The Corn Maze

Summary: Sam doesn't want to go to a corn maze with Spike. Why?

Setting: In the series it would be shortly after Sam joined but not tied to any particular episode. In my AU it is slotted before Belonging during the time the team is actively trying to correct their mistakes and make Sam feel like he is part of the team.

AN: This is my first attempt at writing a one shot. It will be one chapter only. It would not leave me alone so I could write the next chapter of More Than Just Friends.

Reviews do make my day. It's like a nice pat on the back or a smile letting me know that you enjoy and appreciate my efforts.

I do not own Flashpoint or any of the characters from that series. I do own my original characters (OC).

The Corn Maze

SRU HQ – Briefing Room

"No" Sam said again not believing how tenacious Spike could be.

Sitting across from him Spike asked yet again "Why not?"

"Don't want too."

"Why not?"

"Don't want too."

"Why not?"

Sam rolled his eyes "You're sounding like a broken record."

Spike grinned "Why not?"

Swiveling around to look out the window Sam tried to ignore Spike.

Not to be deterred Spike said "Come on. It'll be fun."

"No for the hundredth time."

Spike was not going to let it go until he got a yes out of Sam. "But it's fun. You need some fun. Come on, say yes, just come with me. I promise you will have fun."

Sam turned to Spike "No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. And finally if you still are not clear No."

Wordy walked in during Sam's nos and asked "No to what Sam?"

Spike answered before Sam could "He won't go with me to the corn maze and haunted house."

Smiling Wordy thought back to his youth and said "Those are fun. Sam why don't you want to go."

"Just don't" Sam said feeling a bit ganged up on.

"Ya ought to give it chance. Would be fun to hear Spike scream like a little girl" Wordy said thinking the rookie could use some fun. He wondered what he actually did for fun. Probably dated a lot.

"No" Sam stated.

"I don't scream like a little girl" Spike retorted. Wordy just chuckled. "I don't" Spike said again. Wordy just smiled.

Spike turned his attention back to Sam. He continued to pester Sam into changing his mind. "Come on buddy. I don't have anyone to go with me. Lou's got a hot date. Not so fun alone."

"No."

Wordy wondered at the resistance but teased "What are you scared?"

"No."

Spike picked up the tease "You're scared. Who would have thunk the great and mighty ex Special Forces JTF2 soldier is scared of a corn maze."

Ed walked in at the tail end "What is Sam scared of?"

Spike answered "A corn maze."

"I just don't want to go" Sam said getting frustrated with the hounding.

Greg rounded the corner and said "Where don't you want to go Sam?"

Sam threw up his hands "The god damned corn maze."

Ed chuckled "Tut, tut, watch the language Samo, we have a group of elementary school kids touring today. Lou and Jules will be bringing them around here soon."

Spike chimed back in "It's the Mego-maniac Super-duper Horror Fest corn maze. It's supposed to be the best one they've done in years. All bloody and body parts strewn around. Sam it will be fun. One fright after another around each corner is what the ad said."

Sam glared at him and said emphatically "No."

"Why not?"

"Don't want too."

"Why not?"

"Are we back to that again?" Sam asked.

"Yes because I don't want to go alone" Spike said.

"Take Wordy. He said he liked them" Sam tried.

Wordy, Greg and Ed were getting a kick out of watching Spike try to get Sam to say yes. Wordy answered "Would love to but I promised to take the girls to the Miss Laura Anne doll show."

Ed shivered and laughed "Talk about scary. I'd rather go to a corn maze with a real chain saw murderer in it than a doll show." Everyone but Sam chuckled. He saw Sam go slightly pale.

Greg smirked "So Sam you ever been to a corn maze?"

"No."

Ed asked "Why not?"

Sam could not believe them today. "Huh probably cause I grew up in a friggin desert. Not many corn mazes there. Give it a rest." He began to sweat and there was a slight tremor to his hands. He put them in his lap to hide it hoping no one saw.

Greg said "Okay boys, time to get briefing started. Jules and Lou will join us after they are done with the kiddies."

He launched into the short briefing which was more a chore assignment than anything else. They were spending the morning doing regular inventory and maintenance with patrolling slotted for the afternoon. When he dismissed them Sam left the room quickly. Greg, Ed and Wordy all hung back as Spike wandered over to Winnie's desk.

