The characters belong to their respective creators. I don't get anything but emails for this (hint, hint). Please, don't sue me.
This one is for Song Bird, who asked about more Hero du Jour stories. Well, I'm supposed to be working on a TS/OWW/DS crossover, but it's giving me trouble and I don't want to struggle with it until the muses come back on it. In the mean time...
This one references the first Joel/Mable story, A De-tec-a-tive Trained in Observation. There's also a brief reference to The Road Taken.
Hero Du Jour-Joel And Megan
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I can't thank you enough, Joel. I know this must be out of your way, but I still don't have a car and..."
"Don't worry about it, Megan. It's no trouble. Just what is it that we're picking up?"
"My dog. Her papers have cleared, and she's going to be allowed to stand her quarantine at my apartment. I don't know who pulled the strings, but I'm ever so grateful to them." She paused to give him a calculating glance. "You wouldn't happen to know who that might have been, would you?"
"Well, sort of."
"Who?"
Joel gave her a calculating glance. Recognizing her persistent nature, realizing that she wouldn't quit until she found out, he decided to answer her question. "Well, several of us used up a few favours for it. I've got a friend, and Simon has a friend, and Jim has a friend, and Blair has several friends... You get the picture?"
"Yeah. I do. Thanks ever so much." She smiled at him. "I didn't think you guys liked me all that much. I guess I just got off to a rocky start."
"Well, yeah. You did kind of push some of Jim's buttons, there. You might try calling Blair either Blair, or Sandburg. He really hates being called Sandy." He suggested.
"He doesn't seem to want me to call him 'Chief' either, though."
"No. That's Jim's domain. Like Henri calls him 'Hair-boy'. I just call him Blair, Simon calls him 'Sandburg', Rafe calls him both 'Blair' and 'Sandburg', depending on the circumstances. Why do you have so much trouble with it?"
"I've an aunt named Blaire. It's a little odd finding a man with the same name."
"Oh." He thought about it and chuckled. "At least you weren't named for your aunt."
"Care to wager on that one? You didn't notice my middle name?"
"Haven't seen the paperwork. It probably only lists the initial, anyway."
"Yeah, well."
They were nearly at the airport when they came upon the accident. Joel pulled over immediately, turning on his flashing lights. Popping open the trunk, he got out and pulled out his emergency road side kit. He quickly set out the triangles and flares to warn approaching motorists, setting them out over a hundred yard area behind his car. Megan, in the mean time, called it in, requesting paramedics, highway patrol, and the fire department. When Joel returned from setting out his triangles and flares, they pulled out the first aid kit and fire extinguisher, and headed for the victims.
It was bad. From the skid marks, one vehicle had had a blow out and lost control, spinning and striking several other cars. There were two bodies in the road, ejected during the impact. Neither had survived. They separated, quickly checking out the victims of the five car pile up, ascertaining which victims to work on, first. One car had a baby crying, safe in its car seat in the rear of the vehicle. The mother was unconscious, pinned in the vehicle. Joel approached her, trembling. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he reached out, cautiously feeling for a heartbeat. He let the breath out in a sigh when he found a strong, steady pulse. Relieved, he checked out her injuries. Other than the head wound from where she bounced against the side when her car was hit, he couldn't find any other injuries. He briefly checked on the baby, who had stopped crying the moment he turned his attention on it. He smiled at the child, who couldn't have been more than eight or nine months old. The child smiled back and made happy noises. He gently stroked the baby's cheek, then said, "Hey, there. You're a happy baby, aren't you. You're mom's just taking a nap, OK? She's going to be just fine, OK?" The baby remained calm, even after he left to check out the next vehicle.
Megan couldn't believe the damage to the vehicle. It had obviously been the one that had caused the accident. The signs of having spun and hit other vehicles was obvious. She was amazed when she approached the middle-aged man to discover that not only was he conscious, but relatively unhurt, thanks to having both his seat-belt fastened and an airbag. She tried to open his door, but it was too badly damaged to get open by hand. She tried the other doors, with equal lack of success. "Do you think you can get out through the window, sir?" She asked.
