A/N: This chapter was meant to be up sooner, but it was kicking my arse all over the place. It mutated, Godzilla-like and made itself a whole new chapter.
Thank you all again for your wonderful reviews and another follow! If you keep it up, I may even WRITE MORE! *gasp* Don't say I didn't warn you...
You'll have to forgive me if I mess up some of the Spooks jargon here. Or, even better - if you know I got something wrong, let me know! I will be forever grateful.
Chapter Ten
The morning of the 'Love is Equal: Marriage For All March' was unseasonably warm. The skies were clear, with only a distant threat of clouds hovering in the distance. Clouds were also gathering over the faces of the two march organisers, George and Mary.
"I don't like this idea," argued George, crossing his arms. "We'll be risking lives here, that's unacceptable."
Both Ros and Lucas had adopted professional, yet caring, personas.
"I see where you're coming from, Mr Stannis," Ros tried to inject just the right amount of imploring in her tone, without coming over as indecisive, "but try to understand, we have a real chance here at stopping a violent gang from offending ever again. We're not going to risk this operation by being sloppy and allowing anything to happen to the civilians in the march."
"But why do this on our march?" He continued loudly. "Why risk us?"
Mary was beginning to look agitated. Lucas knew this argument had to be shut down now, and, glancing at Ros, knew that she was thinking the same.
"The children," Lucas interrupted George's tirade.
The other man paused mid sentence. "What?"
"The gang that we are trying to stop here today are attempting to emulate a group overseas," he gauged Ros' reaction to his almost-truth. Concluding that she approved, he continued, "Do you remember the attack by Snow White last year?"
Mary gasped and George swore. "The Storytime Massacre?"
Lucas nodded.
"George," Mary turned to her partner, "let them do this. There's less children here to hurt."
George nodded numbly. "Do it," he mumbled.
Many people would believe that surveillance is rather unexciting, but Tessa Chen, the Technical Surveillance Officer, would disagree. Ever since she was a young girl she loved to people-watch and to be recruited fresh out of university by MI-5 was a dream come true. Contemplating her life choices was not something she expected to be doing the day of the big operation.
The surveillance on Dijkstra had continued, despite the fact that Section D now had an asset on the inside. Early Monday morning, the early shift had followed Dijkstra to his small office in South London where he coordinated his 'Jack of all trades' business. There was the usual flurry as the tradies and apprentices collected various assignments and paperwork. And if there were less around that morning than usual, the first shift didn't notice. Tessa would have.
"So what's happening, dude?" The young woman greeted Liam with a smile and a tall vanilla latte at the changing of the guard, as she like to call it, at lunchtime that day.
He yawned, covering his mouth with the back of his fingers. "Nothing much." He gratefully accepted the coffee and leaned back in his seat, his skin mottled red and blue from the equipment in the back of the van. "Dijkstra's there on his own. Ross left about twenty minutes ago. There was one other guy. Didn't recognise him. I called it in."
"Cool," she replied. She slid into her own seat and began going through her usual checks. Liam smirked at the woman perfecting her work area. He couldn't make fun of her though, there was a reason she was powering through the technical ranks at work.
Tessa was a little buzzed that day, the adrenalin was high with the big operation at the march going down. The march was due to start about half past twelve and she was secretly pumped at being in charge of the surveillance team on Djikstra. So when the time ticked past the start of the march and further into the afternoon and the suspect still hadn't made a move out of his office, Tessa's first instinct was to blame the excitement. Her second came not thirty seconds later when she came to the realisation she could hear nothing from the bugs in the office.
"Do you hear anything?" She whispered to Liam.
"Like what?"
"Anything?"
Liam's eyes widened. "Oh shit," he breathed.
"Turn up the range," she ordered. As the man did so, she pulled on a pair of headphones. She stared at Liam in growing horror as he pulled on his own. A wet rattle filled their ears. Tessa ripped off the headphones and contacted Comms.
"Ros here," a terse voice answered.
"Visual unit three," Tessa blurted. "Something's wrong here. Request assistance."
"Done. Two agents to your location." Tessa was cut off. Both the techs then glued their eyes to the screens showing the front and side entrances to the ground level office. Three minutes later they spotted the promised two agents sidling up to the building, guns in hands.
The bang of the door being kicked open made them both jump, as the sound was amplified through the speakers and abandoned headphones. They both heard one of the agents call Comms, "Suspect is down. Request immediate medical assistance."
Jo was surprised with the sea of people at the march; it had to be at least a ten thousand strong crowd. Impressive for a Monday afternoon. Strolling with the chanting and singing crowd, she instinctively turned her face away from the news cameras skimming the marchers as an attractive reporter expressively gestured behind him. Comms murmured in her ear the various status updates of the agents in the crowd. Ruth's advice was taken to heart and there were agents like herself, in the crowd, stationary on street level, and on the high viewpoints such as roofs and windows offering a good view of the march route. Sharpshooters were also employed up there, but Jo prayed they wouldn't be needed today.
"Alpha Two, status update," Ros' voice cut through the noise of the marchers directly into her ear. The Section Chief was coordinating the operation from a van strategically parked at the halfway point of the march. Tariq was with her, a rare venture into the field, monitoring CCTV footage.
"No visual of suspects," Jo spoke under her breath. "Approaching south east corner of Rush and Main."
Lucas' response placed him at the other end of the crowd, several hundred metres up the road. Nothing.
