Disclaimer: I don't own.

Author's Note: I hope you've enjoyed this little story! It was fun to write. :) Thank you SO much for reading it and for the reviews. You guys are wonderful!

Warning: Language

The parking lot of the 7-11 was crowded with people, both curious onlookers, news people and cops. It was chaos; the cops barking orders at the onlookers, news people and other cops alike. Hyde stood next to his girlfriend's car, staring into it through the driver's side window. A couple bags from stores in the mall lay on the passenger's seat, the bag on top one from her favorite lingerie shop.

He wondered what she'd bought. Wondered if it was red, or black, or if she was feeling virginal and went with baby pink or white. He loved it when she wanted to be the good girl seduced by the bad boy. Of course, he loved it when she wanted to be the bad girl seducing the bad boy, too.

He couldn't look away. He couldn't move.

Jackie.

"Hyde. Hyde!"

Someone was shaking his shoulders. He tried to shrug the hands away, but whoever was touching him was insistent. Finally, he turned, tension erupting from his gut through his throat. "WHAT?"

It looked like Kelso standing in front of him, but he wasn't entirely positive. Hard to see through Jackie's sweet smile haunting his mind. The last smile she'd given him before leaving that afternoon. The last...

He thought he heard Donna screaming. Something about Luke...her baby...Luke. He looked around, but everything was a blur. Now Donna was crying. He squeezed his eyes closed, trying to clear his vision. When he opened them, he saw Eric and Donna with a police officer - the officer was handing a baby to her. Her baby. Luke was safe.

Part of him sighed with relief.

"Hyde. You okay, man?"

"Jackie..."

"She's...she's still in there, man. That's what the cops said."

It was Kelso in front of him, Fez next to him, and the two looked at each other.

Hyde glared at both of them. "I gotta...I gotta get her." He brushed past them and started towards the store. Their voices followed him, but who the hell knew what they were saying. Probably something like, "Hyde, you can't go in there!" or "Hyde, are you crazy?" Something useless and irrelevant like that.

This was bullshit, waiting around for the fucking cops to bargain for her life. Enough was enough. He had to get her...had to get her before anything happened to her.

A cop stopped him, putting his hands on his shoulders and holding him back with surprising force. Hyde couldn't breathe, panted hard just to stay on his feet, and his head was spinning. "Let me go, man! My girlfriend is in there!"

The cop didn't budge. "Calm down, sir. We've got the situation under control."

Hyde laughed, backing away from the cop and shaking his head. "You've got the situation under control? Do you SEE my girlfriend out here? NO! You don't! So NO, you do NOT HAVE THE SITUATION UNDER CONTROL!"

The cop shook his head. "Sir, we're doing everything we can to get your girlfriend out safely. Now, please. Don't do anything that might jeopardize that."

Hyde looked past the cop to the store. He could see the guy who was holding Jackie hostage through the windows. He was standing near the counter, holding a gun and looking anxiously out at the scene in front of the store.

But there was no sign of Jackie. What had the bastard done with her...to her? Was she hurt? Lying on the floor? Crying? In pain? Had that bastard...touched her?

"Where...where is she?" he whispered, his voice hoarse, his throat completely raw.

"Look, we've almost convinced the guy to let her out. Give us a little while longer, okay? And just stay...right...here. No closer."

Someone behind him put a hand on his back. "Hyde, man, it's gonna be okay."

Hyde closed his eyes, his breath coming rough and fast, to the point his chest felt stabbed all over. He'd never felt this way, this out of control. Each and every atom in his body spun with dizzying force, and nothing in front of him, nothing he could see was steady.

Except her face.

Jackie. His baby. His doll. The woman who took care of him, who was taking cooking lessons from Mrs. Forman so they didn't have to exist solely on pizza, so he didn't have to cook after working all day. The woman who badgered him into helping her clean, and then rewarded him for it with the hottest sex imaginable. The woman who'd always encouraged him...who'd forced him to meet his real father...who'd redecorated his room...who'd always forgiven him...the only woman he'd ever felt this way about...

The woman who'd waited such a long damn time for him.

Pounding feet, yelling voices, and the earsplitting sound of gunfire and shattering glass startled him out of his pining thoughts, and his eyes snapped open.

His heart stopped.

The cops were storming into the store. One of the store windows was crumbling broken to the ground.

And as another gunshot pierced the air, all he could think of was Jackie.

He took off. This time, no one was going to stop him.

Jackie sighed in contentment. She knew Steven was looking at her, probably the black and blue just under her left eye, but didn't open her eyes. Right now she was calm for the first time since she'd stepped into the 7-11, laying on her back in the bed she shared with the love of her life, knowing that he was hovering above her and tenderly rubbing her shoulders. Knowing that he was there and was going to keep her safe, was going to comfort her when she inevitably had nightmares about the hellish afternoon.

"You should put the ice back on your cheek, Jackie."

She shook her head. "It's too cold." She opened her eyes and smiled softly at Steven. "You're worried about me." She lifted a hand and put it on his chest. His heart was beating fast, and she rubbed small circles over it, wondering if it had been racing like that all day. "I'm okay, Steven. Really."

Hyde raised an eyebrow and moved one hand to her face. He plucked her lips gently with his thumb. "I know," he said, though what he really knew was that she was fine but she wasn't. What he knew was that tonight, she was going to be waking up in a cold sweat, screaming for him while he was lying right next to her. What he knew was that their nights would be spent like that for the foreseeable future, until she - and he- came to terms with it all.

