AN: So, I resolved the last cliffhanger! You will now know what happens next. :) Thank you all for the awesome reviews. Each and every one of them makes my day!
Henry had excellent instincts that had been honed from his many years on the police force. They were rarely wrong. Right now, they were screaming at him, warning him that they were going to be too late.
He had been within feet of his son, and he hadn't even known it. He had talked to one of the men holding his son hostage, and he hadn't even known it. Yes, he had thought there was something strange about the man, but he had ignored the twisting in his gut and walked away. He had left his son to die…and his son had not only been watching him the whole time, he had been trying to call out to him for help.
Henry dropped his head in shame. He could have ended the whole thing right there, if he had just followed his instincts. Instead, he had left his son in the hands of two criminals, one of them more than willing to kill his son, and Shawn had been forced to take his life into his own hands by trying to make a phone call to O'Hara.
He gripped the handle of the door as they squealed around another corner, shaking his head in denial. His instincts were wrong this time. They had to be. He couldn't be too late! They hadn't gone through all of this, hadn't been forced to watch his son suffer for two days, only for the encryption to break and for Shawn to die as they were racing to his rescue. It just couldn't happen that way.
…
Cole twisted the knife as he pulled it out, eliciting an exhausted moan from Shawn. Cole stepped away, moving to the table to grab his black bag. Shawn saw him pause at the door and look around the cabin, his gaze only skimming across Shawn as he gave the room one last glance. He wasn't surprised. He had only ever been a means to an end, an object with which Cole could exact revenge. Cole nodded to himself and walked out the cabin door.
He was getting away, but Shawn couldn't bring himself to worry about that.
He didn't think it was going to be much longer. He was too far gone to even care about the pain. And if that was true, that he didn't have much time left, then he didn't want to spend his last moments looking at this prison. His eyes fluttered closed and he let his memory take over.
"Daddy, look at those stars!"
His father looked down at him, a smile crossing his face. "I see 'em, kid. You know, some of them form shapes."
"Like a reckangle?"
He could feel his father trying not to laugh. "Yeah kid, some of them do form rectangles. But think bigger. Look." He scooped Shawn up in one arm and pointed out a group of stars with his other hand, tracing the shape with his finger. "See? That one looks like a person. It's called Orion."
"Oh, that's Rion," Shawn said, his eyes locked on the stars in fascination.
This time, Henry did laugh. He pointed out more constellations, and Shawn felt his eyes slip closed in exhaustion. He was safe and comfortable in his father's arms, listening to his voice. The last thing he heard before he slipped into slumber was his father saying, "Sleep, son. I've got you."
Another memory surfaced.
Gus led the way into Shawn's apartment, carrying a large box.
"Seriously? I just got shot. You're going to raid my closet now?" Shawn readjusted his sling, smirking at the look Gus sent him.
"They're my clothes, Shawn!" He began pulling shirts from the rack, tsking as he came across shirt after shirt that belonged to him.
"But I just got shot!" Shawn whined, his pout turning into a smile when Gus turned away from him again.
"So? These are mine. I can't believe you took this one! It was $125!"
Shawn sighed. "Dude! We've been over this before! You can't quote list price! You got it on clearance!"
Gus glared at him. "It's the principle of the thing, Shawn."
"Principle?" The bickering continued, a huge smile growing on Shawn's face. For a split second-okay, for more than a split second-when he was in that gas station and in the back of that truck, he thought he would never get a chance to do this back and forth banter with his friend again.
Gus sent back another comment, and Shawn laughed. For the first time since he was released from the hospital, he felt like things were finally starting to return to normal.
He could feel himself beginning to smile.
Shawn walked back into the diner, pausing as he stared at the woman sitting in his seat. She was beautiful. He walked towards her and sat beside her, saying something stupid, something about how she had taken his seat and he had a crawly snake to prove it. He kept talking, trying to engage her in conversation. He could see her lips twitch in humor at one of his comments, but she still didn't bite. She was focused on something else.
She was a cop. Of course she was. And he found her fascinating. He was going to have to find a way to worm himself onto another case. This opportunity was just too intriguing to pass up.
And the first time, when he had gotten so close…
Shawn couldn't help himself, he leaned in closer.
"Shawn, what are you doing?"
"Nothing."
"Really? 'Cause if you're doing what it looks like you're doing, it's going to be one of those things we just talked about."
"What's that?" He could barely focus. He could feel her lips brush against his, could feel her breath fan across his face.
"A mistake."
"I agree, but that's clearly not what we're doing."
"Okay, really? What do you call what we're doing?"
"I call it…very close talking."
One memory was blending with the next now; memories of him and his father, of Gus, and of Juliet. He could feel his chest hitch as he tried to breathe, could feel himself starting to tremble from the coldness that was spreading across his body.
