"I'm sorry baby, I'm so so sorry." Words I never thought I would hear from that voice again. Words I had longed to hear, begged to hear. But now I dreaded them. Those words meant his presence, and his presence meant watching him die beside me.

The moment I heard the door knob jiggle my heart jumped and plummeted at the same time. I don't know if that's possible but there's no other way to describe the collision of emotion a door knob had caused.

I let out a sob when an open door and words of apology and love confirmed his identity.

"I'm so sorry baby. I didn't want to leave you. I didn't know what to do..."

His words trailed off when he realised we weren't alone. That his confession of basic instinct and primal reaction was falling upon unwanted ears.

The change of tone, stance and facial expression was so quick I would've missed it had I not been watching his every movement.

I had never once doubted Riley's abilities, nor his power and drive. But such things were nothing against a man with a gun.

Another sob broke from me when I saw his clenched fists rise and his knees bend. I couldn't bare to watch him get shot because he wanted to punch his way out of a gun fight.

I had to give Riley credit, he made it on his own well enough until two bulky 6 foot 5 guys revealed themselves from behind curtains and cabinets to hold his hands and knock his face in.

They tied him to a chair back-to-back with me so I could no longer see his face. That broke me.

"Oh god.. Well this really has created a mess now hasn't it?" Chase's brother spoke for the first time since Riley had interrupted his little execution.

"No one warned me lover boy might come back." The remark came with a poignant glare toward Spence who sat shocked by the sudden commotions.

With Riley unconscious in the chair behind me, Bliss too far away to even know of my death and Spence a traitor to me I felt suddenly very alone.

Thoughts raced through my head, each pushing the other for the forefront position.

Bliss won't find out for days I'm dead. I don't want her to know.

I trusted Spence. This is my fault.

Riley's going to die because of me. I can't watch him die. I can't.

As desperate as the situation was, the main thought that held my attention was that of I'm going to die a virgin.

What a horribly teenagery thing to be thinking in such a predicament. At least Riley won't die a virgin.

Suddenly I wished more than anything I had just jumped his bones every time I thought about it... Which I was ashamed to admit, was a lot.

Pulling me from my thoughts of far too inappropriate things, Chase's brother groaned in exasperation after moments of pacing back and forth.

He turned to his two guards, who were no longer bothering to hide themselves from view and demanded that they "watch them! Don't let either move a muscle."

He stormed from the room and I heard the back screen door scream in protest of being opened and slammed shut.

His absence felt like the cap that had been keeping my emotions at bay couldn't take it anymore, and finally burst off.

I couldn't hold back the tears that streamed down my face like raindrops on a car window.

Spence stayed silent in the corner, not even looking at me whilst the guards busied themselves patrolling and observing our surroundings.

I'd never felt more alone until my fingers, tied behind my back, were entwined with another's. Riley! He's okay.

I could've screamed in relief. He was okay. Even if it was just for now.

"Sabbie..." His voice sounded course and ever so wondrous as he whispered to me.

"Riley..." I responded, clenching my fingers around his to assure myself he was real.

"I'm sorry baby.. I don't know what I was thinking leaving you. I thought that-"

"Shhh.." I cut him off. This wasn't time for apologies. It was time for goodbyes. "It's okay, I understand."

I heard the breathe he was holding fall in a way that made me want to cry more. How much longer would oxygen travel through his lungs?

"I was so afraid you would hate me. I hate me...." He trailed off and I could imagine the crease in his forehead as he shook his head at himself.

"I loved you the moment you feel into my arms out the front of the station. Your long hair and beautiful eyes. Eyes that had seen far to much. How could anyone not fall in love with you?"

I smiled a soft smile as I remembered the day we first met. I was drunk on coffee and insomnia and he was, well, Riley.

"You were such a dick that day.." I said, adding a soft giggle so he would know I was kidding.

"I know.. I didn't know how to react to such a beautiful and stubborn girl. I felt like I was in fourth grade all over again. You made me lose myself."

He said it in a way that made it sound like a good thing but I wasn't sure. I loved Riley, I didn't want to take him from himself.

Riley took my silence as reminiscence and continued on, "I knew I was stuffed when Hudson told me you were my assignment. I should have turned the job down. Told him I was unsuitable. But I couldn't do it... I couldn't know that you were in danger and I wasn't there to stop it..." He took a moment to gather his breathe and thoughts, before squeezing my fingers and continuing, "... Even though it would be me who put you in more danger in the end."

It took me a second to realise what he meant. Oh God. Riley blamed himself for this.

"This is my fault, Riley Martin. Not yours. I shouldn't have pushed you away."

"But you didn't Sabbie, you forced me to finally accept how I felt and that wasn't something I was used to. I left because I thought you were better off without me. What if I put my love for you before your life? I told myself that I would never forgive myself if I let you down... So I left." He laughed a sad laugh that made my heart shatter. "How ironic that I caused your death anyway."

