leader of men (Danny!)

[Deleted]

As she pulled up to Degrassi Community School, Grace Yorke wondered just how many times she had been here this year. She had come in the beginning of the year, when Melissa Lempke had to be arrested. She had come when there was a protest-turned rival. She had been here on at least three different incidents where fights broke out. And then, of course, there was the dance. That had been the worst. And now, the nineteen year old was here yet again. This time, she was being sent to escort one of the teachers home and keeping an eye on him and his family. That was all she was doing until she was off. And the reason was because of the letter.

Grace had her orders. As she looked at her notes from the dispatch, she frowned. She didn't know him. Grace thought she knew all of the teachers, especially since it had only been a year since her graduation. he must be new. As she parked, Grace looked at her watch. It was only 10 am. Which meant she was going to be here all day long.

"Dispatch, this is Officer Yorke, I have arrived at Degrassi Community School" she spoke into the radio. As soon as she received the 10-4, she put it back in its receiver and walked into the school.

She entered the front doors as a bell rang. The halls filled with students. Grace suddenly felt like she was in school again.

"Hey, Grace" she could hear someone greet her. She nodded, scanning the hallway for a teacher she didn't recognize. But there were a few. Biting her lip, Grace fought off her nerves. After all, she was here to protect Mr. Maxwell. How was she going to protect him if she was a nervous wreck? She needed to pull herself together.

The brunette roamed the halls for a few minutes, but when the second bell had rang, and the students disappeared into their classrooms, and she hadn't really done anything, Grace realized she needed to act quickly. After all, this was an emergency.

Finally, she ducked into the front office, showing her police badge to the secretary to let the woman know that she was here on business. "Can you please have Mr. Maxwell paged? It's important police business"

The teacher nodded and made the announcement that he was needed in the office.

"You gonna arrest him?" a familiar voice asked from behind her.

Turning, she saw JJ. Rolling her eyes, she smirked "what are you in trouble for this time?"

"Nothing" he shrugged. "looks like Mr. Maxwell's in trouble"

"Yeah, well, I can't really comment on it to you. Sorry."

[Danny Maxwell]

The police? Last Danny checked, he hadn't done anything to get police attention recently. The last time that he had been in trouble with the cops had been a speeding ticket a couple of years back and that was it. As a teenager, he had been escorted home by the cops too many times to ever count. Because he would find himself in trouble for crossing the legal limits of a protest or trespassing with intent to vandalize. Hell, he even had a cop that he had gotten a little close to through all of that. Only because he picked him up practically every time that he was escorted home. It got to the extent where all he had to do was be caught walking around at night and the cop would pull up alongside of him and tell him to get in bring him back home again. But the last time he was arrested, that was the end of it. After the arrest in Japan, he stopped rioting, stopped protesting and calmed down completely. But recently, there was nothing.

As Danny approached the office, he really wasn't sure what was going on. Honestly, he couldn't guess what it was about. As he walked in, he immediately noticed the girl in the police uniform. She didn't look that old, not in comparison to the cops he was used to seeing. Hell, she looked like she could have been a high school student herself. "Can I help you?" He asked, even though he didn't introduce himself.

[Deleted]

"JJ, you can go to class," the woman behind the desk called and the boy scowled.

"But I want to see her arrest Mr. Maxwell," he pouted. As he stood up, he saw the teacher and smirked. "Have fun!" he taunted him, walking out.

Grace turned at the sound of JJ's voice, and as soon as the man stepped inside, she straightened up. Grace was not an idiot. She knew what people thought of when they saw her. Strangers saw her as a child, and her co-workers saw her as a piece of ass. She was young, fresh out of the police academy. It hadn't even been a year since her graduation. But that didn't mean anything. She was determined to prove that.

Admittedly, the adult did intimidate her. But it was more than that. This man was in actual danger. The last time anyone had been in imminent danger, she had disobeyed orders and gotten herself nearly killed. Of course, it had turned out all for the best. Still, there was an annoying voice taunting her, telling her that she was going to screw up.

