Sam's Second Christmas with Team One
Summary: Sam's second Christmas with Team One has been memorable in the twelve days leading up to Christmas Eve. Sam has plans for Christmas this year, real plans with his family now that he has reconciled with them. He wants to give his Mother what she most wants, him home for Christmas. His extended/chosen family have some surprises in store for Sam. Someone from Sam's past surprises him most.
Setting: This story starts right where Twelve Days of Christmas SRU Style ends.
I do not own Flashpoint or any of the characters from that series.
I do own my original characters (OC).
Where's Sam
SRU HQ – Briefing Room – Thursday, December 24th – 7:00 am
Ed was the last into the room. He had held back waiting for Sam to show up in the locker room. He hadn't.
Shades of several times Sam was late without calling flashed through his mind. None of those were good; bronchitis that nearly killed him, abduction by dirty cops that nearly killed him, thugs that attacked him at the cemetery and left him for dead, chasing a dog that took his cell phone. Well the last one was funny, but the others.
As Ed entered the room he looked at the others. He stopped on Greg and asked "He answer your call?"
Greg shook his head.
Spike offered "He looked happy when I dropped him off last night. I told him I would pick him up by he said he was going to sleep in since he didn't need to work out and would have a late night tonight."
Jules said "I'll go check his apartment."
Spike popped up "I'll go with you."
Greg nodded "Okay. I don't want to over react. He did have a rough day with that scenario I put him through yesterday."
Ed nodded but thought even if that was the case Sam would call in. There was still enough soldier in Sam that not reporting would not be something he would do if it were in his power to do so.
After Jules and Spike left Wordy looked at Ed and said "This is not like him. We all know that. We should go with Spike and Jules."
Ed took a breath and said "They can handle it. I need your help to plan the warrant tactics."
Wordy asked "So the warrant came in?"
Greg answered "It will, expecting it soon. We may need to do this one man down. Plan accordingly."
Ed nodded and pulled the blueprints up on the big screen. He and Wordy began to discuss options for serving the warrant on a group that had been named by the G & G officers as the Grinch Brigade. It was a group of six lowlifes that were targeting charitable organizations and stealing donations made for Christmas.
G & G had gotten lucky two nights ago and apprehended one of the gang. The lowlife had given up the location of their operation. But he had also indicated that they were heavily armed. So SRU was called in to serve the warrant.
Rollback – Sam's Apartment – Thursday, December 24th – 3:00 am
Flashes, screams, explosions invaded Sam's dream. He thrashed back and forth fighting with his sheets. His arms got loose and he flayed them around fighting off imagined enemies.
The clock and lamp went crashing to the ground. The cord of the clock ripped out of the socket with the force of Sam's hit. The bright red numbers faded to nothingness as the battery backup failed because the battery compartment had broken open and the battery was dislodged from its contacts when the clock bounced and hit the wall.
His arms flailing wildly again Sam screamed. He was not going to be taken again. His legs wrapped tightly in twisted sheets and blankets, trapping him. He panicked and hit out at his attackers as gunfire raged in his dream.
Sam wrenched to the right trying desperately to escape. He had to get away. He wrenched to the left. They were still coming. He wrenched right again and his head hit the nightstand. His hands grabbed the nightstand and yanked it hard thinking it was a man that hit him.
The nightstand and its contents went flying. His cell phone hit the wall and landed in a cracked heap on the carpet of the bedroom floor. The glass of water and bottle of pain pills landed with a soft thud near the now cracked cell phone. Water seeped into the phone sealing its fate to be a useless piece of technology.
Sam continued to fight until he ended up on the floor panting heavily.
Hide. Hide. Hide. His mind screamed at him.
Sam crawled to the closet which in his mind was somewhere in Afghanistan in a little hovel of a house. He closed the closet door and shook as he cowed in the corner praying they would not find him. Blaze and Matt would find him first. All he had to do was stay quiet and hide. They would get him. His brother would not let him be taken again.
Pure exhaustion over took Sam and his mind pulled him back down into sleep as he called out for Matt to save him.
Sam's Apartment – Thursday, December 24th – 7:15 am
Jules knocked on the door for the second time.
Spike asked "Should I pick the lock?"
She nodded and stepped aside as Spike pulled out his tools. It took him a moment to unlock it. Spike looked up and said "Getting a bit rusty."
Jules and Spike both unlatched their holsters and withdrew their guns. Spike positioned himself on one side as Jules turned the knob and pushed open the door. They scanned the interior and found no threat. They entered the apartment.
Everything in the main room and small kitchen appeared in order. No signs of struggle.
Jules pointed to Sam's go bag near the front door. That indicated he had not left.
Spike nodded and they made their way to Sam's bedroom door which was closed. Jules positioned herself as Spike turned the knob slowly and then pushed open the door quickly.
Both were stunned to see the state of Sam's room. There looked to be a real struggle.
