Monkey War, Destroyed & Love of His Life
One Week Later - SRU HQ Men's Locker
"wooh wooh ahhh eeewww wooh wooh ahhh eeewww" Thunk.
"quaackaaak quaackaaak quaackaaak" Thunk.
"moooo moooo moooo" Thunk.
"wooh wooh ahhh eeewww wooh wooh ahhh eeewww" Thunk.
"caawww aahhh caaww ahhhh" Thunk.
"wooh wooh ahhh eeewww wooh wooh ahhh eeewww" Thunk.
"oinnkkk oinnkkk oinnkkk" Thunk.
"wooh wooh ahhh eeewww wooh wooh ahhh eeewww" Thunk.
Greg opened the door of the locker room and chuckled. Damn they were at it again. There was an army of flying screaming animals in the locker room now. Never knew when one would be flying at you. No one was safe from the flying monkey wars.
That was so funny when they entered Spike's room and Ed was hit with the flying monkey. Surprised all of them. Ed's reaction was priceless, damn good thing he wasn't armed. The poor nurses begged them to take the thing away from Spike. They had brought in a DVD player to distract Spike with the Three Stooges movie. The doctor released him early the next morning citing the fact that if he didn't leave the nurses would kill him.
Three days later Spike arrived back at work with his flying army. He had acquired several more monkeys, a chicken, pig, cow and duck. That first day back no one was safe anywhere; gun cage, bathroom, showers, briefing room, gym, dispatch desk. Holleran finally said something and they were now relegated to the men's locker room. When they were not flying missions, not in action, Spike hung them on the outside of Sam's locker.
It had surprised them all again when Spike told them Sam had sent it to him. At this thought Greg's mood changed to melancholy. He and Ed still had not been able to locate Sam. The General was busy at an anti-terrorism conference in London and had not been able to return any of their calls. Or at least it felt better to think he was too busy to return the call and not simply ignoring them.
"quaackaaak quaackaaak quaackaaak" Greg ducked the flying duck as it thunked to the floor near his locker. He sat on the bench. His mood did not improve as the recalled the frantic, angry call from Jules when she found out Sam was not at the hospital. She had also been thoroughly pissed that no one had told her Spike was in the hospital that she had to learn about it on the news after he had been released.
He was not looking forward to tonight. He was meeting with Jules to talk about hers and Sam's relationship and how it had to be over. It was a condition of her returning to the team. If it was not over then Donna would keep her spot and he would find one for her on another team. When the four of them had discussed it a week ago it was contentious when they got to who would stay with the team if Sam and Jules maintained a relationship.
As much as he wanted to turn a blind eye to their relationship Ed was right. If it ever came out that they had known and did nothing about it the entire team would be reassigned. Team One would be no more. It was also possible that he and Ed as the leaders would be suspended. And the deciding factor for all of them was that it was an extremely high probability that both Sam and Jules would be fired. None of them wanted that for either of them.
"wooh wooh ahhh eeewww wooh wooh ahhh eeewww" Direct hit to his chest. Greg looked up and saw Wordy grinning at him. He gave Wordy a small smile to cover his actual mood and then sent the monkey flying at Ed. Direct hit in the ass. Ed jumped and tried to determine who launched it. Greg bent down to finish tying his boots and he returned to his thoughts.
That had been a hard discussion. They ended up putting it to a vote. But Wordy completely abstained from voicing an opinion one way or the other. He still didn't know if Wordy had ventured a vote if it would have been a majority or a tie. Lou had voted for Sam to stay saying they needed his skills more and that Spike would likely leave the team too if Sam was kicked out.
He had wanted Jules to stay, his feelings for her ran deeper and he knew she would be completely lost without the team. He couldn't get past his fatherly feelings and he was pretty sure Sam would be pissed at them if they choose him over Jules. Sam was very protective of Jules too.
Ed was the deciding vote and he voted for Sam to stay too. Ed did not explain his reasoning. He had simply said Sam stays. Then folded his arms and sat back without another word on the subject. He knew that Ed and Jules had been good friends for so long. His nasty words to Sam proved he cared about her.
