I'm just going to say right now that I don't own Flashpoint, or anything else you might recognize. Just so we're clear!

'What the frick were you thinking, Brooks? 'Cassidy wondered to herself as she drove her old 4x4 to the SRU building. She couldn't help but keep beating herself up over her reaction to Eddie and Spike yesterday. It was one thing to get a little bit annoyed that the team was questioning her capabilities, but it was another thing to completely snap at two of her new teammates.

'Where does that stuff even come from?' Of course, she knew. Everything happened for a reason, including her extreme defensiveness. She tried to remember that no one except Greg knew her past, and that no one was judging her on what she'd done. But she had spent the last three years trying to convince her once close friends and family that she was not what they made her out to be. She was on high defense all the time, and trying to understand that she didn't need to be was harder than any hostage situation she'd ever experienced.

She heaved a sigh and slipped the keys out of her ignition, acknowledging her arrival. She grabbed her black duffel bag and hopped out, prepping to start what promised to be an interesting first day.

"Morning Cass!" called Sam, as she walked in. She blinked in surprise at the welcome, and gave a small wave in his direction. When was the last time somebody who knew who she was actually treated her with that much friendliness?

'Not since I tried to buck their system,' she thought. 'And they don't really know me. They know my name, and my rank, but that's it. And we'll keep it that way.'

'First things first, though, I owe a couple people an apology.'

She bit back a sigh of frustration. She hated apologizing to anyone, mostly because she hated being wrong in any way. She was used to being in the right, and being the one that people were unreasonable towards. But the last thing she needed was to get off on the wrong foot, especially if she stayed here in Toronto like she planned. She saw Ed's shining bald head from across the room, and walked over.

"Hey, Ed," she said, leaning up against the wall by where he was pressing weights.

"Morning, Brooks," he replied coolly.

She bit her lip in annoyance. It was bad enough that she was stuck apologizing to the guy, but did he have to be so rude? She knew that he felt she wasn't good enough, and that pissed her off. Royally.

'Professional, Brooks,' she thought. 'Be professional about this. Don't give him the satisfaction of knowing he's got you peeved, and don't give him ammo against you. Just get the apology over, walk away, and don't communicate with him more than necessary.'

"Look, Ed," she sighed. "I was out of line, snapping at you like that yesterday."

Ed glanced over at her, and she was sure she saw a flicker of amusement trace his eyes. "Yep, you were."

His acknowledgement of that ticked her off even more, but she stayed calm. "I was a bit cranky, and probably shouldn't have taken it out on you. So, I'm sorry, alright?"

"A bit cranky?" asked Ed, the outside of his lips curling upwards. "Is that what we're calling it?"

She fought the urge to roll her eyes. Her Mom had forever lectured her on that, saying that it made her look like she was 6. "Yeah, we're calling it that. So are we cool?"

Ed shook his head. "You sound like my son, you know that? Yes, we're 'cool.'"

"Cool?" asked Sam, having just walked over and catching the last part of the conversation. "I didn't think such a young term was in your speech, Eddie!"

Ed eyed Sam suspiciously. "What's that supposed to mean, Samtastic?"

"That you're old, and therefore use old person words."

Eddie shook his head. "I'm not old!"

"Have you seen a mirror, recently there Baldy?"

Cassidy finally did roll her eyes and walked away, leaving the two men laughing. 'One apology down, one to go.'

She climbed onto a bike and waited for Spike to come in. She upped the resistance, feeling a satisfying pull in her legs.

"Hey!" Cassidy turned at the sound of Spike's voice, and was surprised to see a very pretty, very pregnant young woman at Spike's side. "Look who I found outside!"
Immediately, Sam set down the weights and ran over, planting a kiss on the woman's lips.

'That must be Jules.' She thought. The dark haired woman who stood only an inch above her, who had been one of the best snipers in SRU, apparently; Sam Braddock's wife, the girl that everyone on the team loved. 'No pressure in trying to be her replacement.' She mused.

She watched as everyone gather around Jules, laughing and talking with her. A surprising pang of jealousy hit Cassidy as she watched Sam pull Jules close, and gently place his other hand on her swollen belly. These two were obviously young, in love, and excited for the future.

'What would it be like,' she wondered. 'To have a relationship like that? I mean, to be in love like crazy, with someone that would stand beside you? A good guy, not like-'

A memory rushed through her mind. Sitting out on a beach with him, holding hands. He always touched her too much, made her uncomfortable, but that was love, right?

And then a piercing wail, cutting through-

She shoved the memories away, before they could surface. What had happened in Alberta stayed in Alberta. She was in Toronto now, two full provinces between her and the place that held every sort of heartbreak she'd ever known. It was stupid, on her part. But it wasn't totally her fault. If certain people hadn't kept her so naïve to everything in the world, maybe it would have ended up better.

But that was the past, and she wasn't going to think about it. Her past sucked, but she'd moved on. And she wasn't going back there, to relive everything. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever.

Spike walked over and got on the bike beside her. He gave her a cocky little grin as he upped his resistance. "Ready to start the first day, kid?"

To her own surprise, the 'kid' reference didn't tick her off like it had yesterday. For some reason, coming from him, it almost seemed…affectionate?

"Yep!" she grinned. "Hey, Spike. I just wanted to say sorry about being so touchy yesterday. I was having an off day-nope. No excuses, I was a total prick. My bad, and I'm sorry. That wasn't me, honestly."

Spike shrugged. "Accepted. We're all good, seriously. Off days hit everybody. Trust me, when Eddie has one, hell seems like a pretty warm and friendly place to be."

She laughed. "Well, we'll minimize mine. Anyways, about being ready to start-"

"Team One!" called Winnie. "We've got a hot one! Armed and dangerous, hostage in hand."

Cassidy glanced over and saw Spike eyeing her. "Well, you'd better be ready, because we're about to have the first crash course in how to talk down a guy with a gun."