The man was confused, but tried to follow her instructions as she helped him climb out of his demolished car. Once safely out, she got him over to the side of the highway. Other commuters had stopped and several were trying to help, only to be directed to the side of the road to comfort the walking wounded.
Joel had found the vehicle from which the two bodies had been ejected. It was a pickup truck. The victims had apparently been riding in the back. The driver hadn't been wearing a seat-belt, either. Joel had his hands full trying to stop the bleeding from the multiple injuries, both from the head wounds from hitting the windshield and the chest from hitting the steering wheel, and the compound fracture of one of the man's legs.
Megan quickly checked out the remaining two cars, their drivers and passengers were badly banged up, but no one was bleeding and all were breathing. Since there appeared to be no danger of fire, she told them to remain in their vehicles until the paramedics and ambulances arrived. She hurried over to Joel, who was still tending to the truck driver.
"Joel? How bad is it?" She asked.
"Bad. Here, try and keep pressure on his leg, there. I've got the chest and head covered." He'd had no trouble getting the door open. He was using his bare hands to apply pressure to the injuries. Knowing even as he did, that he might be doing more damage to the man's chest. But if he didn't, the man would soon bleed to death.
Megan tried, several times to talk to him, but Joel seemed oblivious, concentrating hard on what he was doing. She eventually gave up.
It had been only ten minutes from the time they had called in the accident, but already, Megan was worried. Joel seemed almost sick, he was panting for breath, sweating like he was in shock. When the paramedics rushed up to them, she quickly stepped back to let them work. They had to forcibly remove Joel from his self imposed duties. He stared on in shock, as they worked frantically to save the man's life. Megan finally managed to drag Joel away from the scene and back to his car, out of the way of the emergency crews.
She pushed him down in the passenger seat, watching him, worriedly. "Joel? Joel? Come on, mate. Talk to me. Joel?" She crouched down in front of him, resting her hands on his knees, she tried to reach him. When Jim and Blair arrived, having heard their call and, being the closest available, had rolled on it, she was beginning to panic a little, herself.
"Hey, Megan." Blair said as they came up. Jim was casting a critical eye on the scene. Noticing the frantically working paramedics, he paled a little and swore softly. He immediately turned to Joel and crouched down beside him. Reaching out, he grasped his friend by the shoulders.
"Joel. Don't do this. It's OK, man. Joel?" Jim's voice was softer and deeper than usual. Trying desperately to reach his distraught friend. "It's OK, Joel. ... Damn." He stood up and moved away, pulling out his cell phone and punching in a number. Megan watched on in puzzlement. Turning to Blair she asked,
"What's going on? What's wrong with Joel?" Blair looked from Joel to Jim and then at the accident scene, paling when he realized...
"Oh, man. This sucks." He glanced at the concerned face of Megan. "You wouldn't know. Joel's wife was badly injured in a car accident, their youngest son was killed." He told her softly, then closed the distance to his friend and leaned over him, reaching with his hands to grasp the larger man's shoulders. "Come on, Joel. It's OK. You've done your best. Joel?" Kneading the big man's shoulders gently, then stroking one hand down the tear streaked face. "Shh, it's OK, man." He cast a glance back at his partner, who was talking on his phone. Jim abruptly nodded and approached them. Placing the phone to Joel's ear, he held it there while Mable talked to her husband. Blair looked up, curious. Jim mouthed 'Mable' to him. Blair smiled and nodded. If anyone could bring Joel back, it was his wife. Megan stood by and watched, once again the outsider. Seeing a media van approaching, she went to head them off.
It only took a couple of minutes for Mable to talk Joel back from his waking nightmare. He started trembling, Blair and Jim hugged him between them. Finally, he was able to function again. Talking softly to his wife, calming down. Jim and Blair exchanged knowing looks. Joel was going to have a serious cuddle session when he got home. They were just grateful that he still had his Mable. He said good-bye to his wife, sagging a little from the stress, while Jim disconnected the call.
"You going to be OK, Joel?" Jim asked, softly.
"Yeah. I'm fine. Thanks, guys." Joel answered, just as softly.
"Any time, buddy." Blair replied, squeezing the older man's shoulder.