But perhaps he still felt he had wronged Sam deeply and this would be a way of recompense. Whatever the reason behind Ed's vote the decision was made. Two to one, Sam stayed and Jules left if both did not indicate the relationship was over.
Greg stood and watched as three more flying animals screamed in various directions. He actually did smile; even not here Sam had initiated something that was sorely needed by the team right now, a fun diversion. He truly hoped it could all be worked out.
He wanted both Sam and Jules on this team, in his family. Watching as both Spike and Wordy landed direct hits on Lou he chuckled lightly and said "Okay boys, time to put your toys away. Time to go keep the peace." Greg headed for the briefing room to the sound of one more 'wooh wooh ahhh eeewww wooh wooh ahhh eeewww'.
Jules's Home
She couldn't remember a time she had been more angry and hurt and pissed at herself for such a long period of time. Everything was so totally messed up. She picked up the sledge hammer and smashed it into the wall. At least she had an outlet for her anger. She had decided to take out this wall and make a more open floor plan between the family room and the kitchen.
As she swung away her mind turned to Sam. She had finally forced herself to go to the hospital and actually talk to Sam. He was hurt and he needed people to be there for him like he was for her. When she found his room empty her heart had lurched. She had talked to a young nurse Bunker who told her he was gone. She had actually passed out.
She came out of her dazed stupor and watched as three ICU nurses she was very familiar with laid into the young nurse with a fury she had never seen from the kind and caring nurses. Nurse Clarry explained that Sam had left two days prior and was under his family's care. She had gone home shaken to the core. The very thought of Sam dying had hurt too deeply.
When she got home she had curled up on the couch wearing one of the shirts Sam had left at her place with a pint of chocolate ice cream in her lap as she tried to comfort and calm herself. She had turned on the TV for the first time in a week. She never watched much, only games with Sam or some stupid movie when she felt the need to be cuddled and cared for with Sam's strong protective arms around her.
The news was on and she decided to watch even though she loathed newscasters. They never seemed to have it right, had stupid off based opinions and used sensationalized words. Nor did the news rarely contain any good news. It always focused on the bad and she had enough of bad at work. When she was off shift she needed to focus on positive things to restore the balance. So it was rare she watched the news.
Perky over-made up blonde girl was talking to metro-sexual brown haired dude when she turned up the volume and heard them speculating about why a police officer would hit a subject that was already in custody. That caught her attention. She had been shocked to find out Lou was being accused of doing that and that Spike had been in the hospital.
She bristled when perky blonde said that just because the guy hurt one of his teammates it was no excuse to hit the prisoner while arresting him. That those were the risks police signed up for. She further said she expected them to behave honorably and follow the rules even in that kind of situation.
Jules first thought was stupid bitch, we are not robots. We have feelings too. You should see some of the scum we have to deal with and the split second life and death decisions we have to make while putting our lives on the line to save others.
Then her second thought was blind fury at the team for not telling her about Spike, Sam or even her replacement Donna. She felt like they didn't care about her because they didn't tell her.
Her third thought was what if Spike thought she didn't care about him. He was a brother. He would be hurt that she hadn't come to check in on him. Was she losing both Sam and the team?
She had called the Boss and her emotions got the better of her. She ranted and raved at him for not informing her. When she had calmed down slightly once her initial storm was released he said he needed to talk to her but wanted to wait a week. So all week she stewed about what he wanted to talk to her about.
To distract her thoughts she poured herself two hundred percent into rehab. She was bound and determined to come back stronger than before. She missed working out with Sam and just hanging out after he was off shift too. She wondered where he was. She would ask the Boss about him tonight. Surely Sam had kept in touch with the Boss.
Sweat dripping down her face Jules stopped swinging the sledge hammer. All her anger had been released. She looked at the now mostly demolished wall with a huge hole in it.
That's exactly how she felt right now; destroyed.
There was a huge hole where her solid protective wall had once been. She was in bits and pieces strewn all over the place with small pieces slowly floating downward not knowing where she would land. Her internal walls were crumbling and no longer structurally sound. Nothing would ever be the same.
