Forces Banding Together

Chapter 1

The day was pleasant and cheerful as children ran through the street, some carrying decorations and chasing each other. The adults were getting ready for Halloween setting out the pumpkins and the hay bundles. Sari couldn't help but smile as she walked through the street, taking in the sights. She remembered this being one of her favorite times of the year.

It was her, Jake, Emily and Stanley that would run around and trick or treat. It was she and Jake that dressed up as one thing and then change costumes. It was surprising for her since she was the goody two shoes then. People said that Jake was a bad influence on her bur Sari didn't see it that way. Rather he was probably the best influence she ever had in her life… at least to how she made her decisions now.

Taking in a breath, Sari continued on her walk as she adjusted her belt and the gun in its holster. She checked to make sure that her deputy badge was on it as well before stepping up the pace. It wasn't exactly what she envisioned doing when she got back from over there and took over guardianship of her younger half-sister but… Jericho needed law and order and with Mayor Green not feeling well and no sheriff and down to Jimmy and Bill… She was hired on to help maintain law and order and while Eric was nominally in charge, Bill and Jimmy took their lead from her.

It was different from the town she left behind since people were looking to her and Jake. She knew though what it was like to be depended upon. She had seen a lot of it when she was with her old unit. She paused a moment to think about them and wondered if they made it out okay. At least they weren't in the states but they were probably worried sick about their families. And she couldn't contact them at the moment. It was difficult enough to keep what she had kept secret for the past month a secret.

When the EMP took out everything with a circuit board, she knew that she would have to be circumspect with her equipment. Her PDA phone was one such thing and the other secret she kept in the basement of her home. It was something she hated herself for since she wasn't sure who was friend and who was foe and it hurt to suspect someone from Jericho. And it was hard because she trusted people from that town like the Green brothers and Stanley. That was the challenge in order for her to keep to her last set of orders.

She was supposed to listen and learn what she could. That she did getting involved with the various projects in town like trying to find information heading towards Wichita. Another was when the man Victor came into town with radiation poisoning and they found those twenty or so people from Denver. Other things popped up like the fires and Sari helped out where she could and mostly to give some semblance of order.

Just like the Al-Sharif.

Sari brushed aside her memories of serving in Iraq and Afghanistan as she entered the jail getting ready for work. She walked in just as Jimmy told their prisoner to knock it off and he asked, "Where's Jake? You better go get him, cause when Jonah comes for me…"

"He's gonna what?" Sari walked in and looked at Mitch Cafferty. She had her hands on her hips as she stared at the man that stole the Green horses and nearly killed Gail Green. As much as she wanted to beat the crap out of him, she knew that there had to be some measure of law and order. As Gail Green said, she was the half that tempered Jake. She stared at him and asked, "He's gonna want to have a little conversation with him?"

Mitch looked at Sari. He remembered her five years ago but she was different then. Now there was something else standing in front of him and it was… He looked at her with a firm expression, "You know that if Jake isn't here, it's going to make things a whole lot worse. Though he might settle talking to you Sari."

Sari looked at Mitch. She knew that Jonah would want to talk to her. There was a lot of baggage from five years ago and no matter what Jake did, it wasn't squared away. She had a part in that and she was going to pay the price. She kept her hands on her hips as she replied, "If he wants to talk it will come to that but don't go making threats… if that's what you call it."

"You know what'll happen, Sari. You can't run from it."

"I don't plan on running and I never run."

Mitch scoffed at that, "Really?"

Sari glanced at Jimmy before reverting her full gaze back to Mitchell. She studied him and thought about her options. They weren't many but they had a few. It was just a matter of taking it up with Eric and she knew that she was going to have to have a word. She looked at Jimmy and turned to leave while telling him in a low voice that she was going to see the deputy mayor. It sounded silly to be formal but it helped.

Jimmy gave a nod and moved to fix things just as Mitch said, "Then you all better get ready. Especially you Sari. He'll come for you."

"Whatever," Jimmy replied, "Just keep it down in there." He closed the outer door to the cell. He took a moment to look at the prisoner before turning to go about his day.

