Hi! It's so good to be here again with a new chapter. We'll see how Magnum and Higgins are doing after those extremely difficult moments they experienced last time. So make yourself comfortable, have a nice reading and after that maybe you'll find a minute or two to share your thoughts with me:)

Chapter 22

Thomas and Juliet were both dozing off for some time when they heard the sound of footsteps in the corridor and then the lock in the door being turned. They instantly opened their eyes and sat up. They looked at each other with fear. Juliet was already on alert. Was that man Timothy coming back to check if Magnum was really dead? What would he do when he found out her partner was alive? Would he finish what he had started? Or was it Burt who still felt that he didn't get his revenge and wanted to accomplish his mission?

Those and many other thoughts were clouding Juliet's head this very moment. One thing was sure – she wasn't going to let anyone harm Thomas that easily and fight till the end.

The door slowly opened and the pair held their breaths, ready for anything that was going to happen. The person who came inside really surprised them. It was Nick who seemed to be as much surprised as them when he noticed that Magnum was very much alive.

"You're… not dead." Nick stated.

"I see you're very observant." Magnum replied with sarcasm and then he added, glancing at Higgins. "Yes, I'm alive, thanks to my partner."

She met his gaze and smiled lovingly.

"Wow, you did it, Juliet. You did the impossible, you really saved him." Nick whispered with awe. "I underestimated you. I was sure he was gone."

"It's not just me." Juliet protested at once. "Magnum here is strong and doesn't give up that easily so it helped him to come back."

"Perhaps it's true but there's one more thing, though. Maybe even more powerful than this strength of his." Nick stated and when he noticed confusion and curiosity on both their faces, he clarified his thought with a smile. "He had someone to come back to."

Thomas and Juliet shared a look and grinned sheepishly. That was so strange to hear this man talk about that. He was their kidnapper after all but like before, his behavior didn't match a typical bad guy.

"Anyway, I've got something for you." Nick suddenly spoke and reaching into his pocket, he took out a small bottle of water. "Here, you need to stay hydrated after what you went through." He said and moved closer to hand the bottle to Magnum who shook his head instantly.

"No, give it to Higgy first, she needs water too." The PI replied.

"Magnum." The woman hissed instantly. "As I remember correctly, it's you who literally died and in that case it's you who have the priority to get the water." Her response was matter-of-fact as usually all her replies were when she tried to convince him of something he didn't want to do.

Magnum smiled inwardly. Yeah, that was his Higgins and that was definitely one of the things he loved about her. Of course, he didn't show it to her but played along. He just crossed his arms and waited for more.

Juliet copied his gesture at once and sat with her arms crossed too, her eyes saying that she wouldn't give up either.

Nick stood there, being the witness of this highly amusing situation. He could say for sure that those two were perfect for each other. He would like to think about it more but he didn't have time for those things, actually he had very little time so he had to act quickly.

"Magnum, here, take it. I've got another one for Juliet too."

"Oh, is today some sort of holiday I'm not aware of? Or do you want to celebrate my coming back to life?" Thomas asked, making his partner shake her head and chuckle at his sense of humor.

"I just thought you would need something to drink." Nick replied. "But of course celebrating your presence among the living would surely be a good idea."

"Yeah but it would be much better if it was champagne or some good wine instead of water." Magnum said but in the end he took the offered bottle, opened it and took a few big sips right away.

He had to admit Nick was right, he was thirsty. He enjoyed the sensation of the cold liquid running down his sore, rusty throat.

Then Nick handed another bottle to Juliet and soon she was drinking the water too.

For a long moment, the three of them stayed in the room in silence before Magnum finally spoke.

"You know, I've been wondering… What made a guy like you, work for such men? I can tell you're a soldier."

Higgins knew perfectly well what her partner was up to. By talking to Nick and making him reveal something about himself, he was trying to forge a bond with the man and there was some possibility that later it might lead to Nick sharing some important information, something that would help them get out of there.

For a few seconds Thomas' and Juliet's eyes met and they both smiled at their secret communication.

"Wow, I must say I'm really impressed but I suppose a soldier will always recognize another soldier." Nick replied.

Magnum nodded his head. When the man didn't continue, he asked. "So, was it the Navy?"

