5 Case 05 - The PR problem

His meeting the next morning with the Chief of Police and a civil admin from the mayor's office was a doozy and a half. Ben ultimately agreed to become the liaison for SWAT in the first half of the meeting. He would also get mentoring from an old detective turned Captain friend of the chief in the NYPD for one to two months after New Years.

But the old hardass also got some concessions from Ben. He needed to get a whole bunch of certifications, he needed to stay at least a week in every LAPD department to form connections. He needed to get a crashcourse from Homeland Security and get a month-long training course from the DEA and FBI done in two years max.

To top that, the mayor and the chief changed their decision. He needed to do the opposite of what he did with the press and instead of a full black-out, he needed to hold a conference to get ahead of a video the chief showed him titled 'LAPD Neonazi messes up unarmed latina' - the internet did its magic and cut the original video into something that looked even worse.

The kicker? The press conference was being set up in front of the LAPD headquarters as Ben and Chief Trent Williams talked upstairs. Inwardly cursing his bad luck, Ben called Chris from the bathroom to explain what was going to happen. Clearly, he had recognized the playful fight the two had in the hospital parking lot.

Chris hadn't seen the news this morning, so she started cursing whoever took the video but quickly calmed down.

"*Want me to get down there?*"

"No, that won't be necessary. I just called ahead because I don't know if the chief is going to give out your name or not. You know, a fair heads-up the moment I got the news myself," Ben answered as he pinched his glabella, the skin between his eyebrows.

"*I'm fine if my name is associated with this. If it's just us messing around in a parking lot, set those idiots straight. And thanks for the call.*"

"Yeah, I'm getting dragged in front of a bunch of news crews, but you're in this as much as me," Ben said with a sigh.

"*Just get all the attention on you. Otherwise, they'll hang up a moving picture frame with the news snippet next to Hondo's LA Times article with him in that helicopter.*"

"Got it, be as interesting as possible," Ben joked back.

"*Yeah, none of that 'lost soul that takes in equally lost puppies crap'.*"

"Man, that's cold."

"*Hehe! Ice!*"

"...I'm about to meet with the PR guy to decide what pictures to show, what stories to tell... so, have a quiet day, Chris."

"*Knock 'em out of the park, Ben.*"

<Cast: Linda Cardellini as O'Reilly>

The head of PR turned out to be a very overworked and antiquated old man who let his attractive assistant do most of the talking. Since they only had half an hour to throw something together, Ben and Linda O'Reilly, the assistant, agreed on sharing Ben's family situation and backstory to paint him as anything but a neonazi.

During the press conference, Ben showed off his tattoos, and Linda had original pictures thrown up from body cam footage, taken at the auto repair shop where Ben was shot. They showed his gunshot wound and all. It was clear from there that the tattoos were already getting removed since a long time ago.

Ben then talked about growing up in Brentwood with his lovely jewish mother, and despite not being a believer himself, he could tell various stories of himself doing voluntary community service for people of all walks of life.

The chief then stepped in and disclosed all he was willing to share about Ben's undercover op and how many right-wing extremists his actions have put behind bars and how many dangerous weapons he got off the streets. For that, he even awarded Ben a Police Distinguished Service Medal, the highest award the LAPD had for exceptional service to the community.

Ben hadn't known about that, so his genuinely surprised expression turned out to be the picture on the front page of the LA Times the next day.

At the Q&A afterward, Ben finally had to reveal Chris' identity after deflecting the question once. He talked about how grateful he was that SWAT was giving him an amazing safety net after he was released from such a long time undercover and how his new friendships with the teams made his decision easy: he was going to join SWAT as a liaison officer.

The last question he was offered was about how he hoped to better community relations as someone with his background, which he answered with, "As part of my agreement to work with SWAT as liaison detective, I was asked to join every single department LAPD has to offer. An opportunity I intend to utilize fully. I know three sides of LA by heart. Brentwood as a kid, Mid-Wilshire as a patrol officer because of my amazing TO Sergeant Grey and the ugly, racist underbelly of LA while undercover. I know how I look, I know how I grew up, so I don't think it'll come easy. Anything easy isn't worthwhile anyway. But I'm hoping I get to see more of LA and understand its people better. I'm hoping to become a better police officer through that experience. A better human."

