A/N: Hi everyone. Happy Monday, if there is such a thing. My wonderful Beta Lynnette and I thought, since we made you wait an extra day for today's chapter, that we'd give you a little treat and post the next chapter also, instead of making you wait until tomorrow. Things will be heating up after this one. I hope you're all still enjoying the ride.

Pride, Admiration and Respect

Chapter Nine

The slowly turning ceiling fan is doing very little to cut the humidity in the room. There are steady beads of sweat working their way down from her hairline, her neck and onto her chest. It's impossible to get comfortable.

.

"Williams… Lombardi…. grab your gear."

"Captain?"

"You heard me. Report to Task Force 3. We need all hands on deck for this one."

"What's this about? We're on desk assignment for this investigation."

"Damned if I know, but don't look a gift horse in the mouth. We finally get to see some action."

"But there are still at least five files we haven't even looked at yet. Doesn't this seem a bit premature to you?"

"Yeah, maybe, I don't know. But, aren't you tired of just pushing papers and reading reports? I know I am."

"Damn right I am! Let's do this!"

.

The ocean is louder now. She hears it but not enough to register and wake her. Her head thrashes from side to side… seeking out a cool spot on the pillow.

.

"Task Force 1…. take the perimeter. #2…. I want full coverage on all the windows and doors. #3… you're with me."

"Damn…. talk about moving up in the world, eh partner? Rifling through endless files in the morning, mobilizing for the fight in the afternoon."

"Be careful Tony. You've worked those files as much as I have. These guys mean business."

"Don't worry Annie. We're ready for this."

.

As the low pressure weather system slowly makes its way across the islands, a soft breeze begins to build over the beach. The wispy curtains of the room begin to dance on the air along with the sounds of rapid fire automatic weapons. She cringes at the sound.

.

"Stay down! Do you hear me? I'm coming!"

"No… I'm all right. Wasn't even close. Stay there... watch your own six... I'm fine."

The task force is spread out …. too spread out. They are taking fire from all directions. This was meticulously and thoroughly planned out and coordinated, why is it so haphazard? Something isn't right here.

"Tony…. I think I see an opening… cover me."

"ANNIE... WATCH OUT!"

There it is… just like always… the gun shot. Like cannon fire, she hears it. But this time, it doesn't wake her, doesn't jolt her out of sleep with its cold finality. This time she actually feels it. Feels it whizzing past her as she's forcibly knocked to the floor. She can't move. Something is holding her down, trapping her legs. She manages to pull herself free enough to turn over onto her back. She sees him coming.

No name comes to mind, just another mindless, faceless asshole but this one is bearing down on her as she's trapped under the dead weight of her partner. Rapidly gathering her wits about her, she pulls her gun from beneath Tony's body, aims and shoots. The look of surprise would almost be comical if the situation weren't so terrifying. Three shots center mass and the man is dead.

"TONY? TONY! Come on man...don't do this. Wake up…. WAKE UP!"

Eyelids flutter, a hand reaches out and grabs her wrist. He's awake but she knows he's really not. The moments he has left dripping out of him as each drop of blood continues to coat the floor. She positions herself so his head is in her lap. She brushes his wavy brown hair off his face, tries to make him comfortable. Somewhere in the distance she can hear the wail of sirens but she knows they won't make it in time.

"Annie…. I'm sorry." He looked up at her, his soft brown eyes full of sadness.

"What the hell are you sorry for? You idiot! You just saved my life."

"A life worth saving."

"Don't do this. Please Tony, don't do this... you hang on… do you hear me? You hang on…."

"Annie…. I need you to do something for me….."

.

Somewhere in the night a bird calls. Like the breeze and the ocean before it, the sound is not enough to wake her, to rescue her from reliving this nightmare again. But it seems just enough to propel her further into the memory…. to a place her dreams had never allowed her to visit before.

.

"Williams…. why are you still here? You should have gone home hours ago. That report can wait until tomorrow."

"Yes, Captain. I'm on my way, sir."

The squad room is empty in the midst of dozens of people. She doesn't see them… she doesn't hear them. All she can see and hear is Tony. She feels nothing. No…. that's not true. She feels the flash drive in her hand. She turns it over in her fingers, watches as the light catches off the black plastic. She wonders what's on it. It was in that office. The one Cordoba may have used. She should report her discovery. She should turn it over to the lead investigators. She should do a lot of things with it. Yet, she doesn't. She holds it up and studies it as if it will reveal its secrets by pure power of will. She makes her decision… she will not turn this over. Something was off during that firefight. All the planning, all the intel, it should not have gone down like that. No… this she would keep to herself until she was sure of what she was dealing with.

She opened her desk drawer and took out a small manila envelope. She dropped the flash drive into it, sealed it, folded it and placed it in her pocket. Home and safe keeping… that's where it would go for the time being. She slowly heaved herself out of her chair, more tired than she'd ever been in her life and turned to head out.

She didn't realize he was there until she'd turned. Alex Sanchez. She knew him. Her first year at NYPD had been his last. He was tall, good looking, friendly, easy to like.

He gave her a sympathetic smile as she approached him.

"I heard," he said as he gave her a quick hug.

"I'm sure everyone has by now."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Don't let the bastards walk!"

"I'll do my best, Annie. You should go home and get some rest."

