More Than Just Friends
Summary: Team One is in a time-restricted race to find two kids. It's an abnormal abduction. A clue to their location came instead of a ransom demand. They follow clues in an attempt to rescue the kids. At the sixth location the team must split up. Will the kids be found? What happens to Sam and Spike? How will the team cope with what happens to them? What other events are triggered by this call?
Setting: In the series it is in season four after Run Jamie Run. In my AU it is slotted several years after One Hot Summer Day.
As always this is a Sam centric story with the whole team but has many Sam/Spike brother and JAM moments. Also has protective General/Samuel scenes. At this time in the series Team One is running a six member team: Greg, Ed, Wordy, Sam, Spike and Jules.
Cautions: Expect lots of whump to both Sam and Spike (I'm mean to them) and some to Jules too. This story contains serial killers, a rapists and a serial pedophile. Mostly I keep descriptions to vague references but there is one section in chapter 23 from the pedophiles perspective that is a bit on the graphic side. That section is clearly delineated so you can easily skip it without losing the integrity of the story.
A/N: Special nod to all my readers that provide me input and encourage me to keep writing by leaving me reviews or sending me PMs. Reviews do make my day. It's like a nice pat on the back or a smile letting me know that you enjoy and appreciate my efforts.
- Chapter 21: The Canadian Forces have one military prison, the Canadian Forces Service Prison and Detention Barracks (CFSPDB) which is known as Club Ed. It is located at Canadian Forces Base Edmonton, Alberta.
Disclaimer: I do not own Flashpoint or any of the characters from that series. I do own my original characters (OC).
In Chapter 14, dialog in italics is taken directly from the episode Run Jamie Run. Non-italic dialog in that chapter is my original content.
Treasure Hunt
Blue Wing Door Supplies
He was on his knees scared to death. His hands were bound behind him and he could not stop the sweat from dripping in his eyes. Under the menacing glare of the tall bald man in full tactical gear he caved. "… and the old fisheries warehouses on Port Lands. Those are the only two locations I know. The warehouses on Liberty and the fisheries, I swear that's all I know" a nervous, sweaty man stammered out.
Ed holstered his weapon and yanked the cuffed man to his feet "You better not be lying to me Mr. Frazzer." He pushed the man towards the exit of the Blue Wing Door Supplies building. He called out over the headset "We got another location besides the warehouses. Sam and Spike, Bravo Team, you two head to the old fisheries on Port Lands. Wordy and I, Alpha Team, will head to the warehouses on Liberty."
"Copy that" Sam and Spike each said and gave each other a nod as they rushed out of the Blue Wing Door Supply building.
Sam said "Toss me the keys, I'll drive you navigate. Ed did you get a specific location?" Spike tossed him the keys and both quickly got in the SUV and Sam sped out of the parking area sirens blaring and lights flashing in the general direction of Port Lands.
Handing over the man to the uniform patrol officer he replied "No Frazzer only had the general location."
Spike interrupted "Then it could be in anyone of the three derelict fishery buildings." He thought not good, not good.
"I'm nearly done at Damask Steeping's apartment. Not finding anything useful. He's sanitized it almost completely and it is a bust for useful information. No personal information, no pictures, no computers, nothing. Even the fridge is empty except for several bottles of beer and some Italian sausage. I could give Sam and Spike a hand Ed" Jules offered.
Greg called out "Jules I need you here with me at Steeping's office. Tons of information we need to shift through. We need to find the real location." He removed his hat and briskly rubbed his head thinking son of a bitch. He shoved it back on and continued to shift through the tons of information. Most of it appearing to be miss-information to put them off the real location. They were running out of time.
Jules was frustrated at finding no information at Steeping's apartment but simply called out "Copy that Boss on my way. ETA 10 minutes." She headed for the SUV. The strangeness of this whole call was offsetting to her.
Sam spared a quick glance to Spike "What's our ETA to the fisheries? Got a fast route for us?"
Pulling up the GPS program and plugging in their destination Spike called "shortest route gets us there in 20 to 25 minutes tops. With traffic more likely 25 to 30 minutes. That doesn't give us much time to search all three buildings. They are huge."
Ed clenched and released his fists several times to relieve the tension. He ran to join Wordy at the last SUV at their current location. The Blue Wing Door Supplies was their sixth location to check today.
This day had started out good but had quickly turned into a wild goose chase or some heinous treasure hunt. His team had been run ragged for the past seven hours from location to location but not finding the real one. Not finding the kids.
