Chapter 1
I thought about Rosa on the trip home as Jimmy slept,trying to connect A, B, and C, the way I was tought to do by Doc.
And then I thought about Doc. Tracy's father. I could have never pictured Doc as a dad. Sinicle asshole, yes, but dad? No. I shook my head to get my mind off it.
I wanted to figure this case out. Myself. I wanted to prove to Doc that I don't need a partner. Ilook over at Jimmy, sleeping soundly, his hair tossled in different directions.
Maybe I want a partner. No, you don't. Of course you don't want a partner, you need one. Where would you have been without Jimmy? I wouldn't have been shot, that's for sure. No.
I couldn't help but smile as I argued with myself over Jimmy. It had to be love. Or something close to it.
After awhile, my thoughts finally drifted back to Rosa. Hmm... so Rosa left Eduardo. I distinctively remember Eduardo saying Lopez was sneaking around her. And Eduardo calling her a slut. This all linked together, and I hoped I was right about something, since I was so wrong the last case I had.
I suddenly remember the last case. That's why Doc gave me a partner... he thought I needed help. I grew kinda angry but I remembered Rosa again. I smiled. I can't keep my thinking straight.
Maybe Lopez was trying to stop the film from being made because he loved Rosa. And Rosa loved him. Eduardo was trying to remind Rosa what she was missing, but Rosa left him.
I blinked.
Something about what I was thinking didn't seem like it was right. I felt like I needed Jimmy's help. Ugh, this is what partners can do to. I'm dependent again.
Chapter 2
[2 days later]
"What? WHAT! NO!" I was screaming audibly in the fancy french restaurant. "ABSOLUTELY not, I am FINE!"
"No you aren't!" Jimmy and I were arguing.
"Shut up, Fallon. You are not a DOCTOR"
"Anit-"
"NO!"
"Jeez, cut it out. Everyone's looking at us" he whispered sharply.
"Everyone is ALWAYS looking at us!! GET IT? ALWAYS!!! ALWAYS!!!" I nearly screamed. I was so pissed. I turned to the entire silent restaurant "Do any of you MIND? Yes, I am Anita Windsor. Yes, this is Jimmy Fallon. And yes, I am freaking out! Go tell the tabloids but quit staring!" Half of the restaurant patrons were openly gaping, the others had buried their noses into menus.
"Anyone want a autograph? Or wait... you want to see my gunshot wound--" I was about to lift my shirt to show off my bandaged waist. I was sick of being stared at and being told what to do!
Jimmy grabbed my arm. "That's it. We're LEAVING." I let him drag me out of the resturant. My damn partner. The gunshot was making me really irritable. I was starting to half-resent having a partner, and I was half-stressed because I was head over heels crazy about him. He held my shoulders.
"My word! Just LISTEN before you freak out! Doc didn't just PULL YOU from the case, Anita. He pulled everyone. The case is closed. And you are still sick! I don't care what you think!"
I really hated being wrong. I really hated having a partner. I really hated Jimmy because I loved him so much already. It made no sense, but I was pissed off. And pain medication wasn't helping either.
"Anita. Say something." Jimmy said, "You are starting to scare me."
I took a deep breath, and looked down. "I'm sorry. I made a scene." Jimmy rubbed my shoulders.
"C'mon. I'm starving. Let's find a new restaurant for you to scare" I looked at the window and about 30 heads quickly turned. I nodded and we began walking to get a taxi.
I turned to Jimmy and said "The case isn't closed and you know it"
"I know." he grinned "Doc closed it. But that doesn't mean we can't still investigate on our own."
Damn right the case wasn't over. I was ready to skip the meal and break into HQ.
"But you're still sick." he added.
I gritted my teeth and hailed a cab "TaxiI!"
Chapter 3
We climbed into the first taxi that stopped in front of us.I told the cabbie 24th street,and he zoomed full speed ahead.I turned to Jimmy.
