The Fastest Gun in the West
~~~2~~~
Lukas stood for a few minutes as Romeo let him make his choice. Reluctantly, he sighed, and couldn't bring himself to do harm to Jesse. He lowered his gun, kneeling down slowly and setting it on the ground.
"Alright, alright. I'm surrendering.. Let Jesse go," he spoke with a tenseness in his tone.
"Lukas no- he's not-" Jesse began to say, but Romeo cut him off.
"Good good! Then this will be no problem at all. Colossus, continue then."
However at Romeo's command, the man, 'Colossus', didn't release Jesse. Instead he held his grip tighter, and set his finger on the trigger. Lukas suddenly knew what was going on, and Jesse watched as Romeo pulled a small pistol from his suit pocket. In retaliation, Jesse began to flail. He jumped up, kicking Colossus hard between the legs and just barely avoiding a bullet to the head as the gun went off.
Lukas saw this as a chance. Knowing Jesse could take care of this Colossus easy, he grabbed his gun and whipped around to deal with Romeo again. However, Romeo was quick to the punch and drew his own weapon at the same time.
A gunshot went off, just as Jesse whacked Colossus over the head with the handle of his weapon and knocked him out cold, and Jesse quickly turned to see Romeo stumble backwards into the window, hitting it hard enough to shatter it as he fell through. Jesse quickly ran to the window, past Lukas, in an attempt to somehow rescue him. However to his morbid surprise, a chopper had been waiting just below, and turned to catch Romeo before flying off with both him and the briefcase he'd been carrying.
Jesse balled his hands up into fists and groaned as he slapped his hands over his eyes.
"We lost him! Again! Ugh.. And we were so close!!" Jesse yelled, pushing away from the broken window.
"J... Jesse..?" Lukas almost squeaked from behind him.
He turned at the sound, only to see Lukas looking as though he'd just seen a ghost. He had a hand over his chest, and he dropped his gun as he stumbled slightly.
"Lukas-? Lukas- what's wrong?" Jesse quickly went over to him, taking hold of him and putting a hand over his. He drew his hand back quickly and stared down at it in shock, for coating his entire hand just from the light touch was a shining coat of fresh blood.
"I-I wasn't.. Fast enough..." Lukas's voice was already weak, and his expression was strained and afraid. Before Jesse could say anything else, his partner collapsed to the ground, already nearly unconscious.
"Lukas!" Jesse cried as he immediately dropped down beside his partners already limp body, putting both hands over the wound to try and slow the bleeding. He quickly yelled into the comms.
"Olivia! We need an evac right now!! Lukas was hit, bad!"
"What about Romeo? Or the buyer?" Olivia responded back.
"Romeo's gone! The buyer's immobilized in the meeting room. I don't care! I'm worried about Lukas! He's dying!!"
"Don't worry, we're sending someone right now- he's gonna be ok, Jesse. It's Lukas, he's tough.. He's gonna be just fine.."
With that, Jesse signed off the comms. He focused back on Lukas, who was still surprisingly conscious.
"Stay with me, Lukas. Helps coming.. Stay awake the best you can... Don't shut your eyes.." Jesse spoke in as much of a comforting tone he could muster as he tugged off his suit jacket to try and use it to block the bleeding.
Lukas wasn't out just yet, and gripped onto Jesse's arm lightly. He was visibly afraid, and was struggling to stay awake, and was simply looking for some bits of comfort and company. It took all of Jesse's strength to take Lukas's hand, as if these were final goodbyes.
"You're gonna be okay, you hear me?.." Jesse gripped Lukas's hand, holding it tightly to let him know that he was there, "You're gonna be fine... You're gonna recover and be back to normal in no time..."
"B-but- Jesse.. There's the possibility... I- might not... So listen to me, right now...." Lukas mustered his strength to take Jesse's hand with both of his, and it hurt Jesse's heart to feel how much he was shaking already.
"Don't say that- you're going to make it- you're going to be fine..." Jesse felt tears stinging at his eyes, and he fought them back, trying to be strong. He could already see how Lukas had gotten paler, shakier, visibly weaker, and he didn't want to admit it but feared the worst as blood puddled underneath him from the wound.
"Listen to me.. Either way... Goodbyes or.. Not... I-I still get to say I love you... And I'm sorry.. I should've been faster... I s-should've gone to check on you.." Lukas was beginning to stutter, trying desperately to get the words out.
"F-... Forget vows... Forget ceremony..." Lukas coughed in the middle of his sentence, a small amount of blood dripping down his chin, "Marry me now, Jesse.. Here and n-now... Before I may never get the chance to..."
This caught Jesse off guard, and at this point he could control his tears no longer.
"Lukas- no- I-.." Jesse glanced down at the engagement ring on his finger and whined, "We.. We're still going to have a ceremony. Because you're going to be absolutely okay.. And you're going to be there for it.. I'm not letting you die.."
Jesse didn't argue, especially against Lukas's happy yet awfully pained expression, and bent over into a kiss. Jesse gripped Lukas's hands as he felt his hold still growing weaker. It was a morbid feeling, almost incomplete, and made Jesse feel as though he was about to lose the one thing closest to him. But Lukas was happy. Lukas was letting his own tears flow freely, and gave Jesse an almost fulfilled smile.
"Th.. There's one more thing I need you to do for me, Jess..." he said, running his thumb gently over Jesse's hand.
"What's that..?"
"Shut your eyes.... Count to three with me..."
"What? Why?-"
"Just do it.. Count with me.. Please?..."
"O.. Okay.."
Jesse listened and shut his eyes, dipping his head slightly lower. Lukas spoke first.
"One."
"One..."
"Two.." Lukas's voice got weaker, almost a whisper.
"Two..."
...
"Three..."
On three, Jesse was the only one to speak. When he opened his eyes again, Lukas was limp beside him, eyes shut and a soft smile across his otherwise pained expression. Jesse's eyes widened as he let go of Lukas's hand and watched it drop limp onto the ground.
"Lukas?..." Jesse shook him lightly, and there was no response.
"Lukas!!.."
Jesse pressed his head against Lukas's chest, listening for anything. He couldn't hear a pulse. He pressed two fingers to Lukas's neck instead, praying for anything. There was barely a single beat. Jesse could barely feel it, but it was there, ridiculously slow and barely noticeable.
Jesse truly feared for his now husband's life and couldn't help but break into light sobs.
Soon enough, a chopper pulled close to the shattered window, and a bridge was smacked down between the windowsill and the deck of the heli. Jesse looked up quickly, the faintest bit of hope in his eyes, and picked Lukas up immediately. He wasted no time before running across the bridge into the heli. Petra and Radar were there, Olivia was flying. Petra helped Jesse lay Lukas's body gently across the seats, and both Radar and Petra worked on taking care of the wound while trying to stabilize him.
They soon made it to their HQ, where Olivia quickly rushed Lukas off to the emergency room, getting immediate help. Jesse stayed with Petra, worried sick to his stomach and fiddling with his ring anxiously.
~~Tech Time~~