Sam stole glances at Greg and Wordy, wondering how long they were going to play possum. There wasn't any blood around them, although there could be internal bleeding. He was pretty sure he saw both men hit in the chest or abdomen. If the subject had really felt their pulses then they were ok for now. He looked at the subject. "Can I ask what happened today?"
The man blew out a breath, his face etched with stress and worry. "I- I did something bad. Oh god. I'm going to hell." He walked to the door and looked out the peephole. The SRU was right outside the door. "Oh man, cops! They found me. I did something BAD." He started to pace.
"Ok. I'd like to help you with that. Would you mind if I called someone to see if they can help?" Sam asked. His phone was in his pocket, but he wasn't going to reach for it without telling the subject first.
"Who? The police? Or the SRU?" The man said frantically. He looked at the door.
"That's who's in the hall looking for you right?" Sam gave him a serious look. He watched the man look at the door again. "If it is, then they're the ones we should talk to.
"No." The man shook his head. "They'll arrest me." He looked at the four people. "But I got you four, so they gotta let me go." He smiled.
"They'll probably want to talk to you about that." Sam said nonchalantly and shrugged.
"Fine." The man said irritably. He reached in his pocket and handed Sam his phone. "You talk to them and no funny business." He walked to Wordy and Greg and pointed his gun at Greg's head.
"Ok." Sam put both hands up. He lowered them, dialed 911 and waited while it rang.
"911 what is your emergency?"
"My name is Sam Braddock. I'm at 1347 Berard, apartment 3009. There is a man with a gun here. I need to talk to a person who makes decisions about things he wants." Sam said calmly.
"You said he has a gun? Is there anyone else there with you?"
"Yes. Three." Sam nodded.
"What are they saying?" The man asked anxiously.
"She's asking how many people are here." Sam said.
"Ok."
Sam waited while the operator connected him to the SRU. He felt a small sense of relief when he heard Winnie say " SRU. Sam?" He raised a brow. "Yes. Are you the one in charge? "
"I'll put you through to Ed." Winnie nodded.
##### outside Sam's apartment #####
Ed watched the thermal as Winnie put Sam through. They were waiting for Jim and George to get the camera and charges on the window so they had eyes and were ready for explosive entry if necessary. "Sam?"
"Is this the person in charge?" Sam looked at the man and nodded.
"Everyone ok in there? Wordy? Greg?" Ed asked worriedly.
"Yes. This guy interrupted our discussion about possums." Sam put up a hand in mock frustration.
"Got you. Any demands?" Ed asked as Jim let them know they have eyes and were in position.
Sam put a hand on the phone. "He wants to know what your demands are and your name."
"I want out of here!" The man yelled at the door. "And not in cuffs!"
"Ok, why don't you talk to them? I don't wanna be the monkey in the middle." Sam said in an irritated tone, held the phone out and frowned.
The man rolled his eyes, walked forward and took the phone from Sam. "Hello?"
"Elmer Hughes, this is Ed Lane with the police Strategic Response Unit. How's everyone doing in there Elmer?"
Elmer looked at Sam. "Everyone is fine. I need out of here. Me and the blonde are going to walk out of here and every one of you is going to let us."
"I understand, but we can't do that Elmer. We need to find a way to resolve this peacefully. Listen, it's hard for us to talk over the phone. How about I open the door slowly and we can start a conversation? Ok?"
Elmer pointed to Sam and motioned for him to come forward. When Sam didn't comply, he said angrily, "get over here NOW."
Sam looked behind him at Hannah. "It's ok. Just sit on the couch. This will be over soon." He whispered. He moved forward and headed towards the man while Hannah sat. He looked at Wordy and Greg and stopped. "Look, I'm just going to check on these two. They've been unconscious for awhile and it worries me." When the man nodded, Sam squatted down between Greg and Wordy making sure he was blocking their faces from the gunman.
He leaned down and put two fingers on Wordy's neck. He leaned close. "If you're ok, blow out a small breath." He whispered. When Wordy blew out a breath, making a "puh" sound Sam was relieved. He turned to Greg. "Same thing boss." Greg did the same but he said, "ready". Sam nodded. "Ok, good. They both seem ok." He looked at the gunman. "Thanks for letting me check." Sam stood and walked to within two feet of the man.
"Elmer! I'm opening the door!" Ed said as he watched the exchange. Their sensitive mics picked up the exchange between Sam, Wordy and Greg and they had exchanged relieved looks. He put his hand on the knob, looked at Jules, Spike, Donna and Charles, nodded and slowly opened the door.
Elmer turned, took the few steps to Sam and put an arm around Sam's neck, making the taller man bend down slightly. He pointed the gun at Sam's head. "That's close enough!" He said when the five people in tactical gear moved in, four of them had their guns on him.
Sam's eyes clouded over and he started to struggle in the man's arms.
#########
"Kill his sorry ass Remnant." Shadow said. It was his unit versus one idiot terrorist with a gun. Good odds, for him. He couldn't believe the asshole had gotten so close to him. He had pulled out his k-bar and frozen when he heard the man near. Too bad the idiot basically tripped over him. The fight was on at that point, until his unit arrived and the jerk pulled a gun.
"Need a better solution." Remnant said as the terrorist kept his head behind Sam's.
##########
"Who is Remnant?" Elmer asked, frowning at the side of the blonde's face.
