We all headed through the main atrium and towards the door that would lead us to the annex, Spike had to work his magic on a lump of C4 attached to a detonator that would send shrapnel everywhere if the door opened; after that was cleared we split up and I climbed up the narrow ladder and through the vent system towards the light fixtures was accessible.
I heard raised voices and a single shot ring out….
"Officer and subject down, we need Evac for John immediately!" called Spike.
"Spike they can't come in – get him stabilized and then get yourselves out of the building!" I ordered all three of them.
"Mac you need back up from your location, wait for me to return!" he yelled.
"No, you need to fall back and let me deal with this from above, just have EMS on standby and a cup of coffee for me – I think I found that cooler leak that Babycakes was complaining about!" I replied dropping into a puddle of freezing water on my stomach.
My radio was soaking wet and I had to take it off in case it electrocuted me, which was the end of my link to the outside world, I climbed along the vents for a further twenty meters and climbed out onto the narrow lighting strip that ran across the open plan Annex; it was a huge area full of file cabinets and then I caught a lucky break of seeing light bounce off a shiny surface. I climbed along the fixture and around the side of the second level to get a better vantage point; I drew my hand gun and found a nice spot which overlooked where Parker and Ed could see me from where they were tied up in the corner of the room, I looked about for the marine and was suddenly grabbed and thrown across the narrow barrier and down ten feet into the middle of the room. I landed on my back and shook my head as I saw the marine pick up his rifle and take aim.
Slow motion is probably the only way to describe what happened next.
I reach for the bag and pull out the second hand gun I had hidden there, I rolled onto my back again and took a deep breath and pulled the trigger, the man's head snapped back as he collapsed over the barrier and landed in front of me dead with a bullet hole just above his right eye. I heard a noise and remembered where I was, I flipped onto my stomach and crawled over to my team mates and untied them; I did a quick eye check on them and they looked physically fine but I wanted them both checked out. I got onto my knees and pulled out my mobile to call Spike and give him the all clear.
"Mackenzie, you got your training!" Ed said picking up Greg.
I turned around and nodded before kneeling beside the marine, I checked for life signs but found none and sent a quick prayer up for him; I got back up and helped Ed with Greg through the doors and out of the building to an ambulance waiting on us.
"Get yourself checked out boss, couple of those knocks look serious and you might have a concussion; we'll be here if you get released later on." I told him handing him across to the EMTs.
He looked up at me and grabbed me for a massive hug, he was in shock and needed treatment, I leaned into him and whispered in his ear.
"Papa, go to the hospital and I will come and pick you up later on, we are all okay, I just need to stay with Spike and Wordy for a while and then speak to the Commander."
Ed eased us apart and got him loaded into the ambulance, he patted my shoulder on the climb beside Greg – he had tears in his eyes. I nodded and closed the doors and watched them head off to the hospital; I turned back and headed over to everyone else.
"Braveheart – that is officially your codename now Mac!" the Commander said.
I looked at him and started laughing…..that was until the SIU walked over!
"Aww shit – it's McAllister and he is a stickler for rules – Commander, any help here?" Wordy asked.
"Got you covered Mackenzie," he replied.
"See you soon hopefully!" I said walking over to them.
I put my hands up and the officer and SIU agent removed my weapons and led me to the SRU entrance where I would be kept until I was moved into an interrogation room; I had to keep my hands up, but I winked at Spike and clenched my fingers together to give him a 'thumbs up'.
"What is with that signal between you two?" Wordy asked.
"It means she is okay and handling it – geek talk!" he replied.
He nodded and smiled as he saw where Spike's eyes were watching.
"Aw man seriously – marry her already!" he said laughing.
He grinned.
Ten days later
Ten calls in three days was above norm for us, but our final day on the 10 day shift rota was just ending and it had been a bloody nightmare; some college kids decided to play a massive prank on one of their lecturers and it backfired badly as the campus police witnessed what they thought was an armed kidnapping in progress. We got called in and it ended up with me doing a suicide intervention while the others dealt with the larger group; let's just say I had to use my imagination after fluffing up again – took a jump off the climbing frame and managed to grab him before he snapped his back on the grid bars forty feet below us.
Back in the barn we were doing some negotiator training for my benefit as I was still struggling with some aspects of the psychology; the others were ribbing me on the mock quiz that I had failed by a landslide – I could negotiate with anyone, but some of the theories just confused the hell out of me.
