Truth-Chapter 3

I know, I said this would be a one-shot but the thing is they all worked really well together and I didn't want to spread them out, so sorry for misleading you. This one is going to be the last in the series so make sure you're telling me what you think. Thanks, still don't own Flashpoint.

Come on, just fall asleep already! Wordy berated himself as he laid in bed with his eyes closed. He hadn't bothered looking at the clock, he knew that hours had passed since he'd laid down. It had been almost two weeks since Lou's funeral and he'd barely been able to sleep. Thoughts rapidly cycled through his mind as he remembered his friend and considered the alternate reality in which he was the one on the land mine. The thoughts were almost too intense and scary to acknowledge but they came to him, nonetheless, and those thoughts led to new ones about his life and family...he was really beginning to hate sleeping. He turned over onto his back as he starred that the ceiling, fully awake despite his tiering day. Okay, come on now. He tried to give himself a pep talk. Nothing in my head. No thinking now, just sleep. No thinking. He repeated the commands over in his head and was about to give up when he heard a muffled cry from a room down the hall.

He laid still for a moment to make sure his mind wasn't playing trick on him (with the little sleep he'd gotten over the past few weeks he sometimes swore he was hearing things) but he heard a bit of movement, confirming his initial guess that it was coming from Claire's room. He pulled the light blankets from his body as he slowly got out of bed trying not to wake Shelly. He inched his way out of the room and walked softly down the hallway to his eldest daughter's room. He knocked as he cracked open the door and peeked in.

"Claire? Princess, you okay?" He asked as he closed the door behind him and walked up to the bed. Claire was tightly hugging a teddy bear as tears fell from her eyes. "Claire, what's wrong, sweetheart?" Wordy asked softly as he sat on the bed next to her and pulled her into a hug. He wiped a tear from her eye as she took a few deep breaths to calm down a bit.

"I...had a...bad dream." She managed to get out before she started to cry into his chest again. He stroked her long blond hair as he softly whispered into her ear.

"Shhh. It's okay, you're awake now, it's over. Shhh." He soothed as he rocked back and forth slightly. She started to calm down after a few minutes but still hugged Wordy tightly. "Shhh, you're okay. Daddy's here. Shhh." He rocked for a few more minutes until she loosened her grasp and leaned back a bit. He helped her sit up and looked at her with a comforting expression. "Do you want me to get you a glass of water?" He asked gently as he passed her a tissue. She nodded her head before blowing her nose. "Okay, I'm going to go to the kitchen to get a glass of water for you." He said as he stood and walked towards the door. "Do you want me to turn on your outer-space lamp?" He asked as he saw the dull blue light on a dresser. She nodded again and he flipped the switch, flooding the room with the dull light of constellations and planets. "I'll be right back princess." He said as he left the door open a crack.

He quietly walked to the kitchen and filled a glass half way with cold water. He walked lightly on his way back up the stairs and popped his head in on Ally and Danielle's room to make sure they had not woken up. Satisfied that they were asleep (and a bit jealous) he knocked lightly on Claire's door before pushing it open and closing it behind him. "Here you go, sweetie." He said as he held out the glass before sitting next to her on the bed. She held the cup in both hands and took small sips of the water with shaky hands. When she'd had enough, she gave the glass back to Wordy who put it on the bedside table. Though she'd calmed down it looked like new tears were threatening. "Do you want to tell me what the bad dream was about sweetheart?" Wordy asked as he moved into a position that would allow her to lean on him. She shook her head no and put her face in his chest. He held her as she started to shake with new tears and he rubbed his hand up and down her back until it passed. "Do you want more water?" He asked as she started to calm down a bit.

"No." She said softly. Wordy nodded before tilting his head to look at her better.

"You don't have to tell me what the dream was about, princess..." He started with a comforting face. "but it might help if you do." He didn't want to push her into telling him but he knew that she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep with the mindset she was in. She took deep breaths as she looked at him with a serious face.

"Only if you promise nothing bad will happen." She said with a shaky voice. He was a bit confused by the statement but slowly nodded.

