A/N: Thank you, everyone, for all the love in reviews! This is for all of you who wanted another STRIS story from me! It's going to be a compilation of ficlets/one-shots about our couple through the seasons (and beyond? since Chris leaves in S5). This chapter is a short one, takes places just after Source, in Season 1, when Chris nearly dies from poison gas. I don't own anything - just love writing about STRIS!

I almost died today.

Of course, any day on SWAT there is a higher-than-average risk of being shot at and possibly blown up by a bomb.

But today, I truly was less than sixty seconds away from taking my last breath.

I honestly didn't think when I saw that pen being aimed at Irina's face – we're trained not to think, but to act. My job was to protect Irina, so I did.

I grabbed the pen while pushing Irina out of the way, and in the process, I inhaled the poison gas that was meant for her. I saved her life while I fell gasping to the floor, everything around me going dark.

I don't remember much of the next several minutes beside trying to breathe and focus on the sound of Hondo's voice. I do remember hearing the desperation in his voice, the fear, and I wanted to reassure him, but it was taking all of my energy just to keep breathing – something that usually happened without effort but now I was afraid that if I stopped focusing on it, my lungs would no longer work.

"Take my hand, Chris, and you squeeze it as hard as you can!" Hondo shouted in my ear.

Hand? I can't feel my hand – I can't feel –

The darkness was closing around me, though I could still hear Hondo yelling at me, but he sounded so far away now. Street's voice joined our boss', and I felt regret that I would no longer be there for my friend. He needed me. He thought that he had things handled with his mother getting out of prison and coming to live with him, but he was so naïve. That woman was going to turn his life upside down, and inside out.

Suddenly there was a sharp poke in my chest and then finally, I was able to take a deep breath in and out. I opened my eyes to see my team, my family looking down on me.

"There she is," Hondo breathed the words out, rubbing my shoulder. "There she is."

My eyes moved over Hondo, Tan, Luca, and Deacon – but I rested them on Street's face. "You good?" he asked me, his dimples flashing in his pale face. "Stupid question, sorry."

I managed a strained smile. "Well, I'm still here-"

"Don't do that to us, Chris!" Luca cried.

Deacon shook his head. "We should have left the med kit here with you-"

"Hey now- there was no way of knowing that we'd need it." Hondo clapped a hand on the man's shoulder. "And you got here in time."

"Barely."

"Guys," I croaked, stopping to clear my throat. "I'm OK."

An ambulance pulled up to the curb, sirens blaring and lights flashing.

Tan grinned. "Here's your ride."

I groaned. "Do I have to?"

Hondo nodded. "Yeah, you have to – don't make me order you-"

"I'll go with her, boss," Street volunteered.

I rolled my eyes. "I can take care of myself."

"Someone's going with you, Chris. If not Street, then-"

I set my teeth as the EMTs knelt beside me and began to take my vitals. "Fine-"

Street fist pumped the air, and I sighed in defeat.

I awoke to strong sunlight streaming in my hospital room and the sight of Street dozing in a chair pulled close to my bed.

"Have you been here all night?" I whispered as his eyes fluttered open and settled on my face.

"Well, good morning to you too," he quipped, stifling a yawn. "Yeah, I – just wanted to wait until you woke up before heading out-"

"I'm fine-"

He held up a hand. "I know, Chris. You're always fine – but can you accept that the rest of us might not be?"

I frowned and he laughed at my confusion, standing up and taking a seat on the end of my bed.

"You really don't see it, do you?"

"See what?"

"How important you are to all of us? Chris, you were a minute away from dying last night-"

I waved his words away. "I wasn't that close-"

"Yeah, you were. Last night, I heard Hondo tell Deacon that he needed to get there in eight minutes, or you'd be gone. Deacon gave you that shot at seven minutes and counting. The doctor who admitted you for observation? He told me that shot saved your life – and that it was almost too late."

"Street, I didn't die –"

He nodded slowly. "I know – but you gave us all quite the scare, Chris Alonso. Forgive me if I wanted to stay the night and watch over my best friend."

"You'll regret that decision when you're dragging at HQ later today."

His dimples flashed at me. "You're just jealous because you want to go in to work with me-"

"Who says I won't be in later?"

"Not me. I'm sure you'll bribe your way out of here in no time-" he groaned as the alert on his phone went off. "Duty calls. See you later?"

He stood up and leaned down for a hug, but before he got too close and before I could overthink it, I tilted my face up and placed a feather light kiss on his dimpled cheek.

He pulled back, shock written across his face. "What was that for?"

I shrugged. "For staying – for being here when I woke up. And for not calling Uncle Sarzo and Aunt Helena-"

"Christina!"

My mouth fell open as my aunt and uncle entered the room in a rush, enveloping me in their arms, talking over each other and petting my hair. I glared at Street over their shoulders, but he was already backing out the door, a ridiculous grin on his face.

You'll pay for this, Street.

A/N: I loved them from the beginning, and this was one of my favorite early episodes. I can still remember watching it and not breathing myself, thinking, "No, not Chris! Please don't die!" Drop me a line - reviews are LOVE!