A/N: Believe it or not I'm trying to condense this story down! But this chapter didn't want to be broken up, so it's a bit long.
20. War Games
After a half hour touring the complex, Vin was amazed at the sheer scale of deception that the place presented. They'd entered from a building on the other side of the road, a long way down the street, coming in through a side gate and heading down to an underground car park. From there they had parked and met up with Bale, who had his own band of men watching his back. They were not bikers, but associates, and a very important part of the drug trafficking operation. The warehouse had been used for years to store and distribute their shipments throughout the country.
John Bale was the man Vin had come to see and it did not take long to sum him up. He was calculating and blunt, sparing no time wasting either words or emotion. No doubt he was a shrewd business man and that was why he was doing so well handling all of the club's shipments. He was courteous enough until his eyes fell on Rizzo and he stopped his introductions.
"Is he going to be alright?" he asked them, clearly sceptical.
As if they had forgotten their friend's state, they turned in unison to peer at the lightly sweating, nervous looking Rizzo. Ivan threw an arm over his friend's shoulders and gave him a squeeze for show. "Dinnae mind him, he's jist a bit overwhelmed."
Raising an eyebrow, but apparently not going to push the matter any further, Bale had moved on, leading them down to a basement. Their friend was obviously drug-fucked, but if they weren't concerned, he wasn't going to be. None of them knew that trapped inside Rizzo's mind was the image of Wallace.
Bruce had indeed put the creature on his hand back in the bar and it had been the first thing that Rizzo had focused on properly since he'd smoked the trippy stuff that the barkeeper had given him, every last bit of it. He hadn't spoken a word since and was afraid that if he did open his mouth he might just start screaming and not be able to stop. He would have sworn on anything that Wallace's head had actually turned and looked right at him, all of his freakishly hellish eyes promising him death.
Through the basement had been a long panel of concrete, which at first sight had blended seamlessly into the wall. Bale had used a remote control to activate it and it had slid back heavily to reveal yet another long passage. It was a state of the art complex that would have taken a huge amount of money to build and maintain. This went beyond anything Vin had even considered the club capable of, even after all the time he had spent with them. From there they had gone down the passage until they'd come to a set of stairs that took them even further below ground and Bale had then informed them that they were crossing beneath the road to the main building. It was a long walk but the passage was well lit. Vin had pulled his jacket tighter as they'd walked, finding the air even colder than outside due to the depth of the tunnel and the limestone and concrete retaining walls that supported it.
After they'd been walking for some time they came out into another large area where passages began to veer off into large storage spaces. Apparently not concerned in the slightest about leaking information to them, for it was after all their operation, Bale began to point out the individual areas that opened out, telling them what was stored in each at that time. Most of the containers and crates that they saw stacked in long rows that reached to the ceiling were filled with various goods he was holding for them, and he spoke as if they knew about the arrangement that he had in place with Billy.
At one point he drew their attention to a large crate, telling them that the tobacco was of the finest quality he had yet to import. Further along the passage he pointed to a massive holding room and told them that the new shipment of guns had arrived in time, just like Billy had asked. His voice reflected great reverence for Billy. It was obvious that his business was very important to him.
Bruce had turned to them after seeing the stack of weapons and whispered quietly, "Nothin' like storin' up fer a rainy day…"
"It's like a giant bunker down here," Cheese whispered back, amazed how big the place was and how much was being stored.
Ivan laughed at that, picturing spending Armageddon down there. "Aye, fuck the tins ay soup, there's enough drugs an' shit down here tae forget about earth bein' blown tae bits. Even the fuckin' cockroaches'd git high."
Apparently Rizzo found that extremely funny, because he started laughing again as he tried to keep one foot in front of the other, dragged along quickly by Ivan who whispered a single word in his ear to keep him in line: "Wallace." Rizzo seemed to withdraw in on himself once again and Ivan shook his head.
Vin was taking the entire place in with a sense of awe. As they walked through each passageway, he took notes in his mind of what Bale was telling them. Every bit of information was collected and stored as they moved on. He'd never seen anything like it and something told him that Eddie was not in on any of this. This man made warren that Billy was filling full of his own private shipments was just that. Private. His major concern was why Billy had let them down here. After guarding this secret for what must have been a long time in setting it up, why let them in on it now? He knew that everything Billy did was most likely thought through with great precision, so why was he showing them his operation? He began to realise then that something was terribly wrong. The answer was, Billy wouldn't just show another chapter this operation of his. Not if he intended them to leave it.
"OK, we take these stairs up to the next level, then we can go over the positions they have taken up on the ground outside the bay, waiting for the truck."
"How's the driver going to get out of the truck?" Cheese asked.
"He's been through this before when he's had to get away quickly. He'll climb through to his rear compartment and get out through the floor, into the hatch he'll park right over. He'll be down here out of harm's way before they even get to the truck and open the back doors," Bale told them with confidence.
