Chapter Text
Bang.
Maggie heard the roar of the gunshot before she felt the bullet hit her. She doesn't realize until she's on the ground that she was shot. When the pieces start to come together: how she turned, the way she hit the ground… That's when she started to realize how hard it was getting to breathe.
Why can't I breathe? My chest is on fire, what's going on? Did I hit my head? Oh god, did it go through? Oh god, oh god, oh-
"Maggie!" a familiar voice pulls out of her thoughts, OA. "Talk to me, you okay?"
Barely missing a beat and not wanting to worry her partner, she shoots back between gasps,
"Go”.
“Are you sure?”
“Go.” she was firmer than the first time.
As she sees him dart off, her chest tightens even more. Desperate for air, she attempts to pull off the kevlar, trying to take some of the pressure off of her chest. As she moves her hand to pull it off, she finds herself stopping at her side, searching for the bullet that should be stuck in her vest. Instead, she feels a hole, and blood. Her adrenaline begins to wear off, she finds it even harder to breathe. Harder to move.
"Maggie, we lost him" she hears her partner’s voice over the comms, "Are you okay?" She wants to answer, but the lack of oxygen in her lungs proves it nearly impossible to do so.
"Maggie?"
She's desperately trying to find some strength to answer, she barely manages to get out his name,
"Omar?" her voice was much quieter than she expected it to be, no doubt she's made him worried now.
"Maggie, what's wrong? Talk to me."
She's struggling, starting to panic a bit herself, between the blood running down her left side, and not being able to see her partner in front of her, to assure her that he's alright, she's having a hard time staying calm. Maggie doesn't want to worry him too much, but she doesn't want to die alone either. Nevertheless, knowing she needs to answer him, she chokes out,
"It hurts."
Bang.
The shot rings out seconds before OA sees his partner drop.
"Maggie!"
He fights every urge to run to her, knowing that the shooter is still in the area. Despite searching in every direction he can while staying covered, he sees nothing. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he spots a blur running across a nearby rooftop. Sniper. Before running off, he risks a few seconds to try to assess Maggie's condition.
Where did it hit her? She hasn't moved. Did her vest take it? Did it go through? Is she okay? She has to be, right?
"Talk to me Maggie, you okay?" he tries to hide the worry in his voice, and he would have been able to, had it been anyone other than her lying on the ground in front of him.
Her adrenaline is soaring, and despite the ever-increasing struggle to breathe, she manages a simple, "Go”.
“Are you sure?”
“Go,” she says, a bit more convincing than the first time.
OA wastes no time after that bolting after the sniper, who is only one rooftop further than he was a minute ago. Unfortunately, since the shooter was running across rooftops, he was able to slip down a fire escape just before OA lost sight of him.
Without a second thought, he's on the wire, updating his partner. "Maggie, we lost him. Are you okay?"
There’s silence for a few seconds. A few seconds too long.
"Maggie?" he tries again.
"Omar?" her voice is so small, he can barely hear it.
"Omar"? Something's wrong, really wrong.
"Maggie, what's wrong? Talk to me."
"It hurts." He can hear her still gasping for air as she speaks.
If Maggie, the woman who can take down criminals twice the size of her, the woman who is always trying to reassure him that she's okay even if she isn't, is admitting she's hurt, he knows something is seriously wrong.
He realizes it then:
The bullet went through her kevlar.