Nothing's Broken-Chapter 1

I love Spike, it's a simple thing: he's a "geek with combat skills" and he's awesome. So I've had a few ideas floating around in my head about Spike and what I'll be writing for his story. I really wanted to do something after Lou died, I think Spike is one of the characters that is still able to be emotional and I love it. But then I also really wanted to write something that got Spike very out of character, not in the truck; something that makes him be the one that has to negotiate, do something more tactical, I was even considering something lethal, but I guess I'll see where it takes me. So this is your synopsis, doesn't really tell you what this is about huh? Sorry, guess you're just going to have to read and figure it out. I don't own anything that you recognize as being from the show. Tell me what you think, too out of character?

"So you wanna do something tonight, Lou?" Spike and Lou exited the locker room and walked down the hallway to the gym where Wordy and Ed were already working out.

"Want to? Yeah," Lou answered as he let out a small laugh, "but let's see how the day goes first. If it's anything like the rest of the week I think I'm going to die of exhaustion by tonight." During the course of their conversation Lou and Spike had entered the gym and were going over to some light weights to warm up. Ed was spotting Wordy as he lifted what was probably three times the weight of Spike. He looked up when they approached.

"I'm with you Lou." Ed said shortly as Wordy slowly got through his final lifts. As he sat up and wiped sweat from his brow, he joined the conversation.

"You shouldn't be complaining Ed." Wordy got up and moved to a different machine. "At least you were a Sierra on Tuesday, you got to find a perch and lay there for a few hours while Lou and I got to clear four different high rise building...with locked down elevators!" Wordy jokingly punched Ed's shoulder.

"Yeah, well yesterday, during the bomb scare, I had to carry six people out only to later realize that the bomb was assembled incorrectly and wouldn't have done anything." Ed said bitterly. Spike smiled at their banter. He wasn't as strong as any of the other men, that was no real secret, and he didn't do as much in terms of physical work. Spike could hold his own in workouts and the different training exercises, his stamina was at least equal to the rest of the team when it came to running, and he was a solid part of entry teams if they ever needed him but Spike knew that to the team, his role was in the truck. He loved his job, he loved computers and hacking and he was by far the best on the team for the information gathering aspects of the job, but he couldn't help but feel that the others did not see him as an equal because he didn't have the opportunity to do what they did every day.

"Hey Lou, can you spot me?" Spike asked as he walked over to the bench press Wordy had just finished on. Spike added weights to the end of the bar as Lou finished up what he was doing. Lou approached and counted the weights that Spike had added.

"Spike," he said quietly, not wanting to elicit the attention of the other men, "are you sure you can lift this? No one here doubts your strength man, don't hurt yourself trying to prove something." Lou said cautiously. Spike knew that he should have listened to Lou, but didn't particularly care at this point. Spike didn't respond to Lou's question, just laid down on the bench and took a few deep breaths. Lou glanced nervously over at Ed and Wordy. He didn't want Spike to be embarrassed, but they also couldn't afford him hurt. "Spike," Lou tried once more but Spike's hands were already wrapped around the bar and Lou had no choice but to help him free the weights.

Shit! Shit! Shit! Spike yelled at himself as he held the bar for a moment, Lou was right, way too much weight. His arms trembled and he felt himself losing control. He let out a loud grunt and saw the weights overcoming the muscles of his arms and hurling towards his body. Lou reacted quickly, getting his hands and wrists under the weights just before they crushed Spike's chest. At this point Wordy and Ed had realized what was happening and had run over, together lifting the weights from where they had pinned the two men. Greg, hearing the sounds form the gym, ran from the briefing room and took stock of the situation.

Wordy was gently leading Lou over to another bench press, instructing him to sit on the end. Greg could see that Lou was gritting his teeth in pain and a single tear had run from his eyes, it looked as though he was holding his breath. Wordy said something gently to him and ran off to get a first aid kit. Ed was kneeling at the side of Spike's press trying to get him to sit up. Spike was doubled over, clutching his chest. Greg approached them.

"Spike, let me see." Ed was trying to be gentle but was not doing a very good job at hiding the frustration in his voice. Greg placed a hand on Ed's shoulder, signaling him to move over. Greg got down and tried to find Spike's eyes.

"Spike, hey buddy," Greg said in a fatherly tone "come on Spike, let me take a look okay? Just breath." Spike looked up and him and slowly sat up, wincing in pain. "That's it, good Spike." Greg said as he helped Ed remove his shirt. There was already a dark bruise forming across his ribs. Greg and Ed looked at each other, knowing that they were going to be making a hospital run today. "Okay Spike, stay here a minute with Ed. We're going to take you to the hospital to see that none of your ribs are broken. I just want to check on Louis." Greg gave Ed a nod and Ed moved into a sitting position on the press, next to Spike, trying to comfort him. Sam and Jules ran over to Greg as he rose and moved to the next patient.

"Sarge, what happened?" Sam asked confused. It wasn't often that specially trained SRU forces would have accidents in the gym.

"I'm not totally sure Sam. We're going to be taking Spike to the hospital, maybe Lou also. Tell Winnie to call in Team Five. I want you two to stay back here with Wordy and cover until everyone gets in and then we'll figure it out. Sam and Jules nodded and went off to the front of the office.

"How we doing Lou?" Greg asked as he approached the second bench press. It was obvious that Lou was in pain. Lou took a shaky breath and slapped a half smile on his face.

"Not too bad Sarge." He looked away quickly again, gritting his teeth. Wordy shot Greg a look and shook his head subtly. Greg quickly looked at Lou's hand and saw that he didn't want to move it in pain.

"Okay guys, we're going to the hospital. Come on." Greg said loud enough that both men heard him. There were no real protests as Wordy helped Lou up and Ed helped Spike. "Wordy, Sam and Jules are having Winnie call in Team Five, you stay here with them. You're in charge, I'll keep you updated." Wordy nodded and squeezed Lou's shoulder before walking off. "Ed, help me to the truck with them, I think you should come just in case." Ed nodded and slowly helped Spike to the elevator.

This one is going to be long, so it might take a while for some substance to come out of it. This is the intro to the intro. Tell me what you're thinking please, I respond to all of my reviews and I'd love to hear from you.