Hello readers. This is a first attempt at creating a story. I want to hear your reactions to this chapter as I'm currently stuck on chapter 4 and need some motivation and inspiration. Fair warning, English is not my native language. Also, a couple of character might be a little off, and though it wasn't intentionally at the beginning, it seemed to flow with the story.

MAGNUM

It was a bark that woke him up at the ungodly hour of three AM. Magnum was wide awake, even before the echo of the sound had faded and sat up straight. Barking wasn't exactly unusual at Robin's Nest, but in the middle of the night, it was a little less normal.

Higgins called Zeus and Apollo for guard dogs and had trained them so, to the extent that Magnum sometimes feared the two beasts. That, and the fact that it was only a single bark, made him even more wary as he padded barefooted to the door. He wanted to be sure he wasn't going to be dog food, before finding his way to the main house, if necessary.

As he opened the door, he heard the muffled sounds of a thump and a grunt of pain. Doubt had vanished, as he rushed back to his room to pull on some old board shorts, a dark t-shirt and grab his gun.

Guided by the moonlight, he silently rushed towards the origin of the abnormal sounds, and trained his weapon on the upcoming corner as he looped around the front of the mansion. He glanced at the dimly lit driveway and saw an unknown white panel van backed up to the front entrance, back doors opened, engine humming.

He briefly wondered how it had gotten through the gate, seemingly unnoticed by the majordomo. He paused when he saw the two dogs slumped on the ground next to the car. Quiet, not moving, not even growling. A pink tranquilizer dart was visible on the closest one.

Magnum swore under his breath and wished he had brought his phone, so he could call for backup. Anyone who brought sedatives for guard dogs knew their way around security. He was about to approach the front door when it swung open and two men walked out. They were wearing all black clothes, from boots to baseball caps and gloves. And they were armed to their teeth.

Magnum watched as they took up positions on either side of the car and signaled back to the door with a nod. Magnum's eyes flitted back, where two other men were dragging Higgins out by her arms.

It felt like an ice-cold punch in the stomach. She was dressed in old flannel shorts and a loose shirt, both a light blue color, clearly visible in the darkness. She had a piece of tape over her mouth and her hands were zip tied behind her back. And still, she was giving the two men a run for their money, thrashing around wildly. That's when Magnum raised his weapon and stepped forward.

"Hey!" he called out and had already considered a plan, occupational hazard. Four strong, fast and agile men. Four guns against him wasn't good odds, but he couldn't let them get away with Higgins. It just wasn't an option. The left one of the first two guys would be the closest problem. Magnum aptly dubbed him 'Number One'.

The scrawnier man on the other side of the van had to clear two steps to even get Magnum in sight. That would give him a reaction time of about three seconds, if he didn't just jump for cover. He got the number two.

The last two guys were also armed, but they counted as half each, because they needed, and struggled, to keep Higgins in line. Hopefully, only one of them would have enough mental agility to pull the trigger.

The closest, on Higgin's left, the third, would probably let his partner, 'Number Four', take care of her as he himself would open up fire on Magnum. But he wasn't sure about those two, everybody has a plan until the first shot is fired.

These people had enough sense and skills to enter the gate unnoticed, take out the dogs and they had overpowered Higgins. It stood to reason, that they were operating on an expert level. Therefore, shots would be fired.

As soon as he called out, Number One was already taking aim and no sooner had a trigger been pulled and a bullet whizzed past his ear. Unfazed, Magnum let out two bullets while moving forward in a crouch and saw the man scramble for cover, behind the engine block.

Another four shots rang out in the dark and Magnum saw the muzzle flashes from Number Three on his right. He briefly felt a sting, as one of the bullets clipped his right-side lower ribs.

Magnum hadn't been sure about taking a shot in that direction in fear of accidentally hitting his friend, but he realized, that she had taken the opportunity to shoulder Number Four in the stomach and the two of them were now both on the ground. The man had aptly dropped his weapon and somehow it had found its way to Higgins' hands.

Magnum squeezed the trigger again and his bullet found its mark, the shoulder of Number Two, who had stepped into his line of sight with his own gun aimed at Higgins.

Higgins, in turn let out half a dozen bullets at Number Three, who had been shooting at Magnum. With her hands tied together behind her back it wasn't the best shooting, but she made up for it with quantity, as two of the bullets hit him in the shoulder and the neck. He slumped to the ground, no life in his eyes.

