[4 weeks after the attack, later that same day]
"Where were you?" Hicks asked as Ben walked into Metro SWAT HQ.
"Put Emilia and Anna on a plane at LAX," the detective answered with a shrug. "They'll be gone for a week, come back for two weeks only to fly back to the UK again for another week… I hope I'm not putting too much stress on her by making them fly back because I didn't want her gone for a whole month…"
Hicks made it a point to look at his watch but didn't further comment on the lateness of his favorite officer.
"It's a ten and a half hour flight, forty-two hours in a month is quite a bit," Hicks mumbled with a small frown to address Ben's worry. He decided to distract because he didn't want to give Ben his opinion. "Mumford's team managed to free three more people and arrest another of Derian's henchmen as well as a dirty cop in Anaheim. Another anonymous tip. Know anything about that?"
Ben lied and shook his head. He was sure his acting would convince anyone. He survived five years undercover with the worst kind of people on earth.
But Hicks narrowed his eyes and walked away, saying, "Don't let us catch you."
The young detective gave Hicks' back a wry smile.
The commander shouted just before he rounded a corner, "And don't be late for your court appointment!"
-----
Ben walked out of the court building with an unreadable expression. Instead of driving back to Metro HQ, he got Horatio out of his car, walked to a stand to get a coffee on the go and found a bench to sit down on.
Gulping it down in one go, Ben slumped on the bench, closed his eyes and sighed deeply.
"You okay, son?" A voice called out from next to him.
Ben opened his eyes, studied the man who asked and coldly said, "I'm not your son. It's Detective Weiss."
The man raised both hands to show he didn't mean anything by it and asked, "What's with the immediate hostility?"
"I don't know your name, but I know you're a fed," Ben said curtly.
"And you're a Liaison Officer, shouldn't you be a little more soft-spoken to not strain the relationship between the LAPD and the FBI?"
"I know your face. I know you are somehow connected to Ford. You sitting in the courtroom just now cannot be good for me and is very likely not related to my job."
Special Agent Garza didn't comment and just sat down next to Ben.
"Impressive job in there. I'm surprised you found me in the stands. People say I have a very forgettable face," Garza commented. "How did you figure out to look for the wiped data on the drive? I looked into it as you gave your testimony, there was no indication that anything was deleted?"
"Because I'm good at my job," Ben dryly replied and didn't engage further.
"I suppose you are," Garza agreed in a quiet voice and heard Ben scoff, whispering, "Ford and his friends would know," under his breath.
"I'm not here for any of that. I'm here to talk about the Derian Crime Family," the federal agent eventually said with a sigh.
"Contact someone else. I was thrown off the case as you are well aware if you're here," the detective countered.
"I am here exactly because you were thrown off. I want to know why - and I don't mean you thwarting an assassination attempt on you, your girlfriend and your girlfriend's assistant. I know you weren't actually dating Officer Erin Cole, either."
Ben opened his eyes, looked at Garza for a short moment and looked to his front again. He knew now that his mail reached Garza - the FBI wouldn't just blindly look into it and send someone like the aged and probably decorated investigator otherwise.
"You're here because of the string of arrested officers and you can't be arsed to follow proper procedure by going to IA."
Garza just nodded, uncaring that he was found out.
"What's the FBI's interest?" Ben asked, perfectly pretending to be unaware of the set of circumstances that led the agent to him.
"Got an anonymous tip, looking into the Serj Derian shooting that started a gang war," Garza outlined immediately.
"You're not going to find what you're looking for with the dirty cops," Ben pointed out.
Garza shook his head and proposed, "Humor me anyway."
"It started with a rookie officer. The one I wasn't dating. I found the pattern of botched cases, investigations, and raids that couldn't have possibly been done by a single rookie. So I brought it up with IA. The investigation was slow until it wasn't," Ben said while keeping his eyes closed.
"Do you think Ruben found out and that's why he had people sent after you?"
Ben only nodded.
"And then you got booted off of the case. Must have stung," Garza described with a thoughtful look.
"If you're implying that I wanted revenge, you're a little late. Four investigators have cleared me already after thinking the same, one from your team," Ben spat, showing just enough hostility to mask any unease.
"Wait. Someone from the FBI already interviewed you regarding the Serj Derian shooting?" Garza asked with furrowed brows.
The genuine disbelief shocked Ben and he looked at Garza with the same incomprehension that the older fed had on his face.
"What? Don't tell me you clowns still don't know how to file paperwork as an agency," Ben mockingly spat when it dawned on him that the agent wasn't pretending.
"The name," Garza ordered as he stood up.
