Warning: I don't have a beta-reader (yeah that hasn't changed either) and as English is not my main language I'm bound to make mistakes. I hope it's not too bad and you'll bear with me.

If you don't like, don't read. Flames will probably be ignored; constructive critics and other reviews are always very welcome. Read and enjoy.

This is the result of a discussion with my friend Sarah. We like to exchange ideas on STRIS and after I bought myself a Eeyore plush toy a few weeks ago, this fic idea came to my mind. It's rather silly and I hope you will like it.

Disclaimer: Don't own, just playing around so don't sue… Belongs to CBS Studios, Sony Pictures Television and many others.

Chris readjusted the strap of her backpack as she walked quickly towards the locker room. She was running a little late and she cordially hated that. Her eyes fell on the clock in the hallway, and she hastened the pace. She still felt out of sorts after having had a fitful night's sleep, plagued by a recurring nightmare that had left her unsettled and exhausted. Finally arriving at her destination, she took a deep breath and opened resolutely the door. Her eyes anxiously scanned the room and its occupants, and she couldn't help a sigh of relief as she opened her locker.

"Hey Chris, you're a little late today. Any crazy party you attended, and you forgot to invite us to?" Luca wondered with a slightly teasing tone. When his jest was only met with silence, he turned curious eyes her way and their eyes held for a moment. He immediately sobered up when he saw her haunted look. "What happened? Is something wrong?"

"I just had a bad night, is all." She managed with a grimace, quickly dismissing his worry. The last thing she wanted right now was a flow of questions and everyone's attention on her. "Nothing that spending the day at the shooting range with the recruits won't cure. Don't worry."

She voluntarily ignored the curious glances the others were sending her way as she grabbed the top she wanted to change into. She turned towards Deac addressing him quickly as she changed.

"Go ahead, no need for the recruits to wait for the both of us."

"Are you sure?" He wondered as his gaze roamed worriedly over her features and she nodded forcefully, feeling a little uncomfortable. "I can wait."

"No please go ahead."

After one last glance her way, Deac finally nodded before leaving hastily. She sighed a little louder than she would have liked probably earning other worried looks in the process. She stayed focused on the task, took her shoes out of her locker and quickly changed into the black no-nonsense ones. She watched as Tan finally left the room with a handwave rushing after Luca as they were supposed to spend the day working together on Black Betty.

"Are you okay?" Street asked with a worried voice. He had lingered behind visibly taking more time to get ready than necessary just to spend a few moments alone with her. Their eyes met and for the first time this morning she shook her head. "Did something happen?"

"No…" She looked at him intently, feeling suddenly a little chocked up.

"Chris…" He pushed clearly not believing her.

"I swear it's nothing." She looked at her watch and shook her head. "You should go, you're going to be late for armory duty."

"And who would want to miss only a second of that?" He tried to joke with his usual grin. "Luca has been pestering me to watch the game tonight with him, but I can come over to your place if you want. So that we can talk about what is bothering you… I mean..."

"Yeah, I'd like that." She promptly confirmed with a faint smile.

The day passed rather uneventfully, and quite honestly she was quite happy about it. No operations had needed their presence in the city, and they had stayed busy at HQ working with the cadets. This year's recruits proved to be a rather interesting group with for the first time in years three women who seemed more eager than ever to make it to the end.

To make up for being late, she had offered to Deac to stay behind to make sure the range would be ready the following day. She had considered it was the least she could do for this morning. The older man had hesitated a moment, but she had pushed him out with a laugh, urging him to go home to his family and he had finally relented with a glad smile. Once she was happy that the place was organized the way she liked, she gave a happy sigh. She entered the deserted locker room and quickly changed in her everyday clothes. She didn't linger as she didn't feel like taking a shower at HQ. Tonight, she wanted to indulge in a nice, scented bath and she already knew what fragrance would best soothe her nerves.

She was walking to her Jeep when her phone pinged, and she smiled when she saw Street's name appearing on the display. She checked the text and hummed happily after she read, he would be at her place in thirty minutes. That would give her enough time to get home before he arrived. They had discreetly exchanged messages throughout the day and if Deac had noticed her happy mood after each message he hadn't commented.

She fidgeted nervously with her keys when she arrived. Coming back home felt eerie after the restless night she had experienced here. It almost felt like the tension she had managed to forget during the day at work was back full force now that she was once more in her familiar environment. Twice she had experienced the same haunting nightmare that had left her bereft and unable to sleep more before the early hours of the morning. It had taken her an incredibly long moment to shake away the remnants of that dream and she had left her apartment way too late to be on time for work.

