Black. Red. Blood. A sharp itch. Pain. A terrible pain is running through my body. I try to open my eyes but I can't. What happened? What's happening? I try to move but I don't feel my arms, or legs. What's going on?

5 Hours Earlier

'So, where's this son of a bitch, Adam?' I look at the screen Adam shows me.

'He's staying in an old warehouse, on tenth street.' He shows the address.

'Okay, thanks. I'll gather the team. You and Hawkes stay in the van.' I want them to have an eye on what's happening inside

'Sure.'

'Okay, Lindsay and Danny, you take the right. Don, Lovato, you the left. Me and Jo will go in. Listen to what we say.' I'm standing in front of the team, telling them what to do while we are putting on our vests.

'Don't worry, we'll have your back' I smile thankfully at Don. It isn't a dangerous mission, but you never know what can happen.

'Thanks Don.'

'Good luck guys. And make it fast, so we can go celebrate Lovato's birthday!'

'Thanks Adam. And we'll make it as fast as we can. Let's hope this guy surrenders quick.'

'We'll tell you what's happening inside. Now go!'

'Bye Sheldon.'

They walk towards the building. Lindsay and Danny walk to the right side of the building, smiling at each other and wishing each other luck. Don and Jamie are bickering about who can go in front. I look at Jo. She looks a bit pale.

'You okay?'

'Yeah, I'm fine. Just had a bad dream last night that left me awake the rest of the night.' She smiles. It's beautiful. I always get a warm feeling inside me when she smiles at me that way. It feels special. I smile back at her.

'Let's go.' We walk towards the building, the last to go.

'You know Mac, I'm happy we're finally gonna get this guy. He's done a lotta bad things in his life, ya know. I kinda hate him.' I can't help but smile because of her southern accent that sounds worse than normal.

'What? Thinking I take it too personal?'

'No, it isn't about that. I was just wondering. Have you been talking to your mother recently?'

'We spoke on the phone this morning, why?'

'I thought so. Your accent is back.'

'It is? I didn't even notice! I'm sorry.'

'Don't worry, I like it.' When I say it I want to hit myself in the face. She gives me a strange look. Why did I had to say that. She doesn't have to know I like her. Like her? Adore her. Love her. God, she's everything to me. I just can't describe. We reach the door. She opens it quietly as possible. We walk in.

'Good luck and be careful.' She says to me.

'Yeah, you too. '

We walk into the darkness of the building.

Pieces of my memory are coming back. We were working on a case, a serial killer. I remember we knew where he was. So, we went there. I remember Mac giving a pep talk. I remember Lindsay and Danny taking one side and Jamie and Don taking the other. I remember parts of the conversation Mac and I had when we walked to the door. I remembered him saying something about my accent, and that he liked it. I remember I felt very special when he said that, like he meant something with it. I remember telling myself I should stop, that he meant it was funny. Then we went inside and then… One big blur. I'm tired. I don't see, I can't move, I can't hear… Wait a sec. I do hear something. An unfamiliar voice. I hear the soft sound from steel to steel. Another voice I don't know. Then a voice I do know.

'How's she doing? … Okay, yes.'

I can't hear what the other man says, but I can hear the other voice. It's Sheldon. What is he doing here? I hear some other words that I can specify as medical terms. Of course! I must be in a hospital or something. Sheldon is here because he's a doctor and can come see how I'm doing. Something must have happened in that warehouse. But what?

There are two doors in the hallway from the building, leading to two different rooms. Jo and I split. I take the right one, she takes the left. I kick in the door and put my gun up. I look around the room. It's a pretty big one so it takes me at least 10 minutes. Lost time because I find it empty.

'Clear!' I scream, so everybody knows nobody's in. I'm waiting for Jo to give me a response. When there isn't one, I go back to the hallway. The left door is kicked in, same as the right. I go in. Maybe something happened to Jo! I quickly search the room, but it's totally empty. No killer, but no Jo neither. Shit!

'Guys, Jo's gone. She isn't in the building, I can't find her. Come as quick as possible!'

'Mac, we can't come. That asshole has set us stuck. We can't come out. The door is locked.' The message from Danny frightens me.

'Don?'

'Same here. I'm sorry Mac. We're trying everything. Lovato is sending another team this way.'

'Hawkes, Adam, what do you see?'

'Nothing. He let our system crash. We can't…'

'Ssshh.' I hear a sound above me. I look up, but realize it's on the second floor. I search the room and find a door leading to a stairway. Very silent I walk up, slowly and concentrated. Then I hear a shot.

