A/N: Sorry about leaving it on edge. Anyway, I want to thank everyone who reviewed. I really enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope you enjoy it.
The gunmen had approached them, backing them into a corner of the break room. They all bunched together many of them shaking from fear. A few more gunmen entered the room with their guns held ready behind him. They dragged all of them upstairs to the second floor where they were locked in one of the new meeting rooms. It seemed to be just the team in this room; Grissom presumed that the rest of the lab workers were in the next meeting room along. The meeting room windows were frosted glass so they couldn't see out into the corridor which was a disadvantage. As was the fact that their side arms were kept in their lockers when they were in the lab. Through the frosted glass he could make out someone standing guard outside the door. Gil paced up and down the length of the room and decided to look around at everyone in the room mainly out of boredom. Warrick was sat on the meeting table trying to keep Catherine calm as she sat on a nearby chair. Nick and Greg were sat on the other side of the table with their heads in their hands, obviously trying to gauge the situation. Sara was sat on the floor away from everyone with her knees pulled up against her test and her hand covering her eyes. Gil had only seen her once like this before so he slowly walked up to her, trying not to startle her.
"Sara?" He asked as he bent down besides her. "You ok?" She looked up as her sat beside her and tried to smile. She gently pushed the hair back that had fallen in front of her eyes before speaking.
"Well I've been better," She said jokingly. She was trying to make the situation seem better than it was which caused Gil to laugh a little. There was sudden mad rush outside as someone seemed to run down the corridor to the top if the stairs.
"Johnny!" They were screaming down the stairs. "They're sending in a secure phone outside the frontdoor!" Whoever was shouting then ran back down the corridor and Gil heard a door slam. Everyone was looking towards the door of the meeting room. There seemed to be a multiple sigh before everyone turned and continued doing whatever they were doing before they were interrupted.
"What is going on?" Sara asked. Gil also sighed.
"I don't know," He began to tap his fingers on his knees. "But it can't be good,"
Downstairs, Johnny had heard the message from upstairs and was slowly making his way towards the front entrance. He had taken off his balaclava as he was much interested in hiding his face inside the building. As he approached the reception area, two of his partners had joined him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his mask and pulled it over his head. They heard a loud bang against the reception doors. He looked around the corner and quickly saw a group of cops retreating away from the doors and back towards the numerous cop cars that littered the car park.
"Cover me," He said to the other two behind him. He slowly slipped round the corner and crept towards the doors. He immediately saw the green box on the other side of the glass. He slowly opened the doors and quickly checked around just to be sure that it was clear. When he knew it was clear he reached and grabbed the box. He carried it inside so that he was out of view again. He set it down on one of the lab benches and removed his ski mask. He opened the lid and pulled out the receiver. A couple of the gunmen had gathered in the room, intent on hearing the conversation. Johnny lifted the receiver to his ear just in time to hear someone talking.
"This is Captain Jim Brass of the Las Vegas Police, who is this?" Johnny thought about exactly what he needed to say before answering.
"Never mind that, I hope we can settle this without resorting to violence but should it come to that, do not doubt, we will do whatever is necessary to get what we want," He tried his best to show as much of his accent as possible but his English accent had been watered down.
"And what is it that you want?" Whoever he was, this Jim Brass liked to right to business. Johnny had to think once again about what he was going to say.
"In exchange for the hostage's lives, we want the full pardon and release of Peter Lambert. We also want any evidence to be destroyed regarding the investigation into the racial murders that he was arrested for. You have until 9am to release Peter and to destroy the evidence. If our demands are met then the hostages will go free but if you don't then we will have to take more drastic measures," Johnny practically threw the headset back into the box and slammed shut the lid. He looked around the room at the balaclava covered faces before telling them to get back to their positions. The room quickly emptied. Suddenly a low humming noise filled the lab. He looked round for the source of the noise but the noise faded and disappeared. Johnny sighed and left the room. He walked along the corridor and up the stairs towards the meeting room where the hostage were being kept. He walked towards the guard who stepped aside when the humming noise filled the air again this time it grew louder than before and then it just stopped again. He turned to the guard.
"You hear that?" The guard nodded his head. Johnny continued down the corridor towards the security room. The room was right at the end of the corridor next to the bathroom. He opened the door to the room and he saw Jimmy, who had also taken off his mask, sat at the desk watching the screens on the wall. Johnny stepped into the room, leaving the door open behind him. "Any idea what that noise was?" Jimmy turned at the sound of his voice.
"Nope but it could had just the traffic. I got a perfect view of the cops outside and they haven't done anything beside drop off the phone," They both turned towards the open door when they heard walking down the corridor. They saw another gunman, walking towards them. He was still wearing his mask and his AK was hanging from his shoulder by the strap.
