Mahoney's surprise appearance was followed by an exchange of gunfire off in the distance, at least a couple miles from their position as far as Steve could judge.
With his heart sinking at the thought of Mike being in trouble and him not being able to do a damn thing about it; he slowly sat up, keeping a close eye on the barrel of the gun trained at him.
Milan couldn't stifle a cry of fear, her left hand grasping his thigh for the sake of holding onto something.
"Backup is arriving as we speak. It's time to call it quits…", Steve growled, not expecting things to go well when it came to reasoning with the eccentric detective and not surprised when he watched Mahoney cock the hammer of his .38.
"You have no idea how much I am going to enjoy killing you.", the other man growled, a devious smile spreading on his lips, "You and that asshole Lieutenant have been a thorn in my side for a long time. Waltzing across town like you own the place. Everybody acting like you two are the best thing that has happened since the birth of Jesus Christ. Give me a break."
"You could have chosen to prove them wrong and lead by example, Phillip.", Steve countered, buying himself time as he tried to nudge Milan behind his back to give her cover, "But instead you…made the most horrific…and cowardly choice imaginable."
When he paused to gasp in pain, Mahoney's smile grew wider, watching in delight as Sarah crouched behind him, resting her shaking hands on his shoulders for a small measure of protection any revolver could easily overcome.
"The story is going to sound an awful lot different once you and Stone and the lady here are dead. See, we're going to tell Conden that we suspected Davis and Cassidy of foul play a while ago and tried to take them down ourselves when a certain two idiots from Homicide interfered. In the confusing shootout that ensued, all three of you were killed in a friendly fire incident. I'll say we wrestled for the gun, Milan was killed during the fight, and then you were killed too. Obviously, Morris and I didn't have a choice. You wouldn't listen to us and kept shooting. Use your imagination, kid. I am just three bodies, a swap of handguns and a good cover story away from getting out of this with a commendation medal from the brass."
Steve was about to answer when he felt Sarah's hands squeeze his shoulders ever so subtly, before slowly rising back to her feet.
"You are wrong.", the Fire Captain countered confidently, "A call to arms has already gone out, explaining to everybody what happened here and who the responsible party is. Everybody knows what's really going on and I am willing to bet those gunshots we're hearing…that's Sawyer dying. You are going to be next. And I couldn't be happier about that…"
A nervous chuckle filled the tense air between them, before Mahoney shook his head ever so slowly, the corners of his mouth curling to a grotesque smile.
"Looks like you just volunteered to get shot first, honey. I guess all that's left to say is that it was a pleasure…doing you…"
Milan's plan of distraction worked out perfectly when it took Mahoney a split second too long to move his aim from Steve over to the Fire Captain. It was enough for the young Inspector to reach across his chest for the .38, pull the revolver out of the holster and fire a shot at the MP detective, killing him long before he ever hit the ground.
With a slight twitch, Mahoney's lifeless hand let go of the weapon, before he stumbled sideways, his eyes glazing over as he collapsed flat on his back, ending a potential execution before it could begin.
As if in a trance, Steve was frozen in place, holding onto his .38 with a shaking hand, starting to hyperventilate as his mind tried to come to terms with how horrible this encounter could have ended- and how his partner's fate was still unknown at this point; the plethora of mixed emotions threatening to overwhelm his senses.
After a while, Sarah's hand appeared on his wrist, carefully lowering the gun, her beautiful face coming into his line of vision just as everything around him finally turned black.