"Jimmy,we MUST find out what's going on.I just can't stop thinking about what MIGHT be going on".I said,as I pulled out my "SUNGLASSES" and transmitted a message to Doc that Jim and I were stopping by.I disconected before Doc could protest.I winked at Jimmy.He smiled and said "How can I handle such a crazy chick like you?!?"
I smiled and turned my attention to the road.Just as we were ready to continue after a red light,two cars hit each other.I looked at Jimmy,in shock and saw 4 big guys walking towards our doors.I tried to kick the door to knock them down,but they were to smart for that.I glanced at Jimmy,who was trying to punch one of them,but 2 of them hit him in the neck so he passed out.
I opened my eyes wide in shock.I turned my attentioned to the other 2 men.One was shoving the cabbie into a car and driving away.The man who was dealing with me was trying to grab my legs.I kicked him in the groin but he grabbed my leg and knocked me down.He then laughed as i looked at him bewildered, "I'm wearing a metal cup" he said snickering.I groaned and tried to head bunt him,but he had already put a cloth around my hands and over my mouth.
I tried to glance at Jimmy,but I relized that he had already been whisked away moments before.THe last thing I saw was the dark black interior of the car I was carried into.I heard a loud laugh and passed out.
Chapter 4
I awoke in a bed, my stomach reeling with pain. �Ow....� I moaned. I then realized that my right arm was handcuffed to the bedpost. �Aw, FUCK!� I heard a door squeak open, and I turned my attention to the left side of the room. A tall, slendor, dark-haired woman of about 40 slowly walked in (doing a horrible impression of the �cat walk�), wearing a pair of leather boots with extremely high heels.
�Good afternoon,� she greeted in a heavy Spanish accent, �I hope you�re enjoying your stay.� �Who the hell are you?� I asked, still struggling with the handcuffs. �I...am Rosa.� �Eduardo�s wife?!� �Please,� she rolled her eyes, �It is insulting for you to mention that pig�s name in my presence.�
�Ha, pig?� �Yes,� she said, looking at me, �Kind of like you. It�s a shame that your mother didn�t teach you about diets.� My blood was boiling. �At least I have good taste in fashion. It�s common sense not to wear leather boots with a sun-dress.�
Her eyes flashed fire. �Donatella Versace personally made this dress for me. Like YOU could afford it.� �It�s too tacky for my taste. And it makes you look bloated.� �Bitch.� �Whore.� �It�s also a shame th-...� I cut her off. �Where�s Jimmy?�
�Oh...you�re sexy little partner? He�s in my room,� she snickered proudly, �I plan on using him later. But, for now, he�s resting comfortably, thanks to a Spanish sleeping herb.� �You wench.� �I�ll take that as a compliment,� she said with a sinister smile, �Rios? Get in here.�
The metal-cup-wearer waltzed into the room. �Undo her restraints, and take her to the Gray Room.� �Yes, Senora.� �Get away from me!� I screamed. He unlocked the handcuffs and picked me up. I did everything I could to get him to let go----clawing, hitting, kicking.
Finally, he sat me in a chair in a dark room. He bound my arms and legs and tied a scarf around my head, so that I couldn�t talk. He left the room, slamming the door behind him. I was left alone in the blackness.
I heard a door open on the other side of the room, and much struggling. A chair was pulled up behind me, and a body was thrown into it. They, too, were tied up. Finally, the door was shut, and we were left in silence. I heard the breathing of another person. I said, �Who�s there?�, but because I had a scarf in my mouth, it sounded more like, �Hmm Mmmm?�
I heard his voice loud and clear, �Oh God.� It was Jimmy.
Chapter 5
My stomach wound really hurt and I looked down at it. I couldn't see much in the dark room, but I didn't need eyes to see it had reopened. Jimmy was right, I was in no shape to be doing agent work as much as I loathed admitting it. Not that it mattered, I was on duty right now as far as I was concerned. I felt lightheaded but atleast Jimmy was in the room next to me.
