause when the door was opened. Stepping quickly into the office, she took one surprised wide eyed look at HIM, before turning turning back around to go find the chief. Only he was there, walking from his office talking with other officers.

"Sir, a moment?" 'No,' he bite out and kept walking. She stood there, very still and silently outraged until he turned back to look at her after a few feet. With a deep sigh he walked back to the door and walked in. 'Jackson, get the hell up, and get your own damn chair. You will make sure not to hinder her job in any way, or your next babysitting job will be teaching D.A.R.E. to second graders."

"Babysitting?!" She gasped out, as the Chief walked out, leaving them to deal with each other. Babysitting? If anything SE would be babysitting him! Squaring her shoulders she turned to look at him. "Clearly we have gotten off on the wrong foot." Mainly he had. Holding out her hand, she tried to play nice. "I'm Dr. Grayson, thank you for working with me Officer Jackson."

[Derek Jackson]

She walked in, then out. Apparently she scared easy. Which was just fine with him. He continued to sit there, waiting impatiently. And then she 'tattled' on him because the chief came in and started barking orders. Derek stared at him, cleary displeased. Perhaps it was more of a glare. Slowly he brought down one foot and then even more slowly the other, making sure to push some papers aside while he did so. They were stupid enough to put him with some profiler woman. But surely they weren't stupid enough to stick him in a room with kids. When the chief walked out, Derek looked over his latest assignment. At least she was easy on the eyes, that certainly helped things. Though, that did not lessen his bitterness and annoyance at the moment. His eyes also searched her over for this supposed injury she suffered that made him become her bodyguard. All he saw was a little scratch on her cheek. If that was the wound... then he was going to be even less happy than he was now. If that was at all possible.

She extended her hand and thanked him, but he didn't offer his hand in return. He didn't even get up from the chair. He just looked at her, unimpressed. And unamused if she was trying to make a pun with the whole 'off on the wrong foot'... since his feet had been on her desk. Was she trying to be funny? He wasn't laughing. "This isn't a favor," he stated. "So don't thank me for shit." That was exactly what this was: a shit assignment. "Let's get something straight, I'm here because I was ordered to. Not because I wanna to be." And he wasn't going to let her forget that.

[Dr. J. Grayson]

He moved his combat feet from her desk but not from her chair. He told her it wasn't a favor, and that--Oh! Hey! That was rude! She pulled her hand back and folded it over her chest with the other, knowing she was in an angry stance but right now it called for it! "Then you and I are in accordance, Officer Jackson, as neither of us wants to work with or around the other."

She walked toward the desk and waited for him to move. "If you don't mind, I have work to do, and you are currently hindering it." She didn't want to be rude, but she would if he pressed her! "I'm not going out today, so you're not needed." She reached up to touch her injured cheek, knowing why he was there; even if it displeased her. "Tomorrow I need to visit some locations." She paused, "Do you even care what I am doing here, or should I just let you know when I need you to drive a car somewhere?" Then she recalled hearing his more recent stunts. "Or hail the cab."

[Derek Jackson]

Accor-what? Why did she sound like a damn dictionary on feet? His eyes followed her as she told him to move, saying he was 'hinding' her work. He may have sent here to be helpful, but he was going to act like a nuisance. He slowly stood up, but not being an... 'unhinderance'. If she was going to use big words then he was... going to make up his own. So while he was standing from the chair, he was standing right in front of her, between her and the chair. She told him he wasn't needed, and then went on to talk about getting him to drive her about. "Something else you need to understand, I'm not your chauffeur, so don't treat me like one." He wasn't her little helper going about giving her drives... even though he had to. "I don't give a damn about what you're doing." His job seemed to now entail keeping her safe from... what, getting another scratch on her pretty little face?

