spark

Chapter 1 : Under Pressure

The sound of the clock ticking by seemed to echo in the 15x15 office that Stiles found himself sitting in. Both he and Captain Maynard kept quiet, waiting patiently for the person they had expected to have been here a half hour ago.

"Is Sergeant Grant usually this late?" Stiles inquired, anxiously tapping his index finger in his thigh.

"She usually isn't. This is her first time being assigned a rookie, so I imagine Athena isn't very happy with the situation." Captain Maynard responded, sighing heavily as she plucked a remote from her desk and directed it to the air conditioner, likely decreasing the temperature further. "When I got word from the academy that they recommended you to be her first rookie, I was a little skeptical, what with your age."

"I may be 27, but I know my stuff." Stiles answered, keeping his face as neutral as possible.

"I can see that, your scores on the practical and theoretical courses were outstanding, though I can also see that you've had prior incidents where you meddled with cases in your hometown. Your father was the local sheriff, so I'm not surprised that you wanted to follow in his footsteps." Captain Maynard explained, interlacing her fingers and resting her elbows on the desk. "There's also the fact that you were an intelligence agent with the FBI after you graduated high school, care to tell me why you downgraded?"

"You have my history, which means you know I was present for the raid on Quantico." Stiles starts, noticing the surprise spread through Maynard, her body going rigid. "I couldn't save enough people, couldn't save enough of my comrades. I didn't have the motivation in me to return to the Bureau. I sold my things and backpacked around North and South America for two years, spent a few months in Europe before I had to come home and bury my father. After that, I applied for the LAPD Academy, and the rest is history."

"That still doesn't answer my question. Why the LAPD?" she badgered, narrowing her eyes at the young man in front of her.

"If I want to be able to save more people, I need to be where the people are, on the streets." Stiles declared, watching as the Captain leaned back in her chair, obviously satisfied with the answer.

The door suddenly slammed open, proceeded by the sound of footsteps. "You would not believe the fools I just processed. Groom leaves the bride at the altar, and the bride had the audacity to falsely report the rental car stolen." a black woman states, marching into the office and sitting down in the chair next to Stiles, not even sparing him a glance. "What can I do for you, Captain?"

"I can't tell if you're being serious or not, Athena." Captain Maynard sighed, pointing to Stiles. "Meet your rookie, Officer Stilinski. While you were dragging your feet getting here, your boot was here a half hour early and diligently waited for you in the bullpen. I pitied him and had him wait in here with me."

"Your office is definitely a lot cooler in temperature than the bullpen, Captain." Stiles said, his face remaining neutral. Sergeant Grant was still refraining from looking at Stiles, keeping eye contact with the Captain. "I promise you, Sergeant Grant, that I will not disappoint you or your expectations."

Only then, did Sergeant Grant turn and look at Stiles. "You think you can live up to my expectations, boy? You won't last to end of shift at this rate." she hissed, making an attempt to intimidate me. "Go grab the war bags, I don't wanna see you until I get in the shop."

"Yes, ma'am." Stiles answered, relenting as he exited the office and made his way to the gear checkout.

"Really? Athena, you can't try and scare the kid off just because you didn't want a rookie." Captain Maynard scolds, gesturing to the retreating young man. "Officer Stilinski is an outstanding recruit, he's got a family history of law enforcement, and he had a stint in the FBI. Teach him what you know, and maybe the kid can teach you some things, too."