Just then they walked through another exit and came out into a massive space that seemed to be the centre of the entire complex and all conversation ceased. Vin tried to hide his shock at the sight before them, but it was hard. After not coming across so much as a rat the entire time they had been making their way through the tunnels, they had arrived to a beehive of activity, where there were people moving about on foot, and forklifts carrying pallets to and fro as they each went about their routines as if long practised in their jobs. Pallets lined walls and various containers were stacked to the ceiling. On the far side of the room was a massive shipping container, enclosed completely within a thick, solid barrier of some sort of clear glass. The roof of the metal box was linked to a massive ventilation shaft and the whole area was surrounded by men all armed and dressed in security uniforms. It didn't take Vin long to realise there had to be a chemical lab inside.
"Huh," he said, shaking his head. "Wonder what's cookin'?"
Bale smiled in return. "I would take you for a full tour, but there isn't enough time. Perhaps next time."
Perhaps he was becoming paranoid, but Vin had the distinct impression that Bale didn't think that there would be a next time.
They were led towards a group of waiting men and Vin tried to determine what drug they were manufacturing but the containers were all unmarked and he could not see into the makeshift lab itself.
"Ain't it a little dangerous, bein' down here with all that?" he asked, prodding subtly for information.
"Not at all. Even if the whole thing blew, which it wouldn't, that barrier is completely shock proof. The beauty of this operation is that we can shift it out whenever we like, but the facility is always here and ready for production." He turned to them all then and opened his arms to encompass the space around them. "This entire facility is built based on state of the art technology. Billy wanted nothing less."
Yeah, but where had the money come from? Vin wondered.
"Now we come to the fun part." Bale indicated the waiting men. "My men will lead you above ground to watch the truck come in. You can either watch from the ground level and come up behind the agents they have posted on the perimeter, or you can head up to the control tower with it's three hundred and sixty degree views. I have enough men here to take them all out."
Vin's heart was racing now. Not in his wildest dreams had he foreseen anything of this scale. There hadn't been so much as a murmur about such a place existing. He'd warned Larabee of the set up but had never imagined anything this well organised. Now here he was, waiting for his team to walk into a well-armed ambush. He eyed the automatic weapons each man held.
"Thought the truck was meant ta take care of `em."
Bale smiled. "Our instructions from Billy himself were to leave no man standing. We can't be sure to catch them all in the blast. From what our security monitors are telling us, they have more than one team and are locked in tight around the area. They won't all move in once the explosives are detonated, we'll have to draw them out by coming up behind them."
"Seem's like a lotta noise is gonna be made out here, how ya plannin' on cleanin' up the mess?" Vin tried to keep his voice curious, not concerned.
At this Bale only smiled again. "When the smoke clears and they don't find anything in that truck that could justify their aggressive action I'll be expecting a full apology. I doubt they'll wish to get it wrong twice so I don't expect them to try entering the facility again any time in the near future."
Vin almost shook his head. Was this whole scam a massive effort to deter the DEA from investigating the rest of the facility?
"I wanted a word with you alone before everything gets under way."
To his surprise Bale smiled at him. "Billy wanted you to convince me to move the shipment tonight."
Vin tiltled his head in question. Bale didn't expect him to answer.
"Well you can tell your president that you were successful, the truck is already being moved, he's gotten his wish on this one. So, everyone ready?"
Just like that? He'd been led to believe that getting Bale to carry out Billy's order was going to be a hard sell. What was going on here? This didn't require a personal visit. He had to stall, things were moving too fast. Bale was practically pushing them all out the door.
"What's the point in takin' 'em all out? Reckon the truck explodin'll be enough ta put 'em off comin' back."
Bale's smile dropped as he looked at Vin. "I only know my orders from Billy. Perhaps you would like me to call him and confer?" He looked at his watch, "of course, that would probably take a few minutes and as the truck's about to pull in any second, I doubt I'd be able to reach him in time."
Cheese looked at Vin, trying to read his expression but unable to, not that that was unusual. He rarely knew what he was thinking. As for himself, he was thinking that this was all more than he'd bargained for, but he comforted himself with the knowledge that they had enough men with them to take down an army. Besides, he wasn't planning on getting anywhere near the gunfire.
"We're in," he said, seeing Ivan and Bruce both nod and look at Vin. "Maybe this is a good time to tell him about Larabee..."
"I told him," Bruce said, looking guilty. "Stop thinking so damn much Vin, this'll be fun."
"You told him?!" Cheese said, upset that Bruce had spoiled the surprise after he had managed not to.
"Eh.. me too..."
They both whirled on Ivan.
"I don't believe it! Am I the only one who said nuthin'?!" Cheese said.
"No. Rizzo didn't," Bruce said, glancing at the silent man who was staring down at his shoes. "Unless...?" he looked at Vin, who shook his head.
