Ezra
******* Ezra
As the Seven men entered the courthouse they talked quietly in between themselves. Ezra
"Mr. Larabee?" He asked.
"Yes?" Chris said.
"I have been assigned to escort you to the witness room." The man who obviously was nervous said.
"Why, thank you very much." Ezra said ironically. "You know I have never been in that particular room before."
"Ezra!" Chris warned as the Seven followed the man.
"What?!" Ezra said innocently.
"I know you hate doing this, getting up early and that, but this has to be done." Chris said.
"I am sorry, Mr. Larabee." Ezra said as they entered the witness room. Ezra
Inside the room a lone woman was sitting by the window staring out of it. She had long brown, curly hair and she was looking very nervous. She looked up as Josiah cleared his throat to get her attention.
Ezra immediately noticed her dark brown intense eyes. She rose to her feet and approached the men with a small smile. Josiah took a step forward and extended his hand towards her, and she carefully took it. Ezra smiled slightly to himself as he watched the two beside each other, Josiah tall and quite burly while the woman was slender and of medium height. Ezra
"Josiah Sanchez." He said with a warm smile.
"Madelaine Sinclair." She smiled back.
"Meet my friends and fellow agents." Josiah continued. "Vin Tanner, Nathan Jackson, JD Dunne, Buck Wilmington, Chris Larabee and..."
"Ezra Standish." Ezra quickly interrupted Josiah and extended his hand towards Madelaine.
"Hi." Madelaine smiled and took Ezra�s hand. Ezra
The eight people sat down in various chairs in the room and thirty minutes later Josiah was first to be called in to take the witness stand. Ezra
"Mr. Sanchez, could you tell us when you saw the suspects?" The prosecutor asked.
"Yes, me and Nathan Jackson made our way into the warehouse which we had staked out for quite a while. As we approached the suspects we saw them stand over two lifeless bodies." Josiah said.
"Objection! Mr. Sanchez is not a doctor!" The suspects' lawyer exclaimed. Ezra
Inside the witness room Buck just threw a pen at JD for laughing at his attempt to charm Madelaine. Vin and Chris sat quietly discussing the case they were working on at the moment, while Nathan sat laughing at Buck and JD. Ezra on the other hand sat beside Chris talking to Madelaine as much as he could. She seemed intelligent but she also seemed very nervous. Ezra tried to make her think about anything else than the case, so he kept her entertained by doing card tricks while talking about anything and everything. Ezra
"Excuse me, Ms Sinclair?" JD said after a while.
"Yes?" She said and looked at him.
"I was just wondering why you are here?" JD said.
"JD! Perhaps Ms Sinclair would rather not talk about it." Ezra warned.
"It�s okay." Madelaine smiled. "I am the only person who have survived an encounter with them."
"Really?! I mean they didn't kill you?"
"No, apparently not." She smiled slightly.
"I'm sorry, Ms Sinclair, I didn't mean to..." JD blushed.
"It�s okay. And please call me Madelaine." She said. Ezra
Many hours later seven men came back from lunch and as Chris was the last of the men to testify he went directly into the courtroom. He took his place in the witness stand and the female police officer came up to him. Ezra
"Do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?" She said in a melodic voice.
"I do." Chris said and couldn't help but notice her icy blue eyes as she looked directly at him.
"Mr. Larabee, could you be so kind as to tell the court where you apprehended the suspects?" The prosecutor asked.
"Yes, me and my team had been staking out the warehouse for several days and when we were certain that the suspects were in there we moved in." Chris said.
"Can you tell me what you saw when you came in?"
"We saw the suspects stand over two lifeless bodies."
"Objection, Mr. Larabee is not a doctor!" The suspect's lawyer yet again exclaimed.
"Over ruled." The judge said with an annoyed glared in the lawyers direction.
"Did you then apprehend the suspects?"
"Yes, we did." Chris answered.
"Were the victims on the floor dead?" The prosecutor asked.
"Yes, they were. I could not feel a pulse on either of the victims." Chris said.
"Do you believe that the suspects had killed the victims?"
"Objection!"
"Over ruled! Mr. Smith if you keep yelling objection I will hold you in contempt of court." The judge warned.
