Disclaimers: Boring! Do I really still need to say that I don't own 'The Rookies.' I guess that I do, so I am.
Summary: The showdown between Jill and Sanchez reaches its inevitable conclusion.
Author's notes: I tried to think of a way to segue this chapter with the first chapter so that it makes some kind of sense. I think I've finally figured it out.
I'm also going to borrow a line from a 'Scarecrow and Mrs. King' episode which ties in with Jill going for so long with so little sleep.
Also, I apologize if the scene at the end veers off a little like a certain book with a number and a color in the title, but guess what somebody's been reading? This chapter is rated M for a very good reason, so if you're under 18, quit reading now!
Chapter 10
12:30 P.M.
Jill sat on the sofa, watching as Roberto Sanchez paced back and forth in front of her, all the while waving his revolver around. She hoped that Willie had gotten the hint that she needed the police. While she liked her husband's new friend very much, at times he seemed to need things spelled out for him. "Why were you helping Christina?" Sanchez finally broke the silence in the room. "Why couldn't you have just minded your own business?"
"She needed my help," Jill whispered.
"No, she didn't!" He roared as she visibly jumped. "We were working things out. We were talking about having a baby. A baby would've made everything better."
"You didn't think she'd leave you if she had a baby?"
"Yeah, a baby would've made everything better," he repeated, ignoring her question. He pointed the gun at her when the phone began to ring. "Ignore it!"
"I can't. My husband knows that I'm home. If I don't answer the phone, he'll come home to see what's wrong."
"Okay, answer it. But, no funny stuff," he once again warned as she walked over to the phone.
"Hello?" She answered in a shaky voice.
"Mrs. Danko, this is Lt. Ryker. Gillis called and said he thought you were in trouble. Is Sanchez there with you?"
"Hi sweetheart," she forced a smile. "Please tell me you're not going to be late today. I was hoping that you could take me out to dinner."
"I've got units on the way. Just hang tight we get there."
"I love you, too. Bye," she said as she ended the call.
On his end, Ryker got off of the phone and walked out to the dispatcher's office. "Older, where's Danko?"
"I don't know. I imagine that he's out in the field," the sergeant answered.
"I want you to send all available units to his apartment complex. But, I want you to get him back here. I also want you to notify the SWAT team."
"Sanchez is holding Danko's wife hostage?"
"It sounds that way. Get on the horn now!"
In his car, Mike knew that something was wrong when Older dispatched him and ordered him to go to another channel. He was then told to report back to the precinct to see Lt. Ryker immediately.
When Mike walked in the front door of the precinct, Ryker was waiting for him, hat placed firmly on his head. "About 20 minutes ago, Gillis called and said that he thought something was going on with Jill. I called your apartment a few minutes ago and her answers to my questions told me that Sanchez is there with her."
"Is she okay?"
"She sounded okay, but we need to get over there. I've already ordered SWAT over there."
"SWAT?" Mike looked at his boss in confusion.
"Danko, I'll explain everything on the way. We need to get over there before he decides to kill her."
1:30 P.M.
Sanchez was still pacing the apartment, waving his gun as Jill watched him. He was even more pissed now that he knew the cops were downstairs. Not only regular cops, but a special tactical team who were trained to end hostage situations.
"She talked about you a lot," he sat down in an armchair and looked at her. "Don't you want to know what she said?"
"Does it matter?" Jill asked wearily. She was so tired. All she wanted to do was lay down and close her eyes.
"It was non-stop," he got back up and resumed his pacing. "It was always 'Jill said this,' or 'Jill did this.' I got sick of it! Did you ever talk about Christina to Officer Mike?"
"Yeah," she stared at him defiantly. "I told him that you were beating the shit out of her."
"I never did anything to Christina that she didn't deserve! You women's libbers are all alike. You want to wear the pants. My mother never worked outside of the house. Her job was to take care of us kids and have dinner on the table when my father came home from work. If dinner was five minutes late, she paid the price."
Jill didn't say anything. What was the point? He wouldn't agree with anything she had to say, anyway. She jumped when the phone rang. He waved his gun for her to answer it. "Hello?"
"Mrs. Danko," an unfamiliar voice came over the line, "I'm Lt. Daniels with the SWAT team. Can I please talk to Sanchez?"
"He wants to talk to you," Jill held out the receiver.
"What?" Sanchez snarled when he answered the phone.
"Mr. Sanchez, this is Lt. Daniels with the SCPD SWAT team. We want to end this peacefully. Please let Mrs. Danko go and give yourself up."
"Are you going to shoot tear gas in here if I refuse?"
