Here's chapter 11, inspired by a combination of both episode 3x07, Acceptable Risk, and episode 3x10, Terror. Enjoy.
Chapter 11: Thunderstorms and Bullet Wounds
Two and a half years later...
Thunder crashed, jolting Adele awake from a sound sleep. She lay still, breathing fast, her blood pounding in her ears.
"Adele?" Spike murmured from the darkness. "Are you having a nightmare?"
"No," Adele responded quietly. "Just startled."
Spike turned on a bedside lamp as Adele snuggled in closer to him. Spike kissed her neck and lay down again. Another roll of thunder boomed, and with it, the door sprang open. Kanya darted into the room and pressed herself against the wall.
"Kanya?" said Adele, swinging her legs off the bed. "Are you scared?"
Kanya shook her head, then another clap of thunder boomed. Kanya flung herself into her mother's arms.
"You're not afraid of a thunderstorm, are you?" Kanya shook her head again. "You just stay right here with me." Adele lifted Kanya and laid her down on the bed between her and Spike.
"Where's Lewis?" Spike asked, sitting up sleepily.
"Sleeping," said Kanya. "He's not scared."
Thunder crashed again. Kanya buried her head in her mother's arms in fright. A moment later, Lewis appeared at the door. Adele looked over at him.
"Oh no? Look," said Adele. "Come on, Lewis, up here on the bed. Stay right here with us."
"Why does it do that?" asked Lewis, as he clamored up onto the bed.
Adele and Spike looked at each other for a moment, unsure how to answer their four-year-old's question. Adele smirked, remembering a line from a beloved movie.
"Well, the lightning says something to the thunder and the thunder answers back," she explained.
"The lightning must be nasty," said Lewis, as thunder crashed again.
"Not really," said Spike.
"Why does the thunder get so angry? It makes me want to cry," said Kanya tremulously.
"Well, it frightens your mum, too, when it gets loud enough," Spike teased. Adele scoffed and elbowed him. He grinned.
"What do you do when you get scared?" Kanya asked.
Adele considered that for a moment. "Hmmm... I cuddle and I sing."
"Can you sing us a song?" Lewis asked.
"Sure. Let me think..." Adele closed her eyes for a moment. "Oh, I know."
Tonight and every night
I will be here by your side
No need to be afraid
Soon it will be the day
Close your eyes
Close your eyes
And when you do
I look at you in wonder
I wonder
Can you truly be mine?
Be mine, be mine
Adele looked down at their children, whose eyes were drooping, then she grinned over at Spike. Together, they slipped out of the bed and each took a child into their arms. Adele took Lewis into her arms, snuggling him close to her shoulder, as Spike slid an arm under Kanya's knees and neck and lifted her, and they carried the twins back to their bedroom.
The twins turned five years old on March 11, spending the afternoon at the Toronto Zoo with their parents and Adele's father, Matthew. They splashed around Splash Island, petted animals at the petting zoo, and even rode a camel, before retiring home for some birthday spaghetti and cake. Then it was baths, a story, and bedtime for the children.
Spike worked the next morning, then took the afternoon off, so while Jack and Stella babysat the twins, he and Adele spent the afternoon together. They ate at Acadia Restaurant for lunch, then walked to a nearby art gallery.
As they walked around the gallery, admiring works, Spike's gaze wandered. It was second nature for him, being a cop, to watch and make sure everything was okay.
A young brunette-haired woman walked into the gallery, breathless and nervous. Some men had been following her the past few days, looking to take her out. Her friend who had bought drugs from them recently had died of an overdose, and they were targeting her to pay back the debt. Every shadow she saw coming around the corner seemed like it was them, but it usually turned out to be a false alarm. She ducked into an empty section of the gallery, hoping to surround herself with people and displays and lose the men who were tailing her.
A silver car pulled up outside the building and three men in grey trench coats got out and walked into the building. One of the men pointed a low finger at the entrance doorframe and the two men closed and locked the doors, flipped the sign to CLOSED, and stood guard.
While walking past the entrance to get to the other end of the gallery, Spike noticed the men standing on either side of the door, their eyes scanning the area. He also noticed the CLOSED sign. He frowned in suspicion. The gallery wasn't due to close for another four hours.
"Spike, what is it?"
