Disclaimer: Castle and the recognizable characters are property of the folks at ABC and their creators who make a lot more money than I do. This is for pure entertainment purposes.
Howdy everyone. This is my first Castle multi-chap fic as well as the first one I've tried from first-person point of view. I've got most of it written so postings should come relatively quickly. I hope you all enjoy.
Up on the roof of one of the buildings across the street from the bank branch, SWAT Officer Clark Reed sets up his rifle and waits for the order. Looking through his scope, he sees the hostage taker who is waving his gun at one of the hostages. Actually, to be more specific, he sees his target waving a gun at one of their own. Reed had been briefed beforehand that a cop had somehow gotten caught up in this whole situation.
Reed adjusts his rifle, training it on the gunman. The tell-tale red dot appears on the man's chest. "This is Reed." He talks into his microphone "I've got a shot."
"Hold steady." The order comes in.
Reed does what he's told, although it is frustrating. He could've taken the gunman out right then, solvingthis whole situation. As if that weren't enough, the gunman decides to move, and so does the cop who's inside. Now it's his fellow officer that Reed has in his scope.
"I've lost my clean shot." He reports.
"Roger that, hold your position."
It's not like I'll be doing anything else Reed grouses to himself. He keeps a focus on the situation through his rifle. The argument is getting heated. Reed tries to adjust his position to get a clean shot at the gunman, but there isn't one without the danger of hitting their man.
"Damn it." He curses.
Inside the bank two men: one a hostage, that would be me, and the other a hostage-taker engage in our frustrating back-and-forth.
"We have to make some kind of final deal."
"Not under those guidelines."
"I've been more than fair. You know that I'll get you a reasonable deal."
"If I don't accept it, then it isn't reasonable is it?"
The two of us continue our haggling, neither one giving ground. I'm exhausted, and want to do nothing more than get out of this mess and go home. But that has to wait. This has to be solved. A deal has to be made.
It sounds like the start of a bad joke; an NYPD detective and a hostage-taker engage in a standoff in a bank. But there is no follow up or punch line. Instead, what have followed have been negotiations for over four hours. It's gone from late afternoon to evening, and the dark of night has enveloped the City. Neither of us has eaten, or gone to the bathroom. With all the adrenaline surging through because of it all, this has become almost as much an endurance test as it is anything else. The two of us have stared at each other for four long hours, waiting to see when the other will break. So far, both of us have stayed firm.
Taking a deep breath, I plunge ahead yet again. I have one real goal with all of this; get as many people out of here as quickly as I can. "I've already told you, I'm willing to be your hostage and bargaining chip. But you have to let these other people go. Once that's taken care of, we can move on to other things."
"And I'm telling you Detective, one hostage, even a cop hostage is not enough. I know how your colleagues will react." The other man, who will only call himself 'Phil' asserts. "I'm getting bored with all of this. Maybe I shouldn't even be making any more deals." He muses aloud.
"Bullshit." I dismiss his threat. "If you weren't willing to do a deal, I'd already be dead and frankly so would you."
All around us in the bank lobby, the other hostages watch in fear. All of them are on the ground and have backed away from the two of us, wanting to be far away when something happens. It isn't a great vote of confidence in me. I've looked at their faces and in their eyes and feel nothing but sympathy for them. They're normal people caught up in an awful situation that isn't their fault. I can tell that they are increasingly antsy and concerned that this will end badly and everyone will end up dead. My job is to not let that happen.
"You still haven't given me a number Phil. What am I supposed to tell everyone out there?"
"Nothing yet, we don't have a deal."
I butt my head against the pillar behind me in frustration. This is getting ridiculous; four hours of negotiations between us has gotten nowhere. Sure, there had been some minor deals here and there, but finding a way out of this for him, me, and the remaining hostages is proving far more difficult. He's not unreasonable, but his logic can be hard to follow and harder to anticipate.
I quickly glance outside. In one of the far off corners of my line of sight, I spot the figures of my team. My stomach turns at the look of worry on their faces. For a moment, I lock eyes with my partner. He gives me a clear, unambiguous signal; you're getting your ass out of this alive.
Behind them, I see another face. Oh God, it's her. Shit, I did not want her to be here, just in case something does go wrong. But she is here, and that gives me an increased motivator to find a way out of this alive. Because if I don't, she and my partner are both going to take turns killing me.
"I'm starting to get impatient." Phil says, casually waving the gun at me. It's his way of showing me that he has control and is in charge. He's done this a couple of times since this whole mess started. It doesn't get any less intimidating the more it happens.
"Fine, I want another hostage released."
"That's very predictable; you've already asked that four times."
"And you've been willing to do it." I point out.
"True." He concedes. "But, I'm done with small deals. Time to go big or go home Detective Ryan."
Good? Less than good? Either way any feedback you have would be greatly appreciated. I'll try to have Chap. 2 up this week.