Chapter Text
“I’m sorry Greg, Ed, Sam.” Commander Holleran acknowledged each officer in turn. “Until we find a solution to the three of you coming online, I’m taking Team One off shift, permanently. We’ll give it two weeks and then I’ll be looking to redistribute Callaghan, Wordsworth and Kearns to other teams.”
Holleran left them to it and they discussed the problem amongst themselves.
“We can’t have three Guides in the field. Maximum is one per team and only if they’re police or military trained. One Guide wouldn’t be enough to stabilise all of us even if we could get one allocated.” Greg said what they were all thinking.
It looked fairly hopeless. They had spent their first few days on leave dealing with the shock of Lou’s death while the three newly online Sentinels tried to get a handle on their senses. Now they were dealing with the inevitable break-up of their team.
***
A few days after their meeting with Holleran, Greg was at home, trying to cope as best he could with his new found senses. He groaned and covered his ears when his phone rang. He’d turned the volume down to the lowest setting but the sound was still like a drill through his head. Focusing hard, he managed to dial down his hearing to a more manageable level before answering the call.
“Sergeant Parker, it’s Dr. Larry Toth. Do you have a moment to talk?”
“Of course Dr. Toth, what can I do for you?” Greg asked in surprise. Toth was one of the last people Greg had expected to hear from.
“I heard about your Team’s remarkable Sentinel awakening and I think I have a solution to your problem…”
***
Toth had originally been being a military psychologist which was how Greg knew him but, as he explained to Greg over the phone, in more recent years he had developed an interest in Sentinel and Guide deployment in the field. He invited Greg to come and speak with him in person.
Greg arrived at Toth’s office and was pleased to find a soothing environment and a white noise generator.
“How are you handling coming online?” Toth asked as Greg took a seat.
“It’s been a difficult few days.” Greg admitted, wincing at the scratchy feeling of the chair’s material under his sensitive hands.
“As you know I’ve done of lot of research into the use of Sentinels and Guides within the military and police. The way I see it, your problem is clear: too many Sentinels.”
Greg couldn’t see where Toth was going with this. “I’ve done the math Larry, even if sufficient numbers were available, we can’t have three Guides in the field.”
“What if I told you you only needed one?”
Greg straightened up. “How?”
“I know of a Guide. He was latent, like you. He came online about a few years ago. He’s quite an unusual case. Much broader range than the average Guide. Wide compatibility. I’ve done multiple field tests with him. He shows a unique capability for stabilising multiple Sentinels over quite a significant range. He’s completed the mandatory training and taken part in some military missions. We’ve been trying to find a more permanent placement for his particular abilities.”
“And you think placing him on Team One is a possibility?” Greg asked cautiously. He didn’t want to get his hopes up.
“I think so. There will need to be a discretionary clause in his contract to allow for his participation in military operations but they shouldn’t be frequent enough to disrupt your team’s schedule.”
This was sounding better and better to Greg. A chance to keep Team One together and for the new Sentinels to utilise their talents to the full.
“What’s the next step?” Greg asked.
“I think you should meet him. See what you think. And we’ll go from there.”
***
Spike was lying in a field, as far from the surrounding buildings as he could get. It was quiet and peaceful. There was a horse grazing nearby but its presence was soothing, its demeanour calm. Suddenly craving contact with another living thing, he got to his feet and made his way slowly towards the animal. As he approached the horse paused in his grazing and raised its head to consider Spike.
He reached out a hand and stroked its nose, feeling the warmth and coarse hair under his fingers.
The feeling of peace and contentment was interrupted by the arrival of another person in his Guide range. And not just a person. A Sentinel.
His range seemed to fluctuate daily. It never dropped below two hundred metres but had extended beyond a mile on a few occasions.
He cast his eyes around for the stranger about to interrupt his isolation and caught sight of a man quite a distance away approaching on foot. His range must have been close to half a mile today to have detected him while he was still so far off.
Given the man was making his way directly towards him, it would have been polite for Spike to meet him halfway. But having a fairly good idea why the man was there, given the eagerness he could already feel the man exuding, he chose to stay put and let the Sentinel come to him.
