𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆, tim bradford

𝟬𝟬𝟭. speak up, boot

「 ✦ 𝐨𝐧𝐞. speak up, boot ✦ 」

penelope valentine was a genius. she'd graduated high school at the age of thirteen and had completed collage and university with three phd's and three baccalaureate's by the time she was twenty. by then, penelope had finally decided what she wanted to do in life.

be a police officer.

she knew very well that she could be a doctor or a lawyer or any number of extremely well paid (and rewarding) jobs. but, unfortunately for her bank account, she couldn't stop herself from signing up for the academy.

penelope joined late, completing the course along with people who had started a month before her. almost everything in life had come easy to the young woman and she was confident being a police officer would as well.

walking into the building she'd be working in for the foreseeable future an hour earlier than needed probably wasn't going to make her first day go any smoother but it couldn't hurt. penelope was teased all throughout the academy for her age and the first thing on her to do list was to ensure it wouldn't be an issue at the station.

the woman walked up to the office door labelled 'captain' after getting changed and finding her assigned locker, disinfecting it for a good fifteen minutes. an authoritative voice sounded from behind the door. "come in" penelope walked in, taking note of the professional looking woman sitting behind the desk in the middle of the room. "i believe you've been pranked, officer. i can promise you it is not tradition to come to the captains office first" she informed without looking up from the open file on the desk.

"oh, i know" she chimed, immediately thinking of wether she sounded like a know it all or not (which she was but she didn't need her boss thinking that) "i just had something i wanted to speak to you about before roll call"

the older woman finally lifted her head up and locked eyes with the rookie. captain andersen hadn't expected someone to actually intend to speak to her before the rookie's shifts had even begun "oh, alright" she frowned, closing the file and shutting it away in the top drawer of her desk "and who're you?"

"um, i'm officer penelope valentine" she introduced before adding a "ma'am" to the end. penelope took a step forward to show the woman her badge.

"captain andersen" she returned the gesture, standing up and holding out a hand for her to shake.

"oh i'm sorry, i don't shake hands" she apologised, sending her captain a meek smile instead "it's a germ thing. the number of pathogens passed during a handshake is staggering. it's actually safer to kiss"

"ah" andersen made a sound of recognition "you're our genius"

"i don't believe that intelligence can be accurately quantified, but I do have an IQ of 194, an eidetic memory, and can read 23,000 words per minute" penny rattled off, getting nothing but a raised eyebrow in response "yes, i'm a genius"

"right, and what did you want to talk to me about?"

"i realise that i'm young and i don't really act like im a..."

"a genius?"

"yes, sorry. i don't- it sounds braggy when i say it" she laughed "um, that that puts me in a difficult position with other officers, them assuming i don't know what i'm doing and things like that but i wanted to make sure that i'm going to get the same chance as anyone else would" she spoke as confidently as she could, thinking back to the numerous comments made by instructors and other rookies in the academy "because i know what im doing and i hope me being twenty one isn't going to effect my job"

the captain stood looking at her for a while, scrutinising her stature and appearance before breaking out into a smile "i think we're going to get along great, officer valentine" she said "and i can assure you, you're on track to become a great police officer and my current officers won't be an issue"