Mac did not appreciate having Mrs. O'Brian threatening him with the knitting needles. Nor was he fond of the glare she was sending his way as she knitted. Most of all, he didn't want her to upset Pete's parents. Her comment about loving Pete implied that no one else here loved him. The Malloys found comfort in the presence of the officers now sitting in the ICU waiting room. Their concern for Pete was genuine and he would not let Pete's parents doubt that fact.

On duty officers continued to stop in to check on Pete while they were taking seven at the hospital. When Greene and Sanchez came through the double doors to return to patrol, Mac grabbed the two of them. He assigned them to guard the doors from unauthorized entry into the unit. While he didn't specify Mrs. O'Brian, a wave of Mac's hand made his message clear. They were also given instructions to be on the lookout for anyone trying to sneak past them posing as staff; Tony might send someone to take care of Pete for him.

xxxxx

The truth was that Tony had no one but the woman and child he was holding hostage. He had scoffed at Miller's threat that the woman and her toddler were keeping him alive, but he knew it was true. Instead of aiming to kill, Tony fired near them in an attempt to scare them further. That wasn't the first mistake he made today, but it was the worst decision of his life.

The last thing the officers outside the pawn shop wanted was a dead toddler. After discussing it with Miller one more time, Gus Baron got on the com-unit and passed along the word; if any sniper had a clear shot, they were to take it. This was to be a kill shot.

Tony Johnson, ex-cop, had failed and he knew it. Not only was Malloy somehow still alive, Reed was too. He walked over to the counter where he had set out a variety of weapons; different options required different guns. He chose a rifle equipped with a scope mounted on the barrel. The lack of a back door to the pawn shop would work to his advantage.

"Reed must be out there. I'll find him." Tony was muttering to himself, completely ignoring the woman and her child. "He wants to be the one to kill me because I shot his bastard partner." Jennifer, the young mother saw this situation as ending in the death of her and her child; she had to act, if only to save her daughter. Tony had turned off all the lights on his side of the pawn shop. The fading sunlight shining on the windows would partially reflect back, making it harder for the snipers to see him. Using the rifle barrel, Johnson broke a small hole in the large front window.

The snipers tensed when the first shots came out of the pawn shop. Tony wasn't aiming at them; he knew that Malloy was the sniper of the pair. Reed would be among the team members hugging the walls of the buildings across the street. He was using the same M-16 style rifle the SWAT team was. It shouldn't have been in a pawn shop, but Tony saw that as a sign that God was on his side. While he continued to shoot at the team, the snipers couldn't get a clear shot at him due to the reflections.

If necessity was the mother of invention, desperation was the mother of courage. Tony was too busy shooting to notice what Jennifer was doing. She had sidled closer to a standing light pole; the one Tony unintentionally left on when he picked out the rifle. She said a quiet plea to the Virgin Mary for the safety of her child and proceeded to kick the lamp in Tony's direction. It landed at Tony's feet; the bulb being protected by the lampshade.

Just like that, the reflection was gone and so was Tony Johnson.

xxxxx

At both the scene and hospital, the word of Tony's death spread like a brush fire. The younger officers, those who had never met Tony were excited by the news; Pete and Jim were safe. For the older ones, the ones who had worked with Tony, the happiness was tinged with remorse. He had once been a friend to many of them. Secretly, many of them prayed for a different ending; Malloy and Reed safe with Tony in a maximum security prison for life.

Thomas Malloy came out of Pete's room by himself, giving his wife some time alone with their son. Inside, Katherine knelt on the hard tile floor, rosary beads in her hand. She said the rosary twice; praying harder than she had ever prayed before. Prayers said for other "emergencies" seemed small when compared to praying for her son's survival. That was how Thomas found her when he returned with the others. They had brought some food for her, but she couldn't make herself eat.

The seven of them stayed in Pete's room well beyond the end of visiting hours. Mrs. Malloy fidgeted, unable to stop fussing over her son. Jim decided to tell stories about Pete to try and ease the pain of waiting. He started by telling about the old lady that kicked Pete in the shins and called his parentage in question when he arrested her for refusing to sign a parking ticket. Mac shared Pete's attempt to grow a mustache and the time Pete helped a scared boy down from a tree only to have the kid throw up all over Pete's brand new uniform. Mary Mac Donald talked about the time he destroyed her annoying brother-in-law in Chess. Jean talked about how he was with Jimmy, including when she caught him teaching Jimmy to spit. Jim coughed to cover up a laugh when Jean explained how she straightened Pete out about teaching Jimmy things she didn't think were appropriate. Sally didn't share in the stories, but she enjoyed every one The time passed quickly, with Pete's parents enjoying the funny side of his life.

Thomas insisted that his wife accompany the Reeds home. Mac had convinced Jim that he would be helping Pete more by taking care of his mother rather than sitting up all night watching him sleep. The doctor had checked Pete earlier and was pleased with his progress. There was no sign of infection and his blood pressure was rising. He had Pete sedated; advising them all to go home as Pete wouldn't wake up during the night. Thomas wouldn't leave and Mac would not leave his friend's father to face the night alone. Mac had volunteered to fetch large coffees for both of them. It would be a long night

"You don't really have to stay the night. I can watch him alone." Thomas took the coffee from Mac as they sat down together in uncomfortable plastic chairs set up by the window. The moon providing enough light for them to keep an eye on Pete from there.

"I'm sorry to say that it's become a habit; sitting in the dark just in case he wakes up." Mac was there the night Pete was stabbed in the bar. He and Jim stayed to watch him after the shooting at Dukes, the accident in Griffith Park and when he was shot in the narco raid. Not that Mac was superstitious, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something would go wrong if he left.

