"𝐈𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧."

- 4 -

Once again Leon and I were back in the Library. I was genuinely impressed with the structure of the room for this place to hold such history in just a couple of pages. The wooden arches making way for a path across the room, the walkway being held up by shelves and books fitted inside them. I winced in pain, holding my shoulder. Now I could really start to feel the ache in my right shoulder. The recoil on the shotgun was more powerful then I expected, my arm was tight and my shoulder was throbbing.

"God, I really need to get better with guns..." I gritted my teeth while rolling my shoulder back, trying to alleviate the pain. I wasn't used to handling guns obviously but now I could really understand I seriously wasn't. Thankfully the shotgun was not one of the bigger ones I've seen in movies or in gun stores. Otherwise I would have probably went flying back into the wall.

"Here let me help you." Leon placed his hand on my left shoulder, gently pulling me back to face him. We stood in front of each other our eyes making brief contact before looking away.

"How can you help an aching shoulder? Are you a doctor too?" We shared a smile. Leon softly shaking his head.

"No, I was trained to handle all types of guns. Some I learned in my free time, some I learned in criminal justice. I know the different pains different guns can give." Leon slid his hand up and into the jackets right shoulder. He hesitated for a moment. The Rookies eyes locked in place where his hand rested, looking at the jacket, his jacket, that I wore. "You care if I..?" Leons gaze was back up to me. My eyes glanced down at his lips then back up to his blue eyes.

"Yeah I don't mind." I shot him a quick smile, sharply inhaling, followed by a nervous laugh. Leon smiled back. He was gentle with stripping off the jacket and revealing my shoulder. His hands were firm but careful as he started to massage at the sore muscle. My jaw clenched with the feeling of the pain aching throughout my shoulder. Leons thumb pressed into the muscle and glided up, I felt a wave of relief wash over any remaining pain.

I closed my eyes and groaned from the back of my throat. God this felt good. I could feel my chest rise and fall, the soothing sensation made me feel a little tired. Fluttering my eyes open my breath hitched. Our eyes were locked together once again. Breaking the contact for just a moment to look down at his lips, Leon did the same. My heart began to race, my breathing quickened. Our faces were just a couple of inches away. Leon rested his free hand on my waist. His other hand stopped its movement at my shoulder.

"Leon...I—" I paused, "I'm glad you found me. That we found each other." We were in our own world. Everything around us was a haze and I could only see the Rookie cop that stood in front of me.

"I'm glad I did too. Look I...I'll be there y'know? I'm here for you." Leons eyes looked into mine, his hands tightened with his last words and his brows furrowed just a bit to express that he genuinely cared. Another quick glance at my lips. "Your shoulder feeling any better?" He said while pulling back up the jacket sleeve.

I nodded. "Mhm yeah, thank you by the way. Have you done stuff like that before?" I rolled my shoulder and rubbed at the sore spots.

"The first few times shooting one I definitely had to learn. Uh before my..." Leon stopped suddenly, as if he blanked out for a moment before clicking back on. "Somebody I knew would massage me like that, it helps a lot with the pain."

"Huh, let's get back to Marvin. We got a medallion to show him." I nudged Leon. He nodded and started to follow me back into the Main Hall.

The door creaked open to the lobby. High ceilings and a towering statue to bring the massive room all together. Leon and I walked out onto the balcony. Pillars reaching for the ceiling held it up securely and the tile floors reflected the room like a mirror. I leaned onto the wooden railing looking down into the Lobby. Marvin rested on the couch. His body was still and seemingly lifeless. I looked back at Leon, he knew from my eyes something was wrong. We both jogged down the stairs and to Marvin. Leon walked ahead crouching down to Marvins body. The cop reached for his lieutenants arm.

"Marvin...? Marvin we got—" Leon touched Marvin's arm. The man jolted awake and yelled, pushing away Leons hand. The lieutenant heaved in his chest, trying to calm down.

"Leon...you got it, right?" Marvin clenched his jaw with each word. I knew that his time was soon, each word could be his last yet he still pushes on. I admire that fight but looked down at the tile floor feeling sorry for Marvin.

"Yeah I got it, now we can get you out of here and—" the officer was interrupted by Marvin shouting at him in anger.

"No! You two have to get out of here. Not me, you." Marvin demanded. His eyes were stern and started to become a little bloodshot in the edges. "Get out of here. Now. I tried to stop it Leon, no matter what you see out there don't hesitate." Marvin fell back into the chair.

"Don't worry Marvin. I will get you out of here too." Leon's tone hinted with optimism. He didn't want to let his lieutenant go but he had to. Eventually Leon got up and faced me with a small smile on his face. I shot him a smile of my own although the mood in the room was cold and dull.

The last medallion locked in place with the help of Leon inserting it into the empty indent. Scraping of marble and concrete grazed against one another as the hidden passage under the tall elegant statue was revealed, it lead down into what looked to be an office of some kind. Leon looked down into the room with his flashlight looking back at me gesturing his head for us to move on. We both made our way down the stairs and into the new room, it was clean and intact compared to everything else around the station. Suddenly the passageway closed behind, the dark room flickered as the lights clicked on. Now we stood in the dark-wood office just the two of us in company of each other.

"What do we do now?" I look over at the officer, Leon. He checked his surroundings before setting his eyes on another doorway off to the side of the room.

"We head in there." Leon pointed and began walking in that direction. I followed in suit closely behind him.

My hands felt heavy until I realized I was still holding onto the shotgun. I laughed a little to myself at the realization of me death gripping this thing so I stopped Leon in his tracks to return what is rightfully his.

"I can't handle big guns, or even guns in general." Holding out the shotgun with my right hand on the barrel and my left at the end of the powerful gun.

Leon shook his head "I don't think so. You can handle yourself pretty well I'd say. You saved my life earlier!" He took the shotgun back holstering it behind him. Leon smiled again while patting my shoulder "Don't doubt yourself so much."

The two men were once again close, almost shoulder to shoulder. My eyes couldn't help themselves they kept darting down to sneak quick glances at Leon's lips. My heart started to beat again and my stomach fluttered at the few inches we had between us.