Undiscovered Country

[blackbetty]

Texas... The Lone Star state... Dallas City... Surprisingly not the capital city, despite its mass population of 2.4 million citizens. Melanie would bet that a good chunk of that number were lycanthropes and vampires. Not really a promising situation that.

God was testing her. He had to be. It was the only explanation to why she found herself in bumper to bumper traffic on the interstate, in a town more topsy turvey and preternaturally thriving than the one she'd just come from. Just her luck the entire 2.4 million population was probably out on the road today.

The flight here was bad enough; a half an hour in wait on the ground just to get to the fucking gate. Then said wait caused her to be late in picking up her rental car, so they had given her reserved car to someone else. So she was forced to take the next runner up which was NOT the compact she'd asked for, but instead some gas guzzling 4x4 that was completely unnecessary and bulky on these narrow highway roads. Terrific fucking day!

She couldn't help but think if it weren't for this damn lecture she was practically being forced to give, she'd be at home, curled up with a nice tall mug of chocolate coffee and Billy Idol blaring from her Audi speakers in her living room.

But no... That luxury wouldn't be hers for another week.


It had taken almost 2 hours but she had finally managed to get to her hotel. The department had sprung for a Hilton, guess it wasn't all that bad. Save she had literally no time to relax for she was due at the Dallas 35th precinct in, oh, twenty minutes. If traffic was still crazy she was gonna shoot someone!


When she arrived at the precinct thirty minutes later, she was NOT a happy camper. She had been cut off not once, but three times by other drivers who'd had the audacity to give HER the bird when she was clearly not at fault. Then some jackass took her parking spot AS SHE WAS PULLING IN. fucking Dallas. Remind her to never vacation here without alternative means of transportation. Scratch that, remind her to never vacation here at all... Ever.

She had a meeting with the local head of the RPIT division here in Dallas. Just a simple meet and greet to let him know she wasn't here to step on his toes. A meeting she was ten minutes late for. Sadly, however, there was another pressing matter she'd need to attend to first. She was already late, a few minutes more couldn't hurt.

"Excuse me?" She asked the clerk at the front desk who was on the phone. Melanie waited a moment until she heard exactly what the woman was talking about. ("Girl, you know I threw his ass out after that. A man don't ever cheat on Chantall Evans and get away with it, no sir.")
Melanie reached over and pressed her finger on the receiver base, hanging up the call. The woman was about to get righteous in Melanie's face, but Mel spoke first.

"Look... Chante, is it?" It was a rhetorical question, where she said the woman's name wrong on purpose. Melanie then continued harshly, "I just experienced the worst flight in my life, followed by a thirty minute taxi at the gate, thus making me late to pick up my rental car which I find has been bloody given away, sticking me with some shitty clunker of an SUV, which I had to sit in for nearly two hours during a traffic jam the likes of which I haven't bloody well seen since I lived in New York." Her accent was growing thick in her ranting.

"I arrived at my hotel almost three hours behind schedule so I didn' even have the luxury of taking my bags to my own room, and therefore was also denied any bit of respite I might have had. I was nearly killed three times trying to get here because no one in this godforsaken city knows how to properly operate a motor vehicle. I am now fifteen minutes late for a meeting because some desk jockey doesn't know how to keep a leash on her dog. And all of this pales to utter insignificance in light of the fact that I haven't been able to relieve myself since before I got on the plane! So, you'll have to excuse me, but the only thing I need to fucking know from you now... is..."

Her voice had been rising steadily throughout her tirade, but now she took a deep breath, calming herself slightly. She even smiled as she spoke, though it was clearly meant to be condescending, "Where is your bathroom?"

[Hayden Patton]

Hayden hadn't been in the station five minutes when he remembered that Mac had a meeting with one Detective Melanie O'Connell. He had stepped out of his office to tell Chantall that Detective O'Connell should be there shortly and got to watch the exchange between the two of them. Hayden walked up beside Detective O'Connell.
"The bathroom is right over there." He said quietly in the silence following her question.

