Chapter One: Back in the Saddle
Author note: This story is the thirty-ninth in the Magical Flashpoint series. It follows "More Than Blood".
Although all original characters belong to me, I do not own Flashpoint, Harry Potter, Narnia, or Merlin.
"Please, please," the woman begged. "He's coming. Please help me."
She clutched a phone to her ear as she knelt in the middle of her bathroom with the door locked. From the outside, she could hear banging and yelling; the door jostled in its frame from the force of the blows against it.
"Suzanne, don't make me come in there!" a male voice roared, his yell punctuated with a heavy thud against the door.
"Suzanne," the female cop in the woman's ear urged, "Tell me who he is."
"I can't!" Suzanne sobbed, clutching the phone even harder. "He'll kill me."
"I promise he won't," the cop replied. "We will protect you, Suzanne, but we need to know who he is."
"No, no," the woman wailed. "Once you know, you'll side with him."
"Suzanne, open this door!"
"Suzanne," the female cop countered, "I promise we won't. I promise we will protect you, no matter who he is." The cop hesitated. "Now, will you please tell me who he is?"
The woman's head shook frantically, even as she cringed away from her bathroom door. The yells from outside were getting louder, the door was bouncing with each blow. "No, no, no," she moaned. "You won't believe me."
"We will," the cop promised again.
"If I have to come in there!" the male voice threatened, his voice a growl of fury.
"No, you don't understand," Suzanne retorted, a spark of anger running through her voice. "He's like you."
The cop hesitated. "Suzanne, what do you mean?" she pressed. "What do you mean, he's 'like me'?"
"He's a cop," Suzanne gasped out, before giving a little scream as the door jumped again.
"Okay, he's a cop," the female cop acknowledged. "That doesn't change anything, Suzanne. We're still going to get you out of this safely, I promise."
"Promise?"
"I promise." For a blessed moment, there was silence; Suzanne smiled, a tiny quirk of her lips. "Now will you tell me who he is, Suzanne?"
Drawing in a deep breath, Suzanne started to say, "His name's…"
The door broke open; a gunshot rang out; Suzanne screamed in terror; the phone dropped to the floor unnoticed.
5 hours earlier
Ed walked into the station, a grin on his face. He and Sophie were still talking, his baby girl was growing by leaps and bounds, and his last off-shift day had been a day out with his son; Sophie had gotten them all-day tickets to the SkyDome (1) for a Blue Jays game and ordered them to have 'lots of fun' as she pushed them out the front door. So far, the constable was well and truly getting the best of both worlds: family and job. The more cynical part of him wondered how long it would last, a thought that dimmed his smile, but only a little.
"Ed!" Wordy called, a grin on his face. "How'd the game go?"
"You knew?" Ed demanded.
Wordy's grin grew. "Shel helped Soph get the tickets."
Ed smacked Wordy's shoulder for not giving him a heads up, but his smile mirrored Wordy's. "It was great; Clark was yelling louder than I was."
His best friend laughed, returning the whack. "So? Got any other plans?"
Ed shrugged. "We'll see; Sophie wants me taking care of Izzy most days." For a moment, the two men traded identical wicked grins, remembering how Wordy had helped Ed with his last 'Izzy day', then Ed moved past and headed for the locker room.
Spike dangled upside down on the climbing tower, Lou acting as his belayer as he set up the last part of their latest prank. Nothing much…just a little…challenge…for the next few groups who used the tower. Hopefully also a reminder to his fellow SRU members about how a prank was supposed to work. Small, subtle, and laughter inducing. He inspected the liquid, grinning at how it only darkened the handhold a little. Once it dried, it would be nearly impossible to spot from the ground. Best of all, the rain would eventually wash his prank away, so he wouldn't even have to clean it up himself. The bomb tech coated the last top handhold, grinning as he imagined the results.
