A/N: I feel pretty bad about the ridiculously long delay between chapters. Life got in the way and then my flow was gone, but anyway, here's another chapter. It's occurred to me that I've sorta thrown the Flashpoint timeline out the window with this. There is a reference to Shockwave, so this happens after that, but Wordy is still there and Raf is non-existent. I like Wordy and I'm not really sure yet what I think of Raf, so this works for me.
Nothing happened.
Spike poked his head up from behind the security desk where they had taken cover. He looked at the small red object on the floor and raised his eyebrow. "Is that what I think it is?" he asked quietly.
"Careful, Spike," Greg cautioned as Spike got up and stepped around the desk to get a better look at the object.
"It is!" he said, with an excited smirk as he approached the red ball and picked it up. "Now all I need is a slingshot."
"What is it?" Greg asked, finally relaxing as he watched his teammate tossing the ball up in the air.
"It's an Angry Bird," Spike explained. "I guess somebody thinks there are a bunch of pigs upstairs."
"An angry bird? I see the eyebrows, but," Greg paused, trying to wrap his mind around it, "pigs? You lost me, Spike."
"It's a game. The pigs stole the birds' eggs, so the birds got mad. You slingshot the birds to kill the pigs and destroy their hiding places," Spike explained as he sat back down at the desk, putting the little red plush bird down next to the monitor.
"Am I really that old?" Greg mumbled to himself just as Ed's voice crackled in his ear.
"What's going on doing there, guys? You yelled to take cover and then nothing."
"False alarm, it was just an... angry bird?" Greg responded with a bit of uncertainty.
"Right up Spike's alley. Spike, you got anything we can use up here? Video, audio, cell phones, names, anything? We're running blind up here."
"I'm coming up with nothing, Ed. There's no video; not sure what they were thinking when they decided where to install the cameras. I've got some outside stuff, some upper floor corridors but nothing from the floor you're on, nothing from the stairwells. There've been no 911 calls either, which is odd but not unheard off, but there's nothing to get a lead from, nobody who can tell us what's going on in there." Spike paused, staring at the useless images on the screen when several of them suddenly changed.
"What just happened?" Greg asked, looking over Spike's shoulder at screen.
"That's weird," Spike mumbled. "Ed, I might have something for you. Gimme a minute."
"Copy that."
"They've got alternating camera views. See that camera dome by the door?" Spike pointed towards a black glass dome hanging from the ceiling near the front doors. "Usually there's only one camera in there, sometimes they rotate, sometimes they don't. Sometimes they're empty, it's almost impossible to tell just by looking at them. This place, though, this place is unique. There are two cameras in some of the domes, maybe more. Not all of the feeds are showing at once, so it's entirely possible there are other views," he explained, typing away seeing if he could get access to any as yet unseen camera feeds.
"Spike, I see one up here," Wordy piped up, pointing out the dome to Ed. It was barely visible from where they were standing.
"If there's one, there's probably more up there, I just have to find them," Spike stated, furrowing his eyebrows and biting his lip in determination. "Got it! There's a few up there that are on private feeds, probably recording somewhere up there to be reviewed after an incident. Why they thought they needed to encrypt the video and hide them is beyond me. I've got eyes guys."
"Talk to me, Spike," Ed demanded. "What've we got up here?"
"Cubicles, cubicles, more cubicles," Spike mumbled, scanning the new video feeds. "Well, hello there. Didn't think you could hide forever, did you?" he asked the man on screen when the images suddenly flicked to their subject, Spike typing away again. "Guys, check your PDAs for a picture of the subject. He's currently armed with a handgun, probably a Glock, and it looks like he's very familiar with it."
"Copy that. Where is he?" Ed asked as they stepped into a room full of cubicles and scared employees.
"He's wandering an empty hallway. Whoever he's looking for, he obviously hasn't found them yet."
"How much time do we have in here, Spike?" Wordy asked, coaxing a couple of employees out from under the desks where they had been hiding.
"You've got time. He has no immediate access to your location. I'll keep you posted."
"You know, I'm starting to think you're an explosion-magnet," Jules said, taking a break from pulling cement bits out of his hair and staring intently into Sam's eyes.
"So, Spike's a bomb-guru and I'm an explosion-magnet?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow. "Sounds like I drew the short straw. There are so many things that I'd prefer over explosion-magnet, like... how about 'chick-magnet'? Oh wait, I already am." He stuck his tongue out at her playfully.
Jules rolled her eyes. "I'm serious. This isn't the first time I've been worried about you almost getting yourself blown up. You were out cold last time too."
"I was in capable hands. Besides, I'll bet Spike had Sarge and Ed more worried than I had you."
"Spike takes the possibility of getting blown up as a challenge, it doesn't seem to matter how much people are worried about him. But you and bombs, there's nothing to do but sit and wait... and then get stitches. You're going to turn into a pin cushion if you're not careful!" Jules teased.
"Want to poke me then? So... do we have a bet?"
"I'm kinda biased, you know. What makes you think I'm going to admit Spike had them more worried than you had me?"
"He had you worried too, that skewed your worry meter. How about I make you a deal?" Sam paused, starting to pick up debris chunks from around him and tossing them at a pillar several feet away. "How about this, if you admit that people were more worried about Spike than about me, I will.." He stopped, visibly considering what he could offer that she wouldn't be able to refuse."
"Out with it, babe, and it had better be good, cause I'm starting to think we're going to have a whole lot of time to kill down here."