"Hey Phil, you having fun yet?" He said to the guard standing outside the meeting room as he passed him.
"Hey Andy?" Phil answered. Andy stopped and turned towards him. "Blow me!" He said as he stuck his middle finger up. Andy bellowed out a laugh and continued into the bathroom. Johnny looked back at Jimmy who sighed before turning back to the screens.
"Everything alright downstairs?" Jimmy asked.
"Yeah, no problems so far and now they know our demands," Johnny answered while leaning against a nearby desk. "All we have to do now is wait," He turned and walked out the door towards the other rooms. He walked over to the meeting room and entered the room. The people inside looked up from their various places. The guard followed him into the room and stood besides the door. Jimmy stopped watching the screens as he heard Andy walk out of the bathroom. He walked down the corridor before stopping and also entering the room. Andy stood on the other side of the door and shut it behind him. The people inside were frightened and looked a little tired. Johnny looked at both Andy and Phil before someone spoke out in the room.
"What do you want?" said the grey haired man who looked slightly older than the rest of the room. Johnny shook his head.
"Don't worry, as long as you behave and our demands are met by your friends outside, you will not be harmed," Johnny answered very calmly. He proceeded to tell his captives their demands and how and when they would be released when the demands came through. Jimmy sat in the room still watching over the several screen. He sighed and stood up leaving the room. Just as he did several of the screens went black with the words 'No Signal' in flashing in yellow letters. He took the few steps to the bathroom door and checked down the hall to see that Johnny was still in the meeting room with Andy and Phil. He opened the door and stepped in. He followed the small hall and found himself surrounded by glinting white tiles. He walked up the middle booth and pushed open the door. He looked up and saw Andy unconscious and covered in bruises, slumped up against the lavatory wall. He wasn't wearing any clothes apart from his underwear. Hadn't he just seen Andy walk out of the bathroom and into the meeting room with Johnny? It suddenly dawned on him that he hadn't seen Andy leaving the bathroom. It had been someone else. He slowly made his way out the bathroom and towards the meeting room, trying to remain calm. Inside, Warrick had taken a defensive stance.
"You really think that holding us hostage is gonna get what you want," He was practically shouting. "The city doesn't negotiate with hostage takers, especially to get some white trash Nazi out of jail," Johnny suddenly changed colour it looked like he was about the burst. He pulled a small calibre gun out from underneath his jacket and pointed it directly at Warrick. The muzzle was only a few centimetres away from his forehead. There was a sudden squeak from everyone in the room.
"If our demands aren't met, trust me! Your nigger blood will be the first to stain the carpet," Warrick expression never changed as a slight pull from Nick, pulled him backwards and further away from the gun. Johnny lowered his gun to his side. The team cowered against the table, Sara never taking her eye off their captors. The door opened and another entered the room. This one was also not wearing his mask. He shut the door and walked over to Johnny and whispered something in his ear. Johnny eyes went wide and he looked to the gunman on his left. He was tall and had very broad shoulders just like Andy. His gun was still hanging from his shoulder and his hands were down by his side. Jimmy walked between him and the gunman so that both sides were covered. Johnny turned back to the crowd around the table and began speaking again. "It seems that something has developed and I'm gonna have to kill someone," At the sudden news Sara's eyes darted to and from each of the gunmen in the room. She saw the one on the left wink at her from underneath his mask. Johnny quickly spun round and pointed his gun at the gunman. Sara watched on, as everything seemed to happen in slow motion.
"Stop!" Shouted the gunman before lurching forward and grabbing Johnny's arm just above the wrist. He bent it down causing the bone to snap and then back up causing the bone to snap again. The gun fell from Johnny's hand towards the floor as he opened his mouth to scream. Before he could, the gunman spun and threw his elbow into Johnny's face sending him flying to the floor. Phil lifted his AK towards the intruder but before he could get a shot off, the gun was grabbed and flipped causing the butt of the gun to connect with his chin causing him to stumble backwards. Jimmy pulled out his silenced sidearm and fired a shot, catching the intruder on the back of his upper arm. The intruder let out a whelp obviously trying to suppress the amount of sound in the room. He turned and threw the AK towards Jimmy who ducked down to avoid it before it smacked against the wall behind him. Jimmy came back up to find that the intruder was standing right in front of him. He kicked Jimmy's legs out from underneath him and Jimmy began to fall to the floor. As he was in mid air, the intruder landed a punch on Jimmy's chest sending him slamming into the hard floor knocking him out. Phil ran towards the intruder, but as he got close the intruder moved to the side and sent another punch right into his face causing Phil to flip and slam against the floor. Johnny was laid out on the floor as he looked down at his wrist, which was bent up towards his elbow in an unnatural way. With his free hand he dragged himself along the floor and lent against the wall. He cradled his obviously broken wrist in his lap as he continued to stare at the intruder. Everyone watched as the still masked man used some nearby brown parcel tape to tie the unconscious bodies up with their hands behind their backs and a strip of tape over their mouths. He turned towards Johnny who was know breathing very heavily, maybe heading towards shock. The intruder covered his mouth with tape to prevent him from calling for help. Sara continued to look on as did the rest of the team. She leaned over to Gil who was next to her and whispered to him.
