Disclaimer: I own nothing, don't sue me
A/N: I'm not sure why, but I have always equated Mitch's stabbing with Spencer's stabbing, and this fic is my attempt at making that bridge for all of you. This took a turn I wasn't expecting, more of a Jolie friendship fic than a Jolie romance fic. Kind of like what they were like on the show during this period, in my opinion. Anyway, for anyone still out there, please read, enjoy, and review!
In the years they'd worked together, John had taken over for Bo when family emergencies happened. But this case was different.
Marty. Evangeline. He could handle those accusations and insinuations from his lying mouth.
Natalie was a different story.
Her life had been turned upside down again and he'd done nothing to stop it. He'd stop this bastard if it was the last thing he did.
"All the evidence seems to point to Jared Banks, and your colleagues in Napa couldn't make anything stick"
"Just because they can't doesn't mean I can't"
"What does that mean?"
"It means if the law fails to protect the people I care about, I'll kill you myself"
There had been so few times where he meant it so completely as he did in this moment.
"You know people have killed me before"
"Well, this time, it'll stick" he said, "You do get off of these charges, you come near the people that I care about, I'll kill you. I don't mess around Lawrence"
"Care about? Is that a euphemism for love?"
"Let me break it down for you. You come near Natalie, Marty, Hope, anyone else; I'll kill you where you stand"
"I'm surprised you still seem to care for Natalie. I hope you don't still hold a torch for her. I've got plans for my bride. I've pictured her for years-"
He snapped, he grabbed him by the neck and held him there. He didn't say a thing. Natalie would not want those thoughts running through this guy's mind. Truth be told, he didn't want him thinking about her either.
"Why care about Natalie so much when Dr. Saybrooke is in the picture?"
He didn't need to talk about Marty, didn't need to tell this sorry excuse for a human being that Marty had gotten pissed when she found out Natalie had spent the night and hadn't talked to him since then. He felt bad about the situation, but he hadn't the time right now for explaining that. He tightened his hold on his neck.
There was a knock on the door. He let him go, sent Fish away. He was a good cop, but he didn't need a good cop right now, and he didn't need Fish getting in trouble for his actions either.
"Get up"
As soon as Lawrence was up, his door opened with no knock and Natalie stood in front of them.
"My dad said he's not going to jail" she said, and her tone was so deadly even he was fearful for what was running through her brain right now.
"I knew you'd come" Mitch said, "Would you believe he threatened to kill me?"
"Don't listen to him" John told her, tried to use a tone she would hear right now, "I will take care of him I promise. You gotta let me do my job" he said, but the look in her eyes let him know she was desperate, and he knew if she asked him to kill him right now, he'd do it. Against his better judgement, he went to get help from an officer who could act as a witness.
"John would kill you. But he'd be wasting his life on you, he's got too much. Me on the other hand, I got nothing to live for"
She took Jared's letter opener and stuck it in his heart. The look on his face told her she'd succeeded.
He'd heard what she'd said, but he'd cover the threat for her. It wasn't until he heard the groan that he turned around. He saw Mitch bleeding on the floor, he saw the knife in Natalie's hand.
He shut his door and locked it. His actions preceded his thoughts as he wrapped his arm around her waist and his hand around hers around the knife. He could feel her shaking. She hadn't thought before she'd done it.
"Natalie listen to me. Drop the knife" he had to repeat himself before she was actually listening, but she complied.
"Natalie, listen to me. Where did you get the knife?" he didn't let her go. He couldn't be sure where her head was at.
"it was in my pocket. It was Jared's"
He got her away from the knife, away from Lawrence, checked his pulse to see that he was still alive, and that was when his side door opened. Damn it, he should have thought to lock them both. He heard Jess and Brody before he saw them.
It didn't matter, he'd already made his decision.
"What happened" Jess had shouted.
He slid the knife under Lawrence's body.
"I was taking Lawrence back down to holding and he-he grabbed a letter opener and stabbed himself" he looked to Natalie wiping the blood off of her hands, thankful she'd kept some of her instincts from when she'd worked on the force.
She was sure she'd heard him wrong. She looked at him, and at once understood him completely.
He saw the shock register on her face. It was probably the shock of the situation catching up to her. She wasn't a killer and he wasn't going to make her one. He ignored the questions Jess and Brody were lobbing at him.
"Call an ambulance" he barked, and he knew Brody would do so.