She startled when she heard the knock on her door, and as she turned around, she saw it open on a cautiously smiling Street. In a few steps she was in his arms, and she breathed in his scent with her eyes closed. He closed his arms around her, holding her in silence and she fought for control over her emotions. He pressed a kiss on her hair, and she took a deep breath before pushing slightly away so that she could meet his eyes. Street ran light fingers over her cheek and smiled at her.

"Are you going to tell me what happened, or do I have it to pry it out of you?" He only half-jokingly wondered. "I have been worrying the whole day about you."

"How long can you stay before Luca is going to wonder where you are at?"

"Chris, answer me!" He pushed and she sighed, threading her fingers with his while she avoided his gaze.

"Nothing happened. I'm just being completely silly." Looking up she saw his doubtful look and she snorted. "I really only had a bad night… here in bed." She added quickly when she saw his frown. "It's just I had one of these recurring dreams… well nightmares would be a better word I suppose."

He hugged her once more and carefully moved them towards the living room. Once there they both sat down on the couch, and she cuddled against him.

"Okay a nightmare." He finally said as he ran his hand soothingly over her back. "Do you want to elaborate? You might feel better once you told someone."

"We were in a high bay warehouse, chasing after some goons… I don't remember exactly…" She recollected. "We parted as usual, each group going after another suspect and suddenly you were up there on the highest shelves, and you fell…"

"I fell… Okay." He finally managed after a moment of hesitation. "Hmm I suppose I… huh…"

"Yeah, you were… I startled awake and… After a while I managed to fall asleep again." She continued, pushing her head on his shoulder and he absentmindedly hugged her closer to his body. "And then it started again… almost the same dream we were in a warehouse, we were chasing them, we got separated and suddenly you were on those high shelves, and you fell again. I wanted to scream but no sound came out…"

"Well obviously it was a dream because you woke up in your bed and you were not in a warehouse with me bleeding on the concrete."

"Don't mock me." She slapped lightly her hand against his chest, and he held onto it. "It was terrifying. I couldn't bring myself to fall asleep again. I just knew… I knew I would have the same dream again. And I just couldn't stomach it a third time. I fell asleep in the early hours after spending most of the night awake and then I struggled out of bed because I was so exhausted."

"Yeah, I can imagine that." He pressed a kiss against the top of her head. "Any idea what triggered that dream?"

"I wish I knew." She answered dejectedly. "I can only think of a discussion with Tan and Deac about our greatest fears… and you probably getting stabbed by that gang member a couple of weeks ago…"

"It was a graze." He reminded her but still he let his fingers massage her nape in a soothing manner. "Definitely nothing life threatening. You know what you need? Well besides me of course… you need a soft and cuddly stuffed animal. Don't you have that?"

"What? I don't see how that could be of any help." She wondered gloomingly.

"Well, it's comforting, and it helps relieve stress." He explained calmly. "It's true that I didn't see one in your room."

"No, my mom didn't like them. She always said they were dust traps and way too expensive." She recalled morosely. "My uncle Sarzo and aunt Helena gifted me a plush toy on one of my birthdays and she hated it on sight. I didn't keep it long and no one ever gave me one afterwards. After she died, I was too old, and I guess she had convinced me it was silly… did you have one?"

"I did… several in fact." He pressed his cheek against the top of her head and sighed heavily. "When my mom killed my father… let's say you don't really get to take your stuff with you. I just grabbed my favorite teddy bear it was small enough to hide in my suitcase. It was reassuring to have it with me going to a strange place where I knew no one. I was most definitely too old to treasure a stuff toy."

"What happened to it? Do you still have it?" She wondered after he stayed silent.

"No, one of the eldest boys in my first foster home found it after a few weeks in my stuff and he ripped to pieces for fun. He wanted to teach me a lesson I guess." The emotion was palpable in his voice and Chris cuddled closer to comfort him. "I loved that stupid toy."

"I'm sorry that happened to you." She whispered gently.

"Yeah, and I'm sorry your mom never let you have a stuffed animal, it's not only extremely cute, but it can also be a real comfort when you are feeling down."

"I suppose I would have loved something to cuddle last night." She pondered. "I'm not sure how efficient it would have been, but I certainly would have felt less lonely in my bed."

"Of course, you could have called me." He tenderly caressed her hand still resting on his chest.

"It was 2:00 am, there was no point to have both of us awake at that hour. It was bad enough I couldn't sleep."

"If you had called, we would have talked a little or a lot and after that you would have felt better and I'm sure you would have fallen asleep." He explained. "You should have called."

"I don't know…" She said, sounding skeptical.

"Then you need a stuffed toy." He heralded. "I'll take care of that."

"What?" She chuckled. "And what do you have in mind?"

"You'll see I'm not saying more." He checked the clock on the shelves in front of them. "I need to go back to the house, I said I needed to run some errands before going home. But Luca is probably already waiting for me. Do you feel like some pizza with your favorite guys?"

