Justin climbed slowly out of the cab in front of his apartment. He had never felt so brave, yet so weak, at the same time. Adrenaline had masked the pain thus far but now his body screamed at him and the noise radiated from his chest up to his clavicle down to his toes. He leaned against the wall in the atrium of his building gasping for breath. His throat raw from the coughing, his only voice was the small one inside his head telling him how crazy he had been to let Cody manipulate him; to use his own pain against him. Brian had been right once again but this time Justin was going to make it up to him and no amount of fear or pain would stop him from being there.
Justin was practically crawling by the time the elevator opened. He placed his hand to his chest holding his rib cage at the level of his wound hoping the pressure would help alleviate the agony. He withdrew it quickly feeling slippery wetness on what should have been soft, dry cotton. It took a moment to register; this wasn't perspiration it was red, bright red. He examined his hand coated in his own blood and the stain soaking through his bandage and his shirt as the elevator climbed to his floor. A wave of nausea rippled through him and a layer of sweat covered his pale skin as he reached the outer apartment door and turned the nob.
"Juss hmm" he heard Daphne's muffled screams and he stared confused to see his best friend on their daybed. Brian, it was supposed to be Brian. His brain scrambled to make sense of the image just as a now-all-too familiar clicking noise raced to his eardrum. That sound his brain knew; it was the sound of a gun being cocked.
His eyes journeyed left to catch Cody in his periphery. The steel weapon aimed not at him but at Daphne was just as impactful; just as terrifying.
"Glad you could make it" Cody's cold voice sent shivers up Justin's back as he slowly raised his arms in surrender.
"Cody, let her go" Justin begged, "It's me you want"
"Awww, you and your hag together till the end, how sweet" Cody mocked handing him a roll of duct tape and a pair of handcuffs. "Make four loops around your ankles and then handcuff yourself to the bed frame or we shall see if Daphne's full of rainbows and glitter on the inside too"
Brian sprinted to the car ignoring angry protests from the nursing staff about the mess he left behind. Justin was gone, missing. He prayed like he had never prayed before; he prayed like he believed in God. Please let Justin be okay. Please don't take him from me.
His brain cut off the prayer only long enough to formulate a plan. He worked through the possible scenarios that could have resulted in the state of Justin's hospital room. He ran through every possible scenario each more horrifying than the next until he arrived at the conclusion with his best bet for a good outcome. Fuck this hero shit; he was no superhero, he wasn't Rage saving JT. This shit was real; Cody was real, Justin's safety was too important to risk an amateur rescue attempt. He picked up his phone and called for help.
It didn't take long for Carl to know what to do. He traced Justin's cell phone and quickly located him at his apartment. Brian was relieved; at least he knew where he was and the thought of him at home was comforting considering the various options that had already occurred to Brian's active imagination.
Brian drove recklessly towards the apartment. He just needed to be there. Every fiber of his being, every cell, every molecule yearned to see Justin. It hurt, it physically hurt, in his chest, the not knowing. So he just needed to see him, to know he was alive, that it wasn't too late.
Carl heard the sound of relief in Brian's voice when he told him where Justin was but he wasn't so relieved. It was actually really distressing. Having seen the layout of the small apartment; he knew it was a tactical nightmare. They would have to evacuate the building. The fire escape wasn't an option; it was in plain view of the main area of the family room where Cody was likely to be. The entry way was narrow and blind to the family room so the SWAT team would be basically sitting ducks if they went in the front door. The angles were shitty for a sniper on any of the nearby buildings and now there were likely two hostages instead of one. Carl knew Daphne had returned home because her father had called to thank him for keeping his daughter safe. He dreaded having to call him to tell him she was now anything but.
Carl called Detectives Wills and Savage who were still licking their wounds after the reaming they received from their Captain over Frank Bell's murder. After they cleared the building and determined the fire was contained to the second floor apartment. They found Frank, shot and doused in lighter fluid before being set ablaze. It was a gruesome find and they had sat yards away as Cody had tortured his own father. The medical examiner's initial finding determined he was very much alive while he burned. This time as Carl notified them about Justin's going missing they should have been loath to argue but they weren't. It took Carl nearly fifteen minutes and several threats before he convinced them to call in the SWAT team and ready the hostage negotiation unit. Carl was incensed by precious time completely wasted dealing with these bureaucratic idiots.
Brian pulled up to the apartment utterly dismayed he had beaten the police. What was taking so long? Every second felt like hours as he sat impotent in his car. Fuck this! Brian reached behind his seat to find the overnight bag he stashed after leaving Justin in the ICU. He ruffled through the dirty sweatpants and muscle shirt to pull out the object he sought. He let it rest in his hands, feeling the weight, the cold metal. He stared at the clock. One minute, he would give the cops one more minute exactly before taking a risk that might get them both killed.
Brian stared at the green display as the thought crossed his mind and it turned almost as if it knew the second the minute began; 7:52 am. He blinked rapidly, each times his eyes fluttered open he expected it to say 7:52 until it didn't. It was 7:53. Brain grasped the door handle and pulled. He swung his left leg out of the car onto the street and took a deep breath as his right leg followed.