The detective fished out his wallet, rifled through the cash compartment until he found a stack of business cards among other stacks of business cards.
Garza wanted to quip, 'Collector?', but thought better of it. Ben was already plenty hostile - and to Garza, rightfully so - even if Ben shouldn't have known that he was right.
Just after a business card that read Mickey Haller, Attorney At Law, Ben took out the card the FBI agent gave him.
"Agent Sally Barns," the special agent read out loud and turned thoughtful as he took the card from the detective. Last he heard of her, she worked in New Orleans, reporting directly to the Deputy Director. Far away from Los Angeles.
"Whatever little game you and your colleague are playing, leave me out of it. And unless it's for a case I'm working on, don't contact me again," Ben said and stood up.
[Rookie S1E17 ; SWAT S2E1 (funnily enough, there's a guest actor who debuted on both shows in these earthquake episodes. Michael Trucco as Assistant DA Sean Del Monte in The Rookie and as US Marshall Eric Wells in SWAT)]
The detective barely walked a few steps towards his car when suddenly there was a low rumble going through the city. He immediately perked up, understanding the signs.
Looking down to Horatio following by his side, he found that his canine didn't panic. He was a retired officer, after all.
Ben still held him by the collar and looked around, scanning their surroundings for threats - not just to them but also to everyone around him.
"Horatio, heel," Ben ordered and ran toward the first person he could help. Near the courthouse, a car hit a pedestrian. The driver lost control when another car swerved into the wrong lane during the first tremor.
Just like that, Ben began helping civilians, rendering first aid and staving off any panic. Garza had eventually joined him, claiming that two sets of hands were better than one. Ben remained professional, though he didn't engage the agent in banter either.
Eventually, someone ran outside from the court house. A bailiff, Ben recognized him from the hearing he was just in. The court guard recognized him just as quickly.
"Detective Weiss! We need your help!"
Ben immediately perked up, reassured a person with a head injury that all he needed to do was press the wound and find a doctor to make sure everything was fine before he ran toward the courthouse.
"Talk to me," Ben ordered with Horatio following him dutifully midsprint.
"Frank got hit by a lamp. Five prisoners got to him, took his keys and locked themselves in a room. We can't call for backup, radio is down, cell towers are done. So they sent me to look for help," the guard recounted, already deeply out of breath.
"Any weapons?" Ben asked, his expression turning tense.
"They got into the kitchen and took hostages there. So knives at the very least. Frank has alcohol problems so he doesn't have clearance for a service pistol," the bailiff explained between deep huffs.
Just before a staircase, Ben turned to the guard and said, "You go look if everything else is in order on this floor. I know where the kitchens are!"
The detective just left the guard behind and began sprinting at a speed the other, unfit man could never hope to follow along. Garza was left behind all the same. The agent wasn't young anymore.
"I'm FBI Agent Garza. Let me help you," the special agent said, holding up his credentials and got to work with the bailiff securing the other courtrooms and holding cells.
Ben and Horatio reached the kitchen in no time. Another bailiff that Ben didn't recognize stood in front of it.
"Detective Benjamin Weiss," he introduced, holding up his badge. "Your colleague got me from outside."
"Five felons, two runners from the Derian Crime Family, an art forger, a drug dealer, and a dirty cop," the bailiff immediately recounted. "Two chefs are inside. We don't know if there are others."
"Who is we?" Ben asked as he looked around. The guard was the only one standing in front of the kitchen.
"Frank. He's inside, too, but he's been giving me morse code from inside by hitting the piping," the guard explained as he pointed to a radiator near them.
Ben just looked at him weirdly, not just for leaving out such a big detail, and asked to be sure, "Frank the alcoholic?"
The bailiff nodded.
"Okay, I'm going in. We don't have the luxury to wait, the city is in crisis mode. If I have to shoot them to get it over with quickly, I will. But I'm confident in my takedown training. So get out your cuffs and come in on my signal," Ben ordered and walked into the room cautiously but without pause.
Peering past the door, he saw the five felons - but they were split and arguing loudly and aggressively.
The dirty cop and the two guys from the Derian Crime Family wanted to run out and disappear, but the drug dealer wanted to stay in the kitchen and use the hostages for leniency.
"This is the LAPD. Surrender now and we can argue the earthquake made you panic, triggering a fight or flight response. Your other option is to stay inside and I will make sure these actions will see the maximum possible prison sentence attached to your sentencing. I could be out there helping people who are hurt," Ben shouted to identify himself.
The art forger immediately split and ran out with both hands raised.
"I'm sorry man! We were all tied to the same chain! They dragged me along, I couldn't say no!"
