I felt bad for making you guys (Those of you who actually take the time to read my ramblings!) wait so long for a new chapter, that I figured I'd give you my second one. Again, if you have an idea on the name and gender of Sam and Jules' baby, I'd love to hear it!

Reviews make me wanna dance like Gangnum Style. :D

And if you haven't gotten the point, I don't own Flashpoint.

Spike grunted as he pushed the weight bar up for one last rep. He rested it on the stand and let out a short gasp of breath. He sat up and ran a towel over his face, realizing that Sam was smirking at him.

"What's your problem?" he asked, confused.

"Nothing." Sam said as innocently as possible.

Spike stared at him and just shook his head. "Seriously, man. What's your problem?"

"You owe me."

Spike snorted. "Owe you what? A kick in the shins? I'd be happy to repay."

Sam rolled his eyes. "I don't know, maybe you owe me for setting you up with a very fine female officer on Team One?"

If looks could kill, Sam was already 10 feet underground.

"It's going that well?" Sam asked, really smirking now.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Spike said, walking away from the weights and hoping that Sam wouldn't follow.

"It's going really well, then!" Sam laughed.

Spike sat down on the bench and sighed. "Yes, it's going well."

"On a scale of dinner at McDonald's well to dinner at your parents well?"

"She already met my parents."

Sam's expression would've won America's Funniest Home Videos. "And it's going well?"

"Yep."

"She met your parents. Like, Mama and Poppa Scarlatti?"

"Yes, she met my parents Sam. What's your point?"

Sam laughed. "Dude, if a girl meets your parents, and still sticks around, she's a keeper. If it's still going well, then she's beyond a keeper. She's a go get an engagement ring cause you don't want this one to get away kind of keeper."

"Team One!" called Winnie. "We've got a hot call!"

Spike shot off the bench and ran to gear up. He glanced over at Cassidy, and saw her pulling her vest on. He began to realize what Sam and Jules had gone through when Jules was still running with the team. What Jules still dealt with Sam on the team.

You were sending the person you cared about into the heat of some sort of battle, be it physical or emotional. And you couldn't protect them.

Spike wasn't exactly devout, but he muttered a quick prayer to keep the both of them safe, to let them have another meal with his parents, and to let him actually take her out for a game of laser tag. The last dinner had gone better than even he expected. Apparently, both Cassidy and his Dad were baseball fans. It gave them some sort of a common point.

"Guys!" Greg called. "Listen up. We've got an unidentified shooter, possibly two. At least three hostages. Possible civilian down. Be careful going in there! Spike, I need surveillance. Westminster Financial building."

"Got it boss!" Spike called.

"Ed's Sierra one. Sam? You're two. Stay sharp out there people. We don't know anything about these guys."

"Do we have names?" Lewis asked.

"We have nothing." Greg said. Spike caught the frustration in his voice. It was way worse to wade into a hostage situation without knowing anything on your subject than to have even a name. A name could make the difference of connecting with the subject and having to take a lethal shot.

"Cass and Ed, you're together. Wordy, cover Sam. Lew's with me."

In the months that Cassidy had been with the SRU, she and Ed had managed to build a respect towards each other. Surprisingly, at least considering their initial encounter, they worked well together. Spike knew that Ed would have her back, but still, he couldn't help but worry.

Cassidy jumped out of Greg's jeep and shot him a grin. He mouthed "Be careful" to her and then turned his attention to the monitors he was setting up in front of him.

She turned to Ed, who nodded at the surveillance cameras attached to the tall financial building. "You in those Spike?"

Spike finished coding the password locking the cameras to the public. "All mine."

"I don't like it." Sam said. "This thing's practically the glass castle. There's next to nothing for cover, boss."

"Back door?" Cassidy asked Ed.

"Not completely covered." He observed. "But it'll do. Let's go."

The pair crept into the building, guns at the ready. Ed nodded to the staircase leading to the main level, and Cassidy crept up, watching the corners for any signs of movement. "We're good, Ed."

"We're in, boss." Ed whispered.

Cassidy kept her eyes trained at the narrow hallway leading down to the large, open main room that made up the core of the bank. "Down there?" she mouthed to Ed.

He shook his head. "Wordy, Sam, where are you?"

"Trying to get in through the side." Sam's voice came through the earpiece.

"How long?" Ed asked.

"Give me a minute."

Ed and Cassidy stayed frozen, hearing the occasional grunt through their earpiece.

"We're in, guys." Wordy said.

"Can we pin these guys?" she asked.

"I can hear them...center of the bank."

"Where we figured." sighed Ed. "Sam, can you get to a Sierra point?"

"Working on it." said Sam. "It's wide open, here."

"Take is easy, guys." said Greg. "No unnecessary stunts, here. I need you guys functional."

"In Sierra position." Sam said.

