Archive of Our Own

Chapter 1

It looked like a typical Monday morning. Tired men in blue trudged toward the large building on Bryant Street, yawning as they made their way away from the weekend. The sun was shining as it does frequently in San Francisco, and the birds were singing away as if they knew the week would be the best one yet. Normally, Lieutenant Mike Stone would have agreed with them, but not today. He felt more like a zombie walking into the station but not from the regret of staying up too late having fun. His lackluster attitude was for a far different reason, one that would never go away with a shot of caffeine and a donut. All he wanted on this typical-looking Monday was to get it over with as quickly as possible.

All the way up to the Homicide offices, Mike had to dodge smiling faces and questions about his weekend. He did not want to talk, but he also didn't want to explain, so he faked a smile and pretended that his weekend was just as great as everyone else's. He'd had years of practice doing this routine, so by now he was quite good at it. Expecting another round once he got into the office, he found quite the opposite. The place was nearly deserted, and the few men hanging around looked more like morgue residents than Homicide inspectors, his partner Steve Keller in particular. He was sitting at his desk with his head in his hands.

"You alright, Buddy Boy? Long weekend?" Mike asked as he walked into his office and took off his hat and coat. "Let me guess…new girlfriend."

Steve rubbed his face and looked over at the older man. "Wish I could say that. No, I just feel blah. Probably coming down with a cold or something. No big deal." He looked down and started stacking papers, trying to look busy.

Mike walked over to this desk and placed his hand on Steve's forehead, feeling for a fever. "You look pale and you feel warm. I think you should go home and get some sleep."

"No thanks, we have to be in court in an hour, remember?"

"But you may not even get called today. There's a good chance it will be tomorrow or even Wednesday. Go home while you can."

Steve shook his head and stood up before walking gingerly across to the coffee pot. "I'm fine, really. I'm just tired. Drink plenty of coffee and I'll be good as new."

Mike frowned as he watched as Steve stood, slightly hunched over, almost as if he was in pain, as he reached for the coffee pot.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Steve looked over at him and then down at himself, just then realizing how he was standing. "Oh, this. Yeah, well, I think I pulled something. I was playing tennis with some friends Saturday, and I must have moved wrong or something. I'll live." He grabbed a mug and the coffee pot and poured himself a cup.

"So ... you're getting sick and nursing a pulled muscle, but you're fine to walk into court this morning?" Mike asked, completely skeptical that Steve would even make it into the building.

"Yes, I'm fine. Swear." Steve straightened up and looked at his watch while taking a sip of coffee. "Think we should head out? Traffic is killer on Monday mornings, and I want to get there early enough to get a front row seat so I can see all the dirty looks Lennon is going to give us from the defendant's table."

Mike chuckled. "Yeah, he does hate us, doesn't he?"

Steve set the mug down and grabbed his jacket off the chair. "More than anything. C'mon, let's get a move on."

Xxxxx

"Mr. Lennon is a well-respected member of our community, your Honor, who through absolutely no fault of his own, has been falsely accused of this heinous crime by an overzealous Homicide Inspector who was eager to make an arrest…"

Steve shifted uncomfortable on the hard courtroom bench, silently wishing he had taken Mike's advice and gone home to bed as his stomach churned, protesting the mug of long stewed coffee he had gulped down before they had left the station. He swallowed hard, forcing down the sour bile that he could taste in the back of his throat as he tried to concentrate on the defense attorney's spiel of what a wonderful and loving individual his client was and how Lennon had unjustly accused of such a brutal and callous murder.

"I intend to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that my client was nowhere near the bar where the victim was last seen alive on the night she disappeared, in fact my client was not even in the state. A fact that was ignored by the police…"

Steve shifted in his seat again, resisting the urge to take out his handkerchief and wipe his face. The courtroom seemed unusually hot and the small fan that slowly swirled above their heads barely moved the humid air around.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

He jumped at Mike's softly whispered question and forced a small smile as he turned to face his worried partner who was eyeing him closely. Forcing a small smile, he nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit hot in here."

"Sure you are." Mike muttered as a small movement from the man standing at the back of the half-filled courtroom caught his eye. He frowned as he watched the man reach into his coat and pull a gun free. "Steve!" His partner's name had barely left his mouth when he heard a gunshot from the front of the courtroom a moment before he felt Steve reach for his weapon.

The courtroom erupted into confused and terrified screams as the man at the back of the room waved his gun menacing at the small crowd gathered in the room and yelled, "Everybody stay where you are! Do as you are told, and no one will get hurt!"

"Try and use that gun, cop, and you're a dead man," Mike turned to find himself staring at Lennon who was aiming a gun at Steve's head as Lennon demanded. "Now both of you, take your guns out, nice and easy, using just two fingers and give them to my very esteemed attorney and well paid partner, nice and easy. And don't think of being heroes because if you do, one of these nice, innocent spectators who have come to watch my trial, hoping to see me sent to the gas chamber, will die."

"Do as he says, Steve." Mike ordered his partner softly as he reluctantly un-holstered his own weapon and removed his gun, before holding it between his thumb and forefinger and held it out for the attorney to snatch out of his hand as he glanced at the judge, his heart sinking as he saw a fourth man holding a gun to the judge's head.

"That's right, Keller, do as you partner says." Lennon grinned as his finger tightened on his own weapon, "Because if you don't, you're gunna be the very first one to die!"

Aware that the odds were against him if he refused, Steve sighed as he slowly reached for his gun and un-hostered it before removing it from its holster and holding it out, between two fingers, for the attorney to snatch from his hold.

"Now get up and get over against the wall! Both of you!" Lennon ordered as he grabbed Steve by the arm and roughly pulled him to his feet before pushing him hard towards the small gate that led to the front of the courtroom. Steve stumbled and groaned, grabbing his side as Mike jumped up and steadied him.

"Steve!"

"I'm okay," Steve winced, clutching his side as he allowed Mike to help him as Lennon's shouted orders to his partners to lock all the doors and everyone get against the wall rang in Steve's ears.

Chapter 2

Sitting against the wall, Steve swallowed hard as he tried to ignore the pain in his side. What had started off as a slight, niggling pain in the middle of his belly two days ago after he had finished playing tennis had now morphed into a painful stitch in his side and the flu was leaving him feeling nauseous, his stomach was churning and the room which seemed too hot only a few minutes ago was now suddenly too cold. He shivered and unconsciously wrapped his arms around himself in an attempt to keep warm as he warily watched Lennon and the other men as they huddled together, talking softly between each other, occasionally glancing across at hostages they had sitting against the wall. He could hear the reassuring sounds of sirens and the muted shouts of his fellow colleagues as they quickly evacuated the rest the building. He turned his head to look at his fellow captives who were sitting on both sides of him, lined up against the wall, just as he was. A quick count confirmed that there were twenty-eight hostages, including the judge, the prosecuting attorney, himself and Mike. He grimaced and grabbed his side as a sharp pain stabbed through his side, leaving him breathless and even more nauseous as it faded away.

"How long have you had that pain in your side?"

Steve jumped at the softly whispered question and swallowed hard, momentarily afraid that he was about to lose his battle with his nausea, as he turned his head to face Mike.

"Who are you, Marcus Welby?" Steve forced a smile as he tried to deflect the question with a joke, but his forced bravado failed when he saw the concern on Mike's face and the no-nonsense look in his partner's eyes. He knew Mike would not accept anything less than the truth. He sighed as he admitted softly, "A day or so. It started as just a stitch after I played tennis…"

"And now it's worse?" Mike asked, as he studied Steve closer. Steve was pale, a light sheen of perspiration covered his face and despite the room being comfortably warm, he was shivering.

"Yeah…" Steve nodded reluctantly as he glanced across at Lennon, his attorney and the two other gunmen still huddled together, desperate to divert Mike's attention, "So what do you think we should do?"

Glancing across at the four gunmen, Mike whispered softly. "There's nothing we can do for now but wait and watch until we know what Lennon's plans are!"

Hearing the soft whispers, Lennon turned towards the hostages, lifting his gun threateningly towards them as he yelled, "No more talking, got it?" He waited a moment enjoying the terror he could read on the faces of most of his hostages before he turned back and continued to softly talk to his attorney and two other partners.

A soft muffled sob beside him caught Steve's attention and he turned to find the young court stenographer, trying hard not to cry. Her fear and terror were evident in her eyes as she bit down hard on her bottom lip trying hard to stifle another sob, petrified that the noise would turn the unwanted attention of the four men onto her. Reaching for her hand, Steve gave it a light reassuring squeeze, forcing a what he hoped was a small confident smile as he whispered, "It's okay, we're going to get out of this, I promise."

She nodded, not quite convinced that he would be able to keep such a promise before she froze in fear as Lennon turned and stomped towards them.

"I told you, cop, to keep your damn mouth shut!" Lennon shouted as he raised his gun and pointed it at Steve's head, his finger tightening on the trigger.

"No! Please don't!" the young stenographer pleaded as she stared up at Lennon, her eyes wide with fear, "It was my fault. I was scared and he was just trying to reassure me!"

Lennon paused as he looked down at the girl in amusement before he looked back to Steve and removed his finger from the trigger and lowered his gun and grinned, "Looks like your little girlfriend here just saved your life, Keller, next time I promise you, you won't be as lucky." He warned Steve coldly as he raised his foot and kicked Steve hard in the stomach.

"Steve!"

Steve heard Mike's panicked shout as he fell to the floor, the pain was almost unbearable as he began to gag and curled up on his side, his arm's wrapped tightly around his midriff as he tried to blink away the darkness that hovered on the edges of his consciousness. "I'm okay." he managed to gasp through clenched teeth as Mike reached for him.

"Oh, isn't that just so sweet!" Lennon snarled sarcastically as he reached down and grabbed Mike by the arm, pulling him roughly to his feet "You heard your partner, Stone, he's okay." Pushing Mike towards the other three armed men, he ordered, "Besides cop, we have a little job for you to do."

xxxxx

Jeannie had a hard time getting up and around that morning. Ever since she had learned she was pregnant, she hadn't seemed to be able to sleep enough to be completely awake. It was discomfort or morning sickness, she just couldn't keep her eyes open, even if she got a full night's rest. This morning was no exception. Her husband Lee had gotten up and off to work hours earlier, and she had tried to get up to make him breakfast, but she fell back asleep while he was in the shower. Now, three hours later, she was still lying in bed struggling to get up.

She sighed and forced herself into a sitting position. Thinking that maybe the TV would help her stay awake, she got up and wandered into the living room, flipping the dial as she walked by the set. A soap opera she didn't care for was showing, but it was better than silence. Her having to suffer through the drama was short lived.

The local news broke in with a live update. Jeannie's interest perked when she saw the reporter on the scene was standing in front of the courthouse. She had remembered her father saying something about being in court a lot that week, but was today one of those days? She couldn't be quite sure and it panicked her.

The reporter went on to say that he didn't know much, but he did know that shots had been fired and an unknown number of gunmen were holding a courtroom of people hostage. No demands had been made to the authorities and no one knew yet who the men were. Updates would be made throughout the day as police were already on scene.

Jeannie's heart sunk and she felt suddenly nauseous. What if Mike was in the courtroom with the gunmen? And was Steve with him? She started to panic, so she grabbed the phone and dialed her father's work number. After six rings and no answer, she gave up and slammed down the receiver. She attempted to get off the couch and grab her purse to head down to the courthouse herself, but the phone rang and stopped her.

Thinking it was her father, she immediately grabbed it and answered.

"You just tried to call here, didn't you?" her husband asked.

She let out a breath. "How'd you guess? Is he down there, Lee?"

"We're pretty sure, yeah. But I haven't heard which courtroom is the one under siege. He may not even be involved. Please don't worry."

"Don't worry? How can I not worry? This baby may lose its grandfather or godfather! And you tell me not to worry! Ha!"

"Jeannie, I didn't mean…. Jeannie? Jeannie!" Lee slammed down the phone and headed out to grab his coat. He knew exactly what his wife's next move was and he didn't like it one bit.

xxxxxx

Running up the stairs of the courthouse, dodging around the frightened people who were exiting the building under the guidance of uniformed officers and running down the stairs, Rudy paused as he reached the San Francisco police sergeant standing just with in the main doors who was trying to coordinated his officers who were evacuating the building. "What have we got?"

"Reports of shots fired in one of the courtrooms and a possible siege." The sergeant answered, "SWAT's on their way."

"Any demands from the gunman?"

The sergeant shook his head, "We have just started to evacuate the building, I don't think anyone's tried to make contact yet."

"Any idea how many gunman and how many hostages are involved?" Rudy asked as he looked up the ornate internal staircase that led to the courtrooms on the floor above.

"Don't know."

"Anything you do know about what is going on in there?" Rudy growled as more terrified people pushed past.

"Only that the shots were heard coming from courtroom five where there is a murder trial going on. Judge Rainer was presiding over the case."

"Courtroom five?" Rudy asked, aware that Mike and Steve were both scheduled to testify in the Lennon's case this morning, as they headed towards the stairs, "The Lennon's case?"

The sergeant nodded, "Yeah."

"Sergeant Thompson." The sergeant looked up at the top of the stairs at the young officer who called down excitedly. "One of the hostages, Lieutenant Stone, is standing at the door of the courtroom. He says he has the gunmen's demands."

Chapter 3

Sergeant Thompson and Captain Olsen bolted up the stairs and ran to courtroom five where Mike was standing with his hands tied in front of him. One of the gunmen was behind him with a gun pointed at his head. The two cops stopped in their tracks. They figured if they got too close, things could go bad quickly.

"We, uh, we hear that you have something to tell us, Lieutenant," Rudy began.

"I do," Mike said quietly. "Mr. Lennon would like to tell you something."

"So Lennon is involved," Rudy muttered under his breath. "This can't be good."

"What would he like us to know?" Sergeant Thompson asked.

"He wants Grinstead. He wants him here in an hour."

