Still got uber spoilers for Dunes...
But Who's Going To Save You?
Chapter 11: "Oh The Joy. Armed Lunatic."
"How's that ankle doing?" Chase asked, taking a sip of the cup of tea Stephanie Rouse had just brought him.
"I'm not going to be abseiling down any cliffs today," Felicity admitted, rotating it slightly. "But it is feeling a lot better."
"Dean will be here in a bit, then we can get back to base. I'm sure Michelle will let you get off early."
"No," Felicity disagreed. "I'm fairly certain that you and I will be performing evasive manoeuvres as we try to avoid being killed for writing off her baby. And, for the record, I will be performing them much better than you."
"That's because you spend more time running than you do shooting, and I still managed to beat you the other night," Chase grinned.
Felicity groaned. "Three out of five, Chase," she cried, emphasising the number by using her fingers. "I still won two of them, and if I hadn't have accidentally blown myself up, I would have won three of them."
"But you didn't," Chase mocked. "And you did blow yourself up by walking into your own mine. I mean, who does that?"
Felicity pulled a face, leaning over to smack him, but missed, instead swiping air as Chase laughed at her. "You'd just told me Michelle and Vince used to see each other! I was a little distracted. And speaking of distractions, stop avoiding calling Michelle and giving her a heads up about crashing that bike."
"I'm not going to call Michelle," Chase shot back. "She'd kill me. She would find a way to jump out of the phone, like in a cartoon, and she'd kill me."
Felicity burst out laughing. "Don't worry. I have a stick of Acme dynamite in my pocket. I'll pwotect you fwom de big bad Michewle."
Chase rolled his eyes, reaching for the phone, dialling. "Hi Vince, it's me…. Look, I need to tell you something, and you're not going to be happy…. How the hell did you know?"
Felicity nearly choked on her water, laughing. Chase glaring at her, just made her laugh harder.
"No, it doesn't look too bad, but it's bad enough that Michelle's going to hit the roof…. Looks like the fuel line…" Chase sighed. "It's not only that, Vince. The bike needs panel beating too…. Vince?" He put the phone down. "He hung up on me."
"Can't say I blame him," Felicity said, still laughing.
"Laugh all you want" Chase shrugged. "He told us to walk home."
Felicity's mouth fell open. "What?" This time it was Chase's turn to laugh. "Oh, I really don't like you," Felicity grumbled at him as the phone rang.
After a couple of rings, Felicity watching him expectantly, Chase got up. "I'm gonna get that!" he yelled into the house. "Rouse residence... She found what?" Felicity, who had been watching Chase, frowned as he stared out the window, looking confused. "Vince, I gotta call you back."
"What's that about?" Felicity asked as he hung up. "Was that…" she trailed off as Chase hurried out of the door – spotting what he had and hurrying after him.
"Where are you going?" Chase asked as Stephanie loaded her son and a bag into her car.
"I'm taking Todd to the hospital," Stephanie told him, trying to walk around him. "He needs to get checked out after that seizure."
"We can do that," Felicity assured her. "The team will be here shortly."
"No," Stephanie told her, giving her a smile which looked forced. "Hospital's quicker. Make yourself at home. We won't be long."
"They really won't be long," Felicity told Stephanie.
Before Mrs Rouse could give her another excuse, Chase spoke up, addressing her son. "We found your bracelet, Todd. You were with Sean, weren't you?"
Felicity's mouth hovered open. "Absolutely not," Stephanie cut in. "Todd's not allowed to see Sean."
"Mum," Todd said, trying to get her attention.
Stephanie ignored him. "Todd lost his bracelet last week," Stephanie told Chase. "So if your team found it I-"
"Mum! Stop it!" Todd shouted. "I was with Sean. We came over this dune to fast and stacked it."
"Todd."
Todd looked to Felicity, ignoring his mum. "He was bleeding and everything. I was running for help when I saw you."
"Todd, that's enough!" his mother snapped.
"Mum, I'm not a kid," Todd pointed out.
