A/N: Okay, okay, it's here, the moment you've all been waiting for, Winnie too :)
The following day was Winnie's day off. She spent it cleaning her apartment, doing her laundry and watching some television. She'd made herself a baked chicken drizzled with a reduced balsamic sauce, green beans, and steamed rice for dinner.
**FP**
Feeling stunned the team stood in the briefing room looking Greg's retreating back, none of them believing what had just happened. Was Greg serious, was he thinking of quitting? It couldn't be, he was their leader, everyone one of them to a man and woman couldn't imagine the team without Greg Parker. He was the heart and soul of the team. Slowly they all began to file out of the room and stood lingering around the dispatch desk.
The remaining tension in the air shot back up when Dr. Toth returned. "I almost forgot I have one more thing on my agenda. Constable Scarlatti, I'd like a word with you in private."
Spike looked at the psychiatrist with worried eyes and shot a glance at Ed.
The strategic leader turned to Toth, "Is there a problem?"
Toth turned to Ed, "If and when I need your help, Constable Lane, I'll ask for it." He turned to Spike again, "This will take just a minute."
"Okay." Spike followed the man back into the briefing room, once they were both inside Toth closed the rolling door.
Spike stood watching the other man wondering what he'd done wrong. There wasn't a single thing he could think of.
"Have a seat, Constable Scarlatti, and please, relax."
"That's a little hard to do when you keep calling me Constable Scarlatti." Spike answered while taking a seat.
"Okay, what would you like me to call you?"
"Mike is fine."
"Alright, Mike. It's been brought to my attention that you've been through a rough couple of months. Your father lost his battle against cancer and you and Sam Braddock's sister were recently held hostage at gun point and you were forced to work against your team. I'm just wondering how you're doing?"
"I'm okay."
"Mike, this isn't official, nothing you say here will end up in your file. I'd just like you to know that help is available if you need it. Have you talked to any of the staff psychologists?"
Spike looked at Toth trying to decide if he trusted the man. He begrudgingly had to admit to himself that the man had just said he liked Team One and he liked Greg Parker and trusted his judgement, that admission went a long way towards helping Spike open up to him.
"I have."
"Good. Has it helped?"
"Yes."
Toth shook his head, "is it ongoing?"
"Yes."
"I understand you've been called by the crown as a witness against the man who held you and Ms. Braddock hostage."
"I have."
"Are you okay with that?"
"Dr. Toth, I've been called as an expert witness many times."
"Yes, but purely as an expert witness, this time you'll not only serve as an expert, but also a civilian witness, a victim."
"The way I see it, there's not much difference. I was still an officer while being held. I was still on the job. I don't really think of myself as a civilian witness."
"But you will be; there will be hard questions that you'll have to answer, questions that will lead to emotional answers."
"I'll be fine."
"You're sure?"
"Yes."
"Okay then, Mike. I'm happy to hear you've reached out and you're willing to accept the help that's available to you. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to call me." Toth placed a business card on the table and slid it towards Spike.
"Okay."
When Toth stood to leave, Spike scooped up the card putting it into his breast pocket and followed him out of the room to find the rest of his team still standing around waiting for him.
"You okay?" Ed looked at Spike before turning a hard gaze toward Toth.
"Yep."
"Okay." Ed watched Toth's retreating back.
**FP**
Winnie had just finished washing her dishes, tidying her and had just sat down on her couch to what some television when her cellphone sitting on her coffee table vibrated letting her know she had text message. She picked it up and was surprised to find the message was from Spike.
R u at home?
Yes.
Can I stop by?
Yes, of course u can.
Be there in 5, u want a coffee?
Sure, c u soon.
Winnie sat looking at her phone for a few seconds before she bothered to even look at the time, it read 6:28. The team would have finished their shift almost three and a half hours earlier unless a call had kept them out after their shift ended. She wondered if he'd been at the Goose and was now on his way home. He'll be here soon enough, you can just ask him.
She sat waiting and wondering why he would be coming over, it excited her and made her nervous all at the same time. Then she remembered he hadn't asked her how she took her coffee and was reaching for her phone again when she remembered they had coffee together quite a bit lately and he was a pretty observant guy, he probably remembered, even if he hadn't he'd probably just get cream and sugar on the side. That's when she heard the knock at her door. Her stomach flip-flopped, knowing it was him.
