Forget About It

“We got results from the lab, and they think they know what’s up,” Hayley says holding up a sheet of paper at the table.”

“Fuck, is it what I think it is?” Gerard asks.

“Where are Patrick and Frank?” Hayley asks, “it’s better we’re all here for this.”

“Shit, it is, isn’t it?” Gerard says, letting his head fall to the counter. Brendon looks at him curiously and then calls the names of the other two. It’s nearly lunchtime, and they’re on peeping tom duty.

“What is it?” Frank groans, jumping down the stairs followed by Patrick a few steps behind.

“Well I’m pretty sure we know what’s going on over there,” Hayley says.

“Meth?” Patrick guesses.

Gerard shakes his head, “it was the duct tape that clued me in. I’ve spent too much time narcing to be fooled by it.”

“What is it?” Brendon asks, because apparently Gerard and Hayley are the only ones who have any idea on what’s going on.

Gerard gives Hayley a look with no words, but a million tacit ones, and she nods to him, “it’s bombs.”

“What was that,” Brendon asks, hoping unimaginably that he heard wrong.

“Bombs,” Gerard says, “nothing else makes sense.”

“He’s right,” Hayley confirms.

“Whoa, we’re on a drugs bust! Drugs. Drugs! We’re looking for fucking meth not bombs!” Frank yells exasperatedly.

“Doesn’t mean that we can’t have been wrong,” Hayley says snottily.

“But... but bombs? Explosives? Things that go boom?” Brendon asks. Had Frank said that, Gerard would have torn him to shreds for a comment like that.

“That’s what the lab reports say. The combination of chemicals can all be used for bomb making. Sulfur, acetone and peroxide… it’s bombs!”

“And the random trips out to get supplies,” Frank says, warily adding it up, “and those things are hard to buy in bulk, because of their use in drugs and-”

Gerard picks up with Franks trail and says, “And explosives. We also saw them buying duct tape which can be used as insulation which would-”

“Be used to make sure that the bombs don’t go off too early, and since-” Patrick continues.

“Most of the bodily damage done by bombs is done from additives like nails. It’s the shrapnel that causes most of that injury,” Hayley concludes.

“They’re building a bomb,” Brendon says, looking gobsmacked, “A really huge bomb.”

“We need a warrant,” Gerard says looking panicked and jumping up quickly.

“It’s no good though! This is all immaterial evidence, based off of suspicion, we have no way to prove any of this,” Hayley says and she looks freaked out as well.

“But we’re talking about a bomb, and with the amount of supplies they’ve got it’s a giant bomb. That’s got to be a few blocks radius! I know enough about bombs to know that they’re going to target a place with a lot of people all in one small vicinity. This could be thousands of lives, Hayley.”

“Yeah but we have nothing tangible,” Brendon says looking scared.

“I don’t care, people’s lives are at risk! Do you realize that if they make one error, screw up a tiny bit, everyone in this neighborhood, including us are going to go down in the blast?” Gerard says.

“Fuck,” Frank says, “I mean I knew what I was getting into when I took this job, but this could be a city block. Kids could die!”

“But we can’t take action-“

“I’m in charge!” Gerard says, “We have to move.”

“You can’t get backup without a warrant Gerard, what’re you going to do?”

“Distract them,” he says confidently.

“Distract them? Distract them how?”

“There’s always someone in the house right? The three of them never leave all at once, so at any given time there is at least one person in that house, but what if we force them out?”

“Draw them out using a decoy,” Patrick says catching on.

“Right, and one of us sneaks in to gather proof,” Gerard says.

“Still risky and you’re bending the rules,” Brendon shakes his head.

“We don’t have another choice though, okay?” Gerard says, hoping no finds a flaw in his plan. He’s pretty sure there’s something, but he hasn’t figured it out yet.

“How do you want to draw them out?”

“Ever seen the Book of Mormon?” Patrick offers.

“Not going to work, it’s not going to give us enough time to execute,” Gerard shakes his head.

Frank snorts and says sarcastically, “Maybe he’s got a sweet tooth, you could send an ice cream truck rolling by.”

