Hi! I'm so sorry it took me almost a month to update this story, I almost made it last week, but I decided to add a bit more so that you'd have more to read. So sit down now, relax and have a wonderful time reading:)

Chapter 34

Thomas and Nick looked at each other and nodded their heads. They were both soldiers and they knew exactly what to do in such situations. They instantly moved closer to the door and stood on each side of it as they knew that surprise may give them a better chance of defeating their enemies. They held their breaths, waiting impatiently for what the next few seconds would bring.

Finally, the door opened and the first man came inside. Since Thomas' eyes were already adjusted to almost no light in the room, he could easily make out that this man was holding a gun in his hand. Magnum leapt forward and hit the man's forearm, making the gun fly sideways and land on the floor. Just as Thomas thought, this move surprised the man a lot and gave an advantage he needed so much. So before he knew what was happening, the man felt a hard blow on his jaw that made him stumble backwards. He managed to avoid falling down and at once he moved forward, swinging his fist at the PI. Luckily, he didn't hit his target and received another blow, which this time really sent him to the floor. However, knocking this man down didn't mean that it was over. On the contrary, it was just the beginning.

Evidently, that man wasn't alone and another one ran into the room right then. Magnum attacked first but this time he wasn't so lucky. He felt like he hit a rock. His enemy was tall and incredibly tough, he reminded him a bit of one of James Bond's villains – Jaws. This one here didn't have metal teeth but it was quite difficult to hurt him and he was strong too.

While Thomas was fighting the tough man, at one moment he saw in the corner of his eye that the guy he had just knocked down surprisingly came round and was just about to charge at him. The PI knew that it would be a hard job to confront two enemies at a time but luckily, Nick stepped in, putting every strength he had left into the fight and after a few intense minutes, he finally tackled the guy down.

However, Magnum didn't have that much luck and he was taking the blows time after time until suddenly he found himself on the floor. He was aware that he had very small chances but then Nick punched the man a couple of times in the back. Usually, it should be extremely painful and enough to knock somebody down but in this case, Nick's action just merely brushed him. However, the good thing was that this guy left Magnum alone for the time being and turned away to take care of Nick.

Thomas knew that it could be his only chance so he looked around, trying to find something that would be useful to beat the man. To his great surprise, he noticed a dark object lying nearby. He forced himself to stand up and moved there to check that out. He had a feeling it would be very useful. It turned out to be a very heavy flowerpot. He grabbed it at once and took the opportunity that the man wasn't looking his way and he hit him hard on the head, finally defeating him.

"Here, let me help you." Magnum told Nick and stretched his hand to help him up. "Are you okay?"

"Thanks. I feel like I've been run over by a bulldozer." The man replied and gladly accepted the offer. "Wow, that was really something." He added, pointing to the man on the floor.

"Thanks. Come on, let's go and see how the things are going upstairs." Thomas said.

Suddenly, the sound of a safety being taken off was heard and a voice followed. "Not so fast."

The PI turned and faced a gun pointed at him. The guy looked around the place and noticed his comrades.

"Wow, congratulations. I'm sure it must have been a really tough job with this one." He said, pointing to the man knocked down on the floor.

"Not really. If there's anyone else like him, we'd gladly prove ourselves." Magnum told him with sarcasm.

"Sorry to disappoint you but I don't think you'll live long enough to make that happen." The man replied.

Thomas recognized instantly what the man was going to do but he didn't have much time to react as at that moment he heard a gunshot. He froze, waiting for the familiar sharp pain to appear but it never did. The sound of the gunshot still reverberated in his ears and at first he didn't know what had really happened. Why wasn't he hurt? He was dazed, it seemed as if his mind didn't register the action. Then, suddenly he noticed that Nick crumpled onto the floor.

Evidently, Nick saw what that man was going to do and jumped in front of the bullet. At that moment, Thomas felt deep anger and sprang forward. The man didn't expect such an attack, the PI's strength really surprised him when he started to rain blows one after another.

When the man lost his consciousness, Magnum quickly got back to Nick. Noticing the wound and the amount of blood flowing out of it, he knew that it was serious and the man had very little time. He checked his vitals and found out that his pulse was low and his breath very shallow.

"Hey, Nick. Nick, open your eyes." Thomas spoke firmly and gently shook the man's arms.

It took Nick a few seconds to respond.

"Magnum? I'm glad you're okay."

"But you're not. Why did you do that?"

"I think I finally redeemed myself." Nick replied, his voice was getting weaker and he started coughing. "Please, don't… waste your chance… with Juliet."

His next words were barely audible and Magnum could hardly hear them.

"You two truly belong together."

When he said that, his eyes finally closed and life came out of him.

Thomas couldn't believe what has just happened and actually what happened in the last couple of days. It seemed so surreal – first being kidnapped and held by Nick, then the revelation about who the boss was and now Nick coming over to their side and sacrificing his life for him.