"Who is that?" Rudy asked. He hadn't been following the trial too closely.

"Marco Grinstead. He's the key witness for the prosecution. The entire case rests on his testimony."

The captain and the sergeant looked at each other then back at Mike. "That's not going to happen. We cannot allow people to threaten their way out of a trial," Rudy stated in no uncertain terms.

"He figured you'd say that," Mike replied. "He says he'll release most of the hostages if his one demand is met."

"His one demand?" Sergeant Thompson asked skeptically.

"Well, his one demand of you," Mike answered. "He has more plans for me and Steve."

"And just what are those?" Rudy demanded.

Mike paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. "He wants us to correct our mistake. He says Grinstead is framing him."

That's ridiculous! You two did solid work! What the hell does he expect you to do, fabricate evidence?" Rudy snapped.

"He claims Grinstead is connected to his rival, Hernandez. We have to find the connection."

Mike remained calm, but Rudy was livid. He didn't like some drug lord playing puppeteer with his inspectors. "And what if we refuse?"

Mike looked Rudy straight in the eye. "People will die, Captain, starting with the judge. You know how the mayor will feel about that." Mike threw in the last part knowing it would get Rudy to actually try and get Marco Grinstead.

Rudy and Thompson stayed quiet until Thompson decided to make the decision. "Tell Mr. Lennon we'll do our best."

"Rudy, there's one more thing I think you should know." Mike said softly. Something in Mike's tone warned Rudy he was not going to like what Mike was about to say. "It's Steve..."

"Steve? What about him?"

"He's sick, Rudy."

"Sick?"

"I think it's appendicitis."

"Okay cop, enough of the chit chat." The gunman warned as he grabbed Mike's arm and pulled him roughly back into the room, slamming the door closed.

xxxxx

Running up the courtroom stairs, Jeannie was stopped by entering the courthouse by a uniformed officer guarding the entrance doors. "I'm sorry, but no one is allowed inside. You will have to wait behind the barricades."

"It's okay, George, she's my wife." Lee called to the officer as he hurried across the foyer.

The officer frowned as he stepped aside, allowing Jeannie to step inside.

Reaching his wife, Lee shook his head as he gently hugged her, before pulling away and looking at her sternly, "You should be home obeying the doctor's orders and resting. There's nothing you can do here."

"What's happening?" Jeannie demanded, ignoring Lee's gentle chastisement, "Is Mike and Steve…?"

Lee sighed as he gently took Jeannie's hand and led her away from the prying eyes of the press, who were crowded on the stairs outside, clambering for information. "Let's go somewhere where we can talk."

"Lee, you're scaring me." Jeannie whispered as Lee led her towards a small office and opened the door, holding it open until she entered, before entering himself and closing the door firmly behind him.

She was not surprised to find Rudy waiting for them and she sat down on the chair he pulled out for her, eyeing both men warily.

"Mike and Steve are in there, aren't they?" she asked, dreading the answer she knew she was about to hear.

Rudy nodded slowly. "I'm afraid so, Jeannie, but we are doing everything we can to get this situation resolved and to get Mike and Steve and the rest of the hostages out safely."

"How did it happen?"

"We not sure at the moment, but what we do know is Lennon and at least one, possibly more, gunmen have taken over the courtroom. We believe they could be holding over twenty hostages, including Mike and Steve."

"The reporter on the television said there were shots fired." Jeannie whispered softly.

"Shots were fired but no one has been hurt so far..." Rudy began.

"But?" Jeannie asked, looking in alarm at Rudy before she turned and looked questioningly at her husband, aware that she had not been told everything.

"Lennon made Mike give us his demands. While he was doing so, Mike managed to tell Rudy that Steve's sick and needs urgent medical attention." Lee told her gently.

"Steve's sick?"

"Mike thinks it's appendicitis."

"Oh, no!" Jeannie gasped, her face growing pale as she looked down at her swollen belly and whispered, "Please don't let it be appendicitis, not Steve, not today."

"Jeannie?" Lee asked softly, reaching for Jeannie's hand.

Jeannie looked up into her husband's worried eyes as she swallowed hard, blinking away the tears that had begun to fall as she squeezed his hand hard, "Today…today is the anniversary of mom's death."

"Oh God, that's right…" Rudy murmured.

"Oh God, sweetheart, I'm so sorry, I forgot…"

Jeannie shook her head, glancing at Rudy before she returned her attention back to her husband, "No, you don't understand. Mom died from complications of appendicitis after her appendix burst."

"Appendicitis?"

Biting her bottom lip, Jeannie nodded her head as she brushed away the tears that rolled freely down her face with the back of her hand and took a deep breath, "Mike blamed himself, he still does. If…if something happens to Steve… especially today… I don't know…"

Pulling Jeannie into his arms, Lee held her tightly as he gently kissed the top of her head, and whispered into her hair, "Shhh, nothing's going to happen to Steve or Mike, not today. We are going to get them out of there. I promise."

Chapter 4

Biting his bottom lip, Steve tried hard not to cry out as he clutched his midriff in pain. The room was spinning wildly around him and his stomach felt like it was on fire as he forced his eyes open in confusion. It took him a minute or two to remember where he was and what had happened. He must have passed out; the last memory he had was Mike yelling his name. Mike! Lifting his head, he looked around desperately, unable to see his partner.

"Hey, are you okay?" He heard the soft frightened whisper from somewhere above him and he turned his head slightly to find himself looking up into the face of the young stenographer. "You passed out after he kicked you. You really scared me." She told him as she gently pushed him back down and he realized his head had been resting on her lap, "I don't think you should sit up."

"I'm … I'm okay." Steve whispered weakly as he shrugged free of her light hold and struggled to sit up, 'Where's my partner?"

"Lennon took him after you passed out." She whispered softly as she helped him sit up.

"Took him, took him where?"

"He took him to negotiate with the police outside." she murmured, nodding towards the now open courtroom door where Mike was standing, a gun held closely to his head by one of the gunmen, as he spoke quietly to someone outside.

Swallowing down the hot bile that burned the back of his throat, Steve watched as Lennon nodded silently and the gunman pulled Mike roughly back into the room and slammed the door closed.

"Get back against the wall, cop!" the gunman ordered Mike as he shoved him hard in the chest, almost toppling him.

Managing to retain his balance, Mike turned and walked back to where he had been sitting, relieved to find Steve was conscious and sitting up as he slowly sat down on the floor beside him. He turned and studied his partner with worried eyes. Steve looked ashen, a heavy sheen of perspiration covered Steve's face.

"I'll live," Steve quickly answered Mike's worried unasked question before he turned and looked across the room at Lennon, eager to divert Mike's attention away from him. "So what are his demands?"

"He is demanding Rudy bring Grinstead here, if Rudy does, he will release some of the hostages." Mike started.

"So he can kill our main witness in the courtroom." Steve muttered as he leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes, fearful that he was about to lose his battle against his nausea.

"He says Grinstead is framing him." Mike continued, eyeing Steve closely as Steve's face grew more pale and the younger man swallowed hard, "He claims Grinstead is connected Hernandez. He wants Rudy to find the connection while we put Grinstead on trial."

Steve's eyes opened wide in surprise and he looked at Mike in disbelief before he looked across at Lennon who was talking quietly to his armed attorney. "He wants us to try Grinstead for his crimes?"

"And he plans for you, Buddy Boy, to be his star witness." Mike murmured as Lennon turned and stared at them.

"What if Grinstead or we refuse?" Steve asked as Lennon turned away again, wincing as another sharp stab of pain lanced through his side.

"He will start killing hostages, starting with Judge Eden."

xxxxx

Marco Grinstead stared in horror at the SFPD captain, who had sequestered him and the District Attorney in the small court house office after Lennon had taken over the courtroom, before he managed to stutter, "Lennon wants me to go in there?"

"That is what he is demanding," Rudy answered truthfully, unable to quite believe what he was actually asking this man to do. But the deadline was approaching fast and the SFPD captain had no doubts that if the demands Lennon's insane demand for Grinstead was not met, then a lot of innocent people including Steve and Mike were going to die, "If you don't, he is going to start killing hostages,"

"And if I do, what guarantee do I have that he isn't going to kill me?" The terrified man asked, looking first at Rudy before he turned and looked at the District Attorney.

"I'm afraid that we can't guarantee your safety nor are we going to force you to go into that room if you don't want to." The District Attorney answered as he placed his arms on the desk and leaned closer to the small balding man sitting opposite him. "The decision is up to you."

"Then my answer is no." Marco answered as he stood up abruptly, knocking the chair he had been sitting on over as he began to back away, "I'm sorry but I am not going into that room. If I do, I'm a dead man."

"And if you don't then Lennon has threatened to murder over twenty innocent people in there," Rudy told Grinstead quietly before reminding him. "Including the officer who almost lost his life trying to protect you."

"Do you really want that on your conscious?"

Grinstead stared at the two men for what seemed like hours. Sweat started beading on his forehead.

"I just don't think..."

"Look! My department and this city went to great lengths to protect you throughout this whole case, and this is the thanks we get? You didn't seem quite so reluctant when you gave up Lennon so easily!"

"That was different though..." Grinstead muttered.

"Really? How so? Because the way I see it, if what you were telling us was the truth, then this whole thing will be over with soon and you can walk away a free man. So, unless you're worried about something else..."

Grinstead closed his eyes and shook his head. "No, no. I know exactly what I saw. Lennon is guilty."

"Then shall we go?" Rudy asked.

Chapter 5

Leaning against the wall. Mike watched warily as Lennon paced the room, only stopping to glance up at the clock on the wall, before pacing again. The mobster was becoming more and more agitated as the minute hand slowly counted down the hour deadline for Grinstead to be handed over. The SFPD Homicide Lieutenant wasn't confident that the demands could or even would be met. The chances of Grinstead even agreeing to such a swap, if Rudy even asked him, was extremely slim.

"Where the Hell is Grinstead?" Lennon yelled, causing several of the hostages to jump in fear as he suddenly stopped pacing and turned towards them. "I told them an hour!" he growled as he crossed the room to where the judge was seated and placed the gun against the frightened man's head, his finger resting on the trigger.

"You gave them an hour to get him here. They probably had to persuade him to co-operate." Mike said softly, firmly squeezing Steve's arm in a silent order to remain where he was as he felt the younger man tense up beside him, acutely aware that the other three gunmen had their guns trained on the hostages, as he continued to talk softly to the agitated gunman. "They still have ten minutes. I am sure he will be here before the deadline is up."

"He better be!" Lennon warned, glancing at Mike before he returned his attention back to the judge, his finger tightening on the trigger threateningly, "Because if he isn't, there's going to be a lot of dead hostages, starting with the judge."

A soft timid knock at the door, caught everyone's attention. Reaching down, he roughly pulling the judge to his feet and forcing the elderly man to stand in front of him, as he held the gun to the judge's head and silently nodded to his attorney to open the door. Mike held his breath, aware that if the man at the door was not Grinstead, the judge and probably most of the hostages, including Steve and himself would be shot and there was not a thing he could do to prevent it. He heard the soft frightened whimper from the stenographer sitting next to Steve as the door slowly opened. He released the breath that he did not even realize he was holding as he saw Grinstead standing in the doorway. The man looked petrified as he held his hands up in the air and slowly entered the room.

"I…I'm here, Lennon." Grinstead stuttered, as he eyed the three armed men nervously, before returning his attention to the mob boss who held a gun to the judge's head. "Just like you ordered."

"Shut the door!" Lennon ordered, "And don't try to be a hero!"

Grinstead quickly shut the door behind him and turned back to his captor. "Show him to his throne," Lennon growled at one of the gunmen, who promptly shoved Grinstead toward the defendant's table at gunpoint.

Mike gulped as he pondered the consequences of his next move. It had to be done, but he knew Lennon would likely be less than pleased. Clearing his throat, he spoke up. "Okay, now that you have him, how about honoring your word and letting some of these people go?"

Lennon turned and glared at the lieutenant. "Excuse me?"

"You said if you got Mr. Grinstead, you'd release some hostages. He's here, so how about it? Trust me, if those guys outside don't see some people soon, your future will be much shorter."

He and Mike got into a stare down.

The rest of the room was deadly silent as the hostages awaited a decision. Suddenly, Lennon started counting people with the exception of the judge, Mike, and Steve. "You, you, you, and you, stand up," Lennon barked at four of the hostages, one of whom was the stenographer.

She stayed seated, suddenly gathering a lot of courage. "I'm staying here," she uttered meekly, scooting closer to Steve.

Lennon laughed. "Aww, that's cute. Keller's little girlfriend wants to stay with him." His tune quickly changed. "Stand up!"

"Look, if you want her gone, why don't you let Steve go with her? He needs medical attention," Mike added.

"Is that right?" Lennon replied, turning his attention to Mike. "Do I look like a sympathetic man, Lieutenant? Or maybe you think that after everything he's put me through, I owe him one." He laughed, turned and looked at his friends, and got them laughing with him. "What do you think, boys? Should I just let him waltz out of here even though he tried to get me hanged?" They all laughed some more until Lennon turned back to Steve and said, "No, he's a major part of my plan! He's the damn star of the show!"

"You still have me," Mike tried to plead, but he was quickly cut off.

"No! It was HIM! He's the one who tried to put the nail in my coffin! Sure, you had a hand in it, but no….no, Keller's gonna pay for his sins." His attention turned back to the stenographer, he pointed his gun at her and once again told her stand up. At the same time, Steve let out a wince as a shooting pain ripped through his abdomen.

She shook her head. "If you're making him stay…I'm staying with him"

Sweat once again forming on his brow and his breathing ragged from the pain, Steve looked at her and shook his head. "No, you go. I'll be fine."

"You will not be fine!" Mike insisted.

"Yes…yes I will. I'm staying. You go," he told the girl.

