![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elrhiarhodanTitle: Make Your Peace With Everyone
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
elrhiarhodan
Fandom: White Collar
Rating: G
Characters/Pairings: Diana Berrigan, Clinton Jones, Blake the Probie
Spoilers: None
Warnings/Enticements/Triggers: None
Word Count: ~900
Summary: Peter’s home sick, Diana and Clinton are left in charge and are going to play a little game with Probie Agent Blake.
A/N: No beta. All mistakes are mine and mine alone. Written forattackfish for the recent Comment Fic meme. Her prompt is at the end of the story.
__________________
“You are evil. Pure and simple” Clinton relaxed against Diana’s desk. She gave him a smirk.
“I’m only doing to Blake what you and Peter did to me that time.”
Clinton shook his head. “Those were the days. Diana Berrigan fetching coffee, filling out reports, so scared to look anyone in the eye.”
“I may have been a little cowed by your appearance of awesomeness, but I quickly learned that it was an appearance only.”
“Are you saying that I’m not awesome?”
“Ummm, yeah?”
Clinton chuckled. He had liked Lauren Cruz – she was smart, eager and ambitious. But she was no Diana Berrigan, and he blessed the day that Diana transferred back to White Collar and Lauren transferred out. Diana was someone he could trust implicitly. She did what she had to do – even if it meant taking on less than positive roles – without complaining.
He supposed he should have been annoyed or even slightly jealous that Diana had stepped very neatly into the role of Peter’s good right hand, but he wasn’t. He may have had more than his fair share of surveillance van duty, but he also managed his own caseload and was just asked to put together a proposal for a major fraud task force. Diana was at least a decade away from those responsibilities, as good as she was.
“So, are you game, Agent Jones?”
“For Operation Drive the Probie Insane, you bet I am. Pity we had to wait until Peter was home sick.”
“Yeah – sometime it’s better that the bosses don’t know everything that’s going on.” Diana smirked. “Okay – here he comes. Showtime.”
Blake came into the office, struggling with two trays of coffee and an armful of files that Clinton asked him to get. Diana walked up to him, looked him up and down and tapped her toe. Clinton watched as she caught Blake’s and he got immediately flustered and dropped the files. The spread across the floor in a sea of blue and green.
“Agent Blake.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Don’t call me ma’am.”
“Yes, Agent Berrigan.”
“That’s better. What did you learn at Quantico about being part of the FBI?”
“Umm…uhhh.” It was all Clinton could do but not burst into laughter. He had pulled the exact same thing on Diana.
“I’ll give you a hint. What did you Field Counselor tell you was the most important thing about getting through the Yellow Brick Road?”
“Ma’am…sorry. Agent Berrigan, ma’am.” Clinton knew that Blake had the makings of a good agent, he just lacked a little self-possession. At least around agents that didn’t treat him like part of the woodwork. Diana waited with narrowed eyes.
“You mean to tell me, less than a year out of the Academy, that you have no recollection of the single most important lesson in the whole five months of training?”
Blake scrunched up his face and Clinton could almost see the gears turning in the boy’s head. “Umm, probable cause?”
“No, probie. Not probable cause or exigent circumstance or the proper way to hold a firearm.”
A hush went through the bullpen. Even Hughes, who was tucked up in his office, grumbling about budget paperwork, came out to see what was going on.
“Teamwork. Agent Blake. That is the most important lesson of all. Relying on your fellow agents and knowing when to ask for help. This is the Federal Government – not a collection of lone gunmen.”
Blake stood there amidst the wreckage of the fallen files, holding trays of cooling coffee.
“The next time you’re doing a coffee and file run, you may want to ask for help. You may also want to consider that you don’t have to get coffee for every single person in the office every time you get one for yourself.”
“But Agent Berrigan – I’m the newest probie here.”
“Who wants to be something more than the office coffee boy, right?” Clinton watched Diana in awe. She was good. Tear him down and bring him up again. If he didn’t know better, he’d have thought she’d done a tour in the Marines.
“Yes, yes ma’am.”
Diana gave him the stinkeye.
Blake lifted his chin. “Yes, Agent Berrigan. I do.”
“Good.”
Diana turned and walked away. As she passed Clinton, she winked. It was his turn.
Blake had finally put the coffee trays on the desk and bent down to pick up the folders.
Clinton knelt to help. “She’s something, isn’t she?”
The probie blushed and mumbled, “Yeh.”
They finished picking up the files. “She’s right though. Learn to ask for help – even with the simple things.”
“But won’t people think I’m an idiot?”
“Well – the right type of simple things. Like carrying two trays of coffee and a dozen files. No one would think you’re an idiot if you say, ‘can you get that for me.’ But they’ll think you’re a moron when you drop the coffee all over the files.”
Clinton took his files and walked away. Thus endeth the lesson. And time to collect the twenty bucks from Diana. He had bet he could get the kid to turn beet red without having to resort to innuendo.
****
Blake let himself smile just a little bit. Those two. They were really rather incredible, in the best sort of way. He might have just fatally embarrassed himself if he hadn’t got that text from Neal this morning, letting him in on their plans. He took Neal’s advice and played along, though. This was, apparently, a probie hazing ritual.
He owed the man something – maybe lattes for a month?
FIN
Prompt fromattackfish: I've been having this terrible craving for Diana and Jones as BFFs, so, Peter's down with the flu (which he has kindly given to Neal. Diana and Jones argue over who's in charge.
You see – I couldn’t quite get a handle around Diana getting to be in charge – she’s barely out of her probationary years, and Clinton’s got close to ten (based on the info from Forging Bonds). So instead, I made them BFFs who conspire in Peter’s absence. I hope you like this instead.