Local Bar Outskirts of Toronto
Niko watch Henry closely. He was not doing so well the last week. He had gone and checked on him after shift the day he left the untouched beer on the bar. He had been shocked to see the state of his home, all the damage caused by the convicts. Quickly he had called three friends and they came over. They righted his house for him. At eighty-three years old Henry was still in fairly good shape but the entire house had been in such disarray.
Henry started coming in every day for the past week. He talked to all the regulars as normal and entertained them with his stories. But Niko could see something was off. Although he had not been quite the same since Elsa passed away couple of years ago he could tell there was something more going on. But he didn't know exactly what.
Elsa was the love of his life. They had known each other since he was ten and she was five. Henry married her on her eighteenth birthday. They had six kids. Sadly all of them had died in a terrible apartment fire forty years ago just before Henry and Elsa moved out here. They came here to get away from the memories and try to make a new life, just the two of them.
He had never seen a couple so dedicated to one another. For nearly thirty years they were the life of the party whenever they came into the bar. But thirteen years ago that changed. Elsa had never been quite the same after she was attacked.
She had been visiting her sister in the city when she was attacked and beaten by four men. They never knew who was responsible. It had been sad to watch as the vibrant sixty-four year old woman became reclusive and fearful. Then a few years ago cancer took her completely away from Henry.
"Henry, how ya doing today?" Niko asked.
He looked up at Niko and replied "Fair to midlin."
Niko smiled at Henry's typical answer "So any word on when you will get your car back?"
"Actually they called yesterday. Said I could come pick it up anytime. Just gotta figure out how to get there. The buses don't come out this far and a taxi fare would be just too much" Henry replied.
Instantly Niko offered "I have this afternoon off. If you would like I could give you a ride. I'd be happy to do it."
Henry smiled "That'd be nice. What time you off?" The two of them talked and made arrangements for when Niko would pick up Henry. Twenty minutes later Henry rose and said "I'll see ya at three. Just gotta head home now and make arrangements to get the car." He waved to several regulars as he headed out.
Ridgewater Chalet near Lake Louise, Alberta
Another beautiful autumn day Sam thought sitting in a comfortable chair outside on the terrace with a light blanket draped over him. He had gotten clearance to walk around the chalet but to take it easy still. He needed to be outside in the cool mountain breeze. Wilson had moved one of the comfortable chairs outside for him. Sipping his coffee he let his mind wander.
Sam had come to some conclusions over the past week. He needed the team and he needed Jules. Both were necessary for him to survive right now. It was a painful decision but he would have to give up hope of ever having a romantic relationship with Jules in order to remain with the team. But he would get partially what he needed if he remained her teammate and colleague.
He would still be able to be near Jules every work day. He would be able to protect her. He would love her from afar. The feelings he had would never go away. Never. There would never be anyone besides Jules for him. She was the love of his life. He would become a confirmed bachelor like Wilson, Blaze, Winds and Adam.
It would hurt badly but he loved her enough to let her go. In order to survive he had to sacrifice making it to 'great' again in his life. Only with Jules would he be 'great'. Sadly it was a price he was willing to pay to keep both the team and Jules in his life.
He could never ask Jules to leave the team. Jules needed the team as much as he did. She never talked much about her biological family. But he knew they had abandoned her. Truly abandoned her.
It was not like his family where he had mixed things up and thought they abandoned him. Jules was totally alone without the team. The team was her only family now. Sarge was her dad. He often thought when she called him Boss it was a pseudonym for Dad for her.
Ed, Spike, Lou and Wordy were her four replacement brothers. He could not bring himself to think of himself as one of her brothers. He would settle for being her best friend. Being the one she could turn to whenever she needed some one to protect or comfort her without expecting anything in return.
Watching her move on and find another guy would be difficult. But he loved her enough to not stand in her way. He loved her enough to endure the pain of watching her build a life without him. It wouldn't be easy but he would find the strength to always be just her best friend.
