Disclaimer, "All characters belong to their rightful owners...it will start off with the Joss/ME characters, and any other characters or real-life folks are clearly not mine. NO money is involved. None are mine. I do not own the characters or any rights to the television show The Sentinel. They were created by Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo and belong to them, Pet Fly Productions, UPN, and Paramount.
Thanks to whomever it was that sent me an episode transcript when they realized I was going to go into a little more detail on this ep. I accidentally killed your email, but thanks for the help!
I know I usually write a little differently than this piece, but I'm trying to get the voices of the minor support characters in this one as well, keeping as much of the show as possible without the hokey parts that annoyed me when I used to watch this the first time around.
June 14th, 2003 – 11 AM
Cascade Police HQ Communications Room
One of the three self-proclaimed 'militia' men had managed to finally make sure everything was in place, their own gear as necessary replacing that of the police. The one in charge, McBride, sat in front of the computer console, nodding as the information on the screen met with his approval, "Okay... let's do this."
Personnel Office
Vera, the clerk, shook her head slightly as she informed Blair as to what he'd need to do, "You're required to read the manual, fill out the application materials, and sign the consent form."
"Great, great. When I'm done with all this, I should qualify for a license to kill, huh?"
Jim sighed and rolled his eyes at his new acquaintance, "We've got a couple of hours here, Chief. So I'm going to be leaving you in Vera's capable hands and head out to lunch with Frank and Carolyn. Alright?"
"Uh-huh, okay."
"Vera," Ellison started to leave, then paused "Is that White Shoulders that you're wearing?"
"It's not too much, is it?" Vera asked, wondering if she'd put too much on for someone to actually notice, and a guy at that.
"No, not at all. It's just that whenever I smell White Shoulders, it reminds me of my grandmother."
"Your grandmother?" the police clerk replied in a flat tone.
"Right."
"Don't you have someplace to go, Detective?"
Blair shook his head and tried not to laugh. Doe had already finished signing the papers and initialing as indicated in the instructions, entirely missing the byplay.
"Right. Um, good luck, guys."
"Now, Mr. Sandburg, the department requests all incoming personnel to submit to a drug test. I hope that's not a problem for you."
"Oh, come on! Do I look like that would be a problem?" Blair protested, then paused, "Don't answer that."
"We'll need a urine sample." Vera looked at both men, Doe shrugging and taking the proffered container and leaving. Blair winced.
"Now, that actually might be a problem you see, 'cause, um... I just went."
Frank, Jim and Carolyn entered the garage going to Jim's truck, still talking about the Kincaid crazies.
Carolyn half-smiled, used to how her ex-husband was acting, "Would you lighten up on yourself, Jim? You got two of them put away for life."
"We nailed foot soldiers, Carolyn. Garrett Kincaid is still out there."
"You're not responsible for every lunatic on the loose."
Frank rolled his eyes, having had the same conversation with his own wife many times, "She's right, Jim. I know how ya feel, but remember every one of those whackos off the street makes the public a little safer. Kincaid will be brought in sooner or later…and we're taking my sedan. Your truck is so too small for all three of us. You complain, I'll drive and Carolyn will smack you in the back of the head if you get too mopey."
As they drove out of the garage, Frank narrowly avoided being squished by a white semi-truck. A grim man in the passenger side of that vehicle went unseen by them, which wa ironic as he was the focus of the current conversation.
"Alright, everyone listen up. This is Kincaid. We're now in the building. We are on standby status."
Communications Room
One of the men turned to the other and nodded as direction to begin the next phase of operations.
"Well, that takes care of the Gestapo in the field. Now for the rest of the ones in the building." He punched a button for the internal intercom, "Attention, all field units at central. Attention all field units at central. This is an emergency mobilization. Repeat, this is an emergency mobilization. An airliner has crashed into the Wiseman Water Reclamation Plant just south of the airport. All field personnel in the building report to Sergeant Howard at the crash site immediately."
Within three minutes most of the police staff had run into garage and left the facility as a white semi-truck enters garage. The man in the communications room waited until the truck was in then reached for his personal radio, "Start the lockdown."
The gates closed in the garage and men with weapons exited the semi. Kincaid without remorse shot down three officers that were still in the garage. Kincaid turned to his followers.
"Gentlemen let's move out. We have a building to secure."
Cascade PD Building
Kincaid's men herded everyone they came across down the halls. One of the militia losers entered a room and ordered everyone out, during which Blair crossed the hall to the bathroom unnoticed and unaware seconds before a few Kincaid's followers came around the corner. Rhonda from Major Crimes, and the captain's son Daryl were among the captures. The kid couldn't keep his mouth shut.
