Author's Notes: I had planned for an additional scene for this chapter but it was already running long so I decided to save it for the next chapter. Right now I think the next chapter will also take us back to the prologue. I really appreciate all the support I've gotten for this story and I hope it continues to strike a chord with you.

Disclaimer: The show Flashpoint and its characters were created by Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern and belong to them and the networks who air the episodes. Since the show has ended, our only way of getting new Flashpoint is through fan fiction. This story is my attempt to help fill the void, and the only profit I make is the warm fuzzy feeling reviews give me. Anything that does not come directly from the show is my own creation and should not be used without my permission.

My World Torn Apart

Chapter 3

"Hello?"

If Sam hadn't heard the subject more or less promise Jules he was going to answer, he would have more than likely dropped the phone in surprised that he'd finally picked up. When he'd first heard the subject snap about Sadie's crying and especially when he heard him refer to her as an it, he'd been ready to burst into the coffee shop with guns blazing. He could usually curb his over protective nature when it came to Jules, knowing that if he went too far, he'd make her mad. Sadie however was a different story. Sam would fight the devil himself if he had to in order to protect his daughter.

"Thank you for picking up. I'm Sam Braddock with the Police Strategic Response Unit. Who am I speaking with?"

"I don't want to talk to you. I only picked up because you were disturbing the baby with the constant ringing."

"I'm glad you did pick up. Sounds like you are concerned about the baby. I'm concerned about everyone in the coffee shop with you, including yourself. We can work together to make sure everyone gets out of there safely. Is that what you want?"

"It's not that easy. It's never that easy. You don't care; you're just saying that because you think it's what you think I want to hear. Placate me until I get tired and give up. I'm just an annoying gnat you want to swat so I don't keep aggravating you. Well, I'm not giving up this time. Not when I'm this close. So you might as well just pack up all your people and go away."

"I can't do that. Have my people pull back, that is. Not until everyone in there is out safely. You want us to leave then you're going to have to release your hostages. We were told shots were fired in the coffee shop earlier. Does anyone need medical attention?" He temporarily muted the call. "Winnie…"

"Already on it, Sam. Running a list of all unresolved complaints in the last three months but that's going to be a really long list. It would help if I had some way to narrow things down."

"Copy that. I'll work on it." Sam felt better that Winnie was at the dispatch desk. SRU only hired the best dispatchers but Winnie was definitely the best of the best. She'd worked with them enough to anticipate their needs before they even asked. They never gave her enough credit for it either. "Thanks, Winnie." He took the mute off the cell phone. "Come on, surely you can tell me if anyone's hurt?"

"No, no one's hurt and they won't be either. This will all be over soon, okay? Don't try to come in here because if you do people will get hurt and I don't want that. I just need a little more time."

Time wasn't a usual demand for a subject holding people hostage but it was a demand nevertheless. Sam knew what to do with demands. Ask for something in return before granting any sort of request. Although time wasn't a luxury they had much of. He glanced at his watch. Jules had indicated earlier that they had 98 minutes. Approximately ten minutes had passed since that report. That only left them with 88 minutes until the bomb was set to go off. "You want a little time, huh? We might can do that. If we could do that for you, give you a little bit of time to think without the phone ringing and without us making a move, what could you do in return? As a show of good faith? Maybe you could let a few people go, maybe even that baby you are so concerned about."

Sam didn't feel even the least bit guilty pushing for Sadie's release. Priority of Life called for the safety of civilians first. How much more civilian could a seven month old be, regardless of who her parents were? He could rationalize it even further if pushed; with a baby inside, they were limited with their entry methods. Flash bangs and CS gas were strictly off limits as long as there was a baby in the room.

"I can't do that. Not yet. Nobody can leave until it's time."

Time for what? Sam had never had quite so puzzling a negotiation. He didn't know the who or the why he was dealing with. He couldn't let his frustration get the better of him; too many lives were on the line for him to get caught up in his own doubts. "Why is that? Why is it so important to you that you keep them? We could see in there before you closed those blinds; you've got a crowd. That many people who are scared and nervous can't be easy to keep quiet. You sound like you want time to think; couldn't you think better if you made things calmer for yourself?"

"I told you that isn't happening. So shut up asking. You're the one I can't keep quiet with all the calling and now with the talking."

"How about your name then? Can you at least give me your name? What's the harm in that?"

"Doug. My name is Doug."

First name without a last didn't give him enough to work with but at least it was a start. Maybe it would help Winnie narrow things down some. "Thanks, Doug. So tell me about this time you want. How much time do you need?"

