Chapter Five: The Squib Squad
Team One traded annoyed looks as they stood in the waiting room of the Canadian Ministry's Magical War Division. Ordinarily, they understood that some things just took time, but with two teammates missing, patience was in very short supply.
Over two and a half hours after arriving, the Director's secretary finally showed them into the wizard's office. The man himself stood at the window, his back to Team One and an arrogance that the whole team was familiar with in his posture. "So," he began, even as his secretary was still in the room, "You're the Muggles Madame Locksley's adopted as her latest project."
Ed bristled at the insult, only to stop as his boss signaled him to stand down. "Director McClellan, I'm Sergeant Gregory Parker of the Auror Strategic Response Unit. One of my Aurors, Samuel Braddock, used to be in the JTF2 squad authorized to deal with rogue wizards in Afghanistan; we have reason to believe he was kidnapped by Sergeant Peck's brother in a possible revenge scenario."
Director McClellan turned, the slightest of frowns on his face. The Director was of average height, with perfectly coiffed brown hair, a sleek mustache, and a well-trimmed goatee. His robes looked vaguely military, but it was a cursory resemblance at best. His face was calm, with no hint of worry or concern in dark blue eyes. "What evidence do you have to support that, Auror Onasi?" he inquired, looking not at Parker, but at the one magical member of their group.
Giles Onasi didn't bother to hide his scowl at the insulting dismissal of Parker and his team. Grim, he laid out the images that the forensics team had managed to clean up; with good tape to compare to, they'd worked all night improving the degraded images of Braddock's abduction. Next to a blown-up shot of Ryan Peck, the Auror laid the picture from Peck's personal folder. "We have him on Muggle tape at the abduction, sir," Onasi growled. Purely for dramatic effect, he waited until McClellan leaned forward to drop the last image: an image that had reportedly taken the forensic technicians hours to recover; a picture-perfect shot of the Shade. McClellan recognized the Shade instantly, reeling in shock and horror.
"What in Merlin's name have you done, Ryan?" he whispered, staring at the Shade, paling further with every passing moment.
"Then that is Sergeant Matthew Peck," Greg concluded from the sidelines.
It took a minute or two for McClellan to recover himself enough to answer. "Yes, it is; I'd swear to it. I knew Ryan was angry about his brother's death, angry when we had to let Braddock off with nothing more than a discharge and a note in his military personal file, but…" McClellan sat down heavily at his desk. "Ryan had only himself to blame for that; violated procedure left, right, and center during the interrogation."
The wizard, still pale and drawn, fumbled a pipe out of the desk, hastily packing it with pipeweed and lighting it. Team One weren't the only ones annoyed by that; Onasi cast a discreet Air-Freshening Charm. Puffing, McClellan continued, "Braddock's father caused quite a ruckus when he found out after the fact; if he'd found out before Braddock was discharged…well, I daresay it would have been Ryan with the discharge, not Braddock."
"Why wasn't he charged?" Ed demanded sharply. "He gave Sam an overdose of Veritaserum; isn't that illegal?"
A wave of the hand and a tiny sneer. "Braddock's a Squib-born; what did it matter?"
Growls rose from Sam's teammates; even Parker's negotiator mask was wearing thin at that remark. Onasi's eyes narrowed so much they looked like slits in his face; slits that spat brown fire at the oblivious director. "And after?" he gritted out. "What happened after Braddock was discharged?"
Another puff and McClellan began to blow a few smoke rings. "Unit fell to pieces; Ryan tried to step in, take over, but the Squibs wouldn't have it. Corporal Shpak tried to claim the leadership role; some rot about how Sergeant Peck had been her lover, but it was all nonsense…Sergeant Peck had too much honor to break regulations like that. Corporal Hersh made a grab after that, but not even Ryan wanted him in command – he hates wizards with a passion. Corporal Kamaka didn't have enough time with the squad to be considered…frankly, if Braddock hadn't been bounced out, he or Corporal Hawke would have been my first choices; they were both first rate and good leaders to boot."
"Corporal Hawke didn't take over?" Wordy asked, rubbing his chin as he listened.
A sigh and the director shook his head. "First rate and a good leader, but too much of a maverick…too much of a lone wolf. He didn't want the position; told me I should've cleared Braddock and given it to him. Said he didn't care what Ryan said; Braddock should've had the chance to tell the squad his side of the story."
