Chapter One: I Have a Man Down
For a second, he couldn't breathe, couldn't move; agony radiated from his chest and left arm, forcing tears of pain from his eyes. His chest was on fire and his arm throbbed in time with his heartbeat in two places, alternating between sending starbursts across his vision and going utterly numb. It took an act of will to stay conscious as the waves of pain continued and intensified.
"Sir!" The voice coming from above and to his side was familiar, worried and half-frantic. He felt her touch his uniform, searching for what was wrong.
All at once, Greg gasped and flexed his hands, awkwardly pushing himself up off the floor. When his left arm refused to hold his weight, Winnie braced him and let him sling his good arm around her shoulders; the slim dispatcher levered the stocky Sergeant back to his feet. "Eddie," Parker whispered, instinctively reaching for his 'team sense' before meeting Winnie's concerned gaze. "Ed's in trouble."
Winnie finished helping her superior regain his balance, frowning in confusion. Ed wasn't even in the station so how could Sergeant Parker know he was in trouble? And why had Parker collapsed like that? For one horrid moment, she'd thought…
Then her headset came to life with an incoming call and she automatically picked up and asked, "SRU?" even as she moved away from Parker and back towards her desk and computer.
Behind the pair of officers, the door to the briefing room opened and Winnie heard Commander Holleran announce, "We're ready."
Winnie rounded her desk and wasn't surprised that Parker didn't seem to have even heard the commander; he'd moved right up to the countertop, intense worry in his hazel eyes as he watched her. The voice in Winnie's ear broke through her musings and she questioned, "10-33 where?" One hand slapped down the alarm and Winnie slid into her chair. No, it wasn't possible…was it? Sergeant Parker couldn't possibly know for sure that a member of his team was in trouble…could he?
"Lakeshore and where?" she demanded, then nodded to herself at the response, repeating it for Sarge's benefit. "Fort York Boulevard."
"Winnie, what's going on?" Commander Holleran inquired, sounding a bit testy, but not at her, Winnie suspected.
Succinctly, Winnie summed up the situation. "Officer down, and multiple shots fired. He's SRU."
Sarge turned his head towards the commander and added firmly, "It's Ed." There was not a smidge of doubt in his voice and, again, Winnie wondered how he knew; how could he be so sure?
From the opposite side of the dispatcher desk and just arrived from the locker room, Donna Sabine immediately responded with a brisk, "I'm on it." Touching her comm, Donna barked, "Team Three, gear up! Let's go, you guys."
The closest Team Three members hurried to follow their Team Leader's orders, but Winnie's attention returned to the drama in front of her desk. Toth looked as puzzled as Winnie felt, but Commander Holleran looked…resigned? Did he know how Sarge knew it was Ed?
Then Sarge drew Winnie's attention with a quick tap on the desk. "Recall Team One."
"Slow down a second," Holleran ordered, stilling Winnie's reach for her keyboard.
Parker didn't even look up at his commanding officer. "Page 'em 10-33. Get 'em back to the station."
"Your team's not cleared for duty," Holleran interjected.
"Then clear 'em for duty!" Greg roared, his temper right on the edge of snapping. "I have a man down!" And when he got his hands on the slimeball who'd done this to his team leader, to his friend… Greg cut that line of thought, forcing himself to ignore and suppress the animalistic snarl from one corner of his mind and its bloodthirsty screech for vengeance.
Commander Holleran's expression turned wary; Greg couldn't blame the man. Holleran was, outside of his teammates, the one person who knew the most about how much Greg had changed over the three years since he'd found out about magic. "Sergeant Parker…"
Winnie still hadn't sent the pages; Greg turned towards her with a glare and a single word order. "Winnie."
Then, out of the blue, Toth inquired, "Can you stay objective?"
Greg swung back towards the man, surprised. Given Toth's stated goal, for him to pass up a perfect opportunity to demand that Team One – and their Sergeant – be more or less permanently stood down seemed rather out of character.
Holleran sounded surprised and skeptical as he asked the doctor, "Are you saying his team is fit for duty?"
"I'm saying this team has a man down," Toth countered calmly. Looking Greg in the eye, he demanded again, "Can you stay objective?"
No. "I know how to do my job," Greg returned, keeping his voice level and even.
