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"Answer the damn phone!" Joe said. "It's driving me crazy!"
"Shut up!" Jones exclaimed and handed the phone to Chris "You answer!"
"Sure." Chris said and pushed the button to answer the phone. "Hello?"
"This is Lieutenant Al Lewis, who am I talking to?"
"Chris Larabee, Team 7, ATF."
"Mr. Larabee." Lewis said. "What can you tell me? What do they want?"
"Who is it?" Jones demanded to know.
"Lieutenant Al Lewis." Chris replied. "He wants to know what you want."
"Safe passage out of here, for starters." Jones said.
"Well, Mr. Larabee?" Lewis asked. "Mr. Tanner, shut up!"
"Vin?" Chris said at Lewis sudden exclaim.
"Yes, he's here and so is Mr. Sanchez." Lewis said.
"They're alright?" Chris asked as Jones started looking more and more angry.
"Yes. What do they want? How many are there?" Lewis asked.
"6 and they want a safe passage out of here." Chris said and Jones facial expression relaxed some.
Ezra
Chris continued mediating between Jones and Lewis, telling Lewis their demands while trying to tell the Lieutenant as much as possible without Jones noticing. Ezra
"Well?" He asked.
"He�s working on a chopper and a pilot for you." Chris said. "He wanted you to release the hostages."
"Never!" Jones said with a small laugh.
"At least let the jury and the judge go. You�d still have us." Chris said gesturing to his other team members.
"Also you must let her go." Nathan said nodding to Nikita.
"No way!" Jones exclaimed. "She�s a cop, no way they�d break in here then."
"We�re cops too." JD said in an attempt to get Nikita out.
"But a lady cop is worth more." Joe said.
"Lewis will be calling back soon to find out what you demand for letting the hostages go." Chris said to Jones.
"Let them go? I never said anything about letting no one go!" Jones said.
Ezra
Suddenly the phone rang again and Chris yet again had to answer it. It was Vin on the other end.
Ezra
"You okay, pard?" Vin�s concerned voice asked.
"Yeah, we�re fine." Chris said.
"Okay, what do they want in exchange for the hostages." Vin said.
"He says that he�ll release the judge and the jury but that�s it." Chris said.
"What?!" Vin exclaimed.
"Yeah, agree with them. They want food and drink in return." Chris said.
"You got it!" Vin said. "What kind of food and for how many?"
"Pizza and it�s for 6 people." Chris said while staring coldly at Jones.
"6 people, but there�s more than 6 people in there." Vin said.
"Just do it." Chris said as Jones took the phone and turned it off.
Ezra
30 minutes later there was a low knock on the door and Jones jerked Madelaine off the floor and held the gun to her head. Ezra tried to get up off the floor but Buck stopped him immediately. Jones gave Ezra a warning glare before he moved to the door and told Madelaine to open it. She did and soon she turned back into the room with 6 pizzas and drinks. Ezra
"Move!" Jones said and pushed the gun into Madelaine�s back. Ezra
Madelaine walked over to one of the tables where she put down the things. After that Jones grabbed her arm and threw her back on the floor. Ezra was quick to catch her and pulled her close to him. Ezra
"Are you okay, Madelaine?" Ezra whispered and held Madelaine tightly.
"I�m okay." Madelaine answered and put her head on Ezra�s shoulder.
"How�s Nikita?" Chris asked Nathan.
"I�m fine. You can ask me, I�m still conscious you know." Nikita said and smiled slightly.
"Sorry." Chris said and looked questioningly at Nathan.
"She�s okay." Nathan said. "I�ve managed to stop the bleeding, she�s lost quite alot of blood though."
"Mr. Larabee." Ezra said and Chris looked over at him. "What went wrong?"
"They came from behind." Chris said coldly obviously angry with himself for failing to disarm the men.
"You don�t talk much, do you?" Nikita suddenly asked.
"Mr. Larabee utters about 5 words a day I believe." Ezra said and smiled.
"Shut up." Chris said. Ezra
Suddenly Joe came up to them all and ordered the judge and the jury to get up, he then told them to get out and they did that, quickly.
The remaining hostages watched as the gang ate their pizzas and drank their colas. Chris watched them closely, as Jim seemed to be fighting with Jones. Jones never let his eyes of Chris even though Jim demanded that Jones had to look at him. Ezra
"Look at me!" Jim suddenly screamed and hit Jones on the shoulder.
"Get your filthy hands off of me!"
"You think I�m scared of you?" Jim said and hit Jones again.
"If you don�t stop doing that, I swear I will..." Jones threatened but Jim interrupted him.
"You�ll what? Kill me?" Jim laughed and hit Jones again.
"Yeah." Jones said and pulled the trigger and shot Jim in the chest. Ezra
Chris was quick to react and he jumped off the floor and tackled Jones. Buck, JD, Nathan and Ezra were up and soon they were all fighting the gang. The members of Team 7 had the upper hand because most of the gang members were shocked that Jones actually had shot Jim. Ezra
Everything seemed to stop as the sound of the gunshot echoed round the room.