"Oh, Jesus Christ…fine! She can stay! Shit!" Lennon's patience was wearing thin. He turned and pointed his gun at another woman who had been a part of the jury. He barked at her to stand up, which she promptly did. Lennon told his attorney to gather the four and get them out of the courtroom. He then turned his attention back to the remaining hostages. "Now you all came here today to attend a trial and that's just what we are going to do, except it won't be me sitting in the defendant's chair but the real guilty party, Marko Grinstead." Nodding towards the various hostages, he announced, "We have a judge, the prosecuting Attorney," Tilting his head towards his own Attorney, he continued, "My own attorney and…" He turned and looked down at Steve, smiling coldly, "And our very own star witness," Turning his head to glare at Grinstead, "And of course our defendant and you…" he waved his gun at the hostages, "are going to be the jury."

"And you are going to be his executioner." Steve gasped in pain, clutching his side, as he looked up at Lennon with disdain.

Looking down at the ill Homicide inspector, Lennon's smile grew icier as he warned, "Careful Keller or you won't need medical assistance just for that pain in your gut."

Chapter 6

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, now that we know the rules, let's get to our places." He turned to the judge, who had a gun to his head. "You, back behind the bench. You resist, you die."

Reluctant, but not interested in making today his last on earth, the judge stood up and allowed the gunman to push him back behind his bench.

Lennon turned to the stenographer. "It's so sweet how you want to play nursemaid to Keller. It really is, but I need you more right now. Someone's got to make not of this trial."

"I'm not…" she began to protest.

Lennon cut her off with the point of a gun. "I said get back to your machine over there."

"Go, will you?" Steve said, waving his arm up indicating her wanted her to do what Lennon demanded.

She gave him an "are you sure?" look, and he simply nodded. With the gun on her the whole way, the stenographer made her way toward the front of the court and sat nervously behind her stenograph.

"Now for the illustrious jury! Get back to your box," Lennon growled, after which his gun-toting goons forced the twelve members of the jury to stand and retreat back to the jury box.

Once they were seated, Lennon turned to the remaining people. "As for the rest of you, I think you all will be perfectly comfortable right where you are. Ain't that right, Keller?" Knowing the man was in pain, he added a chuckle to the end of his sentence.

Steve only nodded and winced.

Looking around and seeing everyone in their places, Lennon put his gun in his waistband and began speaking. "And now, for your viewing pleasure, the trial. The trial in which I, Robert Lennon, will prove my innocence. I will prove that I was set up by one Marco Grinstead, who wants me out of the way. He planted evidence and framed me, and these two," he said, pointing toward Mike and Steve, "didn't even realize it. They were too busy trying to make a quick arrest to see that their evidence was faulty and their witnesses liars. They didn't run a proper investigation into Madeline Gallagher's death because they had their own agenda. They think I ordered the hit on Gabriel VanDeen and that Madeline somehow knew about it, so I killed her to keep her quiet."

As Lennon ranted on, Mike turned to Steve just in time to see him grab his side, lean over, and let out a small moan.

"Steve, are you alright?" he asked worriedly. "We have to find a way to get you out of here."

"No! No, all that will do is delay this mess, and I want this over with."

"But you can't…"

"I'm fine," Steve insisted, sitting back up. "Really, I'm fine. Let's just get this done. I'll be okay."

Sitting there looking at his pale, clammy partner, and hearing him utter the words, "I'm fine" repeatedly, Mike was reminded of the first time he had been in this situation. Suddenly, instead of seeing Steve, a courtroom, and a crazy man, he saw his living room and his wife.

Reaching for his fedora hat on the coat rake next to the door, Helen winced and grabbed her side.

"Are you alright?" Mike asked, pausing as he pulled his coat on, his brow crinkled with concern as he watched Helen closely.

"Of course I am, Silly," Helen laughed as she released her side and reached up to straighten his tie. "I just pulled a muscle the other day when I was playing with Jeannie at the park. I'm fine."

"Are you sure? I can ring my Lieutenant and tell him I will be in later." Mike told her.

"Mike Stone, don't you dare!" She scolded him as she smoothed his shirt with her hands and began to adjust his jacket, "We both know that this case is far too important for you to take more time off than you have to. Now go to work. I promise I am fine."

"Are you sure?" Mike asked again, concerned about how pale Helen had become or the way she was moving so stiffly, almost as if she was in pain.

"Of course I am, now go!" She scolded him again before raising herself up on her tippy-toes to kiss him lightly on the lips before she gave him a gentle shove towards the door, "Now go or else you are going to be late!"

"Now calling on the first witness for the prosecution, I call Lieutenant Michael Stone to the stand…"

Steve looked at his partner when Mike did not react. Grabbing Mike's arm, he shook it desperately, whispering anxiously "Mike!" as Lennon again ordered Mike to the witness stand.

Blinking in confusion as the memory of Helen faded away, Mike jumped as Lennon called his name and ordered him to the stand.

"Mike!"

He felt Steve's desperate shake of his arm and he turned and looked into his partner's anxious eyes. Patting Steve's hand, he nodded reassuringly, before he rose to his feet and walked slowly to the stand.

Xxxxxx

"So, Lennon claims Grinstead is framing him." Rudy mused quietly as he paced the small clerk's room, "And he wants us to correct what he claims is Mike's and Steve's mistake in their investigation."

"How are we going to do that?" Lee frowned as he watched his captain pace.

Rudy paused and turned back to the young inspector, "By going over all of Mike's and Steve's files and notes about the case, re-interviewing all the witnesses and re-investigating all the aspects of the case ourselves. Contact Haseejian, I want him to start re-interviewing the witnesses, tell him to get Grabowski to give him a hand. I want to know of any inconsistencies with their statements. Lennon claims that Grinstead is connected to his rival, Hernandez. Let's see if there is a connection between the two of them Lennon is claiming or not. Tell Tanner, I want all of Mike's and Steve's notes and files about the case, all the forensic reports plus everything we have on Grinstead and Hernandez and tell him not to waste any time getting them here, with Lennon's hair trigger temper and if Mike's suspicions about Steve are correct, the clock is ticking down to get the hostages out of there. Radio me when the files get here, I am going to check if SWAT has arrived yet and are in position." The SFPD Homicide captain ordered before he turned and headed towards the door.

"Yes Sir." Lee acknowledged the orders as he reached for the phone.

"What can I do?"

Pausing at the door, Rudy turned and looked back at Jeannie. He knew it would be futile to suggest to her that she should go home and wait, not when Mike and Steve were being still being held hostage. Glancing across at Lee who was busy reiterating his orders to his homicide inspectors still at the bull pen, he returned his attention to the scared heavily pregnant young women sitting in the chair, who was watching him, waiting for his answer. "I know this may sound a bit cliché, Jeannie, but we really need someone who can keep us supplied with a steady supply of coffee. I'm afraid it might be a long day."

Grateful that Rudy was not ordering her go home and wait as she had expected him to, not that she would have left even he had, and aware that the job of keeping up a steady supply of coffee was Rudy's sweet way of trying to keep her busy and out of their way, Jeannie gave him a small smile and nodded as Rudy turned and rushed out of the room.

Chapter 7

Sitting down on the chair in the stand, Mike looked around the courthouse at the frightened faces of the hostages who were positioned around the room before he returned his attention back to the man who was standing directly in front of him, waiting to start the mock trial.

Nodding to the nervous law clerk, Lennon tapped his foot impatiently as the Mike was sworn in. He barely gave the terrified clerk enough time to return to his position against the wall before he demanded Mike state his name and profession for the record.

Mike blinked in surprise at the formality that Lennon was trying to bring to his trial, casting a quick glance at his ill partner before he looked back at Lennon and cleared his throat. "Lieutenant Michael Stone, San Francisco P.D. Homicide."

The agitated mob boss nodded, seemingly pleased with his own appointed role of Prosecutor as he began, "On the twenty- third of February, at approximately 7 am you and your partner, Inspector Steven Keller were called to the alleyway behind the Gold Dust Lounge where the body of a young woman was found. Is that correct, Lieutenant Stone?"

Mike nodded. "That's correct."

"And would you like to tell this court what happened when you arrived at the crime scene?"

"We were met by a San Francisco police officer led us around the back of the bar to where the body of a young woman that was located in a dustbin. The victim appeared to have beaten and appeared to have had her throat cut. He handbag and other possessions appeared to be missing." Mike answered. "But we were able to identify her without any ID."

"And how did you manage to do that?"

"The victim was a prostitute who had several arrests and was well known to most of the officers on the scene. She was identified by several officers."

"So the victim was a well-known prostitute who was found beaten and with her throat slashed in a dustbin, and with her handbag missing." Lennon parroted as he turned and began to pace back and forth in front of the stand as he asked, "What did you do then?"

"I ordered the area be searched carefully for the missing handbag and the murder weapon, co-ordinated with the forensic lab guys and the coroner and began to canvass the area for potential witnesses who has seen the victim before she was killed." Mike frowned, uncertain of where the Mob boss was trying to go with his line of questioning.

"And was there any?"

"Any what?" Mike asked distractedly as he glanced in concern across at Steve whose face was pinched in pain as he suddenly clutched at his side again.

"Potential witnesses, Lieutenant Stone." Lennon sighed theatrically as he turned to look at what had Mike's attention before he turned back to Mike and growled, "You said you canvased the area for potential witnesses. Was… there…any?"

"Umm, yes," Mike answered as he forced his attention back to the man standing in front of him, "We located two witnesses who had seen the victim earlier in the night and who had seen her leave the bar just after 1 am with a man."

"And did they give you a description of the man she was seen leaving with?"

While Mike was being grilled on the stand, Steve sat on the floor, propped up against the wall. From the time Mike left his side, he had managed to keep the pain and nausea at bay, trying hard to concentrate on the so-called trial. But his luck was running out. Intermittently, stabbing pains shot out from his abdomen, sending waves queasiness with them. He tried taking deep breaths to keep the pain down, but he worried that he looked like he was in immediate need of the ER. That was the last thing he wanted. He just wanted to get this ridiculous trial over, get Lennon to jail where he belonged, and then he could worry about his health.

His body had other ideas. Out of nowhere, a pain sharper than any of the previous ones took a hold of his midsection and would not let go. Even an obstinate man like Steve Keller was finally brought to his knees. He grabbed his stomach and doubled over in anguish, letting out a bit of a scream at the same time.

Concerned, both the stenographer and Mike leapt out of their seats in an effort to help him. One of Lennon's men promptly pointed his gun at the stenographer, who reluctantly sat back down but never took her eyes off Steve. Mike was not as lucky.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?!" growled Lennon, attempting to get in Mike's way.

"He needs a doctor!" Mike barked back.

"And I want world peace. Can't get everything we want, now can we?" Lennon replied snidely. "Now sit back down!"

"Like hell I will!" Mike tried getting around Lennon, but the younger man was too quick. He soon found a gun pointed in his face.

"You must be deaf as well as stupid, cop. I said get back in the box!"

Mike didn't even bother with a comeback. He simply tried again to get around his barricade, and his efforts were met with a blow to the back by Lennon's gun. The lieutenant fell to his knees, the wind knocked out of him. Lennon motioned for his goons to get Mike to his feet and back to the stand. While being dragged, Mike kept an eye on his friend, who was sitting up, his arm still wrapped around his side.

"I'm okay, Mike," Steve mouthed, though he really didn't believe it himself at this point.

Mike still shot him concerned looks, so Steve again mouthed, "I'm fine. Get this over with."

Mike shook his head and attempted to regain his composure as he sat back down.

XXXXX

"I have two officers placed on the building across the street with their weapons trained on the courtroom window but as long as Lennon keeps the curtains drawn, we have no way to see into the room." The SWAT Captain told Rudy as he pointed to his two officers' positions on the street map he had laid out on the table. Pulling the blue print plans of the courthouse itself, he placed it on top of the map and smoothed it down. "I have one of my guys stationed here at the top of the stairs and two outside the courtroom door." He explained as he used the pencil to point to his SWAT team's locations, "I also have three of my guys in the courtroom with an adjoining door to the courtroom where the hostages are being held waiting for my command to move in." Looking up at the Homicide captain, the SWAT officer placed his pencil back down on the blueprint as he quietly admitted, "Lennon couldn't have chosen a more secure place to take hostages, Rudy, if we have to move in, I'm afraid it might end up in a bloodbath. There is no way I can promise that we will be able to protect the hostages from any crossfire."

"Let's hope it doesn't come down to that, Tom." Rudy sighed as he straightened up.

"Rumor is one of your guys in there is sick, in urgent need of medical attention." Tom said softly, glancing across the table at Rudy, as he started to roll up the blueprints and maps.

The Homicide captain nodded unhappily. "Steve Keller, Mike Stone's young partner, know him?"

Tom nodded.

"Mike thinks he has appendicitis."

Tom stopped rolling up blueprints and maps as he stared across the table at Rudy, "If Mike is right and his partner has appendicitis, the clock is ticking, Rudy, we're going to have need to wrap this up fast."

Running his hand over his thinning grey hair, Rudy sighed "I know, Tom, I know."

Chapter 8

Biting her bottom lip hard to stop her tears from falling, Jeannie placed the mugs she had found in the court's staff kitchen onto a tray before she picked up the teaspoons, cream and sugar and placed them on the tray next to the mugs. Picking up the pot of freshly brewed coffee, she carefully poured the hot liquid into the mugs before she picked up the heavy tray. She winced as she felt her stomach cramp. Quickly placing the tray back down onto the kitchen bench, she clutched her stomach with one hand as she grabbed the table with her other hand to stop herself from falling. "Please, not now! Not today! Please stay where you are until your granddad and Uncle Steve are safe!" she whispered as she stared down at her swollen midriff, releasing the breath she was holding in fear, as the pain faded as quickly as it came.

She waited in fear for pain to return for several minutes before she shook her head and laughed nervously when it did not as she silently chided herself that she had been warned experiencing about false labor contractions in the anti-natal classes she and Lee had attended. Scolding herself for thinking the worse, she turned and picked up the tray before she carried it back to the small room which had become Rudy's temporary headquarters.