Ben had to shake a lot of hands in front of cameras after that. He was just glad his old ceremony uniform from his life as a patrol officer still fit like it did. It looked a little dusty in the storage unit, but he thankfully knew a quick dry cleaner in town.

-----

Once he was finally done, he was quick to excuse himself as he changed into a more casual outfit he had in his bike's side box and drove up to Beverly Hills. He was already super late to his appointment with Tan's cousin's wife.

She scolded him about 'German punctuality' because of his heritage until he showed her the tattoos he wanted covered and that apparently had her shut up because of the 'creative intricacies' this coverup would bring. They decided on colorful tattoos that would likely take two or three sessions to complete.

They started with covering the 88 on his neck. It would become a setting sun with its reflection on the ocean for the left 8, the other 8 was a little harder because Tat-Tina, the wife's 'artist-name', wanted to change the top half of the 8 into a cloud and the bottom into part of a beach. Perspectives, scale, line-work - Tina would do it all free-hand, and Ben simply let her do her work. Her online profile spoke for itself.

Ben didn't mind, and Tina was fully focused on her work, so they spent several hours in silence until nightfall in her studio. They only noticed when Tan entered the tattoo parlor after his shift ended.

"Yo! The 'better human' is here," Tan greeted with an immediate taunt.

"What kind of hello is that, Vic?" Tina asked without looking up from her work.

"Hey, Tina. Thanks for doing this... Woah, want to give everyone waiting in line behind you a wish for early retirement?"

Ben asked with furrowed brows, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Riding off into the sunset, that kinda thing."

"You're that far already that he knows what it's supposed to be, Tina? Holy shit you work quick," Ben spoke up in a surprised voice.

"I'm not quick. I'm meticulous. We've been here for five hours."

"Wait, what?"

Tan joked some more and said, "Woo, that fancy ass medal didn't come with a clock?"

"Pretty sure it only came with a lot of press I didn't really want. But I guess their hands were tied with that video out," Ben answered with a sigh.

"I can't believe what a title and cut does to a video of two buddies joshing around," Tan muttered at that with a shake of his head.

"That's what we get for living so close to Hollywood, I guess."

"I gotta say, I think your speech was very sweet, Ben," Tina said as she rested her hands on Ben's neck and stopped with the tattoos.

"You're saying we sat here in silence for five hours, and you didn't tell me you watched me on live television before I came here?"

Tina simply patted his shoulder and started wiping away excess ink from his neck.

"I was working," she simply said and took out a very expensive looking camera. "Here, check it out. I got in the zone with you keeping quiet."

"Wowee, that's some nice work! I bet my dermatologist will hate me for painting over her work, but... I already feel better in my skin," Ben marveled when he saw the tattoo on the TV Tina threw it on.

"Yeah, can't wait to make that fox dance around your shoulder," Tina said as she began to sharpie on his left side to get a feel on what she would do to cover up all those ugly tattoos there.

"A fox? You're getting your White Front call-sign tattooed? Isn't that sending the wrong message?"

Ben looked to Tan and sighed, "My past is my past, can't run from it. You know why they called me Fuchs [Fox]?"

"You were too smart or the most cunning?"

"Nah. I wish. Martin Kraft had this story with his younger brother. Their lunatic father took them hunting in the woods in rural Germany. Stolen hunting rifles and all that. It's where Kraft got the business model. Anyway, their father made them shoot anything that moved, not just boars and deers. Long story short, Martin's brother was forced to shoot a cute little fox and kept crying for weeks about how soft the fur was. Martin said I was too soft like his brother and the fox fur, so that's what he's gonna name me."

"Too soft for a racist scumbag like Kraft? You sound like my kind of people," Tan countered in good spirit.

"Yeah, so... I don't hate my call-sign. I got through five years of hell with racists while being so obviously 'not racist enough' and while working against them with everything I had. I take solace in that fact."

Ben looked up to see Tina having a big grin on her face, and she said, "That's some inspiring shit. I'll work it into the tattoo. It's so funny that they gave you the correct call-sign without knowing."

"Yeah, that's some serious cunning. How Slytherin of you."

Tina gasped at Tan's jab and looked at Ben's face as intensely as she could.

"Holy shit, you look like an old, scruffy Draco Malfoy!"

It didn't even take more than a moment before Tan agreed.

"Holy shit, he does!"