He did not like this one damned bit. His team was now split off in three different locations. They needed to find those kids and get them home safe. He hated sending off Sam and Spike on their own but he trusted both of them to have each other's backs. Just like he and Wordy would take care of each other too.
As he hopped into the passenger seat Ed asked "Wordy what's our ETA to the warehouses on Liberty?"
While Ed was interviewing the man inside Wordy had been reviewing details on the warehouses comparing the aerial photos with information the Boss had provided. Starting the ignition Wordy answered "About 10 minutes from here? Based on the clues and details I think we should start in warehouse A32. Its features are most like what was described in the clue, but other likely ones are A45, B13, or D24. And maybe even C18."
Ed tried for calm but crap, five warehouses to check. "Boss, did you find anything more to go on that would indicate which one of those warehouses we should check first?"
Greg pursed his lips together as he continued to scan the massive amount of papers, maps and pictures. The two pictures his eyes fell on pierced him. Silently he said 'hang on kids we will find you'. He answered Ed "No nothing more so far. Start with A32 I'll keep digging."
Knowing the answer but still needing to ask again in case anything had changed Ed said "Any chance of getting another team called out to help?"
He wished he had a better answer. Teams Three and Four had done an overnight training exercise. The members of those teams were too tired to be safe or effective right now and they had their own shifts to cover tonight too. Teams Two and Six were currently involved in calls and unable to help. Team Five was off on vacation with all but their rookie member out of town. Not a good time to call in an unfamiliar rookie.
They were on their own for this one right now since using patrol officers was too risky given the traps they had encountered so far. He took a breath then replied "Answer is still no. Winnie will let me know as soon as Team Two is available. She said they seemed close to ending their situation peacefully. Team Six is still deeply engaged in their call. Those kids are relying on us, Team One, to find them and bring them home. Let's focus on that."
Five simultaneous "Copy that" were heard on the headsets.
Warehouse A32
Wordy and Ed exited the SUV and quickly geared up. Enroute Wordy and Ed had discussed and developed an entry and search plan of the massive warehouse. Although it might be faster to split up it would leave each vulnerable with no back up. That was an unacceptable risk for the team.
They did not know exactly what they would face. Each of the previous locations had booby traps. Some real and some that appeared to be real explosives that turned out to be fakes. The third location even had child sized mannequins dressed, tied to chairs with hoods over their heads.
The entire team had felt a sense of elation at seeing them. Only to have it dashed when it was discovered that they were in fact dummies and not the real kids. Steeping was a sick man to taunt them like that.
Ed looked at Wordy "We go careful. Slow, eyes open."
As he looked at Wordy concern filled his eyes. God he thought he had lost him today. Ed could still see bits of confetti on his uniform. The sound of a loud boom as Wordy entered that room at the fifth location had scared the hell out of him. He thought for sure Wordy had just been blown to pieces only to race up the stairs and see Wordy covered in confetti while more floated down around him.
He patted Wordy's shoulder and said "Watch for trip wires, high and low."
"Gotcha Ed" Wordy said. It sucked when he had tripped that wire but it had also been a good thing. For an instant he had thought he was a goner. That Shel would be a widow and his precious daughter's fatherless.
The trip wire turned out to be connected to a hammer that was released to slam into a piece of sheet metal making a loud booming sound. It was also connected to a bucket filled with confetti. It was not funny and not a single one of the team laughed.
But tripping it they had also found the next clue. Amongst the confetti they had found the clue that led them to the Blue Wing Door Supplies. And from here they now had two possible locations of the kids. Wordy was hoping they would find the kids soon. They were running out of time.
They carefully entered and began their search of the premises.
Steeping's Office
Jules raced up the three flights of stairs and down the hall to Steeping's office. She found the Boss sifting through tons of papers, maps and pictures on a large table in the middle of the office. "Wow, you were not kidding there was a ton of stuff to go through here. Where do you want me to start? What have you gone through already?"
Greg looked up and gave Jules a slight grin. Pointing to a desk under the large window he said "Start over there. I have not had a chance to look through any of that yet. I've gone through most of what was on his main desk. But it could use another set of eyes eventually."
Hurrying to the desk Jules started methodically working through the papers. This man was sending them on a well-planned hunt. She only hoped they could cut through his clues and find the right location before time ran out. They needed to find five year old Lucas Watson and his nine year old sister Jodie Watson soon based on the timeline Steeping had alluded to in the clue at the second location.
