Chapter 10:

Becker felt the night air heavy in his lungs as he tried to catch his breath. His back up hard against the container, he closed his eyes and listened to the footsteps around him. Two men approached from his right, so he snuck quietly to his left. Rounding the corner of the container he came face to face with Carlos Romero.

"Thank god it's you." Becker smiled.

"I warned you your vendetta was going to get you killed." He motioned for his men to undo his handcuffs.

"I'm not dead yet." He smiled,

"No, no you're not." Carlos placed a hand over Becker's shoulder and walked side by side with him, "But thanks to you my little operation here has been placed in jeopardy and I have lost many men."

"I am sorry about that. Let me make it up to you."

"And just how do you suppose to do that?"
"I still have a little side business of my own. You give me a week or two and I can guarantee you enough money to make this little hiccup seem incidental."
"Hmm." Carlos laughed, "You really are a glass half full kinda guy aren't you Maurice."

"I guess I am."

"Good. I like that in my associates." Becker never saw it coming. The sound of his final breath escaping from his lips was the only sign that something was wrong. Becker didn't say a word, he simply stared Carlos in the eyes as his body slumped to the floor. "I told you when you first came to me old man, not to let your personal vendetta bring any attention to my business."

"Do you want me to take care of the body boss?"

"Leave him." He signalled for his men to regroup. "We need to move our operation out of here as quickly as possible.

"Did you hear that?" Squires asked Boyd.

"It came from our right." He responded. Their guns cocked and ready, they snuck around the side of the container. In the distance they could see the tail lights of a car speeding away, and no more then ten feet in front of them, a body lay cold in the dirt, face down. On guard, they rolled it over,

"Becker."

"Carlos must have eliminated him."

"At least it's one less threat we need to deal with."

"Come on." Squires insisted, "We need to get out of here too. Both men took one last look, confirmed he was dead and headed to rendezvous with the others.

"How is she?" Boyd asked climbing into the back of the van as Squires took over the driving.

"She's ok. She's going to be ok." Jake mumbled.

"Where's Becker?" Mal asked worried he hadn't returned with them.

"Becker won't be a problem for you anymore?" Boyd promised
"Did you?"
"No Carlos took that liberty for us."

"What on earth was she doing out of position." Jimmy scolded her.

"I should have never brought her along." Mal blamed himself.

"Let me look." Rose insisted. But Jake was holding on too tightly and he wouldn't let her go.

"Jake." Mal tried to reason with him, "Jake Rose needs to have a look."

"Should we tell him?" Wolf asked Boyd.

"Tell him what?" Jimmy asked confused.

"No." Squires had been in this situation before, "It will only make things worse."

"It should have been me. Leslie I'm so sorry." Jake whispered as he kissed her on the forehead. Rose tried to feel around for an exit wound. Wolf had managed to get her coat off before Jake had taken her. Rose felt around, there was no blood pooling on her shirt, that everyone took as a good sign.

"Jake" She groaned softly.

"Oh god Leslie." His heart skipped a beat, "It's ok. I've got you."

"She's wearing a vest." Rose revealed excitedly.

"Way to go Leslie." Mal cheered. Relaxed a little, Jake helped to pull her shirt off. A singly gold bullet could be seen stuck in the lead plate just above her heart.

"Oh no." Rose noticed something else, a second hole in the middle of her chest, this bullet had gone straight through.

"No no no no no!" Jake mumbled as he took her vest off to try and stop the bleeding.

"You clever girl." Wolf smiled as Jake revealed a second vest underneath the first. The second bullet had lodged in the wall of the second vest. Just to be certain, Jake took off the second vest and checked her again. Nothing. There was a bruise forming where the second bullet had come close to her skin, but no puncture wounds. He closed her shirt up and wrapped her in his jacket to keep her warm.