Magnum's eyes suddenly filled with tears and he felt his throat constrict but he knew it was neither time nor place for grieving. He had to put his feelings aside if he wanted to get himself and his partner out of this whole mess and finally go home so he cast one final glance at Nick's body and whispered shakily to him.

"I promise I'll do everything I can to be with her and to make it work."

With that Thomas stood up heavily and looked around the floor for any weapon. He found a gun lying near one of the Burns' men so he picked it up and checked whether there were any bullets in the clip. It turned out that there was only one bullet inside.

It's better than none. The PI thought, trying to stay positive.

He was aware that time was of the essence now so he left the room and slowly made his way through a long and dark corridor. He looked ahead, focusing his attention on what could suddenly happen. He felt like he was in a dark tunnel and there was some light at the end of it, not only metaphorically but also in reality, which could bring either good or bad things.

Magnum remembered that the corridor eventually turned left and ended with stairs. When he finally reached the curve, he put his back to the wall, keeping the gun close and ready. He listened carefully and suddenly heard something. There were some muffled voices that seemed to come closer with each second. Then they ceased but still footsteps could be heard.

Thomas was ready to fight and waited patiently for the enemies to appear. Those men were getting closer and he started counting – 3…2…1… now! He took a deep breath and jumped from around the corner right in front of two men who definitely didn't expect something like that.

"Freeze! Drop your guns!" Magnum shouted before he noticed who it was.

"No way! TM, is that you?"

"Wow! Guys, what are you doing here?" The PI was obviously shocked at encountering his friends so suddenly.

"We came to save you and Higgy from Burns. Are you all right?" Rick asked with great concern in his voice.

"Yeah." Magnum replied with a smile and hugged Rick and then TC who patted him on the back.

"I'm glad you're in one piece, brother." TC told him.

"Yeah and I'm glad you came. I must say you have perfect timing."

"Just like the good old days in the army." Rick added and the three friends smiled.

Although very often it was a tough and dangerous job, they knew that no matter what, they had each other and if any of them was in trouble, the other two would be there for him to help. And now, even after they were done with their service, they still stuck together and supported each other like brothers.

They were still standing there when suddenly a thought crossed Thomas' mind.

"Hey, how do you know about Burns? Has Higgy already told you about him?" He asked and noticed questioning looks Rick and TC exchanged.

"Thomas, we haven't found Higgy yet." TC replied.

Magnum froze. "What do you mean you didn't find her? She should be upstairs with Burns. At least she was there when I last saw her."

"I'm sorry, man but it's true. She's not there." Rick told him and noticed Thomas' reaction to this.

Magnum felt like someone who's just got a hammer blow to the head. He couldn't focus on anything but his partner.

"Thomas, are you okay?"

Those words brought the PI back to reality as he looked at his friends and noticed their concerned faces. Concerned for him.

"You don't look too good." TC added and he knew it was true – Magnum's state told him that he must have been in one hell of a fight.

The PI shook his head. "No, I told you I was fine, it's Higgy you should be worried about."

Rick and TC exchanged glances. It would be reasonable to help him first by tending to his wounds but they knew him all too well and no matter what they would say or do, Thomas Magnum wouldn't stop until he found his partner.

"Okay, let's go upstairs. Maybe we'll be luckier this time and she'll be there." Rick stated and the other men agreed with him.

They climbed the steep stairs and crept through the hall, watching closely for any enemy but luckily, it seemed that no one was there. Magnum led the way straight to the room where he and Juliet met Burns. All three of them stood on both sides of the door with their backs to the wall, ready for anything. They shared knowing looks and Thomas started counting on his fingers, giving them a 'go' sign and at that moment TC kicked the door really hard and burst inside, holding his gun in front of him, ready to take a shot. Thomas and Rick were right behind him. They looked around and quickly realized that no one was there – neither Burns nor Juliet. To Magnum it was devastating.

"No, it can't be true." He whispered. "Where is she?" He wondered where Burns could take her.

"I'm sorry, man." Rick told him, placing his hand on his friend's arm. "Before we went downstairs and found you there, we looked through the house and beside a few of Burns' men, we didn't come up with him or Higgy."

"Why did he split up the two of you? Did he want to keep her as a leverage in case we came to bust you out?" TC asked.

"Not really. At first he wanted Higgy to tell him where his wife and son were but then it turned out… that he had a crush on Juliet and hoped she would start a new life with him." Thomas said quietly.

"What? No way! I didn't see that coming." TC stated and glanced at Rick who evidently had something on his mind and felt uneasy about that.

TC sent him a questioning look. He had a hunch that it wouldn't be anything pleasant.

Finally, Rick spoke. "TM, you don't think… she agreed and ran away with Burns, do you?" He waited for his friend's answer with apprehension.

"What? Of course not." Thomas replied with deep conviction in his voice. "She wouldn't do something like that. How could you even think so?"

TC felt it was time for him to step in before it would get too serious between his two friends. "Okay, so where do you think he could take her? Are there any hidden exits in this house?"

