Once we got to the hospital I had to wait in the waiting room completely covered in blood; my shirt and pants were soaked. I'd been trying to stop both men from bleeding too much more so I was putting pressure on their wounds while kneeling in the still-growing pool of blood.

I paced, too anxious to sit. I needed to know he'd be alright. I know I'd made a big deal out of being angry with Will, but I couldn't stand by and watch him die. He'd been too important to me for too long. Learning more about him today had led me further down the road to forgiveness. He couldn't die now, not when I was just getting to know the real him.

I found out quickly that the officer who'd been shot had died on the way in. As they loaded him in the ambulance he apparently flatlined and they hadn't been able to resuscitate him. I wasn't sure what I'd do if Will died too. These people had been in harm's way because of me. The guilt was horrifying.

I endured the stares from other people in the waiting room with indifference. It didn't matter what they thought of me if I was here for Will. Eventually I had to go to the bathroom. Once I did my business I moved to the mirror and saw myself for the first time since I got here. I looked terrified. The blood had dried and sat crisp on my clothes, it was starting to flake off my hands and arms and neck where it had splashed before. My eyes were wide and shocked and tired. I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed the blood on my hands enough to wash it off before now. No wonder people were staring.

I scrubbed and scrubbed, panic washing through me as the blood stained my skin pink. I didn't want Will's blood on me. It needed to be in his body where it belonged.

Eventually I made my way back to the sitting room where I finally had it in me to sit instead of pace. I waited for what must have been hours on end. I would have slept but I was too scared I'd miss someone coming out to tell me what happened.

Finally a nurse came out. Her face was grim, but I couldn't tell the severity of the bad news from her expression alone. She sought me out and I rose to meet her.

"Are you the young lady who found Mr. Tucker?"

"Yes. Is he okay?" I asked quickly.

"Yes. He will be fine. He lost quite a bit of blood but the shot to his chest missed all vital organs. It appears he is very lucky."

My body visibly sagged with relief. It felt like I could breathe again. I guess her face was a permanent mask of severity. Well at least he would be fine.

"Can I see him?"

"There are two detectives speaking with him right now but you can come with me and wait until they are finished if you want."

"That would be great, thank you."

Now that Will was out of danger the fatigue hit me over the head. Moving my feet step after step after the nurse felt like the longest journey I'd ever taken.

We stopped in front of a white hospital room when she motioned for me to stay there. She went inside and as the door shut behind her I noticed the two detectives taking notes as Will was talking. I waited patiently for just a few minutes before they came out. They nodded to me, giving me a brief smile before letting me in.

I don't think even I could have predicted my reaction next when I saw Will smiling weakly at me from the hospital bed, arm and chest all wrapped up in gauze.

"You jerk! You scared me to death! I thought for sure you were a goner." I smacked his leg and felt tears falling from my eyes.

"Hey, it's okay. Come here. I'm alright now. I'm not going anywhere Annie." I walked up to the edge of the bed and awkwardly hugged him on the side he wasn't injured. He rubbed my arm comfortingly, kissing my hair.

"Just don't get shot again. Ever." I mumbled into his side.

He laughed. "I'll try. No promises though. I'd rather get shot than let you get hurt any day."

I eventually moved away.

"So, does anyone know anything about what happened yet? Did you see anything?"

Will's brows furrowed slightly. "No, the shooter was standing behind the cop, using him as a human shield. Detectives Hansen and  and I have concluded that the shooter was an expert marksman. He took out the second officer patrolling your area with two shots fired directly to the heart, seconds apart. He took out the officer at the door the same way. That, of course, means he left me alive for some reason. Maybe a warning? I'm not sure."

"Doesn't that mean you're in danger? What if he comes back? And speaking of, how do you know it's a 'he'?" I asked.

"There was some surveillance tape footage from our camera we set up by your building that suggests the shooter was built like a man. And I don't think I'm in danger. If he wanted me dead, I'd be dead."

He spoke about his death so coldly, like it didn't bother him at all. I'd never seen that all-business, ice-cold side of him before. It was a little disconcerting.

"You have to back off from the investigation. If it was a warning than you should heed it. You could get hurt again, or even killed." I insisted, wide-eyed.

He tilted his head at me, studying me before giving me a small smile. He grabbed my hand in his larger, warmer one. "I can't do that. I have to protect you. They seem to want me to back off, but that just means I shouldn't. That means we're scaring them. They knew if they'd killed me someone even higher up the food chain would have spearheaded the investigation in my place. They wanted to scare me. I can't give them that satisfaction."

I groaned internally. Stubborn man! "Fine, but please be careful. No more injuries?" I begged.

"Of course. Anything for you Annie." He gave me a crooked smile. I rolled my eyes slightly but smiled back.

