'This your first time hot call, Constable Camden?'

'With the SRU sir. I did a lot of them when I was starting out in Tech-Crimes.'

'Tech-Crimes?'

'We had to move fast in order to make sure the pirates couldn't slip the collar.' Winnie looked out the window, trying not to fidget against the bulk of her mandatory Kevlar vest. Not that she considered it inconvenient, just a reminder of how bulky she used to feel when she'd put on weight after her parents' divorce. 'I got my first major bust on a call like that, a trio of York students who were hacking their profs' faculty email and selling exams.'

'That how you got the Star of Technical Service?'

'Which one?' Winnie sent him a satisfied little smile. 'I do have two of them, you know.'

'Alright, sassy.'

'The first one I got for cracking the hacker virus on my precinct's system server. Turns out a band of pirates we sent away had friends and thought we fascist pigs were infringing on that whole dispersion of information law so they decided to take revenge on us. Fortunately, pirates are creatures of habit much like bombers and once they get their style, they like to turn it into their trademark.'

Ed swung the truck onto the freeway, headed north towards the four-oh-one. 'Where did the other one come from?'

'I'd rather not say.'

'Turn your comm off.'

Winnie flicked the button, watched Ed do the same, and he flicked those laser-blue eyes towards her; she wondered how his wife ever told him no when he sent her a look like that. 'I got the other one when we were looking into the bombings by Sarah Kominski and Rafer Wilcox. I was told in the very nice letter from the mayor that had it not been for my swift and detailed research into the subjects backgrounds our city would have faced one of its worst terrorist events in history.'

'Ah.'

'There was no mention of how Lou gave his life in the line of duty so that my man could go home that day along with everyone else that was saved on campus. I've always been the kid who wants the gold stars on her homework and to hear how awesome she is from the people she's trying to please the most but that day...' Winnie trailed off on a little sigh. 'That day I felt like Judas, it's why I told none of you I was getting an award for it. Spike knew, though, and he came anyways.'

At this, Ed arched an eyebrow. 'Spike came to see you get that award?'

'Yeah, there was a small reception and he came to say hi and...and he thanked me.' Winnie let out a little laugh. 'He thanked me, saying how he was proud of the job I'd done, trying to do everything I could to help him out. I...after Lou said he'd stepped on a landmine, I sent him some PDFs on landmine deffusion help him save Lou. That all went into my report from my end of things and someone down at City Hall thought it deserved an A-for-Effort prize.'

'You don't like that one?'

'Would you?'

Ed shook his head, his thoughts preoccupied by more than just the story Winnie had told - it was the look in her eyes, the sweetness of her voice as she talked about Spike, making him realize one very simple thing. However much he might tease Spike and Winnie about being lovebirds and crack jokes about tearaway stripper SRU uniforms, there was the beginnings of love there. The knowledge of that was t-boned by another level of realization - they had been hesitantly building up to that love for far longer than any one actually knew, even Winnie and Spike themselves.

'All I know is that if you are able to accept that not all of your work will make you feel proud in this job, but at the end of the day you did the best that you knew how to do, that's the most you can ask for. Turn your comm back on.' After she'd done so, Ed opened the line for the rest of the team. 'Guys, what do we know about our subject?'

'Not much, only that there is the possibility that it could be a young female subject named Catalina Holland, she works at Indigo Books across the pavilion from Silver-City,' Leah informed them. 'Her boss is the one who noticed she was missing after she didn't return from her lunch break, and she called nine-one-one after receiving a text from her, saying that she was up on the rooftops enjoying the view from Silver-City.'

'Is there a possibility this is just teen angst gone amok?' Raf inquired over the headset.

'Negative, she said that Catalina has things rough at home. Maybe she finally reached her breaking point.'

'Alright, here's the plan,' Ed informed them. 'When we get there, Jules, you'll take the boss, Raf and Spike you're with me on security, Sam you're heading upstairs to find out why Miss Holland feels like going sky-diving without the parachute today. Winnie, you're in the truck on techs.'

'Sir?' Jules voice came on now. 'If it's all the same to you, I think Winnie should be Sam's back-up and I can run the techs.'

'What's on your mind, Jules?'

'I've got a confirmed ID that Catalina Holland is our subject and I have her store manager on the line.'

'Patch it in, Jules.'

The teams in the three separate cars waited as the line clicked over and the woman's voice, thick with tears, came on the line. 'My name is Maggie Thomas, Lina works for me and...oh, God, I should have known when she came in today that something wasn't right, she...she was a mess, crying and trying to hide it.'

