Living on a Prayer
Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't own the characters you recognize. alas. I promise I will return them when I'm done. (Well, except for Marco. I'm keeping him... ) )
A/N: For the purposes of this fic, "Time Stands Still" did not happen. There are, however, a few things that will show up later in this fic that are semi-spoilers (info about the characters learned from future episodes more than events from later episodes) for later episodes like Voices Carry. Just for reference, the current members of Downtown Sasquatch are Craig, Jimmy, Marco, and Spinner.
Chapter One: The Siege
"Everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes." Andy Warhol
"So, are you ready?" Ellie Nash asked her best friend, Marco Del Rossi.
A little frazzled, Marco glanced up from the poster he was working on. "Uh. No. I'm still coloring here," he replied, slightly testy. He wondered why she'd asked when she could clearly see he was still working. He returned to his task, coloring in the final letter. The project they were working on together for Media Immersion was due on Monday. Sure, they were almost done, but he had an amazingly hectic weekend ahead of him and really didn't want to have the project looming over him.
Ellie rolled her eyes. "Not that."
Marco glanced up again, confused. "Then what?"
"Your fifteen minutes," she answered, her eyes flicking down to the Warhol poster he was working on, then back up at him. She grinned as Marco turned slightly more pale. He was nervous, that much was obvious. And who wouldn't be? His band, Downtown Sasquatch, had a demo recording session scheduled for bright and early the next morning.
"It's not going to be that big a deal." Marco tried to downplay it, more for his own benefit than Ellie's. He was incredibly nervous. Which was silly, he tried to rationalize. They'd played the song how many hundreds of times in the past few weeks? They were ready to record the demo. Beyond ready.
But he just couldn't shake the feeling that, one way or another, the recording would go completely wrong and that somehow it was all going to be his fault. And then the recording studio execs would hear the demo and would decide that Downtown Sasquatch was an absolute disaster and would blacklist all four of them so they'd never play in a band again ever. While he himself didn't really plan to pursue a music career, he did not want to be the one responsible for killing Craig's. And, of course, after they were doomed to an eternity of failure, they'd all four wind up working at The Dot until they were in their eighties or something.
Of course, he kept this scenario to himself, knowing full well that Ellie would think it was the funniest thing ever. His unending and overly creative insecurities tended to amuse her.
"Not a big deal?" Craig Manning asked, having somehow heard him from all the way across the restaurant. Marco wondered if maybe Craig had some sort of radar hearing or something that zoned in on any mention of their band. And at the moment Craig was looking at him like he'd just killed a puppy or something.
"I didn't mean like that," Marco assured Craig. "I just mean that we've got the song down. We'll go in there and lay down the track the first take." Now if only he actually believed that was really what was going to happen.
Craig gave him the thumbs up, then returned to flicking a straw wrapper at their third band mate, Jimmy Brooks, who retaliated by throwing a salt packet back at him. The pair of them had grown restless as they waited for the fourth member of the band to finish closing up The Dot Grill so they could go and have one final practice before the recording session.
"You know, this would all go a whole lot faster if you guys would help me," Gavin "Spinner" Mason grumbled as he grabbed the last of the dirty dishes from the tables and shoved them into the bus tub.
"You know, that would be a lot more tempting, if we were being paid to help," Marco replied, giving him an impish smile. Neither Jimmy nor Craig bothered with a reply, but continued throwing wrappers and other not-nailed-down items at each other.
Spinner rolled his eyes at Marco and Ellie, and then turned his focus to scrubbing down the last table, ignoring the other two guys completely. It was either that or get ticked at them for creating a bigger mess that he would have to clean up. He grabbed the tub of dirty dishes and headed to the back room to run them through the washer. After that he'd just have to sweep and mop up the dining area and they were free. Ten minutes, tops.
"I can't believe we're recording tomorrow," Jimmy suddenly announced, yet again. They'd all said it at least once, Jimmy himself probably three or four times.
If he weren't so excited about it himself, Craig probably would have smacked him by now. But he'd never tire of this conversation. "I know!" he replied animatedly. "How cool is this!"
"Beyond cool," Jimmy agreed and they played through the same exact conversation they'd had numerous times already that day. All about how this was going to be just the beginning. Things were really going to take off for them.
Ellie tuned them out. While she was excited for them, the repeated conversation was starting to get to her.
Marco, on the other hand, listened and smiled. He wasn't quite as optimistic as the others. While the prospect of fame and fortune was of course exciting and intriguing, Marco suspected a career in music was not where his life was going to lead him. He was far too shy and insecure to be part of that scene. Besides, he felt completely out of his league when comparing his talent to Craig's or even Jimmy's. Sure, he could play notes and all, but he felt he just wasn't as talented as they were. It was good that he was the bass guitar, not lead.