He turned his mind back to the horse, who seemed to be enjoying Spike’s attentions. But the encroaching Sentinel was taking more and more of his concentration until a voice called out.
“Hi there. It’s Mike isn’t it? Mike Scarlatti?”
Sighing, Spike gave the horse one last pat before turning to face the approaching Sentinel.
“Hi.”
He could sense the Sentinel’s earnestness and the fact that he was exuding friendliness and trustworthiness. That was new. Usually the people they sent exuded dominance and authority.
“I’m Gregory Parker. Do you mind if I call you Mike?”
Spike gave a shrug. “Sure, if you like. Are you military?” He asked, knowing there was no way this guy was military. But he was something.
“Police actually. Strategic Response Unit.” Yep, that was something.
“Ah, the guys with the cool pants.” SRU were fairly legendary, Spike had seen them in person a handful of times during his police days. He’d even considered trying out for them once he got enough experience under his belt, but his suddenly coming online as a Guide had put paid to that and a lot of other plans.
Greg gave a laugh at Spike’s response. “That’s right. We’ve got the cool pants.”
“So what can I do for you… Sergeant Parker.” Spike took a guess at the man’s rank. He looked old enough to have climbed a rank or two but fit enough to still be in an active post.
“Dr. Toth sent me. My team has a rather unique problem and he felt you might be in a position to help us out.”
Spike was unsurprised at the mention of Dr. Toth’s name and struggled to prevent a shudder. That man had been a pain in the proverbial almost from the moment Spike had come online. What now, he wondered.
“What kind of a problem?” Spike asked, keeping his tone light and not letting his demeanour betray his thoughts. He knew the Sentinel would be keenly aware of Spike’s reactions not to mention an expert in reading body language if he was SRU.
“Our six-person team lost a man two weeks ago. In the process, our three latent Sentinels, myself included, came online. Rules are pretty clear - we can’t take more than one Guide into the field. I’ve been told with you that wouldn’t be a problem.”
Well, there it was. The reason the Sentinel was standing in the middle of nowhere talking to Spike. He had a problem and Spike was the solution.
“I’m sorry about your team mate.” It must have been something pretty traumatic to bring all three Sentinels online. “Was he a Guide?”
“Thank you. Not exactly. They suspect now he was a latent Guide and came online shortly before he died, which is what..”
“Woke the rest of you up.” Spike finished for him.
“Something like that.” Greg agreed. “Dr. Toth has suggested you might be a good fit for our team. You’d still be able to take part in the occasional military operation, your attachment to SRU wouldn’t interfere with that, but your day to day job would be with us.”
“As a Guide.” Spike clarified.
“As our Guide.” Greg confirmed. “As I’m sure you know, we’re a tactical unit. We handle situations involving firearms, hostage situations, bomb threats and serving high-risk arrest warrants. It’s not an easy job but Dr. Toth feels that you’d be up to the challenge.”
Spike, becoming resigned to his fate and aware it was probably saving him from a worse fate, at least temporarily, tried to keep his voice level. “Well Dr. Toth certainly knows his stuff.”
“That he does. So listen Mike, I won’t take up any more of your time. Have a think about it, see if this is something that might interest you and let us know. You can come and meet the team, visit headquarters and see what it’s all about before you make up your mind, okay?”
“Sure thing, Sergeant Parker. I’ll let you know.” It was almost amusing to Spike that the Sergeant thought Spike actually had a choice in this. In reality his mind had been made up for him, a hundred times over.
He felt the presence of the Sentinel for a lot longer than he should have as he walked away. When Spike was finally alone again, the solitude no longer gave him the comfort it once had.
***
That went well, Greg thought to himself, as he made his way back to his car.
The effect was remarkable; long before he’d caught sight of Mike in the distance, he had felt a steadying of his senses. His hearing, which had been bothering him consistently for the previous week, suddenly settled and he found his control much improved.
He noticed the effect fade after he’d walked almost the mile to where he’d parked. Mike’s range, as it was, was phenomenal, though Toth had warned that Mike’s consistent range was closer to a few hundred metres.
He made the decision not to tell the rest of the team until he’d heard back from Mike. He didn’t want to get their hopes up if the young Guide wasn’t interested in joining them. He’d read some of his file though; what little Toth released to him. He knew Mike had had some prior experience in the police force which would come in handy.