His thoughts turned to Greg and Ed. He had made some decisions there too. He tried hard to see it from their point of view. The words still hurt but he understood most of it. That pain would pass with a little time. Maybe more than just a little; they had cut deep and to the core of his insecurities. He never felt good enough. Others were always more important than him.
Sarge's face had showed some compassion that night. He was pretty sure he had reviewed the conversation in the light of day and regretted much of what he said. He didn't begrudge the boss's protectiveness of Jules. She needed protection. Although she was a strong capable woman, she had been hurt badly by her family. He was glad that Sarge watched out for her and didn't want her heart hurt again.
But Sarge would review the entire event just like debriefing. He would recognize where it went off the rails. What he didn't know is what he would do about it. Would he be dismissed because of the rules infraction? Would he be shifted to a new team or off SRU completely? Would this vacation be the only consequence?
He was going to have to talk to the Sarge to find out. But he wasn't quite ready for that yet. Speaking of talking; he would have to eventually talk to Ed too. Especially if Sarge decided to allow him to stay on the team. Talking to Ed would be the hardest.
Ed was hard to read and he never quite knew where he stood. He rode his ass often. Usually when Ed was angry it was because he had done something Ed viewed as an unnecessary risk.
But in this case the words were just hurtful. Sam chided himself thinking he should have a thicker skin and brush them off but it was hard in this case. It was hard because of all people he didn't expect Ed to say those things. He looked up to Ed much like he did Blaze.
They had gotten off to a rocky start but after the whole Plouffe thing and all the events surrounding it he thought Ed knew how much he had been hurt in his life so far. And for him to inflict pain like that… Sam had to stop thinking about Ed at the moment. That one needed more time before he could deal with it.
He needed to focus on something more positive for a while. Spike. A real smile came to his face as he thought about what Wilson had done for Spike in his name.
Wilson got a kick out of telling him he deliberately sent the gifts in a plain wrapper and no names. Wilson remembered how his SF bomb tech always handled such packages. It would give Spike something to do as he carefully opened the package. Sam appreciated the note he sent too. It would have been exactly what he would have said had his mind been clear.
Yvonne watched Sam from inside the chalet. She smiled when he smiled. Thank goodness. The first real smile since they got here. She wondered what he was thinking about.
She opened the door and meandered out. She leaned down and kissed his cheek. His face was looking a little better and his movements came with less pained expressions. Yvonne sat in a chair near him "What are you smiling about Sam?"
"The team, Spike in particular" Sam responded but did not expound.
Yvonne could see why he was smiling. She remembered all the pranks he described Spike pulling. Neither she nor Bella had pushed for any information allowing Sam to share as he wanted. They made themselves available but most often they just sat quietly with him as he stared off into the woods. She noted he was fully dressed for the first time today including shoes. She said "Care to take a short stroll in the woods?"
She saw light in his eyes for the first time. Sam hated to be idle. He had chafed against but complied with all the doctor's orders. He was itching to move.
Sam looked at her "Really, you'd let me do that?"
"So long as Wilson and I go with you and you don't overdo it. I know you know your limits. Stay within them" Yvonne replied.
He nodded and threw off the blanket and slowly stood up. He gave her a huge grin, offered her his arm and said "Shall we?" Then he called over his shoulder "Hey Wilson, mom's letting me go for a walk, wants you to come too." The three headed out.
Henry Cooke's Home
Once he got home from the bar Henry removed his favorite picture of Elsa from the frame. He kissed it and said out loud "Elsa my kitten, gonna see you sooner than I expected." He tucked the small picture in his left breast pocket of his flannel shirt.
He emptied the fridge of perishables and took out the trash. When he came back inside he looked at the letter on the counter. He reread it. There was a break in the old case on Elsa's attack. They had a DNA match between the saliva on the soda can from his home and the swab of spittle they had taken from Elsa's face so many years ago.
Henry went to his bedroom and moved the rug and opened the hidden trap door in the floor. He removed the small box and looked inside. Never wanted these he thought. I was just doing my job and I was just damned good at it. He set the box full of military awards off to the side. He pulled out his M1911A1 semi-automatic pistol and his sniper rifle. Henry put the box back and closed the trap door and replaced the rug.
