The bomb squad's van exploded. Spike yanked me out of my seat and out into the street, shielding me with his body. Flames engulfed the van, and two of the technicians lay on the pavement just outside of it. EMS was already running over to them, bags on their shoulders. The time limit was up.
"Get her back inside!" Serg ordered. "I can't have him seeing that we got the collar off without submitting to the demands."
Spike pushed me back into the van, asking if they needed him out there. When Serg gave him the negative, he joined me inside and sat back down. I took a breath and wiped my hands against my jeans.
I have the solution. Ed's words printed themselves on the screen. I have the solution, he is holding the gun to a woman's head.
Take it. Serg ordered.
The crack of a single bullet being fired split the air. I waited a moment, holding my breath again.
Situation is contained. I repeat, situation is contained. Ed's words came with a wave of relief.
Serg let me out of the van after that, and I asked one of the officers to bring my smashed phone to me. Hopefully, I could convince the company to replace it with no charge, since I hadn't been the one to smash it. I waited with Serg and Spike as the hostages ran out of the building, and as Wordy, Sam and Ed approached us now that the hostages were free.
Wordy and Ed did little more than to raise an eyebrow when they saw me standing there. In all reality, Ed had probably looked at us through the scope of his rifle when the code black had been called. Sam's face, however, went from it's usual post-situation calm to worry and on to panic in seconds.
"Jules, what are you doing here?"
"It's such a lovely day out. I thought that I would go for a stroll, and happened across Serg. He called me, but I left my phone at home today." I shrugged, and tried not to wince at the pull of my stitches.
"You're covered in blood." Sam pointed out.
"Correction. Splattered. More than half of my clothes are blood free. Besides, there was an explosion, didn't you hear it? Besides, blood's easier to get out of jeans than it is to get out of the cool pants."
"Jules…" Sam's voice cracked. "Seriously, what's going on?"
The officer came back and handed me an unmarked evidence bag with my phone in it. I nodded my thanks, and wrapped the bag around the phone before cramming it into my pocket. Sam grabbed my arm and held it tightly, his eyes searching my face.
"You were the code black, weren't you?"
The tears started again. Adrenalin had carried me through the last 90 minutes, but with it draining from my body, I couldn't control them. Crying before would have made things worse, but now that the situation was contained, and I was facing the part of my team that hadn't known, it made it that much harder. And once the first tear slid its way down my cheek, I couldn't hold back the tears any longer.
Sam wrapped his arms around me, pulling me tight against him. I kept my arms by my sides. Crying in front of the team was bad enough, clinging to Sam would only make it worse. There was no way that I wanted Serg to think that Sam and I were dating, or that I wasn't fit to do my job. I couldn't risk one of use being forced off the team. Team One was the place I had strived to be since joining the SRU.
"I'm fine, Sam." I croaked into his vest and pulled back. "Serg, do you need me at debriefing, or can someone give me a ride home?" I wiped the tears away firmly."
"Don't you live like four blocks from here?" Sam asked.
"So?" I snapped and ran a hand through my hair.
"I'd like you at the debriefing. You'll be able to add to what happened leading up to the call. Besides, you were the one who let Winnie know, weren't you?"
I nodded and climbed into one of the SUV's and closed my eyes for the ride to HQ. The rest of the team filed silently into the room we used for meetings and debriefing, each taking their usual seat. Sam couldn't take his eyes off of me.
"Jules?" Serg asked, and I looked at him. "Why don't you tell us how this thing got started, from when you got to the bank to when we arrived."