"I don't…" Magnum started saying but was interrupted by a sudden hail of bullets flying from behind them.

Their instinct kicked in – they ducked and ran for cover immediately.

"I thought we took care of everybody." Rick said, trying to shout over the sound of gunfire.

"Yeah, I thought so too." TC replied and waited a few seconds before he and Rick started shooting back at the attackers.

"We could really use the cavalry right now." Thomas said and looked at his friends whose faces seemed uneasy. Something was definitely wrong.

"We have some back-up, right?"

"Well… To tell the truth, we came here as soon as we got Burns' address." Rick admitted.

Magnum's eyes opened wide in astonishment. It wasn't that he often depended on someone's help when in dangerous situations but this time when it came to Juliet's safety, he knew that every help counted. He evidently wanted to say something but TC interrupted him.

"Don't worry. We called Gordie for the police back-up. It's just taking it longer than it should have."

"Oh, thanks. I'll be much calmer now." The PI replied with sarcasm.

At this moment, another round of bullets started.

"How many of them are still there?" Rick wondered.

"And where are they still coming from since we thought no one was left?" TC added his question.

"I don't know but if this goes on, we'll run out of ammo soon. We could use some help or at least some sort of distraction." Thomas said and surprisingly the other door in the room suddenly opened and they saw Katsumoto with his gun aimed at one of the attackers.

He pulled the trigger and the bullet easily reached its target. The detective jumped sideways to take cover behind the table.

"Well, you have what you wanted." TC stated, wearing a wide grin on his face.

Gordon kept shooting and moved swiftly to the place where his friends were crouched.

"Hey, Gordie. I've never ever been happier to see you, man." Rick blurted out, feeling a huge relief wash over him.

"Oh, thanks. It's good to know that you're pleased to see me only when I offer you help." Gordon replied with stoic calm.

Rick froze, his eyes wide open as he'd just realized that his words could really hurt his friend. "No! You know I didn't mean that." He said quickly and noticed the looks of disbelief TC and Magnum gave him then.

"Okay." Rick added truthfully. "Maybe I meant it but it's not that. Gordie, I don't want you to think that I value only your help and not you. Please, believe me that I'm really grateful for your deep friendship." He said in breaks between shots.

Katsumoto didn't say anything and seemed to contemplate Rick's words for a long moment during which Rick could hardly breathe, he was so tense. He kept watching his friend's face, trying to find any clue as to how he was feeling and how he was going to react. However, the man's face was quite impassive just like it often was so it was totally impossible to figure out his attitude.

Finally, Rick got his reply. "Okay."

Rick went dumbfounded.

"What? Okay? That's all you can tell me? I thought you'd share something more." The man asked, still in quite a shock.

"Okay. Shouldn't it be enough? I knew you didn't want it to sound like that but I couldn't help myself to keep you in suspense." Gordon told him and at that moment a cheerful smile spread over his face. "Oh, and one more thing – I'm really grateful for your deep friendship too." He added.

"Wow." Rick said. "You got me big time." He felt he could finally breathe.

"All right. I'm happy all is good between you two but let's focus on more important things here." Magnum told them, he knew they couldn't waste any more time.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, TM." Rick apologized.

"Yeah, did you find Burns?" Katsumoto asked, switching to his 'police mode' at once.

"Unfortunately, not." TC replied.

"Gordie, he's got Higgy." Magnum said quietly.

"Is it possible he left the house without being seen?" The detective asked right away.

TC nodded his head.

"Any ideas where he could take her?" Rick asked.

Gordon replied. "No." But then something came to his mind. "Wait. I read somewhere that he owned a small chopper and took a course in flying. He keeps it here on this property. Maybe he'll want to use it to leave the island."

Having heard that, Thomas felt a ray of hope filling his heart. If Burns went there, he surely took Juliet with him. He knew time was of essence and if he wanted to get her back, he had to act fast. He looked around the room and noticed a door, leading to the patio, hidden partly behind the curtain which flowed slightly in the wind. So the door was opened – that way Burns may have escaped.

TC was observing Magnum the whole time and knew something was on his mind. When he saw that his friend was preparing himself to run somewhere under the hail of bullets, he finally asked.

"TM, what are you doing?"

"I have to go and find her." The PI stated firmly. All his friends could see that his eyes expressed strong determination that nothing would stop him from getting her back.

TC didn't comment, just nodded his head, showing his wholehearted support.

"Cover me." Magnum said over his shoulder and went to the patio door.

"Good luck, Thomas!" TC replied, not really sure if his friend heard him as Rick and Gordon already started shooting at the attackers again, trying to give Magnum a chance to get out of the room.

I hope you'll find her. TC thought and went back to fighting the bad guys.

I hope you enjoyed it. Have you got any predictions as to what happened to Juliet? Will Magnum find her or maybe Burns already flew off the island? You can try to guess what happens in the next chapter. See you next time (hopefully sooner than later).