Chapter 28: Case 28 - NYPD days are over
LA: <Events before The Rookie S1E12, Modern Family S9E13, SWAT S1E10>
NY: <Events before Brooklyn 99 S5E11, Suits S7E12 & 1.5 years after Castle S8 finale, around the time of Law&Order: SVU S19E12>
Before Irina could wake up and before Ben realised it was the day after, Lieutenant Benson entered the room.
"You're here," she whispered toward Ben, who snapped his head toward the NYPD detective with tired eyes.
"Lieutenant Benson," Ben greeted and rested his eyes for a moment after noticing the time. His head turned back toward Irina.
"How is she?"
"She'll pull through physically," the man responded quietly and slumped into his chair.
Benson didn't know what to say to that, so she stood there quietly for a while.
"Why is her case in particular riling you up so much?" She eventually asked as she searched Ben's face for answers.
"She was the very first," Ben revealed in a whisper, his eyes stuck to Irina's face.
"First?"
With a small nod, Ben explained, "She was the first girl I saw in the White Front. The first time that I realized Agent Ford had lied to me... or he simply hadn't known yet himself that they were also trafficking abducted girls. When I first heard them abuse her, I wanted nothing more than to take out my gun and get her out of there."
Benson recognized the pain in Ben's voice and was unsure on what to respond, so she fished for a continuation of the story as she wanted to know what happened, "Why didn't you?"
Taking the words as an accusation, Ben's heart rate sped up for a short moment before he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Agent Ford lied to me again. He called me on a burner phone for emergencies two days later after receiving my report and told me that with my information, he would get them out the moment they left the White Front. It was over a year later that I made the mistake of looking up if he actually told the truth. Irina here was in her first porn movie then... and I..."
Ben shook his head for a moment and continued, "I took a week off from my duties as a member of the White Front. Emergency with old friends, I told them. But I couldn't find her. I managed to find out who kept her. I was able to reverse engineer in what city they filmed and uploaded all the videos... but they were gone already. And then I had to get back. Martin had just given me a codename that year and started to give me more trust... and then I learned some truly disturbing things."
"Things that trumped the life of these girls?" Benson inquired with a tight frown.
"I sure hope so now..."
-----
His status as a deputy officer of the NYPD was revoked after his talk with the IA officer. It didn't surprise Ben much. He had been the reason the rescue mission turned into a shootout with a dozen casualties, and he didn't diminish his role in it with the IA guy.
Since he wasn't actually NYPD, cutting him off was the easiest way for the city to do damage control despite his recent media fame.
The only consolation was that Detective Diaz wasn't implicated, and since she 'merely' disabled three gunmen that had survived their gunshot wounds, she was cleared for duty that same day.
She had spent some time with Ben in Irina's room after her own IA interview, but Ben didn't engage her much. He merely asked her to relay how sorry he was to Captain Holt and the rest of the 99th precinct, hoping they wouldn't be too disappointed with him.
However, it didn't take long for Captain Holt to personally come over around lunchtime to speak with Ben.
"Detective Weiss," the man greeted and asked him to get out of the patient room.
"Captain Holt," Ben greeted back and shook the man's hand.
"I wanted to tell you this in person, lest you take the decision of Internal Affairs to heart," the captain began with a weirdly emphathetic voice. "From what Detective Diaz shared, no matter the outcome, you rescued three young women from certain hell yesterday. Yes, you could have waited for SWAT to make their entry first, but you risked personal safety to shield a fellow officer and responded in a way that nobody should be able to fault you for in a high stakes situation like this."
"I feel like there is a but coming," Ben chimed in with a self-depreciating smile.
Holt nodded and concluded, "But I hope you learn from this experience and never repeat it. Risking your own life is noble, but never having to risk any life should be the goal of a good police officer. And though you might have done the world a favor in the eyes of many, the men you shot will not be held accountable for their actions. We will never know the extent of their crimes and the possibility of them turning their life around for the betterment of society. It is my personal belief that they should have faced the consequences of their actions in our justice system, not at the end of your gun. Never lose sight of that."
With a small pause, Holt patted Ben's shoulder and commented, "Come by the precinct any time you wish. It has been a true pleasure getting to know you, Benjamin. You have the makings of a great detective. I am sure you will make your city proud."
"Thank you, Captain Holt. You, too, are always welcome in my home should you visit Los Angeles," Ben responded with a grateful nod and watched the captain walk off.
With a small shake of his head, Ben entered the room again and saw that Irina was awake with silent tears running down her cheeks.
When she recognized Ben, her tears intensified as she silently started sobbing. The detective walked over and held her hand, unsure of how much physical contact she could stomach.
It was a lot more than he initially thought because with all the meager strength she could muster, she pulled Ben into a hug.