"Yes, you are," Stephanie informed him. "You're my kid and I'm not letting Graham Cooper get his hands on you." She grabbed him, opening the door. "Now get in the car."
After sharing a look with Felicity, Chase stepped forward. "Mrs Rouse, Todd's been in a serious accident. He could have concussion, whiplash –"
"That is nothing compared to what Graham Cooper could do to him!" Stephanie cried, pushing him in the car.
Felicity took a couple of steps closer. "But he's done nothing wrong!"
Chase slowly shook his head. "You were driving the buggy?" he realised, asking Todd.
There was a very long pause. "Sean's dead, isn't he?" Todd asked, hesitantly. When no one could give him the answer he wanted to hear, he started to cry.
"Todd darling, it's alright," his mother assured him, leaning into the car to hug him. "It was an accident." The four of them heard the growl of the ute engine at the same time, but it was Stephanie who realised who the truck belonged to. "Graham's here," she said, horrified. "He knows. Get out of the car," she urged her son, half dragging him out of the car.
"Stephanie wait," Chase called after her as they hurried into the house. "I will talk to him."
Stephanie shook her head. "No, you don't know him. He'll have a gun. If he finds Todd he will kill him." She turned to Todd. "Get inside now."
Chase looked over at Felicity. "Get inside too."
"And leave you out here with a crazy guy with a gun?" Felicity asked eyes wide. "Like that's going to happen," she told him as Graham pulled up, leaping from his truck.
"Mr Cooper is it?" Chase asked, trying to get between him and the house.
"Out of my way," Graham snarled at him.
Felicity stepped forward, holding her hands up. "Just wait-" her sentence ended with a small squeal as she was flung to one side.
"There's no need for that!" Chase snapped at him. Before either of them knew what was coming, Chase was lying on the ground, having bounced off the ute, unconscious from Graham's fist.
"Chase!" Felicity cried, dropping down beside him, shaking him gently until his eyes flickered open. "Chase?"
"I'm alright," he muttered, brushing her away as he pulled himself to his feet, staggering slightly. "Where did he go?"
"Inside," Felicity informed him.
"Stay out here," Chase told her.
"Not likely," Felicity scoffed, hurrying after him into the house.
They could hear Graham angrily shouting from somewhere within the building as they ducked into the kitchen, looking for Todd and Stephanie. "Chase! Felicity!" they heard Stephanie hiss. Chase took a couple of steps backwards, discovering a hidden nook with the two hiding in it. "Get him out of our house, please."
"Just stay there," Chase whispered, pulling Felicity into the kitchen.
Lara sat in the passenger seat of the Rescue vehicle, tapping her pen against the paperwork she was far too distracted to actually complete. With a frustrated sigh, she dropped the pad on the seat next to her, looking up. With little more than luck, her gaze fell on Heidi and Jordan quickly enough to see them kiss. "No," she muttered in surprise. It took seconds for the surprise to be replaced by a happy grin. Heidi had had a crush on Jordan for, well, it would be a couple of years now.
And if Heidi could act on it, then so could she. Because Heidi wasn't the only one who'd had a crush for a while now. With her mind set, she got out of the car, shutting the door firmly, and was about to head straight for Dean, when Heidi's question stopped her.
"Hey, isn't that that cop? What's her name?"
Lara turned, frowning as a red 4x4 pulled up. "Zoe," she responded, shortly.
"Is this an official visit?" Jordan asked.
"I don't know," Lara frowned, watching Zoe approach Dean. She barely heard Heidi asking Jordan if he had been a bad boy – under normal circumstances, she would have had a witty retort to that. Instead, she inched closer to Dean and Zoe.
"Hi," Zoe smiled.
"What are you doing here?" Dean asked, slowly.
Zoe shrugged. "I just finished my shift and I heard the call out on my radio. I thought I'd come and see how you were?"
"Oh, well, you didn't have to do that," Dean responded.
"I live in Kurnell, so I haven't gone miles out of my way, or anything?" she said, quickly.
Dean blinked. "Okay."
"So," said, giving him a bright smile. "How are you holding up?"
"Yeah, um, you know," Dean shrugged, awkwardly.