I remember everything. Just out of the blue, it popped up in my head. I remember kicking in a door. Walking in, very slowly. An awful smell. Then a big black hole, where I probably was unconscious. I remember waking up from a pain in my head and a strange feeling, like a was being carried. I opened my eyes. A man, I can't see his face, is carrying me up the stairs, into a room. I feel weak and can't get out of his grip. He throws me on the ground and tides me up with my own handcuffs. He pulls me up and putts me hands on a hook sticking out of the wall. It's pretty high and I remember having to stand on my toes to stay up. I'm still very weak and can't barely keep my eyes open. Then he begins to put out my shoes. He opens my pants and pulls it down. He pulls of my vest and with a pair of scissors he cuts open my shirt. The cold air waving over my almost naked body wakes me up and I realize what he's doing. With the strength I suddenly have in my body I pull myself up with my hands and with my feet I give him a hard kick against his chest. But he gets up. I see his face. It's the serial killer we've been looking for months. The scary thought I won't get out here alive get's to me. He has something in his hands and looks pretty pissed off.

'I thought you were gonna be fun. Now you're doing things I don't like. Guess we have to make it quick, shall we?'

I look at my thigh. It's naked. And of course, my gun is gone. What did you thought. That he would've just left it there. He isn't stupid. When he comes closer I see that he's holding a needle in his hand. He's gonna drug me? But then he smacks me in my face. I lose grip with my feet and I fall down. Except I can't, because my hands are still tied up. So I'm just hanging there. Then I feel a sharp itch in my leg.

'Happy bleeding.'

I look down. In my leg is a hollow needle, a pretty thick one. After a few seconds blood starts dripping out of it. I feel it against my leg. The smell of blood comes in my nose. My blood. I see him sitting in the corner. I wanna ask him why he's doing this, I wanna scream at him. But the only sound coming out of my mouth is a soft peep. I stand up straight, but after two minutes, I'm getting light in my head and let it hanging. I look at the pool of blood around my feet. It's big. It won't take long before I pass out. My foot slip away because of the blood and I'm hanging on my hands. I don't have the power to get myself up. Then I hear a scream. It sounds like Mac. I see the man looking up, mad. He walks towards me and pulls the needle out of my leg. The bleeding stops, or at least it doesn't come out so quickly any more. Normally I would've been very relieved, but now I had the scary feeling something much scarier was coming up. I see him kneeling over to some kind of box. Please Mac, hurry up! I need you! I love him so much. The thought that this could be the last time I see him scares me. Then the man is in front of me again. In his hand a 4mm. Shit. Memories come above. The day I married Russ. The birth of Tyler, the day I got Ellie. I love my children. I can't lose them. Maybe they are the reason I'm in this hospital and not in a coffin. I'm still so tired, but I'm not giving up. Because I remember the last image I had in my head was Mac's face. His fabulous, funny face. Then I heard a door opening. He did to. His head went to the door. He knew Mac was on his way. He loads his gun. I want to run away, cover my face. I feel tears streaming down my cheeks. For the first time in my life I'm scared. To die. To leave this world. Because there's so much I had wanna do, wanna say. Before I can think, he fires the gun. I hear it before I feel the pain. The bullet hits my stomach. I scream. My whole body is on fire. I hear footsteps and them… I probably passed out again. It's a miracle I'm still alive. At least, if I'm going to survive this operation. Thinking about what happened, I feel the pain again. But I'm not giving up. Not now.

Then I heard her screaming. I kicked in the first door. Nobody's in. The second door. Same. The third. My eyes have to get used to the light that's in the room. It takes a few seconds. After that I see a woman. She's hanging against the wall. Dark hair. Very slim waist. It's Jo. The only thing she's wearing is a black bra and white underwear. There's a stream of blood on her leg and a pool of it at her feet. But the only thing that catches my attention is the big bleeding shot wound on her stomach. The person who did this to her is nowhere to be found. I run towards Jo. She doesn't react at me. I feel her pulse. She's still alive. In my microphone I hear Don.

'Mac, we're free, so are Linds and Danny. Have you found Jo yet?'

'Yes. Send an ambulance as soon as possible over here. It's a matter of life or death.'

I can just see how shocked Don must be. I hear a phone going and I know he's calling an ambulance. I focus on Jo. I carefully lose her hands and lay her on the floor. I take her shirt, that's lying in a corner, and press it against the wound.

'Come on Jo. Don't leave me now. I can't lose you. Come on!'

I hear the ambulance driving in the street. I hear Hawkes his voice downstairs.

'Here, upstairs, quickly!' I shout. I hear them running up. I look at Jo. Her face is almost white. I press against the wound again. The paramedic softly push me away and take it over. They lay her on a stretcher. In only a minute they're downstairs again and I can hear the ambulance driving away while I walk out of the building. My clothes are full of blood. I look at Flack. He's calming Jamie, who has red eyes from crying. Danny hugs Lindsay, who is crying unstoppably. He nods at me and smiles sad. I walk away. Hawkes walks up to me.

'Mac, do you want to drive with me? I'm going to the hospital.' I look over my shoulder to the rest of my team.

'They will come to.'

'Fine, I'll drive with you.' We walk towards his car. He doesn't say anything but I know that he knows how I feel. The whole way I'm thinking of Jo. She has to survive. She has too.