"I�m sorry." Lawyer Smith said and sat down again.
"Mr. Larabee do you want me to repeat the question?"
"No, that�s not necessary. Yes I believe that the suspects had killed the victims."
"Why would you believe that?"
"Because they had weapons that recently had been used." Chris said.
"Thank you, Mr. Larabee." Ezra
As Chris left the courtroom he met Madelaine on her way in. She looked nervously at him and he smiled reassuringly at her before they passed each other. Chris headed into the witness room again and the rest rose from their chairs. Ezra
"We leavin�?" Buck asked.
"Yeah, I guess so." Chris said. "They won't give the verdict until tomorrow anyway."
"I think I�d rather stay. I promised her." Ezra said and sat down again.
"You promised Madelaine?" Vin asked.
"Yes, Mr. Tanner I did." Ezra said.
"Alright, fine. We'll see you tomorrow then." Chris said and was about to exit the room as he heard gunshots.
"What the hell!" Buck exclaimed as they pinpointed the shots to come from inside the courtroom. Ezra
The Seven men rushed towards the courtroom as the lawyer and the prosecutor dived out of it. Chris attempted to stop them but they broke free and ran away. Ezra *******
The gunfire had stopped. Ezra
"OK guys - we're going in! Ezra, Buck - cover me. Vin, Josiah - go see if you can get in through the judge's chambers - if we come at 'em from two sides, maybe we can take 'em by surprise. Nathan and JD - wait 'til I'm in, then follow - but only if it's safe. Everyone got that? Good. Let's go!"
"Uh - Mr. Larabee? There would appear to be minor fault in your plan... Just how are we to cover you when we are temporarily without firearms?" Ezra
Chris looked at Ezra. Damn! In the rush he'd forgotten that they'd had to leave their weapons when they'd entered the building. For just a second he seemed unsure. Ezra
"What in God's name is going on in there?" a voice just behind him asked.
Ezra
He turned to see the first of the security men pushing his way through the small crowd that had begun to gather. If he was going to do anything he had to do it now.
As the door burst open the gunfire erupted again.
The defense lawyer had just stood up to begin his questioning when all hell had broken loose.
Over towards the back of the courtroom, where the accused's family and friends all seemed to have gathered to watch the proceedings, there was a sudden movement as three men left their seats and jumped over the barrier into the main area.
Total chaos had broken out, as everyone inside the courtroom tried desperately to get out. A handful had made it to the door and through it to safety, amongst them the two lawyers, but the exit was soon blocked by one of the armed men. As the second man rounded up those who'd tried to escape and made them all sit down where he could keep an eye on them, the third moved towards the front of the courtroom.
The lady police officer that had sworn in all the witnesses saw him coming, saw him raise his gun and point it at the woman in the stand. She didn't have time to draw her own weapon. Launching herself towards the shocked witness she knocked her to the floor, out of the path of the bullet meant to kill her. And placed herself directly in its way. A sharp, hot pain lanced through her shoulder at the impact. She landed heavily, the jolt to her arm sending waves of pain through her body as the world around her went hazy then faded to black.
Over on the other side of the room Chris had made it inside only to come face to face with one of the armed men. Both of them had frozen in shock for just a moment, but Chris had been the first to recover. He hit out at the man's arm, loosening his grip on the gun. Another punch, to the face this time, and the man staggered backwards, temporarily disorientated. Chris took the opportunity to disarm him - and arm himself.
Ezra and Buck moved forward into the room, followed by Nathan and JD. Three armed men against two - the odds seemed to be in their favor. Ezra
"Give it up - you've got nowhere to go!" Chris shouted to the criminals. Ezra
Ezra looked around the room. As his eyes rested upon something he turned to Nathan. Ezra
"Mr. Jackson, I believe that your expertise may be required" The concern was obvious in his voice as he pointed over towards the front of the room, where the witness stand was. Ezra
Around it's base the men could see a pool of blood, rapidly growing. Ezra
"Holy...." Ezra
Nathan didn't need to be told twice. He rushed forward, Ezra right behind him. Ezra
As the two men reached the witness stand they heard a low crying. As they looked they saw the female police officer unconscious and bloody. Ezra
"Oh Lord." Ezra said.