"Man, anything happens to me, and you're smoked. My father's the..."
"Daryl, please, let's just try to cooperate," Rhonda cautioned the teen as both were pushed through the Major Crimes door.
The rather large Joel Taggart in the next hall over quickly attacked one of the terrorists, knocking him almost unconscious, but was shot by another goon while trying to flee.
John had just finished washing his hands when he and Blair heard the shots. The young anthropologist raced to barely crack open the door and watched as one of Kincaid's men belittled the wounded Taggart as two other disarmed officers helped him toward Major Crimes.
"If you weren't a captain, bacon boy, you'd be dead right now. Let's get going."
Blair turned from the door to see John's feet disappearing into ductwork over one of the stalls. As one of the terrorists enters the bathroom to search by looking under the stall doors, John's already closed the vent while the scholar has planted himself atop one of the toilets in hopes of evading capture. The man leaves a moment later and John Doe opens the vent.
"You coming with me, Blair?"
"How's that better than just staying here?"
"They might need to use the facilities at some point…"
"Um, no. Chances are they won't find me, and I'm not sure the vents are our best bet."
"What if you just came up into the vent and stayed here?"
"No, you go ahead. Maybe get to the outside and find help."
"Okay. Good luck."
Communications Room
Kincaid and two of his henchmen entered the focal point of their takeover. He nodded recognition toward one man, named Southern, before addressing the second follower.
"Well, McBride. Is our building secure?"
"Every entrance sealed and guarded, Commander. Elevators are disabled, and we're manning the cameras just in case, sir."
"Good. What about the cops in the field?"
"All units diverted. Southern?"
"Jammer's operating. We got their communications completely shut down."
Kincaid smirked slightly as he looked around the room, "Looks like we've got the whole city at our feet. But I have an idea to make things a little more interesting. How many criminals are in the building?"
"In the holding cells down below, I think their might be twenty or thirty, and another six up here on this floor."
"Good. Southern, I want you to raid the evidence locker and find weapons, drugs, that sort of thing. Then take a man with you and escort the scum to take what they can carry. We'll let them out the garage all at once. Between the need to 'protect the public' from armed thieves and murderers, and our own situation, the cops will be spread even thinner once they catch on."
"What if they don't want to participate?"
"Tell them to fire the guns in the air after they leave and dump 'em around the corner. They can wait to be arrested again. I don't care. I want them out of here causing problems. Don't be afraid to kill one if you need to get the point across."
"Yes sir."
Outside Police Department
Carolyn tried her cell phone, this time calling the station since she knew the phones there were working before they left..
"Anything?" Jim asked as Frank stopped at an intersection.
"It's not just my voicemail, the whole phone system's shut down. And I can't even connect with the station, Jim."
"The backup network should have kicked right in. Try 911."
"Tried already. Disconnected."
"Something's wrong here. Frank, turn around and head back to the station."
"Alright, but don't think this gets you out of eating Indian…"
They turned around and a minute later were quite surprised to find the main gate closed off. Instead of stopping, Frank moved further along and made a u-turn. They got out and started to walk up to the entrance.
Jim shook his head, "Why is the gate closed? What the hell is going on here?"
Frank looked around, "When one of you takes off for lunch, it looks like the rest of you bail, eh Jim? What's up with the lax work ethic?"
Carolyn laughed as Jim Ellison rolled his eyes from the verbal direct hit. Looking around, he saw nothing, but then focused his sentinel vision into the garage and saw a man aiming a weapon at them from inside.
"Down!" he shouted and yanked both companions back to place a wall between the gunman and themselves. Three shots rang out, striking the building across the way. "There's a guy with a gun in there. Let's find cover."
Major Crimes Division
Kincaid entered to find his men finishing securing most of the obvious threats from among the captured police staff.
"Good work, gentlemen. For once we can say that justice will prevail."
Joel Taggart sighed under what he thought was the ability of the nutcase to hear, "Score one for the psychopaths."
"Captain Taggart, I can see that that bullet hole in your leg hasn't taught you any manners." Kincaid sneered as he ground his boot heel into the policeman's wound, causing a choked gasp of agony from the man.
"Keep your mouths shut and you might just live to get that fixed, fatty." The 'militia' leader shook his head with a look of mirth as he noticed Daryl Banks. He reached over and examined the ID badge still hanging around the boy's neck,
"Where's your daddy, boy?"
"Getting ready to kick your ass."
Kincaid pulled his gun and held it in front of Daryl's face, "I think Taggart's been a bad influence on your attitude. If you mouth off again, I'll shoot him in the stomach; that shouldn't be too hard to hit, huh?"
