Spike knew they all heard. He knew someone probably had the parabolic somewhere. Oh god, it was just like before, he thought. No, not like before. He pushed the thought away. He had talked to Dr. Greene in the hospital and for several months after. They had worked through his feelings of shame about what happened. Right now, he just wanted out of this damned barn with Sam. He could feel Sam looking at him still. He took a breath and looked at him, his eyes and face betraying his inner resolve to make Sam believe he was ok.
"How you holding up?" Sam whispered even though he knew it was a dumb question.
"It went straight through my thigh and into my ankle. I can't sit like this much longer." Spike whispered honestly. He knew it was the only thought he could form at the moment.
Paige was breathing so hard she couldn't hear anything around her. She was looking at the floor, but not seeing anything. My god, she thought. Was her mother really capable of what Spike had described? She wasn't the monster he said she was. She couldn't be. No, it can't be true. She turned to Sam and Spike and saw they were talking. Her hearing came back in a rush. "No. Be quiet. You- she." Paige couldn't seem to put words together and her hands were shaking.
She shook out her hands and tried again. "It can't be true."
Spike took a breath and looked at her, his eyes hard. "Why would I lie about that?" He frowned. He felt so tired, drained. He put a hand to his thigh and pressed, gritting his teeth. "No one would willingly make up a story like that." He gasped as the pain kicked up a notch. "Your mother was sick, she needed help. You need help. Please, it's time for all of us to get out of here." He put his free hand up, palm up.
Paige took a step back from him and looked behind her. The blonde woman and her two friends had moved closer. She looked at Greg. He and the the other men had moved forward as well. She looked at the side door and saw two officers there. She was trapped. She hadn't thought about an escape plan. Except maybe, she looked at the gun in her hand, maybe she could see her mom again. She looked at Greg, her eyes tearing.
Greg's heart skipped a beat. She was giving up, but not in the way she should be. "Paige." Greg said as a warning. "Stay with us here Paige."
Paige put the gun under her chin and signed with the other hand. "Why? So I can go to jail? Never see my mom again? This way I can see my real mom. I don't have to miss her so much. I miss her." Paige sobbed and looked at Spike. I'm sorry. For everything. Please, go."
Spike kept his hand up. "No." His eyes softened. "We go together." He wasn't sure if it was the pain talking or his need to protect people, preserve life that made him stay. "You don't want to do that Paige."
"Why? Look what I've done." Paige waved her hand at the officers around her.
"Wordy, go get her mom. She's in my SUV." Greg whispered.
Wordy handed the shield to Raf, turned, left the stables and ran to the SUVs.
"TPI?" Ed asked quietly.
"Maybe. I'm hoping if she sees her mom, what it'd do to her to lose her daughter, it could turn it around." Greg nodded slightly.
"It can be undone. We can- can make sure you get the help you need." Spike dropped his hand. He was fading fast, he could feel it. "Please. Paige. I'm dying." Spike said before his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell to the side.
Sam saw that Spike was about to pass out and leaned toward him. When Spike passed out, he caught Spike with his shoulder, but without hands he couldn't keep him from falling all the way to the floor. "Spike!" He leaned forward put his ear by Spike's face.
Wordy got to the SUVs and saw a brown haired, blue eyed woman that resembled the subject standing with an officer. "Mrs. Wassler?" He asked, a little frantic. He could still hear what was going on in the stable and knew Spike wasn't going to last much longer. "I need you to come with me." When she agreed he led her to one of the SUVs, got in and drove like a bat out of hell back to the stables. "Boss, I have the mom."
"Hold Wordy." Greg whispered, then called, "Paige! We need to get Spike to the hospital! I don't think you want him to die."
Paige watched Spike fall over and looked up at Greg. Oh god. What did she do? "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She cocked the gun.
"Boss?" Ed dropped the shield. It was now or never. Spike was bleeding out in front of them, the subject was on the knife edge.
"Go Ed." Greg said.
Ed aimed and fired at the gun, then two more at the subject's torso.
Paige was shocked when she heard a gun go off, something hit the gun and knocked it out of her hand, then two more hit her in the stomach. She fell back, waiting for oblivion to come, instead she heard shouts of, "hands behind your back! Hands! Don't move!" She laid still and let the officers roll her to her back and cuff her hands.
After Ed fired, everyone advanced on Paige, Sam and Spike. Donna and George secured the subject while Lance and Raf covered them. Ed and Wordy checked on Spike while Greg undid Sam's hands.
Ed put two fingers to Spike's throat and sighed in relief. His pulse was weak, but it was there. "Get EMS in here now!" He yelled towards the stable doors.
##### outside the stables #####
Wordy sighed in relief and looked at Karen. "We have her in custody."
"Is she ok?" Karen asked, tears streaming down her face. It had been all she could do to not run in there and see what was happening.
"Yes." He turned to face her. "She needs help and we're going to make sure she gets it."
"Thank you." Karen nodded.
Wordy nodded back and watched as Donna and Charles brought Paige out. The rest of Team Two was behind them. He put a hand on Karen's arm and guided her towards Paige.
Karen watched her daughter walk out of the stables in handcuffs. She put her hands over her nose and mouth and sobbed. Her heart was breaking in two thinking about what Paige had already lost and was losing because of her actions. She let the officer guide her to the cruiser the others were about to put Paige in.
Wordy hitched his chin at Donna. "Hold up. Let's give them a minute."
Donna stopped and held onto Paige's arm until Karen reached them. She let go and let Karen embrace her daughter.