There was a long pause. The only sound Sam could hear either through the headset or the cell phone was Sadie's cries but they even seemed to be lessening. Jules was apparently working her maternal magic on comforting Sadie. No question about it, Jules could definitely handle the baby's tears better than he could. He was impatient, not with Sadie but with the situation itself. It killed him to hear her cry and he wanted to fix whatever was bothering her immediately. Usually that frustration just made Sadie's tears worse rather than better. Jules however took the tears in stride and calmly and patiently offered comfort until Sadie cried herself out. He was feeling the same kind of impatient frustration dealing with Doug now, probably because his hesitation to give them what they needed was putting Sadie and Jules in danger.

"It's all going to be over soon. Just quit calling because the phone is upsetting the baby. I'm not going to hurt innocent people. You don't have any reason to believe me but it's the truth. Can you do that? Can you just leave me alone until I'm ready to talk to you?"

He didn't sound like a man bent on destruction. He sounded almost defeated and sad. Whatever was motivating him was definitely personal; Sam just had to figure out what it was. Holleran motioned for him to mute the line again. Sam did with a frown.

"Sam, it's obvious this guy has trust issues with the police. Normal negotiations aren't going to work with him. Jules and Parker are on the inside and you said yourself you don't think he's made them as cops. He doesn't know Jules's phone is on. Cut him some slack and let them work on him some more."

Sam nodded, taking a steadying breath. "Okay, makes sense." He once again released the mute. "Doug, I'm willing to give you the time but I need something else from you first. Like you said, I have no reason to believe you when you say everyone's okay. Can I speak to one of your hostages for a moment, maybe the mom of the baby you're concerned about? Let her tell me everything is okay?"

"You can't talk to her. She's got her hands full with the baby right now. I'll let you talk to the guy she's with. He can tell you I'm telling the truth." Sam winced as Doug called "Gramps" to the phone. He bet Greg loved that. A moment later the familiar voice came on the line.

"This is Greg Parker."

"Sir, my name is Sam Braddock with the Strategic Response Unit. Everything okay in there?" As many things as Sam wanted to ask Sarge, he couldn't be sure that the subject wasn't listening in.

"Yeah, he's telling the truth. No one's been hurt. He's even letting me talk to you without a gun to my head and without listening in."

Message received, it was safe for him to talk on his side although Greg would still have to carefully phrase his answers. Greg's voice was reassuringly calm, The same voice of reason that had been in Sam's ear from his first day at SRU. He hadn't realized just how much he missed having Greg on a hot call with him. He just wished having him there now was under better circumstances. "We can't get a good read on him and he's not responding to me. We think you or Jules would have a better chance at getting information out of him. You up for that?"

"Yeah, I believe he's telling the truth about not wanting anyone to get hurt."

Sam knew he wouldn't get much more time to talk to Greg but there was one thing more he had to say. He temporarily turned off his mike so the auto transcriber wouldn't pick up his next words. "Tell Jules and Sadie that I love them and that I'm going to do everything possible to get them - to get everyone - out safely."

"I think they already know the importance of that but I'll remind everyone to listen to what he says." Sam could hear the phone being moved and then Doug's voice was back.

"Satisfied?"

"Yeah, thank you for that. I can't guarantee how much time I can give you but I'll do what I can. If you get ready to talk to me, all you have to do is pick up the phone. It's tied directly into mine so you don't even have to dial. Doug, just remember, you've made some bad choices but nothing you can't walk away from yet."

"I'm not too sure of that."

- FP - FP - FP -

Greg waited until Doug had put the receiver down. His last comment concerned him, as he was sure it had Sam as well. A subject who couldn't see a peaceful outcome was dangerous. Someone without hope lost the ability to care what happened to others. Sam was trusting him and Jules to reach Doug, to give him back that hope. Normally he would be very confident of their chances, but today? He wasn't as sure. He glanced back at Jules who had lapsed into full mommy mode in an attempt to settle an unhappy Sadie. The baby needed her full attention at the moment so that left him. Could he do this? It had been over a year since he'd had to run a negotiation more serious than picking his battles with his mostly grown son. What if full mobility wasn't the only thing he'd lost that day on the catwalk? He took a deep breath. "Thank you for letting me reassure him. He really seems to want to end things peacefully. I think you do too. So your name is Doug? I'm Greg, Greg Parker. You mind if I stay over here for a few minutes? Sounds like my goddaughter over there is fighting sleep for all she's worth. My friend Jules might have an easier time getting her quiet if she had a little space." Make sure he knew their names, humanize the hostages because that would make it harder for him to hurt anyone later.

Doug nodded absently. "Yeah, sure. Whatever." Then he pointed to the cane Greg had to use to walk with. "What happened?"

Rule one of negotiating. Never lie to a subject. You always had to tell the truth, just not necessarily the whole truth and nothing but the truth. "Remember the bombings around the city last year? I was injured during all that. Caused permanent damage to my leg."

