'Till Death Do Us Part A/N: Oh my God, I'm SO sorry for the wait. For an explanation, read my end A/N. Gah! Chapter 12: The Fall
As four rounds erupted from Brownfield's gun, Megan instinctively squeezed the trigger, sending a bullet soaring into the suspect's chest. Next to her, Cho, Rigsby, and Don fired.
Brownfield's body fell to the ground. Out of the corner of her eye, Megan saw something fall, and turned just in time to see Don fall to the floor of the studio.
No!
She hit the ground knees first, immediately putting pressure on the wound in his chest. In moments, her hands were soaked with blood. Then another pair of hands appeared out of nowhere. Megan looked up to see Cho across from her, speaking into a mike on the inside of his sleeve as he pushed her hands away to cover the wound with his jacket.
"Control, this is Cho. I'm in an abandoned warehouse just outside of Sacramento, heading east. Agent down; gunshot wound to the chest. Suspect is down. Repeat, suspect is down." Finishing, he pulled his hand away from his mouth to press harder on the bleeding wound in Don's chest.
"How far out are they?" Megan asked worriedly.
"They'll be here in ten minutes," Cho said. Neither his voice nor his serious expression changed as he continued to press on the wound. "There's a whole team not far from us. HQ is sending them over here."
"Ten minutes," Megan whispered. "You hear that, Don? They'll be here soon, I promise," she said, her voice choked with tears. "Don't worry. Just hang on. You'll be okay."
His eyes blinked open. "Me... gan...?"
"I'm here Don," Megan said, trying to speak past the lump in her throat. "It's okay. You're okay. The medics'll be here in ten minutes. Just hang out. You'll be okay. I promise."
Don's eyes started to drift shut. "'M tired..."
"Don!" Megan tried not to jolt him in her alarm. "Don, stay with me. You can't fall asleep now. Just stay awake, okay?"
"Wanna sleep..."
"I know Don," Megan whispered, agonized. "But you have to stay awake. Just until they have you in the ambulance, okay?"
"S'hard to breathe..." Don whispered.
"I know, Don," Megan repeated as she tried to comfort him. "Don't worry. You'll be okay. Just hang in there. You'll be okay. You're fine, you're okay. Don't worry."
Don blinked tiredly and let out a small cry as he shifted slightly. Megan looked up and gave Cho a frightened glance, who only looked back to Don and pressed harder on the wound.
"Hang in there, Eppes," Cho said, his tone still unchanging.
Don blinked. "... 'ave a brother?" he asked sleepily.
Cho frowned, his expression changing for the first time Megan had seen. "What?"
"Do you... have a brother?" Don repeated.
Cho's frown deepened. "No..."
Don's gaze drifted to Megan. "Lot like... Ian."
Megan laughed through her tears. "Yeah, Don. He is."
"Ian?" Cho questioned, looking confused. Wow, Megan thought. So his face isn't stuck in that position. Weird.
She smiled. "Sniper. He's a lot like you."
"Woulda... shot the guy... first..." Don was murmuring to himself.
Megan looked down. "What's that, Don?"
"Said... Ian woulda... shot the guy... wouldna... gotten shot..." he said, eyes closing.
"Yeah, he would've," Megan agreed. "But Edgerton would agree that you gotta stay awake. Okay Don? Just stay awake."
Don's eyes continued to drift shut, but he murmured, "M'kay..."
Hang in there Don, Megan thought desperately. Just hang in there. Please.
He was gone.
Lisbon could barely believe it. And though she knew she should be feeling relieved, happy, maybe even giddy, she wasn't. She wasn't sobbing like all of the girls she had helped out of these situations before. She wasn't desperate to get out. She was just... exhausted. That was the word for it. As if all the energy had drained out of her body.
The thought seemed to remind her body just exactly how tired she was, because her knees gave out beneath her. But before she could hit the ground, a pair of hands caught her and lowered her slowly down.
"Lisbon? Teresa? Are you okay?" an anxious voice asked her. "Lisbon?"
Jane. It was Jane. What the hell was Jane doing there?
"Protecting you, silly," he said, drawing her close.