"Careful now, your stitches," the detective reminded, but the hug only intensified - even if barely. Irina was still incredibly weak.
"I wished *hick* for you to get me out of there *hick* every day for years," Irina whispered between sobs.
-----
At night, when Irina woke up a third time that day after short 'naps', she was finally able to convince Ben to go home.
But the moment he entered the door to Castle's loft that he took as his temporary home, Lucy, the surgeon who saved her life that day in the OR, called him to inform him that Irina had died. She had taken her own life by injecting air into her veins with a needle a nurse didn't properly dispose of.
It was a devastating conclusion to an already terrible case.
Instead of calling anyone or taking up a bottle to drink, Ben just sat in the apartment in silence. Eventually, he got up and took a long shower.
A good hour of doing nothing later, someone knocked on his door in the middle of the night. He wanted to check his gun first before he answered - but it was still with IA. In the NYPD, he didn't have any sway - so he couldn't fast-track the investigation... which was stupid because his service weapon was fully registered, and nobody contradicted his statements.
With a deep sigh, he got up to the door, looked through the spyhole, and was dumbfunded.
""Surpriiiise~!"" Haley and Phil shouted and tackled Ben for a hug after he opened the door as Claire watched on a little embarrassed.
"Haley? Phil? Claire? How come you're here?"
"Claire had this planned from the very start! Thankfully, the blizzard stopped, and we could fly in as planned! Took us a little longer to get out of the airport than it would usually, but that's okay. It's freezing here in New York, though, right!?" Phil excitedly revealed as he looked Ben in the eyes after leaning back from the hug a little.
"How are you, Ph- Nevermind. Come in first, guys."
The three brought in their suitcases, and Claire whispered into his ear as she passed Ben, "Sorry, I told them surprising you was a terrible idea. Phil and I are gonna be out of your hair in no time."
"So, Phil. How's your recovery going?" Ben asked with a slightly forced smile as he poured Claire and Haley a glass of red wine each in the kitchen.
"Oh, perfectly fine. I shouldn't complain after what Anna went through," Phil modestly waved away with a bashful smile.
"It's why we're in New York, you should always properly refridgerate raw meat," Claire joked, but nobody got it - well, Ben did, but he could only awkwardly offer a nod in response.
"Oh my god, ew. Ben, why do you have a picture of my ex in your apartment?" Haley suddenly asked as she looked around the loft.
Ben looked over from the kitchen, same as Phil, who suddenly stood up and ran over, "Oh my! A picture of Rainer Shine? Who is the cute little redhead next to him? Wasn't his daughter blonde? Haley?"
"She was! Oh my god, he never told me he had a second daughter. That asshole," Haley snarkily added as she had the picture frame in her hand.
"Uh, guys. That's the famous author Richard Castle and his daughter Alexis. We're in his apartment. Remember Haley? I told you he was a family friend who wanted to host me after I had to... leave my original apartment?"
[Haley Dunphy commentary scene change]
Haley looked into the camera with narrowed eyes.
"He's hiding something."
Her frown eased a little as it turned into an awkward smile.
"Okay, he did tell me about this Castle guy and his resemblance to Rainer. He even sent me their pictures side by side, I think. But no. There's something else I'm missing and I don't like it."
[Commentary ended]
"So, with Alex back at uni, you left Luke home alone? Are you sure that's a good idea? Want me to abuse my power and send some patrol officers to your home to scare him straight?" Ben asked after fixing a small midnight snack for the three.
"Nooo, he's fine! Luke is a good kid," Phil argued as Claire behind him mouthed: 'Yes!' and nodded enthusiastically.
"This place is totally decked out. This Castle guy must be loaded," Haley marveled when she came back out from Ben's bedroom, where she had unloaded her giant suitcase.
"Eh, he's doing rather well... uh, while on topic of doing well. Phil, I know this isn't usually up your alley. But could you help me rent out the place you helped me buy? I want to keep it for Zofia if she ever wants to move out but I don't want to leave it sitting empty until that's happening," Ben asked unsurely, and he wanted to hit himself immediately. He hadn't fully thought this through.
"I'll do anything for you," Phil immediately answered with a smitten expression that only stopped when Claire slapped his arm. His smile grew concerned, and the family father asked, "What brought this on, if you don't mind me asking?"
Ben grit his teeth as he busied himself in the kitchen as he faced the wall instead of the Dunphys. He didn't want them to know about the bombings and the missing bomber here in New York... and the worries he had because of the taggers vandalizing his home back in LA, which meant his address was known - he no longer wanted to raise Anna in that home with everything coming together and nobody getting caught for doing either of the crimes.
"With Zofia in the house, and Anna... if Emilia's not moving out. I wanted to float the idea to all of them to move back into my parent's home with me," Ben evaded with a guilty expression none of the Dunphys could see.