Parker was pacing the room in front of the projector, he just didn't get how I couldn't grasp the fundamentals after all my medical training – to be perfectly honest I was so brain fried that nothing was sinking in apart from exhaustion.
"Defence mechanisms and ego anxiety go hand in hand in these types of situations Mac, you can't talk someone down by wounding their ego!" laughed Jules.
"Oh alright so if I put it this way: Jules your combats make your ass look big and your Remmie makes you shorter – would that be classified as Psychoanalytical thinking?"
I got slapped across the back of the head.
"Thank you Jules and yes it would! Your ego is very fragile and has to deal with a lot of conflicting emotions, but add that to anxiety, it's a dark place for someone to go who doesn't want to feel their pain." Parker explained.
I rolled my eyes and stretched my ankles that were killing me, I wanted out of here and it wasn't happening as quickly as I wanted!
"I get the concept boss, but in all honesty Psychology is full of skeletons and abusive research conducted on dogs and children with learning disabilities – I never got it doing my training and I don't get it now. To talk someone down from a ledge all we need is honesty, a little background information and active listening skills so we can show that we are listening to them and remind them of happier moments in their life. I know it's not black and white, but as someone who has been through a LOT of therapy – I have never once been profiled for Pavlov or Erickson or Freud!" I replied leaning my head on the table.
"Okay, is there anything of psychology that you do know about?" Ed asked.
I sat up and blinked.
"I understand 'The Bystander Effect' – which I get because we deal with it every day on the job! Social theories and behaviourism are not my strong suits, but maybe it's because of personal issues – I need practice alright!"
He rolled his eyes in frustration, he wanted home too but was determined to drive this into my brain pan and give me a shit load of homework!
"It's more than practice, you actually have to get the ideas behind the psychology, understand different stimuli affect people differently based on their own personal experiences. You should know this – you use psychology in your daily life as nurse in the field, when you're treating victims of crime with us – is it the language you just don't understand?" Parker inquired.
"I don't know – I just want my bed right now considering you pull me into training after delivering four babies and that was after six previous calls!" I said yawning.
Everyone was smirking at me, I had turned from hard tactical entry squad to midwife within two minutes – I yawned again and Parker laughed as I dozed off slightly and a quick shove my Jules had me snap back to attention in the chair.
"Alright gang we can take this back up in two days, go get some well-deserved sleep and I will see everyone tonight for this damn BBQ!" Ed replied.
I grinned at Spike and between Wordy and himself they pushed me out of the room on the roller chair and into the locker room so I could get changed, twenty minutes later I was waiting on Spike coming out of the locker room and I was chatting to Team four who had finally gotten over the cold.
"See I told you, coughs and sneezes spread diseases!" I said laughing.
"Oh that's original Nurse Fraser – hey guys that's how we can start a new team – SRU Midwives Team One, founding member Mackenzie Fraser!" Brian yelled laughing.
I chased him along the corridor much to the delight of everyone else and seconds later he was chasing me back out the room as a huge spider came out the room – it didn't help I didn't know it was robotic and Spike was on the control end. I ended up on the table pointing CS Spray at it and him howling with laughter as they all hazed me.
"You bunch of….." I yelled as they picked me up and carried me about the place!
It was lunchtime before we managed to get home from the SRU and we were both exhausted, we tripped into the house and after grabbing some food we headed upstairs to bed.
"I love the end of 160 hour weeks!" I said stretching in bed.
I looked over to Spike who was lying on his stomach fast asleep, he was exhausted as well due to a couple of scares we had and doing forced tactical manoeuvres on several subjects. I leaned over and kissed his shoulder before getting up and heading for a shower – my brain had woken up and I wasn't tired anymore. Before I could get out the bedroom a voice called to me from the bed, I turned back around and found Spike sitting up looking at me.
"Can't sleep?" he simply asked.
"Nope, was just going to get up, shower and then go shopping for everything we need tonight; you should sleep, you really need your sleep after those bomb scares!" I replied.
He pulled me back into bed and snuggled into me, he still smelt of C4 tar and the chalk he used to grip his tools; I stifled a giggle as I leaned into him.
"Something funny Nurse?" he replied snuggling up.
"You smell of tar and it suits you, Eau Du C4!" I said laughing.
He snorted and laughed into my shoulder at the joke and pulled me on top of him, I got settled and he ran his fingers down my arms and across my waistband of my shorts – well, his shorts I should say.
"I'm not tired either!" he said pulling me down.