Disclaimer: Unfortunately none of the characters are my own and neither is the concept. I am merely borrowing them with the promise of returning them sort of intact...
Author's note: My very first fanfiction ever and English is not my mother tongue. Reviews are of course very welcome, but keep those two things in mind please. I haven't got the whole story worked out yet, but I have the basic idea. This story follows the tv-show timeline and is situated somewhere just before the last two episodes. So Charlie and Oz know about Toby's gift, Olivia doesn't and Frank is not in the picture (yet). I may drift off from this point onwards, although I do love the storyline about Toby and his mother on the run or in danger. That will probably be in this story, however, maybe slighty AU...
Anyway, just start reading and tell me what you think. As I said, I haven't made my mind up on the details yet so who knows where this story goes from here. Do bear in mind that I 'like' the main character to get 'thrown around' a bit, so the rating may change later (I am a bit unsure on the whole rating thing, so better safe then sorry). Call me crazy, but Toby can deal with some bumps and bruises right? After all, what superhero doesn't get beaten every now and again... ;-)
Extra note 1: Uploading this story screwed up my whole editing. Sorry about that, I tried to correct somewhat, but I am not 100% happy with the result.
Extra note 2: My knowledge about medecine and doctors is extremely limited. I try not to go too deep into the whole thing, but seeing as Toby is a paramedic it'll come up every now and then. Don't expect too much of it. Same goes for the police stuff. And seeing as I am not Canadian, I have no idea what Toronto looks like. Places and descriptions are just made up. Deal with it! :-)
Extra note 3: Thoughts will be in Italic, you know, the stuff that Toby reads. I find it kind of difficult to really make the mind reading work, so hopefully it's understandable.
Enjoy!
Friday morning, 9.20 am
The ambulance slowly makes its way through traffic. Toby Logan is staring out the window, barely listening to the rambling of his partner next to him. It's not that he doesn't enjoy Oz' company, but sometimes the man just doesn't know when to stop talking.
"…and I am telling you, man, this new haircut is doing the trick. Just the other day, this blond lady on the street gives me thé look. You know, right." Oz grins and glances over at Toby, raising his eyebrows, waiting for a positive reply. He's met with silence and only then realises his best friend isn't listening at all.
"Drop-dead gorgeous woman, three o'clock." Oz tries to match his thoughts with a strong and vivid image. It does the trick.
Toby blinks and unconsciously looks to his right. No woman, and laughter from the seat next to him makes him turn around again. "Very clever. Very funny. Last time ever I tell you a secret." His voice sounds annoyed, but his smile belies his words. He's not sorry he told Osman his deepest secret.
"Any particular reason you're tuning me out?" Oz asks.
"No. No reason, just felt like it," Toby answers somewhat matter-of-factly. "But I did listen to parts of your conversation. You got a haircut you say?" He reaches out and tries to ruffle his hands through Oz' hair.
"Hey man," Oz shies away. "Leave it. Took me half an hour this morning putting it just right."
Toby laughs. A few days ago Oz cut his hair, nothing spectacular, just slighty shorter. He's also put gel in it to make it look all cool and messy but, according to Toby, it's just plain silly. Bits and pieces sticking out everywhere. Oz can't shut up about it.
"A date planned for tonight?" Toby wonders. "You know, with the new hair and all. You must be one lucky guy."
"Are you making fun of me?" Oz looks sideways. "You're making fun of me! Why can't you believe that women now actually look at me? I am telling you, it's the hair!"
"It's the hair alright. But only because it makes you look like an idiot. I mean, how old are you? Spiky hair is for unruly teenagers, not for grown-up paramedics."
"Unruly teenagers?" Oz frowns. "What planet do you come from? Does all the mind reading affect your brain somehow? Spiky hair is cool, man."
"Yes, on sixteen year olds. Just loose the gel, will you?"
"No, the women dig it!"
"Oh and that's why you haven't answered my earlier question on the date for tonight? Tell me, any plans?" Toby looks questioningly at his friend.
"Yes, you and me," Oz is pointing back and forth between the two of them. "We are going for a drink tonight and I'll prove to you that the hair works."
Toby sighs. "Fine, have it your way. But I can't tonight, I promised Liv I'd cook."
Oz snorts, but just as he want to reply there's a call on the radio. Two victims of a carjacking. Toby turns on the sirens as Oz hits the gas. Traffic in front of them magically opens up and the ambulance now speeds forwards.
* * * * * * * * * *
"Sir, hello sir? Can you hear me?" Oz claps his hands. An middle-aged man is lying on the ground with a gash on his right eyebrow. "Can you tell me what happened, sir?"
They man looks a bit dazed. "What? No, I don't remember… wha.. What happened?" He tries to sit up, but winces as a stab of pain shoots through his head.
