(Shayla's POV)

Fifteen more minutes. I watch the minutes and seconds tick down on the clock, part of me hoping one of the boys would find me, the other half of me already giving up. Foolish, to give up now, when I'd been a fighter most of my life, and after everything I'd been through up until now. I was tired, though.

I'd always wondered, how when people are about to die, or the near death experiences, does their life really flash before there eyes? Do bits of it play for them? I've had a few brushes with death myself, but that never happened for me. Maybe it was because all my memories, at least most of them before I became a cop, weren't worth remembering.

I couldn't help but think back now, to New York, to the times I didn't even really want to think about. To the times before I was even on the streets, before I met Ethan. Before Danny and Roarke, there was mom and dad, even though they didn't really want me. In fact, I'm pretty sure my own mother hated me, the sight of me.

By the time I was five years old, I had already seen things no child should have seen. I may not have understood all of it back then, but I understood enough, enough that hell, most of it I was better off blocking it out.

             I vaguely remember what my parents looked like. My mom had the same red hair as me, but green eyes. She was pretty once, but years of drugs had taken its toll on her. My father had dark black hair, but his eyes, matched my brown ones, though his were hardened, because of the things he did and saw. He had been handsome once, but years of drinking and his other habits that he shared with my mother took toll on him as well.

              They were both angry, neither wanting to be parents, and both consumed with their addictions. My mom frequently gave herself shots, shooting up what she told me was medicine into her veins, but later I learned it was heroin. My father was involved with bad people, and usually came home drunk. If he was black out drunk, he'd leave me alone, but if he was just drunk enough to be lucid, he'd find something to be pissed at me for, some excuse to smack me around.

             My mother always seemed to be mad, when she wasn't shooting up, frequently yelling about me, and if she was mad enough, she'd slap me so hard I swear my teeth rattled.

             "Stop it! Stop whining! That's all you do, sniveling little brat." She'd hiss, if I ever cried in her presence. "All she does is cry and whine and eat. I'm sick of it! She cost money to have here. Can't we just dump her somewhere?" She'd complain to my father, as she glared at me.

                "And attract cops? That's the last thing we need around here. Just keep her inside, if she doesn't shut up, I'll handle it." My father would tell her, before dragging me to my room. He'd smack my in the face, knocking me back, and sometimes I hit the wall, banging my head, before sinking onto the floor, where I'd try to curl into a ball, if he didn't drag me back up.

               "Stop it. Stop crying you sniveling bitch. Stop aggravating Stella." He'd yell, not even bothering to tell me to stop bothering my mom, it was always stop bothering Stella. Same with her, it was always stop making Matt angry, not your father. It was almost like they were afraid, or didn't want to use the words father or mother, like it would be acknowledging, or making it too real, that they were parents, when they didn't want to be.

              She had told me once, that I was an accident, that she wished had never happened. At the time I didn't fully understand, and when I asked my dad about it, he got really mad. It got worse when I wouldn't let up, and kept crying and asking. That was a mistake on my part, a huge one. He broke my arm that day, I distinctly remember my arm snapping, hanging there useless, and it hurt like hell.

               I was seven, when I managed to sneak out, finally. My mom was so gone I doubt she could even see her own hand, she was so high. My dad hadn't even come home yet, when I left. I left our little apartment, and made the alleys of New York my home, and not long after that, was when I met Ethan.

Eleven minutes. I had exactly eleven minutes left, when I hear the sound of running footsteps get close, snapping me out of my thoughts, the flashes of my fucked up childhood.

The last man I'd ever thought I'd see after he told me to get out, was standing before me. Tennoji. "Red." He acknowledged, his usual grin and easy going manner gone, as he immediately went to trying to untie the knots around my legs, that connected the bomb to me. Ten minutes, maybe a little less. "Fuck.. You don't have your knife do you?" He cursed, grey eyes boring into mine.

"No. They took it.. How'd you..." I trailed off, amazed that someone had found me. He got up, before walking to the only window in the room. It was a big window actually, across from me on the other side of the room, well, this was more like a storage unit but whatever. He smashed his clenched fist through the window, before picking up a big piece of sharp glass, blood dripping from his knuckles as he ran back over.

Eight minutes. "You're hurting yourself dumbass." I murmured, as I watched him saw away at the ropes with the glass. The glass cut into his hand, digging in as he kept sawing at my binds, making more blood drip, from what I could imagine was now a gash in his hand.

