THE STANDOFF

Chapter Ten

Don was seriously starting to doubt the reality of his situation. This whole thing felt more like one of those vivid junk food nightmares that made no sense whatsoever and left you with a nasty feeling in your gut when you woke up. If it wasn't so frightening, it would be laughable.

Tell that to Adam Ross…

The thought was painful and he pushed it away. Gotta deal with that later.

And now here was Danny, bursting onto the scene, his timing impeccable as always. Don experienced a dark sense of pleasure when he saw the look of confusion on Tig's face. The man was in danger of losing control. That was bad – but also weirdly satisfying.

Using his elbows to push himself up again, Don ignored the unhealthy lurch in his stomach and tried to catch Danny's eye without being spotted. The man had found an ally with a gun and that gun had just saved the day. Selena slumped against the bar, her loss of poise a clear sign of her relief. She knew the woman then, he guessed. Another member of this so-called 'gang', perhaps?

Tig glanced from one to the other and drew the same conclusion. "Oh look," he jeered, drawing strength from his sarcasm. "Now there's two of 'em. Come and join us, sweetness. We're havin' a party here – and your girl is the guest of honour."

Danny's new friend took a less subtle approach. "Shut up," she said plainly. "This ends right now."

"Because?" Tig's eyes were dangerously bright.

"Because I have a gun, you arrogant jerk. And it's pointing straight at your empty head."

She was gutsy, Don had to admit, but her logic was flawed, as anyone could see. He wondered why Danny had let her keep the gun. Did she know he was a cop? Was there something else going on here that Don didn't know about? Squinting, he noticed the firm way she held onto Danny's wrist, keeping him behind her at all times. Was she trying to protect him? Danny, for his part, was staring at the empty chair in front of the door and his face was deathly pale. Don shuddered, watching the other man's gaze shift downwards… Watching him discover Adam's fate.

Tig waved his gun in an obvious kind of way. See – I have one too. "Niall," he said, without turning aside, "help me out with the other one."

Relishing the order, Lover Boy sidled up to Selena. His leering expression made Don feel queasy again. Snatching an empty wine glass from the counter, Niall snapped off the base, creating a needle-sharp dagger.

Déjà vu, Don thought, and the dreamlike sensation intensified.*

With the wooden bar behind her, Selena had no way to escape. Don could see by the look on her face that she was gearing up to fight, but Niall was wiry and his friends were unpredictable. No way that was going to end well.

Throwing caution to the wind, he waited until Niall was close enough and pulled his leg right out from under him. The ugly little man fell on top of Don and together they wrangled. Unable to intervene, Tig hissed in frustration. "Get a grip, man!"

"Not if I get one first," Don mumbled, turning his head just in time as the glass stem dove towards his eyeball. It took a neat chunk from his earlobe instead, and he couldn't help wincing. The pain was bright and oddly invigorating. Don felt alert for the first time since he had flown across the bar. Now, at last, he could think straight.

Niall gave a wild laugh, which quickly devolved into a mindless gurgle as Selena, showing great presence of mind, grabbed a handy bottle and smashed it over his head. Beer ran down his face as his eyes rolled upwards.

Twisting sideways, Don pulled the man's unconscious body with him so that Niall ended up on his lap, with Don's arm wrapped around his throat and the glass stem hovering inches from his jugular. Meanwhile, Selena let the jagged bottle fall and folded her own arms in triumph, enjoying the irony.

"I'm sorry – you were saying?" Don challenged Tig with mock-politeness.

-x0x-

Danny felt numb. The room spun round him, with an empty chair at the centre of the vortex. Seeing Adam tied up had been bad enough. Seeing him quiet and still on the floor felt wrong, in a heart-stopping way that left Danny drifting in a world of guilt and pain.

Gotta focus, he told himself urgently. First and foremost, they had to get these people out of here. Get some help for Adam too, because Danny refused to believe he was dead. The woman behind him, now, that was a whole different matter. She had a bright red, blossoming hole in the middle of her chest that left no room for doubt. Danny knew that one bullet could kill two people – but to pass all the way through Adam's core and still do damage like that? I got hope, okay buddy? Hang in there… He pressed his lips together stubbornly and looked around for Flack.

It didn't take long to find him. And he didn't look good – but 'not good' was better than dead, Danny decided, casting a careful eye over his friend's condition, as Tig and Nemesis faced off like a couple of Wild West gunslingers. He needed to work out if Don was capable of action, should the need arise, or if he himself was now, to all intents and purposes, the only fit cop on the scene. The thought was a horrible one, but Danny forced himself to be brutal as he studied Don's pale face, the ugly bruise across his forehead, the tremor in his hands and the slight lack of focus in his gaze. Concussion, at the very least. Which meant that Don was out of it.

Then all hell broke loose and Danny's careful judgement fell to pieces.

I should've known, he thought when the unexpected fight was over, and found that he was grinning with relief. Don Flack may be down but no way was he out of the game. His blue eyes were clear now, and shone with a wicked light of triumph as he clung to the unconscious Niall.

Tig's face was scarlet. He tried to contain his fury but the cracks were definitely showing and it was only a matter of time before he blew like an angry volcano. Which would be bad, Danny guessed. Really bad.

"You," Tig said, turning away from Don in vexation, and venting all his spite at Nemesis. "You're part of Adler's pathetic little gang. Another girl."

"Observant." She nodded. "You don't like girls?"