"Woho, sir. Just sit still. You will be okay, it's just a nasty cut. Don't move, we'll take care of you." Oz grabs some paper towels from his kit and starts cleaning the wound.
"This guy will live, Toby. How are things over there?" He looks over his shoulder and sees his friend kneeling down, trying to calm the lady.
"Easy ma'm. Take it easy. You are in shock, just let me take care of you." Toby keeps his voice low and soothing, but they woman is panicking. "Let me have a look at that arm, ma'm, it doesn't look too bad, but it needs taking care off."
He tries to grab the woman's arm, but her movements are frantic and her eyes are slightly wild.
"Don't do it." Flash. "Please, leave him." Flash. "No!"
Toby nearly topples backwards as the strong images invade his mind. The woman takes a hold of his arm and more images enter his brain. A young kid, ten maybe, frightened. A baby crying. A man shouting. Images that don't even last a second flash in front of his eyes. He barely has the time to register them all.
"Are you ok?" A police man shakes his shoulder slightly. "Paramedic fainting, just what I need."
Toby blinks. He looks up and then nods at the men in uniform. "I'm fine. She caught me unaware, I'll be fine. Thanks."
The woman has calmed down. She is still holding his arm though. "Please, let me see your other arm, ma'm." He gently unleashes her grasp. "Oz, we better take this lady to the hospital, this arm will need some photos."
"Ok, I'll get the stretcher. Sir, we need to take your wife to the hospital. It's nothing too serious, but she needs a check-up. I also want the doctors to have a look at you."
The man, now sitting on the bumper of the ambulance nods, still not really understanding what happened. "Sure, you take care of her. Can I ride with her?"
Oz shakes his head. "You need to ride in the other ambulance, sir. You may have a concussion. Let my colleagues take care of you, we'll take care of your wife."
The man barely reacts. Oz goes for his colleagues and starts explaining what's going to happen. Out of the corner of his eye he notices a familiar brunette duck under the yellow tape that is stretched around the scene.
"Toby! What do you know?" Detective Marks walks over to where the young man is sitting with the wife.
"I am not sure." Toby stands up. "Seems like the husband was hit on the head with something heavy. I am not sure what happened to her, but it looks like her arm may be broken. Other than that, it's shock. They will both be fine physically."
"Ok, that's not what I was talking about." Marks whispers. "I was talking about your sixth sense. You know, any flashes?"
Toby smiles. "Why detective, I appreciate your enthousiasm for my gift. Considering your earlier apprehension about me digging in people's privacy, this is quite the change."
"Don't mock me, Logan." She sounds angry. "I still don't particularly like it that you can read my deepest feelings. However, this is the fourth carjacking this week and they get more reckless every time. Becker is all over me. I need all the info I can get."
"I am not sure I can help this time. The woman is clearly in shock. She is…."
"Did you get any hits from her? Anything that might give away who did this?"
"Hang on. Let me finish. She's in shock, all the flashes I got were rushed. Nothing coherent. I am not even sure it has anything to do with what happened."
"Come on, Logan!" She sounds really angry now. "Give me something. Anything. If ever there was a time to use your power, this is it!"
"Sorry, it doesn't work that way," Toby tries to explain. "I can only read what people are thinking at that exact moment. Give her a couple of hours to calm down a bit and afterwards I'll come with you when you interrogate her. How does that sound?"
Charlie rolls her eyes. "Don't patronise me. Fine, I'll wait. Who cares about my carreer anyway." And she storms off.
"Oh and by the way, I don't read your deepest feelings!" Toby shouts after her.
* * * * * * * * *
Friday morning, hospital, around lunch
"So you didn't get anything from her?" Oz looks up from the hospital papers he's filling in. Toby has that weird look on his face again.
"No, I got a lot. That's just it. Nothing made any sense. There was a kid and a baby. A lot of shouting, some pleading. Nothing of the attack itself though and seeing as Charlie wants to know about the carjacking, I doubt this has any value."
"Says the hero."
"What?"
"Come on Toby. Every time you get flashes and someone's in trouble, you rush into it head-on. Regardless of any danger. And now you'll just let it pass?" Oz shakes his head. "Doesn't sound like you, man. You live for this kind of thing."
"Maybe Charlie is right, maybe I am digging into people's privacy." Toby shrugs. "I mean, look at Daniel and what a mess I made by trying to fix it. Or when I tried to help you find that missing girl. I let a killer go free, for crying out loud!"
The two men walk down the hospital corridor. "My gift isn't all that reliable." Toby continues. "Maybe I should just try harder shutting everyone out again. I managed as a kid, why did it all of a sudden become so hard now?!"
"You're not serious?"
"Serious about what?" A light voice from behind interrupts their conversation.