"We don't want to do that."
"I've seen the end of what you guys do on the news. You send tear gas in and then you shoot anybody left standing."
"We don't want to do that," Daniels repeated. "Why don't we talk about this?"
"I killed six people," Sanchez said. "What's left to talk about?"
With that, he hung up the phone. Daniels hung up the field phone and looked at the cops circled around him. "He's refusing to give up. But, your wife sounds okay," he looked at Mike.
"How can you say that? She's being held hostage! How is anything about that okay?" Mike roared.
"All I'm saying, Officer Danko, is he hasn't hurt her. And, I don't think he will as long as we don't go rushing in there."
"Well, I don't agree."
"Officer Danko, I've been doing this for a while now. The first thing you need to do is relax. Let us do our job and we'll get both your wife and Sanchez out of there without injury. You need to talk to your man, Eddie."
"Danko, Daniels is right," Ryker pulled Mike off to one side. "Sanchez is angry, but so far he hasn't hurt Jill. Let Daniels do his job. Take a walk and calm down."
Mike clenched his teeth as he stalked off. He made his way over to the pool area where he could glance up at the second floor balcony of their apartment. He wished that there was a way for him to scale up there like Spiderman. Jill had to be beyond terrified right now. Her biggest fear had been Sanchez coming after her and now it was happening. "She told me that you kind of came in on your white horse and rescued her," he turned to find Terry and Willie standing next to him, Willie still in his street clothes.
"Yeah, I really wish that I had my white horse right now."
"Mike, that SWAT guy is the best," Willie pointed out. "They're going to get her out."
"I wish everybody would stop telling me that. I know that they say they're going to get her out, but what if they don't? I fought so hard to get her to come back to me," he looked at them with tears in his eyes. "I fought too hard to lose her now."
"You're not going to lose her."
"How does anybody know that?" Mike shouted as Willie motioned upwards with his head. Mike looked up to see Sanchez staring down at them with the gun in his hand.
Upstairs in the apartment, Sanchez turned toward Jill. "When that cop calls again, tell him that your old man had better back the fuck up! Because if he comes bursting in here with his buddies like the Lone Ranger and Tonto, I'm going to put a bullet through your brain!"
"Bobby, please give up," Jill said as tears clogged her voice. "Give up and let me go. I want to be with Mike. I need to be with Mike."
"Well, you should've thought about that before you told Christina to leave me," he got close to her as he waved the gun menacingly in front of her. "Did it ever occur to you that I also loved my wife? Did it ever occur to you that maybe I wanted to be with her?"
Jill rubbed her face wearily before looking down at her left hand. Her wedding ring glimmered brightly. It was the most tangible connection that she had to Mike. She thought back to the afternoon when he'd asked her to marry him. He'd been so nervous, so afraid that she would say no.
Her thoughts drifted along that vein for the rest of the afternoon. Those thoughts seemed to be the only thing that kept her going. As the afternoon wore on, she soon became convinced that this wasn't going to end well. As the day wore on, Bobby Sanchez became angrier and more unpredictable. She began to pray that the police would burst in just to put an end to this. If it meant that she died when it happened, at least she'd die knowing that Mike truly loved her.
8:27 P.M.
It ended so quickly that Jill didn't know what to think. One minute Sanchez was on the phone speaking Spanish to his mother and the next she heard thunderous footsteps on the stairs, followed by the door flying open and a gunshot. The next minute she was being cradled in Mike's arms as the police surrounded Sanchez' body, which was lying by the sliding glass door.
"Are you okay?" He asked her as she tried to see what was going on. "No, baby. Don't look over there. Are you okay?" He asked her again as she burst into deep, gulping sobs. "You're okay. It's over now. You're safe now."
"Danko," Mike turned to find Ryker standing behind them. "Get her out of here while we take care of the crime scene. Gillis has said you can bring her over to his apartment."
"Come on, baby," Mike helped her to her feet as he led her from the apartment as she tried to once again look at Sanchez lying on the floor. "Could someone please cover him up?"
"Danko, we'll take care of it. Get her out of here," Ryker repeated.
Willie unlocked the door as Mike led her inside. "Can I get her some water or something?" He asked as Mike walked her over to the sofa.
"Yeah. Uh, can you keep an eye on Jill for a second? I need to get something from the apartment," Mike rushed out before Willie could say anything.
"Jill, do you want some water?" Willie asked as Jill nodded.
"Do you have something sweeter? I haven't eaten all day and I'm feeling a little faint."
"How about some orange juice?" Willie offered as Jill once again nodded.