Apparently, it was enough for Toth, who nodded and turned towards Winnie. "Winnie, recall Team One."
Greg heard her keyboard start to click away. "Thank you." He wouldn't be forced to watch from the sidelines as another team caught his team leader's shooter; that Toth would, essentially, give him a second chance meant that Greg was determined to show Toth his team's best side.
"Team Three will ride shotgun," Holleran put in.
"And I'll be watching," Toth added. "Parker, keep your comm channel open."
On one hand, Greg wasn't thrilled at the requirement. He wouldn't be able to call in reinforcements from the Auror Division with Toth listening in. On the other, he didn't really want to call in the Auror Division either. This was a techie matter and his team had yet to decide if they wanted to work with the Aurors any longer; he had no right to make that choice for them.
So Greg accepted Toth's demand without argument. "Okay, Winnie, get him a headset."
"Yes, sir," Winnie agreed.
"Page 'em. I want my people."
"Already on it," Winnie promised.
Greg strode towards the locker room, intent on everything that needed to happen before his team could join the hunt. Even so, it was easy for him to overhear Holleran's murmured comment to Toth. "I thought you said you wanted to break up this team."
The Sergeant's teeth bared for an instant, his hackles rising; his eyes flashed with inhuman fury and indignation. The effects smoothed away when Toth murmured back, "Let's see," but as Greg picked up his pace, he realized his biggest struggle might well be against himself and his Calvin family heritage.
Wordy collapsed on his couch with a grateful sigh, sipping at a fresh glass of water; the headache was finally starting to fade, though he'd think twice before trying that little trick again. If anything, his stunt had driven home the point that, no matter what, he was never going to be an 'average' Squib, much less a full-fledged wizard. Most days, that didn't bother him, but today he wondered…if his magic hadn't been crippled, would he still have a trembling right hand? He'd never know.
Reluctantly, the constable turned his attention to figuring out how to get himself a full medical without accidently betraying his promise to keep the wizarding world secret. Hmmm…maybe Sarge would have an idea or two? Wordy cringed; he shouldn't have kept his troubles to himself once he'd realized they were affecting his job performance. It hadn't been fair to his Sergeant to let him get blindsided by that creep Toth; technically, Sarge was on the hook even though Wordy had been keeping secrets.
Before Wordy could plot any further, his phone buzzed; the brunet snapped the phone up and thumbed the power button to see the incoming message. Wordy shot to his feet, ignoring the water that spilled out of his glass from the abrupt movement and headed for the kitchen to trade the water for his car keys.
Halfway there, his phone buzzed again. Wordy paused to check the new message.
WE'LL PICK YOU UP
-LOU
He wanted to argue, but, really, he was still compromised and he knew it. So Wordy sighed and slowed, though he still swept into his kitchen and set the almost full water glass in the sink. Shelley started to give him a warning look, but then she got a good look at his face. "Kevin?"
"10-33 from the station," Wordy reported. "Lou and Spike are going to pick me up, Shel."
"Who is it?" Shelley demanded.
Wordy bit his lip. "I think it's Ed," he admitted. "He stormed out earlier and you know how he is when he gets really mad about something."
Shelley's eyes darkened and she nodded agreement. "Good luck, Kevin," she remarked, laying a hand on her husband's arm.
"Thanks, Shel," Wordy replied; then he headed for his front porch to watch for Lou's car.
The three men hurried into the barn, Wordy in the lead despite a resurgence of his headache. He was profoundly displeased to see Toth sitting behind Winnie's desk with a headset of his own, but didn't say anything. Instead, he demanded, "What's going on?"
Behind him, Spike inquired, "We're cleared for duty?"
"For now," Toth acknowledged in a level tone.
"Officer down?" Wordy questioned.
"It's Ed," Winnie called.
Though Wordy had suspected, Spike and Lou apparently hadn't. "What?" Lou asked, beating Spike to the punch.
Winnie looked worried about something, but she kept filling them in. "Sarge is on his way to the hospital."
As Wordy and his teammates headed for the locker room, Wordy set his mind to figuring out what Winnie had left out…and why she'd darted a look at Toth behind the doctor's back before filling them in.
Author note: Merry Christmas everyone! Since Christmas of 2018 falls on a Tuesday, all of you can look forward to both the next chapter of this story and my annual Christmas oneshot.