Of course, maybe his doubt stemmed from the poster right in front of him. "Everyone is famous for 15 minutes," he murmured, examining his work. Downtown Sasquatch was on the verge of their time, but he worried that was all it was going to be. 15 minutes would come and go awful fast. For himself, that wasn't a big deal, but for Craig especially, it would never be enough for the others. And he definitely didn't want to be the one responsible for dragging them down.
"Some people more than 15, you know," Ellie spoke softly, seeming to know what he was thinking. "You guys are great. Don't worry about it."
He glanced up at her and smiled, despite the nagging feeling of doom that seemed to be growing in him.
"Did Tony get the trash out before he left?" Spinner's supervisor, Dave Adams, called from the office as he passed by with the final load of dishes.
Spinner scowled as he spotted several large garbage bags sitting by the back door. No, it appeared, Tony had not. "No. I'll get it now," he called back, setting the tub of dishes down on the counter and turning back to get the garbage. So much for being out of there in ten minutes. Taking out the garbage would tack on another five at least.
His hands full, Spinner turned around and used his back to push open the back door. A moment later, he felt something graze his ear and settle at the base of his neck. Something cold and hard. Metallic. He heard a click and his blood went cold as he immediately realized what it was. He felt the garbage bags slip from his grasp, but spilled garbage was the least of his worries. "Oh…god…" he murmured, slowly raising his hands to his sides in a gesture of surrender.
"Good boy. Let's just go right on back inside," a voice hissed in his ear.
Kicking the trash out of the way, Spinner obeyed. He was aware that more than one person was behind him, but was too freaked out to even spare a glance over his shoulder to find out how many there were. He simply moved forward as directed until he heard the door slam shut behind him.
"You alone?" the man behind him asked in a low voice.
"N-no," he stammered.
"Who else is here?"
"Mr. Adams is in the office…" He closed his eyes as he thought of his friends in the dining area. He hoped they'd stay quiet. With any luck, these robbers would get what they wanted and leave without ever knowing about the guys out front.
"Well, let's go pay Mr. Adams a visit, then," the man suggested, cheerily. He shoved Spinner forward. The teen nearly fell, but managed to catch himself in time. He reluctantly led the way to the supervisor's office.
"Mr. A?" he called quietly from the doorway.
"What is it, Gavin?" Dave Adams asked, looking up. The man's eyes widened as he saw that his employee wasn't alone. And that he had a gun to his head. "O-oh." For a few moments, the supervisor just sat there behind his desk, staring at the gun. Then he nodded, his eyes not wavering from the weapon. "We'll cooperate. Take what you want."
"Good man," the gunman sneered. "Get up and move over there," he motioned to the far wall with the gun. Then he turned to one of the others who had come in with him. "You, go get the registers."
"No, wait!" Spinner protested. He had a terrible vision of one of the gunmen going out to the dining area and freaking out when he discovered he wasn't alone. Surprising someone with a gun wasn't generally a good idea. He didn't want his friends put in that situation. "There's…people out there."
Spinner felt the gun press to his neck again. "How many."
"F-four," he answered.
"Crap," another voice grumbled behind him. It sounded somehow familiar, but Spinner couldn't place it. "I thought no one else was allowed in the building after closing."
Spinner glanced apologetically at his boss, who only gave him a weak smile in return.
"All right. You two, then. You go round them up. The freezer's big enough; should be able to fit six." Spinner groaned inwardly. Stuck in a freezer overnight was better than shot dead in the dining room, though, he had to admit. "Any of them give you trouble, you know what to do."
Spinner's eyes widened. That was exactly what he didn't want to hear. To him 'you know what to do' sounded pretty much like 'shoot to kill'. He shook his head. "No! Don't…Let me go out there and get them."
The gunman directly behind him laughed. "Yeah, sure, kid. Sounds great," he said sarcastically. I let you go out there, you all run, next thing we know the police are here."
Spinner glanced at Mr. Adams. Somehow he bet the guys wouldn't believe him if he said that he'd never risk his boss' life like that. And now that the guy mentioned it, running actually did sound a whole lot better than spending the night in the freezer. But, he was pretty sure the gunmen weren't going to let him have the chance.
"You, sit down over there," the gunman motioned Mr. Adams to the chairs on the near side of the desk. Spinner plunked down next to Mr. Adams and waited for further instructions. He hoped that his friends would be cooperative and nobody would get hurt.
The guy who seemed to be in charge pointed the gun down at Spinner. "You. Get back there and open the safe."
He reluctantly got back up and went where he was told, but stopped when he got there. He'd never opened the safe before. That wasn't part of his duties by any stretch of the imagination. He looked over at Mr. Adams. "I don't know the combination, sir." He wondered why the gunman hadn't had his supervisor open the safe while he was behind the desk.
Mr. Adams looked up at the gunman, who nodded.
"Clockwise 27, twice around counter-clockwise to 32, once around clockwise to 55."