XXXXXX

"So, Lieutenant Stone shall we continue from where we were before your testimony was interrupted?" Lennon smiled as he placed his hands behind his back and turned towards the frightened jury with a look of exaggerated patience on his face, before he turned back to Mike. "Before your partner attempted to railroad proceedings, you were telling us about the two witnesses who came forward after the young woman's body was found. You stated that they had seen the young woman leave the bar accompanied by a man."

"That's correct." Mike answered as he glanced worriedly across at Steve.

"And the description of this man I gather matched my description?" Lennon frowned as he turned back towards Mike in the witness stand.

"That's correct." Mike nodded as he forced himself to return his attention back on Lennon.

The mob boss nodded as he began to pace, "And I gather that one of these witnesses who saw the young woman leave the club with a man who fitted my description was able to identify the man he saw, is that correct?"

"That's correct." Mike answered again.

"And who did your witness identify as the man he saw leaving the club with the young woman?"

"He identified you."

"Me?" Lennon, his eyes wide with mock surprise, turned and looked at the jury before he returned his attention to Mike and demanded, "And just how did your witness know who I was?"

"He knew who you were because he is your lieutenant, Marco Grinstead."

Lennon laughed, "My lieutenant? What do you mean my lieutenant? I am not in the armed forces or a police officer like yourself, Lieutenant, so how could Marco Grinstead possibly be my lieutenant?"

While Lennon continued to grill Mike, Steve's attacks were coming with more frequency. Most were tolerable, but suddenly Steve had one he couldn't fake his way through. The entire courtroom stopped when he cried out in pain and called Mike's name.

Mike knew that if Steve was calling for him, the pain must be unbearable, so despite the fact that two men had guns aimed at his head, he stood up and attempted to make his way out of the stand. This attempt succeeded as well as the first. Both armed men got in Mike's way. A scuffle ensued, gaining Mike another lump on the head and an aching shoulder. He groaned almost as loud as his partner as the two men shoved him back in his seat.

Laughing as he approached his witness, Lennon got in Mike's face. "It's real sweet how much you care about that pig, but if you two ever want to get out of here alive, you'll sit here like a good little boy until I'm finished with you. Next time you get out of that seat without permission, he dies...a little earlier anyway." Finding what he said comical, Lennon snickered and grinned evilly before backing away and continuing with his circus.

Mike shot desperate looks at the young man, but he was doubled over, his breathing erratic. Several members of the jury also had their eyes on him, but like Mike, their hands were tied. Thinking as hard as he could for a way to get himself, the others in the room, and most importantly Steve, out of the mess, Mike came up with nothing that he didn't figure would result in someone at least getting hurt. He stared at Steve while saying a prayer that something happened and quickly. As long as Mike had life in him, this was not going to turn out the way it did with Helen...his sweet, wonderful Helen...

Lennon continued to rattle on, but Mike stopped listening. He wasn't even in Lennon's presence anymore. In reality, he was still in the courtroom, being grilled by a criminal, but his mind was at home. He was at home, sitting on his bed, watching his wife double over in agony.

"Sweetheart, are you sure you're alright?" Mike asked, concern evident in his voice. He was sitting on the end of his bed undoing the knot in his tie.

"Yes, I am perfectly fine. I'm sure it's just something I ate, that's all. You worry too much," Helen answered while clenching her jaw.

"I will never stop worrying too much about you," Mike insisted. "Besides, you look pale, and it's obvious you're in more pain that just 'it's something I ate.' I think I should take you to the hospital."

"Oh, that's not necessary," she said, after which she gasped for breath as another sharp pain ripped through her abdomen. She grabbed her side and winced.

"It's not, huh? Darling, you've felt bad since this morning. Be honest...it's gotten worse, hasn't it?"

Helen was still for a moment but knew if she wasn't completely honest with her husband, he would be disappointed. She also knew he would find out anyway. "It has," she answered sadly.

"Then that's it. I'm taking you to the hospital. No argument." He stood up and started walking out the bedroom door to grab his and her coats.

"But what about Jeannie? She's not home yet. We should wait for her to come back from her friend's…"

"I'll call them and let them know what's going on. I'll swing by and pick her up after we get you settled."

But she never got settled...she never came home. He had no intention of allowing this to happen again. Once was too much.

"Lieutenant!" Lennon screamed, which snapped Mike out of his trance. "You haven't heard a damn word I just said, did you?"

Mike tried stammering a response but was quickly cut off by the angry mob boss who started a tirade toward not only Mike but at the jury as well. This went on for what seemed like hours to Steve, who felt like he was literally on fire. It hurt too much to sit up, so he couldn't even look at Mike, who was trying to pay attention to Lennon and Steve at the same time.

Once Lennon decided he had said enough, he took a deep breath, paced around for a bit, and then proceeded to begin his line of questioning again. This time though, he was cut off by one of his men.

"Uh, someone's missing," the man croaked.

Lennon angrily turned his attention to the man who had been standing over by the jury box. "Excuse me?" Lennon growled.

"Uh...I think someone is missing. There was a lady sitting over there by that window. There in the corner. She's gone."

Lennon whipped his head around in the direction of the possible escape. "Are you sure someone was there?"

"Yeah, positive," the guy answered.

Lennon plodded over to where the missing woman had been and stared down the other people sitting there. Several huddled together in fear. "Where did she go?" he asked in a low tone.

Everyone stared at him and said nothing, so he pointed a gun at an older man. "Lemme ask again. Where did she go?"

Not wanting to die in front of his wife, and man swallowed hard and simply said, "Out the door."

Putting down the gun, Lennon turned back to his men and demanded, "Find her."

XXXXXX

Accepting the mug of hot coffee from Jeannie as he re-entered the temporary command room, Rudy thanked her politely as Bill Tanner entered the room carrying several manila folders.

"I have Mike and Steve's notes, their case file, and the forensic and Medical Examiner's reports, Captain." The homicide Inspector told his captain as he crossed the room and placed the files onto the table before turning back to face Rudy to continue his report, nodding his thanks distractedly to Jeannie as she handed him a mug of coffee, "Lee is collecting all the information he can get on Grinstead and Hernandez. If there is any connection between the two of them, we will find it."

"What about the witnesses?" Rudy asked.

"Norm and Grabowski are re-interviewing them now but one of the witnesses," Bill paused as he pulled out his notebook and flicked it open, glancing at a notation he had written there earlier, "Charles Roberts, seems to have disappeared. His wife claims he went out to buy a packet of cigarettes last night and never came home. We have an APB out on him."

"Possible hit?" Rudy frowned.

Bill nodded, "Norm said the wife seemed pretty scared and he had the feeling she wasn't telling him everything she knew about her husband's sudden disappearance. Word on the street is he was planning to change his testimony and that a price had been put on his head."

"Who by? Lennon?"

Bill shrugged as he watched Lee enter the room before he looked back at Rudy and sighed. "My snitches have all clammed up tight. They're more scared of whoever ordered the hit than of us."

Placing the two manila files he was holding onto the pile already on the desk, Lee looked up at his captain and sighed, "I have everything I could get on both Grinstead and Hernandez, the only connection between the two that I can find so far is Lennon, himself."

"Lennon?"

Lee nodded, giving his wife a small distracted 'thank you' smile as she handed him a mug of coffee, as he opened the file with Grinstead's photo paper-clipped on the front cover and covered the information about Grinstead that they already knew. "Marco Grinstead was Lennon's right hand man, word on the street is he was the prince waiting in the shadows to step into Lennon's position and carry out Lennon's orders if Lennon's convicted and goes to jail. His loyalty laid completely with Lennon until Lennon started to murder anyone he considered to be a threat against him, including Summer Wilson. Rumor currently doing the rounds is when Lennon's killed his best earning working girl because he thought that she could finger him in the Ranson murder, Grinstead was afraid he could be next on the list, so he decided to make a deal with the D.A and give State's evidence against Lennon in the Wilson trial in exchange for protection." Opening the second folder which had a younger man's photograph attached to it, Lee continued, "Santiago Hernandez, one time hit man for the Mexican cartel, now a wanna-be mob boss who is eyeing taking over Lennon's top spot. He has been a thorn in Lennon's side since arriving on the scene about twelve months ago, undercutting Lennon's drug deals, threatening Lennon's working girls if they don't stop working for Lennon and start working for him and just basically muscling in on Lennon's turf. There seems to be no lost between the two, with murmurs that both are responsible for several disappearances of each other's supporters during the last year but nothing that has been able to be proved. I couldn't find any evidence that they knew each other or their paths had ever crossed, but I will keep looking." Lee told his captain as the radio Rudy had tucked in his jacket crackled to life.

"Captain Olsen, please come in."

Pulling the radio free from his pocket, Rudy pressed the transmitter as he answered, "Olsen here."

"Captain Olsen, this is officer Tate, I'm in the room adjacent to the hostage courtroom. We have a hostage here who has just managed to escape from the courtroom."

Bill and Lee looked up at their captain in surprise as Rudy hit the transmitter button again. "We're on our way!" he told the officer as he turned and headed towards the door with Lee and Bill following him.

Lee paused when he reached the door as he realized Jeannie had stood up to join them. Turning back to his pregnant wife, he gently ordered, "No Jeannie, I want you to stay here."

"Lee…" Jeannie started to protest.

"Jeannie, please! I don't have time to debate this with you." Lee told her firmly.

Biting her bottom lip, Jeannie nodded, "Please, let me know what is happening when you can."

"Of course I will, sweetheart." Lee murmured gently as he grabbed her hand and gave it a light squeeze before he turned and hurried to catch up with Bill and his captain.

Chapter 9

As the trio arrived to the room where the terrified hostage had been ushered to, they saw a woman sitting on one of the chairs, flanked by several uniformed officers, and smoking a cigarette nervously.

"That must be her," Lee said. "I wonder who she is."

"Who cares, as long as she gives us something we can use," Rudy growled as he entered the room. Lee and Bill followed suit, walking behind their boss as he approached the young woman, who was wearing a short skirt and a blouse that was a size too small.

"Ma'am, I'm Captain Olsen and these are Inspectors Lessing and Tanner," Rudy explained to the woman who gave them all a nervous stare. "We'd like to talk with you about your escape."

"Are you going to get that lunatic in jail where he belongs? You know what he's doing in there?! He's putting on his own trial! He put those two cop buddies of yours on trial and he's the lawyer!"

"Yes, Ma'am. And you are…"

"Summer Wilson's sister. You know, the woman he killed? He murdered my sister, yet he's allowed to grandstand in there like he owns the place. Swears he's innocent. Innocent my ass."

"Miss Wilson, we're doing everything we can to get this situation ended," Bill interjected. "You could help us a lot with that."

"How?"

"Well, for starters, you can tell us how many people are in there, how many people does Lennon have…"

"Um...there's about, I dunno...20 people maybe, not including the jury? We were all sitting along the wall."

"Which wall?" Rudy interrupted.

"The one by the door into the courtroom. That's why I was able to get out. We were all in the back and the guys in the front really couldn't see us sitting there behind the benches. That one cop...the young one?"

"Keller?" Lee asked.

"Yeah, I think that's what Lennon called him. Anyway, he's really sick you know. People think it's appendicitis. So the other guy is on the stand…"

"What other guy?" Rudy asked.

"The other cop. The older one. Stone, is it?"

The three men nodded.

"Yeah, Lennon put him on the stand and is grilling him and Keller has an attack. Stone tries to get up and help him and Lennon freaks. There's all this commotion and I notice the guys with the guns aren't paying any attention."

"How many are there?" Bill asked.

"Two out by us. Lennon has a gun of course, and I think his lawyer does too. But they were all focused and what was going on up front, so I take a chance. I was close to the door. All I had to do was slide over a couple feet, open the door a crack, and slide out. I never even stood up. The people around me kept telling me it was too risky, but someone had to try, ya know? That lunatic isn't gonna just let people waltz out once his dog and pony show is over. He's a murderer!"

Rudy asked her again for clarification of where all the people in the room were. Once she'd helped him lay that all out, Lee asked her how Steve was.

"I dunno, bad. I'm no doctor, but my guess is he needs to get out of there. Lennon's not gonna let him go though, not 'til he puts him on the stand. You guys'll have to get to him first."

The three cops looked at each other with trepidation. They all had a feeling this was going to get worse before it got better.

XXXXX

Steve was curled up on his side on the floor, his flushed, damp face pressed against the cold tiled floor as he wrapped his arms tightly around his stomach and drew his knees up to his chest in a desperate attempt to stop the almost constant waves of agony the tore through his midriff. The voices around him had become just muffled background noise as he moaned in pain. He should have taken Mike's advice this morning and just gone home. The whimsical thought was forgotten as quickly as it had popped in his mind as another fiery white bolt of pain lanced through his side. Groaning, he closed his eyes and swallowed hard as he felt the hot bile rise in the back of his throat. "Please God, don't let me vomit." He prayed, afraid of the pain it would cause.

XXXXXX

Sitting in the witness stand, Mike held his breath as Lennon held the gun to the old man's head and demanded to know where the missing woman had gone. He knew that in the next few minutes, depending on the man's answer, that things could take a deadly turn for the worse.

"Lemme ask again. Where did she go?" Lennon demand, his finger tightening on the trigger.

"Out the door." The old man whispered as Mike watched him look down into his lap, unable to look at anyone else in the room.

Mike released the breath he was holding as Lennon lowered his gun before he turned back to his men and demanded, "Find her." Sneaking a quick glance in Steve's direction, his heart sunk. Steve's condition was deteriorating and deteriorating fast.

"Robert, she went out of the door, let her go."

Lennon spun around to glare at his attorney as the younger man grabbed his arm.

"She's escaped and by now she is probably telling the police everything that is going on in here." He told the agitated man softly, "Forget about her, we still have the rest of the hostages."