"Wordy, cover Cassidy. I'm moving to Sierra. Count of three. 1-2-3."

Cassidy charged down the stairs, aiming her gun at the two Asian men standing in the center of the room. "SRU! Guns down, now!"

Wordy charged in the other side and held his gun ready. "Put 'em down, boys."

One of the men grabbed a blond woman sitting on the floor, and held the gun to her head firmly. "Back it off, right now. I'll shoot her."

"Stand down, back it up. Cass, get him talking." Greg ordered.

"Alright sir. I need you to back away from her, alright? Just let her go. We just want to talk."

The man stared at her and frowned, tightening his grip on the gun.

"A name, Cass. I need a name."

"I'm Sergeant Cassidy Brooks, from the Toronto SRU. You want to tell me your name?"

He glanced back at his partner, who just shrugged. "Lee."

"Lee, what's going on today? What's this all about?"

He pointed to the woman. "We're just her for an in and out, officer. We don't want trouble."

"Tell him we don't either." Greg ordered. "Find an angle, here, Cass."

"We don't want trouble either, Lee. What's your friend's name?"

The unidentified man kept his gun trained on a hostage. "David."

"David, Lee, we don't want trouble. I promise you, ok? I need you to put the guns down now."

"Not until she-" Lee waved his gun at the terrified blond. "Gives us the code."

"The code for-" Cassidy thought for a minute. "The code for the bank machines?"

"I don't know it." The blonde whimpered. "It's not-it's not my department."

"Lee, she doesn't have the code. No one here knows it."

Lee growled and grabbed the blonde's shoulder. "She knows it."

"Escalating here." Ed yelled. "Back it off, Brooks."

"Why do you want the code? What are you going to do with the money?" she asked, trying to get his mind off the blonde teller.

"I need it." Lee said firmly, offering no other explanation in his broken English.

"David, do you need the money too?" she asked. He nodded his head.

"Greg, I have no angle." She muttered into her mic. She was losing this one, and she knew it.

"They're not giving us one." sighed Greg. "Keep them talking."

"What do you want the money for, David?" she asked. He was calmer than Lee...she was hoping that in getting him on her side, she could sway Lee to cooperate.

"I have some friends. I owe them." David said, simply.

"Drugs, maybe?" Spike asked.

"Possible. Ask him if it's drug related."

"Owe them for what, David? Owe them for drugs?"

He nodded. "They called in the debt."

"Tell them we'll keep them safe from their buddies. That they won't be able to come after them."

"Guys, I'm telling you right now. Drop the guns, and I swear, your drug buddies won't get to you. You have my word. We just want everyone out of here safe."

"Safe in jail?" spat Lee.

"Better to be safe in jail than safe in a coffin." she shot back. "Even if you get out of here, you think your drug buddies will be happy that they have cops on their tail over this money? Or better yet, over an injured civilian?"

David seemed to catch her words. Wordy saw it too. "David, son, just put it down. It'll go better if you just drop the gun."

"David!" shouted Lee.

Cassidy could see the conflict written on the young Asian man's face, and gave a sigh of relief when he dropped the gun. Wordy grabbed the young man's arm and pulled him towards the waiting regular officers who were on stand by. She turned her attention back to Lee, who looked furious.

"I am not going back to prison!" he shouted.

"Lee, it's over." she said, hoping she sounded firm. "It's done. Put the gun down."

"Subject escalating!" yelled Greg.

It was one of those moments that you look back at, and realize that you reacted purely on instinct. Cassidy didn't know if it was the way his finger twitched at the trigger, or the way his eyes darted over to the young woman on the ground beside him.

She didn't know what it was, but she knew that he was going to shoot her. Try to fight his way out. Relying on instinct alone, she used her gun as shield, charging towards him.

She heard the gun collide with his ribs, her knuckles cracking with the force of the collision.

She heard the yell of her teammates in her ear. She saw Ed come charging down the stairs towards them.

She heard the screams of the woman beside her.

She heard a sharp bang, like someone popping a balloon in her ear. Two more bangs followed.

She felt a sharp smashing feeling in her vest, felt herself go backwards, back from the momentum of her charge.

She felt her head slap the hard floor of the bank, heard Ed yelling something about a man down.

She felt a haze blow over her, like a dark fog. Heard Sam talking to her. She couldn't make out what he was saying.

Spike's voice, sounding panicked. Spike. He sounded...afraid? Why was he afraid? She opened her mouth to tell him that she was ok, to calm down. but she couldn't make her mouth move.

She felt the pain sharpen, hands lifting her, dragging her.

And then she felt nothing.

Da-da-dum. I'm a big meanie. That's where the chapter ends! :D

Reviews motivate me, just a hint. Seriously, though, no making you wait a month for the next chapter. I'll have it up soon. Promise!