Disclaimer: I do not own anything you can recognize.
Claimer: I do own anything you can't recognize.
WARNING: mentions of mild violence, swearing, religious references
"Finding Home Again"
Chapter 3 "Life Is Dangerous"
Suzy was starting to believe La Fleur Rouge Café was more work then she could handle. She would run herself nearly on empty since it opened and wasn't making as much money as she put in. If she couldn't get enough money the first month she knew she was screwed. She had taken a huge risk with opening it and might just end up in deep trouble.
She always made time to meet with Lou and Spike. She could have the worst day ever and as soon as she met with them it would become a great day. Talking about the stupid things they did in the academy and sometimes the SRU would come up in a conversation. She knew almost everything about Team 1 from Spike, he talked about them all the time and she didn't mind. Lou was typically the one to tell him to shut up about work. She felt like she did when she first got out of the academy.
Though they did meet at a bar, called the Moose, she never got an alcoholic drink even when the bartender would harass her about it. She noticed that Spike and Lou really tried to keep their team and her from meeting. She didn't understand why but didn't press the issue.
"Quit looking over your guys' shoulders. It is driving me crazy," said Suzanne.
"Suzy, you're the one who said you can't be overcautious," said Lou.
"You're going to be overcautious about the wrong thing pretty soon," said Suzy her eyes narrowing.
"Spike, she's going to hurt me," said Lou tapping Spike's shoulder.
"Well don't insult her," said Spike.
"I didn't," said Lou.
"Then don't annoy her," said Spike.
Suzy gave Lou a baffled look unsure of why Spike was being so ornery. She didn't want to get him more irritable by asking the wrong question.
"Did you guys have a bad day at work?" mouthed Suzy.
Lou shook his head no.
Suzy chewed on the inside of her lip for a second. She switched seats with Lou so she could try to figure out what was wrong without making a scene.
"Is everything okay?" asked Suzy.
Spike grunted.
"I don't speak troll," said Suzy.
Lou muffled a chuckle.
"Can't you two just leave me be?" snarled Spike.
Suzy was taken back. She could feel her own anger starting to boil. She knew she should walk away but she didn't.
Lou scowled knowing he hadn't done anything wrong. He could see the sparks in Suzy's eyes. He leant over to grab her before she lost it.
"I was just trying to help," snarled Suzy.
"You're a huge part of the problem," said Spike.
Lou saw the pained looked in Suzy's eyes. He knew she would breakdown into tears if Spike said anything else. He didn't want to go to work tomorrow and have to lie to Sarge, Ed and Wordy about why Spike was distracted again.
"Suzy, leave him be. His irritation is just amplified by the alcohol," said Lou grabbing Suzy's wrist.
"I can take care of myself," said Suzy pulling her arm away.
Lou let go knowing that she might just lash out on him if he didn't. He hadn't been holding on tightly anyways but he knew she could throw a good punch.
Suzy turned and left without another word. Her head was spinning, full of pain and anger. She couldn't even tell which feeling was which anymore. When she went to find her car keys and realized she had locked them in her car, she finally lost it.
"Really? Of course!" yelled Suzy at her car. "Why must you have an automatic lock? You can tell me where to go, why can't you unlock yourself!"
"Lock your keys in the car after a bad day?" asked a male voice.
Suzy nearly jumped out of skin. Her fists tightened and she spun around. Her heart was pounding.
The man was wearing a black hoodie that covered his face. Suzy backed up pressing her back against her car. She knew this wasn't going to end well. She texted help to Lou praying he would come out.
"Identify yourself," demanded Suzy.
"Give me your purse," demanded the man.
"I think not," said Suzy mustering all the confidence she had.
"I wasn't giving you an option," said the man moving toward her.
Suzy tensed up ready to defend herself anyway she had to. She wasn't defenseless.
He went to grab her; she drew her right arm back.
CRACK!
Her fist met his jaw. He staggered back and took something of his hoodie.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
She felt a bullet skim her bicep, she staggered back. He knocked her to the ground before she had time to fight back again. She kicked him hard in the stomach.
"Suzy!" yelled Lou and Spike in unison.
She saw her attacker try to run but was tackled to the ground by Lou. She didn't want to move afraid she might do damage. She tried to breathe deeply but the pain radiating from her bicep was still there. She had felt much worse when she got shot in the leg while chasing a subject she didn't know was armed, but it still hurt though.
"Suzy, stay with me," said Spike kneeling next to her.
"I locked my keys in the car," choked out Suzy.
"Save your energy," said Spike.
"Spike, Lou," said a male voice.
Suzy couldn't focus enough to see who it was. She could feel herself slipping away. She tried to fight the urge to close her eyes. She could see darkness starting to blur her vision.
"Stay with me," said Spike his voice cracking.
"That bastard got away. I got a good look though," said Lou.
"I called paramedics," said the other man.
