Been a long weekend. As I sit here over a shot of Jaeger, I figured it is time for another chapter.
Mike flinched as the first high velocity rounds sailed through the closed door and walls ahead, instinctively putting a hand on his partner' shoulder, ready to pull him out of harm's way if need be.
A cloud of vaporized plaster filled the back corner of the corridor, causing the light coming through a large window at the end to refract unnaturally.
Indiscernible yelling could be heard, then more shots.
This time however, they came from a revolver, not a high-powered machine gun.
Steve turned around to face him for a fraction of a second, his haunted expression causing Mike's heart to drop. With his hand still on the young Inspector's shoulder, he drew in a quiet breath, trying to meet Steve's eyes with calming reassurance, but in the end, all he managed was a weak nod.
As he let go of him, the young Inspector spun back around and charged at the corridor ahead with fierce determination, never hesitating despite the large caliber bullets that continued to penetrate the walls and sailed through the air like deadly hail.
With his .38 at the ready, Mike followed Steve into the gray cloud billowing ahead, the dust causing his lungs to burn.
"It's over, Vlad. We have you surrounded.", Steve yelled during a moment of ceasefire, kicking the door in question open before ducking behind the framework, as a new wave of bullets filled the air, this time into their direction.
More plaster and wooden shrapnel filled the corridor, causing Mike to protectively turn his face the other way, until the shooting stopped. When he glanced back over, ready to return fire, the Lieutenant hesitated, his burning eyes scanning the cloudy surroundings ahead for his partner who was missing in action.
Mike felt the blood freeze in his veins when he saw Steve curled up on the floor, not sure if it was from being wounded or to try to stay out of harm's way.
Unable to make it to the other side when a third deadly wave of bullets separated them; Mike was left to crouch down against his corner of the door, waiting for a moment of cease-fire to launch an attack.
Across from him, Steve slowly got back on his knees, causing pure terror to flood Mike's senses when the young Inspector carelessly peeked around the wall and fired a couple of rounds at the dangers waiting inside.
The immediate answer came in the form of machine gun rounds aimed at his location with such precision, that it blew the rest of the door frame apart, causing large wood splinters to sail through the air and become embedded in the wall across from them.
Using the opportunity to step in, Mike leaned into the room from the opposite side, immediately noting the trajectory of the bullets fired into his partner's direction.
Their shooter had sought cover behind a large gun safe in Mario's private office. Although he couldn't see the location of the mobster with his limited visual of the room, several ill-aimed bullet holes on the back wall of the room suggested that he was hidden somewhere across from the hitman.
Firing two rounds at their killer, Mike huffed in frustration when he realized that the safe was bullet proof, causing his fire to ricochet.
"Police. Stand down", he yelled, only to have the attack aimed in his direction.
Time came to a standstill when Mike moved several feet over to seek cover, then turned around only to watch his partner get down on the floor and roll in front of the open doorway. Coming to a halt chest down, his elbows locked and returning fire until he emptied his revolver, nothing was stopping the young Inspector in his fierce determination to end the shootout.
Simultaneously, the cloud of dust became heavier, causing their hitman to have trouble locating them, his trajectory becoming more and more uncoordinated with each shot.
From his hiding spot, Mike could hear Mario open fire, both supporting and shielding Steve, as the young Inspector reached for his belt to retrieve the last six bullets he had left.
Suddenly, the hail of bullets stopped and Mike glanced up from behind his cover, as he heard the familiar sound of an empty machine gun clip dropping to the floor. Next to him, Steve heard the same thing, frantically trying to reload his revolver faster than their hitman could reload his gun. Mike knew their limited firepower was no match to the next 30-round magazine, once their shooter would unleash his attack.
Torn between stepping out from behind his cover to get a clear shot at the hitman once he got in front of him, and the realistic possibility that he would walk into a deadly shootout without the least bit of protection, he hesitated for a brief moment, desperately looking for any furniture in the large office that could provide the protection he needed to launch an attack.
Down below, Steve seemed to have reached the same conclusion. Getting off the ground with his suit covered in dust and debris, and a bloody spot near his left shoulder signaling a direct hit, the young Inspector finished reloading his gun, before heading toward the gun cabinet in a dead-run.
"STEVE!"
Mike screamed in despair, his voice almost breaking, hoping to order his partner back to no avail.
And when you…when you get that chance…when the situation demands it, I want you to take that shot. Do not hesitate. Give all you got.
Mike felt the breath getting stuck in his throat when their conversation came back to mind. Any orders he wanted to give, any warnings he wanted to shout fell silent, as the scene played out in slow motion in front of him.
Using the fraction of a second he had left before their hitman could finish reloading the machine gun, Steve quickly circled the large cabinet, his revolver aimed at their assailant's head with trained precision.
"It's over, Vlad. Drop your gun.", Mike heard his partner order with a shaking voice.
Leaving his cover behind, the Lieutenant darted into the large office, noting the dozens of small TV monitors displaying every inch of Mario's large mansion. Half of them were destroyed, spilling glass and plastic debris all over the floor. On the other end of the large room, Mario had been cornered between several file cabinets, putting as much metal as possible between himself and the shooter.
"Get out of here.", Mike yelled at the mobster and pointed his chin at what was left of the doorframe. Even from his distance he could see Mario sporting several gunshot wounds, the most serious one in his side.
Watching the other man slowly drag himself out of the room, Mike breathed a quiet sigh of relief, before approaching his partner near a long mahogany desk separating him from the hitman.
"Lower your gun. Nice and slow…", Steve said, his voice shaking from both, adrenalin rush and onset of shock. Mike walked up from behind, staying several feet off to the left to increase target size in case their hitman decided to be foolish and open fire on them.
"I told you cops to stay out of my way."
Dressed in all black and protected by a bulletproof vest, the man held the large machine gun in a death grip, as he let his cold eyes drift across the room, before coming to rest on the young Inspector.
"It's over, Vlad. Lower your gun."
Clenching his jaw, the taller man nodded slowly, before a faint smile spread on his lips.
"As you wish."
Ever so slowly, almost too slow, Mike watched him lower both, the machine gun and full magazine, hesitating when something tugged on the pocket of his cargo pants.
"All you had to do was stay out of my way.", he continued cryptically, revealing a Russian accent, as sirens could be heard approaching from the east.
"You picked the wrong town to do your killings in.", Steve countered and let his left shoulder sink, the crimson stain on the dusty back of his dress jacket growing in size.
"Maybe so. But as you Americans like to say, it isn't over till it's over."
The words and their meaning hit Mike all at once. Glancing down at the man's baggie pant pocket and recognizing the round shape hidden beneath it, he drew in a sharp breath, his mind going into overdrive.
"STEVE, MOVE!", Mike yelled from the top of his lungs and rushed toward his partner. The young Inspector glanced over at him confused and stood frozen in place, hesitant to move his attention away from the hitman and painfully unaware of the deadly threat way too close for comfort.
Mike didn't wait for him to react. Instead, he wrapped his arm around the younger man's waist as he rushed past, hoping to make it to the hallway before the grenade in their hitman's pocket could explode.
The loud bang coming from behind the gun cabinet signaled that he'd been a fraction of a second too late.
A bright light filled his surroundings, as the shockwave temporarily incapacitated his hearing. Pushing Steve to the ground as metal shrapnel and construction material began to fly through the air; Mike threw himself on top of his partner, hoping to shield him from the deadly destruction happening around them. With his arms firmly wrapped around the younger man's head and neck, and his own upper body shielding Steve's, Mike laid perfectly still as the walls around them caved in and the room was reduced to a huge pile of rubble.
Even after all the noise died down, neither man moved.