Megan had talked to the media for a minute, then gone back to the accident scene. The paramedics and fire department personnel were working on extracting the unconscious woman from her car. The baby was crying again, afraid. Megan spoke to one of the paramedics, who smiled at her and reached into the damaged car and gently removed the crying child, handing it to her. She carried the panicking child back to Joel's car and unceremoniously handed it to him. The squalling child took one look at Joel and calmed down, smiling and making happy noises again. The other three just shook their heads in amazement.
"Well, I guess he, she? Knows an experienced daddy when it sees one." Blair murmured to Megan and Jim, while Joel made happy noises back at the child and cuddled it to his chest, soothing the baby, and himself.
"Good job, Connor." Jim whispered to her as he watched Joel return to his normal good humour while playing with the baby. In a few minutes, the paramedics and fire department had extracted the child's mother from her car, while they were preparing her for transport, she regained consciousness and started asking about her baby. The paramedic tried to soothe her, but wasn't having much luck, when Joel brought the child back and handed it to the distraught mother.
"Your baby's fine, ma'am. He said, soothingly. "Not a scratch." The woman looked up at him, tears in her eyes as she thanked him.
The highway patrol was working traffic control, so Jim and Blair helped the tow trucks hook up and remove all the damaged vehicles. Megan and Joel got the lovely job of explaining what happened to the media. Every time they looked at them, Jim and Blair smirked at each other. Glad that it wasn't their turn.
It was over an hour before they were able to get away. Jim had picked up Joel's triangles and put them away for him. "So, where are you two off to? He asked.
"I was taking Megan to the airport to pick up her dog. Joel replied.
Jim nodded; then, noticing the emotional exhaustion of his friend, suggested, "Why don't you go home, Joel? We'll take Megan to get her dog." He volunteered.
Blair, looking at their friend agreed. "Sure. The dog will be in a crate, we can tie it down in the back of the truck. It'll be just fine." Giving Megan a warning look.
"That'll be great, thanks, guys. You go home Joel. You've had more than enough for today. I really appreciate everything you've done." Trying very hard to indicate that it was OK for Joel to go on home.
"Thanks, guys." He replied, smiling tiredly. They watched him as he got in his car and drove away.
"So. What kind of dog do you have?" Blair asked, bouncing.
"Oh, it's just a mongrel. Part dingo, part whippet. She's a sweet little thing. Unless she doesn't like you. Then...look out." She smiled brightly at them.
"Uh, isn't a dingo a wild dog?" Blair asked, uncertain.
"Yeah. Vicious beasts. Known to steal small children and eat them. But if you get them young enough, they make great pets."
Jim, wisely, made no comment. Just held the door for Megan and Blair to climb in, then circled the truck and climbed in behind the wheel.
With all the papers in order, it took very little time for them to get Megan's dog from the shipping company and loaded in the truck. The animal was making weird whiny/howl-like/yodeling noises. Blair stared into the crate at the animal. She was just under two feet tall, probably weighing forty-five to fifty pounds. Bright, shoe-button eyes and a foxy grin, greeted him. She was a dark brindle, with black lips and nose, and black rimming her ears. A white patch on her chest stood out in stark contrast to the rest of her. He watched her for a moment, smiling. Cautiously, he reached out and offered his hand to the animal. She stretched her head to the cage door and sniffed his hand. Licking him through the bars. Jim glanced at the animal, smiling at her reaction to his partner. Reaching out slowly to offer his hand, as well. The dog sniffed him, carefully, looked him in the eye and smiled, then licked excitedly at his hand. Megan watched in surprise.
"Amazing. She doesn't usually take to strangers." She looked at them, consideringly. "I've always taken her word on people. She hasn't been wrong, yet." She nodded, coming to a decision. "Will you come in with us when we get home? The least I can do is offer you a beer." She asked, reaching her fingers through the bars to stroke her pet's nose.
"Sure." Jim replied. Maybe we can even catch you and Joel on the news. Smirking, as she rolled her eyes.
