Numb3rs: Defence
Disclaimer: I don't own them, I just borrowed them. Numb3rs and its characters are the property of those that created them. No copyright infringement intended. No financial reward gained. All real places and organisations are used in a fictional sense. Original characters and the storyline are mine however.
A/N: For those who have been patiently waiting, some Don!whump...
CHAPTER TWELVE
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He'd been dragged back and again roughly shoved to his knees, the gun returning to press firmly against his head. As threats went it was a good one but Don was irritated by it all the same. It wasn't necessary; the third intruder was maintaining a close watch over the hostages and would be able to kill them if he tried anything. That was putting aside the four guns against his unarmed and handcuffed self.
Kurt watched the monitors a moment longer before turning back.
"So, what are you going to do?" Don asked. There didn't seem to be a way that the men could get themselves out of the predicament they'd made for themselves. With the lack of demands he could only wonder at Kurt's plan.
"You'll find out in good time." Kurt answered, pulling a cell phone from his pocket.
The agent couldn't hear the conversation that followed as the intruder moved away and lowered his voice. Glancing around to reassure himself that the hostages were still okay he noted that Simon also seemed unsure what was going to happen next. That didn't bode well; it meant that despite Kurt's confident words they were possibly working things out on the fly. While that was an ideal situation if he was free and hunting them down it wasn't so good now with the lives of the hostages and his own in the balance.
Kurt finished the call and returned, seeing Simon's expression. "Don't worry, I've got it covered."
"How are we getting out of here? There's too many of them down there."
"We're going the other way."
"What other way?" Simon demanded.
Don looked up as Kurt stopped in front of him clearly wanting his reaction as he revealed his plan. "Helicopter."
Perhaps they weren't planning on the fly after all, a helicopter was something that needed to be on standby if it was to be effective in short order. It could work. It was a lot harder to stop a helicopter than it was to prevent a ground level escape. Don simply held the other man's gaze and kept his opinion to himself. At this point there was nothing much he could do about it. He debated raising his point again that they should take just him as a hostage but decided against it. Based on what had happened before he thought any insistence on his part would only push Kurt towards taking one or more of the civilians instead. He would have to take that as it came. His silence gave Kurt all the answer he needed but he continued staring at the agent.
"So I'm thinking, for when we're on the roof, we could do with a little more firepower." Kurt continued.
Don's eyes narrowed not liking where that was leading. "You have plenty of firepower." Flicking his eyes sideways he indicated the Desert Eagle that seemed to be permanently affixed against his head.
"Not much use over long range." Kurt explained after giving Don's guard an odd look. He turned to his inside help. "You can unlock the armoury?"
"I'm not sure. Give me a minute." Simon returned to the computer terminal and started work, clicking away with his mouse and typing a few commands.
Don wasn't too concerned about what Simon could do. As a computer tech he would have had very little call to have ever visited the armoury unless the single terminal went down and thus probably had little understanding of the full security arrangements in place. There were electronic locks that he would probably be able to get around but then he would have problems with the mechanical locks on the inner doors and the same locks over the weapons cages. The concern was what would happen once they realised that.
"I can get around the main locks and get you in." Simon finally reported.
"Excellent."
"But," Simon interrupted. He tapped away and the image on the main screen changed to show one of the grated security doors behind the front counter. Don recognised the door as being behind the reception desk where agents had to sign in to use the range that was a part of the armoury. There were no computers beyond that point; Simon would have never been any further than that. "That door has a mechanical lock. You will need the code."
"Do you have it?" Kurt asked the agent.
"No."
Simon had started working at the terminal once again. "Yes, he does. He's a qualified instructor. He has to have the codes to that door and the weapons stores."
Don looked down for a moment and sighed in defeat, there would be no bluffing his way out of this. In giving his automatically uncooperative answer he'd overlooked the fact that the tech could simply look up his record and see what areas of access he had. It was true; he'd been a firearms instructor ever since teaching at Quantico and had maintained that qualification since then by running occasional refresher courses as part of the regular training blocks all agents had to attend. He had the code to the door and the codes to the different styles of guns secured in their own sections, from Glock handguns through to sniper rifles like the one he'd shown Charlie how to use a few years before. The only areas he couldn't access were the cages containing some of the more exotic SWAT weapons.