Ben just shook his head, "Oh man. It's been a while... you guys aren't the first. After my first gun training session at the Academy, the other rookies started calling me the Wizard. I was so glad it didn't stick with me."

"How did it not?" Tan asked while he couldn't stop snickering.

"Well, first of all, they called me Wizard not just because of my looks, but to make fun of me. You've seen me with a pistol, but my rifle and shotgun training went absolutely horrible. 'Last in class' horrible. Secondly, I was the only rookie at Mid-Wilshire that year. Thirdly, I stopped shaving daily and started trimming. Went full 12 o'clock shadow all the way," Ben answered with yet another sigh.

-----

The next morning, Ben wanted to go to SWAT HQ to give Hicks and Cortez the good news, but news about a bomb at a residence made him call ahead first and Hicks told Ben he should wait another day to come over once more.

So Ben stayed at home and watched the news, frowning at every mention that it was a religiously motivated bombing after the second bomb went off without casualties at an office park. But he wasn't working yet. Instead, he had work to do.

First was his open re-certifications. He knocked out two of those that day because he got special treatment.

Next, Ben went for another session at Tina's, who actually canceled a prior appointment to make time for Ben. The project became a quick favorite for the artist because of the story it told. They weren't entirely done by the time Tina stopped, but already you could barely make out the iron cross and swastika.

<Cast: Zofia Wichlacz as Nowicki>

Feeling like a human once more, he visited Zofia - the Polish victim he got out of the White Front - at the clinic she was staying at. He shared the news of the home he got and made preparations to have the young woman released. That would happen a week later, now that she had a steady place to stay at.

Instead of going to SWAT like he planned, he instead went to the Mid-Wilshire station after that.

-----

"The prodigal son returns," Sgt Grey greeted as Ben knocked on the Watch Commander's door.

"Sup, Wade. What I hear about Tim getting shot?"

"Where did you hear that from?"

"It's his first day back. Find me someone not gossiping in these halls," Ben argued.

Grey looked him up and down before saying, "Well, you know, Officer Bradford. He ain't backing down. Hope you're taking your recovery seriously. Shot to the heart, not many people can say they survived that."

Just then, they saw Officers Bishop and Nolan bring in a suspect.

"Ah, the robber's robber."

"What did he do?"

"Bishop and Nolan were chasing four guys busting ATMs in a tram yesterday. They dropped the bag of cash as Nolan took down one of them. That man over there picked it up while Nolan was cuffing the suspect."

"Doesn't look like a criminal to me," Ben mumbled with furrowed brows.

"Doesn't mean he ain't a criminal," Grey countered.

"Ah, just saying. Don't need another lesson, teach. 'Anybody could be a criminal, and the guy with swastika tattoos could be the sweetest guy you know'," Ben offered with a stony expression while following the man Bishop and Nolan brought in with his eyes.

"Don't think I didn't see you giving yourself another covert compliment, Ben," Grey spoke with an amused expression.

Ben and Grey talked some more, and even shared their lunch outside at a food truck, which the wounded officer followed up with rounds as he engaged with everyone he knew from before he went undercover. Including the other TOs like Lopez and Bradford, who came in to bring in suspects.

"Tim flinched when I patted his arm. He for sure isn't 100%" Ben whispered to Sergeant Grey as he waited in bullpen hours later.

"I know, but he's being a stubborn fool about it. So I'm letting him be a stubborn fool about it. I'll get to tell him: 'I told you so' later," Grey whispered back.

Before he could whisper back more, he was surprised to see some familiar faces. SWAT needed the Mid-Wilshire division for perimeter control on a bust on some high-profile robbers. The ones that Nolan and Bishop stopped one of in the metro before.

The fully geared up 20-David team showed up to give instructions to the officers for the lay of land and tactics. It was full-on serious mode, despite the team recognizing Ben in the crowd. Only after Captain Andersen and Hondo were done explaining did the team walk over to greet him with big smiles.

"Greatest human!" "Big Ben!" "Heyhey, Wizard-Man!"

Ben shot Tan an annoyed look. "Come on, Tan. You told them about my Academy nickname?"

"After your big news stunt, you're the only thing we ever talk about," Tan defended with a huge smile and a shrug.

"Man, I watched his comatose body for weeks. How come I never saw that he looks like an old Draco Malfoy?" Chris asked loud enough for everyone pesent to hear him.