"Kids, huh?" Zoe attempted.
"Yeah," Dean muttered, rubbing at the back of his neck.
Zoe sighed. "Sorry, this is weird. Maybe I shouldn't have come down."
"It's not weird. It's not," Dean lied. "Thanks for coming." His phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket, frowning as he failed to recognise the number. "Hello…? Chase? I haven't forgotten about you," he assured him, turning away from Zoe. "Graham Cooper? He went home to see his wife…" He turned back to Zoe, hanging up. "You bring your gun?"
Zoe shook her head, frowning. "No. It's at home, why?" she asked, chasing after Dean as he hurried to the Rescue truck.
"What's going on?" Lara asked.
"Graham's gone to see Stephanie and Todd Rouse," Dean told her.
"Who are they?" Lara asked, blinking.
"The kid Chase and Felicity ran over," Dean told her, already hurrying around to the driver's side. "You, Heidi and Jordan should carry on packing up."
"I'm going with you," Lara informed him, only just refraining from shooting Zoe a filthy look as she slipped into the front seat before the police officer could. "Heidi and Jordan can pack up."
"Wha-" Before Felicity could ask Chase what his brother had said, he had clamped his hand over her mouth, holding a single finger up to his own. Wide eyed, Felicity nodded.
Behind them, Graham was busy storming around, knocking things to the ground. "Come out you little prick!" he bellowed, before disappearing into another room.
"We've got to get him out of the house," Felicity hissed. "It's not going to take him long to find them."
Chase nodded. "Mr Cooper?" he called. "Listen to me. You've got to go. The cops are on their way!"
"Yeah, right," Graham yelled back.
"Look, stay here," Chase whispered to Felicity. Felicity shook her head, grabbing his hand and refusing to let go. "Now is not the time to be brave."
"Chase, I'm terrified," she admitted in a whisper. "I don't want to be left alone, and I don't want you facing him alone, alright?"
Chase nodded. Felicity's hands were cold in his, and he was certain he didn't have the time to be prying her fingers from him. "Fine," he conceded. "But you stay behind me." He glanced over the top of counter. "Come on." He stood up as Graham came into the room. "Seriously, Mr Cooper, the cops have been called," his hands in the air.
"Whatever," Graham snarled, yanking his arm out of Chase's reach.
"Look it was an accident," Chase tried to tell him.
"Did Stephanie tell you that, did she?" Graham demanded angrily, before storming out of the house.
"Chase, we need to keep him out of the house," Felicity told him, urgently.
Chase nodded. "I know. If he gets his hands on Todd," he trailed off, looking worried.
"Chase, Felicity!" Stephanie hissed at them.
"Just sit tight," Chase whispered back, before he turned to Felicity. "We'll keep him out, but if he pulls a gun on us, we're letting him in. We can't treat anyone if we're injured."
"I'm not arguing," Felicity nodded, sounding braver than she felt. Together, they went outside. Graham was busy looking in the various outbuildings, yelling all sorts of insults. Finally, after kicking and denting Stephanie's car, he stormed back towards the house. "Todd, show yourself!"
Chase and Felicity both stepped in front of him. "You're not going back in the house," Chase told him, firmly.
"This has nothing to do with you," Graham snarled at him, before trying to shove him out of the way. Felicity, lunged forward, keeping Chase upright, exceedingly thankful to have spotted a Rescue truck hurtling up the road to them.
Chase stood his ground, pushing him back. "You're not going back inside the house!" he told Graham as his brother leapt from the truck, followed closely by Lara and a police woman.
"You okay?" Dean asked Chase and Felicity.
"This is a matter between me and this family!" Graham yelled, rounding on Dean.
Zoe stepped forward, holding her badge up. "Sir, I suggest you get back in the ute and drive away."
"And I suggest you go in there and arrest that little prick for leaving my son to die," Graham suggested, angrily.
"No, Graham, that's not true," Stephanie declared, appearing from the house and hurrying over to them. "Todd, he was going for help, wasn't he?" she said, looking to Felicity and Chase for confirmation, as the two of them, with Dean made sure they stayed between her and the grieving father.
