As soon as the Taser made contact with the wires tangled around the speaker, sparks flew and a flame ignited. Tony watched as a small fire grew, consuming the wires and moving towards other parts of the stage. So far, his plan was working.
He hadn't counted on the curtains, though. They extended from the ceiling to the floor, covering the entire wall behind the stage. They were a deep gold color, with a thin gauzy material over them, making them shimmer in the low light.
As soon as the flames hit the bottom of the curtains, they ignited. The gauzy material turned out to be highly flammable, and the fire accelerated, racing up and out as it consumed everything it could reach. The area around the stage became unbearably hot, and Tony realized that he might have started a bigger problem that he meant to.
It didn't take long for the entire hall to see that the room was filling with smoke. Screams filled the air, and the hostages didn't seem to care about the men carrying guns anymore. They rushed for the doors, stampeding away from the flames and over their captors.
Tony started to scramble backwards, trying to distance himself from the fire. But before he could make any progress, an all too-familiar boot slammed down on his chest again.
"Where the fuck do you think you're going?"
He raised his pistol, aiming it directly at Tony's head. The agent looked around, desperately searching for a way out, but his captor just pressed harder on his chest, making his ribs creak. Just as the man went to pull the trigger, arms hooked under Tony's shoulders, roughly yanking him out from under the gunman. Before he knew it, he was laying on the floor below the stage, and he glanced up at his rescuer.
"Thanks," he said, a little breathless from the experience.
Secretary Heller nodded. "You're welcome. And now that your little fire is working out better than expected, why don't you and I find a way out of here?"
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Michelle led the others down the hallway, moving as far away from the main hall as possible while staying on the ground floor. Jen, Audrey and Paul followed behind her, with Bill bringing up the rear. They wanted to make sure that their escape couldn't be heard by any of their captors - the last thing they needed was to be chased while they tried to get the disc out of the building.
As they ran, Michelle's gaze drifted back to Bill. Before splitting up, Ava had passed the disc back to her, without letting any of the others know. The agent had known that she was running back toward danger, and she didn't want to risk the disc going back to the people they were trying to keep it away from. Once Ava had left, though, Michelle had given it to Bill, again without anyone's knowledge. If none of them knew where it was, they couldn't be forced to give up the location if they were caught. It was a cold thought, but a necessary one, and she felt better knowing that only she and Bill knew who had the disc.
They reached the end of the hall and Michelle stopped, turning to make sure that everyone was still with her.
"I think this is far enough," she told them.
Lifting her arm, she aimed her gun at the window and took three shots. The glass exploded on contact, cascading onto the carpet and onto the concrete outside. Without hesitating, Michelle lifted her leg to hoist herself outside, but Bill stopped her.
"Here," he said quietly.
He shucked off his jacket and wrapped it around his right arm. Then he swept it over the window sill, clearing it of the shards of glass that still rested there.
"Thanks."
Without another word, they were out. Paul helped Audrey climb over the sill as Michelle investigated the parking lot they were in. There were cars parked everywhere, but she didn't recognize any of them as CTU.
"Around the back," Bill said, joining them. "The vans and SUVs are around back."
Michelle nodded and took the lead once again - it looked as though they might get the disc out safely after all.
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"What the hell is that!?" Ava yelled over the blaring alarm.
"Fire," Jack replied tersely.
They rounded another corner and could finally see the main hall again. People and smoke were streaming out of it - it seemed as though the gunmen had lost whatever control they had had. As the smoke moved through the corridors, the overhead sprinklers came on, soaking everyone below.
"Come on!" Ava shouted.
The three of them surged forward, fighting their way through the crowd. Ava was no longer worried for their safety - with so many of them moving forward, there was little chance that their former captors would be able to do anything to stop them. She turned for a moment and saw them streaming through the front door; then she moved forward again, focusing on the room ahead.
The main hall was almost empty when they got in. Many of the gunmen were down, trampled by the panicked masses on their way out. The stage was completely engulfed in flames, and the fire was spreading despite the water raining down on it. Ava scanned the room, looking for one person in particular, her heart pounding.
And then she saw him in the center of the room. His tuxedo was soaked through and he looked tired, but he was still standing. A grim look of determination on his face, he squared off against two of the remaining captors, the three of them throwing punches and kicks as they tried to take the other down.
"Tony," she breathed.
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They were almost to the van when all hell broke loose. A flood of people came out of the building, screaming and running for their cars. They pushed each other and stepped on each other - all of them too concerned about getting themselves to safety to worry about anyone else.
Hostages weren't the only ones running out, though. A group of armed men came out another door, and Michelle knew that they were looking for them. Their first and most important objective had been to get the disc, and she imagined that their boss was putting heavy pressure on them to get it no matter what it took. She thought they might have a chance to disappear in the crowd, but they were spotted before they could reach the car. An order was barked, and the men opened fire.
Everyone dropped to the ground, only adding to the growing confusion. Men and women screamed even louder now, torn between the danger of the fire and the danger of flying bullets. Michelle tried to keep a handle on where all of her companions were, but there was too much commotion, too much going on for her to even be sure of where the car was anymore.
