And right then is when the door crashed in.

Jordan and I reacted on impulse, shoving Sasha behind us and raising fists toward the chaos and smoke and splintered wood of the office door. Years of fighting - years of being on guard when we came up on the streets came rushing back, and we stood there shoulder-to-shoulder, with the girl we - well, the girl we cared more about than anything else in this world - protected behind us.

“Afternoon, gentlemen.”

The man standing at the front of the group of four other guys looked like a punk. Not a cool punk, and not like a punk-rocker or anything, just a punk. A piece of shit. A rat like the kind we knew from growing up. The weasely, greasy kind that would sell out his own mother for a buck.

His face was pallid, with dark, slick hair greased to one side, and a sick smile on his face.

Oh, right, and a shotgun in his hands, pointed right at us.

I felt my jaw tighten as I heard Jordan growl next to me.

“The fuck do you want?”

The man - Mark, apparently - grinned wickedly at us. “Well shit, I thought it was pretty obvious.”

The guys behind him cackled.

“There’s money on-premise,” I growled at him. “Take it, leave our employees the fuck alone, and get out.”

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, we’re actually going to do this my way, okay asshole?” Mark frowned at us. “What is it, casual fucking Friday?” He said, nodding at our bare chests, since we’d just managed to pull pants on before the shit had gone down.

Suddenly, his eyes moved past us, before narrowing on Sasha, wearing only a pair of panties and my dress shirt as she hid behind us.

“Oh, you little fucking whore!”

I could see red mist cloud my vision as I felt her clutch at my arm.

“Get over here, bitch!” Mark snapped, pointing right past us to Sasha.

“Not gonna fuckin happen,” Jordan snarled.

Mark laughed. “Jesus Christ, what are you, fucking both your bosses?”

“Look,” I growled. “Take the money, take your men, and get out. Easy-peasy, no mess.”

Mark shook his head. “Yeah, no. I’ll be taking that cash, but looks like I’m also going to be taking back what’s mine, too.”

“Oh fuck off, you asshole!” Sasha snapped from behind us. Jordan and I both grinned at the fire in her words.

Damn this girl had sass.

“I’m not your’s, Mark.”

“Yeah, well you will be.”

Jordan roared and stepped forward, before Mark suddenly leveled the gun right at his chest.

“That slut is mine now, gentlemen.”

My fingernails dug into my palms hard enough to draw blood as I snarled and stepped forward, only to be met with four other gun barrels.

“No!”

Sasha was suddenly pushing past us, shaking her head, her eyes wild.

“Mark, no! Don’t hurt them.”

“Sasha!” I hissed. “Don’t-”

“If I go with you, will you let them be?” Her words were quiet, and I could see that little shitbag Mark slowly grin.

“Deal,” he said with a horrible wink. “Money, and my girl back, and these two chumps live.”

“Goddamnit-”

Jordan started to shove forward, before Mark suddenly brought the end of the shotgun to bear right against his chest.

“Jordan, please…” Sasha turned back, her face pleading and her eyes wide and wet. “Please don’t get yourself killed for me.”

“You’re NOT leaving with this man, Sasha,” I heard myself saying, my voice sounding distant as the world blurred around me.

This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening. We’d just found this girl - this girl that made us whole, and who made us feel again, and there was no fucking way I was going to let this asshole take her away from us.

Because Goddamnit, we loved her.

We hadn’t said it yet, but I knew my buddy well enough to know he was thinking the same damn thing. Sasha made us whole, and filled this broken piece of our hearts that we’d never thought would get fixed.

And you don’t walk away from love.

I watched as if in slow motion. A tear rolled down her face as she slowly turned and stepped towards the men with the guns. Mark grabbed her arm, grinning evilly at her.

“Welcome back, bitch.”

And then suddenly, I turned, and met Jordan’s eyes as he did the same.

And we both knew.

No way was this happening. Come what may, there wasn’t a single Goddamn chance we were letting her go.

Years of instinct, and muscle memory, and snap reflexes kicked in as we both suddenly roared and lunged forward. Years of fighting, and surviving, and of reaction ability I’m betting they never saw coming in a million years from two white-collar guys like us.

I was aware of the shotgun going of with a thunderous roar, and the feeling of something hot against my side. But I ignored it, pushing the dull pain away as I knocked into Mark, toppling him backwards.

Jordan vaulted over both of us, roaring as he brought his fists to bear on two of the other guys. I lunged up, still ignoring the burning sensation in my side as I grabbed a third and bodily through him against the wall. I grabbed at the fourth while I saw Jordan trading hits with the other two from the corner of my eye. I took the guy in front of me to the floor and let my fists crash into his face.

And then suddenly, I froze.

Cold gun-metal against the back of your head will do that.

I let the limp thug in my hands drop to the ground with a thud as I turned to see Mark - a gun in one hand pointed at me, and the another in the other hand pointed right at Jordan.

Fuck.

“Alright, that’s enough,” he spat out. “No more bullshit! The money, the bitch, and then I’m getting the fuck out of-”

He stopped abruptly, his eyes suddenly going wide.

“Do not call me ‘bitch’, you fucking asshole.”

Sasha.

Sasha with the shotgun in her hands, pressing the end of it right against Mark’s back.

“Drop the guns, Mark.”

He rolled his eyes as he started to whirl on her. “Bitch, you wouldn’t-”

And that’s when Jordan and I made our move.

We hit him from behind at the same time, knocking him down, knocking the guns from his hands, and wrenching his arms back behind him.

“No, but we sure as fuck would,” I growled, snatching one of his guns from the floor, bringing the hammer back, and pushing it right against the back of his head.

“Try us, motherfucker,” Jordan snarled, snapping a fist into Mark’s ribs and making him whimper pathetically.

“Mr. Stone! Mr. Steel!” We looked up to see Tilly standing wide-eyed in the smoking, splintered remains of our office doorway.

“My goodness, are you all okay?!”

“Tilly, do me a favor and call nine-one-”

Suddenly I was falling over, the pain in my side blooming like hot heat as I groaned.

“Luke!” Jordan and Sasha screamed it together, rushing towards me.

“Tilly, the police and an ambulance, now!” Jordan bellowed before turning back to me. “Hey, hang on buddy, you’re going to be fine.”

Sasha was stroking my face, shaking her head. “Luke, please don’t-”

“Hey, I’m going to be fine,” I murmured, my vision starting to go dark.

“You have to be,” she whispered, biting her lip and leaning down to kiss me. “Because I love you.” Her eyes darted up to Jordan, and she suddenly pushed forward to kiss him as well. “And I love you too.”

And that’s when it all went dark.