[blackbetty]

Melanie turned and looked up. The smile faltered just slightly to be taken over by a sheer millisecond of awe before she schooled her features.

She smiled softly, "Thank you, Detective." She'd been in this business a longtime, it wasn't that difficult to spot the officers from the detectives. Usually it was the suits that gave it away. Although she would say that this particular detective definitely knew how to wear one properly. "It's nice to know not everyone in this station is useless," she directed that last word to the clerk behind the desk. She couldn't help it. She's often been told she takes her job too seriously, and perhaps she did. Sometimes it was all she had... All she was... And perhaps she didn't appreciate the ones who took this work for granted. Even desk clerks.

She turned her attention back to the detective. "If you'll excuse me. I'll be right back." She gave a curt nod before moving towards the restroom.



After attending to a call of nature she used the bathroom sink to freshen up a bit. She even took a moment to touch up her eye make up which had become slightly smudged throughout the long day. She applied a touch of lip gloss then combed her fingers through her hair, before adjusting the violet satin blouse she wore under the grey pant suit.

She brushed her fingers through her hair one more time before giving herself a once over in the mirror. She didn't look as 'fresh' as she had originally intended, but the day's situations hadn't warranted anything more. What she saw was what she'd get. Still... She wasn't really that much worse for wear.

She exited the bathroom and saw the detective hanging out around the clerk's desk. She paused a moment and her head tilted to the side slightly as she glanced him over from a distance.

Everything about him seemed to exude confidence. From the slicked back hair, to the pressed suit pants, to the almost crooked smirk he flashed every occasionally. She could even tell from this distance, he was well toned underneath the business shirt.

When she realized she was staring she blinked several times and shook her head. Placing a neutral look on her face she approached him slowly.

Once next to him, she cleared her throat. When he would turn to her, she smiled, "Thank you again. I apologize for my earlier... outburst... It's been a rather arduous day." She smiled softly again and extended her hand for him to shake. "I'm Melanie O'Connel, from St. Louis. And whom exactly do I have the pleasure of acquainting?" She smiled again, with a soft lift of her brow, showing genuine interest.

[Hayden Patton]

Hayden had waited around Chantall's desk for her to return. Of course he'd told Chantall no personal calls on the office phone on company time. He didn't know exactly what Mac's meeting was suppose to have been about with Detective O'Connell just that he had one. Hayden at her description of her day.
"I've had one of those days myself." He said shaking hands with her. "Hayden Patton. Glad to meet you." He paused and stared at her for a second. "I don't know if you've heard any news since you arrived here in Dallas...The head of RPIT was shot during a bank robbery...so I'm running things for the moment." He said. He still hadn't made it to the hospital. Maybe later.

[blackbetty]

She chuckled softly as she shook his hand. Her smile fell though, when she heard the news of Detective Jamison.

"Oh..." She paused where her brow furrowed slightly as a slight frown graced her lips. "I'm sorry. They've been sending me all over the place lately. I hadn't heard that... I'm so sorry. He's goin' ta be alright I hope?" She asked as she worried her bottom lip. "Well... It is very possible then, that he might not've had the opportunity to pass on the word." She'd never met Mckenzie but Dolph had spoken highly of him. Said he'd been one of the best preternatural detectives in the nation.

She took a breath in, "Well... It's nothin' important, really. Jus' a meet n' greet of sorts..." She smirked softly and followed him into his office. "I just wanted to make sure my presence here didn' raise any anxieties'. I know how it can feel sometimes, detectives or agents visitin' form other departments. Can make your job feel slightly threatened."

She took a brief glance around his office, she couldn't help it. "I just wanted to let your department know I'm not here to step on any toes or anythin'. I'm here strictly on civic duty." She shrugged softly. "Of a sort..."

She casually walked around his office, looking at pictures and plaques and such. When she came to his desk she glanced over the surface. You could tell a lot about a person, a detective by the way they kept their work space. "There're some new protocols, regulations, bilaws, ekcetra that the National Preternatural Crimes Division would like to implement to all new recruits."