##### inside the stables #####
Greg handed a pressure dressing to Raf who had turned his attention to Spike and knelt down next to him. Raf put the pressure dressing on and put a hand on Spike's wrist. V
Ed had Spike's head in his lap and was talking softly to him. "We gotcha buddy. Hang on, it's over. It's finally over."
Greg put a hand on Sam's shoulder as soon as he had Sam's hands free. "You ok?" He moved in front of Sam and looked him in the eye, but Sam was looking at Spike.
Sam stared at Spike. At least this time he was unconscious, he thought. His mind flashed back to the brick building. He had raced into the building after he took the Sierra shot. It had killed him to see Spike so beat up and lost. He had helped Spike get out of the building, but he couldn't do that this time. He wanted to do something to help Spike, but Ed and Raf were already taking care of him, there wasn't anything for him to do. He looked up at the ceiling and blew out a breath.
Jules ran up, put her bagged remi on the floor and knelt in front of Sam. He had his knees semi-bent, arms around his knees and was looking at the ceiling. "Sam?
Sam looked at Jules. He could see the concern in her eyes. More than anything he wanted her to take him in her arms and just hold him. "I'm ok." He said finally, although a little shakily.
Greg saw the EMTs running to them and backed off so they could asses Spike and Sam.
An EMT sat next to Sam and started taking his vitals, but Sam pulled his arm away. He looked at the EMT angrily. "I'm fine. Help Spike." He crawled the foot or so to Spike, kneeled next to him and took his hand. "I'm here Spike. I've gotcha. I won't let you fall, remember?"
The EMT followed Sam to Spike where his partner was putting a tourniquet on Spike's leg. He stood and ran to grab the gurney. They had to get this guy to the hospital ASAP.
Jules crawled to Sam and sat next to him. "Sam, you need to be checked out too. Come on. We can wait in the ambulance." She put an arm around his shoulders.
Sam looked at her and nodded. He hated the thought, but there wasn't anything he could do for Spike right now. He let her stand first, then stood. He legs were shaky so he stood still for a moment to get his balance.
Jules put an arm around his waist. She really saw his knees for the first time and gasped. His pants were ripped and bloody around his knees. No wonder he was unsteady. "Good?"
"Yeah." Sam nodded and they started walking towards the stable doors. Damn, he thought. I'm sore everywhere. They took about ten steps and he had to stop, his knees were killing him.
"What hurts?" Jules asked looking at him with concern when he stopped.
"Knees. Just need to rest a minute." Sam shifted from foot to foot trying to alleviate some of the pain. After a few minutes he nodded to Jules and they started again.
The EMTs, with the help of Ed and Greg got Spike on a backboard and onto the gurney. The EMTs lifted the gurney and started rolling it out of the stables. They already had an IV started and were pushing the gurney as fast as they could. Greg and Ed ran next to it, Raf following.
Sam winced and stopped. "Damn." He blew out a breath and looked at Jules. "Sorry."
"It's ok." Jules smiled reassuringly. She looked up and saw the gurney with the five men around it. She caught Raf's eye and tipped her head to the side.
Raf saw Jules and Sam walking slowly towards the stable doors as he speed walked behind the gurney. He noticed Jules beckoning him and walked to them. "Need a hand Sam?" He asked. When Sam looked at him defiantly, he chuckled. He might be the rookie, but he'd seen that look on Sam's face enough to know what it meant. "They're going to be leaving for the hospital in like one minute. If you want to ride with Spike we're going to have to move quicker than this."
Sam nodded, even though he didn't like the idea of having to be carried out. His pride be damned, he was riding with Spike to the hospital.
Raf saw Wordy walking into the barn and called, "hey Wordy, get your help for a sec?"
Wordy jogged over when he heard Raf call him. "Need a lift?" He smiled at Sam.
"My knees aren't cooperating." Sam nodded.
Jules moved back and let Wordy stand next to Sam.
Wordy moved in position and looked at Raf. "Ready?"
"Yup." Raf and Wordy leaned down, put their arms under Sam's thighs while he put an arm around each of their necks, and lifted Sam up off the ground, careful not to put any pressure on his knees.
"How'd your knees get so banged up?" Wordy asked and immediately regretted it. What if Paige was like her mother and tortured him? He shook that thought off. From what he heard in the stables, Paige had been shocked to find out her mother had tortured Spike. She didn't sound like she could do that.
"It took at least seven tries before I could get up the wall of my stall and get out." Sam shrugged.
Wordy looked at him in surprise. "You take up parkour while I've been away?"
Sam scoffed. "I wish. It wouldn't have taken me seven tries to get up the wall."
Wordy chuckled, but his face became serious. "You doing ok otherwise?"
Sam looked at Wordy, knowing he couldn't fool him. He nodded but didn't say anything else.
Ed turned from the ambulance they just loaded Spike into and saw Wordy and Raf carrying Sam out of the barn with Jules close behind. He saw Sam's knees and understood why they were carrying him. He waited for Wordy and Raf to put Sam down and then he helped Sam climb into the ambulance. He closed the door and pounded on it with his hand.
"How was Spike? Did he wake up?" Jules asked, her eyes tearing.
Greg put a comforting hand on Jules' shoulder.
Ed shook his head. "They said he lost a lot of blood. He- uh, it's pretty grave." Ed looked away, willing the tears not to come. If anything happened to Spike he didn't know what he'd do.
"Greg." Donna walked up to the group in time to hear Ed's words. "We've got this. Go."
"Thanks Donna." Greg said quietly.