"He was, Graham," Chase agreed, while Felicity nodded.
"I just wanna talk to him, okay?" Graham said, addressing Stephanie. "I have a right to know what happened."
"Mr Cooper, just calm down, alright," Dean told him.
"Todd had a fit whilst he was driving," Stephanie explained. "He can't be blamed for that."
"Stephanie, he killed my little boy!" Graham cried in anguish.
"Stephanie, why don't you go back into the house?" Lara suggested.
"Go on," Felicity agreed as Stephanie turned to her. Stephanie looked like she wanted to stay, but nodded and returned back inside.
"Mr Cooper, you need to go home," Dean suggested, calmly, trying to distract him. "You need to go home and be with your wife."
"That kid has been trouble from the get-go. I should have never let him hang out with the little prick." Angrily, he stormed back to his vehicle and drove off, tyres squealing.
Just as Felicity was about to let out a sigh of relief, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. "He's gone," she told Stephanie. "But you really should stay-"
"Todd's gone," Stephanie said, cutting her off.
"What?" asked Dean, turning his attention over to them.
"He's taken off into the dunes," Stephanie told him.
Chase and Felicity shared a look. "He's had seizures plus who knows what other injuries from the accident," Chase said.
While Chase led Stephanie back towards the house, Dean was already on the radio. "Rescue One Portable to Rescue Base. We need to set up a search of the dunes, Vince."
"I can't believe you turned down the opportunity of driving a quad bike," Felicity said, still a little surprised at Chase's choice.
"There'll be other opportunities," he shrugged. "Although, if you had agreed to head back to base then maybe I wouldn't have had to."
"My ankle is feeling better," Felicity sighed. "I might not be good for abseiling, but I can still carry a bag and treat a patient. And I can also drive on it."
Chase shook his head. "Lara's in a mood, anyway."
"We saw her for all of thirty seconds," Felicity told him in amazement. "How in God's name could you possibly tell that she was in a mood?"
"Too many years being stuck in a car with her and Dean. You'll learn" Chase sighed.
"In a mood about what?" she asked, curiously.
Chase shrugged. "Like hell I know. I'm not that good."
"Well you could have let me go with Dean and the random police officer," she suggested.
"You mean Zoe?" Chase asked her.
"I don't know," Felicity shrugged. "Is she not so random?"
Chase frowned. "We attended a scene where she helped out. But that was a couple of weeks before you arrived."
"Dean's new girlfriend?" Felicity suggested.
Chase shook his head, pulling a face. "Nah. I doubt it. And why are you so anxious to not be in the car with me?"
"Well, you did crash the bike twice this morning," she pointed out, with a grin. "I'm not sure how much I rate my chances on the third time. You might get lucky."
"How lucky?" he shot back with his own grin, causing Felicity to laugh.
"Officer Holme has requested backup from Kurnell LAC," Vince's voice interrupted them. "In the meantime, stay well clear of Graham Cooper. Deano reckons he's armed, and I'd say dangerous given his state."
"Copy that, Vince," Felicity responded, her mood instantly sobering. "Oh, the joy. Armed lunatic," Felicity muttered dryly.
"I can still take you back to base," Chase offered, sending her a sideways glance.
Felicity snorted. "Nope. We'll lose time, and frankly, I'd rather we found Todd and then got the hell out of Dodge."
"Rescue Command to all units. Todd has been located. He's in a worker's shack just outside the park."
Felicity reached for the map, folding it over so she could examine the right section of the map. "We're close," she told him, finding the location and radioing it through to Lara, Heidi and Jordan who were somewhere behind them on the quad bikes. It took them a mere few minutes to swing the truck in the right direction and arrive at dilapidated old hut. Chase had barely killed the engine before he had leapt from the car and charged into the house.
"Todd, are you in here? Todd? It's Chase."
Felicity hurried in after him, the sound of the quad bikes nearing them, to find Chase supporting Todd's head as he lay fitting on the ground. "Chase, is he okay?"
