Jules put a comforting hand on Leah's back and sat on the arm of the couch. She looked at Greg. "Read it again Boss." she whispered.

Greg read through the transcript again and looked at Leah when he read the part where the subject leaned on the hostage's leg, the hostage lashed out which made the subject point his gun at the subject's head.

"The hostage was being threatened." Leah nodded and sniffed as she held Greg's gaze.

"It hurts to have to take a life to save a life. It doesn't seem fair or right, but it's our job." Jules kept her hand on Leah's back. She could see that Leah was processing what they were saying and she was glad. Sam was really worried when Leah missed debrief this morning and hadn't answered any of their calls or texts today. Sam had been insistent that Leah needed their help, even when the others thought that Sam was overreacting. She was glad he'd said something. He was right.

After several minutes, Leah nodded. She got it. She looked at Jules and blew out a breath. She was glad they'd come over to debrief. She wondered again what her parents would think of what she did. She stood as best she could and grabbed her crutches. She looked at Jules. "Can you grab my prescription? I need to lie down."

"Sure." Jules nodded and shot Sam a look, tipping her head to the kitchen.

Sam stood and followed her while the Boss and Wordy walked Leah to the spare bedroom.

As she opened the pills and pulled out two, Jules looked at Sam. He was a little too close, she could smell his aftershave. She loved that smell, but willed herself to ignore it. She opened the fridge and pulled out a water.

"I think she'll be ok now." Sam said as he watched Jules. He couldn't help but look at her butt when she turned to open the fridge, but he forced myself to look away and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah." Jules nodded. "I'm going to sleep on the couch, just in case. Tomorrow is going to be tough."

"I stopped at my apartment and grabbed a bag. I'll stay on the couch. That way I can take her to the hearing. I already cleared it with the Boss. You're going to train tomorrow." He saw a look cross her face. "Is that ok?" He wondered what that look meant.

"Of course." Jules shrugged. She could deal with him here for one night. She just hoped he still didn't sleep naked. She turned and walked to the spare room before he saw her thoughts on her face. He could always tell what she was thinking. She knocked softly on the door and opened it when she heard Leah say "come in". She walked to the bed and handed the pills and water to Leah. She sat on the edge of the bed as she watched Leah take the meds. "Anything else you need?"

"No. Thanks." Leah gave her a small smile.

"Ok. You want Szechwan for supper?" Jules raised a brow.

"Sure." Leah nodded.

Jules stood. She could see that the med was making Leah sleepy and that her teammate needed some time alone. "I'll let you get some rest and will wake you when supper gets here."

"Ok." Leah leaned her head back into the pillows and looked up. She heard Jules leave but continued to stare at the ceiling. The tears started again and she let them fall. It hurt so much to think of the subject's family, how much this must be hurting them. They didn't have anything to do with it and she couldn't blame them for being angry. She cried for them, for her, until she finally fell asleep.

"See you tomorrow." Jules said as Ed, Greg, Wordy and Spike left.

"Let us know if you need anything." Greg smiled. He wondered if their rookie was really going to be ok. And, if Jules and Sam were going to be ok with Sam staying the night on the couch.

"Thanks." Jules smiled. She looked at Sam and they went inside.

"You sure you're ok with me staying the night?" Sam looked at her. He knew it'd be hard for him, knowing she was upstairs wearing one of her cute little sleep outfits or nothing at all. A certain part of him reacted and he had to switch his train of thought to something else.

"Sure." Jules nodded. She could deal with this. He was her best friend. It was just a friend helping out a fellow friend and teammate. Oh GOD please don't let him sleep naked! No, she thought, above all he's a gentleman and wouldn't do that. They walked to the living room and they sat on the couch in companionable silence, watching a movie. When she came back from the bathroom, Sam was gone. She stopped at the door of the spare room and heard him talking. She moved back to the couch and sat down. When he emerged ten minutes later she smiled at him. It was awesome how he was helping Leah.

"Nightmare, but she's ok. She fell back asleep." Sam said as he sat back on the couch.

Jules smiled at him. "You're a good friend."

"Thanks Jules." Sam gave her a lopsided grin. He was glad he could help. He knew better than anyone what it felt like to take a life, whether it was justified or not.

##### 30 minutes later #####

Leah laid in bed, wide awake. She was looking up at the ceiling, trying to forget the nightmare she had. She was embarrassed when she woke with a gasp and Sam was sitting on the bed trying to wake her. She'd tried to cover the nightmare, but he knew. She'd appreciated him talking about his first lethal. He said he still thought about it sometimes, but he'd made his peace with it. She was surprised when he said he was staying the night and would be here if she needed. It made her smile now. It felt good to know that they were starting to accept her and make her feel like part of their team.