Tig leered, a foul expression. "Oh, I like girls…" His meaning was clear. Danny fantasised about wiping that look from his face with a well-aimed right hook, or a blow to his nose, but Nemesis was still holding onto him. He could have pulled away – forced the issue – but she was in control right now and handling herself remarkably well. So he waited.

Mac would be proud, he thought wryly. Danny Messer, showing restraint for once in his life.

"Pity they don't like you, right, Ugly? Can't say I blame them." Nemesis was something else. She seemed to have no fear when it came to her own safety. Yet he could see from the barmaid's face that they were trading glances all the while. There was some kind of bond between them, and Danny knew beyond all doubt that Nemesis would give up everything to save her friend, including her life if she had to. That was something he understood, and he liked her so much better for it.

Fishing in her pocket, Nemesis brought out a familiar object.

"See this?" she challenged Tig, waving the cell phone aloft. "One push of a button and I've got the cops on the other end. I can help us all get out of this, with no more guns and no more bloodshed."

Danny risked a sideways glance at Adam. He couldn't help himself.

"The cops ain't got no part in this," Tig sneered.

Time to gamble it all on a single confession. Time to take control and claim the man's attention for himself, dragging it away from everyone else in the room. With his gut as his only guide, Danny stepped into view. He was unarmed and yet strangely unafraid. Action was the key to courage. "Matter of fact, they do," he said pleasantly. "She's right, you know. We can help you. Let me make the call."

And please, for the love of God, don't just shoot me where I stand…

-x0x-

There was a murmur of voices downstairs, and a strong sense that Death was close by.

Adam lay beside his mother on the bed; a child once more, longing to hold her hand and hear her gentle voice as she told him that things would be better one day.

"You were right, Mom," he whispered – but Harriet Ross couldn't hear him. She was staring down a different path and even the voice of her favourite child couldn't hold her back any longer. "Thank you for loving me." He leaned his cheek on her bony shoulder, hating the way that it felt – so hard and impersonal. She had always been such a comfortable pillow when he was a small boy, and needed her.

I need you now, he thought sadly. But it was too late. With a sigh like a prayer, her soul left her and he was alone; just a man with an empty shell beside him.

Adam wept in silence. Nobody came to comfort him and finally, wrung out and broken-hearted, he fell fast asleep on the bed…

When he awoke, he was frightened and disorientated. There was a pain in his shoulder like a fiery blade from Hell and yet he felt ice cold. His eyelids were stiff and he could not crack them open. Where was his mother? What was going on?

The voices from his dream were still there, but now they were louder and one seemed familiar. Danny, he thought in astonishment. How did he come to be here? Adam had told no one where he was going. He was afraid of their sympathy, and their kindness, which would unman him completely just when he had to be strong.

He forced himself to look. There was an old woman lying beside him but her face did not belong to his mother. She was dead, though; he could see that straight away. The hole in her chest was deep and her coat was stained with blood that spread outwards like the ragged petals of a fading rose.

She… saved me. The thought was a tentative one. His memory was patchy and his sense of time and place was out of kilter.

I'm in a bar. There was trouble. Like the sense of doom that comes before a thunderstorm, his panic grew.

I've been shot!

His breath caught in his throat and refused to go any further. Twisting, he flopped onto his back and forced it out, though the movement cost him dearly. The pain in his shoulder intensified, spreading out through his chest as his body reacted. Okay… don't think I'm gonna do that again…

Adam closed his eyes and focussed on the sound of his own rasping breath, trying to calm himself down. All the while, the voices continued, speaking words he could not seem to follow. Danny, he thought. Danny, help me…

But no one came near him.

-x0x-

Marvin was trying to pretend he was invisible – and so far, it seemed to be working. He stood by the bar in silence, clenching his fists as cold rivers of sweat ran down his back. His shirt was sticking to him and his skin prickled fiercely. I'm going to faint, he thought – no, he hoped, but the room didn't vanish and neither did he; not really.

The cops were outside. He could tell by the flashing lights that pierced the smoky glass. They were red, white and blue, like the flag he knew by heart and loved, with its neat, starry rows and its sense of belonging. But cops were bad; Tig said so. And Tig was always right – until now, Marvin realised, trying to make sense of all that had happened. The world was turning upside down. He pictured himself on the ceiling, and smiled for a moment, but the feeling was short-lived.

Niall was asleep in the arms of the smiling man. He looked peaceful, and Marvin was jealous. Why couldn't somebody hold him like that? He was scared, after all, and he wanted some comfort. Tig had his temper for company. All Marvin had was his fear – and fear was a hateful companion.

"I want Dad," he whimpered.

To his great surprise, Tig turned and glared at him. "That's why we're here, you great baby," he grumbled. "We're close now, Marvin; don't lose it, okay?"

Marvin was confused. His hands and his pockets were empty. What did he have to lose?

Your life, he thought suddenly. Just like the kind man. He wanted to ask Tig about that, and opened his mouth – but his brother was speaking again, to the fierce lady who had appeared out of nowhere.

"Make your call," Tig told her in a voice that was suddenly calm. "I know what I want – and I know how to get it."

-x0x-

A/N: Thanks for all the lovely reviews. It's so good to know that there are people out there wondering what happens next! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Any delays are the fault of Real Life, but I'm trying not to let my updates go beyond a week and a half at the most, since I know you're all waiting so eagerly ;)

* See 'Flash Pop', which contains a similar weapon.