"Oh no, rain check. I'm too exhausted to go out of the apartment and I think Luca would be too much for me to handle tonight."

"Are you feeling better?" He looked at her lovingly, trying to assess her mood.

"Yeah, your cuddles are magical." He smiled and kissed her slowly, the touch of his lips staying featherlight. "Now I'm going to make myself a grilled cheese sandwich and then I'll have a nice hot bath. I'm sure I'll fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow."

"Okay I'll go then. Promise me you will call if you feel like talking. I don't want to hear the nonsense again that it was too late." He stood up and helped her to her feet.

They walked slowly towards the door and stopped once there. She placed her hands on his shoulders while he hugged her waist.

"When will you be able to spend the night?" She tilted her head and he smiled down at her.

"Luca is spending the weekend at friends in San Diego. So, if you want me to come over, we can arrange something."

"Hmm that sounds awfully tempting. When is he leaving?" She asked eagerly and he grinned.

"Only in the morning I'm afraid." He grimaced a little. "There's something he needs to finish with Black Betty, don't ask me what. He said he would be too tired to drive on Friday night, but I suppose I could find an excuse to escape…"

"That you could. Isn't he getting suspicious yet?" She wondered cheekily. "Are you going to use the Long Beach excuse again?"

"Probably." He chuckled. "You know I still do have friends there. And I meet with them from time to time."

"Of course, you do." She pressed her body against his. "And now you're going to give a real kiss and you'll go home and watch football with Luca, thinking about me."

He laughed at her mischievous tone. One of her hands went to his nape and she pulled his head down. When she ran her tongue on his bottom lip, he groaned as he pulled her closer to him. His mouth finally took hers. She whimpered against his lips and wound her arms tighter around his neck as she deepened the kiss. After a long moment he pushed her gently away and stared at the woman in front of him.

"I really, really need to leave and you're making it very hard…" He said, regret evident in his voice.

"Obviously not hard enough."

"Tease."

They both chuckled and he gave her a last peck before reaching for the door. With one last wink he was gone, and she sighed longingly.

Chris sighed as she sat down heavily on her couch. The day had been one of those crazy ones when they had gone from one location to another with DEA agents to catch a drug smuggling cartel. They had all been exhausted when they had finally reached HQ. She had wanted to talk to Street to convinced him to come over, but he had left the locker room in a hurry without so much as giving a last glance. She looked down at her phone gloomily. She had texted him almost half an hour earlier and he had still to answer her. She was about to call him when she heard knocking and saw him poke his head around the door.

"Are you there?"

"What? Of course, I'm there." She stood up and walked towards him with a huge grin. "I could wonder where you were. You completely ignored me for the last hour."

"I had to fetch something." He said mysteriously as he entered the room hiding something behind his back.

"Hmm you brought me something." She asked eager to discover what it was.

"I promised I would take care of something, and I did." He answered mysteriously.

In a swift movement he revealed a wrapped gift and proudly presented it to Chris. She grinned and excitedly grabbed the package to remove the glitzy paper. She opened the box and looked at the soft plush dog seemingly looking up at her.

"That's for children." She frowned as she took it out and pressed it against her chest. It felt so soft and fuzzy that she couldn't resist pressing her cheek against the little dog's head. A whiff of lavender reached her nostrils and she looked up at Street. "I wasn't really expecting that."

"Well, I said I was going to bring a stuffed animal." He explained matter-of-factly. "I thought a dog was very appropriate. And this one is extremely cute don't you think?"

"Hmm, the long ears are cute. And it's very soft… lots of details." She noted as she studied its paws and cute face. "What in its tummy? A pouch?"

"Those are ceramic beads with a lavender aroma. You can either put it in the microwave or chill it in the fridge. That way it will always be at the right temperature." He explained. "It's a therapy dog to bring comfort in moments of distress. Don't look at the name on the box, just choose one that you like."

He smiled at her as her eyes traveled from him to the plush dog. She pouted and suddenly removed the pouch, placing it on the table. She took a few steps to stand in front of him. Without warning she suddenly rubbed it resolutely on him and he took a step backwards.

"What are you doing?" He chuckled the surprise evident in his voice.

"Well, you said Flash is here for me to cuddle when you're not around." She explained sweetly and he nodded very amused. "If he's your replacement he needs to smell like you, I couldn't care less about lavender."

"Okay… and how do you want to achieve that?" He took the stuffed dog from her roaming hands, and he cuddled it.

"Well, that's a good start." She said satisfied. "Are you staying over for the night or is Luca expecting you back?"

"It seems I'm needed here." He simply said looking down at the lifelike dog.

"Of course, you are. Let Luca wonder where you have gone." She decided happily. "Let's order in and cuddle on the couch."

"Yeah let's." He pressed a kiss against her temple and chuckled happily.