There was nothing I could say to convince him of his innocence. Just as there was nothing he could say to convince me of mine. We were two broken souls, causing each other's demise.

"I love you, Riley." It was all I could think at the time. The only thing that mattered anymore.

"I love you, Sabine."

As my name left his lips, Chase's brother re-entered the room, looking razzled but less so than before.

"Okay look. So this shit has caused me way to much stress. I don't need the grey hairs, you know? So here's the deal. We're gonna get this over with. Now, one of you gets to go first while the other watches their 'true love' die. How tragic... Any volunteers?"

This was all a joke to him. Our lives were nothing but inconveniences he wanted rid of. How someone could have so little compassion astounded me.

Riley spoke up, which surprised me. He was normally the 'stare until they get scared and leave' type.

"Please. Please don't hurt her. You can have me. What's the difference? A life for a life. Just don't hurt her." His instinct to self-sacrifice made me want to scream. How could he honestly believe a life without him was worth anything?

Luckily, Chase wasn't going to give in to Riley's begging. "Isn't that cute.. You wanna save your little girlfriend. I get that but you see, she's the whole reason we're here. Give her up and there's not point at all."

"But-" Riley tried to reason, but he was interrupted too quickly to get anything other than a three lettered word out.

"But I love her... But she's innocent... But she wouldn't hurt anyone..." Chase imitated Riley in a way intended to make fun. This was nothing but a joke. "Yeah, yeah. I don't care if she's mother-fucking Theresa. I was told to kill her and that's what I'm going to do."

He pulled out his handgun and clicked the safety off. Oh God.

"Since you are ever-so chatty today, I'm going to take that as a volunteer to watch her die. Sound good?"

I'm sure Riley's hands were bleeding with how tight I was digging my fingers in. This is it. This is it. This is it.

I could hear Riley screaming incoherently behind a muffled filter. Everything was blurred.

Everything but the gun.

-

They say your life flashes before your eyes right before you die. That you remember everything that ever mattered.

But all I remember was the sound. A long ring that didn't stop and didn't get any quieter.

Guns were loud. Too loud.

-

So much happened that my head still hurt to think about it.

When the ringing started I thought it was a side effect of death. Of my soul leaving to go to wherever souls go.

I heard the screaming. The bangs. The shouting.

None of it mattered. Nothing matters when you're dead.

Except the feeling of someone tugging at the ropes around your wrists.

I thought I wasn't going to be able to feel anything when I died.

"Sabbie... Sabbie..." Someone called my name but I couldn't tell who it was. I was too confused by my remaining sensation of touch.

It didn't go away. After the wrists I felt my face being held. My arms. How odd.

"Sabbie... Sabbie..." There it was again. That person yelling. Why were they yelling? My head hurt to much for it.

There was a fog around my soul and it wouldn't let go. How was I supposed to find peace with this awful fog?

I thought it would last forever. Keep me from ever rising to heaven or lowing into hell. Either would be better than this fog.

"Sabbie... Sabbie..." There it was again. That voice that was pulling me from the fog. I loved the voice. It was taking away my fog.

Suddenly I could see things I never thought I would again. Like the men that lay face down on the ground. Or the blood that pooled from behind me.

Wait. Is that my blood?

The voice snapped me to attention when he called my name once more. I looked up at his face and saw the subtle blonde features, the curve of his nose. Spence, I thought. That's Spence.

I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm not dead. Repeating it made everything so much clearer. I was okay. Oh my god. I was okay.

"Sabine. You're alright! But you have to help me. Riley's been shot."

Riley.. Oh god no please not Riley. Take anyone but him.

He laid on the floor in a way too crooked to be okay. Blood pooled beneath his legs but I watched as his chest slowly rise and fall.

I crawled my way to his chest, desperate to confirm his beating heart.

His eyes were open and blinking, he mouth pursed in a permanent grimace.

When those beautiful green eyes looked into mine I cried in relief. He was gonna be okay.

I turned to Spence, who stood rigid behind me, watching the unconscious guards and his father.

"What happened?" I asked. Desperate for and explanation of the backwards situation.

"I hit dad over the head with my gun right before we was going to shoot you. The gun still went off, but at Riley's leg instead of your head. The guards got the same treatment. I couldn't let him kill you Sabbie.. I couldn't."

His eyes begged for an apology that I wasn't prepared to give. He may have saved my life, but he put it in danger in the first place.

Riley was my first and foremost thought. I could deal with Spence once he was okay.

"I have to get him to the hospital. He's losing too much blood."

Spence nodded in a agreement but didn't say anything.

"Well!" I shouted, frustrated at his lack of enthusiasm to help. "Help me get him to the car!"

"Oh right." We both moved swiftly but quickly in a desperate attempt to get Riley to the car without to much extra damage being done to his leg.

Once I was seated in the drivers seat, with Riley laying safely across the back, I threw Spence some handcuffs for his father and sped off, praying God would be merciful.