One-thirty in the morning. As a co-founder of the Agency, Tom usually left the late-night meetings to those under him, but tonight was an exception. The text he had received that morning was from one of his informants: without whom, the investigation into the shady dealings of Likansuk would be going nowhere fast.

Tom pulled up to the address he had been given in a plain black car. From experience, he knew how bad this part of town could get and it was certainly no place for a car worth more than what most people made in a year.

He checked the clock on the dashboard, quickly looked at his reflection in the rear view mirror and stepped out. Ironically, he was only a few blocks away from where former officers Breeze and Fandango had been doing their thing, but that thought brought him no comfort whatsoever. The feel of his .357 tucked safely into his waistband was a different story.

"Okay, Roman, you better not be late this time." Tom mumbled

Joseph Anoa'i, or as he was better know by his fans, "Roman Reigns", had been one of the first people to come to Tom's attention when he signed on to the case. Tom still didn't know a lot about the man personally, but the info he'd provided had always been one hundred percent accurate. Otherwise, this meeting would be taking place in the secure confines of his office at a more appropriate time.

Tom walked briskly across the empty streets and toward several nondescript brownstone dwellings on the corner. Standard procedure was to stand at the corner, try not to look like a hooker, and hope that Roman arrived before someone decided that he was a hooker and made him an offer that he could refuse. Surprisingly, that happened more often than not even though Tom did not consider himself particularly good looking. A few mornings he had even caught himself staring at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, wondering what Dean saw in him.

Out of his peripheral sight, he saw a figure heading toward him. Dressed in a long black coat over military style pants and combat boots, it could only be one person.

Tom waited for him to approach.

"You made it." Roman whispered

"Yeah… you really need to learn the word incognito." Tom gestured to his gear. "You stick out like Ron Jeremy in a frat house."

Roman shrugged. "I wasn't followed." He answered defensively.

"I hope not." Tom retorted "What do you have?"

"Good and bad." Roman answered

"Good first." Tom stated

"Found some more financial information that might help you… you ever hear of a guy named Vincent McMahon?"

Who hasn't?

"In what sense?" Tom played it cool.

"He had some business dealings with Likansuk, but some of his other partners weren't too happy about it. There are rumors goin' round about blackmail… could be what some of those strange transactions could be for?"

"Interesting theory." Tom though aloud. He made mental plans to run this by Cesaro when he returned to the office. "Now what's the bad?"

"This is probably it for what I can get you." Roman passed an envelope to Tom. "I think they know something is up. They're locking down information left and right. If you need more, you're gonna need to find someone who can access from outside, catch my drift?"

Tom nodded.

"What about you?"

"I'm leaving town tomorrow." Roman answered "I'm goin' on vacation until the heat is off. If I can, I'll contact you when I return in a month or so."

Tom nodded a second time. "Good luck, then." He slipped a smaller envelope into Roman's large paw.

They split, each heading back the way he came. Tom had travelled no more than ten steps when he heard two pops from right behind. Normally, Tom wouldn't have thought twice about it, but this time he turned around. He immediately regretted it. Roman was face down on the sidewalk and even in the darkness, Tom could tell that Roman's vacation had been permanently cancelled.

Shit. Piss. Fuck. Cunt. Cocksucker. Motherfucker. Tits.

George Carlin's seven words you can't say on TV immediately ran through his brain and he started to run for his car, pausing only once to look over his shoulder to confirm that the shots had definitely come from behind Roman. That meant that the shooter or

shooters could be bearing down on him at any moment. Even though it would take longer to reach the safety of his car, Tom immediately turned down the closest alleyway and ran through it as fast as he could. His own gun was useless. If he knew for sure where the people who had shot Roman were, he might have been able to fire off a couple shots to scare them away.

"Thank fuck this is my case." Tom muttered softly to himself. "Otherwise…"

Tom came out the other end of the lane and saw, to his relief, that his car was less than two blocks away.

