Disclaimer: I do not own Flashpoint or any of its characters, but this is my writing and should not be used without my permission. Thank you for reading!

-RM
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Review of Last Chapter:
She'd faced lethal situations on a daily basis, and she trusted Sam and Spike with her life as always, but falling backwards off a 200 ft. cliff –even if it was into their arms- wasn't at the top of her bucket list. She was broken from her thoughts when David roared,

"SHE'S MINE, I WON'T LET YOU TAKE HER FROM ME AGAIN!" He swung back around, knife raised. "Jules!" Sam ordered. Son of a- She thought to herself, and without thinking about it –as she had been trained- let herself fall backwards off over the edge to her seemingly plausible death.
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"NOOOOO!" She heard David growl fiercely, as he grabbed for her, but he hadn't been expecting the move. Honestly, she hadn't been either. But, it wasn't like she could just duck…If David wanted her dead…she would die if she'd stayed up there.
He was an excellent marksmen when throwing knives, and even worse, he knew the body anatomy as well as a doctor if not better…which meant that if he wanted to cripple her just for the time's being, he easily could.

She closed her eyes tightly as she felt her stomach jump to her throat. She knew that the fall wasn't long, but like said…She was falling backwards over a 200 ft. cliff.

Shouldn't they have caught me already, why am I still falling? She wondered, toying with her worst fear, against her better judgment. She let out a startled gasp as the thought whooshed from her mind when familiar arms wrapped around her waist, and Spike grabbed her behind her knees.
"We've got her!"
She took a second to catch her breath,
"Oh my God." She choked. "I expect these things on the job, but off the clock, not so much."
She felt Sam chuckle behind her, and Spike smiled at her, absolute relief shown in his eyes.
"Spike…you figured it out." She sighed, gratefully.
"I figured it out." He said quietly. "And thank god I did."
"DAVID PUT YOUR WEAPON DOWN, OR WE WILL HAVE TO SHOOT YOU!" Sarge yelled, watching the subject's body posture closely. David turned, and Greg tensed as the subject looked over the edge at his now vulnerable teammates.
David raised his arm, "Eddy, scorpio!" Sarge said, quickly.
BANG.

Jules watched from below him as David raised the knife, aiming it towards Sam.
No.
"Sam!? You got her?" Spike yelled.
"Yes!" Spike let her go, and she let out a startled gasp, Sam tightened his grip on her, wrapping her arms beneath hers.
She was confused for a moment, but not long because in that second, she heard the loud bang that signaled that David had been shot. She watched as he balanced precariously on the edge, then hurtled over, hitting the cliff where she had just been…
That could have been bad. She mused, then she made the mistake of looking down and saw David's body splatter against the ground, bile rose in her throat.
"Please get me back on solid ground." She murmured, feeling nauseous.
She felt a sudden jerk and let out a small squeak before she realized that her and Sam were moving upwards.
She felt Ed and Wordy's hands on her as her and Sam reached the drop off. They tightened their grips and pulled her up over the edge.
She looked back, and saw other Team 3 members help Spike and Sam back over.
It was then that she couldn't hold it back anymore and tears filled her eyes.

…

Sam kept a close eye on Jules on the trip back, Spike stood at her side.
She was nearly catatonic, and Sam wanted to talk to her more than anything, but he had to be careful, considering they were still surrounded by other SRU members.
"How're you doin Jules?" He asked, gently.
"I'm fine." She choked.
Sam caught the look that Spike shot him,
Bull-shit.
Sam nodded. Jules stared straight ahead, ignoring the exchange. She was more focused on just trying to keep down the urge to throw-up the contents of her stomach, which wasn't much.
They made it back to the SUVs soon enough thought and Sam heard Greg in his ear,
"Sam…" He nodded to Jules, and Sam nodded in reply, taking her small body and leading her to the passenger's side of one of the trucks.
She buckled in, not looking at him, tears filled her eyes, and she wiped furiously at them, not wanting anyone to see her weakness, although right now, that was all that she was feeling.

Sam gave her a look and she knew that he could see right through her, but she also knew that he couldn't contradict what she was doing because the team could still hear him.
He climbed in the driver's side and put the truck in drive and they began the trip back to civilization.

The bumps and turns along the way though did nothing to help Jules's nausea.
"Sam…" He looked over at her quickly, responding to the tone in her voice,
"Stop the car."
"Wha-"
"Please, stop the car!"
He stopped it immediately, not questioning her and she practically fell out of the door and to her knees before getting violently sick.

"Oh no." Sam murmured.
Sam, what's going on? He heard Ed in his ear.
"She's not doing well, Ed."
What do you mean? Wordy supplied,
"She's getting sick."
Sam climbed out of the truck, running to the back and grabbing her a water, before making it over to her side. He pulled a hair tie from her wrist and pulled her hair up, and waited it out, wishing he could do something more than what he was.

He flinched, knowing that what she was throwing up was mostly stomach acid, she hadn't eaten anything since yesterday, most likely. Not soon enough it was over... He wrapped his arm around her waist, and pulled her up from the ground, helping her around to the back of the truck. Then helped her to sit in the back, he handed her the water, and she took it gratefully.

He pulled a protein bar out of a bag, and she made a face at it.
"You need to eat something." He said, looking her in the eye. She was the first to look away, which was a first when it came to a disagreement between the two of them.
She shook her head,
"Jules…" He said, pleadingly.
Sam, put a mic on her. -Sarge
"Copy." He said, walking to the front of the car, grabbing a spare.
She looked at him, as he walked back around, but didn't fight him as he tipped her chin up, and pressed the earpiece into her ear.

"She's got it in, boss." Sam said.