Looking back at the door, Lennon took a deep breath to calm himself and nodded as his attorney waved the gunman back and placed his hand on Lennon's back before leading him back towards the witness stand.

Glancing across at Steve as they passed by him, the attorney looked back at Lennon's and suggested softly. "You know, Robert, we don't even need the sick cop, not when we have his partner. We could send him out a gesture of good will to motivate the cops out there to co-operate with us."

"Keller stays!" Lennon's growled as he stopped and turned towards the younger man as he lifted his gun threateningly towards him. "He's not going anywhere until this trial ends! He's one of the reasons why I am here. Him, Grinstead and Hernandez! I wouldn't be surprised if he was in on the set-up and if he helped Grinstead and Hernandez frame me."

Lifting his hands as he cast another quick, worried glance towards the ill Homicide inspector who was curled up on the floor shivering, the attorney forced a small smile as he agreed, "Okay Robert, the cop stays, now why don't we get on with this trial."

Chapter 10

Clutching his midriff tighter as the waves of agony intensified, Steve was unable to stop his tears from falling he pressed his hot face against the cold tiles and gagged as he lost his battle against the nausea and began to vomit. The waves of agony washed over him like a tsunami and robbing him of his breath as his stomach emptied itself of its meager contents.

"Steve!" Unaware that he had shouted his partner's name as he saw Steve begin to vomit, Mike rose from the witness chair and ran to where Steve was slumped against the wall, ignoring Lennon's shouts and curses as he shouldered past the angry man. Reaching Steve, he dropped heavily to his knees and grabbed Steve by the shoulders, lifting him up of the floor, gently holding and supporting him as Steve continued to vomit.

"Get away from him!" Lennon screamed, roughly grabbing Mike's shoulder as he tried to pull him away.

"Go to Hell!" Mike growled as he shrugged loose of the enraged Mob boss's hold, as he continued to hold Steve, his heart thumping painfully in his chest with fear with each of Steve's dry retches.

"I said get away from him!" Lennon yelled as he pressed the gun he held against the back of Mike's head.

"And I told you to go to Hell!" Mike answered hotly, turning and hitting the gun away as he looked defiantly up at Lennon before he returned his attention back to Steve.

Steve was barely aware of the shouts and the sudden commotion that surround him as he felt a pair of large gentle hands grab him and lift him up out of the mess, holding and supporting him, as he continued to dry retch long after his stomach was empty.

"It's okay, Steve, I've got you."

Mike's soft comforting voice cut through the pain and the nausea as the vomiting finally began to subside, leaving him feeling lightheaded and breathless as he slumped back against the solid support of his partner. "Mike…"

"I'm going to get you out of here, Buddy Boy, I promise."

Looking up into Mike's worried face, Steve licked his dry lips and shook his head, "Told you it had to be something I ate," he mumbled as his eyes slowly drifted closed, "Doesn't hurt anymore…"

XXXXXX

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her father was being forced to not only recount everything about the case that he already had, but he apparently also had to sit and watch this partner suffer through appendicitis...the same thing he'd had to watch with the love of his life years earlier. Jeannie couldn't - and didn't want to - imagine how he felt in that courtroom.

The longer she stood by the door and listened in on the conversation her husband and his co-workers were having with the witness, the sicker and angrier she felt. How dare this man put so many lives in danger for such a ridiculous purpose. She began imaging life without her father, the only parent she had left. The thought was unbearable, especially with his first grandchild due any day. He was going to be an excellent grandfather, just like he was an excellent father. Then there was Steve, who had not only been a wonderful friend to Mike but to her as well. To have him die like her mother did...without her getting to say goodbye...just like she didn't get to say goodbye to Helen…

Against her better judgment, and before anyone came out of the room and saw her, Jeannie waddled off toward the courtroom. Something needed to be done, and if the police weren't going to do it, she was.

When she got as close as she could get, she noticed that several police officers, both in and out of uniform, were surrounding the door. They were also surrounding several feet around the room. There was no way for Jeannie to get anywhere close. Initially discouraged, she pouted and stomped off toward the stairs, but as she thought, she realized there might be a better way anyway.

She had been in this courthouse a hundred times due to the fact that her father had been in law enforcement her entire life. Often throughout her childhood, Mike had taken her on little tours of the building where she had also been introduced to different court personnel, including Judge Rainer. This allowed her to be in and out of places within the building where the general public were rarely allowed. Also, while in high school, Jeannie had been a member of the mock trial team and visited the courthouse during tournaments. This gave her additional access and knowledge of the building, including the fact that several of the courtrooms were connected in the middle by back hallways.

Taking this knowledge, Jeannie headed off toward one of the farther courtrooms in the hopes that it was empty. Getting lucky, she found one that was, so she headed inside and toward the back of the room. Finding luck again, the door to the back hallway was unlocked, she headed into the corridor and made her way to where she thought the courtroom where Lennon's trial was being held, was located. Twice she struck out, but eventually she found the door she wanted. It was obvious considering she could hear shouts and commotion through the door. To Jeannie, it sounded like something major was happening, so she figured it was something akin to what the hostage said she snuck out during. If that woman could sneak out during chaos, Jeannie could sneak in. She took a deep breath, put her hand on the knob, and turned it slowly, opening the door a slight crack.

To her chagrin, one of Lennon's men was standing right by the door, gun in hand, which was now pointed at her head. He swung the door open fully and demanded to know who she was.

All noise and movement ceased as everyone watched and waited for the heavily-pregnant woman to speak. As she held her hands up and quickly surveyed the room, Jeannie uttered the first, and craziest, thing she could think of. "I'm...I'm Steve Keller's wife...and I'm in labor."

Chapter 11

Hearing a sound outside the door leading out to the back corridor, Officer O'Neil silently lifted his hand to gain his sergeant's attention and pointed towards the door leading to the back corridor before pointing back to himself. The SWAT Sergeant nodded his agreement for the officer to check who was wandering around as Lennon's agitated shouts from the courtroom next door echoed through the room. Moving to the door, O'Neil quietly opened it and carefully glanced outside, just in time to see a very heavily pregnant Jeannie Stone cautiously open the rear door to the courtroom next door.

"What the hell?" he growled softly as he quickly stepped outside and headed towards Stone's daughter but before he could reach her, the door swung fully open and she lifted her hands up in surrender as she stepped inside and the door slammed shut.

"Damn! Crazy broad! You're going to get someone killed!" he muttered angrily as he turned and hurried back inside the courtroom where his sergeant and the some of the SWAT team were preparing to storm the courtroom. "Sarge, we have a new complication." He told his sergeant softly.

XXXXXXX

Looking up in surprise, Mike could not believe his eyes as Jeannie stepped into the room, her hands raised in surrender as one of the gunman held his gun at her head and demanded. "Who are you?"

Mike was uncertain who was more surprised, himself or Lennon, as Jeannie slowly looked around the room as she answered, "I'm...I'm Steve Keller's wife...and I'm in labor."

"Keller's wife?" Lennon spluttered as he stared at the young woman standing in front of him clutching her very swollen tummy.

Jeannie nodded as she tried to avoid looking at Mike who was holding Steve in his arms as she drew a deep breath and looked back at Lennon and said softly, "Please I…I think I'm in labor, I just want my husband."

Lennon blinked, "You just want your husband?"

Jeannie nodded again, "He … he promised me that he would be by my side when our baby was born. And…and its time."

"How did you get in here?" Lennon growled suspiciously as he eyed the door before looking back at Jeannie.

Mike held his breath, as he carefully began to ease Steve back down onto the ground, in preparation of attacking Lennon if he threatened Jeannie in any way.

Jeannie shrugged, innocently, "No one seemed to notice I was even here, so I decided to come up the back way. I don't even think anyone even realizes I'm in here, but please I just want to be with Steve, even if that means having the baby here."

"This better not be some sort of a trick because if it is, your husband will be the first to die followed by you and your unborn brat!" Lennon warned, aiming his gun at Steve in an unspoken threat as he kept his eyes on Jeannie and commanded, "If you want to be with your loving husband so much, get over next to him and sit down!"

Jeannie smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Sir." she whispered as she turned and slowly walked to where Mike was seated cradling Steve on his lap.

Jeannie sat down slowly and heavily next to Mike, aware of the anger in her father's eyes as he watched her ease herself down. As she sat down, she did so with a groan.

"You okay?" Mike asked softly as he tried to study his daughter.

Jeannie nodded, "I'm fine, Mike, it's you and Steve I am worried about." Looking down at Steve, she asked softly, "How is he?"

"Shut up!" one of the bad guys shouted.

Jeannie quickly closed her mouth and looked down at her stomach, rubbing it nervously as she watched Lennon walk across and talk to the attorney, who glanced across at her and shrugged.

Moments later, Mike whispered in her ear, making her jump, "What the hell were you thinking!?"

Jeannie scowled as she looked down at him. "Now, don't you start. I'll get it enough from Lee when he finds out. What I was trying to do was get you and Steve out of here! The way…"

She quickly stopped as a man with a gun turned her direction and glared. Once he was satisfied with her silence, he turned around and she continued. "The way the woman who escaped made it sound, Steve's in here about to die. I was not about to let that happen!"

"You shouldn't have…"

"Enough with the chitchat!" Lennon demanded as he turned and walked back towards them. Looking at Jeannie he nodded at Steve, "Okay, Keller's wife, or whoever you claim to be, you want to be with your husband, be with him." He commanded as he grabbed Mike's arm and began to pull him roughly to his feet, "And you cop, get back on the stand."

Quickly but gently maneuvering Steve onto Jeannie's lap, Mike slowly climbed to his feet and slowly crossed the room back to the witness stand and sat down.

Looking down at her friend, Jeannie noticed that his complexion was a mix of white, green, and blue, and he was sweating but cold to the touch. It killed her to not only see him like this, but to be forced to sit and let him die. Looking back up at Lennon and her father, she realized too late that she had no idea just how to get them out of here.

Her heart rose up in her throat as she looked back down at Steve. If he died the same way her mother did, it would haunt her forever. Grabbing him by the shoulders, she gently moved him until his head was more comfortably settled in her lap, or at least what was left of it. She then started stroking his head.

She groaned again as her baby kicked her square in the ribs.

She jumped in surprise as she heard Steve softly ask, "You're not really in labor, are you?"

"No... I don't think so? I mean, I think it's just stress." She paused as she gently brushed a strand of hair from his damp forehead before adding, "Would it be so bad if I was? I don't know...I thought maybe it could get us out of here."

"Normal people, maybe, but this psycho? Fat chance," Steve murmured as he struggled to keep his eyes open. "He's not exactly sympathetic."

Just then, something more than a kick in the ribs hit Jeannie. "Uh...maybe I was wrong?" Jeannie quietly muttered, gritting her teeth as her stomach cramped.

Steve didn't answer – his eyes had closed as his head gently rolled to the side.

Chapter 12

Stepping aside to allow the young officer and the woman who had managed to escape from the courtroom pass, Tom Hawkins forced himself to wait until they were both out of possible earshot before he barged into the room and glared at the young Homicide Inspector who was jotting down notes in his notepad. "Just what the Hell does your wife think she is doing, Lessing?" The furious SWAT captain growled as he crossed the room to where Lee was standing, "Does she want to get everyone in that courtroom, including herself and the baby she is carrying, killed? Cause she is going the right way about it!"

"Whoa Tom, what's this all about?" Rudy asked, stepping between the enraged SWAT captain and his confused Homicide Inspector.

"What's this about?" Tom yelled, his face turning red with rage as he pointed his finger accusingly at Lee, "His wife, Stone's heavily pregnant daughter, was just seen sneaking into the courtroom where her father and twenty other people, including Stone's own seriously ill partner is being held hostage by a deranged killer, that's what this is all about!" Stepping around Rudy, the SWAT captain stepped closer to Lee as he demanded again, "Just what the Hell does your wife think she is doing?"

"Jeannie's snuck into the courtroom?" Lee asked as he glanced at Rudy in confusion before he looked back at Hawkings, still unable to believe what the SWAT captain was telling him, "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure!" Hawkings snarled, "One of my men heard a sound in the back corridor and when he went to investigate who was wondering around, he saw your damn wife sneaking into the courtroom through the back door."

"Why didn't he stop her?" Rudy demanded.

"Because by the time my man got out into the corridor and spotted her, it was too damn late!"

"I'm going to kill her!" Lee murmured, rubbing his hand through his hair as his shock turned to anger, "I should have known she would do something stupid when she knew Mike and Steve were in any danger! I should have sent her straight home!" Looking at Rudy, his shoulders slumped as his anger morphed into fear and worry, "If anything happens to her or the baby… "

"You didn't know?" Tom frowned.

"Do you think I would have let her do something as stupid as this, if I had have known?" Lee snapped before he sighed and added more softly, "No, I didn't know, I told her to stay downstairs in the command room where I thought she was safe."

Placing his hand on Lee's shoulder, Tom sighed as his own anger melted away as he saw the fear in Lee's eyes and a wave of sympathy for the younger man washed over him. "Wives, can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em, especially when they have strong minds of their own. My wife is the same, does what she thinks is the right thing to do and pity any man who gets in her way, including me. Plus, Jeannie is Stone's daughter, and if she is anything like her father, I'm sure when she gets an idea in her head, she can be as stubborn as a mule." Squeezing Lee's shoulder, he promised, "We'll do our best to get her out of there."

Lee nodded woodenly.

Rudy asked Lee, "Do you want to go back to the station and wait?"

"No, I would rather work on getting Jeannie, Mike, Steve and the hostages out." Lee answered.

