I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed so far, out of all the stories I have written these ones have been the most encouraging.
So a big thank you to: emic, D, F-Riviera, KateEals, Anglelinsydney, Gifu, and fierandice1986 also a shout out to those who have placed the story in their favourites and/or alerts. Here's chapter two.
-Chapter Two-
The team were in a state of shock. They were gathered around one of the police cars that spotted the area.
Ed was at the head of the group standing beside Greg, eyes still trained on the truck as if his stare was the only thing that was keeping the truck where it was and not burst into flames and disappear.
Sam and Jules were standing on one side of the police car their shoulder touching each over with a delicate touch. Jules head was cast down eyes following her fingers as she played with the fabric of her glove as Sam kept his eyes focused on the phone that now lay on the bonnet of the car she was worried that he would burn a hole through it if he could.
Lew and Wordy were on the other side of the car. Lew had an expression that could only be described as pissed-concerned-deadly on his face, arms crossed tightly against his chest eyes opening and closing in quick motion. Wordy stood dead still not even sway with the picked up wind. He too would look over to the truck every now and then, but for the most part he looked at Greg. He knew that out of all of them this was hitting Greg the most, he was the one in charge of negotiations, he was the one in charge of the team, and he was the one who had to decide to make the hard calls.
"How did this happen?" Lew asked hands slamming against the car bonnet, breaking the silence with a harsh thump.
"I don't know?" Greg replied, leaning more against the car, "what I do know is that we'll get Spike out of this and he'll be making jokes about the whole thing two seconds after. Now does anyone have any ideas about who might be behind this?"
"Are we treating this like any other case?" Jules asked, looking up at the others.
"For the time being," Ed answered, still not turning away from the truck, "until we know more about what we're dealing with in there, we've got to assume that Spike's in there with a potentially second unrelated subject or with an accomplice of the other subject. We have no way of identifying him since all the equipment we'd use is currently in the truck." He left out the part about Spike being the main piece of equipment they would use.
"Okay," Greg continued, "what about entry?"
"We could gas the truck and wait for him to crawl out," Sam said.
"No, the space is too small. We'd run the risk is we enter of putting Spike between our guns and the weapons we've got to assume the subject has." Ed countered. "If we could get some eyes in there we may get some idea on what we're working with. Jules do we have the eye in your SUV?"
"No, it was put in the truck when we dealt with the drug bust yesterday. Besides, you've already pointed out that the 'key piece of equipment', Spike," he spat out getting into Ed's face, "is kind of stuck in the truck!"
"Easy Sam, we're not going to help anyone by arguing," Greg calmed arms raised as if he was talking to a subject."
"I agree with Sam," Lew interrupted, "why don't we just storm the place. There's one subject with at least one gun that we know of, if we go in hard we'll be able to take him down, what the trouble with that!" he argued, voice rising with each syllable of every word.
Greg walked over to him placing a hand on his arm, "Lew, we're all worried about Spike, but right now we have to stay level head, okay? If you can't do that for me, do that for Spike. Got me?"
"Level headed, this is Spike in there. I say we get…" Sam almost shouted. But he was stopped by Wordy's interruption.
He had been silently starring at the ground one hand covering his ear witch had his mic in, "guys be quite," he said both hands now covering his ears, "am I the only one who can hear Spike?"
Everyone quietened.
"…what's all this is about Stuart?"
They all stood speechless as they heard their teammate's delicate voice, barley a whisper over the mics.
"Hold up," Greg said twisting around to stare unbelieving at the shop that had been neglected since they found out about Spike, "Stuarts the brother name!"
"Please Spike be quite, I'm trying to think."
"He sounds different, more stressed and free," Jules inputted, "he's treating Spike as if they were fiends."
"Yea and it's not just the Scarlatti charm that's doing that. We may not have eyes we've got some ears," Wordy said, smiling slight at the thought of Spike finding them a way to listen in.
"Stuart look, we're both stuck here for a while, if you help me understand what's going on I can get my team to help you."
"I've already apologised for dragging you into this, all you have to worry about is that once me and my brother are outta here we'll be a distant memory for you."
"You know that that's not the way this is going to go down."
"Don't push him Spike," Greg warner, hands on hips as he walked looked back at the truck, "keep him calm, don't push him till he attacks."
"You sound like my commanding officer, Spike, and he's an ass so stop sounding like him."
"Do we know who his CO is?" Ed asked, now standing beside Greg. His question was answered with silence, "great!"
"Okay guys this is what we're going to do, Sam find a vantage point so you can keep an eye on the truck and the shop, Lew and Jules I want you to go to the Gideon address I need a profile of their current mental status, Wordy stay here and listen in on Spike, keep me updated. Everyone else change to channel four," grabbing his phone from the bonnet and then changing the channel on his radio he turned to Ed, motioning him to follow.
"Boss," Lew said as he followed them both, "I'd like to stay here."
"I get that your concerned Lew, but I need you to go with Jules," he waited awhile for Lew to move but he stayed in place, "that was an order officer Young!"
"Copy that," Lew said begrudging as Jules came up behind him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Come on Lew, let's go profile."
Spike wasn't sure how long the silence had played in the every decrease space of the truck, it had been long enough for his hand now cuffed to the desk to go completely numb, long enough for his eyes to drift close. But he couldn't sleep. As tempting as it was, he knew he had a probable concussion and sleeping generally frowned upon when dealing with one of those.
Before he had been cuffed he was able to 'tweak' his radio. He hoped it worked and the team where able to head inside the truck, but if his effects where to be any use, he would have to get Stuart talking.