Mike came back into the apartment seconds later holding a pill bottle as Jill made a face. "You really need to sleep," he knelt down in front of her. "Ryker said that we can probably go back to the apartment in a couple of hours."
"Are you going to go and change clothes?"
"I'm not going anywhere tonight. Come on and take this," he urged her as she finally accepted the pill, washing it down with orange juice.
When Terry walked into the apartment, Jill was asleep on the sofa as Mike sat in an armchair watching her. "How is she?" Terry asked, closing the door behind him.
"I gave her one of her sleeping pills. Now that Sanchez is no longer a threat, maybe she'll sleep. I'm just waiting for the M.E. to release our apartment and we'll be out of your hair."
"I'm not worried. Do you want a beer?" Terry asked as Mike nodded. "Where's William?"
"He went to bed about half an hour ago. He offered to stay up, but I told him to go. Did he say how he knew that she was in trouble?"
"I asked him," Terry smiled. "He said that when he came over, she told him that she wasn't in the mood to listen to stories of his and your exploits in Vietnam. Since he never served, he knew she was asking for help."
"I owe him big time for thinking fast," he sighed as he drank his beer. "So, she told you that I 'rescued' her?"
"Something like that," Terry came over and sat down. "From the way it sounded, she needed rescuing."
"Yeah, she did," he drained his beer and walked over to the trash can and tossed the can inside.
"Mike, when I was talking to Jill the other day, she asked me if you'd say anything about being angry that she went to Tina's house that day. I told her that if you were, you didn't say anything to me. I'm not quite sure that she believed me."
"A few days before it happened, Jill told me that she planned on going over there. I told her that I didn't want her going over there. I said that if she had to, she was to tell Tina that I forbade it. That was language that Tina understood."
"I don't see how a woman could let herself be controlled like that," Terry sighed as he went to get another beer.
"Some women don't have a choice," Mike said as he glanced over at Jill. "I need to get her home."
"I'll give you a hand," Terry smiled as he went to open the door as Mike lifted Jill into his arms.
When Jill woke up, it was pitch dark, but she could tell that she was in hers' and Mike's bed. She felt Mike's hand resting lightly on her hip as he slept beside her. She was still so sleepy that her head was spinning, but she wondered how she'd gotten into bed. The last thing she remembered was taking the sleeping pill that Mike had given her while waiting for the police to finish with Sanchez' body.
Mike felt her stirring slightly as he sleepily opened his eyes and wrapped one arm around her, drawing her closer into his body. "I didn't mean to wake you," she apologized.
"You didn't," he mumbled sleepily. "Are you okay?"
"I'm a little thirsty and a lot confused."
"Hold on and I'll get you some water," he got out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom where he filled a glass with tap water. "What're you confused about?"
"How did I get here?" She asked when he brought her the water. "I don't rate cold water?"
"Of course you do," he smiled. "I'll be right back." He left the room, returning moments later with a tall glass of ice water. She smiled gratefully as he handed it to her. "I carried you home at around midnight."
"Really? How's your back?" She teased as she quickly drained the water glass and held it out to him.
"It'll heal," he set the glass on the night stand and got back under the covers, pulling her to his chest.
"Mike?" She whispered against his chest.
"Hmmm?" He asked, lazily stroking her back.
"Why did they come busting in like that? Why did they wait until that particular moment?"
"I'll explain everything to you tomorrow. It's late and we both need our sleep."
"No, I want you to tell me now," she sat up and pulled the sheet up to her chest, glaring at her husband defiantly.
"His mother told him to kill you," he told her as her eyes grew wide. "Both Terry and I heard her say it."
"So, is our carpet a bloody mess?"
"It's not too bad. Daniels knew somebody who cleans up stuff like that. The carpet's still a little damp, but it should be dry by tomorrow. I shouldn't have left you alone," he brushed her hair off her shoulders.
"You can't be there all of the time," she yawned.
"Go back to sleep," he pulled her back down to his chest as he pulled the covers over her.
As he heard her breathing even out, he tightened his arms around her, grateful that he hadn't lost her.
Jill slept off and on for most of the next day, which Mike was thankful for. It had been weeks since she'd slept for more than a couple of hours at a stretch. They spent most of the morning in bed sleeping before Mike got up and puttered around the apartment.
Jill got up and tried to engage in conversation with him, but her body felt as if it had been dipped in cement. She finally curled up on the end of the sofa and fell asleep once again. Mike sat down in the armchair and watched her. He then glanced over to the area by the sliding glass door where Sanchez' body had been lying just the night before. Thanks to Daniels friend, there was no trace that anything had happened.