"What is going on?" Before he could answer, the intruder stood back up and took a few steps back. Suddenly he spoke from underneath the balaclava.
"Johnny," He said to make sure he had the injured mans full attention. Johnny just sat there still holding his wrist with small sighs of pain calling from underneath the brown tape over his lips. "I want to see the look on your face when you realise who this is," He reached up and pulled the mask up and over his head. Underneath was a set of dark brown eyes and fairly light skin. The was a slight amount of stubble on his neck and above his top lip showing he hadn't shaved for a few days. At the pure sight of the face, Johnny's began to hyperventilate and shake. He began to scream but it was muffled out by the tape. His eyes were wide and showed his fear at the man stood in front of him. Suddenly his eye slipped into the back of his head and he slumped to one side as he went unconscious. The intruder turned to them and smiled. A small amount of blood began to trickle down his arm and drip onto the tile floor. His suddenly looked very sleepy before falling to one knee in front of them. Gil rushed to him to stop him from falling over completely. The wounded man looked up and smiled to silently thank him. The rest of the team stood up and took the few steps towards their saviour. Grissom let go of him as he returned to his standing position. He shook his head to try and shake off the light-headedness caused by the quick loss of blood. "I hate losing blood like that, it's like getting drunk but without the fun first," They all gave a questioning look at each other before looking back. Sara was the first to speak and she asked the question they wanted to ask.
"Who are you?" He looked towards her at the sound of her voice.
"Sorry, I always forget to introduce myself," He took off the grey jacket he had borrowed from Andy and ripped the clean sleeve from the jacket and then down the seam. "Major James Phoenix," He tied the sleeve around his arm just to stop the bleeding. It didn't help much and the bandage soon began to turn red as the blood soaked into it. They were all in shock and didn't speak. They just stared as he began speaking into a headset. "Red leader, this is Phoenix. I have secured the packages and the second floor," He listened to someone reply before continuing. "No, I haven't. I'm gonna let you guys stretch your legs a little, you can clear it when your ready," A few seconds passed before the lights went out. There were sudden loud bangs and several gunshots coming from downstairs. James put his back against the wall and opened the door slightly. He saw that the hallway was clear through the small gap and he fully opened the door. He slowly walked out, checking both directions as he did. With the lights out, the hallway was dark but with the flashing police lights outside the hallway skipped between red and blue. He signalled for the scientists to wait as he exited. They heard another door open and a few seconds later he reappeared. "Come on, lets get you guys out of here," He whispered. They all quietly followed still aware of the gunfire downstairs. They stepped out into the hall to see all the other lab staff had been released from the next room and had their backs against the wall. James walked passed them towards the top of the stairs. He backed against the wall just before the corner. There were quick footsteps coming up the stairs towards him. Two gunmen ran quickly passed him, not noticing him.
"Where did those guys come from?" Said one to the other. They suddenly noticed the lab workers against the wall. "What are you guys doing out here?" There was a loud snap as James came up behind him, twisting his neck to the left. The body went limp and fell to the floor. The other gunman turned from the noise.
"Oh god, another one!" He ran down the corridor panicking, trying desperately to get away with his life. He pulled out a small calibre weapon and pointed it behind him down the corridor. There was a loud bang followed by shattering glass as a bullet flew through the windows and collided with the gunman left leg. He dropped his gun and collapsed to the floor.
"He's down," Kim spoke over the radio. James just smiled. There we more footstep coming up the stairs.
"James?" Two people turned the corner. They both had blonde hair but one was a man and the other a women. Gil and his team didn't take much notice of their features as they were more concerned about getting to a safe place.
"What took you guys so long?" James answered. They both simply smiled back.
"The ground floor is all clear," said the girl. James nodded.
"Get these people outside," He said as he pointed to the lab workers. "I think they've had enough excitement for one night,"
Soon they were all outside, basking in the moons bright glow. All of them thankful to be out of danger. A couple of paramedics wondered through the crowd, checking everyone for injuries but finding only the occasional bump or scrape. Gil also wondered the crowd making sure everyone was ok. He saw Nick leaning against a cop car just staring up at the star filled sky.
"Hey Nick, you alright?" Nick turned to him and smiled.
