I'm sorry you've "hung it up" on this story so soon, sybil 013. You're gonna miss the happy ending that will be posted :)
Happy New Year everyone! Two chapters left after this one and then it's complete :) I'm sorry I left you all hanging for the last four days. I had to attend to the real world for a bit, unfortunately lol.
Songs I listened to while writing:
Through the Flames by Lucas Videl
It Goes On by Zac Brown & Sir. Rosevelt
Barney arrived on scene to find the FLWP building engulfed in flames. A woman was outside waving around a gun while screaming Lee and Emily's names, and Barney saw that his friend, his brother, was nowhere in sight. He lurched the SUV to a stop, and the others jerked forward at the motion. Lee's truck was parked down the street.
"Shit," Toll said. "That's a hot one, Barns."
"Are they still inside?!" Caesar yelped. Gunner said nothing as he looked at the scene before them. His jaw was tight, though.
"Looks that way," Barney commented as the woman saw them and raced towards the SUV.
"HELP!" she screamed. "LEE'S STILL INSIDE! SO IS EMILY! YOU HAVE TO GET THEM OUT!" Barney felt his entire body clench in response to this. He unclipped his belt and jumped out. He hurried towards the building, but the exit was buried in flames.
"Give me that," Toll said, taking the gun from the woman before she shot one of them by accident. He recognized it as one of Lee's and wondered how she ended up with it.
"Please," she begged, sobbing and clutching at him. "You gotta save them!"
"What the hell do we do, Barns?" Caesar asked, trying to find a way in. "We can't get in there." Sirens could be heard at this point, and Barney turned to see fire trucks coming. Too little too late. He figured Lee and Emily would be found dead by the time they got things sorted out. He looked at the wall and then looked at his SUV. If you couldn't go through an existing door, then perhaps you make a new one.
"Oh no," Caesar said, reading his mind and shaking his head vigorously. "No, Barns, that's a bad idea! It'll cause the building to collapse!"
"Won't know until we try."
"Barney!"
He ran for the SUV anyway, jumping back inside and starting it up. He backed it up, giving it a head's start before slamming down on the accelerator. Caesar was still yelling at him and waving his arms as he shot past them all towards the building. Just as he neared the wall, he bailed out. He hit the ground hard, and he shouted in pain as he landed and rolled over and over. He stopped on his stomach and looked towards the building to see a truck sized hole in it with the rest of it still standing...for now. He wheezed in pain as he struggled to his feet.
"COME ON!" Toll roared, running full speed ahead towards the building that looked ready to collapse. Caesar and Gunner followed with Barney bringing up the rear.
"LEE! EMILY!" Caesar bellowed. "LEEEE! EMILYYYYY!"
"STOP!" Barney yelled as loud as he could. The three of them turned to see him looking at two people curled in the corner of the wall he'd just smashed through. Any closer to the left and he would have killed them. That realization made Barney swallow hard.
"WE GOT 'EM!" Toll shouted as they moved towards Lee and Emily. Barney untangled Lee from Emily, only to have him start to fight him.
"It's me. I got you, buddy," Barney said, getting Lee up to his feet.
"Emily," Lee managed to say.
"I got her too. We got you both," Barney promised, and Lee turned his head to see Gunner pick up Emily. She reached out her hand as Gunner carried her by, and Lee reached to touch it in passing. Creaking and groaning overhead made them look up.
"We gotta go!" Caesar shouted. Barney didn't even ask for permission. He lifted Lee over his shoulder like he weighed nothing, and they all rushed outside together just as an explosion rocked the air and the building started to collapse.
"Oh my God!" the woman cried, putting her hands over her face as she saw them. Barney set Lee down on his back on the ground, and Gunner put Emily down beside him. Paramedics were rushing to them now.
"We need some oxygen over here!" Barney yelled at them. One skidded to a halt next to him and worked to pull out an oxygen mask. The second paramedic did the same.
