The Right to Love - Part 18
Title: The Right to Love
Spoilers: Takes place after ep 101 (8x09) after Pepa and Silvia have become engaged. This is a sequel to my previous PepSi fanfic, In Love’s Defense. My fic follows LHDP up to ep 101 but departs from the show at that point - ep 104 never has and never will exist in this version of Pepa and Silvia’s world.
Rating: R for that last sentence…*evil grin*
Pairing: Pepa/Silvia
Summary: As Pepa and Silvia deal with the aftermath of their encounter with El Gordo, a new case comes forward that challenges their rights as well as their lives.
A/N/Disclaimer: The characters of LHDP aren’t mine. A note: UCI stands for Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos - Intensive Care Unit. Again, sorry that LJ is being a pain the arse and that parts 17 and 18 are intended to be one chapter. As for what happens after this...I only have a vague idea. I don't have it written yet! ;p
[ Part 1] [ Part 2] [ Part 3] [ Part 4] [ Part 5] [ Part 6] [ Part 7] [ Part 8] [ Part 9] [ Part 10] [ Part 11] [ Part 12] [ Part 13] [ Part 14] [ Part 15] [ Part 16] [ Part 17]
Pepa’s brain vaguely registered a soft knock. A moment passed before the sound repeated itself. She blinked in the darkness, her eyes seeking out the digital display of the clock on the nightstand. She had been sleeping with Silvia for three hours.
Whatever. Her mind grumbled, ignoring the knock. My wife needs her rest and I’ll be damned if someone’s going to disturb her. They can come back later. Pepa snuggled even closer to Silvia’s body, resting a hand on her hip as she made an incoherent, happy sound. Sighing, she closed her eyes, drifting back towards sleep.
“Pepa.” A large hand gently shook her shoulder. “Pepa, wake up.”
“Qué?” Pepa hissed furiously, as she turned to find Montoya standing over her. “What is it?”
“Lo siento, Pepa.” The handsome agent’s face was genuinely apologetic. “I need to speak with you for a few minutes.”
“Who is that?” Silvia murmured groggily, stirring in Pepa’s embrace. “Gonzalo?”
“Sí.” The brunette confirmed, pressing a kiss to her wife’s temple. “Go back to sleep, princesa. I’ll be back before you know it.”
“Vale.” Came a soft reply, followed immediately by slow, even breathing.
Pepa carefully untangled herself from the blankets, pausing to tuck them securely around Silvia’s frame before following Montoya out the door.
“Agent Miranda.” Special forces officer Alejandro Ramos cordially smiled and nodded his head as Pepa exited the room. “May I ask how Inspectora Castro is feeling?”
“She’s doing better.” Pepa thumped him familiarly on the shoulder, noting the thick tac vest he wore and the large rifle slung around his shoulder. “Thank you for standing guard.”
“Not a problem.” Ramos replied. He and Pepa had worked together for some years, and he always respected the tall agent for her work ethic and the risks she took to protect her fellow officers.
Ramos’ partner, Devante Salazar, an earnest young agent with close-cropped blond hair, saluted Pepa formally. “At your service, Agent. Can we get you anything?”
“No, I’m fine.” The brunette grinned as she gestured for the officer to stand at ease. “And stop saluting me!”
“Yes, Agent!” Salazar replied, automatically saluting again. “I mean, of course, Agent! I mean - mierda!”
“Relax.” Pepa laughed. “It’s not the first time I’ve heard profanity from another officer.” She gestured to Montoya. “I’ll be right back.”
She followed her fellow agent down the hall near the nurses’ station. Her smile faded as her eyes narrowed angrily, glowering at Montoya.
“What the hell?” Pepa spat, grasping his elbow to bring her fellow agent to a halt. “I want Silvia to get some real sleep instead of being woken up all the time! It’s bad enough that she gets examined and stuck by needles every few hours by the nursing staff!”
“Pepa, I -” The tall man spread his hands out, trying to explain.
“She’s been through a hell of a lot, and still has a long way to go!” Pepa interrupted, recalling the painful memories Silvia had just shared with her. “I don’t want her concentrating on the case or any precinct bullshit! She needs to focus on getting better!”
Montoya exhaled patiently, his face resigned as he waiting for Pepa to finish her rant. “Are you finished?”
“Qué?” Pepa indignantly folded her arms across her flannel shirt. “Sí! Sí, I think I am.”
The two agents regarded each other in stony silence for a moment before they both broke into smiles, laughing.
“Well -” Montoya chuckled as he ran a hand through his dark hair. “There’s no doubt that Silvia is in the best of hands. You’re a raving, overprotective maniac, Pepa!” His comment was tempered by a grin. “But a good one!”
“Gracias…I think.” Pepa continued to glare at him mockingly, a smile still twitching at the corner of her mouth. “So, what’s so important that it couldn’t wait?”
Montoya reached into his suit coat and withdrew a manila folder. “This is a copy of all the financial transactions we’ve gathered from Trujillo and Lozano’s laptops.”
Pepa scanned the columns of numbers down the page, shaking her head incredulously. “Dios! Hundreds of thousands of Euros changing hands!”
“Almost 3.4 million total, from what we’ve uncovered so far. All to Swiss bank accounts, under Kaliba and other shell corporations owned by Lozano.” Montoya confirmed. “Just like Blackman said. Take a look at the next page.”
Long fingers flipped to the next page, seeking out a highlighted date and transaction number. “What’s this?”
The tall agent frowned, clearly upset. “Once we got into the laptops, we found more encrypted data. The CNP techs only found that transaction an hour ago.”
“For another €250,000, to another unnamed Swiss account.” Pepa looked at the date again, her heart rate accelerating. “Which went through yesterday. After the CNI and Interpol froze all the known accounts!”
