Chapter One: Definition of Family
Author note: This story is the thirty-eighth in the Magical Flashpoint series. It follows "Proving Ground – Auror Academy". This story occurs during 04x02: Good Cop and has minor spoilers for the subplot.
Although all original characters belong to me, I do not own Flashpoint, Harry Potter, Narnia, or Merlin.
Sophie Lane finished changing her infant daughter's diaper and glanced up at the clock. He should've been back by now; how long did it take to tell Greg that he was out, transferring to another division? The dark-haired woman fumed, resolving to read Ed the riot act when he got home. How dare he drag this out any longer than he already had? He was probably hoping she would change her mind…ha!
Izzy goo-gahhed at her mother, waving one chubby arm and earning an affectionate smile as Sophie cooed down at her daughter. For now the baby sported blondish hair, but Sophie suspected it would begin to darken before too much longer. Her thoughts shifted back to Eddie, resentment boiling just under the surface. But before she could get on her mental high horse again, there was a small mental nudge at her, wedging itself into a solitary crack in her resentment.
"He's doing what you want; why are you still so angry?"
Sophie's movements slowed and Izzy took advantage; she did her best to stuff her mother's ring finger in her mouth. Gently, Sophie reclaimed her finger with a soft, "No, Izzy." Hefting up her daughter, Sophie located her favorite chair and sank into it to think. Eddie was giving up a job he loved for her, for their family. Anything she wanted, he was giving it to her, no questions asked, as if he was terrified she would leave him again. The look in his eyes when she'd finally demanded he leave, that he'd had more than enough time to leave Team One on a 'higher note', but he'd bowed to her demand without a syllable of protest. And she was getting angry because he wanted to say good-bye, maybe even wanted to ride along on one last call? Was that fair?
The larger part of her mind was sulking; he hadn't been fair to her, so why should she be gracious and forgiving? Izzy gurgled in her arms, demanding attention, and Sophie rocked her daughter, singing to her quietly. Wide blue eyes looked up at her and Izzy even tried to reach an arm out to Sophie's mouth. Sophie met her daughter partway with another smile and a playful light shake of Izzy's arm. Her little blessing and Clark's first introduction to sibling-hood.
Sophie's thoughts stilled as Izzy gurgled happily up at her. If Eddie hadn't been there the day Izzy was born…if he'd followed her frantic order to get himself taken care of, would Izzy be here? She knew it hadn't been Ed alone who'd saved their daughter, but still, perhaps she owed it to him to be more understanding? If the tables were turned and she had to give up a group of coworkers who were family in all but blood to her, wouldn't she want time to say a proper good-bye?
Sophie sighed to herself, wishing her parents hadn't just gone on their yearly trip; she needed a sounding board, someone to spout off to and give her another perspective. Or maybe someone who would distract her from her thoughts temporarily, give her something else to focus on. Perhaps it was coincidence, but the sudden ringing of her phone felt more like…an answer to her silent need. Sophie picked up the receiver with a brisk, "Sophie Lane speaking."
"Sophie? Shelley Wordsworth."
The brunette's smile was unfeigned as she moved the phone to her other hand and bounced Izzy to keep her occupied. "Shelley! How are you, how are the girls?"
"We're all fine," Shelley replied brightly. "How are you and your new angel?"
Izzy blew a raspberry as if she could hear Shelley. Sophie laughed. "We're getting there," she told her friend. "Been quite a while since the last time I had to do this."
Shelley's return laughter rang high and clear, delight spilling down the phone line. "Listen, Sophie, I wasn't sure if this was too early or not, but I was thinking maybe we could get together for lunch sometime?" the other woman offered. "I could see your little darling and my girls could watch her while we had a bit of a chat."
The offer was extremely tempting, particularly with Eddie still at the station and her mind all a muddle. "Today?" Sophie asked, mentally crossing her fingers. Shelley was a practical woman and Sophie valued her friend's perspective on the unique challenges they faced as wives of men in law enforcement.
Shelley was silent; Sophie's hopes fell. Then, thoughtfully, as though Shelley had merely moved to her calendar, Shelley remarked, "Nothing on my schedule for today. Your Clark is out with Greg's rapscallions?"
Sophie bit back a giggle. "Yes. I think Clark wanted a bit more information on you-know-what."
Again, Shelley laughed. "Our usual little corner place?"
"I'll be there," Sophie promised.
It had been months since the two women had been able to coordinate their schedules enough to meet at a small delicatessen they both enjoyed. Sophie had been able to meet her friend there a few times before the doctors had ordered her to bed rest; after bed rest, Shelley had once brought Sophie's favorite sandwich right to the Lane household, the two of them giggling and laughing together like schoolgirls. That had been a week before Sophie had had enough and left Eddie to fend for himself.
