Once Punk had went for a shower, he actually felt much better for it. After a long flight, and such a shocking revelation when coming home to his girlfriend, it felt good to get into clean clothes after a warm shower, and head downstairs to talk further with AJ.
"How far along?" He asked as she sat across from him on the stool. He felt like it was something he should have noticed. How could he not have noticed she was pregnant? She certainly wasn't showing much, and there wasn't any signs that would have given it away.
"Ten weeks." She said, "I don't expect you to force yourself into speaking about it. I can give you some time if you..."
"No… I'm fine now." He said, "I was just shocked." He told her.
And he was. He wasn't by any means disrespecting her, at least that's what he wasn't intending. He was just shocked. He didn't expect to hear such words come from her lips, especially now of all times.
"Did you pick up anything in Albania?" She asked curiously as he shook his head.
"No." He sighed, "The guys that are on the case over there said they haven't heard anything in weeks. They spread out. They… they could be anywhere." He sighed, running his hand through his hair, "Seth is trying to track down the head, the boss if you like." He said, "If we get him, then we can send a message that the rest are next." He said as AJ nodded.
"Are you gonna talk to Jamie?" She asked, "Paul told me that, because I was attacked, that Jamie must be slipping up." She said, "I don't get these guys… why would they continue to hurt me even when Jamie doesn't even know where I'm living." She shook her head.
"Because they're sick bastards, April." He said, "I'm not gonna talk to Jamie. I just think we should stay lowkey just now, until I can figure something out." He said. He really had no idea what he was going to do, especially with the Albanians loose and lingering around. It wasn't like he could have eyes on AJ every minute of the day. He didn't know what he was going to do. Especially now since she was carrying his unborn child which still felt surreal and absolutely terrifying at the same time.
"If you say there's hundreds of them, then how do you actually plan to take them down? As a force?" She asked him.
"Seth, he wants to find the boss first. He'll be the toughest to find. We'll figure out the rest as we go." He explained, "You don't have to worry about it." He nodded as she sighed.
"Considering these guys could possibly kill me, I do have to worry about it." She said.
"I won't let them touch you, April." He said, even more so now that she was pregnant. Although still having cold feet, terrified of what a baby meant when in his world, he already loved the child, more than it or April would ever know, and he didn't think he'd feel that way over something that wasn't even breathing fresh air yet.
"How can you be so sure?" She said.
"Because I promised myself, the minute I fell in love with you, that I wouldn't let anything or anyone hurt you." He said, "I will get to the bottom of this, we'll find these guys, and we'll put this all to an end." He promised her, reaching over and taking her hand in his softly.
"And the baby?" She asked as he nodded, looking away.
"I'm still terrified." He laughed nervously.
"I didn't expect you not to be." She smiled, "You don't have to be scared, Phil." She shook her head as he nodded.
"I know." He nodded, "I just… it's not good timing, is it? If anything happened to you as it was, then I couldn't live with myself, but if anything happens to you or our..." He paused to really take in his words that he never thought he'd utter, "Our baby." He said as she smiled.
"I'll be safe. Like you said, last night was just a warning. I'm fine. The baby is fine." She told him. Now it felt like she had to reassure him that it would be ok, even though she didn't know anything.
"What if they come back again when I'm not there?" Punk asked her, a question that she didn't want to answer or think about. It terrified her that it was possible these dangerous men came back to hurt her, even worse when Punk perhaps wasn't in the house and she was, but they couldn't revolve their life around it, they had to carry on.
"I don't know, Phil." She sighed, "Maybe if we go on vacation for a few weeks. Just to get out of here. Maybe even by the time we're back, something could have came up with the case." She suggested.
"What about work?" He asked her.
"I'm sure we could get time off." She said.
"I don't know if me leaving my work for a few weeks is going to help. I really need to be here." He said, "We need to wrap this case up. I'm not dealing with it any more. It's been going on for three years now." He sighed frustratedly.
He just wanted it all over with. He felt like he couldn't enjoy his life anymore. Especially when he should have been with such joy entering it. They should have been preparing for a new baby, not when a next attack would strike on them.
