**I own nothing but the character of Madison. I'm putting Flashpoint on the Christmas list, but I don't know if I'm on Santa's nice list. I've tried this year. :-)**
Madison walked into her house from the garage. Simon was scheduled to be released that evening, but would be required to wear a monitor until his trial. Madison was almost certain Simon wasn't behind her stalking. Simon would be forbidden to come near Madison until after the trial and Madison hated he'd be forced to stay away from what he loved doing. Madison hoped this would be over soon. She hated what this tension was doing to her, her friends and her relationship with Spike. Madison was really looking forward to seeing him. Not that she didn't always like seeing him, but since he mentioned going away together, she'd been thinking about it. She couldn't imagine anything either one deserved more than a little time away. It sounded like heaven on Earth.
When Spike had talked to her earlier, he'd sounded tense. She planned to have his favorite for dinner that night and she hoped it helped ease his tension.
She opened the door to the laundry room, flipping through her mail as she walked inside.
She shut the door and went into the kitchen.
That's when she saw it. There was blood on the floor. Madison's eyes followed the trail of blood and she dropped her stuff and screamed.
There was Rocky.
Madison rushed to her dog, but she knew he was dead.
Tears falling down her face, she pulled out her cell phone. She pushed the speed dial for Spike. As she looked into her living room, she saw it.
'Filthy Whore' was written on the carpet in, what Madison assumed was blood. A note was on her couch that had blood on it also. 'Until next time.'
"SPIKE," she screamed into the phone.
"Madison, what is wrong," he asked.
"Blood...so much blood," she sobbed.
"Madison get out of the house. The team and I are on patrol, we're on our way. Get out of the house," he said. "We've got to get to Madison's house. Something's happened. She's hysterical and mentioned blood," Spike said, trying to stay calm, but he was panicking on the inside. Something had happened to the love of his life and he didn't like not knowing what he would find until he got there.
Stunned and incapable of doing anything but stumble around, Madison walked with jolting steps to the front door. She opened the door and nearly fell down her front steps. She collapsed on the lawn, her bloody hands and shirt creating a spectacle.
Spike and the team pulled up to Madison's street. Everyone jumped out of the car.
"Madison," Spike yelled as he rushed to Madison, who'd collapsed on her front lawn.
"Check on Madison. We'll clear the house," Ed said as everyone took their positions to clear Madison's house.
"Doc. Doc," he said, looking at the blank look on Madison's face.
She was shaking and not blinking. Spike recognized the classic signs of shock. Then she slumped against him. "Madison! Maddie," he called. "Winnie...," Spike called through his headset.
"EMS is on the way, Spike," Winnie answered before he finished his sentence.
Spike lowered Madison into his lap and brushed her hair out of her face.
"Maddie," he said.
Slowly, Madison eyes opened and she blinked.
She looked at him, her eyes trying to focus on him.
"Spike," she asked in a questioning tone.
"Yeah. Yeah, Doc, it's me. What happened," he asked her.
She shook her head like she was trying to remember. "I came home. Checked the mail... Oh my God, Rocky. He killed Rocky," she said, breaking into another round of tears and shaking.
Spike pulled Madison into his arms and held her why she cried. He heard them clear the house room by room.
The team exited the house. Spike heard Greg tell Winnie to get someone to take care of the dog's body.
Greg came out of the house and approached Spike and Madison.
"Is Dr. McKenna OK, Spike," Greg asked.
Spike looked at Madison. Her body was shaking and she acted like she was cold. He wrapped his arms tighter around her and let her sag into him.
"She's in shock. She's fainted already," Spike said.
Greg nodded. "Spike, we need you to look at something," Greg asked.
Jules came up next to Spike. "I'll stay with her," Jules said.
"Doc, I'll be right back, OK," he said. She gave a small nod and he kissed the side of her head.
Spike reluctantly let go of Madison and went to Greg.
Greg motioned him inside and followed behind.
Spike entered and was angry at the state of the house. Everything was overturned, messed up and broken it seemed, but the worst was the blood from her dog. When he turned to face the living room, he cursed. "Son of a bitch," he said.