“Shut up if you’re not going to help,” Gerard snaps.

Frank grimaces, “well it seems obvious to me, you just have to wait for one our guys to take a smoking break. They all take breaks periodically throughout the day, so wait for one or two to leave on a supply run, and then wait for the other to take a break.”

“That’s actually not a bad plan,” Patrick says with a nod.

“Suppose he cuts his break short, then what are you going to do?” Gerard points out.

“Maybe his new neighbors need some advice on where to go in the city,” Hayley says, “after all they are from out of town.”

“No, I’m going to go in that house,” Gerard says sternly, “I’m not risking anyone of you getting caught in there by either those men, or my boss. You’d get suspended, and I’m not going to risk that. This is my team, I take the risks, if any blowback happens, by death or loss of a job, it’s my weight to take on.”

Frank’s eyebrows wrinkle together when he hears that. Gerard said ‘any.’ Meaning that Gerard would risk both his life and job for all of them, including Frank. He supposes Gerard’s just exaggerating, or he doesn’t include Frank in that statement. He just forgot that Frank is there, probably.

“You could die in there if they catch you,” Hayley reminds him.

“But it’s better than any of you dying!” Gerard responds, “And I knew that could happen when I took this position.”

“I hate to be the one who says this, because it’s a good idea, but evidence obtained through illegality is inadmissible in Federal court,” Brendon reminds him.

“Fuck!” Gerard says, “Inevitable discovery?”

Brendon shakes his head, and Gerard wonders when Brendon became the rule follower, “No dice, man. That wouldn’t hold.”

“What’s inevitable discovery?” Frank asks.

“Did you pay any attention in class?” Gerard snaps.

“It’s textbook stuff, Frank,” Brendon says, taking Gerard’s side for this one, “Inevitable discovery means someone, maybe not a cop, but someone would have discovered the evidence with time. Like if you murder a guy, stick him in your closet, and the cleaning lady finds the corpse.”

“Probable cause?” Gerard guesses.

“If the evidence is gained through illegal means, without any specific reason other than suspicion, it’s void,” Hayley states.

“This is fucking awful!” Gerard yells, “There’s a motherfucking bomb. A bomb, and we can’t do a fucking thing about it.”

“Not necessarily nothing. We might be able to do something with inevitable discovery?” Frank says, his stupidly defined eyebrows furrowed on his stupidly pretty face. Thinking about Frank’s face, leads to Gerard thinking about other things about Frank. Everything about Frank that he wants to hate, don’t anger him like they should, but instead turn him on.

“Great,” Gerard thinks furiously, “not only is there a bomb threat next door, I keep popping a fucking boner thinking about the most irritating person on the planet.”

After Frank’s interjection and the thought that follows it, it doesn’t take long for his anger to take over. Gerard is practically steaming out his ears.

“Yeah? And what, convince a random fucking stranger to walk in on the perps? Stage a breakin? We’re Feds! Like that would work, and even if it did that would never hold up in court! Don’t talk unless you’ve got something intelligent to say, Frank,” Gerard all but spits at him.

“I was just trying to give some input, seeing as you’re not doing it,” Frank bites back immediately.

“Guys, enough! I’m tired of this bullshit. Gerard, Frank, you both go cool off if you’re not going to help,” Hayley says, no room for argument in her voice. Gerard feels like he keeps being put into time outs when Frank is around. He’s the boss! The boss! The motherfucking boss. He’s supposed to be the one telling people to go home when they’re not working well with others. He’s not supposed to be called out by his inferiors! It’s not that Gerard sees Hayley as inferior, but he does rank higher than her at any rate.

Gerard gives one last smoldering glare in Frank’s direction before stomping towards his room, and slamming his door like the hormonal teenager he’s acting like. Frank makes a face, but doesn’t move anywhere, he just crosses his arms and tries to make himself smaller.

Gerard thinks to himself, plopping down on his bed, that it might not be a bad thing for him to have been sent away. His pants are kind of uncomfortable at the moment.