"Ezra?" A quite voice was suddenly heard.
"Madelaine?" Ezra said as she crawled out from underneath the policewoman.
"Oh my God, Ezra!" She was crying heavily.
"Are you alright?" He said as he put his arms around the frightened Madelaine.
"I'm okay, but she's been shot." Madelaine said nodding towards the policewoman. Ezra
Nathan started examining the police officer and found that the bullet had gone straight through her shoulder. He quickly ripped his shirt and bandaged her shoulder. As he pulled it on as tight as possible she whimpered and started coming to. She looked up, disoriented, and immediately reached for her gun. Ezra
"Hey! Calm down, I'm Nathan of Team 7, ATF." Nathan said quickly and he saw her relax.
"The gunfire." She whispered.
"It's taken care of." Nathan said.
"Oh really?!" A dark voice said from behind. Ezra
As Ezra looked up he stared into the barrel of a gun. It was one of the men, Scott Jones, who Team 7 had apprehended. He was aiming directly at Ezra�s head with an evil grin. Ezra
"Get up!" He barked and Ezra and Madelaine complied.
"Ezra..." Madelaine whispered.
"It�s okay." Ezra said pulling Madelaine close to himself.
"Sit down over there." Scott said, who was the leader of the particular gang. Ezra
Ezra and Madelaine went and sat down beside JD and Buck, JD sporting bleeding wound over his left eyebrow and Buck with a swollen eye. Chris sat staring coldly at Scott Jones and his five gangmembers, he had been hit over the mouth and there was a thin trail of blood coming. Ezra
"Get up!" He said and Nathan complied.
"She needs medical help." Nathan said nodding to the police officer.
"Now she doesn�t!" The kid said. "The bullet went straight through, I can see that myself!"
"She�s lost a lot of blood." Nathan said again.
"She�ll be fine."
"You sure she�s fine Joe?" Scott asked the young man.
"Yep, I�m sure."
"Get over here!" Scott barked at Nathan.
"And you too!" Joe Campbell said at the policewoman.
"Help her up then!" Nathan said obviously angry.
"You do that." A dark, slender man in his 30�s said, another member of the gang, called Max Whitmore.
"I could use some help." Nathan said.
"You!" Jones said and pointed to Chris with the gun. "You help him get her over here."
"Sure." Chris growled and walked over to the policewoman. "You okay, Ms?"
"Just great." She said with an ironic grin. Ezra
Nathan and Chris lifted her off the floor and helped her over to the rest. Chris quickly looked at how many people were in the room, beside his team members. There was Madelaine, the wounded police officer, the judge, and 6 of the jury members. Chris thanked the Lord that the rest had been able to get out before it was too late. Ezra
"Are you okay, Ms?" Chris asked again.
"I�ll live. And the name�s Nikita, not Ms." She smiled slightly.
"Nikita... I�m Chris." He said as he sat down close beside her.
"So what do you want?" Buck asked Scott.
"Guess?! We want a safe passage out of here."
"Out of here? I�ll tell you what..." Buck said but he was interrupted by Chris warning.
"Don�t Buck!" Ezra
Chris innocently glanced around the room to see where the six men were positioned. Two of the men who had jumped over the barriers were now posted by the front door to the courtroom. One was standing by the judges chambers and Joe Campbell was standing by the other door leading to the jury room. Scott Jones and Max Whitmore were standing infront of the hostages. The six men were all heavily armed. Ezra
"How�d you get the weapons in?" Chris asked.
"We, like, went in here earlier and taped them under, like, the chairs and stuff, you know?!." A redhaired overweight guy in his early 20�s said. Ezra thought that this guy seemed to be a complete airhead.
"I thought they sweeped the room before everyone was let in." Chris said.
"Yeah, they do, but I did the sweeping." The man at the door to the judge�s chambers said. He had black long hair, dark eyes and he looked very muscular. "I work here."
"Isn�t that, like, great! Steve works here!" The airhead snorted.