The clues at the fourth location, a bike shop, had sent her to Steeping's apartment and the Boss to Steeping's office and the rest of the team to a small candy factory. She shuddered as she remembered the sound of the boom and Ed yelling for Wordy. She took a deep calming breath. Focus and think clearly she admonished herself; that is the only way to save these kids.
As she continued looking for anything that would give her a clue she said "Boss, there is just something that does not add up."
"What'd ya mean Jules?" Greg responded.
"Why the run around? Why would Steeping take those kids then leave us clues at each location for another location? It is not the typical kidnapping for ransom? Is there something else going on?" Jules asked.
Greg stopped a moment "I've been thinking the same thing. However, I have not found anything that would give me a clue as to what else may be in play here."
Jules found a stack of photos; all of the kids. "It appears Steeping had been following the kids for quite some time. I've got pictures of them at their home, school, the park by their house, and the shopping mall. Some of these are quite old, three or four months given the date stamp printed on the picture."
Greg was currently looking at a map with over twenty locations circled on it. Six of the locations they had already checked. The warehouse and the fisheries were also circled. As were Steeping's apartment and office, the kids' school and their home and the park near their house. That left seven more possible locations.
Jules had done extensive background checking on one Damask Steeping but had come up completely blank. He did not exist, but he did exist. There was an apartment and office in his name but no driver's license, no birth certification. Just nothing else.
At this point they all realized that it was highly likely it was not his real name. Especially without any type of history found. But without anything else to call him or her they referred to the subject as Damask Steeping. Greg wondered how just who this person was and why he or she had setup this elaborate scheme.
A small part of him wondered if the person was toying with his team. But with two kids missing the team would keep moving forward and do all in their power to bring them home.
Fisheries on Port Lands
Spike's eyes were a bit wide and the adrenaline was pumping. Sam had driven fast, too fast in his mind. It was all he could do to type on the computer and keep from whacking his head on the window on some of Sam's turns. But they had gotten here in record time, seventeen minutes and time mattered right now.
At the back of the SUV they geared up. Spike slung his basic bomb kit over his shoulders and attached his MP5 to the harness.
Sam listened to the quiet sounds of Ed and Wordy clearing warehouse A32 as he finished clicking his MP5. He realized the chatter of two search teams in two different places might be confusing or distracting so said "Boss. Spike and I are switching over to channel two."
Greg called back "Sounds good. Jules switch to channel two so you can monitor Sam and Spike and we can pass information as necessary between teams." Jules, Sam and Spike all switched.
Sam called out "Jules have you found anything regarding the fisheries in Steeping's office? We have one very large building and two smaller ones."
"No nothing more" Jules replied.
Looking to Spike "We got blueprints?" Sam asked.
"Found old records from the 1970's but nothing more recent. These were shut down in the mid 1980's" Spike responded.
Sam and Spike conferred on the blueprints they had and determined an approach. They would clear the two smaller buildings first. Sam informed Jules "Bravo team heading to first building on north side."
Jules relayed the information to the Sarge. They both tensed. Sam and Spike had potentially outdated information. The buildings were dilapidated and left abandoned for nearly thirty years. No telling what shape they would be in. The city should have razed the buildings years ago.
On the north side of the first building they opened a door as carefully and quietly as they could. Spike oiled the rusted hinges but it still creaked rather loudly in the silence that was broken only occasionally by sea birds squawking. They moved quietly into the building and started to clear it.
Using hand signals only, the two moved in a natural rhythm born of years working closely together. Plus they had been partnered a lot since Jules was working more and more with the Boss and SRU decided to change the teams from seven to six members and create a sixth team. As a result each understood the other with few signals.
About midway though, they stopped behind a large stack of rotting wooden pallets. They saw a room off to the left that was not on the blueprints. They also located metal stairs off to the right. With a simple incline of his head to the left Sam indicated they needed to clear the room first and Spike nodded agreement.
Sam and Spike cautiously moved away from the pallets towards the door to the room. Again Spike oiled the hinges as best he could and checked for trip wires.
Finding no wires Spike slowly opened the door. This door too squeaked upon opening also. Spike was first into the room as Sam covered their rear. Sam heard a slight gasp then softly from Spike "Think we got a problem here Sam."