"They're alive," Barney told the medics. "I don't know how long they've been in there or how much smoke they've inhaled, but they were conscious when we found 'em."
"Thank you," the first medic said as the second was barking into their radio. "You probably saved their lives."
"Just make sure they stay alive," Barney ordered, and the medic nodded.
"Get checked out yourself," he instructed. Barney just grunted in response. He stepped back as they hurried to get Emily and Lee into stretchers. Emily started to cough. Her hand reached to touch the mask on her face. She turned her head to see Barney, and he could see her fear. He walked over to her while the medic was waiting to lift her up into the ambulance.
"He's alright," Barney said, gripping her hand tight with his. "He's heading for the hospital with you." She pulled off her mask and managed to choke out a word to him:
"Stay."
"I'll be right here," Barney promised.
"You family?" the medic asked him.
"Uncle," Barney lied.
"Have you been checked out?"
"I'm fine. You can look at me on the way and surmise the same thing." For a moment, it looked like the medic was going to argue, but in the end he decided the argument wasn't worth it. They were going to the hospital anyway.
"Alright. Hop up."
"Lee's my brother," Toll lied too (although he did consider Lee a brother), gesturing to the other ambulance. He was let in, and he tossed his pistol to Caesar, who had batted away the one medic and stated he was fine. Gunner had been approached by a medic as well, but he'd insisted he was fine.
Barney got into the back of the ambulance after unhooking his gun belt and tossing it to Caesar too. He sat next to Emily's head and held her hand as they sped through town.
"You're gonna be alright," Barney told her, smoothing her hand with his fingers. "It's all gonna be alright." He watched her close her eyes, and he prayed to God he wasn't lying.
...
Lee opened his eyes and found himself in the hospital room where they'd put him to be monitored. He groaned. How many times was this going to keep happening to him? And he'd even retired! He turned his head to see Gunner passed out on the chair next to him. His snores were gentle.
"Hey," Lee said, his voice a little raspy sounding. He swallowed, feeling how dry it was. "Gunner." Nothing. "Hey!" After no response still, Lee reached to grab the kleenex box and chucked it at his head. Gunner jerked awake, his fists up and ready to fight. Then he saw where he was and relaxed. Then he saw Lee.
"Hey!" he exclaimed, sitting up straight. "You're awake!"
"Yea. Where's Emily?" Lee asked, getting right to the point.
"Across the hall," Gunner answered. Lee began sitting up and trying to get out of bed. "Hey! Where do you think you're going?"
"To see her," Lee replied logically. Gunner moved to stop him.
"You're not cleared to get up yet."
"I don't care."
"I can't let you..." Gunner started, and Lee's cold stare made his words die in his mouth. He swallowed. He didn't fancy getting murdered in a hospital. He closed his mouth and moved out of the way. Lee shuffled across the hall and found Barney sitting with his elbows resting on his legs and fingers folded, looking at Emily. Lee said nothing as he approached her other side and moved to touch her face.
"She's alive," Barney told him, making Lee look at him. "She's sleeping."
Lee didn't respond. He simply leaned down to kiss her head and hold her face while pressing his against her cheek. He remembered how scared she'd looked when facing their certain death. He was sure it had mirrored in his own eyes back at her.
She made a noise in her throat and opened her eyes. Lee pulled back a little, rubbing his thumb up and down her cheek as she looked to see him.
"Lee," she whispered, reaching to cup his face back with her right hand. Her left arm was in a proper sling now.
"I got you," he said back, taking her hand in his and kissing her fingers. "I'm right here."
"Me too."
"You both had a little bit of smoke inhalation damage, but the doctors think you'll be alright. They're monitoring you for a bit to make sure," Barney explained. "You'll be cleared in a few hours probably."
"You got us out," Lee said, finally looking at him again.
"Yea," Barney answered, nodding. "Made my own doorway...found you in the corner."
"Thanks," Lee said, and he meant it. He'd been so sure they were going to die.
