##### The Goose, 3 days later, 2000 #####

Dave smiled when he walked into The Goose and saw his current Sergeant and Team Leader sitting at a high top table. He waded through the full tables and stopped next to Greg. "Hey Sarge, Ed."

Greg smiled at their rookie. "Hi Dave, glad you could make it."

"Hey Dave." Ed smiled in greeting. "How you doin?"

Dave smiled as he sat down. "Great." He looked to the bartender and put up a finger. When she nodded be looked back at his mentors. "Thank you for giving me another opportunity to work with the team. I'm sorry that Spike's injured. How's he doing?"

Greg smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "He's doing ok." He nodded. "We're not sure how long he's going to be out. Most likely it's going to be at least a month or two. You ok with that?"

Dave raised his brows and nodded. "Absolutely. I'm a temp. I'm just happy to get some more field time, especially with the best." He paid the waitress when she brought him the beer. "Thanks." He said to her before she left. He turned when a hand landed on his shoulder, followed by another.

Greg smiled at Dave's excitement and eagerness.

"Good to see you Dave." Sam clapped the man on the shoulder before he sat down, wincing when his knees protested.

"Hey Dave." Jules smiled but it didn't hold when she saw Sam wince. She was glad Sam was able to walk around now, but she hated to see him still in pain.

Dave smiled and nodded at them, but he frowned at Sam. "You ok Sam?"

"Yeah, just a little sore still." Sam glanced at Ed and Greg.

Dave caught the look. He saw the article in the paper about the SRU officer abductions. He heard from a few of his fellow cops some of the inside details, but he got the feeling the team didn't want to talk about it so he changed subjects. "Where's Raf?"

"Should be here soon." Greg looked towards the door and saw Raf walking in. He hitched his chin at him and said, "speak of the devil."

Raf heard Greg's comment as he approached the table. "Handsome devil." He smiled and put a hand out to Dave as he sat next to him. "Good to see you Dave. Hear you're going to be joining us?"

Dave shook his hand and smiled. "You too Raf. Yeah, filling in for Spike until he gets better."

"Welcome back." Sam smiled. He was glad it was Dave filling in. He worked well with everyone and was a fast learner. The heel of his foot slipped off the metal foot bar and his leg swung out before he could stop it. He winced and sucked in a breath through his teeth. He shifted so that the foot that slipped touched the floor.

"Sam?" Ed looked at Sam when he heard the hiss.

"I'm ok." Sam nodded and took a sip of his beer.

"Are you sure?" Jules asked, watching him.

Ed looked around and saw a large u-shaped booth towards the back that was empty. He made a show of looking around at the people and grimaced. "It's really crowded right here. We should grab that booth," he pointed to the back, "before anyone else does. It's quieter."

Everyone turned to look and nodded. They got up as a group and moved to the table. As they walked to it, Sam put a hand on Ed's arm. "Thanks." Sam said in a low voice.

Ed looked at Sam, put an arm over his shoulders and smiled. "Booths are better."

They spent several hours laughing and talking, sometimes conversing with everyone and other times in smaller groups.

At one point, Sam drifted off into his own thoughts. Before he and Jules went to see Spike three days ago, they had stopped at Raf's apartment.

################

"I'll be back in a little bit." Sam looked at Jules in the rearview. His wheelchair was locked into it's spot in the back of the van and he was seat belted in. They were stopped in front of Raf's building. He made a face. "Do you mind?"

Jules turned in her seat. "No. I understand." She smiled reassuringly. "I'll go get us some coffee and be back in a while."

Sam smiled in relief. He didn't want to hurt her feelings by asking to talk to Raf alone. He should've known she'd understand. He took off his seat belt and unlocked the wheels. He moved forward and hit the switch for the lift to flip down. The door opened automatically and the small motor whirred as the lift flipped down slowly. Sam waited while Jules got out and tested the ramp. When she nodded he smiled and rolled out onto the ramp. He pushed the button on the small control strip and lowered himself to the ground.

After he rolled off, Jules stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder. "Good luck."

Sam looked up at her. "Thanks." As Sam rolled up the ramp to Raf's building, Jules raised the ramp, closed the door, climbed in the van and took off down the street. He waited at the door as a woman and boy about 8 walked out and held the door for him. He smiled at the blonde little boy and said, "thanks little man."

"You're welcome mister." The blonde boy smiled and started down the stairs, his mother following after she smiled at Sam.

Sam rolled to the elevator, thinking about how much he hoped to have a blonde little boy of his own some day. And hopefully he'd have a girl too, that would be perfect. As rode to the third floor, he couldn't help but think and hope his children would be Jules' too. It wasn't the first time he thought about having kids with Jules. He thought about it a lot. He just wasn't sure how they could do it without one of them changing teams.

He pushed himself out of the elevator and down the hall to Raf's apartment door. He knocked and rolled back so that Raf could see him through the peephole. He smiled when the door opened. "Hey Raf."

"Hi Sam." Raf looked at him a little confused. He stepped back and put a hand out. "What's up?"

Sam rolled into the apartment and smiled when he heard some soft jazz in the background. He turned and looked at Raf. "I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

Raf walked forward and led him towards the living room. "No. I was just hanging out. You want anything? I have water, juice, coffee?"

"No I'm good." Sam shook his head.

"Ok." Raf sat on the couch. "No braces huh?" He hitched his chin at Sam's legs. "That a good idea?"

Sam looked at his legs and smiled. "Yeah. Trust me, I had to make several promises before Jules would let me take them off." He looked at Raf. "I'm hoping to be out of this thing very soon." He grabbed the side of the wheelchair.