Number Four was grabbing number Two, who was clutching his shoulder, and the two of them jumped into the cab of the van which Number One had revved. The car lurched forward and skidded before fishtailing down the driveway, backdoors still swinging open.

"Higgins, you good?" Magnum called out as he rushed towards the man they had left behind and slid the man's gun away with a bare foot, before checking for a pulse. There was so much blood he doubted the man had been alive to feel the landing.

He tugged his own gun into the small of his back, in the waistband of his board shorts and thanked the stars, that Kumu was on the Big Island visiting family. Higgins was still lying on her front and rested her forehead on the ground, her back raising and dropping in motion with her quick breaths when Magnum knelt by her side. He took the gun from her hands and helped her sit up before he gently pulled the tape of her mouth and flicked it off his fingers.

"I'm fine, Magnum," she said carefully and let out a deep, but slightly shaking breath. Magnum took in her split eyebrow and the blood dripping from her nose.

"Sure, you are, and I'm the queen on England," he scoffed and gently removed the tousled hair from her face.

"Just get me out of these, please," she replied and cast a glance at the dead man. Magnum got to his feet and hurried through the door. Judging by her answer, both the tone and the 'please', he would say she wasn't remotely fine. He had never heard her sound like that before, and he wasn't quite sure how to handle that kind of Higgins. A minute later he came back with a knife in his hand and a phone, already on speaker.

"Katsumoto, it's Magnum. I need your help," he said urgently when the detective grunted an unintelligible greeting. He put the phone on the ground next to Higgins so he could use both his hands to cut of the plastic ties.

"Do you know what time it is, Magnum?" the man replied, not sounding particular happy with the rude wake up call.

"Yes, and I apologize for waking you up. Four men just tried to get away with Higgins. Shots were fired, and three men took off in a white Econoline, no plates, small dent on the back bumper," Magnum explained as the knife did its job and Higgins rubbed her torn wrists.

"What? Is she alright?" the detective asked, all sound of sleep now gone from his voice. They heard rustling on the line, like he was fighting his way out of the covers.

"She is fine," Higgins replied and accepted the hand Magnum offered her and was quickly pulled to her feet. "They slipped past the gate, the alarm and the dogs. Magnum managed to clip one in… Magnum, what's this?" she asked and looked at the dark blood on her fingers. She grabbed his hand again and turned it around, to see the underside slick with dark blood, the source of the blood coming from a jagged hole in his shirt.

"Just a scratch, noting to worry about," Magnum said as he studied the blood, feigning indifference. Sadly, he had become quite accustomed to bullet wounds and bleeding. Higgins batted his hand away and lifted the shirt to judge the graze for herself.

"What's nothing to worry about?" Katsumoto, forgotten by the both of them, asked as Magnum flinched when Higgins gently pried in the wound.

"Magnum's been shot," she replied as if it was a mere annoyance and tugged the shirt over his head, much to his surprise. She crumpled it up and pressed it against the bleeding eliciting a hiss of pain from Magnum.

"I'll be there in ten minutes," Katsumoto said and ended the call. Was that a hint of exasperation, in his voice, Magnum briefly wondered. Higgins placed Magnum's left hand over the bundled-up t-shirt and put a good amount of pressure on his hand.

"It's nothing, really, you should check on the dogs, make sure they're alright," he said as Higgins glanced up at him, something akin to worry in her eyes. After a moment, she nodded and turned to walk over to her dogs. He didn't need her to worry about him. She pulled the darts with sedatives from the two slumped dogs and studied them carefully. She stroked their backs in turn and moved their legs to more comfortable positions. Clearly, they had just been dragged and dropped there for the intruder's convenience.

Magnum secured the two weapons of the intruders as he called Rick, his hand still keeping the pressure. He knew his friend would want to know, and was sure both he and TC would come running.

"Hey, man, whats'up?" Rick asked, his tone of voice not tired, but anxious. Owning a club had a tendency to destroy any normal habits of sleep. He had experienced, that no phone calls in the middle of the night were good news.

"Hey, Rick, listen, somebody tried to grab Higgins, and before you ask, she's alright. Three of them got away, but one is dead and I clipped another in the shoulder,"

Magnum explained hurriedly in a low voice. There was a short pause of hesitant incredulity that turned into worry.

"I can practically hear you're bleeding, Thomas, were you hit?" his friend asked with concern in his voice. Magnum huffed and smiled. Rick knew him too well. They could tell each other's level of pain just by the strain in their voices.

