Shockwave watched the hours ticking away as he thought over the proposal he'd been give by his visitor. It surprised him how cordial he had been to her, he'd barely said three words to anyone since the incident and yet he openly talked to this woman... He knew the only reason had been because she looked so much like her...
He rose as he reached his decision and picked up the phone. The first call was to the chief of his station. He explained that he had decided to leave the force, and then added something about closure or needing space or some bullshit... the chief said that he understood and would put Shockwave in for his pension and that he understood what he was going through...
"Hardly..." Shockwave said to one in particular once the conversation had ended.
The next call was to his sister. They may not be related by blood, but Alexis and Shockwave were close. His mother had left the brownstone building in which Shockwave dwelled to the siblings after their father's death. His father had been a 37-year veteran of the Detroit PD, having become the chief of police. Some said he'd have made commissioner if not for the cancer. Lung cancer to boot. That still bothered Shockwave, watching his father waste away like that...watch the strong man reduced to a thin bedridden man...it had hurt him more to watch his mother. His mother was a strong woman, but watching her husband waste away had almost killed her. After he died, she moved to Baltimore and left the home to Shockwave and Alexis. The siblings had shared the home until Alexis had been married last year. Now she was a spitfire. Following in her father and brother's footsteps, she'd joined Detroit PD right out of college. Last year she'd married a fellow cop and moved out, leaving Shockwave alone in the huge house...
"Lex?"
"Jason? Is something wrong?" his sister asked through the phone receiver.
"I'm leaving, sis."
"Leaving?"
"Detroit, the police, everything." He replied.
"Why?"
"I have my reasons."
"You running, Jason?"
"I just have some things to work out. Got a friend out west I'm going to be staying with. I promise I'll stay in contact, sis, so don't worry that I'm running."
"There's more, isn't there?" Alexis asked.
"I want you and Adam to take the house. Won't do me much good and Mom wanted it to stay in the family."
After a brief pause and sniffle, Alexis told Shockwave that she and Adam could move in by the end of the week. Promising he'd be back in town for her birthday, Shockwave hung up the phone.
He was now alone, ever since she'd been....
"Snap out of it, asshole." Shockwave growled to himself as he packed his bags. "Dwelling on it isn't going to bring her back." He packed only two bags, and looked through his home to see what he'd take. The family photograph went, so did the one of him with the SWAT team and...
He looked at the picture he held in his hands, himself with a beautiful auburn haired woman...he carefully tucked it into his bag, then finished tossing in a few more items.
"Lady Hart-Burnett please." Shockwave spoke into the phone, checking to make sure he'd dialed the right hotel...
"H-hullo...." It was obvious she'd been asleep.
"I'm in." was all Shockwave said.
"Mmm...okay, Jason. Meet me at the airport in four hours. I'll be in the lounge."
"Right." He replied before he heard her end of the line go silent and he hung up his phone....
Four hours later, he found himself in the lounge, Elton John playing in the background....
"I love Rocketman." Alison said as she walked up behind him. "Follow me, please." She led him through the terminal out to an Army Huey that waited on one of the pads.
"From now on, I'm Lady Jaye, Shockwave. Officially our unit does not exist, so we are all assigned codenames. Since you already had a nickname, you can keep it." Jaye waved to the pilot, a mustached man wearing sunglasses and a cowboy hat. "That's Wild Bill."
Shockwave shook hands with the man, who was obviously a Texan from his accent.
"Nice ta meet ya, Shockwave. Most folk call me Wild Bill." The pilot greeted him.
"As in the gunfighter?"
"Tha very same, you catch on fast, son. Climb on and we'll get ya to yer new home faster than a jackrabbit runnin' from a coyote."
Shockwave sat in the back of the Huey, silent for most of the flight as Wild Bill talked at great length, the usual icebreakers, asking Shockwave about himself. Shockwave replied in his usual short, one to two word replies...
"Faria...that's Italian, but you don't look Italian." Wild Bill said.
"I was adopted. My birth parents were Irish." Shockwave replied, causing Lady Jaye to give him and odd look...she had been adopted as well and her parents had also been Irish...chalk that up to coincidence.
"So...Wild Bill got his code name from the fact he's Texan, so he took a gun fighter's name. And my SWAT team gave me mine. How did you arrive at being called Lady Jaye?" Shockwave finally asked, drawing a grin from Wild Bill.