"Since you aren't able to protect yourself properly-" A clear jibe at her. "They made me do it for you." Since he was her protection now. "So while I do my job, why don't you start doing yours so we can end this damn assignment." All he knew was that she had come here to help track down the escapees from the prison since the earthquake had freed them. He didn't care about the details though. He just cared about doing this and then going back to the streets where he could be a cop again. And so with those words, he stepped aside, moving to the other side of the desk, wondering how serious she was about not needing him right now.

[Dr. J. Grayson]

Julianna watched him stand up, but not really move. She fought to roll her eyes, as she moved forward, and turned sideways to slip past him; even at one point all but sat on her desk to keep from touching him. "If you were doing your job properly, Officer Jackson, then I would not even be in Starling." She returned knowing she was here to not only help catch the escaped men from the prison but also help catch some of the other higher profile criminals. Such as the Hood or Arrow.

She sat down in her chair, and felt it rock back. Jerking forward, she sent a school teacher glare at him, before locking it up right again, and pulling herself closer to her desk. "Currently, I am working on cleaning up the mess The Mayor created, and catching the men you and yours can't." She was building profiles on them, so she could better understand them and thus tell him how to catch the bad guys.

Not that he cared, but she was going to make sure he was informed so he could do his job, and get her home to her daughter safely. "Other then breaking everything you touch, what do you do here?" She was mentally building a profile on him. Trying to sort him out.

[Derek Jackson]

Did she really just say that to him? Who the hell did she think she was? "See, that's what I hate about you feebs," he began to say, his voice strong and making no attempt to hide is dislike for her. "You come in here with your fancy suits, and act like we're the dirt you walk on." He hated higher ranking agents like her. They had a superiority complex; thinking that they were better than everyone else, when it was them, the cops, busting their asses off and going out on the streets, putting themselves in danger while these idiots sat behind desks and drank coffee.

"So why don't you take that prissy little attitude you have and shove it down someone else's throat." Because he was not the person to make angry. She then asked what he did, besides break everything he touched. Making a point, he raised his hand, clenching it into a fist, and slammed it down on the top of her stapler. The amount of force was enough to cause the springs to break and for the top of it to break off from the bottom, breaking it. "Not a damn thing," he said bluntly, a bit sarcastically, and most of all... angrily.

[Dr. J. Grayson]

"Phebs?" She repeated sounding confused, but he kept going. "I beg your pardon?!" She had not come in here bossing anyone around or acting higher then them! She got along with most the men and women on the force. There were some yes, she had to ask hard questions too, but even still she had made sure that she never acted like they were common criminals.

Then he broke her stapler, and she leaned back away from him. Through the window she could see other staring at them, and she knew she had to make sure she wasn't going to be bullied. "I'm not sure why you felt the need to take our your anger on my innocent stapler, but I think it's time you found something else to do. Please leave." She had managed not to have any real emotion in her voice so far, but if he continued to get violent she knew that would not last. "You don't have a choice, and neither do I. So when you're ready to see what I am doing here, then come back. Until then you can deal with your Chief."

She knew he didn't have a choice. He had to work with her. She had the upper hand right now, because he could complain and break things; but he had orders not to hinder her.

[Derek Jackson]

She was like a robot. Emotionless in her words and expression. It would make the challenge of breaking her all the more fun. She had told him to leave, and then reminded them that neither of them had a choice. That didn't mean he was going to deal with this well. "I can see what you're doing," he argued, aware that he couldn't leave without his chief sending him right back in. "You're flipping through papers, checking out people's files... oh yeah. Real hard work." More sarcasm.

"I'm not going anywhere. That little scratch on your cheek is what forced me to be here." A scratch! It was hardly anything, and yet, everyone was freaking out over it. Stepping away from her desk, and went and sat on the chair on the other side of the desk, the side she was not seated at. He sat down on it, making it very clear that he wasn't leaving because... well, because he couldn't.

[Dr. J. Grayson]

Julianna didn't look away from the papers before her, but her eyes followed him as he moved to sit down. At least he was not standing over her, that was a win. She'd take it. Looking back down he spoke of 'the scratch on her cheek' and Julianna looked up at him, surprised that an officer would belittle another nearly getting shot in the head.