Kincaid kicked the boy's feet out from under him, causing a fall atop Joel, who groaned again from the sudden pain.
Outside of Cascade Police Department HQ
Frank Hayes had handed his radio over to Jim Ellison, who repeated his attempt to contact field units.
"David 152 to all patrol units. We have a field emergency. Central is under siege. We have an unknown number of suspects with assault weapons. Any unit, please respond code 3." Jim turned to the others, "They've somehow jammed all the channels. Stay here; I'm going to try to see if I can see anything from behind that car across the street."
Detective Ellison alighted from the vehicle and focused his attention, mainly his hearing at the window in front of Major Crimes. Most sounds were random voices, but he began picking up Kincaid's men and some of what they were doing. A car approached suddenly and the honking of its horn by Simon. Jim winces and jerks back from the loudness focused by his senses.
"Jim, are you okay?" Carolyn asked, noticing his sudden debilitation.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."
Pulling up, Simon got out of his car and raced over on foot.
"Jim, what the hell's going on? I couldn't raise anybody on the radio."
"Get down! You'll get your head blown off, Simon," the ex-Ranger told his captain as he yanked Simon down to ground. "It's Garrett Kincaid and his men. They've sealed the building and shut down communication. Our cars can't even talk to each other."
"My god! Daryl's in there!"
"Simon!" Jim snapped as he pulled Simon, who was standing up, back down again. "Simon, he's okay."
"How do you know?"
"I saw him at the window," Jim demurred, not ready to reveal his sentinel abilities. "He's in the squad room with the other hostages."
"By now they've got to know that he's my kid."
"Simon! Settle down. He is scared, but he's unharmed and he needs you now. Hang in there."
"You know, in these hostage situations, if you survive the first assault, you stand a pretty good chance."
"Yeah."
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah. Sandburg's in there too."
"Picked a hell of a day to get the guy his credentials."
"Yeah."
Frank Hayes shook his head, "And then Doe's in there. No telling what could happen next."
Jim smiled, "Hopefully they're somewhere in a supply closet with Sandberg coming up with case studies on gang dynamics while your guy cites the references for him."
Hayes rolled his eyes, easily picturing the two.
Restroom
One of Kincaid's men entered the room looking for hiding police staff again. Giving the place a casual examination, he had almost reached the door when Blair accidentally slipped from his perch between the stall walls and his foot flushed the toilet.
Man redrew his weapon and stepped slowly towardthe stall door next to Blair's, and raising a foot pushed it open quickly. No one inside. He shifted to the one in front of Blair, who was now sitting where he'd ended up on the floor. Noticing how the scary guy with the gun seemed to pause before kicking in the door, Blair placed both feet on the bottom of the door.
The man repeated himself, touching the door in just a little, and Blair pushed the doors hard and out with all of his strength. The door pushed the man's leg up and sent him flying back on the slick floor. His remaining foot slipped and the man flailed back and slammed his head hard on the sink behind him, the gun dropping to the floor.
John heard the commotion back in the restroom and slowly made his way back. Looking through the vent, he saw no sign of Blair Sandberg, but he did see the man on the floor and his gear. Calculating the descent, he dropped down. Searching the man and pocketing the extra gear, he found the criminal had an earpiece for the radio, a Swiss Army knife, and some rope. He reached into his knowledge and tied the man's feet and hands together behind the back and put him stomach-first onto the toilet. Using the man's shirt as a gag, John crawled back into the vent.
Communications Room
Kincaid looked at the monitor McBride indicated.
"I called you as soon as he showed up," Southern assured his leader; Captain Banks and others were hiding behind a vehicle.
"Poor guy's got to be worried sick about that boy of his. That ain't Ellison with him, is it?"
"Yes, sir."
"McBride, give me that phone."
The Street Below
Simon hung up the phone he was on, unhappy with the uncontrolled situation, "Yes, sir, I'll be waiting. Thank you for cutting me off. Well, all, the Mayor's got the fire department doing a full evacuation within a two block radius. He's also going to try to get word to the Governor."
Simon's phone rang again, "Banks here."
"Captain Banks, Garrett Kincaid here."
"Alright, you listen to me, Kincaid..."
"No, you listen. Now you've lost six people already. Casualties of war. Unavoidable. Your man Taggart is wounded and losing blood fast. And that boy of yours, God love him, needs to learn to have a little respect for his elders."
"I swear if you do anything to hurt him..."
"Shut up, Banks. In twenty-eight minutes a helicopter's going to land on the roof of your city jail. My two men Morrison and Alton are POWs there. You will release them. In 33 minutes that chopper will touch down on this roof. If my men are not on that chopper you're going to have a hell of a lot more people to bury."
