It Drives Me • •

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Ramona often left her lab to venture out to the various precincts across the city. There were times when she liked handing results in herself, and over the years she had been an analyst with the NYPD Crime Labs she had made friends throughout the various departments and precincts. It was hard to make plans to see people outside of work since many of the detectives and officers worked such unpredictable hours with their shifts and caseloads. At least by swinging by to deliver some results or check up on something she felt she needed to know, she had the chance for a quick chat and catch up with them, even if it was just five minutes before they had to run off to chase a lead that had been handed to them. Plus, Mona liked getting away from her lab every now and then. She loved being in there, knew it like the back of her hand and hated letting anyone else into what she considered to be her little space, but like most places it got a bit claustrophobic at times when she was working through a backlog, or waiting on results that seemed to be taking longer than normal.

Today was one of those days. There was nothing Mona could do but wait, but since she knew it would be at least an hour before any of her software showed any signs of recognising the prints she had started running, she figured she’d head up out of the labs and grab a coffee in the nearest precinct. That was she was still close enough that she could come running should one of the other analysts call her to say that her computers were lighting up like the fourth of July, but she was still getting away and lessening the chance of developing cabin fever before five o’clock. Offering her credentials on the way in, she was waved on through and before she could find her way to the break room she had been stopped three times by familiar faces who wanted to thank her for something or ask how she was doing and how life was treating her.

Mona was brilliant at her job and most of the law enforcement in the country had her name somewhere. She had a knack for her, as some might say, but she hated the attention and the praise when senior detectives were heaping it on her, or when she had to tell her boss that she was being whisked off by the feds for something. The latter had happened only twice, but she knew better than to think that was over. She had been offered jobs with the FBI, but had turned them down for her comfy position in New York. She was thinking about work when she finally reached the coffee machine. Mona checked her phone just to be sure there were no messages from the lab before she poured herself a strong coffee, adding in the creamer to top up. Her lunch was in her bag and the break room might not have been the best place to grab lunch in New York City, but Mona had come here in the hopes of catching up with a few people she felt like she was missing, and so far it was working. Three were accounted for, and anymore after that would just be a plus.

• • •

TAGGED! @gennie
WORDS! 566!
OUTFIT! Sweet Thing!
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[Deleted]

Gen was finally happy in New York. She felt that New York had been her escape to start over. There were no memories in New York, and she knew no one before moving here. She had found a great job that she loved, and she had a decent place for her and Ella to live. Things had been going pretty great for the brunette police officer. She had made a few friends at her work, though she rarely ever saw them because of how busy everyone was. The only person she saw every day was her partner. 

Today had been going by pretty slow for Gen and her partner. They were mostly doing paper work today instead of field work. Most of their cases had gone cold or were solved, which left for nothing but paperwork for the two of them. Gen didn't mind paperwork days, though. It was something she had to do, and most of the time it just got so piled up that she would take it home to work on it. She hated having to take it home; it meant she had to take her free time away from Ella and the house. Plus, it gave them time to actually eat a lunch. 

So, when she heard her stomach growling, she made her way to the break room, grabbing the lunch she had packed for herself. She went to grab a water out of the vending machine before sitting down. When she went to find a seat, she saw a friend she hadn't seen in a while: Ramona. Ramona was a coworker of hers, and they rarely ever got to see each other outside of work. She smiled, walking over to her table, sitting across from Mona. 

"It's like seeing a ghost."

Gen joked about seeing Ramona for the first time in forever. 

"What brings you down here?"


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For:
@ramona
Outfit:
Police Uniform (Minus the hat)
Words:
312
Notes:

[Deleted]

Ramona had never considered leaving New York City. It had been home for her whole life and she was content to stay. Even when the FBI had been very lucrative with their job offer and tried to lure her to Quantico and the shiny labs there it hadn’t worked. Mona was a creature of habit in many ways, and her habits were rooted in New York. Even after the accident that had ripped her dad from the world she couldn’t bear to leave. She loved this place as much as she had loved her old man and staying gave her that connection to him. Besides, all of her family were within forty minutes of her own apartment these days and she was the go-to babysitter for both of her siblings when they wanted a date night with their husband or wife. They needed her to stick around, and Mona liked being needed.

