Title: 500 Minutes
Chapter 8 – Picking up the Pieces

A/N: First off a huge THANK YOU to Maryam, rgs38, mollyshuman, reidlover72, LaneIA, Alex-Kreklo, nimue73, sam spade-fitzgerald, reidequalslover, accounting professional, iheartlife, AuntMingy, Ginger, Prinzessin, Karma, Sharon, Warrior-chic, fanfictionfan63, (Sorry if I forgot anyone - I only went back a few chaps) that so faithfully read and reviewed my first multi-chap Spike story, certainly is not the last. I am glad that you liked all even chapters before this and hope you like this one just as much.

"I only turned my back for about ten minutes. Didn't want to seem like I was hovering by the door," Wordy sighs. "But before anyone panics, I think I know where he went," Wordy's voice breaks the mounting silence.

"Where?"

"Certainly not home," Sam mentions in truth.

"Not to see Annabelle's son I hope," Ed ponders.

"I doubt he'd do that," Greg states with some uncertainty in his tone.

"Where?" Sam asks Wordy.

"Just let me check something before we start to panic," Wordy tells Ed, Greg and Sam as he turns around to his locker and then pulls out his jacket.

"Want come company?" Ed inquires in a gentle tone.

"Nope, I've got this one. But I might need some help after I find him."

"Alright, we'll wait for your call," Greg nods, giving Wordy a sympathetic gaze.

Wordy grabs Spike's jacket from his locker and then heads for the exit doors, his mind in a state of worry but his heart telling him that in a tense situation like this were was only one place that he could go, express himself and not be judged.

XXXXXXXX

"Hey buddy…it's me," Spike starts with a heavy sigh, closing his eyes briefly as he tries to get the pounding between his temples to stop. "You would not believe today…okay let me start from the beginning."

"There was this girl. She was hot," Spike pauses with a small smirk. "Wordy…he um…well he was with me at the bar, at Lou's and she came up to us - well to me. I…yeah I was a bit drunk," he chuckles nervously. "You woulda liked her, dark red hair, blue-grey eyes, killer body. But um…well she was married."

"Okay yeah I know I can hear you already getting after me," Spike leans back a little and offers a small frown. "Course with you there with me instead of Wordy it might…yeah whatever right?"

Spike takes a deep breath as he feels his heart rate starting to increase and his stomach tighten. It was cold, dark, the sky threatening to rain; he was tired, hungry, his whole body aches but going home was the last thing he wants. Just needed to talk.

"Okay so this girl…man and what she did in bed…she uh…yeah she was pretty great. But here's the thing she was married and her and her psycho husband kidnapped me…hey get this buddy…they wanted me to hack into the Federal Reserve."

Spike's lips offer a small chuckle the same time his stomach offers a small grumble.

"Yeah I'm hungry…guess I should get home but…well you know what that's like after a hard days work," he sighs as he leans forward and places his head in his hands. "Not exactly a place to unwind you know? Okay back to my story..."

"This girl Chloe...Annabelle...she died…well they both died and she…she had a kid. I mean the kid was the husband's collateral so it's a good thing he's gone but um…well he has no family now and that kinda sucks. He's with his aunt in Seattle but…yeah messed up right? I sure know how to attract em."

"Her life story was kinda similar to mine so I had thought that…well it seemed like…yeah I know too perfect and that always means too good to be true."

A slight sound distracts Spike's personal confession, prompting him to look around, slightly squinting into the darkness around him before he gets his mind back on track.

"I guess I just wanted this so badly you know? No more having to come home and face more tension than I do on the job. See you had it lucky…oh I know I coulda moved out anytime…and probably still can but um…well you know why I don't. I wonder if the team thinks less of me?"

Spike pauses for a few seconds before he slightly cocks his head to the right and speaks again. "Wordy? Does the team think that?"

"Nope…never," Wordy answers softly as he slowly steps out from the shadows and walks toward Spike, dropping to his knees beside his friend handing him his jacket.

"How long um…were you listening?" Spike queries as he pulls his jacket over his slightly shivering frame.

"Not long. Hey Lew," Wordy nods to the solemn tombstone that marked their friends final resting place.

"How'd you know I'd be here?" Spike asks, looking away.

"You needed a friend who could just listen right? S'ides I tracked you here one time before."

"When?"

"Well I never said anything until now," Wordy assures him with a small smile.

"Just didn't want to be judged or something," Spike answers with a frown as he looks down at his fingers as they fiddle with a small stone.

"Do you really think that of the team?"

"Wordy I slept with a married woman," Spike groans as he slumps backward onto the grass, staring up into the inky black sky. Wordy follows suit and soon both were looking up at the darkened sky.

