Another one's up! This chapter starts to get into their lives a little bit, so I'm trying something new here, especially with Winnie, because we don't know much about her from the show. Let me know if you think anything's wildly off base (or even off base at all, really)! Enjoy!
All love that has not friendship for its base is like a mansion built upon the sand.
-Ella Wheeler Wilcox
When Winnie got home that evening, Alex's car was already in her driveway. She pulled in behind it, and slowly grabbed her bag as she got out of her car and made her way up the stairs to the front door. After she had stepped through and dropped the bag beside the mat, she turned around.
"Alex?" She called. "You home?"
She heard some clattering in the kitchen. "Yeah, sweetheart! Just making us some dinner- come on in here!" Winnie smiled, walking into the kitchen, and Alex spun around to meet her. "It's good to see you, Win. Come here!"
"No, Alex, stop, you have flour all over you! No, no, stop-" She was cut off as he enveloped her in a big hug, and giggled as he leaned down to press his lips against hers.
"It really is good to see you, honey." He murmured against her mouth. Winnie pulled away slightly, smiling.
"It's only been a week. And how bad can New York be?"
"Anywhere's bad without you, Win." He backed up a step and wiped some flour off her cheek. "I'm making some dough for pizza. Sound good?"
"You bet." She went and set her keys on the table. "How was the trip?"
"The usual. Meetings, talking, more talking, more meetings." He grinned at her. "Horrifically boring."
Winnie rolled her eyes. "Oh my, the wild world of economics. You're such a crybaby. I bet you had a great time, and you just want a sympathy kiss."
He turned away from the dough and pulled out his puppy dog eyes. "Do I get one?" Winnie gently hit him in the shoulder, but allowed him to pull her in again, and laced her arms around his neck.
She eventually broke away and brought her head down to bury it in his chest. "I'd like to eat before eleven tonight, if at all possible." She mumbled. Alex rocked her a little before stepping back and kissing her forehead, and then heading back to the dough.
"Yes ma'am. Why don't you go take a shower while I finish up here- you have tons of flour in your hair." He teased, and as she harrumphed and headed toward the bathroom, he watched her go fondly.
An hour later, they were eating at the kitchen table, him ribbing her mercilessly about the smallest thing, and Winnie giving as good as she got. Finally, he leaned back at smiled at her.
"How was your day? Another exciting adventure in the police world?"
"Always. You know me- jumping tall buildings and crossing deep seas to apprehend the latest wrong-doer."
Alex reached across the table to pat her hand in an exaggeratedly condescending gesture. "That's my girl. Superhero 2.0. But it was a good day?"
"Yeah, actually. I had a really fun conversation with one of the guys- it was nice to get to know him some. It's amazing how you can see someone every day and know so little about him or her. So all in all, yes, good day."
"It's good to see you're making new friends- should I be jealous?" He grinned.
Winnie laughed. "No, sweetheart, it was just a friendly conversation. You'd probably like him, actually."
"You always did have good taste in men, Winnie." He preened. "Now, are you done? I'll clean up, and then we can watch some TV."
"Sounds good. Hold on a minute- you've got some tomato sauce on your lip." She leaned down to wipe it away, and when she straightened up, he grinned again.
"Go. TV. Now. I'll be there in a minute. Oh, and Winnie?" He called as she walked off. "If we watch Pride and Prejudice one more time I think I'm going to have to jump out a window."
In the end, they wound up watching a few reruns of Seinfeld before calling it an early night. And as Alex pulled the covers up around them and settled in behind her, he wrapped an arm gently around her waist and buried his head in her hair.
"I always sleep better when you're around." He murmured. Winnie turned slightly to smile at him.
"Me too, Alex." She said softly. "Now go to sleep."
And he did, and she did too, with a smile on her face.
Spike barely made it to the bathroom before emptying the contents of his stomach into the toilet. Collapsing against the wall, he tried to ignore the fragments of his dream that still danced behind his eyes, and when that failed, let his head fall back to rest on the cool tile as he tried to gain some sense of normalcy. It didn't come for a long time.
Eventually, he pulled himself upright and washed his mouth out at the sink. As he did so, he glanced at the mirror and saw pretty much exactly what he expected to see- his hair was plastered to his head with sweat, his face was pale as death, and his hands were shaking violently.
He turned the tap off and made his way back to his bedroom. He knew from experience that the shaking would stop in the next half hour or so, and a shower would take care of most everything else. He just hoped that he would get some color back in his face before he got to work, because otherwise, Greg would definitely be asking a lot of questions.
Checking the clock on the wall, Spike sighed in some relief. At least he had gotten a good six hours of sleep in this time, and it was almost to the point where he could plausibly leave for work and not raise any suspicions for being there too early. He grabbed a towel from a cupboard and headed back to the bathroom to take a quick shower. When he was done with that, he grabbed an energy bar from the kitchen and picked up his bag on his way out.