His legs felt like jelly as he tucked the object into his waistband and adjusted his coat over the top. He waited for the elevator and entered as it opened. He stepped inside and his foot slid on a slick floor leaving a streak of paint, red paint. What the fuck….oh my God, not paint, blood. The bottom of Brian's shoe was coated in Justin's blood.
Brian crept into the landing of Justin's apartment and the first thing he heard was Cody's voice. "Fucking straight women! You want to treat us like your God damn little dogs. We're still men you know. Queers have to be better men than most men, stronger, tougher. It's your fault that straights think we are so fucking weak. Oh, he's so cute. Oh, he likes the same things I do; we can go shopping and braid each other's hair. Fucking pussies. Just like you." Cody mocked in a high-pitched voice.
Brian listened wholly confused. Straight women? Why was he talking to Justin like he was a….?
Oh Fuck! Daphne!
Brian let an audible gasp escape and the floor creaked under him. Cody rocketed up from the table at the noise and Brian pulled the gun free. Cody didn't go towards the noise however; he was too smart for that. He took two steps and placed his gun at the back of a recently buzzed blonde head.
"Brian" Cody spoke sweetly, "So nice of you to join us. Sorry you ran off so quickly from my dad's you missed my performance. Luckily, you can see an encore. I bet Justin will burn just as beautifully as Frank did" he ran his free hand over Justin's buzz cut as he spoke. That's when he knew he had Justin, when he sacrificed his pretty blond hair for the cause. His cause. He knew he could control him.
"Brian run" Justin warned but it was too late. He was granted just a split second of Brian's terrified expression before shots rang out seemingly in every direction. Justin's ears rang and his vision blurred into a narrow tunnel. Daphne he could see. She was petrified, shaking uncontrollably, her eyes clenched, tightly closed. Her body wrapped into the closest she could get to a fetal position on the bed.
Justin searched himself; blood was everywhere accompanied by other stuff he hoped would never be identified. His heart pounded unnaturally though his chest and he felt pain. It took a few minutes to realize it wasn't new pain. Just the wound he already had. Then he felt the weight on him. He shrugged his shoulders back and the weight was relieved as Cody's lifeless body slumped to the floor behind him.
Justin's hearing started to come back slowly. Screams and Justin. Justin and screams. His name. He recognized his name and the voice. Brian's voice. It floated in the air in front of him, alternated with deafening ringing and humming, until it made sense.
"Is he okay, Justin, is he okay?" Brian screamed clawing his hands to part the Kevlar-clad men who were attending to his shoulder. Fuck he was shot and fuck it hurt.
Carl stepped over to Brian kneeling to his level and grinning widely. "You're a fucking idiot. You're a lucky fucking idiot" he spoke sternly but patted him jovially on his uninjured shoulder. "You couldn't wait one more god-damn minute for the police? Debbie's going to rip you a new asshole. You're just lucky it was you that was shot and not Daphne or Justin. Everyone's got to be a fucking hero."
Brian's smile was all Carl needed to know he was going to be fine. It could have been much worse. The bullet just grazed his shoulder. Daphne was in shock and had a nasty concussion from her blow to the head but the paramedics were stabilizing her and transporting her to the hospital.
Justin was disoriented from Cody's gun ringing so close to his ear but was starting to come back to reality and pulling his oxygen mask off asking for Brian which Carl took as a good sign even if his wound was bleeding and his breathing labored.
The paramedics finally completed their work and all three victims were in in stable condition on their way to the hospital. Now the real police work began. He knew what was coming next.
"Carl Horvath" the rep spoke as Carl nodded. "I am from the police union. I have been appointed to represent you because you were responsible for the death of Cody Bell while in the line of duty. Do you understand that sir?
Carl nodded as she continued, "You understand that it is routine procedure to investigate all officer involved fatalities and you are placed on leave with pay until the conclusion of the investigation"
Carl nodded again in understanding.
"You have twenty four hours in which to make your statement. Do you wish to make your statement to internal affairs now sir?" she asked motioning for another man in a cheap suit to join them.
"Sure. Mr. Bell was threatening the life of two individuals I knew to be Justin Taylor and Daphne Chanders when Mr. Kinney tried to intercede, Cody opened fire. To protect innocent lives I shot and killed Cody Bell"
"Was Mr. Kinney armed as well?" the man who had to be internal affairs asked.
"No" Carl answered clutching the gun he earlier removed from Brian's waistband, "No he was not"
"All right, thank you Detective Horvath. This looks pretty open and shut. It should only be a few weeks before you are cleared back to duty." he spoke respectfully and shook both his hand and the hand of his union rep.
"That's okay" Carl smiled handing him his badge and gun, "Take all the time you need. I'm putting my papers in for retirement. I'm getting too old for this shit now"
A/N: One more chapter on this story. Please review or comment and let me know your thoughts.