Punishment
So I wrote this really quick. I'm fairly sure it's a spoiler for "Priority of Life," I read the episode description on the Flashpoint Team One producers page over on Facebook (which you should check out if you're not on it already). I want to see if you can figure out what's happening so I'll leave it like this until my end AN. I don't own Flashpoint.
"Yes, yes I'm sure this is the course of action that I want to take. I know that it will be put on my permanent file. I know that this puts my job and team in jeopardy. I realize that I will be taking a pay cut and I might never be able to lead my team again but I do this without hesitation.
"If you'd asked me a few weeks ago, I might have hesitated. If you'd figured it out weeks ago and had proposed the same options, I might have punished them. I might have told you to suspend them, split them up, do whatever you saw fit because I was angry. I was angry that they had put their jobs and my job on the line to continue their relationship. I was angry that my team...my life...was disintegrating around me and it felt like I had no way to stop it. I was angry at myself for bringing in an outsider to evaluate my team months before this was even an issue in my mind; but I'm not angry anymore.
"Now...well I don't really know what I am. I guess I'm just confused. I'm confused about the secrets; from me and from each other and when those started...why they started. I'm confused about a lot of things but not their relationship. I'm not confused why they risked it all for that companionship. You just need someone. Especially in this job, you just need someone who understands. Someone to talk to, someone who knows when you don't want to talk, someone who knows when you want to talk, someone to remind you why you do it, why you do the job and take the risks. You need someone to keep you on the right path, someone who's not going to let you self destruct; someone who knows when you need a drink and when to keep you from those drinks, someone who knows. And I mean a deeper knowing than hearing you talk about your job, than seeing you do what you do on the news. You need someone with the kind of knowing that only comes from being on the force.
"And I know what you're going to say. You're going to say that that sense of camaraderie if found on a team, you don't need to be in an intimate relationship in order to feel like you're not alone, but that's not true. A team...our team...is as close as any team I've ever seen anywhere. The individuals on team one are truly stellar, unique, caring individuals who are fantastic not only at their jobs, but as friends. I've been privileged to be able to work alongside them, to mentor them, and learn from them and I know that anywhere they go, they're going to excel. But a team is different than a relationship like they have. Teams change. There are personnel switches and policies to be followed. People get transferred, they get old, they get hurt, sometimes they get sick and have to leave the team prematurely. No matter how much that spirit is there and how hard you try to create that feeling of always being a part of this group, there is no substitute. People are replaced. A team is only as stable as it's bureaucracy and it's members allow it to be. A relationship is not...should not...be dictated by outside standards and protocol.
"A relationship is more than just sex and I know that their relationship is much more than that. I've already broken up a loving marriage. I've already spit on the face of love and crushed it into the ground. For a while, I forgot what it was like to love someone. I thought that maybe they were just looking for the connection they found in each other, like the team only deeper. I thought for a while that they were just being petty, that the forbidden nature of the whole thing was what kept it going but I forgot what it really felt like. I forgot until a boy I once knew, now a young man, came back into my life and showed me that bond. It's deeper than anything describable and it's more important than any job. Because that's what this is, it's a job. It's a job I love and a job I know they both love but it's replaceable; they are not. They need each other like they need oxygen and I'm not going to be the one to break that up.
"You've got all your evidence. You've got the polygraph results and you've got my statement and their statements. I leave it to you to make your decision but I ask you to look at our records. You know when it started and you have our call history. See if or how or performance has been impacted. I know what Dr. Toth says and what the rule book says but what about what our records say? What about what I and every other member of our team says? Does that even matter? And before you make any decisions, ask yourself the question, what would you do for love?"
Okay, did you like it? It's quick, I know, getting this done while I'm doing laundry and then it's back to homework. I love Greg's voice and I love his kind of monologues. None of them are like this but sometimes I think he would have an awesome speech to give at points. :) So let me know. I kind of left it vague, I obviously don't know what's going to happen but this is something I'd imagine happening based on that spoiler. Do you agree? Again, check out Flashpoint Team One over on Facebook, it's run directly by the producers and it's awesome.