Case 09 - The detective promotion

<Events before The Rookie S1E11, SWAT S1E7, Modern Family S9E13>

Ten days later, at the very end of November, Ben exited the LAPD headquarters in downtown LA while walking with a walking stick. Even if he was benched once more because of the gunshot wound on his leg, this day was the date for his detective exam. He already knew he aced it because he was the only one who took it and was graded immediately.

"What got you smilling so brightly, Officer Weiss?"

Ben turned around on the plaza and saw Linda O'Reilly, assistant to the head of PR, walking toward him with a box of food from one of the foodtrucks.

"It's Detective Weiss starting, uh, 13 minutes ago," Ben answered with a look on his expensive tactical watch that Captain Cortez gave him as a present from the department for joining.

"I'm guessing that's what you're smiling about?"

The newly-minted detective gave Linda a one-armed hug in greeting, and the two slowly walked toward a few benches.

"Well, it isn't my leg," Ben quipped.

"Could try not getting shot so often," Linda retorted.

Ben just sighed, "I'll try."

"So? Got any word if we're spinning another story about you?"

"Oh man, I hope not. My face was in the news enough. I already got my cover blown forever, and my neighbors know who I am. At least people pointing at me in public is happening less and less. Something I love," Ben argued with a forced smile.

"You were in the news once for just a week," Linda countered.

"Yeah, more than enough, I tell you. Don't forget that I appeared in the LA times like, what? Three times with a picture and four times without?"

Linda shook her head, "Nope, try six times more. I would know. I co-authored all of those updates on your person."

"Ugh, glad you stopped a few weeks ago."

"Oh? Is that you telling me you don't want me writing an article about how you made detective?"

Ben rested his head against the crutch for a moment and groaned, "I'm begging you. There has to be better use of your time."

"You're lucky. Whitman is about to retire, and he's doing nothing for the next few weeks. All we're doing this month and the next is damage control."

Ben scoffed for a moment.

"I guess that's taken care of. So, are you getting his position?"

"Nope! I'm a civilian," Linda answered.

"Got word on your new boss then?"

"Nope!"

"And you're okay with that?"

"Nope!"

Ben smiled seeing Linda's defeated expression. He put a hand on her shoulder in reassurance.

"What's stopping Whitman from appointing you to the supervisor's board for the Media Relations Division? Want me to put a good word in?"

"Are you trying to get into my pants, Detective Weiss? I could be your mom, you know," Linda scolded with a fake pout.

"I bet my mom would have loved looking as young as you do at such an age," Ben quipped back.

"What a charmer," Linda countered with a scoff.

"Excuse me? Ben?" A new voice asked as the two sitting people were talking about this and that.

<Cast: Emilia Clarke as Caster>

"E-mi?" Ben asked in disbelief as his head snapped back to the voice. "How did- What are you- Hi?"

In front of Ben and Linda stood a woman in her early 30s with a toddler in her arms. The woman was brunette, pretty, and had a white blouse and grey jeans on. The toddler had bright blonde hair and a red and white dress with ribbons all over on and looked to be just around 2 years old.

Once Ben looked at the kid, he couldn't stop staring at her.

"Can we talk? In private?" The woman asked and subtly looked at Linda.

"My break was pretty much over anyway," Linda excused and stood up, though she looked quite intrigued by the haunted expression on Ben's face.

"H-how are you, Emi?" Ben asked, still looking at the drowsy kid unblinkingly.

"I am fine, Ben," the woman spoke in a soft voice, "This is Anna."

"Hi, Anna," Ben whispered. "Is... she?"

"Your daughter? I... think so," the woman answered with a distressed smile.

It wasn't just the same colored hair. Little Anna looked almost exactly like a baby picture of his, which was almost an identical picture of his mom as a baby.

"How...?"

"Do I really need to tell you how the thing with the birds and the bees works in front of my daughter, Ben?" Emilia asked with an exasperated expression.

"No... Emilia... you knew me as Ben Muller... and we... met in London. And only twice. I didn't tell you anything that was real about me except for my knowledge on computers," Ben weakly argued as Anna curiously watched every movement of his.

"I heard about you on the news weeks ago... I just didn't find the courage to come... and I don't truly have the money," Emilia elucidated, and her small smile turned bitter. "I would have never looked for your other self for this after seeing your tattoos... but I'm desperate. And just when I lost all hope, your face was on the news."