Spike started, brought back to earth by Adele's voice.
"Those men weren't here when we got here," Spike murmured. His eyes flashed to the clock. "And closing time isn't until five."
"What do we do?" Adele asked nervously.
"Go stand over there," Spike said, pointing to a display that was next to a blank wall. Adele hesitated. "Go." Adele nodded and quietly walked over to the display, angling herself so she could see what was going on at the same time.
The young woman, hoping to make a break for it, walked toward the doors, but she froze, seeing them blocked by the men in trench coats. There was no way out. A third man came running on Spike's left and grabbed the young woman by the hair.
The woman cried out in pain. "Just give us the money and no one gets hurt," Spike heard the man growl into the young woman's ear.
Suddenly, the young woman managed to pull a gun out from a jacket pocket and fired twice, hitting one of the men by the doors. Her assailant let go of her hair and she spun around and shot him point-blank. Spike grabbed Adele by the shoulders and forced her to the floor. Screams split the dawn and the visitors started running toward the exit, stepping over the bodies, trying to escape, while the second man tried to make his way to the young woman.
"Are you okay?" Spike whispered, looking down at Adele.
"No. You're heavy," Adele grunted, trying to push him off her.
"Sorry," Spike murmured, before rolling off her and dragging her by her hand out of the room. Once safely distanced from the door, he helped her to her feet. "Run!"
"What about you?" Adele hissed, as they took off down a hallway. "Can't you do something?"
"I can't if I don't have a gun! Is this how you deal with getting shot at?"
"I don't know! It's my first time! Sorry!" hissed Adele crossly, as Spike opened a janitor's closet door and pushed her inside, closing the door behind him.
Spike pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911.
"Strategic Response Unit."
"Winnie, it's Spike." Spike's voice was just above a whisper.
"Oh, hey, are you enjoying your day off?" Winnie asked. The rest of Team One looked over curiously, knowing who was on the other end of the line.
"Active shooters, hostage situation, at the Pasque Art Gallery. Two gunmen still at large, multiple hostages."
"Any wounded?"
"Two of the gunmen, that I know of."
"Guys, guys!" Winnie's voice rose, as she beckoned Team One over to her desk. "Spike, are you okay?"
"We're fine, we took cover for the moment," said Spike.
"Is the shooter still there?"
"I can't see," said Spike. "Winnie, I'm gonna go back out and try to talk to her. Slow this thing down a little, give you guys time to get here."
"Copy that," said Winnie. "Hot call, gear up. Hostage situation at Pasque Art Gallery."
"Spike, go careful," said Greg's voice, and he relayed to the rest of the team. "Threat level red, maximum caution."
Spike looked at Adele. "Stay here," he hissed sternly.
Hearing more shots, Spike ran back down the hall, slowing as he neared the door. He slipped into the room, where all the hostages lay on the floor with their hands behind their heads. The three men in trench coats lay dead on the floor.
Spike's footfalls caused the young woman to whip around, her gun pointed at Spike's chest. Spike raised his hands quickly as he stepped into the room.
"Easy, easy," he said calmly.
"Don't come any closer!" the woman commanded.
"I'm not. Just wanna talk. Wanna tell me what brought you here today?"
"Put all your cell phones in this bag!" the woman yelled, throwing it at Spike. Spike threw his cell phone and PDA in the bag and nodded at the others to do the same. They quickly followed suit, then resumed their positions on the floor. Spike, however, remained standing.
In his peripheral vision, Spike saw Adele poke her head around the doorframe, then she jerked back. Spike heard a buzzing noise as Adele set her phone sound to vibrate.
"Hey! Come out!" Keely yelled.
Clutching her purse, Adele ran into the room, into Spike's arms and buried her face in his chest.
"Hands up! Cell phone in the bag!" the woman yelled at Adele, pointing the gun at her.
His hands raised, Spike moved protectively in front of Adele, who raised her hands behind Spike.
"I— I'm sorry— I left it at home!" Adele whispered, scared, clutching her purse close to her body, and leaned against Spike.
Amazingly, the young woman seemed to buy it. She stepped back and swung her gun around at each of the hostages, who cowered in fear.
"Up against the doors, now!" she yelled at them, gesturing at the front doors.