"I'm gonna need to teach you how to shoot." He sighed, running his hands over his face tiredly.
"What?" She shook her head.
"Well I know I taught you the basics about coming in to contact with dangerous people, but I'm gonna get you a gun, teach you how to protect yourself." He explained.
"I don't want to use a gun, Phil." She shook her head.
"Well I'd feel better if you did. These guys are beyond saving anyway." He explained, "You feeling tired still?" He asked.
"No, I'm alright." She nodded.
"Ok, get your coat." He stood up as she raised her eyebrows, "We're gonna go down to the station. Shoot some targets." He told her as she swallowed loudly, her nerves already shaking her up. She supposed it would be good for her to learn how to shoot. It was terrifying, but in the position she was in, she knew it would make Punk feel much better.
"You want to hold it straight. When you fire, it's gonna control you, so you want to have a firm grip on it and keep your aim steady." He explained, standing behind her as they stood in the shooting range, in line with targets set in front of them in the distance. The station was empty, which was even better.
"People think shooting is easy. Like you just pick up a gun, shoot and it hits where you want. It's about concentrating." He told her as she held the gun steady, aiming for the target set in front of her, feeling him stand back after going through all the basics with her, "On you go." He nodded, watching as she tightened her grip, placing her hand on the trigger. He was nervous. She'd clearly never shot before, but he had confidence that she would be fine.
It was a loud bang that AJ wasn't expecting, but the target she had was shot down, a smile creeping over her face as she seen she had actually managed to do it. She thought she'd have shot her own self with the way Punk was talking.
"Not bad." He smiled, impressed with her first attemps, "Better than half the guys who actually work here." He laughed, "Try further away." He told her after she had now shot the first target down.
He picked up a gun of his own and stood in the lane beside her, tidying up his own skills which were pretty polished anyway. AJ watched as he shot down all the targets in the one, spinning the gun around with one finger in the space made for holding the weapon.
"Show off." She looked across at him as he smiled.
"C'mon, we don't have all night." He told her as she turned back around, firing her shot, shooting down the further target with a smile.
"Ok, now turn and face me." He told her as she spun around, holding his gun out in direction at her, watching her swallow loudly as he laughed, "Don't worry, I won't shoot you." He laughed, "I'm one of them, you don't have a gun, a gun is pointed in your direction. What do you do?" He asked her.
"Run?" She squeaked.
"Run, they'll shoot at your legs." He said bluntly as she looked up at him, "You want to have a one up on them, so you're gonna take the gun from their hands." He said, "The first thing you do, is you turn the gun into face them. Try to grab it when it's still pointing at you they'll just pull the trigger, if it's pointing them, they'll be under pressure, and they might let it slip without you having to force it from them." He said, "You're gonna do a full three sixty turn. Turn, back, spin, point. That's what we're taught. Turn the gun into face me." He said as she turned the gun, back into me and point the gun to the ground." He said as she done what he asked, feeling him press a kiss on her cheek, "Spin back into the position you were in." He said as she spun back to where she was, "And..." Before he got to direct her through it she had already lifted the gun to point at him.
"This is much more fun than I expected." She smiled whilst lowering the gun.
"Well don't get used to it. It's for emergencies only." He said, "This wasn't something I wanted to have to go through with you. But it makes me feel better that you know." He said.
"Anything else I need to know?" She asked, sitting down the gun over on the table, folding her arms as he nodded.
"There's tons, April." He laughed, "In the case of these guys… just don't show fear. Don't cry, don't ask for them to stop. Just be silent. If they see you aren't phased, they… they might not bother." He said, which was probably untrue.
"If they have a knife, it's gonna be drew from their pocket pretty quickly, and you probably aren't going to have enough time to dodge around it. So you're gonna grab anything in sight and just crack it across their head. Dealing with a knife is ten times harder than a gun. Knives are used to make quick wounds, normally people don't have time to react, but if you do, then they'll stop and wait for you. It's the way the mind works." He said as she nodded.
