A/N: Here's the next chapter folks!
Karen watched, horrified as he fell out into the open. She crept as close to him as she could, but she was still too far away to tell how badly he was hurt.
The SWAT team tackled the two men from behind, and several cops dragged the two escapees back into the room in handcuffs. Juliet rushed in, closely followed by Shawn and Gus. She read the two men their rights, and then passed them off to be hauled back to the station.
Karen scrambled over to where Lassiter lay. She felt frantically for a pulse and breathed a sigh of relief when she found it.
"O'Hara get an ambulance in here, now."
"On the way Chief. I saw Carlton go down," Juliet said kneeling down beside her partner.
Together, she and Karen rolled him onto his side so he wasn't flat on his back. Karen pressed her hands to the wound on Carlton's chest. It looked like the bullet had hit on the edge of the vest. Karen couldn't tell how much damage had been done.
"Carlton," she said. "Are you okay?"
"I'll live Chief," he choked out. One of the officers brought over some paper towels, which Juliet held over Carlton's wound. Karen scooted over to make room for Juliet and held Carlton's head in her lap while they waited for the paramedics.
It wasn't long before they arrived, and Karen was able to tune back in to her surroundings. Only when Carlton was safely on his way to the hospital did she enquire about the civilians in the restaurant. She was momentarily ashamed of herself for not looking after the civilians first, but was comforted that no one had been hurt. That meant that her lapse in judgment had harmed no one and wouldn't be a danger to her career.
With O'Hara and her team taking statements from the other diners and staff, that left Karen with no real duty. As she had been one of the undercover detectives and wasn't just there as the Chief, she was granted some leeway as to what she should be doing at that point. She went to the bathroom to wash Carlton's blood off her hands. A girl in the bathroom saw the blood and screamed.
"Calm down, miss," Karen said.
"Is that blood?" The girl shrieked.
"Karen Vick, SBPD, please calm down," Karen said. The girl didn't look reassured, and left the restroom immediately. Hands clean, Karen returned to the restaurant. The teams were just about finished when the waitress who had served her and Carlton approached her.
"Hi, I just wanted to apologize; I thought you and your partner were the bad guys. I couldn't have been more wrong could I?" She said, laughing nervously.
"No problem. You did the right thing by being suspicious; I can see how we weren't acting like a normal couple."
"Yeah, it all makes sense now. You were talking about work, and I misunderstood. You two make a cute couple though," Mary said.
"Uh, thanks," Karen said, blushing, "but we're not married..."
The waitress laughed.
"Anyway, I'm glad I didn't call security; lots more people might have gotten hurt. Thanks!"
"You don't have to thank us for doing our jobs," Karen said. She picked up her purse off the floor and grabbed her phone and rushed to catch up with Juliet on the way out.
"O'Hara, can I have your key to Carlton's car?" She asked.
"Sure thing Chief," Juliet said and handed her the key.
"See you back at the station."
Karen headed out to the parking lot to Lassiter's car and drove it back to the station.
After booking the shooters, the day was pretty much over, and Karen headed to the hospital to check up on her detective.
"Hey," she said as she walked into his hospital room.
"Chief," he said. "About earlier, I'm sorry if I overstepped my limitations by kissing you..."
"It's alright Carlton. It was for the case. Don't worry about it."
He looked sad when she showed no emotion as she told him this. To her it was just business. Just what they had to do to keep their cover.
"I'm sorry," he said again. "I shouldn't have... "
"It's okay detective," she said emotionlessly, but then she smiled and added, "But I kissed you back, right?"
Then the door opened and O'Hara, Spencer and Guster entered the room.
"How are you doing Carlton?" Juliet asked.
"I'm fine," he said all traces of his previous discomfort gone.
"So... "Shawn said. "What's going on with you two?" Shawn asked, pointing at Karen and Carlton.
"I'm sorry Chief. I tried to keep them away from the security room, but they kept getting into trouble, so I just let them watch the security footage with me."
"So Chief, is Lassie a good kisser?" Shawn interrupted.
"Mr. Spencer," Karen scolded, blushing at the same time that Carlton barked, "Spencer."
"Oh I'm sorry was that out of line?" Shawn asked innocently.
"Shawn," Gus warned.
"On second thought, you don't have to answer that. Your face says it all," Shawn said to the Chief. Gus flicked Shawn in the ear. Shawn flicked Gus back. Juliet used their distractedness as an opportunity to shove them out into the hall. Then, miraculously, they left.
Karen's cell phone rang.
"Excuse me, I have to take this," she said stepping out into the hall.
"Hello James."
"Karen, I just heard about the shooting on the radio, are you okay?"
"Yes. We got them."
"They said there was only one injured person taken to the hospital, was it one of yours?"
"Yes, unfortunately, detective Lassiter. It's not a serious injury, and I'm sure he'll be signing out before he should very soon," she said. James laughed.
"I'll tell you all about it when I get home. I'm at the hospital now, leaving in a few. Love you!"
"See you soon! Thank god you're alright."
She stepped back into the room.
"Well, I should be heading home, Carlton, please try to behave yourself," Karen said to him. "Have a good evening."
"Good night Chief," Juliet said. Carlton didn't say anything. Karen left him to talk to his partner and headed out to the parking lot to drive Carlton's government issued car to her house. She hadn't taken her car to the club, so she had no choice.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed. And oh crap I have finals tomorrow... English and accounting. Wish me luck guys! Updates will come! Please review.