"Natalie, you're shaking, are you okay?" Jess asked.
"She saw it, but she's okay. Everything is going to be okay" he said, and he looked right at her.
"Let him die" she whispered.
"We probably can't" he said, answering her and no one else.
"I hope he dies" he heard her whispering, but he was sure if Jess and Brody heard, they chalked it up to grief.
And it was the grief talking. He knew how she acted when she was hurting, and this was exactly that. Brody was asking questions again, and he deflected again. The paramedics showed up and took over, and Natalie asked again if he'd live.
"Yeah, if he'd hit anything vital, he'd be dead by now"
Damn it, he thought. If he lived, he could finger Natalie. He didn't know how he would stop that.
Once they were out of his office, he grabbed Natalie.
"Don't say anything, not to anyone" he whispered.
Before he could say anymore, there was Balsom. The last person that needed to be here. So, he had to retell the story again, and he was sure Balsom saw through it, especially once he started asking about Natalie's involvement. At least Natalie didn't say anything, she let him do all the talking. There was that, and there was also comfort in knowing if Balsom did suspect something was amiss, he wouldn't question helping Natalie.
He got Natalie to the hallway and got Brody away. He stepped back into his office. He knew what he had to do. That decision had been made the second he'd turned around and saw what she'd done.
He opened his desk drawer and took the letter opener. He took Jared's letter opener and briefly contemplated what he was doing.
Why had he made this choice? He hadn't thought of it. He'd just done it.
In the end it didn't matter why. Natalie didn't deserve to go down for this. He hated the way she'd become front and center in his life again. She'd lived through too much hurt already, and losing her husband at the hand of someone who'd tortured her for years certainly didn't help. Nevertheless, she was still Natalie and he knew he'd do it for her.
He needed a place to keep Jared's letter opener. Since Jared had been murdered, he'd been flooded with memories of Natalie. He didn't know why this one came to him right now.
He'd waited all day to be alone with her. He was happy to see Michael and Marcie and Tommy and his mom. He felt bad Natalie was spending her Christmas in a hospital and not with her family. It was so far from the Christmas he'd wanted. And yet, he found himself happy he got to spend any time on this holiday with her, given the circumstances.
"They're gone?" he asked once she was back in the room.
"Don't sound so happy about it" she teased him.
"It was nice to have them here for Christmas, but-"
"I know" she said.
"So when are you headed out of here?" he asked.
She shrugged, "I wasn't planning on it"
"Your mom must miss you"
"There's no place I'd rather be"
"I am sorry this is what your Christmas became" he said, "I'm sure the events at Llanfair are much nicer"
"You would've been at Llanfair with me this year" she told him.
"Yeah" he said, "I was looking forward to it"
"Liar" she teased.
"Well, I was looking forward to the holidays with you, whatever it looked like"
"Here" she said, handing him a box, "Merry Christmas"
"When did you have time to go Christmas shopping?" he asked, "You've been glued to that chair for a month"
"don't get your hopes up" she said, as he opened it.
"St. Dwynn" he said, "How'd you know about her?"
"Well according to the guide at the hospital gift shop, she made a wish for true lovers. She's their patron saint" she said, "and St. Jude is looking a little rough these days, and I don't think we're a lost cause anymore. But I do have a lot of wishes for us"
He smiled, "I got lots of wishes too" he said. And he paused awkwardly, "If you um, open the drawer, you might find something"
"John, how did you-"
"Don't get too excited I asked Michael to get it for me, I'm surprised it made it here at all"
She unwrapped it, and tried to be surprise, "A planner"
"You don't have to fake it, it's not what I wanted to give you either" he said, "But, uh, if you open it to around Valentine's Day, you might find something interesting"
She raised her eyebrows and opened the planner. On the Friday following Valentine's day, she saw written in what was now John's handwriting "Dinner with John" and on the following Monday, "Personal Day for N &J".
"Dinner followed by a long weekend?" she asked, "Sounds like it'll be a good time"
"Yeah, so I, uh, talked to Mike and he translated the medical mumbo jumbo and they seem to think I'll be back to normal by then, and maybe by then I'll be-"
"What are you trying to say?"
"I just want to be everything you deserve before-" he couldn't bring himself to say it and jinx it, to say that he wanted to be everything she deserved before he asked her to spend her life with him.
"You are" he said.
"You're just being nice" he said.
"I like this promise" she said, "Thanks"
