Disclaimer: You should know by now that I don't own Flashpoint, or much of anything at all, really.

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who read and especially for the great feedback from those of you who reviewed! It helps keeps me going. For some reason, this was a really tough chapter for me to write and I'm not entirely convinced I like it; I'm not sure how well the SIU interview works, and the pacing seems off. You'll have to let me know if it works for you or not.

Cliff drove the 401 east to the Don Valley Parkway, taking the longer way home so he could stay off the surface streets where there was a better chance of being seen by cops. About half-an-hour later, he got off the parkway and eventually abandoned the stolen car several blocks northwest of his home and walked the rest of the way, keeping as much to the shadows as possible. As he neared his apartment building, he noticed a police cruiser parked on the street in front, stopping him in his tracks. He immediately turned around and walked back the way he'd come, desperately trying to come up with a Plan B.

Ed Lane stood by his boss' SUV, cell phone pressed to his ear while he watched his boss, Sergeant Greg Parker, talk to an EMT who was treating his friend and teammate for a gunshot wound in his shoulder. He had called his former teammate and best friend, Kevin "Wordy" Wordsworth, now with the Guns and Gangs unit, for information that might help them find the young man who had shot their fellow officer and was waiting for Wordy to get that information.

Jules Callaghan had stepped away to call the North York PD sergeant who was assisting with their search and she now returned to the other two SRU officers who stood a few feet away from Ed at the back of the SUV. She turned her radio mic on and informed the team that Sergeant Davis had reported no further sightings of the subject, which meant that Cliff Collins had gotten through the police cordon and had indeed escaped.

Ed took in Jules' information without comment and continued to watch as the team sergeant got an update on Spike's condition from the medical technician. Ed saw the Sarge nod to the tech who was fitting a sling around Scarlatti's wounded left arm. He was just helping their friend to his feet when a dark colored sedan pulled up and came to a stop in the industrial lot. Two men in suits got out of the car. One of the men was Metro PD Inspector Stainton. The other, Ed recognized as agent Blair Kowalski of the Special Investigations Unit.

The two men made their way over to the SUV and spoke to the three officers standing there. Ed heard them ask for the boss and explain that they would need to speak with the subject officer as well as any witness officers. Ed watched as Sam nodded toward the sergeant who was now leading Spike over to the group. Though he wanted to continue listening in on the conversation a few feet away from him, Ed had to focus on his cell phone call instead as Wordy came back on the line.

"Okay," he began, "DeShawn Stanley, 25 years old, formed the King Street Disciples just three years ago. Looks like they're an offshoot of the Moss Park crew. Stanley started out with them when he was 15 and quickly rose up the ranks to become one of the lieutenants running the gang. He was in charge of the heroin trade and guns in the neighborhood."

Ed Lane nodded though he knew his friend couldn't see him. "So, he manages to split with Moss Park and start his own gang? How does that happen?" he asked.

"Three years ago, Stanley and another Moss Park lieutenant, Anton Dvorjic, both tried to take over after the leader was killed in a drive-by. They fought over leadership of the crew until Stanley left with a small corps of Moss Park soldiers. He moved farther southeast and set up shop down on King Street East," Wordy informed him.

"Word is Stanley's a real badass. Some even think he's the one who contracted the drive-by as a power play. He has a reputation for eliminating snitches and anyone who steals from his operations."

"Okay, what about a Clifford Collins? You got anything on him?" asked Ed.

Wordy typed the name into a search window. "Clifford Collins, nineteen-years-old, lives at 122 Mill Street, apartment 44. Started running with the King Street Disciples a little over two years ago. Looks like he was recruited by DeShawn Stanley himself. He was wanted in connection with an assault about six months ago. According to the police report, he beat a sixteen-year-old with a pipe, almost killed him, but it didn't stick; no one in the neighborhood would ID him. The case is still open, though."

"Wordy," Ed asked, "you got an address on DeShawn Stanley?"

His friend checked the file carefully. "Yep," he answered, "last known address is 370 King Street East, apartment 12."