Casually, she leaned on the corner of his desk. She grinned brightly, almost sarcastically, before continuing, "I just happen ta be the lucky sap who gets to teach all the kiddies the ropes. I have a whole week of afternoons chalk full of Academy lessons... Woopee!" She sighed heavily and shrugged again, "The bastards cajoled me into it with pretty words like 'most of this new shite was your idea' blah, blah, blah! A girl makes a few 'suggestions' and they try turning her into some spokesperson for change." She waved her hand idly in the air as if to wave off the comment.

In the past year or so she had made loads of contributions to change the way Preternatural crimes were handled. Her 'unique' perspective had made it almost imperative to raise topics or issuea to convince the brass some changes were needed in the way Lycanthropes and Vampires were handled. In fact, the new holding cells with double plated silver bars that were implemented some years ago? Mostly her idea. She'd even been able to change a lot of fellow officers opinions on the Lycanthrope front.

She sighed and stood up, walking over to him. "Anyway... I just wanted ta letcha know that I'm here. And I'm not sayin' that you'll need any assistance, but if for any reason ya might find a need ta pull a fellow detective away from Academy lectures and her death of boredom, you have but ta call. " She pulled a card out of her pocket and handed it to him. "I can also be reached at the Hilton in town."

[Hayden Patton]

He shrugged as he watched her walk around his office. She was taking it all in. He'd only been in an office a few weeks after having worked undercover for months. He adjusted the picture of Vanessa that sat on his desk.
"I'm not sure how bad a shape he's in. He'd just come out of surgery the last I heard." Hayden said watching her. He'd heard Mac say that the police wanted to change how they handled preternatural crime.
"I'm sure it's information that will help all the officers of our unit." he smiled as he listened to her talk about how they had talked her into the lectures. He was suppose to go to one of her lectures on Mac's orders. He didn't know if he would now or not with the sudden change in command.
"If things keep going the way they have...I'll probably need the help." He said staring at the card for a second the laying on his desk.
"We can use all the help we can get."

[blackbetty]

Melanie noticed him adjust a picture of a blonde on his desk. It was probably a subconscious action on his part. The woman in the picture was either the girlfriend, or maybe even the wife. A soft smirk graced her lips as she thought, 'Pity.' Then she reprimanded herself for that very same thought.

"Well, Detective Patton." She extended her hand to him to shake again. "It's been a pleasure meetin' you. I hope Detective Jamison will be alright. I might try to stop at hospital sometime just to introduce myself."

She smiled brightly before turning to leave. She stopped at the door and turned halfway back around, "Like I said. If you should need any help, you know how to reach me." She smirked slightly. "I usually have difficulty sleepin' when I travel so I'm available almost anytime, day or night. Rain or shine. I'd be happy to lend a hand, what with Mckenzie outta commission an' all."

She grinned before exiting the office. She nodded in greeting to a few passers by as she made her way to the exit. She even extended a polite nod to Chantel the desk clerk, whom Melanie had no doubts would think twice before using the company phone for personal calls again.

The sun was already waning in the afternoon sky. As she got in her car and pulled away from the station she thought of the day. It might not have gone exactly as planned, but things had worked out in the end. Right now though, all she wanted to do was get back to her hotel room. Throw on some Sinatra, take a long bath, then relax on her balcony with a glass of Hennesy and a pack of Parliaments. Maybe even a cigar.

She had a full afternoon of lectures and q & a sessions to look forward to tomorrow. She'd take the small moments of serenity where she could get them.

[Hayden Patton]

Hayden shook hands with her a second time.
"The pleasure was all mine." He said. He watched her turn to leave and listened to her tell him when she stopped at the door that she was around if they needed help. She was from St. Louis. They had one of the highest solved cases ratio in the country. She had to be good.
"I will remember that...if something comes up I'll call." He said. He watched her leave and smiled. Mac would like her.