"I was shot at." She explained, and for a moment her mind went back to that night. Her eyes unfocused and her guard slipped; before it all moved back up and she blinked away the fear she felt at coming that close to dying. That close to not seeing her daughter grow up, and be there for her. "You might think it's something normal, but I assure you that for it's not. I have a badge, but I'm not a field agent." She paused and looked down at the paperwork, deciding not to continue. He would not understand.

He would not understand. He lived for the danger. She fought to stop it.

[Derek Jackson]

"I was shot at." "Congratulations." His voice lacked any sympathy or remorse for what happened. Getting shot at came with the job. Chasing bad guys, equals possibly getting shot at. Which was why he thought it was especially stupid that he was here. If she couldn't take care of herself, she shouldn't be in the FBI. It all came down to politics and the SCPD protecting their own ass. "Then you should stop going out on the field," he stated bluntly. Simple as that. If she wasn't a field agent, then she shouldn't be out there.

"Keep your ass at your desk next time," he added. It's not like she did anything worthwhile out there anyway. Well actually, truth be told, he didn't know what she did out there. Because he didn't care to hear her explain. She had offered, he'd rejected the offer. And he wasn't going to ask for her to tell him now. He was too bitter and stubborn to express even the slightest interest in her work. Even though his work was now a part of hers. Damn politics.

[Dr. J. Grayson]

"Officer Jackson," She began in a disapproving tone, because she was tired of him snapping at her for doing her job. "Do you know how many men escaped the prison when the Glades fell? I do. My job is to build profiles of them, to learn how they talk and walk so that when you and your brethren go out there, you know what you're dealing with." It was one that she could not do from a desk, because she needed to see it! To walk where they walked and see how they lived.

"My job is to get into the minds of these men, and I'm sorry you don't find that important, or . . . . or bad-ass." She hated cursing but it was a phrase that most men seem to value. "But it's one that makes hunting men safer, both for the officers and for the civilians in their way." She loved her job, and knew the value of it and her.

No, she might not be good with a gun, no she might not be able to run down a drug dealer and be scary, but she was smart enough to be able to know a person from looking at their lives and seeing why they did things. And why could lead them to the next move before they made it. "So please do not speak to me like I am an idiot. I don't need, nor want your opinion."

[Derek Jackson]

She stated by saying his name, and he knew that tone all too well. He didn't care about her opinions or her trying to justify her importance of her and what she did here. Instead, he focused on the latter parts of her words, the part where she talked about how this made hunting men safer for cops and civilians. "Except that it didn't, cause you got shot at," he said, clearly only focusing on part of her words and not the entire context. "What you do is a guessing game. What we do is actually hunt them down and bring 'em in." He was clearly in disagreement of this partnership. Not of him being assigned to protecting her, but of the SCPD bringing her in, in the first place.

"So do what you gotta do. Cause the sooner you get it done, the sooner you can get out of here and go back home." And more importantly, the sooner he could get back to real police work. Not this bull crap. His chief was saying he had to protect her and not 'hinder' her work... didn't mean he wasn't going to give her lip or keep this thoughts to himself. He didn't do that for anyone else, so what made her so damn special.

[Dr. J. Grayson]

Guessing game?! She looked up at him, and glared before looking down. She was used to local police thinking that was what she did. She could open up about him, tell him that she could take his record and his history and know everything there was worth knowing. He was arrogant because he was good, but he was distant from others because that was how father most likely was.

His mother either died or wasn't around much because he lacked the softer touches that mothers often gave them. He was also angry at the world, suggesting that he either didn't really like his life--in which case she would assume he was a cop because there wasn't much else for him to do or because it was his father that pressured him into it--or because he had liked his life but lost people or things and he hated the world for it.

"Just for the record, I bought an year lease on my apartment. I'm here to work until this vigilante issues is taken care of." Meaning he could brace himself for a long year if this was how he handled the first day. She ignored everything else he said, because she wasn't going to take the bait.