For the first time in a long time, Ben looked from little Anna back to Emilia.

"What can I do to help?" He asked as he fought every urge in his body to pick up Anna and scrutinize her some more.

Emilia solemnly looked at her daughter, who had stayed quiet this entire time.

"Anna has SAA. Severe aplastic anemia... her bone marrow doesn't make enough blood cells."

"So she needs a bone marrow transplant? You're not a match?" Ben asked immediately, his heart clenching.

"I'm not... and I can't pay for it either..."

"I see. I'll reach out to my dad's old colleagues to see who among them knows or is the best transplant doctor for an appointment. Don't worry, I won't make you pay a cent," Ben stated in a serious voice before quietly asking, "Where are you staying? I have a spare room at home?"

"Maybe another day, Ben," Emilia responded with a wry smile. "Here, my number."

As she handed over a piece of paper to Ben, she looked around for a short moment and then left, leaving him alone on the bench outside the LAPD headquarters. His gaze never left his supposed daughter as the two walked away. He felt overwhelmed with all kinds of emotions and ideas.

"I get she needs someone who matches... but British health care doesn't cover a necessary bone marrow transplant?" Ben eventually mumbled with furrowed brows when he got out of his musings several minutes later.

Feeling something was amiss, he still immediately called all of his contacts, starting with his dad's mentee, Doctor Sam Bennett.

-----

Later in the day, some of his SWAT colleagues, as well as John Nolan and Angela Lopez from the Mid-Wilshire division, came by for a small BBQ in Ben's backyard to celebrate him making detective.

<A day before The Rookie S1E11, same week as SWAT S1E7>

As the festive mood was carried by his colleagues and old friends, Ben eventually found himself with Nolan and Deacon near the grill.

"Hey, you two are fathers, right?" Ben asked in a quiet voice.

"Yeah, Henry. Turned 18 this year, pride of my life," John answered as Deacon gave Ben a nod with a raised eyebrow and said, "You seen 'em, Ben."

"A woman I met overseas while undercover surprised me today..."

"You're such an international man of mystery, Ben," Nolan joked with a small grin.

"Uh, yeah. Her surprise was a mystery to me, too. She had a kid in her arms with blonde hair that looked just like baby me and my mom when she was a toddler..."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Nolan asked with a surprised look.

"It was haunting. She looked like a mini me..."

"What do you need from us then?" Deacon asked curiously.

Ben looked around for a moment before leaning in a little to whisper, "I don't think Emilia wants me in her life. If it wasn't for a special circumstance, I would have never seen her... I think."

"And you're wondering if you should try to build a connection or something? Maybe even forcefully?" Deacon asked with a small frown. "I don't know if I can speak for John here, but there's no way either of us would ever tell you that family doesn't come first."

Nolan nodded and pointed to Deacon, "Yeah. If there's any chance this is your kid, you'll always regret every moment you didn't fight for you to be in her life."

"If these special circumstances allow for it, try to get a DNA test done to confirm it. It would set a good legal basis for any kind of custody claim you can later bring to the courts," Deacon added with a thoughtful expression.

-----

Daughter or not, Ben started the next day by going to the mall to look for an appropriate gift for Anna when they would meet at St Ambrose later in the day. And since he heard that the vice president was going to visit LA on a surprise trip, Ben decided to drive a little further out to South Bay and parked his bike at the mall.

After locking the blocky leather jacket in a box and changing his boots to comfortable sneakers, Ben made his way inside and started window shopping.

<Modern Family sometime after S9E9 before S9E13>

[Haley and Alex Dunphy commentary scene swap]

"I just wanted to buy Christmas gifts a little early this year," Haley started to say after a long, haunted silence. "Like a good girl..."

Both Dunphy daughters just sat there in their living room while hugging their arms close to them.

Alex just stared ahead for a moment before shaking her head, "I met up with Haley, Uncle Mitch, and Uncle Cam after I handed in an assignment that took all semester in the morning. I wanted to reward myself... this wasn't a reward."

A few tears came from Haley's eyes, and a choked breath resulted in Alex starting to cry as well.

"I was so scared," Haley managed to say as both sisters hugged each other fiercely.

"I can't believe how lucky we were that he was there," Alex choked out.

