A/N: I was watching through a Funny Moments montage on youtube today and was struck by inspiration for a little one shot. When I described my idea to my little sister (who has never seen the show), her exact reaction was "Why would you do something like that!" I'll let you all see why she'd think that. ;) Enjoy!
"Half a centimeter. I can't believe you beat me by half a centimeter!" Ed lamented in disgust as Team One made their way back inside the SRU building. After a slow day of patrolling, Greg had decided to get their blood flowing with a race- a hundred meter dash across the front yard in full gear. Sam had inched out the team leader, but only by a half a step. Everyone on the team made it no secret that they didn't enjoy when the former rookie won. His cockiness tended to get the best of him.
"I can't tell if it was from old man legs or from those extra pound you've been putting on!" The joke from the younger blonde was accompanied by a pat to his team leader's stomach. Ed quickly swatted his hand away with a scowl.
Jules was quick to defend him. "Hey, at least he didn't come in dead last," she teased and glanced in the direction of the team's sergeant.
"Ouch!" Greg feigned being wounded but kept the grin on his face. "I was just hanging back to make sure Constable Scarlatti here wasn't cheating!"
"I never cheat!"
Raf gave Spike a reassuring pat on the shoulder as the rest of the team chuckled. End of shift had finally arrived and it was finally time to go home! Even for someone like Jules, who lived and breathed her job, the day had been too long. There was nothing worse than sitting on-call only to hear nothing.
As they approached the front desk, the group erupted with greetings for the SRU's top dispatcher. Ed's voice cut through the noise as he leaned against the desk wall and stared down at the dark haired beauty.
"What's the good word, Winnie?" he greeted, quickly followed by 'Home! Home is a good word!' from Raf behind him. The team murmured in agreement, but alas, their plans would be put on hold. Such was the life of a police officer!
"Team Three's still out on a gun call, so can you guys hang around until they get back?" Winnie asked with an over-exaggerated grin. As expected, the request was met with several groans from everyone except the Sarge, who just shook his head.
The team exchanged exasperated glances, and after gauging all their reactions, Ed turned back to Winnie. "Sure thing, Win."
"Man, what the-" Raf began to swear and stopped himself. Instead of putting up any more of a resistance, which he knew would be futile, the man reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone to make a call. The rest of the team followed in suit.
"Hey, babe. Listen, I'm really sorry but I gotta postpone tonight... Yes, I know we've been waiting for this for weeks... Look, I'm sorr-!"
"Marina, hi... No, everything's good. Yeah, I just wanted to tell you that you can go to your book club after all... No, I can't make dinner... Yeah, work stuff... Mhm, thanks for understanding..."
"Soph?... Yeah, a little OT... Your mom's watching the kids, okay... You're wearing what?... I'll be home as soon as I can."
"Hey, Sweetheart. I'm a little tied up at work right now, so I'll be la- OW!" Sam grunted in surprised and looked over at an annoyed Jules. "What? I wanted to make sure you knew!"
"I work with you, Sam. I know that you're gonna be late," the brunette glared, effectively and purposefully ruining the joke. Getting up from her spot and moving towards the locker room, she called over her shoulder at him. "Oh, and I'm gonna be late coming home too- but not because of work. I have a date." With a smug yet playful look, Jules disappeared behind the swinging door. The grin on her boyfriend's face began to diminish as he realized tonight wasn't date night for them.
"Yeah? Well... I won't wait up!" he sputtered, and for a moment, Sam swore he could hear her laughing. He shook his head and began to make his way towards his favorite exercise machine. Might as well make the most of the time he had stuck here.
All while this was going on, Spike stood back and watched the scene. Everyone had phone calls to make. Everyone had someone that would be concerned if they didn't come home. He had his ma, of course, and he loved her to death, but he just couldn't get past the memories in his head.
"Hey, Lew. Sorry, Bud, but I might be a little held up at work."
"Aw, that's okay. At least you called."
It had been their running gag for the 3 years they were on Team One together. Without even realizing it, they would take turns with who would be the one to call. In a way, it was just a jab at everyone on the team who had a significant other they had to check in with. In another way, though, it was just Lewis and Spike; how it's always been. This was the first overtime shift since Lew's death, and now, Spike had no one to call...
He moved away from Winnie at her desk to one of the side walls. His hand reached into his pocket and Spike casually flipped through his list of contacts. Each and every time, it kept coming back to one name. Not giving it another thought, he pressed the CALL button and put the device to his ears.
'This is Lew's phone. Leave your name and number, and I'll get back to you.'
"Hey, Lew, it's Spike. Listen, Bud, I'm gonna be a little late tonight..."
A/N: The end! So yeah, this was a really sad thing to write, but I wanted to publish something today since I couldn't update TPiR. I was out most of the day and couldn't really dedicate much time to the new chapter, but it's gonna be a good one! R and R, as always, and thank you for reading!~