Her head snapped up as she met Montoya’s eyes, horrified at the implications. “Another assassin is being paid off! Someone else is being targeted by the Soldados de la Fortuna! Quién es?”
“We don’t know. Since Senator Duarte’s death, there’s been a successor who is stepping in to take his place, a Senator Ignacio Báez. We’ve put him on alert, as well as local and national GLBT rights groups. Everyone we can think of.”
“So what else can we -”
Pepa’s words were interrupted as the power cut off, leaving the hallway in complete darkness. A few seconds passed before emergency lights dimly lit the hallway. A slight buzz of generators echoed as full power was restored.
“What the hell?” Montoya wondered out loud. His adrenaline was starting to pump thick and fast through his veins, for reasons he couldn’t quite explain.
“Not to worry, Inspector.” Eva, one of Silvia’s nurses, glanced up from her screens at the desk. “The storm must have knocked out the power for a few seconds. The generators turned on right away.”
Eva noted the apprehension on Pepa’s face. “Your wife’s vitals are fine.” She gestured to one of the desktop monitors in front of her. “As are all the other patients on this floor. Silvia probably slept right through it.”
“No.” Pepa met Montoya’s eyes, noting their mutual anxiety. Her senses were screaming at her, every muscle taunt. “Something’s wrong.”
The phone ringing shrilly at the nurses’ desk caused both agents to jump. Eva gave them a curious look as she picked up on the first ring.
“Hola, UCI wing.” She listened for a moment. “No, we’re all fine here. Patient vitals are all within acceptable levels. I was just about to start my rounds.”
Eva’s dark brows furrowed. “Really? That’s interesting. All right, I’ll let them know.”
Puzzled, she hung up before standing to address the CNP officers. “That’s odd. Security called to check on us. They said that the other areas of the hospital were fine. The power only went off in the UCI wing.”
No! Pepa’s entire body went cold as the color drained from her face. She recalled Trujillo’s crazed expression after she had broken his arm. And his menacing words, regarding the Soldados de la Fortuna. There are more of us than you can ever dream of.
“They’re still after Silvia!”
The brunette sprinted back down the hall towards her wife’s room.
Montoya pointed towards Eva’s phone, his tone commanding. “Call Security back and tell them you have a breach in the UCI wing! Tell them to secure and check all your patients! We’ll take care of Silvia and move her to a safer location!”
“Agent Miranda!” Special agent Ramos called to her, still unaware of the situation as she ran up to him. “Not to worry, I checked inside the room and Inspectora Castro’s still sleeping -”
“The power outage was only in this wing!” Pepa cut the agent off. “Someone’s sabotaged it, probably to slip past security and the cameras. We need to move Silvia, now!”
Ramos and Salazar instantly shifted into combat mode, bringing their rifles to the ready.
“Salazar, you do a sweep of the basement and work your way up to this floor.” Ramos directed his partner, slipping his earpiece on. “If an intruder’s hacked into security and cut the power, he’s probably done it from there. Radio me with an update.”
“Confirmed. I’ll call the precinct on the same frequency for backup.” The younger agent slipped noiselessly down the hall, checking the area for any hostiles as he went.
“Check the perimeter of this floor.” Pepa commanded, seeing a nod from Ramos in agreement. She indicated Montoya as he joined them, who unholstered his firearm. “Montoya will stand guard right here. I’ll get Silvia and let’s move her down the hall to that empty room B-330. And then we’ll move out of the hospital to another location once we’ve got more backup.”
“And get me my fucking gun!” Pepa’s fingers twitched restlessly, feeling naked and vulnerable hating the fact that she was unarmed. She had left it at home since the raid on Lozano’s office, security being the last thing on her mind while Silvia still lay comatose.
“Vale. Vamos!” Montoya clapped Ramos on the shoulder as he went down the hall in the opposite direction of Salazar.
Pepa opened the door and turned the lights on, a trickle of relief flooding her system as her own eyes sought out and found her wife safe and still asleep in bed. She stepped to her side and softly brushed the red curls.
“Cariño?”
“Pepa?” Silvia jolted awake with a fearful gasp. She could sense the alarm coming off her wife in waves. “Qué pasa?”
“Don’t worry, princesa.” The tall agent smiled tremulously, trying to keep her voice steady. “I need to move you to another room, quickly.” She carefully removed the oxygen feed from Silvia’s nose and folded back the blankets.
“Pepa, tell me.” Silvia struggled to sit up on her own, resenting the fact that her body was still too sluggish to obey her commands. “Por favor.”
“In a few minutes. We’re going to go down the hall then and move to another location where it’s safe.” Pepa unhooked Silvia’s IV and placed it in the redhead’s lap. “Can you put your arms around my neck?”
“Is this what you call carrying me over the threshold?” The inspector tried to joke, as she found herself lifted in her wife’s secure hold. Her face became deadly serious as she saw that Pepa was breathing hard - not from exertion, but from fear. “Mi mujer. I trust you.”
“I know.” Pepa smiled a tiny, tense smile as she gazed into the deep brown eyes of the one she loved. “Hold on, vale?”
Silvia rested her head against the crook of Pepa shoulder as they made their way to the door. Pepa shifted her wife’s weight slightly as she reached to open it.
The agent stepped back in surprise as it opened unexpectedly, swinging in towards her. Internal Affairs agent Morales - whom had last been seen before he escaped from the CNP’s custody, the second-in-command of the Soldados de la Fortuna - filled the doorframe. His greying, close-cropped hair and black clothes were slicked with rain, his eyes mercilessly cold and determined.
He raised a 9mm revolver, pointing it at Silvia’s head, as his finger squeezed the trigger.