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Important Note:
This story starts off at the end of Thursday (August 3rd, 2000) episode where Luis and Les are in the warehouse
and Les has his gun pointed at Luis’ back.
Chapter One
Luis heard the familiar sound of a gun being cocked and cursed inwardly. He hadn’t checked behind him. A damn rookie’s
mistake, he thought in disgust. The kind of stupid idiotic mistake that got you killed. The fact that this could
very well be one of those times didn’t go unnoticed by him either.
"Prepare to meet your maker cop." The voice said from behind him.
He swallowed hard, hating the fear that momentarily clutched his heart. Luis knew at any moment the guy would pull
the trigger and he resented the hell out of the fact that he’d let the bastard get the drop on him.
"Luis?" A voice laced with fear and uncertainty called out. Sheridan. What the hell was she doing here?
Didn’t she realize how much danger she was in? Of course not, he thought his hand tightening on the gun in his
hand, she didn’t think she was in any danger whatsoever. He turned his head slightly toward the man behind him
and when he saw him shift the gun toward the direction Sheridan’s voice had called out from, he used the distraction
to dive for cover.
"Sheridan!" he yelled as he ducked behind one of the huge wooden crates on the floor of the warehouse.
"Get the hell out of here! You’re going to get yourself killed!"
Somehow even as he said the words, he knew she wouldn’t go. He shook his head as he saw her step further inside
the warehouse. Damn, he had to get to her before the bastard behind him did. He moved toward her as quickly as
possible making sure he stayed behind the crates and machines that were scattered across the floor. The last thing
he needed was to get himself killed before he could get her out of here. He darted across the warehouse and managed
to get behind her. He covered her mouth with his hand before she could call out again then dragged her behind one
of the crates. She struggled against him, but as soon as he got her behind the crate and turned her to face him,
she stopped.
"What are you doing, Luis!" Sheridan hissed a little too loudly. "You scared me!"
He shook his head wishing he could actually scare some sense into her. How the woman could still think she was
invincible was beyond him. He’d saved her life more times than he could count and she still continued to believe
she wasn’t in any danger. Tonight should prove to her that she was. After all, his best friend had gotten shot
while saving her life. Maybe now she would see the severity in her situation. Something told him it would take
a lot more than Hank getting shot to make her see that though.
"Be quiet, Sheridan!" He said in a low voice filled with frustration and anger. "For once just be
quiet and listen to me!"
She blinked and started to say something, but he interrupted her before she could. "You need to get out of
here. Now. Don’t argue with me on this. Just do as I say and get the hell out of here. If that gunman sees you
he’s going to shoot. You can’t tell me he wasn’t after you, Sheridan. We both know he was. Hank got shot saving
your life. Don’t make it be in vain. Get out of here and I’ll cover you."
"Luis, I’m not leaving you! This is all my fault and I won’t let you get hurt because of me."
"Dammit Sheridan!" She flinched at the anger in his tone and he softened his voice immediately. "This
is what I’m trained for. You’re not. This guy is here to kill you and if he sees you that is exactly what he’s
going to do. Now get out of here before he gets the chance!"
"No." She said raising her chin in that stubborn way she had. "I won’t leave you here alone."
Of all the stubborn pig headed –
"Hey, Officer Lopez-Fitzgerald," the gunmen said interrupting his thoughts. "Why are you risking
your life for a Crane? I know how much you hate them. Why do you care whether one of them dies? I mean what the
hell does she matter to you?"
Luis looked at Sheridan and saw the fear in her eyes. She was scared to death and yet she refused to leave. He
shook his head. "It’s my job to protect her."
"Yeah, well I know some people that will pay you a lot of money to quit your job and let me kill her."
"This has nothing to do with money." He said not taking his eyes off Sheridan’s. "This is personal."
"Personal? Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for a Crane?" The gunmen said his voice filled with icy laughter.
