Two weeks later, just as things were settling back to normal, Spike stood staring at his open locker trying to get his head around the curve ball they'd been tossed. He'd finally gotten his rhythm back, despite the chaos they'd all been thrown into after the bombing: two days after their fun at the ballpark had been Donna Sabine's funeral. That had been hell enough to get through, as she was memorialized along with the other member of Team Three who'd been at her side when the bomb at the university lab had blown. There hadn't been a dry eye in the house, particularly after hearing Donna's husband tell them all that Donna had in fact been six weeks pregnant when she'd died but they'd wanted to keep it a surprise for the right time to tell friends and family. Upon hearing that bittersweet irony, Spike's attention had been diverted from the eulogy to consoling Winnie, whose graceful ladylike weeping was now full-blown sobs. They'd stayed together that night and despite teasing each other at the wake that they should celebrating life by pleasing each other in bed that night, they'd simply stripped to the skin and held each other close.

The day after that, Sam and Jules had left for a week's honeymoon to the Bahamas which had meant that they'd been working a man short with their old pal Raf as well as Troy MacEachran from Team Two to fill in the temporary gaps. It had been so weird to be on a team without three of their key pieces, like trying to watch the Pittsburgh Penguins play without Crosby, Malkin and Fleury in a single game. Added to which because timing wasn't working out so hot for them this week, something Winnie had clearly anticipated but Spike had not, they had very little time to spend together outside the job. That was why the night before, when they'd been invited out by the team for a beer at the Goose, Spike had given them a resounding 'no' for an answer before meeting Winnie at her desk and leaving with her for a street-meat in the park date.

The blessed normalcy of their new standard of an ordinary day, however, was sidelined once more as Spike was instead focusing on the new guy coming in to help them out. He'd found out through pillow talk with Winnie the previous night that she was going to be their temp command-post tech-op, doing essentially what she did in dispatch only she would be in the field with them for a couple of shifts. He wasn't worried about working with Winnie in this capacity - Spike had learned from four years of watching Sam and Jules doing their dance around each other what not to do - it was the reactions to their behaviour from the others that had him concerned. He wasn't keeping it from them, exactly, but he did feel a tad guilty about not giving them an inside edge on the memo that Holloran would be passing them. Holloran was a good commander but because he was in charge of all seven teams of the SRU, he rarely had time to spend with them and would probably not understand the full implications of having Winnie working with them in a professional capacity.

'Spike if you're having a staring contest with the photo of your dad in your locker again, I can tell you he'll still be there when we're back from patrol today.'

Spike glanced over, saw Sam with the remainder of his honeymoon sunburn still making his very Germanic features look cherry red. 'Skipped the sunblock in the Bahamas, I see?'

'Last day we were there, let me tell you I'm glad it didn't happen any other time,' Sam replied, pulling on his uniform shirt to button it over his black t-shirt. 'Private beach-'

'Stop right there, Sam-tastic,' Ed interrupted him, securing his zipper on his pants. 'I've got zero interest in thinking about how you and your bride violated each other.'

'She's pregnant,' Spike reminded him, 'she didn't get that way because you planted a diamond in the cabbage patch.'

'Don't say 'plant' and for Christ's sakes, don't say 'patch'.'

'Why Eddie, I had no idea you were so squeamish about sex,' Same teased him.

'When the day comes that you have to tell your fifteen year old son that you accidentally got his mother pregnant, then we'll talk.'

'Touche,' Spike murmured, glad for the distraction as they assembled in the briefing room. He knew Winnie was going to be a little late because she'd had to be in Holloran's office doing the paperwork before coming in to join them. Then again, that would also allow her to have a little entrance of her own, let her been seen as her own person of the commander's choice rather than Spike letting his girlfriend play with them at work.

It didn't surprise him at all when Holloran was there waiting for them, a file on the table where Leah and Jules were already seated, chatting with Raf who was also staying on with them while Greg worked through his rehab.

'Gentlemen, good morning, please have a seat. I'm here to let you know that I've found a suitable temporary tech officer for your team. This is not a permanent solution, this is merely a temporary situation until Greg is returned to active medically-restricted duty.'

'So who are you getting to fill in for us?' Ed asked, curious how someone could be expedited to the position so fast, especially without their input.

'She is fully qualified to be in the field as a back-up negotiator and technical analyst. She has an honours BA in criminal psychology, minor in computer science with a bilingual certification in both French and Dutch, and has received the City Hall Star of Technical Service twice.'

'Wow, impressive, so how come you didn't let us screen her?'

'Because her is me.'