She ambled along, smiling at the marchers, while continuing to scan faces. Further up the crowd, as the march turned right following the organisers instructions, there was a sudden hush. Jo immediately felt off. Stepping onto the footpath for a better view, straining to see in Lucas' direction, she murmured into her Comms, "Alpha One, heads -"
A roar came from the street the marchers were turning into, and all hell broke loose.
Lucas felt the hush and instinctively stepped out of the crowd, backing up to an old warehouse. Jo's warning came not a half second later and then the march was swamped with a sea of black and red from behind him.
"Back up! We need back up!" he yelled into his Comms. His eyes darted as chaos ensued but had no time to react as one of the dozens of Britain Unite thugs decided Lucas could christen his crowbar. Leaping out of range for his first swing, Lucas rushed forward before the thug could swing again, holding down his weapon arm and thrusting the heel of his palm into his face. The sharp blow caught the man on the chin, the red handkerchief tied around his mouth and nose doing little to soften the blow, and his head snapped back. His attacker dropped to the ground, and Lucas ripped the crowbar out of his weakened grip and held it close. One less weapon for them.
Unfortunately, the scuffle drew the attention of two other thugs, both wearing similar red handkerchiefs over their faces and one with a black beanie pulled over his hair. They began advancing on Lucas as he raised his borrowed weapon and began to back off, angling to the side so he had time to fight one off before the other could reach him. The wail of sirens cut through the screams and yells and grabbed the thugs' attentions, both turning to see where the police were coming from. Lucas took the opportunity to swing the crowbar into the back of the beanied thug's knees, who let out a cry as his knees smashed into the concrete. His mate cursed and came at Lucas, a small blade appearing in his hand. Lucas swore himself as his weapon became caught under the thug who dropped and skipped backwards again, hands up as if surrendering. A rush of civilians threw themselves between the pair in a desperate attempt to get away from the violent intruders and Lucas took the opportunity to take off.
"Jo? Ros? Talk to me!"
Ros' voice cut through, "Alpha One, the police are here. Get out of there. Report from Visual Unit Three-"
Three loud shots fired in quick succession. The crowd descended into further chaos, the screams intensifying.
"Shit!" Lucas was shoved into a wall. "Alpha Leader, was that us?"
"Lucas, get the fuck out of there!" Jo's voice was desperate.
"Calm down, Alpha Two, and move to a secure location," Ros exuded calm. "We need to find Ross. He and an unknown caucasian male are suspected of attacking Dijkstra. Steve and Hannah Dijkstra whereabouts unknown."
"Do we know he's here?" Lucas shouted over the screams.
"Visual confirmation via CCTV footage. He's here, Lucas."
Flack-jackets now flooded the streets, shields thrusting into the surge of Britain Unite followers, allowing the panicked civilians to escape as the police became the target of their rage. Another shot rang out and Lucas instinctively ducked as he continued to move, weaving in and out of the mass panic. Jo came on over the Comms, excitement filling her voice, "Ros, Lucas. Have located Steve Dijkstra. On the east side of Main. By the National Bank." A pause. "It looks like Ross is with him."
"Alpha Two, keep suspect in sight until I get there," Lucas ordered. Another two shots cracked the air between the buildings. "Shit!" He burst out, ducking again.
"Ross is armed, I repeat, Ross is armed!" Jo yelled. "Firing into the air!"
Lucas threw himself back into the crowd, his dark head peering over the masses to spot Jo's blonde crop. The blonde's voice came back on over the Comms just as he saw her, only a hundred metres ahead. She had taken out her side arm and was pointing it at Ross. They were yelling at each other, her, a firm order to stand down and drop the weapon, him, a hysterical screech to let him do this. His gun was no longer pointing to the sky, but at Jo. Steve was nowhere to be seen.
"Put it down, Ross!"
"Get the fuck away-" Bobby's panicked words came to a sudden halt as Lucas leapt from the side, controlling his weapon arm and bringing it down. A sharp kidney jab loosened the suspect's grip and a knee to his gut brought him to his knees. Bobby let out a half-groan, half-sob. "No, no! Yer got to let me-"
Jo ripped the gun from his hands and, flicking on the safety, tucked it into the back of her jeans. Immobilising the man from behind with a twist of an arm, Lucas kept him down on his knees while calling in other agents to take him in. Jo snagged the older man's attention by crouching down in front of him.
"Where's Steve Dijkstra? What's he doing?"
"They have him! They have him like they have us!"
"Who, Ross? Who have him? Snow White?" Jo leaned closer. Bobby screwed up his face in conflict and dropped his head.
"Who, Ross!" Lucas growled.
The man raised his head and looked directly at Jo, seeming to come to a decision. But before he could speak, his mouth dropped. "Oh, no," he breathed, his gaze falling on someone behind the woman.
Lucas had no time to react as another shot tore through the air. Bobby's head snapped back, then his whole body slumped forward, just as Lucas felt his right bicep begin to burn. Bobby collapsed on the ground and Jo started forward with a cry.
"Jo!"
Lifting her face from the body, her eyes widened when she realised her partner had been shot. "Lucas! How bad-"
Clutching his arm as the blood began to ooze, Lucas' attention was snagged by the man now lowering his gun. Cold blue eyes met his own before the man turned away, lost in the crowd. All the air Lucas held in his lungs left in a rush, and he had to consciously remember to take a breath.
"Alpha Leader," he spoke into his Comms as if from far away. "Willem Verkerk just shot Bobby Ross."