Oops. Had she said that out loud?
"I don't need protecting," Lisbon said, her mind still on autopilot.
"Really? Well you had me fooled." Jane's voice was relieved. He seemed to be glad she'd actually responded to something he'd said. "I mean, the whole stalker thing, and getting kidnapped, that was all to get us to realize you didn't need protecting?"
"Shut up."
Though Lisbon's words were directed at Jane, she wasn't looking at him. She couldn't seem to take her eyes off of Mac Brownfield's dead body, lying there on the ground. His shirt, which had been wrinkled when they'd gotten to the studio after the fight with Cho, was soaked in blood. His blood, she realized. But that didn't mean other blood hadn't been shed.
Her brain seemed to finally be rebooting. "Is everyone okay?" she asked.
Jane hesitated, and Lisbon finally tore her eyes from Mac's body. "Who?" she demanded. "Rigsby? Cho? Van Pelt?" Her eyes widened. "It wasn't you, was it? You're okay?" She pushed away from him, looking over him frantically.
"I'm fine," he assured her. "It was..."
"Who?" Lisbon insisted.
"Eppes," Jane said finally.
It took Lisbon a few moments to place the name. "Eppes? The FBI agent? The one who came by my office?"
"Yes," Jane said quietly.
"What the hell was he doing here?" Lisbon couldn't understand it. Why would Eppes be here? Did that mean Reeves had come too?
"Helping Cho and Rigsby to find you," Jane said.
"Wait, why did Cho and Rigsby let you come in here?" Lisbon was really confused now. "They know not to do that. Why– "
"Don't blame them," Jane said quickly. "I acted on my own. They had nothing to do with it."
"Eppes." Lisbon's brain didn't seem able to stay on one topic for long. "Is he okay? Where is he?"
"Agent Reeves and Cho are with him," Jane assured her. "The ambulances will be here soon."
"Ambulences? Why plural?"
"You need to get checked out too," Jane replied.
The last bits of Lisbon's energy seemed to have disappeared from her body. She sagged against Jane's body, and he held her close. "You can sleep, Teresa," he said quietly. "Go ahead."
She didn't have much of a choice. Her eyelids seemed to have grown minds of their own, she thought as she slipped into sleep.
In his last few moments, Mac Brownfield had a few things to say to God. And the rest of the world.
First of all, he was sorry for killing Jeremy. The kid might have had some issues, but he was still his brother. Mac had still needed to teach him a lesson, but he didn't mean to kill the kid.
Second, Catherine was right. Payback's a bitch.
Third, Teresa deserved better than a cop killer. He shouldn't have shot the FBI dude. He didn't deserve to die either.
And fourth? Megan. His little girl. Who was going to tell her that her daddy, her idol, shot and killed a man?
Yes. In the end, Mac Brownfield was sorry. In the end, Mac apologized to God and the brother he'd sent to heaven, and the women and the daughter he loved, and, yes, even to the FBI agent he didn't even know.
In the end, Mac Brownfield prayed for forgiveness.
And who knows? Maybe he got it.
And maybe he didn't.
A/N: Okay, explanation time. So you know how I had this one all typed up and ready to go? Well, I was looking over it before I posted it, because I wrote it a long time ago. Long before Mac Brownfield's girlfriend or brother ever had a name. I had the idea for this scene before I even had the plot for the story in my head. I just liked the idea so much, Megan and Don with Cho and Rigsby at their backs, guns on some guy who's willing to do anything to protect Lisbon, and then Jane up and shoots the guy, and the guy freaks out. So anyway, I was looking over it, and I realized that Lisbon's bit in the middle was horrible. I mean, it was absolutely terrible. So I spent a few months moaning to myself and anyone who would listen about how horrible it was, and I could hardly bear to look at it. Finally, though, I realized that I need to change it, so I deleted the whole section and started from scratch. And it's a good thing I did, or else you would hate me right now. Lisbon in the original bit I had was way too OOC. She was all teary and it was just way too much for Lisbon. So I'm sorry for the wait, and I won't make any promises for next chapter because look what happened with this one! .; Off to take over the world, Crazy Girl