"What else?" She asked.
There was something else he wanted to go over with her, but he didn't feel it was right or appropriate for him to do so. And if he said to her it was what the Albanians had a history of, then she'd be even more terrified.
"Come with me." He took hold of her hand, leaving the shooting range and heading into his office, turning the light on, the only light in the full station, watching as she looked around with a smile.
"They might want to hurt you… in a way that you might freeze, and reacting might not be an option." He said, "I've talked to a lot of girls, in these cases, they explain to me that they just can't move." He said as she listened closely, "Come here." He whispered as she walked towards him slowly and nervously, "Turn around." He asked as she turned her back to face him, standing in front of his desk, feeling him slowly and gently lower her down, bending her over as lightly as he could do.
He hated this. He shouldn't have had to do this, at all. It wasn't right, having to teach her how to protect herself in this way. She shouldn't be touched or treated in any of these ways, and having to imagine it was sickening him.
"If they're gonna do anything… like this." He sighed, "They'll put you this way. It's the only way they'll have full control over you." He told her, looking down and turning away, watching a tear roll down her cheek, "They're gonna pull you hair, dig their hands into your skin, pull at your clothes." He said. He was a cop, he knew how all this stuff worked. He'd sat through multiple interviews with poor girls who had described this to him, they all matched, and if AJ was in this position, which he just didn't want to imagine. He wanted her to know what to do.
"They'll whisper stuff to you and they're gonna make the world stand still for the next few minutes." He told her, "But you're gonna..." He paused as she wriggled away from his grip, standing up straight and backing away. She couldn't do it any more.
"Don't you dare do that to me again." She pointed her finger at him whilst a tear rolled down her cheek. She thought she could allow him to show her, but when he was implying that this was going to happen to her, and that she would have to break out of that position with some stranger, she couldn't even think properly.
"I'm just trying to..." He paused as she interrupted him.
"If this is ever going to get as bad as me being…" She turned away in disbelief, "I would rather be shot on the spot than r-raped." She hesitated.
"I just want you to be able to protect yourself." He said, "We don't even know if they'll come back, but if they do, and I'm not there, and I don't want to come home and find you hurt, or abused or dead." He shook his head, "I'd kill myself." He told her truthfully, "I'm sorry. I don't want to be doing this with you. But unfortunately this is where we're at right now, and I'm trying my best to get to the bottom of this, but I am one person, with one set of hands." He told her, "I'm doing and will do, everything in my power to make sure you aren't held at gun point, or bent over a table." He told her as she folded her arms, looking across at him as he sat on his desk.
She understood that this was hard for him to, and he was only one man, trying to find dozens of guys to protect just one of her. She had to appreciate that. But it was just off putting when thinking about being hurt by these guys.
She walked over to him, tilting his chin up from looking down at the ground, cupping his cheeks, "I'm sorry." She apologised for taking it out on him when he was just trying to help, "But that was just too much." She told him as he nodded, "I think it's enough for tonight." She told him.
"I don't want to have to do this with you, AJ." He told her, "You don't deserve any of this. All because of Jamie, you're suffering more than he or I ever will." He said, "I couldn't live with myself if anything were to happen to you, or..." He placed his hand on her stomach for the first time, acknowledging the life and love growing inside her, "Or the baby." He said.
"I'm ok. And I'll be ok. If we don't live on that belief, then we'll go insane from worry and fear. You're a cop, you know that." She said, "I'll be careful, I'll watch my steps, we'll get through it." She promised, having switched roles very much in all of this. She said it before, but the baby was keeping her sane. Punk had spent so much time protecting her, it was now time for her to protect their baby.
"I love you." He said. It seemed to be the only thing keeping them from not going completely insane. Their love.
"I love you too." She whispered, pressing her lips against his, feeling him pick her up whilst he stood up, switching places with her and sitting her on the desk, running his fingertips through her long, soft hair, feeling her hold onto him tightly. They just had to stick together, as one, to keep sane and their love alight, and to both protect their unborn son or daughter.
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