Fire
A/N This is a rewrite of Purgatory. It could have ended very differently.
A/N2: I know, I know, you are all waiting so patiently for me to finish the two that have been hanging in the ether and here I am getting you started on another unfinished story. Well, it's like this. I have a lot of irons in the fire. And my muse tells me to work on this one or that one or sometimes the one over there. And some of them are total garbage and will never see the light of day. But some, like this one, have potential. So if you can stand to see me beat up Bobby one more time ( I know, I know!) it's possible that your input will help me bring one of my stories to completion! I hope everyone is doing well, BTW. I miss hearing from you like when I was completely obsessed with writing. Okay, got your seat belt on? Here we go!
Goren helped Stoat wrestle Hector out of bed and hauled him back to Testarosa's office. Bobby frisked the man, found a lighter and lied about it. "All right, he's clean," he said as he gently set the lighter on the counter.
"Did you cut a deal with the cops?" Testarosa asked.
"Me? These are your guys. I'm two blocks away, I get pulled over?!" Hector was more terrified than he was angry.
Testarosa nodded to Stoat. The man walked up and punched Hector square in the face.
"Did you?!" Testarosa insisted. "Well, then that should have taught you to keep your mouth shut!"
"I didn't say nothin' to nobody!"
"The DA bailed you out, is that it?" Stoat punched him again, and again until he had to shake the pain from his knuckles. The boss pulled out a gun and aimed it at Hector. "Did you make a deal with the cops?"
He denied it again. Stoat found the lighter, wrenched it open, and found the mic hidden inside.
Testarosa threatened Hector. "You think I'm stupid?"
Bobby saw what Stoat was doing, and broke into a cold sweat. His heart was pounding in his ears.
"Hey," Mike Stoat said. "His lighter. He's wired." Both criminals turned to Goren.
"You said he was clean," said Testarosa.
"Yeah, I missed it." Bobby shrugged and tried to play it cool.
"Okay…" Testarosa nodded at Stoat once more. "Then he's your problem. You take care of him."
Goren nodded, and Stoat stepped across the room. The boss looked at Goren in anticipation. "What… now?!" asked Bobby.
"Yeah. Now."
"Here," Goren said, thinking the office was a stupid place to make a mess.
Stoat rolled a sheet of plastic across the floor.
"Right here," said Testarosa.
Mike challenged Bobby with his eyes and crossed the floor again. Bobby slowly walked over and grabbed Hector by the arms. "Get up!" He ordered. Hector started to plead for his life. "Shut up," Bobby menaced quietly. Hector sobbed. Bobby put the gun against his face.
With his heart thrumming in his ears, Bobby knocked Hector down hard, spun, and shot Stoat's gun-arm just as the man would have fired on Hector. A white-hot fire went through Goren's back, and it seemed to yank the breath from his body as it ripped through his chest. He fell to his knees like a stone, and toppled forward, trying like hell to breathe.
The door burst open, and he heard Eames saying "Drop it." Her voice said there would be no bargaining. "Drop it, now."
Bobby tried to blink the tears from his eyes as his chest gurgled and blood dripped from his mouth.
"Clear!" Eames shouted, from across the room where Testarosa was now handcuffed in her grasp.
"Detective Eames!" Daniels said urgently.
A pair of uniforms took Testarosa from her grip and she turned. Shock and fear washed over her face. She recognized the man bleeding under Daniels' firm pressure. Alex raced to him and knelt beside him, snaking her smaller hands under to try and put pressure on his chest. "Help's on the way, Bobby. It's all right, you hear me? You hear me? Hang on, Bobby, help's coming."
It was only a half a minute longer before the EMTs rushed in. They transferred him to a stretcher and whisked him out. Eames stumbled a few steps after him, and then stopped. She looked at his blood on her hands. Then her gaze rose and met Daniels'. Tears welled in her eyes.
"They got to him quickly," said Daniels. "They can save him, Eames."
She pivoted in a slow circle as she watched the team of patrol officers surrounding her take their prisoners out of the crime scene. She looked at the bloody plastic on the floor, terrified at the volume of it. She was stunned. "I didn't… I didn't even know he was undercover."
"Go to the hospital, be with him," Daniels suggested.
Eames spun and searched the room with her eyes. She took a deep breath and made a decision. "No. They're gonna have to take him to surgery… nothing I can do there, anyway…" Another ragged breath filled her lungs, and she fought back the tears again. "I'm gonna find out what the hell happened."