Title: The Least
Rating: Teen-ish
Author: Drake-Tepes
Summary: What's the least you can do for someone who is hurting? Even if they only barely manage to qualify as "not an enemy"?
Spoilers: 12/21/07 (GJ Funeral)
Pairings: None
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters mentioned with in this story. They all belong to their legal owners who really don't deserve them, seeing as how they treat them… and who hopefully won't sue me, as I'm making no money from this.

- - - - -

The snow had begun falling again when she felt him sit beside her. He wasn't too close, but he wasn't keeping too distant either. They sat there in silence as the snow continued to lazily drift down. Neither moving, neither speaking. She almost hated to admit that it was a little comforting. That thought led to imagining how Georgie would laugh at her for that… The quick stab of loss at the thought of her sister, how she now had to think of her in past tense, made Maxie shudder and wrap her arms around herself even tighter inside her coat.

She heard the rustling sound coming from him but couldn't bring herself to look over. When Maxie looked at Spinelli now all she could remember was the last time she'd spoken to Georgie, how she'd thrown Spinelli in her face. Her thoughts were disrupted as Spinelli draped his jacket over her shoulders. A bitter voice in her head practically swore at him being nice to her, that she didn't deserve anyone being nice to her and wishing he'd do something so she could hate him. Hate was so much easier for her to deal with than grief.

"I don't need anyone to tell me that Georgie wouldn't have approved of what I said. I know she wouldn't but that woman… I don't need to hear about how I disrespected Georgie's memory, I loved her and she wasn't there for us, for Georgie." Each time her sisters' name crossed her lips her voice cracked a little more until the last came out as a strained whisper.

"You already know what she would have done, I - I won't lay more grief upon you. I just thought that Beautiful Georgie would want someone to be with you. If she were here she'd have gone to your mother first, assured her you were just angry and that you still loved her and for her to give you time. Then she'd have come to make sure you were okay. It's the least I can do." She could tell Spinelli didn't turn to look at her as he spoke.

"I hate her," Maxie said softly.

"You hate her because you love her."

Maxie turned her head quickly to glare at him, but he still sat facing the falling snow, not even bothering to look at her. "You wouldn't understand. She couldn't be bothered to be a mother. She wanted this glamorous life and abandoned us. I love Mac and I owe him everything, but what she did… You can't understand." She shifted back to looking ahead, feeling she had said enough now to quiet him.

Maxie was startled by his voice a moment later, quiet but steady. "I understand how you feel. Not exactly, but I understand too well." She wasn't sure if it was more what he said or how it was said that made her turn on the bench to watch him.

"When I was thirteen I lost my sister and my mother. My big sister was great," Spinelli started speaking with what Maxie considered a wistful smile from what she could make of him. "She had big dreams and lived out of state, I was never sure where. But she always came home on birthdays and holidays. Always with a present and a story for me of how great the city she was living in was. I idolized her. And mom, she was older. She took great care of me, but by the time I neared being a teenager, long before I was even close to being the Jackal, she was already moving slower. I'd never had a dad, my sister was always away, and we lived a bit out in the country so I didn't have many friends. It wasn't easy, but I loved it."

Maxie watched as he stopped speaking a moment. She was warring with herself over if she should let him continue. Part of her wanted him to stop, she didn't want someone who could understand how she felt. This pain was hers, it was special and no one could understand it but Georgie… and Georgie was gone. Another part wondered if he might know some trick to make it easier if he had gone through this himself. A final, small, part wondered if this was a prelude to friendship. She couldn't replace Georgie to him and he couldn't replace Georgie to her. But maybe they could become friends based on Georgie's love.

"I was walking down the stairs when I heard mom and sis arguing. They hadn't heard me, couldn't over the yelling. Mom was yelling that sis needed to settle herself down and start living a good Christian life. Sis argued right back about living the life she wanted. What mom said next…" Spinelli trailed off in thought again. Maxie was annoyed by her sudden urge to comfort him.

"Mom said to sis 'Your son needs you to be a mother' and I remember feeling surprised because she'd had never mentioned being pregnant and I'd seen her often enough that I thought I'd have known." Spinelli let out a bitter chuckle that surprised Maxie. Bitter was never something she'd associated with Spinelli. Her stomach began to sink as she mentally jumped ahead of what he was saying and guessed where it ended. "Sis argued that she couldn't be a mother and live the life she wanted, that things were better this way and he was happy. And then mom said 'I'm getting older and can't do the things I used to. Damien needs his mother.'

"I don't know what was said next. I must have made a noise and they noticed me. It was all a blur. When I finally managed to snap out of it… My sister, who was actually my mother, had stormed out. My mother, who was actually my grandmother, was sitting beside me as I tried to make sense of everything. Granny explained that my mom had me when she was very young and refused to say who my father was. She might not have even known who he was. Granny put her foot down, it was too late for an abortion and she wouldn't let her put me up for adoption. My Grandpa had just recently passed, so Granny just passed me off as a last gift from him. I really admire her for that, she took great care of me." Maxie noticed a sad smile tug at his lips.

"My mom though…" Maxie now saw a frown, almost a scowl crease his face. "She never came back after that day. Never called or wrote us. It hurt her a lot, basically losing her daughter. She never took it out on me, but I think sometimes I could see it in her eyes. In one day, hearing one argument I lost my sister and my mother and gained a grandmother. My mother… I understand how you feel. Some of the most passionate hate a person has is saved for those they love."

Maxie and Spinelli were both surprised when they felt her hand on his forearm and the reassuring squeeze it gave. "Only you and the Beautiful Georgie could truly understand your lives, but I have an understanding in my own way. I won't judge you for being angry with your mother."

"Even though I'm the 'Bad Blonde One'?" Maxie asked with far less bite than she usually would have.

"I don't see you as the 'Bad Blonde One' now." Spinelli turned to look at her for the first time, the shine over his eyes matching hers with unshed tears. He patted her hand as he looked at her. "I think that Beautiful Georgie would like the Sad-Eyed Blonde One to talk to her mother."

"Have you ever tracked down your mother?"

"I – I've considered it. Almost done it a few times but I can't bring myself to do it."

"I think you should." Maxie stood then, and Spinelli followed suit. "I'll think about talking to my mother, but I think it's still too raw right now for me. But you, maybe you should go find yours?" Maxie watched him closely for a reply as he kept his head lowered as he often did. Finally he raised his eyes to look at her and nodded. "Thank you, Spinelli."

"It was the least I could do," Spinelli said before he started to walk away.

"Wait," Maxie said as she walked quickly over to him. Stopping close to him she shrugged off his jacket and whirled it quickly around so it covered his shoulders. "We can't have the Jackal catching another cold, can we?"

Spinelli smiled as he adjusted his coat over his shoulders. "The Jackal is most gracious for the… for your concern."

"It was the least I could do," Maxie said before setting off toward home and her mother.