The Warrior's Bride

Lieutenant Brady Sloane was a good man, but always seemed to finish last with women, until now.

One

What could be worse than standing in a bank where one teller was out sick, another was trying to get sick and the third was the slowest counter on god's natural earth? The twenty-eight year old Swat leader Lieutenant Brady Sloane could not think of one damn thing worse than this. He was late for the Captain's briefing and now it looked as if he would miss it entirely. The teller who looked grey instead of her normal brown suddenly grabbed her trashcan and leaned down behind her teller window. The customers in line, that were mostly men groaned in annoyance and disgust. The teller quickly ran from her post and towards the bathroom. Brady showed no reaction to the woman's condition. He had seen brain splattered on the pavement and severed limbs; vomit was nothing. The slow teller picked up her phone and called the manager. He expected to see an old white man, who never seen the outside of his office in ten years, but that was not who walked through the huge wooden doors.

She was gorgeous, tall, and curvy even in the black skirt and jacket. She had legs for days, and her skin, her skin made him hot underneath his swat gear. The color of it fell between brown and mocha. Her long slightly curled black hair flew away from her body as if there was wind blowing inside the bank. The Carpenters song Close to You began playing in his mind as the goddess smiled at the people in line. He always hated that song but right now, it was exactly what he wanted to be.

"Daaaamn, I didn't know they had supermodels working in here." The men in line, except Brady, began chuckling and agreeing with the young man at the back of the line. The woman in question smiled shyly and opened another window directly in front of Brady. The man in front of the swat leader eagerly ran to get a close up of the bank manager.

"Sir I can help you?"

Brady looked behind him at the young man in line. Their eyes met and the young man knew that the teller was talking to him. He moved from behind Brady and walked over to the open teller.

Penelope smiled at the older man that started talking about his life as she finished his transaction. He was reluctant to leave and kept grabbing her hand. A deep rumble as if someone was clearing his throat behind him got the older man's attention. He turned to see the incredible hulk in a black shirt with the word Swat on it. He saw the gun and the utility belt around the man's waist and then raised his eyes to see his opponent staring back at him. The piercing blue eyes looked angry, as did the tall muscled frame. The shirt looked as if it were about to explode from his body. Brady stared after the man as he scurried away from the bank manager's window. Penelope smiled at him as he slowly approached her. His thick black hair showed its natural wave even with the short cut. He was a man who worked outside a lot, his tanned body proved that. He was massive with muscle and rugged looks. Her eyes travelled up his body and met his eyes. The piercing blues rose up her body and stared into hers.

They were deep brown that seemed to draw him in the longer he stared at them. Brady was sure he could become very accustomed to the feeling of drowning. "Good morning."

She continued staring at him for a while and then shook her head as if to wake up. "I'm sorry for staring."

She looked at the name on the check. "Good morning Mr. Sloane."

"Brady,"

She stared into his eyes again as he stared at hers. She shook her head again and moved an errant curl behind her ear. His eyes went to the skin on her long neck and the heat reentered his body again, along with the Carpenter song. He watched her expel a deep breath trying to calm down. Was he doing this to her? Was she attracted to him? He looked at her gold name badge. "Penelope Sands,"

She cringed at the mention of her name. She looked up at him and moved the hair from her eyes. "My mother loves the name Penelope."

Brady raised an eyebrow and slowly smiled. "It fits you."

Her smile alone made his heart skip a beat. It had been a long time since a woman smiled at him like that. He never thought anyone would want him now since the accident. Someone behind him cleared his throat. Brady turned around and looked at the black man standing there. The wide-eyed man moved to the side and pointed to the man behind him that was looking away and trying to act innocent. Brady returned his attention to Penelope.

She was still smiling at him. "Would you like it deposited?"

"I'm making the Sarge buy lunch today."

Her chuckle energized him and he smiled. The song returned and he did not mind it that much. "How long have you been here?"

"About eight months," She looked up from the computer screen to answer him. Those blue eyes rose up her body again. She expelled another breath and continued processing his transaction.

"I've never seen you."

"No one's ever been sick here."

Just then, the sick teller returned looking much better. Penelope turned to her at the next window. "Are you okay Sabrina?"

She nodded. "I can finish his transaction if you want."

Penelope unconsciously gripped the check in her hand. Brady noticed her reaction to the woman's statement "No I'll finish this one and then I will go."

Their eyes met for a moment before his pager began to sound. He turned it off. He had to leave. Penelope finished the transaction and handed him the receipt. He reached out, grabbed the paper, and touched her hand. Her skin was as soft as it looked. The song blared in his head as if trying to tell him something. "Penelope,"

He turned and walked towards the door as a black van pulled to the entrance. Brady turned around and stared at the woman still watching him. He locked eyes with her before turning once again towards the door.

{}

"I don't care what you say. It takes a special kind of crazy to hold yourself hostage." Davis smiled at the chuckling around him as the team undressed and prepared to go home.