"On my way as we speak. Good night."

As she moved past him to leave she didn't notice the slow metamorphosis of his warm, caring smile into a calculated sneer. "One down," he thought.

.

A sudden flash of lightning cracked and danced across the bed and Annie was instantly awake.

"Steve! Oh my God…. STEVE!"

It didn't take more than a few seconds for him to come barreling into her room, gun in hand, ready to take out whatever potential danger had caused Annie to cry out to him. He was shocked to see the state she was in when he entered the room.

"Annie... what happened? Are you alright? You're shaking like a leaf. Was it the nightmare again?"

Annie wiped her brow and tried to bring her breathing under control.

"Steve…. I remember."

"What? What do you remember?"

"It was the nightmare but it was different this time. Every time I've had it before the gunshot that killed Tony woke me up. But this time, it didn't, it went further. Remember when you asked me if I'd told anyone about the flash drive?"

"Yes... you said you didn't tell a soul."

"I didn't… but someone saw me with it."

"What? Are you sure?

"Yes… I had the flash drive in my hand, while I was at my desk after… well... after everything. I was trying to decide what to do, whether I should hand it over to the investigation. I decided not to, of course, and put it away to take home. When I stood up to leave, Alex Sanchez was standing across the room. He gave no indication that he'd seen it. He was kind and sympathetic over what had happened to Tony. It didn't register until just now. I don't know how long he was standing there. He was watching me. He saw that flash drive! I'm sure of it!"

"Who's Alex Sanchez?"

"He's the Assistant District Attorney. He used to be a cop, that's how I first met him. He and Tony grew up in the same neighborhood. To please his parents, he'd graduated from NYU with a law degree but he wanted to be a cop. He worked his way up to Lieutenant but after a few years decided he wanted more after all. So he put his law degree to use and joined the DA's office."

Running his hand down his face, Steve checked his watch. "Alright. It's a safe bet we're not getting any more sleep tonight. It'll be light in a little over an hour or so. I might as well grab a quick swim. Why don't you get yourself some breakfast? I won't be too long. Then let's get to the office and see what we can find out about this Alex Sanchez and how he's possibly connected to all this, if he even is."

~~H50~~~~H50~~~~H50~~~~H50~~~~H50~~~~H50~~~~H50~~~~H50~~~~H50~~

He felt their presence even before he heard the almost indiscernible sound. Slowly opening his eyes, he wasn't surprised to see the man sitting in the chair across from his bed nor by the two goons with guns standing at the man's sides.

"Good morning," Danny said as he sleepily stretched out his muscles, trying to show more calm than he was feeling. "To what do I owe this displeasure? The goon club out of coffee this morning?"

"You are most humorous, Mr. Williams."

"Detective Williams... if you don't mind."

"My apologies…. detective. Now, if you would be so kind as to get up and dress yourself. You have an important appointment this fine morning and it would be most rude on your part to be late."

"Oh well, never let it be said that I am in anyway rude but you see, I have no intention of going anywhere with you. How the hell did you get in here anyway? What do you want?"

Danny tried his best to sound authoritative, calm and collected but in truth he was scared as hell. His eyes moved almost imperceptibly to his bedside table where his cell phone and gun lay, just out of reach. He could try for the gun but he doubted the two goons would be too happy about that. How was this his life? Facing down these guys in his own bedroom with nothing on but boxer shorts wasn't his idea of the best way to start his day. He just thanked God Grace was at Rachel's.

"Detective, please do not do anything foolish. I can see your natural instinct is to try to stop this. I can promise you, the outcome would not be to your liking. Now, I will not ask again… get up…. now! And, please do keep quiet about it. It would be most unfortunate if your neighbors were to hear any sort of disturbance from this house and find it necessary to call the police. You will walk out quietly with no fuss. I am confident you understand the seriousness of the situation. Be uncooperative and your little girl won't be happy to find us in her bedroom next!"

The threat was very productive. A cold chill ran down Danny's back as, at the same time, a burning rage built in his stomach. These guys knew he had a daughter and more than likely knew exactly where she lived. Danny had no choice but to do as they said. Anything to protect Grace.

"And just where are we going?" he asked as he pulled himself from the bed and began to gather his clothes.

"All in good time, detective… all in good time."

It didn't take Danny more than a few minutes to get himself dressed but that didn't stop him from trying to stall.

"I suppose a few extra minutes to brush my teeth and get my hair in order would be out of the question? You do realize anyone seeing us leave who knows me will see my hair in this state and know something is wrong. You willing to take that risk?"

The goons with the guns took a threatening step forward. "Ok… Ok…. It's out of the question. I get it."

Too soon, Danny found himself being escorted to a waiting van. He glanced up and down the street and toward the front lawns of his closest neighbors hoping to catch someone's eye but unfortunately it was way too early for anyone to be out and about. Where was Mrs. Kapiaoni and her yapping puppy when he needed them?

Danny followed Goon #1 into the van and settled onto the bench seat. He turned back to watch Goon #2 follow behind him. "Are you going to tell me what the hell is going on here? Just where...….."

He barely had a second to register the severity of the pain from the needle jammed into the back of his neck before the blackness began to overtake him. His last conscious thoughts were of Grace... thank God he'd kept her safe... and how the hell was the team ever going to find him?