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English
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Part 6 of The Frost Chronicles
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Peja's Wonderful World of Makebelieve Import
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Published:
2020-11-05
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Confrontation

Summary:

Characters: FBI Agent Brynja Frost, Children's Advocate Sandra Delsinger, other original characters, mention of BAU Character Penelope Garcia.

Brynja visits Child Protective Services. This takes place about three months after the conclusion of Valkyrie (September 2009), and about a week after The Interview.

 

Work Text:

Brynja walked into the crowded office and approached the secretary’s desk. The woman behind it finished her phone conversation and looked up, smiling pleasantly.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes," Brynja began. "I am Brynja Frost; I have an appointment to see your supervisor, a…" she paused to look at note in her hand "a Mr. Michael Westliand, I believe is his name."

"Ah, Miss Frost; it’s pronounced ‘West-land’, and he is expecting you. Unfortunately, he is with another client at the moment and will be a few minutes. Can you have a seat in the waiting room, please? I’ll call you when he is ready."

"Of course." Brynja turned to the waiting room, but ran into another woman as she did so; she was trying to squeeze past her carrying several manila folders, and they fell.

"Oh, crap," the woman scrambled to retrieve the material that had fallen from the folders, and Brynja stooped to help her, but was waved off. "Nothing personal, ma’am, but this is confidential material, and I can’t let you handle it."

"Of course, I’m sorry." Something seemed familiar about her, so Brynja peered more closely at the woman’s face. "Sandra? Sandra Delsinger?"

The woman finished stuffing the last of the papers into the folders, and looked up. "Yes, that’s my name, how did you…Officer Frost? Is that really you? Oh my god! What have you done to your hair?"

Brynja waved a dismissive hand. "That’s a long, ugly story, and now is not the time, believe me. It’s good to see you again, though."

"Good to see you, too. What brings you to CPS? How are the girls?"

"Oh, I’m here to see Mr. Westland about a problem I had last week. The girls are fine, though. They’re healing, naturally, and they’re learning English very quickly. They’re really smart!"

"That’s good to hear. Those kids had a rough trip." Sandra paused. "You had a problem with our office last week? It wouldn’t be your house that Melanie and Ben got thrown out of, was it?"

Brynja nodded. "The same."

"Idiots," Sandra murmured, "they’re going to get us in a lot of trouble some day. They mean well," she assured Brynja, "but they’re misguided. I hope you and the boss can get things straightened out."

"Thanks, I’m sure we will." Brynja took a seat in the waiting room, and Sandra went about her duties. It was another twenty minutes before she was called to Westland’s office, and she spent the time memorizing a recipe from one of the magazines left scattered on the table.

The secretary led her down a short hallway and past several partitioned offices, one of which held Melanie Davis. The woman started at the sight of Brynja walking by, and her face clouded with anger, but she said nothing. Brynja and the secretary stopped at an open door, upon which the secretary knocked.

"Mr. Westland, Brynja Frost is here to see you."

The middle-aged man looked up from his desk, where he was reading documents from a folder. "Thank you, Amy. Please come in, Miss Frost, and have a seat." He paused. "Would you prefer the door open, or closed?"

"Closed, please. The conversation we are about to have is confidential in nature."

"Of course." The door closed with a quiet ‘click’, and Mr. Westland resumed his seat. "I assume this is about my associates visit to your home last week? I have been reviewing their reports on the incident in question."

"It is," Brynja nodded. "I found their conduct disturbing on a number of levels, some of which you may have already heard about, and some not."

Westland skimmed the report in front of him again. "According to Ms. Davis and Mr. Styles, you were told they were there for a routine inspection of your home in response to an anonymous complaint, and became belligerent almost immediately. You supposedly quoted a random, unknown court case, threatened them with federal officers and the use of physical violence, and ejected them from your property." He frowned. "Does that sound correct to you?"

"Many of those details are either incorrect, badly misinterpreted, or falsified, sir. Does either report mention my request for a court order or a proper warrant to search my home?"

Westland looked over his papers again. "No…wait, yes. Ben mentioned it in his report, but Melanie did not. That’s odd…Melanie reports that you asked to see a copy of the complaint, and that she did hand that over, but that you refused to co-operate after that. Why didn’t that suffice?" He looked up sternly.

Brynja raised an eyebrow. "Mr. Westland, I have been in law enforcement for many years, and let me assure you: a complaint and a warrant are two different things. The first may begin an investigation, but it does not carry the same authority as the second."

Westland frowned. "Perhaps not for the police, Miss Frost, but here at CPS we have different procedures and rules. Surely you realize that." He looked down at the papers in front of him again. "Were you serious about this supposed court case you quoted, or is that something you made up on the spot?"