The gossip and chatter easily filled the air as the women reconnected and swapped infant/toddler tales. Sophie burst out laughing as Shelley mimed her husband's reaction to Ally 'decorating' his shirt, right before he needed to leave for work one morning. Her resentment niggled at her; she had no such tales to share of Ed's misfortunes in child-rearing. But her uncertainty and confusion was far stronger. Why hadn't Shelley brought up her abrupt departure months earlier? In the past, Shelley had been a quiet voice of reason for the slightly older woman, but she wasn't even touching on any…complex…issues, just lighthearted tales and anecdotes. And was it a coincidence, that Shelley had chosen Ed's last day to reach out?
Pushing her whirling thoughts away, Sophie glanced over at the four girls. Claire was reading aloud from one of her books to the other three girls. Lilly was listening with rapt attention, Ally was playing with what looked like a stuffed dragon, and Izzy was gurgling in her car seat, while trying to bang her frog-shaped rattler on the seat's edge. "What are they reading?" Sophie asked quietly.
Shelley covered her mouth to stifle laughter. "Alanna let it slip in Claire's hearing that her mother named her after a fictional female knight. She wouldn't tell Claire any other details, but Claire was able to find more information online. That's the first book in the series," Shelley explained between muffled giggles.
Sophie bit her lip to keep her own laughter from spilling out. "That poor girl."
"Oh, I know," Shelley agreed. "It gets better." Sophie's eyes widened and she leaned forward eagerly. "The book Alanna also has red hair and purple eyes," Shelley whispered.
"And magic?" Sophie guessed.
A vigorous nod. "Purple magic."
Sophie blinked. "That sounds…odd." After all, she was pretty sure the real-life Alanna's magic was purple as well.
Shelley shrugged. "Very odd," she agreed, "but there aren't many female knights in history, Sophie."
The brunette opened her mouth to ask what historical female knights had to do with anything, then stopped. "Calvin family tradition?"
"I think so," Shelley replied, counting on her fingers. "When you think about the Calvin first names we know: Lancelot, Arthur, Percival…"
Sophie drummed her fingers and nodded slowly.
Shelley nibbled on her sandwich, letting the silence hang comfortably. Sophie had always appreciated her friend's gift for knowing when to talk and when to keep quiet. But did she want to share her vulnerabilities and doubts with Shelley, knowing that, on this topic, Shelley had divided loyalties?
As if she'd read Sophie's mind, Shelley inquired, "Have you and Ed decided?"
"On what?"
Shelley's smile was sad. "On what you're going to do now?"
It took a moment, then Sophie understood: Shelley already knew about the ultimatum she'd laid down in front of her husband. To have something to do, Sophie set her unfinished sandwich down and picked up a fork to fiddle with. "I thought we had," Sophie replied, "But I don't know, Shelley." The doubts were surging…was she right to force Ed's hand?
"Don't know about what?" Shelley pressed.
Sophie searched for the words, unwilling to lay all of her problems out for the other woman to see. "Where do I strike a balance?" she finally asked. "Between what I want and what Ed wants?"
"I don't know," Shelley countered at once. "Have you two talked about that?"
No, they hadn't; she'd just laid out all her demands, the bitter part of her soul humming in satisfaction at his instant capitulation. Her silence was answer enough, but Shelley didn't press her.
The blonde woman considered, then, with a small shake of her head, changed the subject. "Has Ed told you about Spike?"
Sophie's attention was caught at once. "No, we've been focusing on Izzy. Is something wrong with Spike?" Fear pushed at her for the bright, perky bomb tech, fear that surprised her. Spike was just her husband's coworker…wasn't he?
Shelley's smile was bitter, resentful. "His father's dying." Sophie gasped. "And he won't talk to Spike at all any more unless he quits the SRU. His mother wants him to 'give his father peace'."
Indignation flared. "You can't just leave the SRU and expect to get back in," Sophie exclaimed.
Shelley pointed her fork at Sophie in clear agreement. "Kevin and I set up the spare room in case he ever needs a night or two away from home," the blonde continued. "He took us up on it last week. Practically the first night Kevin made the offer." Her eyes turned shadowed. "His father doesn't deserve him. I'm not sure his mother does either."
"Why?" Sophie questioned.
Her friend shook her head without answering.
Hesitant, Sophie asked, "Is anyone else having…trouble?"
Shelley considered. "You know about Greg pulling his kids out of school?" Sophie nodded and Shelley lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. "That's all I know, although Kevin told me this past weekend that he's already tired of 'being perfect all the time'."
"I imagine they all are," Sophie agreed. She glanced over at the four girls, then down at her plate.