"Jimmy" I said through my gag. He groaned loudly, his voice thick. He was definately drugged. They must not have drugged me because I had a gunshot wound and was weak anyway. This was their mistake! I had a high threshold for pain. I could escape easily. I had to think about Jimmy though. There was no way I'd leave him here.
I had once thought myself how to work out of a gag by puckering my face and using my tongue. I wriggled it off and spoke normally, "Jimmy, Jimmy! Jimmy! Please tell you're okay, sweetie" Sweetie? Wow, decide you love a guy and the terms of enderment just start flying out.
"Nita?" he said druggily, "Where are we? Oh" he was quickly coming to. He spat out something "Yugh"
"What?"
"Some spanish herb . . . I didn't eat all of it so I had to hide in my mouth . . . man is it nasty" He forcibly jerked in his chair and positioned his hands to untie me. Criminals were stupid. You never put two tied up people back to back. Not agents atleast. He freed my hands in seconds and I unbound my feet, quickly standing and bending to untie him. I faltered a bit and bending hurt my reopened wound.
"Ow" I murmured and untied Jimmy's hands. Within an instant Jimmy was up and his arms were around me.
"Are you alright?" I put my head on his chest. No I wasn't. None of this was alright. Life shouldn't be this compicated. And my stomach was bleeding.
"Yeah" I breathed. His hand gently went to my stomach. I tried not to wince in pain.
"You're bleeding" he said. "We're getting out of here."
He tried the doorknob and with an alarmingly suspicious ease it turned. He peered out, squinting at the light that suddenly flooded out. He grabbed my hand and said quietly, "You won't believe this, but I think this place is deserted." The place felt abandoned deep in my bones. I trusted his judgement. Actually, I trusted him completely. Ugh. I tried not to feel sentimental.
We slowly tiptoed out to the bare concrete hall. I could see a window and what looked to be a front door.
"Holy shit, Jimmy"
"What?!" he paused.
"We're in Connecticut."
Chapter 6
�Connecticut? How can you tell something like that just from being in a hallway?�
�I recognize the foyer...and the decorations. When we were at Eduardo�s mansion, I noticed all of the pictures on the walls of the upstairs hallway. One comes to mind...it was of him and Rosa in front of that fireplace, right there. It had a caption: �Winter, 1997. Rosa and Eduardo. Andover, CT.� This is the house.�
�Wow....Jeez, why would you remember something like that? God, you�re photographic memory is so sexy.�
�Shut up. Let�s get out of here.� I started to walk towards the entry, but the pain in my stomach became unbearable, and I fell against the wall, holding on tight to my wound. I tried to forget the pain...to think about something else. That didn�t work, and I felt hot tears cascade down my cheeks.
Jimmy was at my side in split seconds. He put his hand to my stomach, slightly frightened by the amount of blood that was gushing out. �Jeezus...oh fuck, Anita.�
�Don�t...don�t touch me,� I cried. I turned my face away from him. I couldn�t let him see me fall apart. I�m Anita Windsor. I don�t cry.....especially not infront of other people. But, he wasn�t �other people�. He�s Jimmy.
He pulled me closer to him and finally said, �I�m so sorry. This is all my fault. If it wasn�t for my fucked up blind impulse, you wouldn�t have gotten shot...and we wouldn�t be here.�
�Jimmy....it�s not your fault...okay, maybe, partially. But, not entirely,� I choked, �If it helps, I'll forgive you....if you promise to take me to a really expensive beautiful resort on a tropical island, when this is all over with.�
�I should be the one with the bullet in me...�
�Jimmy, shuddup. You�re making this overly dramatic. This is life..shit happens...deal. Now, promise me...and make it believable.�
He looked down at me. "I promise...." The look in his eyes sent a chill down my spine. �Anita,� he whispered. He took a deep breath, and finished, �I love you.�
Chapter 7
I tried to respond, but I couldn�t get the words out of my mouth. Everything was becoming so blurry. I knew I�d lost a lot of blood.