"You didn't know and can't be faulted for that. I didn't and if I did and told you and you still went ahead then you'd have a real reason to worry."

"I wanted her to be it."

"I know you did and I wanted that for you. Her story…yeah she seemed…"

"To good to be true?" Spike finishes with an exasperated sigh.

"And most things that are too good to be true usually are."

"What about you and Shelly? You seem perfect?"

"Marriage is hard work Spike and neither of us are perfect. Shelly has her faults just as I do, gosh I know we drive each other more than crazy at times and have, much like Ed and Sophie, neared the breaking point. Ours just didn't tempt fate as Ed's did. But they recovered and so did we. You make it work and realize at the end of the day, despite that, that you want to be with them no matter what. Plus Shelly and I were good friends before we said I do and that really counts."

"Friends…yeah I'd like that."

"It will come Spike. A one night stand isn't your thing," Wordy twists his head to the right and looks at his friend. "You know you could always try the arranged marriage thing."

"Yeah," Spike laughs. "Then at least I can blame my parents instead of myself if it doesn't work."

"True," Wordy smiles, happy that his friend's mood seems to have lifted somewhat. "What are you going to tell your mother?"

"It didn't work out…that's my standard line," Spike shrugs.

"You know you really gotta stop with the sad stories," Wordy lightly chuckles.

"I know and I uh…" Spike starts as he slowly sits up, Wordy following suit. "I guess I'm still in shock."

"It will take some time."

"And I don't want to go home tonight."

"You can…"

"I think I'll just stay in a hotel and just…I don't know sleep I guess. No room service that's for sure," he smirks and Wordy just pats him on the back.

"But you need to eat right?"

"Wordy, it's late and your family…"

"Has already eaten without me," Wordy confesses, forcing Spike to look at him in sorrow.

"Oh I'm sorry."

"Hey it's not your fault, I called Shelly on the way over. She said to make sure I get you something to eat."

"Wordy…"

"Seriously you aren't going to say no to me are you?"

"Uh…no?" Spike smirks as he turns back to Lew's headstone. "Alright buddy, Wordy's going mom on me so I um…gotta run. See you later okay?"

"Bye Lew. I'll take care of Spike for ya," Wordy whispers as he and Spike stand up and then slowly head toward the black SRU SUV.

"Think Lew would have known about Ch…Annabelle?"

"Hardly, you two were the same," Wordy chuckles. "Spike as I said…"

"Yeah I know…it wasn't my fault."

"You know for a moment Ed thought you might have gone to see her son."

"I had thought about it for a few minutes but the I didn't really know Annabelle and not even sure what I would have said. I just hope the FBI or whoever tells him that his mother died trying to save a life."

"I'm sure if you ask Greg, he'll make sure they do tell him that."

"I will," Spike stops as they reach the SUV. "I can just walk or…"

"Seriously don't make me take drastic measures. Get in and we are going for the best pizza in town."

"Really? The best pizza? Mama Scarlatti makes the best pizza in town," Spike laughs as he gets into the warm cabin of the dark SUV.

"Okay so maybe the second best…all I know is, it's kinda okay but you can't beat the setting or the company."

"Well I like the sound of that, lead on," Spike replies with growing enthusiasm.

In truth he wanted to get to Lew's gravestone and just pour out his heart without anyone asking further questions or making comments about what he could have done or not seen coming. He knew he wasn't to blame for sleeping with a married woman, because in truth he didn't know until David told him after Annabelle was dead. He also wasn't about to enter her son's life as he didn't have that intimate a connection with Annabelle. She was an accomplice to murder and possibly a murderer herself, that he couldn't excuse – ever. But she did die trying to save him and was being blackmailed by her husband because of her son. It was up to his aunt, Annabelle's sister to inform Patrick of what she thought would benefit him and when. Spike would only chalk this back up to a hard lesson learned.

"Okay…why are we back at work?" Spike inquires as they SUV pulls into the parking lot of SRU headquarters.

"Anyone ever tell you that you ask too many questions."

"Greg Parker," Spike retorts dryly. "But why are we here?"

"I'll tell you in a second."

Without a word, Wordy heads for the elevator with a very curious Spike in tow. They reach their floor and as soon as the elevator door's open, Spike's senses are instantly assaulted with the smell of fresh pizza; a smile instantly forming.

"Welcome to the SRU café," Jules greets them with a broad smile, forcing Spike to look at Wordy who only smiles and shrugs.

"Next time use the sirens to drive faster," Sam teases. "The pizza is getting cold."

"And the beer about to go flat," Ed pipes up.

The whole team had changed into their casual clothes and were sitting in the team meeting room with a few large pizza's and beer in the middle of the table.