[Commentary end]

Ben entered a toy store after not finding what he was looking for anywhere else.

With a small limp, unaided by a cane, the detective roamed around the shelves for a while until he bumped into a couple fighting. Or rather the bigger of the two men bumped into him.

"I'm so, SO sorry," the larger of the two guys apologized as he grabbed Ben to steady the limping off-duty officer. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, all good," Ben waved away and smiled. "Buying toys for kids can be tricky. I get that things can get heated."

"Yes... we were arguing about 'toys'," the other, red-headed man of the couple interjected with a roll of his eyes.

[Mitchell Pritchett and Cameron Tucker commentary scene swap]

"LA has always been a dangerous city," Mitch began to explain. "You'd read horror stories about muggings, shootings in the rougher neighborhoods..."

Cam chimed in dramatically, "But it never happened to us before. The worst thing I ever witnessed was a crime against fashion. Remember that hideous leotard L'Michael wore to Pepper's Olympics watch party?"

Mitch, who was ready to talk about actual crimes, rolled his eyes but still commented, "Who could forget? L'Michael wasn't seen at another Pepper Party for two years until he redeemed himself by coming to the next winter Olympics watch party in that gorgeous gucci track suit."

The two looked at the camera in silence for a moment before Mitch spoke up again.

"You'd think for men who had lived through so many horrible gym experiences, we wouldn't add another terrible memory for one of us in gym clothes."

"It was both zebra print and had peacock feathers, Mitch," Cam immediately argued.

After a brief roll of Mitch's eyes, both men solemnly stared ahead in silence once more.

"I'm glad we didn't bring Lily," Mitch mumbled.

"I ordered the services of three security companies. They'll have to compete on who installs a better security system in a free for all," Cam said with a dramatic gesture.

[Commentary end]

"Uncle Cam? Uncle Mitch?" A short bespectacled brunette asked from down the aisle.

"Yes, Alex?" 'Uncle Mitch' asked as he turned back while 'Uncle Cam' still fussed over Ben.

"I feel like I've seen you before. Are you an opera singer? Football player?" Cam asked curiously as he still caressed Ben's bizeps. But he quickly realized what he was doing and took a panicked step back, collided with his husband, who knocked over his own niece, and both Alex and Mitchell landed on the floor.

"AH! I'm so, SO sorry!" Cam shouted and hastily made to pick up both of them.

"That is starting to turn into your catchphrase," Mitch snarkily quipped as he dusted himself off with an annoyed expression.

"Does it hurt anywhere, Alex?" Cam asked as he fussed over the girl while ignoring the comment from his husband for now.

Ben just watched them as the three started to argue heatedly out of nowhere and was about to awkwardly turn away to try and get the toy for Anna when someone from the side asked, "Hey, I know you from somewhere, right? I think you're in one of my selfies..."

"As if you'd see anything else in one of those," Alex commented with a smirk as she lost interest in arguing with Cam over knocking her over.

"I can't comment on that, but we indeed met some time ago. I bought my home from your father, Phil Dunphy. I'd never forget because I thought you looked like a recent high school graduate when your father corrected me and said you were 24... Haley, right?"

"I mean, it's a wonder in itself that she isn't actually a recent high school graduate despite her age," Alex mumbled with a roll of her eyes.

"That's right, I'm Haley. Your name was Benny Something?" Haley inquired with a curious tilt, ignoring her sister.

"Close, Ben Weiss," the recently promoted detective admitted and gave the other family members a nod in greeting.

"Aha! I knew I knew you from somewhere," Cam interjected with glittering, fawning eyes. "You're that hot bad boy cop from some weeks ago!"

"Ah yes, the one with the literal broken heart, I remember," Mitchell chimed in with a thoughtful, and somewhat pitying look as he looked Ben up and down with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Uh, bad boy cop?" Ben unsurely asked.

"Ah, all those menacing tattoos. The haunted look in your smoldering eyes. Surviving undercover for five, cumbering years. Your masculine jawline," Cam explained with a swooning look as the other three nodded along.

Though, Alex did look at Cam ready to facepalm when he said that last sentence.

"I see. That's still a new one... guess I'll take it as a compliment. You guys just reminded me that I haven't called Phil yet like I promised I would. The house is nice and he really came through for me. Is he busy this week?"