"Judging by the blood, I'd say this happened in the last hour or two," Ed said.
"Simon was still in custody and has an ankle monitor. No way he could have done this," Spike said. "Maddie has another stalker."
"Wait. What if it's something else," Jules said through the headset.
"What are you thinking, Jules," Greg asked.
"We're looking at this as two separate incidents, but what if there is only one stalker? What if someone set Simon up to take the fall and Madison's stalker is still out there," Jules said softly through the headset.
"If she only has one stalker and they set up Dr. Hilliard, why kill the dog when Simon would have an alibi," Raf asked.
"Madison must have said something to the stalker without knowing or they saw something they didn't like," Greg said.
Ed and Raf looked at Spike. "We're either here or at my parents. We rarely go out unless we're with you guys," Spike said. "He can't be watching her, can he," Spike questioned. He'd searched the house and hadn't found anything that could transmit pictures or audio. He was wondering if he missed something when he realized what might have happened. He rubbed the back of his head.
"Spike, what," Greg prompted.
"Maddie has a prescription at the drug store she picks up on a regular schedule. If he was watching he might have seen it. Maybe that set him off," Spike said.
"What about a prescription would cause this (pointing to the blood) kind of reaction," Ed asked.
"I'm going out on a limb and guessing it wasn't a prescription for antibiotics," Sam said, coming back into the kitchen from searching the rest of the house.
Spike shook his head.
Jules was listening to the conversation and chimed in again. "Birth control. If her stalker was fixated on having her for himself, seeing that prescription might cause him to view her as unclean or unworthy now. He's losing it," Jules said.
"This," Spike said, waving this hand around the living room and kitchen, "is already loss of control."
"Then he's escalating," Greg said.
"I don't understand this. The brake tampering didn't fit the profile and killing her dog doesn't fit the profile either. Who the hell is doing this," Spike asked.
"Maybe he didn't intend for Madison to be driving the car. Wasn't that the day we got called in for the officer down? You were going to take Madison's car that day. You mentioned she wanted to borrow your truck to get some furniture she ordered," Ed said.
"Wait, so you think the attempt to kill Madison wasn't directed at her but toward me? Why," Spike asked.
"If you and Madison are a couple then her affection is directed toward you. As long as she was single, they had a chance. Now that you and Madison are dating and a couple, they don't see they have a chance. If he believes you two are sleeping together, he's going to hate that and do what he can to fix it. They'll probably do anything to make sure that Madison stays theirs," Greg said.
Spike shifted his weight back and forth. Greg knew Spike was embarrassed about his personal life being revealed to everyone, but it needed to be done to save Madison's life.
"This is my fault," Spike said softly, as he took in the carnage that had taken over Madison's house.
"They think getting rid of you is the easiest way. But if that doesn't work, they might try anything," Wordy said.
The realization dawned on Spike. "Even kill her," he said.
Greg nodded. Spike surveyed the scene one more time before balling his fists.
Spike fled the house. He went to Madison who looked so broken at that moment. The flashing lights from the police cars and the EMS gave her skin a ghostly look. Madison was sitting on a gurney wrapped in a blanket.
"Hey, Doc. You ready to get out of here," he asked.
Madison nodded. "Jules, could you get her purse and a change of clothes. I'm going to take her back to my parents," he said.
Jules nodded and went into the house. Under the watchful eye of the RCMP, Jules got some clothes for Madison and picked up her purse.
She exited the house and handed the items to Spike.
"We'll take you back to the barn and you can drive Madison back to your parents. I think we're done for the day," Greg said.
Spike climbed into the backseat after helping Madison in the SUV.
They headed back to the barn, no one breaking the silence in the car.
Spike helped Madison out of the car and inside the building.
"Will you be OK if I leave you in the briefing room and change," he asked.
Madison nodded and wrapped the blanket tighter around her. He passed the desk and saw Winnie getting Madison a drink.
Spike went to change and Winnie brought her a cup of tea.
"You need anything," Winnie asked.
"Why did he do it? Why kill my dog? Why write in my dog's blood that I'm a filthy whore," Madison asked.