He didn't want to fight anymore. What was the point? Not only was no one watching, but Cole himself had said the signal was untraceable. He was truly alone. There was no reason to fight, not that he had the strength left to do so.
He brought forth one last memory, smiling as he lost himself in it.
He looked down at her, a soft smile crossing his face. She was so beautiful. And she was his. He leaned down to kiss her nose, holding back a laugh as she crinkled it at the light touch. She sighed, and turned her face into his chest, burrowing deeper into his arms. The movie had ended a half-hour ago, but Shawn didn't have the heart to wake her up, nor did he want to leave just yet.
He wanted to stay and watch her. He leaned down again, brushing his lips across her forehead.
"Shawn…"
He pulled back, afraid he had woken her; but no, her eyes were still closed.
"I love you, Shawn…" She sighed in her sleep.
"I love you, Jules," He whispered to the empty cabin.
And with one last stuttering breath, his chest grew still.
…
It took them an hour to drive to the cabin. A tense, anxious hour filled with clipped orders from each of the passengers for Lassiter to drive faster. Fifteen minutes away from the cabin, they had received news that Cole had supposedly left, after inflicting one last injury to Shawn that he had meant to be fatal.
Juliet gripped the door handle, her stomach twisting as she first caught sight of the cabin. Lassiter hit the brakes and they jumped from the car, pulling their weapons from their holsters in case Cole had returned. They rushed to the cabin, slamming the door open.
The sight that met her made her gag. Never before had the sight of blood been so difficult for her to handle, but this was Shawn's blood that flowed freely over the table and left a puddle on the floor. Her eyes moved to his chest. "No!" She yelled breathlessly as she darted forward, leaning over his face and tilting his head up. "He's not breathing!" She yelled in panic.
"But he's got a pulse," Lassiter said, pulling his hand away from Shawn's neck and pushing her out of the way as he started the rescue breaths she was too breathless to perform.
Henry was next to her, his hands pushing into Shawn's chest as he tried to stop the blood still oozing from the knife wound. His gaze met hers, a silent communication of horror passing between the two of them.
"Here! In here!" Gus yelled as he led the paramedics into the cabin. Juliet forced her gaze away from Henry's to land on Shawn's wrists. She sucked in a breath, working quickly and carefully to free his wrists from the chains. She couldn't look away from his hands. They were still and limp, remaining above his head even as the chains fell free.
The paramedics pushed them away from Shawn, barking out information and asking questions that they all tried to answer. They moved him to the stretcher, still trying to get him to breathe as they rushed from the cabin. Gus had finally succumbed to the urge and was off to the side, emptying his stomach. Henry followed the stretcher, a quick "Not enough room" being tossed at him before the door closed on him. Juliet felt Lassiter grip her arm as the ambulance began pulling away.
"He still wasn't breathing," She whispered.
He didn't say anything at that comment; he just led her to the car quickly.
"Chief!" He shouted as he opened the door for Juliet.
"Go!" She ordered, before turning back to the search party she was directing.
Lassiter nodded, shouting for Henry and Gus to join them as he hurried to his seat.
…
Henry looked down at his hands in shock. They were red. Blood red. His son's blood. His son wasn't breathing. Lassiter had breathed for him. For his son. Who was bleeding. That was blood on his hands. His son's blood.
Arms were reaching over the seat, small hands grasping his, a napkin dabbing up the red liquid staining him. He forced his eyes up to look at Juliet. Shocked tears fell down her face and her lip quivered. She stared fixedly at his hands, but he could still see the disconnect in her expression. She was there, yet she wasn't. Just like him.
He had comforted her this morning, and now she was comforting him.
He looked back down at his hands, watching as she continued to wipe them until they were as clean as possible. Instead of turning back around in her seat when she was finished with her task, she stayed how she was and gripped Henry's hands tightly in her own. He squeezed back, needing the comfort as much as she did.
He dragged his eyes away from their clasped hands to see Gus looking out the window, blinking his eyes slowly. He let go of one of Juliet's hands to reach for Gus, who turned to look at him. His mouth was moving, but he was unable to give voice to the words he wanted to say. Finally, Gus closed his mouth, his other hand reaching for Juliet's free one.
"He's not breathing!" Juliet yelled and Henry stumbled forward.
No. Dear God, please.
"But he has a pulse!" Lassiter leaned over Shawn, pinching his nose.
Henry acted on autopilot after that, putting his hands on Shawn's shoulder to try and staunch the steady flow of blood. There was so much of it. Not just from the stab wound. From something else he couldn't see yet.
His eyes met Juliet's, her words echoing in his mind.
"He's not breathing…He's not breathing."
He still wasn't breathing.