Hostage - Chapter Five

Title: Hostage

Author: GalaxyDuster (aka Sara)

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I don't own the regular ER characters... obviously.
Spoilers: References to 13x18 - Photographs and Memories. (This happens the next day.)
Content Warning: Nothing more than your standard ER gore; drugs, violence.

"A helicopter?!" Neela's face twisted into an expression of utter disgust. "Where the hell does he think he's going to go in a damn helicopter?" She fisted her hands on her hips.

Gates sighed. "Whew. At least he's leaving the building, right?" He looked to Abby for agreement.

Abby simply looked back at him with disgust.

"What did you just say?" Neela asked, in a soft yet dangerous tone.

"I said it's great that the creep is getting out of the building, away from us," Gates said, seemingly not aware that he was shoving his foot even farther into his mouth.

Neela felt her entire face burning as she struggled to repress her anger. "That lunatic has Ray at knifepoint, and you think it's great that he's about to take him away in a helicopter?"

"Yeah, well, one person in danger is better than a couple thousand in danger, right?" Gates spoke as though it were the most simple logic in the world.

Neela was simply aghast at his sentiment. "I can't even believe you," she whispered, throwing her hands in the air and turning to walk away.

"Was it something I said?" Gates called after her. He looked at Abby again; she simply shook her head.

"Neela!" Gates caught up to her a few steps away. "Look, what's the big deal? The police aren't going to let that freak get very far. There's no way he's going to get out of Chicago."

"And you think he's not going to go down without a fight?" Neela whirled around, her eyes expressing all of the hurt that she was feeling inside.

"Neela, all that matters is that you're safe here."

She laughed incredulously. "No. That doesn't matter to me at all. What matters to me is that some crazy murderer is about to take Ray off on a helicopter ride over Chicago which is bound to… to …" Her voice broke again. She quickly covered her mouth with her palm, turning away from Gates.

He folded his arms, not really sure what to do. "What's the deal here, Neela?" He asked quietly.

She turned to face him again, wiping her face with her fingers. "What do you mean?"

Gates paused for a moment. Then he made perfect eye contact with her. "What's the deal with you and Ray?"

"Oh my God, I can't believe you'd bring that up at a time like this," Neela scoffed, sounding just a wee bit too defensive.

"It's relevant," Gates countered, not breaking eye contact.

"It's totally not relevant!" Neela laughed humorlessly and looked away.

"Let's be honest now," Gates said, plastering a false smirk across his face. Neela could see the anger behind his eyes. His jaw was firmly set.

"I'm not having this conversation," Neela retorted, trying to look unaffected. She started to walk away.

"Where do you think you're going?" Gates snapped, narrowing his eyes at her.

"I have to know what's going on," Neela replied. She, too, had set her jaw.

She knew what she had to do.

"Neela, don't be ridiculous. Where are you going?" Gates followed Neela as she walked toward the elevators.

"I have to know," she repeated. She pushed the call button, staring up into his face. "I can't just sit down here and do nothing."

"Neela, I'm not going to let you do this," Gates said sternly.

The elevator doors opened.

"Oh, why don't you just go and bugger yourself?" Neela hissed, stepping into the car and smacking a button to close the doors before Gates had a chance to stop her.

Ray looked up with surprise as the elevator doors opened to a familiar, dark little corridor. He hadn't been here too terribly often, but he recognized where they were immediately. It was the door that led to the roof of the hospital.

He'd been up here a time or two.

Chris looked around briefly as he pushed open the door to the outside. The wind whipped without apology along the rooftop, and the sun was shining brightly. The two men stepped out onto the pavement.

Ray glanced quickly at Chris, wondering what his next move would be.

"I used to be a pilot, you know," Chris said, lowering the knife to his side. He looked almost totally relaxed, Ray thought with quiet amazement.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," Chris continued. "I flew a news helicopter for a few years. I did private shuttles to and from Canada, too. I know my way around the air."

"Well, I wouldn't have guessed," Ray said shortly.

"I know. You people look at me, and you think I'm some homeless bum who maybe worked at McDonald's once or twice in my life, don't you? Well, I'm a person. I was a pilot for fifteen years. I have earned some God-damned respect." He looked both angry and tired as he spoke.

"You won't get any argument from me," Ray agreed. He looked at the tops of the buildings that were scattered around the hospital. He remembered following Neela up here to talk to her after Gallant's death. It seemed like ages ago.

"I'm expecting a helicopter to show up for me in the next fifteen minutes," Chris said, looking up into the sky. "I'm gonna have to bring you with me, doc. You understand."

Ray simply sighed. "Yeah. I figured as much."

"Nothing personal." Chris looked a bit pale all of a sudden, Ray thought. He wondered if the morphine was wearing off already.

Ray took a few deep breaths of the fresh air. He felt the warmth of the sun on his hands and face, and tried to appreciate it for what it was. He wondered how much time they would have here before the helicopter arrived.

"What are we going to do once we're in the helicopter?" Ray finally asked.

"I'm not sure yet," Chris shrugged. He tapped his fingers absently with the blade of his knife. "I guess I'll just have to see what happens."

At that moment, the door to the roof was flung open once more. Ray and Chris both looked up in surprise.

"This needs to stop. Right now," Neela said angrily, pointing her finger at Chris.