"Okay. Listen, I'm really sorry for waking you up," Ed apologized, "but, thanks, buddy."

"Hey, no worries," replied Wordy, "I just hope Spike's okay. And, tell him…" he sighed, "just tell him I'm here," he said, recalling the offer to listen Spike had given him the night everything had changed for him and the team so many months ago.

"You got it, Wordy. Good night."

"Yeah, you, too."

Ed ended the call and quickly made another one before pocketing his phone and turning his attention back to the inspector and SIU agent. Jules had handed over Spike's bagged weapons and gear, which Stainton and Kowalski placed in the trunk of the sedan while Spike and Raf got in the back seat. Ed noted that Spike's expression hadn't changed. He walked over to the three remaining team members as the sedan left the back lot.

"Greg" he addressed the team sergeant, "how's Spike?"

"Hey, Eddie," Greg replied, weariness evident in his voice, "he's got a through-and-through, but he's going to need x-rays and an MRI when he's done with SIU," he informed the rest of the team, avoiding the real question in the team leader's eyes.

"And?" Ed pressed.

"And, he's still not talking, Eddie." The assembled team shared a concerned look. All four of them had at one time or another during their careers had to use lethal force, so they all knew what their teammate was facing psychologically. But, none of them had ever shot a minor in the line of duty. They could only imagine the level of guilt Spike would be feeling.

"Was Wordy able to give you anything we can use?" Greg asked.

Ed nodded, relaying the information he'd gotten from their former teammate.

"So, it sounds like this DeShawn Stanley isn't someone Cliff Collins would want to cross," Greg surmised.

Jules shook her head. "There's something we're missing here," she said. "Why would Cliff Collins and his little brother break into their mother's repossessed car in the middle of the night?"

"And, what does it have to do with DeShawn Stanley and the King Street Disciples?" asked Sam.

"Well," offered Ed, "maybe there's something in the car that they wanted."

"Or needed," added Jules.

"Something that belonged to Stanley, maybe?" Sam supposed.

Greg shook his head. "We need more information."

Silence reigned inside the sedan as it traveled along the darkened city streets, the streetlights highlighting the faces of the four men staring out their respective windows. Raf sat in the back seat watching the homes and businesses passing by as they made their way south toward the city center. Every now and then, he would glance over to his left, hoping to catch his partner's eye so he could gauge how the other man was holding up. However, Spike never turned his head; he simply stared unseeingly out the other window.

They were nearing the halfway mark when the oppressive silence got the better of Raf. He turned to his teammate again.

"Spike," he whispered, hazarding a quick glance at the two agents in the front seat. He was rewarded with a sideways glance from the other SRU officer just as Inspector Stainton looked back at them through the rear-view mirror.

"You okay, Spike?" asked Raf quietly. He glanced up front again and saw Stainton watching the two of them.

It was several seconds before Spike answered. "I shot a kid," he spoke miserably. "Would you be okay with that, Raf?"

The newest member of Team One swallowed hard. He had had a tough time dealing with his first lethal shot not that long ago and he had felt completely justified. He had been forced to shoot a terrorist that had taken a plane full of people hostage. The woman had raised her handgun at him after Team One had re-taken the plane and Raf had had no choice but to take her out. But, those terrorists had been adults, not kids.

"It's not your fault, man," he told Spike.

"Officer Rousseau," warned Stainton with a shake of his head.

Raf pursed his lips and turned back to his friend. Spike just shook his head and went back to staring out the side window with no further comment. The silence returned and stayed for the rest of the drive to SIU headquarters.

When they arrived, the two agents retrieved the evidence from the trunk and, after stopping at another office to retrieve the current case file and transcripts, led the officers to an upper floor and then down a couple corridors. Eventually, Stainton and Kowalski stopped at a pair of doors on opposite sides of the hallway. Inspector Stainton opened one of the doors and motioned inside.

"Officer Rousseau," he waved the young officer into the small conference room. With a look at his friend, Raf turned and entered the room with Stainton following and closing the door behind them.

