HEY ALL! This is a re-do of the end of Sniper Zero, per request of Stephanie519, one of my faithful reviewers for NSF. I am not sure of all the details, as my tape was tragically eaten by my century-old VCR. So I know there are probably several mistakes in the first little third-person section, but if you would like to correct me, remember that it's not my fault--so please be nice about it…
Disclaimer: Still don't own the show or its characters or even really the plotline, as it is half borrowed from them anyways. I'm making no money or profit in any way but for the wonderfully warm and fuzzy feelings I get from my awesome reviews and the knowledge that lots of people are reading this…
Chapter 1
Down on the street, a car door opens, and a curly-haired young man steps out. He glances around, looking confused at the lack of goings-on around him. Slowly, carefully, I catch him in my crosshairs and focus on him. My breathing slows to a gentle pattern, slow and steady. My finger tightens around the trigger, and a moment later, the familiar CRACK and sharp recoil makes my blood rush wildly. LORD, I love that feeling.
My adrenaline rush dies on the spot as the tall, dark-skinned agent plows my target over. The window of the cruiser behind them shatters, but both are apparently unharmed. Dammit.
They know where I am now. I'm done for.
Shouts--frenzied, hectic--reach my ears, and I swing my weapon toward them. If I'm going to go down, someone's coming with me. The dark haired lead agent is well-concealed behind the row of cars, but his blonde friend is less careful. Shots are flying all around me, but I pay no heed. That's what I learned in the military, you know…never let anything distract you from your mission. I take careful aim and, once again, my finger tightens around the trigger and another deafening bang echoes through the empty streets. A smirk of satisfaction pulls at my lips as she crumples to the ground with a scream. Unfortunately, my little one-man party doesn't last as long as I would've liked. Now that they've got a sure location, it's a matter of seconds before another round of shots rings and…that's it.
"Charlie! Charlie, get down!" Don's feet were flying, but he knew that he didn't have a prayer to save his little brother. Fortunately, David was close enough to throw himself at the startled mathematician and flatten him to the ground milliseconds before the window of the police car behind them exploded, showering the pair of them with glass.
David immediately rolled off his friend, "Are you okay?"
Charlie sat up, dazed but uninjured. "I'm fine." He replied, nodding to reassure the concerned young agent. "Thank you." He managed to stammer.
"Hey, it's no problem." David replied, motioning for Charlie to stay down. "Wait here, don't move."
Suddenly, a second shot shattered the stillness of the hazy LA afternoon, and, a heartbeat later, a strangled cry followed. Don, who had been making his way to his little brother, spun as Terry collapsed.
"No!" The word had left his mouth before he knew he was speaking. The widening pool of crimson around his partner's still form told him that the shot had hit its mark.
He was moving then, racing to cradle her gently in his arms, forcing himself to assess the damage. The wound was a little too low and a little too far to the left to be called a shoulder wound, though his shock-and-terror numbed mind refused to allow it to be called anything else. Her skin was already ghastly pale, making the delicate blue veins at her temples and in her closed eyelids stand out.
"Terry? Terry, please open your eyes." He commanded softly, his fingers prodding the back of her shoulder gently to find…yes, there it was. An exit wound…the sniper had gotten off a through-and-through shot. There was no response from his colleague but for the tentative rise and fall of her chest.
He gritted his teeth and blinked back tears as David materialized at his elbow. "Don, we should lay her out. She'll breathe easier."
He nodded, "Him?" He asked, nodding over his shoulder at the building beside them, barely sparing David a glance.
"Dead." David growled. "Too good for the sleazy son-of-a--"
Don glanced at him from the corner of one dark eye, almost amused, as he hurriedly struggled out of his jacket while holding his partner as gently as possible with his free hand, and David stopped mid-sentence. "Just my opinion." he knelt, gently taking Terry from Don's hands to allow his companion to finish removing his blazer. "Someone's already called 911, they're on the way."
"Good." Don nodded and tossed the jacket to the pavement. "Can I use your coat?"
David nodded without hesitation and tenderly laid Terry on the ground so he could remove it. Don gently placed David's wadded-up jacket beneath her head, then pressed his own to the wound in her chest, trying to stanch the blood flow.
That woke her up. Her eyes snapped open and she tried to wrench out of his reach, but David held her fast. "Shh, Terry, it's okay. Hold still."
Though she obeyed him, frightened dark eyes flitted from one form to the other, blinking kittenishly at the growing crowd. Don continued to apply pressure to her wound with his right hand while he smoothed some blonde strands back from her face with his left. "It's going to be okay. We're here. Just stay awake. Can you talk to me, Terry?"
She tried, opening her mouth and trying to force sound through it. "Yes."
"Good girl. You're going to be fine."
"P-promise?" She stammered, laboriously drawing another breath.
"Promise, Terry. Just stay awake, okay? Don't close your eyes."
"'Kay." she whispered. Her eyes drifted back closed, but she fought them open again. David took her hand, offering a silent lifeline for her to cling to.
Just when they thought she was going to make it, her eyes began to drift closed again. Trying to rouse her without causing any more damage, he shook her gently. "Come on, Terry."
Her eyes flitted open dazedly. "Right." She muttered, squeezing David's hand. "I'm cold."
"We're going to get you to a hospital. But you have to stay with us. You can't sleep yet."
She nodded slowly, forcing some more air into her lungs. It was getting more difficult. Why was it so cold? She didn't like the cold. When she closed her eyes and let herself relax, it got a lot warmer and more comfortable. There wasn't any pain there. She knew that, if she wanted to, she could just stay where it was warm and safe. That would be nice, but Don wasn't there. She didn't want to go anywhere where he wasn't.
"Theresa, open your eyes." There he was again. If he would just let her think, she could make a decision.
Sighing (or trying to), she did as she was told. This time, though, there was the sound of screaming ambulances accompanying everything else. As she watched them draw to the curb and paramedics jump out, she came to a frightening realization.
"I can't--can't feel my arm." She told Don, gritting her teeth against the pain.
He attempted an smile of reassurance. He fooled no one, however. "It's going to be okay, Terry."
"Stay with me." She pleaded as a medic pressed an oxygen mask over her face. Suddenly, it was easier to breathe, she noticed. But the cold was seeping back over her. She tried to tell them so, but it took too much effort. This time, she let her eyes drift closed.
Don gazed down fearfully at his colleague and friend as a ponytailed young girl pressed an oxygen mask over her face. "Someone take this woman's blood pressure, please!" She called to the scurrying people behind her. "Are you family?" She asked Don.
"No, but I'm listed as her emergency contact." He replied, knowing this information was true. Terry had told him so just a week before.
She scrutinized him as several more white-coated medics pulled up a gurney beside her. "Okay, sir. You can come with us. Just stay out of the way."
Don nodded, releasing Terry's already-cool hand and stepping aside as they lifted her onto the gurney, leaving behind an ominous-looking pool of scarlet and two blood-ridden jackets. His stomach sank…there was so much of it. It wasn't even possible to have that much blood in a body, was it? No, not just any body. Terry's body. That was Terry's lifeblood shining in the early springtime sun, seeping darkly into the concrete. He let out a shuddering sigh and followed the busy paramedics to the ambulance.
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Well, there you have it….the first short and angsty chapter. It's kind of an intro…I'm thinking there's going to be about four, possibly five, more chapters…they will all be far shorter than those of NSF, as I've got much less time on my hands. Darn school.
Well, thanks for reading…take care everyone,
Sila