Hello again! Sorry for a slight delay, I've been away from home and I didn't want to update the story without thorough checking of this chapter first.

Here's what happens next:)

Chapter 15

After Thomas had gone to the bathroom, Juliet was sitting on the mattress and couldn't stop thinking about Nick's recalling his lost loved one. She wished she had her laptop or at least her phone with her, in that way she would probably be able to find some information about the man and the history behind his obvious pain.

Suddenly, she was startled out of her reverie by some strange sounds coming from the corridor. She stood up and cautiously approached the door. She put her ear to it so she could hear better. The noise was very muffled and the thick metal door didn't help either. All she knew was that there seemed to be some commotion and she instantly thought of Magnum. Somehow she had a feeling those sounds had something to do with her partner's prolonged absence. She just really hoped he didn't do anything stupid and was okay, and when she heard some steps getting closer, her gut instinct started telling her she was going to find that out really soon.

She tried to hear anything else and for a moment there she could swear she heard her name being spoken and then there was a sound of someone dropping to the floor. Her whole body froze on the spot.

"Magnum?" Juliet whispered and for a few seconds she just stood there, not being able to do anything. Then something snapped inside of her.

"Magnum, is that you? Speak to me, please. Magnum!" Her voice was rising with each word proportionally to her rising level of anxiety. With eyes full of tears, she started banging on the door, pleading for him to come back to her.

"Please, let him be okay." She sniffled and leaned her hands on the cold metal surface, shutting her eyes and trying not to break down.

She finally stopped the moment she heard some muffled voices which she recognized they belonged to the kidnappers.

"Are you all right?" Nick asked and the second man replied.

"Yeah, although my head hurts like hell." Tony's voice was evidently weak.

"You let him take your gun."

"I'm sorry, he surprised me." The younger man said with remorse. "I promise it won't happen again."

"You'd better be right otherwise you won't be needed here… and you know what it means." Nick said through gritted teeth.

Tony swallowed hard and just nodded his head in fear of making Nick angrier.

"Now, grab his legs and let's take him inside!" Nick shouted angrily and Tony did as he was told.

Juliet jumped away from the door as soon as she heard the key being turned in the lock. Soon the door opened and the sight she saw simply made her heart stop.

The kidnappers came inside, holding Thomas' lifeless body and unceremoniously dropped him down on the mattress. Nick instantly noticed Juliet's horror-stricken face.

"Don't worry, he's alive. That partner of yours has just done something extremely stupid. He must have thought he could fight his way out of here for both of you but he obviously overestimated his own strength. Even though he managed to tackle Tony here," Nick stated, pointing to the young man who had his head down, "he didn't anticipate that I would knock him out and ruin his plan. But I must say, he was lucky anyway."

His last words made Juliet surprised which didn't go undetected by Nick.

"If Burt was here, Mr. Magnum's condition would definitely be much, much worse." He told her, his tone of voice very serious.

Higgins' expression spoke volumes, everyone would notice how deeply she cared for Magnum. She quickly knelt by his side and checked his vitals. Only then she could breathe out with relief that he was really alive. She smiled lovingly and gently stroked his cheek.

"I hate to interrupt your moment here but I have to tell you it's better you didn't come up with such wild ideas. Now you see why." Nick warned her and then the two men moved to the door. Suddenly, Nick turned and said, "I hope both of you can learn from your mistakes, otherwise you're not gonna make it out of here alive."

With that he went out of the room, leaving Juliet with her thoughts which of course weren't very optimistic. She gazed at Thomas. It was a close call, they could kill him if they wanted. This time she and her partner were lucky.

"Magnum." She spoke, gently caressing his cheek. "Magnum, time to wake up."

When there was no response, she shook him a little by his arms and then spoke more loudly. "Magnum, listen to me. You need to open those pretty eyes of yours. You got hit on the head and there's a high probability that you may have a concussion so you shouldn't be sleeping for some time." She stated but nothing changed.

"Magnum, don't make me slap you in the face. That's the last thing I want to do right now." She spoke, her voice sounding very determined and just as she lifted her hand and prepared herself for the action, she was startled by a weak croak.

"Hey, I'm awake now. You don't need to do that."

She smiled warmly at her partner. "How are you feeling?" She asked with affection.

Thomas tentatively moved to sit up and immediately noticed that the world around him was spinning around.

"My head's killing me." His hand flew to his sore head.

"It's understandable with your head injury. I would say, normally you should be checked out by a doctor but since our situation here is… complicated, we have to count only on ourselves. I hope it's not a concussion. But anyway, we need to be sure so to rule out this possibility, I'm going to watch you closely for any signs of that."

Magnum grinned mischievously when he heard her. "You're going to watch me and you said my eyes were pretty."

"Don't flatter yourself, Magnum. I just wanted you to regain consciousness."

He shook his head and grinned like a fool. "You won't fool me. I know what I heard."

