Hello. I'm back with a new chapter. I hope you're still with me since I've been having some serious problems with the stats for more than two weeks now. Anyway, have a nice time reading and see you next time.

Chapter 21

Juliet's whole world stopped the moment she heard those dreadful words. Gone. Magnum couldn't be gone. That was impossible. Definitely not true. It must have been a bad dream and she was just about to wake up. But unfortunately, one look at Nick's face and Juliet knew that no matter how preposterous it may have sounded, he wasn't joking. He meant every single word – "I'm afraid he's gone."

No, he couldn't just die. Not Magnum. He had been in so many situations, probably even more dangerous than this one and he always came out alive. Some of their cases involved lots of danger but every time it turned out fine in the end and it was supposed to happen the same way this time as well. She couldn't even imagine how she would go on without him by her side. How would she start her day without their constant teasing? Although when she first met him, his approach towards some things, especially work and money, kept irritating her, but she eventually changed her mind after getting to know him better. And now when those few years had passed, she simply couldn't imagine her life without Thomas Magnum.

Therefore, Juliet made a decision that no matter how hard and hopeless the situation may seem, she wouldn't give up on her partner. Never.

Nick was observing Higgins' reaction to the dramatic news. Although he was sent to kidnap her and he was holding her and Magnum against their will for these couple of days, and kidnappers weren't supposed to form bonds with their victims, he sympathized with the PIs. He guessed that he started feeling it when he was preparing for the snatch and observing the woman. Really soon after the observation had begun, he noticed how Juliet acted towards her partner and vice versa. It was so obvious they both cared for each other so much although they seemed not to act on their feelings at that time. This strong bond between them was something that made him deeply impressed with. It also reminded him of his own feelings and his life full of pure happiness at one time when he shared it with the woman he truly loved. And then he lost her and his life was never the same.

Gently, Nick laid his hand on Juliet's arm. "Juliet, are you all right?" He asked her gently, he was really concerned about her.

"No!" She shouted as soon as she felt his touch and jerked away his hand. "You're wrong. Magnum isn't dead. He can't be."

Her far-away look finally disappeared and she met his eyes. What he saw there, shook him to the core. With her tightened lips and furrowed brows, she suddenly seemed so focused and her eyes expressed strong determination.

"Juliet, I am really sorry but Magnum is dead and there's nothing we can do for him."

"No…no…NO!" She shouted even louder, shaking her head violently.

She must be in shock. Nick thought and trying to calm her down a bit, he reached to her but she instantly snapped at him.

"Don't say that! We can still save him…" She replied and then added quietly, "I can save him."

With that being said, she immediately moved to Thomas' chest and started giving him compressions.

"Come on, Magnum, I know you're still in there. You can do it." She murmured while counting the number of compressions in her head.

Nick was standing nearby, watching her remarkable effort to bring her dead partner back to life. He was sure it was futile but she kept trying, on and on. He was full of admiration for Juliet that despite the obvious, she didn't give up and continued her desperate fight.

At the same time, Burt, who never left the room, was standing quietly in the corner and observing the whole situation. Well, who knows, maybe I'll get my revenge after all. He thought and a grim smile of satisfaction appeared on his face. Then he moved to the door and with one last look at Juliet leaning over Magnum's lifeless form, he exited the room without any sound.

"Juliet, stop. It's no use…" Nick tried to reason with her but when she heard those words, she glanced at him and sent him a withering look.

"No, I won't stop till he's okay." She replied and continued chest compressions. When she noticed that Nick opened his mouth and tried to say something more, she beat him to it and shouted. "Go away! Just leave us alone!" Right after that, she moved to Magnum's mouth and started to perform rescue breaths.

Nick stood there for a little longer, trying to decide what he should do next, then he shook his head and finally followed her wish and left the place with heavy heart.

All this time Higgins continued her heroic battle for Magnum's life. After breathing air into his lungs, once again she went on to start another round of chest compressions. So far things weren't going well. No matter how hard she tried, Magnum remained unresponsive. She was afraid to estimate how much time had passed since he lost consciousness. She felt that with each passing second, panic was rising within her and was starting to control her body.