"We have got to release some hostages. To show good faith."
"Sending one out right now if that's what you want." Kincaid nodded to his henchman.
McBride smiled as he radioed the man in the other room, "The Commander says 'Go'."
One militia member proceeded to use his M-16 to shoot out one a large window while two others grabbed Daryl and stepped toward the gaping hole.
"Hey, wait, wait. Get the hell off me. What are you doing? Get off me! Help me!"
Simon suspected something was wrong from the tone of the terrorist, "Kincaid, I want those people kept safe up there."
Kincaid snorted with amusement as Daryl continued to call out, his father now hearing his cries through the phone line.
"Dad, help me!"
Jim could clearly hear everything in the background on Kincaid's side of things, "Oh, no. This ain't good."
"Damn it, let go of me!" Daryl cried out as the two lowered him head-first to their amusement and Simon Banks' horror, "Get off me!"
"Oh, my god. Daryl."
"Please don't drop me. Daddy! Daddy, help me! Oh, please. Please! Daddy! Don't drop me. Don't kill me. Don't let me die. Daddy, help me, please! Daddy, help me! Daddy!"
"Kincaid, you still there?" Simon spoke into the phone with concern.
"I'm right here, Captain Banks."
"I'll be talking with the Governor in a minute."
"Good. Now, I don't want any police, SWAT, National Guard, Salvation Army. I don't want anybody showing up. Cause if they do, I'll have to start killing more sworn agents of the United States of Tyranny. Am I making myself clear? And I'll tell you something, Captain-- I've got a whole roomful to choose from."
"I understand."
"I do believe we've made our point." He waves at his people to pull the boy back inside for now.
Jim, Frank, Simon, and Carolyn relocated to a building across the street from the police department. Simon had been able to contact the governor's office on his cell, but didn't seem to be having much luck with the woman who ran the State of Washington.
"You cannot just have them roll in. People's lives are at stake. My son is in there, Governor!"
"I understand, Captain, and I feel for you. But I must be concerned with the lives of everyone else in Cascade. I have no choice but to call up the National Guard."
"Begging your pardon, ma'am, but Kincaid and his men are stone killers with a reputation for carrying out their threats. If the Guard rolls in, we could have a bloodbath on our hands."
"If six of your people are really dead, I'd say we already do."
"What about the prisoners Kincaid is demanding?"
"They stay right where they are. Captain Lomax in Tacoma is sending in a force to intercept the terrorist helicopter at the Cascade Jail."
"If Kincaid doesn't get what he wants, I guarantee he'll react."
"Since you're the only one who has contact with Kincaid, we're counting on you to control the situation until the Guard gets there. We've gotten the local TV stations to sit on the story. The minute people realize the police department's been rendered impotent, the whole city could panic."
They discussed the situation as it was, with what details and guesses indicated, making their way into a business for better and more secure cover.
"We'll do our best, Governor." Simon hung up the phone. "She wants us to keep things as calm as we can until the Guard arrives. And apparently, all units are being told to hold position or the hostages will be killed. So that's where our guys are."
"Captain…Simon, in less than 25 minutes, Kincaid will realize that his men won't be freed and then the Guard arrives. Either event is enough to send that psycho off on a killing spree."
Carolyn frowned and shook her head, "Well, Jim, what options do we have?"
"Well, I can get in the building and take my chances."
"With his men crawling all over the place?"
Simon sighed, "Carolyn's right, Jim. They got that place sealed up tight."
"Simon, there's got to be something we can do. This isn't going to remain 'peaceful' much longer." Ellison looked over to a man standing behind a counter, "Tom, you have a fax machine, right?"
"Who doesn't?"
"Carolyn, have Public Works fax over a map of the sewer system in a four-block radius of the station."
A fireman entered the premises, "Sorry, folks. Got a gas leak in the area. We need everybody to clear out."
Jim held up his badge, "We're aware of the situation, thanks. Police business."
The fireman turned to Tom and waved him toward the door, "Let's go, sir."
"Jim, lock up before you leave. The fax is in the office in the back. Gas leak, huh? Good story."
Break Room
Blair had scurried out of the way of a couple different minions, but eventually was forced to try hiding behind a large but unbalanced vending machine.
"God... god, please..." he whispered to himself in borderline panic, "Please, I promise, If you get me out of this, I will stop lying. I'll stop lying to Denise, And Jill, and, um...oh, yeah, and Ann, and Ann too, right."
Van Dyke, one of the militiamen, entered unaware, and dropped coins in the machine slot.
"Exact change? Bullshit; I've got some change."
