Vulnerable-Chapter 2

It's been a really long time for me writing and for this story. This one still isn't one of my favorites but it's probably the one I've seen most requested to be continued and I figure I owe it to all the great people who continue to review these old stories. It's been nearly two years since I wrote the original so give me a little leeway here and I hope you enjoy. I still don't own Flashpoint and I would still love to hear from you.

It had been a long night. Jules and Wordy had gone back to the station but she had insisted that they couldn't go to the main station, the one that SRU was housed in, for fear of having to interact with the same detectives she had to work with and see everyday. They had ended up at the smaller, local station to report the assault but Jules still wasn't happy about being there. She was convinced by Wordy's rationalization and tried to keep the thought in her mind that this was for all the other women who might be victimized by that man...that scumbag but she still hesitated every step of the way. Wordy had stayed with her when he was allowed, been the calming presence and her pillar of support and almost four hours after they had sat down in her living room she was finally dropping him off at his home.

He had insisted that she stay for dinner saying that his girls were asking about her and that they wanted to show her their new dollhouse castle; Jules knew that it was a thinly veiled attempt to make sure that she didn't go home to her empty home to wallow in her self-pity all night but she took the bait. She actually did enjoy herself when she was playing with Wordy's three little girls, innocent and blind to all the tension between the adults. Shelly had immediately known what had happened when she saw the bruise on Jules' face but she knew enough not to say anything at the moment. She put two and two together and realized that her husband had probably done enough talking for both of them but when she and Jules were alone in the kitchen gathering the dishes Shelly offhandedly mentioned that she was always available to talk if Jules ever needed it; the implicit message being that she had been there and knew what it was like to have your world swept from beneath your feet.

But now, as she drove back into work the next morning she wasn't sure where she stood or what to do. She had made Wordy swear that no one would find out about the true origin of her bruises. It had taken a lot of convincing, not because he wanted to tell someone but because he kept insisting that she had absolutely nothing to be ashamed of and she disagreed. They had spent a solid part of the car ride from the police station to Wordy's house in debate about what the worst case scenario of the team finding out would be, how people would realistically react, and even though she knew that Wordy was right and that her friends would rally around her and respect her for fighting the guy off, she couldn't bring herself to being okay with them knowing. They already treated her differently, even if they didn't realize it. She could do every single thing every man on the team could do and in training she did. In the field though, on calls, she was realizing more and more that she was information gathering, interviewing witnesses, negotiating, doing anything but aggressive take-downs for the most part. There were exceptions, of course, and there were benefits to her serving her roles, witnesses felt more comfortable around her, Greg couldn't negotiate a rape victim off a ledge as efficiently, her profiling was impeccable, but she still knew that there was a difference.

Maybe they're right. She considered as she got out of her car and jogged up the stairs, her normal pre-work out work out. Maybe I'm not cut out for the job in the same way that the guys are. She almost quivered at the thought as all of Wordy's words about her worth came rushing back to her. She did her job well, all of her job and all of the requirements but she couldn't deny that her confidence was shaken.

She had specifically made sure to get in early that way she could work off some of the tension and stress that she felt in her body before the others came in. No one would really think twice about Jules being early or getting into her workout and she was glad when the guys filtered into the guy without much more conversation other than hellos. When Wordy walked in she felt her heart skip a beat as he smiled and gave a subtle nod hello before heading over to the treadmill. Jules vigorously pedaled her exercise bike trying to lose herself and escape her racing thoughts. She knew without a doubt that Wordy wasn't thinking any differently of her but her mind still wandered to all the possibilities. What if he told Ed or the Boss? What if he lets something slip? She shook her head, physically trying to clear her mind of the thoughts as she switched to a treadmill. She didn't see Greg come in and didn't realize he was beside her treadmill until he was motioning for her to take her earbuds out.

"Jules, when you get a minute could we talk in the briefing room?" Greg asked with his normal smile. She nodded before slowing her treadmill and stepping off, taking a quick detour to the water cooler to get a cup. It was a completely plausible action but it was really just a cover for her to take a moment to collect herself and stop her heart's pounding. She was operating on autopilot as she walked slowly into the briefing room, the sweat from her workout mixing with the beads that were forming on her forehead as Greg looked up from a file he was working on and motioned for her to take a seat. Jules was tense in her chair, her hands folded before her as she quickly went into her negotiator persona and hid all the emotion she could from her face. "I didn't get a chance to finish up the report from the call earlier this week until now and I just realized that I don't have your evaluation of the subject's mental state..." Greg said glancing up from the papers scattered before him and pausing before putting his pen down. "You okay, Jules?" He asked with masked concern in his voice.

"Fine, Boss." She said quickly taking a breath, relieved that he needed her for work purposes and quickly moving on before he could ask any more questions. "The call with the attempted suicide, Pierce, right?" She asked, not waiting for an answer before speaking more. "Um...he seemed to be uninhibited by drugs or alcohol. He appeared hyper-active, manic...difficult to communicate with, difficult to refocus. Negotiations were doomed from the start, especially paired with his skepticism and mistrust of authority. I think the non-lethal intervention was the best we could have done in the situation." She rambled off the facts of the call that she remembered, all the while distracted by her desire to get out of the room as soon as possible. Greg nodded after a moments pause.

"I agree but I really wanted your opinion on this one; thanks Jules." Greg said with his go to smile but this time there was something more behind it and Jules found herself tensing again. "You okay, Jules?" She went to speak and automatically assure him that she was fine but he preempted her. "And I mean for real here. You know you can tell me anything and you know that I can tell that something is up the past few days. What's going on?" Greg seemed to be able to perfectly mix being stern and being caring and Jules felt her heart pounding in her chest again. It grew harder to control her face and her body as she felt her fingers shake ever so slightly. She tried to take subtle sniper breaths to even her reactions but Greg caught her and gave her a look mixed with genuine curiosity, concern, and that communicated she wasn't going to get anything by him right now.

