Chapter 29

Spike grabbed his phone and looked at the caller ID. G. Parker, it said. It was always easy to differentiate his boss from his boss' wife. Since both of their initials started with the letter "G", Spike had ended up using 'Sergeant' to identify Parker and 'G' for Gwen.

"Hey Gwen, what's up?" Spike said with his usual amount of enthusiasm.

"Spike? I need you to do me a favour."

Spike could hear the tension in Gwen's voice, and the sniffles that she was obviously trying to keep in.

"Tell me what happened, Gwen."

"There's been an accident. This man came into my home with a gun. I'm at the hospital. The man is dead. Alfred's been shot."

Spike was standing in a second. "Gwen, all you need to do is stay on the line with me and keep talking, okay?"

"Okay."

"We're not at work Gwen. I'm not sure where Parker is, but I'll call him and let him know. He'll be there as soon as he can. What hospital are you at?"

"I sent Parker away."

Spike was confused. "What? The boss was there and you sent him away. Why would you do that?"

"I yelled at him, Spike. I was really angry. I thought he…I was wrong and I told him to go away and he did."

Spike could hear the sniffles in Gwen's voice now. She was obviously crying, and part of Spike wanted to be there for Gwen as she had been there for Lou.

"Gwen, have you called him?"

"No. I just…I have to stay here with Alfred. I'm trying to think positively but I saw him before he went into surgery Spike. I know what a bullet does to a body and Alfred is old and he can't fight like he used to. I don't think Alfred's going to make it, Spike, and I'm really scared to live in a world with no Alfred."

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry. Is there anyone there with you now? I can call Ed."

"Emmett's here with me. Shane and Ed are on the way here."

"That's good. What do you need from me?"

"I need you to make sure Parker is okay."

"You want me to swing by your house?"

"Yes. Could you make sure that he's okay and that he not…drinking? That I didn't make him so angry at me that he's drinking."

Spike had the chills. He didn't like this conversation and while he was sure that Parker wouldn't drink, there was this nagging thought in the back of his head that was causing him to worry. The fact that Gwen thought Parker might take a drink was enough for Spike to run out the door and speed all the way over to the Parker household.

"I'll leave right now. It shouldn't take me that long to get to your house."

"Thanks Spike."

Spike arrived at the Parker household and saw Parker's car in the driveway.

As Spike walked up to the front door, he noticed that Parker had left the door ajar.

Spike knocked and slowly pushed the door open a couple of inches. It wouldn't be good to enter a house of an SRU officer without identifying yourself first. Training made Spike call out. "Boss? You in here? Sarge?"

Spike opened the door fully, took a step inside and waited. He heard shuffling coming from his right and came face to face with his boss.

"Spike? What are you doing here? Is everything alright?"

Spike looked at Parker and couldn't believe that this was the same man that he worked day in and day out with. Parker looked a mess. He had obviously been crying and he looked physically exhausted.

"I'm alright, boss. I just came to make sure everything was good here." Spike kept his voice light, but it didn't matter, Parker would pick up on the worry in it anyhow. He always did. Parker was just too good at picking up nuances and body language.

"I've been better."

"Yeah? You want to talk about it boss?"

Parker looked at Spike and noticed what the young man was wearing. Spike was wearing a green stripped pyjama bottom and an orange t-shirt that read, 'Bomb technician. If you see me running, try and keep up'. All of a sudden, something clicked.

"Gwendolyn sent you."

It was said as a statement and not a question.

Spike gave a quick smile. "Yeah. She called me and asked me to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine. You didn't have to come over here. You can leave."

Spike knew that Parker might get defensive. After all, it was the most logical reaction to being checked up on by your subordinate. "She said you two had a fight and that she was angry but she was wrong."

Parker glanced at Spike. "She was wrong?"

Spike shook his shoulders. "It's what she said."
"What else did she say?"

"She doesn't think Alfred's going to make it."

Parker closed his eyes and sighed.

"Boss, Gwen's really worried that she made you angry enough to…well, to take a drink."

Parker opened his eyes. "I get it. Once a drunk, always a drunk."

"No, boss. It's not even like that."

"Then explain to what it's like. Tell me how I'm supposed to fix this with my wife. Tell me how I'm supposed to save our marriage when she's done with it. Tell me how I'm going to stop my wife from wanting to divorce me."

Spike was shocked. Gwen hadn't mentioned any of that in their conversation. "I didn't know that's what the fight was about. Gwen just said she was wrong, boss."

Parker nodded his head.

"I'm not going to drink Spike. I know better than that."

"I know you do. I didn't come here thinking you would, I came here because Gwen asked me to."

Parker gave Spike the once over look and decided to believe him. "It's late. You want to crash here?"

"A sleepover? Awesome!"

Parker had to smile at Spike's enthusiasm. "You seemed dressed for one already," Parker said as he pointed at Spike's shirt.

"Oh yeah. My niece got me this shirt. She thought it was funny. Me? Not so much. Ma says I can't throw it out cause it was a gift, so I usually wear it to sleep in."

"You weren't worried about me, huh? Yet you drove over here in your pyjamas?"

Spike smiled. "Hey, not a lot of people get to see me dressed like this. Consider yourself lucky."

Parker would never know how Spike did it, but just being there and talking to him comforted Parker and gave him a little peace of mind.

"I'm lucky Spike, I know."

Parker was so sincere when he said it, that Spike thought the man might break down and cry some more.