A/N: It's getting intense. The cops are moving in, led by our corrupt federal agent, but our heroes are in even deeper trouble.

What will happen next?

Jade thought she was going to hock up a lung from all the dust around her.

Again, thankful this lump of shit grew a brain for five seconds and brought ear protection. She was certain that her hearing would've been damaged otherwise.

He rose up from the debris, coughing up a storm. He advanced while covering his mouth and nose, hand sticking out from his brow as a shield so her could somewhat see through the brown cloud.

"What the hell was that?"

The explosion above them shook everything. They nearly lost their balance for a moment.

Kristoff looked longingly at the stairs that Heinrich went up.

"I don't know what the hell happened but I'm checking it out."

"Wait!" called out Franco.

But it was no use.

The burly man gritted his teeth and fled in frustration. If he was going to be the only one to make it out, so be it. Those fools wouldn't listen to reason so to hell with them.

Franco saw the door for the employee access to the underground.

He then remember that that rotten bastard O'Reilly was supposed to let them in. Franco stepped back a bit and kicked in the door with all his might. The door popped open, a piece of the cheap lock flying off.

(I got your fucking key right here!)

He ran down the stairs, entering the network of tunnels beneath the hotel. These catacombs were made for optimum accessibility. This door was one of several that led different areas of the building down to here. The dining rooms, laundry services, you name it could all go down their own entrance to the loading dock. Here the hotel received all of its supplies.

Right now this area was a ghost town. Just what Franco wanted.

Took him two minutes to figure out the door to the dock but burst through the door, gun in hand. He was ready for just about anything.

Except an ambulance.

He was bemused by the sudden sight and carefully approached the oddly-placed vehicle.

Considering the severity of everything that went on today, an ambulance in hindsight wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility. But why was it down here?

Then the door opened and Agent Spencer stepped out.

"Who the hell are you?" demanded Franco, raising his firearm.

"Settle down," he waved his hand, annoyingly. "Which one are you? Heinrich? Kristoff?"

"Franco," he sighed.

"Eh," Spencer shrugged. "A Kraut by any other name...where are the others?"

"Gone."

Agent Spencer looked like he had seen a ghost.

"Maybe I wasn't being clear. I was sent by a mutual friend of ours."

Franco lowered his weapon.

"Renato."

Spencer nodded.

"My orders are to get you, ALL OF YOU, out of this goddamn hotel." He pointed to the ambulance as if he didn't understand. "Hide in plain sight."

Franco wasn't amused by this man or his candor.

"And that is why I refuse to work with that asshole again. He doesn't know how to screen his people. The fact is I don't know who is alive, I don't know who isn't. Communication isn't a strength with these morons. And there are a couple of cops running around messing things up for us on top of that. I've been the only one who hasn't made a stupid mistake!"

"Look, Francis..."

Without blinking, he raised his gun again and shot the agent in the shoulder. He flew back against the side of the emergency vehicle, making a big blood spatter.

"Bastard!"

"Fuck Carlos! Fuck Renato! And fuck YOU!"

And with that, Franco blew his brains out and stepped over the slain federal agent. He jumped in the drivers seat and turned the ignition key, starting her up. Before going into driver, he looked around for the switch for the siren. He could speed and get far away in no time with the siren.

He didn't care about getting paid at this point. He was going far from Mexico and all of its entanglements. He was going back to Europe and perhaps retire.

The entire mission had been a disaster and from what he could ascertain, there was no saving it. Though he imagined the situation was probably worse upstairs.

WHEEE-OOOOO WHEEE-OOOOO WHEEE-OOOOO

"Good, found it."

He hit the gas and raced away but was stopped by the big door. This led to the outside. To freedom. But it could only be opened automatically when it sensed the vehicle's presence. With the power messed around with, this system might be lame right now.

"Damn!"

Franco got out of the ambulance and looked around for some kind of manual controls to open this door.

His feet stopped at the sound of a whistle.

He turned around and was face to face with Deputy Chief Talmadge.

"Surprise!"

Cursing himself for leaving his gun on the seat, he had no choice but to put his hands up. He moved slowly, waiting for an opening. When Franco sensed the cop feeling secure he lunged forward to grab the weapon.

A loud bang echoed through the underground structure and Franco was suddenly on his back, groaning in immense pain from the bullet wound in his leg. Talmadge could tell that it exited clean through from the slug on the wall nearby.

He looked over and saw Dillon come from around the big red and white vehicle, pistol at the ready.

"Sir, we got a stiff over on the other side! Looks like Agent Spencer."

Talmadge nodded.

"I knew he was an asshole. But I didn't peg him for shitting where he eats."

