"What on earth was Pope thinking when he decided to spend the entire training budget on a set of weapon course's?"
Andy looked over at his partner as the white haired lieutenant continued to grumble to himself.
"He is trying to make us look good"
"How, by spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on fake buildings and roads"
"Obviously Pope feels the need to …"
"I need to what Lieutenant?"
"Nothing Chief, it's just nice to have you back"
"That's nice; I just came down to inform Captain Raydor that Major Crimes will be the first department to test out the new training courses"
"What?"
Provenza shot out of his chair and leant over his desk.
"Why us; why not send those gung-ho officers in Narcotics?"
"Because I said so Lieutenant, I do not have to explain myself to you"
The team watched as the bald chief walked into the glass office where Sharon was currently reading their reports from their latest case.
Andy leant back in his chair and put his hands behind his head.
"This should be interesting"
They couldn't see the Chief's face but they could clearly see the Captains face. She reached up with one hand and pulled her glasses off her face and rubbed her brow with the other hand.
They saw her say something that made the Chief straighten up and walk towards the door. He spun around and said something that made her stand. They watched him walk away without a word to them.
"Everything alright Captain?"
"Yes and no Detective Sykes"
She walked out of her office and leant against Andy's desk.
"The good news is that the new training facilities are up and running but sadly we have to test them"
"Why does it have to be us?"
"As much as I can understand your reluctance to want to run around an empty building shooting at paper targets Lieutenant, we all have to pass our weapons proficiency and that seems to mean that we have to be the first ones in"
"When are going in?"
"Well Detective, I'm afraid to say we've been booked in this afternoon, so I want you all to pack away your paperwork and head down to the garage, we'll carpool"
…..
"They could at least let us use real ammunition; I hate these beanbag guns"
"Lieutenant Provenza, please can you refrain from complaining just for a few minutes"
"Yes Captain, of course Captain"
Andy walked over to Sharon as she did up her vest.
"What was that all about?"
"Let's just say that next few weeks are going to be nice and civil when it comes to Provenza and my self"
"I'd love to know how you swung that"
"It doesn't matter, just make the most of it"
"Oh, don't worry I will"
They smiled at each other and headed over to the start gate.
"Okay, two teams, Alpha Team will clear the top 5 floors and Beta Team will clear the bottom 5 including the basement, obviously you are using the beanbag shotguns, so you don't have a lot ammo but there is enough to get you through if you shoot responsibly" shouted the range officer from his command booth.
"Alpha Team, Raydor, Flynn, Tao, line up at the gate, I'll raise the gate and let you in first allowing you time to reach the top floor"
They lined up in the order called out and waited for the gate to rise. As the buzzer went the mesh wire wall rose into the air and the three of them shot off. Sharon was under the gate first rolling and springing up faster than any of them could have expected. They headed towards the door that would lead them to the fire escape, the logical way up to the top floor.
The minute the door had shut behind Tao, the other three lined up and waited for the gate to rise again. They headed in the other direction aiming for the basement first.
…..
"Clear"
"Okay, one floor left to do then we can head for the exit"
"Yes Cap'n"
Sharon led the way, her weapon swinging smoothly in one direction to the other as she checked each room first. They had just finished their last floor when the radio crackled.
"Whitmore to Raydor over"
"Go ahead Office Whitmore over"
"Seeing as you have cleared the top half of the building so fast I want you to carry on clearing the floors as you make your way down over"
"Understood, Raydor out"
"Lieutenant Flynn you take the lead"
"Yes Cap'n"
They moved off, heading for the stairs at the end of the corridor.
Sykes stopped at the door of the latest room they had cleared. She was out of ammo as was Detective Sanchez. The only one with any beanbags left was Louie had declared halfway through the exercise that it was pointless and he wasn't going to waste the energy, he had only shot one target and that was because it had startled him.
"What is it know Sykes?"
"Footsteps"
"Well yes, we aren't the only ones in the building"
"I know that but why would they be coming down this way, they were supposed to clear the top half of the building.
"Well maybe they changed their minds"
"I don't think so sir"
"Don't call me that Sykes, I'm not old enough to be a sir"
"Of course not Lieutenant"
"Look, how about this, you and Sanchez go and hide in those two rooms there, that way you can pin them in the corridor and I will carry on walking down the corridor and pretend to be lost"
"Shouldn't be hard for you"
"Watch it Sykes"
"Excuse but they are getting closer, who ever they are"
"Sorry, you're right Julio, let's go"
The two detectives headed for the rooms that Provenza had pointed out to them a minute ago and watched as the Lieutenant carried on walking down the corridor, shotgun raised.
He stopped when he saw the outline of a person move towards the fire exit only a few meters away from him. He pushed himself against the wall and waited for the door to open.
"Let me go first Lieutenant"
"But I thought …"
"You are leading this section Lieutenant but I am surprised we haven't come across the others yet, I just wish to clear this part of the corridor, I have a weird need to scare Lieutenant Provenza"
"Of course Cap'n, go ahead"
She smiled at him and skipped round him, pushing the door open with the tip of her weapon. She stepped lightly into the corridor and swung around checking the corners as she went.
She didn't notice Provenza only standing a few meters away as she walked into the nearest room. She went to move back out when she walked into the door frame.
"Damm"
She spun to try and regain her balance and caught the metal waste bin that had been used to prop open the door. The bin shot suddenly towards the silent Lieutenant, who was not at all prepared for large projectiles.
His hands tightened on the weapon as he shifted to avoid the bin, his finger shooting down onto the trigger.
He didn't realize what had happened until he saw the others rush towards the Sharon who was currently trying to breathe after having taken a beanbag to the chest.
"Hahahahhaha"
The only thing he could do was laugh. After months of complaining at each other, they had come to an agreement, almost a friendship, and he had shot her.
"Stop laughing Lou and call Morales"
"I'll try but this is too perfect"
He walked away, one hand loosely holding onto his weapon the other clutching his ribs.
…..
"You'll be fine in a while but you will be short of breath for a while and your ribs will hurt but there's not much I can do for you here, if it gets any worse I recommend going to see your own doctor"
"Thank you" Sharon nodded at the doctor as he walked out of her office. He had checked her breathing and had strapped up her chest.
It had taken them nearly an hour to get back from the training course, fighting over which car she should go in and who should drive. In the end they had decided that they should she should go with Andy in his car and the rest of them would squeeze into Julio's car.
Morales had been waiting for them when they got back to their desks.
She turned slowly and looked at the white haired detective sat opposite her.
"I'm not entirely sure what to do with you now"
"Just get it over with"
"No I think I am going to put you on desk duty for two reasons, one is that you failed to pass your weapons proficiency and two is I am feeling a little cruel"
"You can't do this"
"I think you'll find that I can actually as your superior office and the woman you shot"
"Doesn't mean I have to like it"
"No it doesn't, but then I don't really care at the precise moment, my ribs hurt too much"
She stood, one hand pushing up from the desk the other wrapped around her chest. She motioned for him to leave and followed him out.
She watched as he sank into his seat and startled to fiddle with something in his desk.
"I think you will all be happy to hear that you have all passed your weapons proficiency except for Lieutenant Provenza".
The white haired lieutenant grumbled to himself still not looking up from his desk.
"And Chief Pope has decided to keep the new training areas, apparently our experiment was a success, so you can all go"
She turned and walked back into her office, shutting the door behind her.
Andy turned to his partner.
"So you failed"
"Yeah so"
"Nothing, it was just a statement"
"Well she won't be saying much later"
"And why's that?"
He watched as his partner finally sat back in his chair and placed something on his desk.
"Because I haven't told her yet that I kept the beanbag I shot at her".