But as turned toward the door, his eyes caught on one of the bookshelves lining the walls. Hadn't he and Winnie been talking about…?
He managed a small smile as he reached out and pulled a tome off the shelves. Now that he thought about it, it was perfect. Slipping the book into his bag, he slowly made his way down to his car, thinking. Maybe he could stop by a Starbucks on his way in as well. He felt his mood lightening as he continued to think about it. Perhaps today wouldn't be such a horrible day after all.
That morning, Winnie was very nearly late to work. Winnie was never late to work. But this morning, everything seemed to conspire against her; She had overslept with Alex, her car didn't start, there was a traffic jam on the freeway, and then she seemed to miss every single light on her last mile in. So by the time she finally pulled into the parking lot, she was out the driver's seat in an instant, flying up the stairs and taking a minute to straighten herself out before speed walking in toward the dispatch desk, pulling her bag off her shoulder as she went. Sid immediately got up to go once he saw her, and Winnie vaguely remembered him saying something about meeting his mother. She felt even worse then she had.
So as she passed by him with an apologetic smile and settled into the chair, she was so flustered that she almost missed the two new additions to her workspace.
First, propped up on its side on the top of the smooth glass of the desk, was a rather large book. She picked it up, turning it over in her hands, and a slow smile spread across her face. Anna Karenina. She looked around for Spike, but there was no one in sight, so she slowly ran her hand over the spine for a second before turning her attention to the second item. It was a cup of coffee, still steaming, and when she lifted the lid and took a sip, she realized that it was exactly the way she had taken it the day before. Her smile grew even wider, and she set it down to fasten the lid back on. Before she finished, though, she noticed something odd about the cup. Moving her hand out of the way, she uncovered what looked to be writing.
I hope you like the book, it said. Have fun reading it- I know I did. Under the message, he had drawn a large smiley face and underlined it several times. She set it aside gently, making sure not to disturb it as she tucked the book away out of sight. The smile didn't leave her face for a long time.
When Spike finally made it over to her desk, it was at the end of his shift, and half an hour from the end of hers. He looked terrible, with haggard circles under his eyes and slight tremors in his hands. Winnie didn't ask any questions, though, because she had been listening to the whole thing and it was always tough when they couldn't talk a jumper down. So she patted the desk next to her, and he took the hint and pulled up a chair.
"I loved the book and the coffee, Spike. Thanks so much; it's really above and beyond." Spike looked incredibly grateful she didn't bring up his appearance or the call, and settled in beside her.
"It's my pleasure, Winnie." He croaked, and then cleared his throat. "Plus, Anna Karenina is a must-read for anyone, and I had a copy at home, so why not lend it out, right? Tolstoy's great."
"Yeah, he is. Have you read-"
"War and Peace?" He anticipated. "Nah. To be honest, it's a little intimidating for me. There's long, and then there's long. Why, have you read it?"
Winnie blushed. "Actually, yeah, I have." At Spike's incredulous expression, she went on. "It actually started as a bet with my friend, but then I kind of got into it. It's a good book, if you get past the length."
"Ugh." Spike said. "Just don't lend me that one, okay, Winnie? There's only so much I can take." He smiled, and he didn't look good, but he didn't look as… not-good as he had before. "I guess you're just a little more adventurous than I am."
"I wouldn't say that, Spike. And by the way, did you really get my coffee order just by watching me yesterday? It didn't even seem like you were paying attention."
He puffed up a little bit. "Like you said, I notice things. Even coffee. Although I don't see how you can take it without sugar, to be honest. Nope, I need the extra pick-me-up. Sugar all the way for me."
"The coffee's pick-me-up enough, in my opinion. But I'll remember the sugar thing for you next time. I owe you a coffee now." She gestured to the cup beside her. It was long since empty, but she had kept it for the decorations. She didn't care if it was a bit sentimental.
Spike waved it off. "Nonsense. I wanted to get it for you. You're stuck behind the desk all day anyways; so this way you had something to sip on to take the edge off the boredom. Right?" When Winnie looked like she might protest, he continued hurriedly. "Consider it payment for the conversation. It's nice to hang out with someone that can read. God knows the rest of the team can't. Well, maybe Sarge, but the others are hopeless."
At Winnie's glance, he nodded earnestly. "It's true, Winnie, you don't understand- Sam told me last week that the last real book he read was the first Harry Potter, and that he read it like five years ago. Five years, Winnie. How can a person go that long without mental stimulation? I would just… I would just die."
"At least it was Harry Potter though, right? Imagine if it was something like Twilight."
"Oh my god." Spike shuddered. He looked slightly green around the edges. "That's not even mental death, that's mental suicide."
Winnie was a little pale too. "I know." They shared a commiserating moment of silence in honor of such lost souls before she spoke again. "See? It's not all bad. Harry Potter is a good way to go."