He glanced at his watch and then at Jill. He hated to wake her up, but he wanted to go to bed and he wanted her in bed beside him. He walked over and gently shook her shoulder. She opened her eyes and smiled at him. "I was just having the nicest dream," she reached for him.
"Was I in it?" He asked as their lips met, sharing a tender kiss.
"Hmmm," she stroked his face as he kissed her palm.
"You can tell me about it in bed."
"What time is it?" She asked as she sat up.
"Almost 11," he said.
"Why didn't you wake me up?"
"Because," he kissed her once again, "you needed to sleep."
"Can we fool around?"
"Baby, you need to sleep."
"Mike, I might be sleepy, but I'm not dead," she said as he threw back his head and laughed.
"Come on, let's go to bed," he took her hand and led her back to their bedroom.
Jill took her gown from her dresser drawer and went into the bathroom. After cleaning up and brushing her teeth she came back into the bedroom. "I'm going to take a quick shower," Mike kissed her lightly before disappearing into the bathroom.
Jill pulled the covers back on the bed and got under them, sleepily cuddling up to Mike's pillow as she waited for him to come to bed. As she laid there, her thoughts once again returned to some of the things she'd thought about the day before. She smiled as she remembered the first time he'd ever made love to her. She didn't think it was possible for anyone's heart to beat as fast as hers did that night. The way that his hands had felt was forever branded into her memory. It had been like that every time since. Every time he touched her it felt as if he was engraving her to memory. "What're you thinking about?" She smiled as she felt Mike get into bed next to her. "You looked like you were a million miles away."
"Oh, I was thinking about you," she moved closer to him. "You're all that I ever think about."
"Do you want to share just what it was that you were thinking about regarding me?" He slipped his arms around her and pulled her tighter to his chest.
"I was thinking about the first time we ever made love," she bit her lip shyly as he smiled at her.
"You were so shy," he remembered as he kissed her, letting his tongue trace her lips.
"I was terrified," she admitted as he drew back a little.
"Of me?"
"No. I was scared that you were going to be disappointed."
"That wasn't even a possibility."
"I love you so very much," she traced his jaw with her fingertips. "I was so scared yesterday that I was never going to get to tell you that again."
"Me, too. But, I thought that you wanted to fool around," he grinned at her, trying to break her sudden maudlin mood.
"I always want to fool around."
He nuzzled her neck, breathing in the warm scent of her. He loved the way that she sucked in her breath when he moved her hair off of her shoulder to kiss her neck. To him, it was one of the sexiest sounds in the world. He remembered a time when she wouldn't make a sound at all when they were intimate. He could also remember a time when she'd rather die than admit that she wanted him. It was just something that a so-called properly brought up Southern girl just didn't do. He knew how much her past still impacted her present. It was as if the two parts of her were constantly at war with each other.
"You taste wonderful," he smiled as he kissed her.
"I probably taste like toothpaste," she grinned back as she touched his face, loving the way that his beard stubble felt under her fingers.
"I should've shaved," he made a face as he pulled her hands off of his face.
"I like the way your face feels when you haven't shaved. It's sexy."
"I love you so much, Mrs. Danko," he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him.
His eyes were burning into hers so intently that Jill felt the need to look away from him. That look always made her feel so shy. That burning look was the look he'd given her that first night that they were together. "I wish that you wouldn't look at me like that."
"Like what?" His whispered words were a caress in her ear.
"You know like what. Like you're a lion and I'm prey."
He started laughing as he planted kisses all over her face before catching her lips with his, his tongue exploring her mouth, forcing her to follow suit. "I think you told me that once before," he reminded her as they came up for air.
"Did anybody ever tell you that you're a great kisser?" She smiled.
"Really? Would you like to know what else I'm good at?" He bantered back as she blushed a deep scarlet. "I can't believe that I can still make you blush! How did you know that I was going to tell you that I was good at that? I do have many other talents, you know?"
"I don't want to talk anymore," she said as she took his hand and placed it on her breast, instantly feeling her nipple harden under his palm.
"Why don't you sit up for a second while I help you get rid of this?" He tugged on her gown as she sat up.
He pulled the offending garment over her head, tossing it toward the foot of the bed. She sighed blissfully when he laid her back down and once again kissed her neck before making his way south. He smiled at her groan when he encased her nipple in his mouth, lightly swirling his tongue over it as it got harder. She wrapped her hands tightly in his hair, holding him to her breast as he suckled on first one and then the other, making her writhe at the intense sensation. She squeezed her thighs together, gasping at the intense need that was building up. She wanted for Mike to touch her, anything to quell the ache that she was feeling.
