Why Didn't You Ride Your Bike Today?

Sam's Truck En Route to SRU HQ – Saturday, January 2nd – 4:40 am

It felt strange driving to work. He was so used to riding his bike. But it felt right and good too.

Every day when he drove to work now, he could spend a few moments with good memories of Matt. After shift, he would be able to talk to Matt too. Tell him the good and bad of his day. It felt so right to talk to Matt in this truck and Sam felt Matt's presence, almost like he was riding shotgun with him.

Getting that feeling again, Sam glanced at the passenger seat. For the briefest second, he could have sworn he saw Matt sitting there and grinning at him like a loon.

Sam shook himself. He better be careful. If the department shrink got wind of him talking to his dead friend and was thinking he saw him in the truck, he might just find himself out of a job. That thought made him laugh. There wasn't a shrink he couldn't handle.

As he approached the SRU parking lot, Sam grinned. Yesterday had been a good day. A slow day, but a good day. He'd done nothing much. Most of the day he laid on his couch and reread The Hunt for Red October, the Russian language version that Matt had gotten him. He had also called Mom and had a nice long conversation with her.

He had planned to rest fully, so that Ed had no reason to put him on light duty. As a result, his muscles were fully healed and Sam felt in great shape today.

SRU HQ – Parking Lot – Saturday, January 2nd – 4:45 am

It Sam parked his truck next to Jules' jeep. She was already here and waiting for him. He turned off the truck and grabbed his go bag from the passenger seat and hopped out.

"Morning, Sam," Jules called out.

Sam grinned at her. "Morning Jules. Anyone else here yet?"

Jules shook her head. "We're the first. Even beat the Boss."

Sam chuckled. "That's hard to do."

Agreeing Jules nodded.

Sam slung his go bag over on shoulder as he closed his door and headed for the back of his truck. He leaned on the back of it.

Jules reached into the back of her jeep and produced a paper coffee cup. She held it out to Sam. "I even had enough time to grab us all Timmy's. Hot, strong and black. The way you like it when it is cold out."

Sam took the coffee and sipped. "Thanks, Jules. It is cold this morning. But at least it is not overcast or raining."

"Yeah. That would have dampened you plans this morning." Jules then picked up her double, double and took a sip.

The first of the rest of the team to arrive was the Boss. He pulled in and saw Sam and Jules standing near Jules' jeep. He got out with a smile as he approached them. "Good morning Jules, Sam. The doors locked or you just enjoy the cold."

Jules handed the Boss a coffee. "Just waiting to see who comes in last for the first shift of the new year."

Greg chuckled then took a sip and looked at the bike rack. It was empty. He wondered if Sam had taken a cab or if perhaps Jules had given him a ride.

He thought that Sam not riding his bike might indicate that Sam was not quite up to par yet. The weeks leading up to their Christmas break had been rather hard on Sam physically. Perhaps he needed light duty. He asked "Sam, you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, ready to go. No reason for light duty, Boss," Sam stated.

Sam saw the Boss glance at the bike rack and the questioning look in his eyes told him he was wondering why he had not ridden his bike. But he wanted to wait until everyone was here to tell them.

Almost like a train, Ed, Wordy and Spike pulled into the lot. Leah pulled in as the three others were getting out of their vehicles. In short order, everyone converged on Jules' jeep and accepted the coffees she had gotten for them as they all greeted each other for the first shift of the new year.

Ed noticed that Sam's bike was missing. He eyed Sam critically. "Where's your bike Sam?"

"At home."

Spike looked at Sam. He looked good, but with Sam looks could be deceiving. He decided to tread lightly with humor thinking that if Sam was sick, he might admit to it. "Samtastic didn't ride his bike on such a beautiful day. I think the world just stopped turning. Are you sick or did aliens abduct the real Sam?"

Sam chuckled. "No, I'm not an alien Sam and I'm good. All healed. One hundred percent again."

Wordy looked at Sam. Nothing looked off. In fact, Sam was looking rather happy and well rested. There was a glint in his eyes too. "Then why didn't you ride your bike today?"

Sam grinned. "Cause I drove."

"You drove?" Leah asked.

Ed realized Sam was leaning on a truck he had never seen in the parking lot. "About damned time. You finally came to your senses and bought a truck."

Everyone looked at Sam as his grin got bigger. "Not exactly."

Spike looked at the awesome truck. "What do you mean, not exactly? You borrowing the truck?"

Sam shook his head. "No, it's mine. I just didn't buy it."

Greg made the same assumption that Jules had. "Your parents, gave you some gift there Sam."

Ed's eyes widened as he considered that Sam's father gave him a truck. "The General gave you a truck?"

Wordy smiled. Now that was one way to show you cared. Not the best, but it was a start for William, Wordy thought.

Spike walked towards the truck and Sam and then slapped Sam on the back. "This is awesome. I don't have to be worried about you riding home in all the crappy weather. Did you get to pick out the truck or did your parents have a big red bow on it in the driveway."

Leah shook her head. "Sam, your parents didn't even know you were coming. Why would they get you a truck?"

Sam glanced at Jules and then turned to the others. "The truck is not a gift from my parents."

He waited a beat as the puzzled expressions showed. "Matt gave me the truck."

"Matt? How the hell did Matt give you a truck?" Ed blurted out.

Sam ran his hand on the back of the truck. "Matt's special like that."

Greg chuckled. "I can tell there is a story here. Why don't we head in, where it's warm, and you can tell us all about it Sam."