Author:
elrhiarhodanFandom: White Collar
Rating: G
Characters/Pairings: Diana Berrigan, Clinton Jones, Blake the Probie
Spoilers: None
Warnings/Enticements/Triggers: None
Word Count: ~900
Summary: Peter’s home sick, Diana and Clinton are left in charge and are going to play a little game with Probie Agent Blake.
A/N: No beta. All mistakes are mine and mine alone. Written for
attackfish for the recent Comment Fic meme. Her prompt is at the end of the story.“You are evil. Pure and simple” Clinton relaxed against Diana’s desk. She gave him a smirk.
“I’m only doing to Blake what you and Peter did to me that time.”
Clinton shook his head. “Those were the days. Diana Berrigan fetching coffee, filling out reports, so scared to look anyone in the eye.”
“I may have been a little cowed by your appearance of awesomeness, but I quickly learned that it was an appearance only.”
“Are you saying that I’m not awesome?”
“Ummm, yeah?”
Clinton chuckled. He had liked Lauren Cruz – she was smart, eager and ambitious. But she was no Diana Berrigan, and he blessed the day that Diana transferred back to White Collar and Lauren transferred out. Diana was someone he could trust implicitly. She did what she had to do – even if it meant taking on less than positive roles – without complaining.
He supposed he should have been annoyed or even slightly jealous that Diana had stepped very neatly into the role of Peter’s good right hand, but he wasn’t. He may have had more than his fair share of surveillance van duty, but he also managed his own caseload and was just asked to put together a proposal for a major fraud task force. Diana was at least a decade away from those responsibilities, as good as she was.
“So, are you game, Agent Jones?”
“For Operation Drive the Probie Insane, you bet I am. Pity we had to wait until Peter was home sick.”
“Yeah – sometime it’s better that the bosses don’t know everything that’s going on.” Diana smirked. “Okay – here he comes. Showtime.”
Blake came into the office, struggling with two trays of coffee and an armful of files that Clinton asked him to get. Diana walked up to him, looked him up and down and tapped her toe. Clinton watched as she caught Blake’s and he got immediately flustered and dropped the files. The spread across the floor in a sea of blue and green.
“Agent Blake.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Don’t call me ma’am.”
“Yes, Agent Berrigan.”
“That’s better. What did you learn at Quantico about being part of the FBI?”
“Umm…uhhh.” It was all Clinton could do but not burst into laughter. He had pulled the exact same thing on Diana.
“I’ll give you a hint. What did you Field Counselor tell you was the most important thing about getting through the Yellow Brick Road?”
“Ma’am…sorry. Agent Berrigan, ma’am.” Clinton knew that Blake had the makings of a good agent, he just lacked a little self-possession. At least around agents that didn’t treat him like part of the woodwork. Diana waited with narrowed eyes.
“You mean to tell me, less than a year out of the Academy, that you have no recollection of the single most important lesson in the whole five months of training?”
Blake scrunched up his face and Clinton could almost see the gears turning in the boy’s head. “Umm, probable cause?”
“No, probie. Not probable cause or exigent circumstance or the proper way to hold a firearm.”
A hush went through the bullpen. Even Hughes, who was tucked up in his office, grumbling about budget paperwork, came out to see what was going on.
“Teamwork. Agent Blake. That is the most important lesson of all. Relying on your fellow agents and knowing when to ask for help. This is the Federal Government – not a collection of lone gunmen.”
Blake stood there amidst the wreckage of the fallen files, holding trays of cooling coffee.
“The next time you’re doing a coffee and file run, you may want to ask for help. You may also want to consider that you don’t have to get coffee for every single person in the office every time you get one for yourself.”
“But Agent Berrigan – I’m the newest probie here.”
“Who wants to be something more than the office coffee boy, right?” Clinton watched Diana in awe. She was good. Tear him down and bring him up again. If he didn’t know better, he’d have thought she’d done a tour in the Marines.
“Yes, yes ma’am.”
Diana gave him the stinkeye.
Blake lifted his chin. “Yes, Agent Berrigan. I do.”
“Good.”
Diana turned and walked away. As she passed Clinton, she winked. It was his turn.
Blake had finally put the coffee trays on the desk and bent down to pick up the folders.
Clinton knelt to help. “She’s something, isn’t she?”
The probie blushed and mumbled, “Yeh.”
They finished picking up the files. “She’s right though. Learn to ask for help – even with the simple things.”
“But won’t people think I’m an idiot?”
“Well – the right type of simple things. Like carrying two trays of coffee and a dozen files. No one would think you’re an idiot if you say, ‘can you get that for me.’ But they’ll think you’re a moron when you drop the coffee all over the files.”
Clinton took his files and walked away. Thus endeth the lesson. And time to collect the twenty bucks from Diana. He had bet he could get the kid to turn beet red without having to resort to innuendo.
****
Blake let himself smile just a little bit. Those two. They were really rather incredible, in the best sort of way. He might have just fatally embarrassed himself if he hadn’t got that text from Neal this morning, letting him in on their plans. He took Neal’s advice and played along, though. This was, apparently, a probie hazing ritual.
He owed the man something – maybe lattes for a month?
Prompt from
attackfish: I've been having this terrible craving for Diana and Jones as BFFs, so, Peter's down with the flu (which he has kindly given to Neal. Diana and Jones argue over who's in charge.You see – I couldn’t quite get a handle around Diana getting to be in charge – she’s barely out of her probationary years, and Clinton’s got close to ten (based on the info from Forging Bonds). So instead, I made them BFFs who conspire in Peter’s absence. I hope you like this instead.