Jules, you need to eat something. I know how hard it is right now, but you're in shock, let us help you.

"Sarge…" She croaked in protest, and the team flinched internally at the pain in her voice.
But Sarge stayed stoic,
"Jules."
She sighed, and held out her hand, so that Sam could sit the now unwrapped food in her hand.
She made another face at it before taking a timid bite. Her stomach rolled again, but she kept it down, because at the same time, it helped to soothe her throat and made her feel more like herself.
Afterwards, she saw that Sam was smiling at her,
"Thank you." He mouthed to her, and she rolled her eyes, causing him to smile again, he covered his mic with his hand,
"There's the Jules, I know."
She sighed, as he helped her out, supporting her with his body as things spun for a second.
They got back in the car, and she pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on them.
Sam glanced over at her occasionally, drinking in the fact that she was here and she was safe. But, he was still worried, her skin was a pasty pale, and she looked feverish and well…traumatized, which she most likely was, although she would never admit to it.

When they made it back to the side of the street, they stopped and Sam heard Jules murmur,
"No, no, no." When she caught sight of the ambulances and Spike's reluctant form being herded into one.
Yes. She heard Ed in her ear.
Sarge walked over to their SUV, and him and Ed, helped her down, before leading her –against her will, she mused- to an ambulance.

Sam watched, and his heart sank as the EMTs pressed something into Jules's arm and seconds later, she faded into unconsciousness.
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After the teams debriefed at the Barn, Team 3 left, as exhausted as the rest of them.
A feeling of sorrow, and fear pulsed throughout the atmosphere of the room for the remaining Team 1 members. Wordy, Sam, Ed, and Sarge.
"Do you think she's gonna recover, boss?" Sam asked.
"What do you think, Sam?" Sarge replied, meeting the younger man's eyes.
Sam sighed, "I think she's Jules, and she'll attempt to fake her way through it, whether she realizes it or not." He felt like he was betraying her, but the team knew her well already. The other three nodded.

"She'll be unhappy to hear it, but Spike -maybe not as much as her- will both need therapy."
Sam nodded, and Ed put his hands over his face for a moment.
"Let's go see how they're doing." Ed suggested, before they walked into the locker room to take on their civilian roles again.
"Sam, why don't you ride with me?" Sarge suggested as they began to walk out to their vehicles.
""I can ride my-"
"It's supposed to rain, come on."
Sam sighed, looking up at the clouds, knowing fully well that the rain wasn't going to fall for at least another hour.
He fell into the passenger's side of Sarge's car, and Sarge began the drive to the hospital,
"Talk to me, Sam." He said gently after about 10 minutes.
Sam looked up at him, and wiped his face of any emotions,
"I'm fine, Sarge."
Greg scoffed, "Between you and Jules."
Sam sighed, a small smile breaking through his defense, then he became solemn once more,
"I feel like I failed her last night, Greg."
Sarge sighed, seeming to have expected it.
"I know, but what were you supposed to do?"
"I don't know…figure out that that cop wasn't the real deal."
"Sam you and her were running on about 3 hours of sleep, you thought you were both safe, David hit you while your guard was down, and there is nothing you could have done about that."
Sam sighed, looking out the window, "Yeah, I guess so." He knew Sarge was right, but he still felt terrible for what had happened to Jules, and he wanted someone to blame.
"If you're searching for someone to blame. Why not blame David? It's not like he had a small piece in this."
Sam looked over to him, shocked.
"It's like you read my mind sometimes." He said, quietly.
"You may be a former soldier, Sam. But, I'm good at reading people."
Sam nodded, then put what Sarge had suggested to work in his mind, he clenched and unclenched his fists. Because David was to blame, and he was glad that he was dead. Sam just wished that it had been a slower death. He knew that was a bad path to take when thinking about this kind of thing. But, god…what he could have done to that man for hurting Jules…

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as they parked in front of the hospital,
"Are you okay to go in?" Sarge asked, Sam sighed, wanting more than anything to See Jules.
"Yeah, I'm good."
Sarge smiled in exasperation, and they walked into the hospital.

Jules was still unconscious when they arrived, so they visited with Spike first who at the receptions desk, signing himself out. He turned and met the rest of the teams' eyes and smiled sadly,
"Shouldn't you at least stay the night, Spike?" Wordy asked.
Spike shook his head, "To be honest, I just really want to go home."
The team nodded in, understanding,
"How're you doing?" Ed asked, putting a hand on Spike's shoulder.
Spike nodded slowly, "Okay. But…Jules…"
"What's going on?"
"Her vitals were lower than they wanted, and her oxygen levels were dropping. When she threw up, it was mostly bile and it's causing her throat to swell up. They still have her sedated and have her on an oxygen stem. Right now though, their newest concern is trying to get some nutrients and fluids in her."
Sarge nodded, sighing, miserably. Jules was practically his daughter, just like the rest of the team, she was a family member.

They made their way back to her room, and the doctor informed them that she had been fighting the anesthesia –typical Jules- and they had had to push up her dosage a little so she most likely wouldn't be waking up until later that night, but that there was still a good chance that she could hear them.

They took turns, being in the room with her…because talking to someone who was 'asleep' was somewhat uncomfortable when others could hear you. Sam opted to go last, because then he could stay with her longer, and not be noticed.

He looked at her small body lying beneath the blankets, and he shuttered as the sight reminded him slightly of how worn out she had looked a few days after being shot. He just hoped that what had happened recently didn't have drastically similar effects as far as keeping her out of her job went.
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There is another chapter, so stay with me. (: Hope you've enjoyed 'The Brunette Butcher' so far.
Please Rate and Review. I like to hear from you guys.

-RMNicki-
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