Rudy nodded before he turned and walked across to the table near the wall and placed down the piece of paper where he had drawn a diagram of the courtroom and where the escaped hostage had indicated the hostages and the gunman were in the room. Lee and Hawking's joined him as he pointed at the diagram and began, "We know the most of the hostages are lined up against this wall…"

Xxxxx

Sitting back down on the seat of the witness stand, Mike turned and looked at Steve and his daughter as Jeannie shifted uncomfortably, before she gently grabbed Steve by the shoulders and maneuvered him carefully until his head was resting in her lap. Mike swallowed hard as stared at Steve's damp and pale face as he heard Steve's ominous words in echo in his head. 'Told you it had to be something I ate, doesn't hurt anymore…'

Mike swallowed hard as he remembered Helen's sweet voice repeating almost those exact words…

"Sweetheart, how're you feeling?" Mike asked, walking into the ER after a doctor had come into the waiting room to tell him he could see his wife.

"Absolutely fine. I told you it was nothing! Just some indigestion or something I ate sitting the wrong way. Now I feel silly coming here, spending all this money."

"There is nothing silly about your health!" Mike said, sitting down next to his wife's bed. "I don't care if it was just a papercut. We had to make sure it was nothing."

Helen smiled. As silly as she thought it was for Mike to take something like gas seriously, she still was grateful for his worrying. Many other women weren't as lucky. Placing her hand gently on his, she said, "You're right. Better safe than sorry. Where's Jeannie? Did you go get her?"

Shaking his head, Mike answered, "No. I decided to leave her in school. No use worrying her, especially now that it was nothing. Did they say when you might be released?"

"They want to keep me here for another hour or two, just to make sure no symptoms come back. If they do, they can give me something a bit more powerful that what we have at home."

"That's a good idea. Why don't you rest awhile then?" Looking at his watch, he noticed it was getting close to the time Jeannie would be getting out of school. "Perhaps I should run home and get Jeannie. She'll wonder why you're not home."

Helen closed her eyes. "That's a good idea, darling."

"Should I tell her where you are, or should I tell her you're out visiting a friend…"

Reopening her eyes, she looked out the side at her husband. "Michael, don't you dare lie to our daughter. She's a smart girl and she'll see right through you anyway. Besides, she isn't a baby anymore. She can handle this. When she gets home, tell her the truth and then bring her here. We'll all go home together."

Mike grinned. Helen was never shy to tell him what he needed to hear, even if it wasn't what he wanted to hear. Standing up, he asked, "You're sure you'll be alright alone?"

"Absolutely. I think I'll just close my eyes for a little bit until you get back. This whole excursion has me a little worn out."

"That's a good idea. You rest and Jeannie and I will be right back." He leaned over and kissed her on the lips as she slowly drifted to sleep.

"Now Lieutenant Stone, shall we continue where you left off?" Lennon asked as he walked towards the jurors with his hands clasped firmly behind his back, "Now let me see, where were we? Ahh that's right," Lennon smiled as he turned around and walked back to the witness stand and hit the wooden rail in front of Mike, causing the older man to jump a little and look back at his tormentor, "we were talking about your witness, Marco Grinstead, whom you claim was my lieutenant, had identified me as the man who left the nightclub that night with the victim."

"Marco Grinstead was your lieutenant," Mike stated firmly.

"Ahh yes, so you claim." Lennon said softly, as he turned and glowered across at the man sitting at the defendant's table as he continued to speak, "And just how did this so called witness, Mr Grinstead manage to see me escort the young woman out of the nightclub when I was not even in the city on the night in question, in fact I was in Los Angeles?"

"We checked your alibi that you were in Los Angeles the night of the murder but found no witnesses or any evidence to confirm it." Mike answered, glancing past Lennon at Jeannie and Steve.

"Did you check my alibi or did Inspector Keller?" Lennon asked before waving his hand theatrically and adding. "No don't answer that, not yet." He paused a moment as he stared at Grinstead before he continued more softly. "Nor could you find anything that proved that I was in fact in San Francisco on the night of the murder either, other than a false eyewitness statement from Mr Grinstead who claims he saw me the night of the murder escorting the young woman from the nightclub." Lennon stated as he turned his back to Grinstead and walked back towards the juror's box. "Even the second witness who saw the young woman leave the nightclub with a man was unable to positively identify me as being that man, could he, Lieutenant Stone? In fact, his description of the man he saw leave the nightclub that night with the victim did not look like me at all, did it?"

"No, it did not." Mike answered distractedly as he stared at Steve's pinched and ashen face.

"You heard him, ladies and gentleman," Lennon grinned as he turned and walked back to the jury box, "The second eye witness's description given to the police did not look like me at all. And why was that? Because the man seen leaving the nightclub that night with the victim was not…"

Lennon's gleeful spiel to the jury how the man seen by the second witness wasn't him faded in Mike's ears as Steve moaned softly and began to shiver. His heart began to beat painfully in his chest and he felt his breath catch in his throat as Helen slammed back into his memory.

Mike stepped through the front doors holding his 8-year-old daughter's hand. The whole time he had been holding her hand, he felt it getting more moist by the second. She appeared to not be too nervous, and she said she understood that everything was fine, but Mike could tell that that was not the case. He hoped that once she saw her mother's smiling face, she would be calm.

Walking through the emergency room, he thought it seemed awfully crowded. There were nurses running frantically and a couple shaking their heads in disbelief. He swore he heard one mutter, "That wasn't supposed to happen." Obviously there had been some kind of emergency, but the closer he got to Helen's bed, the more congested it seemed. He swallowed hard, a huge lump of fear forming in his throat.

"Daddy, you're hurting my hand," Jeannie whined as Mike's fear caused him to grip Jeannie's hand a little too tight.

"Oh, sorry, sweetheart. Um, why don't you stand here by the wall for a second? I'm going to check and make sure your mother's awake first. Can you do that for me?"

Jeannie slowly nodded but never took her eyes off her father. She could sense something was wrong.

Mike hesitantly stepped closer to the curtained off bed where Helen lay. There was definitely some commotion behind it, but Mike couldn't tell what anyone was saying. The fear of what he might find had made him deaf. Perhaps it's someone else. They could have decided to move Helen to a room while we were gone. Or maybe she's already checked out and looking for us. That's it. Whatever is going on back there is for someone else.

He put a firm grip on the curtain and pushed it ever so slightly to the left. He saw two doctors and three nurses standing around the bed. At the same time, one of the doctors looked up at his colleagues and asked for objections. No one said a word, so he glanced at the wall and declared the time of death to be 3:27 pm. That's when Mike noticed that he had been wrong about it being someone else who had just died. His beloved Helen was laying on the bed, her eyes closed, her arms laying perfectly still at her sides, her skin pinched and ashen. Everyone in the room turned and froze when they saw him. He stared at his wife.

"Mr. Stone...I...uh…I'm so...so sorry," one doctor stammered.

Looking up at the doctor momentarily, he asked what happened without saying a word.

"It was her appendix. It had ruptured, probably before she even got to the E.R. It all happened so fast. We tried to save her, but she went into shock and the sepsis was more than she could tolerate. I am very, very sorry. It was just a stomach ache…"

Chapter 13

Mike swallowed hard as Helen's motionless body, the Emergency room and the doctors staring sympathetically at him shimmered and faded away and he found himself staring at Jeannie's frightened face as she looked up at him before looking down at Steve.

The icy tentacles of fear wrapped around his heart and robbed him of his breath as his attention was drawn to his partner. Steve was drenched in sweat and he was shivering violently as he opened his eyes and softly asked Jeannie for some water. Mike watched as Jeannie glanced up at Lennon before returning her attention to the man lying on her lap and slowly shake her head as she stroked Steve's damp hair and murmured something to him.

"Lieutenant Stone, how many times do I need to repeat the question?" Lennon demanded in frustration as he glared at Mike in the witness stand before he turned and stared at the man who held Stone's attention. With a deep hate filled growl, Lennon suddenly turned and stalked towards Jeannie and Steve as the ominous deadly click of his rifle being cocked echoed through the silent room.

"Lennon! He's not worth it!" his attorney quickly shouted to try and stop what he knew would turn into a bloodbath.

"You stay out of this!" Lennon barked as he continued toward Steve and Jeannie. "I'm sick of this pig interrupting my case! He's half the reason I'm in this mess anyway! He deserves it."

Jeannie tried her hardest not to start crying and make noise, but her fear was too great. "Please don't do this," she whimpered.

"Too late, sweet thing. But your death will be on your daddy's mind for the rest of his life. That makes me feel better." He cackled evilly and pointed the barrel of the gun right at Steve's head, which unfortunately was adjacent to Jeannie's unborn baby.

Mike, pushed to his limit with this travesty of a trial, threw caution to the wind and bolted up, hurdled the witness box, and rushed toward Lennon like a crazed bull.

Jeannie screamed in terror and clenched her eyes closed tightly, as she leaned forward and tried to shield both her pregnant belly and Steve with the top half of her body as Mike tackle Lennon, knocking the gun upwards as the two men fell to the ground. A deafening gunshot reverberated around the room as the room erupted into terrified yells and frightened screams of the other hostages as Mike and Lennon began to fight for the gun.

XXXXX

"Captain Hawkings, somethings happening in the court room." the young officer announced excitedly as he rushed into the room where Tom, Rudy and Lee studied the rough sketch of the court room and where the hostages were located. "Sounds like some sort of a fight..." The rest of his sentence was cut off as a gunshot echoed through the building as the men rushed out of the room.

"Looks like the decision to wait or rush the room has been made for us." Tom Hawkins growled over his shoulder as he ran to where his men were waiting for him in the corridor outside the courtroom, with Lee and Rudy close behind him. "Be prepared, it's going to be a bloodbath but we will try and get out as many hostages as we can." he warned Rudy and Lee as he accepted his rifle and turned to his men. "Everyone in position?"

"Saunders, Wellings and Thompson are at the back door ready to move in on your order and we're all set to move in." the SWAT sergeant told Tom as more yelling and screams followed by several more gunshots came from within the court room.

Pulling his walkie talkie up to his lips, Tom ordered, "Go! Go! Go!"

Chapter 14

"What the …" the gunman gasped in surprise, momentarily forgetting the man he was holding at gunpoint as he swung his gun around in an attempt to aim at the cop struggling with Lennon on the floor for possession of the rifle.

Hearing the gunman's startled curse, Judge Rainer turned and threw himself at the distracted gunman as he desperately attempted to wrestle the gun free from the man's hands, only vaguely aware that several other hostages had also gotten to their feet and were charging at the other gunmen.

The room erupted into chaos as several gunshots rang out and two of the hostages fell to the floor amid the terrified screams of the hostages too frightened to move.

One of the gunmen stepped over the hostage he had just shot before he began to fire indiscriminately towards the hostages sitting against the wall.

Jeannie screamed again in fear as she felt a bullet whizz past her head and she instinctively pulled Steve closer to shelter him from the gunfire as she tried hard to make herself a smaller target as more shots rang out.

Punching Mike in the face as hard as he could, Lennon struggled free from the stunned homicide lieutenant's grip and reached for the gun. Rising up onto to his knees, Lennon aimed the gun he had managed to retrieve at the cop's chest as his finger tightened on the trigger.

The courtroom doors suddenly slammed open as armed SWAT officers flooded into the room, shouting. "Police, lay down your weapons and let the hostages go!"

Momentarily startled, Lennon looked up at the SWAT team as they swarmed into the room a second before a bullet tore into his chest, knocking him backwards as his own gun discharged before falling to the ground from his lifeless hands as he crashed heavily to the floor.

"Drop your weapon! And get down on the floor!" Tom Hawkings demanded as several more shots rang out towards the helpless hostages as his men moved through the room.

The last remaining gunman turned towards him and hesitated a moment eyeing the SWAT team surrounding him before he dropped his gun and raised his hands in surrender.

Tom stepped forward and kicked the discarded weapon away before grabbing the man's arms and roughly turning him around before snapping the handcuffs tightly around the man's wrists. Shoving the gunman towards one of his officers, Hawkins growled, "Get him out of here!" before turning back and slowly looking around.

The other members of his SWAT team moved closer to the downed gunmen, cautiously kicked the weapons away from the reach of gunmen's bodies on the floor, before kneeling down to check the downed men's pulses. Looking up, they shook their heads as they rose and began to quickly move on to the dead and injured hostages and the other frightened hostages spread around the room.

Rolling over onto his stomach, Mike climbed up unsteadily to his feet and staggered across the last couple of feet that separated him from Jeannie and Steve before dropping to his knees beside them, "Are you okay?" he asked Jeannie softly as he anxiously looked her over, searching for any signs she had been injured in the gunfight.

"I…I'm fine." Jeannie nodded, her face stained with tears as she looked up into her worried father's face before she looked around the room, unable to stop shivering as she swallowed hard and unconsciously pulled Steve closer to her swollen tummy.

"Mike, are you okay?"

Mike jumped in surprise and turned to look at Tom as the SWAT captain knelt down beside him. "I'm okay but we need to get Steve to the hospital. I think his appendix has ruptured."

"The ambulance guys on the way up and the hospital on standby for him." Tom reassured Mike as he glanced at Steve's damp flushed face. Looking back at Mike, Tom frowned as he reached for the small bloody hole in Mike's sleeve and tore it open, before studying the wound beneath, "And by the look of your arm, I think you will be riding in that ambulance with him.

Frowning. Mike glanced down at his arm in surprise to see the blood on his sleeve and the deep bullet graze beneath the torn material. "I'm okay, it's just a scratch." He murmured, suddenly feeling a little light headed as Tom grabbed his shoulders and guided him across to sit down against the wall next to Jeannie. Lifting his uninjured arm, Mike placed it around Jeannie's shoulders and pulled her closer, kissing the top of her head as he felt her shake uncontrollably as he looked down at his unconscious partner's face and whispered, "Everything's going to be okay, everything is going to be okay." He wasn't sure if the words of reassurance he was whispering were for his daughter or more to reassure himself.

"Jeannie!"

