This is my first Flashpoint fic. Let me know if characters seem too OOC, or if there are any mistakes. Take place after Aisle 13, before One Wrong Move.
Team One deployed at 1300 hours. Not nearing the end of their shift, but definitely far enough into the day that Sergeant Greg Parker could feel the mid-day weariness seeping from the members of his team before the hot call came in.
Two employees of WhitCo had found a package with a letter attached in one of the company's busiest branches. After calling it in, Team One was sent to check it out.
The three black SUVs pulled up to the yellow caution tape, Greg got out of the car first, ducking under the tape and entering the scene.
"Inspector Stainton, what's the word?" Greg said approaching the grey-haired detective. He kept the usual levity in his voice as he glanced at the large, but not tall, building in front of him. Only four floors, but thousands of square feet to clear out.
"We've got uniforms evacuating the building top to bottom. Bomb's in the second floor filing room. Workers said there was a note about justice taped on it, said it was gonna blow at two," Stainton said, keeping it as brief as possible.
"WhitCo's involved in insurance, no red flags there," Greg thought for a moment. "This is a busy place, but that doesn't explain why it was targeted. We'll have the building clear by two."
Greg ran through the profiles in his head as Ed started giving the orders. His natural position with his hands folded in front of him belied the intensity of his voice. "Sam, North containment. Lou, West, Wordy, East. Jules, you'll be second to Boss," He then looked to the final member of the team. "Spike, check out the bomb."
Greg trusted Ed with his life and agreed with the positions. He moved toward the van knowing Jules would be the best profiler for the scene today. "Find all you can about WhitCo. Shady dealings, disgruntled employees, anything that would explain why here," he nodded to Jules.
The petite SRU member acknowledged the command and sat in place.
"1:07 p.m. Bomb call. Robot sending out signal blocking remote detonation," Jules started up record of the hot call.
Greg didn't need to be listening to know that Spike would respond with his typical affection for "BabyCakes."
"Alright guys, we have 53 minutes to evacuate the building and secure that bomb."
"Assuming this guy's any good with timers," Spike said.
"Got anything yet?"
"Looks like it's safe to approach."
Greg let out a sigh of relief, even if it was a little premature. If nothing else, the bomber either was not sophisticated enough to deal with booby-traps or he felt like he didn't need them. He didn't bother reminding Spike to let him know about the note apparently attached. That would help with the profile.
"Anything yet?" Greg looked to Jules.
"There're over a thousand employees at this branch alone. It also stands as the headquarters for local businesses across the country. It's gonna take some time, Boss."
Greg moved outside the van to talk to Stainton about the two employees who had discovered the bomb.
. . .
"This way, Ma'am. We have to have this building clear," Constable Kevin Wordsworth herded the staggering woman in the direction of the rest of the crowd. He used his business voice, the one that comforted his daughters after a nightmare and soothed a panicked businesswoman into a more sensible state.
The elderly woman continued to look over her shoulder as they continued down the hallway, but put up no further effort to return to her office. Sometimes Wordy had to question the sanity of people who spent their 9-5 in a box, but he knew the same could be said for his own choice of career. They all questioned the SRU at points, it'd be insane not to.
"East wing contained," Wordy said into the com as the last of the crowd exited the rear of the building. Officers guided them from there out.
"Could use a little help over here. Convention of some sort," Lou's disgruntled voice responded.
Wordy headed in that direction with a conformation from Ed. He headed to Lou's location, third floor in a large conference room. People were ducked under chairs, too scared to move. Other's complained about the importance of the event they had interrupted. This place was a mess.
"Boss, we got a problem," Spike interrupted. "Or lack thereof."
"Talk to me." Greg said.
"This isn't a bomb."
"Repeat?"
"It looks like a bomb, circuitry, framework, everything . There is a distinctive lack of explosives though."
There was a pause for a moment. Wordy had to assume that the Boss needed a moment to re-categorize his profile. He needed a second to think of what this meant.
"Whoever did this knew what they were doing. Everything's right. Sophisticated technology, just lacking the anything that would make it useful. It was designed to look right, even to someone who knew a little about explosives," Spike continued in the silence.
"I'm going to need that note fast. Sam, retrieve it. Wordy, Lou, keep up the containment. We don't know what this guy has planned and we should assume this might have been a ploy of some sort."
Wordy shook his head in disbelief. He had heard of false bomb threats, but this was something else.
"Sir, I'm going to need you to stand up. We've evacuating the building for your safety," He motioned to a man crouched under his briefcase.
. . .
Jules had paused in her search for something relevant hearing the news of the fake bomb, repeating into the system before she could even think her way through the ramifications. Her fingers stilled on the keyboard fractionally before going back to narrowing a list of prior employees with a record.
