Chapter One: Apartment Inspection – SRU Style
Author note: This story is part of the Magical Flashpoint Side Story series. It follows "For the Love of Camelot" and comes before "Knight Riders".
Although all original characters belong to me, I do not own Flashpoint, Harry Potter, Narnia, or Merlin.
On a bright Saturday morning that happened to fall on a day off for both Team One and their lieutenant, the group met in the parking lot of Lance and Alanna's school for the long awaited, much delayed inspection of the team nipotes' apartment. Although only Parker had seen the apartment firsthand, his whole team had read the lease front to back and they were eager to examine the premises for themselves.
Sergeant Ed Lane suspected the apartment was even worse than his boss had been willing to admit; he was the only member of Team One who'd read the report on the night his lieutenant had rescued his badly beaten nephew from the apartment and therefore the only one who knew the kids' next door neighbor had been arrested for assault with a deadly weapon. It hadn't left the Sergeant with the impression that the apartment was in a good part of the city; his suspicion had been vindicated when the Boss insisted that they meet at the kids' school instead of the apartment complex itself.
Aside from their cars, the school's parking lot was vacant, so there was no one around to see the off-duty officers checking their personal weapons and sliding them into belt-mounted holsters. Although all of them were used to – and preferred – their thigh holsters, not even SRU officers could carry tactically while off-duty. Ordinarily, they would've left their weapons behind, but the Boss had insisted.
"Sarge, we need comms?" Wordy asked, pushing his passenger door closed before he juggled the car keys and pressed the remote's lock button.
"Two bedroom apartment with a combined kitchen and living room, plus one bath," Sarge replied. "Should be fine, Wordy; I'm not worried about the apartment."
"Just the complex," Lou filled in, expression grim as the stocky lieutenant nodded in his direction.
"Oh and a word of warning; I got no idea when they last cleaned their stairwells, but it wasn't any time in the last ten years."
Ed grimaced at the statement; beneath the sarcasm was a note of concern for their fellow Animagi. Spike, Sam, Lou, and Jules were still getting used to tolerating cigarette smoke and the other everyday scents of the world, never mind the myriad of awful scents that likely awaited them. Greg 'only' had enhanced vision and hearing, so a stairwell bad enough to get to him would probably hit their teammates like a sledgehammer.
The team's primary negotiator made a face, then sighed and dug out her keys to open up her car again.
"Jules?" Sam asked, surprised.
"Just a sec, guys," the brunette countered, hauling out a large intricate leather handbag that none of her male teammates would ever breathe a word about. Reaching inside, she pulled out a small container and turned to display it. Vick's Vapor Rub. "Can't use it on-duty," she lamented, "But it's been a real lifesaver a couple times at home."
"Why can't you use it on-duty?" Greg inquired, examining the jar with interest.
Jules sighed. "I probably could, Sarge," she conceded. "But, um, I just don't like the risk that I might miss something on a hot call."
"Copy that," the lieutenant murmured, understanding her concern perfectly. "Do you have enough?"
With a wink, she reached back in her handbag and came up with three more Vick's Vapor Rub containers, all unopened. "More than enough, Sarge."
"Way to go, Jules," Sam hissed in triumph, snagging one of the containers for himself.
"Hold off till we get on scene," Ed ordered.
"Closer, but not on scene," Greg disagreed. "It's not a place where we want to show any weakness, team."
Appalled, his teammates stared at him. "And your kids were living there?" Spike blurted.
"Yes, they were, Spike," the Boss confirmed, soft with sorrow. "Lance put a lot of work into keeping Alanna safe, more than I think she'll ever realize."
"But it never occurred to him that they could just pack up and come home?" Ed drawled, unable to help the slightly bitter note in his tone.
His boss frowned at him, shook his head, and turned, leading the way out of the parking lot towards their destination. Without missing a beat, he slipped into Narnian. "I'm sure it did occur to him, Éadweard. I'd bet it occurred to both of them, more than once."
"So why keep staying there?" Sam asked, increasing his stride to get a touch ahead of his Sergeant.