"I suppose… But gosh, Winnie, isn't it pathetic? All of the team-"
"Minus Sarge-"
Spike nodded. "Minus the boss- I pity them for their illiteracy." He sniffed superiorly.
Winnie laughed. "Whatever, Spike. Just don't let them hear you say that."
"Say what?" Greg had come up to the desk silently, and Spike quite literally fell out of his chair.
"Uh, nothing, boss. We were, um, just talking about how you can read, that's all." He was grasping at straws as he scrambled back up to his seat, and they all knew it.
"And let me guess, the rest of the team can't?" Spike didn't say anything, opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water, and Winnie turned her head slightly to hide her smile. Greg looked sternly at his tech for a few more seconds, and then took pity on him. "Don't worry, I know them as well as you do. Much rather a movie than a book, right?"
Spike looked relieved. "Yeah, boss, exactly. You're right, I mean, of course you're right, you're the boss, anything you say has to be right, because you're-"
"Spike." Greg had an amused expression on his face, and Spike stopped to look at him. "You want to come here for a minute, bud?" Spike nodded apprehensively, and Greg turned to Winnie. "We'll just be a little bit."
Winnie nodded, and Greg took the younger man across the room and out of earshot before turning him around and beginning to speak in a low voice. Winnie couldn't hear anything, but she could see Spike look down at the floor and shake his head at something Greg said, obviously upset. The latter paused, and then put a hand on his shoulder and continued to talk until Spike's head slowly rose again. After a couple minutes, Spike let out a hesitant smile, and Greg ruffled his hair and turned them back around to face Winnie. Once they got back to the desk, Spike resumed his seat, and Greg smiled at the pair of them.
"I'll see you guys tomorrow, okay? Have a good day, rest up, eat well, and all the other things I should probably be saying." He picked up his bag. "Bye, Winnie. Spike, just keep on ticking."
A bye, boss, and a good afternoon, Sarge, came out in an incomprehensible jumble, and Greg just shook his head before walking out of the room.
Winnie looked to Spike in a silent question, and he decided to humor her. "I didn't sleep so well last night, and Sarge picks up on a lot. Actually, though, the conversation wasn't as bad as I expected it to be."
Winnie smiled. "Greg's a pretty understanding guy, it seems to me."
"Yeah, he is." There was a pause in their conversation, and they felt no need to continue for a long time. Finally, Spike spoke up. "So, you seem happy today. What's up?"
"Well, someone got me a nice book and a cup of coffee, so that helped." She grinned and patted his hand as his ears turned slightly pink. "Also, my boyfriend got home last night. I haven't seen him in a week, so it's good to spend some time with him."
"Oooh, boyfriend!" Spike teased. A little bit of color was returning to his face. "What's his name? How long have you been together? What's he like? Come on, Winnie, details!"
"Oh my god, you're such a girl." She rolled her eyes as Spike shifted closer. "His name's Alex, and we've been together about a year. As for what he's like… well, he's great. He's there when I need him, and he gives me space when I don't. He makes me dinner, and we have fun, and…" She trailed off. "It's a good relationship. Plus, he's really attractive to boot."
"Okay, Winnie, I'm not that much of a girl. You don't need to bring up the aesthetic virtues of men every time we talk." Spike said with a fake grimace. Then he sobered up. "I'm really glad for you." He said sincerely. "That he makes you happy. That's the most important part of a relationship."
Winnie looked over at him from her seat. "I know. And he really does make me happy." Suddenly, the next dispatcher appeared at the desk. "Oh, hey, Ryan. Is it time already?" She checked her watch and saw that it was. "Wow. That went fast."
Spike stood up and grabbed her bag from under the desk, hoisting his own as well. "You all ready to go, Winnie? Come on, I'll walk you down to your car. No, I can carry it. Just come on, will you?"
Winnie gave up in her attempts to attain the bag, and dutifully followed Spike out the door, waving to Ryan at the last second. As they walked out, there was a comfortable silence, and it lasted all the way to the parking garage. When they got to Winnie's car, an old off-white Volkswagen, Spike set her bag into the back seat and waited until she settled down behind the wheel.
"Winnie?" He asked, leaning against the doorframe. "It was really nice talking to you again. And don't worry about getting coffee on your way in tomorrow- I'll take care of it." He closed the door with a soft click before she had time to protest. See you tomorrow, he mouthed through the glass, and then he was gone, heading back to his own car. Winnie could only watch him disappear. It looked like she would have another cup of coffee waiting for her tomorrow.
As I said above, a little more home info here. Also, this story started a little bit off the cuff for me, so I haven't written too many chapters in advance; if updates seem a little slow, blame that. Hopefully I'll build up a bit of a reserve as time goes on and I can post more quickly :) Again, reviews mean a lot to me, so please, let me know what you're thinking! As always, constructive criticism is more than welcome.
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