She opened the door and there he stood; a large Timmie's coffee in each hand. She noticed right away that he wasn't smiling. "Come in." She pushed her door further open to allow him entrance.
He came into the apartment's small entryway and handed her the coffee in his right hand.
"Thanks."
"Welcome."
"You okay?" she asked.
He looked deep into her eyes while replying, "I'm not sure."
Concern filled her as she led him into her living room. She motioned for him to take a seat and followed suit, sitting on the opposite end of the sofa from him, "hard day?"
"You could say that, yeah. Jules was injured." He blurted out.
"What? How? Is she okay?" Winnie felt sick with worry concerning her friend.
"She's gonna be okay," he sighed taking a drink of the hot liquid in the paper cup in his hand.
"What happened?"
"She was hit by shrapnel. Crazy day, Toth was in as well."
"Toth, what did he want?"
"He took the team off probation as far as Sam and Jules are concerned. But, I don't know, Greg's thinking of quitting."
"What?" Winnie sat shocked to her core.
Spike shook his head back and forth, "I have no idea; I'm a little lost. I have no idea what's going on. I mean, Toth took us off probation, told us he likes our team and that he trusts Greg's judgement, but Greg doesn't trust it. After Toth left Greg walked out, just left us all standing there, he won't answer his cell or his house phone."
"I'm sure it'll be okay, Spike. You don't have to worry about him."
Spike looked at her, "He's like family, everyone on the team is, and we can't just let him suffer out there alone."
"Spike, maybe he just needs a little time to himself. To think about whatever it is that's bothering him." Winnie put her own fears aside realizing Spike was taking today's events rather harshly. "Are you hungry? Did you eat?"
"No, I'm fine." He took a drink of his coffee.
"How do you know Jules is going to be okay?" she asked.
"The paramedics on scene said so, as well as the doctor that treated her. It was pretty hairy there for a bit. She lost a lot of blood plus she was breathing in toxic air."
"Sounds like a pretty tough call."
"Yeah, but hey, I don't want to talk about it. I'd really like to put it behind me for now."
"Sure, no problem, so where have you been?" She asked.
He looked at her again and frowned, "why?"
"You're still in your uniform." She nodded towards him.
He looked down at himself. "So I am. Haven't been anywhere but work; I guess when I decided when it was time for me to leave I just wanted to get out of there." He shrugged.
"So it seems, you sure you don't want something to eat?" she asked.
"I could eat." He quickly amended his statement when Winnie stood, "but you don't have to worry about it. I'll stop somewhere on my way home."
When she ignored his protests he reached out as she passed by and took her hand in his. Winnie stopped looking down at him with her heart racing, she felt it was pounding so hard within her chest that surely he could hear it.
"Spike," her voice was barely audible.
"Winnie sit," he gently tugged on her hand pulling her down onto the couch beside him.
"It's not a problem…" she protested, her heart pounding even harder when she realized he still held her hand in his.
"Shh, Winnie, stop trying to feed me, I don't want anything, and it's not why I came."
Winnie listened to him and stopped her babbling about trying to get food into him. She looked down at her hand in his. Suddenly she felt extremely self-conscious. She looked up into his face once again hoping to see his smile, she didn't. Despite the lack of a smile his face was soft in its appearance. His eyes however, seemed hard in their intensity, smoldering, he had the look of a man about to kiss a woman.
She watched as his eyes dropped from hers and watched as the tip of her tongue sneak out just a smidgen from her mouth and run along her still closed lips, wetting them a touch, then snuck back into her mouth, his eyes returned to hers.
"Winnie…" he practically whispered before he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.
Winnie's eyes immediately closed and she honestly wasn't sure if the groan she heard had come from Spike or herself. With her eyes still closed she felt Spikes warm hand come to rest on her neck. She remembered he'd made the same gesture that day in the break room when she'd been crying. She liked it; it had an intimate feel to it. She also couldn't believe how she could even formulate any thoughts while in a lip lock with Spike. When he finally came up for air her eyes opened to find he was still only inches away from her.
"I've wanted to do that for at least a week."
"I know."
"You did?" a smile slowly spread across his lips.
"Yeah," she confessed.
"It felt good, you have awesome lips."
