Hi, guys. This would be my second Flashpoint fanfic. I've caught the Flashpoint fever real bad, and this is my only outlet to commemorate it.

So, enjoy.

SUMMARY : Spike gives a heartfelt advice to his buddy, Sam.

"Hey, Samtastic. You got any plans tonight?" Spike asked, shutting close his locker.

Team One had just finished their shift. After a hectic day of warrant calls and a hostage rescue operation downtown, they were ready to go home and relax before facing the same exhilarating routine the next day. In fact, Ed had already left directly from the last scene. Little Izzy had fallen off a chair at home and needed to get stitches on her pretty little head. Marina had picked up the Sarge minutes ago, saying that they had to do some draperies shopping, whatever that was. While Raf had simply vanished after the debriefing. Knowing that one, he might have a gig to perform in a club somewhere.

Just returning from the shower and still clad in a towel, Sam grinned in response to his teammate's question. "Yep."

That stumped the other man. "You do? With Jules out of town, visiting her sick Dad? You're not two-timing her, are you?"

Laughing, Sam rummaged through his locker for a clean shirt and jeans. "My girlfriend is a sexy sniper chick and you asked me if I were two-timing her? Like I have a death wish! Jules would shoot my sorry ass without negotiation. There's a live game tonight, buddy. The Canucks against the Blackhawks. Wanna join me?"

"You and your precious hockey." Spike shuddered. "I can't understand why people would watch a bunch of jocks armed with sticks chase one stupid puck all over the ice before punching each other in the face for the fun of it."

"Why don't you geeks try saying that in the middle of a packed hockey arena? See if you like it when the fans brain you over with your prized computer gizmos!"

And they continued to trade insults, back and forth, until it escalated into a playful brawl. Sam had Spike in a headlock when his cell phone suddenly buzzed. Releasing his 'victim' with a laugh, Sam pulled his phone from under his dirty clothes. His smile instantly faded when he saw the caller ID. Not bothering to answer, he put it back down and started to get dress.

The phone stopped buzzing eventually, but almost immediately it buzzed again. This happened a couple more times, with Sam completely ignoring it. Not Spike, though. He quietly observed as his friend sat on the bench to pull on his Timberland work boots.

"Aren't you going to get that, Sam?"

"Nope," the blond ex-JTF2 nonchalantly replied.

"Who's calling?" Spike had to ask, even though he could already guess the answer.

"The high and esteemed General Braddock, who else?"

I've thought so.

Spike sighed with a shake of his head. After five years knowing Sam, he knew how stubborn the guy could be. It was a trait that he most possibly inherited from his father. Even the younger sister, Natalie, showed the same trait too. The entire Braddock family had serious obstinacy issues.

"So?"

Sam looked up from tying his shoelaces. "So what?"

"You're not gonna answer his call?"

"No point in that. He would be preaching the same thing, over and over," Sam replied.

"He still wants you to leave SRU and rejoin military?"

Rising to his feet, Sam began to stuff things into his gym bag. "Right. I've told him to stop bothering me with it but he never listens. He's free to call as many times as he likes. Doesn't mean I'm gonna answer, though."

Silence reigned for a few moments before it was broken by the buzzing of Sam's phone. Again. Without a word, Sam picked it up, switched it off and buried it deeper inside his gym bag under the pile of laundry. Out of sight, out of hearing, out of mind.

Spike had had enough. "Look, Sam. May I say something?"

"Shoot."

"Promise me you will let me finish."

Sam frowned, but he grudgingly nodded. "Go ahead."

Leaning against the locker, Spike looked at his friend and said, "You know my relationship with my Dad wasn't all that good also, right?"

"Spike…"

"Hear me out, please."

Sam scowled, but then his face softened before he responded with a shrug. "Okay."

"My Dad kept badgering me to leave SRU, saying that the job was too dangerous for me and that I'd end up dead like Lou. A simple conversation with him could turn into argument in mere seconds. Some days he wouldn't even speak to me. Mostly I would dread the time we sat together at dinner where he would bring up that same topic again. 'Find another job before you get killed', he would say. I would snipe back at him, telling him to stay out of it and that I didn't appreciate him ordering me what to do with my own life. Then the shouting match would start, as per usual. This continued on until he was too ill to even speak anymore."

Sam lowered his gaze and sat back down on the bench. He knew where Spike was going with this, yet he still listened although the outcome definitely wouldn't be in his favor.

Taking a seat next to his friend, Spike continued, "And now he's gone. I miss him terribly. I wish I could turn back time so that I can make peace with him properly. I never expected that he would leave us so soon, so sudden. If I only knew, I would treat him a lot better.

"Only now I realize why he was like that, why he ranted on so. It was his way to show that he cared. But, being the 'good' son that I was, I snubbed him in return. I didn't even try to understand his feelings, the great fear and helplessness he must have felt as a parent. That's a mistake I regret to this day.

"One thing I envy you most, Sam, is that the General often rings you up. Okay, so your Dad can be as annoying as hell. But I would pay anything to be in your place. To get to speak with my father again, to tell him not to worry, to reassure him that I will always come home. But I blew that chance. I wasted it all away."

Spike choked up as he added, "You…you still have the chance, buddy. Your old man is still around. Start appreciating him before he's gone. Don't be like me, Sam. Don't wait until it's too late. By then all your regrets would be for nothing."

Giving Sam's shoulder a squeeze, Spike rose and slowly left the locker room, leaving the other man alone in deep thoughts.

After a long while, Sam turned to his gym bag. He fished around for his cell phone, switched it on and started dialing. It was answered almost immediately.

"Hey, Dad. Yes, I know you've been calling me and I've been ignoring you but before you say anything else let me tell you this; I love you. Okay? I love you and I love your meddling and I love you pestering me every day."

Sam chuckled when he heard only silence from the other end. "That finally shuts you up, huh? How about that. Never thought I would say that to you, right? Surprise the hell out of me too. What, still speechless, Dad?"

He listened with a big grin on his face as his father began to sputter.

"Yes, sir, this is your son and no, I'm not coming down with any fever whatsoever. I'm perfectly sane and healthy. How're you doing, by the way? Your blood pressure's okay?"

Something the General said caused Sam to laugh out loud. He then remarked, "I'm watching a game tonight. Canucks versus the Blackhawks. How about you, sir? Really? Well, that sucks. Remember the games you used to take me to when I was a kid? I miss those days. Wish we can do that again…"

Several feet away, hidden from Sam's view, Spike stood leaning against the wall by the locker room entrance, listening to the one-sided phone conversation. He smiled to hear Sam's laughter again. Whatever the elder Braddock's response was, it surely tickled his son's funny bones.

Nodding to himself, Michaelangelo 'Spike' Sacrlatti then turned and walked away.

THE END