A thin-lipped smile darted across their lieutenant's face. "Good question. Here's another one: why did they believe my girlfriend was more important to me than they were?"
Ed's jaw dropped open. "Þegen, you gotta be kidding! They really believed Marina was more important than them?"
"Yes, Éadweard, they did," Greg confirmed. "Not just Launcelot, both of them." He shook his head in remembered grief. "That night, after I broke through the ritual, Blyican read Launcelot's letter to me and then tried to walk away." Anguish shone, but he kept talking. "It was like they thought they were being selfish to expect me to give them the attention and the respect they deserved."
"And?" Wordy pressed, though his gray eyes were troubled.
Their boss sighed aloud. "Launcelot stonewalled the two detectives on the assault case. I had to wait for them to work their way 'round to Blyican before I could convince him to give them his statement." Haunted hazel turned. "He didn't do that to get back at me, he did that because he thought he deserved that assault."
"Wait a sec!" Spike yelped. "What assault?"
"The next-door neighbor tried to grab Blyican," Ed interjected. "She got away and ran for Þegen, but Launcelot jumped in and hit the guy."
"And it went downhill from there," Lou concluded, shaking his head. "He get arrested?"
"Yes, but someone cleaned up the scene," Greg informed them. "No forensics; all they have is Launcelot's statement. The prosecutor's going ahead since he's willing to testify, but I don't expect a conviction unless the subject takes a plea."
"Who cleaned up, Þegen?" Jules questioned, a gleam in her eyes.
"I have a few ideas, nothing concrete yet," came the matter-of-fact reply. "One thing at a time, Hyrste."
"Copy that, Þegen," she acknowledged. "They're better now, right?"
For close to a minute, Greg didn't respond; his brow was furrowed and his friends knew he was searching for the best way to explain. "Once I made it clear that night to Blyican that she wasn't going anywhere, she was okay, Hyrste."
"She didn't lose her faith in you," Sam whispered, earning a nod. "Then why…?"
"She trusted her brother," Greg elaborated. "It's not that she didn't trust her own judgment, but once I finally got Launcelot talking, he admitted that it wasn't just his impressions or anything he was told. I was giving off some very mixed signals."
"And some of 'em were from your gryphon form?" Wordy hazarded.
"Hole in one, Wyrdig," Parker whispered. "Blyican knew there were factors she couldn't see since her Animagus form is a phoenix so she gave Launcelot's opinion more weight than hers." One shoulder hiked briefly. "She was easy, but if not for what happened, I think it would've taken Launcelot a couple months to warm up to me again."
Most of them sputtered, but Sam nodded sadly. "At least that long, Þegen," he agreed.
"Sawyl?" Jules questioned, frowning at her boyfriend.
"After my sister died, the General changed. My mother needed a couple months to grieve, but she'd already lost my sister; she wasn't gonna let the General go too far with me," Sam explained. "She kept after him for awhile and eventually the General started treating me like his son again; still took me years before I trusted him again." Blue eyes shifted to their boss. "Don't do that again, Þegen, but I'd say your stunt really paid off."
"Again," Lou muttered, a grimace darting across his face.
Greg's gaze flicked to their less-lethal specialist before returning to the rest of his teammates. "Look, I hear you. All of you. I can't keep pulling these stunts. Yes, all of them worked out for the best, but that doesn't change the fact that I keep risking my life without any regard for any of you or my kids."
"This time was for your kid," Wordy pointed out.
"I had a way I could've kept him alive without risking mine," was the matter-of-fact reply. "I did not need to put myself in that position, but I did it anyway." Solemn hazel swept the team again. "I wish I could promise that I won't die on you, but all of us know the job."
Ed winced; his friend was right. They all knew the job. As good as they were, each hot call still carried that risk. On any given day, there was always the possibility that one or more of them wouldn't come home. The odds were low and largely mitigated, but no one ever knew when their last day might come. In the end, Death was the one foe no human being could defeat or evade forever.
