A/N: Based on a Castle episode (Cops and Robbers, season 4), I decided to write a Flashpoint fiction where Jules and Sam replace Beckett and Castle in their respective roles and how the SRU would handle the same situation. Even though it is inspired from a Castle episode, it has absolutely no reference to the show itself. I only took the main plot and made it Flashpoint. So YES, is has a lot of similarities. YES, it is a JAM-centric story but not exclusively, there is quite a lot of Greg too, and the whole team of course. Not a very long first chapter, but it felt like a good moment to stop. Hope you enjoy!
"Hello?"
"Miss me?"
Jules' head shot up and she gave a few nervous looks around her, clearing her path before rushing further away, holding her mobile phone to her ear. "Sam!" she whispered in the phone. It was crazy how one single word could mean so much and imply many different emotions from the small brunette. Sometimes, she said his name happily, or seductively, even. But this time it had a whole other meaning and Sam could hear the reproach and the stress in her tone of voice. "I'm at the barn! What are you doing?" she carried on, keeping her voice low and her eyes actively seeking for anyone who could come her way.
Ever since they had decided to get back together, Sam and her had been more than cautious with exposing their relationship, especially now that Toth was on the entire team's ass and ready to break them up if anything at all didn't go accordingly. And their relationship was far from being part of the "accordingly" category. Sadly, this hard work to keep it a secret had recently been futile since Greg found out about their relationship the hard way. Jules cringed every time she was reminded of the face he pulled when Sam walked down the set of stairs. So if it had been important to keep it a secret before that, it was even more now because it wouldn't only compromise their own jobs but also the boss'. He'd given faith in them, they couldn't let him down.
"Chill, I was just calling to hear your voice and wonder how you slept," Sam said as he started pacing around. Jules could hear the smile in his voice, his words were full of meaning, filled with allusions and even she couldn't help but smile at the recollection of the previous night.
"Sam…" she said with reproach again, forcing her smile to disappear from her bubbling face. In this relationship, she had always seemed to be the most cautious in order not to get exposed while Sam was a little more… careless. Now that Greg had found out, she planned on keeping the team's headcount of who knew about their relationship at three.
Sam remained silent for a moment and Jules knew he was smiling. She shook her head slightly and gave a small roll of her eyes. Of course he would, he wasn't the one who would need to come up with a shitty excuse to explain that phone call if somebody overheard her conversation. However, another smile crept up on her lips and her face brightened as she collected her thoughts to answer his indirect question. She crossed her free arm around her chest and leaned back against the wall, making herself a little more comfortable.
"I slept amazingly, FYI," she said with the same childish smile on her features.
"Wonderful," Sam's voice came through and again, she could hear his grin with that one simple word.
"Are you still at the bank?" Jules questioned him after she had taken the time to fully let his response sink in. She was visibly more relaxed even though her senses were on alert for anyone coming and going around her. Speaking with him usually had that soothing effect on her.
"Yeah." In the bank, Sam leaned his shoulder against a wall as he observed people coming in and out absent-mindedly. He was in a narrow corridor that led to a few offices, one of which he had just came out of and he had a good vantage on the front door. "The bank manager is reviewing my financials but I should have no problem getting that loan." While he spoke, his eyes fell on a man coming inside the bank. He was wearing a long coat but underneath, his scrubs were obvious, especially since he had a surgical mask hanging around his neck.
Jules nodded. "That's great!" she said cheerfully, genuinely happy for him, especially since she knew what it all implied. He had been living in a small apartment ever since he settled in Toronto to work at the SRU and this loan would mean he could buy a house and settle down more permanently. There had been a few discussions about whether they would buy it together but Jules had tried as much as possible to avoid the subject. She wasn't comfortable with that just yet, especially not since their relationship was still prohibited. And of course it also implied a bigger commitment, one that she wasn't yet ready for. Or maybe she was and simply wouldn't admit it to herself. However, Sam had his mind set and would consult her before buying to make sure she approved of it so that later on, she could be a part of it too.