Sam glanced in and saw what Spike saw. Very clearly it looked like a bomb and the timer was counting down with only ten minutes left. Not enough time to clear the whole building. If the kids were here they would die if this was a real explosive and they didn't do something. Sam whispered "Can you defuse it?"
Jules heard that and stiffened. She motioned for Greg to switch channels and mouthed 'bomb' not wanting to distract Sam and Spike.
Needing to let Ed know but not wanting to distract him and Wordy unduly Greg simply said "Need to switch to channel two. Back in a moment." He switched and listened.
Spike was answering Sam at the same time "I gotta try. If this is real and the kids are here …" he did not finish they both knew. His eyes wide he removed his pack and pulled out his scanner quickly.
As lead of Bravo team Sam said "Five, you have five. If you can't you are out of here. Hear me?"
Spike replied "Copy. Now one man down range even if we don't know if it is real or not yet. Out you go."
Sam responded glancing at his watch "I'm looking for the kids for five. If I don't find them in the same time I'm out."
No, no, no, is what was going through Jules head. Get out of there Sam. It is bad enough Spike has to stay. She looked at the pictures of the kids and she knew Sam would disobey even a direct order from the Boss if he told him to leave now. She clamped her mouth shut to keep from saying anything.
Greg added "Five you both are out in five. Do I make myself clear?"
Two soft 'copy' were heard.
Sam left the door open as he headed back into the warehouse. Sam was four steps away from the door when he heard Spike say "Shit."
He turned back to Spike and started to move back to him "What's wrong Spike?"
Spike was saying "It's real, RDX" as he turned back to Sam. Before he could even call out a warning a man appeared behind Sam and swung a two-by-four piece of wood connecting hard with Sam's head. Sam staggered forward and gripped the door jab. He was slowly sinking to his knees. His eyes blinking rapidly.
In the same instant Spike was on his feet with his gun raised yelling "SRU stay where you are. Drop the weapon and hands where I can see them."
Another man appeared at the doors edge and yanked Sam's head back gripping his hair and put a gun to his head. The man responded "Drop your weapon or he's dead."
Spike's mind was racing. There were only eight minutes left on the bomb. Sam was clearly dazed and had a gun to his head. There were two men and the second was now also armed with a pistol aimed at him. He watched as the man holding Sam moved his finger toward the trigger. He could not chance it. He lowered his weapon and said "Let him go. I'm putting my weapon down. What is that you want?"
Three more men appear outside the room. Two grabbed Sam by the arms and dragged him away from the door clearing the path. The man who had had the gun to Sam's head motioned for Spike to come out of the room. Spike had to relay information "What do you and your four buddies want with us? There's a bomb in there set to explode in about seven minutes."
Sam's head was clearing a bit. It hurt like hell and wasn't sure what happened but he felt hands restraining him tightly. He saw Spike being held at gun point. He couldn't hear what was being said through the ringing in his ears. He forced himself to speak "Spike?"
Spike's eyes glanced at Sam. It was good to see his eyes clearing. But the amount of blood running down the side of his head concerned him. Although he knew even minor head wounds could bleed like a stuck pig. He replied "It's okay Sam." In his mind he knew it wasn't okay but he had to say something.
The man with the gun pointed at him said quietly "Put it on the ground, slow like. Then off with the gear."
Spike responded putting his guns on the ground "Why do you want me to put my guns down and remove my gear?"
As he asked the men holding Sam started to remove all of Sam's tact gear. They had already disarmed him. Sam seemed completely limp but then he attacked. He had one man down and out in a split second. He was on the second one when a shot rang out and a blood curdling scream was heard.
Staring wide eyed at the scene Spike couldn't believe what had happened. The man growled at him "Off with the gear now or the next one is in his head."
Sam was stripped of the rest of his tact gear and Spike was too.
Jules and Greg were doing all in their power to remain quiet. They heard Spike and bits and pieces of the other man. His voice was too low and far away to hear it all. Spike was feeding them information with his questions. Greg had muted and called into Winnie to get patrol units out they. She informed them that Team Two could respond and their ETA was four minutes.
Greg quickly relayed to Spike and Sam "Team Two ETA four minutes."
Spike heard the boss and said looking at the man still pointing the gun at him "We need to get out of here. Copy. We need to go now the bomb is set to go off in less than five minutes now."
Jules and Greg heard the sound of flesh impacting with flesh and a grunt of pain, two more gunshots and then nothing. That is until their ears were assaulted with a deafening sound of a bomb blast.