We're already in the waiting room for several hours, and I'm starting to think that they are never going to finish this operation. Suddenly I see a cup of coffee in front of my face. I look up and see Lindsay standing in front of me.

'Here, drink it. It'll do you good.'

'Thanks.'

'Is she, do you think she…'

'She's going to be fine. She has to. It's Jo. She's stronger than she looks.'

'I'm just so afraid to lose her.'

'Me too Linds, me too.' I pull Lindsay closer. I can feel her tears against my jacket. She sits like this for a couple of minutes, until Danny comes back. He has Lucy with him. Lindsay stands up and walks towards them. She hugs her and leans than back against Danny. They're a perfect family, the family I would like to be with Jo… My thoughts are being interrupted by a doctor walking in the waiting room. I walk towards him.

'Doctor, do you have news about Jo Danville?'

'Who are you?'

'I'm detective Mac Taylor, her boss.'

'Okay, well, the operation was successful. She's lost a lot of blood, and has a pretty big wound on her stomach, but she's going to be fine. You can go see her now, but not too long.'

'Thank you doctor.' I walk to the others and tell them what the doctor had just told me. I hear Jamie sighting relieved, as if she'd hold her breath the whole time. Lindsay smiles happily.

'Why don't you go in your own first, see if she's strong enough to see all of us.'

'Yes, sure. I'll call you, okay?' They nod at me. I thank Don in silence. I walk towards the room where Jo is laying. She looks so small in the white bed. Her hair is in a smile braid next to her head on the pillow. On half of her face is totally covered in bruises. There are machines all over the room and she has several tubes in her body. It's hard looking at her like this. She looks asleep and I want to leave, but then she opens her eyes.

Finally I can open my eyes. First it's all weird and light, but then I start to see things. A white bed, a little table, machines. Mac. He's standing in the room and I can't help but smiling.

'Hi' I say to him. He smiles and walks towards me.

'You scared me. I thought I was never going to see you again.' I smile.

'You know, bad things never end.' I see him smiling and approaching the bed. He sits on the chair and pulls it closer to my face. He sits in front of me and looks pretty serious.

'When you were in the operation, I realized something. I realized that I like you very much. I want you for the rest of my life. I can't live without you.' I look at his face. Is he kidding? He doesn't look so. A smile comes over my face. He loves me too! All these nights thinking I'll never find love because he doesn't like me, where just a waste of time.

'Mac Taylor, I love you too. I love you very much.' He looks so happy. He bows over me and wants to kiss my lips, when I hear a yell through the hall.

'Mom!' Ellie and Tyler run into my room and jump on the bed.

'Au! Watch out Ellie!' She hugs me and I hug her back. The thought of losing them was terrifying, but now I have them close everything feels good. I look at Mac. He smiles and points to the window. I look. There the rest of the team is standing and waving at me. I wave back. God, I'm so happy with my life right now. They come in and we talk a bit. After half an hour this nurse comes in saying they should go. They say me goodbye and leave the room. Russ picks up the kids. Mac is the last one to leave. Before he goes, he turns to me.

'Would you like to go on a date someday? After you're healed and all, of course.' I smile and nod.

'Yeah, I'd love to.' He smiles and leaves the room. I lay back on my pillow. I'm already looking forward to it.

2 1/2 Months Later

I'm standing in front of the hospital, waiting for Jo. Today's the day she's discharged from the hospital. I bought a nice bouquet of flowers. I look to the iterance. Lots of people coming out, but I don't see Jo. Then, suddenly, I see her beautiful face. I walk towards her.

'Hey, there you are. How are you?'

'Hey Mac. It's going great, stop being so worried.' I smile.

'So, I have some place we can go for dinner, what do you think?'

'Sounds good.' We walk to the car, she tells things about her children, I tell things about the lab. As we reach the car, I hand her a bandage.

'What am I suppose to do with this?'

'Cover your eyes. It's a secret where we are going.' She sights but puts it on.

I drive without saying a word and stop before Bouley, a great restaurant in Manhattan.

'Okay, carefully get out of the car.' I help her stepping out and walking into the building.

'Stay here, don't move. I'll be right back.' I walk to the counter for my reservation. I can go up. I guide Jo to the elevator. As soon as it stops, I lead her to a beautiful table set for two, on the balcony of the restaurant.

'Okay, here's a chair. Sit down and open your eyes.' She putts of the bandage and her eyes are big from amazement.

'Wow, Mac, this is… Wow.' I smile and grab my guitar, that's standing against the table.

'I would like to play you a song.' She smiles and sits in a listening position. Slowly I start playing the first tones of the song and I can see she recognizes it. I start singing.

'I
I will be king
And you
You will be queen
Though nothing will
Drive them away
We can beat them
Just for one day'

She smiles and sings along. Her voice is so beautiful and pure, even more beautiful than I had expected.

'We can be Heroes
Just for one day'

I look at her beautiful face, her soft contours and her dark hair.

'Jo?'

'Yes?'

'I love you.'

Thank you guys for reading this, it was so much fun! Please tell me what you think!