Nothing Special V (Nothing Special 5)

God’s deep chuckle was contagious, all of them smiling and recounting their own version of the scene. Tech hoped one day he’d be able to add in his own after-action account. Not likely. Tech turned back around to his monitors until he heard….

“Who the hell’s desk is this? The Secretary of Defense? Shit, Steele. Tech really hooked you up, man.”

Damnit, Day. Green and Ruxs had to pass him to get to their own desks, each of them whistling when they passed Steele’s. “Oh boy, he has a little place for his pens and paperclips too… how sweet.” Tech could feel his skin heating as he did his best to ignore the teasing. These guys were notorious for it and Tech usually got a kick out of it… but now he was the butt of it. He could take it, though. He put his middle finger up over his shoulder, not bothering to turn and face them.

“Tech, you got the footage yet?” God asked him.

“I got it ready.”

“Nice job. Boot it up. We let a couple Zone Three detectives take the tapes from the restaurant. Let’s see what’s so damn fascinating.”

Tech put the drive back in and pulled it up on the big monitor above his head. He had it cued to start right when the robbers pulled into the parking lot. All the men were crowded around his desk watching like it was the latest blockbuster film. He stayed seated and he could feel a strong, hot presence right at his back, but he didn’t turn around, keeping his eyes on the screen.

“Where the hell are you, Steele?” God asked.

“I’m out back on a phone call,” Steele said, directly behind him.

“Look at Ruxs’ greedy ass, still eating while the place is being robbed.” Day laughed, pulling a few laughs from the room.

“Those fries are disgusting when they get cold. Everyone knows that, Day,” Ruxs said wryly. All of them laughed at that, only quieting down when Steele appeared through the front door. Tech’s eyes widened when Steele put himself in front of the older woman at the register, a sawed-off shotgun pointed at his head. Outstanding valor.

It was so silent in their department; you could’ve heard a pin drop. When Steele finally made his move, a round of whispered “shit, oh damn, fuck,” filled the room. Tech held his breath while he watched Steele manipulate that one-of-kind knife and his firearm at the same time. His military training showing up in full force.

“Hey! Is that my suppressor?” Day asked over everyone’s shocked silence.

“Shut up, Day,” God grumbled. “Damn, Steele. Those were some bad moves. I’ll give you that. You move faster than Day.”

“That’s debatable,” Day scoffed. He was joking and everyone could tell, but the look he shot God was downright hilarious.

“You wanted a test and I guess you got it.” Ruxs nodded, clamping Steele on his shoulder, looking proud to be partnered with him.

“Damn, the way you threw that blade, that guy didn’t even know what happened,” Steele countered.

Tech had to rewind that part, it’d happened so fast. They were all watching Steele, not noticing when Ruxs yanked his blade from under his arm and flung it across the dining room. It lodged so deep in the other suspect that his arm flew back, making his weapon fly from his hand.

“Well, God. Looks like you got yourself another one.” The SWAT captain shook his head, walking back towards the door. “Why don’t you save some for us?”

“You got enough of your own, Hart. Now get outta here, you know IA will be down any minute.” God dropped down in his chair.

“You mean your best friends.” The big man laughed.

God gave his friend a middle-finger salute and turned back towards Ruxs, Green, and Steele. “Well, did you guys actually do what I asked and get some information from the dockworker? Or did you just play cowboys all day?”

“Um. Well, we went to the house—,” Green started.

“But the guy didn’t show—,” Ruxs finished.

“So we thought to check out the bar—,” Green jumped back in.

“But we figured we’d eat first—,” Steele concluded.

“Then that’s when—”

God put his hand up stopping Ruxs’ add-on. Syn and Tech both were having a hard time concealing their laughter. They could only imagine what God was thinking, after hearing all three of them finish each other’s sentences.

“Save it. Damnit.” God huffed and ran his hands through his long hair. “You guys attract trouble like balls attract sweat. Now I have to talk with this IA prick again.”

“Actually, my balls rarely sweat,” Day added quietly, not looking up at God while he took the drive from Tech and labeled it.

“Day.” God stared, looking irritated.

“I’m just saying. It’s a bad analogy.” Day shrugged indifferently, tucking the drive inside the file Tech handed to him. Anytime Ruxs and Green did anything, the lieutenants had to answer a ton of questions from IA. Usually about using excessive force, but Tech didn’t see that at all. Steele could’ve put a slug center mass and killed the perp, but he’d wounded him instead, and so had Ruxs. He didn’t throw the knife in the man’s eye. He could’ve… but didn’t.