"Small miracles do never cease." For the next block and a half, Tom kept to within a foot of whatever cover he could find until all that stood between him and the car was a sprint across a single traffic lane. He quickly scanned nearby rooftops for any signs of human life. He saw none, and hoped that meant that he was safe.

Unfortunately, he wasn't. As soon as he stepped onto the asphalt, he heard several popping sounds exactly like the ones he had heard just before Roman went down.

"Motherfuckers." Tom pulled out his gun and fired four shots in four random directions. He heard something that might have been a curse, or someone shouting in pain, but he wasn't going to stop to find out for sure. He got to his car and had the door open when he heard more gunfire. The first pinged off the hood, the second clipped the passenger's side mirror, but the third got Tom in the right shoulder. He pitched forward, spilling the file across the bucket seats.

"Fuck!" He shouted. "Bastards!"

He heard a couple more shots and realized that lying there; half-in and half-out of the car was probably not the best position to be in. Thankful that the car's glass was bulletproof, he was able to get the door closed and locked with his foot. The tinted windows made it difficult for anyone to see inside.

Tom rolled onto his left side, fumbling for his phone which was in his trouser pocket while trying not to hit his injured side off anything. He dialed emergency and waited.

"9-1-1… what is your emergency?"

"I've been shot." Tom said, his wound throbbing.

"Where are you located, sir?"

Tom gave her the names of the two nearest street signs.

"We'll send an ambulance right away."

"You better send police as well. Whoever shot me is still out there." Tom's vision doubled. "This is not good."

"Stay with me, sir. Help is coming." The dispatcher urged.

"I'll try, but… fuck." Tom's head swam. "I'm losing consciousness."

"Sir… sir!"

Tom blacked out. As he faded, he was only vaguely aware of his screams when his bad shoulder landed squarely against the console.

Thank God I didn't send Sara…

…

Sara looked at the clock and sighed. It was two thirty in the morning and she hadn't moved from her spot at the table. She let Corey stay the night and made him crash on the couch, knowing he was exhausted. He eventually fell asleep and it was just her in the dark, the light above the stove being her only visual aid. They had made little progress in Emma's case but they both determined one thing: Likansuk was responsible for Emma's death. Now to find out why they killed her, buried her body in a shallow grave out in the desert, and how to bring them down.

Sara made her way to her bedroom and changed into pajamas. She laid her head on the pillow and closed her eyes. No more than five minutes later, she heard her phone vibrating on the nightstand. She groaned and rolled over and picked up her phone. She saw the caller id and knew something wasn't right.

"Dean?" she answered quickly "What's wrong?"

"It's Tommy." Dean said his voice full of panic and fear. "He's been shot."

Sara sat up in bed, asking a hundred questions as fast as she could. Dean tried his best to answer them. Sara got the information as to what hospital Tom was at. She rushed into the kitchen and grabbed for the notebook on the table. She wrote Corey a note and ran out the door, not even changing out of her night clothes.

Twenty minutes and extremely high blood pressure later, she arrived at Mountain View Hospital and ran up the stairs to the fourth floor, the trauma unit.

"Tom Hardy." Sara said, out of breath as she slammed her palms against the nurse's desk.

"Hold on a moment." The nurse replied

"I don't have a moment! Where is he? How is he?" Sara yelled

"Ma'am, calm down please. I am looking up the information."

"Calm down my ass." Sara retorted

"Ma'am…" the nurse gave her a warning glance.

Sara groaned and paced back and forth impatiently as the nurse looked up information on Tom on the computer. It seemed like years before the nurse had found what she needed.

"Okay, Ma'am. He's in surgery at the moment."

"Surgery?!" Sara's eyes went wide.

"Yes, they are removing the bullet and determining if there are any internal injuries or if any major arteries were hit. He was bleeding badly and unconscious when he was brought in."

Sara felt her stomach and heart both attempt to jump through her throat. She felt as if she was going to throw up, and steadied herself against the desk.