"I appreciate the way you and the others watch over Peter. Being so far from him, we worry that he's alone too much." He chuckled softly, remembering his son as a boy. "As a boy he used to sneak away to be alone and, I suspect, to avoid his chores. Katherine and I never did find out where he went and we looked for him.

"The tallest apple tree in the orchard." The look of surprise on Thomas' face was well worth spilling Pete's secret. "Pete gave my daughter Kipling's "Just So Stories"; he told her that he first read it when he was hiding in his favorite tree. Apparently your father used to leave books up there for him to find."

"That sounds like something my father would do. He liked to encourage Peter's sense of adventure." It was at times like this that he and Katherine wished their son hadn't been so influenced by his grandfather. Would Peter be working the farm if he wasn't encouraged to dream of faraway places? "Tell me about him; what he does at work. We know so little."

It was a daunting task, but it was a long night. Mac started with the easy things: Pete's days as a rookie, their partnership, training Jim, his promotions, his current rank and responsibilities. Thomas's facial expressions as he listened reminded Mac so much of Pete. It also made him realize how much more he knew about the adult Pete than his parents did. Next he told Thomas about some of the commendations and awards Pete received. Mac wasn't sure his friend would like his parents to know about the Medals of Valor he won, but he told Pete's father anyway. The details of how and why Pete won the medals seemed to scare his father but, if Mac was any judge of his Malloys, Thomas was also impressed.

Mac remembered that Pete left home at eighteen. His parents didn't get to see the progress from a teenager to the man Pete was now. How much of what Pete is today is a result of his childhood and what came from his journey afterward? Explaining his career to his father was definitely easier.

"Pete's a great guy. Yes, he's top of the hill among the patrol officers, but you wouldn't know it if you relied on him to tell you. No matter what we ask him to do, he'll do it and do it well. He's usually easy going, laid back, sarcastic, unflappable in any situation and never one to lord his authority over anyone, unless it's necessary. If it is, get out of the way." Both men chuckled, each having seen Pete go off on someone. "His authority comes as much from his character as it does from his rank. He's the one the officers go to when they need help; even things that don't involve the job. The men trust him to do his best to keep them safe because they know he cares more about them than himself. They trust his abilities over men with more experience. He's a natural leader."

"That's good to know. There were times when Katherine and I wondered if he'd ever make the jump from ring-leader to real leader." Thomas glanced over at his son and smiled.

"Are you saying that Pete wasn't the altar boy, Eagle Scout type of kid?" Mac had his suspicions about Pete, but this was a chance to have them confirmed. A few months ago, Pete accidently let slip that he taught Mac's kids to sneak cookies from the back of the package; a trick both kids and Mary still blamed on him.

"Peter was an altar boy, he sang in the youth choir at church, he made Eagle at sixteen and he was the biggest mischief maker our small town ever saw. Every time something happened, I knew he was in the middle of it." Both men were laughing at the image each had of Pete, the ring leader. "Do you know, he didn't even try to deny it? I think he was proud of what he did."

"According to Captain Moore, your son is too honest for his own good." Moore had told Mac that in confidence when Pete became his partner. "Jimmy gets crazy ideas. I can't help but wonder if he's teaching the boy some tricks."

"I'm sure he is. Jean probably had as much success discouraging Peter as we did trying to get his grandfather to stop teaching him things. Peter pulled some winners when he was a teen. I remember once, the nuns in his high school came down hard on three of his friends. Peter said it was unfair. Two days later, I heard that someone had stolen all the habits from the convent laundry room. They were found on scarecrows on farms all over town…including ours." Two men laughing in the ICU might seem strange, but after being strong for everyone else, they both needed this.

"Pops?" It was said so softly that they almost missed it.

Pete had been slowly regaining consciousness. Unlike the last time he was in the ICU, the sounds of the heart machine and the blood pump didn't frighten him; he heard the voices. Most of it was too soft for him to understand what was said, but he knew he wasn't alone. The lifeline was there, but was that his Dad's voice?

"Peter, you're awake?" Mac stayed behind as Thomas moved to his son's bedside. He debated leaving until deciding that Mr. Malloy might need the support. If Pete died, his dad would also count as someone he left behind.

"Apparently… unless this is a… weird dream." Typical Pete; snarky comments when he thought he could get away with it. "What are you doing here?"

"Son, do you even know where you are?" The answer to Pete's question could wait.

"It looks like the ICU….I've gotta stop…waking up here." His stomach hurt. Thomas grabbed Pete's hand before he could touch it to figure out why. "What? It hurts." Was Pete really admitting to being in pain? Usually Mac had to drag that admission out of him.

"There's a reason for that, son. As your grandmother once told me, you have enough stitches in there to make a quilt." Thomas got his stitches when he fell off a raft into the rapids of the Columbia River; not being shot. As Mac slipped out to ask the nurse for Pete's pain medicine, Thomas asked his son a question. He needed the answer but didn't want to have to explain things to Pete if he didn't know. "Do you remember what happened to you?"

"Um…uh...I'm not sure." Pete's brow furrowed as he tried to remember what caused him to be in a hospital trussed up like a mummy. Suddenly, he remembered Tony, Jimmy, everything. His father held him down when Pete tried to get up. "Jimmy! He's…"

"He's fine son. You saved both him and his dad." Thomas got a faraway look in his eyes. "I can't say that I'm happy with what you did, but I understand. I know how much you love that boy."

"I do Pops. He's worth…"

"Dying for?" His father cut off Pete before he could finish. He did understand being willing to die to save a Godson, or a son. "That's what you expected to happen to you, right?"

"I don't want to die Pops." Pete's eyes panned the room; the IVs, the machines and the bandages covering most of his body. His father laid a hand on Pete's good shoulder.

"Then don't. We'll get through this together."