To Hell and Back-Chapter 1

Hi everyone! The basic idea of this story has been stewing in my mind effectively since I started writing fanfiction a few months ago but I've held off on writing it for a few reasons. First off, I was in the middle of the semester and knew I wouldn't have the time that I needed to devote to this one. Secondly, I really wanted to do Greg justice in this story; as I learned, he's incredibly hard to write and I guess that's why he doesn't have many fics, he needs some love though. I have an intense outline for this one (six pages, it took me four days to write) and I want to thank StarNobleMocha for letting me bounce some ideas off her. I don't own Flashpoint, though I can wish.

SPOILERS: (Direct, very spoilery spoilers) "Fault Lines," "One Wrong Move," "Jumping at Shadows," "You Think You Know Someone," and "Severed Ties."

"Even heros crack..." The words reverberated in Greg's ears as he paced through the gym glancing at the briefing room every few steps. He knew that Winnie was trying not to watch him from the Communications Desk but he was vastly out of character as he let his anxiousness come across. His team had undergone two of the most stressful years he'd had on the job only to have it topped off by a near interrogation of a psychological evaluation. His heart raced when he thought back through the day as he sat in on the evaluations and saw his team slowly cracking before his eyes.

You idiot. What were you thinking bringing in an outsider? Of course this is going to happen, no one knows them like you do, no one understands them the way you could. He berated himself as he walked towards the Communications Desk, his eyes seeing Winnie but barley noticing her. He turned and headed the other direction as another side of his dueling mind kicked in. This was for the good of the team, there are lives at stake here every day and we need to be sure that we can deal with that. Only an outsider could be objective.

He continued to pace, to fight with himself and twist words to support whatever rationale he was leaning towards at the moment when another phone rang at the Communication's Desk and Winnie started talking into the receiver. He turned again and paced towards the locker rooms as he glanced at his watch for what seemed like the hundredth time. They said they would find him in half and hour, it had only been ten minutes. He dropped his wrist back to his side and turned on his heel walking towards Winnie again as she picked up another ringing phone. He dropped his gaze as he got closer to the desk but stopped abruptly when Winnie called him.

"Boss," It wasn't the word that got his attention and broke through his internal monologue, nor was it the fact that she was standing now; her tone of barely controlled panic made him stop dead in his tracks. What else can happen today? He thought to himself as he looked up at her with a questioning expression. "Ed's been shot."

"Where is he?" His mind was going faster than he could keep up as he found purpose in his steps and walked quickly towards the door.

"St. Michaels, the subject's been neutralized." She called after him as he went through the doors. In the back of him mind he wondered what would happen when Hollaran and Toth came looking for him but at the moment he had more pressing worries. Really? Today? And Eddie? The angry questions formed in his mind as he wondered about the universe and it's seeming hate of his team today. He wished that he'd stuck around to get some more information, only now wondering if Sophie knew why her husband was so delayed in getting to her; Greg himself wondered how Ed managed to get shot during the five minute drive from HQ to the hospital but he pushed the thought from his mind as he impatiently parked his car and jogged up to the emergency room.

"Ed Lane." He said simply as he got to the window and starred at the nurse. She looked startled by the sudden command and Greg internally reminded himself to stay calm but the stress of the day was mounting and he was getting tired of holding in his frustration.

"He's stable, he had a through and through gunshot wound to the left shoulder." She said hesitantly as she looked up towards Greg again.

"Can I see him?" He wasn't sure if Ed was already with his wife but he wanted to try and get a shot of talking to him, explaining again why he asked for an outside evaluation before the results of the re-qualify came through.

"Um...Constable Lane has asked that he not have visitors." The young girl said as she looked towards her computer. Greg was a bit taken aback. He knew that Ed was angry, he had some right to be, but not wanting to see him after just being shot...Greg wondered if he even asked for the SRU to be called or if the doctors just assumed to do so because of his uniform. He felt like he'd been punched in the stomach as he backed away from the desk.

"Thank you." Greg said dejectedly as he walked slowly back to his car. His mind was reeling again and, not for the first time during the long day, he questioned his decisions. He wasn't consciously aware that he was driving back to HQ, he was so stuck in his mind with the worries about the team rekindling, that he was surprised to find himself in his parking spot. He took a few deep breaths before getting out of his car and heading up the stairs. Guess I've got to find Hollaran. He thought as he made his way through the corridors towards the SRU's part of the building. He was surprised to see the silhouettes of Commander Hollaran and Dr. Toth standing near the Communications Desk through the brushed glass leading to the area that he considered a home. He took a breath to ground himself before going through the doors and walking right up to them.

"Sargent," Hollaran moved closer and faced Greg. "How's Ed?" Greg nodded.

"He's stable, through and through gunshot wound to his left shoulder." Greg recited simply.

"Apparently it was a case of road rage, we have Team Two out there now gathering some information. Did Ed give you any details?" Greg shook his head.

"I didn't actually talk to him." He tried to hide his sadness from the words but he was able to see Toth watching him closely. "I think he just wanted to let the Docs clear him so he could go be with Sophie." Hollaran nodded and looked towards Toth.

