A guest reviewer requested a sequel to The Wake-Up Call. I had already planned on continuing the story, but the review gave me a little extra motivation :) Updates will still be slow and irregular since my priorities are on real life and other stories right now, but if you have any ideas or requests, my inbox is always open.
Also: I don't know how long this story or one-shot collection is going to be, but it probably won't cover anything from the show yet. So again, no Sam yet... But in the sequel to this (if you are interested in that, my dear readers), Sam will definitely show up :)
Team 1 had received a rude awakening on their last call which had forced them to face a few home-truths. Nina Ruben, the team's rookie member of 15 weeks, had left her letter of resignation on Commander Holleran's desk and her parting words had been to congratulate the team on winning - in as much as getting rid of her. The discovery that the young woman had had the letter of resignation printed and ready for nearly 2 months had led to Holleran stiffly admonishing the elite team that had managed to turn the bright and dedicated former paramedic into a mere spectre.
Everyone had gone home with the day's events heavy in their minds and hearts and they reconvened at Sergeant Greg Parkers' house the next morning to discuss their failures and how to salvage what they had destroyed. They went over the transcripts, trying to re-evaluate their initial judgement of their newest team member. It brought a lot of guilt, quite a few bursts of self-recrimination and anger, some tears even. Having their mistakes black on white in front of them was tough and it was painful to see Nina offer less and less input with each time she was ignored or her suggestions rebuffed.
But it was a necessary evil that also brought insights. And change. With fresh eyes and a new perspective, they made some interesting discoveries, both about their rookie and about their own subconscious actions and decisions.
...
Lou remarked that Nina had a keen eye for details. "She notices the tiniest things", he said, finger tapping against a relevant segment of the transcript under his hand. "I think that also helps her read people so well."
Wordy agreed. "And she has an insanely good memory for maps." He outlined the countless incidents where Nina's extraordinary navigational skills had really stood out and made a difference. She knew dozens of shortcuts all over the city, was always aware of construction sites and road works that could hamper traffic and generally got them to their destination faster than the sat nav.
Jules admitted that thanks to Nina's suggested short cut, they'd shaved a good 5 minutes off their response time on their last call.
"It's the same for buildings", Spike threw in. "Either she has a photographic memory and just remembers the plans after seeing them once, or her sense of direction is just off the charts." He pointed at the transcript of a call they'd had at an old warehouse. "Those hallways were a maze and the plans outdated and useless. Nina led us back outside without one wrong turn. It was almost like there was an exit sign on every corner."
Lou nodded, remembering: "I asked her how she knew the way. She shrugged it off, said it was just luck." When in reality, the blonde had known exactly where to go. At least, that's what they all suspected.
Greg noted that Nina tended to downplay her own skill a lot. Or rather, she had started doing so after about two weeks, after Ed had questioned her about why she had been able to effortlessly pick the complex lock to an office.
The team leader scrubbed a hand down his face. "I shouldn't have pressed her like that", he sighed. "But..."
"I can understand why you were suspicious, Ed", Wordy jumped in to support his friend. "Especially since she only said that she'd had time to practice as a kid."
"Getting in her face about it was still wrong", Spike maintained. He didn't want to point fingers and throwing around accusations wouldn't get them anywhere, but it still needed to be said. They all needed to acknowledge their mistakes so they could change their ways.
...
The analysis of the transcripts as well as Greg and Ed's notes on evals and training exercises revealed several other things about the former paramedic.
Jules pointed out to Ed that he often - make that almost always - assigned Nina to less-lethal. At first, At first, he took it as just another sign of his prejudice against the blonde, but eventually, he recognised that a subconscious part of him had figured that as a paramedic, she'd be more comfortable with that position as it reduced the potential of her being forced to use lethal force.
They all agreed that she was a quick study. She never seemed to make the same mistake twice, picked up certain things almost by osmosis and figured others out on her own. Which was impressive, but it still sat wrong with the team because they knew part of it had been born from necessity. They had never taken the time to properly explain the rules to her, to discuss the reasoning behind their operation protocols. Without anyone giving her pointers, answering questions and mentoring her, Nina had been forced to adapt and find her own way.
