Stepping In
I know, it's been forever since I've been here, school started and this is literally the second day I've had free in three weeks (the first was spent sleeping incase you were wondering). I know that I've been promising a Sam story; I have it started and sitting on my desktop but I'm stuck and this idea hit me and I decided to run with it. We don't know a whole lot about Raf yet so I was hesitant to write this one but the thing is, even if we don't know about him, we know a lot about the situation he was coming into. You'll see. Let me know what you think. And by the way, Andorian inspired this one and kept me from my homework for the record. :) I don't own Flashpoint.
"You've got some big shoes to fill." The team leader spoke with a detached, almost icy tone to the man sitting across the table. It was almost a warning, the implicit idea being, you can never replace him.
"I know." Raf responded with what confidence he could muster. Honestly, Constable Ed Lane wasn't making the transition any easier by already disheartening their newest recruit but Raf knew a bit about the circumstances and understood where the animosity was coming from.
"Look, Raffik-"
"Please, call me Raf." He interrupted the Sergeant, wanting to get that straight from the get-go. It wasn't that he hated his name, he'd loved it growing up, but the only person that called him by his full name was his father and that was a story for another day.
"Raf," Sergeant Parker corrected himself and nodded, "We understand that it'll take some time to get used to how we run things here but we chose you because you were the best." He seemed tired, almost burdened by an invisible weight sitting on his shoulders. Raf knew that being a Sergeant for the most elite tactical team was probably stressing, being a negotiator on top of that was probably even more taxing, but something else even more substantial seemed to weigh on him.
"Just listen, ask questions, learn, and don't be afraid to say that you're not sure how to do something or what to do." Parker finished his talk and Raf nodded before Ed cut back in.
"And don't be a lone wolf." He said almost threateningly, his cold blue eyes seeing through the man before him. Raf nodded but Ed continued anyway. "Your first couple of calls you'll be shadowing. We might ask you to do something specific but you follow orders without hesitating. During the debrief you question all you want but when we are on a call you stay close and do as you're told."
"Yes, sir." Raf said simply as he say Parker look towards Ed with a slight glare as he got up.
"Congratulations Raf, welcome to Team One." Parker stood and extended his hand, Raf doing the same as they formally welcomed him. Ed firmly took his hand as well and sat back down in his chair. "We'll see you in the morning." Greg said as he took his seat and Raf took it as his sign to leave.
He left the briefing room with a small smile. He walked over to the Communications Desk and Winnie smiled at him.
"Congratulations." She offered as he nodded.
"Winnie, have you seen the rest of the team?" He asked, wanting to see if there was anything else he could do to try and get to know them before his first shift. He knew that it was a team effort to pick him but he still felt like there was animosity between himself and the rest of the team.
"Try the gun cage." She offered as a phone started to ring and she rolled her chair away. Raf walked the halls to the gun lock up, trying to get a sense of his new workplace, liking the feel of the floor beneath his feet, the walls surrounding him, even the smell of the corridor just felt right; felt like this was the place he was meant to be.
"Hey guys," Raf turned a corner and approached the gun cage, Spike, Jules and Sam cleaning and storing the weapons from their day.
"Hey Raf," Spike turned and looked over his shoulder for a moment before turning his attention back to his MP-5. "The Boss make it official?" He asked as he expertly disassembled his gun.
"Yeah, just finished up with him and Ed."
"Congrats," Jules and Spike offered as they turned and smiled at him.
"Finally, I'm not the rookie anymore." Sam said with a mischievous smile.
"That mean I'm gonna be on the receiving end of some hazing pranks?" Raf asked knowingly.
"Us?" Spike said in a mockingly appalled tone, "Do we look like the group that would ever prank our newest team member?" They all gave innocent smiles as Raf laughed.
"I talked to Donna, Spike." Spike could barely maintain a straight face as Raf continued, "And I feel like I should let you know that at the 51 the way they 'initiated' me was the cream cheese in the shoes, so try to be more creative."
"Challenge accepted." Spike said with a smile.
"So, you guys want any help cleaning up?" Raf asked as he took a step closer to the gun cage.
"Nah, we're almost done, thanks." Jules said as she picked up one of the last weapons. "Head home, get a good nights sleep, tomorrow will probably be teh longest day of your life." She warned as he nodded.
"Got it, well I'll see you guys in the morning." He said with a small wave as he turned his back and headed towards the locker rooms. He felt like everything was starting to fall into place like his life was finally at a point he could really be proud of. Going to college, joining the police force, those were all great things he did but this was a real accomplishment that he'd earned for himself. He went through the door of the locker room and almost jumped a bit, surprised to see someone inside.
"Hey Wordy," Raf said as he took a breath. Wordy nodded towards him as he took a few items from his locker and placed them carefully into a box. Raf went over to one of the smaller lockers used for the recruits to tried to input his combination. He had met Wordy, he'd run the recruitment trials for the close quarter combat and the entry drills and he seemed like a really nice guy. The thing was, Raf also knew that he was Wordy's replacement and he didn't know what to say.
Greg had told them on the first day of the recruitment that one of the members of Team One was leaving for medical reasons but he didn't say who. It wasn't until the last day, when the thirty candidates were down to five, that Wordy explained that he was leaving after learning he had Parkinson's. It was sad to see such an obviously great member of the team struck by disease but Raf also realized that it was much harder for Team One to see Wordy leave than it was for him to come and take his place. He gathered up the rest of the clothes in his small locker and crammed them into his gym bag. He knew that he was going to be walking by Wordy again and wasn't sure what to say.
"Raf," Wordy called out as he saw him come into view. Raf stepped into the row of lockers with a slight smile as he approached the other man. "Congratulations, you really deserved the spot and you're gonna do great." Wordy said with a small smile.
"Thanks, I'm really glad to have the opportunity." He said softly, not wanting to say something wrong.
"The team...you know they really didn't want to replace me. Even after the recruiting started they were still trying to get me to change my mind but I assured them that you would be great." Raf couldn't help by smile a bit as Wordy spoke. "I told them that you had the best potential to grow into a real SRU member and I told them to give you a shot." He paused for a moment before shaking his head slightly. "It'll take a while for them to warm up to you, understand that. Ed's gonna be a hard-ass for a while and Sam and Jules and Spike are going to try really hard to make up for that but just give them a little time. And...really listen to Sarge, he knows a lot about a lot, he's the best there is."
"Yeah, of course." Raf said as Wordy let out a breath.
"I know you're stepping into a big role here and you think you're ready for it but, I guarantee, tomorrow is going to be like nothing you've ever done before." Wordy cautioned as Raf nodded.
"Copy that." Wordy nodded as he reached into his locker to continue packing. Raf took it as a sign to leave and started to walk away before he heard Wordy once more.
"And Raf," He said softly. He turned around to see Wordy holding a photograph, the last thing to be removed from his locker doors, three beautiful young girls smiling at the camera, a woman hugging them and laughing. "Put a picture of your family up in your locker. Even if you're not close to them, even if they frustrate you sometimes, even if you see them every day, put up a photo. You need something to ground you in this job, to remind you why you do it all, to keep you sane after those tough calls, and family...well you can't beat that with anything." Raf nodded as Wordy placed the photo in his pocket. "Good luck."
Feel like I should have had another line or two to end it but I kind of like it there. So? What do you think? I wrote this in roughly an hour and a half while waiting for my laundry to finish so not too bad considering I should have been doing the ton of homework I have. Follow "Flashpoint Team One" on facebook for up to date info, discussions, and contests (I won a signed poster a few weeks ago!) And there's my dryer...tell me what you think please.