'Things not so hot at home these days?' Sam asked gently.

'No, her parents are going through a very bad divorce and Lina is caught in the middle, she's an only child who hasn't taken sides. She tries hard to please them both but it's taken a toll on her and she isn't her usual self.'

'What is she usually like?'

'Witty and smart and always trying to make others feel special. She has a hard time making friends but she'd made a lot through her online community. Lina's big into gardening and she met a lot of friends online because of it, they'd share photos and tips on hybrid care, things like that.'

'Thank you, that's very helpful Miss Thomas.'

'Please just make sure she's okay. And...and if she does get out of this okay, I want you to make sure she can go somewhere away from her parents.'

'Why's that, Miss Thomas,' Ed asked, shifting the pieces around in his mind.

'They will try to make her feel guilty about making them worry.'

'Thank you again, that's very helpful. Jules.'

'Yes sir,' Jules replied, placing the store manager on hold.

'Plan B now. Jules you're in the truck. Raf and Spike still with me. Sam, I'm giving you Winnie to be your second.'

Winnie's head whipped around and though he was two cars away, she was sure that Spike had the same wide-eyed googly-stare expression she was currently wearing. 'Officer Lane, are you sure that's a good idea?'

'Jules said you were top-notch this morning and you're also a female who went through something like what it sounds like Catalina is going through. She might respond better to you than to Sam on his own.'

'Right.'

They arrived with lights and sirens blasting away as the team came to a stop outside the main entrance to one of the city's busiest shopping centres. Winnie knew from being raised in the suburbs that this was certainly a place to make a public splash if they wanted to have a suicide make the news. She saw the crush of people underneath the sign for the Rainforest Cafe, caught sight of the movement on the corner of the cinema roof.

'There,' she said, pointing and Ed followed her finger up, nodded briskly when he saw the blonde head bob into view.

'We have a visual sighting by Constable Camden and myself, let's get with mall security and get this resolved with everyone going home safely.'

'Winnie, let's roll.'

She had to take about half-a-second before she realized Sam was speaking to her and they were heading inside with the rest of the team to meet with mall security. The head of that division was less than the stereotypical picture of a fat bottomed-out ex-cop who'd decided to get cozy behind a desk with his feet up - the man was in his thirties, silvering already at the temples but sexy in an ordinary kind of way with olive skin and bottle-green eyes and a body he clearly took pride in beneath the black vest and pressed white shirt. He was flanked by three underlings, all with the same beach-boy physique and perfectly ironed uniforms.

'Ed Lane, SRU,' Ed introduced himself.

'Patrick Delhuis,' the mall-cop replied, shaking Ed's hand. 'We have a situation here, no question and we need to get it resolved not just for the jumper's safety

'We call them subjects to keep it neutral,' Ed informed him and Patrick nodded; Ed gestured to Winnie and Sam. 'These are Constables Camden and Braddock, they will be negotiating with our subject to bring this to a peaceful resolution so you will need to give them roof access as well as shut down any other access to the roof of Silver-City.'

'Of course.'

Winnie felt her heart stutter a little as she tried to keep her poker face on, as the mall-cops led them to the easiest point of access to the roof which happened to be a small service elevator. Once inside, Sam gave Winnie a look. 'Let me do the talking to start. For one, it'll keep Holloran happy and two, she might sense you being a rookie trying to make good with her.'

'Understood.'

'If you think I'm starting to lose her, tell me and I'll say I'm going to bring in a friend of mine, and you come in to talk. I've got the ropes so we can strap you if necessary.'

'I understand,' Winnie said again, trying to keep her heart from leaping out of her mouth. This wouldn't be just a simulation, this would be the life and death of someone she didn't even know but already wanted to keep safe. 'Sam?'

'Yeah.'

'Don't patronize me, if you think I'm blowing it, tell me and I'll back off.'

Sam grinned. 'That won't happen. You know how I know that?'

'How?'

'I'll tell you after we get Miss Holland down from there.'

The elevator doors opened and they felt the wind blow past them, die down. Winnie saw the girl first, khaki pedal pushers and coral-pink top with funky silver and yellow butterflies forming a tattoo pattern down the spin. She was sitting down now, and for a moment, Winnie thought they were hearing voices of the films still being shown inside the theatre; as she and Sam drew closer, she realized it was actually a mini-DVD player she was hearing.

