Detective Tau and Buzz could be heard bickering in the tech room from all the way in the bull pen. Even with both the doors shut, Sharon had heard them going at it for a full ten minutes or more before finally deciding to step in herself.
"What in the world is going on here?" She insisted, finally stalling their rants with her mere presence in the room.
"He started it!" the two boys insisted in near unison. She just stared at both of them, waiting for her proper answer as patiently as she could.
"I've been handing Buzz some of the tech items to complete and file and he keeps handing them back to me."
"That's because I've been swamped with a/v editing, distributing and logging…I just don't have time for it…"
"Well, neither do I…it's supposed to be your area…"
"Then why are you doing it?"
The volleys flew faster and grew louder till it felt at last that the next cannon to explode would be Captain Raydor's eardrums!
"Wait a Minute!" She shouted when neither of the two would surrender on their own. It had been the very same issue with so many of the units she had been a part of over the years. The higher ups looking to the bottom line, minimal overtime and restricted staff increases, while expecting low crime stats, high conviction rates and infallible reports. Reports such as the ones Tau and Watson were just….discussing. There was an answer…but how would she get it past Asst. Chief Taylor? Besides that, where would she find someone who could put up with this riotous bunch, and still put forth the high quality work the division demanded?
Slowly, a name did come to mind….Jessica Walton….They had only come to know each other briefly during a conference or two over the past few years, but Sharon had found her to be a remarkable woman.
Jessica was appointed to various special teams on the force a number of years, but her central focus had been on the military for most of her career. Most recently, the reserve unit she was now a part of had been called up for the war in Afghanistan. It would be Jessica's third tour in this conflict. Sharon couldn't remember exactly what her duties were…She wasn't on the front lines exactly, but from stories Jackson Brandt, a mutual friend, had told her, the other woman had been plenty close enough. One mission had her originally scheduled for supply transport, but as the fighting got heavy just ten miles from the road she was traveling on during her return trip, her radio went strangely 'dead' and she suddenly found herself off course and just a few clicks away from a squad who had been pinned down by enemy fire. She grabbed her medical gear and whatever weapons and ammunition she could from what remained in the truck, and hustled out to them. Three of the team were wounded to varying degrees, with a fourth recognizably critical. She spread the ordnance among those still able to shoot and started treating the injured. After preforming what first aid she could and with some ingenious engineering that would have made MacGyver proud, she had them all ready to move in a matter of minutes. The two leg injuries and the others with less serious issues she was able to guide to the vehicle, but by the end she was left with two fairly healthy soldiers and the group's commander, who was slipping away more and more quickly. His second in command, one of those still remaining, continually barked orders at her, which she to this point had kept oblivious to, most of the time because she was already in the process of fulfilling his directive before he gave it anyway. There just wasn't time to give him a yes sir or tell him to shut up. She just did what was needed then went on to the next. But now he was ordering her and the last soldier to take the captain to the bus and drive off. She was far from a weakling, but after carrying jumping lifting and everything else that had gone on in the past hour, the adrenaline was starting to wear off and her super-strength was starting to wear thin….He just continued to shout. Finally, she smacked him in the back of the head with her medical bag.
"There, your sanity transfusion is complete. Now give me that gun and get YOUR ass over to the Captain. I'll cover YOU!" She then, slapped the keys in his hand. "If I don't make it…YOU drive…I'm dead anyway once we reach headquarters…."
"You can't fire a…." he stared….he had trained with women before, and though impressed with a few, he still never for a moment believed they could be his equal, never mind should be giving him orders…
"I was shooting these things before you came out of Junior Academy….Now MARCH!"
He pulled back for an instant, and that was all it took for Jess to yank the assault rifle from his hand and start aiming and firing herself. He watched her for a second. Though third in his class, he still had nothing on the speed and accuracy this soldier showed. He pulled together what ammunition there was left so she'd be able to grab it as quickly as possible. No matter who did the shooting, it was quite clear, they all had to move…The truck itself was coming under heavier and heavier fire and before long, the enemy would bring out the heavier artillery and there'd be a mortar shell on its way that could blow his entire squad to kingdom come!
"Well. What are you staring at?" He shouted to the other soldier. "Grab the Captain and let's get going!"
Jessica shook her head…well, mentally…she was a bit too busy for that in the real world. Within minutes, the sergeant and his comrade had run the captain into the truck and secured him. The senior officer then grabbed one of the firearms from the men and ran back for Jessica.
"Soldier! Time to move out." He shouted, but a foot from her ear.
Didn't need to tell her twice. Then again, he didn't need to tell her once…in fact what the frak did he think he was doing, coming back from the truck.
She gave him a short elbow to the gut, then spun away. With adrenaline now going into round two, she swung his arm around his waist, and dragged Him back to the truck.
Before he could call out a word of protest, she was in the driver's seat. Having grabbed the keys out of his pocket as she dropped him in the back she started the vehicle and got them all the Sam Hell out of there!
The worst results of that mission, from what Sharon gathered, were a broken leg, dislocated shoulder, and the Captain, who lost the use of his left arm. Everyone survived.
Once having the troop settled at headquarters, Jessica got a severe tongue lashing from her superior…and then….the medal of valor….
Three months later, 2 days from her scheduled return to the states….while on a routine transport mission on a morning when the fighting was light…Her truck hit an IED….
Jessica was now paralyzed from the waist down.
It could have been much worse. Everyone knew that…But being where she was needed, whether in a foreign war zone or handling whatever sort of violent or criminal situation stateside was all Jessica had ever been about. She always was ready to put herself in the middle of the action to protect another. On various occasions, her daring might often border on stupidity, even she admitted…but there was often a very fine line between the two….even Sharon couldn't argue that.
The very same squad she rescued broke forth like a stampede of horses to her bedside as soon as they could when they heard about her incident. They surrounded her like a flock of Fredrick Nightingales, offering her the same mother hen treatment she had given them in the days that followed their original meeting, only en masse. . Jackson had given Sharon every last detail of both events, save one. He had himself been the mouthy sergeant in question. He hadn't thought much of her when they first met. She was older than the lot of them, but age made no difference beyond perhaps an advantage when it came to Jessica keeping up and even surpassing the abilities of himself or his men on more than one occasion. He couldn't help but admire her for that.
And now….she was destined for a desk job….a thought that she far from relished…She could have retired and tried to live on disability, but she liked that concept even less. The thought of life behind the scenes instead of on them left her screaming on the inside. She found herself wanting to leap from her chair and dash out the door whenever she'd hear a breaking news story on the television. How was she going to react when she would be the only one in the room not able to do that very thing?
Sharon barely knew the woman, but from what she had come to know, she respected her enormously. Her knowledge of tactics and strategy, as well as technology and the legal system, would make her a perfect fit for the squad. The office and adjoining rooms were ADD compliant, so that was far from an issue.
She knew the presentation she would make to Taylor. Hiring a Vet, not to mention a decorated war hero would be great PR…the glaring spotlight from which she would of course keep Jessica herself out of as much as possible. She could convince him easy….Convincing the Lieutenant might be a wholly other matter….