Ben gestured for the bailiff to cuff him, reassuring the man, "I'll be sure to mention it to the DA."
"You're fucking dead, Gustavo!" Someone shouted from inside, the drug dealer, Ben recognized.
"You're Gustavo?" Ben asked and received a nod from the art forger. "You'll be fine, I swear it."
"Big Rick, the drug dealer, he made a flamethrower with one of the gas lines," Gustavo the art forger advised once he saw Ben give him a reassuring look.
"Other weapons?"
"Knives, meat cleavers, cutlery," Gustavo quickly listed.
Ben nodded and holstered his weapon. Firing it could mean causing a gas explosion. He looked down and ordered, "Horatio, stay."
The dog sat down and his owner gave him a quick pat.
"Good boy, you're retired. No need to fight anymore," the detective whispered and walked inside.
One of the men threw a knife in his direction but Ben evaded the projectile easily.
"Don't come any closer, motherfucker!"
Ben picked up a wooden tray - metallic ones weren't used at the court to make sure they could get through the metal detectors. He held it up as protection against a flamethrower attack as he continued to walk forward.
"I said I would make sure you get the maximum sentence, but that guy who just threw a knife at me: I want you to know that I will look into your case and find every little piece of information my colleagues missed. If you don't put your weapons down now, I will use my every waking hour to look into every single little thing you ever did wrong, every parking violation and jaywalking ticket you ever got. I'm not promising you what I will do with that information because that would be malicious prosecution. I'm just saying, I'm a very good detective and you decided to rob me of my time during a natural disaster," Ben monologued and took that distraction to move closer.
The two Derian henchmen looked at each other unsurely and Ben sprung into action after reaching the right distance. None of the four felons were anywhere close to the hostages further back in the kitchen.
One quick kick at a knife, a low sweep to topple a second man. Then the detective held up the tray because the drug dealer activated the rigged flamethrower.
The fire licked at the tray, but just as quickly stopped.
"What the fuck?" Ben heard the drug dealer mutter until a low explosion roared through the room.
The detective felt the heat of the fire bathing the ceiling and did his best to creep toward the gas line. With a wet cloth on the valve, he did his best to turn it off in time before an actual explosion or before the fire toasted him, the three hostages and the three criminals. It was risky, but having a gas line explode in a building full of people was just as unacceptable.
Turning around and straightening out after the fire stopped, Ben had to dodge to the side.
The man with the knife he kicked away got his hands on another and tried to stick him with it.
"You're Benjamin Weiss," the man spat as he tried a wide swing that Ben dodged with a step back. "I recognize you! Ruben will take care of my family for life if I kill you!"
Another swing, but this time ducked under the knife and used that opportunity to get into the assailant's personal space.
The momentum of the step forward allowed Ben to drive an elbow into the felon's stomach in full force. Coming back up, the detective drove an uppercut right under the man's chin that knocked the enemy out cold.
"Stay down," Ben ordered and got out his gun with the gas leak dealt with, aiming it at the second Derian henchman trying to get over to one of the hostages.
Seeing the man no longer moving, Ben quickly looked at the dead drug dealer, and shouted, "Bailiff!!"
The guard immediately ran inside, looked at the scene, found the dead drug dealer and leaned to the side to puke his guts out.
The stench of burnt human flesh was nauseating.
Thankfully, or unfortunately, for Ben, this was not the first time he smelled it.
"Cuff him," Ben instructed and kneeled next to the still conscious Derian Crime family member to put the handcuffs on him, leaving the one he knocked out to the bailiff to lock up.
The dirty cop just stared at it all with his hands raised high, completely frozen.
-----
At the end of the day, Ben and Horatio sat inside Metro HQ. But not in his office but with the psychologist of the department, Doctor Wendy Hughes.
The canine was busy chewing on a treat the kind doctor had handed him and sat down opposite of the detective.
"It's been a while since our last session. Why would you ask for my help today so urgently?"
Ben closed his eyes and leaned back. He exhaled deeply, sorting his thoughts.
"The moment the paperwork hits the server, you would have been alerted immediately. I'm guessing first things tomorrow, you would have tried to call me anyway. Thank you for taking the time today of all days for some overtime," Ben said after some time.
"Nonsense, I'm always ready to assist and me and my family have had nothing bad happen to us. On the other hand, on days like today, there's a very dire chance for people to see bad things. For them to do what they didn't mean to under duress. First responders, especially," Doctor Wendy, as she liked to be called, explained with an empathetic smile.
"Like the 20-David team having to find a child trafficker just as the city shook?"
"Or seeing someone burn alive a few feet in front of them," the doctor suggested.
