Chapter One: Special Investigation Unit
Author note: spoilers for 03x07: Acceptable Risk. Pretty much the entire episode. And I am using dialogue from the episode. This story is the twenty-fourth in the Magical Flashpoint series. It follows "Meeting Dean Parker".
Although all original characters belong to me, I do not own Flashpoint, Harry Potter, Narnia, or Merlin.
Darkness shrouded the whole of the city; manmade lights lit up the stately building at the center of the nighttime chaos. The building, nestled in the city's heart, was elegant, if a bit haphazard as the new additions merged and clashed with the original brickwork. On the east end of the building, the original building stood as it had for close to a hundred years, with delicate, intricate glasswork and graceful architecture. Next to it and even overlapping was the Royal Ontario Museum's newest addition, a beautiful spread of buildings and an entrance referred to as The Crystal. Glass and metal rose into the night sky in a series of formations reminiscent of glacier peaks, each point gleaming in the light from the streetlights and the flashes of the reporters' cameras. Despite, or perhaps because of, the building's looks, it was truly a tribute to the mix of old and new to make something even better than either could do alone.
But the building's grace, elegance, and poise could do little to detract from the horror and tragedy that it had seen over the past hour. Outside the entrance, a reporter somberly informed his home audience that, "We do not know at this time who is responsible, but there's speculation about a lone gunman firing at random."
Nearby, a witness who was being interviewed cried, "I saw her! She was shot in the chest! There was blood everywhere!"
The horde of reporters, paramedics, bystanders, and former partygoers were kept from the entrance by both a small army of uniformed officers and also by their civilian counterparts from the Special Investigation Unit. The Special Investigation Unit's employees watched grimly as the men and woman who had halted the night's tragedy exited the building, looking sorrowful and exhausted. The exiting officers surrendered their weapons to the SIU employees without a syllable of complaint, acting as if this was just standard procedure. In a way it was; every incident resolved with lethal force required an SIU investigation and yet, almost nothing about this incident was routine. Two of the exiting men hung back, watching their colleagues before surrendering their own weapons to SIU…their uncertain looks and demeanor showing their unfamiliarity with the usual procedure. Unlike their colleagues, they wore no uniforms and were more akin to plainclothes officers than Strategic Response Unit members.
If the SIU's procedures were unknown, the two men came close to quailing as the reporters attempted to descend on the exhausted group. The uniforms kept the reporters back and one of the uniformed SRU officers nudged the two plainclothes men along, a sympathetic look on his face. He made sure he was between the men and the reporters, steering the pair into one of the waiting cars first before sliding in himself.
He glanced out the side window at the reporters, their flashing cameras, their tape recorders and their shouted questions. One was close enough for him to hear, "Can you tell me anything about what happened inside?" Without a qualm, he looked away from the newshounds, mentally shaking his head. The sooner they got this over with, the better in his book.
At SRU Headquarters, Team One and their two plainclothes backup officers were shepherded into the briefing room and processed. Photos were taken, from multiple angles, of each officer, each scrap of blood, each nick and scrape in their uniforms and clothing. The two plainclothes men again took their cue from Team One, accepting the photos and everything else as part of the deal.
Sam Braddock, as the photos continued, muttered, "I just want to shower up and go to bed."
His team leader muttered back, "Let's hope SIU feels the same way."
As he spoke, a red-haired woman entered the briefing room, a stack of binders and notes already in her hands. She wore a gray business suit, her white shirt peeking out from underneath, and a professional smile in place on her face. Her hair cascaded down to her upper back, and she had a pair of glasses perched on top of her head. Pearl drop earrings gleamed from her ears and green eyes sparkled a bit at the assembled officers. Her voice was almost playful as she announced, "Sequestered means no talking till after your interview. Sorry, guys, they make me say that."
As she set her burden down on the table, Ed turned towards her and asked, "Look, under the circumstances, think maybe we can sequester ourselves home and do these interviews tomorrow?"
The SIU investigator turned to the taller man and replied crisply, "It's procedure. And it's not just SIU. The whole country's in shock. You saw all the media out there. Everybody's gonna be needing answers. We're all under the microscope here."
From over Ed's shoulder, Sergeant Parker remarked, "Well, you have our full cooperation. Team One, cross T's and dot I's." The Sergeant removed his ball cap as he spoke, though the look in his eyes spoke to his wish to get home sooner rather than later.
Ed opted to follow his Sergeant's lead and immediately informed the woman, "I'm the subject officer. Let's get it done."
"Good," the investigator agreed, "I'll start with you. Where's your lawyer."
"Let's just forget the lawyer," Ed replied, "We'll record it. Get us all home faster."
"I hear you," came the swift acknowledgement. The whole group departed to let her get set up; none of them noticed the look of displeasure on the woman's face as she got her first look at the transcript.
Wordy took the opportunity to call Shelley and update her on what was going on…and the fact that he wasn't going to get home for a good long while.
Commander Holleran wasn't surprised when SIU investigator Jill Hastings burst into his office less than fifteen minutes after her arrival. In fact, he'd been expecting it. Therefore, he was unconcerned with the furious expression on Hastings' face and the transcript she waved under his nose.
"Why are parts of this blacked out?" Hastings demanded sharply.
"Classified," Holleran replied, enjoying being on the delivering end of that line…for once. "Team One has a higher security clearance than you do…therefore, parts of their transcripts are restricted to protect that clearance."
"That's impossible," Hastings retorted, "Any of their calls can be scrutinized by the SIU, therefore, none of their calls should be classified."
Holleran didn't even turn a hair. "That may have been the case when you were training officers for the SRU, Miss Hastings, but Team One has picked up some…unusual…hot calls since then. Those calls demanded Official Secrets Act clearance; therefore every member of Team One was signed onto that Act. Unless you can produce Official Secrets Act clearance of your own, I'm afraid that transcript is the best you're going to get."
Giles Onasi sighed as he played with his wand holster absently. Frankly, he much preferred the less formal, less bureaucratic, magical way of doing things. Then maybe he could go home and get some sleep after an utterly awful night; how his tech colleagues could even stand stuff like he'd seen tonight was a mystery. He knew Simmons would be irritated by the, to them, pointless procedure, but there was nothing he could do about that now. Not if they wanted to keep the Statute and keep this investigator in the dark. The Auror sighed and propped his head up with one hand, tapping on the metal desk in front of him. Some days…it just didn't pay to get out of bed.
Author note: For those who are interested (probably no one, but I'll say it anyway), I did my first 'group interview' and online exam for this training yesterday and I'm scheduled to do an individual interview today. I could've done better in the group interview, but my online exam...the less said, the better, I fear.
Prayers would be very much appreciated, above even reviews. Reviews are gold, prayers are diamonds. I will treasure both with all my heart and respond to any signed reviews. If you're already praying for me in this new job, please keep praying. Jehovah Jirah...the LORD will Provide. He brought me here and if He wants me to stay, He will make a way. I particularly need prayer for my coding and my studies. That I would be able to keep up on coding and that my studies would be focused in the right direction. I'm being asked to master very large, broad topics in a very short amount of time and that's...very difficult.