"Once again it was Cascade PD's finest to the rescue. Detective Joel Taggart, of Major Crimes, and Inspector Megan Connor from Sydney, Australia, here on an exchange program, were instrumental in saving the life of a motorist earlier today." They showed the footage shot at the scene, including when Megan had handed the squalling infant to Joel, only to have it instantly calm down. The reporter then spoke about the cause of the accident, and the two lost lives brought about by not being properly restrained; as well as the desperate measures required to save the unrestrained driver. They were pleased to hear that the injured man would recover, as would all the other survivors of the crash.
Watching the news story, Megan asked, thoughtfully, "D'you think Joel's going to be all right? I mean, you said it was like when his wife was hurt."
"It was six, seven years ago, now. Their youngest son was driving, he lost control on an icy curve, went off the road and smashed into a tree. I just happened to be behind them. He was killed, instantly. Mable was badly hurt. It's left her in a wheelchair." Jim explained.
"Oh, that's awful! How horrible for him." Megan exclaimed.
"Not to hear them tell it." Blair replied. "They're just glad she survived. Grateful to still be together. You'll understand when you meet her."
"Don't feel sorry for them, Megan." Jim admonished. "They're probably the happiest people I know. I kind of envy them, sometimes."
She stared at them, not able to understand.
"They've been married thirty years, Megan." Blair explained. "They're just happy to be together. They told me that their marriage has lasted because they had each married their best friend. I'm trying to find out if it's true. I'm kind of seeing their daughter, Cecilia, at least, when she's in town. The rest of the time, we just talk on email, chat, sometimes on the phone." He smiled brightly. "When you see them together, you'll understand." He glanced at his partner, smiling he nudged Megan, indicating the scene. Jim had Megan's dog curled up in his lap, stretching her head up to rest on his shoulder, his arms loosely wrapped around her, the animal sound asleep, making soft moaning noises, deep in her throat.
"I can't believe it." Megan murmured. "She's never done anything like this before. He must be really trustworthy." She added.
"Most trustworthy person I've ever met." Blair agreed. "Hey, Jim?" Suddenly realizing that Jim had fallen asleep, too. Looking at Megan, he grinned. "I think it's time we got home." Getting up and gently waking his partner, who looked confused for a moment before realizing where he was. He shifted, causing the dog to wake up and lick his face, which made them all smile.
"I still can't get over it. She really doesn't like very many people. And she's never fallen asleep when I've had company, let alone crawl into their laps." Shaking her head and looking at her dog in puzzlement.
"Hey," Blair suggested, "She's just got good taste."
Jim growled something unintelligible, making Blair laugh.
They made their good-byes and went home. On the drive across the city, Blair pointed out that Megan's dog was technically a lurcher, being a whippet cross. Jim grinned.
"You think we're alike?"
"Well, you certainly liked each other. I think you could be. Birds of a feather, and all that."
With a calculating glance, Jim replied, "So, what does that make you?
"In good company." Smiling at his friend. Sharing a laugh, together.
Mable had set the VCR to tape the news. When Joel came home, she immediately sent him to shower and change. When he returned, he was still subdued, distressed over what he had seen at the accident. He found his wife on the sofa, waiting for him. With a faint smile, he went to her, stretching out beside her, his head in her lap. She stroked his face and down his chest, offering the comfort he so desperately needed. Smiling when he fell asleep. Willing to patiently wait until he awoke on his own, to talk. Knowing that they would talk it all out until his pain was all gone. Understanding how the accident had brought back the memories of her accident, his fear for her, his pain at her disability. Their gratitude to still be together, in spite of what had happened. Confident and comfortable with each other. Knowing they could talk through any difficulty, because through everything else, they were friends, first.
OK. I'll admit it. I put my elderly lurcher in this. Raffles doesn't care, but that was a pretty good description of her. Right down to the not sleeping when there are visitors. I met a couple at the stables, once. I was invited to their house. I told them I had my dog with me, and they invited her, as well. We were sitting and talking, when suddenly, we heard a very loud snore. Raffie was sprawled at my feet, sound asleep. I was mortified. She had never, ever done anything like that before. She's always been an excellent judge of character, I'll take her word on anyone. She's never been wrong. If the shepherd/husky/wolf turns out half as good, I'll be satisfied.