A/N: My first thought with this prompt was to write something about "facing the music" but I felt like I'd been writing a lot of heavier fills recently and wanted something different. I think I succeeded.

Day 11 | Julia and Spencer, side of Tala/Julia | Rated: K+

Music

There was nothing worse than waking up because you had to pee. Nothing would convince Julia otherwise as she reluctantly slipped out from under Tala's covers to tiptoe to the bathroom.

At least she didn't have to worry about waking him. He was a notoriously light sleeper and she knew he woke up every time she so much as rolled over at night. But, since he wasn't in bed and it was still pitch black outside, that meant it was probably between five and six and he was out training with Bryan.

She didn't want to actually check the clock in case she was wrong. She needed more shuteye than the Blitzkrieg Boys did to be fully functioning and would rather be blissfully unaware if it was later than she thought.

The cold bathroom tile sapped any warmth from her body and she was shivering by the time she headed back down the hallway. She had every intention of burrowing under the covers for another four hours at least, when she heard muffled music coming from the kitchen.

If that was Tala back, maybe she could convince him to share some body heat. Bryan would laugh, but she was too cold to care.

Quietly, she padded out into the apartment's tiny living area.

She stopped short when she saw it was definitely not Tala shuffling around in the kitchen.

Spencer turned around. Of course he'd heard her. It didn't matter that she'd been doing her level best to walk without putting either foot entirely on the floor because Russia was freezing; their entire team was impossible to sneak up on, regardless.

"You're up early," Spencer observed. He glanced down at her arms hugging her body and Julia became hyper aware of the fact that she was wearing one of Tala's thermal shirts and a pair of his underwear as pajamas. She hadn't exactly been planning to spend the night.

"Had to use the restroom," she explained, feeling her cheeks heating up despite the cold. "I heard the music and thought Tala might be back."

"They left about half an hour ago," Spencer said, temporarily abandoning his post to fetch her a blanket from the couch. Instead of simply offering it to her, he wrapped it around her shoulders like a cloak. "Better?"

Julia nodded, pulling the blanket tight around herself. It was long enough to drag on the floor behind her and felt like it was made of wool. She shivered again, this time from her body adjusting to the temperature change.

"Thank you."

It was Spencer's turn to nod. "If I knew you were here, I would've turned the heat up last night." There was an apologetic note in his voice as he went to do just that.

"You don't have to," she said, but he waved her off.

"I usually do."

On his way back to the kitchen, he pulled a dining chair out and gestured for her to sit down. She sank into it, still processing the fact that he'd been taking special care to make her comfortable during her visits without ever saying a word about it. Tala hadn't even mentioned it.

"Thank you," she said again, feeling like a broken record.

"Don't mention it." Spencer approached her again to set a mug of coffee down in front of her. Julia could tell from the smell that it was made exactly how she liked it. "Most people aren't used to the weather here when they visit. Can't tell you how many complaints we heard when the Championships stopped here."

Julia vividly remembered dreaming of sunny Spain pretty vocally at the time and took a sip of her – yes, perfect – coffee to hide her second blush of the morning.

The corner of Spencer's lips twitched up and she got the distinct impression he'd been poking fun at her. Somehow it made her feel more at ease than embarrassed.

"I was just starting breakfast," he said as he added different amounts of sugar and cream to three more mugs and set them aside for later. "You can stay, if you want."

"Sure." She pulled her feet up onto the chair with her, tucking her knees against her chest and resting her coffee on them. Sitting this way she could probably wrap the blanket twice around her if she wanted, but the warm drink was already making her feel better. "What are you making?"

"Ian requested pancakes," he answered, measuring out ingredients from memory as far as she could tell.

"Is he up, too?"

Spencer chuckled and shook his head. "He asked last night – he'll sleep all morning if we let him."

"I don't blame him." That had been Julia's intention before she'd wound up here, having her first conversation longer than two sentences with Spencer. "The only reason I've ever been up this early was to scare Raul awake before the circus."

"We leave that to Bryan around here," Spencer said with another rumbling laugh. It was a warm sound for such a cold morning and Julia smiled to herself.

Over the course of her relationship with Tala, she'd learned a lot of things about his friends, most of them indirectly. Either she was making inferences from the way he spoke about them or she was observing the things they did, without thinking, to look out for one another.

