He missed his shots.

David Santiago – perfect, never-fails-anything-in-life David Santiago – missed his shots. Amy's world collapses as her heart drops in her chest.

She has to watch, helpless, as the criminals are getting away and taking her husband along with them.

Jake…

"Give this to me!"

Amy fiercely snatches the gun out of her brother's hands and starts shooting at the car. It's useless, really; the vehicle is too far away for her to reach it now, especially given that she's got tears inside her eyes obstructing her view and her hands are shaking with the pressure. She might have received a gold certification in marksmanship only the previous week but the chances of her getting this one shot perfectly are pretty thin.

It doesn't stop her from trying.

She keeps shooting, bullet after bullet, but it's too late. No matter how hard she tries or how much she focuses on the task, she simply can't reach the damn car.

This is why she let David do it. Because there was too much at stakes, with her husband's safety on the line and she couldn't risk it. Because he's supposed to be better than her – better than anyone. Their mother made that pretty clear their whole lives.

But he missed his shots. And now Jake is missing.

A single tear rolls down her cheek.

"Amy, stop!" The other Santiago forces her to lower her gun and look at him. "This is useless. Let's get in the car and follow them. We won't let them get away, I promise. We'll get him back."

He's right – of course he is – and at another time it would have infuriated her that he is. But right now it doesn't; right now the reassuring look on his face and the softness in his voice are all she needs to get out of her trance and start thinking like a cop again. She can't break down – not if she wants to fall asleep with her arms wrapped around her husband's warm body tonight.

She doesn't waste her time saying anything. Simply nods and starts running towards their own vehicle, already taking out her phone to track Jake's device.

Please don't be turned off…she silently prays.

The ride is spent in utter, heavy silence. Amy keeps her eyes fixed on the screen of her phone and the two little dots on the map following one another around New York City, heading North, until one of them eventually stops. She tells her brother to park a few blocks away not to be noticed and they continue their course by foot, still quiet with their guns held in front of them.

There's not a sound around them as they walk passed empty gloomy streets in the dark of the night. It's so silent even that Amy can almost hear her pounding heart resonate inside her ears. The atmosphere is heavy and smells like crime and death, and it's really hard for her not to think about the past half hour and what could have happened on the other vehicle's way to here.

What could be happening right now, as she and David are heading towards the building where her husband is supposedly held captive.

She shakes her head, trying to chase away the thoughts. She can't let her mind wander off like this. This isn't helping Jake.

Eventually they find the mobsters' car parked in front of an abandoned building and Amy rushes in its direction. Of course it's empty now but as she looks through the window for a sign, anysign of any sort despite how little she can see through them, she lets out a horrified gasp when she spots what she believes is a stain of blood on one of the backseat's seats.

She can't tell if it's fresh – damnthis tinted windows.

As determined as she's ever been, Amy takes a step towards the building but David stops her before she can go too far.

"We should wait for backup. We don't know how many people there are inside and there's only two of us."

Again, she knows he's right – but this time she hatesthat he is.

"My husbandis in there, all because heconvinced me we should help youwith yourproblems," she snaps – because really, being mad is all she can do right now.

"I know. I'm sorry." David takes her hand in his and squeezes gently. "I sincerely am."

She can tell by the look on his face that he is. Amy closes her eyes and sighs to regain some composure.

"It's okay. Jake's right. If it were you in there with these criminals, I'd be worried too and couldn't forget myself for not doing anything."

She manages a small smile at him and he smiles back. Despite everything, she's glad he's here with her during such hard and scary times.

"There's an entrance right there. Let's see if we can get a glimpse of what's going on inside."

The two siblings approach the building very quietly and very carefully.

"Damn, you smell so good. What's that smell?"

A voice – Jake's voice, Amy recognizes it easily – suddenly rises through the air not so far away. A pang of relief runs down her spine at the sound of it (he's alive) and she quickens her pace towards where it came from.

"Shut up!" Someone answers him. The relief washes off her body pretty suddenly with this new voice – it's much more menacing than her husband's.

"Outch."She hears him wince in pain, making her heart clench in her chest. "Is that how you react to a compliment?!"