"Don't push it. You don't want to end up in it for longer." Raf studied him. This wasn't why he was here. "So Sarge told you about what happened with Spike?"

Sam raised his brows. "Yes." He knew Raf would see through the idle conversation.

Rag smiled and looked to the side. "I appreciate you coming Sam, but it wasn't necessary. I'm going to go see Spike later today. I'm not one to let something fester."

"Good." Sam nodded, impressed. He looked at Raf for a minute. "He's been through so much. I'm glad you're willing to give him a chance to apologize."

Raf tipped his head to the side. "Look, I know his anger wasn't with me. I can't imagine how he must feel having to deal with all of this again. He shouldn't have to. I don't know what I'd do if I had to deal with my molester again." He looked at the floor, then back up at Sam. "We'll help him through it."

Sam was surprised by the mention of Raf being molested, but then he remembered back to Raf's first day on the team. The conversation Raf had with the woman holding a knife to the club owners throat. "We will." He nodded. "Thanks for being understanding."

"It's what families do right?" Raf smiled. He'd only been with the team for a month, but he could feel the tight bond of the group. He was glad they'd started to let him into that bond. It felt good.

"Right." Sam smiled.

##### the next day 0400 #####

Sam opened his eyes, but didn't move. He looked down without moving his head and looked at the beautiful brunette with her head on his chest. He had one arm on her back and he slowly started moving his hand up and down her back. He moved his other hand to her arm and slid it up to her hand on his heart.

Jules felt his soft touch, but kept her eyes closed. She smiled and nestled closer to him.

When the alarm went off, Sam put his arm out, turned it off and put his hand on her shoulder. He leaned down and kissed her head.

"Mmm..Morning." Jules said sleepily. She picked her head up and looked at the alarm. She groaned and put her head back down, sliding her hand along his side.

Sam sighed as she started feeling her way around his naked body. He joined her and their passion grew. A short while later they lay sated and catching their breath. Sam smiled at Jules who was lying next to him, panting. "Good way to get your motor going?" He turned on his side feeling a small stab in his knees as he did so, but not letting it show.

"Definitely." Jules smiled at him. She turned on her side and put her head in her hand, elbow bent on the bed. She put a hand to his face and felt the stubble on his cheek.

Sam kissed her hand as it neared his chin. "I'm jealous you get to go to workout."

With a wry smile Jules sat up and said, "you just got your workout." She swung her legs over the side of the bed.

Sam reached for her but missed when she bent over and grabbed her clothes from the floor. He scooted across the bed and grabbed her hand before she could walk away. "I think I need some more. I need to build my stamina."

Jules shook her head at him. "Oh you have plenty of stamina my love." She smiled. "Now, If I don't shower and get out of here soon, Ed's going to make me sorry which means I make you sorry." She stepped towards him and kissed his forehead. She quickly moved out of his reach, dropped the clothes in the hamper and headed to the bathroom.

Sam rolled to his other side, put his elbow on the bed and his head in his hand and watched her walk away. Man he loved that bum, he thought. He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He searched the floor, found his underwear and put them on. He stood and walked to the bathroom. It was already steamy and he smiled as he used the toilet. Jules loved to take really hot showers. He didn't blame her, he liked it too after a long day, it helped to work out some of the stress. He tried not to think about the fact that he'd have to go back to his apartment in a few days.

He returned to the bedroom and started stretching his legs. His doctor recommended certain exercises for him to do to help his knees. They didn't feel that that bad now. The bruises were pale yellow in a few places, but had faded otherwise. Three days ago he took his first steps without the braces. Ed was furious when he found out, but Sam was able to calm him down and convince him that it was what he needed to be able to get back to the SRU.

Sam got dressed in his sweats, t-shirt and hoodie and walked out to the kitchen. He tried the stairs yesterday, but had to stop after three steps up. It made his knees really sore. It frustrated him, but he resolved to try the steps at least two to three times a day until he could climb them all in one try.

A few minutes later, Jules joined him in the kitchen. "See you at the barn in a couple hours?"

Sam took a sip of his orange juice and nodded. "Yeah, I'm going to walk the park loop and stop at Timmy's."

"Promise you'll take it easy, no running." She looked at him meaningfully. "And stop if you need to."

Sam gave her a slightly annoyed look and said, "yes I promise."

Jules smirked and leaned into him, kissing him gently. When she pulled back she looked into his eyes. "Love you."

Sam gave her a lopsided grin. "I love you too Jules."

Jules gave him one last kiss and headed to the door. She grabbed her keys and walked out.

A few minutes later, Sam went on his first walk.

##### SRU HQ, 2 hours later #####

"Samo!" Ed smiled big when he saw Sam walk into the briefing room with their coffees. The others added their hellos and welcome backs. When Sam sat next to him, Ed put a hand on Sam's shoulder. "Glad to have you back."

Sam gave him a lopsided smile and looked at Greg.

"How're the knees?" Greg asked.

"Good. I'm good to go." Sam nodded.

"Ok. Good." Ed smiled. "So here's the deal, you are in the truck. If we need you on Sierra, we will let you know but only if there is an elevator. Got it?"

Sam nodded, glad that he may get a chance to get out of the truck. "Understood."

Ed smiled wryly at Sam. "Good." He knew that would make Sam happy. Sam had been relegated to truck duty a few times before and wasn't a fan. Any chance to be out involved in the call would make Sam feel like he was doing something more to help.

Greg smiled. It was good to be back on duty. He'd talked to Raf this morning and was glad to hear he and Spike had talked and had reconciled. He knew Raf wouldn't let the issue go unresolved. He was glad they had picked Raf, he really seemed like a perfect fit for the team.