Outside the gallery, Team One pulled up in their Suburbans, lights flashing, sirens blaring.
"Jules, call it," commanded Ed, as the team exited the trucks.
"1:52 P.M. ARMED GUNMAN HOSTAGE SITUATION AT PASQUE ART GALLERY."
"Do you know who these men are?" Keely yelled at a terrified woman. "Do you?!"
"No! I— I don't know!" the woman pleaded, her eyes squeezed shut with fear.
"What's your name?" Spike asked. He glanced at Adele, who was slowly pulling her cell phone out of her purse, which was pressed against Spike's back.
"Keely," the woman responded.
From inside the mobile command truck, Jules texted Adele's phone.
Outside. U OK?
Adele slowly texted back a response.
Yes. 1~20.
"Spike and Adele are okay," said Jules. "Adele says there's one shooter and approximately 20 hostages. '1:54 P.M. ONE SHOOTER CONFIRMED, APPROXIMATELY TWENTY HOSTAGES.'"
"If they find out Spike's a cop..." Jules said worriedly. "It could be really bad for him and Adele."
"They won't, Spike and Adele are smart," said Ed firmly. "We'll be in there as soon as we can."
"Okay, Keely," said Spike, placing one foot in front of the other.
"Stay where you are!" Keely yelled, pointing her gun at Spike.
"I'm gonna stay right here," said Spike calmly. "My name's Spike. Can you tell me what brought you here today?"
"They've been following me for days," said Keely. "They targeted me to get the money my friend owed them for drugs. They tortured her for my name, then when she didn't give it to them, shot her up until she OD'd. I don't know how they found me, cuz I know she wouldn't have given me up like that, but they did. Now they've got a contract out on me."
Adele glanced down at her phone, as Spike asked another question, "What's the name of this group?"
"The Cobras," said Keely.
Jules had texted: Demands?
Target 4 drug $. Protection from Cobras gang?
"1:56 P.M. SUBJECT BEING TARGETED BY COBRAS GANG FOR DRUG MONEY."
"Alright, but these men are dead now," said Spike, from Adele's side. "So why don't we just start with putting the gun down and we can talk about this?"
"No! No!" Keely yelled, raising the gun and brandishing it at Spike. "We're gonna do this my way! These men have more accomplices and they're gonna be coming after me!"
Keeping the gun trained on Spike, Keely backed out of the lobby and into the next room. In the next minute, she searched the gallery and forced everyone else she found up against the front doors.
"She's putting the hostages up against the front doors," said Jules.
"She's making a human shield," said Sam. "We need eyes in."
"There's an air-conditioning unit on the roof. Snake cam through it?" Leah suggested.
"Do it," said Greg.
"On it," said Leah. She disappeared around the back and a minute later, her voice came over the comm. "I'm in. Jules?"
"Yep, eyes are good," said Jules.
Greg went back to the truck and sat down next to Jules.
"Leah, angle it a little to the left." Leah did so. "Okay, we've got a young woman, approximately 25 years of age, carrying a Glock, Spike and Adele, and multiple other hostages," said Greg.
"Keely, these men are dead. What do you think is going to happen now?" asked Spike inside, though Team One outside could not hear.
"Alright, I'm gonna try to make contact," said Greg. He punched in the number for the gallery and waited. "I'm dialing in."
Keely jumped as the phone rang.
"That's probably the police," said Spike. "Maybe they wanna help."
Keely sidled over to the phone and handed it to Spike. "You answer it."
Spike answered the call. "Hello?"
"'2:02P.M. FIRST CONTACT WITH SUBJECT ESTABLISHED."
"So much for your day off, huh?" asked Greg.
"Yes," said Spike. He held up a hand toward Keely. "There's a woman here, her name is Keely. She is being targeted by The Cobras for money her friend owed them for drugs."
Spike looked at Keely for affirmation at the information he was passing on. Keely nodded, agreeing, still holding up the gun.
"She's asking for protection. Can you help her?"
"Tell her we can protect her. We can work some kind of a deal out. But she has to put down the gun first. We're working on an entrance through the rear," said Greg on the line.
But before Spike could relay the message to Keely, she yelled, "Hey, if you're not gonna help me get out of here, put the phone down! Now!"