"Nope, you can come by any time," Haley quickly answered with double meaning as she only now noticed how 'hot' Ben was - which she didn't back when Phil dragged her to that house he bought.

"Okay, sooo~ Officer Weiss, is it?" Cam began with a coquettish tone in his voice. "Are you looking for some toys? We have a young daughter and impeccable taste. Maybe we can help find what you're looking for?"

"Please, call me Ben. And it's Detective Weiss now... since, uh, yesterday."

"Congratulations, Ben," Cam squeaked out, and Haley followed quickly with similar enthusiasm as Mitch and Alex nodded with a mumbled 'congrats' - too embarrassed by the outburst of their spouse and sister respectively.

[Back to Haley and Alex Dunphy commentary scene swap]

"He was so nice to us," Alex said after calming down, still clutching her sisters hand. "He didn't even hesitate to stand in front of us protectively."

"I want him to marry me so that I will always feel as safe as I was when he held me," Haley added, staring past the camera with no real expression in her face.

"He didn't hold you. He held me. You wouldn't let go of him. And that's not you talking. It's the suspension bridge effect-"

Alex was interrupted when Haley held up her hand, "I don't care. I'll marry him on a bridge if I have to. Even under a bridge if I have to."

[Commentary end]

All four family members decided to help Ben find an appropriate toy for a 2 year old girl about to spend a lot of time at a hospital and even accompanied him to the register in the back of the shop. With a cute baby duck plushy the size of a football, Ben was ready to go when a shot rang through the mall.

"Duck!" He ordered and grabbed Mitch and Haley's arms to pull them to the floor as they were closest to him.

He fished out his phone, dialed the police and began narrating what's happening as he guided all four of his newest friends to hide behind a display shelf.

With Alex nestled in his arms and Haley clinging to his back, Ben continued to speak to dispatch, "Second shot fired. I secured some civilians in 'Polozo's Toys and More'. I am unarmed and staying behind cover."

Ben cursed himself for keeping his pistol in his jacket with the motorcycle. Despite his own small aversion to guns or rather needless violence, he vowed not to make that mistake a second time. He peeked over the shelf a bunch of times until he heard a dull thump behind him.

"CAM!" Mitch whisper shouted with horrified eyes as he held his fainted husband.

"10-43, one fainted civilian," Ben added as he looked back with a defeated expression. [10-43 is code for 'Call a doctor' according to google.]

Just then, the sound of glass shattering at the front of the shop was heard, and two masked gun men entered.

"Come on! We gotta make it quick!" One of them ordered.

"We got time. Whole city is on lockdown with that VP visit. Chill out already," the other argued with a drawl.

"Two gun men entered the shop. Both masked with white hockey masks. 6'1, black jacket, jeans, red sports bag, one pistol, likely black glock. 5'8, dark-blue jacket, jeans, grey messenger back, one revolver tucked in belt, small automatic weapon in hand," Ben described in a noticeably smaller voice.

[Haley and Alex Dunphy commentary scene swap]

"I still don't understand how he could be so calm. They literally shot at the cashier!"

Alex nodded at Haley's outburst and added with a small, tranquil smile, "I would have probably fainted like Uncle Cam if Ben didn't hold me close at that time as he gently reassured me by squeezing my hand."

"He held your hand? That bastard," Haley gasped with an offended look.

"Probably shouldn't tell you where he hid his phone with the active call to the police when those robbers came closer then," Alex countered with a smirk. "Shoved it right into my shirt."

Haley looked even more offended and fumbled for words as she stared at her sister's generous bosom.

Before she found the right words, however, Alex added with a defeated sigh, "I gave it back to him all sweaty and gross. The phone, I mean. Ugh, who am I kidding. I was, too."

[Commentary ended]

Another person's phone from a hiding spot close to them alerted the gun men to the presence of additional people in the store. As the cashier continued to shovel cash and lottery tickets that were for some reason sold in the store into the red sports bag the robbers had brought under the threat of one of those same robbers pointing a gun at his head, the other robber went to check it out.

Ben whispered a small sorry into Alex' ear and lifted her shirt collar a little to place his phone on her shoulder but under her blouse. With a deep breath, he waddled past Alex after making sure Haley let go of him and slowly stood up with raised hands to offer himself up before the robber threatened anybody else.