Stepping around the ambulance attendants as they entered the courtroom. Lee hurried across to where Jeannie was sitting against the wall with mike by her side and Steve cradled on her lap. Kneeling down beside her, Lee hugged her tightly and kissed her before balancing back on his heels as he visually checked her out, looking for any injuries as he asked anxiously, "Are you okay? Lennon didn't hurt you, did he? What the Hell were you thinking Jeannie… taking such a crazy risk?" She could only shake her head and blink away the tears, acutely aware of how much she had scared, not only Lee, but also her father and probably Steve, as Lee ran his shaking hand through his hair as he softly admitted, "I was so scared I was going to lose you, both of you! It was bad enough to know Mike and Steve were in here but then to find out you were in here as well…"

"I'm sorry…" Jeannie whispered as the tears began to fall as the ambulance attendants carefully lifted Steve from her lap and began to examine him. "I…I just couldn't stay outside and let Steve die, not today, and not because of appendicitis." She swallowed hard as she turned and watched another attendant kneel and bandage Mike's injured arm before helping him to his feet. Biting her lip to stop herself from crying, she turned back to Lee," I had to do something…I couldn't let that happen again."

"I... I understand. But it's not going to turn out that way," Lee told his wife as they both watched another ambulance attendant wheel in an empty gurney. "Everyone will be alright now."

"He's right, sweetheart. Steve will be just fine. Unlike with your mother…" Before he could go on, he choked up a little as he remembered the circumstances behind his wife's, and Jeannie's mother's, death. "We know what is wrong with him. With your mother, it was too quick and no one caught it in time."

Two attendants, one on each side of Jeannie, helped her to her feet before she looked at her father with fear still in her eyes. "But Steve, he's so sick."

All three turned to watch two men hurriedly wheel the unconscious man out of the courtroom, which was full of SWAT officers, police, court staff, onlookers, medics, and the media. Two guys with a camera followed after the gurney.

"Come on, you need to lay down so that you can get out of here too. No use worrying about Steve right now."

As she tried to fight off the attendants, she looked at her father, who was giving her a look she had not seen since she was a kid and had broken a rule. Giving in, she allowed the men to help her onto the gurney. After making sure she was secure, they began to wheel her out, but not without her putting up another fuss.

"Mike! You are coming with us, right?"

"Lee will be with you in the ambulance, so it would be too crowded. I'll ride with Steve and meet you there."

She nodded casually before a contraction hit and hit hard. Mike followed his daughter and her husband downstairs and out to the ambulance.

Chapter 15

"The doctor said he should be waking up soon."

"Some people just take a little longer to come out of the anesthetic than others. I am sure he will wake up soon."

"I hope so, the nurses said I could only leave my room for a few minutes…"

"If he doesn't wake up before I have to take you back, I promise when he does I will bring him to your room."

Mike groaned in protest as the softly whispered conversation somewhere close to his bed pulled him from his dream about Helen.

"Look Lee, he's finally waking up!" Jeannie said excitedly as she rose from the wheelchair the nurses had insisted that Lee use to bring her to Mike's hospital room and gingerly moved closer to the bed as Lee hovered protectively beside her, ready to grab her if she needed any help.

Mike softly moaned again and licked his dry lips before he slowly managed to force his eyes open, blinking hard as he tried to bring the two faces that hovered above him into focus.

"Hello Grandad!" Jeannie grinned as she gently grabbed Mike's hand, "About time you woke up. I know there's a little man waiting in the nursery who just can't wait to meet his grandfather."

Mike blinked again before he frowned and looked up in confusion, "Little man..." he repeated slowly before his eyes grew a little wider and he glanced at Lee who was grinning like the Cheshire cat before he looked back at Jeannie. "A little man?... A boy?... You had a boy?" he asked as he struggled to sit up, wincing as he jostled his arm that was now strapped tightly against his chest.

Laughing, Jeannie could only nod as Lee stepped closer to the bed and helped Mike sit up a little straighter before adjusting the pillows behind his father-in law's back as he added happily, "Jonathon Michael, born less than an hour after we got to the hospital. He's 6lb 11 ounces, 22 inches long, black hair and with the loudest set of lungs I have ever heard. He's absolutely perfect, just like his mom!"

"Congratulations Sweetheart, Lee." Mike grinned, kissing and hugging Jeannie and shaking Lee's hand before shaking his head in disbelief and murmuring, "I'm a granddad." He paused a moment and look up at his daughter and son-in-law as he asked, "Did you say his name is Jonathon Michael?"

"Yep, Jonathon because it was the only name Jeannie and I could agree on and Michael…"

"Michael after the best dad and grandad anyone could have." Jeannie smiled.

"The doctor said that we could take you to the nursery to see him later tonight." Lee told Mike, glancing down at his watch before he looked back at Jeannie and nodded towards the wheelchair, "And that I should have had you back in your room to rest ten minutes ago."

"And that's just where I am going to take her.'" the nurse announced at the doorway as she walked into the room.

"I will see you later, Grandad." Jeannie smiled as she lightly kissed Mike's cheek before sitting back down onto the wheel chair.

Reaching for Lee's arm as the nurse wheeled Jeannie from the room Mike softly said, "Wait a minute please, Lee."

"Sure, Mike. What is it?"

Gathering his composure that was rapidly leaving him, he looked into the dark eyes of his son-in-law and asked, "Steve. Is he okay? Did we make it in time?" The worry the man was feeling was unmistakable as he took ahold of Lee's hand, his starting to shake.

Squeezing the older man's hand back to help give him a bit of reassurance, Lee answered with a very slight smile. "After he got here, the immediately took him into the OR. A surgeon was ready and waiting. The surgery itself went fine, but the appendix had already burst, so they had to clean out as much of the infection as they could. Last I heard, he was in the ICU in critical condition. I haven't heard any updates."

Despite what sounded like positive news, Mike took it as anything but. All he could think about was the word critical and the fact that, just like with Helen, the appendix had already burst. His partner, his best friend, was now fighting off an infection that was out to overtake his entire system.

Mike's body language told Lee just how disturbed by this news the man was. He understood that Mike was likely comparing Steve's current situation with that of the mother-in-law he never got to meet, but he really didn't understand why. From what Jeannie had told him, the situations were a bit different. "Really, Mike, the prognosis looks good. Better than we can say for some of the hostages." Any lightness in his voice disappeared.

"How many?"

"Four dead, including Judge Rainer." Mike winced when he heard, "A couple of the other hostages were hurt, but they made it out alive."

"What about Lennon?"

"Lennon and two of his gunman were killed in the courtroom when SWAT stormed the room, his attorney is down at headquarters answering a lot of questions." Lee answered softly. "And the doctor said that that wound you claimed was just a graze was actually a bullet lodged against the bone in your arm, compressing a vein, which is the reason why they took you from the ER to the OR so quickly." Mike glanced down at his arm as Lee went on, "With some rest and some physio you should be as good as new. Now Granddad, how about you get some of that rest because you have a little man to visit and I promise as soon as there is any more news about Steve, you will be the first to know."

Looking back up, Mike nodded silently, the fear for his closest friend still evident in his eyes.

Lee sighed, "He's going to be fine Mike, Steve wouldn't dare to be anything else and risk Jeannie's wrath. Now get some sleep, please."

As Lee made his way towards the door, he looked back at Mike and saw him close his eyes, gladly taking the younger man's advice in getting rest. Smiling, Lee opened the heavy wooden door and left, headed back towards the maternity ward and his wife. What he didn't know was that as peaceful as Mike looked with his eyes closed, there was anything but peace below the surface.

Chapter 16

Stepping into Jeannie's room, Lee stopped and stared at the empty bed. "Damn it, Jeannie, just once can't you stay where you are told to stay!" he muttered in frustration as he turned and hurried towards the elevator, knowing precisely where his wife would be.

XXXXXXXXX

Pushing open the door to the Intensive Care Unit, Jeannie entered the hushed ward and quietly made her way down the corridor, past the empty nurse's station, as she glanced into every patient's room she passed, until she found the room of the man she desperately needed to see. Looking around to ensure no one had noticed her, she entered the room and quickly crossed to the side of the bed.

Her chest tightened and she found it hard to take a breath as she stared down at Steve. An oxygen mask covered the lower half of his face, wires ran from sticky discs that were stuck to his chest to the heart monitor that sat beside the bed, there were two drips full of clear liquids hanging above the bed, their tubes snaking down to disappear beneath a bandage that covered the back of his hand, the top of white bandages that encircled Steve's midriff peeked out from beneath the light sheet that covered his lower body. She swallowed hard, he did not look any better than when she had last seen him as they raced him on the stretcher out of the courthouse several hours earlier, his complexion was grey and his face and hair were damp with perspiration as he tossed his head and murmured Lennon's name softly in his sleep. Reaching down, she gently grabbed his hand, being careful not to touch the drip inserted into the back of it as she ignored the tears that started to trickle down her cheeks.

"I thought I would find you here." She jumped as she heard Lee's gentle voice behind her and pressed her wet cheek against his hand as he placed it lightly on her shoulder. "Steve's not supposed to have any visitors yet. He needs to rest and so do you, it's been a long day."

"I…I didn't want to leave Steve here all alone," Jeannie murmured, her voice catching in her throat as her bottom lip trembled, "I wanted to be with him, if only for a few minutes, so he knows he's not alone."

Lee nodded silently in understanding as he wrapped his arm around his wife's waist and gently pulled her closer, he knew that Steve was an important part of the Stone family. Steve was more than just Mike's partner, Mike thought of him as a son and Jeannie was definitely treated by Steve as a younger sister to be cherished and watched over. And Jeannie loved Steve as a brother, the two of them were as close or closer than many blood siblings.

"He looks so sick, "Jeannie whispered softly through her tears as she stared at Steve's ashen face. "I thought he was going to die in that courtroom today, Lee, just…just like my mother died in the hospital, I couldn't sit back and let that happen…not again… not…not today…"

"But that didn't happen." Lee reminded her quietly.

"But it still might…" Jeannie sobbed softly, squeezing Steve's hand a little tighter.

"Steve's not going to die, not today, not tomorrow…not until he's an old man married with ten dozen grandkids running around." Lee said firmly, silently praying his prediction was correct. "He still has to meet Jonathon and you don't think he is going to let something like a burst appendix stop him from doing that, do you?"

Jeannie shook her head as she released Steve's hand and gently brushed back an errant lock of hair that was sticking to his forehead. "Do you think I managed to convince Mike that everything was going to be okay? I know I probably should have been honest with him about Steve's condition, but after learning that his condition was worse than we all thought, I just couldn't hit him with bad news."

Shrugging, Lee told his wife, "I don't think it would have mattered. He knows what shape Steve was in, and I'm sure he has your mother in the back of his mind right now. Naturally he'll compare the two."

Saddened by Lee's answer, though she knew he was right, she wiped away another tear that escaped from her eye. "Mike is a tough guy, there's no doubt about that, but it took him a very long time to get back to normal after mom died. If he has to live through Steve leaving him too, I'm afraid of what will happen."

Lee hadn't been around when Mike lost Helen, but he had heard stories of her the man told and could tell that they had a very strong, loving marriage. It was also obvious that she was on his mind a lot, but not to the point where it interfered with his work. To him, that meant Mike was a strong man and he would react the same way if his partner were to pass away. That thought sounded too morbid to tell his wife at this point though, so he just gave her a hug and led her back out into the hall before anyone caught them in the room without permission.

Ushering Jeannie from the ICU, Lee led her across the small foyer that also doubled as a waiting area to the elevator, relieved to see the elevator doors start to slide open as they reached it. Any relief he had just felt quickly melted away as the doors opened wide and he found himself staring at Mike's pale face as the older man clutched his injured arm and stepped unsteadily from the elevator.

"What on earth are you doing down here, Mike?" Jeannie scolded as her father stepped off the elevator looking like he had just dug his way out of his own grave.

Rolling his eyes, Lee told her, "Probably the same thing you were. Like father, like daughter."

That got a small chuckle out of Mike.

"That's all fine and good, but I did not just have surgery. You need to go back upstairs this minute, mister. Steve is still unconscious, so there's no use in you doing further damage to see him. I'm sure he knows you're with him in spirit," Jeannie scolded while attempting to guide her father back to the elevator.

Mike began to protest, but before he could get any words out, a loud buzzer went off at the nurses' station. Since they were in the ICU, any sort of buzzer or bell was worrisome and often meant someone was in trouble. The three froze in place and frantically watched the nurses and doctors rush into action as they heard over the loudspeaker, "Code blue, ICU, Room 3. Code blue, ICU, Room 3."

"Room 3? Room 3? Is that Steve's room?" Mike almost shouted at his daughter as the trio watched a nurse rush a crash cart into a room, followed quickly by two other nurses and the doctor on duty.

"I…I…I don't know! I didn't look at room numbers! I just looked for Steve!"

"That was about where his room was though," Lee stammered, the fear palpable.

Mike ran unsteadily over to the room where nurses and the doctor were working furiously to save someone's life, scared to death that he was experiencing a nasty case of déjà vu and that he was watching the last breaths of his partner and best friend. It had been his partner and best friend last time as well.

Jeannie hurried after him with Lee close behind and the three of them stood in the doorway watching the medical staff as they battled to save the patient's life.

Jeannie stood behind Mike and wrapped her arms around her father, crying into his back. Lee subsequently wrapped his arms around his wife as the three stood and watched in anxious anticipation.

Jeannie felt Lee's heart beating on her back through his chest. Mike felt the same with Jeannie, though it was hard to feel hers while his was beating so hard.

The doctor and nurses did not seem to be slowing down but they didn't seem to be relaxing either. The doctor kept shouting instructions at anyone who would listen and they all stood in the way of the bed. None of the three could see the person lying in the bed, though they did hear a couple nurses refer to the person as he.

"It's Steve. Oh God, it's Steve!" Jeannie whispered repeatedly. No one bothered to try and change her thinking.

"Come on! You're too young to give up!" one of the nurses said loud enough for the whole ICU to hear.

"Oh God!" Jeannie wailed.

