A Rush Of Blood To The Head

April didn't hear anything in great detail but she could hear Punk's and Adam's voices. This was what she wanted. She wanted to be able to confront Adam but with him not behind bars her spine seemed to have dissolved. She suddenly worried for Punk who was talking to him so freely. She crawled across the floor to where Punk had a safe, which was where kept her gun. She nervously tried turning the combination to get it open but her shaky hands proved this task to be difficult.

After fidgeting with the safe for a few more minutes she finally managed to get it open and reached for her gun. She took the safety off then crawled back across the floor and rested her back against the short wall clutching her deadly weapon. A gun was something she never wanted to have and Punk begged her into getting one once she was properly trained for it and now it bought her the most comfort.

April clutched her eyes shut as tears streamed down her face as she remembered the last time she saw Adam.

April was outside but looking up at the window in case she heard Punk and John arguing. But she was distracted when she heard a car pulling into the driveway and was about to run until she saw Adam get out of the car. Relief ran through her body because she knew Adam was the voice of reason. Punk respected him most and would listen to him more than he would her.

"Where's Punk?" Adam asked her slightly out of breath.

"He's upstairs with John." She told him looking back up at the attic window. "You should get up there because I think they're going to-"

April's sentence was cut short due to her arm being tugged and then a bullet ripping through her body. She fell back on the front lawn and raised her hand to see it covered in blood then suddenly Adam was standing over her pointing his gun at her head.

"You've made this extremely difficult for me." Adam said cocking his gun back again.

"...Ape!" Punk yelled and she opened her eyes and saw his concerned ones meet hers.

"What?" She asked confused and slightly out of breath.

"What are you doing?" he asked a little angry and gently took the gun from her tight grip.

"Adam." She said to him and he frowned.

"He's gone." Punk said walking over to the safe and putting the safety back on the gun and locking it away. "He shouldn't have come here."

"Was he looking for me?" April asked nervously and he kneeled in front of her and ran his thumb over her tear stained cheek.

"No, babe." he assured her softly. "He was looking for me. He had to tell me something about the case."

"When you said he was free I didn't realize he was free to come and go out of her apartment as he sees fit." She said to him.

"He's not free to do that. He never should have come here." Punk said to her. "And once this is over he's leaving town."

"Is it weird I'm more afraid of him than James Sawyer?" She asked him as he sat next to her, resting his own back against the wall now.

"No." He said to her. "It's very understandable you have some fears and some PTSD from that."

"I didn't have it until I just saw him." April told him. "It just reminds me of how quickly my life could end. He didn't even give me a chance to beg for my life. He was just going to kill me and go about his life like mine meant nothing. Like I didn't deserve to live, his life was more valuable."

"His life is over." Punk told her. "If he gets us the information to get you out and testifies against the Sawyers, he becomes the new target of them. He won't even get a chance to celebrate."

"I'd like to think I'm a better person than hoping for him to get killed." She admitted. "But he deserves the hell I've gone through. No matter how many steps ahead we though we were of James, Adam was always one ahead of us."

"I know." Punk said to her. "Making the deal with him wasn't something I took lightly." he confided. "And believe me I've been conflicted over it, more than you can imagine. It's like I made a deal with the devil I knew."

"I trust you." She told him turned her head to look at him. "I trust you completely and if you felt releasing Adam was the way to go then I'm not going to be mad or judge you."

"You have every right to be mad and judge." He assured her. "I'm mad at myself over it."

"I know you would never do anything to put me in danger. You'd do anything to keep me safe." She told him and that meant the world to him. "And it's not just because we're together and you love me but as a Marshal, I trust your instincts over anyone else. You're amazing at your job but more than that you're an incredible man."

"Ape-" he began.

"I know we haven't been seeing each other long. And I know it's crazy." She said laughing to herself a bit. "But that house you have, the one you want to move me into, I want to spend forever there with you."

"I wouldn't have asked you to move there with me if I didn't want the same thing." He told her.

"Let's get married." She said to him and his face fell. After a few long moments, April broke the silence again. "I scared you."

"No." He answered quickly and stood up.

"I'm sorry." She said standing up next and following him as he walked over to his dresser. "Please don't freak out I-" she stopped when he saw him holding a loose ring between his fingers.

"This was your surprise." he told her with a smirk. "It was my grandmothers. My father gave it to me while you were gone because he knew what I knew, you're the one." he said slipping the ring on her ring finger.

"It's a perfect fit." She smiled as tears fell down from her eyes.

"You are of course impatient and asked me first." He groaned.

"I'm not old fashioned." She told him admiring the ring. "Your dad really wanted me to have this?"

"Yea, he did." He told her and smiled at how happy she was by the ring. "I spoke to your father too a few weeks back. He gave his blessing to me as well."

"You thought of everything." She said looking up at him finally and kissing him.

"If anyone asks, can we say I proposed?" He asked pulling away from the kiss briefly.