Brynja flushed with anger, but she bit back her initial retort, turning her voice to ice instead. "Here is where your associates’ reports devolve away from the truth, Mr. Westland. I did NOT quote that case, and it most certainly IS real. The quote in question actually came from my co-worker and advisor at the FBI, Miss Penelope Garcia. I had patched my cell phone into my home intercom system, so she could speak to your associates directly and publicly. Furthermore," she reached into her handbag and pulled out a number of papers, "I brought downloaded transcripts of the actual trial, as well as copies of the various laws Ms. Davis and Mr. Styles were attempting to break by bullying their way into my home." She handed the documents to Westland, noticing how quickly he skimmed them and his raised eyebrow as he did so.

"I had no idea…we’ve done things this way for so long…" he read further into the Judge’s ruling, and Brynja noticed that he paled a little, and swallowed nervously. He took a deep breath. "This definitely changes things. I’m going to have to call an emergency meeting with all my staff about this. The last thing this agency can afford is a lawsuit of this magnitude…"

"Or worse," Brynja said sternly. Westland looked up.

"Worse?"

Brynja nodded. "Miss Garcia was correct in saying that I have both the ability and the authority to physically defend my home. I’m a professional, sir, and can control violent offenders with great skill. Another individual, however, may not have either my abilities or ethics. If your associates absolutely must forcibly enter any person’s home, they should not do so without proper legal procedures or police backup. The results could be disastrous."

Westland inhaled slowly. "Duly noted. We have had police escorts on occasion, but never for random inspections, just for cases when we had to actually seize children from abusive homes." He glanced down at the paperwork Brynja had given him. "I don’t understand something, though. Which part of this was supposed to be confidential?"

"The part I am about to tell you, Mr. Westland," Brynja softened her tone, and she noticed that Westland relaxed a little. "Your people were doing their jobs, though ignorantly, and I really believe they meant no harm. However, the original caller is a problem."

"I don’t understand."

"I thought you wouldn’t. This is not my children’s first encounter with someone from Social Services. You should already have a file on them from Sandra Delsinger’s caseload. She served as part of their security detail while they were in the hospital a few months ago. Did you ever receive paperwork from her, or did your associates look to see if my children’s names were in your system?"

Westland looked down at Davis’ and Styles’ reports. "No…and no. Hang on a minute, and let me see if they appear in my company database." He turned to his computer and typed for a few seconds, frowning. "Their names are here…along with a case number, and that’s Sandra’s extension on this file…do you care to save me some time? What would my associates have found, had they taken the time to look this up?" The look on his face had changed to one of concern.

Brynja’s voice was soft. "Elsa and Sofia were the victims of an international kidnapping, Mr. Westland, and the kidnapper used the guise of a social worker to strip them away from their mother, who was subsequently murdered."

Westland turned a delicate shade of green.

Brynja continued gently. "The girls were then smuggled onto a boat, where they were repeatedly raped and beaten over the course of several months. Before they were finally dropped onto American soil, they were flogged." Brynja stood up and leaned over Westland’s desk. "These girls were tortured by a pack of psychopaths, and it all began with a home invasion under the guise of a Spanish Child Protective Services officer’s visit."

Westland had begun to sweat. "I had no idea…Melanie and Ben, if they had known…"

Brynja resumed her seat. "Wouldn’t have acted so presumptuously, I know. I don’t believe they’re that insensitive or imprudent, at least not knowingly. But if they had managed to force their way into my home, and terrorized my children again, there would have been hell to pay."

"Understandably." His voice was rough with emotion. "Miss Frost, with your consent, we need to have this conversation with Melanie and Ben. They need to know the damage they almost did. It’s obvious that there is a breakdown in communication in my office, and we need to correct it immediately."

"Of course, Mr. Westland. I would like to be on good terms with your office, since I am attempting an international adoption. Unfortunately, there is one more thing you haven’t considered." The ice quickly returned to Brynja’s voice. "The original phone call."

Comprehension dawned on his face. "My officers didn’t know about your children’s history of abuse, but the caller did. He counted on our overworked schedules to use us to terrorize the girls again."

Brynja nodded. "You have been played for fools, Mr. Westland."

His body tensed with indignation, and Westland punched an intercom button. "Amy, I need Melanie and Ben to report to my office right away. This is urgent."

The intercom beeped. "Melanie is here, sir, but Ben is in court all day today."

"Then Melanie will have to do," he said tersely. A few minutes later there was a knock at the door. "Come in," Westland ordered.

"You wanted to see me, Mike?" Melanie Davis glared down at Brynja, who remained in her chair, her face stern.

"Yes, Melanie. Please sit down. It appears we have a very serious problem on our hands," Westland motioned to the spare chair in his office.

Melanie remained standing, and started to look indignant. "Mike, if this is about that visit last week, I stand by my report, and…"

Westland cut her off, his voice cold.

"SIT. DOWN."

The End.

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