It's time to meet the team! Yes, the rest of the SRU is finally brought in. And this chapter is dedicated to everyone who has reviewed this story!

Disclaimer: I do not own or make any profit from Flashpoint, its chartaracters, or East Side Mario's. I only own Alexis, Jess, Mark, Nate, Jayle, Nara, Mika and the random waitress who sticks her head out the door.

Enjoy!

"Spike, why did we let you talk us into this?" Jules asked, standing outside East Side Mario's.

"Because you love me?"

"Right..." Jules rolled her eyes as Lou snorted.

"Stop lying Spike, I'm a negotiator and I know when you're lying." Parker told Spike.

"Because I want you to meet someone."

Silence reigned around the group for a moment before Wordy broke the silence. "Who?"

"My girlfriend."

At this, Ed let out a groan. "Alright guys, prepare for girlfriend...what number is this, anyway?"

"I don't know Ed. I lost count a while ago." Parker replied.

"Sorry to interrupt, but your table's ready." One of the waitresses poked her head out the door.

Wordy turned to the girl. "But we haven't even stepped inside yet."

She shrugged. "It was reserved, so if you'll please come in." Sighing, Team One followed the girl inside to a dining room separate from the main room.

Sam whistled as he took a seat. "You went all out, eh Spike?"

Spike shrugged. "Not really; they remembered me from last week and so, everything is free."

The door creaked open, and everyone turned to see Alexis stepping nervously through the door. She wasn't used to being a waitress. "Hello-"

Parker cut her off. "Hey, aren't you the girl who was held hostage?"

Alexis nodded. "That's me, and thank you all again."

Sam fought back his wandering eye, taking in the pretty girl. Spike noticed this and poked him. "Hey Sam, stop staring at my girlfriend!"

The room fell silent as Spike stood up and walked over to Alexis. "Team One, this is Alexis Whalen, who I have known since she was eight and have finally realized how awesome she was."

Alexis rolled her eyes at him. "Flatterer." She murmured.

"Truth-teller." Spike replied.

"Whatever. So, what can I get you guys to drink?"

Jules raised an eyebrow. "What, no menus?"

"I've got the meal underhand. It's only going to be about five minutes. So, what are you guys drinking?" She wrote their orders down and stepped back. "I'll send someone with your drinks and bring the meal. Back in a minute."

She exited the room while Spike took his seat, everyone's eyes on him. "What?"

Sam was the first to break the silence. "She's nice." He rubbed his neck as everyone's gaze turned from Spike to Sam and back again to Spike.

"Do I want to know?" Ed asked.

"I had to walk her home after she had supper with my parents and I and things just went from there."

Wordy gave him a speculative look. "She knows your parents?"

"My mom took care of her when she first came to town, and after her grandparents died."

While Team One talked about Alexis in their private room, Alexis herself was being stubborn in the kitchen. "I can carry it!" she protested, pointing to the large bowl.

One of her fellow cooks spoke up. "No you can't! You needed us to drain it, what makes you think you can carry it over there? Let one of us carry it!"

"I can carry it, Mira! See!" As Alexis turned to the pot, she was surprised to find Mark already at the door with it. "Hey!"

Mark glared at her. "You can get the doors." He told her, refusing to back down.

She let out a breath. "Fine..." she muttered, pushing out to the main room and leading him to Team One's room. Opening the door, she called in to them. "Here comes supper, guys!"

Mark strode into the room holding the pot. "Sorry about the delay. Someone wouldn't give up."

Alexis stepped into the room, glaring at him. "I could have carried it."

Mark laughed as he walked out. "Keeping telling yourself that."

She rolled her eyes before stepping back to the door. "Well, enjoy supper. Just let us know if-"

Spike interrupted her. "What, you aren't staying?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Didn't know I was supposed to."

"Well, you are, so sit." Spike pointed to one of the spare chairs in the room.