"Are you gonna be able to get here soon? We should start the drills shortly, I'm pretty sure Ed would like you to be there to try and kick your butt," Jules asked playfully, changing the subject and trying not to drag this conversation on. People would start asking questions if she disappeared from sight for too long. She could still hear the rest of the team chatting happily by the gym so she knew she still had a few moments before they grew suspicious.
Her question remained unanswered however as Sam's mind was elsewhere. Another apparent doctor came in the bank, dressed similarly to the first, except she was a woman. He frowned slightly as he tried to recall the last time he had seen even one single doctor in his scrubs still holding onto a surgical mask in a public place. And obviously the answer was never. Two of them was no coincidence.
"Sam?" Jules voice came in the phone after a moment of silence on his part, which brought him back to his senses.
Straightening up, he took a few careful steps towards the front simply to get a better view at them both. "I think this bank is about to get robbed," he said, ignoring her question completely.
Jules' brows furrowed. "What?" she asked even though she was sure to have heard him properly. "I know you love your job and all but not every situation has to-"
"Jules listen to me!" he cut her off and the seriousness in his tone surprised her to the point where she didn't speak another word. "I've got two people in scrubs with surgical mask around their necks and suspicious bumps in their jackets." As he kept observing them, he noticed they exchanged a look as the woman passed in front of the man to go stand in line for the cashiers.
Straightening up as Sam spoke, Jules listened carefully and judging by the way he explained what was going on in front of him, she had to consider this as a possibility. "Where are you?" she asked as she started walking back towards the main area.
"RBC Bank on Front," he said and before he could add anything else, a third man in scrubs entered the bank without even bothering to conceal his weapon. He rapidly clutched a U-shaped bike lock on the handles of the front doors to keep them from being opened and turned to everyone in the bank, holding his weapon high.
"Everyone down on the ground!" he shouted and commotion filled the room, people letting out small yells of fear, others complying silently. The two other robbers put their masks on their faces and raised their weapons as well to help contain everyone in the same small area. Sam backed up a little and moved to a more concealed spot where he could keep talking to Jules without them seeing him. He crouched down behind a desk and kept on observing the scene.
Upon hearing the commotion on the other side of the phone, Jules quickened the pace towards the reception desk. "Sam! What's happening?" she questioned with concern. Before he could answer, she was by Winnie's side. The smile on the dispatcher's face dropped rapidly and was replaced with a slight frown under Jules' rush. "Call the team, there's a bank robbery at the RBC on Front Street."
Winnie's confused expression met the officer's gaze. "How…?" she started but trailed off.
"Sam's in there," Jules responded. It took barely a second before the Hot Call alarm blared off in her ears. Winnie knew better than to question their judgment. While she was calling Team One, Jules concentrated on Sam again. At this point, she didn't care if anyone knew who she was talking to, they needed as much information as possible to get him out rapidly. "Sam, talk to me."
Sam kept his eyes on the scene, trying to remember every single detail of what the robbers were doing. If he wasn't getting out of there right away, he needed to feed as many details as possible to the SRU. "They're asking for everyone to throw their phones on the ground while one of them is emptying the contents of the registers," he started, keeping his voice low to avoid them seeing him. "They're putting everyone in a contained area to keep control over the situation. One of them is going for the manager." A beat. "He took a key from his neck. They're all carrying semi-automatics. Looks like 5.56 carbines."
Jules made a gun mimic with her free hand to indicate it was an armed robbery as she kept on listening to Sam.
"What's going on Winnie?" Greg asked as he approached the desk and the answer he got was a shrug from the dispatcher who then pointed at Jules holding her mobile phone.
"Armed bank robbery on Front. Sam's in there, that's all I know so far," Winnie said and Greg turned to his officer with a questioning look.
Jules held up a finger under her Sergeant's stare to pry him to wait for a minute. In the corner of her vision, she could see Ed, Spike and Raf approaching the desk as well. "How many?" she asked Sam.
"Three," Sam said, still keeping his voice low. "Two men, one woman." There was a soft click behind him before he felt the cool tip of a hand gun on the back of his head. He pursed his lips as a hand reached out in front of him, opened and palm up, obviously asking for the phone. "Make that four," Sam told Jules before unwillingly giving his mobile to the demanding hand.