"It was just a bad dream sweetheart, nothing bad will happen because you had a dream." He said softly as he stroked circles on her back.

"You have to promise Daddy." She said with teary eyes. "Promise nothing bad will happen." She demanded. He knew that he was speaking to a six year old with a nightmare but Greg's voice popped into the back of his mind and told him to account for the unknown, not to make promises he couldn't be sure he could keep. Though he knew that he should listen to the voice in the back of his head, he looked into his daughter's glassy green eyes. "I promise, nothing bad will happen sweetie." She waited a moment before nodding and sniffling her nose.

"I...I had a bad dream about..." tears came to her eyes and Wordy gave her the water again. She took a few sips and calmed down before continuing. "I had a bad dream about you dying at work like Uncle Lou did." She nearly spat out the last sentence as she buried her face in Wordy's shirt and cried again.

He sat in shock for a moment, dizzied by the connections and realizations his young daughter had made. He felt tears coming to his eyes as he tightly hugged her and hoped that he could somehow absorb her pain if they stayed sitting like they were. How the do I counter that? He thought to himself. I am not ready for this conversation, she's not supposed to be thinking about that yet. He made a resolution to call Ed in the morning and see when Clark started to make those connections about their job. How long until she starts to hate me...how long until she realizes that I hurt people...that I've killed people? His mind raced as he thought about the abundances of things that Claire would be realizing about him. On topic Wordy! He chided himself as he stroked Claire's hair and tried to calm her down. This is about me getting killed in the line of duty. He froze for a minute and thought about the absurdity of his mind. That's the easier topic to address? He asked himself in disbelief. He took a few deep breaths to refocus himself.

"Claire, sweetie?" He tried to get her attention as her crying calmed down a bit. "That's not going to happen." He tried to have a reassuring voice but he wasn't sure how well it came across. "What happened to Uncle Lou," He took a breath as he fought the emotions that came up. "was very very sad but it was also something that doesn't happen a lot." He fought his conscience as he tried to reassure his daughter. He knew that SRU units had a relatively high fatality rate, it was one of the hazards of the job; street cops rarely had to use their guns, SRU officers faced armed and hostile subjects everyday. He knew the statistics but Team One had thoroughly surpassed any established norm and they had fallen into a sense of security; security which was shattered when Lou died in front of them.

Claire nodded but didn't seem especially convinced of his assertions, her eyes still held insecurity and fear. "Do you know how much I love you Claire?" He said with a questioning face. She thought for a moment before smiling slightly and holding her arms out as far as she could.

"This much?" She asked as she held her arms out straight. Wordy smiled and held his arms out in the same manner.

"More than this much." He said as he stretched out and wiggled his fingers. He put his arms down and looked at his daughter. "I love you and your sisters and Mommy with all of my heart." He said as he gave Claire the glass of water again. "I love you girls so much that I always want to come home and that I always make sure that I can come home to you." He put his arm around Claire's shoulder again and pulling her into a hug. She had stopped crying as they sat quietly and looked at the stars cast by the light of the lamp. "Do you want to try to go back to sleep?" He asked as Claire yawned.

"I'm still scared." She said meekly, her eyes fluttering closed as she looked at him.

"You don't have to be scared sweetie." He paused as he pushed some hair from her face. "How about if I stay?" He asked as she started to drift off leaning on him.

"Yeah," She said softly, mostly asleep. "but you can't leave after I'm asleep. You really need to stay." She said with a small smile.

"Okay, I'll stay but you need to go to sleep." He said as he turned and put his feet up on the bed. He moved back against the headboard and got himself in a sitting position with Claire leaning on his chest. "I love you Claire." He whispered as she fell asleep on him. He took a few deep breaths as he felt his eyelids growing heavy. You made a promise Wordy, you have to keep it now. He thought to himself as he finally fell asleep.

I really like the way this turned out...finally I like something I write! Do you agree? Next up is probably another one-shot, I'm debating between two ideas but this is it for this story so tell me what you think. Thanks for the reviews that I'm inevitably getting.