�Anita? Anita...c�mon. Anita, don�t do this. Just keep your eyes open. You�re gonna be fine.� He picked me up and carried me towards the front door. Right when he got to the foyer, the TV screen in the living room flashed on, and Rosa�s face appeared. �You stupid boy. Did you really think that we�d let you out of here so easily? I laugh at your wishful thinking.�
�Huh?�
�If you open that door, or any of the doors leading outside, even a tiny bit, you and the house will be blown up. Do you really want to be responsible for your girlfriend�s demise? Think it over. Oh, and I shall enjoy watching the house burst into flames from a distance.� She ended her broadcast with a typical evil laugh.
�Shit...� Jimmy laid me down on the couch. �Maybe she�s just messing with us....� He started over towards the door.
�Jimmy, don�t!� I said as loud as I could.....it was hardly yelling.
�Okay, so much for that plan.�
�Jimmy....take off my left boot.�
�What?�
�Just do it! I have my emergency locater in it. You can call Doc, and he can get us out.�
Jimmy did as I told him, and pulled the very slim, compact metal devise out of the shoe. He turned it on, and I heard the usual beep. He typed in something, then set it on the coffee table in front of us.
�All we can do is wait.� He looked down at my stomach, still very much bleeding. �I�m gonna see if I can find something to stop the bleeding. I�ll be right back.�
�Jimmy, don�t leave me alone!�
�Don�t worry...I�ll be back!�
[10 minutes later]
Jimmy returned with a couple of kitchen towels, a box of bandages, water, and alcohol pads. �Jeez, did they conveniently have a pharmacy back there or something?� I joked, wincing in pain.
�No...but there�s a kitchen and like 13 bathrooms. Okay, un-button your shirt.�
He wet one of the towels and placed it against the wound. The water was warm, but it still stung like ice. �Aaaa!�
�Sorry...� Jimmy whispered, looking up at me. �Oh, jeez. I think we�re gonna need more towels. And I need to see if I can find some form of Potassium. You�ve lost a lot of blood...you need to get your energy back.�
�Thanks...Nurse Jimmy.� He smiled.
�I�ll be back, again.�
[7 minutes later]
�Here, eat some of this banana. It�s like loaded with the P.�
Surprisingly, his plan worked. With the help of many towels, much water, and a banana, the bleeding stopped. Jimmy covered the wound with Mickey Mouse band-aids. �M-i-c...k-e-y...m-o-u-s-e,� he sang as he placed the last bandage.
�Jimmy...�
�Hmmm?�
�I love you, too.�
Chapter 8
He leaned down to kiss me, but suddenly stopped. �I just had an idea! Anita, if the bomb is triggered by the opening of a door, then it must be connected to the alarm system, correct? All we have to do is locate that, cut the wire, and we�re out of here.�
He was certainly on to something.
[23 minutes later]
Jimmy and I had found the bomb. The problem? Which wire do we cut?
�I�m certain that it�s the green one, Fallon.�
�No...green means go. The green one will set it off. It has to be red.�
�Okay, what about blue?�
�Blue is definitely not it. It�s red, I know it.�
�And I know that it�s green.�
�We have a huge problem, don�t we?�
�Yes...damn, if I�d only brought along my copy of �Which Wire to Cut When Dealing With Bombs�.�
�Okay...if you want me to cut the green one, I will.�
What if I was wrong? What if he�s right, and the green one will set it off? I couldn�t bear to know that I caused our deaths. On the other hand, it wouldn�t really matter if I�d caused them or not...I�d be dead. Fuck it.
�Cut the green one.�
�Okay.� Jimmy took the appropriately named wire-cutters and fit the tips around the green wire. He slowly squeezed, then in a quick motion, moved the cutters to the red one and snapped.
Nothing.