They entered slowly and Spike moved to the bathroom. It was clear. He turned and said "What happened here?"
Jules shook her head "I don't know." She saw the shattered lamp and the clock on one side of the bed on the floor.
Spike looked at Sam's cell phone and said "This explains why he is not answering. It's toast."
Looking at the destruction around him, Spike then voiced his concern "It appears that Sam tried to fight off attackers. We should call the Boss. He has lots of enemies. It could be anyone."
Jules surveyed the room and then saw the trail of covers that looked to stretch out in the direction of the closet. An old memory came to mind. One night, when they were dating, Sam had a nightmare at her home. She had found him in crawling to the closet as he begged Matt to find him.
She turned to Spike and said "I don't think this is what it appears to be."
Then Jules headed to the closet and slowly opened it. Her heart wrenched seeing Sam curled tightly and covered with several of his clothes.
She turned to Spike and said "Found him."
Spike's eyes went wide as he looked around the room and then back at Jules. He said quietly "Nightmare."
Jules nodded and replied "Give me the room. I'll wake him."
Blowing out a relieved but also concerned breath Spike exited the room and said "I'll let the Boss know we found him."
Spike closed the bedroom door to give Jules and more importantly Sam privacy. Sam would be embarrassed being found in his closet. Jules was the best one to handle it.
He went to Sam's kitchen and called the Boss.
[Greg answered and said "Did you find Sam?"]
Spike responded "Yeah he is at home. Jules is waking him now. Appears to have a bit of a rough night if you get my drift."
[Greg nodded and asked "Fit for duty or does he need a day off?"]
"Not sure yet. We'll let you know shortly" Spike answered.
["The warrant should be in by nine. Need you and Jules back here in the next thirty minutes to prep. If Sam is not up to it, let him know that he is approved for a day off."]
"Copy" Spike responded then hung up.
He looked at the cold coffee in the pot and decided to make a fresh pot. He wondered what set off Sam's nightmare.
Inside the bedroom, Jules had holstered her weapon and crouched down outside the closet. She took a few moments to just look at Sam. She could see a new bruise on the side of his head. He must have hit it on the nightstand or something else during his nightmare.
Sam had so many demons. He had been through so much in his life. Sam seemed to bounce back really easily. Or at least that is what he portrayed to the world. She knew better.
The man she was looking at had deep scars and insecurities that he hid from everyone. Jules knew she was the cause of some of his hurt too. If she could redo it, if she could have denied the initial attraction to Sam then she might not have hurt him too.
Jules pushed those thoughts away. None of that would help Sam right now. She knew he would feel embarrassment for being found in his closet. He would feel that he failed in his duty by not showing up for work on time too.
She called softly "Sam. Sam it's Jules. Sam time to wake up."
Sam blinked his eyes open. Several things crashed into his sleep fogged mind trying to dominance. He was in his closet. His head ached. Jules was outside his closet.
The last thought won. Jules was fully dressed in uniform. He had overslept. Missed his alarm. Sam wasn't sure how. He had heard the alarm when he woke in his closet before. Why not today?
"Ah crap" he said in a gravelly morning voice.
Jules knew better than to push him. She pretended nothing was amiss and gave him a soft smile as she said "Good morning. You are a tad late for work. Your alarm apparently did not go off. Want to grab a quick shower then ride in with Spike and me?"
Sam started to get up but realized he was naked beneath the clothes that were covering him. He stopped keeping himself covered and said "Yeah, give me ten and I'll be out."
Jules stood. She turned and as she walked out said "Careful of the lamp fragments."
Sam crawled out of the closet as Jules closed the door. He looked at the destruction in his room. He saw the dead alarm clock. That explained why he did not hear it. Then he saw his cracked phone. Shit. That was the worst nightmare he had in a long time. Sam headed to his bathroom watching where he stepped, the last thing he needed was to cut his foot too.
In the bathroom, Sam looked at his head in the mirror and saw the bruise. At least he hadn't split it open. Sam showered, brushed his teeth and dressed quickly. Facing the team was going to be embarrassing. But he could not put it off.
He took one last look at his bedroom before opening his bedroom door to face Jules and Spike. He would have to clean it up before he went to Mayfield today. He'd have to get a new phone too it seemed. He sighed and opened the door.
The door opened to Sam's room and Spike saw the slight pink blush on Sam's face. Spike walked over and handed Sam a travel mug and said "Coffee's nice and hot. Let's go. We have a warrant to serve this morning."
Sam took the coffee and looked between Jules and Spike. Neither of them were acting like anything was out of the ordinary. That was kind and he appreciated it a lot.
Deciding to keep it normal too, Sam responded "Thanks for the coffee."
The three headed out of Sam's apartment as Spike lightheartedly said "We get to take down the Grinch Brigade today. That's sure to put us on Santa's good list."