"No! Don't shoot!" Blair shouted as the thug fired a couple of rounds into the recalcitrant machine. The anthropologist with all of his strength managed to topple the unit, trapping the militia loser under it, forcing all of the air painfully from the man's lungs by crawling over the machine and fleeing.
Simon and Frank finished putting on Kevlar vests as Jim uncovered a manhole fro a sewer entry into the building as Carolyn shifted to radio duty.
"I got to clean this damn trunk out one of these days," Simon complained to himself. "I know they're in here somewhere... Ah. Here we go. We're ready to go, now."
Frank nodded, checking his vet and weapons, "I'm good. Simon?"
"Yeah. I should have taken Daryl with me. I should have left him with his mother. Instead, I left him in the middle of this mess."
Jim looks a little overwhelmed with the smell coming from below.
Carolyn tried to reassure the senior officer, "Simon. Those are our friends in there. They'll watch out for him."
"Yeah, I know, as best they can. How do you think your buddy Sandburg's doing, Jim, or that Doe guy, Frank?"
Jim shook his head and sighed, "It's hard to say. I don't know him all that well."
"Isn't he your cousin's kid?"
"Yeah. We just didn't see that side of the family that much, you know."
Frank nodded, "I hear that. And as for Doe, I'm hoping him and your cousin have the sense to hide out if they haven't been captured, and to keep their brainy mouths shut and out of trouble if not.
Simon grimaced with a nod, "Come on."
"Oh man, that stinks." Jim pulled back a bit, his sentinel smell picking up a wee too much of the sewer smell.
"You alright?"
Yeah, I'll be fine."
Carolyn looked over at the three men about to head in, "Jim?"
"I know. Be careful."
Simon slapped Frank on the back to head down, "Let's go. When you get down there, Jim'll take point, Frank, you take our six. Right?"
Jim coughed after they nodded agreement to the line up, "I don't know if I can handle this, Simon."
"Don't you think you're overreacting a bit?"
"Just give me a minute to acclimate, will you?"
"Fine. You got the map, Frank?" The man nodded and unfolded it. Simon mused, "Looks like we want to head down this way. That should take us to this opening right here in the garage. Come on."
Major Crimes
"Fifth floor's good," Nolan reported to Kincaid, "No sign of a bogey."
"What's the condition on Van Dyke?"
"Still tried to bring him around."
"I want that intruder found, Nolan. Immediately, alright? Now, move it."
"Yes, sir."
Sewer System Under Police Complex
"There should be a bin to the left right here. Damn! We're running out of time, Jim."
"I smell gasoline, Simon. Where's the nearest gas station to here?"
"There aren't any gas... Wait…the pumps in the garage."
Jim and Simon looked up through hatch, calculating the odds and what they'd have to do. Frank Hayes held back and double-checked
"We're going to have to move fast, Jim. The security cam is looking our way. Frank you ready? You and I'll go first."
Communications Room
Both men ignored the security monitors as they talked, McBride sighing, "Any sign of the bogey, Southern?"
"No, but he took Van Dyke out with a vending machine."
"A what?"
"A vending machine, and Garrett's pissed since we still can't find Johnson."
Frank and Simon raced across the garage, the men too absorbed in discussing Van Dyke to notice the monitor as the two cops disappeared off-camera.
"What was Van Dyke doing at a vending machine?"
"I don't know…getting a soda?"
"Van Dyke -- that boy's an idiot."
Southern finally looked at the monitors, noticing Jima but just missing the others, "That's Ellison!"
McBride reached for the radio, "Jennings, there's an intruder in the garage-- your level."
"Copy that. I'm on my way."
Jim overheard the last remark as Frank made for the foor.
"Hold up Frank, Someone's coming!"
Instinct took over as Frank rolled one way, and Simon with him to avoid being seen immediately. Jim couldn't quite get out of 'line of sight' as Jennings opened the door with his gun readied and thereafter firing.
Jim and the criminal exchanged fire , the policeman taking two shots to the vest that knocked him down hard. Simon fired twice into Jennings at almost point-blank range as Frank eliminated the camera. A moment later Kincaid, who was listening in, cut in on the radio.
"McBride, those better be our guns I hear."
"Yes, sir. That was our ol' buddy Ellison tried to be a hero. Jennings took him out but we lost our video in a fire fight."
"That's good news. Good work, Jennings."
Simon reached for the radio asFrank disarmed and checked over the body of the terrorist.
"Thank you, sir." He looked over as Ellison pushed himself off the ground and stumbled to his feet. "Man, Jim! Looked like a good catch."
"Yeah, it was…to the vest. Let's get moving, guys."