Anxious to see what had happened, the men disentangled themselves - the fighting was over at least for now.
Nathan was the first to move, his instincts kicking in before he even had time to think. Gunshot. Someone could be hurt. Ezra
"Jeez...Jones? You OK?" Ezra
No movement. Ezra
"Chris?" he called tentatively, praying for a response. Ezra
Campbell was down on his knees, checking over the two prone men. Jones lay on top of Chris, face down. Chris lay under him, his eyes closed. There was a spatter of blood on the floor beside them. Which man had been injured? Ezra
"Buck, come give me a hand over here, would you?" he called. Ezra
Buck started over, only to be stopped by Whitmore. Ezra
"Where do you think you're going?" he sneered, raising his gun.
"To help my friend," Buck replied. His voice was icy, the anger he felt showing clearly on his face as he glared straight at Whitmore. The other man stood his ground, eyes locked on Buck's, a smirk forming on his face as he aimed his weapon directly at Buck's head.
"Come on Max, it isn't worth it! He won't be getting out of here any time soon, let him go and help." The voice came from the other side of the courtroom, a middle aged man, slightly balding. He was part of the gang, but so far had kept quiet - he'd even stayed out of the fighting. Ezra
Max turned his head to glare at him. The man just shook his head slightly, his eyes locked on Max's. Max stared back for a few seconds then turned back towards Buck. Without a word he lowered his weapon, then walked away to sit down behind the prosecution table. Ezra
"We need to move him. I can't see any injuries, but he's unconscious. Probably hit his head on the floor when Jones fell on top of him." Nathan told him.
"He's gonna be alright though?" Buck questioned as he took hold of Chris' legs.
Ezra
The two men moved their leader gently over to where the others sat, JD removing his jacket and rolling it up to use as a cushion for his head. Ezra
"He sure looks pale," said JD, a worried look on his face.
"He'll be fine." Nathan reassured, hoping that he was right. Ezra
Outside in the corridor Vin, Josiah and Lieutenant Lewis had all heard the gunshots, and were each wondering what they meant. What was going on in there? Ezra
"Brody! You ready to give me that visual yet?" Lewis asked.
"Yes, Sir. Drilling's already started, should be through in five, ready to go in ten."
"Good. We need to know what the hell's going on behind those doors!" Ezra
As Nathan tended to Chris, Madelaine sat huddled on the floor beside Ezra, her head resting on his shoulder. Thinking back over the events of the last six months, and those that had unfolded here today in the courthouse, the tears began to fall faster down her already stained face, and her crying turned into sobbing.
Ezra
"Madelaine?" Ezra said softly, turning so that he could see her face. Ezra
She raised her head to look at him, the tears streaming by now. Ezra
"You know" she started softly, wiping her eyes with the handkerchief Ezra had handed to her, "Before all of this happened I used to think that I was so strong. Nothing could intimidate me, I wasn't scared of anything. Now look at me - sitting huddled on the floor, crying like a baby. Terrified of my own shadow. Guess I wasn't as strong as I thought I was, huh?" She smiled weakly.
"Nonsense!" Ezra exclaimed, with a vehemence that took her slightly by surprise. "I know that it took great courage for you to walk through the doors to this courtroom today, to come face to face with those miscreants. To put aside your fears, and stand up for what you know to be right, that is true strength. And a few tears will never be able to change that. It is perfectly normal to be scared in a situation such as this. But our comrades are out there as we speak, no doubt engineering some elaborate plan by which to effect our release. So, you see, there really is nothing to worry about, Madelaine. Everything is going to turn out just fine." Ezra
Madelaine studied his face for a few moments before leaning forward to plant a kiss on his cheek.
Ezra
"Thank you Ezra" she said, as she lay her head back down and closed her eyes.
"Is she okay?" JD asked quietly nodding towards Madelaine.
"I think she is." Ezra said. "How's Mr. Larabee doing?"
"Unconscious, steady pulse, strong heartbeat. I can't see that he's wounded anywhere." Nathan said.
"Good!" Whitmore exclaimed. "Now you come over here and help Jones."
"Alright." Nathan said and rose to his feet. Ezra
Nathan knelt down beside Jones and felt his pulse, he found one, very weak but still there. Whitmore hovered over him and urged him to do something. Nathan did his best to stop the bleeding, but in his heart Nathan knew it was too late. Without the proper medical care Jones would be dead within a few hours or even less.
Nikita crawled slowly over to Chris where he lay on the floor. She took his hand and squeezed it gently. Suddenly Chris opened his eyes and smiled at Nikita, and she gave a relived smile back. Ezra
"You okay?" She asked.
"Yep." Chris whispered. "My head hurts like hell."
"You probably hit your head when you and Jones fell to the floor." JD said.
"Chris, are you okay?" Buck asked.
"Yeah." Chris said.
"Excuse me." Nathan said and everyone's eyes turned towards him. "Mr. Jones is in need of medical care."
