Disclaimer: Don't own nothing, don't intend nothing.

Author's note on author's notes: There will be a lot of Author-Noting going on, especially in the second chapter.

Author's note: See what I'm talking about?;) So, I had this story planned as a one-shot since the season premiere, but never wrote it until tree979 posted an Ames-prompt in the Human Target FORUM that overlapped a lot with what I had in mind. I "just" added another chapter and voilà: prompt response combined with my original story. Enjoy!

"Dude, what." Guerrero looked up at Winston who had been staring at him for 10 minutes straight. He would have ended this game much sooner, but after all the time he had kind of started to respect Winston. Naah, that was bullshit, he just didn't feel like talking to the big guy. He knew what it would come to- again. And he wasn't in the mood to talk it over- again. But how was one supposed to get any work done with that omnipresent feeling of someone watching you? Better get it over with.

"Is this still about her? Honestly, dude, I think you and Ilsa pestered me enough."

"About what went down maybe. Not about you."

"Me?"

Winston could almost see the wall Guerrero was pulling up. He hadn't meant to be staring, he just got lost in thoughts when he watched the guy type away at his computer like usual. Like nothing had happened. How could Guerrero just carry on like that? Yes, they hadn't known Ames for long, but they had just started getting used to her and after the whole bank heist thing maybe they had even allowed themselves to care about her. All except Guerrero of course. After her death he had been cranky for a day or two, then was back to his usual self. No deep feelings. Did this man even have feelings?

"Yeah. You. You know, I don't expect you to burst into tears like Ilsa or go into a three day fasting trance like Chance, but-"

"But what? What do you expect of me, Winston? Are you looking for feelings of guilt? Self-reproach? 'Cause those are Chance's departments."

He had done it again. He had pulled Winston's aces out his sleeve right under his own nose. But he wasn't going to give up like that.

"You tell me what I should be looking for. Because I couldn't find anything, not from the beginning and that makes me suspicious. Who are you trying to convince, Guerrero? Chance and me- or yourself?"

"Denial. That's what you should be looking for. It's the most common reaction within a certain period of time after an unsuspected death occurred."

"Yeah I don't see that in you either."

"Nope. Nothing to deny, Winston. I wasn't there. I told her to stay put- she didn't stay put. Smart ass had to go after the guy, thought she could handle him. She never figured out the difference between wanting to impress me and throwing herself right in front of certain death. Not my fault, dude. Simple as that."

"Simple my ass. Just because Ames was responsible for her actions and how… how… what happened to her, doesn't explain your total lack of grieving for her. You can't actually-"

"Are you upbraiding me, Winston? 'Cause I haven't seen you shed a single tear."

"What I'm saying, Guerrero, is that everybody's got their own way to grieve and that's okay-"

"Good for you."

"-but you haven't been affected by Ames'… passing at all and I just won't believe you're really the psychopath I always suspected."

Winston hoped his plain-talking would provoke some kind of reaction out of Guerrero and sure enough it did, just not the kind he was hoping for. Guerrero got up, walked over to Winston and bent to meet his eyes. Winston found Guerrero's eyes as dull as ever, but his voice made his threat compellingly clear:

"I am saying this to you only to end this farce here and now: Ames chose to hang around me, not the other way around. I tolerated her. Didn't even really like her. No connection means no grieving, got that? So, before you go digging for something in me next time, you might want to remember that it's your problem rather than mine if you don't find it. Don't take it out on me dude or I'll be responsible for your death, too."

Without another word Guerrero turned around, snapped his notebook shut and squeezed past Chance, as he tried to enter. Chance watched as his friend crossed the loft and left. Then, still leaning in the doorway, he faced Winston.

"Was that about Ames again? Winston, I told you to let it go."

"I hear you now, Chance. Guerrero just made it clear by a threat to my life that Ames really didn't mean a thing to him." Winston shook his head. "At last he found a way to make me believe him. And I found a justification to hate him."

"You really believe that?"

"It took me the longest time, but yeah, yeah I do."

"Is that why he spent all of his free time over the last week on his computer, digging up every last bit of Ames' background he could find? He found every living relative of hers, the place she grew up in as a child, high school records-"

"How do you know-"

"Turns out Ilsa has a talent for sneaking up on people. She told me, I confronted Guerrero about it, he told me all about Ames. How often she went to the hospital and why, that she was being mistreated by her step-dad, her juvie records, her middle name. That's why I told you to let it go."

Winston wanted to say something, but after a while he just shut his mouth.

"It's just his way of… you know…"

"Mourning?" Winston sceptically helped.

"Coping. Get to know Ames in retrospective. He's looking for answers."

"For what."

"Don't know... Back in your cop days, did you never get sucked up into a case gone bad in such a way that you started to rake every bit of information you could get your hands on simply because you couldn't help it?

And there's something else: I heard the last thing he said to you. 'I'll be responsible for your death, too.' 'Too', Winston. He may not have been with Ames when she died or witnessed who did it, so of course he's not feeling guilty. But there's a difference between guilt and responsibility. And he still feels responsible."

After the lectures first from Guerrero and now from Chance, Winston felt foolish and humbled. He knew about Chance's and Guerrero's shared past, but he had a feeling that even with all of Chance's experience he would never learn to not misjudge the man.

Do I really still have to ask you to review? That's getting embarassing for you and me both, but I won't stop as long as you won't start reviewing: Reviews mean everything to me. I'm writing these fics partly for myself, but also because I know readers here enjoy them. So show it already!