Sitting at the table he carefully cleaned then loaded the weapons. As he worked he thought he had not planned to do this. He had no way to get to the city today. But then Niko offered to drive him. It was as if fate had intervened. He would have justice for the love of his life. Then he would go to Elsa. He needed so badly to be with her. His life was nothing, empty without her.
SRU Briefing Room
It had been a slow day today. The team was in the briefing room reviewing and completing necessary paperwork. There was easiness today and everyone was lightly joking around as they worked.
The entire team looked up as Inspector Stainton and Kendall Stevens from SIU entered. Stainton looked serious and Kendall looked unhappy. The Inspector glanced at all the team his gaze holding for longer on Lou. Then he turned to Greg and said "Sergeant Parker, we need to take Constable Young to SIU to get his statement regarding the accusations of police brutality."
Lou sighed. He and the team knew this was coming just not when. He had a long conversation with the Boss and Ed regarding the ramifications of his actions. Lou had said he would simply tell the truth without giving the exact details of what was said and he would stick to what was in the transcripts. He knew he acted rashly and would take whatever consequences came from his actions.
Greg said "Does it have to be now? If Lou goes we will be shorthanded and unable to take hot calls with only five members. Team Three is out on a bank robbery call right now."
Stainton said "Unfortunately it does have to be now. We need his statement before the arraignment for the convicts scheduled for later today."
Agent Stevens could see the frustration on Parker's face. Leaving the team unable to respond if needed was not a good thing. So she offered "We could take his statement here. Conference room three is sound proofed. Right?" Greg and Ed nodded yes. "Good, that way if a call comes in you will be able to respond. This should not take too long."
Lou got up and headed around the table. "Let's go." He wanted to get this over with, it felt like an anvil hanging over his head.
SRU Conference Room 3
Agent Stevens setup the recorder and turned it on then said "Constable Lewis Young we are here to get your statement on the charges filed against you for police brutality. You have the right to have an attorney present. Do you wish to proceed without one or shall we wait until one arrives?"
Lou should wait for one but he really just wanted this over so he said "You're recording so let's just get on with it."
Kendall nodded and stated "For the record one Robert Bozonnet has accused Constable Lewis Young with punching him after he was cuffed. Constable Young please tell me in your own words your account of the events."
Lou started all the way back when Arbor and Fulco entered the briefing room. He told how they discovered Sam had been abducted. How they had located him. The state he was in when they found him. Lou went on to tell about the nine hours waiting for the subjects to show. Then he told about the events in the master bedroom and how Robert had rushed him and they struggled.
He was finishing with "and Sergeant Parker called out for EMS. I was holding the subject down and waiting to take him down the stairs because I wanted the stairs clear for the EMT to get to my teammates."
Kendall interrupted "Bozonnet alleges that you struck him after he said some disparaging things about a member of your team. Is that true?"
"Yes" Lou answered simply.
Looking at the thin transcript Kendall quickly found the spot and started to read "From the transcript I can see the following chain of events and comments:
Young: Boss, I got him. Check on Spike and Donna. Don't know Spike's condition but Donna took a kick to the jaw and went down hard and the other subject was down too but not cuffed yet.
Parker: Two officers and one subject down. Need EMS in the master bedroom.
Wordsworth: Go. You need to check on Spike and Donna. I've got these two until the patrol officers arrive.
Subject: How the hell did you know we would be coming here?
Young: That would because of Sam's concern for Dame Ridgewater.
Subject: You found Braddickhead?
Young: Yes we found Sam. Lucky for you he was still alive.
Subject: We should have killed that pathetic cocky shit before we left. But no we left him to slowly starve to death.
Young: I'm going with Spike to the hospital.
Fulco: Sergeant Parker."
Kendall looked back up to Lou "So I assume you struck him after he said 'We should have killed that pathetic cocky shit before we left. But no we left him to slowly starve to death.' Is that a correct assumption?"
