Chapter 9

"This is Melinda Monroe reporting, where there seems to be a catastrophic event taking place at Harver school. A masked man with a gun has taken 6 children hostage, and is demanding an insane amount of money for their lives that we have no way to meet. The children are Stephanie Fletcher, Billy Harkin, Peter Mobishi, Esther Thomas, and Hank Hall. All attempts to reason with the mystery terrorist have come to nothing; the deadline remains in place. And if nothing game changing happens, this may very well turn into a terrible disaster.

Michael shifted around anxiously. He'd never done this before. Hold up a school, or whatever it was called. When he was a kid, his older brother had been in a school like this. His name had been Jeffrey. And Michael had loved him. Right up until the day when his school had been held up by some punk with impossible demands or he'd shoot the kids. He had. Jeffrey died. Michael was crushed.

And if the stupid judge couldn't save Jeffrey, Michael would make him go through the same pain Michael had, for one of the kids Michael had was Judge Hall's son, Hank. Hall would suffer as Michael had suffered; that was a certainty.

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"There seems to be no development with the situation." Melinda spoke into the camera. "Continued efforts to talk the potential killer down have so far not come to anything, and time is running out. Wait. A boy has broken through the police barrier!" The camera zoomed away to show a small boy dashing across the lot to inside the school where the masked killer was.

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"Wait! I'm here to pay the ransom!" the boy cried. He held up what looked like a piggie bank to the terrorist. "It's not as much as you asked, but it's 200 dollars. That's a lot right?" Tears slipped down the boy's face. "Please don't kill my brother."

"Your brother?" Michael asked in shock. One thing he had not expected was for some kid to run up with his piggy bank.

"His name is Hank Hall, and I'm Don. Please don't kill him. I love him." Don held out the bank. "Please take it. You can kill me if you want, just leave him alone."

Michael stared at… himself. Younger, wanting nothing but his big brother to be spared, tears spilling down his cheeks. This wasn't the way. This wasn't what Jeffrey would have wanted. That said, there was no way he was walking over to the police, and he couldn't just leave without any money.

"I'll take it." Michael said, reaching out for the bank, and putting it in his pocket. "But I'll need you as insurance that I don't get nabbed by the cops. Don't try anything funny."

"I won't." Don promised, and walked over, allowing Michael to grab his arm, and hustle him out of the building.

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Hank was holding Stephanie (who was the hottest girl in the school) in his lap, as they waited for the man with the gun to come back. She was sobbing, and Hank tried to comfort her. Hank was sure they were going to die. The only good thing was that Don was safe. Then the door started to open. They all flinched back. It creaked, and Stephanie buried herself further into Hank's body. Hank's eyes went wide as… Five policemen burst into the room.

"It's alright, kids. The terrorist is gone. You're safe now. Go on out to your families." The kids ran out, the police helping them go. "Hank, wait." It was the lead policeman again. Hank stopped, fear building inside.

"What… what's wrong? He's gone, right?"

"Yes, but he has a hostage."

"Who?" Hank whispered, hear pounding. No, please no…

"Hank… it's Don. It's your brother."

Hank fell to his knees, face drained white. No. Anything but that. Don in the hands of a trigger happy terrorist. It was Hank's worst nightmare. "No…"

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"Stay here, kid." Michael warned. He pulled a watch off his wrist and gave it to Don. "In half an hour you can go to the police. If you try to move before then…"

Don shook his head. "I won't. I promise." Michael began to turn away. "Wait! I… I want to ask you something. Why didn't you kill me?"

Michael pursed his lips. "I had an older brother once. A terrorist killed him. He wouldn't have wanted me to kill you."

"I think he would be proud of you." Don whispered. "You had to be really brave to leave like that. To not get revenge."

"Thanks." Michael turned and ran away. Don waited.

"Calling all search units, this is unit 4a. We found him."

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By the time Hank arrived, the cops had Don sitting down wrapped in a blanket.

"Don!"

"Hank?"

Hank rushed forward to grab his brother in a rib crushing hug, burying his face in Don's neck, sobbing. And Don hugged him back.

"Don't do that to me again, Don!" Hank demanded, shaking Don slightly. "You can't put yourself in danger like that! It's stupid!"

"I know. But I couldn't let him kill you. And it wasn't like he was going to shoot his hostage. I was safe."

"You didn't know that."

"Yeah. But if I saved you it was worth it."

"No. Nothing's worth that. Promise me you won't do that again." Hank pulled back, shaking Don by the shoulders. "Promise me!"

"I can't." Don leaned his head on Hank gently. "But I promise I'll be careful."

"I'm not going to convince you, am I?"

"Nope."

"Well… I guess I'll just have to take care of you then."

"And so begins the reign of the overbearing older brother." Don mumbled contentedly.

"Anyone dumb enough to walk up to a terrorist with a piggy bank needs someone to take care of them."

"I think I can live with that."

"I think you have to. Now let's get home."

"Yeah. I love you."

"Forever."