Disclaimer: I still don't own much of anything and certainly no part of the awesomeness that is Flashpoint and its characters.
Author's Note: First, I have to credit Andorian Ice Princess for sparking my muse with her story "Double Trouble." As the title suggests, it's another date scenario with Natalie and Spike. I was trying to get at Spike's insecurity where dating might be concerned along with a little humor and angst thrown in for good measure. While in my opinion it's clearly not my best work, I'll let you all decide whether it actually works or not. You'll have to let me know. – Psy
Standing in front of the familiar door, he took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before shifting the bottle he was holding into the crook of his left elbow. I don't know why I'm so nervous, he thought to himself. It's not like I've never been on a date before. Granted, it has been a while. Besides, Natalie had assured him that her brother would be out tonight, so he didn't have to worry about Sam watching over them. Not that he planned to do anything other than go out for dinner and hopefully spend a quiet evening getting to know his friend's sister. After all, it was just a first date, right? Nothing ever happens on a first date. At least, nothing ever happens to him.
He reached up with his right hand and, after wiping it dry on his jeans, knocked. A minute or so later the door opened to reveal the beautifully blond, superbly tanned and, as far as he was concerned, drop-dead gorgeous woman who had barged into the SRU headquarters just a few days before. And, just like that moment, Michelangelo "Spike" Scarlatti now felt his verbal acuity drop to near zero as he gazed into her deep, blue eyes once again.
"Hey, Spike," Natalie Braddock smiled warmly as she stepped aside and opened the door, inviting him in.
He smiled back at her, his feet seemingly as unable to move as his mouth. "Umm…Hi, uh… Natalie," he finally managed to say.
He forced his feet to move then, stepping quickly inside a few steps before turning back to face her and holding the bottle out to her.
"I, uh, I hope you like wine," he gave her a shy smile.
Natalie smiled as she took the bottle from him. "I do enjoy the occasional glass of wine," she said, "but, I don't drink a lot of it." She looked down at the label.
"Castel del Monte?" she asked. "I don't think I've ever heard of it. Then again," she smiled, "Like I said, I'm not exactly a connoisseur."
Spike smiled, glad for an opportunity to impress her. "Well, this one's a red wine, obviously," he chuckled as he proceeded to tell her everything he knew about the winery, named after a 13the century castle on a hill in the Puglia region of southeastern Italy, and that particular wine, made with the low yield but very high quality Uva di Troia grape.
"Wow, you really know your wine." Natalie was impressed. "I guess being Italian has its advantages, huh?
"Well," replied Spike, "it helps to have an Italian mother who loves to cook and is a walking encyclopedia of Italian history, culture and food. There's no way I could grow up in my mother's house and not learn this stuff."
"I guess I'll just have to make dinner for you sometime," Natalie winked at him as she led the way into the kitchen, placing the wine on the table. "Of course, I'm really bad at remembering which wines go with which foods," she added.
"Well, then you're in luck," smiled Spike. "This particular wine goes well with a wide variety of foods. In fact," he said, "there's not a lot it doesn't go with."
"Great! But, you know what? I don't want to wait. Why don't you open that while I get us a couple of glasses?" she asked as she dug a corkscrew out of a drawer and handed it to him.
"Okay." He took the corkscrew and made short work of opening the bottle before pouring out a half-glass for each of them. Natalie took both glasses and led him over to the sofa.
Half a bottle later found them in each other's arms, lip locked, Natalie having relieved Spike of his leather jacket, which now lay crumpled behind him. Turns out that one of the reasons she had moved to Toronto was to get away from her last relationship. Not that it had been a bad one, she told Spike. But, when she'd found out he was married, by running into him one day with his wife and their two young children, she realized she needed a fresh start. Natalie knew pursuing Spike was probably not a great idea until she figured out how she'd missed all the signs from the last one. But, she'd never had a whole lot of self-control when it came to this sort of thing and, truth be told, Spike seemed pretty down-to-earth and safe.
So there they were. Spike, his back pressed into the corner of the sofa with Natalie half draped over him, his arms around her waist, his hands stroking her back as he kissed her. Natalie had one arm wrapped around his waist, her hand on the small of his back while the other carded through his short-cropped hair before moving down to stroke his cheek and then moving to the back of his neck.
Then, without warning, Natalie swung her leg over his lap so that she straddled him on the couch. Both of her hands went to his head as her tongue took control of his mouth with a force he hadn't expected. His eyes flew open for a split second in surprise, but he quickly closed them and tightened his arms around her.