Greg asked "Did you guys catch Sam's hands?"

They both nodded and Wordy queried "What's up? Do you think he might actually be afraid of a corn maze?"

Ed said "Don't know but I'll tell Spike to back off when I get back from the shoot house. Rollie needs me to observe his team."

They all headed out to take care of their assigned tasks.

SRU HQ – Armory

Forty-five minutes later Ed was heading to the armory when he heard shouting. He picked up his pace. He rounded the corner and found a scene he wasn't expecting.

Sam had Spike pinned up against a cage. Fury in his eyes. He yelled "LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE. I DON'T WANT TO GO TO ANY GOD DAMNED CORN MAZE."

Ed yelled in his most authoritative tone "Braddock stand down."

Sam immediately released Spike, turned heel and stormed out of the room pushing passed Ed. Stunned a moment Ed looked at Spike "You okay?"

Spike looked shocked and bewildered "Yeah. I don't … I should've … Yeah." Spike turned in circles clearly upset. He stopped and looked at Ed apologetically "I should have stopped. Apparently he really doesn't want to go. I pushed too hard. Not his fault. I'll apologize when he cools down."

Ed nodded "You do that."

As he turned to leave the room Ed thought dammit he should have told Spike to back off before heading to the shoot house. He wondered where his pissed off rookie went. He was standing in the doorway deciding where to check first when Lou approached and stopped.

Lou asked "What's with Sam? He looked real upset."

"Where'd you see him?" Ed asked.

"Heading into the stairwell. Going up to the roof I think." Lou answered.

Ed took off jogging. Lou entered the armory and saw his best friend and could tell he was really upset "Spike? You alright? What happened?"

"I pushed Sam too hard. I just thought we might do something fun together. You know try and repair the damage we had done. Maybe get to know Sam a bit better. But I pushed too hard. Apparently he really doesn't want to go to a corn maze with me. I made things worse."

Lou put his arm around Spike "It'll be okay. He'll calm down and you apologize. Things will be cool again."

SRU HQ – Rooftop

Sam stood with his face into the cool wind. He blew it big time. He attacked a fellow officer. His ass would be gone tonight. God dammit why couldn't Spike just leave it alone? Doesn't no mean no?

He heard the roof door open and the distinctive footfalls of his team leader. Maybe he wouldn't even make it to end of shift. Maybe Ed was here to send him packing now. He couldn't stop screwing up. He kinda of liked it here. Sure they hadn't accepted him. But he was used to that.

"Sam?" Ed said.

What should he say? Own up to his error in judgement, lack of control and take responsibility. He turned to his team leader and came to attention. "Sir I'm sorry. It was my fault. I should not have lost control. It won't happen again sir. Is Spike okay? I didn't injure him did I?"

Now he just had to wait for the hammer to fall. He could pack his locker in less than three minutes and be out of here in five. He had a lot of practice packing and leaving quickly. Mission after mission for six straight years made him fast at packing his gear.

Ed approached slowly. His rookie was still very much a soldier. Hell he was even standing at attention. He looked, well, he looked blank really. No emotion at all. Sam was so damned hard to read unlike Spike whose every emotion was clearly visible.

One thing he had learned though was Sam would stand that way until told to relax "At ease Sam." Ah hell not much better he was now at parade rest. "I'd like to know what happened in there."

Sam blinked, he just told him he lost control. What more could he want him to say? But he reported simply "Spike asked me to go to the corn maze. I said no. I lost control and pinned Spike to the cage wall. I can be packed and out of here in five Sir."

Ed was taken aback at his last statement. Sam thought he would fire him over this? The shake of Sam's hands came back into mind. Why didn't he want to go to a corn maze? It was a bit underhanded but he needed to understand how his officer ticked if he was going to keep the team safe.

"Explain to me why you don't want to go to the corn maze with Spike. If you answer truthfully I will entertain alternative discipline measures" Ed stated firmly but feeling a bit guilty about forcing his officer to tell him something personal under a false impression.

Ed watched his rookie closely. If he hadn't been he would have missed the quick flicker of emotion in his eyes. Something told him he should not have asked his rookie this question.

