Just an idea I had that popped into my head while I watched Season 2 episode 8 the other night and was persuaded to write this fic.
Thanks Wicked for all of your help with this, I hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: I clearly do not own Rush
….
"Alright, Shannon, Stel, you go east, Michael, Josh you go west, Christian and I will go North, let's keep an ear out, this kid is probably frightened and gone into hiding, okay let's go." Lawson says as the team split up in search of the boy.
….
"Let's keep it going, you sit down and you'll never get up again, and you don't want to prove Josh right do you?" Shannon asks while Stella drinks her water.
"Shannon, he's here, Robbie." Stella yell's out while getting up off the rock she had sat on.
"Lawson, we sighted the kid." Stella says into her coms.
"Is he okay?" he asks.
"Well his running away from us." She replies as Shannon chases after him.
"Don't worry about your uncle, his gone, it's safe to come out now." Shannon yells out while pushing branches aside.
'"Well where are you?" Lawson asks through his coms as Christian opens up the map.
"In the creek bed heading south west." She replies while jogging after Shannon.
….
Grabbing the map of Christian, Lawson pinpoints the creek bed and points it out to Christian "Well that would put them there…"
Dropping down as they hear gunshots, Lawson quickly gets onto com's "Christian and I are okay."
"Josh and Michael are okay." Josh replies back.
"Shannon and Stella, what about you?" Lawson asks.
"Shannon, Stel, report in immediately." Lawson requests as Christian looks at him with concern.
….
Hearing the gunshot, Stella instantly ducks down and hears her girlfriend groan in pain and in that instant all logic leaves Stella's mind as she quickly moves to get up and moves over to her girlfriend who is lying on the floor. Taking her eyes off of the boy, Stella turns her back on where she last saw him and sees a pool of blood gushing out of Shannon's leg. Not responding to Lawson's call, Stella tries to begin to treat Shannon.
"Stel, you can't treat me here, you need to take cover until the others can come and help you move me." Shannon says while groaning.
"I'm not leaving you here." Stella says outraged while looking over her shoulder.
"Well you're no good to me if you get shot too, I'll make it an order if I have to." Shannon says sternly through gritted teeth.
"Stuff you and your orders, I'm not leaving you behind, and you can punish me for it later if you like." Stella says as she moves to behind Shannon's head and grabs her by the scruff of the neck of their camouflage uniforms and drags her girlfriend with her gun raised in her free hand as Shannon pushes off of the floor.
"Get down." Stella says to Shannon as they take cover.
"Shit, he shot me." Shannon yells out as the realisation that she has been shot hits her.
"Give me a look." Stella says as she looks around the vicinity for the boy who may come back for a second crack.
"Lawson, Shannon is down, I repeat, Shannon has been shot." Stella says into coms.
"How bad is she?" Lawson asks.
"Thigh wound, real bad." She replies back, her voice full of concern.
"Who was the shooter?" Christian asks sounding confused.
"It was Robbie, it was the kid." Stella replies.
"Confirm that Stella, confirm that the shooter was Robbie." Lawson says authoritively as Stella ignores him while having her gun trained on the spot where she suspects the kid may still be hiding around as she searches for him.
"I can't talk his still here." Stella tells Shannon.
"Shit." Shannon whispers in pain.
"Okay, we are in the creek bed." Stella says into her coms when she thinks the boy has left while pulling out some gauze and bandages.
"Any sign of the kid?" Lawson asks.
"Nah." She replies.
"How you going there Shannon?" Lawson asks.
"I'm feeling it." She replies.
"Well hang in there Shan." He replies.
"Don't be a sook; I got straight back to work when I got shot." Stella says to her girlfriend in hope of distracting Shannon from the pain.
"You had a bulletproof vest on." Shannon says with a smirk.
"Yeah but it still hurt." Stella says as she puts the gauze on Shannon's leg and wraps it with a bandage.
"Lawson where are you?" Stella asks.
"We can't be far." He replies.
"Put pressure here." Shannon says with a groan while placing Stella's hand near her groin area just above her own hand which was applying pressure to the wound where the bandage was.
"Tell anyone my hand was this close to your vagina and I'll knock you out." Stella says jokingly as she can tell her girlfriend was starting to slip out of consciousness.
"They know we are in a relationship so it won't be unexpected news to them, although Michael won't be too happy." Shannon says softly with a slight smirk.
"His used to it." Stella replies with a smile.
Hearing no response, she looks down to see Shannon with her eyes closed.
"Shannon, Shannon, you need to stay awake." Stel says while putting more pressure on the leg in hopes of Shannon becoming more alert.
Opening her eyes for a brief second, Shannon tries to focus on Stella, but struggles against the darkness that is trying to consume her as she closes her eyes again.
"Shannon, Shannon, stay awake." Stella says forcefully.
"Stel, approaching you now." Lawson says as him and Christian approach the girl's position.
"I've been applying pressure, but she just lost consciousness." She tells Lawson as Christian covers them.
"Do you know what she was shot with?" Lawson asks.
"Oh, it could have been a 22." She replies.