"Thomas, you have to fight. I know you're a fighter, you proved it so many times. You don't give up so easily… That's probably one of the things that had drawn me to you in the first place." She murmured, panting for breath while still doing the CPR.

Another mouth-to-mouth and the rescue procedure started from the beginning. At that moment Juliet realized that it was getting really serious but she swore that no matter what, she'd keep on trying as long as her strength let her.

"Magnum, please… Open your eyes." Juliet pleaded, her voice breaking and tears started rolling down her cheeks. "Please, don't die. Don't leave me. I can't live without you…" She paused before she whispered the most important thing. "I love you, Thomas."

Yes, she finally admitted how she really felt about her partner. She wished he had heard it. She knew she had feelings for Magnum for some time now but she just couldn't name them until this tragic moment. Why didn't she tell him earlier? And now it may be too late.

She has never felt so helpless in her entire life. She was doing everything she could but it was still not enough. She would gladly give her life just to save his if that was the case. She put her mouth to his and blew air into his lungs. After the second time, when she was observing whether her actions actually worked, she had a feeling his chest rose on its own. She blinked a couple of times. Because she wasn't sure if her mind wasn't playing tricks on her, she just had to wait to find out if it was really true.

Yes! There it was again – a small minimal movement. Then she quickly checked for his pulse and when she realized there was one, quite weak but steady, she put her ear to his chest and what she heard there, made her finally breathe with relief. It was his heart beating and it was the most wonderful sound she had ever heard. Suddenly, at that moment Juliet heard a sharp gasp and quickly raised her head, noticing that Magnum was catching his breath.

"Thomas." She said, gently placing her palms on his cheeks. "Thomas, wake up."

For a few seconds nothing happened and she sat there full of fear that everything would start again but luckily soon his breath got even and it was getting back to normal. The only thing that bothered her then was that he was still unconscious.

She tried one more time. "Magnum, listen to me." She leaned closer to him so as her lips were brushing his earlobe. "I need you to open your eyes. I know you can do it. Come on, partner. Don't be so stubborn."

She noticed with satisfaction that very slowly her partner's eyes started to flutter and finally, inch by inch, they opened. She could tell that it was a tremendous effort for him to do that.

At first, he seemed to be quite dazed and not aware of the place he was in. His eyes strayed about, trying to find something familiar and when his partner's face finally came into view, he sighed with relief. However, when he got a closer look at her, he noticed her red puffy eyes and tear marks on her cheeks. Taking in the state she was in, he instantly knew something bad must have happened.

"Higgy… you okay?" He asked and was surprised that his throat seemed like burning and his voice came out hoarse.

He got even more surprised by Juliet's unexpected reaction. She quickly kissed him passionately on the lips and then she chuckled. Yes, in a grave situation like this, only Thomas Magnum, after dying and being revived, would be concerned about her well-being and not care for himself.

Her odd behavior only made him even more confused. She noticed this and smiled through tears of happiness.

"You're back." She said, gently caressing his cheek.

Magnum raised his eyebrows after having heard that. "Huh?" His voice was still hoarse which obviously bothered him as he coughed violently.

"The man who came here and who you thought to be the boss, went at you and started to choke you. Nick arrived and tried to help you but it was… too late." Juliet explained and lowered her head, her voice dangerously trembling, giving away the amount of emotions that were flooding her at that moment.

He instantly reached out to her. "What? What do you mean by that?" He asked, gently lifting her chin with his finger. However, he had a feeling that what he was just about to find out, wouldn't be anything pleasant.

Juliet swallowed hard and when she finally met his worried gaze, she blurted out at once, "Magnum, you were… dead. That man killed you."

As soon as those words had left her mouth, Higgins stopped fighting the tears and let them fall freely down her cheeks.

"Oh, Higgy. C'mere." Magnum whispered and pulled her to him.

"I tried to fight Burt…" She said between her cries. "I wanted to stop that man from hurting you… but I couldn't."

"Shh, it's okay now. I'm here with you, right?" He murmured to her ear.