"Þegen, we get it," Spike put in, none of his natural humor in sight. "You can't promise; none of us can." The bomb tech pulled in a deep, shuddering breath. "And you know what? If one of your kids goes down like that, you'd do it again. Mí Papá would've done the same. You do whatever you have to when it comes to your kids, am I right?"
"I went too far," Greg protested.
"And if you'd only gone so far and he'd died, we would've lost you anyway," Jules interjected before Spike could. "The guilt of not doing everything you possibly could would've destroyed you."
"Don't get us wrong, we were mad at you," Wordy inserted smoothly. "Madder than a wet cat–"
"Hey!" Jules objected.
"–but we got why you did it," Wordy finished. "That's why it hurt so much, Þegen, 'cause we knew why you did it and none of us could blame you for it." Reaching out, he clapped their lieutenant on the shoulder. "It happened and hopefully we all learned something and it won't happen again. Now what are we lookin' at here, Þegen?"
"That, Wordy, is what we're here to figure out," Parker admitted. "I've been here once and it was night."
"Plus you had other things to worry about," Ed pointed out.
"I did," Greg agreed in a soft, regretful tone. "Alanna got in my SUV, but she was angry at me and ran off as soon as we arrived. Had to grab my gun and make tracks after her."
"Did you catch up in time?" Spike asked anxiously.
"Yes."
The reply was simple, but Ed knew his best friend. It had been much too close and Greg was still kicking himself over the situation. He'd probably have to drag the other man out somewhere and yell at him until Greg got mad enough to push back and vent. His brother knew better, but when it came to guilt trips, he'd mastered them long before the whole magic gig. Even now, after the mountain misadventure, sometimes he just had to keep goading Greg until he exploded.
In the meantime, they'd gotten close enough to the apartment complex that their lieutenant waved them to a halt long enough for Jules, Lou, Sam, and Spike to apply the Vick's; the female negotiator went first, giggling at how her male teammates watched her actions intently before breaking open the fresh jars she'd given them. Ed took the opportunity to scan their surroundings, frowning at the rough, broken down nature of the neighborhood. For all that it was within walking distance of the kids' school, it was a far cry from the nice homes that surrounded St. John's. The sniper suspected that none of the kids who went to the small private school would ever believe how close they were to this kind of neighborhood.
Glancing at his friend, he asked, "Did they see the apartment before they moved in?"
Greg shook his head. "Rented sight unseen; Lance told me that it was supposed to be a luxury apartment in a good neighborhood."
"That's why he didn't question the rent," Wordy muttered.
The stocky man's shoulders slumped. "Wordy, as bad as his mental state was, I don't think he even read the lease before he signed it." Hazel closed briefly as their boss forged onwards. "From the date on the lease, the apartment was rented months ago. Furniture was moved in, but the kids didn't actually come here until after that ritual."
Their blond teammate scowled. "And why did they do it, Sarge? You didn't propose until after the ritual."
Anguish twisted Greg's features. "No, Sam, I didn't, but I bought the ring after work the Friday before the ritual." Shame joined the pain. "I didn't bother to hide it either, not from any of my kids."
The bald Sergeant flinched, following the train of logic to its dire conclusion. Neither of Greg's nipotes were stupid; once they'd seen the ring, they'd known the proposal wouldn't be long in coming. He'd been skeptical of Greg's insistence that he had his own share of blame for the ritual debacle, but the Boss had been right. Again. What kind of idiot bought a ring when he knew his girlfriend didn't get along with his kids?
From his teammates' appalled expressions, they saw the problems just as clearly as Ed himself did, but none of them said a word to their boss. The shame, guilt, and anguish spoke volumes; he already knew how badly he'd botched the situation and he'd probably spend the next several months brooding over what he had done wrong. Even with the kids' ready forgiveness, Greg still had to forgive himself.
"All right, let's get this done," Ed declared, refusing to let his friend dwell. "Boss, where're we going?"
It took a moment for Parker to refocus, then he nodded and gestured for the team to keep moving along the sidewalk. After a few more minutes of walking, Greg turned his head to check the road, then sped up enough to take the lead across the street towards an apartment complex just as rundown as the neighborhood it resided in. As he followed, Ed stepped around a pothole in the street, examining the battered cars parked on either side of the road. One hand drifted to his personal gun and the sniper spared an instant to wish he'd racked a round while they'd still been in the school's parking lot.