Sari, in the meantime, heard everything that Mitch said and knew that everyone within earshot did. She didn't give it her attention since that would show that it bothered her when in truth that it did. It was no secret that Jonah had tried to recruit her to his gang because of her brains. Jake kept her out and ended up taking her place and she begged him to leave. She swallowed whatever her thoughts were and continued about her business. Eventually she was going to have to address things with Eric since he was the acting mayor.

"Don't let it bother you."

Sari looked up from her paperwork and saw Bill looking at her with a slight smile. She smiled back, "I'm not. But thanks Bill."

Bill studied Sari as she bent over the paperwork that she had taken upon herself. In truth he was glad that she was helping out. He was just surprised that she was on the force and willing to get her hands dirty. He remembered her being a nice girl but he figured that wherever she had been the last five years had her pick up a few things. One of them was being able to bring a sense of order to places. She took over the Sherriff's office and had it running smoothly despite the problems that had been occurring. She dispersed resources as best as she could with what she had and folks seemed to be more agreeable.

Bill knew that she had her sister to look after and she was jumping in and helping for the town. As far as she knew, she didn't owe the town anything. And yet she was here. He smiled slightly and asked, "So… do you have anything planned for Halloween?"

"Just working," Sari replied as she finished a report. She didn't know if there was a purpose for it but… "Ryan though will be having fun with the carnival."

"You don't have to work you know," Bill countered. "You've done enough these last few weeks."

Sari turned and looked up at Bill. She saw the concern in his eyes and smiled, "No I don't but… I really don't have anything to do and… kind of not in the mood. Besides someone needs to watch the jail." She grinned and gave a friendly punch to his upper arm.

"You mind if I join you?"

Sari paused a moment to look at Bill. They had an agreement to be friends and that was how it was. For a moment she thought she was mistaken in that but it was Bill and he was a good friend. She nodded, "I could use the company and I'll be near Ryan in any case."

Bill smiled at that and went about his work. "I'll take care of those recent citations."

"Thanks Bill."

Bill couldn't help but smile and went about his work. So far it looked to be an okay day despite what happened in recent days. And he did have to make it up to Sari; he never liked the look of disappointment she shot people's ways when she disapproved heavily. The latest was the whole thing with the guy who died of radiation poisoning. This was a start.

Sari watched Bill and thought about things. True she had been disappointed at his refusal to help but she understood where he came from. He wasn't a bad person. She let it go and went about business as usual. Yet he seemed to be in a mindset to make things up to her. It didn't make sense to her but she let him and it was nice.

She had finished her last file when she heard Bill greet a customer. She looked up and frowned since the tone was anything but customer friendly. She moved to get a good view of who it was even though deep down she knew who it was. Taking a breath she got up from her seat and moved to take care of the situation.

"I'm here to see about posting bail for a friend of mine. Mitchell Cafferty."

Sari didn't see Jake come in but instead made her presence known and greeted their customer, "Hello Jonah."

Jonah shifted to look at the girl that he hadn't seen for five years. She had grown more lovely and she had that hard edge he knew was lurking underneath that schoolgirl appearance. He noticed that she was carrying and she had a badge. He gave a smile, "Sari. Been a long time."

"Apparently not long enough."

Jonah couldn't help but smirk at that. "That any way to greet an old friend?"

"We're not friends, Jonah," Sari replied as she crossed her arms over her chest to indicate that she meant business. "What is your business here?"

"Like I was telling your deputy here," Jonah replied gesturing at Bill, "I'm here about posting bail for Mitchell Cafferty. Are you in charge?"

"I work here," Sari allowed as she stared at Jonah, trying to determine Jonah's intentions. "Just to let you know, these are serious charges that Mitchell faces."

Jonah studied Sari and thought about what he was going to say. "Mitchell is an idiot. You know that and that was stupid for what he did."

Sari waved at Bill to step back. There was no need to bring him into past history. She took a couple of steps forward to assert her position. "That was stupid Jonah."

"And it could have been avoided."

Sari shook her head at that, "I don't think so." She pulled a form and said, "Like I said, these are serious charges and considering that he almost seriously injured Mrs. Green…"

Jonah gave a slight look at that. It was mingled with disappointment but also pleased at her demeanor. "I always knew you were the ruthless one underneath that good girl persona. Look at you now."

