Author's Note: Hi everyone! Wow, it's been such a long time since I've updated this story! I'm so sorry for the long delay, truly I am. Anyways, please enjoy this chapter, a sequel to the "Bad Luck" saga and a chapter that so many of you requested that I do. Please enjoy! And I'll be back with some more requests and plot chapters soon!

He doesn't die.

The bullet got taken out, he had stiches done, and everything is okay. According to the doctor that Nate managed to scrounge up, he came extremely close to bleeding out, but Eliot doesn't need to know the rest of the details.

He's alive, that's all that matters.

Parker stayed by his side the whole three days he was unconscious. Sophie informed him that she had refused to eat or sleep—only doing both when her body either forced her too or Sophie managed to convince her to do so. Eliot believes it as he notices the dark bags under Parker's eyes. It definitely looks like she needs a nap. While he was asleep, Nate apparently managed to stop their target and he's currently rotting in jail. Nate won't reveal what happened to the sniper that shot Eliot, muttering something vague instead. Eliot understands that he's been taken care of too and wonders whether the sniper is in a hospital or in jail. For the first hour he's awake, everyone hovers above him, watching him, as if he were some laboratory experiment. It takes all of the strength he has not to snap at them because he knows that he's scared everyone.

Finally, he's left alone—well, not really alone, Parker is still there. She does nothing for the first few minutes, but stare at him. He wants to say something to her—anything—but there's something about the haunted look in her eyes that stops him.

"I thought you died." She says it quietly and Eliot really has to strain to hear her voice. "You closed your eyes and I thought you had died." It's an admission, a broken confession given from someone pushed to the brink.

"Sorry." It's the only thing he can think to say, but he knows it's not what she wanted to hear.

"Why?" The rawness in her voice takes him off-guard.

"Why what?"

"Why did you take the bullet for me?" Her eyes pierce his and he wonders briefly why he did what he did. Was it simply because she was a member of his team or was it more than that? Before he can even answer, Parker grabs his hand and holds it within his own. "Don't do it again."

"Parker—" She appears as if she's about to cry and he wants nothing more to comfort her.

"Eliot, don't hurt yourself for me!" Her tone is desperate now; tears are spilling down her cheeks. "I should be hurt and not you! Promise me you won't do something like this again!"

"I can't promise that." He could, but it would be a lie and he vowed to himself a long time ago that he wouldn't lie to her. Because even though he had almost died, if someone suddenly burst through the door with a gun aimed at Parker, he would he shot all over again for her.

"Eliot—" She's sobbing now and he still can't lie to her, not even when she's like this. So, he settles for placing her hand on his heart and letting her feel it beating. It seems to calm her a bit and he smiles at her.

"We're family, Parker," He informs her calmly. "And family does stuff like this." She nods and just allows herself to feel the beat under her hand.

"You're alive," She whispers. "You're okay."

"Yeah," Eliot replies. "I am."

And they stay like that—him looking at her, and her listening to his heart beat—for a few more minutes, until Parker's eyes unexpectedly close and she finally succumbs to her body's need for sleep. He lets her stay there, with her head on his chest and allows himself to fall back into the void as well.

He's alive and so is Parker—that's all he needs to know to keep going on.

That's all he'll ever need to know.

Author's Note: I'll be updating soon! As always, please review and request!