"Lawson we found the boy, what do you want us to do now?" Josh asks.
"I need you to come to us and help us carry Shannon to the hut, Michael you stay there and cover the kid." Lawson says.
"Within range?" Michael asks.
"Look, just close enough to protect us from him alright; our priority is to get Shannon back to the hut." Lawson tells him.
"I'm moving out Michael." Josh says while slowly standing up from their crouching positions.
….
"Kerry, we're at the hut, where's this chopper?" Lawson asks through coms as they slowly place Shannon onto the bed inside the hut.
"Ah, it should be close, just keep an ear out, how is she?" Kerry asks.
"She's okay, she's in and out of consciousness, and I'm just worried about blood loss." Lawson says softly as Stella ensures the blanket is covering Shannon.
"Ah look, I've ordered extra blood so it's on its way." She replies
"Okay." Lawson says into his coms piece before walking over to Shannon.
"Hang in there Shan, the chopper is on its way." Lawson says giving Shannon a light pat on the shoulder.
"Tell Stel to stop worrying." Shannon mumbles before slipping out of consciousness again.
"Of course she says that, I would love to know how she would react if the roles were reversed." Stella says with a chuckle holding onto Shannon's hand.
….
"It's time to move her Stel." Josh says as he hears the chopper.
"Let's get moving then." Stella says as she stands up and they all grab a corner of the makeshift full body canvas hammock sling.
"On my count, One, Two Three, Lift." Josh says as they lift her up and slowly carry her out of the hut as they hear the chopper coming closer.
Taking her out into the middle of the clearing as the chopper is starting it's slow decent, they all duck down as quickly and as gently as they can possibly manage as they hear gun shots hit the chopper while Lawson starts yelling out for them to stay down.
"Go, go." Stella yells out.
"Move back, move back, Stella take cover." Lawson yells out as the three men lift the canvas hammock sling again and try to quickly move Shannon back into the hut.
"What kind of kid takes on four armed coppers and a helicopter?" Lawson asks while sounding incredulous.
"Maybe it's self-defence, his attacking us first." Stella says taking up her seat again beside Shannon's body.
"Did you get that?" Lawson asks Josh as they hear a tapping sound through coms.
"Michael, Michael is that you?" Lawson asks.
"Michael, tap onto your coms twice if you can hear us." Christian says.
"Michael, are you too close to Robbie to talk?" Lawson asks and hears two taps come through.
"Lawson, from what I can tell, the kid took up the hill after he had a go at the chopper, that's where Michael must have picked him up." Leon says.
"Listen, air wing isn't going to land until we disarm the shooter." Kerry says.
"Yeah, I'm aware of that Kerry, thank you." Lawson replies.
Sharing concerned looks all around between each other; Lawson turns to Stella and asks "Stel?"
Looking at Lawson she shakes her head, choosing not to respond in fear of her voice breaking and showing her fear more than what her facial expression was already showing.
"Lawson, his heading towards the edge of the clearing outside of the hut, waiting for your orders." Michael whispers softly.
"Alright cover me; I'm coming out, where is he?" Lawson asks while standing up.
"2 o'clock, thirty metres out." Michael replies.
"Robbie, Robbie, my name is Lawson, we need to have a chat, I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to talk to you." Lawson yells out before stepping out slowly from the hut.
"Get back pig or I'll shoot." Robbie yells out as Lawson jogs to a nearby tree to take cover.
"Yeah, alright, look it's okay, all we want to do is land the chopper, that's all, see the woman you shot, she's going to die unless we get her to a hospital." Lawson yells out.
"I don't care." The boy replies.
"Alright, how about this let us land the chopper and then we'll go, leave you here by yourself, you good?" Lawson asks while Stella sits in the hut becoming more concerned with every wasted minute going by.
"Yeah I'm good" The kid replies happily.
"Your good are you, you sure about that?" Lawson asks trying to place doubt in Robbie's mind.
"I want Troy." Robbie replies after a minute of silence.
"Yeah, okay, we can do that, you put the gun down and I can get him to come up here." Lawson says.
"No way, you bring him here first." Robbie replies commandfully.
"No, it doesn't work that way Robbie." Lawson says while going through tactics through his mind.
"Yeah it does, I have the gun, and I'm in charge." The boy replies cockily.
"Yeah that may be, but I still need you to put the gun down before I bring him up here." The Senior Sergeant says.
"I want to speak to him first." Robbie yells out as Lawson moves in and Michael Tasers Robbie as everyone breathes a sigh of relief.
""You took a risk." Lawson says to Michael as he checks on Robbie and moves the rifle away.
"Yeah, so did you." Michael replies relieved that it's finally over.
….
"Josh, you're in the chopper, the rest of you are in the car with the kid." Lawson says.
"Why aren't I going in the chopper?" Stella asks outraged as she watches Shannon being loaded up into the police helicopter along with the treating paramedics.
"Because Josh has more first aid training then you do so if they need help he can assist them, plus I need a female in the car, you may have a calming effect on the kid." Lawson says.