Sari stared at Jonah as he gestured at her and eyed her in an appreciative manner. She technically couldn't deny bail but she could make it difficult. She did read up on local law and ordinances. For fun, she once teased Eric about her studying them. Now this was a moment of truth, sort of. She knew that this was a tense situation and it could lead to bad things for the town.

"Hi Jonah."

Sari pursed her lips as she shifted to see Jake standing there. She stared at him with a hard look while Jonah greet him along with, "Always where there's one, there is the other."

Sari kept her gaze on Jake and replied, "It has been a long time." She felt her throat swallow instinctively as she took controlled breaths. She had to keep her cool here even though there was history and it wasn't the most pleasant. She kept it as she commented on the need to talk.

~0~0~0~0~0~

"Sari."

Sari didn't say anything as she turned to walk back into City Hall. She had her arms crossed over her chest and her lips pursed while trying to be calm. Right now she just needed to walk to cool down and to brush off Emily's frustration she had witnessed.

Jake sighed and almost rolled his eyes as he trotted to catch up with her. "Sari," he tried again.

Sari didn't break stride as she replied, "There is nothing to say, Jake."

Jake knew that he was not in the best light with Sari by the very fact that she didn't use the name she always called him by. He sighed again as he reached out to stop her, "There is something to say. Just wait."

Sari stopped the moment she felt Jake's hand on her upper arm. She gritted her teeth to not react like she would if it were Paul since he had grabbed her in a similar manner. She turned to look at him and narrowed her eyes at him. "What?"

Jake was taken aback by the look she was giving him and he let go of her. He remembered what he was doing and replied, "What is your problem?"

"My problem?" Sari raised her brow at Jake. She was well aware that they could be overheard but she wasn't going to tread lightly. "My problem is that you completely undermined me." She turned to head to the mayor's office.

"Undermined you?"

"Yes, Jake." Sari stopped and turned to look at Jake. "You undermined me. In case you haven't forgotten I'm a deputy in this town and currently the one that is in charge. It was my job."

Jake looked at her a little confused, "And no one is questioning that."

"No one?" Sari fought to keep her temper. She gestured at him, "It's you Jake. You're the one that is questioning that." She put her hands on her hips as she sighed while staring at him. She shook her head and clicked her tongue on her teeth.

Jake paused and realized what she was getting at. He had only interfered because he knew that Jonah wanted to talk to him and there were scores to settle. As far as he was concerned Sari was kept out of it. He looked at her and said, "I'm not Sari. It was an issue between me and Jonah. It had nothing to do with you."

"It had everything to do with me Jake," Sari countered. She put a hand to her head to take a breath. She didn't want to cause a scene. "He has been after me since he took notice of me."

"And I told him to leave you alone."

"Please, like that would help?" Sari shook her head. "After you left, he approached me. Almost near threatened me."

Jake pursed his lips trying to keep his temper apart from the regret of leaving her behind. He took a breath to release the one he had been holding. "Sari…"

"Don't." Sari held up her hand. She took a breath and said, "I don't disapprove of the deal. I've seen enough of them and made them myself when I was I Afghanistan. If anything it's probably the best thing for this town." She sighed as she turned away and put her hands on her hips.

"I'm sorry." Jake realized how it looked once he thought through his actions. He said he was a screw up and here was the proof. Hell he tried to tell his dad about how he always seemed to prove him right in being a disappointment. "I didn't think about that. I thought Jonah was here to cause trouble because of me and with Mitch."

Sari turned back to study Jake. There was a lot that happened that they didn't know about each other. She sighed and gave a slight smile. "I'm not the damsel in distress anymore."

"Never thought you were," Jake replied returning her smile with one of her own. "Made sure of that." He gave a gentle nudge with his knuckle on her chin.

"Please," Sari replied chuckling. She gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder. "You always had lousy timing, JJ."

"Me? You're the one that waited until the fire did the damage before putting on the waterworks." Jake grinned as he followed her. He was back on friendly footing with her again now that she was calling him by the name she always called him.

"But it worked didn't it?" She turned and shot him a wry look.

"Alright yes," Jake admitted.