"Olivia. Always a pleasure to see you." Oz turns around and gives the young doctor his most radiant smile.
"Serious about what?" Olivia repeats.
"About…" Oz desperately glances over at his partner. "About not coming for a drink with me tonight. Apparently he chooses you over me, very unbelievable if you ask me."
Toby rolls his eyes. He doesn't need to read her mind to know that Olivia doesn't believe the story in a heartbeat. "Sorry about him, Liv. He keeps nagging about his hair, wants to show me that he's mister popular with the women now. I told him you and I are having dinner plans tonight."
Olivia stays quiet a few more seconds, but then realises she's not getting the truth out of these guys and decides to drop the matter.
Will he ever open up to me completely? "Good. Don't forget you're doing the cooking. And that doesn't mean ordering in a pizza." With a pointed look in Toby's direction she walks off again.
Toby stares after her for a wile. He didn't mean to catch that last thought, but his guard was somewhat down and Olivia's question sort of floated into his brain. Should he tell her the truth? After all, Oz and Charlie knew about it and they handled it just fine. More or less.
"So, about the carjacking. What are you going to do about it?"
Oz' question pulls him back to reality. Toby shakes his head. "I am not doing anything. I promised Charlie that I'll be there when she interrogates them, but other than that I'm staying out of this one."
His friend doesn't answer, but Toby call feel his eyes burning a hole in his back as he walks towards Detective Marks who's just entered the hospital.
* * * * * * * * * *
"You didn't see who attacked you?" Charlie asks the question for the third time, hoping against hope the answer would be different this time.
Neither the woman nor the man seem to remember much. Yes, they were attacked from behind just as they were about to get into their car. Yes, there were two men. Yes, the men took their keys and drove off with the car. But they didn't see a face, they didn't hear anyone speak, they didn't even see in what direction the guys took off to.
"Think again, please. Anything would help." Her questions are becoming desperate and Charlie hates it. But she needs answers.
Toby is leaning casually against the doorpost in the hospital room. The woman, Helen, indeed has a broken arm. Her husband Tom is sitting in the room next-door, wearing a ridiculously big bandage around his head and dealing with a killer headache but is fine otherwise. Both of them seem more at ease now, but neither have been any helpful so far.
"You must have noticed something. They hit your husband on the head and he was out of it, but you were conscious the whole time." Charlie pushes the lady a bit. This Helen must have seen something.
Toby concentrates on the woman. His pupils dilate a bit and then he's reading her. A man in a hoody. Flash. A baseball bat. Flash. "Your keys!"
"Didn't they ask for your keys?" Toby's question makes both women look up.
"What?" Helen looks confused. Who's he?
"You say the men didn't speak, but they must have asked for the car keys?" His eyes drift towards Charlie, silently telling her he got this 'hit'.
The detective turns towards Helen again. "Did you recognize anything about the voice? An accent maybe?"
Helen starts shaking again. "No, no! He didn't speak." "Give me the keys." "They pushed me on the floor." A hooded man grabbing her arm. "I couldn't see anything." His face only inches away from hers. "Nobody spoke." "Where are the keys? Now!"
The images rush in front of Toby's eyes, proving every word Helen says is a lie. A second guy with a hat on. Flash. "Come on, man. Just get the keys. We need to get out of here!" Flash. The hooded man grabs Helen's purse. Flash. The man with the hat searches Tom's pockets. Flash. "I got them. Let's go." Flash. The hooded man staring at Helen. Flash. Richard.
Sucking in a deep breath Toby tries to regain control over his thoughts. It might sound like fun to be able to read people's mind, but a manual would come in handy sometimes. It's easy to just open up to someone's mind, but once the flood of thoughts streams in, it's hard not to loose yourself in it. Over the years Toby mastered his ability, but when he lets his guard down completely like just now, he always needs a few seconds to disconnect, so to speak.
Looking at him, Charlie could tell the young man was trying to sort out what he just saw. His deep blue eyes were unfocused, his sense of reality lost for moment. She still found the whole mind reading idea rather creepy, but even she had to admit it was damn handy in times like these.
"Toby?" She asks quietly. "You ok?"
The paramedic's eyes focus on hers again. He's back.
"Who's Richard?" Toby looks at Helen now. Charlie frowns at him, but also turns back towards to lady.
Helen, who missed out on Toby reading her mind, stares at him in shock now. How…? Who is this man?
"Helen? Are you trying to protect someone?" Charlie kneels down in front of the bed now, looking the woman straight in the eyes. "Do you know who attacked you?"
Helen puts her good hand on her face and starts crying. "He… I didn't know… Why? Please, don't hurt him." She looks at Detective Marks pleadingly.
"Who is Richard?" Charlie's voice sounds firm now.
"He is my son."