Feeling more than a little self-conscious she turned to look away only to have Spike's hand reach up and again and stop her, turning her back to look at him, "Don't be embarrassed, I meant it as a compliment."
Winnie just stared into his eyes; she could fall into those chocolate brown eyes for days. She loved them. So she could understand his statement regarding her lips despite the fact that she had always felt they were too fat.
With his hand still holding her cheek he pulled her face close to his and again his lips met hers. They felt fantastic and were softer than she had ever imagined them to be. Suddenly, she felt his tongue against her lips seeking entrance, which she immediately granted. This time she knew the groan she heard came from Spike, as she not only heard it, but had felt its vibration as well. All the previous times her stomach had been assaulted with a case of butterflies was nothing compared to the flutter now attacking it; an overload of sensations suddenly hit her and she abruptly pulled away.
"You okay?"
"Yeah," she barely managed to respond while nodding her head at him. "I guess…I…I can't believe we're doing this."
"Believe it, because I'll be awfully damned angry if I wake up suddenly from a dream."
She smiled at his remark and noticed it helped her stomach settle down. "Yeah, me too."
A long silence followed before she tentatively asked, "Where do we go from here?"
Spike took a deep breathe, "Not sure, I'd like to talk to Greg."
"What? Why?"
"We need to make sure we're not putting the team at risk. Your career…"
"Spike, don't worry about me, if you need to look out for your team, I'm okay with that."
"You're a part of the team."
"Okay," she gave in; something told her that Spike wasn't going to give up on this issue. The loyalty this team held towards one another was palpable. "You sure you're okay about today's shift?" she asked.
"No, not really, but I'll survive."
Winnie reached out and fingered the applet on is uniform shirt. She couldn't believe he was sitting on her couch having just kissed her, twice! When she looked into his face his eyes had that look again, this time she initiated their kiss. However, Spike quickly deepened it and slipped his arms around her, caressing her back.
She rested both of her hands on his shoulders. They continued this way until she heard the door to her apartment being opened. She pulled herself away from Spike and sat watching as Stephanie walked through the door.
"Oh…hi," Stephanie stopped in her tracks.
"Hey," Spike answered.
Stephanie walked further into the room, "Spike, right?"
"Yeah, Stephanie."
"Yep," she turned her attention towards Winnie, "Hi, I'm sorry I interrupted, I'll just head to my room."
Spike stood, "No, don't, I should really get home."
Winnie stood when Spike did. She felt like a five-year old who'd just been caught with her hand in the proverbial cookie jar.
"Yeah, well…still, I'll just go." Stephanie pointed towards the hallway leading to the bedrooms. She quickly exited the room.
Winnie walked behind Spike as he made his way to the door. She stopped when he turned to look at her, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow." She said just as he placed his hand on his hips, a stance she long felt sexy when he did it.
"Yeah," he nodded his head slightly.
"You know you don't have to leave."
"I should. I have a lot of packing to do."
"Right, I forgot about that."
"You still willing to help?"
"Absolutely."
"Kay, I'm going to take you up on that offer." He smiled then said, "Well…"
"Well." She countered.
Spike closed the distance between them and was once again kissing her. She felt his hand on the small of her back and gently pull her lower body against his. Now, this was definitely something she didn't want to end. She had to supress a giggle when her thoughts became cliché; she wanted to ask him if that was a gun in his pocket or was he just happy to see her.
"Bye," he sighed when the kiss finally came to end yet he continued to hold her against him now both hands resting on her back.
Drive safe," she said as he finally let go of her and turned to the door, opening it and walking out of her apartment.
Within seconds Stephanie re-appeared, "I'm so sorry, I had no idea he was here, you should have texted me."
"I didn't know he was coming so don't worry about it."
"But I interrupted…"
"Steph, it's okay." Winnie smiled knowing her lips were swollen from being well kissed.
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
"Kay…" thew roommates slowly made their way to the couch, "holy cow, when I met him at the mall he was cute, but man…that uniform…he's hot!" Stephanie used her hand to fan her face.
Winnie laughed, "You got that right! You should see him in the whole sh-bang."
"There's more?"
"Oh yeah…knee pads, gun and holster, Kevlar jacket. It's uber hot!"
The two roommates burst into laughter before Stephanie asked, "So, I was interrupting something, wasn't I?"
Winnie's only response was a nodding of her head while a huge smile spread across her face.