"You mean that imposing mansion in Brentwood on Rockingham Ave and Hanover Street?" Phil asked curiously.
"How imposing a mansion are we talking about?" Haley asked, but Ben looked at Phil suspiciously and countered, "Uh, I don't think I've told you where my parents' home was?"
Phil's eyes started going dodgy, "Uhmmm... I totally didn't abuse my powers as a realtor to do a little background check..."
"That's not a thing, honey," Claire interjected with a forced smile.
"Guys, the mansion?" Haley asked again when nobody paid her any attention.
"It's a seven bedroom, five bathroom, fourteen thousand square feet palace with three garages, two jacuzzis, a big pool... just imagine Grandpa Jay's place just a little nicer and a touch bigger. Plus, it has a fully functional guest house with a kitchen, bathroom..." Phil explained with the information immediately present in his mind. "You guys have seen it. It was the final mansion the models moved into for one of the America's Next Top Model seasons. 2011? 2012? 2014?"
Ben looked at Phil with bewilderment and slowly confirmed, "That's... correct...?"
"Wait, you've been rich this entire time? Like rich, rich??" Haley asked with an incredulous look just as Phil gave Ben a sheepish look.
"Well, I do have a trust fund in my name. My mom came from money. My dad was an incredibly successful surgeon with many publications still used in medical schools everywhere..."
"How much are we talking here?" Haley asked with narrowed eyes.
"Haley," Claire admonished but without any real heat in her voice. She, too, was curious after hearing Ben owned a house even nicer than her father's.
"Uh, high 7 digits last I checked? I got lucky with crypto currency during my time undercover, so it might be a little more. It was the one thing I could do without revealing my real identity while undercover."
[Haley Dunphy commentary scene change]
"I knew he was hiding something!" Haley shouted as if she had finally solved a big mystery. "Wait! That's where all the anonymous donations for the community center come from that the needle lady gang told me about as they shared gossip while teaching me how to sew!"
But eventually, her happy mood settled down.
"No. This wasn't it. Something bigger is going on here! Ugh, this is so frustrating!"
[Commentary ended]
"It was very sweet of you to allow my parents to stay for the night," Haley praised sarcastically with pursed lips as she exited the bathroom in her sleep wear - a thin, longsleeved top and Ben's shorts. The cute underwear she had prepared for their first night together again was stuffed back into her suitcase.
"Thought you'd get lucky today?" Ben joked, but his mind wasn't really there.
Haley noticed small signs of distress in Ben's expressions - she had all night - and got into bed, dragging her boyfriend with her.
"You know you can talk to me, right?" Haley eventually asked with a small quiver in her voice as she hugged Ben from the side like an octopus when nobody talked for a minute.
"... it's... it's complicated. Something terrible happened just before you arrived - so I wasn't really feeling as social as I usually do..."
Haley intensified her hug after noticing Ben tensed up some more the more he talked. But she didn't say anything in the hopes her boyfriend would spill the rest on his own.
"If it wasn't for your dad and his infectious positivity, I'd probably not have talked much at all," Ben eventually added with a small shake of his head.
When he didn't continue talking, Haley grew frustrated, then sad, and finally a little angry - but she managed to suppress her anger as she asked, "Do you wanna tell me more?"
Ben closed his eyes. He recognized that he should. But he also vowed to himself that he would keep Haley out of this part of his life for as long as he could. He weighed every word of his and eventually revealed, "I've been on a case that was personal this week. During my time undercover, there were girls who were... sold, like objects."
Haley's elation at Ben opening up were quickly dashed. She bit her lip hearing the pain in his voice and the grave news he had revealed with just two sentences.
"I tried to get out as many of them as possible. But there were always more and until a week ago, I thought I only succeeded four times, plus Zofia and the Turkish siblings I told you about," Ben continued as he rested a reassuring hand on Haley's back more for himself than her.
She didn't know what to say to that - congratulating him on getting more of them out that he didn't know about felt like the wrong thing to do considering his terrible mood.
"Someone I thought of as an enemy before had provided me with the information on a few of the unlucky girls. Five of them were here in New York. I knew two of them rather well... I cared for them both. In the end, we got out all five of them... but Irina... she was the first girl I ever saw abused in my time at the White Front... she took her life in the hospital an hour before you guys came through the door."
Irina's suicide was a huge blow to him, Ben now recognized as he wiped away some tears with his free hand. As he did, he noticed tears soaking his shirt - Haley was crying just as much as he was.
"Sorry, Haley... I didn't mean for you to-"
"No! You wanted to keep such a sad thing bottled up? I'm your girlfriend, you need to tell me these things!" Haley immediately refused hearing whatever apology Ben had lined up.
As the two were silently shedding some more tears, Haley eventually asked, "Are you going to tell me why your arm is bandaged?"
