Here We Go Again
And now, the moment you've all been waiting for...enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OCs
The hospital was already a flurry of activity when Sierra, Shawn, and Gus arrived. News crews and curious spectators alike all clamored to see what was going on. As soon as the car came to a stop, Sierra threw open her door and made a mad dash for the entrance. Shawn followed. Together, they pushed through the crowd and made it inside the hospital and upstairs to Juliet's room.
"I'm sorry, but you can't go in there!" A nurse flew across the hallway, grabbing Sierra by the sleeve.
"It's alright. She's with me." A tall, red-headed woman rounded the corner. "You can go on in." The woman smiled at Sierra. Then, noting the anxious look on the girl's face, she put her arm around Sierra's shoulder and gave a little squeeze. "She'll be fine."
"Thanks, chief." Sierra smiled briefly and then turned to Shawn before disappearing around the corner. "I'll be back." Shawn nodded and tried to smile encouragingly.
"So you're him, eh?"
"Excuse me?"
"Maggie Flynn, Juliet's boss," she and Shawn shook hands "and her best friend." she added, laughing at Shawn's suddenly nervous look. "We grew up together. I'll admit, I never thought I see her again when she left for Santa Barbara, so you can imagine how shocked I was when she showed up at my door seventeen years ago," she paused, looking Shawn squarely in the eyes "pregnant and alone."
"Hey, I had no idea that Jules was pregnant!" Shawn started. "If I knew, I never would have…"
Maggie held up her hand, signaling for him to stop talking. "Look around. No one's blaming you, Shawn. You didn't know. Things like this happen all the time. All I'm saying is that you need to make this right."
"I'm trying to. But how? What am I supposed to do?"
"Be a family." Maggie stated simply.
"Hello? She's getting married!"
"I know that. But did it ever occur to you that it might be to the wrong person? You can change that. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a press conference." She turned and started down the hallway.
"What are you talking about?" Shawn called after her. "I'm not a real psychic, you know! I can't read your mind."
Without stopping, Maggie called over her shoulder "You'll figure it out." And then she disappeared into an elevator.
"She wants to talk to you."
Shawn looked around. Sierra was standing next to him. Her eyes were still red, but their usual spark had returned.
"Is she…?"
"She's fine." Sierra sniffed and offered a small laugh "Thank god for bullet-proof vests, right? She's pretty beat up, but she's going to be out of here by tomorrow." A relieved smile slipped across her face.
"Good, good." Shawn ran his hand through his hair nervously.
"Anyway, she wants to talk to you, so…"
"Yeah, of course. I'll be out in a second."
"Alright, I'm going to find Gus." She turned and took off down the hallway.
As soon as she'd gone, Shawn walked over to the door of Juliet's hospital room. He took a deep breath to calm himself. Here goes nothing, he thought.
"You need to tell her. Soon." Juliet was sitting up in the bed; her blonde hair was down and fell around her shoulders in loose waves. Her left arm was bandaged in a cast and resting in a sling.
Shawn took a few steps closer to the bed. "What? Jules, it's been one day! I need a little more time to, you know, get used to the fact that I actually have a kid!"
"I understand the shock, but what if I had died? What would have happened? She needs to know."
"Yeah, I know." He looked down sheepishly. "So…I met Maggie."
"She must have given you hell." Juliet laughed. "She's the first person I went to when I came back here. She's Sierra's godmother, you know."
Shawn was uncharacteristically silent for a few moments before deciding to change the subject. He gestured to her arm. "Wanna fill me in on what happened?"
"It was the weirdest thing." Juliet shook her head. "It started out being just your ordinary undercover surveillance, you know? But then, I don't know, it was like the guy I was supposed to be trailing knew exactly what was going on. I've never seen anything like it."
"That is weird." Shawn agreed "So who is this guy?"
"His real name is Alec Hurst. He's a drug smuggler. Pretty common around here, but he's harder to…honestly, it's like he knows our every move. James is supposed to be tracking down this guy's business contacts, but he hasn't had much luck. We've started calling him The Phantom."
Shawn's cell phone rang. It was Gus. "Dude, where are you? It's getting pretty crazy down here. We need to go."
"Alright, I'm almost done here. Just hold on." He hung up and apologized to Juliet. "Sorry, but I gotta…"
"Yeah," She nodded "I'll see you later. Oh, and Shawn? Please tell her."
"As soon as I can. I promise."
She smiled at him. "Thanks, Shawn. This means a lot to me."
It took a minute, but Shawn finally located Sierra's car (and Gus) in the crowded parking lot, but Sierra was nowhere to be found.
"Where's Sierra?"
"She came running by here a while ago saying something about the beach. She looked really upset, Shawn. What's going on?"
"I need to talk to her. Wait here, I'll be back in a bit."
Gus watched, concerned, as Shawn took off down the sidewalk and across the street to the nearest visible bit of beach. He shook his head. "What have I gotten myself into?"
Shawn instantly spotted Sierra. She was standing by the ocean, so close to the water that the waves had begun to lap at her converse.
"There you are." He called, coming up behind her. She didn't respond. "Hey," he came to a stop by her side "Are you okay?"
"You're my dad, aren't you?"
Sierra turned to face him, and Shawn got a closer glimpse of her eyes, the sunlight illuminating them, making them shine. They were so blue, so much like her mother's. He stared into them for the longest time, mustering up all the strength he had, before nodding solemnly.
"Yes."
She was silent for a while and Shawn closed his eyes. He started to wonder if he had made a mistake. Maybe it was wrong to come here. Was he actually doing more harm than good by disrupting the O'Hara's lives like this? He was about to apologize when he heard Sierra give a shout.
"I knew it!"
His eyes flew open and rested on Sierra's now overjoyed grin.
"God, how could I have been so blind? Of course you're my dad. I mean, why else would mom have kept so much stuff about you? You saw those boxes, right? Oh my god." She suddenly stopped talking and stared, grinning, at Shawn before wrapping her arms around his neck, fresh tears beginning to fall from her eyes. "It's you. You're really here."
Shawn closed his eyes and focused on his daughter. He forgot everything else and allowed himself to stay in the moment, tears of his own beginning to form. And sitting there on that deserted stretch of Miami beach, for the first time in seventeen years, Shawn felt hope.
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As always, thank you so much for reading! :)