Doug looked away from Greg toward the bomb sitting near the end of the counter. Then he looked back at Greg guiltily. "I'm sorry you got caught up in this. I meant what I told the cop. It'll be over soon and you won't be hurt."

"I believe you." Greg told him, his voice calm and low. He knew there was a good possibility that Sam wasn't picking up the conversation but that was okay. Once he returned to Jules he could relay any important information then. Doug seemed more nervous now than he had when this first started. Greg wanted to do everything he could to calm things down and get Doug away from those dark thoughts of despair he'd voiced to Sam. "Doug, look around. This room is full of people who are scared and they have a right to be. After those shots you fired earlier and that ominous box you brought in, they actually have a right to be in a full blown panic. They aren't though. Scared as they are, they are calm and that's because of you. You've stayed calm and cool and have given them every reason to think things are going to be okay. They know you don't want to hurt them."

"I didn't have a choice. It was the only way I could make things right."

"Make what right, Doug?"

He shook his head. "I can't say yet. I don't want to listen to you or anyone else trying to talk me out of anything."

Greg nodded. "Don't want to listen or afraid we'd succeed?"

- FP - FP - FP -

"Sam, I ran the name Doug through the system looking for any instances of complaints that were resolved. I've got a thousand hits so far going back three months. Is there any way we can narrow it down even further?"

Sam looked off toward the coffee shop. It had been almost fifteen minutes since he'd agreed to give Doug time. Fifteen minutes where the only sounds that had really come over the headset were his daughter's cries and his wife's soft reassurances and one whispered remark that Greg seemed to be making headway with the subject. Fifteen minutes off the eighty-eight they had remaining before the bomb went off leaving them almost right at an hour before detonation. An hour to get everyone safely out of a situation he still felt like he knew absolutely no useful knowledge about.

"Our subject has a definite beef against someone in that coffee shop. Did you run the list of license plates the uniforms gave you?" When Winnie acknowledged that she had, Sam continued. "Cross reference that list with your Doug list and see if we get any matches." And pray Sarge gets us something more we can use, he added silently.

He returned his attention to the headset, ostensibly listening for any information Greg might have for him but also checking on his family. Jules had managed to soothe Sadie down to whimpers instead of full blown screams.

"I think it's time you went back to your table." There was no mistaking the harder tone in Doug's voice. Sarge had obviously pushed some buttons. The question was, did he get any information in the attempt?

"Everything okay?" Jules sounded a bit concerned but her voice was really low almost to the point that the cell phone barely picked it up. Was she worried about Doug hearing or was Sadie finally just about asleep? How he wished he could see them; hearing they were okay wasn't the same as being able to see it with his own eyes.

"Yeah. Sorry Sam, no joy. Whatever he has planned, I truly don't think he wants anyone else to get hurt. I don't get it though, why bring a bomb unless you want to cause maximum damage?"

"Boss, I think if I had the chance, I could disarm the bomb."

What the hell? Sam swallowed hard. What was she saying? She couldn't. He wanted to scream at her and tell her not to even think about it. He silently begged Greg to talk her out of it.

- FP - FP - FP -

"Boss," Jules spoke softly, not wanting to take the chance that the subject could hear anything she said. "I think if I had the chance, I could disarm the bomb."

"Jules…"

"No, listen, after that day…" Even after a year it was the only way she could refer to the day Marcus Faber had terrorized the city with his bombs, almost costing her two of the most important men in her life - her husband and her mentor. In her mind she'd separated the day into two different events. Her wedding day she could remember and feel with that same flush of love and devotion she'd had for Sam as they said their vows. The rest of the, once that 9-1-1 call came in, was simply "that day." She didn't see that changing no matter how much time passed. "Spike started giving us all a crash course in defusing bombs. He wanted us all to be prepared in case something like that ever happened again. I think he did it because he knew he couldn't take that much responsibility on himself ever again. Before I left on my maternity leave, I had gotten pretty good at it."

She gazed down at her daughter. Sadie had finally drifted off to sleep, her lips still making sucking motions even though the pacifier had long since slipped out of her mouth and was resting on her chest. Jules leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. She looked back at Greg. "I didn't get the greatest look at the bomb when I went over there, but I got a good enough look to think it's a pretty simple design. I think I could do it."

"He's not going to just let you go over there and start messing with his bomb, Jules."

"I know that, Boss. That's not even what I'm suggesting. But if the opportunity presents itself, I have to try and I need you to protect Sadie while I do. If it looks like I might not succeed, you've got to get her out of here before the bomb goes off."

Greg frowned. He recognized that she was thinking as a good cop but he couldn't help but want to stop her from putting herself in danger. "So it's okay for you to take the risk damn how it affects anyone else?"