Mike closed his eyes and, looking to his faith for a miracle, said a prayer that Steve's life would be spared. It came too little, too late. All five hospital staff members stood back from the bed while the doctor looked up at a clock on the wall. "Anyone object?" he asked. No one said a word so he continued, "Time of death, 8:46 pm."

Jeannie couldn't handle it. Her legs gave out, causing Lee to lunge forward to catch her before she hit the floor. She turned and cried heavily into his chest, as he shed quite a few tears himself as he desperately tried hard to stay strong for her.

Mike turned around and faced away from the room. Leaning against the wall, he slowly slid down it until he was on the floor, where he sat and stared at nothing. He couldn't bring himself to cry. He couldn't bring himself to do anything but stare at the top of the wall in front of him. Nothing was real anyway. He didn't just lose another loved one to appendicitis. That doesn't happen to anyone twice.

One nurse slowly wheeled out the crash cart, followed by two others who acted like they were in no hurry to get anywhere. After a minute, the doctor came out with the last nurse, rubbing his eyes. "There was no reason for that. The antibiotics were working," he mumbled, unaware of anyone else around.

"You've seen these things happen before, doctor," the nurse said.

"Not in someone so young and for something so routine." He shook his head, told the nurse to call the morgue, and wandered off to find coffee, leaving only the dead man in the room.

Lee, curious and figuring both Stones would want one final moment with Steve, led his wife over to her father, who was still lost in his own world of misery. After gently easing her down on the floor to sit beside Mike, Lee looked around to make sure no one was watching him before he entered the room and after a moment to collect his emotions for what he was about to see, peeked around the corner of the curtain surrounding the bed.

"Jeannie! Mike!" he said excitedly as he rushed out of the room and peeked his head around the corner of the door, looking down at his wife and father-in-law. "Guys! Come in here! You have to see this!"

Jeannie furiously shook her head. "I can't! Not now!"

Mike was catatonic.

Sighing, Lee went back into the hall and started looking into other rooms in the ICU. Two rooms away, he found what he was looking for. Quickly returning to where Jeanie was slumped against the wall, lifted her up, and firmly led her into the other room, insisting that she open her open her eyes and look at the patient in the bed.

She gasped and threw her hands over her mouth as she stared at the man in the bed before she turned and ran from the room. "Mike! Mike!" she shouted to her father, leaning down, and shaking him. "Mike, look at me!"

Mike rolled his eyes up and looked at his daughter.

"Mike, it wasn't him! It wasn't Steve! We had the wrong room!"

Chapter 17

After Jeannie and Lee showed Mike that they had indeed found Steve and he was a hundred percent alive, they decided to leave him to sit with his friend and partner alone for a while. He carefully pulled a chair over to Steve's bed so as not to further aggravate his arm and sat down, looking at the sleeping man in the bed.

"I heard you made it here in the nick of time, Buddy Boy," he said. "Any longer and you would have…" He choked on the words as they hit way too close to home. "It's crazy, you know. Helen had been in the hospital for over an hour, nurses coming and going the whole time, and hers just happened so fast that no one caught it. Then there's you, suffering all day…"

Mike took Steve's hand and hoped he would feel a response, but he got nothing in return. "You have to hang in there. It was hard enough trying to move on without Helen. Don't make me have to do that twice!" He swallowed hard and wiped away a tear, "I don't think I can go through that again, Steve. When Helen…when Helen left me, it felt like my whole world just came crashing down around me. I didn't know how I was going to go on without her. If it wasn't for Jeannie …" Blinking away more tears that threatened to fall, Mike shook his head, "I…I just don't think I could cope if it happened again …" he whispered, squeezing Steve's hand again. He blinked hard as his vision was momentarily blurred by tears.

Loudly releasing a breath of air, he shook his head, as he changed the too painful subject. "You know Buddy Boy, I remember when Rudy told me I had a new partner, a brash young cop, only a couple of years out of university, who had a Police Science degree and only three years' experience as a uniform cop. And then you walked into my office." Mike chuckled. "Twenty-six years old, shaggy hair and a smile I knew could charm the ladies. I found myself wondering just what the hell Rudy had been thinking! You were barely more than just a kid, you looked too young to a cop, and definitely far too young to be a homicide inspector and my partner."

A small smile of pride tugged at Mike's lips as he looked at Steve's ashen face, "I had my doubts about your abilities to be a cop, but boy did you prove me wrong. That first case we worked together, the Sanson case, you showed me just what a great cop you truly are," Mike laughed as he added, 'and just how stubborn and argumentative you can be. You were the only one who believed Sanson's partner was responsible for his murder while the rest of us believed his wife had killed him. We argued about it, quite a few times about her guilt or innocence as we investigated the murder but you refused to simply agree with me because it was the easiest thing to do. Instead, you continued to dig for evidence that supported your gut feeling and in the end you managed to convince me that Sanson's partner was indeed a suspect that needed further checking into. And you were right, Steve, we almost arrested an innocent woman and let a guilty man get away with murder." Mike shook his head, "I knew then that Rudy had assigned me a great partner."

Mike sighed as he glanced up at the heart monitor, watching the small blip as it danced slowly across the screen before he looked back at his partner. He sat quietly for a moment as he looked at Steve, trying to avoid looking at the pristine white bandage that peeked out from beneath the sheet. Outside the room he could hear the soft murmurs of the nurses as they went about their duties, and he knew that one of them would soon discover him in Steve's room. Hugging his throbbing arm closer to his chest, he looked up at the two bags of IV fluids hanging above the bed and followed the tubing with his eyes as they wound down and disappeared under a small dressing on the back of Steve's hand. Even in the dim light, he could see the sheen of perspiration that covered Steve's face and chest and he could feel the heat that radiated from his partner.

The silence in the room made Mike feel slightly claustrophobic, almost as if all the air was being sucked out and he began to talk again, "You know Jeannie had such a crush on you after I brought you home for dinner that first time. She sat up long after you left and wanted to know everything I knew about you, where you were born, where you grew up, where you went to school and more importantly were you married or did you have a girlfriend. I had to remind her that she was only sixteen and that you would not be interested in a child. We had such a fight that night. She wanted to be grown up, and she thought I was some sort of an ogre when I did not share her dreams of you asking her out on a date."

Looking around, Mike rose from his chair and picked up a facecloth that was hanging near the sink. Reaching for the tap, he turned it on before he placed the cloth under the cold running water. Turning off the tap, he squeezed out as much water as he could with his left hand before he returned to the side of the bed and gently began to wipe Steve's face trying to cool him down as he began to talk again. "My admiration for you rose several notches Steve, when you didn't laugh when I told you about Jeannie's crush and warned you that I did not want my daughter dating a cop. Instead you smiled and told me that you would take care of it and that you would let her down gently. And that's just what you did that night when you asked her to go for a walk with you. I don't know just what you said to her that night but whatever you did, you managed to make her understand that her crush could never be. I watched as her love for you that day changed from a puppy love of an adolescent girl to a love and trust that one only sees between a brother and a sister. "

Gently wiping the cloth over Steve's chest, Mike confessed, "We may have started off as partners thrown together by Rudy, Buddy Boy, but you have become much, much more than just my partner, you aren't just my closest friend, Steve, you are the son I never had, you are an important part of my family and I don't want to lose you now. I can't lose you now… not today, not tomorrow."

Just then, a nurse came in to check on Steve's vitals and saw Mike trying to cool him. "Thank you for the help, but I think I've got it from here," she told Mike, surprising him and making his heart skip a beat.

Stammering out an apology, he said, "Sorry. He just looked warm and I wanted to make him more comfortable." He wadded up the cloth and immediately returned it to the sink.

"You don't look so good yourself. You also a guest of ours?" she asked, looking him up and down and seeing him in a hospital gown and robe.

Wincing, he nodded and admitted that he was.

As she walked over to Steve and checked his vitals, she asked, "Your son?"

Mike shook his head. "No. He's my partner. We're homicide detectives."

"Oh, you were both involved in that hostage situation at the courthouse, weren't you? I heard about that. It was all over the news. You must have been the cop who got shot."

"Yes, ma'am."

Walking around to the other side of the bed to look at the IV bags, she said, "Guess I didn't realize Mr. Keller was a part of that. Was he a hostage too?"

Mike nodded sadly. "Wish we would have gotten him here sooner."

"He'll be alright. His vitals look strong, and it seems like the antibiotics are working." Grabbing his chart and making notes, she told Mike, "I hate to do this after all you've been through, but you really should go back to your room. You both need the rest."

He nodded before walking back to Steve's side and taking his hand once more. "You keep fighting! You're a lot of things, but a quitter isn't one of them."

As if he had heard Mike, Steve weakly squeezed his hand, causing the older man to smile.

"I knew you had it in you."

Chapter 18

"His temperature's 103, and his blood pressure 's 90/65." The nurse replied softly as she jotted down her the results of her last round of observations onto the patient's bedside chart.

"The antibiotics seem to be finally starting to work." The doctor murmured as he glanced up at the heart monitor and frowned. Folding back the light sheet that covered his shivering patient and gently tugged loose the dressing, exposing the neatly stitched incision beneath it as he asked over his shoulder. "What about his urine output?"

"Still low." the nurse answered softly, glancing at the man sitting beside the bed. Even though he was still recovering from his own surgery and was supposed to be resting in his own hospital bed. The San Francisco homicide lieutenant had spent most of the day sitting beside his critically ill partner, only leaving the bedside to visit with his daughter and new born grandson in the maternity ward.

"Let's keep a close eye on his kidneys, if his urine output doesn't improve soon we may need to start him on dialysis."

The nurse nodded and jotted something down on the chart before she placed it back onto the end of the bed and moved around to assist the doctor with the rest of his examination.

"There is still a lot of inflammation and swelling around the incision wound." the doctor murmured as he began to gently palpate the swollen area around the neatly stitched incision line.

Steve arched his back and tried to pull away from the painful pressure on his tender and swollen belly as he moaned softly in pain. "S…stop." he protested weakly tried to swat the offending hand away.

Grabbing his patient's hand, the doctor firmly but gently lowered it against the bed, where he held it as he said softly, "Easy Mr Keller, just try and relax, you're in the ICU at Franklin Hospital. We had to remove your appendix after it ruptured."

"Steve?" Mike frowned, as he quickly rose from his chair and moved to the side of the bed, not quite believing that his young friend was actually awake and protesting. He smiled and blinked back a tear as he reached for the hand the doctor had pinned on the bed and gently held it in his own, allowing the doctor to continue his examination, as Steve turned his head towards him and slowly opened his eyes.

"M…mike?"

Mike laughed softly, squeezing Steve's warm hand, "Yeah Steve, it's me." he whispered, ignoring the tear that trickled down his face with relief to see Steve finally awake. "You're in the hospital, Buddy boy, your appendix burst before we could get you out of that courtroom but you're going to be fine." Mike smiled, for the first time really believing that his nightmare was finally coming to an end. "You're going to be fine." He whispered again as Steve's eyes slowly drifted closed. Snagging the chair with his foot, he pulled it closer, never releasing his partner's hand as he sat down. "We're going to be fine." He whispered to the sleeping man.

Chapter 19

It had been six weeks since that fateful day in the courtroom. Baby Jonathon was happy and healthy and the apple of his mother's and father's eyes. His dark eyes, chubby cheeks and happy personality, which his grandfather happily boasted Jonathon had inherited from him, won the hearts of everyone. Mike was fully recovered and back at work keeping the streets safe from murderers, while reveling in his role of the doting grandfather but Steve's recovery had been slower and he was finally on the eve of returning to work. And that was a reason to celebrate, especially after Steve's close brush with death.

"So, are you looking forward to getting back, or are you sad your vacation is over?" Jeannie asked him between mouthfuls of spaghetti.

Shaking his head, Steve looked at Jeannie, a hurt look on his face as he asked, "Is that what you thought I was doing? Laying on a beach somewhere drinking mai tais and dancing with beautiful women?"

"Well, that's not exactly what I meant, no. You were off work, so it was a vacation of sorts." Jeannie tried to explain, horrified that Steve had misread her words so badly. She stopped and stared at him as a mischievous grin lit up his face and mike and Lee began to laugh. "Steven Keller, you knew precisely what I meant!" she scolded him, slapping his arm lightly.

"Actually, I am pretty ready to go back. Sitting around my apartment all day eventually got kind of boring."

"Are they letting you out on the streets right away?" Jeannie asked.

Steve and Lee both looked at Mike A big smile grew across the older man's face as he looked around the table before saying, "Absolutely! Got my partner back 100%."

Everyone at the table could see just how good it was for not only Steve to get back to work, but for Mike to have him there.

After dinner, while Lee and Jeannie headed to their car, Mike and Steve stayed behind.

"Look, Mike, I really am sorry everything turned out the way it did that day. Guess I should learn how to stay home if I don't feel good," Steve said, his hands in his pockets and his eyes on the ground.

"And everything worked out fine," Mike said as he patted his partner on the back. "We're here and Lennon's not. Best possible outcome for the situation."

Nodding slightly, Steve added, "Jeannie told me that Helen died on that same day of appendicitis. I had no idea."

Mike's smile was small but sincere. "I admittedly would have been pretty mad at you if you would have died." Chuckling, he too looked down at the ground. "I was pretty scared that I was going to have to go through the rest of my life having lost two partners that way. Thought maybe I was the unluckiest man alive." Looking back up at Steve, he reached out his hand and placed it on the man's shoulder before looking into his eyes and saying, "You mean a lot to me, buddy boy, not just as a partner, but as a friend. I didn't like the thought of you not being around."

Steve smiled. "Thanks. But you know I couldn't leave you alone. Who was going to watch over you at work? You would have had to drive yourself, and that thought scared me!"

The two turned and started walking toward the car. "You think you're so funny, don't you? Well, hotshot, I have been considering trading you in."

"What? Like you'd know what to do without me."

"I wouldn't trade you in for the world, Buddy boy." Mike chuckled as he reached up and affectionately squeezed Steve shoulder.