Time stopped ever so briefly as everyone tried to process exactly what it was they were seeing. Instinct and reflex overtook his conscious actions as Vin tried to find the source of the shot. He had no line on where the bullet came from. Ezra's body spun as it fell, telling him it was likely a side shot rather that straight behind him, but from his angle he had no clear view at that window. He could see the blinds swaying but had no direct line of site. He kept looking, not wanting to let his eyes go back to the scene unfolding below. He heard Chris's shouted curse, and Josiah's anguished cry. The reactions of others were assaulting him through his earpiece. He knew what he would see when he looked down and refused to allow his gaze to shift back over to it.

JD screamed obscenities that Buck had never heard. Ones he wasn't even sure he understood, although the emotion of them was evident. Lost in his own stunned distress he was almost too shocked to register the younger man's surge forward and was barely able to grab him at the last second. "Don't be an idiot. You can't help him getting yourself shot."

"We can't just leave him lying there. It ain't right! What if he's still alive?"

"We can't help him by being stupid." Buck looked at the unmoving form on the sidewalk. He had no sense of hope but wasn't about to let JD see that yet. "We keep our heads. You hear me? JD – you hear me?"

He took in a large gulp of air before responding. "We get the bastards Buck. They don't walk away from this. They don't even crawl away."

"Damn straight."

Chris hadn't moved. He stared at the body across the road. It might as well have been a million miles away for all the good he could do. Ezra had known it was going to happen. From the moment he was told to turn back he knew. Hell, he probably had figured it out before the command. Maybe even before coming outside. That was what the apology was for. For getting himself into this position. Damned fool.

"I told you that you could find trouble faster than any man alive. Why in God's name did you have to prove me right?"

He could hear the phone ringing behind him but failed to register the significance until he heard Josiah's gravelly voice. "That was an unbelievably stupid move on your part."

"Kind of insures you understand we mean business. 20 minutes. Next time two die. Then four. Get the idea? And if you try to recover his body, someone dies sooner. Want him to stay there as a reminder." The connection was cut.

"They are not getting out of there." Josiah was staring at Chris for confirmation. "We can't allow that."

"What was he trying to tell us?" Chris hadn't averted his eyes. The image was seared in his brain, so looking away wouldn't help.

"When he said he was sorry?"

Chris shook his head, finally turning to face what was left of his team. "No, before. He was trying to talk to us without saying anything. Buck, JD, get over here." Like Chris, they couldn't seem to look away from the horror in front of them. "No. Focus on me. He did this to get us a message. I don't doubt that he had a good idea what was going to happen, so we damn sure better make sure it wasn't a waste. What was he telling us?"

"He was being told what to say." Buck pointed out.

"But there's more than one way to deliver a message. All that fidgeting? Ezra doesn't fidget." JD refused to move to the past tense.

"He knew what was coming." Nathan spoke. "Maybe that's what had him nervous – off his game? Knowing you were about to die without a damned thing you could do about it would have that effect on anyone."

"No, the kid's right. Ezra was moving his hands around near his watch and up to his head. What does that mean?" No one answered Chris. "Come on – think."

"'I'll watch what I say.'" Nathan quoted. "Ezra wouldn't talk like that. Too simple."

"His watch. Why is he telling us about his watch?" Chris looked to them for ideas.

"Vin?" He really would have preferred not to ask this, especially over the open communicators where the rest of the team would hear it all. "I know it ain't gonna be easy, but can you use your scope to focus in on his watch? Maybe he set it to something. Can't figure out anything else."

Vin's reluctance was obvious in his voice, even coming through the earbuds, but he agreed to try. He took the spare site from the bag and brought it to his eye. He scanned across the road and toward Ezra. He was determined to view nothing more than what was needed, not wanting to see a close up of the blood or the empty eyes that would be looking back. Ezra had fallen facing them with his hands out, almost confirming the idea that there was something to be seen. Vin moved his view along, scanning up from the highly polished shoes, over the tailored suit pants and moving slowly toward the hands. He narrowed his gaze on the watch and stared for several seconds. "I don't see anything special Chris. It looks like it's accurate, so he didn't stop it at a time. I can't seen anything diff – son of a bitch! Chris. He's moving. He's alive."

7-7-7-7-7-7-7

Chris grabbed at the set of binoculars sitting at the control site desk, but found they had already been snatched by Buck, who was focusing on the still form. He was silent for a moment, then broke into a broad grin.

"He's moving his fingers. He's waving at us! Only Ezra would think to con someone into believing he was dead!" His grin faded almost as quickly. "He's real pale Chris. That shot didn't miss him all together, and I'm guessing it wasn't just a graze."

"We make any move and not only will they shoot hostages, they'll fire into him if they think he's still alive, so everybody stay put." Chris wasn't surprised by the curses and growls he got as response, but no one could challenge the truth if the statement. "Vin, can you tell if he still has the earbud in." There was a moment of silence as they waited for the answer.

"I don't see it around him. Chris, Buck's right. He doesn't look good. I don't think we have a lot of time for this to play out."

Chris made his way over to the side of the barricades, getting as close to his fallen comrade as he could. "Ezra?" It was a controlled whisper, loud enough – he hoped – to be heard by only the intended subject. "Don't move. They think you're dead, and if that changes, you will be. Can you hear me? If you can, try to give us some kind of sign." He waited, barely breathing himself for something, anything, that would give them some hope. It was several seconds before he saw what he'd been waiting for - a slow wink.

"You are one stubborn son of a bitch. OK, stay still. We're gonna get you outta there." Somehow, he added to himself. "Ezra, were you trying to tell us something about the watch? Is there something about time?"

Ezra didn't know how much longer he was going to be able to stay awake. To stay alive. The pain in his back had been excruciating at first, but now was barely a dull throb. As much as he would have liked to believe that was because it wasn't serious, he knew the truth was the exact opposite. He was going into shock. His body, his reactions, were shutting down. He needed to try to get his information to Chris and had very little time to do so.

He forced himself to focus on what Chris was asking. Yes, I was trying to send you a message. What else would I be fussing for? Now the problem is how to answer without moving. He slowly moved his hand, keeping it the movement hidden, and offered a thumbs up gesture for what he thought might have been the first time in his life. The salute was so much more satisfying, and better suited his style and personal…

"Ezra, focus." Chris's voice hissed at him, bringing him back to the moment. "Are they lying about the timing?"

How to tell him that the leader was wearing some kind of video watch. Ezra was sure the man was in communication with someone on the outside. Either an accomplice or an informant. Someone who was telling him what was happening on the outside. Hopefully not someone who might share the fact this interaction was going on. Focusing his waning strength to his hands he cautiously used his index and middle fingers to create a 'V', hoping against hope someone would get video from that. He really must consider teaching the others sign language at some point.

"Two? Two what Ezra? Gunmen? Hours?"

He shook his hands slightly, holding the V up again.

"Peace?" Josiah's voice came through Chris's earpiece. "Why peace?"

Chris whispered the question to Ezra, who had to fight to control the sigh. That had to have been Josiah's question. Only he would take that spin.

"A 'V' Ezra? JD thinks you mean V." Ezra offered a half thumbs up again, barely able to lift his hand by this point. "Vin? Why are you asking about Vin?"

Damn. That hadn't occurred to him. He weakly pointed at the watch again, his hand dropping to the pavement before he could actually complete the action.

"No. Damn it! Ezra, stay awake. Stay with us. Ezra." Chris watched for any reaction, any hint of movement. He stood shakily after several seconds of stillness and made his way back to the team.

"He's not moving, not responding at all."

"Don't give up yet Chris." Vin's voice came through the earpieces. "He's breathing. It's shallow, but I can see it with the scope. We gotta hurry though."

It was almost impossible for Chris to focus on what was going on. "How much time is left?" He looked at his own watch as he asked, trying to put that image together with whatever Ezra had worked so hard to share. Nothing made sense.

"About 14 minutes." Nathan voice was subdued. "That isn't a lot of time to do much of anything, especially since we have no idea what the hell we are supposed to be doing."

"I think I know." JD's was hesitant. He honestly didn't know whether his conclusion made any sense, or whether he was just beyond desperate to find a way to help the partner he felt he had failed. "It's a long shot, but it's the only thing that fits. Well, at least I think –"

"For God's sake JD, shut up and tell us."

JD looked at Buck with just a hint of a smile in response to the conflicting order.

"A video watch. I think Ezra is trying to tell us the guy has a video watch."

"That is one hell of a leap JD. Why?" Chris wasn't about to completely dismiss any idea at this point, however ludicrous it seemed at first glance.

"Well, no other watch thing makes sense, and V could stand for video, but it was something else he said. 'Don't jam them up?' Have you ever heard Ezra use that phrase before? And 'follow every signal instruction?'. At first, I thought he just misspoke – you know, because of nerves. But I think it was on purpose."

Chris held up a hand to stop the enthusiastic tirade. "OK, whoa. You think he wants us to jam some kind of a signal? Can we even do that?"

Instead of answering, JD bolted over to the communications van and leapt inside. It took only seconds for him to find what he was looking for and was back on the street with some gadget Chris knew he would never understand. "This would work. It will shut down everybody around for a couple of blocks, but it will close them down."

"We can't shut down our own communications JD. We need to be able to move in."

"We'll be fine. We can go to a basic frequency, beyond the range for this. They won't be using anything that low on the spectrum, since they probably are using a stronger signal."

"Why stronger?" Buck asked, completely at a loss to follow what was being said.

"Cause they have to be communicating with someone outside, since they don't need it to talk to each other. So, stronger for more distance."

Josiah looked down at his phone to check the timer. "How is any of this going to help? We've got about 10 minutes."

"I don't know, but I'd guess Ezra figures these guys are counting on whoever is on the other end of that link. If so, and they lose contact, it might be enough to put them off balance."

Josiah was as desperate as any of them for a solution, but this didn't feel to secure. "Sounds like an awful lot of guessing Chris. Guessing that could get those folks in there killed. If they are getting orders, and we shut them down, that may start them killing people as well."

JD had been thinking the same thing. "I could set it as a feedback. Blast an electronic feed in there. Amplify it to be loud enough to blow out the whole thing. The sound would be one hell of a distraction."

"It's just a small video watch. How can that work?"

Confidence radiated from JD's smile. "Trust me Buck, I can make it work. Set off everything electronic in there. Folks may have to buy new phones after, but I think that's a sacrifice they'd be willing to make."

Chris stepped away, moving back to where he'd been talking to Ezra. His agent looked even paler, something Chris wouldn't have thought possible. "Ezra, can you hear me?" There was no reaction. "Ezra come on. We have a plan and need your help."

My help, Ezra thought. I am within viewing distance of the Pearly Gates, and you issue a plea for my assistance. I can't say I ever imagined you would be so desperate Chris.

Chris wasn't certain, but he thought he saw Ezra blink. Wishful thinking, maybe, but it was all the encouragement he needed. "We are going to jam the signal Ezra. That's what you wanted, right?" Was that another blink? "It's going to give us the chance we need to storm the place, while they're confused." Yes, that was definitely a blink. Probably. "Ezra, how many are in there?"

Seriously. What was wrong with the questions I could merely confirm. Now you ask one I need to answer? He slowly forced his hand into a fist, then let three fingers fall forward. I sincerely hope that is your last question Chris, because I can assure you it is my last answer. Ezra's hand went limp as the darkness overtook him.

M7-M7-M7-M7-M7-M7-M7

tbc