Work Text:
“Now I know that it says that you’ve been cleared for work but, I have to ask, are you sure you’re ready?” your chief fixed you with a probing stare.
Were you sure? You hated that question. Your captain was referring to your extended absence after the death of your partner, and you felt to blame. A routine domestic assault call had quickly gotten out of hand and had left you with a bullet hole in your leg. Your partner was shot as he tried to pull you to safety. He was dead before backup could arrive.
“I’m ready to come back Chief,” you said coolly, “Jackson wouldn’t want me waiting on the sidelines.”
“Jackson was also a bit of hothead,” the Chief said furrowing his brow, “And it was his own stupidity that got him killed, may he rest in peace. Don’t put yourself in danger out of some…respect for his memory.”
“Sir, I’ve been cleared to return to work. I’ve been fine for a long time. This leave of absence has been more punishment than recuperation.” You tried to explain in a calm tone, though you were a bit on edge over the Chief’s comments on Jackson.
The Chief pinched the bridge of his nose, looking like he was fighting off a headache, “I mean no disrespect [Y/N], I’m just concerned. You and Jackson…you were so well matched together, and I thought of the two of you like my own children.” The Chief sighed, “I won’t lose another one of you because you weren’t ready to come back.”
“The loss of Jackson was…hard,” you said slowly, trying to keep your emotions firmly locked up, “But the truth of the matter Chief is this: you’re understaffed without me, and I’m cleared for work. The doctor’s all agree that I’m in a perfectly functional mental state, and my leg’s responding well to the physical therapy. I want to come back Chief, let me.”
The Chief shuffled the paperwork you had brought in as proof of your condition around on his desk. It was clear from the look on his face that he didn’t agree with what he was about to say, and he let out a heavy sigh, “I suppose I have no choice then.”
The sound of the “Approved” stamp hitting your clearance paperwork rang in your ears as you stood to shake the Chief’s hand. You were fine. You had to be.
***
“We were sorry to hear about Jackson,” said the Kevlar-wearing man sitting nearest to you in the back of the SWAT van, “It’s always hard to lose a partner.”
The comment grated on you. You had been back to work for several weeks now, and people were still offering their condolences. Why couldn’t things just go back to normal?
“Thank you, Jackson would have loved to know that you guys all cared so much,” you tried to make the comment teasing, but you missed the mark and it sounded a little sad.
“And it’s good to have you back in the van [Y/N],” your squad commander said, “We need to have your quick wits back with us.”
You simply nodded your agreement. It was your first raid back with the SWAT team. The Chief had kept a pretty tight leash on you since your return. He had kept you confined to your desk for as long as he could, until the need to have more officers on the ground forced his hand. Even then it had been all cats caught in trees and waiting patiently in speed traps at first. You had had to do a lot of convincing to get you back onto the SWAT call team.
The radio on your squad leader’s shoulder squawked with the updated details on the case. A gun threat at a local arena where some boy band had been scheduled to play. There still was no confirmed sighting of the gunman, but the arena was being evacuated for safety. Just a routine sweep for the gunman, and you should be home in time for Leno.
Piling out of the van, the team quickly grouped up around the officer in charge. “Has the building been evacuated?” your squad leader asked.
“We’re still waiting on an official headcount, but it looks like the majority of those inside have been evacuated,” the gruff voice of the lead officer said.
“Harry’s still inside!!” came the shrill voice from behind you. You turned to see a young man being bodily held back by another officer. He was frantically trying to get your attention, though you could tell that you were the only member on the SWAT team that was paying him any attention.
Slipping away from the other officers you strode over to the frantic young man, though you discovered that there were 3 other boys behind him just as desperate looking. “I’ll take it from here,” you said to the officer holding them back. He gave you a questioning look, but released the young man.
“Okay, now please tell me your name and explain what’s wrong,” you said calmly.
“My name is Louis. This is Liam, Zayn, and Niall” he said quickly pointing to each boy, “We’re One Direction, but Harry’s still inside!!”
“And who is Harry?”
“The fifth member of our band!” Louis shrieked, “He went to take a nap in the dressing room, but he hasn’t come out yet! He’s still inside!”
“Are you sure?” you winced a little at the question you hated so much.
“I’m positive. Harry would have found us straight away if he was out here,” Louis said, his face distressed.
“I’ll go and tell my squad leader, but please stay here. We don’t want to lose track of any of you.” You said firmly as you turned to walk back towards the rest of your team.
You relayed the information you had received from Louis to your squad leader. His face was solemn as he took it all in. “We’ve also received some intel. The gunman was sighted in the arena.” He said grimly, “It appears he’s taken a young man, whom we can only assume is Harry, as a hostage, and…rigged himself with a bomb.”
There was a collective sharp intake of breath. So much for a routine gun sweep. “The officers on the ground have been notified to evacuate the street, but we’re trying to keep it quiet. Keep the people from panicking just yet. We don’t want to tip off the gunman that we’ve figured out his plan. He might get jumpy and blow it sooner.”
You looked over your shoulder at the boy band. You watched them process the information from the officer that they were going to be evacuated from the street, and they turned to look at you before you could look away. Perhaps your poker face wasn’t as good as it once was, because they all suddenly became agitated and had to be restrained by the police officers again.