"The waiting room is down the hall and around the left corner. There's coffee and a vending machine. The doctor will come out as soon as he is finished and explain more."

Sara nodded and made her way to the waiting room where she found Dean and AJ sitting silently.

"Sara!" Dean exclaimed as she walked in.

They didn't say anything, instead just embraced for several moments. Sara was never one to cry, always kept her emotions behind a stone wall, but she felt her emotions let go and she cried into Dean's shirt as she held onto him tightly. Dean was equally as scared and upset as she was. The two eventually parted and Sara took a chair between AJ and Dean. AJ went to make Sara some coffee, which she accepted even though she didn't feel like she could stomach it.

"What happened?" Sara asked, staring down at the black drink.

"He got a call from an informant and went to meet with him." Dean replied

"On a Sunday? In the middle of the night?" AJ asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Apparently. This guy had something, and it was vital for Tommy to meet him. Not even an hour later I got a phone call from police telling me he'd been shot and was being

taken to the hospital."

Sara sat silently, staring off in the distance. She tried to breathe and calm her pounding heart but she knew it was no use. Tom was pretty much everything to her. They had worked together for so long, he'd been there through some of her darkest times, he knew more about her than anyone did. He was her best friend and in many ways a better brother to her than her own brother was. She didn't know what she was going to do if he didn't make it.

AJ could see the wheels turning in Sara's head, and knew she was getting worked up. He placed a hand on her knee and gave a light squeeze. She jumped a little and looked up at him.

"He'll be okay, Sara." AJ assured "That man is a fighter; he won't let something as small as bullets take him out."

Sara attempted to smile but she couldn't.

"Anyway, most everyone is asleep but I called and left voice mails. Cesaro is on his way, and I'm sure the rest will be here in the morning." Styles added

"Thank you."

"AJ was the only one I was able to reach." Dean said quietly "I couldn't even leave messages for anyone else."

Cesaro arrived within ten minutes and the four of them sat silently. Small talk was useless and it was all Sara could do to hold herself together. The minutes turned into hours. At some point, Sara must've fallen asleep, although how that happened she couldn't explain, because the next thing she knew, it was almost ten a.m., the entire staff (excluding Beaker) was in the waiting room, and strong coffee was being offered to her.

"Any news?" It seemed like Bayley, and the coffee, had just arrived.

Sara shook her head. Even now, it was hard to talk.

"We've been here all night. He must still be in surgery." AJ answered "No one's told us nothin'."

"No news is good news, right?" Bayley added

Sara glared at her. "Bayley, please just… don't…"

"Fine." Bayley sat down beside Renee. Sara felt a little bad, but fuck it, this was not happening, right? She would soon wake up either in her bed or at her kitchen table, and the only corpse she had to worry about was Emma's.

"Thomas Hardy… anyone here for Thomas Hardy?"

Thirty minutes later, the silence was finally broken. Someone who looked medical was gazing around the waiting room.

"Here!" Dean shouted.

The doctor strode over.

"You're all with Thomas?" He asked

Seven heads nodded furiously.

"How is he?" Sara finally found her voice.

"We removed the bullet." He stated "There was some muscle damage as well as a broken shoulder blade. His collarbone also needed to be reset when it popped out of alignment when the bullet entered."

"Is that good?" Sara's voice went up an octave. "Just tell me is Tommy gonna be okay?"

"The surgery was successful, if that's what you want me to say." The doctor added. "The patient is resting comfortably, and will need to remain here for a few days to allow him time to heal."

"Can we see him?" Dean interrupted

"Mr. Hardy is still under sedation. Once he regains consciousness, I don't see why he can't have a visitor or two." The doctor answered

"How long will that be?" Sara asked

"It's hard to say. Different people respond differently. An hour or two would be my best guess. If you are going to wait, I'll let the duty nurse know. Someone will come get you."

…

Two of the longest hours in Sara's life finally passed and a nurse poked her head into the waiting area.