"Wow, you read quickly," Ben praised with a dry chuckle.
"Like you said, it was flagged immediately," the blonde countered, but stayed quiet. She left Ben some time to find the words himself.
He usually did when left some space.
"The case with the pedophile, Donny Jay, I was made to testify today. The DA likes me talking to the jury in cases like these, even if I rarely appear in a court. As liaison detective, I rarely do as you know. All the credit, none of the responsibility," Ben explained, his eyes remained closed.
Doctor Wendy noted it down on her notepad. The contentious views Ben had on matters of 'credit' and 'duty' were old news to the psychologist. Ben hated getting praised, especially now that he got the arrests counted despite not being lead detective or arresting officer. He never thought he was worthy of it.
"I don't even know why, but despite the testimony under oath to get a monster behind bars and despite the man who burned himself to death right in front of me… all I can see is that one Special Agent," Ben muttered. "He ambushed me outside the courthouse. Verbally, not literally."
Doctor Wendy chuckled in exasperation. She appreciated the clarification, but that Ben thought to correct his wording before he could even see a reaction - because of the closed eyes - was funny the way he said it. At face value, at least.
"I made the arrest stick. I helped people, saved two hostages. But all I can see when I close my eyes is Special Agent Garza's face. First time I heard the name. Second or third time I saw his face."
When Ben stayed quiet, Doctor Wendy asked without pressing, "Tell me about this Special Agent Garza."
"He's a friend of Agent Ford. The moment I saw him, my mood evaporated. I snapped at him immediately."
"Has he wronged you? Like Agent Ford?"
Ben shook his head, denying, "I wouldn't know. Ford kept everything under wraps. No matter how or where I dig, I don't know why. I can guess that Garza likely knew about it because I saw the two together once. But I would never know. They seemed friendly. But Ford never put anything into the system like he told my old captain. Like they told me. So maybe he never told anybody at the bureau either."
"You come across a lot of special agents. You never snap at any of them," Doctor Wendy observed thoughtfully.
"I know."
The detective stayed quiet for a while, so the psychologist decided to change the subject for now, "You don't look all too well, Ben. It doesn't look like it was just bad sleep today either."
Ben leaned to the side and allowed his face to fall into his palm.
"Yeah. Haven't slept all too well since the car crash," the detective admitted. "Doesn't help that I'm fighting with Sara at the moment. No, that's the wrong wording. I did something unwise and she is upset with me. I see her point, but she isn't in the country to talk it over. Long distance doesn't work for a fight and a resolution if the other party isn't picking up the phone for a tough phone call."
"You didn't say anything about that during our talk after the… 'crash'," the doctor pointed out with furrowed brows.
"Bad sleep comes often, nothing new. We talked, uh, twelve days after the crash. It hasn't really been that bad at that point so I didn't bring it up," Ben clarified with another sigh.
The doctor was concerned, but there was an easier topic that might explain Ben's defeated and tired facial expressions.
"Sara, the lovely art insurance manager you saved during the Diamond Emporium Heist, right?"
"Yeah, the one who was with me in the car," Ben confirmed.
"You've been together ever since?"
"Since when? The heist? No. It was a little complicated for a while. But yeah, we had been going steady since a little before the assassination attempt," the detective clarified.
That was the first time Ben called it what it was in front of her, but Doctor Wendy simply noted it down instead of continuing. The last time Ben had talked about his romantic entanglement was when he was with that 'college-dropout-fashionista'. Doctor Wendy had never liked their chances back then and wasn't surprised when she had heard about that break up.
Ben had been smitten, but that girl sounded too flighty and unserious to be with a SWAT officer or a detective. It had sounded like it, too, when Ben had admitted to not sharing anything about the explosions at his temporary place when he came back from New York.
"Apart from the 'fight that isn't a fight', how is life with Sara?"
For the first time, the psychologist saw a genuine, easy smile break out on Ben's face.
"It was a little dicey at first. Anna didn't like her very much. She got really, really jealous. But Sara just exudes charisma. It didn't take long for her to win my daughter over. A sweet here, matching clip-on earrings there. Now they have the same pair of high-heeled hiking boots and call themselves 'booty sisters," Ben held up a hand, "I know. I know. We all know how it sounds. We haven't been able to convince Anna to change the name. She calls the shoes 'booty', because they are boots."
Doctor Wendy laughed.
"I'd be more worried that a three year-old needs high-heeled boots," she said with a chuckle.
"It isn't stilettos, just these really cute boots made for long walks that look fashionable, or whatever," Ben defended with a small shrug.