She knew going in that they were a very tight unit. It didn't take a genius to to see it. The way they talked to each other, teased and worked together was definitely something special. She sat up with a groan and swung her injured leg so her foot was touching the floor. She winced when she felt a small headache starting. She looked up when there was a knock on the door. "Decent!" She called and then blushed.

Jules walked in and lifted a brow at the embarrassed look on Leah's face.

"Automatic answer." Leah explained. She took the crutches from Jules and stood with a wince.

"You need another dose?" Jules asked as she walked with Leah to the bathroom. "I can call the doc and see if he can increase the dose."

"Just a headache." Leah shook her head slightly. She hobbled into the bathroom and closed the door. A few minutes later she emerged and saw Jules was waiting.

"Sam went to get supper." Jules walked forward and then walked with Leah to the living room. "We'll eat in here."

"I can make it to the dining room." Leah said incredulously.

"That's ok. I eat in here all the time. We were thinking of watching the game. Maple Leafs at the Canucks." Jules waved a hand dismissively and followed Leah to the couch. She waited while Leah got situated with her leg on the ottoman, then went to the kitchen. She came back ten minutes later with an ice pack, water and ibuprofen which she handed to Leah. "The doc said this should help your headache, but that if it gets worse I should bring you in."

"Thanks." Leah smiled. "That won't be necessary though. This should fix it." She undid the velcro straps and took the brace off. She gently put the ice pack on her knee and sucked in a breath at the coldness of it. She threw back the pills and washed them down with the water. She took the ice off when Sam walked in with their food.

Sam put the food boxes on the coffee table and stole a look at Leah. She looked ok, a little pained. He didn't want to ask though, he knew how it felt to be mother henned.

Jules brought plates, silverware and napkins from the kitchen and put them on the table. She scooped food onto Leah's plate as she chose what she wanted from the containers.

Once they had food, they settled in to watch the game. They paused it awhile later and Sam insisted he clean up the mess. It only took him a few minutes to wash the dishes. When he came back, Jules put a finger to her lips and pointed at Leah who was sound asleep.

"No. No. I know. I'm sorry. I'M SORRY!" Leah yelled several minutes later and opened her eyes. She blew out a breath and put a hand to her heart. Oh shit, she thought, that was far too real. She felt a hand on her arm and saw Jules and Sam looking at her. "Sorry."

"It's ok." Jules nodded. "You want to talk about it?"

She blew out a breath and wondered if she should mention the call she received. Probably, Leah thought. If the person keeps calling or threatens her or the team, they'd need to know. She looked between the two of them. "I got a call yesterday. I think it was the subject's mother."

Sam frowned. "What did she say?" This wasn't good.

"That I killed her son before he had a chance to get help." Leah bowed her head. "And that she didn't accept my apology or condolences. That she wanted her son back and I was heartless for, uh, for killing him."

"That must've been very hard to hear." Sam nodded.

"Yeah." Leah didn't lift her head. She frowned and looked at them. "Does it ever get easier?"

"Unfortunately, no. But you find a way to make peace with it because we have to. Otherwise, we can't do our job." Jules said gently. "I focus on the ones we could save. Knowing that we were able to help them in the worst moment of their life keeps me going."

Sam nodded in agreement. "That officer would've died. He was bleeding profusely. The hospital said the bullet just nicked the major artery. He was bleeding out in front of us."

Leah could see where they were going with this. She saved the hostage. She did what she had to because it's her job. The reason she wanted this job was because she wanted to help people even more than as a firefighter or EMT. To hopefully stop people from causing harm to others, not clean up the carnage. She looked at them both meaningfully. "Thank you. I better get to bed." She stood as best she could and smiled when Sam was at her side as she crutched to the bedroom.

He looked at Leah as they made their way to the bedroom and could see that something had clicked with her. She definitely was going to be ok now. Sam watched her crutch to the bed and sit down. "You gonna be ok?" He asked even though he knew the answer.

"Definitely." Leah answered confidently. "I guess I just needed a reminder of why I do this job."

"Which is?" He leaned against the dresser.

"When I was an EMT and then a firefighter, I was doing what I love which is helping people. But, I got tired of always being a step behind, the one left to clean up the mess other people left in their wake. I wanted to do something before there was a mess. Help people at the moment when they really needed it and prevent the mess altogether if possible. That's why I became a police officer and tried out for the SRU." Leah explained.

"And you're glad you did?" Sam asked tentively.