Suzy tried the fight the darkness but was finding it nearly impossible to stay conscious. She felt Spike's grip tighten.
"Suzy, come on you can fight it," said Spike.
"Spike, she's lost a lot of blood. It might be better if she does lost consciousness," said the other man.
"Shut up, Sam. You don't know her like I do, I mean we do," snarled Spike.
"Shut up Spike," moaned Suzy.
"Suzy, just try to hang in there a bit longer, paramedics are on the way," said Lou.
"I forget if it is normal if everything is spinning," said Suzy trying to keep herself wake even though the pain.
"Concussion?" asked Sam.
"Betting so," said Lou.
"Don't bet on me," cried Suzy.
"Keep your hormones to yourself," said Lou putting his hands up in surrender.
"Slap him for me," said Suzy to Spike "and I can't feel my wrist."
"Sorry and I will," said Spike.
"Paramedics-take-forever," said Suzy slurring her words
She heard sirens before she blacked out.
Suzy's eyes fluttered open. Everything was blurry and muffled. She could hear mechanical beeping and snoring. She could make out the fuzzy figure of Lou and Spike to her right. Spike was out cold and Lou looked to be somewhat conscious.
"You're awake," Lou said in a surprised tone.
"I think so," mumbled Suzy rubbing her eyes so she could focus them.
"Spike, wake up. Suzy's awake," said Lou shaking Spike.
"Huh," said Spike nearly jumping to his feet.
"Suzy's awake," said Lou.
"Welcome back to the land of the living," said Spike.
"I was just getting use to not seeing, hearing or feeling anything too," said Suzy.
"You gave us quite a fright," said Lou.
"It gave me a fright too. I really didn't see being shot coming," said Suzy.
"Most people don't recall what happens," said Spike.
"I felt something hit my arm and then I hit the ground. Being shot seemed to fit that. It's not the first time I've been shot," said Suzy
"The doctor told us it had just nicked your bicep but ripped a part of your bicep muscle. You had a mild concussion with minimal if any memory loss," said Lou.
"Four weeks and I'm back to working order then. I have no idea what to do about the café," said Suzy.
"Teach David how to make the muffins and donuts," said Spike.
"How is it you know my cashier's name?" asked Suzy.
"We just want to make sure you're hiring clean people," said Lou.
"I do that on my own. I looked at whatever I could find that wasn't a violation of privacy," said Suzy.
"That's more than what we did," said Spike.
"Is it okay if I go home and shower then come back?" asked Lou.
"You don't have to come back. I'm in a hospital, nothing will happen to me here," said Suzy.
"If I don't make it back it means I fell asleep," said Lou.
"What time is it?" asked Suzy.
"Midnight," said Spike.
Lou stood by the door for a few minutes to listen in on his friends. He knew neither of them would tell them what they talked about if he didn't.
"I'm sorry I was acting that way earlier. I don't know what came over me," said Spike.
"You were drinking, that's what came over you," said Suzy.
"I was worried I'd lose you for a minute there. I heard gunshots then saw you kicking that guy off you. If Lou hadn't gone after him I might have seriously injured him," said Spike.
"It wasn't even that bad of an injury," said Suzy.
"I had no idea then," said Spike.
"Why is it my life so hectic even after I'm no longer a cop?" asked Suzy wincing when she got serge of pain from her arm.
"Danger is attracted to you," said Spike.
"It doesn't even matter what job I'm doing," said Suzy.
"I was surprised they didn't use morphine," said Spike.
"I'm allergic to morphine. Learned that while in Vancouver when I got in a car accident and I went into cardiac arrest after they used morphine," said Suzy.
Spike just stared at Suzy. She knew whatever they were using wasn't working enough.
"Suzy, I don't like seeing you getting hurt," said Spike.
"I don't like being shot at either," said Suzy rolling her eyes.
"I'm serious," said Spike.
"If this is about what you said, forget about it. I've forgotten about it," said Suzy.
"If I hadn't said those things you wouldn't have left when you did and you wouldn't be here," said Spike.
"It might have not made a difference, he could have been waiting when I came out later," said Suzy.
"Why did you fight back? You could have been killed," said Spike.
"I know it was stupid but I wasn't just going to let a random person walk all over me and take whatever they wanted," said Suzy.
Spike sighed knowing there was no way he was going to win. She would have a reason for every question he would ask. He knew that she knew how he felt about it.
"It made me realize something though," said Suzy.
"What?" asked Spike.
"We're wasting time. I realize that you're never going to leave me; you keep looking for me for two years and never truly got over me. We don't know how long we have and I want to spend howfever much time I have with you," said Suzy.
Lou smiled and turned to leave. He knew it was only a matter of time. He was glad Suzy had finally stopped being stubborn about it.
Welcome back returning readers, I hope you enjoyed chapter 3. And thank you for reading for first time viewers. I would like to thank my belta, TattooedLibrarian,for helping me even when I'm not in the best of moods.