"Nope." She laughed pushing him onto the bed...

The next day April was the Marshal office with Punk. He really meant it when he said she'd be glued to his side but she was fine with it for right now since she made him stop for coffee and picked up a few wedding magazines.

"What do you think of green tuxes?" April asked keeping her head buried in the magazine.

Punk looked up from his computer and saw her sitting across from his desk with her feet up on his table comfortably.

"I think I hate it." He said and she lowered her magazine and glared at him. "A nice simple black tux."

"Hmm." She said slightly annoyed and lifted her magazine back up.

"That stuff Adam-" Corey began and then saw April. "Hey." Corey greeted.

"Hi Corey." April smiled then went back to reading and Corey noticed.

"Wedding magazine?" Corey asked her then looked at Punk. "You're biting the bullet?"

"We're getting married, yes." Punk said to Corey who smiled.

"Congratulations." Corey said to them.

"Thank you." April said to him. "What do you think about green tux's?"

"I think that sounds pretty fucking cool." Corey smiled.

"Thank you again." April grinned at Punk.

"I mean it's so different-" Corey began.

"What is it you have?" Punk asked.

"Surveillance photos." Corey said passing Punk a file. "Adam was right, there's stuff going in that warehouse. It's guarded 24/7. The reason we never looked into it before is because the owner of the building is Cassandra Woodrow who is James Sawyer seniors nephew's fiancee."

"Smart." Punk said looking at the pictures. "It's Sawyer's guards on the place though."

"We think that's where the drugs are." Corey told him.

"It will get us Sawyer senior for sure if we can get a warrant but not James Jr." Punk said still looking at the pictures.

"One of the streets is better than no one. And I think it will be easier to get Jr once daddy is locked away. His crew hates Jr, they're sick of cleaning up his messes." Corey told him.

"We're going to need more than a hunch to get this warrant." Punk said passing him back the file.

"I'm going to surveillance it tonight." Corey told him.

"No." Punk said shaking his head. "You did all night last night. I'll do it."

"Cool." April grinned. "A stakeout."

"Fuck I forgot about you." Punk groaned. "Alright you do it." he said to Corey.

"I'll be good!" April promised. "You won't even know I'm there!"

"No." Punk said sternly.

"You're just watching, right? No one dangerous is going to be there." She argued.

"I don't know that." He said to her.

"It's pretty quiet." Corey told Punk who shot him a glare.

"Please!" She pleaded. "I don't want to be cooped up all night again."

"You won't be cooped in my car for twelve hours?" He asked mockingly.

"Six." Corey corrected and again Punk shot him a glare. "I'm just saying we need someone 10-4 because I come in at 4."

"I can do that." April said to Punk.

"Fine." Punk grumbled and April grinned. "But you can't get out of the car to pee every five minutes." He warned her. "If I see anything going down I'll just call in for backup." He told Corey who nodded.

"It's really quiet, I doubt anything will go down." Corey told him.

"Can we get snacks?" She asked.

"Sure." Punk said looking back at his laptop.

"Oh." April began and he looked up. "I told my parents about the engagement."

"Excellent." Punk said then looked at his computer again.

"They really want to see us." April said to him.

"I know and we will as soon as this over." He promised her.

"I'm the only child they have left, this means a lot to them." April told him.

"I know and I promise we'll go see them and they can throw that little family reunion." He told her. "Right after this."

"Ok." She sighed and looked back at the wedding magazine.

"I mean it, all the normal stuff couples do, we'll do." He promised.

"I know." She said to him. "Busting his father would be a great a start."

"It will be. Like you just heard, it will leave Jeremy Jr. as a lone wolf." Punk told her. "Because once Jeremy Sr. gets busted the chain of command changes and they're not going to want the mess of him."

"Excellent." April smiled peering down at her magazine again.

It was only twenty minutes later that Punk groaned in annoyance when someone else walked into his office. April peered up and saw John and immediately became uneasy.

"Out." Punk ordered.

"I'm here to apologize." John said to him. "To you." He said looking down at April.

"Out." Punk repeated.

"I just wanted to hand in my files on the Sawyer family." John said to him. "I am on paid leave for a while."

"You didn't expect me not to report your little mission of lying to April and holding a gun on her, did you?" Punk asked.

"I didn't hold a gun on her, I would never do that." John told him calmly. "She held a gun on me and I kindly left that out of statement and took full responsibility."

"And did you think anyone would fault April?" Punk asked amused.

"I'm sorry." April said to John and Punk glared at her.

"No, Ape." he scolded. "He messed up, not you. He was going to get you killed."

"I would have protected her." John told him and Punk shook his head.

"You're as trustworthy as Adam." Punk remarked.

"I just want to see the Sawyer's behind bars." John defended and looked at April.

"So does she." Punk snapped.

"Then she should have testified properly." John told him and April frowned.

