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Chapter 24: Dinner and a Shootout

Four weeks later, Piper, Leo, Prue, Andy, Phoebe, Eric, Darryl, and Shelia all sat around a large table at a fancy restaurant. Piper's bruises had faded enough so she could cover them up with make-up. She was wearing that little red dress Leo loved on her. Leo thought she had never looked so good.

Eric, except for being a little pale, was looking like his old self. Since being released from the hospital, this was his first night out to celebrate.

And that is what tonight was. A celebration. For Piper and Eric, both who were able to overcome major difficulties.

Andy lifted his wine glass and said, "To Piper and Eric. May no one have to go through the hell you two did."

"Amen to that," Darryl seconded. Everyone clinked glassed and Piper blushed.

"And too Leo, for being reinstated on the force." Everyone clinked glasses again. Leo was given a mandatory three weeks off after the shooting in the apartment that killed two officers and wounded one. Internal Affairs invested the case and cleared Leo of any possible misconduct. IA had given him a clean report, saying he did everything he should have.

Leo took a sip of his wine and leaned back in his chair. He had one arm through protectively over the back of Piper's, as if she would slip away from him.

Andy and Prue were discussing their wedding plans. Piper and Phoebe would be bridesmaids and Eric and Leo would be groomsmen. Darryl heard this and said, "What is it with you Halliwells and cops?"

Piper just smiled at Leo. Phoebe looked at Eric and said, "I don't know. It's a sister thing I guess." Everyone laughed.

Piper excused herself to use the restroom. As she was washing her hands, the mulled over how well the evening was going.

Then she heard a click behind her. "Don't move," a masculine voice said.

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Leo was laughing at a joke Andy told when his cell phone rang.

"Wyatt here," he answered with a slight laugh.

All laughter was gone when Leo heard what the officer on the other side had to say. "Wong escaped."

"What do you mean he escaped?!" Everyone at the table was looking at him now.

"We were transferring him to county lockup and he bolted. He managed to pick the locks on his cuffs. He took down to officers."

"Holy shit."

"That's not all. They heard him talking in his sleep last night. All he would say is 'I'm going to kill that Halliwell bitch'."

"Piper," Leo said. He looked up in the direction towards the bathroom. He saw Piper walking, but she wasn't coming back towards the table. A man walked behind her. Tony Wong.

Piper made eye contact with him for a split second.

But that second was all Leo needed to see the fear in her eyes.

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Tony Wong pressed a gun to her back. "Don't say a word. We're going to walk out of here and go towards the roof. Don't bring attention to yourself or I'll shoot you and everyone else. Got it?"

Piper only nodded her head.

"Alright. Go."

Piper tried to walk calmly out of the bathroom and past the dinning room. But she was terrified. She could barely stand on her own two feet.

She could see Leo and the group across the dinning room. Leo was on his cell phone, looking worried. He looked up and stared right at her.

But Tony Wong pressed the gun harder into her back and she stopped looking at him.

Tony led her to a door he had obviously propped open earlier. He pushed her through the door and made sure it locked shut behind him.

Seconds later, Piper heard pounding on the door. But it was a barrier, one that separated her from safety and death. Safety pounding on the door and she was being forced in the opposite direction.

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"Wong escaped," was all Leo said to Andy and Darryl before quickly walking across the dining room to following Piper and Wong. He had his hand on the butt of his weapon, but kept it concealed as not to cause a panic.

The door to the stairs slammed closed seconds before he could reach it. Leo tried the handle only to find it locked. Leo pounded his fists on the door. He didn't care if everyone in the dinning room was looking towards the noise. Piper was upstairs with a murderer.

One of the waiters came over to him, but Andy flashed credentials and asked to have the door opened. The waiter obeyed, giving them a weird look. He looked as if he wanted to ask a question as he opened the door, but Leo just swept past him and ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

Andy and Darryl were at his side, guns drawn and ready to shoot. Phoebe, Prue, and Eric followed behind, but were making slower pace due to Eric's inability to do much physical work with his injury.

Leo was the first one to burst through the open door to the roof. Wong was standing at the edge of the roof, one arm around Piper's neck, the other holding a gun to her head.

"San Francisco PD! Put down the weapon and take a step away from the roof!" Leo hollered to him.

"Take a step closer and I'll blow her head off!" Wong screamed back.

Leo took a small step forward. "You don't want to do that. If you let her go, it'll help you in court."

"Let her go?" Wong let out a laugh. "Let her go? This bitch ruined everything. Every time I'm almost home free, she has to screw it up." He dragged the gun across her face. "Jus couldn't stay out of it, could you? Just couldn't let your dumb boyfriend go, could you? Could you?!"

His anger was boiling into rage and Leo was afraid Wong was going to shoot Piper in a moment of heated rage.

Wong was wildly yelling at Piper now, His arms flinging every which way, no longer training the gun on Piper. If only Leo could get a clear shot…

Wong grabbed Piper by the back of her hair, pulling her head back, forcing her to take a step backward.

But Piper was already on the edge of the roof. There was no room to step backwards.

It was if time slowed down. Piper began to fall backwards and Wong release hold of her. A bullet hole ripped through Wong's chest. Darryl had released the first shot. Andy followed suit, and then Leo.

Leo reached the edge of the roof just in time to watch Piper tumble to the ground. Her body landed on the closed plastic lid of a dumpster, bounced off and landed with a thud on the pavement.

Wong, riddled with bullets and dead, landed on the pavement a few feet away from Piper. Nothing broke his fall from the rooftop to the pavement below.

Prue let out a scream and Leo was brought back to reality. The whole event had probably taken five seconds, fifteen at the most, but it seemed like minutes, hours.

Leo ran down the nearby fire escape, not bothering to pull down the last ladder, but jumped the last few feet. He stumbled as he landed on the pavement, but he didn't let it slow him down. He ran past Wong's body, not even noticing him, and ran to Piper, her beautiful body in the red dress lying in a broken heap.

He bent next to her and tried to wake her up, but she was unconscious. Leo tried to push all his personal feelings aside and treat this like an emergency.

Okay, he told himself, pushing away panic, check for breathing.

Leo looked, felt, and listened for breathing, but there was none. He gave two rescue breaths and checked for a pulse.

He couldn't find one.

"Damn it," he said and started chest compressions. Andy was at his side now, giving Piper two breaths after every fifteen compressions.

As he gave Piper chest compressions, tears ran down his face. Damn trying to stay objective. Damn trying to keep a clear head. This was Piper. She was the most important thing in his life. If he wasn't allowed to show a little emotion now, when the hell was he supposed to?

He preformed chest compressions, the tears flowing freely. Come on, Piper. Breath. Just breath.

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Piper felt herself falling, sailing through the air. But after she hit the top of the dumpster, she was floating upwards, up and up, to a place where no one could bring her back.

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Author's Note: Will Piper live or die? (Hint: Mark is going to be in this next chapter!) Thanks to all of you who have reviewed, I appreciate it so much. I'm glad you like the story so much.