Chase nodded. "Yeah." He looked up as Heidi, Lara and Jordan joined them. "He's having another seizure, but he's coming out of it now."
Heidi was straight on her knees beside Todd, shining her torch into his eyes. "He's out."
"This isn't just epilepsy," Chase muttered. "Jordan? Support him. Heidi, airways," Chase instructed. He got up and took the bag Felicity was offering him, hurrying back to his patient.
"Recue 6 Portable to Rescue 1 Portable," said Felicity, watching Chase as Todd slowly started to come around. "Todd's at the shack. He's unconscious following a grand mal seizure. Suspect concussion with a possible aneurism. Request immediate evacuation."
"Copy that Flick, we're on our way," Dean responded.
"Better?" Chase asked Todd, helping upright. "Dean's coming to get you in the patrol."
Todd shook his head. "Mum says to stay here."
"You can't hide from this, mate," Jordan told him.
"It's not my fault," Todd muttered, refusing to look anywhere other than his lap.
"That's what your mum told you," Chase pointed out. "Doesn't sound like you believe it – were you smoking dope before you stacked it? That's got to play havoc with your meds."
"Like your seizures," Jordan added.
"Bloody epilepsy. Doctors say I'll never get a licence. I just wanted to drive," he explained, a hint of pleading to his tone. With an anguished sob, he broke down and started crying. "I just killed my best friend."
Felicity bit her lip before dropping down beside him and wrapping her arms around him, gently rubbing his back.
"Heidi, Lara, will you guys go get a backboard?" Chase asked them. They quickly disappeared, returning a short while later with Dean and Zoe. Felicity stood back, allowing Jordan and Chase to help him onto the stretcher, and instead discreetly watched Lara and Dean.
As far as she could tell, they were behaving exactly as they had earlier at Todd's house, which didn't seem that different from usual. Sure, they weren't exactly laughing and joking, but that was probably due to the fact that Graham Cooper was likely to appear again. If Chase was certain something was up between them, well, she had no idea how he'd managed to establish that.
"Okay, I think we're ready to get out of here," Chase declared, as he, Jordan, Lara and Heidi lifted Todd up, strapped to the stretcher.
They had taken only a couple of steps towards the door when they heard the roar of an engine hurtling down the track. "Flick, check that out," Dean instructed as he halted the others.
Felicity nodded and headed outside to find Graham heading straight for them. Eyes wide, she darted back into the shack. "It's Graham."
"He must have heard us on the scanner," Lara muttered as Todd started to panic.
"It's alright, you're going to be okay," Heidi tried to reassure Todd. "Chase, we need to get him out of here."
Felicity glanced around, ignoring Dean and Zoe as they bickered over who was or wasn't going outside to stop the grieving father. Her gaze fell on a back door, half hidden behind a broken bookshelf. "Lara," she called, trying to move the furniture out of the way. Lara was over in an instant, the two of them pushing it out of the way.
While Dean headed out the front door, and Chase and Jordan were helping Todd to the back door, Zoe was on her phone requesting back up.
All of sudden, a loud gunshot rang out. Jordan pushed Chase and Todd out of the door, leaving Felicity to shut it behind them. Felicity turned, surprised to find that everyone else had disappeared out front. Anxious to join them, she took a step towards the front door, only to leap backwards with a scream as Graham burst in, pointing his gun.
"Where is he?" Graham bellowed. And then he pulled the trigger.
I know, I know. There's not enough Dean and Lara, and Heidi and Jordan barely made an appearance, but for love nor money could I get my muse to cooperate in this chapter.
meddrama - Well I'm glad you found it - thank you!
elightate - Thank you!
SarahSoph - LOL, I have been sat on the fence for a very long time with Dean & Lara, but I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that I do indeed love that ship. Therefore, and it may take a while, they will end up together! Stalker situation has involved the police now, but I think we're getting somewhere with it (at the risk of jinxing it!)
MMC gang - Aw, thank you!
RescueLover - I really love them two as well, but I really struggle to write them without them being OOC (the amount of times I've written something and deleted it...) But I do ship them, so it will be in here!