FF_992224_1063378736 3/18/2013

A/N: AU. I'm feeling generous today, so I'm publishing a little early.

Disclaimer: I don't own Flashpoint

Still, the four were alone when Jules looked up and saw Matt running full out towards them. Dread pooled in her stomach as she took in Matt's pale and tear-streaked face. The others noticed the change in her expression and followed her gaze. Sarah gasped in shock and Pete and Justin's expressions grew grim.

"Pete," Jules snapped. When he turned his attention to her, she tossed him her keys. "There's a lockbox in Sam's truck. I'll need the Remy and ammunition you'll find there."

Pete nodded and took off without saying a word.

Justin had moved to intercept Matt. Picking him up, he quickly carried him to Jules and Sarah. "Breathe, Mattie," he encouraged gently. "It's ok, just breathe." When Matt had calmed slightly, Jules took over.

"What happened, Matt? Where are your sisters and Uncle Sam?" Jules queried gently.

"The bad men took Uncle Sam," Matt blurted, tears streaming down his face.

"Where are your sisters?" Justin asked, keeping his voice soft, but his eyes were frantic.

"They're with Uncle Frank and Uncle Sean," Matt said, pointing back the way he'd come, where Frank Mueller and Sean Morrissey were bringing the girls toward their parents.

Justin sagged in relief for just a moment, before turning his attention back to Matt. "Where did the bad men take Uncle Sam?" he asked.

"They hitted him over the head with a branch," Matt said, holding back his sobs bravely. "He foughted them, but they got him down."

"Where, Matt?" Jules asked, keeping her voice calm and gentle. Her phone was in her hand, texting the Team One Sergeant, even as she soothed information from the young boy.

"In the trees," Matt said, calming even more. He smoothed out the dirt and drew a small map with his finger. Jules was impressed. "Uncle Sammy always tells us the boundaries with a map like this," Matt explained. "So's we know the rules."

"How many bad men did you see, Matt?" Jules needed as much information as she could get, even though she felt guilty for pushing the obviously traumatized young boy. She quickly took a picture of Matt's map and sent that after the text.

"I saw two," Matt said. He reached out to Jules. "They both had hand guns and rifles. And one of them had a heavy backpack."

"Good job, Matt," Jules praised, tousling his hair just like Sam had earlier. She desperately hoped that wouldn't be the last time he was able to do that.

She turned and met up with Pete as he hurried back with the Remy in its case. Accepting the rifle, she quickly jogged toward the location Matt had indicated. She could feel Pete and Justin following. As she moved, Jules opened a pocket in the rifle case and pulled out an earpiece. Slipping it into place without missing a step, she said quietly, "I'm online." Jules silently sighed with relief as she heard the reassuring voices in her ear, relaying their close positions. She responded by passing on Matt's information regarding Sam's assailants.

Sam couldn't hold back his cries of pain as one of his attackers kicked him for several moments, while the other set up the camera. Fear coated his throat and tears threatened at his eyes when he was pulled into a kneeling position. His breath stuttered in his throat for a moment, while his mind flashed back to what had almost happened a week ago. And then he took control and forced the images and feelings back. If he wanted to have a chance to survive this, Sam had to be clear-headed and ready to act.

Sam steeled himself and yet forced his body to be as loose as it could, bound and hurting as he was. He knew he might only have micro-seconds to act and his reflexes and mind must be ready. He forced himself not to react as his attackers discussed the best camera angles to record his execution. He had to fight his natural inclination to pull away when the gun was placed against his left temple. It was totally surreal: to be back in this situation again within a week. Sam knew it was a clue as to who was behind this, but he couldn't focus on that now. Now he had to focus on staying alive.

"Hurry up," the voice near his left shoulder growled. "Anyone could show up at any time. We need to get this done and get gone."

"Almost there," the other voice replied.

There was a moment of startled reaction when suddenly voices yelled, "SRU, freeze! Drop your guns! Let me see your hands!"

That frozen moment was what Sam was waiting for. He quickly fell slightly backward and to his right, pivoting: first on his knees, and then on his hips, swiveling his feet towards the subject on his left. The gun went off, but not before Sam's feet had swept the subject's feet out from under him. The bullet went into the ground in front of Sam, and he lay there in agony as his teammates swiftly took down the two men who threatened him. Sam's teeth were clenched into the fabric of his gag to hold back the cries of pain that fought to get free. The agony burned in his shoulder, moving out in throbbing waves from his broken bones that had grated together with his quick movement.

Jules, Pete and Justin had stopped short when they came into view of Sam and the two subjects. Jules quickly stripped the rifle from its case, bringing it up and into place in one graceful movement. "I have the solution," she said quietly, forcing herself to ignore the man who had become her life as he knelt there with the gun at his head. Her rifle was aimed at the man behind the camera. It was one of the hardest things she had to do: ignore the man threatening Sam to focus on the other. But she did. She trusted her teammates with her life, which meant she also trusted them with Sam's.

Jules and the two military officers stood firm as the rest of Team One burst into view shouting. Pete whistled and Justin let out an admiring curse as they watched Sam's movement to free himself.

A/N: Next installment - next week. I don't know how realistic this is, but that's why they call it fiction - right?