She smiled but to Thomas it seemed that it didn't quite reach her eyes. For a long moment, she remained silent, dropping her gaze. He had a feeling something was bothering her.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked and gently lifted her chin.

When she met his eyes, he heard her say softly. "I was worried about you."

"I worried, too." He said, taking her hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Juliet gave him a puzzled look.

"Don't get me wrong. I wasn't worried about myself and what could happen to me if I didn't succeed – I thought about you. At that moment, the most important thing was to get you out of here and take you back home."

"I knew you wouldn't leave me here… At least not intentionally." She added, her voice was so quiet that he wasn't sure she had said it.

They could easily kill you, she thought but it was so painful that she couldn't make herself say it out loud. She didn't have to, though. Being a great detective and knowing her so well, Thomas was able to figure out what was really on her mind.

"Hey, but I'm okay now and here with you again." He told her and smiled.

Juliet nodded her head and tried so much to smile back yet felt she just couldn't do it. And suddenly this tough former MI6 agent burst into tears.

Magnum moved to her side immediately. "C'mere, Higgy. Shh, it's all right. I've got you, my dear." He murmured in her ear, trying to calm her down.

She seemed so fragile, he was aware of the fact that it was extremely rare for her to show the world this vulnerable side of her. He felt guilty that it was his idea that threw her over the edge and made her shed these tears. All this time, he had a feeling that he should share his thoughts with her and include her in his plan but he did everything he could to avoid putting her at risk here.

Thomas sighed deeply and continued comforting his partner. He held her tight, gently massaging her back and whispering some calming words. It took a long time for Juliet's crying to finally cease. Then she slowly moved away from him and looked him in the eye.

"Why?" She asked with reproach.

The PI looked puzzled by this.

"Magnum, why didn't you tell me what you were planning?" She clarified to him. "You surely knew that if I was let in on your plan, I would gladly help you and together we would stand a better chance against the enemy."

Magnum let out a deep breath. "I know. You have every right to be angry with me. I'm so sorry." He told her with genuine regret.

"Thomas, actually I'm not angry with you." She said quietly and took his hands. "This whole situation makes me feel… kind of disappointed… that you don't trust me enough to include me in your breakaway attempt. I thought we were partners." Juliet finished, her voice barely a whisper.

Those words broke Magnum's heart. How could he do that to her. When making that plan, he never expected it would affect her so much.

"Oh, Higgy." He murmured and began gently stroking her cheek. "Of course, we are partners… and I think we both know that we're even more than that."

He noted with satisfaction that she smiled a bit at him mentioning their situation.

"I swear I would never leave you out. To tell the truth, the reason why I didn't tell you about the plan… is because you're extremely important to me and in case something went wrong I didn't want to risk losing you." He said that and eagerly waited for her reaction.

Juliet was surprised. She swallowed hard and looked at their joined hands before finally meeting his gaze and speaking quietly. "You're important to me too and next time please consider the fact that I can't risk losing you too." Once again there were tears shining in her eyes.

"I promise that from now on I'll share with you my every plan to bring us back home." Thomas swore solemnly which made a wide grin appear on her face.

"Are you feeling better now?" He asked, hoping for a positive answer.

However, she surprised him when she shook her head. "Not quite yet. I feel like there's one more very important thing that I need right now." She stated and he recognized at once that she was teasing him.

He smiled because it meant she was more than okay.

"Oh, would you care to tell me which thing you need so much?" He asked and at the same time he was moving forward very slowly, and soon his face was almost touching hers.

"I think you know that perfectly. You're an excellent PI, aren't you?" She replied and closed the distance between them.

He sighed when he felt her sweet soft lips on his and in a second he let himself delve into this serene feeling. He put his arms around her, bringing her even closer to him.

"Now, I'm better." Higgins murmured when they parted to breathe in.

Magnum chucked at that. "I believe you. I'm better myself cause… you make me a better person, you know?"

Juliet gazed fondly at him and then replied. "And you, Thomas, make me feel alive again."

She gave him a sheepish grin. She seemed to be quite nervous, she surely was never so open when it came to discussing her feelings but she had the need to admit it and he was grateful for that.

He smiled reassuringly to let her know that he respected her past with Richard, it was part of her and none of them could change it. So once again he took her in his arms to show his partner how much he cared for her.

Juliet let out a deep breath. Staying close to Magnum, feeling the warmth emanating from his body calmed her instantly. She closed her eyes, enjoying that wonderful sensation and wanting it to last for a long time.

So, I'm sure you heard the latest news about the fate of our favorite series. I think it's so unfair both to the fans and the crew to pick it up when it got cancelled after four seasons and then make just one more before letting it go anyway. It shouldn't end this way. I wish one of those streaming platforms would have it the same way it happened to "Lucifer". Well, only time will tell. I wonder what those remaining ten episodes will be about and what the ending will look like.

Anyway, thank you for reading and don't forget that you can always share your thoughts with me. I'll be back in two weeks:)