Our conversation was suddenly interrupted by a shrill ringing. Will reached to the table next to his hospital bed and snatched his phone, quickly answering the call.

"Agent Tucker speaking," His eyes widened in surprise at whatever the other person must have responded with. After a couple of seconds, he continued, "Yes, of course. No, that won't be a problem. She's doing fine, not a scratch on her. Now is not the best time, but I'll let you know soon. Alright. I'll call you later. Goodbye."

I studied his face curiously. That was an odd call.

"What was that about?"

He flashed a tight smile at me. "Oh, it was nothing. My bosses wanted to know how you were doing, how the investigation was going. I'll call them back later. On another note, they told me your father is out of the hospital. He's still bedridden, but it's looking good."

I stiffened in surprise. I felt a cocktail of mixed feelings, ranging from joy he's not dead, to guilt I'd somehow forgotten him, to anger at his last interaction with me, to forced indifference. That was something I would have to process fully later. For now, I settled on forced indifference; it was the least confusing emotion out of the lot.

"Oh. Good." A brief pause fell between us awkwardly.

Suddenly Will was grabbing my hand gently. "I need you to know I will always keep you safe Annie, no matter what. You have to trust that. Trust me."

His face was dead serious, his eyes almost pleading. I was immediately concerned.

"I don't know if I can trust you yet. I do feel better after you've told me more about you, but I'm not there yet. Why are you asking that of me?"

"With this shooting I realized this investigation needs to go on the offensive; we have a little more to go on now and can start building a case. I can't keep hiding in the shadows, waiting for the next attack. That means I'm going to make some decisions you won't like, but I swear everything I do is meant to keep you safe. Not only are you my job, you're my best friend and I intend to always be that for you if you're ever ready to accept me fully again. I just need you to remember that."

If his words were meant to lull me into calm, they didn't work. They actually made me more anxious.

"What decisions are you talking about?"

His mouth set in a grim line, his eyes burning with finality.

"You can't see Jaime anymore."

Wow. I should have seen that coming.

"Really? Do we really need to go through this again? You can't control what I do." I sighed, exasperated.

"Actually, I should have said that you won't be seeing him without either me present or you wired. Either way I would be nearby."

I was nearly speechless. He must be stupid if he thought I would just let him control me like that.

"No! Absolutely not. I won't stand for it."

"Don't you want to be safe? I already told you we, as investigators, cannot eliminate him as a suspect, which makes you being around him dangerous. I would do my best to keep anyone under my protection away from a suspect. It's not personal." He shrugged.

"Of course it's personal! You might advise someone under your protection to stay away from a suspect, but you couldn't force them. Yet here you are, trying to force me. I'm not going to stay away from him just because you have an issue with him and you can't always account for where he is. There are lots of people in New York you can't account for during the attacks, so what about them?!" I was starting to get angry now.

He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Ok, so what if it is personal? You're my best friend. I can make you stop seeing him because I'm involved in your life. I'm not involved in my other cases like that. And not everyone in New York has a connection to the attacks like he does. You can't expect me to stop suspecting him just because he's your boyfriend."

"That's true, but you're only focusing on him so hard because he's my boyfriend! Sometimes you make me want to scream!" My eyes were popping out of my head and I was pulling my hair in anger.

He crossed his arms and his expression turned to a glare.

"Sometimes you're so pigheaded I want to bash my head against a wall. Why can't you trust me for once?!" His voice suddenly got quieter and his expression turned tired. "I'm trying so hard to be upfront and trustworthy. Can't you give me a little in return?"

I sighed. Ugh, he'd just played the trust card. I hadn't been making it easy for him. I knew that, but I hadn't felt so guilty about it until just now.

"Fine. But don't expect me to be happy with you." I glared and he gave me a little smile of triumph.

"Good. Now help me up. I need to get out of here so I can take you home."

My jaw dropped. "Um, no. You need to at least spend the night here. Sorry."

He groaned. "Not another argument. I just won the last one."

I gave him an unamused look and gently punched his good shoulder.

"Well if you keep talking like that I won't let you win it. And anyway, I can get myself home. You need to rest here for the night."

It was his turn for the unamused look. "You really think I'd let you go home by yourself? This is a question of your safety. Visiting hours are nearly over anyway, so just sneak me out with you. Come on, don't be a goody two-shoes."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. I'll compromise. You'll stay here for the night, and so will I. We will leave tomorrow morning, after the pain medicine has worn off you a little. You're FBI right? Can't you officially request I stay with you tonight or something?" He paused in thought.

"Actually that's not a bad idea. Alright. I'll call the nurse in."