As the team drew closer to the complex, Parker's demeanor shifted, gaining a menace none of them had ever seen before. The team shivered as their boss went from a calm, walking stride to a predatory stalk, his magical aura lashing out, though it wasn't visible. Out of the corner of his eye, Ed saw Sam open his mouth, then the blond stopped, gaze darting sideways, and a glimmer of approval shone.
'Sam?' Wordy questioned, casting his teammate a puzzled glance.
'That's what Lance did, isn't it, Sarge,' Sam remarked, almost casual.
'What's what he did?' Lou asked, just as bewildered as the rest of them.
Sam's hands moved in a quiet instruction for his teammates to look around. Still confused, Ed scanned their surroundings and caught a glimpse of several pairs of eyes watching the off-duty officers. And yet, those pairs of eyes were nervous and wary rather than challenging, their owners hiding in their apartments in hopes of going unnoticed.
A smirk emerged. 'Seriously, buddy? You're gonna bluff an entire apartment complex?'
Hazel flicked in his direction, but Greg didn't smile as Ed had intended. 'Mio nipote did,' the other replied in a mild tone. 'They can see us just fine, Eddie, but my aura is convincing them that I'm the biggest predator around right now. It's enough to get us in and out.'
The Sergeant opted not to respond; the longer they walked, the more he was aware that they needed his boss's predatory aura. Their team was tough, but sheer numbers held a strength all their own. It made him wonder all the more why the kids had willingly stayed in this rundown, dangerous apartment complex; surely it would've been better to put up with Marina, no matter how nasty she got, rather than live here.
Greg led the way into one particular building, grimacing as he hit the doorway into the stairwell. Wordy reached out and grabbed the door, expression twisting at the feel of the surface under his fingers, but he said nothing as he held the door open long enough for them to get inside, then ducked inside after his teammates as they followed their lieutenant up three flights of stairs to a hallway that was just like every other ragged, worn down, rattrap apartment complex in the city. Ed didn't think he'd ever been to this one before, but he knew it. They all did; they all knew apartments like this one as well as what kind of individuals lived in those complexes.
If Clark had ever ended up in one of these apartments, his team would've had to cuff his wrists and ankles, wrap him in rope, and chain him to his locker to prevent him from exploding in a towering inferno of rage at anyone who'd even glanced sideways at his son. How could Greg be so calm when two of his kids had been in this dump? Inwardly seething, Ed locked his jaw closed as his boss halted in front of a battered door identical to every other door along the hallway, right down to the dings in the plaster surrounding it.
Greg dug in his pocket and came up with a key; the lieutenant frowned as he slid it in the lock, wary for some reason until the key turned. Nudging the door open, Parker stepped back and tilted his head in invitation. Ed himself hung back, letting his constables flow into the apartment until only he and Greg were still outside.
"Eddie."
Catching the unspoken hint that Greg didn't want any unfriendly ears overhearing their conversation, the sniper huffed and stepped through the doorway, followed closely by his boss. Parker didn't glance up at his teammates until he'd locked the door behind them; only then did he subtly relax and shed the predator aura.
"Sarge?" Wordy questioned.
The stocky man swung around to meet his friends' eyes. "Wordy, if you want to wash that gunk off your hand…?"
"Sure thing," Wordy agreed, angling for the kitchen sink. But no sooner had he turned the water on then they all recoiled as brown water flowed from the tap. "Seriously?" the brunet demanded, swinging back to his superior.
Greg sighed heavily and rubbed his face. "Give it a minute. Alanna mentioned that the bathroom faucets were running brown; didn't realize the kitchen was doing it, too."
The team grimaced, all of them watching the water flow in a sort of horrified fascination. Yet even as it flowed, Ed tilted his head, listening for the vermin he knew had to be in the walls – and confused when he heard nothing beyond the gushing faucet. Turning towards his friend, one brow hiked in unspoken query.