"Okay so we are about to start our feature presentation."

"What?" Spike looks at Greg in wonder.

"Well we can't have pizza and beer without a good movie right?"

"Yeah we got Napoleon Dynamite for you," Sam laughs, garnering an arm slap from Jules.

"Hey Clark actually likes that film," Ed frowns.

"He would," Sam retorts.

"You okay?" Greg asks warmly as he joins Spike and Wordy near the main entrance.

"Yeah but…"

"It was a tense case for all of us and this is how we unwind. Come on…just sit back and relax okay?" Greg urges.

"Okay," Spike agrees with a wide smile as he takes his jacket off and goes and sits beside Sam and Wordy, Jules on the other side of Sam; Ed and Greg completing the circle.

"Okay so what movie did you really get?"

"Transformers," Sam pipes up. "What?"

"I told him Inception," Ed insists.

"I wanted Limitless," Greg adds.

"I said something funny," Jules frowns.

"Hey guys it was next door at the corner store and it was either that or something with a foreign subtitle," Sam frowns, enduring a few laughs from his team mates.

"Well the Leaf's aren't playing so it will have to do," Wordy adds to the discussion. "We okay to show movies on the SRU projection TV?"

"If it breaks we can always say that it was Greg's idea," Jules teases, earning a warm smile from Greg.

"I'll just blame a computer virus," Greg counters.

"Hey I never got to thank Troy for his help with all this," Spike frowns.

"He knows," Greg assures him. "But you can call him tomorrow, tonight you just need to unwind."

"Yeah now we eat," Wordy insists. "Sam?"

"Okay so just press play right?"

"Give me that. Greg?" Ed snatches the remote from Sam's hand and then gives it to Greg. "Well I'm not taking responsibility for breaking it," he smirks at Greg.

"Yep that's why they pay me the big bucks. I know how to work a TV remote," Greg chuckles as he presses play the big screen lights up.

Spike leans back in his chair, takes a slice of pizza and slowly eats it. His mind wasn't really interested in processing a movie that really was one of his favorites or eating pizza that didn't compare to his mothers; he was tired and emotionally drained. But he was with people that understood for the most part the battle waging inside him and in a few hours that battle would subside and he'd be able to go home and get some rest, come back in the next day and face a new challenge with a clear mind.

He thinks about Annabelle and the hard choices she made that ended in her ultimate demise but how for a few moments, she came to life and had thanked him for that. David didn't love her in the end, maybe he never did, so he finds some small comfort in the back of his mind that he was able to help her see that and also feel some small measure of happiness in return.

As much as he wanted to hold resentment against Annabelle for using him, he couldn't; she paid the price with her life and would lose out on the future her son was going to offer. But the happy moments with Chloe Smith would live on inside his mind, a few lessons now stored up for the next romantic encounter – whenever that might happen to be.

Spike, closes his eyes, quickly whisked away into the comforting realm of sleep; his body shutting down instantly due to physical drain and emotional fatigue. He didn't care that he wasn't attentive to his team after they had done this all for him – he was just glad that he wasn't alone and knew they'd understand. And even after the credits had rolled and a few others went their way, one friend was still at his side, never leaving until he was ready to go.

Wordy looks at his watch and then up at Ed before Ed calls it a night. "When do I wake him up?" Wordy asks as he looks over a Spike's slumped over frame. "Eight hours is about standard right?"

"You mean 500 minutes," Ed smirks and Wordy just shakes his head. "See you tomorrow."

Wordy whispers a goodnight and then turns back to Spike with a small frown. As much as he knows Spike needs the sleep, sleeping in the odd seated position he's in now would only do more harm to his weary frame than good. So with much reluctance he taps Spike on the shoulder.

"Hey…movie over? Oh man…sorry," Spike mumbles as he rubs his tired eyes.

"Yeah no big deal. Come on…lets go you need sleep."

"I um…I don't want to go home."

"I know…you'll sleep at my place tonight. Shelly's already made up the bed downstairs," Wordy pats him on the back as he helps him with his jacket. He had already called Shelly and asked her to make up the basement couch as Spike would be spending the night. He would explain tomorrow that it wasn't out of pity or obligation, they were a team – they were family; they take care of each other.

"That's just what we do."

THE END!

A/N: So this ending was kind of sappy but then after all the angst I put my poor Spike through, figured he needed some right? I really enjoyed writing this and will be back with more! So I hope you'll leave me one final review and also please let me know if you'd like more adventures/stories in the future like this and thanks so much in advance! :D

PS: I also posted chapter one of a new Ed/Wordy ficlet called 'Inside Man' and hope you enjoy that one as well. Thanks again!