[Derek Jackson]

She told him that she had a year lease on her apartment and he wanted to punch something. He wasn't going to be able to last this shit assignment for that long. He needed to get a way out. A way that she would dismiss him, or convince the chief to relieve him from this assignment. And until that happened, he would keep being his usual self... which was clearly someone she didn't like. Worked for him. "If its gonna take you that long to catch them, then guess we'll be visiting a lot of morgues." Morgues, because there would be a lot of victims. He didn't have faith in her job, and less so her. Then again, he didn't have faith in anyone. There was nothing about her that set her apart from that generalization.

Besides, if she could feel a bit more pressure from this, maybe it would make her actually do something worthwhile. And make his need to protect her less important. He was outranked by his chief of course, and technically by her, but he knew that the only thing that would get him fired... was failing this assignment. And that, was not something that could happen.

[Dr. J. Grayson]

Julianna paused in the mist of her actions, and just stared down at her papers while seeing nothing. Don't react! Don't react! It was what he wanted. She took a slow breath and flipped a few more pages while looking for the case notes she wanted. It was then she found her olive branch!

Fighting a smile she decided she would win him over by asking him for help! While she knew the answer to the questions she would ask, sometimes making someone (mostly men) feel useful helped win them over and allow a more at peace setting to build. Picking up the photo, she held it out to him. "Currently, I am working on The Mayor, who has taken to buying stolen guns." She explained, "This was taken by an officer who founds some vandalism at a old library that the Glades Quake brought down."

"I need to know vaguely what type of gun made those bullet holes in order to confirm it was his layer. Do you think you know any of them?" Police officers, and most men, tended to be able to look at the size of holes and take good guesses. She was hoping it helped him stop judging her and be more willing.

[Derek Jackson]

Even though he was going to keep putting on his bad attitude, by reflex his eyes glanced at the picture she held up. She then went on to explain she was working on The Mayor. He had heard the name before. She was asking for his input? And not only that, she was asking if he knew any of them. As if she had doubts. Which just annoyed him even more. "Why don't you google it," he suggested, sarcastically. But... he also knew that he was bored just sitting here, and wanted to do something more active. Something that a cop should be doing.

So after his words, he leaned forward and snatched the picture from her. He looked at the bullet hole, not taking long to form a solid answer. "Looks to have about a 7.6 milimeter caliber." He looked up to her, tossing the photo back on her desk. "It's a M-240 machine gun." He paused, knowing that there was one more detail that was very important. "Military grade weapon." Which gave some idea as to where he was stealing them from, but not how he was stealing them.

[Dr. J. Grayson]

Good! He played along. She had almost braced herself for him to make a remark about her not being able to do her job. "Every gun we've gotten back from them are military grade. Most that model too." Which meant they knew what to steal, not just the where and when. "These guns aren't transported whole either, which means they know how to work the gun well." So someone was teaching them, or they all had training from somewhere.

Reaching for the photo she put it back in place while talking, "Someone in their ranks--if not all of them--has military training, and enough good standing with his men that they'd commit treason for him. The men has has working for him respect for fear--or both--him enough to not step out without orders." Nothing he could not figure out himself, but she had more up her selves.

So she dug deeper. "He's a controlled man, but angry and violent. He believed in the system for a while and served under it but then it betrayed him. He feel through the cracks. Feeling they turned their backs on him, he found others like him, and rallied them into thinking they could take up arms--that it was their American duty to do it." She pulled out a photo of the blood drive The Mayor had recently shot up and passed it too him.

"This man doesn't duck when officers fired back. He is used to the chaos. He embarrassed it, and he looks excited. He trained for years over seas and in war zones. This is nothing to him. He will not stop until he has removed any sign of power." She sat back, and watched him for a moment. "What do you see when you look at him? Besides a criminal?"