Catalina must have sensed their presence, or heard them outright, because before Winnie and Sam had gone ten feet from the elevator, Catalina called over her shoulder, 'I'm not interested in what you have to say so just let me finish my movie and I'll go.'

'Catalina, my name is Sam, I'm an officer with the Police Strategic Response Unit and I'm not so sure I like what you mean when you say you'll go. Where do you want to go?'

'What does it matter to you? You're just doing your job, you're paid to care all about me while I have an issue.' Catalina shrugged, scooped a handful of popcorn from the paper bag beside her. 'Once we're done here, you'll forget all about me, just like a lot of people have. And why should they remember me? I'm nothing and no-one important, no one...no one they really see.'

'No, you're wrong about that. I never forget the people I've met on the job, the people I've helped,' Sam replied evenly, and the woman let out a sharp laugh.

'That's bullshit. Go away, worry about someone worth your time.'

'Catalina you are my priority,' Sam told her, swallowed when he saw her eyes fill up, mouth widen at the corners in the grimacing smile of someone trying to fight sobs. 'I have to say, you're pretty unique, I've never seen someone come up to a movie theatre rooftop for one last handful of popcorn.'

'Winnie.'

From her position back behind Sam, out of Catalina's line of vision, Winnie heard Raf's voice over the comm-set. 'Yeah, Raf?'

'We talked more to the manager and did a little digging on Catalina's background. Her parents are going through a tough divorce, lots of fighting about money.'

'Tell me more.'

'Catalina is studying theatre production and literature at York, works summers at the mall to pay for her tuition but it looks like she is being forced to put her studies on hold because her parents have drained the university trust funds in order to pay the lawyers for the divorce proceedings.'

'Oh boy. That's a stress-trigger if I ever heard it.'

'Sam, I think you need to let Winnie go in and talk now,' Ed informed him and Sam nodded.

'Copy that. Hey Catalina? I brought a friend with me, she knows a lot about the kind of thing you're going through. You mind if she comes out here, talks with you for awhile?'

'Whatever,' the girl shrugged and Sam nodded at Winnie, who stepped over, approaching her cautiously like she would a wounded animal.

'Catalina, my name is Winnie, I'm with the police Strategic Response Unit. I heard you were having a bad day, what's going on girl?'

'Nothing much, just spending a few moments alone, as usual. Why are you guys even here?'

'Because some people are worried you might jump off that roof, do something you'd regret for the rest of your life.'

'I wouldn't regret it long, would I? Don't think you're gonna come over here and talk me down or something, it's not going to happen.'

Okay, new tactic, Winnie thought, and pointed at the DVD player. 'Mind if I join you then?'

'Be myguest.'

Catalina patted the stone ledge which served as a little bench and Winnie sat down, snagged a few kernels of popcorn from her bag like it was girls' night at home. 'What are we watching?'

'Inlgourious Basterds. Tarantino's a genius.'

'Agreed, though my favourite in terms of story telling was always Reservoir Dogs. It's pretty ballsy to make a movie about a heist gone wrong without showing the heist, right?'

'For sure.' Catalina took a sip of the drink in her hand, let out a shaky breath. 'I love the movies, they've always been there for me. They never ask for anything in return and they never hurt you or betray you. I've yet to meet a person like that in my life.'

'I think you've met more of them than you know. It was your store manager who called us, thinking you might be in trouble today.'

'Trouble?'

'Well...' Winnie gave a look around. 'You are on the roof of a movie theatre wanting to hurt yourself. I wouldn't call that an every-day thing.'

'If I hurt myself or don't it won't matter,' Catalina said quietly. 'No one really cares about what I'm going through, what my parents did to me.'

'I care,' she replied, 'because I've been there myself. My parents split up when I was about your age. How long ago did they say they were breaking things off?'

'About six weeks. Just after I finished finals. They said...they said they waited to tell me until after I was done exams so that I wouldn't be distracted. Stupid fucking hypocrites, they barely notice I'm there half the time because they were fighting so much, yet it's perfectly fine to think I'm going to just go along with it when they take all my money? They are supposed to be my family, they are supposed to love me! And if I can't count on them at the very least, who is left?'

'I am, I am here,' Winnie said again, watching Catalina's face crumble into despair.

'You're here because you're paid to shut me up.'

'No, I'm here because I want to listen to you, to help you get through this because I've heard some things about you today and I have to believe that you are not meant to end it like this. Not at all.'

'Fine, you said you know so much about what I'm going through, why don't you tell me about that?'