And then one scream stood out among the rest. Whipping her head around, Michelle saw that Jen had been taken by one of the gunmen, his arms wrapped around her torso even as she fought with all of her strength against him. The man grew frustrated, finally ramming the barrel of his gun against her temple.
"Give me the disc!" he yelled, staring at Bill and Paul. "Give me the disc or I'll blow her brains out!"
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Ava and Jack surged forward, heading straight for the men attacking Tony. The agent managed to take one out himself, though, snapping his neck as they wrestled on the ground. Seeing that they could handle the other man, Jack veered off, running to join Curtis as they went to finish off the rest of the gunmen, one of whom was grappling with Secretary Heller.
Tony seemed to have his last attacker handled, so Ava turned to see where else she was needed. Her eyes landed on Milo, who though he was putting up a good fight, was slowly losing. She ran forward, tackling the gunman and driving him to the ground hard. Before he had any chance to turn his weapon on her, Ava punched him in the face, keeping it up until he lost consciousness. When she saw that he was no longer a threat, she finally stopped hitting him, breathing hard as she tried to control the adrenaline rushing through her body.
"You okay?" she asked Milo.
He nodded. "Yeah, thanks."
Giving him a small smile, Ava turned the guy over and reached into utility belt she had wrapped around her thigh. Pulling out a pair of handcuffs, she secured her opponent and then turned to find Tony moving towards her. The smile on her face grew as she realized that he was okay, and she stood on shaky legs to greet him.
"Get off of me!!"
They all turned at the sudden exclamation. The leader of the gunmen had his arms wrapped around Chloe as he dragged her towards the door, along with the remaining members of his team. Jack immediately surged forward, aiming his gun at the men.
"Chloe!" he yelled.
Before he could get anywhere near them, the gunmen opened fire with their automatic weapons. Bullets sprayed across the room, sending everyone diving for the floor and any other cover that they could find. With his men covering him, the leader left the room, Chloe still fighting as hard as she could.
"CHLOE!" Jack bellowed.
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Jen tried to stay calm, though it wasn't easy with a gun being held against her head. The man holding her had a tight grip, and she was being held so close to him that she could smell the sweat on his body. She was sweating as well, but she knew that that was more from fear than from running around.
"Let her go," Bill said quietly. "We can talk about this calmly."
"There's not gonna be any talking!" he retorted. "This is a deal - plain and simple. You give me what I want, and I don't kill your friend!"
There wasn't going to be any easy way out this, Jen knew. The CTU agents couldn't give up the disc, no matter what the bad guys did to her. But she could see the pain in Michelle's eyes, and she knew that her friend was torn. She had made a promise to Ava before parting that she would take care of her, and now they were in a mess that no one could really see their way out of.
But Jen figured she had one option left. Letting her right hand drift down, she began to bunch up her dress in her hands, lifting the bottom of the fabric. She inched the dress higher and higher, blocking out Bill's attempts at negotiation, focusing only on the task at hand. When half of her thigh was exposed, Jen reached for the utility belt wrapped around it - the one that Ava had insisted she put on before they left the control room. She had pulled the gun out long before, when they had been running down corridors and fighting off attackers, but there was still a large knife. Pulling it out, she let the dress fall back in place as she glanced up at her captor. He was so focused on Bill that he wasn't paying her any attention, and Jen knew that she would only have one chance.
She raised her arm and swung back with all her might. The knife sliced through the man's clothes, embedding itself into his upper thigh near the groin. He instantly let go of her, crying out in pain as he fell to the ground, clutching his leg. Jen didn't even look back; she ran forward, thankful once she was behind Bill and catapulted herself into Michelle.
"Oh thank God," the agent muttered, hugging her tightly.
"And Ava," Jen replied. "For her crazy 'always have a weapon' obsession."
The respite didn't last long. As the crowd around the hotel thinned, shots rang out. More armed men came out of the building, one of them dragging a hostage with them. Jen's heart sank as she realized who it was.
"Chloe," she whispered.
Jack wasn't far behind. He followed the men, with Ava, Tony, Curtis and Milo hot on his heels. All of them were shooting, but the gunmen ducked behind vehicles, making it that much more difficult to hit them.
The team who had taken Jen hostage began to fire as well. They all tried to take cover, but bullets came from every direction, and nowhere was really safe. Jen began to edge herself underneath a car, when an anguished cry broke out.
"PAUL!"
Turning to look, she saw that Paul Raines had collapsed onto the pavement. Red soaked through his shirt, revealing a gunshot wound in his chest. Audrey was by his side, her eyes full of tears. Jen felt helpless just standing there, but it was obvious that there wasn't anything she could do. Paul's breathing was ragged as his wife put pressure on the wound, and Jen found that she finally had to turn away.
But what she saw there was just as upsetting. The men who had taken Chloe reached one of their vehicles and piled inside. Ava pulled up short, taking careful aim before shooting two of the men in the back before they could reach the safety behind the doors.
All of their efforts were in vain, though. The car door slammed shut, the wheels spinning before it could even latch. All of them watched in horror as it took off, disappearing into the stream of other vehicles leaving the hotel lot - all of them, except two.
"Oh God, Paul," Audrey sobbed, still pressing down on the wound. "Please don't leave me. Please don't leave me."