The light on the bomb that read �Ready� went out. �I think you did it....�
�There�s only one way to find out.� Jimmy got up and walked over to the door in the kitchen. He took ahold of the handle, made the Sign of the Cross, and pulled open the door.
We both started laughing uncontrollably. I somehow managed to run over to him. �Oh my God, we�re alive! Thanks to you...� I conceded.
�C�mon, lover. Let�s get out of here.�
As soon as we�d walked around to the front of the house, 5 or 6 cars pulled up, defense agents jumping out of each. Doc got out of one of them. �Thank God you�re all right. Windsor, you look terrible. We need to get you to a hospital.�
Jimmy and I got into the black Lincoln with Doc, hoping that everything was over with. It wasn�t.
�Eduardo, Ainsely, and...my daughter have been kidnapped.�
�
Chapter 9
I blinked. Tracy, too? I looked over at Jimmy, whose face was flushed with tiresome. "Doc, what can we do?" I choked, still holding my stomache as if it were eating my insides.
Doc sighed. "Well, we gotta get them back." he says simply as he helps me into the car.
Jimmy waits at the door and rolls his eyes, looking like he's ready to call it a night. "Easier said than done." He gets in.
[at HQ, an hour later]
I rub my hand over my fresh bandage and give a smile to the nurse as Doc talks to Jimmy. I can't help but stare. His hair is tossed to perfection, and I get the urge to run my hands through it. I fight it and the feeling turns to complete lust. I haven't had sex in too long.
I think for a second how long its been. One week and six days. I smile at my stupid counting and decide that it's because of my injury, not because Jimmy doesn't like me.
Oh, Jimmy likes me alright. He loves me. And I love him. I think of all my past loves and Doc shows Jimmy a ring that is a tracking device for Rosa.
And in a way, this 'love' feels like the others I've had. It's the same tugging at your heart that makes you just want to touch the person. It was the same with Chris and Mike. That same feeling that makes you miss him even when he's still around.
I frown inwardly. What if this is just another love, and not that special person I've been looking for..?
�
Chapter 10
[Later that night at my kick-ass penthouse located in Manhattan]
Jimmy and I were eating dinner. He�d gone over to some Italian place and ordered take-out. Things weren�t going well, though.
�Anita, I�m sorry. I didn�t know that Doc was going to reinstate me! It�s not my fault.�
�You could�ve said no.� I jabbed at my fettucini.
�Do you want me to say no? I will.�
�No! Then, you�d try to make me feel guilty.�
�Oh, God forbid you ever feel guilty about something.�
�What are you trying to say?�
�I�m saying-...ugh, nevermind. I don�t want to fight about this.�
�Well, I do. This isn�t fair, Fallon. This should be my case! I never needed a partner!� I abruptly got up from the table, carrying my plate to the kitchen.
�Whoa, hang on a minute! What the fuck is all this about, Anita?�
�Nothing. It�s nothing.�
�Well, It must be something! God, 5 hours ago you loved me, and now, you don�t need me? Enlighten me.�
I turned to look at him. He�s so sexy when he�s angry. �I�m sorry....I just....It�s always been me, by myself on cases, you know? Before I could get used to having you as a partner, I fell in love with you....and I didn�t see you as my partner anymore....I saw you as the man that I love. And, now, I have to get used to you being an agent...and my partner. It�s just hard for me, Jimmy. And it must be extremely confusing for you.�
He furrowed his brow. �Well, you kinda confused me by your extensive use of the word �partner�...but, I think I�ve got the gist of it.� I smiled.
�C�mere.� I pulled him towards me by the neck of his shirt. �Jim...it�s, uh...it�s been a while.� I raised my eyebrow. In turn, he raised his.
�Not now,� he whispered, kissing my forehead, �You�re still in pain...and I don�t want to hurt you even more. Just wait. When all of this is finished and you�re feeling better, we can go to that tropical island and have wild, passionate sex all night long.�
