SLAM!

Travis shuts the staircase door behind me.

There he is. Scars on his face. Burned bald spots on his chest and lower neck. The look of death in his eyes. The grin of a killer. He moves so fast it's hard to see. A glint catches my eye. A knife in his right paw. He reaches. I freeze. His paws rest on my shoulders, like my father.

"I cannot believe I finally have you here!" His wretched teeth show through his demented smile. The blade rests on my shoulder. "I'm Bruce." He lets go and walks over to the opening in the room.

I snap back into reality. "What do you want from us?"

Bruce snaps his head back to me. "Ha! It's not what I want from you, or Ricky. It's what I will take from you, both."

Nick looks over to me. His eyes screaming. All I can hear is muffled words. "His name is Nick."

"No! It isn't!" Bruce snaps and barrels towards me, pointing his blade at my face. "His name is Ricky! He chose that name the second he took my family!" His rancid breath seeps into my lungs.

I look at his knife, and then into his deep black eyes. "What are you going to do, kill me?"

Bruce laughs. "Hmm. No. You see, you already killed yourself." He walks away from me and starts pointing the steel at me. "And I couldn't have planned it better myself. Honestly, you threw me for a loop, but then you… then you gave me the best gift ever."

I go over the events in my head again and again. "What are you talking about?"

"In due time rabbit, in due time." Bruce walks over to a supply closet on the far wall of the room and leans against it. I start inching towards Nick. "Ah, ah, ah! Don't get too close to him. I don't want to start the party prematurely!"

I look over to Nick and whisper under my breath "You're going to be ok Nick, I promise."

"I have waited so long for this moment. You know that carrots?" Bruce grins slightly.

I look at him dead in the eye from where I stand. "Hey! You don't call me that!"

"Jeez, ok." Bruce laughs. "You know what I learned watching you two?" Bruce points his blade at Nick and then me. "I learned how important you are to Ricky. He'd sacrifice everything for you." I look into Nick's helpless eyes as he begs me to help. "And that's why this is so wonderful. Plus it's not like you are any innocent, heck, you stole my brother's arm and nearly destroyed the city before I could, you and that sheep." I look down my shaking fists at my side. I can hear Nick trying to move… trying to say something to me. "I know Travis doesn't feel the same about your obvious guilt, that's why I told him he'd need to sit this one out. He forgives you, but I don't."

I can't take it. I need to speak. "So this is just your sick little game? There is an entire city in pain because of you!"

"Hmm." Bruce smiles. "No, we both want Ricky to feel our pain. But I knew we needed you. That's why I had Travis follow you. That's why I had Travis leave you two messages. But when I found out he was trying to just get Ricky, and not you, I knew he needed to step outside for the main event."

"Oh yeah, and what might that be then?" I brace myself. I can take him. I can free Nick.

"Do you remember what the Chief told you to look at? I do. The case of my failed bombing? I had paid someone to show me if this was possible, unfortunately, they failed. But! It allowed me to rethink my strategy-"

I cut off Bruce. "Who would do that? Why would someone risk everything to help a psycho like you?"

"You can't possibly believe I'm the only one Ricky has wronged in his life. This is for all of bomber just believed in my vision to end him." The wretched smile creeps again over Bruce's face. "Others from his past declined our ideas though, which caused us to move quickly. Ricky's fennec friend was our most recent attempt at recruitment, but he sounded the alarm. We had to act. However, Ricky's tip from his little friend actually helped us in the end. I never would've thought the Chief of Police would suspect him of that case, or what I did. Or what you'd give me."

"What do you-" Oh no. Bruce pulls out a black metal case from the supply closet. Nick begins to scream. No. No no no no no! Not again. Not like this.

"You remember this, yes? I've got to say, I never counted on it. I never thought I'd have to change my plan so drastically from just killing you in front of him. He just had to abandon you on that street, and you just had to figure out where he went." The ferret laughs. The haunting laughs. A pit forms in my stomach. "You left the evidence rooms open, for tax forms!" Bruce laughs pierce my soul. My heart stops. My stomach sinks further. Click. Click. "Is there any more poetic of a way to end this?"

"You monster. You monster!" I look back at Nick. He's struggling, fighting to break free.

Bruce takes a deep breath of the opened case. "Oh man. I love that smell. Who leaves an entire police department unguarded anyways? Oh yeah, one which is busy helping an exploding city!" Bruce takes the weapon from the case. "I bet you thought you'd never see this again, huh? It's such a beauty.. even has the one pellet you left in it when you closed the case." Bruce opens the weapon and shows me the blue glint of death residing in the firing chamber.

My heart is pounding out of my chest. My entire body shaking. "You can't hit us both. One of us will get you."

"Oh I don't expect to come out of this alive my carrots. But I have a surprise for you." Bruce points the weapon at me, knife in the other paw. "Step away from the fox."

I assess my options. If I act like I am going to step away, I can try to jump for the knife. If I stay, I could get shot. If the pellet doesn't break on skin, it won't get absorbed and then it would be sent aerosoled through the room. "Ok. I'll step away." Bruce walks over to just far enough from Nick, and tosses the knife at Nick's feet. "What?"

"That's the game bunny. Ricky will either have to kill you to live, let you kill him, or kill himself." Bruce points the gun at me.

The sun shines bright into the room. Wind rushing about. Nick is handcuffed to piping in the room. Muzzled. He stares at me with those big green eyes. Bruce stands at the top of the shadow he casts towards my feet. I stop feeling. I need to be strong. Those big green eyes are all I need.

This is what we do, as officers. I take out Nick's neckerchief and grasp it tight. We put our lives on the line everyday. Deep breath. To serve and protect the citizens of this city… and the ones we love. I love you Nick.

Thomp!

"Nick, kill me!"

"Ah!"

Thumpthumpthumpthump.

Blackness.

Head pounding.

"No!"

FightItFightItFightItFightItFightItFightIt

"Ahh!"

Blindness. It's so bright. Ah!

Get. Up.

Red.

Thumpthumpthumpthump.

Ferret.

Run. Jump.

"Ah!"

Blackness.

Bite.

Jump.

Thumpthumpthump.

Falling.

I'm falling.

Thump. Thump.

I'm dying.

I'm…

Thump.

dead.