"Hardy?" she asked as her eyes scanned the room

Everyone lifted their heads to look at her. She looked a bit taken aback at the amount of people there for the detective.

"He is awake, but still very groggy. He may have visitors, but only two at a time please, and don't keep him too long. He will need to rest."

"Thank you." Dean said as he stood up. "What room?"

"412" The nurse answered

Dean thanked the nurse again and headed toward Tom's room.

"Uh, hold on." Sara stood and hurried after Dean. "Where do you think you're going?"

"To see my boyfriend." Dean answered with a sigh.

"I'm seeing him first."

Sara pushed past Dean and made her way down the long hallway, looking for the room number. Dean rolled his eyes before following her. He knew Sara could be possessive of Tom sometimes, especially in this case, but like hell he was going to let her be at his side first.

Sara found the room and quietly opened the door. Tom lay there in the bed, his eyes closed. She walked in, Dean trailing behind her and stood by the bed.

"Tommy?" She whispered

Tom opened his eyes and looked up at her, then over at Dean.

"Hey, guys." Tom managed a weak smile.

"Babe, you scared me half to death!" Dean rushed to the other side of the bed and knelt down, grabbing Tom's hand.

"Ah, I'll be alright." Tom squeezed Dean's hand "It was just a bullet."

Sara stood silently, watching the two lovers talk. She could see the relief wash over Dean's face as Tom became more coherent and somewhat back to his usual self.

"Sara?" Tom asked, turning his head to look at his partner.

"What?" the girl asked

"You're too quiet. That's never a good sign."

"You're an idiot." Sara crossed her arms, staring down at the injured man "How many times have we said never go out alone after midnight on a case?"

"Sara..." Tom began

"You'd fucking kill me yourself if I pulled a stunt like this, you know that." Sara cut her friend off and continued her tirade. "You should have called someone. AJ, Cesaro. ME."

"Sara..." Tom tried again

"One of us should have been there. We would've covered you, got those bastards. What in the hell were you thinking?"

"Sara!" Tom finally raised his voice, wincing in pain as he tried to sit up in his bed

Sara stopped ranting and looked at Tom. Dean helped him sit up straight, and Tom sighed before looking up at the girl.

"Yes, I am aware that I always tell my employees not to do business after hours, for reasons like this. However, I'm me. They got me, but they didn't kill me"

"They could've" Sara mumbled

"But they didn't, Babe." Tom said "Calm down."

"Calm down?" Sara's eyes went wide "Like hell. I've never been so scared in my life, Tommy. What would I do if I lost you?"

Sara choked up at the words, feeling tears spill from her eyes and roll down her cheeks.

"Babe..." Tom reached his good arm out to her and she sat on the edge of the bed, wrapping her arms around him as she cried. Dean squeezed Tom's hand, his own tears forming. He silently thanked his lucky stars that he was still alive, those two would be absolute train wrecks without him.

"Promise me you won't do a dumbass move like that again?" Sara sniffed as she sat up and looked at Tom.

"I promise." Tom nodded

"Good, because if you do, I'm gonna kill you myself."

Tom smiled, knowing she wasn't joking.

"I wouldn't expect anything else from you"

A knock at the door made the three heads turn. It was AJ and Cesaro, awaiting their turn to visit.

"You guys go home. Get some sleep. Come back when you're showered and not exhausted."

"Aye aye, Captain." Dean kissed Tom before practically pulling Sara away

Tom waved AJ and Cesaro into the room and AJ closed the door behind them. Sara leaned against the wall in the hallway and sighed.

"He's fine now, and he's right. We should go get some rest." Dean suggested

"I guess." Sara shrugged

She would go home and shower, but sleep was a foreign stranger to her. Not only was her best friend and boss in the hospital recovering from a gunshot wound, she had a murder case on her hands and the people responsible for Emma's death were more than likely responsible for shooting Tom. Plus she had the cops' prime suspect in the murder currently crashing on her couch.

"Shit just got way too real." Sara thought to herself as she made her way to the elevator. .