Looking over at the kid who was throwing a tantrum with the two general duties officers that were beside him, Stella replies angrily "Doubtful, come on Lawson, don't be a tight arse, she's my girlfriend, and even though we may have only been dating two and a half months I need to be with her, I need to know she is going to pull through, you expect me to sit in a car for over an hour before we return to the CBD, deal with the kid and then finish our shifts, that's a long time of not knowing Lawson, I deserve to be there with her more than Josh does."
"Stel, this is the way it has to be, Shannon needs the best treatment she can receive, and if anything you'll get in the way, she will need surgery on her leg anyway, so it's going to be a couple of hours wait anyway at the hospital, it would be better for you to try and take your mind off it, Kerry, Josh or Leon will give us updates when they have them and we will get there most likely before she gets out of surgery anyway, come on Stel, the longer you argue with me, the longer the delay in treatment for her, you know she will kick your backside if she finds out you were arguing." The Senior Sergeant says.
Letting out a sigh Stella flops onto the grass, before saying "Fine and she knows I argue back anyway." Stella says as she nods to Josh.
Giving her a sympathetic smile he hops into the chopper as they shut all of the doors and the helicopter takes off while the team watches it fly out of sight while Stella watches it with longing in her eyes.
"Alright, let's get moving." Lawson says to his team as Christian helps Stella up off of the ground and they all make their way to the car with the kid in tow.
….
"I hate you, I hate all of you, I'm going to remember your faces and then I'm going to hunt you down, and then after that, I'm going to grab you and then I'm going to rip your guts out." Robbie says in the car as the four man team all roll their eyes.
"You're really, really ugly, you're the ugliest person I've ever seen, I bet you can't even get a boyfriend." The kid says with disgust in his voice to Stella as she tries to stifle the laugh that is about to come out of her mouth.
"Your right, I can't get a boyfriend, that's because I have a girlfriend, you know, the female police officer you shot today." Stella says with a glare even though she finds the kid as a welcomed distraction from waiting to hear news about Shannon, no matter how charming the kid's language is she finds it slightly amusing how he is trying to intimidate 4 police officers.
"Oh you just got owned kid." Christian says as they all start laughing at the boy's failed insult directed towards Stella.
"Well you, you stink, like vomit." The kid says trying to deflect the fact that his insult hadn't worked on the Senior Constable which had caused the other officers to laugh at the kid's expense by instead insulting Michael who was driving while Lawson tries to hide the slight smirk on his face as he looks over at Michael from his position beside him.
Opening the packet of chips that Christian had given to her before she left base that morning, Stella starts to munch on them to appease the appetite that she had worked up during the day due to their busy and highly stressful day and the fact that she had skipped breakfast that morning.
"Give me a chip." Robbie demands while Stella just smirks at him and pops another one into her mouth ignoring the demand.
"Give me one, I'll piss my pants if you don't." he says to her threatingly.
"Go on then, go on, piss your pants." Lawson says to the boy as he look over his shoulder making eye contact with the boy before turning his head back to the road ahead of them.
"Then you can sit in it all the way back, Michael, how much further to Melbourne?" Lawson asks.
"Oh, about an hour." Michael says with a serious tone in his voice.
"An hour, how long do you reckon until that warm, wet piss turns ice cold?" Lawson asks rhetorically while looking directly at the kid again as the kid looks at both him and Michael with shock evident on his face.
Not hearing Robbie reply, Lawson wears a slight grin on his face, glad he had put the boy back in his place.
….
Pulling up at base, the tea, hop out of both cars to see Kerry approaching them.
"How is she?" Stella asks before the inspector has time to even open her mouth to talk.
"I just spoke to Josh, they think with her amount of blood loss along with what they can see in her scans that the bullet may have nicked an artery in her leg but they won't know for certain until they get in there, they just took her into surgery about ten minutes ago." Kerry says calmly.
"What does that mean?" Christian asks sounding confused.
"Well they are worried with the bleeding, there is a chance she may have gone into hypovolemic shock, there may be a large degree of nearby tissue disruption and destruction which could result in serious disability, she may end up with a blood clot, and the bullet and it's fragment's may have travelled through her body, so far the scan's haven't picked anything up but they will be scanning her body frequently over the next 48 to 72 hours to ensure nothing changes, it's all touch and go at the moment Christian." Kerry says.
"She's going to pull through though, isn't she?" Michael asks while looking around at his fellow team members.
"Look guys, they can't guarantee that she will pull through, I don't need to remind you about Grace's expected recovery from the bomb blast, they are hopeful she will make it through, she's fighting and that's what matters, try not to think about anything else." Kerry says.
"Look, we will all pack up the gear, write our end of shift reports, shower, change, make any calls if we need to then we can all head over to the hospital and hopefully we will know more than." Lawson says.
"Which hospital did she go to Kerry?" Stella asks.
"The Alfred, how about you get ready Stel, and once your report is done, we'll go over there, the boys can finish up with the gear here." Kerry says.
"Thanks' Kerry." Stella says before heading towards the Intel office to file her report.