"Stuart," he started before stopping. He wasn't sure how he should handle this. He'd only negotiated twice before, admittedly both times everyone involved had gotten out unscratched (apart from the guy who broke his arm when he jumped from the window and the lady who got a splinter but she doesn't count), but during the training they didn't cover things like this.
"It is Stuart right, Stuart Gideon. I was just reading about you. I'm Michelangelo Scarlatti, my friends call me Spike because of my hair…" he stopped again. This way wasn't working so he had to think of another approach, "Do you mind telling me what all of this is about Stuart?"
"Please Spike be quite, I'm trying to think."
'Hay, Scarlatti, think about using their name as much as you can. You've got to get their attention without being too forceful, using their name is one step towards doing that,' he could hear Greg telling him from one of his very first training exercises. Licking his lips and turning as best he could so he could have Stuart in his field of sight, "Stuart look, we're both stuck here for a while, if you help me understand what's going on I can get my team to help you."
"I've already apologised for dragging you into this, all you have to worry about is that once me and my brother are outta here we'll be a distant memory for you." Stuart replied as he came down to Spikes level.
"You know that that's not the way this is going to end." Once he had said it he regretted it immediately. Preparing Redding himself for an attack that didn't come he looked into Stuarts remorseful eyes; they looked as if they were trapped in a memory that wasn't pleasant.
"You sound like my commanding officer, Spike" Stuart said face lighting up with a smile, "and he's an ass so stop sounding like him."
"I'm Sorry. I didn't mean to upset you, sorry."
"You remind me of someone that I used to work with," Stuart said, kneeling in front of Spike, "He was a bit weird, not that I'm saying you're weird, he was always smiling and asking questions. We named him Pup because he was the youngest and had these deep brown eyes and these dark circles under them that made him look like a puppy. Being the kid he was stereotypically the one who was good with computers. Bit naive about things but that was one of the reason everyone liked him. He was just so nice and likeable, but he's gone now, shoot on patrol by a drug dealer. He didn't deserve to go out like that.
"He was smart, street smart and book smart, this one time he saved my life. We got a call about a man walking around carrying a box with wirers hanging out of it, suspected bomb you know the type. The building we tracked him to, rigged up like an Indian Jones film, trip wires you know, when I walked through the front door three guns went off. If he hadn't of pulled me back then I would have died that day."
"To be honest with you, I think you're lucky. I'm not saying that you've got an easier job, far from it, it's just…" Spike Stopped. He wanted to show the man that he understood the stress he no doubt was going through, but a voice in the back of his head warned him about what he has started reading before this began.
He was saved from continuing as Stuart began talking once more, "I'm envious of you as it goes," he said as he removed the gun he had stuck into the back of his trousers, Spike instinctively shuffled back on the floor, "I wanted to join the Military, but because of my parents I was rejected. The next big thing was the police, you know that it's easier to join the police with a family background like my own then it is to work as a security guard in a mall," he laughed an insane laugh.
"I had your job once," Spike said. He had been trying to reach his keys for his own cuffs but, because of their location, if he moved any more he would alert Stuart to his actions. "Before someone said my talents would be best suited here, with this team, with this family."
"Family," Stuart repeated his face twisting as he stood repeating the word over and over underneath his breath, "family, family, family," the word held a bitter taste in his mouth.
"My family's not the greatest, but no matter what I'll always love em. I'm always trying to keep me brother out of trouble, which is not the job of the youngest, but he's just too dumb to look after himself. He'd date these girls who would use him for the money our family left him. He's only the way he is because he was born addicted to cocaine, started using when he was eleven it was then that I kinder looked after him, you could say we switched roles. I became the oldest and he became the youngest. After our Nan died we were left with our Granddad, real military man, I would give anything to be like him. When my dad turned around and told him he didn't want to join the army, it was the one time I saw my granddadda cry. And then when I was rejected it killed him, I killed my own Grandfather because I wasn't good enough," his hand tightened around the gun.
"Stuart I'm sure it wasn't like that."
"Easy Spike, it's not your fault so why would I take it out on you. God I could use a cigarette," patting around his pockets Stuart let out a deep sigh, "he wouldn't have liked me smoking. If he was alive today he'd have kicked my arse from here to Glasgow," he finished patting around his pockets with a laugh, "hum, must have left them in the car before I came in here. Can you tell I didn't really think this through? Here I am coming up with this brilliant plan to prove myself and I don't even think about all the scenarios that could happen. Now tell me Spike, that family of yours out there you were talking about, would they fight for you?"
Spike finally understood what the red flags had been telling him. Stuart Gideon was clearly not right in the head. He watched as in one split second Stuart changed before him from, dare he say it, happy to full blown manic.
"Because my family," he continued, "I'd fight tooth and nail for them, I would die for them, and at this very second your family are in the way." Before Spike had time to process his head was forced back as another piece of tape was pushed into place over his lips. Stuart picked up the phone that he had left by the still flashing computer, "time to call that 'family' of yours again."
Spike looked on, panic rising more and more each second Stuart paced the room while on the phone. Ten seconds in he knew something had seriously gone wrong.
"Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom, what hole did they pull a worm like you out from. Still crying to the boss every time something doesn't go your way?" He said as he turned back to Spike, rubbing his head with the gun. Spike recognised it as his own, Stuarts silver one lying on the floor close to the door.
"You think I could have killed that kid he was like a brother to me and you think I could have killed him…" Stuart almost yelled before he tossed the phone against the wall.
"How could you let them say something like that," he yelled gun rising so it levelled with Spikes head.
To Be Continued…
There goes the second chapter. Stuarts a real piece of work, but I had fun writing him. I hope I was able to get across what I wanted to get across. The insanity of Stuart, he's clearly not all there.
Please Review, they help.