"You aren't going to give me a chance to get out of this, are you?" she asked resignedly, already walking over to one of the spare chairs.

Spike grinned triumphantly. "Nope." He moved over so there would be room for Alexis between him and Wordy, who turned to smile at her.

"Hi, I'm Kevin Wordsworth."

Spike leaned over the table. "Just call him Wordy; that's Jules, Sam, Lou, Ed and Greg." He told her, pointing at each person in turn.

"Hello again." Alexis smiled at each of them in turn.

"So, you've know Spike since he was young, huh?" Jules asked, placing pasta on her plate.

"Yup; he was a little prankster."

Ed laughed. "I'd believe it."

Spike threw his arm around Alexis. "Oh, come on! Tell them something good about me."

Alexis raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

The room exploded into laughter while Spike hung his head. "Jee, thanks 'Lexis."

"No problem, Spikey."

Parker managed to regain himself first. "I like you, Alexis."

She smiled at Parker before turning her attention back to Spike. "Are you going to eat the pasta or not?" she asked, taking his arm off of her.

"Pasta!" Spike cheered, reaching for the bowl. Alexis sighed and shook her head. "Aren't you going to have any, 'Lexis?"

"I ate already. Promise."

"How's your shoulder?" Jules asked.

"It's holding up pretty well, and no one's letting me lift anything heavy so it's not being strained."

Ed leaned on the table. "They must care about you a lot."

She nodded, smiling. "They do, and since their really the only family I have, I deal with it."

Sam spoke next. "Only family?"

"My grandparent's died not too long ago, and they were they only family I knew of, so I'm on my own." Alexis got up. "I'm just going to check on the dessert and then I'll be back with it in a moment." She told them, backing up and out quickly. She turned back to head into the kitchen.

"Hey, what are you doing back here?" Nara popped up, hands on her hips. "You're supposed to in there." She pointed towards the room.

"I'm getting dessert, Nara. That's all. And don't worry; I won't try to carry it in."

Nara huffed before turning back to her salad. Alexis chuckled as she walked over to the desserts section. "Hey, which one is for the private room?"

Nate turned around to point at the large cake on rolling table. "The one that says 'Thank you!' on it."

"Could you have made a bigger cake?"

"Yes."

She shook her head. "You have no sense of humour, Nate." She told him before wheeling it out. As she reached the door to the private room, she realized that she couldn't open it with the cake. Sighing, she called through the door. "Hey, I got dessert. Could someone open the door for me?"

Spike stood up and opened the door, letting out a whistle as he saw the cake. "They really like us, don't they?" he asked as he stood aside so she could get through.

"Apparently. Could you get someone to help you get it on the table?" Alexis said, grabbing the stack of plates and the knife while Sam helped Spike set the cake on the table. "Thanks." She cut out the first piece and set it on the table, where a fight broke out between the guys over who got the piece. Jules reached in and stole in from them, laughing. After all the pieces had cut and served, Alexis sat down with her piece.

"Hey Alexis, why did you move to Toronto?" Lou asked.

Alexis ducked her head. "My mom wanted me away from my dad because he...beat me. She went back to get things settled after leaving me with my grandparents and he shot her. Then he stabbed himself to death." Spike threw an arm around her, pulling her closer.

Everyone on the team paused what they were doing to stare at Alexis for a moment. "Sorry" Lou murmured, feeling bad. "I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

Alexis raised her head, putting on a brave smile. "It's not your fault; you didn't know." She lowered her voice to speak to Spike. "Thanks Spike."

"No problem." He whispered back, loosening his grip on her.

"So..." Sam sought for a lighter topic. "Seen any good movies lately?" Sam winced at the bad and obvious topic change.

"We saw Paul Blart: Mall Cop a few weeks ago; it was funny." Spike told him, relieved at the topic change.

"Shel and I took the kids to see Hotel for Dogs on the weekend. They loved it." Wordy spoke up.