A wan smile appeared and Parker held up two fingers. "Wards. One for pests and one for security. I'm already planning on seeing if I can get those for our place."
"No kidding," Wordy agreed, eyes wide. "Those would be sweet, no matter where you're living."
"They're not infallible," Greg cautioned. "The family manor in Derbyshire had the best wards money can buy, but they still collapsed."
"If they try hard enough, they can get in," Lou murmured, earning nods from his teammates. The tan-skinned constable glanced around. "So as long as your kids were in here, they were safe?"
"From the neighbors at any rate," the Boss drawled. One hand waved to the apartment's oven. "Alanna said the oven blew up a couple days in."
Team One followed the gesture, all of them examining the oven with narrowed eyes. Sure enough, it was smokey around the edges and the glass door was spiderwebbed with cracks that just added to the dents, nicks, and scratches that adorned the whole appliance. Jules whistled low. "How bad was it, Sarge?"
"Could've been a lot worse, Jules," Parker replied. "According to 'Lanna, Lance was able to contain the fire with his magic and keep his power under tight enough control that nothing else was damaged."
Ed eyed the cabinets above the oven as well as several marks on the ceiling that bore soot stains and burn marks. He was about to open his mouth when he figured out what Greg meant. "All their other appliances survived," the sniper concluded, shifting towards his boss.
"That would be correct, Eddie," the other man confirmed. Greg's hazel drifted back to the kitchen sink and he sighed. "Water's clean now, Wordy."
Wordy perked up and snapped back to the faucet; he spared a moment to check, then stuck his hands under the running water, swiping a squirt of soap as he washed the gunk from the stairwell door off.
While the team leader cleaned up, the rest of Team One dispersed to examine the apartment. With the exception of the inbuilt furnishings, the furniture inside the apartment was quite nice. Ed spared a minute to get an up-close-and-personal look at the fine pieces of wooden furniture throughout the apartment. All of it was practical and well-crafted – high quality without being ostentatious – and the sniper felt a pang of envy for a few pieces he wouldn't have minded taking home.
On the flip side, the handsome furniture was cold comfort in the face of why the kids had been living here, in this rundown dump, rather than with their loving uncle. In fact, the furniture actually made the apartment look even worse. Ed could hear the water pipes creaking as Jules tested the bathroom faucets and a hissed exclamation from Spike informed him that the freezer worked, but only just.
Even if Ed discounted the cabinets that had been in the path of the oven fire, the furnishings were lousy. They hadn't been replaced or maintained for years, probably decades; same for the appliances. The Sergeant stalked from room to room in the tiny apartment, blue narrowing at the worn, chipped, and faded surroundings. Nice furniture or not, this place was still a dump; he wouldn't have lived here for anything, not even if he'd been paid for the 'privilege'.
As he returned to the kitchen/living room area, he heard Sam say, "Whoa, Sarge, someone blocked off the balcony."
"Probably a good thing, Sam," Wordy put in, disgusted.
"Yeah, I sure wouldn't wanna go out there," the blond agreed.
Eyeing the balcony himself, Ed concurred with his teammates' assessment. Too risky, too dangerous, and absolutely not worth it. He waited for them to congregate, then drawled, "Any takers?"
"Not even if you paid me a million bucks," Sam declared.
"What he said," Spike put in; beside him, Lou nodded.
"My fixer-upper was in better shape when I first bought it," Jules remarked, wrinkling her nose. "They're not keeping this place, are they, Sarge?"
To Ed's relief, Greg shook his head. "No, Jules, they are never coming back here." He paused, searching for the best way to explain, then let himself slump and rubbed a hand through what was left of his hair. "It's just taken this long to get around to the apartment and the lease," he admitted.
Very deliberately, Ed jolted his friend's shoulder, smirking at his askance return glare. "No more guilt trips, buddy. Took a long time to get into this mess; with a little luck, we'll get out of it, just not overnight."
It took another minute, but Greg finally managed a wan smile. "Who wants to head back to my place and help me run through the lease with Dean and mio nipotes?"