A/N: Well, this was a very interesting story to come up with. Needless to say, I love Jules, but I have a very vindictive streak and decided I needed to write something dark and twisted. Thus, this was born :)
Warning: Set mid-season two. Also, it's a bit of a rewrite of Attention Shoppers, but is mostly my random creation.
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Flashpoint. Though I wouldn't mind owning Sam…
"I'm gonna jump. There's nothing you can do to stop me, so don't try." The teenaged girl glared at Jules belligerently as she sat on the thin railing that separated her from a 15 story fall. The girl swung her feet jauntily and Jules felt a thrill of fear as she heard the utter truth in the girl's words.
"I know that I can't stop you. This is your choice, but is it really worth it to end life over something so small? You saved many people's lives today and you did it on your own free will. There aren't many people I know would do something that amazing. I'm sure now you could work anything out if you were willing to take that risk." Jules answered the girl, keeping her voice calm and soothing. The girl threw back her had and laughed uproariously. Her brown streaked hair shook as she rocked back and forth, snorting and giggling. Jules was utterly perplexed by the girl's reaction and slightly afraid. There was something off about how she seemed to have little or no instinctive reactions to suicide.
Jules could hear Ed, Sam and Spike shifting anxiously about a hundred feet behind her. She could tell they wanted to come closer, but she held them off, knowing it would startle the girl.
Jules, you have to get her calm. You can do this. Sarg's voice crackled through Jules' headset.
"I know boss, I'm trying." She spoke quietly into the mike, all the while making sure that the girl didn't go over as she laughed.
Eventually the girl's laughter died down. "Sorry. Sorry, it's just that nothing is small, you know?" The girl turned her deep chocolate brown eyes on Jules. In a split second, the girl had gone from laughing uncontrollably to completely serious and slightly somber.
"I guess I do." Jules paused, thinking over what she should say. "I guess everything is connected in ways we can't imagine. That make sense?" She asked, trying to ease the tension that was building and trying to get the girl to trust her a bit more.
The girl stared at her oddly for a moment before saying, "yeah, I think it does." She turned and faced the city stretched out before them. Jules took the opportunity to ease slightly closer. There was no reaction from the girl.
A sudden gust of wind blew in their faces, causing the girls hair to whip around frantically. There was a sharp intake of breath behind her and Jules turned enough to see Spike slowly turning pale. When she faced the girl again, she was looking at Spike as well, with a small frown on her face. Jules reached for her when she shifted to get a better looked at Jules' teammate. And that's when the girl slipped off the railing.
Reacting instinctively, Jules grabbed the girl as she fell and held her tight, waiting for her safety harness to stop their fall. It did, for a second before there was a loud snap and they continued to plunge to the earth. Jules managed to catch a glimpse of the tattered and broken rope as the wind whipped in her face. She looked down, briefly realizing that there were no sounds coming from the girl she held, and saw the ground rushing to meet them.
Jules closed her eyes, blocked out the frantic calls of team one, and prepared for the sudden stop. This is it. This is how I'm going to die; she thought to herself and whispered, "I'm sorry," to no one in particular.
3 hours earlier.
The clang of weights being dropped into their holders, the whoosh of treadmills and the grunts of exertion filled the workout room as team one finished their weekly training. Sweat dripped from brows and breaths came in harsh pants as each member finished whatever exercise they were doing and headed back to the locker rooms. Juliana Callahan split off from the rest of the team with a grin as she listened to Kevin "Wordy" Wordsworth and Sam Braddock rag on Spike Scarlatti about Babycakes. Apparently Spike's prized robot had broken down last night and he had had to blow off his date to fix the thing. The whole team was participating in the mockery and the mood was joyful. There had been no major calls for a few days and, since it was almost the end of shift, everyone hoped to make the streak last one more day.
Jules opened the door to the girl's locker room and quickly headed to the shower. She stayed under the spray for as long as she dared before hopping out and changing into her uniform. She hurried to the conference room, pleased to see that Spike and Wordy still weren't there. She settled into a chair next to Ed Lane and waited for the rest of her teammates to show. Sergeant Gregory Parker stood at the head of the table, studying something or other and Sam sat in the seat directly opposite of her.
"Well, thanks to the wonderful citizens of this city, it seems that we've had another un-eventful day." Sarg announced when Wordy and Spike walked in. A small cheer rose up and Spike banged on the table loudly with his fist.
"Alright, settle down children." Sarg spoke laughingly. "Since we've got about an hour t'ill end of shift, I thought we'd make this patrol night." Catcalls and pleased whoops rose from around the table. They hadn't had a patrol night for a while and everyone was eager to troll their favorite sections of town.
Whatever Srag had been about to say next was cut off by the blaring of an alarm.
"Team One, Hot Call." Winnie's voice blasted over the intercom and no one wasted a second. They all ran quickly out to her desk, Spike, Wordy and Sam continuing on to make sure all the gear got to the trucks.
"What's up, Winnie?" Sarg demanded tersely.
"Shots fired in the Eaton Center. Subject unknown male, currently has a hostage, a female. I'll know more in a few."
"Alright everybody, looks like we aren't having nice evening after all. Let's keep the peace."