The TOs of Mid-Wilshire immediately started roasting Ben amongst the three of them, Grey joined them by letting them know that the only reason he didn't share the Wizard nickname was because Ben won a bet between the two in the first week.

"Hey, Ben. Despite all the jokes, your last answer at the Q&A was really inspiring. Anything you need, I'll help you become that 'better human'. Not just in your own eyes but in the eyes of the community. That's something LA and the LAPD could really use," Hondo said to Ben in a rare moment of seriousness.

"Thanks, man. I'll be sure not to let you or this city down," Ben answered with a solemn nod.

"Come on, don't go saving the world on your lonesome just the two of you," Deacon quipped with a smirk.

They joked some more until the team had to go. Ben stuck around a little longer and was about to sit on his motorcycle to drive back home since he wasn't cleared for duty just yet. Before he could go, Lopez stopped him with her rookie Jackson West in tow on the way to their shop, also known as police or squad car.

"Hey, Benny! I got a quick question while we have you. Plan B, what was yours?"

Ben looked at the two before zeroing in on West, "You don't got a Plan B yourself?"

"No, sir. Being a cop is all I ever wanted," West answered with a stiff, unsmiling attitude.

Ben shrugged, "That's really admirable. I wish you'll never have to find something else. Me? I would have probably followed my dad's footsteps and gone into healthcare in some capacity. Anything from social worker to nurse, EMT, all the way to physician. Thankfully, never had to make up my mind. Don't know what good my computer science degree would do in that case."

"See? Even Benny had something laid out," Lopez said while pointing at Ben.

"Well, don't take me as the standard. Being so sure that you don't even have to hope for the best - that's a quality you should cherish, not question, in my opinion," Ben countered with a smile.

Lopez shot Ben an annoyed look and stuck out her tongue at the last moment before hurrying toward their car.

-----

Back at home, Ben was reading his detective and negotiations certificates learning materials until deep into the night. Right around 1AM, a silver jeep parked outside. He watched Chris come in, grab a limonade from the fridge, and sink into the couch opposite his.

"I'll never get why the most German guy I know doesn't have beer in his fridge," Chris whined. Ben didn't answer her but simply smiled.

"You got the bad guys?"

"We always do. But that one old rookie had to step up to catch a rabbit. Gave us a bad rep, but Officer Nolan probably gets quite a few pats on the back, I bet."

"Eh, that's what you had perimeter control planned for. Hondo's plan went swimmingly, no? Also, John is quite the cool dude. Very down-to-earth. Got a few words in with him as he dropped off suspects at the station today."

"I guess..."

"He told me he's coming over tomorrow to take a look at the deck to fix it up in his spare time. All for a few stories," Ben said as he packed up his reading material.

Chris looked pretty tired. Apparently, she was going to take a nap at his house again. He stood up and gently threw a blanket over her.

"Hey, Ben?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for not hitting on me like Street. I could never live down dating a cop. Especially now that you're joining SWAT. I'd get a certain rep, and I already have enough chatter in my name as a woman in SWAT," Chris spoke, her eyes still closed.

Ben shook his head and gained a smile only a minute later, "Was a hard urge to fight. You're the whole package. Definitely wasn't me being a social reject. But I'm settling for first and best friend after being undercover for five years. You don't see me complaining."

"Need help setting up some dating apps for you?"

"You think I need help? I'm a hero who took down racism all of his own. Didn't you see the news conference?"

Chris started laughing. With her eyes still closed, she drank some more while still chuckling and retorted, "Man, for a dude covered in white pride tattoos, you got quite the mouth on you."

"Nah, Tan hooked me up. Two days from now, I'll look like a regular LA hipster, not a neonazi," Ben countered and waited several moments before he changed the subject. "I found out what happened to my grandma finally. The full story."

Chris sat up with a sad expression but said nothing.

"She got breast cancer two years after I went undercover. She won... until she got lung cancer last year and died not a month after the diagnosis."

"Oh, Ben..."

"My cousin moved her to New York to take care of her for the first battle, so she wasn't alone, and nobody gave me a heads-up. They couldn't," Ben added. Chris walked over to him and draped the two of them under blanket for a long hug.

Only five minutes later did Ben break the silence.

"Hey, is it too late to hit on you?"

Chris shoved him away and started almost silently laughing together with him. But it was a weird, sad-yet-smiling atmosphere.

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