She smiled and tugged a little bit on his tee shirt. "It wasn't all bad," she told him, looking into his naked eyes. So blue. So sweet...so her heaven. "When you came into the store and found me." Her heart skipped a beat. "You picked me up into your arms and carried me out of there." She sighed, remembering the feeling of him sweeping her up, not saying a word, not breathing as if he'd never breathe again until she was safe. "It was so romantic, Steven." Thinking about it helped, especially when flashes of being pushed and hit and kicked and threatened and touched overtook her.

He smiled, shaking his head. "Yeah. And that's why I got screamed at for almost an hour by the cops."

She pouted, thrusting her lower lip out and batting her eyelids. "But it was worth it, right?"

He nodded, his hand slipping from her face to her shoulder, underneath her nightgown. He leaned down until his lips were just half an inch away from hers. "Is it gonna hurt if I kiss you?" She shook her head, and he grinned, gently arranging himself on top of her. "Good." He kissed her softly, teasing her mouth softly with his tongue, but drawing back when she opened it for him. He stared at her. She was beautiful. She was his. He loved everything about her, even her shallow, bitchy side.

And he'd almost lost her.

A shot of courage, huh? Man, I didn't mean it so literally!

His heart beating fast, he smiled shakily at her. "So. Jackie." He brushed his lips over hers, and she stared up at him with wide eyes. Beautiful eyes. Ocean eyes. "I was just wondering...is bed a romantic enough place for me to pop the question?"

Jackie gasped. Pop the question? He was gonna...POP THE QUESTION?????? "Steven?" A rush of adrenaline sped through her, and she tried to sit up. "Wait! Wait! I look horrible! Just let me go put on some make up...STEVEN!" She pouted when he wouldn't let her up, and yet, her stomach was rolling, her heart almost bursting, and she wanted to kick and scream and clap and laugh and cry.

Hyde shook his head, pressing her down with his body and smirking at her. "You look fine, Jackie." She frowned, and he rolled his eyes. "You look beautiful." She did. More than she'd ever know. Licking his lips, he took a deep breath. "So...you wanna do it?" Funny, he didn't feel sick at all. He felt...he felt the same way he did after having sex with her. A sort of peace, a sort of...happiness. "You wanna get married?"

She let herself scream. "YES!"

He laughed, but it was smothered by her hard, passionate kiss.

When it broke, he felt lightheaded. "Damn, Jackie..."

Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at him, smiling at her. She kicked her heels on the bed. "You...Steven, you really...I mean, you really want...to...I mean..." She was shaking all over, and even her brain couldn't seem to function properly.

He nodded, smirking at his flustered woman. "Yeah, I mean it, doll. I want to marry you." He remembered something, something that would probably turn her on so much he'd be having sex literally all night long. "And to prove it..." He rolled off of her and headed for the dresser.

Jackie sat up, the tears in her chest rushing to her eyes, her breathing labored, and yet, she'd never felt happier. She'd never felt this level of excitement. "Oh my god," she mumbled, pressing a hand to her raging heart. "Oh my god!"

Hyde turned, and when he saw her sitting up, watching him with those eyes, her cheeks flushed, her hand to her chest, he realized something.

She was it. She was the love of his life. She was the one.

And she deserved to know it.

He held the small box in his hand, watching her light up when she noticed it, and he went back to her. "Come here. Sit on the edge of the bed." She did, her eyes darting between his face and the box he held. Taking a deep breath, forgetting all his past hang ups and focusing completely on Jackie, he bent down to one knee. He took her hand. "I love you, Jackie."

Jackie nodded, the tears starting to run down her cheeks. Was she dreaming? Was she fantasizing? No. This was real. This was FINALLY real. She clutched his hand. Tried to breathe. Tried to wait for him to say the words she'd longed for. For SO long.

"And I wanna be with you. Until...for...for...for a long time."

She giggled. "A long time?"

He chuckled. "Yeah. You know, till..." He sighed. "For the rest of my life, okay?" He opened the box and showed her the right he'd bought her a long time ago. Weird how every time he went to get rid of it, he hadn't been able to. "So, Jackie..." He swallowed. The look on her face...he had to do this fast before he lost it. She looked so damned beautiful and happy...like he was making her dreams come true...him! "Will you marry me?"

She wanted to scream again, but now, his words, his voice were penetrating her, and all she could do was cry and nod. She mouthed the word "yes" over and over again...funny that her voice would completely fail at the most important moment in her life. She watched him slide the ring onto her finger, the shine of the diamond, the color, the size of it make her warm all over. Finally, she managed to speak. "Steven," she whispered. "I love you...I love you so much!"

They fell back to the bed, their lips joining fast and furiously, then slowing to a sweet and languid pace.

He pulled away and smiled down at her. "You happy, doll?"

She nodded and tightened her arms around his waist. "So happy, Steven!"

He kissed her softly, then rested his forehead against hers. His eyes stayed open, and when her's closed, he spoke. "Open your eyes, baby. Just for a second." She did, and he stared directly into her. "I just want you to know that..." Another deep breath. "I've never felt this way about anyone before. No one." He pressed his lips together for a moment, remembering how hurt she'd sounded when she'd asked Donna that question about Sam. "And I'm never gonna feel this way about anyone but you. I...I promise."

"Steven!"

Her squeal made him laugh, and before he knew it, she was rolling him over onto his back, her little body squirming on top of him and arousing him to a flaming desire. He groaned as she peppered his neck with kisses, and his hands greedily gripped her backside. "You sure you're up to this, doll?"

Jackie lifted up and gave Steven her best sexy grin. "Steven, you just proposed to me," she purred. She rubbed her pelvis against the heat of him. "I'm up for anything you want, baby." She lowered herself and resumed kissing and nipping at his jaw and neck. At his ear, she flicked her tongue and breathed into it. "Anything you want, baby."

Hyde smiled. Hell yeah.

If this was what he got for popping the question, maybe he'd have to do it a few hundred more times.