"She was protecting me." Punk reminded him standing up. "You're not going to guilt her over this shit anymore. Even if Sawyer went to prison his father would have killed her too. Fuck off."

"I haven't been thinking clearly. My kid's about to be born so I'm going to take some time off." John told them.

"Good. Bye." Punk said rudely.

"Phil." April sighed.

"He's right." John told her. "Good luck." He said to Punk then left.

"He has every right to still be angry over my testimony." April told him.

"No he doesn't." Punk told her. "And I thought a lot about your situation with that and I would have done the same thing."

"Really?" She asked surprised.

"You were backed against the corner and if someone threatened your life, someone who I knew had the power to end your life like that I would have done the same thing." he told her and she gave him a light smile. "You could have ran again, that's what you usually do or you could have went forward with your original testimony but you lied under oath and risked prison. You also risked me walking away from you."

"I was sure you were going to end things." April admitted. "But I didn't care if it meant you were alive."

"Yea, I would have done the same thing." He said without hesitation. "But in the future-"

"-talk to you first." She finished for him with a roll of her eyes. "I know, you tell me that everyday."

A couple of hours later April was sitting next to Punk in his car as he watched the warehouse. It was literally the most boring thing she agreed to do. She couldn't keep the light on to read magazines, she couldn't play her game boy because of light as well. And she was freezing and uncomfortable.

"I don't understand why I have to wear this." She said to Punk as he sipped his coffee and looked at the building. He choose to ignore her because it was the sixth time she had said that to him since she put it on. "You don't have to wear one."

"I'm a trained professional." Punk reminded her quietly narrowing his eyes at the building.

"But a bulletproof vest seems excessive." She said to him.

"It will not only save your life but it will keep you warm." He reasoned and she pouted. "It stays on." He ordered and she groaned, throwing her head back. "I told you not to come. I would have had Corey do this."

"I thought it would be more exciting. You know? Like a TV show." She told him.

"This isn't TV and if I thought this was going to be exciting I wouldn't have let you come." He told her sipping his coffee yet again.

"So your job isn't like TV?" She asked.

"Usually, no." he told her and laughed at her disappointed face. "Sorry to disappoint."

"Do you want children?" She asked out of nowhere and bluntly.

"What?" he asked.

"I mean, we're getting married we should discuss this." She said to him.

"I mean, you know when I showed you the house I anticipated having children." He said to her nervously and she smiled.

"Good." She said to him. "And you won't have a problem when we get married and have kids that I work?"

"Why would I care?" He asked curiously.

"Some men don't like that." She shrugged.

"Well, some men are insecure." He replied. "Marriage is a partnership, not a dictatorship."

"Will you still work with guns?" She asked and he eyed her.

"What?" he asked.

"You know, what do they call it..." She trailed off.

"You mean work in the field?" He asked with a laugh and she nodded. "Of course I will."

"That wouldn't make you nervous when we have kids?" She asked.

"I'm good at my job, Ape." He reminded her. "If I didn't think I was capable of doing it I wouldn't. And the day I don't think I can do it I won't. I'll take a desk job but that's not going to happen for a while."

"Fair enough." She agreed.

"Are you going to stop being such a danger magnet once we get married and have kids?" He asked her back.

"I'm going to try." She smiled brightly and he laughed and shook his head. "Oh, it's James."

"What?" Punk asked putting his coffee down.

"Right there." She pointed and he pushed her hand down.

"Slouch." He told her and she slouched down in her front seat as Punk took the professional camera and began taking pictures.

"I thought this was his dad's thing." April whispered.

"It is. But if we can get him on this too that would just be killing two birds with one stone." Punk said trying not to get too excited. "He's not even fucking going in." Punk said annoyed.

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"It means he isn't linked to this building until he goes inside." Punk said snapping more pictures. "Right now he's just talking to the guards and he left his car running."

"So what does that mean?" She asked picking her body up a bit to see.

"Down." Punk told her and she slouched again. "It means that he's smart enough to not go in."

"Does he see us?" She asked quietly.

"No." Punk said confidently keeping his eyes on James Sawyer.

"Do you think he knows I'm back in Chicago?" She asked.

"I don't know." He said wondering the same thing himself. "Don't worry. He's not getting to you."

"I'm not." She said.

"He's gone." Punk said a few minutes later and April sat up.

"That was kind of exciting." She smiled.

"No it wasn't." He smirked.

"Oh! I have a meeting with the editor in chief at the Tribune tomorrow." April told him.

"What time do you have to be there?" Punk asked.

"He's coming to the Marshal office since I said I couldn't meet him." She told him.

"Be careful." he warned her. "This guy could just be fishing for a story. Your face and name has been all over the news the last few months. He might just want an exclusive."

"And he can have one. As long as I'm the one to write it." She told him and he laughed.

"Smart girl." He told her proudly.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad you're enjoying the story. I keep trying to add funny light hearted moments to keep it fun still. Anyways, you all rock- thanks again!