"Yes, thank you," Emily managed to say a little louder. She cleared her throat.
"Cops are working on finding out who did this." Barney looked at Lee, who felt anger rise in his chest in that moment. His brain was working overtime, thinking and remembering things. Then it slowly dawned on him...
"Emily!" Erica's voice called as she swept into the room. "Oh my God! Are you okay?! Mum and Dad told me! They're here too." Lois and Jack followed Erica in, but Lee didn't move to let them surround the bed. He wasn't letting Emily out of his sight.
"I'm okay," Emily said as her mother grabbed her face and kissed her head over and over. Jack stood aloof while Erica fretted and wrung her hands while standing near Emily's head.
"Your friends are in the waiting room," Erica finally said after a moment. "They're worried sick."
"We're okay," Emily said firmly. "They don't have to worry."
"We got them out in time," Barney said to them. "Any longer and they'd be dead." Lois gasped and pressed a hand over her mouth as she reached to smooth Emily's hair. Erica clenched her fists, her jaw tight as her eyes looked wet.
"Well, thank you for saving our daughter's life," Jack said to him. "We don't know how to repay you."
"You don't have to," Barney answered with a small smile. "Perks of having me as a best friend." Lee rolled his eyes.
"Emily? Lee?" Jane's voice asked as she poked her head around the door. "I can't take it anymore. I need to see you to know you're okay."
"I'll step out," Barney offered.
"Me too," Erica said, going with him. Jane went in once they were gone, and she forced their hands apart so she could hang onto one of each with hers.
"You two have got to stop giving me heart attacks!" she ordered. "It's not good for the baby!"
"Sorry," Lee said with a rueful smile. Jane just huffed and smiled back, rubbing Emily's hand gently with her thumb.
"Are you guys okay?" she asked.
"We are," Emily answered. She looked up at Lee. He felt sad seeing the fear still in her eyes and angry at the person who put it there. He felt love for her and guilt for not keeping her safe. In a moment, he was going to deal with the person who had caused all this pain.
"Well, you two need to stick around because you're my baby's godparents, and you are not allowed to die before your godchild is even born."
"What?" Lee asked, surprised. He looked at Jane.
"You heard me," Jane said, letting go of their hands and cupping her belly. "Baby needs you, so don't die."
"I don't know what to say," Emily said to her, shocked.
"Don't say anything," Jane replied. "Kevin and I talked about it a lot, and we want you to do it. I mean, you can say no, but..."
"We'll do it," Lee cut her off.
"Yes," Emily agreed. "We will."
"Great," Jane said, beaming at them both. "I have to go to the bathroom, again. I'll send Nigel and Andy. They're going crazy with worry."
"How's Alison?" Lee asked.
"Still shaken up. She's out there too."
"Good," he said, moving past Jane with a determined step despite his slight limp.
"Where you going?" Barney asked as he passed him in the hallway. He loped after Lee, who was making a beeline for Alison. She stood up upon seeing him, and he was about to open his mouth when she whipped out a pistol. Barney grabbed Lee and yanked him out of the way, throwing them backwards onto the floor with the strong motion, right as she fired. People started screaming and ducking/running. Alison was coming to do the kill shot of Lee while he was trying to get up when Caesar came up behind her, disarmed her, and put her in a tight body hold.
"NO!" she screamed, kicking, but she looked like a little doll in Caesar's arms, her feet dangling. A police officer who was there for something else entirely rushed forward and handcuffed her before getting a hold of her from Caesar, who was reluctant to let her go.
"What is going on here?" the officer asked.
"She just tried to kill me," Lee answered. "More than once today, actually."
"You deserved it!" she spat. "I loved him! You killed the love of my life!"
"Dear God, who did you kill this time?" Barney asked Lee. Everyone else had crowded around in the waiting room by now, watching in awe.
"Josh," Lee answered, still looking at Alison. "Right?"