Spike stared at her as he started to lower the phone to the floor. "I'm putting it down," he said calmly. He slowly set it on the floor.
"Wait, she didn't hang it up," said Jules over the comm.
"Thank you, Keely, we still have ears," said Greg, sighing with relief.
Spike's gaze wandered over to the hostages who were blocking the front doors. They were whispering to each other, as if formulating a plan. Spike saw what was going to happen a second before it did.
The hostages turned around, ran at Keely, and tried to take the gun from her.
"No!" Spike yelled, moving in front of Adele before a shot went off. Everyone backed away in terror as Spike sank down the wall to the floor, clutching his arm.
"Shot fired! Shot fired!" Ed yelled into his comm.
"Is everyone okay?" Jules asked.
"It's Spike," said Greg, watching the camera. "He's been shot!"
"2:06P.M. 10-33. SHOT FIRED. OFFICER DOWN."
"Oh, my God! Spike!" Adele cried, kneeling next to him and taking his good hand.
"Spike needs back up! I wanna go in," said Jules.
"From where?" Greg asked.
"The back door is an emergency exit," said Jules. "We'll need to disable the alarm if we're gonna get in undetected. Sam, call the alarm company!"
Inside the gallery, Adele had taken an unused handkerchief out of her purse and applied it to the wound. The hostages looked around at the source of the chaos, before being forced back to the front by Keely.
Keely turned around and pointed her gun at Adele. "What are you doing? Hands above your head!"
"I'm trying to stop this bleeding! Okay!" Adele yelled, squeezing her eyes shut. Keely trained the gun on her head. "Okay, okay!" she whispered, terrified. To Spike, she mouthed, "Help."
Spike was breathing slowly against the pain. "Reassure her," he murmured.
It was the mark of how well they knew each other, that Adele was able to understand what Spike meant, when he used so few words.
"Alright, I know you're scared right now, Keely," said Adele, looking at Keely and raising the hand that wasn't applying pressure to Spike's wound. "But we are not gonna hurt you. The people by the doors, they're not gonna hurt you."
"They tried to take my gun!" Keely yelled. "And look what happened!"
"I know, I get that," said Adele, glancing down at Spike, "but it won't happen again. You didn't mean for this man to get shot, right?" Keely shook her head. "Okay, Spike, I'm just gonna change this." She took off the soaked handkerchief and applied another clean one.
"Why do you have so many?" Spike murmured.
"Nosebleeds, remember?" Adele reminded him.
"Oh yeah."
"Spike, you're shaking." She pressed two fingers to his carotid artery. "Your pulse is racing really fast."
"Yeah, it's okay," Spike whispered, between pained gasps. "I'm just going into shock."
"Sniper breathing," Adele said, out of habit more than anything. Spike was the one who had taught her the breathing method, after all. "You're gonna be okay, I promise."
Spike shook his head vaguely. "No promises."
"Right, rookie rule number one," Adele murmured, automatically breaking into a smile at her lover's ability to be humorous under duress.
"Move away!" Keely commanded to Adele, stepping forward. Adele jumped. "Move away from him!"
Adele looked at Spike, unsure what to do.
"Do it, I don't want you to get hurt," Spike whispered, glancing at her, then zoning out again, trying to block out the pain.
Adele started crying as she raised both hands, stood up, and moved away from Spike. She was being forced to watch as the love of her life bled out in front of her.
"I love you, Michelangelo Scarlatti."
"Spike's bleeding out, we gotta get in there," said Ed.
"I just got off the phone with the alarm company," said Sam. "The alarm's disabled!"
"Hard and fast entry through the rear! Go, now!" Ed commanded.
The next two minutes passed in a blur. The hostages all screamed as flash bangs went off, the gallery filled with smoke, doors slammed open, and Team One entered the lobby.
"Police! Police!" Ed yelled, moving forward quickly. "Right there! Right there!"
"SRU! Drop your weapon!" Sam yelled.
He launched himself at Keely and tackled her. Ed grabbed for the gun and holstered it, then produced a pair of handcuffs and cuffed Keely. Sam and Ed took her by the shoulders and walked her out.
Kneeling on the floor next to Spike, Adele was covered in his blood. The threat contained, she let go of her emotions, let the wall fall, and lost it completely. She burst into tears, sobbing hysterically, and continued pressing the handkerchief against Spike's wound.
