"Hey, Braddock!"

Sam looked up from his locker and nodded in acknowledgement of the officer approaching him.

"Hey Spike. What's up." It wasn't really a question.

"I just wanted to ask you – how's Jules doing? I heard she was put on leave for a bit."

Sam removed his iPod from his locker and began to rewrap the cord of his earbuds. "She's all right. Bit of a hard time right now."

"I heard. It's because of Lew, isn't it." It wasn't a question either. "I heard she took it hard."

"You heard, did you?" Sam retorted, unable to keep the annoyance from his voice.

Why do people always find it necessary to get involved in our private business?

"Yeah, I did." Spike's voice sounded off, and Sam glanced up to see that his eyes were glittering slightly.

Nice, Sam. You're so self-involved that you forgot that Lew was Spike's best friend. Real smooth, Braddock.

"I'm sorry," Sam apologized, closing his locker and turning to face his teammate. "That was really insensitive of me." He shook his head. "Apparently I'm pretty awful at dealing with other people's feelings and stuff…"

"Having a hard time with Jules?" Spike asked as he wiped his eyes on his sleeve and Sam pretended not to notice.

"Yeah," Sam admitted. "Yeah, it's pretty rough right now. The whole understanding-girls-thing is hard enough on a good day, but right now…" He trailed off for a moment, then continued frankly, "I'm a bit lost."

"I don't think I can be of much help to you with that," Spike said. "Just – just let Jules know that I asked about her, yeah? Let her know we're thinking of her."

"I will."

"You biking home today?"

"Yeah, why?"

"We're supposed to get some thunderstorms later."

Sam glanced down at his watch. "I should make it. I'm not going far."

"See you tomorrow, then."

"You too."

Sam was lost in thought as he pedaled through the busy downtown streets to Jules's house, halting at an intersection.

I've been spending almost all of my time at her house lately. We always just assumed that I'd move in with her at some point…

The wind whipped through his hair as he crossed the street and picked up pace in the rapidly cooling air.

Maybe we should find a new place together, when this whole thing is over. If it ever ends…

White droplets of rain touched his face as he pulled up before Jules's familiar abode. Glancing appraisingly at the grey sky, Sam wheeled his bike into the garage to protect it from the coming storm. Then he took the stairs two at a time and let himself in very quietly, because according to the silver car parked out front, Dr. Ruth was still here with Jules.

He had almost reached the second floor landing when he heard Jules's raised voice from within. Curious, he softly climbed the last few steps and listened.

"I just want it to stop! Can't you just make it go away?"

She sounded agitated.

"There is no magic wand to wave, Jules. Healing is a process which takes time, and until then you'll have to accept the lot that you're dealing with. There's no second option, Jules."

He could hear Jules begin to pace – or resume pacing, more likely.

"I hate it. I hate this, this awful fear, this constant anxiety, I'm – I'm choking on it, I'm vomiting it!"

"Jules, I know it's not pleasant, but these are actually normal reactions right now. This is how your body reacts to situations that arise."

"It never used to! I never used to get so freaked out by things!"

"You've changed. You are the sum total of your experiences, Jules, and you've been through some very difficult experiences."

"Well, I hate that I can't control my own emotions!"

"You can control it, Jules. When you step away from the situation, when you breathe through the feeling – this is you taking control."

"But I don't WANT this in the first place!"

She was sounding more and more upset.

"Jules, you can't just skip your first reaction, your human reaction. You can only accept it, and then control what your second, cognizant reaction is."

Jules was silent, but Sam could still hear her pacing.

"All right, Jules, our time is up, but I want you to remember – you've got homework from me, your three-step reaction after your instinctual one kicks in. First, excuse yourself and step away from the situation that's causing the anxiety. Then I want you to breathe through it – just focus on deep, relaxing breaths. And thirdly, communicate. Go to whomever it was that was agitating you and talk it through. You're in control, Jules."

Hearing the doctor rise from her seat, Sam guiltily retreated a few steps down the stairs to appear as if he were just arriving. The door opened a moment later, and he nodded in greeting as the doctor passed him on her way down the stairs. He climbed the last few steps and entered the living room, hearing the front door close downstairs.

Jules was standing in front of the window, hugging herself tightly. Sam crossed the room and stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her securely.

They stood and watched as the light rain increased in tempo to a steady downpour.

"I didn't make dinner."

It was a confession.

"We'll order takeout."

Absolution.

The sky darkened to an inky black as the rain pounded down from the skies in silvery sheets.

For an hour - perhaps it was less, perhaps more - the two figures stood silently in front of the window and simply watched the rain.