"I'll get a bag," Shelley murmured, rising to retrieve carry-out containers.
The next few minutes were spent wrapping up leftovers, exclaiming that they 'needed to do this again sometime', and friendly wrangling over the bill. Sophie retrieved Izzy's car seat and farewelled Shelley's three little girls.
Before she left, Sophie's head was left spinning by Shelley's parting, "Sophie, anything you need, even if you just need to talk, call me. Any time, day or night."
Sophie muttered a thank you and departed as quickly as she could. She was breaking up her husband's team and Shelley still wanted to be her friend? She couldn't understand it.
At home, Sophie fed Izzy and turned on the TV to see news of a riot following the 'Not Guilty' verdict in one Constable William Greeley's trial. One of the short videos was of an SRU truck being attacked by the mob; the passenger side window was smashed and what looked like a bomb was tossed inside. Alone in the house, Sophie gasped in horror and prayed it wasn't Team One out there.
Though she was jogging Izzy up and down, Sophie's movements slowed and stilled. Not just Ed…Team One. A year ago, heck, a few months ago, if she'd worried about anyone, it was Ed, not his teammates. He could worry about his teammates. Even when Greg asked her and Shelley to trade off hosting his nipotes, it had been more a favor to her husband than Greg and Sophie had been confident Shelley felt the same.
Now she wasn't so sure; her blood had boiled at Shelley's sad comments about Spike's home situation, as if an attack on Spike was an attack against someone she loved. And now that Sophie was thinking about them, she was remembering all the times Ed's team had gone out of their way for her over the years. Not just the times Greg and Wordy, her husband's closest friends on the team, had pitched in around the Lane homestead, but the time Spike and Lou had shown up at her door on their day off to set up their home wireless network.
Three hours, at least, of crawling around in her home, being told off by her husband for poking their noses – accidentally – in her corner of the house, and enduring the heat; the day before they'd shown up, the air conditioner had partially broken down. She'd treated the tired computer techs to ice cream and cold sodas afterwards, but it had felt like a drop in the bucket, especially since they'd also made sure the new network was secure and that both she and Eddie knew how to connect to the wifi.
The time she'd gotten a flat tire on the road while most of Team One was out of town for a competition and the team's then rookie Jules had driven out to help her get the car moving again. Jules had insisted on following her to the mechanic shop to get the tire fixed and had taken a police report on the spot when they discovered the flat tire had been slashed – clumsily slashed – the knife hadn't gone all the way through the sidewall, but the tire had failed quickly regardless.
Not to mention the way Greg's kids had pitched in and helped as much as they could on the nights they stayed over. One night Sophie had been woken up by the sound of the dishwasher screeching and dying, but neither teenager had let her come and help them. Instead, they'd corralled Clark and washed every last dish by hand. When Ed had come home, he'd found Alanna and her laptop in Sophie's room as the two ladies searched for a new dishwasher. Lance had even recruited his family house-elf, Mindy, to keep the dishes squeaky clean until the new dishwasher could be installed. As a bonus, Mindy had also cleaned the house from top to bottom, leaving the whole place cleaner than Sophie could ever remember.
She hadn't realized it before, but now, thinking about all those times, and more besides, none of it was the sort of thing you did for a coworker…well, maybe some of it was. Family. Ed had been on other teams before Greg Parker's and none of them had ever pitched in the way Parker's had. Ed had told her, after the evaluations and Izzy's birth, about how that Dr. Toth had ripped Greg apart for treating his team like family; she'd been livid on Greg's behalf. How dare this…this outsider judge Greg for a team that worked as well as Team One did.
Looking back at the television, Sophie bit her lip. She still felt justified in making demands on Ed and his time, but to make him leave behind most of his family…most of their family…she couldn't do it. Tears stung her eyes and protests screeched inside her mind. She was so close to having her husband back, for her family, all to herself.
So close to making her husband surrender a good share of what made him the man she'd fallen in love with. He was hers, yes, but he was also Team One's, and Clark's and Izzy's, too, now that she was thinking about it.
Sophie considered going to the station to talk to Ed, but decided against it. No, she wanted to do this face-to-face and have a real discussion, not just her list of demands and woe to her husband if he disagreed with her. She located her cell phone and called Ed's voicemail; no need to interrupt him in the middle of a hot call. "Ed, it's me. I think we need to talk a bit more about your transfer before you ask for it. See you tonight."
She clicked off before she could change her mind and set her phone down on the table. Gently, she started bouncing Izzy again, earning a squeal of delight from the infant. "Did you know your Daddy's a hero, Izzy? Yeah, he is," she whispered. "And all your aunts and uncles are heroes, too."