"Shut up Jim!" Scott ordered and he fell silent. Ezra
The whole room fell silent after that, Buck checked up on JD who was still bleeding from the wound above his eyebrow. Ezra still held Madelaine who had stopped crying but was still very frightened. Nathan checked up on Nikita while Chris kept a close watch on the men to learn more about them. If they were gonna have a chance to get out of here he had to know their strengths and their weaknesses. Ezra
While Chris and the others were forcing their way into the courtroom Vin and Josiah had made their way round to the door of the judges chambers. Ezra
"It's locked! That's not right, is it?" he questioned as Josiah took a step closer.
"Not as far as I know. Want to try a bit of force?" the older man replied.
"Sure. We've got to get in there somehow!" Vin stepped aside, giving Josiah clear access to the door.
Ezra
Bracing his hands on either side of the doorframe he raised his foot and with one swift movement brought it crashing down in the center. The door shuddered in its frame, but stayed closed. Josiah was just about to try again when a bullet smashed its way through the wood, narrowly missing his head.
Ezra
"Don't even think about comin' in this way!" a voice shouted from inside the chambers. ''Less you're wanting more of that - and I got plenty where that came from, believe me!" the man snarled.
Ezra
Vin, who'd been standing to the right of the doorframe, rushed towards his friend.
Ezra
"You Ok pard?" he asked.
"Yeah - he missed" Josiah gave a sour smile. "Better go tell the officer in charge out there what's going on," he said, as the two made their way back to the hall in front of the courtroom.
Ezra
The sight that greeted them as they rounded the corner was encouraging, at least at first glance. A whole array of lawmen, listening intently to a tall black man giving out orders with an air of total confidence, as all around others busily went about the tasks already assigned to them. Ezra
"Who the hell are you, and what are you doing on this floor? I ordered total evacuation, did I not Sergeant?"
"Yes Sir, you did. Just getting underway, Sir" one of his men replied.
"Good. I want this entire level clear in ten minutes" He turned back towards Vin and Josiah, giving them an appraising look.
"Now, who the hell are you?"
"Vin Tanner and this here is Josiah Sanchez. Team 7, ATF" Vin replied, holding out his hand. Ezra
The officer looked at it for a second, before speaking again. No handshake. Ezra
"Lieutenant Al Lewis. What has this got to do with ATF?" Ezra
Well, he's certainly...focused.. Vin thought as he explained about the case that had resulted in today's court appearance, and gave all the details he could of what had just happened. Ezra
"Five of our colleagues are in there too." Josiah explained.
"So, it was you lot that went busting in there, guns blazing, was it? I'm surprised they're not carrying you all out in body bags right about now."
"We had to do something...if we hadn't there would be a whole lot more people stuck in there" Vin replied, defensive of the teams actions.
"Sure, right. For all we know every last one of those people who weren't lucky enough to get out during all the commotion you caused is already dead. I appreciate you want to help your friends, but if you're staying round here, you're gonna have to do what I say - I don't tolerate mavericks on my team."
With that he walked away, yelling instructions as he went "Brody, Smith - I need a visual on the inside of that courtroom...ASAP. Where the hell is Collins?..."
"Nice fella." said Vin as they stood in the midst of all the chaos.
"Just doing his job, I guess," replied Josiah. "Seems to know what he's up to as well."
"Well, I sure hope so. But I can't just stand around here like some kind of spare part. I need to be doing something."
"Me too. Come on - let's go see what Lieutenant Lewis' plans are."
"Brody!" Lewis yelled across the room, causing the man in question to drop what he was doing immediately and rush over to where his superior stood pouring over the plans of the courthouse.
"When did you say you could get pictures from inside the room? "
The younger officer squirmed just a little before replying, "Uh, I didn't Sir. We still need to decide where to drill, so the hostage takers won't notice it."
Lewis glared at the man, then rolled his eyes. "Do I have to do every damn thing around here? You!" he said, pointing over at Vin, who'd been standing listening intently to what was going on. "You've been inside the room - where abouts could we drill a hole in the wall where it wouldn't be noticed?"
