Chapter Seven: Fit for Duty?

"Okay, let's stop here," Hastings ordered, rummaging through her papers as she spoke.

"Excuse me?" Ed demanded.

"I know what happens next. I'm more interested in your state of mind at this point."

The team leader tilted his head. "What do you mean, my 'state of mind'?"

She leaned forward in her seat. "Your adrenaline's pumping, the frustration of the locked door, loss of time. Were you more or less likely to use lethal force?"

"Hold on a second," Ed snapped, leaning forward across the table, his eyes spitting sparks, "Are we debating lethal force here? Really? Is that what we're doing? Because this was textbook."

"We both know real life doesn't do textbook," Hastings countered.

"Active shooter," Ed gritted out, "Currently shooting people. We neutralize the threat before the subject can take down more victims."

"That's what your team failed to do. It took you thirty-seven minutes to neutralize the threat and she took more lives."

"It is a judgment call," the sniper growled.

Just like that, she swapped tactics…and dropped her ace. "Whose judgment? You're direct to threat, right? Let's get the job done? Who got hung up on profiling? Who put a team member in a truck instead of another gun at ground zero?"

The irony of her last statement wasn't lost on Ed, but his protective instincts were surging, his outrage at her target flaring. "You are off base," he snapped.

"Hey! Greg Parker."

They spoke, almost over one another, their words clashing, just like their viewpoints. "My team did everything right…" Ed hissed.

"This isn't about your team, Officer Lane," Hastings almost shouted.

"…everything right today."

"This is about whether or not Greg Parker…"

"My team- excuse me," Ed started again, trying to shut her down. "My team did everything right today."

"…is fit to remain with this unit!"

"Are we done here?" Ed snarled, not even waiting for a response as he rose.

"Yeah, we're done," Hastings snipped, her expression speaking volumes.

Ed tossed an angry, "Thank you," over his shoulder as he stalked out.


Greg sighed internally as Ed's outrage came through his 'team sense' loud and clear. He'd wondered how long this would take. He'd known, as soon as he saw Jill, that this wouldn't be pretty and he'd just been hoping she'd leave his team out of it.

He understood her anger…a lot better than she probably thought he did. But her odds of getting what she wanted were very low; would still have been that low even without his team's magic-side involvement. His team, they'd done their best and no one could have asked for more.

Ed's presence all but stalked towards the room he was in and he decided to not even pretend he hadn't known Eddie was coming. He was facing the door, his expression resigned, when Ed threw it open and snapped, "She's gunning for you."

"What are you doing here, Eddie? Get out of here."

"She's out for blood, specifically yours."

Greg rose, herding his team leader out as he strode forward. "I didn't do anything. But right now, you talking to me doesn't look good on paper."

"I don't care. Something's wrong here." Ed's protective streak, on full alert and searching for the closest target.

"I care," Greg rebuked gently, "I care. We need to keep our T's crossed, okay? Just get out of here."

"Greg, is there something I should know?"

Not this time, Eddie. "Just go," Greg ordered, before closing the door firmly and listening to his team leader walk away.


Sarge's movements were brisk, the two men in the truck sorting through information as fast as possible. "Let's compare lists, every name on Claire's lawsuit- who's dead, who's safe outside, and who's still missing inside." His focus shifted. "I need updates, Bravo Team."


"Perimeter's sealed," Sam reported, as he, Jules, Lou, Giles, and two uniforms headed up a yellow stairwell. "All stairways secured."

"No movement possible in or out," Jules called.

"Uniforms have gotten all the civilians we've found so far out," Lou chipped in.

As they moved further up the stairs, Onasi added, "All movement detection spells have been deployed, either by myself or Simmons. So far, nothing, but I'm keeping an eye out."

"That's good," Parker acknowledged. "Alpha Team, what's your status?"

"East is still locked down," Lane called, "Wordy, Simmons, and I have worked up from the south."

"Okay, that's good. Keep corralling Claire north. She's running out of room to run now."

As Bravo Team hit the top of the stairs, another gunshot rang out. The four scrambled for the next room; Onasi swore under his breath as his detection spell picked up nothing but the fading warmth of a just killed victim. They reached the fallen man scant seconds after the shot, but still too late; light blond hair was already bloody and vacant gray eyes stared at the ceiling.

"We've got another man down," Lou reported grimly.


Ed stalked down the ramp to meet the rest of his team and the two lurking Aurors. Jules was the closest to where he'd entered and he immediately demanded, "What'd you say? Jules, what'd you say?"

"About what?"

"About the boss, SIU."

"I just…I just told her what happened, that's all."

From over Jules' shoulder, Sam put in, "Same here."

"And what did happen?" Ed questioned, thinking furiously, trying to figure out what was going on.

"You were there, Ed," Jules countered.

"Yeah, I was," Ed agreed, the rest of his team and the two Aurors drifting over. "But she's after something and it's not just the thirty-seven minutes. She finds a way to nail the Boss and he's facing criminal charges."

"What for?" Jules asked, confusion clear.

"Criminal charges?" Spike inquired, his own expression confused, "We did everything by the book. What's the problem?"

Ed arched both brows. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Aren't you?"