"Not a word."
Ivan chuckled. "So ye got it outtae Bruce too eh? Ye should be a detective."
Vin's mouth opened but at that second Bale clapped his hands together as a sign of closure before the long-haired biker could ask him any more annoying questions. He'd say the man was too damn suspicious for his own good, but knowing what he knew about what was about to happen to his four friends, he had every right to be. Billy's orders had been very clear, this one was the only one to make it out alive. "Very good. Then I'll see you all when you get back across the road." He indicated a tall, well built man with black hair. "Shole here is in charge of security, he'll look after you."
With that, Bale and his personal entourage left, leaving them with the impressive force of armed men.
"So much for the 'we' part," Bruce muttered, watching Shole leave.
"I'm takin' the tower," Cheese said before Shole could speak. "Who's headin' up there?"
Shole turned to his men, sorting them into divisions and giving them orders as to where to take their positions as per the plans they had made earlier. He then turned to Cheese. "This team is heading up to the tower, you can go with them."
"I'll come with ye," Ivan said, with a wink at Bruce and Vin before following the men out to another passage. "Ah'll be seein' you fella's later."
"Take Rizzo," Bruce said hopefully, but Ivan only grinned and walked away. "Fuck..." He looked at Rizzo, speaking to Vin. "We can't take him out there, he'll get himself killed, us too probably."
"I don't wanna go out there," Vin said honestly. "I think we're all gonna get ourselves killed. Why don't you take the tower as well?"
"Fuck that, I want to see it from the ground."
Resigned that he wasn't going to be able to move alone, Vin looked around and spoke to Shole. "Is there
somewhere we can stash him 'til we get back?"
Shole called to a uniformed security agent standing close by. "Dale, take their friend to a room upstairs to wait."
"Go with this guy, Rizzo, and don't touch anythin' 'til we come back!" Bruce ordered, just as someone would a child, which for all intents and purposes, Rizzo pretty much was right then.
Rizzo didn't say anything, just followed the security guard's heels closely.
"So where do you guys want to watch from?" Shole asked them.
Thinking of his pre-arranged plan with Larabee and his team, Vin prepared himself. "I wanna come up behind them, get right up close to the action." He pointed in the direction of the lookout Cheese and Ivan had headed toward. "I won't be able to hit anythin' from up there."
The team had agreed to meet him on the perimeter and he had to try and get to them first. He was anxious now to try and warn them of the fire power they were facing before the truck arrived. He could only hope that they had brought enough backup to get them through.
Bruce smiled and clapped Vin on the back. "That's more like it. Let's do this!"
Damn. He tried one last time. "Ya sure ya don't wanna watch from up there?" He pointed to the path Cheese and Ivan had taken.
Bruce's grin spread and Vin watched as he pulled out a gun from beneath his shirt. "An' miss all the fun?"
Vin's face was serious as he and Bruce followed Shole and a division of his men out through to the last passageway. Larabee had told him he'd be on the perimeter of the bay, away from the truck if it detonated. They'd spoken about preparing for unforeseen hazards, but he hadn't anticipated anything like what was happening now. These men were armed to the teeth and they appeared disciplined and well trained. Not only that but they were ordered to take out everyone they saw – and the men outside had no idea what they were walking into.
They followed the four men led by the commander himself, Shole, to the end of the last passage and saw
the ladder that would take them up to the ground level. From the second they had started walking he had begun to formulate a plan, taking in the four men ahead of them and sizing them up. He had to act fast, if those men got into position behind Larabee and the rest of the team they wouldn't stand a chance. He decided then and there if he had to blow his cover to save them, he would.
Most might consider that the obvious thing to do, however there was so much more behind Vin's dilemma. If he gave himself up now there was the obvious threat to his life that would follow, but there was also the lost chance of getting to his father. Purely selfish reasons perhaps, but for a man whose sole purpose of revenge had not wavered since he could remember, it was a weighted choice. Still, if he did give up the game now, all would not be lost. He would be able to shut down the facility and confiscate all of the illegal supplies that were right then being stored underneath the ground. That would have a major impact on their trade, but the downside to that would be that they would know exactly who had tipped off the police. He'd be a dead man for sure.
It wasn't until he watched Shole reach the top of the ladder and open the hatch that his warring thoughts led him to a clear decision. Whatever happened out there, he would not let innocent men die, not if he could stop it.
A short laugh beside him had him looking at Bruce.
"What?"
Bruce shrugged his shoulders, still grinning. "Ya look so damn serious, like yer ready fer a war."
Vin's face was serious. "This is a war," he said softly. It wasn't a game, but he knew Bruce wasn't seeing it that way as he clapped him on the arm.
"Relax. Have fun with it, how many times in a man's life does he get to play with live toys against an enemy on a battle field?"