"And if I don't answer Sir?" Sam asked. He needed to know his options. Sam really did not want to be kicked out. But he really did not want to answer the question either. It depended on how Ed answered whether he would explain.

Ed just remained silent and looked at him with one eyebrow cocked up. Although he had just questioned himself for asking that question Sam's reaction made him more curious. He had no intention of firing Sam but he would not say that. If he remained silent Sam might infer it.

Crap, if I don't answer my ass is outta here. Sam took a breath and steadied himself. "Sir, corn fields are not fun. Leastwise not to me."

Sam stopped a moment to decide how much he could tell without revealing any secret info and configured the truth accordingly "Had a mission in the Paktia province of Afghanistan. We were after a Taliban cell. My unit was spotted and we took cover in a corn field. A large group of thirty, maybe more, Taliban surrounded us and trapped us in the corn field. Spent nine days playing hide and seek in that corn field. They were exceedingly brutal when they located one of us."

Sam's eyes glazed over and he was no longer seeing Ed. All Sam could see was the blood and dismembered bodies of the unit members. He could still hear their screams as they were torn apart piece by piece.

The slight shake of his body was in direct contradiction to his monotone and emotionless voice "An extraction unit came on the morning of the ninth day. The other unit quickly eliminated the remaining ten Taliban because by that time Shy and I were out of ammo. We had been out of ammo for four days and only had our k-bars for defense."

He closed his eyes for a fraction of a second and took a breath before he continued "Me and Shy were the only two of our seven man unit to make it out alive. It took us and the extraction unit the better part of the day to locate all the body parts of our guys so we could bring them home for burial."

Sam shook his head slightly trying to clear the images. He swallowed hard and refocused on Ed "So Sir, you see, I really don't want to go to a corn maze with Spike. Not scared, just really don't like them, bad memories."

Ed could not believe, well he could believe, but god damn he didn't want to believe what Sam went through. Hiding out in a corn field for nine days. Hearing his buddies killed. Having to search the corn field for all their body parts.

Christ. His jest about being in a corn maze with a real chain saw murderer was not too far off from Sam's reality. Shit. The team would need to learn to tread lightly with Sam and respect his boundaries. Who knows what other horrors he experienced with spending six years in Special Forces?

Ed cleared his throat "I see."

Sam watched his team leader warily wondering what his punishment would be for attacking Spike. He had no clue what he was thinking. Ed was hard to read.

Ed thought what the hell was he going to do now? "Follow me." Ed headed to the roof door. Sam followed very tense wondering his fate and wishing he had not lost control.

SRU HQ – Armory

Ed was glad that Spike was the only one in the armory. Ed followed by a very tense Sam stopped in front of a very upset Spike.

Spike had been kicking himself for pushing Sam. He should have respected Sam's answer and not pushed. But he had and he sent his teammate off the deep end. He felt very bad. Spike needed to find a way to make it up to Sam. But he really didn't know anything about him. That's why he wanted to hang out with him.

The three of them stood looking at each other but both Sam and Spike were waiting for Ed to speak first. He cleared his throat once again. "Sam for your part in this, losing control and pushing Spike into the lockers, you will tell Spike exactly why you do not want to go to the corn maze."

Sam's face lost all color. He did not want to retell it again. "Sir?"

Ed silenced him with a glare then continued "Spike for your part in this you will listen to his explanation without interruption. In the future, you will take Sam's first answer and not push regardless of your intentions."

Spike looked at Ed quizzically. He got a feeling he was not going to like hearing why Sam did not want to go to the corn maze. He nodded his eyes a little wide.

Pinching the bridge of his nose then dropping his hand Ed then said "You two will be partnered together beginning today for the next two weeks. Lastly, you will both join me at the Goose after shift tonight. First round is on me. Second round is on Spike."

Ed saw the questioning faces of his officers "Are we clear on that?"

Both Spike and Sam replied "Copy."

Nodding Ed said "Good. Sam begin."

... And there began life-long friendships deeper and stronger than any blood brotherhood.

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A/N: So hoped you enjoyed my first attempt at making something short and sweet. Let me know what you thought.