Jules's eyes flashed with unbridled anger but her voice never got any louder. "Is that really what you think? You think I want to risk not being there to see Sadie grow up? You think I want you or someone else to have to tell Sam I didn't make it because I wasn't good enough? It's not like I want to play Russian Roulette with a ticking time bomb but it's the job. People could be killed and property could be destroyed if I don't do something. This isn't about me wanting to play hero but about there being no one else to do it. You said you didn't think the subject would let me get near the bomb, do you really see him opening the door and inviting John in to do it? Give me another option, please, because I sure don't like this one."

"Jules, I didn't…"

A couple of tears slid down her cheeks but she didn't even bother to wipe them away. Didn't want to move her hands from the protective cradle she'd made with her arms for her daughter. "I think about Lew stepping off that land mine because he was more afraid of what might happen to Spike if he tried to free him than what was going to happen to himself. He didn't think twice about putting his own life on the line to save someone else. What about Donna and Jimmy? She was facing a bomb strapped to a man we believed was responsible for blowing up buildings and killing people. No one would have thought twice about her leaving him to blow himself up. Instead she stayed trying to get the information we needed to find the rest of the bombs. And Jimmy stayed because he wouldn't let her stay without a second. They died a horrible death when it would have been easier to just walk away. You figured out the last bomb was there in the coliseum and even knowing it was a dirty bomb you didn't think twice about saving all those people even though it cost you your career."

"Jules…" Greg tried again but it was like she didn't hear him.

"I thought I was so tough. Little girl making it in a man's world. Capable of doing anything and everything the job demands. And maybe I can. I'm pretty sure I can disarm that bomb if I get the chance. The thing is, I don't want to do it. All I want is to go home with my daughter, do something completely mundane like sort the laundry and cook dinner. I want to greet Sam when he comes home and after we eat that stupid supper I fixed, go upstairs and give Sadie and bath and laugh as she splashes the water and gets us both wet. I want to rock her to sleep, put her in the crib and then collapse in my bed with my husband. I keep thinking that if I had just left five minutes earlier than I tried, that's exactly what I would have done with the rest of my day, and I kick myself that I didn't do that. How selfish am I?"

Greg closed his eyes and shook his head. "You aren't selfish for feeling that way. There's nothing wrong with not wanting bad things to happen. Nothing wrong with wanting to keep Sadie safe, for wanting to keep yourself safe for her. Nothing at all. You think I haven't wished a million different times in the last year that things had been different that day? Laying there in that hospital bed knowing my career was over? I should have sent out invitations to the pity parties I threw myself. I probably would have but Marina wouldn't let me. You and the rest of the team wouldn't let me. Being a hero isn't about not being scared to take risks; it's about taking the risks even though you're scared to death."

Jules rocked back and forth in her chair, the movement just as much for her comfort as for her sleeping daughter's. A couple more tears threatened to slip down her cheeks but she held them back. She glanced over at Greg. "I finally get it. I was so mad at Sam for not getting out when that timer was running out. I couldn't understand why he would risk his life like that. Didn't he care that we'd just gotten married and that we had a baby on the way? Didn't we matter? He's tried to explain it to me a thousand times but I couldn't understand, maybe I wouldn't understand. He wasn't selfishly putting the job before his family; he was unselfishly putting his own wants aside for the greater good. And I gave him such a hard time about it. How can he forgive me for that?"

Greg scooted his chair closer to Jules, putting an arm around her thin shoulders. He had a feeling she'd probably forgotten all about the phone line being open. "He's not going to forgive you Jules because there's nothing to forgive. Sam loves you and he loves Sadie; he told me to tell you that when I was on the phone with him. I'm sure he understands how you felt, now probably more than ever. What do you think he's thinking right now hearing you talk about disarming that bomb? I bet he's screaming into the headset for you not to do it, even though he'd be doing the same thing if he were in here instead."

He looked from Jules down to Sadie then over to the bomb. Time was running out for him to bring things to a safe resolution without the need for disarming the bomb under pressure. He had to go back to Doug and get the information they needed. "If it comes to it, you'll disarm the bomb, but you've got to promise me you'll back away and get to safety if it doesn't look like it's going to work. Sadie and Sam aren't the only ones who need you."

"You look like you could use this." Doug put a cup of coffee in front of Jules, his other hand still tightly around his submachine gun. The concern for someone else's well being in his voice was in stark contrast to the threat the weapon posed. "It's going to be okay. A little longer and you and your baby are going to be walking out of here and able to forget that this even happened."

A sudden beep filled the room. Jules and Greg immediately looked toward the bomb but the sound was much closer, like stroller close. Jules's stomach did a flip flop. Her cell phone. The battery hadn't been fully charged when she'd left the house that morning. The talk time she'd been putting it through since everything had started had drained it. Doug's eyes darkened as he looked at the plastic tray on the stroller. He snatched up the cell phone.

"What the hell?"