But, she wasn't going to let him know that. No, the girl was determine to look confident, even if she didn't feel it. Holding up her police badge, she cleared her throat. "Daniel Maxwell?" It felt so weird, calling a teacher who was old enough to be her father by his formal name. She tried not to let it show, though. With a straight face, she gestured to the empty counselor's office adjacent to the room they were in. "I need a few minutes of your time."

[Danny Maxwell]

Danny eyed the cop skeptically at first. He didn't know her, nor did he know of any reason why a cop would have anything to do with him at all. Not to mention, she looked awfully young to be a cop. She probably wasn't much older than the students hanging around. So, he couldn't help but be a little bit at a loss. "Yeah," he replied in response to her saying his name. So, she had the right person, but he didn't get why she wanted him in the first place. He supposed it was just the natural reaction to be thrown off when cops randomly showed up. Especially if they decided to pop in at work and he could say with honesty that that hadn't happened before.

"Sure, no problem." He replied and headed into the counselor's office. As soon as he was inside, however, he turned to face her. He was still trying to figure it out. Although, he guessed that it was probably semi-impossible to figure out why she was there at all and he'd have to wait for her to speak up. "What's this about, anyway?" He asked, wanting to get down to it. No one wanted to spend their time talking to cops if they didn't have to.

[Deleted]

Grace pulled out a pad, in case he knew something. Of course, nobody ever did. The Sniper was much too careful for that. Still, she had it in hand, just in case. When he questioned her, she nodded. This was not easy to say. Clearing her throat once more, she paused for a second, trying to figure out how to sound the most professional about it. "Mr. Maxwell, I'm sure you're aware of a serial killer in Central Toronto. The media's dubbed him..or her, as the Sniper," she began carefully. Oh, she hoped he had heard of the case. Otherwise, she was going to have to delve into the string of murders since January.

"It seems that the Sniper has taken a special interest in your family. The homicide detective investigating the case, Detective Garrett, she received a threat this morning, concerning you. She is doing everything she can to catch the Sniper, but until then, she has ordered a police escort for you, as well as your daughter and son. And, until about ten pm tonight, I'm your escort." She thought she summed it up nicely. Looking down at the pad, she sighed and looked at him. Now for the hard questions. "Mr. Maxwell, can you think of anyone who might want to harm you or your children?"

[Danny Maxwell]

Everyone had heard of the sniper. If they hadn't, then they probably lived under a massive rock. It had been all over the news, even Maggie was apparently covering the story. So, there was nothing new about hearing that there was a serial killer. And certainly, it set him on edge a little bit. Because anyone would be worried about a serial killer stalking the city. But, generally speaking, he didn't think about it and he wasn't going to spend his time worried about a murderer. After all, mass panic was one problem with cases like this. But, on that note, he didn't expect to be connected in any way to it. He didn't have enemies; not really. There were people that he didn't like and that consequently hated him too, but not enough that there would be a life or death situation. "Sure, everyone is," he replied, but then hearing that there was a threat against his family, he stepped back, leaning against the desk in the room. If that wasn't a huge weight to take in, he didn't know what was.

"Detective Garrett?" Danny immediately shook his head when she asked if he knew anyone that would want to harm them. Last he checked, there was no one who would be interested in that. He hadn't crossed anyone lately, no one that he figured would want him dead. And Tara was harmless and he was positive wouldn't find herself in that type of trouble. Chris didn't even need to bear a mention; he was only four, no one was going to be targeting him. "Me? Are you sure? I don't know anyone that would want that."

[Deleted]

Was she sure? Grace wished she wasn't. Biting her lip, she nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. The Sniper uses his victims to write letters to the detectives on the case. The most recent letter was this morning, and while it wasn't a direct threat on your life, the Sniper made it very clear that you are being watched." Or that Rhean was being watched. She wasn't really sure which one it was. She hated doing this. The poor guy looked ready to faint. But, it was her job.