"That’s just too rich. You were hired to protect her and you fell in love instead. Bad mistake, Luis. Didn’t
anyone ever tell you it’s not smart to mix business with pleasure? Then again, with the body she’s got I can’t
say I really blame you. I’d be tempted to partake in that delicious package too"
Sheridan shivered at the gunman’s words and Luis felt the anger rise within him. It took everything he had in him
not to act on that anger. He had to get Sheridan out of here before things got worse.
"Sheridan." He whispered. "I’m going to go get the drop on him and when I do I want you to make
a run for it. Do you hear me? No matter what happens I want you to get the hell out of here."
She swallowed hard then glanced down at the ground. He thought she would refuse again, but instead she nodded.
"Okay but please be careful, if anything happened to you…"
"Hey," He said placing a hand under her chin and forcing her to look at him. He was surprised to find
tears silently falling down her cheeks. His heart constricted with emotion because he knew those tears were for
him. He could see it. "Don’t worry about me, Sheridan. I’ll be fine. You just make sure you get out of here."
When she nodded, he dropped his hands and backed slowly away from her. He hated to leave her, but he had no choice.
He had to get this guy and she had to get out of here. "As soon as I have the guy I want you to get out of
here and don’t look back. No matter what happens you don’t look back. Promise me, Sheridan."
"I promise." She whispered looking into his eyes. He nodded then turned and made his way to the other
side of the crate. He slowly made his way toward where he knew the gunmen was and then once he saw him and was
in position, he jumped him. Both their guns went scattering across the floor as Luis tackled him to the ground.
The gunmen lunged for his gun that had landed a foot away from them, but Luis stopped him from getting it by punching
him in the ribs with his fist. The guy gasped for a breath then lunged again and this time he caught hold of the
butt of the gun. Luis managed to grab it from him, but he couldn’t get a good enough hold on it. The gunmen elbowed
him in the ribs and Luis suddenly lost his hold on the gun.
A second later, the guy was on his feet with the gun once again pointed at him. "Say goodbye, Officer."
His finger started to press the trigger, but before he could press it all the way, the sound of a gun being cocked
pierced the air. He looked up and saw Sheridan holding his revolver. Her hands were shaking, but otherwise she
looked as if she knew how to use it.
"Drop the gun." She said her voice filled with authority. "Don’t make me shoot."
Luis saw the determination and fear in her eyes and knew she would shoot if she had to. But he also knew if she
did, she would never forgive herself. He couldn’t let her do that. "Sheridan, he can’t shoot both of us. Just
drop the gun and go. Just do it Sheridan. Now."
"Luis." the gunman said shaking his head. "You know how she hates to be told what to do."
Luis glared at the man and started to say something, but Sheridan’s voice interrupted him before he could. "I
said drop the gun. I don’t want to shoot you, but I will if I have to."
"No, you won’t. Because unless you drop your gun, your bodyguard here will be going home in a body bag."
Fear lit Sheridan’s eyes, but when she spoke her voice held no trace of it. In fact, she spoke with more calm than
he could have managed if the situation were reversed. "If you shoot him, I guarantee you’ll be in a bag all
of your own."
The gunman laughed and Luis knew there was no way he was going to back down. "Wow, you’re taking an awfully
big chance with Officer Lopez-Fitzgerald’s life, aren’t you? I tell you what you drop that gun and come over here
and I’ll let Luis here go. You’re the one I’m after anyway."
Luis watched as the gunman turned his head slightly to the left to look at Sheridan and he took a chance and lunged
for the gun. They started to struggle and Luis yelled for Sheridan to get the hell out of there. He continued to
try and wrestle the gun away from the guy and just as he got a good grip on it the gun went off. The bullet hit
him in the chest and the force caused him to stumble backwards. He heard another gunshot and then heard Sheridan
scream. He looked up and saw the gunmen’s body fall. Then he saw Sheridan drop the gun and run toward him. He collapsed
to the floor a second before she reached him. He knew it was bad. The pain in his chest told him it was bad. He
heard Sheridan talking to him, telling him to hold on, but she sounded as if she were a miles away.