[Phil Dunphy commentary scene change]
"I swear I didn't eavesdrop on purpose," Phil said as tears streamed down his eyes. "I just wanted to know if he wanted me to wake him up for work because we kept him up so late at night..."
Phil dabbed away some tears with a tissue before blowing his nose into it.
"How much more pain is my good friend hiding from me - I mean, us?"
[Commentary ended]
The next morning - which was around noon - Haley woke up next to Ben. It was a first for her, because any other time when she slept in, Ben was already up for hours, finished a run, made breakfast for everyone, worked several hours - he generally lived his life hours before Haley usually began her day.
She was still nestled into his arm, her head resting on a flat pillow he had strategically placed on his shoulder so she wouldn't cut off the circulation in his arm - a trick she vowed to keep for the rest of her life to enjoy a cuddly sleep that both enjoyed that Ben showed her the first time she had spent the night at his place.
Silently, she tilted her face up to watch her boyfriend sleep, but she was distressed to see the heavy fatigue etched in his face that she hadn't seen when they went to bed. Eventually, though, as she enjoyed his warmth and the quiet rhythm of his breathing, Haley fell asleep again.
[Phil and Claire Dunphy commentary scene change]
"Phil told me that they didn't do... you know what last night," Claire said as she made suggestive hand movements. "So I was a little surprised to see them both sleep in this long. Ben didn't give us a key, and leaving without saying something didn't sit right with me... but I wanted to run around the city a little. See some sights..."
"Until I opened a window," Phil chimed in helpfully.
"Until he opened a window," Claire confirmed with a nod. "I didn't begrudge Ben sleeping in anymore. This author friend of his had a home cinema anyway. In Manhattan. Talk about rich..."
Phil looked at his wife for a moment before he shook his head, "She still can't get over the fact that Ben's richer than her dad."
"I didn't say that!" Claire indignantly defended.
"You didn't have to," Phil countered with a mirthful laugh. "I always knew Ben was rich anyway."
Claire looked at Phil unimpressed, thinking he'd talk about how he found out about Ben's parents' home months before Ben and Haley started dating - but she'd be proven wrong.
"He has a rich heart full of kindness and compassion," Phil confidently stated, and Claire looked at him dumbfounded before she shook her head.
"Oh Phil..."
[Commentary ended]
*Ding dong*
"Uuuh, pizza guy is fast! Guess he didn't want to be out in the cold long," Phil excitedly commented as he ran to the door.
He ripped it open before looking for who it was and spoke in bewilderment, "You're not the pizza guy..."
The NYPD patrol officer at the door was just as confused and answered, "Uh, no sir - I'm not."
"Are you looking for Ben? Because he just slept in. It was our fault. We kept him up late at night with a surprise visit. Please don't be mad at him. I'm Phil, by the way. From LA. Ben is dating my oldest daughter," Phil quickly explained with a guilty expression throughout his little speech that overwhelmed the officer with information he didn't need to know. Phil was completely distressed, however, thinking that their surprise made Ben late for his job.
"Uh, Detective Weiss is not expected to come into work today as far as I am aware," the officer revealed diplomatically with an unsure expression. He knew that Ben no longer worked for the NYPD. "I'm here to drop off his service pistol since the investigation has been concluded. Could you please call him for me? I can't hand the weapon to you."
"Yes, of course!" Phil quickly agreed and ran to Ben's bedroom.
Inside, Ben and Haley were still snuggling in each other's arms, which prompted Phil to quickly take a bunch of pictures before he gently shook his friend's arm.
"Hmmm?" Ben unsurely hummed as he slowly opened his eyes.
"Ben. There's a police officer at the door who wants to hand over your service pistol. He can't give it to me," Phil whispered into Ben's ear to not wake his daughter.
But Haley woke up regardless, "A couple more minutes, daddy~"
As Phil awwed and Ben tried his best to sit up without disrupting Haley's sleep, Claire was at the door, offering the officer a hot coffee.
"Hey, there. I'm Ben Weiss," Ben introduced as he walked over, still dressed in his sleep wear. He didn't want to keep the officer waiting.
"You just need to sign this, and I'll be out of your hair," the officer quickly said as he handed over a box with a form on top of it.
Ben first opened the box to look at his gun, compared the serial number, and checked if everything was in order. Then he signed the paper and handed it back to the officer still at the door.
"Thanks," Ben offered with a small smile as he got the empty coffee mug back for the signed form.
"Have a nice rest of your stay in New York," the officer wished and walked off.
"What's that mean?" Phil curiously inquired. "And why aren't you at work?"
"And what did he mean with investigation? Did you discover any dirty cops or something?" Claire chimed in immediately.
They had just seen the 1990 movie 'Internal Affairs' starring Richard Gere and Andy Garcia in Castle's home screening room - so the two were still absorbed in the story a little.
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