All heads, including Spike's turned towards the entrance of the briefing room and for a moment, his brain simply shorted out - Winnie was standing there not in her usual uniform but in the cool-pants and black top of the SRU field teams. Her hair was smoothed back neatly into a chignon at the nape of her neck, and her mouth - the one that had made Spike whimper in delight when she'd used it up and down his neck while giving him a handjob the night before - was devoid of its usual colour; she wore instead muted neutral tone that, for Spike at least, only served to highlight its contours. Then again, he doubted the others at the table were as intimately acquainted with her lips as he was.

Thankfully, the others created enough noise so that they drowned out the buzz in his head; Leah was there right away to give her friend a compliment by letting out a wolf whistle and following it up with a smile.

'Looking sexy, Constable Camden!'

'You sure that's not a tearaway costume for Michelangelo's filthy-minded pleasure?' Ed chipped in, causing both the lovebirds to go beet-root red; amazingly, Holloran just shook his head.

'As Winnie will be restricted from going into places where she is forced to make priority of life decisions, and the fact she is only a temporary member of your team, I am willing to overlook it. However, if this does become a more permanent situation, then other options will have to be discussed,' he said in his primly business like voice. 'As you've all seen what happened regarding Constables Callaghan and Braddock, I doubt you will force me into such a conversation.'

'What's the plan for today, sir?' Raf asked, bringing them all back with a little subtle dignity.

'Provided there are no hot calls, we are looking at a patrol morning with firearms practice this afternoon and monthly cleanup. Callaghan, you'll show Constable Camden the ropes. The bombings depleted our resources so we are in dire need of a restock.'

'Yes sir,' Jules agreed, knowing full well Winnie had a working brain in her head and would pick things up quickly; Holloran simply had a bad habit of talking down to anyone new.

'Ed, I trust you to make the right calls when it comes to your temp,' Holloran added before leaving them in peace. Once he'd gone, everyone turned to look at Winnie, who was pulling up a chair at the end beside Leah.

'Well, usually, this is the time when we'd set to discussing how to break in the new kid, but seeing as Ed takes every opportunity to comment on your love-life together, we'll skip that part for now,' Sam told wher with a friendly smile. 'Welcome aboard, Winnie.'

'You know how we usually do things around here,' Jules continued, 'so if you like, you and I can run through some psych-drills, let Eddie be our tackling dummy if you like?'

'Psych-drills sounds good, like talking a subject down?'

'You'll be great at it,' Spike reassured her, and he saw from the look in her eyes they were both thinking about the time after he'd had his bomb-scare nightmare how she'd comforted him and brought him back to normal. 'Jules is a good teacher, almost as good as the Boss.'

'Any word on how he's doing this week?' Leah asked. 'Having my parents here for a month has kept me out of the loop.'

'Marina called me last night, said he's been able to walk up and down the stairs of their apartment building once a day.'

'That's a good sign, that means his heart's strong, right?' Winnie inquired, hoping she didn't sound like the little kid trying to keep up with the big ones.

'More importantly, it means he's got full use of his leg where he took the fourth bullet near the femoral artery,' Ed explained, 'and that his knee hasn't been as affected as the doctors originally anticipated. So, Constable Mama-Bear, you cool handling the rookie on her psych drills? Maybe drag lover-boy along with you in case you need a dummy hostage.'

'Ed, this is gonna be a long few weeks if you keep doing that,' Raf chuckled when he saw smoke begin to curl out of Spike's ears.

'Alright, alright, last one, scout's honour.'

'So you're riding with me on patrol this morning, Winnie,' Ed informed her, 'and while we're doing the clean-up, Jules can walk you through some psych-drills.'

'Why Jules?' Sam nearly whined.

'Because she is a negotiator, Samuel, and Holloran requested her, and more importantly, seeing as she's knocked up thanks to you and your animal urges, she shouldn't be around cleaning chemicals if she can avoid them,' Ed replied with a satisfied little smile. 'So let's roll Team One.'

'Constable Lane?' Syd called out to him from the desk. 'I know Commander Holloran told you to be on patrol but we've already got Team Four out right now so I need you to hang here.'

'Alright.' Spike grinned, patted Winnie's shoulder. 'Sorry babe but my other woman needs me right now. I'm sure you understand.'

'I sure do,' she replied with a smile as Spike wandered off, crowing about Baby-Cakes getting some well-needed love. She let herself stare at his ass for two seconds, before turning to Jules and grinning. 'Here I thought the cool-pants thing was just a saying you guys used to mock your uniforms.'

'Nah, it lets the boys show off their assets,' she replied on a grin. 'Let me grab my stuff and we'll hang here while the others hit the gym.'

