A Smattering of Understanding

By EJKatz

To understand others you must understand something of the conditions that made them.

Simon stared out into the bullpen and watched his men working. Most were doing reports and others conversing with their colleagues. It had been a slow start to the week, allowing the detectives to catch up on some long overdue paperwork.

He watched the men interacting with each other and admired the changes that had been brought about over the last few years. In fact he could pinpoint the exact date when the atmosphere of the bullpen changed.

It was the same day that Garrett Kincaid and his Sunrise Patriots had taken over the station.

The same day that Blair Sandburg had begun working with a certain hard ass detective, Jim Ellison.

Ellison had been a good detective, but he'd been hard to deal with. No one really liked him, in actuality most avoided him if they could. No one had wanted to be partnered with him, especially not after the disappearance of Jack Pendergrast. Ellison had retreated back behind the bad attitude that Jack had all but cured him off.

The truth of the matter was, Simon had been concerned about Ellison for a long while. The complaints about his sniping at others, his snide rude comments to all where just the top of a very long list of complaints against the detective and for a bit, Simon had feared disciplinary action would be warranted.

Then... Blair Sandburg.

The Neo-hippie had taken a bad egg and made an omelet. He'd turned a good cop into a great cop and a good friend to all in the department.

As Simon watched he saw Jim talking with Brown, laughing and slapping the younger detective on the shoulder, something he'd never had done pre-Sandburg.

Yeah, the kid had been good for all of them.

The once divided yet functional department was now one of the most distinguished team of officers on the force and it would be Simon's duty... no, his privilege to let them know that.

He'd received a call that morning from the Commissioner's office informing him that Major Crimes was to receive a commendation for their exemplary display of teamwork and effectiveness. This coming on top of Ellison's newly won Officer of the Year award made the MCU a very desirable department to belong to.

Simon smiled as Blair bounded into the bullpen. He all but slammed into Jim in his enthusiasm. He practically vibrated with news to impart.

As Simon watched, Jim reached out to steady the observer, letting his hand remain on Blair's shoulder to keep him in place long enough to tell his news. Simon couldn't hear what exactly Blair said but he heard the eruption of cheers and congratulations from the other members of the team.

Simon thought back over the past few years. He saw in his mind's eye the difficulties all had gone through, the hard cases, the near misses, even Sandburg's untimely death for which Simon and all of Major Crimes were grateful was not a permanent situation. The effects of that event still haunted everyone in the small group of men and woman, who had been there that day and witnessed both the death and the miracle of life restored.

Simon heaved a sigh of gratitude and pulled back his shoulders.

Those days were gone, the trust and strength of his best team was restored, the department was running smoothly and for once they had a short but needed respite from the criminal element. A chance to regroup and recover.

With one last mental shrug to remove the last traces of reminiscence, Simon opened the door; ready to once more face his group and let them know just how he felt.

"Okay people, listen up..."

The End.