“[Y/N], you’re the only one onsite with Bomb Squad experience, do you think you can take the lead?” your squad leader’s firm voice snapped you back to attention.
“I can do my job,” you said with a nod.
As you positioned yourself with your team, you felt your heart pounding in your chest. You hadn’t done a bomb deactivation since…Jackson. He had always known just the right thing to say to keep you calm and steady. He always kept a level head, never once showing his nerves until long after the bomb was gone. You weren’t sure you could do it without Jackson.
“Are you ready?” the squad leader asked.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” You said calmly, though you felt like you might throw up.
Without another word, the squad headed into the building. Pointing your gun away from the squad, you felt the familiarity of your training kick in. This was just like any other mission you had run with these men, they all had your back and you had there’s.
“Split up. Find the hostage, but don’t engage the gunman. If he’s got a bomb, wait till we get confirmation from the Bomb Squad. Over,” your squad leader’s voice buzzed in your helmet.
The squad split into groups of three without needing prompting. You took the point position as the others covered your flank. With a simple hand gesture, your party started to advance down one of the hallways of the arena. You kept your gun trained ahead of you, occasionally advancing to check around the corners.
You motioned for your party to stop as you heard a muted mumbling sound. It sounded like it was coming from inside a nearby closet. Creeping closer, the sound got louder. Training your gun on the interior, you motioned for one of the others to open the door. He held up his fingers to count down…3, 2, 1.
There was a muffled shriek from inside the closet as you found your gun trained on a curly-haired young man tied to a chair, a bomb taped to his chest. You lowered your own weapon as you approached the young man whimpering against the gag in his mouth. Setting down your gun, you approached the young man and removed his gag.
“He’s got a bomb! He’s going to blow the whole arena,” the young man cried.
“It’s going to be okay, Harry is it? We’ve got another team hunting down the gunman…now try to stay calm,” you said gingerly kneeling down in front of him.
Harry nodded his head frantically, though big tears continued to stream down his face as he bit on his lip to keep quiet. You relayed the information to your squad captain about the second bomb and informed him that you were going to try to deactivate it yourself. He of course was less than pleased, as he tried to describe the dangers of doing it yourself.
“I understand sir, but the bomb is too sensitive. We can’t move the boy without setting it off, and leaving him until the Bomb Squad arrives puts him in danger from the gunman. We can’t take any chances.” You said firmly into your headset.
You didn’t wait for him to respond before you removed your helmet. It was against protocol, but you couldn’t have your squad captain barking orders in your ear while you were trying to focus. You turned toward the other two men, “Close the door if this thing blows…I want you to have as much cover as we can manage.”
They looked like they were about to protest, but you fixed them with a stern glare that had them retreating out of the small supply closet. With the door closed, you felt the anxiety creep in a little. Taking a shaky breath you turned your attention back toward Harry, “I’m going to ask that you trust me. Please just hold still, and I’ll work as fast as I can.”
Harry nodded as he looked toward the ceiling. Shaking your hands out you pulled off your gloves, you always worked better with your hands-free. It was time to get to work.
Your fingertips ran over the wires, trying to get a lay of the land. You felt the along with the connections and tried to keep your eyes off the 2-minute clock that had yet to start counting down. You felt your heart start to pound, and you wished like hell that Jackson could have been here to distract you. It was just too damn quiet.
“Sing one of your songs,” your voice quivered slightly. You didn’t know where that request had come from.
“W-what?” Harry’s voice sounded small.
“Sing one of your songs. It’s too quiet in here.” You said a little more confidently.
“You’re insecure…Don’t know what for…You’re turning heads when you walk through the dooooor….” Harry’s deep voice vibrated in his chest as he continued to look heavenward.
“Good good, keep that up.” You said taking a deep breath. You could do this.
Harry continued to sing quietly as you continued to probe the bomb; his voice was very soothing on your frayed nerves. Finding the wire you were looking for you whispered a small Hail Mary and tugged. The glowing red numbers flickered off and you let out a sigh of relief. Wiping the bead of sweat running down your face, you said, “It deactivated, let’s get you out of here.”
Harry let out a shaky breath as you cut at the rope and tape holding him against the chair. Gingerly placing the bomb on the ground you helped him to his feet before placing your helmet and gloves back on. “Keep your head down, and stick to our pace. We’ll get you out of here.” You said as you knocked on the door to alert your teammates.
The door swung open and you pulled down on Harry’s shoulder to get him to crouch down. He went with it and allowed you to push him out into the pocket formed by the other two SWAT members. Your posse crept down the hall in the same manner as before, though at a slightly quicker pace. And with a final corner check, you burst out into the daylight.
The paramedics were quick to secure Harry into their custody and wrap him in a shock blanket. You could see his bandmates waiting impatiently for him over by the ambulance, and you could see that they were crying with relief. Your squad commander was buzzing in your ear, but you couldn’t hear him as Harry caught your eye and mouthed a “Thank You” before he allowed himself to be ushered into the ambulance to be checked over.
You smiled as you gave him a nod. It was good to be back.