Agent Kowalski opened the other door and motioned Spike inside.

"Officer Scarlatti," he said.

Spike took a deep breath and stepped into the room. The first thing he noticed was the city lights and the CN Tower in the distance through the large window on the opposite wall. He might have thought the view striking if he had been in anything close to a normal state of mind, but as it was, he barely registered the fact that he was downtown.

Kowalski motioned him to the other side of the table that sat in the middle of the room.

"Have a seat, Officer Scarlatti," he said as he placed the evidence bags and then his briefcase on the table and opened it. He took out a legal pad and pen and placed them on the table next to the briefcase. He then took out two file folders and placed them on top of the legal pad before closing the briefcase and setting it on the floor next the table. He sat down and retrieved a pre-printed form from one of the file folders, checked his watch and started filling out the form, noting the time and other details he would need for his investigation. He then quickly read the case file and transcripts to familiarize himself with what had transpired.

After a few minutes, he was ready to start. He looked up at the SRU officer who still stood stiffly on the other side of the room. Truth be told, he felt bad for Scarlatti. Kowalski knew him by reputation only, but the man's reputation was almost beyond reproach; he had even been honored with an award for valor the previous year. With a mental sigh, Kowalski tamped down on his personal feelings and set his mind on getting his job done, as unpleasant as that job may be.

"Officer Scarlatti?" he tried to get the man's attention.

Slowly, Spike turned away from the window to look at him.

Glancing at the evidence bags and taking stock of what he already had, he gestured toward the SRU officer. "I'll need your boots and your pants," he said. "Do you have a change of clothes?"

Spike started to shake his head when the door opened and a brown-haired, balding and slightly pudgy man in a dark suit walked in. The man carried a file folder in one hand and a bag in the other, which he tossed onto the table.

"You weren't going to start without me again, were you, Blair?" the man asked with a glance at the SIU investigator.

He then turned to the half-uniformed officer. Extending his hand he said, "Frank McAndrew, I'm your attorney."

He shook Spike's hand and leaned in close to him. "Ed Lane called me; said you needed some help. You know you don't have to talk to this guy if you don't want to," he said conspiratorially. "Any question you don't want to answer, you just let me handle it, okay?" With a nod, he turned back to Kowalski.

"So, Blair," he said with a shrug of his shoulders, "what are we looking at here?" He sat down opposite the SIU agent and opened the file folder he held. He, too, quickly got up to speed with what had happened as Spike bent down to remove the rest of his uniform. He moved slowly, stiffly as he fumbled to untie the laces using just his right hand. The same went with the button and zipper on the pants. With his arm in the sling, he could only do so much with it.

As Spike finally placed the pants on the table, McAndrew waved a hand at the bag. "Change of clothes for you, Scarlatti," he said, not taking his eyes off the document he was reading.

Spike pulled out the chair next to McAndrew and sat down to pull on his jeans. When he was once again fully dressed, he looked between the two other men and tried to keep his steadily rising anxiety from showing on his face. He had no idea what to expect, except that it wasn't going to be good. He knew that a cop shooting a kid under any circumstances was very bad.

"Okay," Kowalski began, looking over at Spike, "why don't you walk us through what happened tonight, Officer Scarlatti?"

"Come on, Blair," McAndrew spoke before Spike had a chance to react. "We've both read the transcript just now. You've got it right there in front of you," he said. "Do you really need him to go through it step by step?"

"SRU was called in to search for two gunmen after a security guard and a North York Police officer were reported shot. The security guard was dead," Spike spoke in a low monotone. "Officer Rousseau and I were searching a back lot when we came across two subjects matching the description of the gunmen. We identified ourselves as SRU and ordered the two subjects to drop their weapons and surrender. Instead, as the two subjects fled, they fired two shots at Officer Rousseau and myself. I was hit in the shoulder, but continued pursuit."

He took a breath, "We chased them around an outbuilding and one of them turned and raised his weapon to shoot again. I fired my MP5, hitting the subject twice in the chest."