Spinner knelt down and started fiddling with the combination, feeling only slightly better as the other two guys with guns left the office. He noticed a strange blinking red light under the desk and glanced over at his boss. Mr. Adams gave him a barely perceptible shake of the head, so he didn't ask about it and instead turned to start working on the safe.
"Done," Marco announced as he finished putting the final touches on the presentation poster. Ellie looked up from her book and looked over at it. She never got a chance to really see the finished product, though, because something else caught her attention first. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open slightly.
"El?" Marco asked, concerned. He noticed she was looking at something behind him and looked back over his shoulder. His heart skipped a few beats and he totally forgot to breathe.
"You two," the man called, pointing a rather large gun at him. "On your feet."
Marco held up his hands and carefully got out of the booth. He felt Ellie snug closely at his side a moment later. He gave her a nervous glance and reached down for her hand, giving it a squeeze as she took hold of it.
"We'll give you whatever you want," they both heard Jimmy saying in an exaggeratedly calm voice. A second gunman had gone straight for Craig and Jimmy, who both sat frozen in their chairs.
The man pointing his gun at Marco laughed. "Damn right you will." He looked over his two hostages, and Marco instinctively moved slightly more in front of Ellie, as if shielding her. The movement didn't go unnoticed by the gunman, who looked highly amused by it. "A hero, huh?" He stepped closer to Marco, placing the gun to the smaller teen's temple.
Marco tensed and closed his eyes, bracing himself. He felt Ellie's grip on his hand tighten. The man chuckled louder and slowly ran the gun down Marco's face in an absurdly gentle way that quite possibly freaked Marco out more than he would have been if the guy had just hit him. He felt himself involuntarily beginning to tremble, and hoped that nobody else noticed.
Even if anyone had noticed, it was immediately forgotten as the second gunman suddenly began swearing profusely. "Jesus fucking Christ, Chad, the cops. Why the fuck are the cops here?" Jimmy couldn't help but smile as he saw where the guy was looking. There was a cop car rolling silently into the parking lot. No lights on, no siren going. Which likely meant one thing: somehow they'd been tipped off that The Dot was being robbed. Jimmy and Craig exchanged relieved glances. The police would have them out of there in no time. "Shit, Chad!"
"Shut up!" the guy holding Marco hissed at him. "Get them in the back. Now!" The guy, apparently named Chad, grabbed a fistful of Marco's hair and yanked, dragging the teen closer so he could be used as a shield if needed. He looked straight at Elle. "You don't want your boyfriend here hurt, you go in back and open up the freezer. Take one step toward the back door and I swear I'll kill him."
Ellie nodded, her eyes wide. She reluctantly dropped Marco's hand and did as she was told, obediently heading to the back room. She glanced into the office as she passed it and saw that there was only one other gunman, who was training his weapon on Spinner's boss. Spinner himself was fidgeting with the safe, apparently having trouble getting it open.
She looked longingly at the back door, only a few feet away, but there was no way she was going to play with Marco's life like that. So she went to what had to be the door of the walk-in freezer and opened it.
"You two, in the back," the second gunman ordered Craig and Jimmy, his voice high and nervous. He waved his gun at the pair and they carefully got up. Craig started to go toward the back room, but Jimmy stopped, staring at the cop car that was sitting just outside. Craig noticed Jimmy wasn't following and stopped as well.
"Tony, go in back with them. I'll get the registers," Chad ordered the second man.
"Forget the registers. We gotta get out of here," Tony argued.
"We're not leaving without the money. It'll just take a minute," Chad insisted. "Get them in the back."
Marco winced as he was dragged to the front register. He looked outside and saw that the cop car had stopped, but the officers weren't getting out of the car. We wondered what they were waiting for.
So did Jimmy. "Look, Tony," he turned to his captor. He figured the guy seemed like he was pretty freaked out and ready to abort the robbery. Maybe he could talk some sense into him. "The cops are here. They're probably calling for backup right now."
That was the last thing Tony wanted to hear. "Shit!"
Jimmy held up his hands in a gesture intended to calm the guy. "No. It's okay. If you just stop this now, everything will be fine. Just put down the gun and we can just walk out of here."
"Shut the hell up, kid," Chad ordered. "Just be a good boy and get in the back room."
Jimmy looked at Marco's captor and frowned. "It'll go a lot easier on you if you just let us go now."
Marco cried out in pain as Chad grabbed his hair and yanked his head back, shoving the gun up under his chin. "Just get the fuck in the back room, or I blow Hero's brains out."
Jimmy's eyes widened and he felt his mouth go dry. He felt terrible. The last thing he'd intended was to get Marco hurt. He swallowed hard and nodded, turning to go to the back room.
He only made it a couple steps before he heard a gun go off.
A/N Dun dun dun…cliffhanger! (Sorry…heh.) Anyhoo, hope you enjoyed the first chapter. It is un-betaread, so I may make a few changes. If I do anything major, though, I'll let you know when I post the second chapter. Please let me know what you think!