Jules Callaghan entered the air-conditioned building, yawning lazily. The seemingly never-ending summer days overflowed with thick,oppressive heat, exhausting even the most lively person. Air-conditioning was a welcome balm from the draining environment outside.
As she traveled upstairs, via the elevator, she absentmindedly wondered what the day would bring. Secretly, she longed for a quiet day filled with paperwork and inventory.
She exited the elevator and strode out onto the floor, pausing by the dispatcher's desk to greet her. Winnie, the day shift dispatcher, halted her task, and motioned towards the briefing room.
"Jules you have a visitor," Winnie informed her. Jules nodded, eyes searching out the unknown person. Once she spotted her, Jules' heart stopped in her chest.
Gretchen Sean sat in a chair, gaze affixed out the window.
Jules dazedly headed towards the spacious room, confused like never before. How in the world had Gretchen found her? She'd left that life far, far behind. And had never looked back.
Gretchen heard the approaching footsteps, and hesitantly raised her head. Amelia was staring at her with a look of confusion, hair pulled back in a ponytail.
"Gretchen?" Amelia wondered.
"Amelia!" Gretchen cried. Amelia shushed her, glancing around before firmly closing the door.
"I don't go by that anymore," she explained, sitting down. "I go by Jules. Julianna Callaghan."
Gretchen nodded, studying the other woman. She'd aged, wrinkles and lines appearing where there used to be smooth skin.
"Why are you here? How did you find me?" Amel-Jules inquired.
"Saw you online. Female SRU officer of the year, huh?" Gretchen chuckled.
"Yeah," Ameli-Jules admitted.
"Why'd you leave? You know we promised to stick together,"Gretchen reminded the other woman, voice shaking slightly.
"I had to. Circumstances forced my hand," she responded, mindlessly drawing circles on the table.
"Where'd you go? What'd you do? What…" Gretchen pleaded, seemingly lost for words. Jules sighed.
"I'll tell you the story tonight. Not here. They…my team, they don't know. And that's the way I'd like to keep it," Jules told the other woman. Gretchen nodded, and rattled off her phone number before leaving.
Jules sighed, and scrubbed her calloused hands over her face, burdened by all the secrets she held. A peal of laughter could be heard through the now-open door, and Jules grinned at the familiar sound. No way I can ever stand to lose this, she thought to herself.
A few members of Team One stood in a cluster, observing the unknown person exiting their floor. The woman appeared pretty, they noticed, tall with blonde hair and an easy confidence. Their gazes swung towards the conference room, where Jules stood in the doorway, lost in thought.
Ed Lane, team leader and tactical leader, broke away from the group, striding over to Jules.
"Hey Jules," he greeted. "Who, uh, who was that?" He inquired.
"Oh, her?" Jules responded. "She's just an old friend."
When Jules seemed reticent to offer any more information on this "old friend", he raised an eyebrow.
"And this old friend's name is…?" He prompted. Jules sighed.
"Gretchen Sean. Friends since childhood," she murmured.
He nodded in affirmation, and privately noted to research the name later.
"Well then go suit up, we're about to go over the day's plans and expectations," he instructed her. She bobbed her head and ran off to do as ordered.
The day passed rapidly, dread and anticipation raging within Jules. She experienced difficulty in taking an active role in the day, instead drifting through as if through a dream. Most, if not all, of them realized this and became concerned.
No one felt greater relief than Jules at the day's end. She sighed contentedly upon entering the locker room, hurriedly stripping before re-dressing.
Ed approached Spike in the locker room.
"Spike," he murmured. "I need ya to run a name for me. Gretchen Sean."
Spike stared at his TL for a moment, confused by the request, but nodded anyways. He sat down on a bench, and slid a shiny laptop out of its protective case. Rapidly, his fingers danced over the keys, locating results within seconds.
"Gretchen Sean," the young Italian gestured. "Born and raised in La Crosse, WI. She went to Concordia College, graduated with a degree in Early Childhood Education. Parents are still living, and….oh," he halted all speech.
"What?" Ed questioned, confused.
"It says here that she ran away when she was 16 years old, her and her best friend. They found her a year later at seventeen, but the friend was never found. Says here that Gretchen claims she last saw the friend the night before police found her. She's still listed as missing."
Ed mused over this new piece of information.
"Can you find out the friend's name and what she looked like?" Ed requested.
"Sure," Spike replied, fingers moving over the keys once more. "Name was…Amelia VanBuren, and…," he showed the screen to Ed.
"Look familiar?" He asked.