"Agent Davidson?" Don asked his brother.
Charlie nodded without taking his eyes off the man, "Amita told me."
The masked man laughed, "Like you got the balls to shoot me. You might hit your friend here."
"He doesn't have to; backup is already on the way."
"But will they get here fast enough?" He tightened his grip around Megan's throat. Her eyes were beginning to roll back into her head and her skin was gaining a blue tinge.
Her grip on her gun finally faltered, and it clattered to the ground. Davidson pushed it back behind him with his foot. Megan made a last ditch attempt to try to elbow him in the side, but he held on to her arms with his other hand. A sudden tremor in her knees alerted Don that she was closer to death than ever before.
"I don't have to shoot you." Charlie murmured to himself, taking his eyes off the man and gazing up into the balcony. The one edge was still hanging dangerously, attached only by a single bar.
The chances of him hitting that bar with what shots he had were odds that he didn't think it was smart to take. Without any other options however…
Charlie took the best aim he could, imitating his brother every step of the way. His mind worked mathematically. If the sight of the gun could be lined up directly, then he might have a chance.
He took four quick shots and heard the metal crack.
There was the momentary allowance of a small grin of success before, the need to watch the results of his actions set in.
Whoever he had shot on the balcony gave a small cry of surprise, and the large metal structure fell to the ground.
Davidson threw Megan; face first, into the wall and dove out of the way. The end of the walkway landed on her legs, pinning her to the ground. She gasped and sucked in air at a rapid pace. Her air hunger was battling the crushed bones in her legs for control of her mind's pain center. There was one thing that caught her attention; the gun she'd dropped was within arm's reach. Picking it up, she tried to see through the dusty cloud that had formed.
Seeing that Charlie was distracted, Davidson barreled straight for him. Charlie raised the gun and pointed it at him, but he hesitated. Maybe the guy was right, and he couldn't shoot.
A single gunshot rang out and everyone froze. Almost in slow motion, Charlie felt a few warm droplets fall on his hands. Little red droplets.
Davidson fell forward, a single shot to his head having taken him out.
Megan, on her side, had dealt the fatal blow. Don began to approach her, but he froze mid-step.
Bleeding from a shot to her side, her gun extended in her blood-soaked palm, Agent Anderson walked coolly over the wreck of the balcony. She came to rest on the part crushing Megan's legs, and delivered a kick to the Agent's face, sending the gun flying and the already overextended Megan into unconsciousness.
She began to fire at Charlie, unloading her entire clip. He sprinted across the floor trying his best to avoid her bullets. When nothing struck him, Don smirked. The wound in her side must be a lot more damaging than she was letting on.
"Fuck!" She cursed the young professor. Thinking better of it, she pointed her gun at the table where Amita was hiding and quickly replaced the clip.
"Stand still or I kill the girl."
She had his attention, and he came to a screeching halt.
"You," She indicated Don, "Get over next to your brother."
Disgustedly, she walked right up to Charlie and ripped the guns from him and his brother, keeping hers trained on Amita.
"Call yourself FBI?"
"You're one to talk." Don shot back.
Using his own gun, she held it up to his head, "Don't make me."
"C'mon, you don't want Don."
"Charlie, shut up."
"That's good advice, Agent Eppes, you'd do well to listen to him, Dr. Eppes, or so help me I'll bring her out here, shoot her right in the fucking stomach and make you watch her die."
Charlie clenched his teeth, holding back his urge to simply hit Anderson, regardless of the results. Anderson put the guns into her belt and reached down to pat down Don's legs. She found nothing on his person that indicated to her that he was hiding anymore guns. Don wished she was wrong.
"Dr. Ramanujan, come here please."
"Don't do it!" Charlie yelled. Anderson punched him in the stomach, sending him to his knees, "I told you to shut up, Don told you to shut up, how can a genius be so damn dense?"
"Now, Dr. Ramanujan, you can come over and maybe I'll let you go, or you can die over there."
"Alright." Amita crawled out from under the table, her hands raised.
"Right here."
Once Amita was standing with Don and Charlie, Anderson moved the gun back and forth, aiming it at each one's head, "You know that if I had gotten you, we could all be on our way right now. But you had to unmask me and I can't let you go."
She shot Don in his other shoulder. He ended up on his back, gritting his teeth, "You're really good, Agent Eppes, so I want to put you out of commission first."
"Wait, just, please, tell us why you're doing this." Begged Charlie, trying to buy some time.
"Your girlfriend asked the same question. What did I say?"
Amita responded, "That this isn't a Saturday morning cartoon where you reveal your evil plan."
"See, I think she's smarter. Got more common sense than you do, anyway. Come on, can't you just accept that this is all insanity?"
"But you targeted certain people in certain cities. You must have some reason!"
"FBI freeze!" Five backup agents burst through the front door.
Anderson didn't even bother to turn around.
"Drop your weapon!"
She leaned into Charlie and Amita, "Sometimes, there is no method to the madness." Grinning, she aimed the gun at Amita. Both of the professors closed their eyes.
"I said, drop your weapon!"
A crack rang out, and Amita yelled in fear. Charlie tightened his grip on her, but nothing happened. Opening their eyes slowly, they saw Agent Anderson, lying motionless on her back in front of them. There was a pool of blood forming around her head.
Don looked over at them, "She shot herself."
Charlie pulled Amita into an embrace and held her for what seemed like hours. Clean-ups agents filled the warehouse all around them. Don and Megan were taken out on stretchers by the paramedics; Anderson's body was picked up and sealed in that foreboding black bag.
Little flashbulbs went off as various tags were placed on pools of blood or shell casings. People were talking all around them, but they heard nothing. It wasn't until an agent walked up to them and directed them over to the paramedics that they came back to reality.
Arm in arm, they walked to the ambulance and climbed in the back with Don.
His older brother grinned at them, "Glad it's all over?"
"Yeah." Charlie kissed Amita's forehead and she smiled for the first time in days.
"I'm glad you're still here."
Please review and tell me what you think!