"We were going to be together," she said, starting to cry now. "He promised me! He said he had to finish this job killing you and then we were home free."
"Holy shit," Jane said, stunned.
"Bitch!" Andy exclaimed.
"You never suspect the little guys," Toll commented with a slight laugh. "Wow." Gunner said nothing as he stood beside him and cracked his knuckles, his face tense.
Nigel walked up to Alison and stopped next to her face. She stared back at him.
"I look forward to watching you rot in jail," Nigel said. "You deserve worse for trying to hurt my family and destroying our business. And to think I was going to let you work alongside us."
"I'm not even sorry," Alison shot back. "And as if I wanted to work doing weddings. You really believed that? Who's the dense one now?"
"Get her away from me," Nigel instructed, clenching his fist as he stepped back from her. He went back to stand with the others.
"You good?" Toll asked Lee, giving him a once over. Gunner was off to the side still cracking his knuckles slowly. Lee suddenly noticed he looked like shit and wondered if he'd been drinking bad earlier.
"Yea, I'm good," Lee answered, suddenly feeling exhausted. "I'm going back to bed now." He looked at the police officer. "Make sure you check her phone. I don't know how many people she's got helping her."
"This isn't over," Alison started, and Lee rounded on her.
"I think it is," he snarled. "You lost. Deal with it. And nice touch on getting Scott to help you. Was he in your back pocket this whole time?"
"He screwed up," Alison retorted. "He was supposed to kill Emily to make you suffer a long time ago, and then Josh decided he had to handle it himself when the oaf failed."
"You couldn't do it?" Lee asked her. "You had ample opportunities."
"I wanted to, but Josh said no," she said simply. "I was just sent in to monitor everything. The plan was always to make you suffer before killing you. Then you killed him, and I hated you for it even more than I already hated you. You had to go. I just had to wait and make sure you didn't suspect me first, though. I had to catch you off guard."
"You got into her apartment and opened the sliding door to let them in, didn't you? The files were a nice alibi should anyone examine it closely. They proved you were there for that reason."
"Not as dumb as he looks, folks," Alison scoffed. "For a jackass."
"Phew," Toll said, chuckling. "Someone didn't listen to the 'If you don't got nothin' nice to say, don't say nothin' at all' lesson from Bambi."
"Troll," Gunner muttered.
"Nah, she's just angry it didn't work and is lashing out," Barney said.
"My therapist says that anger means you care, that you don't get angry and lash out about something if you don't care about it, so she really does care about you, Lee," Toll joked. Lee shot them all a dark look before he looked at the officer again.
"Give her a nice, dark cell," he said. "She deserves it."
"I'm not dense!" Alison shouted as she was hauled away. "You all were fooled, so that proves I'm smarter!"
"Not really," Barney commented, snorting, "since you're being hauled off to jail." She railed on, her voice getting farther away as she went.
"Where the hell did she get the other gun?" Toll asked.
"No idea," Caesar answered. At this point, Lee turned and walked past everyone to go back to Emily's room where she was craning her neck to see out the door from her bed.
"What's going on?" she asked. "Who got shot?!"
"No one," he answered, coming to slide into the hospital bed next to her on her right side. He didn't care if it wasn't allowed. He was tired.
"What happened?"
"Alison happened."
"What?!"
"Shhh," Lee said, putting a hand over her lips gently. "I'm tired." She pushed his hand away.
"Lee!"
He closed his eyes, feeling himself falling asleep. Emily was slightly outraged next to him.
"Lee, you can't leave me hanging like this. What the hell happened? LEE!"
But he was already sound asleep.
...
Emily let him sleep for a while, and then she couldn't take it anymore and prodded him awake. The others hadn't known what was fully going on aside from the fact that Alison and Josh had been an item and Scott was connected somehow, and she needed to know damn it. They were all gone for now but had promised to come visit when they were released and back home, which was hopefully soon. Barney indicated he would hang around to drive them home, but she didn't know where he was currently.