"So who's been leading them?" Lane questioned, his voice sharp enough to cut steel.
More puffing; more smoke rings. "That is a very good question. They had enough in-fighting to have brought down half the Dark Wizards in Afghanistan by now…up till a few months ago when the fighting suddenly stopped. No more fighting, no more squabbling…I dragged Ryan in to ask what in Merlin's name was going on and he just said they'd settled things. Never said anything more than that. Four nights ago, they vanished…every last one of them. I've no idea where they are."
But Director McClellan wasn't looking at them as he said it; wasn't looking at anything except his pipe. Onasi opened his mouth, only to stop as Greg held up a hand. Grimly, slowly, Greg Parker moved so that his hands were on McClellan's desk; he leaned forward, his topaz hard eyes fixed on the director's face. "You know something," he accused, so soft his team almost didn't hear him.
McClellan didn't even turn, just puffed on his pipe. The only sign he'd heard Parker was the sardonic tilt to his head and a humoring look in his eyes.
Onasi nearly blew, but Lane pinned him with a look. Cupping his hands a little, Parker slammed them down on McClellan's desk, the noise making both McClellan and Onasi jump. "We think…no, we know Ryan's kidnapped Sam solely to trade Sam's life for Sergeant Peck's. Now, we both know that no magic on Earth can raise the dead, Director McClellan. Ryan could sacrifice a thousand lives and never get his brother back…not really." Parker leaned in further, getting right in Director McClellan's face. "We are going to get Sam back and Ryan, if he's lucky, will end up in prison for kidnapping and attempted murder. God help him if he hurts Sam, because no one else will," Parker snarled, finally letting his fury off the leash.
"You need to decide which side you're on, sir, because from where I'm standing, the only person you're helping is a necromancer who doesn't deserve so much as the time of day." Parker's voice, which had been rising as he continued, abruptly dropped back to the near whisper as he shifted back again. "So tell me, Director…what'll it be? Will you help us get Sam back alive – or is this just a 'Muggle' issue…hardly worth the bother?"
McClellan was pale, drawn, and actually afraid of the stocky Sergeant still leaning over his desk. But even as he stared at the Sergeant, his arrogance was fully intact and he finally displayed his opinion by blowing a smoke ring in Parker's face.
Parker slammed his hands down again to offer up his own opinion, then turned, gathering up his team with eyes alone, before stalking out. He almost ran right into the secretary outside the door and halted, giving her an apologetic look. She was even paler than McClellan and gestured for them to follow her.
The team followed her to another room and as soon as they were inside she asked, "What did Ryan do now?"
Ordinarily, Greg might have humored her, but not today. "Seeing as you were listening right outside the door, miss, I think you already know what he did."
She looked at him, at his expression, then dropped her eyes. "I knew he was getting into trouble; he's been getting worse and worse…ever since his brother died. When he found out Braddock was working magic-side again…something just broke in him. And the Squib Squad wouldn't let him take over…wouldn't trust him after what he did to Braddock."
"Squib Squad?" Lou inquired, both brows going up.
The woman nodded. "It's their nickname; they came up with it themselves. Director McClellan doesn't like it; he never uses it, but everyone else does." She paused, considering them. Then she brought out what she'd hidden from the director: the personal files for every member of the Squib Squad…including Sam and Ryan. "Here, take them. If Ryan's gone this far, there's no telling what he'll do next. I only know Ryan's side of things, but if you lot are willing to go to the wall for Braddock, he can't be as bad as Ryan paints him. And no one deserves to die like this…for nothing more than a madman's impossible dream." Without waiting for a reply, she departed, leaving Team One to stare at the files and each other.
Wordy picked up the closest file, examining it a moment. "Okay, guys, we're on the clock…let's get this done," he declared, passing the file to Jules and snatching up the next one.
Jules, in her turn, looked up ever so briefly, whispering a quiet prayer that Sam and Spike were okay…wherever they were.
Author note: To 'site newbie', I have now updated my profile page with story links; please let me know if any do not work. I'm sorry for all the confusion regarding where to find my stories; it has never been my intention to annoy or frustrate any of you readers. I get so few as it is. Lame as it may sound, I do have my reasons for doing things this way. Is it the best way? I don't know...I just know it's the best that I know how to do.