Ezra
Walking over to the table, followed by Josiah, Vin began thinking. Looking down at the plans he pointed to the back wall of the room. Ezra
"Anywhere round the walls should be fine, if you take it slow, don't attract too much attention. But I guess this'd be your best bet - behind the gallery. Darkest spot in the room, shadows would hide almost any movement. " Ezra
Josiah nodded in agreement. Ezra
"Right. Brody, you heard that - get Smith and get started on it - NOW!" Ezra
Brody rushed off at top speed, Lewis shaking his head after him. Ezra
"As if I haven't got enough to worry about, I gotta hold their hands for 'em too" he said, before turning back to Vin and Josiah.
"You two - follow me. I may be able to find a use for you after all. Right now though I need to establish contact with the hostage takers." Ezra
He moved through the corridor, passing into a small office to one side. Ezra
"Miss Jameson, I need to know if there's any way we can talk to the people in those two rooms - the courtroom or the judges chambers." Lewis asked the shocked woman, his voice softening as he did so.
Ezra
Wringing her hands and glancing nervously up at the other woman, who Vin could now see was a police officer, she replied, her voice wavering as she spoke. Ezra
"There's no phone in either of the rooms...I don't know...I..I'm sorry.." Ezra
The police officer put her hand on the woman's arm. Ezra
"Don't worry Miss Jameson - it's OK."
"Wait! I remember...the judge has one of those cellular phones...he keeps it in his chambers when he's in court."
"Do you have the number?" Lewis asked.
"I'm sure I have it somewhere...in my bag. It's in my address book." Ezra
The police officer handed her her bag, and she began rummaging through it for the book. Ezra
"Here it is!" She flicked through the pages until she found what she was looking for, then handed the book to Lewis.
"Thank you Miss Jameson. You've been a big help." Ezra
With that he left the room, gesturing to Vin and Josiah to follow. Ezra
The Trial
*******
They had been able to apprehend the murder suspects a month ago, without much difficulty. Now they had all been called in to testify.
As they came towards the courtroom a man in his 30�s approached them and stopped in front of Chris.
Josiah followed the nervous man into the courtroom and stepped up into the witness stand. A female police officer swore him in and then he started to testify.
Down the hall the men could already see the security forces making their way towards the disturbance. Much longer and they'd be here, taking control of the situation...and they probably wouldn't welcome the help of seven outsiders. If they were going to do anything about this situation, it had to be done now.
With a glance over at Ezra, Chris started to move.
He waited for the first two men to pass him. Then, moving as fast as lightning, he moved up behind them. With one fluid movement he pulled their weapons from their holsters, and threw them to Buck and Ezra. A quick nod to Vin, telling him to get started on his part of the plan, and he turned towards the courtroom door. Checking the others were ready he shouted "Now!", as he opened it and dived inside.
From her position under the witness stand Madelaine couldn't see what was going on. But she wasn't about to get up and take a look. Especially as it seemed that she was the main target of all of those bullets flying around out there.
She had been as nervous as hell when she'd stepped up to the stand. As she'd taken her oath her hand had been shaking so badly... Only the friendly smile she'd received from the officer swearing her in had stopped her from bolting right then and there. That and the fact that, scared as she was, she knew in her heart that she was doing the right thing. These men were animals, and she'd feel so much safer when they were behind bars. All she had to do was tell the court what she'd seen, and that's exactly where they'd be, for a very long time. They wouldn't be able to frighten her any more.
The officers inside the court had reacted quickly - but not quickly enough. The men had had the element of surprise on their side. Before the lawmen could even unholster their guns they had been shot down.
Ezra watched as another member of the gang, a small, thin, blonde kid, Ezra wouldn�t call him anything else but a kid, since he looked younger than JD, move towards Nathan and the wounded police officer.
As Nathan and Chris sat the police officer down she winced in pain.
Suddenly they heard a phone ring. Chris quickly pinpointed the sound to come from within the judge�s chambers. Scott Jones walked over and into the room and soon returned with the ringing cellphone.
They'd just reached it, and Vin was about to try the handle when they heard the first shots.
With a quick, worried look at Josiah he turned the handle - but the door wouldn't open.
As Vin and Josiah came closer one of the men in the group noticed them and gestured towards his leader. The man turned round to face them.
Inside sat two women, one, who looked to be in shock, the other doing her best to provide a little comfort.
They had a phone call they needed to make.
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