Michelangelo! What do you think you're doing? A voice in Spike's head piped up, admonishing him. Are you forgetting that this is a first date? Tonsil Hockey is not usually a first date activity you know! Spike pictured a tiny version of himself complete with halo sitting on his right shoulder and taking him to task.
Oh, leave him alone! A second disembodied voice answered the first. Maybe it's not a first date. Maybe it's just a one-night stand. This version Spike pictured on his other shoulder with horns and a pitchfork and he mentally cursed his Catholic upbringing.
A one-night stand? Really, Michelangelo? Angel Spike shook its little head. Since when do you do one-night stands?
Hey! Lay off him, Dog! Devil Spike waved the pitchfork at its alter ego. Ain't nothing wrong with a little woop-woop! Spike might have wondered why his devilish side was using street slang if he hadn't been so distracted by Natalie's tongue in his throat.
Once again, Angel Spike shook its head. But, Michelangelo, how will you ever respect her in the morning? How will you respect yourself?
Spike growled in frustration at the conscience driven mental aerobics. Of course, Natalie thought it meant something else and she immediately ground her pelvis into his.
"Mmm…" she moaned suggestively. "I think I found something else besides your hair that gets spiky," Her hands went to his waist and made short work unbuckling his belt before unbuttoning his jeans.
Respect? Devil Spike responded with incredulity. Man, this ain't about respect! It's about getting laid, fool!
Why does everything have to be about the physical? Angel Spike asked. He has emotional needs, too, you know!
Emotional needs! chortled Devil Spike. Give me a break! Let him take care of his physical needs first. Besides, when's the last time he was this close to getting any from a beautiful woman? Jamaica?
With that last word, the manifestations of the two sides of his conscience disappeared and Spike was left with different mental image. He was in the arms of another woman, a dark-haired beauty this time with warm, friendly eyes and an easy smile. He pictured the two of them on a beach, listening to the rolling waves lapping over the warm sand. The thought of rocking waves took him back to yet another place and time and he immediately froze, his eyes snapping open.
Natalie felt him tense beneath her. "Relax, Spike," she tried to reassure him. "I told you, Sam's spending the night at a friend's. It's not like he's going to walk in on us."
Just at that moment, though, they heard the sound of a key being pushed into the lock and the deadbolt turning. Shocked blue eyes looked at equally shocked brown eyes before Spike's hands went to Natalie's waist and he pushed her off his lap. He felt his face warming to a nice crimson blush as he frantically tried to button his jeans and re-buckle his belt. Deciding he didn't have time to do both, he settled for working on the belt. He wasn't able to get it through the belt loops though and just managed to pull his shirttail down over it as his SRU teammate and Natalie's brother, Sam Braddock, walked through the door.
Spike jumped to his feet feeling much like a teenager caught making out by his girlfriend's father.
Natalie wiped her lips looking annoyed while Spike's face had turned beet red. He looked decidedly embarrassed and somewhat disheveled, his hair going every which way and he had lipstick on his face and shirt collar.
Taking in the scene, Sam realized he'd just interrupted the two of them. At least he had the decency to look embarrassed himself.
"Sorry, guys," he winced sheepishly. "I forgot something I wanted to take to…" he hazarded a quick glance at Spike before finishing, "…my friend's.
"I'll be out of your way in a second." He said as he made his way to his bedroom and was back a couple of minutes later. Spike had grabbed his jacket and Natalie was trying to convince him to stay.
"Spike, you don't have to go," she told him. "Sam's leaving right now," she glared at her brother. "Aren't you, Sam?"
Nodding his head in agreement, Sam replied, "Yep, I'm gone. Spike," he said, "you can stay as long as you want."
Spike shook his head, for some reason unable to look either of them in the eyes. "No," he said, "you know what, I've, uh, I've gotta go. I forgot there's something I've got to do."
He stepped around the two of them to the door. Opening it, he mumbled an apology to Natalie before muttering a quick, "See you tomorrow," to Sam and was out the door before either could react.
A/N: Okay, so I just made up the part about Natalie and the married guy. I blame my muse. As for her aggressiveness, I just get the feeling that Natalie would go after whatever she wants while Spike strikes me as the kind of guy who would take his time with matters of the heart. IDK. Let me know what you think. - Psy