Ch. 3

"Alright recruits," Parker begins, "Welcome to recruit week. This week will not be a walk in the park." He says as he scans the faces of all of us recruits. "Today is the easiest day of this week. We have recently had a loss on our team, and we are looking to fill that spot with one of you. First Team One is going to introduce ourselves. "

In walk the members of Team One.

"Hi recruits! I'm Constable Ed Lane! I am the team leader and tactical commander." Ed Lane says nodding at the recruits.

"Hey! I'm Constable Julianna Callaghan, but people call me Jules! I am the 2nd negotiator and intelligence gatherer." Jules said smiling at us.

"Hi guys! I am Constable Kevin Wordsworth, also known as Wordy. I am the close combat, less lethal, and entry expert." Wordy said also nodding at us.

"Sup! I am Constable Michelangelo Scarlatti. People call me Spike. I am the demolitions expert and I am also the tactical technician for the team." Spike said shifting and grinning at the room.

"Hello recruits. I'm Sam Braddock. I am on entry most of the time and my marksmanship is above reproach." He says laughing as Wordy shoves him a bit.

"And I'm Greg Parker. I am the Sergeant of this team and I am the lead crisis negotiator." Parker said nodding at Team One as they left the room laughing and picking on Sam. "Alright let's continue recruits."

The rest of the day was filled with what the Strategic Response Unit stood for and what their general day/week looked like. We went over what to expect for the rest of the week. And then we were dismissed and told to rest up for the rest of the week.

Tuesday

Today was the day of all the exams. We had our basic written exam that everyone took to get out of police academy. It was easy for most of us. We then had to wait our turns for our psych evaluations. They went in order of the recruit arrival the previous day, which meant I was last. I was chilling outside of the briefing room as the recruit before me went in. And I saw Sam and Spike approaching.

"Hi." Sam said sticking his hand out to me.

"Hi." I said back shaking his and Spike's hands. "May I help you?"

"Yeah," Sam started, "We had a bit of a question for you."

"Okay." I said raising an eyebrow at the boys.

"How were you able to have an entire conversation with that Italian man the other night?" Spike said crossing his arms over his chest.

"Hmmm," I began not sure how serious they were being with me, "I spent the first few years of elementary school in Italy, and it's what my mom used at home growing up."

"Ah that makes sense," Spike said nodding his head in agreement.

"So does that make you an army brat?" Sam asked giving me a puzzling look.

Before I could answer, I was called in for my psych eval and I couldn't have been more thankful. The day ends after my eval.

Wednesday

Today was the day most of the other recruits were dreading. I, on the other hand, was looking forward to it. We were paired up and told that for the rest of the day our partner was our biggest competition. We were put through the whole training process. We did the obstacle course first, and we even had one guy wipe out coming down the wall. He ended up leaving and his partner soon after because he started feeling kind of sick. We had marksmanship challenge. The different length of ranges was a bit tough on some recruits. However, nothing was a tough as the bomb/negotiation exercise that we underwent.

"And Done!" Parker said as I handed him the cutters "Ms. Clinton, I do believe you just pushed our leader out of the top."

He gave me a nod of approval and I rejoined the group as my partner stepped up to complete the exercise.

After a long grueling day of exercises and drills, we all went home to get some rest. We were even told to only come at specific times. I had to be in at 17:00. I didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but I did know I was tired so I decided to go home, shower, and sleep in the coming morning.

Thursday

Today was the day. We were going to find out whether or not we were a part of Team One. After getting a pep talk from Russ this afternoon, I felt a little bit better as I walked into the SRU headquarters. The woman at the desk showed me where to sit as I was 15 minutes early and was just waiting my turn. I saw Jules walk around the corner and she headed my direction.

"Hi!" Jules said walking up to me.

"Hi." I said smiling at her.

"So, I just wanted to tell you that you did a great job the other night." Jules said.

"Thanks," I said smiling a little, "So something has been bothering me. How did the call you guys were on that night end up?"

"Oh yeah," She started, "We ended up catching the guy as he tried to set the next bomb. We caught him in transport, so harm was done."

"But I still got to disarm the bomb." Spike piped in as he poked his head around the corner.

"True Spike." Jules said elbowing him a bit.

I saw my partner from the day before leave Parker's office. I nodded at him, but he just headed off in a quite angry fashion. I looked at Parker, and he just nodded for me to come into his office.

"Bye guys," I said smiling at Jules and Spike. I walked into Parker's office and sat down as he directed me.

"Hi Officer Clinton." Parker said sitting down and opening my file. "Let's begin with how you did this week. Your scores and marks were impeccable."

"Thank you sir." I said

"We would love to have you join our team." He said standing to his feet.

"What?" I said in a very confused tone.

"We want you on Team One, Officer Clinton." He said shaking my hand.

"We don't need to talk more," I asked still very confused but excited at the same time.

"No, the commander and I feel that with your track record plus your scores on everything this week, you are a perfect candidate for the SRU Team One."

"Well, I'm so glad for the opportunity. And I will do my best." I said smiling ear to ear.

We walked out the door, as the team was passing us and heading into the briefing room.

"Do they know yet?" I asked Parker after the passed.

"No, I figured we would tell them when you showed up for your shift in the morning." He said. "Go talk to Winnie about your locker and shift starts at 7 in the morning."

"Yes sir!" I said heading towards the communication desk.

Winnie helped me with the paperwork for division transfer and showed me where the locker rooms were. I made a mental note as to where the lockers were. I turned on my heels and bumped into someone.

"I'm sorry!" I said quickly.

"No, it's my fault." Spike said. Now, I realized that I had my hands on his chest and I quickly dropped them. "You good?"

"Yeah! I am just about to head home." I said picking my duffle up off the floor. "See ya later!" I said as I moved past him and headed off towards the front door.

On the way back to my place I gave Russ a call and he told me that he wanted to take me out to celebrate, but I told him that I was tired and just wanted to stay home. He assured me that he was going to take me out one day. I agreed and hung up. I arrived home and dropped my duffle inside the door. I did a bit of a happy dance and turned on some exciting music, but not too loud to upset the neighbors. I made some chicken and veggie stir fry and had some wine. I took a long shower and relaxed from my week. I then hit the hay because I knew that my morning was going to be early, since I decided to get there an hour early to get everything in order. As soon as I hit my pillow, I was out and then up waking to my alarm blasting in my ear.

I got up and pulled my hair into a ponytail and donned my official SRU uniform, I received the day before. I had some oatmeal and a banana for breakfast. I grabbed my "on the go" coffee cup filled with my morning "wake me up" brew and headed out the door.

I arrived at the station house and put my stuff in my locker. I went to Greg's office and we signed the paperwork.

"Welcome to the team!" Greg said leading the way.

"Thanks! Just hope it works out." I said anxiously.

"Give it time. It will." Greg said as we entered the briefing room. "Hey Team! You remember Diana Clinton from this week right?" They nodded in approval. "Well she is the newest member of Team One."

Some clapped and I just took my seat next to Ed who just patted me on the back. Greg just continued with the debriefing and toady's agenda.