"Well I don't exactly go carrying a knife around like you do, and my gun ain't gonna do it." He replied flippantly, still sawing at it. Why is he doing this? Doesn't he hate me? But I guess regardless, he's a cop, through and through, and it's part of the job to save me.

Six minutes. "Tennoji go. There's not enough time, just go." I told him, as I watched the timer hit six minutes. He was almost done, but by time he finished, it would probably be too late.

"I'm not gonna just leave you Red." He huffed, sawing away at the last three loops of the rope. His hand was bleeding pretty good by this point, and even if he hated me, and I had no chance with him now, I couldn't stand the thought of him dying, trying to save me.

Four and a half minutes. "Yutaka! Go! I don't deserve another chance, and I'm not worth all this just go!" I screamed at him, his grey eyes widening at the use of his first name, that, and the water in my eyes finally spilled over, running down my face, as I looked at him.

"Shay...I'm not leaving you." He growled, as he kept going. Anger flashed in his dark grey eyes, like he was pissed at the suggestion I had made.

At almost two minutes, the ropes fell off, and Tennoji scooped me up, running for the window that was just above the water, diving through it, with me in his arms. I heard the explosion go off as we hit the water.

I was sinking, farther down into the water, and though I kicked up, I kept sinking, because my hands were still tied. My lungs burned, aching for air that I couldn't give them, as a familiar hand grabbed my arm, pulling me towards the surface.

We broke the surface, and I gasped for air, ridiculously relived that I could breathe again. "Thank you" I spluttered, when I finally met his gaze. "Thank you for saving me.. I know you don't really like me right now, but I appreciate it." I rambled on, before he cut me off.

"I wasn't gonna just stand there and let ya blow up ya idiot." He scoffed, and I nodded.

"I know... It's part of the job... Saving people, helping people, still..." I trailed off, not really comprehending half the shit that was coming out of my own mouth as I said it, I was so flustered.

"Yea, it's part of the job." He shrugged, his hands on my arms as he kept me from sinking back under. "The thing is, I wanted to.. I wanted to get you out of there alive Red. Hell, It's not just that I wanted to, I needed to. Not for the job Red, but for me." He said, seriously, his eyes searching my face as he talked.

             "I know it's part of the job, and Im sorry.. And just I couldn't stand the thought of you getting hurt, and I had just about given up..." I rambled on, not able to stop myself. Part of me heard him, but I kinda couldn't believe my own ears at this point.

            "Shay." He squeezed my arms, not hard, but enough to get me to focus. "Dammit woman, didn't you just hear me? For fucks sake just shut up and let me me kiss you Red."

               It took me a minute, even after his lips touched mine, for me to believe it. It finally registered he was kissing me, and I kissed back, fiercely, putting everything I had into it, every emotion that I had just felt and finally caught up to me, went into the kiss.

The sound of a boat engine approaching, caught our attention as we pulled apart. The rest of the second unit was heading our way. "My heart nearly stopped when I saw that bomb strapped to you." He admitted quietly. "And dammit, don't give me that shit about how you don't deserve another chance because that's fucking bullshit Red. Don't ever say, hell, don't ever think that shit again, you got me?" He lectured me, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"What's so funny? Does it look like I'm messing around?" He narrowed his eyes, glaring, but the corner of his lips quirked up slightly, and I knew he was holding back a laugh himself.

             "We're alive. I'm still fucking alive, and you don't hate me." I laughed, as I said it.

                "I'm sorry Red. I spoke without thinking back at the hospital. Anyway, we're alive, and pretty much case closed. The guys and backup were right behind me, arrested any of those fuckers that were still here. Yakuza, all of em." He added smiling, his usual lopsided grin returning to his face.

             "Well.. Hopefully they were all here." I mused, and he shrugged.

             "If they weren't we'll get them to tell us the names at the station when we interrogate them."

             The boat pulled up beside us, Asano and Eiki pulling me up first, then Hanai and Kyobashi pulled up Tennoji, before offering both of us a towel.

              "Glad to see you're okay Slaven, Tennoji." Kirisawa nodded, smiling slightly at us. "Take some time to dry off, then we're going to take a crack at the guys we picked up." He added.

              I dried off as best as I could, before driving back to my apartment for a bit, Tennoji with me. I wanted to change clothes, and throw my phone in rice and pray that it still worked.