Nick sighed. He knew that the PI simply wouldn't give up. The easiest way was to ignore him and leave the room, not answering those questions. However, there was a reason he couldn't do that – he had to stay and check in person if the plan was working and in order for that to happen, he had to have a reason and talking to them seemed to be the perfect one.

"Actually I was in the Marines. I enlisted young, I was eighteen at the time. As most young people, I chose the military because I wanted to serve the country… and maybe some other things too. As a boy raised in the country with not much money but knowing what hard work felt like, I was aware of the fact that I didn't have many perspectives if I stayed there and the military offered to take care of me, give me a house, a regular salary so a sense of stability. I suppose I'd be a fool if I didn't agree." Nick said.

Magnum and Juliet listened, captivated by the man's story.

Nick continued. "For a few years, everything was perfect – I was finally making decent money, I met a fantastic girl, soon we married, we were so happy." He paused. He wasn't looking at the pair anymore, his gaze was somewhere far and his mind was obviously coming back to the time all of that had happened.

The PIs remained silent, not wanting to disturb the man's reverie.

After a moment, Nick went on. "We planned to start a family, we wanted to have children and thought that money would be of use so in order to earn something more, I decided that I would serve a tour abroad. I went to Iraq." Nick told them and then he looked at Thomas. "I know you were in Afghanistan and I heard about the hell you and your friends experienced there."

Magnum nodded his head. "Yeah, it wasn't a summer vacation."

Nick nodded in understatement and then he continued in a low voice. "The things that were happening in Iraq… Let's just say it wasn't a summer vacation either but I survived. I had someone to come back to. After a short time, I volunteered to take part in another tour however this time it was much worse. There was an explosion. I was injured so they evacuated me and brought me in to the hospital. I lay there for many weeks and just wanted to die. Most of my friends were killed that day and somehow I was spared. I didn't know why it happened that way." Nick let out a deep breath.

"When I finally got home, my wife took care of me and she was doing everything she could in order to ease my internal pain. Very slowly, day by day, I was getting better. I really got to believe that it would be all right but then something happened." He said quietly.

Magnum and Higgins exchanged a look. Juliet dared to ask gently. "What was it?"

Nick met her gaze before he replied. "One day I felt a terrible fear, a fear so strong that it seemed to crush my chest. I couldn't fight it, I felt like paralyzed. It was a terrible experience. I wondered what was happening to me."

"It was PTSD, wasn't it?" Thomas cut in.

One look at Nick's face and the PI knew he was right.

"Do you know that feeling?" Nick asked.

"Luckily, I don't but there were some boys in my regiment that suffered from it so I'm aware of the symptoms." Magnum said.

"For me it meant the end of my military career and the money I needed. I couldn't get any other job and became quite desperate…"

"So then you decided to switch sides and started to work for those who were paying you more." Higgins finish for him.

"Yeah, you can say that in short." Nick agreed. "Once you have joined those men, there's no coming back and you can lose everything… Now you know the story behind me and don't think I shared it with you because I wanted you to pity me or consider me a good person cause I'm certainly not one." He stated and started to move towards the door.

Thomas and Juliet were quite in shock after hearing Nick's story. They would definitely look at him differently now. They were both lost in thoughts but suddenly Magnum realized the man was leaving without sharing with them the most important thing.

"Wait! You didn't tell us about that man. If he isn't the boss then who is he?"

Nick stopped abruptly and turned. "I'm sorry, I can't tell you this. Soon you'll see that for yourselves. I can tell you one thing though – I promise that you'll still be locked together there."

"What? What do you mean by that?" Juliet asked, not really getting the words Nick had uttered.

All of a sudden, she noticed that either he started speaking very quietly or her hearing wasn't working properly. Then it turned out that her vision became blurred. Something wasn't right. Quickly, she turned to her partner and saw at once that he wasn't feeling okay either. He was holding on to his head and breathing heavily. A moment later he dropped to the floor beside her.

"Magnum!" Juliet shouted with her last strength and tried to shake him by the arms but her whole body started to feel heavier with each passing second.

She could barely keep her eyes open and soon she fell next to Thomas and the last thing her mind registered was Nick standing by the door, watching the two of them pass out.

Thanks for reading. I hope you're still there - the stats aren't working and I don't know if anyone is reading it. But back to the story. This chapter was the shortest so far but I hope it didn't disappoint you. Tell me what you think about it. See you in two weeks.