"Lee," she said, reaching to open his eyelid with her fingers. He jerked backwards, slapping at her hand out of reflex.
"What the bloody hell?" he asked, disgruntled.
"I gave you an hour," she answered. "Now you're gonna tell me what happened." He groaned and pressed his fingers into his eyes. She lifted a brow, looking at him and waiting.
"What do you want to know?" he asked.
"Everything!" she exclaimed. "How did you know it was Alison for starters?"
"MISTER Hendricks!"
They both turned their head to see the exact same nurse from the last time Lee was here, complete with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face.
Busted.
"Hi," he said sheepishly.
"Can you explain to me why the hell you two can't stay out of the same bed for longer than five minutes?!" she asked, greatly aggravated.
"If I go an hour without touching her, I die," Lee answered seriously.
"Get up," the nurse ordered, not even batting an eye. He reluctantly obeyed. Emily was very annoyed that they got interrupted before Lee could tell her everything. She escorted Lee back to his bed before coming back to do the final check on her. She explained that Emily would be needing some physical therapy for her arm and handed her a list of exercises to do at home in the meantime. She scolded about Emily not having her arm put back in at the hospital. Emily didn't bother to tell her the reason why. She just wanted to go home.
After she was done with Emily, she went across the hall to deal with Lee. Since Emily was cleared to leave, she got dressed and winced at the state of her clothes. She had to leave her arm under her shirt since it was too much of an effort to take it out of the sling to put it through her sleeve and then back into the sling. She'd deal with it when she got home.
She walked over to where Lee was sitting and getting chastised. He didn't say anything, just simply wore a small smile on his lips until the nurse was finished. She threw him a scrub t-shirt to wear home before leaving and asking him to not come back for a long time, and that's when Emily remembered all the blood on Lee's shirt when he'd found her.
"Well, don't you look cute," he commented, smiling at her as he looked at her arm under her shirt.
"It's incredibly uncomfortable," Emily said back. He stood and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into him.
"We'll get you all sorted out soon," he promised.
"Whose blood was on your shirt?" she asked. She watched his face grow dark, and she had a bad feeling suddenly. "Lee?"
"Lacy's," he answered after a moment. Emily stared at him, trying to comprehend. Lacy? But she wasn't involved in this. How did that happen?
"You're going to have to fill in the blanks for me," she said.
"And I will," he assured her. "When we get home."
"I don't want to go to my apartment right now," she said quickly.
"That's fine. You can stay with me."
"Thank you."
He put an arm around her and walked out with her. Barney was sitting in the waiting room with his hands folded and elbows resting on his knees.
"About time," he commented, standing up.
"I'm sorry we almost died and inconvenienced you," Lee said sarcastically. "I'm sure they'll play a rerun of that Desperate Housewives episode you missed."
"Shows what you know. The last season ended almost a year go. I watch Masterchef now."
"Settle down, boys," Emily said, almost pleadingly. She groaned as they kept bickering anyway all the way out to Lee's truck. Barney had gone to fetch it at some point.
"I don't think so," Lee said when Barney went to get into the driver's seat.
"I have the keys," Barney retorted.
"You're a terrible driver."
"Like hell, and you just got out of the hospital."
"I'll stab you," Lee shot back.
"Boys!" Emily hollered, making them both finally pay attention to her. "I just want to get the hell out of here. I don't care who drives. In fact, I'll make it easy for you both. Lee, if you don't sit in the backseat and hold me all the way home, then you'll never get to touch me ever again."
"I told you I liked her," Barney said, smirking as he opened the driver's door and got in.
"Sorry, luv," Lee said to her, looking apologetic.