               I kicked off my shoes once we got in, before grabbing a change of clothes. "Uh, if you want to shower or something, if you leave your clothes outside the bathroom door I can throw them in the dryer." I offered, glancing at Tennoji, who nodded, agreeing.

               "Alright. Thanks Red."

               "Oh, and here, we can put your phone in rice too, see if maybe we can save them." I added, going to the kitchen, where I filled a container with rice. I knew it didn't always work, but I prayed it would. I didn't want to go through the hassle of getting a new one.

As soon as we put the phones in rice, Tennoji walked off to shower, so I went off to wait for my turn. I grabbed his clothes, throwing them in the dryer, before going to plop down on the couch as I waited.

"Red." I heard Tennoji shout, as the shower turned off, sending me scrambling to the dryer.

"Hang on!" I yelled back, grabbing his clothes from the dryer, as I ran back down the hall.

"Okay." I yelled, right outside the door. I expected him to reach a hand or arm out the door, instead of what he did.

He opened the door fully, with the towel hanging around his waist half naked. Fuck. The abs oh my Jesus the abs. I don't know what exactly, but I'd lick something off those abs. Oh shit. "Um here." I threw his clothes at him, feeling my face burn, though I didn't exactly look away.

"You're blushin, and staring Red." He grinned. "Tch ya gonna look away so I can get dressed or what? Tsk pervert." He added, leaning against the door frame, as he started laughing.

"Shut up idiot." I huffed, turning away. "And hurry the hell up so I can shower." I added, before running to the kitchen to check our phones. They looked okay, but I'd leave them in awhile longer, at least until we were heading to the station.

                "It's all yours Red." Tennoji announced, gesturing towards the bathroom as he walked into the kitchen.

                I ran to the bathroom, taking the fastest shower I could. Regardless, it still felt good, the warm water hitting me, after everything that had happened. I quickly got dressed, before going to my room, and dug through my closet for my spare gun and knife, since those assholes at the wharf had taken mine earlier.

                "Alright, we'll grab our phones and go!" I called out to him, as I pulled a jacket on, walking down the hall.

                "Hey we could see if you can get a new gun....never mind.. How many do you have...?" He raised an eyebrow at me, once he saw I already had a new gun strapped on. I could have gotten a new one at the station, but I had a spare. Actually I had a stash of things from before I joined the police academy, but he didn't need to know that.

               "Just an extra I had stashed." I shrugged it off, before going into the kitchen and grabbing our phones. "Here's to hoping it still works." I muttered, putting the battery back in, before trying to turn it on.

                 "Mines working." He glances over at me.

                 My screen finally lights up, before turning all the way on. "Holy shit, mine too." I tell him, surprised. I didn't think it would actually work. When I looked up, back at him, my gaze dropped to the gash in his hand. "Oh we need to bandage that." I added, pointing to his hand.

He rolled his eyes at me. "Tsk it's nothing Red."

"No, come on. Let me bandage it." I insisted, already trying to drag him back to the bathroom. He complained, but eventually, let me bandage it up.

                A half hour later, we walk back into the station, ready to wrap this case up, when Eiki walks up to us, kinda flustered. "Shay, none of the ones we brought back are from the New York group." He tells us.

                 "Shit." Tennoji curses, and I have to agree with him. Shit.

                 "So all the blood dragons escaped... Great..." I run a hand back through my hair, frustrated, when my phone goes off, and I get a text from a number I don't recognize.

                 I read it over, and there's a picture attached. "Son of a bitch." I curse, before heading into our second unit office.

              "Shay what is it?" Eiki asks curious.

               I motion for all the second unit guys to gather around so I can show them the text. "They're screwing with me, that's what." I growl, before showing them the text.

               It read "Guess where we are?" At the top of a picture. Then below the picture it read "Catch me if you can."

               "I don't get the picture, it looks like a street corner by an alley. You can see the street sign too I think." Hanai observed, taking a closer look at the picture.

               "It's a street corner in New York." I answer, having immediately recognized the place in the picture.

               "How do you recognize one corner?" Kirisawa asks, taking a drag of his cig.

               "Like Hanai said, you can kinda make out the street sign. Regardless, they picked that one because that's where I first met Ethan. They're screwing with me, letting me see they are in New York, and reminding me that Ethan found me on that street, in the alley when we first met." I tell them.