"Luis, don’t you dare leave me! Don’t you dare leave me now. I’ll never forgive you if you do. Do you hear
me, Luis? I’ll never forgive you if you leave me. I can’t live without you. I love you, Luis. I love you with all
of my heart and I can’t live without you. Just hold on, Luis. Please baby, just hold on. Don’t give up. Please
don’t give up. I can’t bare to lose you, Luis. I love you. Do you hear me? I love you, Luis."
Luis closed his eyes, but the moment he heard her voice he forced them open again. He tried to smile, but wasn’t
sure he pulled it off. Either she just said loved him or he was losing his hearing as well as his blood. He heard
her say it again and he knew he wasn’t just hearing things. She really said she loved him. Maybe it was finally
okay for him to tell her how he really felt about her. He felt her take his hand and he squeezed it in response,
then just before his eyelids started to drift down again, he managed to look into her eyes and tell her what was
in his heart. "I… I love you too, Sheridan."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sheridan paced the hospital waiting room floor, praying Eve
would come out and tell her how Luis was. She knew it was serious. She knew he lost a lot of blood. He had been
unconscious almost the whole ambulance ride to the hospital. He’d kept pulling off his oxygen mask telling her
he loved her. She knew he meant it. She knew it as sure as she knew she loved him too. His trying to protect her
had never just been about his job. Deep down, she had always know that but whenever she started to let herself
believe it, the things he said that night at the wharf would start playing in her head and then she would once
again refuse to trust what her heart was telling her. Somehow she knew there was an explanation for what Luis said.
She knew he was never using her. He wouldn’t do that to her. She didn’t know why she ever let Julian and Alistair
make her think he had. She knew Luis. She knew his heart and she knew without a doubt in her mind that he would
never hurt her that way.
She walked toward the big glass window where the doctors had taken Luis just moments before and watched as numerous
doctors and nurses worked on him. She couldn’t help but think about the fact that it should be her lying in that
hospital bed fighting for her life. The only thing Luis ever did was try to protect her, try to keep her safe,
and she gave him such a hard time about it that now he was fighting for his life. Why didn’t she just listen to
him when he said to stay home? Why did she let her stubborn streak get the best of her? She, of course, knew the
reason she wanted to go out tonight. She had thought the fresh air would help her forget that kiss she and Luis
had shared. It hadn’t. The only thing it had done was almost get Hank and Luis killed.
This was all her fault, she thought tears welling in her eyes, if Luis died it would be all her fault. How could
she ever face Pilar or any of Luis family again? She would never forgive herself for putting Luis in this position.
If only she had listened to him, she thought raising her hand to wipe away her tears, if only she hadn’t been so
damn stubborn…
"It’s all my fault." She whispered as the tears continued to slide down her cheeks. "It’s all my
fault."
Someone laid a hand on her shoulder and she turned to find Sam standing there with a concerned look on his face.
"He’ll be okay, Sheridan. Luis is a fighter. You should know that by now. He’s going to fight with everything
he has in him. He’ll be okay."
Sheridan started to say something, but before she could utter a word, chaos broke out in Luis’ room. She turned
and saw them place two paddles against his chest. His body jumped once, but the monitor by his bedside still showed
a flat line. Oh god, she thought as her own heart stopped beating, he was dying. Luis was dying. Her legs suddenly
went numb and just before the darkness swallowed her, she heard a voice come over the intercom. "Code blue
in trauma room one. Code blue in trauma room one."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Where was he? Nothing looked familiar. He turned, looking
in all directions, hoping to see something he recognized, but he didn’t. The only thing he saw was the same bright
lights that appeared a few moments before. But then suddenly, as if by magic, a door opened in front of him and
someone walked out. As they got closer, he recognized it to be a little girl. He shook his head sure that he was
dreaming, but as the little girl came closer he knew he wasn’t. He wasn’t dreaming. The little girl really did
have wings. An angel, he thought in surprise. He was seeing an honest to goodness angel. A second later, he realized
it could only mean one thing… he was dead.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
to chapter 2
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