"This world is full of sick people. I'm sure you see it all the time. I know I do. The only thing I can tell you is that for every bad person in the world, there are a hundred good ones. And every once in a while, you get a group like these guys. And, although very rare, someone like Spike comes along and you realize the world isn't such an awful place," Winnie said.
Madison looked at the police dispatcher. "How long did you and Spike date," Madison asked.
Winnie was caught off guard. She didn't know how much Spike had shared about their romantic past, but Winnie considered both of them friends and decided to answer the woman's questions. "Eight months. And they were great. Spike is an amazing guy," Winnie said.
"Amazing, huh? But you broke up. What happened," Madison asked.
"I just couldn't handle the stress of knowing he might not walk through those doors. I cared about him. Maybe even loved him, but not enough to balance out the stress of never knowing. Besides, he may have looked at me like a boyfriend should look at his girlfriend, but you," the dispatcher smiled. "He looks at you like you're the most valuable and important thing in the world. Like he has to memorize every part of your time together so he'll never forget. He's in love with you. He adores you. I've never seen him so happy," Winnie said.
Madison looked at her. She was grateful for the kind words of the dispatcher and she gave a small smile. "Spike's always happy," she said.
"But his dimples are a lot deeper when you're around. He's always smiling. One thing I know about Spike is when he loves, he gives his whole heart. You have it and he has yours. It makes all of us want the same thing," Winnie answered.
She patted the doctor on the shoulder before exiting the briefing room. Spike looked at Winnie and raised his eyebrows.
"Just making sure she's OK. She's really lucky to have you. She really loves you and I know you love her," Winnie said.
Spike looked at Winnie. "I'm..." he started to say.
"Don't you apologize. We broke up, Spike and that had everything to do with me not being able to handle being a cop and a cop's girlfriend. You know that. You're wonderful. Besides, you never looked at me the way you look at Madison. You love her and I think it's great. It doesn't bother me. You were my friend first and I want you to be happy," she said.
"Thank you," he said, looking at Madison. "It breaks my heart to know that there's something I can't fix for her," he said.
"Typical, Spike. You have to fix everything," Winnie said, smiling. "Just be there for her. That's all she needs right now," she said.
Spike and the dispatcher shared a short hug and Spike went into the briefing room.
Spike approached Madison. "You ready, Doc," he asked.
Madison got up from the table and walked toward the exit. The Team had assembled by the dispatch desk. She stopped and said, "Thank you for being there. I don't know how I got so lucky to have an SRU team as my friends, but I'm glad you're here," she said.
They all hugged Madison and Spike led her out the door.
When they entered the parking garage and Spike unlocked his truck, Madison asked, "What are you going to tell your mom," she said.
"I'll tell her the truth," Spike said.
"You can't do that! She and your father don't need to worry about me on top of your dad's cancer," Madison said.
"I'm going to tell her your dog died and I didn't want you to stay by yourself. She doesn't need to know any more than that," he said.
The drive to Spike's house was quick since traffic was light. He parked in the driveway and opened the door for Madison. They walked up the sidewalk and Spike bypassed the front door and went to the back.
"I don't need Mom asking questions about your shirt. Go into my room and change either into something in the bag or grab one of my shirts," he said as he opened the door.
He flipped on the light and Madison went to his bathroom.
He watched her close the door before he went upstairs to see his mom and dad.
"Michelangelo! Why did you not come through the kitchen," Michelina asked him.
"Madison needed to use the restroom. She's staying over for a few days, again," he said.
His parents looked at him. "Her dog died. I don't want her to be alone right now," Spike said.
"Good idea, son. Bring her up and I'll fix her something to eat. I have some left over spaghetti. I know how much you love it. There's also dessert," his mom said.
"Thanks, ma. I'm going to check on Madison," he said, heading back downstairs.
Madison emerged from his bedroom as he came down stairs. She was wearing one of his black Metro Police shirts that looked like a dress on her. She had on a pair of black yoga pants and her face looked like she'd just washed it. Seeing Spike, Madison started crying again.
