"Jacquie?" demanded DCI Jack Meadows storming into the room Jacquie lazily looked up from her conversation with DC Zain Nadir and replied "Yes Gov?" looking slightly interested at the frustrated look on his face Jacquie had only been transferred to Sun hill two months ago and Jack still didn't trust her completely. "Have you filed those reports?" he continued looking slightly menacing "Yeah Gov ages ago why?" replied Jacquie still looking politely interested "Can I have it now?" demanded Jack again still looking rather frustrated about something "Yeah sure Gov," she replied opening a filing draw in her desk, pulling out a file and passing it to him. Jack stormed back off into his office almost crashing into DC Mickey Webb "Gov, I…" began Mickey, Jack ignored him and continued to storm into his office and slam the door behind him. The whole room was silent for a moment, "You know Zain," started Jacquie breaking the silence "I think something may be bothering DCI meadows!" the whole room laughed at this obvious comment then went back to their work. "Well back to what I was saying," began Zain when his telephone rang "Yes," answered Zain picking up his phone "No…… Yes…… No…… No…… Yes…….. Yes….. THIS AFERNOON! ... Are you sure? ………… Thank you…… good bye!" Zain slammed the phone down looking as though he'd just been promoted to ruler of the universe "Interesting was it?" I asked raising my eyebrows and pretending to be bored by the current proceedings. "Huge shipment of guns this afternoon at Blackstone warehouse orginised by Damion Cook!" he exclaimed banging his hand down on the desk in excitement "hhhhhmmm" replied Jacquie then paused for a moment "Damion Cook? Yeah we really need to nail him but, is this another one of those so called reliable informants?" she asked rolling her eyes. "No Jacquie! I'm serious this one is reliable!" exclaimed Zain looking disappointed at Jacquie's reaction "I've heard that before," replied Jacquie frowning. Zain was taken aback "Just joking Zain!" she exclaimed with a laugh she paused for a second "I'll go tell cheerful old DCI shall I?" she asked getting up from her seat and heading over to his office without waiting for a reply. Zain sat back in his seat feeling rather pleased with himself and waited for a few moments until Jack came storming out again "Ok everyone, we've got a major guns shipment at Blackstone warehouse this afternoon!"

"I can't stand waiting!" exclaimed Jacquie sitting in the passenger seat of Zain's car hidden outside a rather dodgy looking warehouse "Patience is a virtue," replied Zain looking out the window through his binoculars smiling to himself, being the impatient type he couldn't stand waiting either "A virtue that I sadly do not posses!" Jacquie replied straining her eyes to see if anything was happening "I hope we catch him this time," Jacquie continued, Damion Cook was obviously a big time gangster but nothing had ever been proven, "Zain?" crackled Jacks voice over the radio "Yes Gov?" replied Zain putting down his binoculars "A cars just coming in, we think its Damion or one of his associates be ready over!" Zain grinned and replied "We're on stand by Gov over;" Zain put down his radio then turned to Jacquie "Looks like you won't need to be patient for much longer!" Jacquie smiled, finally a little action in the usually boring life of a Sun hill CID officer. "Here he comes," whispered Zain peering through his binoculars in anticipation. Through the binoculars Zain saw a white medium hight man with red hair around the age of thirty getting out of a blue Ute, he went to the boot of his car and pulled out a hand gun "All units GO GO GO!" shouted Jack over the radio. Zain drove the car as fast as he could over to the man only to see him run into the building just before anyone got to him "Dammit!" swore Zain getting out of the car followed closely by Jacquie "Alright send the armed squad in first I don't want anyone in there alone you to cover all the exits!" barked Jack he turned to Zain and Jacquie "Search EVERYWHERE! I'm staying out here with the others encase he tries to escape!" Jacquie and Zain nodded and then ran with the armed squad into the building.

"Nothing in here lets keep moving!" barked Zain at the armed squad as we finished searching one of the rooms "Hang on Zain, I dropped my radio, I'll catch you up!" exclaimed Jacquie bending down to pick up her radio as Zain and the armed squad left the room Jacquie shivered as she stood up, these old warehouses gave her the creeps and it was bad enough having an armed criminal in there somewhere with them, she heard footsteps come up behind her "Zain, I…." began Jacquie turning around and to her horror there was the red headed man pointing a gun straight at her head. Jacquie was frozen in terror for a moment then her police training kicked in "I am DC Jacquie Black from Sun hill police please put down your weapon," Said Jacquie holding out her badge and praying that it would work. The man stared at her for a moment then replied; "you really think I'm gonna jus' pu' down my gun na your naff mate, ge' over 'ere and don' make a sound!" he sneered Jacquie not seeing any other option walked slowly over to him. When she got over to him he quickly twisted her arm behind her back and put his gun to her head and whispered in her ear "Now lets wait till your friend comes back shall we?" Jacquie was shaking with fear and the mans grip on her arm was becoming painful "Jacquie how long does it take to pick up a ……" Zain stormed into the room and saw Jacquie and the man and his eyes widened with fear, he shook his head to clear it, why was he scared? He wasn't the one with the gun pointed to his head, Zain usually didn't feel fear there was the anxiety of having a gun to your head, but this was different this was deep fear that clawed his stomach and made him feel unable to breathe "I am DC Zain Nadir from Sun hill…." Began Zain numbly reaching for his badge "Look 'ere you I wan' everybody out of the building 'xept 'er an' you, you can negotiate for me savy?!" he snarled pushing the gun closer to Jacquie's head "Gov," Zain said quietly into his radio "What is it Zain?" demanded Jack from outside Zain breathed heavily then looked from Jacquie to the floor "We have a hostage situation involving DC Black and the….." began Zain "WHAT!?" thundered Jack so loudly that Zain had to hold the radio away from him as to avoid deafness "He wants everyone out of the building except Jacquie and he wants me to negotiate over," replied Zain slightly shaking. There was a pause then Jacks voice "Everyone out of the building NOW!"