"Don't shoot! I'm unarmed, man," Ben pleaded as he stopped out from under cover. "I got no beef with you, I just want to survive to tomorrow!"

"I got no beef with you either, but I'm here on business, you see," the robber said with a sneer as the one still near the register laughed at the 'joke'.

"Yeah, man. How about a small business transaction with my buddy. Your life for your wallet and jewelry," the one near the register jeered.

"Of course, of course," Ben readily complied outwardly and stepped closer to the one pointing the small automatic weapon at him while fishing out his wallet. He also walked away from the cover where the girls and the married couple were hidden so they would less likely be hit by a stray shot.

He handed the wallet over and said, "I got no phone with me. I'm here to have the screen fixed down at that shop near the north entrance."

"Who'd want to steal a phone anyway? I ain't going to Hong Kong to sell that shit, so who would want to bring a GPS beacon with them like an idiot," the robber near the register spat and took back the sports bag after it was filled.

"Come on, man, we gotta bounce," he told his friend and walked closer to Ben and his companion. "I don't want to find out if Milo drives off just because we took a minute longer than planned."

"Nah. He looking kinda funny at me," the robber who was still pointing his gun at Ben argued with narrowed eyes and moved that gun up to hit him over the head with it.

His buddy was watching the entrance to make sure no lone mall cop would be a hero and charge them with a taser or something, so Ben saw this as his opportunity to take both down.

At the last second, he leaned back so that the overhead swing missed him. Ben then kicked the knee of the leg where the robber's weapon wasn't pointing to after the miss, got one of his hands on the weapon to make sure it wouldn't come up again and headbutted the robber right in the nose as hard as he could with the same forward momentum.

He disarmed the revolver stuck in the robber's belt, pointed what he now recognized as a MP7 at the other robber on lookout and counted on the man to press the trigger, careful to not have any civilians in his cross hairs.

And as he did that, a shot hit that man's calf before the magazine ran empty. Ben did his best to disarm the man fully after that and threw him to the ground before leaping over to the second robber who was screeching in pain.

"FUCK!" That robber cursed and turned around to point his gun at Ben.

But just then, Ben reached him, disarmed him with practiced movements and gave him a shoulder throw that resulted in a pretty cringe-inducing *crack* sound running through the toy store.

"Alex! Slide over the phone to me but stay behind cover please!"

As she did, Ben shouted, "Everyone okay? Is there someone in need of medical assistance?"

The LAPD detective secured both robbers and their weapons, told dispatch what happened including the clue of 'Milo', the apparent getaway driver, and helped the cashier stop the bleeding from both a hit in the head and a shot to his leg.

Haley and Alex both watched that with a fascinated expression, though still clearly shaken as they both held onto each other.

[Mitchell Pritchett and Cameron Tucker commentary scenery swap]

"Sure he stopped the robbers, protected all of us, probably saved that cashier from bleeding out," Cam spoke with an aggrieved expression. "But for me he barely asked Alex to check on me. Am I so revolting? Did he dislike me for bumping into him? Was it all a play?"

Mitch watched his husband spiral further with an eye roll and added, "He literally stopped a man from bleeding to death with a belt. You barely even fainted. Plus, I held you in my arms the entire time."

"I know why the firemen calendar has the higher sales record even if the LAPD has men like him on payroll," Cam indignantly argued back.

"I don't think he ever posed for that anyway, what with him being undercover for five years and all that," Mitch mumbled under his breath with a lot of sass.

"Ugh, he's such a man of mystery. His eyes held so many secrets," Cam fawningly interjected before straightening up his sitting posture and turning a little somber once more. "Well. Too bad you'd have to be into emotionally unavailable, cruel, cold-hearted straight men for that to work on me."

"Right," Mitch 'agreed' with a roll of his eyes.

"And after I just messed up that undercover mission at school when I made that cop break character..." Cam added with haunted eyes as Mitch put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Maybe I'm a bad boy myself... like a more handsome Kenickie Murdoch..."

[Kenickie is a character from the musical 'Grease']

"The lovable car mechanic that is deeply loyal to his best friend and proposes to his high school sweetheart at the end? He's your quintessential bad boy to compare yourself to?" Mitch inquired with a sassy tone as Cam gave the camera a sheepish but unapologetic look.

[Commentary end]