"Leslie Bennet, what am I going to do with you? What were you thinking?"
"This is your fault Jake." She smiled, "I told you to leave Becker alone."
"She's going to be fine." Mal fell back and took a moment to catch his breath. Leslie had become like a daughter to him and he couldn't imagine life without her. Everyone sat back in the van and took time to regroup their thoughts and their energy levels after what they had all been through. Jake was safe, Leslie was ok and Becker was finally out of their hair for good.

"Uncle Jake" Tinny squeezed him hard, but he didn't mind. He'd missed her so much. "Oh god. Sorry."
"That's all right. I missed you too."

"I'm so glad you're not dead."

"Yeah. Me to little brother." Kathleen hugged him gently, "I guess I'll have to put up with you for a few more years after all."

"Nice, real nice."

"Leslie gave Jake a blanket and tucked him in on the couch, then went to pour him some water.

"No you don't young lady." Mal took the glass from her hand and placed her down on the couch beside Jake.

"I'm all right Mal. Honest."
"Well we're not taking any chances."

"The doctor checked me out and I got a clean bill of health. I'll be a bit sore for a while but no permanent damage."

"You two are as bad as each other. I'm getting too old for this." He smiled giving her a glass of water.

"I could get use to this old man, you waiting on me hand and foot."

"Don't count on it. Besides you have responsibilities now. You need to get your strength up because you're going to need it." Mal smiled.

"Have you lost your mind old man. You're not making any sense."
"Jake there's something I need to tell you but I'm not quite sure how to say it…" Leslie hesitated as Jake looked longingly into his her eyes. What could she ever have to tell him that could make her so nervous.

"She's up the duff by. You're going to be a father."

"Mal!" Rose nudged him in the hips disapprovingly.

"You're what?" Jake wasn't sure he had heard him correctly.

"It's true. I found out just before you were kidnapped by Becker."

"You mean."

"You're going to be a dad." She smiled hesitantly.

"Oh my god Leslie. That's fantastic." He hugged her tight and kissed her so hard she almost lost her breath. "Wait…" He looked at Mal, "You knew about this, and you let her go into a fire fight."

"Try stopping her. She's just as stubborn as you are."

"It wasn't his fault. I left my position. I wasn't meant to be anywhere near the fight but when I heard those gunshots and I saw Carlos and his men outnumbering you all I…"

"It's ok." Jake held her again. "But if you ever do anything like that ever again I'm going to tie you to the bed and have Dez feed you his infamous potato pie for the next.. how far along are you anywayz?"

"Eleven weeks, well eleven and a half now" She smiled, feeling her stomach. Jake placed his hand under hers and tried to imagine what it must feel like.

"Tree months." The idea was starting to sink in. He could see how happy she was, her face was glowing, her cheeks were squished her grin was so wide and her eyes were sparking. He knew he was head over heels for her and that he couldn't live without her, but now, for the first time, he no longer needed to doubt that she felt exactly the same way about him. Mal and Rose left the room to go and share the good news with the rest of the family, while Jake and Leslie took advantage of their first moment alone together and held each other tight. Not even broken ribs, a fractured jaw or any of the many scars and wounds he carried was going to stop him from kissing Leslie and showing her how much he loved her. Loved them both. Kissing her gently, he reached down deep under the couch and pulled out something he had been hiding for a while.

"Close your eyes,"

"Jake what why? Don't be silly."

"Just do it."

"All right."

"He slipped the ring onto her finger as he kissed her gently on the lips then whispered in her ear…. "Marry Me."

"Oh god Jake yes. Of course I will."

"I mean you can think about it for a while if you want. I'd understand."
"There's nothing to think about Jake. You're my man. You always have been."

"And you're the one from me. From the moment I saw you in that hospital room, when I heard you sing at the bar and that first night in your kitchen. I've never felt this way about anyone in my entire life. Marry Me."

"Yes."

"Marry Me." He asked again just to be sure.

"Jake…." She looked at the ring, "I do." She kissed him back as Tinny walked into the room and started screaming with Joy. Rose, Dez, Mal and Katherine came in to see what all of the commotion was,

"Well it's about time Jake." Mal congratulated him, "Welcome to the family."