Lou answered "Yes." When they had read the transcript at the Boss's home he had been surprised to see that his own threatening statement to Robert was gone too. As were Wordy's statement about going to Sam and Ed and Greg not to come near him. Apparently they all had a guardian angel.
"Okay. I just have a few more clarification questions. At the time you struck him how many hours had you been awake and how many hours were you on the job?" Kendall asked.
Lou had to stop and do the calculations "Let's see by that time it was near five am. I woke the prior day at three-thirty am to make it into SRU HQ by four-thirty in order to be ready for pre-shift work out at five am. We were in the briefing room at seven am. So by then I had been awake for twenty five and a half hours and depending if you count pre-shift workout or not was on the job for twenty-two or twenty-four hours."
Kendall noted that down then asked "How many hours was the stakeout?"
"We started at eight pm. So it would be nine hours." He responded giving some of the details he had already given.
She next asked "Did you have any down time or rotate out with any officers at any time during the stakeout?"
He responded "No we all maintained our positions the entire time."
"And your position was where?" the agent inquired.
Lou gave the details "A bedroom upstairs on the back side of the house. I was positioned at a window watching for the subjects."
Kendall then stated "So you were standing for nine hours straight maintaining a watch position."
"Yes" he answered.
Nodding her head she asked "When was the last time you ate that day?"
Lou thought this was an odd line of questioning but answered "That would be during start of shift briefing when Donna brought in timbits for the team to share."
"Are you saying you had nothing to eat or drink for twenty-two hours?" Kendall asked incredulously.
Lou corrected "Had several bottles of water throughout the day but no we did not have time to eat. We had more important things to do. We had to find Sam, then setup security at the hospital then we headed out to set the stakeout to recapture the subjects."
Kendall wrote several things down "How did you feel not eating. Your physical state?"
Lou stopped to think about that "Well, to be honest my stomach hurt. I was very hungry. We exerted a lot of energy that day."
Next she asked "Constable Braddock was abducted the day prior is that correct?"
Again his answered with a simple "Yes."
"When your team found Constable Braddock what was his condition? Was he incapacitated in anyway" Stevens asked.
A pained look crossed his face and he voice was marred by emotion "He was bound hand and foot with plastic zip-ties. He was laying semi-conscious on the cold damp ground. He had been beaten so severely that his face was bloodied and his entire face, torso, front and back and his arms were black and blue. He lost consciousness just after we found him. There were clear signs of serious internal bleeding. We did not think he would make it."
"To your knowledge was he given any food or water while he was held?" Agent Stevens queried.
A look of anger crossed his face "No. Given his condition when we found him and the subject's statement they left him to starve to death is a pretty good indicator they did not provide him either food or water."
Her next question threw him for a loop "Would you ever consider leaving an animal, say a dog or a cat tied up and without food or water for two days."
Low answered "No. That would be beyond cruel."
Kendall gave him a small smile then said "Thank you for your time Constable Young. I believe I have all we need. You will be notified of the results of our investigation soon. Until such time you are considered to be on active duty with no restrictions."
Lou stood as Kendall turned off the recorder. It was just the two of them in the room. Lou said "Off the record, just what was that all about?"
Kendall rose as she packed her items away "It will be used to determine your state of mind and physical condition at the time of the alleged brutality." She turned to him and smiled "I don't think you will have anything to worry about." Lou walked out still a bit confused. Kendall watched him go. Then she turned and quickly finished putting her items away.
She had what she needed to show that he was human and pushed beyond the breaking point that day. Food and sleep deprivation, physical exhaustion and heightened emotional state. He was pushed over the edge by statements about a colleague who was on the verge of death. When she was done presenting and drawing her analogy to her animal loving superior she knew it was highly likely there would not even be a letter of censor in Lou's official file.
As she was about to leave the room she heard "wooh wooh ahhh eeewww wooh wooh ahhh eeewww. Thunk." Followed by Lou's exasperated voice saying "Spike! Boss said to put your toys away." She laughed out loud. She knew the distinct sound of flying screaming monkeys. This team was awesome she thought as she walked out of the SRU HQ.