"Don't you dare..." Jaye threatened the chopper pilot.
"But it's such a great story. First time Flint told me..."
"God damn him! He promised he wouldn't tell..." Jaye growled. "Fine, I'll tell him. But if any one else speaks a word of this, I'll gut you both with a spork and strangle you with your small intestine. Got it?" Both men nodded, so she continued. "It was in basic training. I was nervous as hell because I was the only woman in the group, so I kept talking to the others. One day, the drill instructor, this huge behemoth of a man, grabbed me by my collar and told me that if I didn't stop babbling like a blue jay, he'd kick my ass to Cambodia." Shockwave gave her an odd look, then burst into laughter.
"I'm warning you, buddy, one word of this..." Jaye started.
"I swear I won't tell anyone." Shockwave promised once he regained control.
After a stop and a transfer to a small transport plane, they were back in the air again. Lady Jaye spent the rest of the flight explaining the team's purpose and what exactly his duties would be upon arrival. He'd have to go through a weeklong test, given by one of the men on base, the drill sergeant she referred to as Beach Head.
"Whatever you do, don't call him 'sir'. He hates that." Jaye warned.
The plane landed without incident at a small field in the Utah desert.
"This is a change of scenery..." Shockwave thought as he carried his bags down the ramp. Waiting at the end of the field were three men who Lady Jaye introduced to him.
"This is Flint, the team XO." She pointed to the man who wore a Special Forces beret and offered a firm handshake. Next in line was a man wearing a green ski mask and woodland BDUs.
"This is Beach Head, your drill instructor. His bite is worse than his bark, so watch you back." Jaye commented
"Ah'll remember that tha next time you'ah on mah obstacle course." Beach Head snapped back at Jaye. At the end of the line was a distinguished looking Native American.
"And this is Spirit Iron-Knife, our tracker." Shockwave shook the man's hand as Jaye continued talking. "He will show you around the base. You are also sharing quarters with him and will serve the same duty shifts with him if you make it onto the team." Jaye walked back to Flint and the two headed for one of the three huts, followed by Beach Head.
"Come, my friend. I will show you to your bunk. And welcome." Spirit said as he led Shockwave to the hut on the end...
He rose as he reached his decision and picked up the phone. The first call was to the chief of his station. He explained that he had decided to leave the force, and then added something about closure or needing space or some bullshit... the chief said that he understood and would put Shockwave in for his pension and that he understood what he was going through...
"Hardly..." Shockwave said to one in particular once the conversation had ended.
The next call was to his sister. They may not be related by blood, but Alexis and Shockwave were close. His mother had left the brownstone building in which Shockwave dwelled to the siblings after their father's death. His father had been a 37-year veteran of the Detroit PD, having become the chief of police. Some said he'd have made commissioner if not for the cancer. Lung cancer to boot. That still bothered Shockwave, watching his father waste away like that...watch the strong man reduced to a thin bedridden man...it had hurt him more to watch his mother. His mother was a strong woman, but watching her husband waste away had almost killed her. After he died, she moved to Baltimore and left the home to Shockwave and Alexis. The siblings had shared the home until Alexis had been married last year. Now she was a spitfire. Following in her father and brother's footsteps, she'd joined Detroit PD right out of college. Last year she'd married a fellow cop and moved out, leaving Shockwave alone in the huge house...
"Lex?"
"Jason? Is something wrong?" his sister asked through the phone receiver.
"I'm leaving, sis."
"Leaving?"
"Detroit, the police, everything." He replied.
"Why?"
"I have my reasons."
"You running, Jason?"
"I just have some things to work out. Got a friend out west I'm going to be staying with. I promise I'll stay in contact, sis, so don't worry that I'm running."
"There's more, isn't there?" Alexis asked.
"I want you and Adam to take the house. Won't do me much good and Mom wanted it to stay in the family."
After a brief pause and sniffle, Alexis told Shockwave that she and Adam could move in by the end of the week. Promising he'd be back in town for her birthday, Shockwave hung up the phone.
He was now alone, ever since she'd been....
"Snap out of it, asshole." Shockwave growled to himself as he packed his bags. "Dwelling on it isn't going to bring her back." He packed only two bags, and looked through his home to see what he'd take. The family photograph went, so did the one of him with the SWAT team and...