"So, you do have the codes." The leader of the intruders said as Don looked back up.
There was no point denying it now so he said nothing. He really did not want to cooperate with them on this. The situation was bad enough already without them getting their hands on automatic rifles and the other equipment stored down there, weapons that had the range to affect the agents surrounding the building even from the roof. He was realistic though, if it were just his life on the line he could be firm on the point but there were others and he knew he may not have any alternative. He just had to play it out.
"You will give me the codes."
"No."
"Agent, you are really not in a position to refuse." Kurt started off reasonably.
"I'll help you escape, you don't need more weapons."
"Let me ask him." A new voice interrupted.
Kurt seemed a little surprised at the offer made by his guard and gave him another odd look before nodding slightly. Don glanced upwards around the ever present gun as best he could and didn't like the look on his guard's face.
"Agent?" Kurt asked, drawing his attention back.
Despite being fairly sure where this was going to lead he simply repeated his earlier refusal. His hands twisted against the restraint of the cuffs, a strong reminder of his helplessness. But his course was set; it was against his nature to make life easy for offenders. If they were going to concentrate on him then he would take it.
"Wrong answer." Kurt stepped back. "Matt?"
The gun abruptly withdrew from the side of his head. Don glanced upwards once again to see the weapon already starting downwards. He started to turn his head away but the heavy barrel struck him a stunning blow and he found himself sprawled on the floor. The carpet slowly came into focus as he rode out the stinging pain to find it replaced by a heavy pounding in his head. He came to the not so startling conclusion that a .50 calibre Desert Eagle was a more than effective club.
The cuffs abruptly cut into his skin as pressure was applied to them. Matt bent down over him, both hands in view meaning that the man was standing on the chain between his cuffs. The expression on his face now showed that he was enjoying himself. The grin widened as the foot twisted and the metal bit in even deeper causing the agent's eyes to screw shut and his mouth to open in a silent grimace of pain. Sudden fire in his left hand indicated that a nerve had been crushed. To be thorough the muzzle of the gun was ground into his bullet wound. Abruptly the pressures eased and with a tight grip over the abused wound on his left arm Matt pulled him back up to his knees.
"Well?" Kurt demanded.
He took a deep breath to steady himself as the newly reawakened pain in his left arm started to throb, adding itself to his other hurts. "No."
He realised he must have blacked out for a moment or three as he found himself once more lying almost face down on the carpet. It took him a moment to figure out how he could have come to be there before full memory returned.
"He's back." A voice commented.
"Good. Then he'll feel this." A second voice responded.
Blinking, his vision blurred then cleared in time to see a foot headed his way at speed. Unable to roll in time the boot impacted with his ribs forcing most of the air from his lungs. The world went black for a few seconds as he fought to breathe after being winded. Each shallow breath hurt but there had been no sound of bone breaking or any stabbing pain so he could be fairly no ribs were actually broken. He opened his eyes and found himself facing the hostages who were staring back horrified at what they were witnessing. A hand grabbed his shoulder and he was rolled back over. His tormentor once again bent over him, gun grinding downwards over the knots growing on the side of his head. To his dismay his gasp of pain was not silent.
"You killed my friend, Fed." Matt hissed in his ear punctuating his words with increased pressure from the oversized gun.
The grip shifted back to his wounded arm and he was dragged upwards again. Not sufficiently recovered to maintain his own balance he hung in the painful grip for a few moments before he could get some strength back in his legs. The impatient sharp jerk from Matt almost undid his limited recovery to this point but he managed to keep himself from falling when the grip released, staying upright with a distinct cant to one side over his bruised ribs. Painful pins and needles spiked at his left hand and he could barely think around the pounding in his skull.
"Keep saying 'no' for me." Matt hissed again.
Hanging on to his determination he found the strength to raise his head and turned his defiant gaze to the man's face. "Bring it on."
Matt reacted in the way he expected raising the weapon again. Don waited, without the strength or coordination yet to flinch away and reduce the impact he'd was going to use it to his advantage. If he was clubbed unconscious there was no way they'd get the codes. There was time for just one more thought, this was going to hurt.
"Stop it!" Alexis suddenly called out and the blow didn't fall, halting mid-swing.
