"21:17 – Entry teams in position." It was a measure of his discipline that Greg was able to keep his voice steady as he spoke into the auto transcriptor. There were two teams poised to enter the building and subdue the subjects on Greg's word. Alpha team, concealed in a corridor just inside the rear entrance, consisted of Lou, Wordy and Spike. Bravo team was made up of Donna, Darrel and Mark from team three, and was positioned just outside the front entrance. The teams were ready to deploy flash-bangs and take down the subjects using less lethal means – in this case, rubber bullets – if necessary.
Just minutes before, they had received word from the Texan police force that Kate and Dean had been located, thanks to the trace on the phone call. There was one confirmed subject inside the building, now surrounded by armed police. They were not anticipating any casualties. The two buildings would be raided simultaneously to eliminate the risk of the subjects warning each other.
Greg picked up the phone. His job was to distract the subjects, thereby giving them less time to react to the entry teams, and so reducing the potential for injury. He had decided to feign compliance with the demands until the last moment. The van was parked outside the bank as a decoy: while the subjects were celebrating their imminent escape, Greg would give the word for the entry teams to make their move.
"Yeah?" The phone had rung for just a few seconds before Red responded.
"I've got some good news for you Red."
"The van?" he asked, his voice laced with anticipation.
"Right outside the bank, keys in the ignition, just like you wanted."
Red covered the mouthpiece, but Greg heard him through the holdall's bug.
"Black, go check out the front."
Black detached himself from the group, leaving just Blue to watch the hostages, and peered out of a shuttered window.
"It's there," he said, staring at the ignition barrel through the van's open door to confirm that the keys were indeed where they should be. Everyone in the room visibly relaxed – gunmen and hostages – everyone, in fact, except Ed, Sam, and Nate.
Greg covered the phone and spoke with whispered urgency into his headset.
"Go, go, go!"
Red's voice sounded through Greg's phone as he returned it to his ear.
"We see it."
"Ok Red, now its like we spoke about…" A loud bang travelled through the phone line and Greg stopped speaking. The entry teams were in.
"Drop your weapons, drop your weapons!"
Blue had been caught completely unawares, and the flash bangs had temporarily stunned him, so when he found himself staring down the barrels of two vicious looking weapons he made his first sensible choice of the day and did as he was told. The gun slipped from his hand and clattered to the ground, the sound completely masked by the commotion in the rest of the room. Wordy and Spike stopped to contain the subject, Wordy pulling out his cuffs as Spike ordered the subject to the ground. Lou proceeded onwards, scanning the room for the other subjects. Ed, recovering from the blast, crouched low amongst the hostages, and started directing them through the door behind Lou.
Bravo team had been less successful. Red, positioned by the phone and furthest from both entry teams, had had more time to react.
"Fall back," he screamed at Black, firing off a shot at the armed cops. Donna was thrown to the ground, winded by the bullet, but managed gasp into her radio:
"No harm, no harm, it's in the vest." Darrel grabbed her vest and started dragging her towards cover, while Mark turned and fired at Red, narrowly missing as he fell back amongst the hostages.
Black had heard the shouted warning and was backing away; his gun was raised but he seemed unsure where to point it.
Mark had his weapon aimed at Red, but as he merged with the hostages he knew he could not take the shot. Sam knew the time had come to make his move. Keeping low, he moved through the hostages, and threw himself at the gunman. Across the room, Black saw the sudden movement, and found his target. He squeezed the trigger, and the blonde cop collapsed to the floor. Blood began to leak from the wound.
"Officer down, officer down," Spike shouted urgently, sliding down next to Sam and raising his weapon to protect him from further fire. "Sam's hit!"
A second gunshot sounded, and this time it was Black who slid to the ground, staring in surprise at the blood seeping through his jacket. Behind him, Green stood, his weapon still pointed at the injured subject. Wordy had seen it all from beside Blue, and moved in quickly to contain him.
"No!" Red had seen his comrade fall, and glanced desperately around him. His eyes, filled with malice, locked onto Ed and he grabbed the cop from behind, grinding the gun against his temple.
"I've got nothing left to lose," he growled the cop, "so don't give me an excuse."
Ed, who had not seen Red as he hurried to hostages to safety, stood stock still, intent on following the advice his captor had given him.
In the same moment, one of the hostages broke her away from the rest heading to the exit, and lunged at Green, knocking the gun from his hand. He stared at her in shock as she raised the weapon and pointed it at him.
The whole room seemed to come to a standstill.
"Hostage has weapon, hostage has weapon," reported Mark frantically. A split second later, Lou broke in.
"Subject has weapon to Ed's head. Boss, what do I do?"
The whole operation was starting to fall apart, and Greg knew he had to stop the panic and restore order if they were to contain the situation without any loss of life. He made a decision.
"Mark, consider the hostage a threat. Warn her, and react as necessary. Lou, do you have a shot?"
"Drop your weapon or I will shoot," Mark shouted at the now armed hostage, but she ignored him, instead pulling Nate in front of her as a human shield.
"Negative," Lou replied to his superior as Red advanced on him, keeping Ed between himself and the armed cop. Ed, feeling the barrel pressing into his temple, did not resist.
"Get out of my way or I'll blow his fucking brains out!" Red yelled at him.
"Boss?" Lou asked desperately.
"Fall back Lou, but do it slowly. Stall for time," Greg answered calmly. "Does anyone have a shot?"
"No joy," four voices answered almost simultaneously. The female hostage had dragged Nate towards Red, so now she and the only remaining subject were back to back.
"Move!" Red yelled again. Lou licked his lips nervously.
"Ok. Just take it easy, ok?" He took a slow step backwards.
"Someone give me options," Greg snapped, forced to watch his team's peril through the CCTV.
"Sarge, if we get them outside I might be able to find the solution," Jules suggested from her rooftop perch. They both knew it was a risk: if Jules couldn't get the shot then there would be nothing standing between the subjects and the van.
"Copy that. Entry teams fall back."
Lou lowered his weapon and stepped back. Throughout the room, the rest of the entry team did the same. Slowly, not quite believing what he was seeing, Red advanced towards the door, with the former hostage and Nate behind him. The SRU officers fell away, and the subjects stepped outside.
"Jules?" Greg asked anxiously.
"I've got nothing Sarge – Nate's in the way." The taller male was obstructing her shot of the female hostage-turned-hostage-taker.
"Sierra two?" he questioned.
"No solution," came the stoic reply from the sniper positioned on the opposite rooftop.
Greg felt a stab of frustration. The quartet was rapidly approaching the van and he was out of options.
"Alpha team, back to the cars, get ready to pursue. Bravo team, contain the hostages and stay with the secured subject. I want to know everything he knows. Sierra One, pack it up and get in the ambulance – stay with the injured subject. Sierra Two, hold your position, keep looking for the solution."
Ed offered no resistance as he was dragged in the van after Red. The gunman was panicking and Ed knew better than to give a desperate, armed man reason to panic further. Calm people made calm, rational decisions. Panicking people pulled triggers.
"Over there, sit down," Red order, gesturing with the gun. Ed nodded.
"Ok." Slowly, he moved to the other side of the van and sank to the floor, his back pressed against the cold metallic side. Nate was dragged into the vehicle and thrown against the wall next to him. The sound of the door slamming echoed in his ears, and the van pulled away.
A/N: eep, I can practically feel the crosshairs on me. Um, if you Scorpio me, you'll never find out if Sam lives, you know that, right? Right?