Spike and Lou were also quick to confirm that Nina was a good team player and useful in the command truck. "She knows tons of people", Spike elaborated. "She has so many contacts everywhere."
Eventually, Greg concluded that their deplorable treatment of their rookie stemmed first and foremost from assumptions they had made.
"We didn't get to choose her like we usually do", he said. "She was placed on the team without much of an explanation other than that the teams are being expanded. This rubbed us all the wrong way - we wanted to pick our newest member and were upset that we didn't get to this time - and we had our opinion already before we met Nina. Everything from the first impression onwards only solidified our preconceptions."
Guilty silence settled over them.
"We should know better", Ed ground out, angry at himself. "We're trained to know better, to do better."
Wordy spoke up: "I think it would have been good to know what made Nina leave EMS and join the SRU. It was a pretty sudden move and it isn't the most obvious career progression, going from paramedic to police constable." Seeing the looks of hesitation on some of his team mates' faces, he added: "I respect that this is Nina's business and of course she has a right to her own privacy, but I also think it would help."
Greg sighed at the nods of agreement.
"Boss?", Ed prompted.
"It came up in her interview", he allowed, studying them. Curiosity, interest and mild concern dominated their expressions. "Nina didn't say much about the incident that ultimately caused her to leave EMS. She did say, however, that Commander Holleran offered her this job and she accepted because she needed a change of scenery. I talked to the Commander and he confirmed that while the incident wasn't Nina's fault, she still feels responsible."
"But what happened?", Jules wondered. "When I asked her why she left, she said the same thing, needing a change of scenery." She paused and grimaced, disgusted with her own insensitivity. "She looked guilty - for a short moment - so I asked what she did."
Spike scowled at her and there were several disapproving mutterings from around the table, but nobody interrupted her.
"She shrugged and said: 'Sat in the wrong seat'."
...
Spike had gone very quiet when the topic had shifted to the reason behind Nina joining the SRU. Lou, always tuned into his best friend's emotions, shot him an assessing look and quickly determined that he knew something, but couldn't or didn't want to say anything about it.
The sergeant decided that it would be up to Nina to tell them what happened since he himself didn't know the whole story either. He also didn't want to betray the young woman's trust and confidence in him any further.
The team accepted the decision and they took a break, giving them all time to get some air, have something to eat and let everything sink in. Lou fetched a drink for himself and Spike from the Boss' kitchen and headed back to the large table in the Boss' dining room. Spike, usually the first to jump at a chance to get up and stretch his legs after a period of sitting still, had yet to move from his seat.
"Spike?"
The Italian blinked at the glass of water that hadn't been in front of him before. "Sorry, buddy", he said with a sheepish smile. "I was just thinking."
Lou hummed and sat down. "You know something, don't you?" He saw no sense in dancing around the subject and so he chose the direct approach.
Spike sighed. "Yeah", he confirmed softly, fiddling with the edge of a page from one of the countless transcripts. "On the last call, the Boss had us looking into her personnel files, remember?"
Lou nodded, but stayed silent, waiting for his friend to continue.
"I dug a little deeper and found the incident reports...and more." Spike's mouth twisted and he looked at Lou, shaking his head. Sad guilt poured off him. "We really screwed up, buddy."
"I know", Lou agreed.
...
For all the pain and guilt it brought, the team proposed several ways to go about repairing (or actually establishing) their ruined rapport with Nina. Their actions and apathy had prevented any bonds of personal trust from forming. Even on a professional level, they had been forced to realise that Nina didn't have full confidence in them in as much as that she didn't expect them to have her back.
"It won't happen over night", Greg reminded them as they wrapped up late in the evening. "Nina might be a forgiving soul and she's obviously willing to give it another shot, but everybody has their limit. If we try too much too quickly, we'll likely end up pushing her away for good. So keep it simple."
"Slow and easy", Ed took over, nodding his head in agreement. "One step at a time. We're back on shift on Monday, we'll take it from there."
Team 1's sergeant smiled at them. "Go home and get some rest, enjoy your day off. Don't let the guilt eat you. We made a huge mistake, so let's learn from it and make sure it doesn't happen again."
"Got it, Boss", the team chorused.