Onasi quietly cleared his throat, reminding them that parts of the night had been anything but by the book. Wordy's gaze darted to him briefly. "Think the Boss made a mistake?"

"No," Ed countered immediately.

"So what's going on?" Spike's concern, growing rapidly.

"Well, she's after him."

"Why?" Jules questioned.

"Major grudge match," Simmons drawled, drawing their eyes at once. "I'm surprised none of you saw it right off…if that glare of hers was any worse, she'd be a basilisk (6)." He snorted at the techies' expressions. "You did miss it…trust me, from one person who's not too fond of Parker to another…the signs were unmistakable." He shrugged. "Told her flat out, though, she'd need one heck of a bigger hammer to take your Sergeant down…he's way too valuable at this point for our division to let him fall."

"So it's personal," Ed mused, calming down a bit.

As Simmons inclined his head, Sam offered, "Well, she was a cop; someone's got to know her. We'll track down her partner."

"Have to track someone else down," Wordy parried regretfully, "Her partner Brian's dead."

The two Aurors flinched at the name and Ed's expression flickered. "Let's figure it out before she finds a way to frame him." When Simmons started to open his mouth, Ed cut him off. "I heard you; he's too valuable, but I'd rather not take that chance."

As Team One started to head up to the main area and the closest computers, Onasi turned back at Braddock's soft hiss at himself. "What is it?" Lane asked, turning just as quickly.

"I didn't mean anything negative," Sam remarked, soft and worried.

"What did you say?" Jules questioned.

"I said that by his directive to corral Claire into a corner, we were also corralling her targets," Sam admitted. In the background, Onasi cringed.

"That's the only way we were gonna save those people and stop that shooter," Ed pointed out.

"I know that," Sam protested. "It was the only choice. It was a risk we had to take."

"Well," Jules mused, "Maybe the SIU didn't agree."

Onasi shifted back and hurried up the ramp. Framing an innocent man was not going to happen tonight…not on his watch.


"And how many lives constitute an acceptable risk?" Jill questioned, an edge to her voice.

Greg leaned forward so the microphone could catch every word. "Many factors need to be considered."

"But there must be some standard, some method to weighing your options," Jill remarked, insinuation dripping from every syllable. "Number risked versus number saved?"

Calm marked his own voice. "There's no arithmetic for this. In a perfect world, no life would be sacrificed."

"But in your experience, that doesn't happen much, does it?"

"I don't work in a perfect world, no," Parker confirmed. "If we do lose a life, it's only to save many more." Jill's silence hung as the SRU Sergeant regarded her. After a few seconds, he covered up the microphone with one hand. "Jill, how you been?"

Her eyes snapped up to his. "You don't get to ask me that," she hissed.


Ed rounded the desk that their dispatcher usually used, but that, tonight, had turned into Team One's impromptu investigation center. Sam was at one computer with Jules on the chair right next to him. Lou had snagged the space right in between, craning his neck to read over Sam's shoulder while Onasi was on the other side of the counter, making his best attempt to read a computer screen upside down – and making Sam and Lou grin a little at his antics. Spike had the other computer, with Wordy and Simmons leaning over each shoulder to read the screen. Ed took full advantage of his own height to see over all of them and read the same screen. It was crowded, but working…barely.

"Okay, guys, I want to know everything here," Ed announced.

Spike led off. "She's been SIU just under a year. Completed all the standard prep courses…"

Lewis picked up from the side, "…Constitutional Law, Criminal Code, Evidence Act, Coroner's Act…"

The baton passed to Wordy. "Her testimony's led to the conviction of some bad apples. Her SIU record's solid."

"She was a cop for seven years," Sam reported, "Good performance reviews, promotions. She rose through the ranks fast. She was a training officer for guys applying to SRU."

Ed's brows shot up. "Okay, I admit she was good. So why'd she leave the force?"

Jules offered up another clue. "Maybe the same reason she took a two-year personal leave and went travelling."

"After her partner died," Giles whispered, drawing a few sympathetic looks that he pointedly ignored.

Ed drew a breath, but asked the question, "So what happened to Brian?"


[6] A snake with a lethal glare and an equally venomous bite. Anyone who meets its gaze dies and even being grazed by a fang can be a wizard's last mistake. Only the cry of a rooster can kill it


Author note: I thank each and every one of you who has reviewed and/or prayed for me. You guys are the best, but it's not over yet, not by a long shot. Please keep praying as our group moves further into learning the technology we'll ultimately be using in the field. Also, our trainer has warned us that our intended future employer has been known to drop in during the middle of training for their first few rounds of interviews...and that it usually happens around weeks 4/5...we're in week 5 now.

I honestly don't know if I'm hoping to do well in the interviews or not. On the one hand, I certainly want a job, but on the other, I'm already hearing some bad things about this company. I also have a hard time respecting a company that won't abide by my current employers' requests...as in, wait until training is done to start interviews. I also have no intention of being forced into a position where I'm expected to sign another contract above and beyond the one I've already signed. I may be panicking, but I have zero intention of moving out of the US of A. I signed up for anywhere in the Lower 48 and that's it.

In short, please keep praying. Right now, no specific prayer needs, but I will keep ya'll updated in these author's notes.

Happy Reading and Keep the Peace,
sunstarunicorn