"Just help me," she ordered, gesturing with her good hand. He opened the back door and helped her into it before climbing in after her. Once belted in, she curled against his chest, and he put his arms around her. She closed her eyes, dying to know about this whole Alison thing but also enjoying the comforting feeling of being in Lee's arms again. She had a hard time closing her eyes and not seeing the bomb vest or the fire. She'd been given a card to call for a trauma counselling session by Nigel, and she was planning on calling as soon as possible. Everything that had happened to her had made her jittery and on edge. She didn't want to live life like that. She needed to get back on her feet.
"Tigger!" she exclaimed suddenly, sitting forward quickly.
"Jane's got him," Barney answered.
"Oh, thank God."
"You want anything from the apartment before we go to my place?" Lee asked her.
"No. I don't want to see it for a while."
"Don't put it off for very long. It'll make it harder," he warned.
"I know. I just don't want to go there tonight."
"Okay." He smoothed her head with his hand. She closed her eyes again, feeling safe. How long that feeling would last, she wasn't sure. The thought scared her.
...
Lee got Emily settled once Barney left to join the others at the motel room they were staying at. Lee reluctantly let him have his truck. Barney was going to rent another car tomorrow while Caesar came back with the truck to do overwatch that night. Before he left, he'd expressed his condolences about Lacy. Lee knew Barney had hated her, but his friend did seem bothered by it. Lee knew he was going to take a bit to recover from it regardless of what happened between them. They'd been together for almost four years after all. If he was honest, her death still felt unreal. He felt like she'd walk through his door at any moment and tell him it was all a joke.
"Here," he said now, joining Emily in his bedroom and handing her one of his t-shirts and sweatpants. "It's the best I got that'll fit you."
"Thank you."
He couldn't watch her struggle to get changed, so he assisted. She winced and made noises in her throat when he maneuvered her arm through the sleeve and then back into the sling. He felt bad for hurting her like that, but the alternative was death, so he knew she wasn't too mad at him for it.
Her fingers held his shirt tightly before he could pull away, and she tilted her face up at him. Knowing what she wanted, he caught her lips with his and kissed her softly.
"Will you tell me what happened?" she asked after, still holding his shirt.
"Yes."
She followed him to the living room and curled into him once they were sitting on the couch. Lee did his best to not get emotional thinking about Lacy. He still beat himself up for not saving her, for not even thinking she'd be in actual danger. She didn't deserve to die like that.
"How did you know it was Alison?" Emily asked when he didn't start right away.
"Your wedding," he answered, running his fingers over hers slowly. "I should have realized then, but I didn't. I remembered too late the way she'd looked at Josh and her crying and looking at his body on the ground while you all were dealing with me. It didn't register in my mind until I put the pieces together at the hospital earlier. Back then, I'd mistaken it for fear and emotion from what happened to us, but now I see it was grief that he was dead. It had nothing to do with me or you."
"What else gave it away?"
"The fact that she had the perfect alibi. She 'found' you missing and called me. Then she had herself almost get killed to further make her look innocent. If it was the same sniper, he wouldn't have hovered over her to give me time to save her. He would have just shot her like he did to Lacy."
"Oh, Lee..."
"Apparently Scott was working with Josh and failed to kill you back then, so Josh took over. She brought Scott back to help out this time. I imagine he was the one calling me, which also made Alison look like she wasn't involved."
"She went into my apartment to unlock the door for the kidnappers," Emily said, understanding. "And had an excuse to be here with those files she'd brought."
"Yea. Scott knew where you lived, but then Nigel also gave her your address too, right?"
"Yea..."
"She definitely played the dumb receptionist role very well."
"She started a month before you came," Emily said, putting it together. "She'd come there to spy on us."
"Yea."
"She put me in the office to die," Emily said.
"Yes," he agreed. "It was symbolic of you almost marrying Josh and where we met. Full circle."
"What made you start putting it together?"
"I saw her outside the office after Barney pulled us out, and Toll had one of my guns from my truck on him. I figured she lit the fire first and then was waiting outside for us in case we escaped and was going to kill us on the spot. Why else would she be there? It was too coincidental."
"Toll could have taken the gun from your truck himself..."