The younger officer looked confused as he assisted Talmadge in subduing the perpetrator.

"What I mean is I don't think these knuckleheads were responsible for the ambulance."

Talmadge stood up and dusted himself off.

"I'm going in. There's gonna be chaos in there. And our current commander is DOA. You got him?"

Officer Dillon nodded, picking up the now handcuffed Franco.

"Oh and son?"

"Yes sir?"

He pointed to the spot on the wall.

"That was one hell of a shot, officer."

The rookie smiled as he called for backup.

Kristoff couldn't believe the devastation when he went upstairs. It was like night and day.

It looked like a war zone up here.

Soldiering through the debris, he came across the security room. He patted his belt for his gun, which was still tucked in.

Right away he spotted O'Reilly dead. And a little further on, there was a pair of legs. Cautiously, Kristoff kicked the legs to see if the person trapped underneath the rubble was still alive. No response.

He attempted to lift the large piece from over the body but couldn't get more than an inch before giving up. Recognizing the pants, he figured it had to be Heinrich.

Realizing there was another person trapped beneath the debris, he got down on the floor to see the upper half of a female in pain.

He knew when he got closer that she was one of the cops from the lobby.

"Can you move?"

"No," groaned Jordan.

"Good."

Kristoff then stood up and exited the control room.

Through the corridor, he could he could hear loud banging reverberating off the walls.

He sped off, looking for the source of the noise, when he was overwhelmed by the collapsing ceiling. .

Another blast.

This time a large beam came crashing down on him, pinning him down.

Tori held her gun ahead, preparing for the worst.

She felt that last explosion more intensely than the one from back in the security room. Her mind flashed back to Jordan trapped. There was a void left empty ever since she lost her sister. Jordan had spent the last few years being that missing piece. She was counting on her.

Just like how Jade was counting on her.

She refused to let any more people down. If it would take her last breath, Tori Vega would take down these motherfuckers.

They're gonna answer for their crimes. What they did to them. To the people who had nothing to do with any of this.

"WHAT THE SHIT!"

The yells echoed through the hall.

Tori knew she was close.

She had a good ear so she could reason which direction the voice was coming from.

The rest of what she could hear was a lot of swearing and indecipherable jabbering, punctuated by the banging of tools.

"WHERE IS IT?"

Jade flinched when a large screwdriver was flung close to her face.

She couldn't stand much more of this.

Burke was crawling around, rummaging through his stuff like a wild animal having his way with a human campsite.

Jade was terrified of what would happen next. All of these explosions ripping the building from the inside out. And this bastard was getting more and more unhinged.

"DON'T MOVE!"

Burke turned around and was surprised by the appearance of the formerly unconscious cop standing before him, gun drawn.

He barely remembered her from the kerfuffle on the phone a little while ago. The last time he saw her she was incapacitated.

Right now, she couldn't be further from helpless.

"LET'S SEE THOSE HANDS!" ordered Tori.

She wasn't fucking around. Not one bit.

Tori was prepared to kill this man if he gives her a reason.

A muffled scream alarmed her 9 o'clock. The dust was beginning to settle and all the commotion coming from the big hole in the wall. She didn't see...

(Jade?)

She was restrained but every ounce of feeling poured from the sounds she could muster and her piercing eyes which were the size of saucers.

"Jade?"

Tori had to focus on the perp at hand.

"Alright, down on the floor!"

Burke looked at Jade and then back at Tori as he slowly dropped to his knees and put his hands behind his back.

Jade's covered screams intensified.

Tori backed up, keeping him in her sights for a kill shot if necessary.

She approached Jade, the closest she had been in a very long time. But Tori couldn't allow her emotions to overcome her. Not right now. Firmly but with care, she removed the tape from her mouth.

"Aaahhh!" yelped Jade from the ripping of the sticky material from her skin.

"Ja-"

"IT'S A TRAP!"

The entire corridor was engulfed in a fireball that rolled without prejudice. Acting within a fraction of a second, Tori hit the deck taking Jade with her.

The heat was intense and she couldn't see.

Tori reached out for Jade's hand but felt nothing.

Black smoke hung in the air, forcing out the oxygen nearby.

A bright spotlight swung in Tori's face, blinding her. First a bright light, then darkness and now brightness again.

But this wasn't another explosion.

This was LAPD SWAT.

The monolithic man dressed all in black armor put a breathing mask over her face and affixed it to her head. Tori heard a hissing sound, knowing this meant a clear pathway to life-giving air had finally opened up. She took deep breaths, grateful for her fellow blue.

Tori was helped to her feet but she stiffened. She scanned the room frantically, looking for Jade.

She was gone.

And so was the bomber.