Spike wrapped her in his arms and held her. He rubbed small circles on her back and placed small kisses into her hair.
She pulled away and looked up at him. "I'm sorry. I've got to pull myself together," she said.
"It's OK to cry. Tonight was awful," he said.
"Are your parents OK with me staying here," she asked.
"Ma thinks it was her idea. She's fixing you a meal right now," Spike said.
"Your mom is pretty cool," Madison said.
"Yeah, she is," he said, following her upstairs.
"Hello, Michelina, Dominic. Thank you for letting me stay here. It's too hard to think about going home after finding Rocky," she said.
"You are always welcome in our home," Dominic said.
"Thank you," Madison said, nearly crying. She hugged Mike's parents before Mike pulled out her chair and sat next to her while her mother served her spaghetti.
Michelina even brought Madison a cup of peppermint tea. "Thank you," she said, over come with emotion at the simple gesture.
"Michelangelo bought a few boxes of the tea for you. We want you to feel at home here," she said.
She smiled at Michelina. Dominic reached over and patted the top her hand. "You've done so much for this family. This is the least we can do for you," he said, before pulling his hand back. He started coughing and everyone jumped up.
Madison motioned for them to back up and grabbed the stethoscope she had hanging on the back of Dominic's nebulizer machine. She listed and heard some congestion.
The man continued to cough and Madison put the oxygen mask on his face.
"Breathe, Dominic," she said softly.
She went into the kitchen and pulled the medication out of the small container in the fridge. She quickly mixed the dosage and went back to the dining room.
She hooked the medicine cup to the neb machine and nearly immediately, Dominic's color returned to his face.
Michelina signed and sat down. Spike watched Madison as she worked. She hadn't said a word, she'd just done what she knew how to do and his father was breathing normally.
"That better, Dominic," she asked him. He nodded. Madison kissed the man's cheek and sat back down with Spike.
"Thank you, Madison," Michelina said.
"No problem. He's probably going to need treatments every three or four hours tonight," Madison said.
Spike helped move his father to the bedroom and Madison cleared the table.
"Guess it's a good thing I'm staying here tonight. Please, get me if you or him need anything," Madison said.
"Thank you, Bella," Michelina said.
Spike came back into the kitchen. "I'll finish up, Ma. You can go to bed," he said.
"Thank you, Michelangelo. I'll see you both in the morning," she said. She hugged Madison and kissed Spike on the cheek.
Madison started washing dishes. The task keeping her mind off what had happened earlier in the night. She put one dish in the drainer. Spike came up and wrapped his arms around her. He rested his head on her shoulder. "You OK, Doc," he asked.
"Not really. Helping your dad took my mind off it, but I'm scared. More scared than after the accident," Madison said.
She turned around and faced Spike. "I know. I don't know what to say to you to make it better. I don't think you can say anything to make it better. I'm hoping RCMP find evidence to give us a lead. We know it's not Simon, so we're back to the beginning," Spike said.
"But something about this doesn't make sense. If they went to the trouble of framing Simon, why kill Rocky when they knew we'd figure out that it happened after Simon was arrested. That would clear Simon," she said.
Spike wondered if he should tell her about the conversation the Team had back at her house regarding the trigger for the stalker.
Killing the dog was a last-second decision. It didn't make sense to kill the dog when Simon had a concrete alibi for the time of the dog's death.
Madison looked at him. "My prescription," she said.
Spike looked at her. "You were wondering what set the stalker off after setting up Simon," Madison said, answering Spike's unasked question.
"How did you..." he asked.
"You're not too tough to read, Scarlatti. Besides I was thinking the same thing. Why set Simon up so perfectly, only to ruin it by killing my dog when the police would know Simon was not responsible," she said.
"He must be watching. It HAS to be someone that knows you and even Simon. It had to be someone that could get close enough to frame him but who's presence wouldn't spark concern. I hate to think someone is actually watching us," he said, suddenly disgusted and angry.
"It's not that difficult to figure out we're a couple. And if they know about that prescription, they could be assuming we're sleeping together," she said.
Madison blushed and Spike was right there with her.