Communications Room
"Commander, this is Nolan. I've got Walters on the ground-to-air. We have a problem."
"Talk to me, Walters."
"I'm circling the jail, Commander. No sign of Alton, Morrison or anyone."
"I can't believe they're messing with me on this. What more do they need to see? Nolan?"
"Sir?"
"Use the TOW."
"Yes, sir."
Walters interjected over the radio, "Commander Kincaid, I got company. There's a police chopper coming up on my rear."
"Take defensive action, Walters."
A moment passed.
"Direct hit, sir. Direct hit. They're down."
"Excellent."
Joel Taggart couldn't believe what was happening, "Kincaid... You're insane."
"Relative to what, Captain?"
Nolan informed his boss, "We're ready to launch, sir."
"Do it."
The terrorist on the roof launched the missile into a nearby building, the explosion enough to cause internal explosions and the disintegration of the structure.
Simon looked over at Jim, "What the hell was that?"
"Kincaid just found out he's not getting what he wants."
Frank shook his head as they continued, "I think I really hate that guy."
"It's okay. Just do your Kundalini breathing," Blair Sandburg told himself, remembering his yoga classes, "Remain calm and you might get out of here alive."
He took a few steps toward the stairs, but heard footsteps and raced back down the hall and into an office, barely missing two of Kincaid's thugs. Waiting another moment, he dashed toward a supply closet down the hall they'd already checked, when he tripped over the leg of an overturned chair and went flying forward into one of the militia guys coming out of an adjacent office he'd been searching. The man went down, his drawn sidearm going off several times at an angle from their bodies. A man screamed nearby, lifted his foot only to have another round take out the other.
Blair tried to get up, holding the man's gun to the side and the struggle emptied the clip. He ran back into the office in hopes of finding a door or an open window.
"Crap…" he whined, and picked up a big marble and hurled it at face-height toward the door. The dazed militiaman raced in right then, reloaded gun drawn, only to take it in the face. He managed to fire two rounds off as he went sprawling backwards. Blair grabbed at the gun but the man, however injured, pushed him away, but the gun also went free. Blair ran back into the room, not noticing a figure drop from a vent to land atop the foot-shot man down the hall, ending the screams by knocking all the air out of him.
Downstairs
The police trio made its way through the floor, reaching the inoperative elevators. As Frank and Simon finish checking rooms, Jim's placing his hand on the stairwell door.
"The door's still warm, Simon. I think they've just managed to weld it." The detective got up as Simon put his hand on the locked door, unable to pick up heat.
"It's not still warm. Jim!" Simon sighed, Frank following the two men back to the garage, where Ellison explained he was going to try blowing the door.
After about fifteen minutes of locating a police motorcycle, Jim has mostly taken it apart so he could make-shit create a charge t blow the door as he and Frank half-listen to the man's conversation with the governor going nowhere.
"No, Kincaid hasn't called back. My guess is that he's done talking."
Governor's tone was a bit frustrated, "If he does contact you, inform him I'm releasing Alton and Morrison."
"Governor, we could still have a chance at stopping this on our end."
"Captain Banks, 'could' isn't good enough. The potential for loss of life has become unacceptable. If we hadn't evacuated the area, do you realize how many casualties we'd be dealing with? My god, I never imagined we'd be facing such firepower."
"With your permission, I'd like to continue our efforts here."
"Do what you can, Captain. And good luck."
As Simon finished the call, Frank had finished moving the motorcycle as Jim finished wiring it for detonation.
Simon as he and Frank returned, "Did you get the battery hooked up?"
"Yeah, come on guys. We'll use the elevator for cover."
Hallway
John picked up the foot-shot man's gun, and realizing that as Blair scurried back into the office yet again, large ball in hand, that the floored terrorist retrieving his gun wasn't going to take John's new associate prisoner. John fired three times, two slamming into the shoulder of the man's gun arm, and another splintering the doorframe.
Blair in office
Blair shrieked as he heard the guy behind him open up; desperate the anthropologist hurled the ball into the window, near where the earlier shots had struck. The window shattered outward and he raced to crawl out the window to an espied window-washing platform just below normal line-of-sight.
Blair, "I don't believe this. I don't believe this! Okay, just picture yourself there."
A terrorist on the roof heard the noise, and looked over, surprised but still reacting quickly to the odd situation. He opened fire, but at such an angle it proved extremely difficult. Blair cringed but remained unharmed.
"No... no!" he complained to himself, "This is NOT what I signed up for…"
Hallway
John noticed the unconscious state of the first man, but after quickly removing weapons, he realized he'd been circling the floor. Considering his options, he raced back down toward the bathroom after seeing Blair was not around anymore. With a bit of trouble, but success, he re-entered the vent system and headed toward Major Crimes, many weapons on him to use if necessary.