Grace watched him and sighed, sitting on the desk beside him. "Mr. Maxwell, I've been on this case for a while now. Don't be hard on yourself. The surviving victims never even saw his face. Or her face. But at any rate, most people have no idea that the Sniper is watching. We interviewed dozens of kids after the dance here, not one kid could think of who it might be." She hoped it would be comforting. After all, she understood the frustration in not knowing who could be threatening him. "There's another officer at Uncle Moose's Play Pen. Don't worry, we are the top of the line down at the station. You are completely safe with us. And I'm sure Rhean will catch the perp very soon." was she? She had no idea. Grace had watched the detective come to one dead end after another. But she wasn't about to tell him that. It was her job to keep him calm.

"I'll be accompanying you to your classes. I'll also be doing some locker searches to try and find whoever is doing this." Grace thought it was better if she didn't keep him in the dark about her plan. The nineteen year old eyed him for a moment before speaking again. "If you can think of anything, or you learn anything, don't hesitate to tell me, or I can give you Detective Garrett's phone number. Do you have any questions?"

[Danny Maxwell]

Was this supposed to make him feel better? It wasn't that he was so hard on himself as much as he was nervous as hell over a serial killer targeting his family. To hear that the victims didn't even see his face didn't help. It meant he was elusive and competent with keeping his identity secret. That was the type of figure that you should be worried about. He wasn't going to feel guilty for not knowing who, but at the same time, he was supposed to be able to protect his family. They shouldn't be in danger at all, for any reason. And he understood that you couldn't protect kids from everything. Sometimes, it went above and beyond your control. But, this wasn't one of those cases and it really was one of the worst things that he could have possibly heard. And not to be overly judgmental, but they sent him a cop who looked straight out of the academy to him? That wasn't necessarily comforting. At least it buried the shock at Rhean being a detective. He thought she worked forensics; apparently that wasn't the full truth.

"I'm sorry, this a bit to take in." He said in apology for going silent on her. It was a lot to process. How was he supposed to just stand up from this and head to classes like nothing happened at all? His focus wasn't going to be on what he was doing-- although, it needed to be. That was key, right? Compartmentalizing and focusing on what was important in the moment. "All right." He said, though he still had the urge to call up the daycare to make sure that Chris was all right. "I have her number." Danny replied; getting a hold of Rhean wasn't a problem, though now, he had a lot that he wanted to say to her. Glancing over at Grace though, he sighed. "How long've you been doing this?" He asked, in a roundabout way trying to figure out how old the woman was.

[Deleted]

"It's all right. I completely understand. Anybody would be reacting this way," and it was true. She was sure that if her mom found out that her entire Brady Bunch oompa loompa clan was in danger, she'd be very upset and freaking out. Grace felt bad for the poor suckers who ended up trying to protect her. Larisa DiMarco prided herself in being tough, and for her to have to allow someone else to protect her...it would not have been pretty. Actually, compared to her mother, he was taking it like a pro.

But then the question came up, and honestly, Grace knew it would be coming. She looked at him, pondering how to answer him. She had to do it tactfully, and she had to figure out how to answer him so she would put some confidence in him, even if she didn't have much confidence in herself. "Before I answer that, let me ask you something. Which would you rather get--the fifty year old tubby who's spent the last 35 years pushing paperwork and never actually once gotten out into the field, or the girl who within her first year after graduating as the most honorary cadet from the academy, has foiled robberies, saved a kid from a fire, and has stopped escaping inmates by flipping the guy on his ass. Cause, honestly, I'd rather take the girl. I not only have the most experience with this specific case than any other officer on the force, I also have the most experience with this type of case than any other officer. If you let me do my job, I guarantee you will have nothing to worry about."

Andre and Chance would have been proud. As the nineteen year old stood, staring the older man down and giving off assertive vibes, she felt pretty damned good. Grace might be a little nervous about this, but she wasn't showing it one bit. And she was certain that had Andre and Chance been standing beside her, they would have been proud. If anything else, she was more confident in herself. Why she was so nervous, she had no idea. Hell yeah, she could do this!