"Toll knows better than to touch my things," Lee interrupted with a small smile. "Trust me, he wouldn't have."
"Even in an emergency?"
"He came prepared, Em. He didn't need my gun."
"I see." She fidgeted with her fingers. Lee shifted her hair, and she turned her head to look at him. "So what now?"
"We heal together," he answered simply.
"Is it really over?"
"Yea," he answered, nodding slowly. "It is."
"What about her helpers?"
"I don't know how many she had, but I imagine they'll have been found by now if the police tracked the numbers in Alison's phone. Two of them I left incapacitated, so they will have definitely been found. Scott was one of them."
"What if they're not found?" she asked, her voice sounding afraid. "What if there's still one or two of them out there?" He touched her cheek and looked into her eyes.
"It's why Caesar is sitting in my truck across the street right now."
"I thought Barney took your truck?"
"He did, and Caesar brought it back. He's doing overwatch."
"What's that?"
"Babysitting," Lee answered, kissing her again. "There's nothing to worry about for now. Trust me." She searched his eyes, still looking a little anxious, but he felt her relax against him a bit.
"I don't know how you did this kind of stuff all the time," she admitted.
"I hope you never have to know."
"I'm scared to fall asleep," she admitted, her voice small sounding.
"I'll be right here," he promised. "I'm not going anywhere." He held her close, and he wished he could help her feel better, but he knew time could assist with that. He knew she was going to talk to someone about it, and that brought him relief. He wanted her to find a version of normal again that she was comfortable with.
"I'm sorry about Lacy," she said, growing tired.
"Me too."
"As much as I hated how horrid she was to you, I didn't want her to die."
"I know."
"Does Tyler know?" Her question made Lee stiffen. He didn't think so, and he knew he had to tell him sooner than later.
"I'll tell him."
Lee felt her fall asleep in his arms. He waited a while before lowering her onto her back on the couch and covering her with a blanket. He looked down at her sleeping for a moment before going to the other room and pulling out his phone. He inhaled and exhaled slowly as the call connected.
"Lee?" Tyler's groggy voice asked, the call having woken him up. "What's wrong?"
"Tyler," Lee said. "I'm afraid I have some really bad news..."
...
"Nigel," Andy said. "You can't keep beating yourself up over this..." She was at his apartment, knowing that he wouldn't be sleeping and would be doing exactly that: beating himself up.
"I hired her," Nigel said, pacing. "I hired her a month before Lee came to do his wedding. She'd been planning this with Josh since the beginning. He wanted revenge on Lee, so he sent her in to monitor everything. Then he discovered his old fake fiancée Emily was there, and Alison saw Lee and Emily's relationship getting more intense, so they decided to use that to their advantage. Who does that?!"
"Sick people."
"And I hired one!"
"She didn't exactly have the word 'assassin' on her forehead when you hired her," Andy pointed out.
"What a mess," Nigel groaned, rubbing his face with his hands. "She fooled us all."
"But she's in jail now," Andy reminded him. "She's done." He blew air out of his lips and flapped his hands against his sides helplessly. Then he sank down onto the couch and rested his head against it.
"We lost the building," Nigel went on. "All our work. Everything."
"We can get it back again. We'll recover."
"I'm tired, Andy," Nigel said. "I'm so tired."
"I know." She watched him close his eyes, and she went to get a drink while he eventually fell asleep. She stood looking out his window at the city below as she thought about everything that had happened. She was glad Emily and Lee were all right.
It was definitely enough drama to last them for a while.
Days Later
"All the bad guys are in custody," Emily said, falling into Lee's lap and making him grunt from the impact. Gunner was sitting and watching as Caesar and Toll played some sort of card game that consisted of throwing cards at each other (or maybe they were just throwing cards at each other...Emily couldn't tell) while Barney finished cleaning up from dinner. Lee had put his Masterchef knowledge to the test, and Barney had to keep telling Caesar to back off and stop trying to take over, especially when the smoke alarm had gone off. Toll had almost choked on his drink when Barney had grabbed Caesar's nose with a pair of tongs at one point and shook his head hard with it after Caesar had tried to stir a pot on the stove behind his back.