Sam nodded. He was getting a bit cold standing out here and he was not about to let himself catch a cold and chance getting put on light duty.

Ed, Wordy and Spike all took a detour to walk around and admire the truck before heading in. They all agreed it was a great truck and Spike was looking forward to taking a ride in it.

SRU HQ – Briefing Room – Saturday, January 2nd – 5:00 am

The team all took their normal seats. They looked at Sam expectantly. Sam rarely talked about Matt. They were all curious but never pried.

Sam took a sip and then started, "Matt, my brother, was one of a kind. We met at a time when we both needed a friend and we just clicked. We made it through boot camp helping each other. Then we went to advanced training and then knocked around for a few years before we headed off for Special Forces.

"It was Matt's dream and I supported him. Our second Christmas in Special Forces, I got sent off with another unit and Matt headed to Ottawa with Blaze. It was the first Christmas we had been apart in years."

Then Sam shared with them how Matt had tracked down the truck he had rented, bought, put it in his name and then arranged to give it to him.

Spike's eyes were wide with disbelief. He probably knew more about Matt than the rest of them and this still shocked him. "Sam, I'd have to say that was a Mattastic thing he did."

Ed watched Sam closely. He could see that Sam struggled with accepting the gift. It was rare but Sam had just given them a glimpse of the man he hid inside.

He could truly understand now why Sam had been so utterly devastated by how Matt died. He was now even gladder that Sam was so strong he did to succumb to using his pearl handled colt and that he had given Sam the lock box for it.

Wordy smiled. "Sam, it had to have been a big shock. I'm happy to see that you are driving it."

Sam nodded. "Yeah, I had trouble at first. But Matt helped. He left me several CDs. I'd like you all to hear Matt. He's got a weird sense of humor and some of the jokes are off-color. But if you'd like to hear him, I'd like to share a bit of Matt with you."

Greg smiled. "I'd like that."

"Me too," Spike stated with eagerness.

Ed nodded, Wordy grinned and Leah leaned back and waited to hear the voice of an awesome person.

Jules smiled. Sam had played parts of the CD for her on the way home from Bella's party. She was glad Sam was sharing Matt with the rest of the team.

Sam pulled out his music player and selected a play list he had built with a few of Matt's tamer jokes. He hit play.

Matt's voice reflected that he was in rare form. "Okay, okay Sammy. How about this one. What's the difference between a northern fairytale and a southern fairytale?" Matt snickered. "A northern fairytale begins 'Once upon a time'. A southern fairy tale begins 'Y'all ain't gonna believe this shit'.

"I got another one, just for you Sammy. "What do you call a smart blonde? No, it is not Blondie. You are still trying to figure it out, so it can't be you." He chortled then said, "A golden retriever." Matt busted up laughing. "Sorry Sammy, couldn't resist that one.

"Okay, here's two that are sure to make you laugh Sinner. Why don't bunnies make noise when they have sex?" Matt snickered. "Because they have cotton balls." Matt cleared his throat then said, "What is a Yankee? You should know this one Sammy with as often as you are in the field. Give up? It's the same as a quickie, but a guy can do it alone."

Matt sobered, "Man, I'm sorry about that one. You being in the field so much is no joke. Wish you got to spend Christmas with us. I hope that you find your beauty and yankees are a thing of the past for you. I hope you have a great life Sam. Live it to the fullest and I'll see you later, much, much later."

Sam flicked it off and looked at the faces around him. They had chuckled at the jokes.

"So, that is Matt," Sam stated.

Spike was smiling. "I like his sense of humor. He's funny."

Ed shook his head and grinned at Spike. "You like his humor because it's weird like you Spikey."

Shrugging Spike asked, "How did your ornaments go over?"

Sam snorted. "My cousins and Mike looked at me like I was crazy. First time being hurt kept me from getting hurt. I'm sure they would have wrestled me to the floor and made me pay for it. Especially when there was non-stop teasing from all my female cousins. As far as Blaze and they guys reactions. I guess I'll find out what they thought of them when they actually get them. But I think, I'll be in less trouble with them because I made them all a copy of Matt's CDs."

Wordy leaned back and smiled. He was impressed by Matt. He gave Sam and the others that loved him a precious gift. "I'm glad you have Matt's voice. I wish we all could have met Matt. He was a true friend and brother Sam."

Any additional comments were curtailed as Peter rushed into the briefing room and spoke to Greg. "Team Three has a situation they need help with. Team Five is on another call. Can Team One up early and help?"

Greg stood and said, "Gear up team." Then he headed to the dispatch desk with Peter to get details.

As the team rushed to the locker rooms to dress Sam smiled. This Christmas had been the best he had in more years than he could count. He got to spend time with all the people that were so important to him. Matt included.

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AN: Another story has come to the end, I hoped you enjoyed it. I'd appreciate all your reviews, PMs and support. Make 2017 the year you go after your dreams, they will not come true unless you do.

I will be working on my other stories but I have to be honest it will be slower as I will be focused elsewhere for most my free time. My dad challenged me to go after my dream and to take the stories I have written here, recraft them to make them wholly my own and then publish a book. I have accepted his challenge. Since greater than 95% of the content in my stories come from my imagination, I will be taking a large chunk of my stories, removing specific FP references and adding new content as I meddle my stories together to create a series of original work. I plan to self-publish via Amazon. I'm hoping to have the first one completed in a month or so. I will update my profile when I actually publish the book.