Standoff: Borderline Revised

Matt peered out the window and watched as two vehicles came screeching to a halt a good twenty feet away from the shack that they were trapped in. Ramon was standing behind the opened driver's door of his truck, gun leveled at the shack.

"We've got company and it isn't the cavalry." He said grimly, stepping to the right of the window, out of view of the men outside, and he turned to face Emily.

She stood there with her hands on her hips with her gun sticking out of its holster, attached to the right side of her pants. Her long sleeved low cut red shirt had the left sleeve torn off of it and was wrapped around her left forearm after she had scratched herself on a nail diving for cover from the barrage of bullets and he had wrapped it up for her. Her long brown hair was pulled into a ponytail with her bangs spilling over her forehead, beads of sweat dripping down her face as her eyebrows crumpled in concentration, her brown eyes gleaming and he thought she couldn't have looked more beautiful.

"We need to talk them out of this, see if we can get a trade." Emily said as she walked over to behind him and leaned a little to her left to see out the window. Gunshots erupted and the two of them ducked, Matt placing his arm around her shoulders. While they were distracted with being shot at, Felix had grabbed a piece of broken glass off the ground and allowed DEA agent Fernandez to drag him, and the table he was handcuffed to with his left hand, into the back of the room. He grimaced as his leg throbbed with pain after having been shot at by Emily and he cursed at her under his breath."You give people like us a bad name." The Mexican DEA agent snarled at him, causing him to look up and momentarily forget the pain.

"You're the one whose been whipped by the government." Felix taunted, drawing the agent closer to him. He traced the sharp, delicate edges of the glass in his fingertips and had drawn it back when Emily had looked his way and he was forced to hide it behind his back.

"Hey. I'll take over from here. You go help Matt." Emily told the agent and Matt looked at her with a puzzled expression on his face."They look like they're going to kill each other and besides, maybe I can talk him out of it this time." She said softly, looking downwards. Matt caught on immediately and took a step closer to her and gently placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Hey, this isn't your fault . . ."

"But it is." She cut him off before he could say anything else, "and I failed. I should have talked him out of it at his house Matt. The SWAT team could have done their job and taken him out and then Griffin wouldn't be dead . ." Emily nodded toward the dead DEA agent on the ground, "and I-I can't do this job anymore Matt. I can't watch people die because of my mistakes. I'm nothing but a failure." She finished as she whispered, tears slowly sliding down her face. Matt raised his right hand and cupped the side of her face in his hand, using his thumb to wipe tears off her face and she raised her left hand up to cover his.

"Hey. There is no way that this is your fault. Emily. Look at me." Matt said and she forced herself to look into his dark brown eyes.

"You are NOT the one who pulled the trigger that killed him. Ramon and his men chose to did that and you are NOT a failure either Em. We save a lot of lives every week but we can't save everyone. We all screw up Em. I've done it a million times and you need to realize that we can't win them all. Don't ever thing that you can't do this job because I need you." Matt said softly and he gently kissed her on the lips. They pulled back a few seconds later and Matt gave her a hug.

"Better?" He asked and she nodded as they pulled away.

"Thanks." She said softly and he smiled at her.

"Anytime." He said. Emily looked down at the gun in her holster and pulled it out.

"I've got five rounds, and you?" She asked him as he checked his gun as well.

"I've got the same as you." He told her.

"I'm going to go talk to Felix, you two guys can figure how to get us out of here alive." She leaned up, kissed him and then turned and walked away. She strode over to the corner where Felix was and the DEA agent reluctantly stepped back and headed towards Matt. Emily crouched down in front of Felix and stared into his cold, empty eyes and she swallowed.

"You know, it's not too late Felix . . ." She began but he cut her off with a laugh and he stared directly at her, his eyes piercing into her.

"That's a load of bull. You don't really care and it's not going to work either. It didn't work back at the house and it ain't working now. You know what? You make a lot of sense. You are a failure and you are doomed to kill more people because you can't do your job. That poor guy lying on the ground dead is a proof of your screw up, and you should be lucky it wasn't your partner lying on the ground." Felix nodded towards the dead body of Agent Griffin and tears of anger brimmed in her eyes.

"Shut up." She said, her voice trembling. Felix sat up and leaned as far forward as he could until their faces were inches apart. Matt did a quick shoulder check and then spun around in alarm.

"Hey! Get away from her." He snapped angrily as he began to make his way over there. Felix knew that the time to strike was now.

"You know it's true. And only a deranged FBI agent would be able to date a failure . . .like . . .you." Felix said, emphasizing the last few words, and then he drove his right hand forward towards her stomach, the piece of glass sticking out sharply. Matt saw the glint of the glass and he ran over as fast as he could but it was too late. Felix had drive the glass into her stomach as Emily let out a chocked cry and he twisted it, causing her to cry out in pain as she doubled over the glass. Felix yanked the glass out and Emily crumpled backwards.