"BS!" Whitmore exclaimed.
"It�s true." Nathan said and explained what had happened.
"Okay, how do we get him out of here?" The middle aged man said.
"Well." Whitmore said who seemed to have taken charge after Jones was shot. "We need to get in touch with the cops again."
"And how are we supposed to do that?" Joe asked.
"The cellphone, idiot!" The middle-aged man exclaimed.
"Shut up, Carl!" Joe said.
"You shut up." He answered.
"Don�t start!" Whitmore warned and pulled out the cellphone.
"Okay, so who do we call now? We don�t have the number to that cop outside." Joe asked.
"You have people on the outside?" Whitmore said asking the question towards Team 7.
"Yes." Ezra said plainly.
"Good, you call them!" Whitmore demanded and handed Ezra the cellphone. Ezra
Ezra took the phone and dialed Vin�s cellphone number. Several rings went through before a familiar voice was heard on the other end of the line: Ezra
"Tanner."
"Mr. Tanner. We require your assistance." Ezra said.
"Ez! You boys okay?" Vin asked.
"Yes, we are quite fine. But it seems that Mr. Jones is in dire need of medical attention."
"Someone shot him, right? That was the gunshot we heard before?" Vin said.
"Yes."
"Who was it? Buck?" Vin asked anxious to know.
"No." Ezra said, as Whitmore looked at him a little bit annoyed.
"Chris?" Vin asked.
"Yes. Mr. Jones needs to get to a hospital." Ezra said as Whitmore raised his gun towards Madelaine.
"Okay. Get him out here and we�ll get him to a hospital." Vin said and Ezra told Whitmore what Vin said.
"Fine." Whitmore said. "Tell them to step away from the door and we�ll get him out."
"I believe you heard that, Mr. Tanner?" Ezra said.
"Yes, I did." Vin said and then they both turned off their phones. Ezra
Max Whitmore ordered Nathan and JD to carry Jones out the door. Joe followed them closely with the gun aimed at JD. Nathan opened the door and they carried him out to a stretcher that was located outside the door. They placed Jones gently there and Nathan quickly looked around to see both Vin and Josiah stand behind a door. Nathan nodded towards them and gave a reassuring smile and then they went in again.
Ezra
"Hey, what was that?" Carl asked when everybody had sat down again.
"What?" Whitmore asked.
"I hear something. Don�t you guys hear it?" Carl said listening intently.
"You�re hallucinating." Joe said with a heavy sigh. "We don�t hear anything."
Ezra
Everybody fell quiet, Buck tried to talk to distract the gang from the drilling sounds. Whitmore pulled his gun and aimed it towards Buck and growled to him to shut up. Ezra
"I still don�t hear anything." Joe said.
"That�s because you�re half deaf!" Carl exclaimed.
"I�m not deaf!" Joe said obviously angry.
"You two calm down now!" Whitmore said. Ezra
Chris gave a relieved sigh because the drilling sounds had stopped. As Chris decided to sit up he got some unexpected help from Nikita. He looked over at her and she smiled faintly at him. Chris worried about her, she looked so pale. Ezra
"Are you okay, Nikita?" He asked.
"Yeah, I guess. I�m feeling a bit tired." She said. "You?"
"I�m fine." Chris said and lowered his voice. "Nikita, I have a gun."
"What?!" Nikita exclaimed and caused everyone to look at her. "Sorry."
"I took it from Jones, no one has realized that I have it." Chris said almost whispering.
"So... what do we do now?" Nikita asked as everyone had turned their attention back to what they were doing previously.
"I have a plan." Chris said. "And I need you to help me."
"I�ll help in any way I can." Nikita said as Chris leaned in and whispered the plan quickly in her ear. Ezra
After almost 5 minutes Chris turned off the phone and handed it back to Jones who looked at Chris with a questioning look.
Suddenly a gunshot rang out and Nikita screamed as she saw Chris and Jones crash to the floor.
Over on the floor, in the space between the judges bench and the lawyers tables, Chris & Jones lay in a heap. Neither of them were moving.
Campbell, the blond kid, quickly crossed to where they lay, coming up behind Nathan.
Nathan watched him warily - the man had a gun, he didn't want to make any sudden movements, startle him. He'd be no use to anyone if he was dead.
Nathan knelt down beside the kid and helped him roll Jones over. As they turned him onto his back they could see the source of the blood - there was a bullet hole in his right side, just below his rib cage. As Campbell checked for a pulse, Jones let out a low groan.
Knowing that Jones was at least alive, Nathan turned his attention to his friend. No major injuries, steady pulse - but he still wasn't moving.
Buck started again on his way to Nathan's side.
Ezra pulled her closer to him and as she buried her face against his shoulder began to stroke her hair in an effort to calm her down.
After a while the sobs stopped wracking her slim frame and she pulled away slightly, staying close enough to keep her head rested against him.
Chris had already located where the sounds where coming from, they were faint and Chris prayed that they would be finished real soon.
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