A/N: This is my first Flashpoint fic. I've written other fics for other shows but for the past few months my inspiration has left me. So I'm a bit out of practice and this took me way too long to write. Please bear with me if you hate this first story, I'll try to do better in later ones.

This story takes place sometime after "Slow Burn." I can't get more specific than that, sorry.

I don't own Flashpoint, any of its wonderful characters, or anything else related to the show. I also don't own an iPhone, a toaster, or a coffeemaker. I do, however, as of today, own a Kindle Fire. And I love it.

A single tear rolled down her cheek as the team watched their blond-haired teammate being led to a squad car by the SIU agents. She took a deep breath as she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"He'll be OK Jules, it was a clean shot. There was no other option." Her teammate sounded as exhausted as she felt.

"I know, Spike, thanks," she replied, her own exhaustion apparent even to herself.

Typically when Scorpio was called the team could get a few seconds with whoever took the shot before SIU swooped in and stole the Subject Officer away. They weren't supposed to talk but they all knew Sarge had no problem with them making sure their teammate was OK. So they'd walk a few steps together making idle chit chat until the SIU agent stepped in.

This time, however, the rest of the team was far away from where the shot was fired. SIU was already on scene when the shot was fired. So they intercepted Sam before he could get to his team and he was whisked away.

It had been a fairly routine call at first. Jules was negotiating and things appeared to be going well, which was good because Team One had lost count of the number of hot calls they'd had in the past week. They were all exhausted and looking forward to their off-shift day tomorrow. Their subject, Peter, appeared to be ready to put his weapon down when things got crazy.

Behind her Jules had heard a woman's voice and through her earpiece she heard Raf trying to calm her down. Next thing she knew, she was looking down the barrel of Peter's gun and he was telling her he wasn't listening to her anymore. Raf hurried the woman away from the scene but it was too late.

As soon as Peter had raised his gun Jules knew this was bad. In her ear she heard Sam's desperate-sounding voice. "Boss, I have the solution."

"Hold tight Sam, wait for my call."

"Copy that," Sam replied, back in control of his emotions.

"Peter, come on, you know this isn't going to work out for you," Jules pleaded. She had stood in a kidnapping victim's house with a shotgun touching her chest and she didn't feel as uneasy as she felt at that moment. She wasn't a quitter but she knew where this was going to end. She wasn't getting through to him.

"Sierra One… Scorpio."

Jules stood perfectly still as the shot made its mark and her subject, who had seemed so ready to walk out of the courtyard with her just a few moments ago, crumbled to the ground in front of her.

"Jules, you did everything you could," Sarge said, putting his arm around her shoulders and walking her towards the truck.

"I thought I got through to him, Boss," she replied.

"You did, but sometimes that's just not enough," Sarge said before calling Spike back over to the truck.

"Spike, you take Jules back to the Barn to wait for Sam. Ed, Raf, and I will finish up here."

Jules was quiet until Spike spoke, "Jules, it's OK. You did great. Sometimes we do the best we can and it still doesn't end the way we want it to."

"I know Spike, thanks, I just hate watching him walk away to SIU. You never know what can happen there, even when it seems so clear cut."

Spike smiled before replying. "He said the same thing, you know."

"The same thing?"

"Yeah, last time you had to go to SIU. Sam stood there watching you go and he said the same thing."

They arrived at the Barn and Jules texted Sam to let him know she'd be waiting when he got back from SIU. Normally the Subject Officer was allowed to talk to his or her significant other before being questioned, but since Sam and Jules were teammates and significant others they could only exchange texts when one of them was with SIU.

Jules emerged from the shower to find Spike waiting for her.

"You don't have to stay Spike, I know you were going to go out with the guys tonight. You go, I'll be fine waiting here. Sam should be back soon."

"Don't be silly, Jules, of course I'm going to wait with you."

"Sarge made you?"

"No, well yes, but I want to anyway. Let's go sit."

"Thanks Spike."

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Spike said, "It's nice to see you guys happy, you know… everyone is really happy for you."

"It's still a little surreal, I mean we hid things for so long it's strange not to have to do that now, ya know?"

"You always check in with him first, you know?"

"What do you mean?"

"When he's paired with someone else, you always ask him where they are rather than me or Raf or Ed or even Sarge."

"That doesn't mean I don't trust the rest of you, Spike. He's just really good with the tactical stuff, almost as good as Ed."

"I know Jules, it's just something I noticed. And then I wondered why I never figured out the two of you were involved."

"You had a lot going on, Spike… with your dad and then moving and all that… Plus, ya know, we're really good at the whole stealth thing."

They shared a laugh before Jules's phone beeped. "He's on his way back here. You can go Spike, thanks for keeping me company."

"You guys coming to the Goose?"

"It's up to Sam, but we'll probably see you there. Thanks again Spike!"

Spike gathered his things and started to leave when he heard his teammate running down the hall. He turned just in time to see Jules stand up and give him a hug. He smiled before saying, "See you guys at the Goose!"

OK so that's probably not all that great, but it's been an incredibly difficult 7 months and I had to start writing again with something. I had this idea for a longer story a while ago, but I'm just not up to that right now, so I decided to write a short one-shot to start.

A few notes:

I don't know what would happen when Sam or Jules went to talk to SIU after a call. We saw Ed talk to Sophie and the lawyer told him he was entitled to talk to her. But if teammates aren't supposed to talk to each other until after the SIU interview, would that mean Sam and/or Jules were not entitled to that phone call? I'm guessing yes. I could be completely wrong though.

I noticed in "A New Life" that Jules repeatedly checked with Sam when she was pinned down on the parking garage roof and he and Raf (I think it was Raf) were making their way to her. Just an observation, and I thought it was something Spike would notice.

Lastly, thanks to my new Twitter friends KateEals and Molly Lyn, who gave me the encouragement I needed to get this story written.