Part 3: Breakthrough

I've missed working with her. I had just come back from my extended leave when the Zero case suddenly hit a wall. Another case had come up, a simple homicide, and Captain Yeong decided to pair us back up temporarily because she thought we would make quick work of it. And we did. Greg Tulley, a 25-year-old jerk-wad, killed his brother's ex-girlfriend Laura Wells because she rejected his advances.

So, Natara and I were on our way to apprehend him. I stare at the city buildings as they blur by, listening intently to her as she speaks. I didn't really hear words; her voice alone could distract me from any task I was attempting to accomplish. I have long since accepted the fact that I have a crush on her. I'm not sure why it took Tasha dying for me to realize that. When I was lost in my sea of darkness and sorrow, she was my beacon of light. I even tried telling her all of this, but Shawn walked in with Indian takeout right when I was getting to that part. God, Shawn with Indian takeout. I wonder if he knew Natara loved Chinese food more. But that's in the past.

I start to tune in to what she is saying. She was talking about Shawn. She doesn't bring him up much, which I'm grateful for. She's professional about it. "And then he surprised me with this bouquet of flowers." "What were they?" We pulled up a few blocks away from Greg's safe house, a dilapidated brick apartment building that was long abandoned, and got out of the car. It stood on the street by itself, which added more sense of insecurity to it. "Carnations." "You sound disappointed." "I like them, but they're not my favorite." We stealthily circled the perimeter of the building and found a smashed in window of the basement. "What flowers are your favorites?" I whisper. "It's silly," she replies just as quietly. "Nothing about having a favorite flower is silly." I whisper back.

We lower ourselves into the basement and decide to end the conversation. The basement is large and filled with multiple pieces of furniture like couches and tables that must have once decorated the apartments. I sweep the left side of the basement and she sweeps the right. We nod at each other and start to make our way to the door leading up to the rest of the building when it bursts open to reveal Greg wielding two pistols. He blindly fires off two shots in our direction but they lodge themselves into the wall behind us. "Leave me alone!" He fires off two more shots. Natara and I scramble to find cover, and find it in a giant mahogany table already turned on it's side. Convenient. A shot fires off, but buries itself into the wood of the table. "You'll never punish me!" Greg spits furiously. Natara's voice rings out over three more shots. "Greg you killed Laura in cold blood! You're going down for that regardless but you'll only make it worse if you keep firing at us!" I can almost feel Greg's anger growing. "I loved her! Why didn't she love me?" Two more shots. We promised Maria we would try to bring this guy in alive, but we have to protect ourselves. Natara and I shoot blindly behind cover. "Hkk!"

Silence fills the room. I heard him get hit, but we aren't idiots. Moments pass when out of the corner of my eye I see Greg, clutching his arm and standing 30 feet to the left of us in the far corner of the basement. He was trying to get the drop on us and get behind our cover. Greg and I both fire at the same time. His shot hits and destroys one of the legs of the table, sending splinters flying over Natara and I. My shot misses him but sends him stumbling back towards the door. "You'll pay for this! I won't leave until you're dead!" He roars. Suddenly there's a clicking of an empty gun and a frustrated grunt from Greg. Natara turns to me. "Here's our chance, he's out of bullets." She starts to rise when a realization hits me. He has two guns. Six-shooters. 12 bullets. I only heard eleven.

"Natara no!" I rise up from cover with her and I'm met with the sight of a smirking Greg pointing his loaded gun at Natara's head. Time slows down as I watch him start to pull the trigger. Natara doesn't have enough time. I throw all of my weight towards her to push her out of the way. The gun goes off right when my head is where Natara's was. I expect to hit the ground dead. But instead, I collapse on top of Natara, very much alive. I roll off of her onto the cold concrete floor, and she springs into action to get Greg now that he is really out of bullets. There's a strong stinging sensation in my temple and when I touch that spot, I recoil in pain, my fingers covered in blood. I sit up and Natara returns with Greg in handcuffs. She looks shaken. "Got him."

Two hours later I walk away from the ambulance sitting outside Greg's safe house after they stitch me up. Flashing red and blue lights blind me but I still see Natara. She is sitting on the hood of her car. I make my way over to her. She smiles at me. "How's your head?" "Just a graze, nothing a few stitches and gauze can't fix." I point to the obnoxious band of gauze wrapped across my forehead and around my head. Natara examines my head with her eyes and her face turns serious. I meet her gaze. Those walls are still there, but I can see that I've punched holes through them. "You were ready to take that bullet for me weren't you?" she asks quietly. I settle down next to her on the hood. "Yes, I was." She looks confused. "Why?" I try to think of answer. There are a million different reasons, but I settle on one. "You mean something to me, Nat." She smiles and rests her head on my shoulder. She smiled. I wait for the scowl, the objection, the "Don't call me that.", but it doesn't come. Luckily, she can't see me with her head on my shoulder, because I'm grinning like an idiot. An idiot who just won the lottery. "Lillies." "What?" I asked puzzled. "Lillies are my favorite flower. Our family traveled a lot, and we weren't home much, but when we were, there was this field of lilies in the backyard I would spend hours playing in. So, I guess you could say they remind me of home." I'm still so elated from my achievement I almost forget to respond. "That's not silly at all. That's really sweet." A moment of silence falls on us and I take in as much as I can from it. "Agent Williams!" Captain Yeong calls out to her. She motions for Natara to go over to her. "I'll be back Mal." With that she gets up and walks away.

I feel like jumping up and down and pumping my fist in the air in triumph. I can't believe I finally did it. I never imagined how happy this would make me feel. I broke through the wall.

Baby steps. That's what it was going to take with Natara. I didn't care how long it baby steps, I knew I could win her heart one day. And that thought left me grinning like an idiot again, like only she could make me do. I didn't even notice Ken walk up next to me. "What's got you all giddy?" I never took my eye off her. "I earned my privilege Ken." "Privilege to do what?" I look up at him and proudly say, "To call her Nat."

The End

So it ended up being a little longer than I wanted it to be, but oh well! Let me know what you think!