He looked at the picture he held in his hands, himself with a beautiful auburn haired woman...he carefully tucked it into his bag, then finished tossing in a few more items.
"Lady Hart-Burnett please." Shockwave spoke into the phone, checking to make sure he'd dialed the right hotel...
"H-hullo...." It was obvious she'd been asleep.
"I'm in." was all Shockwave said.
"Mmm...okay, Jason. Meet me at the airport in four hours. I'll be in the lounge."
"Right." He replied before he heard her end of the line go silent and he hung up his phone....
Four hours later, he found himself in the lounge, Elton John playing in the background....
"I love Rocketman." Alison said as she walked up behind him. "Follow me, please." She led him through the terminal out to an Army Huey that waited on one of the pads.
"From now on, I'm Lady Jaye, Shockwave. Officially our unit does not exist, so we are all assigned codenames. Since you already had a nickname, you can keep it." Jaye waved to the pilot, a mustached man wearing sunglasses and a cowboy hat. "That's Wild Bill."
Shockwave shook hands with the man, who was obviously a Texan from his accent.
"Nice ta meet ya, Shockwave. Most folk call me Wild Bill." The pilot greeted him.
"As in the gunfighter?"
"Tha very same, you catch on fast, son. Climb on and we'll get ya to yer new home faster than a jackrabbit runnin' from a coyote."
Shockwave sat in the back of the Huey, silent for most of the flight as Wild Bill talked at great length, the usual icebreakers, asking Shockwave about himself. Shockwave replied in his usual short, one to two word replies...
"Faria...that's Italian, but you don't look Italian." Wild Bill said.
"I was adopted. My birth parents were Irish." Shockwave replied, causing Lady Jaye to give him and odd look...she had been adopted as well and her parents had also been Irish...chalk that up to coincidence.
"So...Wild Bill got his code name from the fact he's Texan, so he took a gun fighter's name. And my SWAT team gave me mine. How did you arrive at being called Lady Jaye?" Shockwave finally asked, drawing a grin from Wild Bill.
"Don't you dare..." Jaye threatened the chopper pilot.
"But it's such a great story. First time Flint told me..."
"God damn him! He promised he wouldn't tell..." Jaye growled. "Fine, I'll tell him. But if any one else speaks a word of this, I'll gut you both with a spork and strangle you with your small intestine. Got it?" Both men nodded, so she continued. "It was in basic training. I was nervous as hell because I was the only woman in the group, so I kept talking to the others. One day, the drill instructor, this huge behemoth of a man, grabbed me by my collar and told me that if I didn't stop babbling like a blue jay, he'd kick my ass to Cambodia." Shockwave gave her an odd look, then burst into laughter.
"I'm warning you, buddy, one word of this..." Jaye started.
"I swear I won't tell anyone." Shockwave promised once he regained control.
After a stop and a transfer to a small transport plane, they were back in the air again. Lady Jaye spent the rest of the flight explaining the team's purpose and what exactly his duties would be upon arrival. He'd have to go through a weeklong test, given by one of the men on base, the drill sergeant she referred to as Beach Head.
"Whatever you do, don't call him 'sir'. He hates that." Jaye warned.
The plane landed without incident at a small field in the Utah desert.
"This is a change of scenery..." Shockwave thought as he carried his bags down the ramp. Waiting at the end of the field were three men who Lady Jaye introduced to him.
"This is Flint, the team XO." She pointed to the man who wore a Special Forces beret and offered a firm handshake. Next in line was a man wearing a green ski mask and woodland BDUs.
"This is Beach Head, your drill instructor. His bite is worse than his bark, so watch you back." Jaye commented
"Ah'll remember that tha next time you'ah on mah obstacle course." Beach Head snapped back at Jaye. At the end of the line was a distinguished looking Native American.
"And this is Spirit Iron-Knife, our tracker." Shockwave shook the man's hand as Jaye continued talking. "He will show you around the base. You are also sharing quarters with him and will serve the same duty shifts with him if you make it onto the team." Jaye walked back to Flint and the two headed for one of the three huts, followed by Beach Head.
"Come, my friend. I will show you to your bunk. And welcome." Spirit said as he led Shockwave to the hut on the end...
