Nine days later
We walked out the museum to massive crowds gathered outside, many were the patrons of the dance being held inside that we evacuated due to a gunman gone rogue and shooting up the place. We all headed out to the line of SIU agents waiting on us across the line and stood still as they started to remove our weapons and other non-lethal armourments we had in our gear and pockets. One agent and a uniform per person as protocol, our weapons were bagged and tagged and we were immediately sequestered until interview; we all nodded and the lead agent stood in front of us and asked one question.
"Who was the subject officer?"
Four of us stood forward.
Yeah, it was one of those days.
The agent looked at us as the truth dawned on them.
"All four of you are the subject officer? I was told there was only one shooter?" he demanded.
"There were six in total." Ed replied.
The SIU agent nodded and one by one we were led to a separate car and our weapons taken from our sight and placed in the custody of the uniform who would be escorting us back to the SRU.
This meeting was going to be brutal and the day had started so well.
After a fantastic night out on the town and Spike gaining some massive brownie points later in bed, on the stairs, against the wall….god I loved him!
Anyway, after waking up and chucking the alarm across the room at 4.30am, I got up and dragged his sorry ass out of bed for a shower and threw his clothes at him, he smirked at me as it was normally the complete opposite! We managed to get changed and after grabbing our gear, headed to work along the highway on a beautiful morning that looked promising for a fun packed exercise drill, we were running late and we both ran into the station at full speed and headed to get changed for the gym circuit, we were both shouted on by Ed – dammit – busted!
"Sorry boss, accident on the road – blocked off our turning this morning!" I lied.
He walked up to us both and stared at me, I started going over the periodic table in my head to stop myself from laughing at Ed's face, he wasn't pissed at us, we were technically not late yet – but this was the third day in a row we were running late and the top team of the SRU does not do late!
"Accident on the road huh, well then I hope you did your civic duty and helped out guys!" he replied.
"Yes Sir and they were very grateful!" replied Spike with a straight face.
Ed looked at me and I kept my face neutral and started the noble gases in my head, he turned around and waved us off; we both took a deep breath and chuckled.
"Guys – the accident on the road – looks like it started last night in the front garden for you both – you have some serious grass stains on your back!" he called along the corridor.
We both looked at each other and I turned Spike around to see his shirt – it was all muddy and covered in grass and flowers – he had taken off his jacket as he had ran in, we both looked at each other and then ran for our changing rooms to get changed. We both ended up at the gym at the same time, both of us had our iPods on and we hit the treadmill and avoided each other's faces for a while. I swear I could hear the others laughing at us, my face was going redder and redder, I looked at Spike and his face was beetroot. About an hour later after the circuit was done, we both ran to the changing rooms and heard a burst of laughter coming from the gym – I leaned against the door and cracked up myself before I went to get cleaned up and changed.
Eight am briefing was interesting considering the fact Spike and me were sitting opposite each other and I was intently staring at my notes and he was stifling yawns that kept making the others burst out chuckling. I kept on kicking him under the table to wake him up and it took me to throw my pen at him to stop him from dozing off and embarrassing us even further with the rest of the team.
"I'm sorry Officer Scarlatti, am I boring you?" Ed said as he stopped the brief.
"No Sir, sorry – late night at the movie!" he blurted out without thinking.
Everyone cracked up including me, I hung my head and just felt myself go red from head to toe – Spike caught on with what he was saying and flushed crimson too.
"We gathered that buddy, good to see you still in the game!" Parker replied.
"Yeah, we had to hush up a noise complaint though from your neighbour Mrs Thompson!" Wordy chipped in to a round of laughter.
"Jealous?" I asked looking up.
"Ooooh – she speaks! Thought we had scared you into hiding there for a while and left your man to do all the explaining!" he replied.
Forty seconds later I had traumatised them and grinned as Spike and I headed out the room holding hands.
The rest of the morning was filled up by random comments, washing powder jokes and tips on how to get grass stains out denim, it was pretty funny and we took it on the chin like grownups and plotted revenge for later on! I had just finished doing a mound of paperwork after physicals had been completed by the police force and I was typing up a report for the Commander so he could know the results and address any issues.
"Mackenzie, please report to the comms desk!" a voice came over the radio.
I put away my reports and headed along the corridor and up towards the desk where Joe, one of our trainee dispatchers, was working with Winnie. I smiled at him and he grinned back.