The Armed squad ran past Zain and Jacquie, a few paused but then kept running, Mickey ran by then stopped seeing Jacquie and wouldn't move "Mickey get out of here now!" yelled Zain and Mickey ran out of the room leaving Zain and Jacquie alone with the armed man "Ok, so what do you want?" asked Zain keeping his eyes fixed on Jacquie. The man looked around then said; "I wan' out of 'ere," he announced "an' I wan' a car to take me to the airport an' I wan' to go out of the coun'ry!" he continued looking slightly nervous "You'll never get out of here, these kinds of hostage situations never work!" said Jacquie having calmed down a little "Wha'?" demanded the man Jacquie breathed in slowly then began to speak; "These are your options: You can kill me and DC Nadir will have run before you can shoot him then the armed squad will come in, and they'll come in shooting," Jacquie paused for a moment to let it all sink in "Or," she began again "You can walk out of here with us and I will speak for you in court," the man snorted

"You know nothing of my options, this was a trap," Zain unable to control himself blurted out "Of course it was a trap for you!" the man twisted Jacquie's arm a little more and Jacquie let out a gasp of pain "Lets remember who's in charge here!" snarled the man "He told me to come 'ere wiv a gun and tha' as soon as I reviled the gun to ge' inside the warehouse and to take one of the CID officers into a hostage si'uation and kill 'em, or 'e said 'ed come after my family so now you tell me my options DC Black?" there was a horrified silence "But I got a tip off!" exclaimed Zain the feeling of fear had long gone and in its place guilt and horror, he had led Jacquie to her death and life wouldn't be the same without Jacquie, making sarcastic comments, the familiar face at the desk in front of his, smiling, laughing. Zain shook his head again to clear it, if he was going o save Jacquie he had to keep his mind focused on the job rather than on his own guilt and loss, but he didn't usually get distracted so easily, what was going on? "Who's he?" asked Zain his face still a mask of fear "I can' tell you tha'!" exclaimed the man "So wha' are my options?" he demanded Jacquie was frozen with terror, she would never see Zain or Suzie or even Jack again, she felt tears threatening to appear in her eyes but she forced them back, she had to be strong if she was going to get out of here. "The options are the same, except that if we walk out of here then we'll put your family under protection and." began Jacquie "Don' give me tha'!" yelled the man and he pushed Jacquie away from him and sent her crashing into Zain, Zain breathed a sigh of relief but it was cut short by the gunshot sound that filled the air. Zain could feel no pain so it must mean…..Jacquie, Jacquie was standing directly in front of him; she was so close to him her face was a few inches away from his. Everything for Zain seemed to go into slow motion; Jacquie looked up at Zain and whispered something then slowly began to fall, Zain stooped to catch her then time sped up again "Jacquie!?" he exclaimed horrified praying that the bullet was not in her stomach or her heart. Zain felt warm blood on his hand where it had been on Jacquie's arm to catch her he pulled his hand away, it was soaked in blood. Zain looked down to Jacquie's arm; a few centimetres above the elbow there was a rip in her suit and blood was flowing freely out of the wound. Jacquie groaned and Zain stood her upright being careful not to touch her arm to avoid her anymore pain. Jacquie gritted her teeth and put her other hand over the wound trying to stop the blood flow, "ZAIN WHATS HAPPENING IN THERE!?" demanded Jack over the radio Zain numbly replied "DC Black has been shot," not knowing what else to say, this was all his fault, if it wasn't for his "so called reliable informant" Jacquie and he would be about to leave the office to go get a drink at the pub, talking about how boring the day had been, another fruitless attempt to find Damien Cook. "SHOT!" shouted Jack "Can we send the paramedics in there?" he yelled again sounding distressed the man snorted,

"If anyone else comes in 'ere I'll kill you both!" he snarled Zain looked from Jacquie standing next to him breathing heavily to the gun man "No can do Gov," replied Zain, still in slight shock of what had happened. "No more radio pu' it down!" barked the man pointing the gun straight at Jacquie's head "Ok, lets keep calm ok, I'm putting down the radio," replied Zain doing all he could not to sound as fearful as he felt. They all stood there for a moment in silence then the man spoke again; "We're going up to the roof, you 'elp 'er!" he gestured to a flight of stairs visible in the next room.