[Derek Jackson]

After his answer she began to explain more about the Mayor. She had information that he was unaware of and that made him wonder if she had collected that information herself or... well, was there really another possibility? The cops were updated frequently, especially about high profile criminals like The Mayor. So she must have come up with all this based on... whatever profiling tihng she used. He listened to her, pretending not to be interest, but aware that this could help build a lead and enable them to track him. And if there was one thing he was all for, it was catching criminals. The hunt.

Plus, one more criminal caught, meant one more person she could cross off her list which meant... she was all the closer to getting out of here and him getting his life back. When she ended her explanation with a question, his eyes briefly glanced at the picture before looking at her again and leaning back on his seat. She wanted to know what he saw when he saw the picture? "One sick son of a bitch," he answered bluntly. He hadn't taken the time to look at the picture or try to see it through the lens she was encouraging. "Look, don't try to sell me on this profiling crap or use me as some lame ass guinea pig in training." He wasn't here for that. "Do what you gotta do to catch the bastard. Quite wasting your time trying to make me see what you do. Cause I don't give a shit." And that was all what it came down to; how little he cared about her skills.

[Dr. J. Grayson]

Not sure what she was expecting, Julianna pulled the photo back and tucked it into place. So much for a truce, and working together! "No, you do you need to know the case, unless you rather go around blind out there?" How he managed to keep himself alive and make friends, she was beginning to wonder. He didn't care about anything that could make his job easier!

She looked back down at her papers, and just to annoy him as much as he was annoying her; she pulled to a new file and wrote his name on the tab. He might not care about any of this, but she was willing to bet he'd pay more attention to what she was doing if he though she was doing it to him. "So instead of snapping at me, you could at least take a moment to know who to look out for."

[Derek Jackson]

He knew as much of he case as he needed to... in his opinion anyway. He didn't need to know all these unimportant details. He knew what the guy looked like. She could do whatever she thought she needed, and whatever those who brought her in thought she could do... and he would stick to his job. His eyes followed her hand, noticing that she was writing his name on a new file, scoffing at the sight of it though... he was not happy with that.

"What the hell is that?" He demanded. "You gonna start building a profile on me?" He questioned rhetorically, sarcasm and irritation in his voice. He didn't like his name being written on a file... he already had a massive file in the chief's office. A nice thick one of all his records."Don't bother," he added. "Then again, since you're the master of wasting time, I ain't gonna be surprised if you do." Because she thought this whole profiling thing was actually legitimate; that it would actually make a difference. He had yet to see any progress on, well... anything that she did. Even though he hadn't give it a chance, or refused to keep an open mind.

[Dr. J. Grayson]

It seemed to work, and Julianna felt as if she had gotten one up on him. Finally. She was used to being able to figure out of to do that really quickly if needed, but with him it had not worked until now. His comments on wasting time did not even get him a glare, because she was done acting childish.

"I need to review and compile these notes for today. If you need to do anything to wrap up your other cases I wont mind if you need to leave." In fact she was rather wishing he would so she could work without him under foot and undermining everything she did.

[Derek Jackson]

She didn't answer his question and it was annoying him. Why the hell was she starting a file for him?! He would have to look into that later. She said that he could finish up other cases if he wanted to... as if he needed her permission. "Thanks to you, all my active cases were handed down to someone else." He blamed her for that. All the more reason he was bitter. "Chief wanted my full time and effort spend on making sure you don't get yourself killed." Well, the chief hadn't quite phrased it like that... but he was. Becase he obviously didn't care about hurting her feelings.

"Besides, I don't need your permission to do something." He wanted to make that very clear. As an FBI Agent, she may outrank him but that didn't make a difference to him here. He listened to his chief, and that was about it. Any other authority just got a bad attitude from him and often rebellion. Then again, he hadn't had to deal with anyone a lot higher than the police chief. Not yet anyway. But that would change if something happene to her. "So you're just gonna sit here all day and make notes?" He questioned, frustrated at the thought cause... well, cause it meant he would have to sit here too.