"Yeah I'm fine," Nick looked around the vast amount of people in the car park. "What about the others? Are they alright?" Gil shrugged his shoulders.
"I've only seen Warrick and Catherine," He answered. He also looked around the car park. "I haven't seen Greg or Sara at all," Suddenly Nick saw Greg talking with Brass while sipping a cup of coffee.
"Greg's over there with Brass," Nick pointed in his direction. Gil looked towards where Nick was pointing to and he saw Greg but still no sign of Sara. There was a sudden round of applause as people saw their saviours coming out of the building. They walked towards the crowd but there was a sudden scream from inside the building. Everyone looked back towards the lab. James sprinted from the group, back into the building. Gil's eyes went wide as he realised it was Sara who was screaming. He also began to run towards the building entrance but he was stopped before he got there.
"Dr. Grissom, calm down. James will handle it," He didn't know who had spoken to him as he couldn't take his eyes from the lab. Kim began to speak over the radio.
"There's still a hostage on the second floor and it looks like one of the gunman has got her," Billy quickly shouted into his head set back to her.
"Kim, take a shot!"
"I can't get a clear view of him,"
James ran through the ground floor of the lab, heading towards the stairs. He pulled a M9 from his belt and grasped it with two hands. As he hit the stairs, he took them two at a time. He turned the corner onto the second floor corridor and raised his gun. Sara was stood about half way down the corridor with a larger man stood behind her with his hand over her mouth. James recognised him as the one he had knocked out in the bathroom from the bruises and the fact that he was only wearing his underwear. James then saw the gun resting against her right temple. Sara was wide eyed and shaking in fear. James took a few steps closer, still with his gun raised towards the gunman.
"Hey!" Shouted the gunman. "Put the gun down or the bitch gets it," James did nothing just continued to step closer to them. "Don't come any closer or I'll shoot," James stopped a short distance from them. "Good, now put down the gun!" He shouted. James did nothing for a few seconds. The gunman, getting anxious, pulled the hammer back on his gun causing it to click. Sara muffled a scream into her captor's hand.
"Ok!" James shouted back as he raised his gun in the air along with his other hand to surrender. "Ok, I'm putting down the gun, please don't hurt her," He slowed lowered towards the ground and placing the gun near his leg. He stayed crouched down and kept his hand next his ankle. He glanced towards Sara who looked like she could faint any minute and gave her another wink to try and calm her a little. She noticed the wink but it didn't help. He then whispered in to his earpiece. "Kim a distraction when your ready," It was a few seconds before another bullet shattered the pane of glass behind the gunman causing him to look away and point the gun towards the shattered glass. James sprinted forward and slid down onto his knees. As he approached them, he pulled a small combat knife from the holder around his ankle. He continued to slide until he slammed against Sara's legs. He pulled her down away from the gunman's grasp and slammed the knife into the man's chest. As James held onto the knife, the gunman shrieked in pain and dropped the gun in his hand. The gunman reached to try and remove the knife but instead grabbed James upper arm, embedding his fingers into the bullet wound that had been caused earlier. James eyes went wide from the pain and he too shrieked. He let go of the knife and the gunman fell backwards, letting go of James's arm. Sara fell next to him and just slumped against the wall. James used his other hand to cover the wound as the pain subsided. Sara just continued to stare at him. Once his breathing had clamed, he removed his hand and sighed. He turned and saw her just staring at him. "Are you alright?" He asked, still on his knees. A few seconds passed as she seemed to relax a little. He stood back up noticing the continuing pain in his arm. Suddenly she leapt forward and hugged him.
"Thank you," She started to cry a little into his shoulder. "Thank you so much," She stopped when she heard a little whelp. "What's wrong?"
"Did I mention that my arm hurts," She then realised that as she hugged him, she was squeezing the wound on his arm. She released him from the hug and stepped back just in time to see the trickle of blood continue to drip on the floor.
"I'm sorry, I…" She tried to apologise but he quickly interrupted her.
"It's ok, come on let get you some fresh air," They both walked down the stairs towards the exit. She walked slightly ahead of him and didn't notice the trail of blood drops he was leaving behind them. She stepped out into the open air, realising had she had never been so happy to be out of the lab. Upon seeing Sara exit the building, the whole gang ran over to her and she met them half way, happy to see that her friends were all safe. Kim walked towards them carrying her silver case. She smiled at seeing the woman was alright. She also saw James, fall to his knees. She dropped the silver case and ran towards him.
"James!" She shouted as he fell forward and collapsed, face first to the ground. Everyone turned towards her upon hearing her shout. She reached him and rolled him over to find him unconscious. Her hands were suddenly wet and she looked down to find them covered in blood. "Somebody get an ambulance; he's lost a lot of blood!"
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