The search was too wide; there were still too many employees to begin to even look into the individuals. She looked over to the Boss, seeing him hand over mouth, clearly thinking.
"The employees said that the note said that justice had to be done, that there were too many wrongs. It said that the bomb served as a warning, that it was going to blow at two. It doesn't make sense," Sarge said, pacing as he spoke.
"Is it possible that it was a mistake?" Jules asked. "That he meant to finish the bomb, but forgot?" She felt stupid even as she asked the question, but she needed to hear Spike's response all the same.
"No way, this thing was constructed based on hiding the lack of explosives for as long as possible. He knew it wouldn't work."
"Anything to go off of with the materials? Serial codes, anything?" Jules was desperate to solve the puzzle just as much as the Boss.
"Mostly stuff you can buy at your local hardware store. Nothing recognizable."
"How are we doing with containment?" Ed asked over the com like it should have been done yesterday.
"West wing down to maybe a hundred," Lou's voice responded.
"And how's that note coming?"
"I'm on the second floor now, almost there," Sam didn't sound out of breath just yet, but Jules could tell he had been really moving by the sound of his voice.
She should be embarrassed at how intimately she knew the pitches and tones of that voice, but if you asked her she would say that she knew the whole team in the same way. Still, the extra hours spent together outside of work made her just a little more familiar with Sam. It didn't matter now. She had put an end to their arrangement the second she knew she was returning to SRU after her recovery from the bullet wound. Relationships did not work with coworkers, particularly in this business.
Jules threw Sam out of her head as quickly as possible, focusing once more on the screen. She had to find something to narrow this list down.
. . .
Ed wasn't sure if the fact that the bomb was not real ending up calming his mind or doing the opposite. While it was all great that they didn't have to deal with the explosives at two, it also meant that the element of surprise just kicked up a notch. They had no idea what to expect next, or if there was more to this call than the bomb at all.
He had just finished interviewing one of the clerks who spent most of their time in the filing rooms when he had heard the news. Part of him wanted to believe this was some prank a peer-influenced teenager had concocted. Evidence and the rational part of his mind disagreed.
He moved on to getting an updated profile of the team after the interview led nowhere. She had been on her hour lunch break since noon and hadn't noticed anything beforehand. Lou and Wordy were almost done with containment. Sam almost had the note. At least they were making progress. If they had known the bomb was fake the second they approached, maybe Sarge could have his hands on that note a little faster. Maybe it would shed some light on the situation, or as Spike had said, lack thereof.
Ed moved toward the van to see if there had been any update not worthy of the com system. Jules might need some help on the research. Maybe the Boss needed a bouncing board for ideas.
That small part of his mind that kept the hope going, the part that demanded this was just a trick, a bizarre version of a publicity statement, was shattered by a loud sound from behind him.
Before he could even turn around, sequenced explosions came from all sides of the building. Screams were heard as a fires flared out of some of the windows. Ed could feel the heat from where he stood near the van.
It took him a second to realize his hands were covering his ears. But the second rational thought worked again, he was calling out the names of his teammates still in the building.
"Spike? Lou? What's going on in there guys?"
Silence met his questions and the only thing he could think of was that there were no explosives in the building. No explosives in the building that just exploded.
Sarge took over his questioning. "Wordy? Sam? Anybody copy?"
The Boss shook his head in frustration before barking orders at the firemen stationed on scene. They were going in blind. The team had no idea whether there were any more bombs and what kind of casualties they were facing.
"What happened?" A weak voice mumbled on the other side of the com, one that was distinctly male, and not the Boss.
"Wordy, that you?" Ed asked, feeling the relief as suddenly as the initial explosions. "Talk to me," he continued knowing his coworker needed some prompting.
"There was an explosion, multiple explosions."
There was a pause. He might be concussed, or just simply out of it after what happened.
"Is everyone alright?" Wordy asked. Ed had to fight back the bitter smile that threatened to appear.
"You tell me, buddy. Is Lou with you? How many civilians?"
"I'm alright," Another voice came on. "I'm alright," Lou repeated.
"Good, that's good. What's it look like in there?"
"Not much to see. There's a lot of smoke and debris. About twenty people were with us before they went off," Lou said.
The Boss was standing next to him now, Jules peeking out of the van with grim expression.
"We still have nothing. No idea if this is political, personal, what. We can hope that was the last of the bombs, but we have no way of knowing. We need to find some suspects," Sarge said. He moved his hand to the com system. "Spike, Sam?" He tried to rouse the other members of the team.
Ed only hoped they were still alive.
Like I said before, please let me know what you think. I'll post the next chapter as soon as I get some feedback.