"Sir?" Ed frowned at Sam. He didn't want to give away that Sam was one of them, but Sam had changed before their eyes. "You ok?"
"I-I didn't do anything to him." Elmer said frantically.
"I know that Elmer. I'm not sure what's happening to him right now." Ed said. He looked at Sam when he spoke again.
Sam looked to the left. "Might be a mess Dolittle, be ready."
Jules frowned at him. Wait, did he say Dolittle? "He's having a flashback." She whispered to Ed. "I remember him talking about his unit buddies. Dolittle was the name of his unit medic."
"Ok. How do we get him out of it?" Ed asked in a low voice. He looked past Elmer and Sam at Hannah.
"Sam? It's ok Sam. You aren't there." Hannah stood and started walking towards Sam and Elmer. She had to help Sam, gun be damned.
Ed didn't want to put her close to the subject, but if Sam stayed in this hallucination, things could go very wrong, very quickly. "Ma'am? Could you come to me please?"
Elmer looked back at the woman. Something weird was going on here. Do they know these people? "Yes. Come to me." He said as she walked forward.
"Ma'am? Do you know what's going on with this man?" Ed tipped his chin at Sam.
"His-his name is Sam." Hannah was shaking, but she took a breath and steadied herself as she stopped next to one of the officers, but facing Sam and the gunman. "He's my patient. I'm a counselor and he's an army vet. I think he's hallucinating about his time overseas." She looked directly at Sam, trying to catch his eye. "Sam, it's Hannah. You're in your apartment. Can you hear me?"
"Remnant? Wait, where did you go?" Sam looked around at the group of officers standing around him. What the hell just happened, he thought confused. "Shit." His mind cleared and he realized he was just hallucinating. He shook his head and looked down, too embarrassed to meet the eyes of his team, Donna and Charles.
Both Greg and Wordy stood when they heard Sam realize he was hallucinating.
Elmer looked Sam and frowned. "You ok man?" When he didn't answer, Elmer tightened his arm around Sam's shoulders. "It's ok." He felt the younger man start to shake and realized he was crying. He let go and watched as the man crumpled to the floor. He held the gun up and an officer took it while they got him down on the ground and cuffed.
Greg moved forward, knelt down next to Sam and pulled him into a hug.
Spike, Jules and Ed walked to Wordy. "You ok?" Spike asked worriedly. He watched Donna and Charles take the subject out.
Wordy put a hand on his stomach, grunted and said, "yeah, took one in the vest." He looked over at Greg and Sam.
Ed put a hand on Wordy's shoulder and patted it. "EMS is downstairs, you should get checked out."
"Nah I'm good." Wordy nodded. He walked to Greg and helped him get Sam up and into his bedroom.
Jules blew out a breath and watched them take Sam to his bedroom. This did not ease her worry for Sam at all. She stood there for a moment with Ed and Spike but she couldn't take it anymore. She had to go check on Sam. She walked to the bedroom, turned the knob and walked in.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so messed up right now." Sam had his hands over his face and was shaking his head.
Jules looked at Greg and Wordy. "Can we have a minute?" When they exchanged a look and then nodded she was relieved. She wasn't sure if they would agree since they'd both taken a protective stance around Sam. She took a seat next to him on the bed and watched them leave. Once they were gone she put a hand on Sam's shoulder. "Sam." She said softly.
Sam felt her sit next to him, but he wasn't sure if he could talk to her. It was so embarrassing to have a hallucination in front of his team, again. When she said his name like that it released whatever embarrassment he had. He turned to her and pulled her to him, burying his face in her neck. It felt so good to hold her in his arms again. He missed this so much.
She couldn't help the surge of feelings she felt as she held him. Being in his arms felt as natural as breathing to her. There wasn't anywhere else that she wanted to be right now. She could feel her strength flowing into him and knew it was what he needed. As much as she wanted to, she tamped down the feeling she had to throw him down on the bed and have her way with him, team be damned.
When he pulled back from Jules, Sam looked into those gorgeous brown eyes. He put moved his hands to her cheeks and gave her a small smile. Oh god he wanted to kiss her so bad. Watch those beautiful eyes half close as his lips moved in to claim hers. He clamped his jaw tight and dropped his hands. He could see the disappointment in her eyes and was surprised. Does she want me to kiss her? He looked away, it was the only want to keep him from doing what he wanted to. "Thanks." He said shyly.
"Uh, you're welcome." Jules looked away too. She'd seen the desire in his eyes and dammit, she wanted him to kiss her. You've already been through this, she thought. We can't be together and be on Team One. When she looked back at him, it was as his best friend. "I know you already know this, but I'm here if you want to talk." She put a hand on his and squeezed.
"I know. Thanks." Sam looked at her and smiled.
"You're going to be ok." Jules gave him a sincere look.
"I hope so." Sam nodded and lifted his brows.
"I know so." Jules stood and smiled. When he stood she pulled him into another hug. She pulled back. "You don't have anything to be embarrassed about. We're family, we understand." When he looked at her incredulously she tipped her head towards the door. "C'mon."
Sam followed her reluctantly to the living room.
AN: So I'm thinking this is starting to move into a full length story.. what do you guys think? I certainly could end it in the next chapter or two, but it feels like maybe there could be more.. Your opinion matters so let me know!