"By the way, in case I didn't tell, you are amazing," he said.
"I bet you say that to all the girls," she said.
"Nope, just the ones I'm sleeping with," he said, winking at her.
"Well, I'd rank you in the top ten," she said, teasing him.
"Rank? Top ten? Madison McKenna, what are you trying to do to me? That's almost as bad as Ed going like this [holds his thumb and forefinger a small ways apart] in the locker room in front of Donna," Spike said.
"I guess you're going to have to convince me to change my mind," she said, trying not to laugh at the look on his face.
Then a broad smile crossed his face and his kissed Madison.
"I was just going to say I'd have to work on banishing any memories you have," Spike said.
Madison turned around. She didn't have many memories. She'd only been with two people and as far as she was concerned, Spike was it.
"I guess you will," she said as she dried the dishes.
"You do realize that I will interpret this as a challenge? I will do everything I can to make sure I succeed in this mission," he said, kissing the side of her neck.
"I do know how much you love a challenge," she said.
She spun back around and wrapped her arms around his neck. The pain of what happened earlier in the night was manifesting itself in the kisses she gave Spike.
She looked at him. "I need you, Spike," she whispered. She wanted nothing but to remember the joy and bliss she found in his arms.
He picked her up and carried her downstairs to his bedroom.
In a frenzy clothes began flying in all directions.
When Spike awoke the next morning, they were still wrapped in each others arms. Spike could easily get used to this in the morning.
He carefully slipped out of the bed and got in the shower. It was one thing to made love to Madison in his room at his parents house, but another to get caught. As he showered he felt like a teenager. But that wasn't going to stop him from trying for round two.
Madison stayed with Spike and his parents for a week before she moved into a condo even closer to the hospital. Most of the residents in the complex were doctors like her and even though Madison wasn't in love with the place, she needed somewhere to go. The two bedroom condo was much smaller than the house, but it didn't remind her of Rocky. Madison had insisted that everything she had on the main floor be destroyed. She'd also asked that the mattresses be taken out of the house. She didn't know if the stalker had touched anything, but she didn't want them around her any longer. Madison had ordered some new furniture for the condo.
Spike looked the ring he'd bought for Madison two months ago and still couldn't find the right time to propose. He thought if he did it during all the turmoil, Madison might say no just because of everything that was happening. He decided to wait until things calmed a little, even if her stalker wasn't found soon.
He put it back in the drawer of his room and went upstairs. His dad was resting after his chemo treatment and his mother was cooking.
"Ma, I'm heading to Madison's new place," he said.
"You coming back for dinner," she asked.
"I don't know. Madison is working until 7, but I promised to help move her furniture. The Team's meeting me at her condo. I want to surprise her and have it all set up. I'll probably get pizza for the gang," he said.
"OK. I'll see you tomorrow then. You're father's appointment is at 11," she said.
"I'll be there. I think Madison is going to come. I know she wants to know what's going on with dad's treatment. I'll see you tomorrow," he said, kissing his mom on the cheek.
Michelina watched her son go out the door. She'd spent many nights worried about her son. She worried about his being so smart when he was in school. She'd worried about his fascination with bombs and blowing things up and taking them apart. She'd worried when he became a police officer and when he'd joined with SRU. But she'd been very worried that he'd never find the 'right woman.' Michelina had seen the women Mike chose to bring home to meet her and Dominic and she hadn't liked them. They'd been nice enough but they didn't appreciate her son's spirit. When Michelina met Madison, she knew. Madison was the one for Mike. Mike was so happy, even more so than usual. He and his father hadn't fought about his job since Mike had started dating Madison. Michelina knew this was Dominic's way of accepting what he did for a living and relying on Madison to keep Mike safe. Michelina had lit many a candle for that request. Michelina had noticed the way the two looked at each other when they didn't think anyone could see. They were in love. Michelina loved Madison like her own daughter and hoped they'd get married before Dominic lost his valiant fight against the cancer. Michelina heard the optimistic information from Dominic's doctors and Mike's positive outlook on things, but Michelina knew it was possible she'd lose the love of her life.