"You have the codes?" Kurt asked mildly.
"No." The Control operator sounded frustrated. "If I had them I'd give them to you."
Don's head was abruptly jerked back by Matt's hand in his hair as Kurt approached. His vision blurred again then cleared.
"Seems someone cares about you, Agent." Kurt said, stopping and looking down. "Do you care about her I wonder?" He moved past heading for Alexis.
Heart plummeting into his stomach Don struggled to turn and found himself almost grateful for Matt's less than gentle assistance as the man jerked him around by his hair. Kurt was standing in front of the older woman, his gun lifted to point at a spot squarely between her eyes. Unfamiliar with such threats Alexis was unable to tear her eyes away from the muzzle and barely seemed even to be breathing.
The danger to his friend gave him strength even as he knew if it persisted he would be forced to give them what they wanted. He ignored the pounding in his head as he concentrated. "You harm her or any of them and you'll get nothing more from me." Don promised.
"I will kill her."
"No you won't." Don insisted, hoping it was true. He concentrated on Kurt's trigger finger. It was currently resting along the slide so the threat was not quite as imminent as it seemed. If the finger moved inside the trigger guard Don was going to cave in and give them the damned codes, unwilling to allow Alexis to be executed for his obstinacy. He kept his thoughts from his face, determined not to show any sign that his resolve was almost gone until that point was reached. "You need me. Kill her and you'll get nothing more from me."
"I think you over estimate your value to us." Kurt said, turning to eye him carefully. He kept his weapon on target.
He didn't think so; the fact that he was still alive would seem to indicate he did have worth. It was wrong but he knew that they considered him to be the more valuable hostage, they wanted him alive and cooperative or at the very least manageable. It was his only bargaining chip and he'd thrown it down. Their hand was far stronger but he wasn't going to let them know that. The standoff continued before Kurt's trigger finger twitched and Don flinched, opening his mouth to capitulate. Unexpectedly Kurt suddenly folded, pulling his gun away. Closing his mouth with an almost audible snap he had no time to wonder at the reason behind Kurt's strange action on the brink of victory.
Matt however took that it a signal to recommencing 'asking' Don for the codes, this time using his hand to cuff him on the head. Obviously Matt had finally understood that continuing to use the large handgun as a club would render him useless or possibly even kill him. The blow was still powerful though and the agent once more found himself measuring his length on the carpet. The carpet fibres pulsed in his vision at the same rate as the pounding in his head but at least he didn't lose consciousness this time.
"Enough." Kurt stated. "Here, take these and check out his SUV."
Don managed to roll far enough over to see Kurt hand over the keys to the Suburban that they'd taken off him earlier. He remembered being a little puzzled that they'd not been tossed aside like the rest of his stuff when they'd searched him in the corridor. He'd then thought that perhaps they'd intended using it as an escape vehicle but that was definitely out now that a helicopter was on the way. He hadn't considered it as an equipment store.
"But-" Matt protested. He was having too much fun extracting his revenge to give up so soon. The others hadn't known that Tony had been his friend and mentor, the agent deserved everything he was getting.
"He's a supervisor," Kurt started explaining. "They carry more kit than the average agent, hence the SUV. Plus he's from the Violent Crimes Squad. With the action those guys see I'm betting he will have a rifle in there."
Don rested his head back against the carpet and closed his eyes. At least it would just be the one rifle, as deadly as the semi-automatic long arm was he could settle for that. It was far better than them gaining full access to the armoury where they could take their pick.
"See?" Kurt added noting the agent's reaction and taking it as confirmation. "One will do. Get going."
The door opened then closed before he felt a toe gently nudge his shoulder. Don opened his eyes to see Kurt crouch beside him, gun held loosely across his knee. The intruder regarded his captive for a few moments, his expression bordering on respect. He inclined his head ever so slightly in salute before his expression hardened.
"I have your measure now." Kurt began. Don realised the equipment in his SUV must have been in the man's mind the whole time. Allowing him to be beaten before threatening a hostage had been some sort of test. He'd failed it with his twitch when it appeared Alexis was about to be shot. "But next time Agent, I may not have an alternative. You will do as I say or I will kill someone. Understood?"
.