The silence in the hall stretched on till finally one of the gunmen told the band to play something festive in honor of New Year's Eve. He also mentioned that it would be better for the guests- they wouldn't hear the screams from the roof that way.

Peter casually walked over to Jody and invited her to dance. Strenlich followed suit, taking Mary Margaret by the hand. Both couples met on the dance floor.

"We need to split these guys up. While they're all in a line, it'll be hard to get a jump on them." Peter said in a low tone to his former colleagues.

Strenlich whirled Skalany away for a second in order to not arouse suspicion. When they returned to Peter and Jody's side, he ventured his opinion. "Agreed." He focused his attention to his dance partner. "Mary Margaret, try to get one of them to dance. I'll dance with Kelly and pass the word along. We'll play this just like always."

Jody sighed in exasperation and worry. "Have we ever had a wedding reception at the 101st that didn't end up in an armed invasion?"

Peter looked at her seriously. "Nope." He kissed her lightly on the cheek. "We'll get through this, we always have. Blake's wolfing down his food over there." Jody followed his gaze to look at the surveillance expert. "That's a good sign."

Mary Margaret chimed in. "Yeah, just watch me. That guy who made the crack about screams won't know what hit him." Letting go of Strenlich and smoothing down her form fitting dress, Skalany threw a comment over her shoulder at Peter as she walked away. "I'd just like to know where your father is."

"So would I." Peter replied softly to Skalany's back as he continued to dance with Jody. He turned his attention back to his former partner. "I'm going to go reassure Marilyn. Jody, you ready?"

"Yeah, I'm ready." Jody said wryly, nodding to reassure herself as well as the man she still loved. "Wish me luck."

Peter sensed her emotion and kissed her on the lips. "You won't need it. You have all that you need inside you."

"Thank you, Master Caine." Jody smiled softly as she walked away. Mary Margaret was already pulling her chosen victim to the dance floor when Jody reached her target.

Peter walked over to Marilyn who was crying softly in her seat. Standing over her chair, Peter placed both hands on her shoulder. "Marilyn, come dance."

"How can I dance knowing that my brother and Karen are up there with that madman. He already killed David. Isn't that enough?"

Lifting her chin so that he could look into her eyes, Peter spoke. "Pop would say that 'The thirst for violence is never quenched in those that do evil'." He pulled her gently to her feet and led her to the dance floor. Putting his arm around her, they started to sway slightly as he continued, "Kermit and the Captain have been in worse spots than this. We have to trust them." Marilyn nodded shakily.

Peter continued. "We're going to take these guys out. When I push you away, move to the far wall. Okay?"

Marilyn nodded again. "All right, Peter."

Strenlich in the meantime, having dispatched his date Kelly to pick up another of the guards, casually situated himself next to a particularly dedicated guard who refused to be distracted from his work. Frank respected his dedication. Too bad he was going down. Watching Peter steer Marilyn towards another stalwart guard, he silently motioned Blake into position.

When Strenlich saw Peter roughly push Marilyn away to the wall opposite the wall of Peter's target, he went into action. Slamming his arm into the other guy's throat, he flipped the surprised man over into a table. The momentum and the guard's dead weight sent the table crashing to the floor.

Blake punched out his guy and then shook his hurt fist and picked up the downed gunman's gun to subdue another of the man's comrades.

Peter spun and lashed out at his man with his foot, catching him square in the chest. He then delivered a blow to the man's face that sent him flying into the wall. The thug slid to the floor with a thud.

Jody rammed a knee into her dance partner's groin then knocked him flat on his back by slashing with both her arms into the guy's head. She took his gun and held it to his neck. When she turned her head to the left and right, she saw that Skalany and Kelly had both subdued their men similarly.

T.J., who had been singing nonsense in the band section, slammed an idle sax into the nearest guy's head.

Before the remaining gunmen could react, the main door burst open and Lasher's SWAT team came pouring in.

In a minute, all the gunmen were subdued and Lasher walked over to Strenlich who was panting moderately.

"Nice of you to show up, Lash."

Ignoring Strenlich's sarcasm, Lasher jerked his hand back to indicate Todd who was looking around frantically for signs of his mother. "The kid called the station. I didn't believe him at first-it being New Year's Eve and all. Then, he pulled the famous Simms riot act and informed me that he would personally kill me if anything happened to his mother." Lasher shook his head at the memory. "Good kid. I didn't know Simms had a son."

"Yeah, well. His mother and Kermit are still being held at gunpoint up on the roof." Frank jerked his hand in the direction of the door.

"Let's go get them."

"Wait." Peter, who had been steadily picking his way through the downed gunmen to reach the two veteran police officers, blocked their way. "Let me go. I have a feeling that Pop's already up there in a position to help Kermit and the Captain. If you go up there, you'll scare Larsen into killing her before Kermit and my Pop can act. Trust me."