Blair's Precarious Perch
Blair noticed he was in fact bleeding from a couple skinning ricochets, and there were even two holes in his jacket. The man up top stopped firing, but Blair kept racing to get the platform moving. He couldn't, so he jumped up and onto the ledge. Shots up top on the roof led to the cables releasing and the platform crashing to the ground. Quietly for a couple of minutes he snuck a glance around the corner of another large hole in a window, only to be grabbed and dragged in. A very unhappy Garrett Kincaid pointed a gun at Sandburg, ready to pull on the trigger, "Are you the mole that took out two of my men? In this militia, that's a capital offense."
"Hey, man, I'm not even in your militia. You don't want to do that, believe me. I'm worth more to you as a live hostage than a dead body."
"What makes you think that your sorry ass is worth anything to anybody?"
"Banks sent me in to make sure none of our people try anything, o-or you guys just up and kill the hostages."
"You're a cop?"
"Yeah. Lieutenant Sandburg, Narcotics. I've been teamed with Ellison."
Joel interrupted in hopes of keeping the kid alive, "He's telling the truth, Kincaid."
"Shut up Taggart!" Kincaid spat, firing a round next to the policeman's head, splinters tearing from the wood paneling.
"Commander! Commander" Nolan interrupted, "It's Walters."
"Go ahead, Walters."
"They just brought out our POWs. I'm dropping down to retrieve them, sir."
"Good work, Walters. Sometimes all it takes is just a little persuasion. Looks like the execution's off. I guess I could use a man like you."
Communications Room
"What the hell was that?" Southern asked his teammate just before Kincaid came over the radio. None were able to tell that the stairwell door had been blown wide open.
"McBride! What the hell was that!""
"I don't know, sir. It have must been the lobby. Smoke alarm's going crazy."
"Hoskins? Get down there and kill whoever's in my building."
"Yes, sir."
Stairwell
A few minutes of rushing up the stairs found the policemen outside the door to the floor where they expected to find Kincaid's men and the hostages. Jim stopped at the door, listened for a second or two, then to his companions' surprise yanked Hoskins through it and into a wall, hard. They heard the face bones crunch, the nose and maybe more taking damage as the man slumped unconscious.
Simon looked at his friend and subordinate officer, "How the hell did you know he was back there?"
"Couldn't you smell him? It's too much Skin Bracer."
"Come on," Frank told the knocked-out Hoskins as he handcuffed the man to the wall. Simon is left staring at Jim in disbelief, especially when he cocks his head to the side for a moment.
"We got to move, Simon. Their chopper's coming in."
"What are you talking about Jim," Simon responded with a little exasperation, "I still don't smell or hear anything."
The three cops made their way deeper into the building over the next several minutes, nearing the communications room. Jim can hear enemy radio communications.
"This is Kincaid. Everyone report to the squad room immediately. Repeat, everyone report to the squad room immediately."
The three stopped at the doorway of communications, weapons drawn and ready as Jim tries to listen through the door.
Simon had almost reached the end of his patience, rolling his eyes, "What is it this time, Jim? Too much English Leather?"
"Shhh," the detective admonished as he listened to the enemy walk down the hall, "Clear."
They headed inside, all three crouching low to avoid being seen entering the room.
Major Crimes
Joel and Daryl both exchanged a look as the two bound-together males broke the tape the terrorists had wrapped around their wrists earlier.
"This is it. We will evacuate as planned. Mr. Natural here is coming with me. He's my protection."
Communications Room
Simon typed a message into the computer for all units to return to central ASAP, lights and no sirens upon approach. Jim relayed Kincaid's conversation to the others.
"They're planning to evacuate, guys."
Frank looked at him like he was crazy, "You can really hear in there?"
"Shh!"
Major Crimes
"This is victory, gentlemen. Now, we will rendezvous at Camp Liberty as planned." Kincaid paused melodramatically for the moment. "Alright? Congratulations, guys. I'm proud of all of you. Now move out. Southern, McBride... you two stay here."
"Why, Sir?" Southern frowned.
"Nolan will pick you up downstairs as planned. It shouldn't take more than thirty seconds to execute these hostages."
"Captain, we never talked about killing the hostages."
"This is war. There are no prisoners. There are no witnesses. You know that."
At that moment, as Jim Ellison turned to tell his two companions what was going to happen, John Doe dropped down onto the militia leader from above; everyone in the room caught by surprise. Blair fell back into Southern and McBride as those militia men in the hall heard a commotion and turned back. The two terrorists fumbled their weapons for a moment as the anthropologist landed on the ground.