"Well, if you're up for it we'd really like to go over the results of your teams re-qualification." Greg nodded and followed towards the briefing room. Toth sat down at the head of the table, where Greg usually sat and Commander Hollaran sat on one side of him. Greg went around to the other side of the table and sat next to Toth in the same seat that each member of his team had sat during their evaluations.

"Physically, your team passed every test with flying colors." Hollaran said as he pulled a report out of a folder and handed it to Greg. He glanced at the individual times and breakdowns and wasn't surprised to see that they were all exceedingly high. "Shoot house, obstacle course, shooting range, close quarters combat, excellent scores all around both by overall team standards and individually." He continued to praise as Greg put the piece of paper on the table and nodded.

"They're all great at what they do." He said simply, knowing that the good news couldn't last forever. "I have a feeling there's a 'but' coming though." Commander Hollaran looked towards Toth for a moment before looking back to Greg.

"But...there were some red flags on the psychological evaluations." Greg held his tongue as he felt his expression turning to a grimace. He looked towards Toth.

"So, what are the recommendations?" He asked, stressing the 'recommendation' part of the sentence, hoping that Hollaran remembered that he had the final say.

"Dr. Toth and I spoke extensively about his findings and recommendations and there are going to be some changes." Greg looked at him with as emotionless a face as he could manage as he waited to hear what they would say. Hollaran looked down at the folder again and began speaking.

"Wordsworth will be put on vacation leave until he is medically cleared to return to duty." Greg shook his head slightly, knowing that Wordy would hate using the days off that he'd stored up but he also knew that even if Hollaran didn't force him to get a full check-up, he would have. Wordy's was one of the most surprising evaluations he'd seen; Wordy always seemed put together and one of the best functioning guys around. Greg knew that Wordy's gun scores weren't great but he was accurate enough to qualify and he was their entry man. He hadn't noticed the shaking...a chill ran through him as he wondered how he could have missed that and the sleep problems.

"Scarlatti will take a week leave in which he will start counseling. He'll need to be cleared before returning and he'll have monthly psychological evaluations." Hollaran paused and was about to move on to someone else when Greg interrupted.

"For how long?" He foresaw the question coming from Spike and wanted to have an answer for him. Hollaran looked towards Toth again who spoke for the first time since Greg had returned.

"As long as it's deemed necessary by the counselor and by Commander Hollaran." He said simply before adding. "I think we both know that's he has some serious survivor's guilt that needs to be dealt with, not to mention the fact that his family support structure has seemingly broken down and his father is ill; he's got to be under extreme stress and that is bound to seep into his work." As much as Greg didn't want to admit it, he knew that Toth was right. The idea that Spike was suffering for so long alone bothered him. All of the stresses he had in his family life piled on top of the guilt over Lew's death and again compounded by his mentor's death only a few weeks prior, Greg knew that he needed help. He'd tried to encourage Spike to talk to someone but he didn't realize how adamantly against the SRU his family was. After a long pause Hollaran continued.

"Callaghan will remain on Team One but she and I are going to meet before she begins active duty again and discuss some SRU policies. A report will also be put in her permanent file and any other misconduct will result in her dismissal." Hollaran made sure to stress the 'will' in his last sentence. Greg knew that Jules was getting off relatively lightly considering she could have been suspended from the SRU, he only hoped Sam would get a similar punishment.

"Braddock will be moved to Team Two, they need a sniper and they don't work the same shift as Team One." Teams One and Three usually worked the same shift and Team Two and Four usually worked the same shifts. "He'll also meet with me and have a report put in his permanent file." Greg nodded, knowing things could have been much worse for both of them but also knowing that they wouldn't be very happy with the arrangement.

"Lane didn't finish the evaluation-"

"Commander, I ask that you don't hold that against him. His wife was in labor," Greg almost laughed at the absurdity of the predicament and the stress that Ed must have been feeling. "there were some complications, the doctors said that the delivery would be risky..." Greg could have gone on but Hollaran raised his hand to stop him.

"I understand that." He nodded and paused. "I think that the circumstances need to be taken into account and when he's ready to come back, I'll talk to him." Greg nodded, glad that Ed had at least one less thing to worry about. He took a breath before looking from Toth to Hollaran.

"That all?" He asked, hoping that they had no other surprises.

"We haven't gotten to you yet, Sargent." Toth said softly as he looked towards Greg. He nodded and looked back towards Hollaran as he waited to hear what fate they'd decided for him. All this...all this on your watch. He thought as Hollaran began to speak.

"We're going to switch some things up; you're going to be Sargent on Team Three while Sargent Cray will take over Team One temporarily until I can reevaluate some things including your future ability to lead Team One." Greg held his expression steady, emotionless as he could considering how many things were going through his mind. He nodded and shook their hands before reluctantly signing off on the recommendations and changes.

For the record, this is NOT what I think/hopes happens as a result of "Fault Lines." NOT WHAT I THINK! You'll see what I'm playing at but I need worst case scenario here. Please let me know what you think so far and please don't kill me yet. More to come soon.