"Can you walk ok?" asked Zain his eyes filled with as much pain as Jacquie's, Jacquie took a few steps, then nearly fell "I think he cut off part of my co-ordination, I could use some help," she replied through gritted teeth. Zain put Jacquie's good arm over his shoulder and supported her "Le's go!" yelled the man his gun still pointed directly at Jacquie's head. They began to walk up the stairs, for Jacquie every step was painful, but she didn't let it show "I'm so sorry Jacquie," whispered Zain turning his head to look at her face, Jacquie turned her head towards his "It's not your fault," she murmured, her face was barely an inch away from his "We all would have fallen for it," she continued still looking straight into his eyes "We're all so desperate to nic Damion Cook for something," she was cut short by a gasp as her arm moved slightly, Zain desperately wanted to comfort her to kiss her or tell her he'd get her out of this, or that it would all be ok, but he knew there was no way out and that nothing short of a miracle would comfort either of them. " 'ere we are!" snarled the man as they got out onto the roof, there was nothing on the roof, but there was a brick wall around one and a half metres tall around the roof. "Ge' over there!" snarled the man shoving Zain towards the closest wall, he and Jacquie lost balance and fell against the wall, Zain turned immediately into sitting position against the wall and tried to get up, but he received a boot in the stomach for trying and was too winded to get up. Jacquie struggled into a slouched sitting position against the wall next to Zain, "End of the line folks!" snarled the man pointing the gun at Zain's head, Jacquie grabbed Zain's hand and their fingers interlocked, as a way of saying goodbye. "Bu' then again, 'e only told me to kill one," said the man thoughtfully turning his gun to Jacquie "Mother did once say, when you star' something you should finish it!" he laughed and prepared to fire, Jacquie closed her eyes and whispered "Goodbye Zain,"

"NO wait!" yelled Zain, he let go of Jacquie's hand and moved so he was partially in front of Jacquie he couldn't bare to be responsible for her death, "Don't kill her, let her go, shoot me!" Jacquie's eyes widened with shock

"I shoo' her or both of yous, its up to you!" snarled the man Jacquie blinked back tears then weakly said to Zain; "Zain, please…." Zain turned his head to her "I couldn't bare to watch you die…..Zain please," Zain realising this was her last wish before she died moved back and grabbed Jacquie's hand again "It's been great working with you Zain," said Jacquie tears now running freely down her cheeks "It's been great working with you Jacquie," replied Zain weakly feeling a single tear slip out of his eye. Zain closed his eyes and then heard a loud gunshot "Jacquie," Zain whispered wishing that it had been him to die "Zain?" said Jacquie's voice, Zain opened his eyes, the gun man was lying on the ground with blood flowing out of his head and Jacquie was next to him bloodstained but alive. "Zain! We're alive!" exclaimed Jacquie laughing, Zain laughed unable to believe his luck and turned to Jacquie yet again finding her face barely an inch away from his, unable to stop himself he leaned forward and put a blood stained hand to her face and he kissed her, it may have been for a minute or five but they lost track of all time while they were together, they broke apart and Jacquie smiled and said; "Zain…..I…." she slumped into unconsciousness just before the armed squad, some paramedics, Jack, Mickey and Suzie burst through the door.

In the hospital Zain was asleep in the visitors chair beside Jacquie's bed when Jacquie awoke "Zain?" she muttered weakly, Zain opened his eyes and saw Jacquie sitting up in the bed and breathed a sigh of relief "What happened? Why am I in hospital?" asked Jacquie, unable to remember anything. Zain opened his mouth but felt unable to say anything, she had forgotten everything, the warehouse, the gunshot wound, him offering to die for her and the kiss. "Can't you remember anything?" asked Zain feeling somewhat distraught "We were in the office," began Jacquie "Talking about Damion, then the DCI wanted those reports, then the phone rang, Damion Cook, gun shipment, we went to the warehouse," her eyes widened with shock "I was taken hostage, he, he shot me…." She stuttered looking to her arm, "We went onto the roof, he said he was going to kill one of us, you offered to die for me," she paused and looked up at Zain who was looking determinedly at the ground "The gunshot, he died how…."

"The armed squad set up a sniper on the next roof," said Zain still looking at the ground feeling slightly embarrassed, what if she thought he had taken advantage of her while she was vunerable? "We…." Began Jacquie, she opened her mouth to say something but Zain got in first "I'm sorry Jacquie I didn't mean to take advantage of you while you were vunerable and I…." Jacquie not listening to a word he said leant across and kissed him, after a few minutes they broke apart then Zain said; "Your not…." Jacquie leant across again and whispered in his ear "What do you think?" and they kissed again. Unknown to Jacquie and Zain inside the room was Mickey seeing them, he put down the flowers he had brought for Jacquie on the seat outside the room and slowly walked away.