Sergeant Ed Colby shook his head as he walked down the row of lockers towards his young Lieutenant sitting alone. Ed stared down fondly at the young man who had been through some tough times. He graduated top of his class at the academy. Two years into his tour, he was in a gunfight with a bank robber. His partner took a shot to his gun hand and Sloane was his only back up. A bullet from the assailant skipped off the ground and struck him in the left calf. Sloane killed the robber but lost part of his calf and his entire left foot. It took long months of rehab and psychological therapy to get him back to where he was now. He put in hard training and garnered the respect of his colleges. His hard work, bravery, and professionalism gave him the title of Swat commander, despite another vying for the job.

Ed looked at the prosthesis sitting next to Brady's left leg. Brady looked up, saw the smiling brown face, and smiled himself. "I told you I could match the color."

Brady chuckled. "Okay your eyes aren't that old."

That comment received a grunt from the seasoned officer. "So have you heard the news about Will?"

"Yep, he's trying again."

"He's just angry that he could not beat a one footed cop. He couldn't beat you if you had one arm."

Brady's smile increased. "He's always had it out for me."

"He's an asshole Brady. You should just avoid him."

"How, he's a cop in this precinct."

"Hey Lieutenant, the guys and I want to know who that woman was you were staring at in the bank today."

"What,"

"We used the binoculars we saw ...things."

Brady leaned over and put on his foot. "That was nothing."

Davis and the two others with him smiled. "Nothing, okay,"

Brady shook his head. "Unless any of you want to take this to the mats downstairs I suggest you carry on with whatever you were doing."

The three backed away. "A woman... I have to see."

Brady pulled his shirt over his head. "Sarge, we just talked that is all."

"Alright but if you talk to her again I want to meet her."

 Brady sighed but nodded. Ed tapped him on the shoulder as he turned to leave. "Goodnight Brady."

{}

He watched her from across the street as she walked from the bank with the security guard named Darren Wiles. He pulled the security detail on the bank. He was a good guard. He would do whatever he had to, to keep the people safe. She smiled and waved at the guard as she got into her car and drove away.

He wanted to follow her but he did not. He knew that if anything developed with her, it would end the same way it always ended. The woman would run away from him, just as Lisa did the day they took his foot. She thought he was weak because he was not a whole man and would not be able to take care of her. It was always about her needs. Her words fueled Brady's recovery and building up his body to make it stronger than before. He wanted to show her that he could take care of a woman and that a woman, a good woman could love someone as broken as he was. Brady put his car in gear and prepared to go home. He knew the day would start early tomorrow, because it was Friday and that was when the freaks came out to play.

{}

What was he thinking letting them talk him into waiting in the bank's parking lot so that Sarge could see the rumored woman? They sat in the Swat van looking at all the customers leaving and commenting on all of them.

"Why is that man even allowed in the bank, you know he has no money? Look at his teeth." Laughter coursed through the van.

Brady shook his head at his younger members but Sarge laughed. ‘Davis has no sense, but the boy can shoot."

Their day had started at six in the morning with a domestic turned kidnapping. It went downhill from there. It seemed that all the psychos in the city just had gone off their meds. None of his team was injured and that was all that Brady worked hard to preserve. They were his family and now they wanted to meet Penelope. A woman he barely knew, but they wanted him to get back in the game, as Davis said on many occasions.

Sarge saw a black woman walking from the bank with the security guard. She was smiling and laughing at the man walking her to her car. He looked to his right and saw that his commander was watching her too. The van became quiet as everyone watched the scene in the parking lot.

"There are no flies on her." Davis said as her car began to pull out of her parking spot. She suddenly slammed on her breaks as the old man that received Brady's glare yesterday stood in front of her car. Brady frowned when she got out of the car thinking she had hit him. She placed a hand on the man's shoulder as he bent over the hood of her car. In the next instant, he pulled out a knife.

The keys in her hand fell to the ground as Penelope jumped back when the man came at her. A swarm of black shirts appeared out of nowhere and surrounded her. The man was on the ground and his weapon secured.

"Are you okay?" She stared up into those familiar blue eyes and took a shaky breath. She put her hand on her car and nodded.

Brady held her by her hips to steady her as she tried to catch her breath. He bent down to pick up her keys and the song Sexual Healing began to play in his head. His eyes stared at her long shapely legs. The black skirt melted to her body's curves. His eyes continued up to her small waist and the white shirt that had a slit in it and was missing a button. He immediately stood and looked for blood.

She gasped when his hands touched her breasts."Are you bleeding?"

Penelope looked down her body and saw no blood. "No,"

Brady pulled his hands away and looked into her eyes. "I'm sorry for touching you."

Her head cocked to the side as she looked up at him and smiled. "Then we are even."

They watched her drive away from the bank after giving her statement to the patrol officer that arrived at the scene. Ed studied his young Lieutenant as he stared after the vanishing car. Brady turned and had a particular look on his face that Ed witnessed. Sarge chuckled.

"What's up Sarge?" James asked as Brady walked by them.

The seasoned officer smiled. "We'll have to wait and see."