"It's not bad, but not comfortable either. Barely a flesh wound," Magnum replied and briefly removed the shirt to check the bleeding again.

"Say no more, my friend. I'll grab TC and we'll be there in a flash," Rick replied and Magnum grunted in acknowledgement and disconnected the call. A chilled breeze made him shudder for a second and his eyes fell on the man by his feet.

His thoughts were just about to take off on a wild ride, when a car came up the driveway. The blue lights slowed to lazy, as the car parked and Katsumoto stepped out, dressed in old, faded jeans and a wrinkled shirt. The headlights did wonders to driveway and for a moment all the blood from the dead man was as highlighted as Higgins's skin had been in the moonlight.

Katsumoto glanced at said woman, still kneeling over the dogs, then at the body and then to Magnum. Determining, that neither was about to keel over, he could finally relax a little bit and breathe.

"I'm pretty sure, that was less than ten minutes, Detective," Magnum pointed out.

"No traffic at this time of the night," the man simply replied and walked over to him. "How bad?" he asked and nodded to the crumpled-up fabric under his hand.

"Just a couple of stitches, I think," Magnum replied as Higgins came over to them, arms crossed and shoulders slightly hunched.

"How are you doing?" Katsumoto asked and placed a hand on her elbow.

"I'm fine, thank you for coming," she replied and threw a look back over her shoulder as HPD began to show up.

"And the dogs?" Magnum asked. As much as he complained about the two beasts, he wouldn't want anything bad for them.

"They'll come around, won't be long," she replied and tried to give the two men a vague smile.

"Why don't you go and sit down for a moment. I'll come check on you later and take your statement, alright?" he asked and she nodded in agreement and went to sit on the bench next to the door.

"I think she's a little shaken up," Magnum sighed and looked after her.

"You look a little pasty yourself. Are you sure, you're alright?" Katsumoto asked and eyed him scrupulously.

"I'll be fine, really. Thank you for coming. Oh, Rick and TC are on their way, too. Will you let them in? I'll go check on Higgins."

"Sure. If you need anything, just let me know. The ambulance should be here soon," the detective replied with a nod. Their friendly rivalry paused, he actually didn't think Magnum was so bad. But he would never admit that to anyone, of course, not even under oath. Katsumoto watched the man walk over to the bench and grabbed a throw blanket from the armrest and with one arm managed to unfold it and draped it around the shoulders of the now frail-looking woman. He turned around to get back to his job.

Higgins had zoned out for a few minutes and didn't register Magnum's presence before the blanket enveloped her. She turned to give him a thankful smile when he sat down and wanted to say something, but she didn't know where to start.

"This is almost embarrassing," she finally said and Magnum scrunched up his eyebrows with a curious look at her.

"I'm sorry, I'm a little lost here… could you let me in on your train of thoughts?" he asked, completely unaware of what she was talking about. She gestured to herself and sighed.

"I'm trained and highly skilled for situations like this. I should be able to handle this better, instead they got the drop on me," she confessed and leaned back. She tugged quietly at the blanket and devoted her eyes to the ground before her again.

"Come on, they were professionals, four of them no less. Look how easy it was for them to get through the gate and the alarm. Don't beat yourself up, Higgy. I'm sure you would have kicked their asses, if you had known. If anything, it's my fault, the resident security consultant," Magnum said and put his free hand on her shoulder. A lot of good that did, he silently added. They were quiet for a few moments, neither of them wanting to use energy on that particular subject.

"Looks like the ambulance is here. You should get that wrapped up," she said as she briefly pried his hand and the shirt away. He was actually beginning to feel the cold of not wearing a shirt, but he wasn't about to let her know that.

"Come on, let's get you checked out," he said and offered her a hand again. He pulled them to their feet and let her lead the way across the driveway. He gave in for the need to keep a hand on her back, almost leading her to the newly arrived vehicle. He tried to convince himself, that she needed this 'grounding', but deep inside he knew it was mostly for himself. Katsumoto's commentary about his pasty look was spot on how he had felt, since Higgins had been dragged out the door.

MAGNUM

So, what do you think? Yay or nay? Also, I could use some help, so if you want to be a part of this creation, send me a PM. As I said earlier, I'm currently stuck on chapter 4 and need someone to bounce ideas with. Also do so, if you have a fitting title, as I simply cannot think of one. /kwueenie