"Boss, I really appreciate the concern but I'm okay. I obviously had a bad day yesterday but I'm good now." Jules tried to level with Greg, admit that she was out of character earlier but also attempted to redirect his attention to today and defer the discussion until she could prove herself competent and focused again. He nodded slowly before closing the file and leaning back in his chair.

"I trust you Jules, I just hope you can trust me if you want to talk about whatever was or is going on." The implication that Greg felt as if Jules didn't trust him stung her, even if it wasn't meant to. She genuinely believed that Sarge was done with his questioning and just wanted to make himself open to her for any further conversation but something about the conversation made her feel dirty. She didn't lie to Greg...outright lie at least...but she still felt wrong, like she was being manipulative of her friend's trust in her. "Jules?" Greg asked from across the table. She hadn't realized that she had gotten lost in her thoughts while she and Greg were still in the room.

"Sorry, Boss." She said as she got up with the intention of going to the locker room but felt something compelling her not to leave. When she was around Greg and Wordy and all the guys she felt so at peace with herself and so supported and loved. How could she maintain that if she kept this secret for fear of losing their respect? She didn't know what she was doing, deciding to let her gut guide her actions as she quickly turned back around and faced the briefing room. Greg looked up from his paperwork with an inquisitive gaze but she spoke before he could say anything. "Boss, I made a stupid decision to let my neighbor set me up on a blind date and the guy ended up being a bastard. He tried to follow me into my house with some obvious intentions that I was not interested in, he hit me, and I fought him off. I filed a report last night." She took a deep breath and stood between the doorway and the table, not quite sure if she wanted to run away or sit down.

"Thank you for telling me, Jules. That must have been hard for you to deal with but I'm really glad that you told me." Jules was a little surprised at Greg's seeming lack of an emotional reaction, he was personally vested and friendly with his teammates and he wasn't one to be distant. Jules' confusion must have shown on her face as Greg pulled another file from his stack. "Jules, I'm your commanding officer...when there's an officer involved incident, no matter if we're on scene or on our own time, I get a copy." He explained, seemingly a bit guilty about his deception and secrecy in the matter.

"You knew?" She asked quietly, trying to process this new information.

"Yeah, Jules. I found out when the report hit my desk this morning. Gotta say it though, I'm a little confused why I didn't know it yesterday when we asked you about the bruise or that night when you broke the asshole's wrist and fractured one of his ribs?" Jules felt another pang of guilt but then curiosity.

"How do you know about his injuries?"

"I called in a favor this morning and they picked him up." Greg was trying to read Jules' face but saw a mix of emotions. "Jules, I read the report and I'm impressed..." He smiled at her. "but I've never seen you act ashamed of your fighting ability. Did something happen that's not in the report?" He asked as gently as he could but needing to ask the question.

"No." She answered firmly and quickly and Greg could tell she was being honest. He nodded.

"Then why the secrets and the stuff yesterday with Wordy?" He got up and moved to the other side of the table, a few chairs away from her but still giving them a bit of distance. "Why didn't you think you could tell us?" He asked a tone of concern and a hint of guilt.

"I knew that I could tell you guys and you would all be great and supportive but...I guess I just didn't want to lose anyone's respect. I didn't want anyone wondering about my ability to take care of myself in the field or otherwise." She spoke strongly. Any emotion that she had while speaking about the incident with Wordy was gone now. Greg nodded.

"Jules I think it's impossible for us to think less of you with all of the accomplishments you have. Not to mention you've proven time and time again you can not only handle yourself in any situation but you've got your teammates backs."

"That's what Wordy said last night..." Jules mused aloud. At Greg's slightly confused expression she explained, "Wordy saw past all the lies and knew what happened. He's the one that convinced me to file a report." He nodded again and leaned forward.

"I can tell you're not convinced." Greg laughed a bit as Jules smiled, her recognition of his words without actually confirming them. "You remember when Spike and Lou got into that bar fight...ohh...had to be four or five years ago?" It took her a moment but Greg saw the memory dawn on her face. "They were outnumbered and the guys who started it apparently had it out for them since they sat down. You remember Spike the week after when he was cleared to come back?"

"Mild concussion, cuts and really ugly bruises all on his face and up and down his arms?" She asked, remembering vividly how the then rookie bowed his head in shame of his battle scars. "Pretty sure that's when Ed started pushing the close quarters training." Greg nodded.

"Do you remember what I told Spike that day?" She didn't. She remembered Ed and Wordy good-naturedly poking fun at Spike and Lou as they went through the different close quarters moves but mostly just to break the tension. She remembered offering Spike help with covering up the worst of the bruises so his mother would think he was healing faster. She remembered him sleeping on Lou's couch for a week to escape the constant, well intentioned but overbearingness, of his mother. But she didn't remember what Greg said.

"I told him that we were a team and a family. Our good days were everyone's good days and our bad days were burdens shared by everyone. I told him that we trusted him with our lives no matter how beat up he got and that we would always have his back as long as he would let us." He paused for a moment. "Jules, as long as you let us have your back, as long as you trust us with your life, we will always do the same no matter what. You will not lose anyone's respect if someone temporarily gets the upper hand on you, just let us be there for you like we'd want you there for us."

Kind of abrupt ending but you got another chapter so that's a good thing, right? This chapter is kind of long and feels kind of disjointed since I wrote it slowly when I had time but I really hope it was the follow up that people were looking for. Like I've said a million times, I don't really like writing Jules and I feel like I made her a little too weak throughout this but let me know, leave me a review. Thanks so much for the read!