He'd needed Lou's help to pull this particular practical joke off, but at first Lou hadn't been convinced his prank wouldn't hurt anyone. Hence why Spike was only coating the top row of handholds, rather than all of them as he'd originally planned. Also why his hand was still a little sore from the test run Lou'd insisted on last week. Carefully, Spike maneuvered himself upright again and double-checked the camera nestled right at the top of the tower. Satisfied that it was set up and ready to record, he leaned back and called, "Rappelling!"
"Rappel on," Lou called back.
Adjusting his hold on his can of lubricant, Spike bounced down the side of the tower, his boots thumping on the wood as he controlled his fall with the ease of long practice. Once he was down, he announced, "Got 'em all."
Lou grinned. "And the camera?"
"Yep," Spike confirmed, setting his can down and wriggling out of his climbing harness. "It's all set up."
"Team Four's on the schedule for tomorrow," Lou remarked casually.
The two traded wicked grins, then quickly broke down the equipment to head back inside before they got caught.
Once in his uniform, Ed poked his head into the briefing room; inside, his boss looked up from a stack of paperwork. "Eddie! How'd your day off go?"
"Clark and I had a great time," Ed related with a grin.
Greg arched a brow. "Sophie was okay with you two taking off?"
"Was her idea."
Surprise flashed, then Greg's smile appeared and he nodded in quiet approval. "So you two are back on track?"
Ed sidled into the briefing room with a shrug. "Not perfect, but it's a lot better than it was," he admitted.
"Progress is always good," Greg pointed out.
"Soph wants to know when you and the kids want to come over for dinner," Ed observed to the ceiling, smirking at the sound of his boss coughing at the sudden blindside.
"What?" the other man finally sputtered.
Ed's smirk grew as he met wide hazel eyes. "Didn't I tell you? She's adopted the entire team. That's why she let me stay."
Greg's eyes widened even more and he looked as if he wanted nothing more than to backpedal away from the offer.
"Relax, Greg, it doesn't have to be anytime soon," Ed relented, before cocking his head in silent question and demand.
His boss played with his pen. "You might want to start with Spike," he advised after a few moments, though he was clearly stalling.
"I'll let her know," Ed agreed, still staring at his boss. One eyebrow rose and the sniper made himself comfortable.
Greg considered, tapping his fingers on the table. "It's not me," he informed his team leader after a minute. "Actually, I wouldn't mind dragging the kids out of the apartment…last time I tried, they both bit my head off."
Ed surveyed his boss, searching for any evasiveness. Seeing none, he snagged a chair and dropped into it. "Any idea why?"
"You know what happened with Clark?"
"Yeah, he told me."
The SRU Sergeant leaned back in his chair, thoughtful. "I suspect that…situation…is a big part of why they'd both suddenly rather stay home than go out. But I'm starting to think there's more to it."
Ed nodded slowly. "It has been a couple months," he remarked. "Even if they aren't completely over it, why hide out at home? They been skipping school?"
"No," Greg replied at once. "As for hiding at home, that's my big question right now, Eddie." The Sergeant considered, then nodded sharply. "Have Sophie pick a date, preferably Friday or the weekend, and I'll drag them along if I have to."
"Copy that," Ed acknowledged. "You gonna talk to them?"
Greg lifted one shoulder. "I want them to come to me, Eddie. But if it goes on another month, then, yeah, I'll talk to them." A half-smile appeared on the stocky man's face. "And before you razz me about today's workout, I've got a little more paperwork to finish and then I'll be in."
Ed smirked, rising from his seat. "I'm going to hold you to that, Boss." He left as his friend bent over the paperwork once more, writing swiftly.
The two constables had picked side-by-side exercise bikes, as a change from their usual treadmills. Though they let their hands brush every so often, they were exquisitely careful to keep from being obvious, both visually and emotionally. Aside from their all-too-brief brushes and casual conversation as they worked out, they never let themselves show affection while on-duty. It was the only way to keep their boss from discovering that they were breaking SRU policy…and didn't regret it for a second.