"Come on, Wordy. Hotel for Dogs? You really can't say 'no' to them, can you?" Ed teased.

Alexis smiled and simply listened to the Team banter with each other, realizing quickly that they were a family, much like her crew was. Spike leaned down to whisper in her ear as he shifted to wrap her in his arms. "You alright?"

"I'm fine, Spikey. Thanks. You guys are really tight, huh?"

"Yup, just like a family."

She smiled at him, feeling quite content and safe in his arms.

Around 9 o'clock, people started to drift home, and by 9:20, only Spike was left. "You want me to hang around?" he asked, standing with Alexis outside the kitchen.

"Sure, it'll give my friends time to talk to you." With that settled, they stepped into the kitchen where they were swarmed immediately by the girls. "Spike, meet Mika, Nara, Jayle, and Jess. Everyone, Spike." She pointed to each one of the girls in turn.

"Hey everybody." Spike said, smiling.

Jess stepped up first. "You better not hurt our Alexis! Or we'll get you!" she raised a cleaver threateningly.

Jayle snorted from her spot near the back of the group. "Leave alone, sis. He's not stupid."

Spike stepped back behind Alexis. "Whoa...scary woman."

Mika laughed. "Who, Jess? She couldn't hurt a fly."

Nara joined Mika in calming Spike down. "Don't worry too much; you wouldn't hurt Alexis, right?"

"Right." Spike nodded rapidly while Alexis laughed.

"Everyone has finished interrogating him for now? I'd like to get back to work."

"We'll be back!" Nara told them cheerfully.

"They always like that?" Spike asked, as she washed her hands.

"Pretty much. It's nice though; they really helped take care of me when my grandparents died." She smiled at him while she started to cook. "You want to help me out?"

"Sure, what do you need?"

"Those pots over there, please." She pointed at them before turning back to her work. Spike nodded and backed over to them.

"Hey."

Spike turned to find the same guy who had brought in the pasta. "Hey."

Alexis turned to see Spike with Mark. "Spike, meet Mark; he's everybody's big brother." She called out.

"Thanks for helping Alexis out earlier. I don't want her to strain herself." Spike told him, offering his hand to the larger man.

Mark smiled and shook Spike's hand. "No problem. She tends to overwork herself. Keep her safe, ok?"

"Will do." Spike told him as he grabbed the pots and walked back to Alexis. "Here you go."

"Thanks." She smiled briefly at him before going back to work.

Around 11 o'clock, Spike leaned over to her. "Its closing time, so what now?"

"We clean." She told him, turning only to find Mark standing behind her.

"We'll clean. You go home; it's your first day back, so take it easy."

Alexis opened her mouth to argue, but then thought better of it as she stifled a yawn. "Alright, thanks guys. I'll see you tomorrow." She told them, letting Spike lead her away. "Just let me grab my coat." She pulled him toward a small room near the back doors. She grabbed her coat and slipped it on, replacing her hand in Spike's. "Home?" she asked as he lead her towards the SUV.

"Of course." He told her, starting the SUV.

"What did you think of my crew?"

"Seemed nice. What about my Team?"

"It's like a big family. Very cozy."

"Glad you liked them. I think they liked you. I expect to be teased now, you know."

"Glad to know that I won't be alone in the teasing."

Spike laughed as he drove with an easy smile on his face. The night had gone well, and he was fairly sure everyone liked Alexis. She was a fairly easy person to like. And Alexis's friends seemed interesting enough.

Alexis was thinking on the night too, having found Spike's Team to be a hilarious. And he hadn't been scared off by Jess or anyone else, like most people were.

When Alexis looked up, they were at her house. "Thanks Spike. It was nice to meet your Team."

"It was nice to meet your cooks. I'll pop by soon, ok?" He leaned forward to give her a short kiss.

She smiled as she pulled back. "I'll be waiting." She promised, hopping out of the SUV. She waved before stepping inside her house.