In The Wrong Place
A/N I would like to dedicate this story to my husband and my five kids without whose patience and understanding this story wouldn't have been written. I also want to thank Keller12917 and Briroch for their constant support and friendship, the talented ladies of the SOSF yahoo group whose stories I thoroughly enjoy reading and all the readers who have read and reviewed my other stories...Your kind words and encouragement inspire me to write more and are very much appreciated...
Knowledge of the episode "One Last Shot" is possibly necessary for the full enjoyment of this story. Some dialogue from the original episode has been replicated in the story in order to keep the alternate ending true in part to the original storyline...These borrowed parts along with the characters remain the property of the creators of SOSF...I only borrow them for my enjoyment and hopefully the enjoyment of others.
I hope you enjoy my latest offering and if you do..Please review!
Chapter 1
As Steve and Mike entered the building in the Mission District at Valencia and Clarion ...in search of their suspect Frank Graves the tension was palpable...This was the part of their profession that both men feared the most... Searching buildings where known gunmen were seen entering in order to apprehend them was always nerve-racking...As they entered, Mike gestured for Steve to go one way while he went the other...This made it doubly nerve-racking as not only had you to search for the suspect while trying to keep yourself alive...you also had to be painfully aware that your partner could come into your line of fire at any moment and so you had to control your trigger finger and respond to situations with quickfire decisions...Of course the intensive training the Department gave them helped them in situations like this up to a point but after that you had to rely on your raw nerves and reflexes.
This particular building was really dark and creepy and as Steve went down the corridor as slowly and stealthily as he could he could feel his heart pounding in his chest and his adrenaline was increasing... He listened for sounds of life and as his feet moved along ,the floorboards creaked under his feet... He could feel the hairs rise on the back of his neck and was almost at the room at the end of the corridor when a familiar sound of a gun being discharged sent him into defense mode... As he heard the bullet fly in his direction he quickly ducked and dived inside the room...
He kept his back to the wall inside the doorway and listened for further signs that the gunman was approaching... Boy, that was a little too close for comfort, Steve thought to himself... But how in God's name did Graves get behind him?... He'd been very thorough in his search of the corridor... he couldn't possibly have missed him... It just didn't make sense...
As he struggled to make sense of how the gunman had got the drop on him he suddenly became aware of a faint stinging sensation in his left side towards the back near where his gun holster was... Within seconds the stinging had changed to a burning sensation and Steve could feel panic rise within him...He hadn't noticed it until now and alarm bells were going off in his head... He risked a quick glance under his jacket but it was too dark to see anything... He reached his left hand around to where the burning sensation was and to his horror he felt something wet and sticky... Bringing his left hand back around his worst fears were realized when he saw the blood on his fingers...
Oh Man! ...Steve thought...this cannot be happening!
Steve's next thoughts turned to Mike. He had to have heard the gunshot and was probably bearing down on their location but how could he warn Mike without tipping Graves off as to his position...Damn it!...There wasn't a rulebook for this type of situation in the Department training manual...! Before he had time to think anymore he heard Mike's panicked voice calling him...
"STEVE!"
As Steve went to answer he realized how dry his mouth had become...
"YEAH!" was the only word Steve managed to get out as the burning in his side changed again to a sharp stabbing pain which momentarily robbed him of his breath...Knowing Mike was coming allowed him to drop his guard and lowering his weapon he again held his side with his left hand and slid down the wall until he was sitting on the dark dusty floor...
"MIKE! Where's Graves?" he managed to say next when he had accustomed himself to the pain that was now throbbing steadily in his side...
He heard Mike's footsteps in the hall frantically searching for him...
"He's gone...Are you alright? Where are you?" Mike called ...
As Steve went to answer, another painful spasm hit his side and he doubled over with the pain of it...he had to breathe through the pain before his voice would allow him to answer...
Mike was frantic with worry. When he had heard the gunshot, he had immediately doubled back to where the sound came from. He waited to hear an exchange of gunfire to indicate that Steve was in a gunfight with Graves but when he heard no more shots he began to worry even more...He only hoped it was Steve who had taken the shot and not the other way around...
As Mike got to the corridor where Steve had gone down he spotted a figure in the hallway... Officer Joe Landers ! What was he doing here?...
" Joe?"
Landers beckoned to him and in a low voice he said...
"Come on...I think I got him..."
As Mike approached Joe he saw that he had his gun drawn and was pointing it down the corridor...where Steve had been...In that moment Mike got a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach as he slowly pieced together in his head what had just happened... Dear God...Did he think Steve was Graves? Had he fired at Steve? His panic increased and he headed down the corridor almost afraid of what he might find...
"STEVE!"...
On hearing Steve's answer he let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding but something about the waver in Steve's voice made him uneasy...He glanced back at Landers who was still in the same spot leaning against the wall as if it was holding him up...He looked nervous as he began to realize who he had actually been shooting at...Mike asked if Steve was alright but when no reply came Mike's gut instinct told him that something was terribly wrong...
"Stay there!" He shouted at Landers as he turned and continued his search for his partner...
"STEVE !...Answer me...Where are you?"...