"Yes." Leah tipped her head down and smiled. "I'm sure there will be other days like this, but now I know I have friends I can lean on."

"Anytime you need." Sam smiled. He was relieved. He knew tomorrow would still be hard for her, it always was, but at least now she had a better handle on it.

"Thank you. For everything. I appreciate you worrying about me and wanting to help me." She said meaningfully.

"What are friends for?" Sam gave her a smile and stood from the dresser. "Anything you need before I go?"

Leah shook her head. "I'm good."

##### 2 weeks later #####

Leah sat in the truck with Spike, bored out of her mind. She frowned at the brace on her leg. I'm so sick of this thing, she thought angrily. Thank god she was getting the results of her MRI today. Dr. Fraser said she would call some time this afternoon to let Leah know if she could start taking the brace off for long periods. if the doctor said the ACL was healing and PT signed off, she could come off light duty.

She was already secretly doing her own PT at home since she had started college to be a physical therapist. She walked, carefully, down to her basement every morning and did leg stretches and strengthening for her knee. She wasn't allowed to work out with the team so she did it at home.

It was going great until she was late to work one morning and they all showed up at her house. Sam found her in the basement and chewed her out for thinking she knew more than the doctors. That had caused Ed to laugh and ask Sam whether he wanted to be the pot or the kettle since Sam had done the same thing more times than any of them could count.

That didn't, however, get Leah out of getting a strict talking to by Ed and Greg who warned her they would keep her in the truck indefinitely if she kept it up. So here she was hanging in the truck with Spike, which really wasn't that bad since Spike was so funny, waiting for the phone to ring.

When it finally did ring, she nearly jumped out of her skin. She pulled the phone out of her pocket and fumbled it in her hands before finally getting a good grip on it and hitting the button. She glared at Spike who was laughing hysterically at her and said, "Constable Kearns."

"Hi Constable, this is Doctor Fraser. How is your knee feeling?"

"Really ready to be out of this brace." Leah answered.

"Well good, because I've looked at your MRI and spoken to your physical therapist. We agree that as long as you take it easy for a little while longer, you should be good to go."

"How much longer?" Leah sagged in the chair and rolled her eyes. She was going to kill her physical therapist David. He'd said at their last appointment that she was a rock star and would do fine. He didn't schedule any more appointments for her.

Spike put a hand on Leah's. He could see that she wasn't getting good news. He ignored everyone in his ear asking what the doctor said. "Hold on guys." He said quietly.

"How much longer are you on shift this week?"

Leah felt a ray of hope. "Four more days."

"Ok. Light duty for the rest of this week, then you can start working out with your team. But if you feel even a slight twinge, you are to tell your Sergeant and go back on light duty. And I will be checking in from time to time, you understand?"

"Yes. Thank you Dr. Fraser." Leah couldn't keep the huge smile from her face. She ripped the velcro straps on the leg brace open and threw it on the floor of the truck. "Woo hooo!" She shouted and hugged Spike when he stood up.

"No more leg brace?" Spike asked excitedly.

"Nope!" Leah put her arms out and laughed.

Suddenly the door to the truck opened and the rest of the team was standing there smiling, their arms around each other. "Not until we get an official report from the doctor Kearns." Ed said as gruffly as he could as he picked the brace up from the floor and handed it to her.

"Aww." Wordy, Spike, Sam and Jules said together and pouted at Ed.

"Just kidding." Ed smiled. "We're so glad you were cleared at the hearing and now can rejoin us in the field. Although it was good for Wordy and Jules to try to keep up with Sam as he chased down subjects."

"Yeah, I need a vacation from chasing." Wordy faked being tired.

"Me too." Jules leaned into Wordy and they pretended to collapse together.

"Yeah well I'm still on light duty for the rest of the week so don't throw in the towel yet." Leah laughed as she carefully walked down the steps. "Uh oh. Speak of the devil." She chuckled as a subject pulled from the officer trying to get him in a cruiser and took off down the street.

Wordy and Jules looked at Sam who just smiled and put his hand out towards the escaping subject. Both groaned and shot Sam a dirty look as they took off after the handcuffed subject, catching him a few moments later.

AN: My muse did it! Lol. She gave me the idea for this story and wouldn't let it go. I'm not a huge fan of the Leah character. I feel like the actress did a good job, but we didn't know much about her. I wanted to explore that a little and find out what she would do after her first lethal. I hope you liked it. Please drop me a line one way or another. Ps. I'll be finishing Fires of the Past shortly. I'm back from vacation so please keep being patient! Thank you!