She squirmed when Mike left her breasts, kissing his way further down her body, stopping at her hipbone. He caressed her breasts as he looked up at her from his vantage spot at her hip. Her eyes were closed and her breath was coming out in soft pants as he continued teasing her breasts. He planted a soft kiss on her stomach as she opened her eyes and looked down her body at him. "I love you," she whispered as she stroked his hair.
"I love you, too," he smiled back up at her, his eyes the brilliant blue-green that she'd always loved.
He hooked his fingers into the elastic waistband of her panties and pulled them down her legs as she lifted her hips up off of the bed to assist him. Her breath sped up in anticipation was she waited for his touch. Instead of touching her, he stood up and yanked his t-shirt over his head before removing his boxers as his erection instantly sprang free. She loved that he was so aroused when she hadn't done more than kiss him. She reached for his hand, pulling him back into bed with her. "Please touch me," she whispered as she kissed his neck.
"I think it's so damn sexy when you ask me to touch you," he kissed her as he nudged her legs apart, groaning out loud as he felt how wet she was. "Baby, you feel so good right now."
She didn't have a response as she delighted in the feel of his fingers exploring and stroking her. She could feel the hard heat of him pressing against her as he continued touching her. He groaned when she reached down and brushed her thumb over him before she decided to get a little bolder by circling her hand around him and slowly stroking the way she knew that he liked.
Mike stopped touching her when he felt her wrap her hand around him. He rolled over onto his back and pulled her close to his chest as she continued sliding her hand up and down his very erect penis, enjoying the effect that she was having on him. He slipped his hand around her neck and pulled her toward him, kissing her deeply as she continued touching him. As much as he loved what she was doing to him, he also knew that if he didn't stop her, things would come to an abrupt end. No amount of counting or memorizing capitals was going to stop the inevitable this time. "Baby, stop," he mumbled into her mouth. "I'm going to come."
"So, I'll change the sheets," she grinned devilishly as she continued lightly touching him, feeling him twitch under her fingers.
"I really want to be inside of you," he slipped his hand back up between her legs as she whimpered out loud.
He rolled her over so that he wasn't quite lying on top of her. He kissed his way down her body and back up before settling himself between her legs. She moaned with desire as he took his time teasing her before slowly entering her. She cried out as she felt him filling her, her every nerve ending feeling highly sensitized by their long foreplay. "You feel so good," she wrapped her arms and legs around him as she moved with him.
"So do you," he kissed her as he varied his strokes, sometimes going slow and deep and at other times fast and shallow.
Jill could feel that familiar tension beginning to coil from somewhere deep inside of her body. The first time she'd ever felt it, she'd been shocked by the violent intensity of it. But, since that first time, she'd welcomed that feeling. That feeling that she was going to explode from the inside out. She buried her face into Mike's shoulder as she clung to him tighter. She wasn't ready to come just yet. This whole evening had been so mind-blowing that she wanted to share it with Mike.
Sweat was beginning to pour off of Mike as he continued thrusting into her. He had sensed moments before that Jill had been close to orgasm, but now he felt as if she was holding back, but he wasn't sure why. He was also incredibly close, but he wanted her to be satisfied, too. "Come for me, baby," he growled as he stopped moving inside of her.
"I wanted to wait for you," she panted as he grinned.
"Why didn't you say so?" He kissed her as he reached between her legs and touched her, absorbing her cry of passion with his mouth.
The minute that he felt her muscles clamp down around him, he groaned loudly and came deep inside of her. He collapsed onto her shoulder, too spent to move a muscle. "One day I think you're going to kill me," his breath was heaving as he lay against her shoulder.
"But, what a way to go," she teased as he raised his head and kissed her, softly and gently. She sighed in disappointment as she felt him soften and slip out of her.
"You can ask me to fool around anytime," he smoothed her hair from her face as he kissed her once again.
"Don't move," she tried to hold onto him when he tried to move over next to her.
"Baby, I'm hot and sweaty, not to mention I must weigh a ton."
"But, I like that part. It makes feel . . . I don't know. Protected, I guess."
"I will always protect you," he vowed.
"I know. So, are you going to make me go to sleep now?"
"That's up to you. But, you know that as a man, I have to go to sleep now. It's some sort of unwritten law."
"It has to do with hormones," she told him as she stroked his chest. "I was just wondering something."
"What's that?"
"How do you feel about a second round?" She grinned at him with a mad twinkle in her eye.
"Oh my God, I think I've created a monster," he pulled her into his arms as his hands once again began blazing a trail down her body.