Spencer had always struck her as a tough, silent type, but knowing he'd been the one to change Tala's bandages when he was injured and watching him pouring pancake batter out into a skillet, humming quietly along to classical music on the radio, gave her another impression entirely.

She took a sip from her mug.

"Sounds like an efficient morning routine," she said with a smirk.

"He gets the job done," Spencer confirmed, now flipping the pancakes. "Though, if you're going to be staying more often, I'll make sure Tala's in charge of your wake up call. For your sake." He shot her an amused glance over his shoulder, definitely joking with her this time. Then he asked a question that surprised her a little, because it was downright nosy.

"Are you going to be staying more often?"

Julia blinked at him. "Would that be okay?" She tried keeping her tone neutral, naturally inclined to put a challenging lilt on the question. The Blitzkrieg Boys were private, she reminded herself. It wouldn't be a shock if they weren't comfortable with her presence, especially unexpectedly. "I can always get a hotel room."

Spencer didn't answer right away. Instead, he plated the first batch of pancakes and fetched some things from the fridge. To Julia's surprise, he brought the plate to the table and set it down in front of her, then did the same with a selection of toppings, motioning for her to help herself. He even brought the coffee pot to refill her drink, wordlessly holding his hand out until she handed over her mug.

When he finally answered, it wasn't at all what she'd been expecting.

"We're happy if Tala's happy. We've been through too much not to be," he said as he doctored up her fresh cup of coffee. He handed it back when he was done, earnest blue-gray eyes meeting hers. "You're welcome to stay. Just let me know so I can adjust the thermostat."

Julia was momentarily speechless, something that didn't happen to her often. She figured having an official welcome into the Blitzkrieg Boys' space would do that to most people. And it was the first time any of them, besides Tala, had been so forthcoming with admitting that their past affected them. In the end, she simply nodded at Spencer and took a sip of coffee.

He nodded back and turned his attention to the stove.

It wasn't ten minutes later that Tala and Bryan returned, both of them looking windblown and bringing the smell of cold air in with them.

"Julia?" Tala stared at her while he kicked off his boots and hung his coat. "You're up early."

"Ran into Spencer on my way back from the bathroom," she explained as he took the seat beside her. She watched him notice the blanket, the coffee, and the breakfast; he didn't look surprised. "We got to talking and I never made it back to bed."

"Talking about what?"

"About how you never told me she was here," Spencer interjected, setting a plate of pancakes down in front of Tala, too.

"Here comes the lecture." Bryan appeared across the table and stole a pancake off of Tala's plate. He checked Spencer's progress with a glance, dodged a retaliatory blow from Tala, and said, "I'll go wake Ian." There was an eager, predatory gleam in his eyes as he disappeared down the hallway, pancake in hand.

Spencer set the table with the mugs he'd put aside earlier – now topped off with coffee – and turned to Tala. "You know I like to turn the heat up for her."

"It was late," Tala argued.

"That's no excuse not to leave a note or send a text."

"He has a point, you know," Julia teased, shifting in her seat so she was angled toward Tala. From the corner of her eye she could see Spencer back at the stove, posture stiff, like he was trying to avoid turning around so they could have some privacy.

Tala sighed and leaned over for a quick kiss. His lips were surprisingly soft for having spent the morning in the elements, his hand cool on Julia's cheek. "I'm sorry," he mumbled when they pulled apart.

"It's really okay," she said, taking his hand and tugging it into the warmth of her blanket.

Tala's brow furrowed in thought, but whatever he was going to say next was drowned out by a loud slam. Julia jumped as the sounds of Ian shouting in Russian and Bryan cackling echoed from down the hall. Tala rolled his eyes and Spencer gave a long-suffering sigh while setting the final two plates of pancakes on the table.

As he marched down the hallway to make sure everyone was in one piece, Julia took a bite of her pancakes and thought that they would all be a little lost without him.

A/N: I don't consider any of these characters my strong suit, but I actually like how this turned out. I can see Spencer being the member of the team who nominates himself as caretaker. Not that they don't all play a role, he just gives me that vibe. And I love the idea of him welcoming Julia (or anyone the boys date) into the circle and looking out for them, too.

Thanks for reading! :)