Full Circle

Chapter 12 - Splash

Chapter Description: Peter considers his career options. Neal throws a bachelor party that goes to the dogs, literally.

Win-Win offices. August 2, 2006. Wednesday morning.

After the morning briefing with his own team, Peter had rushed over to Winston-Winslow with Jones and Diana to get caught up on the Bennett case. Win-Win's plan for dealing with Pratt was as audacious as Peter would have expected, and it required significant planning. There'd been a quick conference call with Neal to bring him up to speed, and then Henry had led Jones and Diana away for a logistics session to start hammering out the details.

That left Peter alone with Graham Winslow. Henry's grandfather was in town all week to get turnover from Henry and Sofia before they left on their respective vacations.

Peter used the time to talk to Graham about the Short-Term Agreement between the FBI and Win-Win. Peter's report on the STA was nearly complete, and he wanted to add Graham's insights.

So far the report highlighted the benefits of the relationship between the two organizations, giving a rosy forecast for the future. There'd been one major issue that Peter highlighted now, which was the lack of senior leadership in Win-Win's local office. "Henry and Sofia are great leaders," Peter emphasized. "But where are their mentors? They've recruited a staff that's diverse by nearly every metric except for age."

Graham nodded. "I wish I'd been here to meet Ellen Parker. It's crossed my mind to talk to Henry about hiring her."

Of course it had. Graham had a knack for sniffing out talent, and Ellen had talent in spades. "That's exactly the kind of move I had in mind," Peter said. "I think she'd be thrilled to be recruited, and this branch could benefit from her experience. But don't stop with just one hire."

Graham raised a brow.

"I'm not angling for a job offer," Peter said.

"Career going well at the Bureau?"

Peter had plenty of confidantes. His wife, his brother, his parents... they were all willing to listen to him talk about his career, but none of them had experience with the intricacies of career advancement in a major bureaucracy. So he dove in with, "This isn't common knowledge yet so don't tell anyone, but I've been invited to the second round of interviews for a position that would be a significant promotion."

"It sounds like cause for congratulations, but you don't sound happy."

"I'd been thinking of this as a practice interview, given who I thought I was competing against. But the person I thought was the shoo-in candidate was listed as a member of the interview panel."

"Now you've got a real shot, and you're not sure you want it?" Graham asked.

Peter nodded. "I'm happy in the White Collar unit. I've built a strong team and the cases are interesting. But staying in one role long-term isn't how advancement at the FBI works. The Section Head job brings higher pay, more authority, and it opens up more opportunities in the future. Going for it feels like the responsible thing to do."

"This is why —" Graham began.

"I'm not looking for a job offer," Peter reminded.

Graham looked put upon. "But it's asinine. Why create an environment where advancement means making you compete for a job you don't even want?"

"Are you saying you don't encourage people at Win-Win to try new things?"

"There's a difference between being stuck in a rut and being pushed out of a role where you're thriving."