He paused, hanging his head and closing his eyes for a moment. When he continued, his voice was thick with emotion. "I didn't find out until afterward that the subject was a kid," he said softly. "When I did, I immediately called for EMS and administered first-aid."

The attorney and SIU agent had been silent during Spike's monologue. When the officer was silent for a couple of minutes, McAndrew turned to the SIU agent.

"Clearly, force was necessary and Officer Scarlatti did everything he could to save the kid," he said.

"Except he shot the kid," Kowalski pointed out.

"Because the kid was going to shoot him. Again, I might add!"

"The kid had a pellet gun, Frank!"

"Scarlatti couldn't have known that!" McAndrew replied.

Kowalski turned to Scarlatti, "What exactly did you see just before you fired your weapon?" he asked.

Spike thought back for a moment. "He was just turning the corner around the building," he said slowly. "I couldn't see his face; he had the hood up to cover it and he was mostly in shadow. But, I could see his arm come up and he pointed his gun right at me."

"Can you describe the gun he had?" asked Kowalski.

"It was all black," replied Spike. "Semi-automatic; it looked like a standard size Glock."

"You didn't see any orange on the tip of the gun?"

Spike shook his head. "It was all black," he reiterated. "Like I said, it looked exactly like a Glock."

McAndrew laid his hands out on the table, palms up. "See? It looked exactly like a real gun," he said pointedly. "Scarlatti did what he had to do to protect himself and his partner. Are we done here?"

"Not so fast, Frank," the SIU agent shook his head as he consulted the transcript again. He looked up at the focus of his investigation again.

"Officer Scarlatti," he said, "you stated that when you first came across the two subjects, you and Officer Rousseau identified yourselves as SRU and you ordered them to drop their weapons, is that correct?"

Spike nodded, wondering where the man was going with this. "That's right," he said.

Kowalski nodded back. "Okay, when you saw the subject raise his gun, right before you shot him," he paused and looked directly in Spike's eyes, "did you again order him to put the weapon down? Did you warn him that you would shoot him if he didn't?"

Spike sucked in a breath and felt his eyes widen with the realization that he indeed hadn't ordered the weapon down right before taking the shot. He turned to his attorney with a pleading look. McAndrew virtually pounced on the investigator.

"He didn't have to!" he nearly shouted in exasperation. Kowalski sat back with an 'are you kidding me?' look on his face.

The attorney shook his head and stood up. Placing both hands on the table in front of Kowalski, he leaned down to look him in the eye.

"These thugs had already shot three people, including Officer Scarlatti!" he argued. "One of those three people was killed. Officer Scarlatti had already ordered these dirt bags to lower their weapons and surrender. He was in no way obligated to do so again." McAndrew sat down in a huff.

Unperturbed, Kowalski continued questioning Spike.

"Officer Scarlatti," he looked again at the officer. "Did your commanding officer give you the order to shoot the subject?"

"Again," McAndrew jumped in immediately, "he didn't need it!" He waved a hand at the file folders in front of the SIU agent.

"Get the use of force wheel out. The subject was in Red Condition," he continued. "An explicit order to shoot was not necessary for Officer Scarlatti to take appropriate action to protect himself and his partner."

Kowalski took out a sheet of paper showing the various threat conditions and the appropriate responses the SRU officers were trained to use. He placed it on the table in front of Spike.

McAndrew waved his hand at Scarlatti. "Go on, show him," he insisted. When Spike pointed to the top threat level, labeled and colored Red, which listed imminent danger to a hostage or police officer, the attorney stood up and started gathering his things.

"We're done," he stated matter-of-factly. He turned to Spike who still sat looking somewhat bewildered between the two men.

"Come on," Frank gestured toward the officer, "I'll give you and Rousseau a ride."

A/N: So, there you have it, Spike made it through his SIU interview. I wanted to make the SIU stance a little harder, but I guess I'm just a bit sympathetic to Spike! Thanks again for reading and let me know what you think. - Psy