"What's up Joe, medical incoming?" I inquired.
"You have a visitor; he's in the briefing room!" Winnie replied.
I frowned and turned around to face the briefing room wondering who the hell could be visiting me at work? I headed in and called to the man who was looking out the window; he turned around and smiled as he saw me.
"Gabriel! How, why….hello!" I said walking round to meet him.
We hugged each other tightly and he put me at arm's reach and chuckled as he looked at my uniform. I was in my usual grey tactical trousers, chukka boots, black police polo shirt and tactical gear including full knee pads and holster; he hadn't seen the uniform before and was a little surprised it looks so stark.
"Hey kiddo – thought I would drop in on you and the Italian bomb tech while I was in the area! This isn't a bad time is it?" he replied.
"No its fantastic, I just wish I knew you were coming, I might have been able to get a day off or something! Business or pleasure?" I inquired getting him to sit down.
"You know you shouldn't ask marksman that question!" he replied with a raised eyebrow.
I groaned inside, he was going to be livid when he found out I had qualified, it was one thing he didn't want me to be involved in; MP5s are fine – Remmie's were not! I threw the thought out the window and we sat there chatting for a while, he could only stay a couple of hours during a brief stopover during a meeting, but could meet up with us tonight for drinks if the team were all good to go?
"So, are you and Scarlatti still an item, I haven't seen him yet?"
"Oh yeah sorry, he's just fixing Babycakes right now – she got injured in a detonation last week, think her gimbals were damaged or something!" I replied.
He just looked at me then burst out laughing, I joined him when I realised I had said that really seriously and had fallen back into the COC relationship.
"Am I getting to meet you team – you talked about them enough in Aviano!" he asked exasperated.
I grinned and nodded. He picked up his Dress Blues Cap and followed me out towards the range where I knew Jules and Sam where practicing; I handed him the earplugs and hit the button for access – must be tuning up the MP5s due to the noise.
"Commander," said Sam the moment he saw Gabriel.
Jules made safe the weapon and turned around to face us.
"Hi guys, I would like you to meet Commander Gabriel Carrick. Gabriel, this is Sam Braddock, ex special forces and Officer Jules Callahan."
They all shook hands and looked at me quickly for a further explanation to his visit.
"Gabriel is my old Colour Sergeant," I replied.
They instantly got what I was talking about and gave him a quick tour around the place, he was seriously impressed with the arsenal at our command, Sam was going to make a move to pick up my rifle and I shook my head at him, he got the meaning and stopped himself. I waved bye to the guys and headed to where Ed, Wordy and Parker where in the Ops room doing some negotiation research, I knocked on the door frame and they turned around and stood up when they saw the uniform.
"Hey Mac, please come in!" Parker invited.
"Sarge I got a surprise visitor and just making introductions. Sergeant Greg Parker, Officer Ed Lane, our TL, and Officer Kevin Wordsworth – Wordy to everyone; I would like you to meet Commander Gabriel Carrick – think you already know about him!" I introduced.
A chorus of greetings and they all started to chat and answer questions that were getting thrown about and Gabriel was jokingly making sure I was behaving myself and hadn't murdered anyone yet – that was a little awkward – not that I had, just nearly did! I told them about the drinks later on tonight and they agreed and we headed to go find Spike who was down in the tech area working on Babycakes.
"Spike, we have a visitor!" I called as we watched him finish adjusting something.
He looked up at us and a huge smile broke out on his face, he stood up and came over to us and shook hands with Gabriel who then just pulled him into a hug; his ears went red and I grinned.
"What are you doing over in Toronto; you should have let us known!"
"I'm here for business and then escorting a prisoner back to the UK, basic stuff and a little holiday to see my girl and her man before heading back to Aviano. Which reminds me – your mother sent these for you. She kept in contact with me when the earthquake hit Italy – she sends her love and whatever goodies are in there!" he replied tapping the large envelope.
"Cool, let me go put this in my locker and we can go for a talk somewhere a bit quieter!" he said heading off at a good pace.
I turned back round to Gabriel and offered him a coffee in my research lab, it was as usual covered in books and printouts of recent experiments, also a few copies of the new manuals for marksman – those I pushed under the mess and handed him the coffee.
"Prisoner transfer from Canada – didn't think there was any UK military on duty here?" I asked as I sat on the stool opposite him.
"He's not active military..."