She was thirty-one and basically lived for work and her nieces and nephews. Mona had no love life of her own and her friendships, as special as they were, were not the type that kept her out on the town every night. Like so many others, the people she knew from her youth and now from work had their own lives and families to be getting back to. She respected that and didn’t cling to them unless she sensed they needed an excuse for a night away. Ramona had always thought she was good at picking up on things like that from other people and her track record seemed inclined to support that theory. She was compassionate, but her own emotions had ruled her out from ever being on the front line when it came to helping the victims of crime. She was better being one of the many behind the curtain, working with the evidence and using the computers to chase down the criminals. Mona was happiest there.

Taking a seat, Mona took a tentative sip from her scalding coffee before reaching into her bag to pull out the salad and yoghurt she had brought from home. She never really knew when she would squeeze her lunch into her day so it was much easier to bring her own and eat on the go sometimes. Today was a blue moon occasion, and one she wasn’t going to pass up. Hearing the familiar voice, Mona looked up and smiled brightly. “Well, it’s your lot who have been keeping me busy.” She joked, popping open her lunchbox and grabbing her fork from the top of the container. “Cabin fever was setting in back in the lab.” She admitted. Ramona could be honest when she was working too many hours; it just didn’t stop her from working more if they needed her. “Plus, I needed to remember what everyone looked like.” She added as a joke. It really had been far too long though since she had seen many of the people from this precinct.

• • •

TAGGED! @gennie
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[Deleted]

<sup>The entire reason Gen had gone into law enforcement was because of what happened to Tyler. He had been murdered in her mind, and the people would have been charged with such if they hadn't also died in the wreck. They had been driving drunk, which had caused the wreck. They had been driving in the wrong lane while Gen and Tyler were driving back home from a Christmas party. The car had struck Tyler's side while swerving. Tyler tried to swerve away from the crash, but it had been too late. They tried to save him at the hospital, but there wasn't much they could do. So, they focused mostly on Gen and Ella. Ella had only been six months in the womb. Since Ella was so tiny, they had to keep her for a while. And Gen, well, Gen had broken her back in the wreck, which was why they had to take Ella. With all of Gen's strength, she was up and walking within a year of her car crash, though it took a long time. 

She had been determined to get her revenge on who had killed Tyler and almost killed her and Ella as well. She had moved her and Ella away from their home, and she joined the squad. She was still a rookie right now, but she was quickly making her way up there. 

"Oh, yeah? There have been so many burglaries lately, I'm not surprised you've been busy."

She said, nodding a little. The crime rate had recently spiked. Gen thought it was possibly all the same person, but she couldn't be one-hundred percent sure about that. 

"Well, how have you been? It's really been a while since we've had a chance to sit down and chat. I'm sorry about that. But I'm sure you know about how busy this line of work can keep you."</sup>

[Deleted]

Mona was always going into law enforcement. Her original plan to be a CSI had changed only slightly when she realised she didn’t have the stomach to be in that profession all of the time. Not that it really kept her away from crime scenes, but most of the time all she saw were the photographs, and not the actual mess that had been left behind. She had stayed with the NYPD though, even with the call of the FBI because she wasn’t the type of person who wanted to be working with all of that pressure. She liked being the best, enjoyed being called in when there was no one else who could help them, but she also liked being able to shake hands and go back home at the end of it all. She knew that she wouldn’t have that life, or that chance if she accepted any of their countless offers. No, Mona liked being able to shut off at the end of her shift and then go back to a life where she wasn’t part of the hunt for criminals or the things that went bump in the night.

“That and all the rest.” She said, chewing on a carrot stick before stabbing some of the pasta with her fork. Mona’s expertise spread across plenty of crimes. One day she could be working on a break in, the next a homicide, and by the end of the week she might be called in to help prove who did what on assault charges. She kept her knowledge of fingerprints and pulling them at the latest and newest techniques and it wasn’t the first time she had shoved someone’s arm into one of her pieces of equipment to see if there was a useable print on the surface of the skin. There was a reason she was one of the best and it wasn’t just because she could do wonders with a partial, some of the time. “I’m good. Same old, same old, really.” Mona paused to help herself to some more of her lunch and then continued. “What about you? Still settling in here okay?” She knew the rookies could have a hard time of things, be it a brutal scene or the general hazing that went on between officers. She had never been a part of that since she went straight into the labs, but she had seen it enough.

• • •

TAGGED! @gennie
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