When he returned to the car he called Dr. Toth.
“Hi Dr. Toth. Yes, I met Mike. An impressive young man. We’d be happy to have him as our Guide if he’s willing to consider it. I’ve invited him for a visit and to meet the rest of the team.”
“That’s great Greg, I’m glad you liked him. I’ll talk to him and we’ll be in touch.”
***
Greg was surprised when Toth rang him the next day and confirmed that Mike would be happy to take the position as Guide for Team One.
“He doesn’t want to visit and get a feel for the place first?” Greg asked.
“It’s an exciting opportunity Greg, what young man wouldn’t grab it with both hands?”
Immensely relieved, Greg called the Team together to break the news.
“We’re getting a Guide? One Guide?” Ed asked.
“One with a unique ability to stabilise multiple Sentinels in the field, which is exactly what we need.” Greg stressed.
“He stays in the truck. We are not babysitting a civilian in the field.” Ed added.
“Of course. But he did train in the police academy and worked as a Constable for three years before he came online as a Guide.”
“Doesn’t make him SRU material.” Ed said firmly. “He’s here as a Guide. We can’t blur the lines on that. He’s here to perform a function.”
“Ed’s right. I mean, if I had a choice, I’d go back to being latent, but if this is the only way to keep the Team together, than I guess this guy is it.” Sam added.
“Jules, Wordy, Leah?” Greg asked the rest of their team.
“If this is what’s going to work for us, then I guess this is what we need to do.” Wordy said. Jules and Leah nodded in agreement.
***
Spike’s meeting with Dr. Toth went as expected.
“Team One need a Guide and we need to see how more long term use of your Guide talent works. We will still need to bring you back to the lab on occasion.”
Spike tried hard to mask his reaction to the mention of the lab but he knew Toth picked up on it. He always did. Toth feigned surprised when Spike failed to show appropriate enthusiasm for his new position.
“I thought you’d have been pleased. You’ll be back in your home city, living near your parents.”
When Spike didn’t respond, he continued.
“We’re going to change the conditions somewhat compared to your previous missions. I want zero physical contact with the Sentinels once the initial training period is over with only superficial linkage during training. All stabilising of their senses and maintaining of your empathic shields is to be done remotely. I’ll increase your rescue injection dosage for the first few weeks while you settle in but I expect your requirement to reduce as time passes.”
“What about my… empathic problem?” Spike was cautious in how he phrased the question, but it was the reason he was presently living out in the middle of nowhere.
“You should have sufficient Sentinel contact that it won’t be a problem.” Toth said firmly.
“Do they know?” Spike asked tentatively.
“No, that is on a need to know basis as always. They don’t need to know and you aren’t going to tell them. Are we understood?”
“Yes, Dr. Toth.” Spike held back a sigh. “When do I start?”
“You’ll meet the Team the day after tomorrow and do a week of training with them.”
“Training?” Spike perked up a bit. Maybe he’d actually get to do something.
“Yes, they’ll practice some exercises in their headquarters and in the field and test out their control and your range. You’ll have a chance to fine tune your compatibility. You’ll be classed as a civilian, so you will be kept out of harm’s way at all times.”
Ah, that sort of training. The kind where Spike’s brain slowly fried from trying to manage the barrage of emotions from every human in a few hundred metre radius while allowing the power tripped Sentinels to get full utilisation of their senses.
All Guides were empathic, that was an element of their genetic make up. Most Guides empathy only worked when they were in physical contact or mere feet from another person, with a slightly longer range for their bonded Sentinel. Spike had had the misfortune (or unique and unusual talent, as Dr. Toth had pronounced it) of having an empathic range that was tied to his guiding range. The emotions of every person within that range were open to him, a constant drain on his mind and body.
“I think that’s everything Mike, unless you have any further questions. I’ll be in regular contact with you once your placement starts. We’ll have once weekly meetings at first while you settle in, alongside regular blood tests.”
And just like that Spike was dismissed. He left the office and made a beeline for the front door, wanting to get as far away from all the people as he could and enjoy the solitude afforded by the remote location. It could be a long time before he got the chance to return.