"Did you ever introduce Natalie to your aunt?" Jules asked as she increased her speed.
Sam grimaced. "Nah, we scared her off, remember?" Jules bit her lip at the leashed anguish in Sam's posture. "And then Locksley pulled that…stunt."
"So you're mad at her."
Blue eyes swept to her. "Did you know she's never talked to me outside of work?"
"What?"
"I know she has a daughter, but I've never met her." Sam pulled his gaze away. "I think… I think she wanted to know what happened to her brother…the General…but she really didn't care about anything except…"
"Solving the mystery," Jules filled in, anger humming in her veins at the way Sam had been treated by the callous witch.
"Exactly." Sam shrugged, pasting an indifferent look on his face, but Jules knew better. Locksley had hurt him quite a bit by not caring. That was the last thing Sam needed, particularly from family. Daringly, Jules rested one hand on Sam's for several moments. He tugged away, but, from the look he gave her, not because he was upset with her action.
The two looked over as Spike and Lou dashed into the workout room, mischief written all over their faces. Jules grinned. "What did you two do this time?" she demanded.
Mischief vanished into wide-eyed innocence that neither Sam nor Jules bought for a second. Spike snagged a bike next to Jules, his eyes alight with laughter and delight. "Who says we did anything?" he asked, though he cast Jules a wink.
"You two are always up to something," Sam declared as Lou grabbed an elliptical machine behind his three teammates.
"That's profiling," Spike accused instantly, pointing at Sam. "I object. That's profiling. I'm offended."
"True though," Lou deadpanned to Jules' laughter.
Spike threw Lou a wounded look. "When are we ever up to something, buddy?"
"Last week," Ed called, striding in. "You swapped all the snack bags in the cooler for health food junk."
Jules grinned, remembering that. "Locking all the garage doors the week before that," she sang.
"That was an accident," Spike protested immediately. "Someone linked one of my training programs to the station's computer network."
"Which is why you didn't get in trouble," Greg reminded his tech and the rest of his team; the rest of them mock-sulked over the end of their teasing session as their Sergeant grabbed a free treadmill to start his workout. "And Team Four's tech got a week of suspension."
"Team Four's tech set that up?" Jules questioned; she hadn't heard about that.
"His computer made the program that linked Spike's computer to the garage controls," Lou put in, humor gone. "It was still on there, too."
"Wow," Jules whistled. She wanted to ask if the tech had only gotten suspension, but opted against it. Instead, she grinned at Spike. "So, spill. What'd you two do?"
Spike's return grin almost split his face. "I'm not admitting to anything," he announced, his eyes dancing.
"Of course not, Mr. Scarlatti," their Sergeant agreed, flashing a grin of his own over one shoulder.
"Quit stalling," Ed ordered, his tone gleeful as Wordy joined his teammates in the workout room.
Lou cleared his throat, adopting a conspiratorial air. "It may be to our distinct advantage to watch Team Four's practice session tomorrow," he observed.
"Particularly if their tech goes first?" Wordy questioned.
Both men shrugged, genuine regret on their faces. "That would be ideal," Spike agreed somberly.
"But no way to guarantee that," Lou finished, just as somber.
"I'll handle that part," their boss decided, earning several shocked looks from his teammates. The Sergeant tapped his treadmill's pause button and turned around, a mix of deadly seriousness and playful humor on his face. "One last punishment."
Team One snickered and Spike bit back laughter as Wordy speculated to Ed about possibly filming Team Four's practice session. The team leader suggested multiple angles for prime blackmail material, earning a brief, but not serious warning look from Sarge. The bomb tech pushed his exercise bike faster, a grin spreading across his face. Oh, yeah, it was good to be on his team!
[1] Although the SkyDome is now officially the Rogers Centre (as of 2005), a Toronto local like Ed would probably use the original name. The SkyDome has a fully retractable roof to deal with rainy days.