They both stopped to look at each other. They smiled and nodded. Finally Jake said, "I really am sorry, princess. But you do know that I got your back right?"

Sari smiled and nodded, "Yeah. Just keep in mind that I can handle myself and a situation. Like I said…"

"Right Afghanistan." He started again before asking, "Where?"

"Where what?"

"Where in Afghanistan?"

"All over. Mostly getting lost missionaries out." Sari knew that she was going to have to eventually tell him a few things. "And holding a village or two. Followed where the orders sent me."

Jake studied her as he put his hand on the door to the office. There were a lot of ways to take that but he understood if she didn't want to say anything. He had a few bad memories himself. "I guess that's why you're the deputy and I'm not. All that Navy training."

"Well you can throw in SEAL school." She gave Jake a look that could be taken any way.

"Not going there," Jake countered once he caught her look. He could press and see if it was the truth but he wasn't. There were some things you had to take on trust and faith. He trusted Sari and he figured that whatever she did, it was her business. He didn't doubt she had military training since he had seen it in her movements this past month as they worked to keep Jericho on its feet.

Sari chuckled at the look on Jake's face. She patted him on the shoulder, "Come on. Let's go and try to convince Eric the logical soundness of this deal."

"I'm leaving that to you."

It didn't take much time to explain the nature of the deal to Eric who listened patiently. Eric paced as he thought about it and then glanced at Sari. He had come to depend on her to lead the Sherriff's office and keep order amongst the appointed deputies. It had at first surprised him when she suggested it but he had seen her in action with the various emergencies and the way she made suggestions of possible courses of action. The decision to make her officially a deputy was fully supported by Johnston Green and a few others so he officiated it. Since then the number of complaints decreased and problems were handled as well as they could be. Looking at his brother he asked, "When is it supposed to happen?"

"Tomorrow morning at 11," Jake answered as Eric walked past him. He then followed him as soon as Sari joined them.

"So we get the food back and Prowse leaves us alone."

"That's what he said, Eric," Sari said as she kept pace.

"Yeah, well see that he does."

"He will Eric." Sari stopped Eric in the hall. She glanced around and lowered her voice. "Look guys like Jonah, they may be not the kind you bring home to dinner but when he gives his word and makes a deal… he keeps it."

"And you know this how?" Eric looked back at Sari. He wasn't sure how he felt about Sari knowing this.

"Let's just say that I've had experience dealing with this kind of thing. When I was in my unit." Sari cleared her throat slightly, hoping that Eric would just take it at that. She looked at the younger Green brother in the eye with a serious expression.

Jake knew that this could turn into a Q&A session that would waste time. He stepped in, "Either way, I think it's important that we do this." He stared at his brother.

Eric looked at the pair looking at him. Jake he knew what to expect in terms of wheedling and getting him to agree to do something even if it was reckless. Sari was different. True she managed to convince him to let her help him out of a few issues when they were in school but this was different and the candid way she revealed that she had experience in this type of thing… The thing was though in spite of a lot of things, when it came to serious matters, they never bullshitted him. He nodded in agreement, "Okay. I'll run it by Dad."

"All we ask," Sari countered much to the astonished look on Jake's face. She gave a slight look that she knew he would understand. She looked back at Eric. "This is probably better and the best we'll get."

"Hope you're right Sari," Eric replied after a slight sigh.

"Me too," she whispered. Luckily it was too low to be heard since there was a commotion going on. She looked up and saw people heading towards the office. She frowned at that since she hadn't heard anything that was a problem that morning.

"What's going on?" Jake was frowning himself as he followed the crowd. He looked at Sari and saw the look she gave him. He led the way until he was met by Stanley.

"You better get in here."

Sari took the lead and made her way through to pave a way for Eric and Jake. She was ready to handle any problems that may occur since it was her job. She just didn't expect the sight before her and it barely registered that Stanley mentioned that it was Gray Anderson. She looked at the man as he looked up at the three of him and took in the sight. The look on his face told her and the two men she had been talking to previously that he had news and it probably wasn't going to be all that pleasant.

A/N: Here we are with the sequel to Forces Collide and it seems that Jake and Sari are trying to be of use to Jericho as it tries to survive. Stay tuned for next time on Forces Banding Together...