After a couple minutes the nurse entered the room and Will did his official voice thing, telling her I was a witness under his protection and needed to stay with him. She agreed quickly, offering to get me a pillow, which I denied. I didn't want her to go to more work for me. This was a busy hospital and I was sure she didn't need more work to do. Will motioned to his side, clearly wanting me to lay next to him on the thin hospital bed. Too tired to argue, I relented, curling up against his good side. He rested his head on mine and we eventually drifted off.

That night my sleep was turbulent to say the least. I had my usual nightmare again. I was running through the airport, looking for him. After rushing through a bunch of terminals I found him, back to me as he was looking out the window. I ran up, tapped him on the shoulder, and as he began turning to me this time he had a face. It was Jaime! He grinned down at me and I grinned back, embracing him. Then something happened that had never occurred before: I heard a voice calling my name. I turned, searching for the voice. Squinting my eyes to scan through the crowd, I saw him. Will. He was calling to me.

"Annie, get away from him! He's going to hurt you!"

Suddenly I became very aware of James' grip on my arm tightening painfully, nails digging into my skin. My head whipped around to look at him. His expression was dark, sneering, and he reached up with a gun pointed at my head. His finger was pulling on the trigger until--

"Hey, wake up! Annie!"

My eyes flew open. Will was shaking me. I was dreaming. I didn't have time to process where I was before he engulfed me in a hug. He was so warm. I closed my eyes and sank into his arms. He smelled somehow like vanilla but also with the cleansing quality the smell of rain has. All I could think about was how perfectly I fit into his embrace, how perfectly comforting his warmth was, how nice he felt against me.

He pulled away too soon, cradling my cheek in his hand. His eyes were searching mine, seeming to show a vulnerability I hadn't seen there before. Suddenly he removed his hand and leaned back slightly. I began to fully realize what just happened and felt supremely uncomfortable. That was very strange.

"Are you okay Annie? You were calling out for me in your sleep and thrashing around. What happened?"

"Sorry. It was a bad dream. I'm okay now." I blushed. I didn't really need him to know he was in my dream.

"What was it about?" He looked concerned.

"Nothing, really. I have it all the time, though it was a little different this time. I didn't mean to wake you."

He looked at me curiously for a minute before his expression morphed into a smirk.

"Oh. Was it one of those dreams? Is that why you won't tell me?"

"What kind of dream?"

"You know, a sex dream." He winked at me brazenly.

I choked on air and blushed like a tomato. Once I'd caught my breath again I quickly refuted his thought.

"No, no, no. It was a nightmare. I was calling out to you to save me. I don't dream about you like that." That he knows of. I wasn't proud of it, but I'd had them a few times. That was something he would never know if I could help it.

He chuckled. "Yeah, sure. That's why you blushed so hard when I asked, because you've never had those about me before." He said sarcastically.

I dropped my face into my hands, hoping he'd just drop it. This was not a conversation I would have with him. Thankfully, the nurse and doctor came in at that moment to double check that he was ready for release. They checked his bandages and his vitals. Everything was stable so they signed a release form and he got changed into his now-bloodied street clothes.

I drove the rest of the way back to my apartment trying not to seem awkward. I was trying to put the whole situation out of my mind. Luckily, Will wasn't bringing it up. He seemed to be focused on something serious; his brows were drawn together and his eyes seemed far away. He must have been thinking hard because he hadn't fought me when I hopped into the driver's seat. This was his car after all. Normally he'd take any and every opportunity to give me grief.

We finally reached my apartment complex, staying silent until we were inside. I had to know what he was thinking about.

"You okay?"

He glanced up at me as if he'd forgotten I was present. "Fine." He murmured distractedly, adjusting his sling holding his hurt shoulder.

"Just tell me already." I sighed.

"...I was thinking about our next move. We need to draw the suspects out, make them talk. The only suspects we haven't been able to talk to are Lindsay Smith and the known gang member who's been missing. All the other suspects are on our radar. We know where they are and what they're doing. We need to find them."

"How are you going to do that?"

"I'm going to focus my resources on finding out where they went when they disappeared. Hopefully we can get a line on them. It would really help the investigation if we knew whether they were involved or not. Then we could start moving in the right direction."

"Good.  I hope it works.  Whoever keeps doing these things needs to be brought to justice."

"I agree.  Now you should go get changed."  He smiled at me.

I nodded in agreement and headed back to my bedroom.  I went to the closet, pulled out a new set of clothes and set them on my bed.  My eyes were suddenly caught on something by my pillow.  I got closer to see an envelope.  I cocked my head in confusion.  I don't think I left this here.

I opened it to see a letter addressed to me in big cursive handwriting.  

Annalee,

I hope you enjoyed the little show I put on for you the other day.  You have probably realized by now that I left Mr. Tucker alive on purpose.  Let that be a warning to you.  I won't shoot to maim twice.  If you try to hide behind him again, next time he'll be the one laying in a coffin.

With Love,

Your Secret Admirer