"Who sent you?!" the other voice asks in the same severe tone as previously. He's clearly not amused nor pleased.

There's a short pause after that, during which Amy and David finally enter the building. They hide behind a wall and sneak a peek at the scene – they can see what's happening in there now; if only partially. Amy's view of Jake is obstructed by a huge guy (most logically the owner of the severe voice) standing in front of him but from the little she can get, he seems tied up on a chair.

"Who sent you?!" the guy repeats and as he does so, brings out a gun that he points to his head. This time, Amy sees clearlyhow Jake's eyes grow bigger for a second and how he clears his throat.

(She also gets a glimpse at his face, at the red stain of blood at the corner of his lower lip and his black eye. Her heart sinks again.)

She lets out a horrified gasp.

"We gotta do something! He's gonna get himself killed if he doesn't talk!" Amy turns over to her brother, who's been watching the scene too. She tries to keep her voice in a low whisper despite the extremely stressful situation and all the worst scenarios going on her mind right now as her husband's got a gun pointed at his head only a few meters away from them.

David looks around in complete silence for a minute.

"PleaseDavid. Tell me you've got a plan. I can't lose him." Her voice breaks with the last words. She's spiralling, and she knows it's not helping but she can't help it. She can't think straight.

Not when her husband's literally got a freaking gun pointed at his head only a few meters away from them.

(It's not the first time he has, and it's not the first she witnesses it either, but this time she's not there to point a gun at their opponent as well.)

(To shot him in the leg and save his life.)

"Don't make me ask you again." In her back, the mobster threatens and her fear intensifies.

Think, think, think… Amy searches for an escape but nothing comes.

Damn, she can't lose him. He's too important to her. She loves him too much. Her eyes well up and her heart clenches as she can already hear the gunshot and picture the blood all around the chair.

She can picture him…

"Idid."

Her brother's voice suddenly takes Amy out of her dark thoughts. She barely has the time to register what's happening or talk him out of it that he's already getting out of their hiding space and walking into the light, revealing himself to his nemesis.

Idiota, she can't help but think.

Knowing him, Amy probably shouldn't be surprised about it but in some miraculous way, David's stupid plan turns out not to be so stupid in the end. They somehow manage to arrest the mobsters just in time for backup to arrive and pick the criminals up. Of course, as soon as they hear about what happened and how they got the bad guys, everyone starts gushing about her brother's selflessness, risking his life to save Jake's without thinking about it for a second.

For once though, Amy couldn't care less.

She couldn't care less because while everyone else is busy taking care of the criminals and listening to the story of Jake's rescue, she rushes to her safe and soundhusband who's still tied up but completely out of danger. While they all praise David with words of admiration, it's the love of her life she gets to talk with.

"Are you okay?!" She carefully studies his injured face when he's finally up and out of his ties.

Thankfully, it doesn't look as bad as she first imagined it would be.

"Yeah. Everything's fine." He offers her a reassuring smile before looking away for a second. "I'm sorry David stole your thunder by saving me again." He points to the direction of the little crowd formed around her brother.

Amy follows his gaze, glancing at the scene before she puts her full attention back on her husband. She puts her two hands on his shoulders, going up his neck and letting them rest on his cheek. She gently removes a stain of blood with her finger and stares at him with a smile.

"Are you kidding?! I don't care about that. All I care about is that you're safe. You're so much more important than any rivalry between us or any dumb picture on a mantle. I'm so gladhe saved you."

Jake beams back at her as he brings his own hand to her arm. "Aww. Well I'm okay. Promise."

"Good."

Amy takes a step forward and leans over, pressing a soft kiss on his lips. Jake's hands naturally fall on the small of her back and he brings her closer to his chest. When they part from the kiss, she doesn't let go of him just yet; instead she wraps her arms further around his shoulders and lets her head rest in the crook of his neck. She takes a huge breath as she hugs him tight.

She's got so scared she was going to lose him.

(Again.)

(For good.)

But thankfully, she will sleep with her arms wrapped around his warm body tonight.

"I love you so much," she whispers against his skin, barely audible then looks up at Jake.

"I love you so much too." He looks at her with the softest look anyone's ever given her in her entire life and in the moment, she can't think of anything that matter more than he does.