'Jeez, make me feel guilty,' Winnie groused lightly, knowing how she usually picked the times opposite to Team One's workouts to so they would be little risk of them seeing her in her truly hideous work-out gear. Jules, however, didn't hear her, or was letting it go as she disappeared, then returned in a few minutes with a Tupperware container and a file folder. She popped the top on the container and Winnie wanted to gag at the smell. 'Shit, Jules, what are you feeding that baby?'

'Leftover chicken and mango curry from dinner last night. I need the laxatives from the spices,' she explained in a hushed tone. 'Pregnancy means my digestion slowed down to absorb as many nutrients as possible so I feel like I'm trying to pass a telephone pole through my butt these days.'

'I can help with that. The food, Jules,' Winnie added off of Jules sudden 'what the fuck' expression. 'My dad is an excellent chef and taught me well.'

'I see.'

'I know we're coming into summer, but my stepmom Rachel, when she was pregnant with my brother over the summer loved soups so my dad made her everything - baked potato, creamy cauliflower, minestrone, paella, smoked ham and split pea, veggie rotini-'

'Okay, stop, because now I want all of those. I've already had your cream of mushroom, so...hmmm...'

'Think on it, tell me after shift, I'll drag Mike along to the grocery store.'

Jules wanted to make a joke how whether Spike should consider it practice for when he and Winnie had their own babies but she knew it would be too sooner still yet for something like that. She rubbed her hand over the ever-growing bump under her uniform pants, gave it a little pat. 'Or we can make it a girls' night with Leah. She loves to be in the kitchen too, and we can finally get some of those juicy details on your man out of you.'

'Sure, that sounds great.'

Jules grinned, then tugged her file folder towards her, scanned the list of questions they all been drilled on before by the Boss. It felt a little funny to be doing it on her own but she also knew that Winnie had a keen intellect for the psychology of the SRU's job, more than some people Jules had seen working in the field on other teams. 'Alrighty, question one. You have a subject who has taken a bank hostage, he has a documented history of violence towards women along with a police record and is threatening to shoot only the female hostages. How do you de-escalate him from a threat level red so he lowers his weapon?

They worked for nearly three hours, goin through scenarios and revisiting previously studied ones so that by ten-thirty, when the others were finishing up in the gy, Winnie was feeling rather accomplished in her task. She was standing by the windows looking out at the city while Jules wrote up her notes on their session when Sam and Spike came back in, Leah following them while she drank from an eco-bottle of water.

'So, how did it go?' Sam asked and Jules tapped her pen on the papers before her.

'Winnie is a natural, Constable Braddock. We ran through sixteen separate cases and in only two of them she wasn't able to negotiate the subject down.'

'Wow, that's impressive, Constable Camden,' Spike said with genuine admiration. 'How does one come by such skills?'

'Child of divorce, trying to appease both sides when making holiday plans, constantly dealing with one's guilt and the other's occasional overcompensation, you learn a few tricks,' Winnie shrugged. 'That and dealing with my sister, you learn how to stand up for yourself in a verbal warfare match.'

'Doesn't sound like fun,' Raf commented.

'It is what it is. All families have their things.'

'See you finished the curry,' Sam told his wife, sniffing the air before grimacing and giving Jules a kiss on the top of her head. 'You need to feed that baby of ours proper breakfast foods, one of these days.'

'Well, Winnie said she is going to help us out and stock us up on some nice healthy soups. Friday night at her place, baking party, Leah you in?'

'Sure am.' Leah grinned. 'Winnie and I can have a little wine, you can have cranberry juice while we make food and dissect men and shoes. Sounds like fun.'

Coming from another woman it may have sounded sarcastic but coming from Leah, Winnie knew how much she loved nights like that; they reminded her of her family in Haiti whom she missed desperately. 'I'll make the pizza.'

'Sounds like a plan.'

'Looks like you're getting sidelined,' Ed teased Spike as he wandered up; Spike who just shrugged.

'I've got plans that night anyways.'

'Plans?'

'Surprise planning for Winnie plans,' he whispered.

'Say no more.'

'Team One, hot call, gear up!' Syd informed them from the dispatcher's station. 'Possibly suicide threat on top of the Silver-City Cinema building at Yorkdale Shopping Centre.'

'Thanks Syd!' Ed hollered over, then looked at Winnie. 'Prep with Jules, but you ride with me. I want you with me so we can plan for you and you and Raf to go in as negotiators.'

'I thought Holloran said-'

'That I use you at my discretion. You're one of us now so you gotta know that whatever Spike and you do in your off time, on the clock your ass belongs to me.'