"Yea? Says who?" Lee asked, wrapping his right arm around her.
"The officer working the case. They just gave me a follow up call. The only people helping her were Scott and the other guy you ran into."
"Good."
"Alison is being charged with a lot of things," Emily went on. "Things outside of this incident too apparently. She'll be doing a lot of time."
"Hallelujah!" Caesar exclaimed, throwing his last card and hitting Toll in the nose with it.
"We can go home?" Toll asked. "Not that I'm not enjoying hanging out with you guys." He smiled at Emily. She smiled back. She liked Lee's friends. They were easy going and nice and funny. They also had lots of stories about Lee, most of which made him groan in embarrassment.
"You can leave anytime," Lee answered.
"So blunt," Caesar commented. He dodged Toll's cards that were tossed at his head.
"What the hell are you two doing?" Barney asked, frowning at them.
"Trying to hit each other," Toll answered logically. "We get so many points for which part we hit with a card."
"I got 50 points for hitting his ear," Caesar added. "20 for his nose."
"It's 100 for the eye," Toll explained. "150 if said eye is open."
"Oh my God," Barney muttered, shaking his head and looking away from them as Gunner chortled with laughter. He finished wiping off the counter.
"You're right," Emily said to Lee in his ear. "You absolutely cannot hide anything from me with these people as your friends."
"I told you," he said back, grinning.
"Can you tell Jane to stop trying to set me up?" Barney asked now, making them both look at him again. "I keep getting these women writing me, and it's driving me crazy. I'm not interested."
"Jane seems to think otherwise," Emily said teasingly.
"I regret ever answering her phone call," Barney huffed. He headed for the door, and Caesar and Toll followed suit once they cleaned up their cards. Gunner slowly got up and went with them. Emily was a little sad to see them go.
"Stay safe," Gunner said to Lee, grabbing his arm and giving him a shake. Lee nodded and patted the big guy's hand before Gunner removed it and ambled to the door. Emily appreciated how much Gunner cared. She'd spent some time talking to him while he was here, and she'd learned he was an addict and had relapsed hard recently and was going to rehab once he got back to New Orleans. She'd noticed how much Gunner expressed his care for his team, and she was glad he was there to have their backs when needed.
"Don't be a stranger," Toll said to Lee, fist bumping him.
"Yea, and stop getting shot at, stabbed, blown up..." Caesar trailed off before giving Lee a pointed look. "Just stop it."
"I can't help it people hate me," Lee replied. Barney gave a snort while the other two chuckled. Emily followed Lee to the door as they filed out one by one. Barney was last.
"Glad this is over, man," Barney said, reaching to grasp Lee's hand and shake it.
"Me too."
"See you soon," Emily said, going to hug him with her one arm. He hugged her back lightly, and she appreciated that he took care of her arm being wounded. When they were gone, Lee closed the door and leaned against it, looking at her.
"I can hear myself think again," he said. She started to laugh, and he joined in. She moved to wrap her arm around his neck and kissed him, relieved to be moving forward and relieved to be alone with him finally.
They could start again.
"What do you want to do now?" he asked.
"I'm going to sit on this couch and have a Golden Girls marathon because I bloody well deserve it," Emily said. "And no one makes me smile more than Betty White."
"Not even me?"
"Nope. Sorry."
"Alright," he laughed. "Fair enough." Emily went to get comfortable on the couch with him, resting her head against his chest, and she let herself get lost in TV for a while. It was better than thinking about everything that had happened.
And soon enough, like she'd said, Betty White had her smiling.
I was hit hard by the news of Betty White's death, so I added a little scene at the end just for her. RIP Betty...you got me through some really tough times. I'll miss your contributions to this world.