Jules moved forward to pull Adele off Spike.
"Adele, come on," she said. Adele struggled against her grasp. "Adele, it's okay. It's over. You gotta move back. Let the paramedics through."
Adele protested, but eventually gave in to Jules' gentle touch and allowed Jules to pull her away.
"Are you hurt?" a paramedic asked her.
"No," Adele cried, tears streaming down her face. "No. It's not my blood! It's not mine!"
Adele sobbed hysterically as she watched the paramedics stabilize Spike, load him onto a stretcher, and wheel him away. She walked alongside the gurney and, after paramedics loaded Spike into the ambulance, cried her heart out in Jules' arms.
Adele chewed her lower lip anxiously as she sat next to her husband's bedside, waiting for him to regain consciousness. Spike had finally slumped into unconsciousness in the ambulance. The bullet had severed his radial artery and fractured both bones in his arm. Surgeons had fixed the artery and placed two plates and 12 screws to hold the plates in place, while the bones healed.
Now Adele was waiting for the anesthesia from the surgery to wear off. Adele held Spike's hand, caressing it with her thumb. The only sound in the room was the steady sound emitting from Spike's heart monitor.
There was a gentle knock on the door. Adele looked around to see Jules step into the room.
"Hey," she said. "I brought you some clean clothes from your house."
Adele looked down, startled, at her shirt. Though she had washed her hands clean in the bathroom, she hadn't had a chance to go home and change clothes. She had completely forgotten that her clothing was still covered in Spike's blood. She'd been on auto-pilot for hours, going to the hospital and waiting for Spike to come out of surgery.
"I—... God," Adele stammered, raising her hands. "I can't believe I forgot."
Jules smiled. "Understandable," she said. "Go ahead and shower. I'll hang around. I'll holler at you if he wakes."
"Thank you," said Adele, grabbing a set of towels and the clean clothes and heading into the bathroom.
She took a long shower, scrubbing off all the blood, sweat, and tears, until she was so cleansed she felt raw. When she reentered the room, Spike was still out. She dropped her soiled clothing into Spike's laundry bag and took up her post at the head of Spike's bed.
Sometime later, Adele looked up, hearing the monitors beeping, as Spike regained consciousness. His eyelids fluttered, then opened. Spike's glassy eyes gazed around hazily, his pulse and blood pressure rising with his anxiety.
Adele rose from the chair and stepped over to the bed. "Spike, Spike," she said calmly, taking his hand and placing a gentle hand on his chest. "Shh, shh, you're okay. You're in the hospital. I'll go get your nurse."
Adele stepped out of the room to fetch Spike's nurse. Jules stepped up to his bedside.
"The team?" Spike asked, his voice hoarse from the sedation.
"Everybody's okay," said Jules. "We have the shooter in custody."
Spike let out a pained sigh of relief.
Adele reentered the room behind the charge nurse, who quickly took Spike's vitals and checked his I.V.s. Then the doctor knocked on the door and entered the room.
"Hello, Spike, welcome back," he said. "You gave us quite a scare."
Spike gave him a vague smile that turned out to be more like a grimace.
"We removed the bullet, but it had severed the radial artery and broke both the radial and ulna bones," said the doctor. "We fixed the artery and placed plates and screws around the bones until they heal. You're very lucky Adele did what she did or you may have bled out."
"Don't thank me," Adele said, shaking her head with embarrassment. "It was instinct, not training."
"I'm going to keep you overnight for observation, then you can go home tomorrow," said the doctor. "I'll expect you back here in two weeks for more x-rays and we'll hopefully start physical therapy in a month. For now, though, just get some rest. Use the call button if you need anything."
Spike nodded, then the doctor left. Adele stepped into the bathroom and filled a plastic cup with water and gave it to Spike.
"You should drink something before you go to sleep," she said.
Spike nodded. He was parched. He gulped down the water, then let out another pained groan.
"I love you," Adele said softly, placing a tender kiss on his forehead.
"Love you, too," Spike murmured, then closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
This chapter is dedicated to user Gwammy, who gave me the idea for the art gallery shooting. If you read it, please review. I love hearing what you guys think. Thanks.