Lasher nodded an affirmative. "Okay, kid. I'll give you 15 min. If no one is down from the roof by then, I'm going up. I would have snipers at the ready, but this is the tallest building on the block. No other roof reaches its level."

Strenlich looked at Peter with worried eyes. "Good luck, Pete."

"Thanks, Chief." Peter walked to the flight of stairs and disappeared through the door as his friends had done before him.

*******************

As Peter silently advanced up the steps, he could hear Larsen shouting insults at Kermit. Careful not to be seen as he reached the landing, he stayed in the shadows. He didn't want to throw Larsen more off kilter or break Kermit's concentration.

"Not so tough without your gun, are you Griffin?" Douglas Larsen had one arm around Karen's throat and was steadily dragging her near the edge. His other hand held the gun that was aimed at Karen's head.

"I don't need a gun to deal with you Larsen. Let her go. Only cowards hide behind women." Kermit took a step closer to his wife and his enemy.

"But, we know I'm a coward, don't we Griffin? Everyone knows. But, you're right. Maybe I should let her go. Over the edge." Karen struggled harder to free herself; both hands were on Larsen's biceps as she tried to pry his arm from around her neck. Her feet scraped across the concrete roof. Kermit took another step closer. Now he was within two feet of them

"I was going to put a bullet in her head and let you watch her brains seep out. But, people have survived a bullet to the head. Throwing her off a 40 story building will be much better. You can hear her screams as she falls to her death."

"Larsen-"

Just then, the gun Larsen was holding to Karen's head heated up. As he dropped the gun in pain and loosened his grip on Karen, she was finally able to hook his leg with hers and throw them both to the ground. Rolling away from Larsen, she stood up to find him and Kermit struggling near the edge of the rooftop. Praying silently for Kermit's safety, she picked up the cooled off gun and waited for an opening.

Larsen had his hands around Kermit's neck, but Kermit broke Larsen's hold at the elbows and punched him across the face. Lunging at Kermit, Larsen sent them both to the railing and pushed at Kermit's chin as he tried to force Kermit over the roof's edge. Kermit braced himself on the concrete railing with his hands and kicked straight out with both feet, sending Larsen flying to the other edge of the roof.

"Stop!" Karen pointed the gun at Larsen as he readied himself for another pass at Kermit. "or I'll cut you down."

Larsen sneered at Karen's warning and headed straight for her. With no hesitation, Karen fired two rounds into his chest. The force of the bullets impacting his chest sent Larsen toppling over the edge of the roof.

He was caught at the waist by Peter who had run out from the stairwell. Dragging Larsen's limp body back onto the roof floor, he looked over at Karen and Kermit who were standing in the middle of the roof. Kermit stroked Karen's hair and face as their arms went around each other in relief.

From the rooftop, they all could hear voices as running feet flew up the stairs. Kwai Chang Caine, who appeared from the shadows, held back Strenlich, Lasher, and Todd who jammed the entryway.

"It is finished." Caine said solemnly.

"We heard gun shots." Strenlich commented as he saw Peter standing over a fading Larsen.

"I shot him, Chief." Karen offered as she gave the gun over to Lasher. "Had no choice."

Kermit looked over at Peter who was helping Strenlich pick up Larsen's body to take it downstairs to an ambulance. "You should have let him fall over the side, Peter."

Peter started to reply but Caine interjected. "You know he could not, Kermit. All life is-"

"Sacred. Yeah, I've heard that before." Kermit let go of Karen and walked to the edge of the roof. He leaned his arms on the concrete railing and stared the stars. Silently, Karen waved the others back to the hall and went to Kermit. She slid her hands up around his shoulders and leaned up against him, laying her head on his back.

"He'll be brought to justice this way, Kermit," she said softly. Smoothing her hands down his chest to his waist, she waited for his response.

"He tried to kill you. He killed David. He doesn't deserve to live."

Karen sighed. "Remember when you came back from Florida and you told me that you couldn't shoot him in cold blood? Don't blame Peter for making the same choice." She turned Kermit around and put a hand on either of Kermit's cheeks. "I'm glad. I don't want a death on my hands on our wedding day." Kissing him softly, she pulled him towards the door. "We have a party to go to, Mr. Griffin. And you haven't fed me any cake yet." She smiled at him softly.

Returning her smile, Kermit kissed her lips fiercely for a long while. He let her go reluctantly. "I love you, Karen Griffin."

Pulling on his lock of white hair with one hand, she responded, "I love you, Kermit Griffin."

Arms around each other, they walked slowly to the stairwell and down the steps.

END

Next Story: The Honeymoon

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