She nodded her head but no matter how hard she tried, her whole body kept shaking and tears just wouldn't stop coming.

"But you finally helped me. I assume the fact that I'm back among the living is due to you doing CPR on me."

Juliet chuckled at that and nodded her head but then she got serious again. "They left you. There was no pulse, you weren't breathing and Nick kept saying you were gone but I refused to accept that. I simply couldn't imagine life without you." She said quietly against his chest.

Magnum smiled. "It's good you're so stubborn sometimes." He told her.

She laughed softly. "Yeah." She said, lifting her head and meeting his eyes. "Now we're even." She added.

Thomas rose his eyebrows in confusion.

"Remember that day when we were left in the water after those men sailed off on T. R. Belle?" She asked him.

"Isn't it the same day you claimed to be such a perfect swimmer and you mentioned winning that swimming competition?" He replied with a smirk.

She squinted her eyes at him. "Oh, you just won't let it go, will you?"

"Hey, it's you who brought it up this time." He protested.

"Okay. Anyway, that day you helped me in the water and then you saved my life so we're even."

"Well… if I recall correctly, so far I saved your life many times, but who's counting?"

"The same goes for me saving you." Juliet replied to his teasing her.

"All right, let's assume we both saved each other's lives thus we're even in that matter." Magnum concluded and then added, looking at her. "Anyway, I want to thank you. What you did was incredible."

His heart skipped a beat when she gave him a charming smile.

"You're welcome." She murmured.

Thomas noticed that his efforts to distract her paid off and she finally calmed down. She obviously needed that after all these events.

For a moment, they lay there in silence but then something that Juliet had said earlier, hit Thomas.

"Wait a minute, did you say that the man who attacked me, isn't the boss?"

The woman nodded her head. "Yeah, he told you so. Don't you remember it?"

"Not really. The last thing I remember is my close encounter with the wall and me asking that man why he wanted to kidnap you. Did he give the answer to that?"

Well, actually that was only partially true as there was one more thing he heard or he rather thought he heard, namely his partner telling him that she loved him. He wasn't quite sure if that was something Higgy would like to talk about at this moment so he decided to leave it for the time being.

"Of course not. To tell the truth, I would be very surprised if he shared that information with us." Juliet replied and caught him staring at her in a strange way.

If only she could read his mind and knew that he had heard those words. She blamed Magnum's traumatic experience for his odd behavior and his short-term amnesia.

"Come on, Thomas." She lifted herself from the floor and bent down to help her partner get up and move him to the mattress. "Let's go to somewhere more comfortable place."

"Are you taking me to Robin's Nest?" The man asked, making her chuckle at the question.

"No but I wish I could do that." She told him with a sad smile.

"Hey, I know we're gonna make it there." He replied, took her hand and gave her a comforting squeeze.

Then he slowly got up with her help. He didn't like the fact that he had to lean on her so much but unfortunately, he had no choice. He was so weak and his whole body was sore that it made it impossible for him to walk without any support.

Juliet was there for him all the way through the room. She helped him, giving him much needed strength and comfort. To Thomas this short distance seemed like a long walk of at least a few miles. Finally, they reached the place and with the woman's help, he sank to the floor and made himself comfortable on the mattress. Well, at least as comfortable as he could. The moment he did that, he grabbed Higgins' hand and pulled her next to him. After those couple of days, it became natural for them to stay that close together.

"Come on, partner. You need to rest too. I imagine it took quite a lot of physical effort with that CPR."

Rather stress. She thought but was grateful for his words. Now that he had mentioned that and the adrenaline had finally left her body, her arms started to ache, her whole body seemed heavy and she felt so completely exhausted, both physically and emotionally. Magnum was right, peace and quiet was definitely something she desperately needed. So she sighed and snuggled closer, paying attention to his fresh injuries.

Now you see that Magnum is alive. You didn't think I would let him die, did you? Of course I would never do it. Come back in two weeks to find out what happens next and don't forget to watch season 5 part 2 on Oct. 4. Have you seen the promo? I'm so excited.