John looked at the gun in his hand for a moment, calculated angles and fired four times according to the manuals, striking the two assigned to execution duty in the upper arms holding weapons. Kincaid made to stand, but Daryl lunged forward to dog pile the criminal as Blair bit the man's ear to distract him.
Kincaid screamed out from the pain, while two shots fired from a textbook weaver-stance by John Doe struck two returning terrorists square in the foreheads at a range of only six feet. The body armor they were wearing had given him very little to target and he'd had to move quickly before their automatic weapons could be brought to bear. A wounded Captain Taggart brought down a large and heavy suspect identification book hard and fast onto Kincaid's face and jaw, the second hit knocking the man out as he'd torn free from Sandberg.
Four shots were fired out in the hallway, and those inside Major Crimes could hear Jim Ellison and Simon Banks shout down the terrorists to drop weapons. Rhonda and two others grabbed weapons, listened at the doors then slowly moved into the halls to assist.
A minute later, Captain Simon Banks entered the room to find everything under control, a stunned and somewhat morose John Doe being congratulated for his swift action, and Rhonda keeping Daryl from line of sight of the now-covered bodies of the dead terrorists.
"Daryl! Daryl, come here." He hugged his son tight, "It's alright, son. It's alright."
"Oh, Dad, man." The boy was tired from the stress of the last hour. "I knew you'd come."
"Oh yeah, how could I not? We have some fishing to do." The policeman looked over to Rhonda. "They're gone now. Jim's triggered the gates to let our people in to do mop up of the few left in the building. Rhonda. Daryl, I want you to stay with Rhonda now, okay? I have to make sure everything's under control. I'll be right back. You got him, Rhonda?"
"Got 'im, Captain."
Twenty minutes later, Jim and Simon both converged back into Major Crimes having made sure the building was secured and the National Guard were able to keep the terrorist helicopter on the roof. The police psychiatrist was already talking to Doe about what he'd had to do, so they let him be.
Carolyn ran up and half-hugs Jim, "I thought I told you to be careful, you bum."
"I was careful. Wasn't I, Simon?"
"Extremely careful. For you."
"Not helping so much, Simon."
"Hey, I won't lie for ya this time," Simon lightly smiled, "But seriously, Carolyn, Jim was in his element. So maybe this time only a light reprieve might be in order."
Blair wandered over from where he'd finished giving a statement. Daryl had explained how he and Blair managed to help Doe.
"So, I guess this means you're in," Simon told him.
"I'm on the team!"
"Strictly as an observer."
"Right, right. As an observer. Strictly. Of course."
As Blair went in search of a drink of water, Simon waved Ellison over and looked over his friend and subordinate officer, "Okay, what's going on here, Jim?"
"What do you mean?"
"You were awesome today. I've never seen anything like it. You were hearing things I couldn't hear; smelling things I couldn't smell. I mean, level with me, will you?"
"Alright. Over the past couple of weeks, I've had these sensory things going on. Things I couldn't control. It turns out I've got what can only be described as hyperactive senses."
"What? You mean like a superman thing?"
"No, no, no, it's all perfectly natural, Simon."
"Yeah. And your friend, Sandburg?"
"He's really an anthropologist. He's made a study of people like me in pre-civilized cultures."
"Pre-civilized cultures," Simon smiled at that description, "That sure describes you alright."
"Hey…he wants to observe me so he can help me figure out a way to deal with this."
"Too much information right now for me, alright?"
"I can imagine."
"So I'll tell you what. In a couple of days when we get this mess cleaned up and things return for what passes for normal around here, I want both of your butts in my office and you tell me exactly what's going down. Alright? And I want Hayes and Doe in there too. That Mr. Encyclopedia saved a room full of cops today, and Sandberg did fine as well from what I can see. And more importantly, my son is safe."
"Yes, sir. They didn't know about me, but okay."
"Make it a group effort. Whatever their damage is, just roll it into yours. I don't want everybody confusing me with too many damned secrets. And now I think I'm going to go give a hug to my son."
"Good idea."
Blair joins Jim.
"You told him, didn't you?"
"Yeah, I had to."
"What happened?" Did he, like, freak or what?"
"No. I actually think it's all going to turn out to be just fine. Though he wants Doe and Hayes in on it so he can keep things straight."
"Great, great. There's just one more thing I got to ask you."
"What's that?"
"This wasn't like a typical day for you, was it?" Blair looked at his new colleague with concern, but Jim just started laughing and walked away. "Well, is it?" Come on!"