"So Sara got your little angel convinced, what about her mother? What about Zofia? They both still live with you, right?"
"Yeah, they do. Emilia seems to like her well enough. The two rarely interact, though. Sara and Zofia, on the other hand… They are on good terms. Sara can't cook, Zofia doesn't think that makes for a good wife. Uh, I don't care either way if you want to write down my opinion. Other than that, it's all good."
"Wife? Are you thinking about proposing?"
"Huh? No. No, I don't think so," Ben denied in confusion.
"Is it because of the fight?"
"It's just too early, doc," Ben explained with a shake of his head. "The fight was just some silly misunderstanding. Not silly in the way that I think her emotions are silly. You know - wait, picture this: I love Chris, you know that. But I love Chris like I'd love a sister if I ever had one. I know it, she knows it. But it seems that Sara doesn't, not truly. I hosted a family event for Chris last weekend. Sara was out of the country. Chris' uncles really get under her skin when they all had a bunch to drink."
"And then?"
Ben finally opened his eyes, and tiredly smiled, "I called Sara to ask for permission. I told Chris we can pretend to be a couple - and then we kissed to make those drunken uncles shut up."
"Hmm," Doctor Wendy deliberated, but Ben just handed over his phone with a video primed for play.
"Watch it before you form an opinion. I wouldn't call it a make-out session or anything. We only convinced Chris' family with that chaste smooch because they were hammered."
The psychologist looked at the video and put down the phone.
She studied Ben's face with a small frown and moments later rifled through her notes until she reached a note she put down outside of a session.
"You also pretended to be involved with Rookie Officer Erin Cole since around the time of the Diamond Emporium Heist," Doctor Wendy read out loud.
Ben was caught off guard - he never told the psychologist about that.
"How did you hear about that?"
"I have my ways."
Ben looked at Doctor Wendy with a searching look, but then simply shrugged, and admitted, "I did. It was a cover, albeit a terrible one."
"Why did you need to use such a cover? Especially, if I have the timeline right, you wanted to try getting together with your Sara at the same time?"
"I had it planned out as a mere rumor. Ruben Derian was supposed to think I took an interest in Erin because she is young and pretty. That our rides together were my way to get into her panties and not because I wanted to find dirty cops. The frequency of our outings eventually needed us to pretend my plan had actually worked," Ben explained.
"And? Did Ruben Derian believe it?"
Ben nodded and released yet another sigh.
"Erin was called in by him just two weeks after the heist. They wanted her to find out how much I knew about them, or if I even had them on my radar. But Ruben suspected her duplicity, so we needed to pose and chose an intimate restaurant to give them a play a day later. Found out she had a tail, had her sit in my lap so the man could take a candid shot. It was very demeaning for her, but she said she didn't mind. And my hands remained honest. Plus, I'd rather believe I am a decent actor," the detective explained.
"Of that, nobody has any doubt," Doctor Wendy agreed. "My sources tell me you have long 'pretended' to have broken up with Erin Cole and put the reality of your relationship in her official record. Does Sara know about what you did with Officer Cole?"
Ben slowly nodded, beginning to understand why she would ask.
"Two months into our relationship, and I pretended to be in love with two other women," Ben said in realization. "So it actually is deeper than I believed, even if I never thought she was wrong."
"What do you plan to do now that you know?"
"I… I'll cut down on my readiness to pretend to be lovers with beautiful women," Ben joked but his smile turned solemn. "I know what to say now when she gets back and listens. To show her how much I want just her in my life."
Running a hand over his face, he added, "I guess I'll have to be a better boyfriend, huh?"
"I wouldn't know about that," Doctor Wendy defused. "You've been very straightforward about your shortcomings from the start, even if you didn't see the full picture yet. Who knows, though? Maybe Sara doesn't actually mind your 'play-pretend'. Maybe it was ''just' the fact she saw you kiss your best friend and she wasn't there. There to see it with her own eyes. There to mark her territory right after… I don't know Sara."
"This was a nice talk, doc," Ben said with a relieved sigh, now that he knew where he stood with Sara.
"Oh, we're not finished, Ben," the psychologist said with a meaningful smile. "You still haven't found out why you think of Agent Garza when you close your eyes… or why you close your eyes so much."
'But I already do know why,' Ben thought as he remained quiet, lamenting the fact that he could never tell the psychologist about it.
Well, he hadn't really gotten to the bottom of why Garza peeved him so much and why he immediately lashed out.
"Then let's talk about when I saw the special agent for the first time. It was five months into my undercover operation. Agent Ford wanted to see me face-to-face. It was the first and only time he ever did once I was Ben Muller and got accepted into the White Front,..."