Author's Note: Hi everyone! I've been having some troubles writing lately, mostly from a sudden school work overload and lack of time, but partially because I had some issues coming up with ideas.
This is just a short one-shot inspired by "Never Let You Down" in season 2. Italics are the few lines I have taken from the show to use as a base.
Disclaimer: I do not own Flashpoint, no matter how much I would like to. That said, this is my writing (except for the italics) and should not be used elsewhere.
"I am sorry that Wendy disappeared from your life," began Jules, trying to talk down Dale as he hung over the ledge, slowly dragging himself and another young woman down the cliff to their deaths. She lunged for them, and just caught the pair, soon feeling Ed's arms gripping her utility belt to keep her from following them over the ledge. "I cannot even imagine what you have been through. But I do know what it is like to lose somebody, who had absolutely no business dying, and to not have a chance to say goodbye. And to be disgusted with people for just walking down the street like the world's the same place. That if you had just done something different… they might still be here…" Jules took a deep breath, trying to force away the tears beginning to pool in her eyes because of the memories her speech brought to the fore front of her mind.
"And I know it hurts, Dale," she continued, "I know how it doesn't stop hurting; no matter how long it's been and how many tears you shed. How every morning when you wake up, for a few glorious moments you forget they're gone, and everything seems like it should be, until you move and everything comes crashing back down on you. I know how it doesn't seem like anything will ever be right again. I've lost people too. I've lost a lot of people. I've lost family, friends, all people who did not deserve to die, Dale. Just like Wendy. Everyone says to just give it time, that you'll move on after a while, but you can never fully move on. It's not part of human nature to so quickly let go of those you hold dear. I've learned this the hard way Dale, but you need to think about what Wendy would want, how she would want you to live." Jules couldn't look at her team mates, couldn't focus on anything except for staring into the 2 eyes in front of her, filled with sadness and hopelessness, a reflection of what she saw every morning when she looked in the mirror.
"And this here, what you're doing now? It won't help Dale. You know this won't help you; it won't bring Wendy back into your life, no matter how hard you try. The only thing that you can do is to move past this, not to move on, but learn to continue living without her. Wendy loved you Dale, don't let her down."
Jules was almost full on crying right now, a few tears had already slipped out of the corner of her eye, and she started to wrap it up, knowing that if this hadn't already gotten through to Dale then she couldn't, and it would be left to Sam and Leah hanging under him to bring them up safely.
"So, you can either keep holding on, and get both of yourselves killed, and that will be your fault; or you can let go, and let ourselves live. What would Wendy want you to do, Dale? What would she want you to do?" Exhausted from the emotional overload she was hit with, Jules watched as her words sunk in, and resolve formed in Dale's face.
"I'm sorry!" he said with tears streaming down his face. "I'm so sorry!" Jules sighed with relief, and helped Zoe climb up onto solid land, embracing her and offering words of comfort before taking a step back to regain control of her emotions. The team realized she was still reflecting and de-briefing herself afterwards, as she was generally quiet for the rest of the day, hardly saying anything at the debrief unless she was directly asked. The exception to this was to thank Leah for the memory band, touched, and it was the first sincerely nice thing she had said to Leah since they had met earlier that day.
Listening to her words, team 1 realized just how much of a mask Jules had been wearing since Lew had died. Even Sarge, who had known about her family tragedies beforehand, had not realized how much Jules had been hiding. None of them had needed to hear the weekly weigh-ins to know she had been losing weight, which didn't need to be lost. Leah especially, even in the short period she had known Jules had seen how much make up the other woman was using to cover up the bruise-like rings that seemed to be permanently tattooed under her eyes recently.
Everyone had been really worried about Sam and Spike, because of how they had reacted at the scene, and Jules had covered her pain by going out of her way to help everyone else so much, that the team, much to their shame, had almost forgotten that she was as broken as they all were; she was acting so strong to hold them all together.
Thinking back to the fateful day they had lost Lew, they all, except Leah, remembered hearing Jules crying into over their headsets, something that had thought nothing of at the time. Even Wordy and Ed, who had been with her when Jules broke, hadn't thought it was anything out of the ordinary, as bad as it sounded, because they were all crying that day. Every big, bad man (and woman) or the SRU, team 1 or otherwise, had shed tears mourning a lost friend.
However, the team, with the exception of Sarge, had never seen Jules cry like that before. Not when she was shot, or after she talked down Tasha Redford, relieving her past demons. Jules had always made sure she was seen as strong, which led to everyone around her thinking that she was superwoman, or equally as unbreakable. Nothing ever fazed Jules, or threw her off her game. The had forgotten that she, too, was affected just as much as, or sometimes more than, they were on tough calls, because she was just so damn good at hiding it, especially from those closest to her.
And that's the end! I'm not sure I really like how I finished it, but this was just a short story to try and help my writer's block. Hope you enjoyed, and please review!