Too many, Vin thought sadly, but he just shook his head at the single track of Bruce's mind. He contemplated taking off his jacket for easier movement, but knew the white of his arms would make him a brighter target in the darkness.
"Come on," came a voice urging them on from above.
They looked at each other.
"After you," Vin beckoned.
Bruce started up the ladder with Vin close on his heels, reassuring himself by feeling for the knife in his boot. He knew what he had to do and he knew that his gun wasn't the way to do it if it came down to a need for stealth.
..
JD was getting edgy. Perched on the roof of the parked truck, he could now hear the sound of a moving truck
rumbling closer in the night and shifted his position again, his elbows uncomfortable as they leant on the hard metal beneath him. He could make out the positions of five other men, Josiah and Nathan included, all below him on the ground.
Above him to his left, he knew there were two other DEA agents, concealed halfway up a sloping corrugated roof that leaned up towards a control booth that overlooked the area. He glanced at them again to reassure himself that they were still there and it was then that he noticed movement from above them, coming from within the glass booth itself. Nobody was meant to be positioned inside… but he could be wrong. What if they were with one of the other teams, wouldn't he look stupid if he alerted everyone? Considering the possibilities he deliberated for precious seconds, watching for something more concrete but seeing nothing more than the shadows of men standing by the window. What if they weren't part of the operation and he said nothing? Not only that, he was a sitting duck if they were the bad guys and they spotted him. It was that thought that finally motivated him to speak out.
"There's movement in the control booth," he voiced in a firm whisper, determined now to alert the others.
They all heard the voice and tried to look at the tower from each of their positions.
Chris could not see the glass panel from where he was positioned, crouched near Buck on the fence line facing the empty bay. He too, could hear the truck now approaching slowly in a low gear.
"I can't see from here - Josiah?" He knew Josiah was closest to JD.
Josiah peered out from his concealed position, looking up at the tower and quickly moving back. "He's right, there's definitely someone inside."
"How many?"
JD looked up for a rather long moment before flattening himself once again against the roof.
"At least three," Josiah said, having taken another look.
"Four," JD put in, having taken longer in his perusal than Josiah.
"JD keep your head down," Chris ordered before he flicked his radio control to address all of the teams. "Movement in the control booth, four men sighted."
Murphy looked behind him up to the glass panel of the booth and saw several dark shapes as the truck's engine loomed ever closer. From that position the men in the booth could pick them off at will.
"ATF hold position; Niles, Forrester, you still in position?" he called to the men on the roof beneath the tower.
"Still here, can hear movement above."
"Ok I'm coming up, all others sit tight and watch your positions from behind."
Murphy's shadowed form moved silently across the ground, blending with the concrete walls and wooden pallets that dotted the area, making a line for the tower's base.
"JD get to ground, take position with Josiah and Nathan" Chris ordered. "Move quick but stay out of sight."
JD wanted to stay where he was, liking the high vantage that he had from the roof of the truck, but moved to follow the order quickly, jumping down to the ground and coming up behind his two team mates crouched low behind a shipping container.
The noise of the truck grew louder and finally they could see bright light coming up around the far right corner of the building.
..
Vin pulled himself out of the hatch, feeling the wet sand and weeds beneath his bare hands as he pushed himself up with a grunt of effort, his side pulling with the strain as he straightened himself up, tilting his face to the crisp night sky. It wasn't raining, but he didn't put much stock in the hope that it wasn't going to. He hadn't seen a star in the sky the entire time he'd been in the city. Still, looking up now at the open space, he was relieved to be above ground. He probably couldn't have taken much longer confined in the narrow tunnels.
Shole directed one of the men to replace the cover and conceal it once more amongst the dirt before signalling them all to move toward the fence up ahead.
Vin followed behind, letting the four men and Bruce take the lead and hearing the sound of a truck approaching from the right side of the complex. He studied the ground, noticing that it had recently seen the tread of many, many boots just as they neared the fence and Shole stopped them, pointing to a hole already cut in the wire.
"They came in through here."
What Vin knew Shole wasn't saying was that there were a lot of them, perhaps as many as there were guards. He was relieved to know that Larabee had come prepared.
Now there was a light accompanying the approaching engine noise and he waited to see what Shole's next move would be.
"We'll head through here as soon as they blow the truck, they've got men positioned just on the other side behind the shrub line next to the pallets. Soon as we come around we should see them. Be ready to take them out at my command."
"Wait."
Shole turned impatiently to Vin.
Vin shrugged. "What if they don't trigger the truck?" He'd told Larabee about the bomb and was fairly sure the explosives team would take care of it without detonating it.
Shole's brow rose. "I doubt they'll avoid the trigger. As soon as they lift the roof compartment it'll go." Then to Vin's complete dismay the man grinned, his teeth white in the shadow of his face as he spoke, pulling out a small remote control.
"And if it looks like they're taking too long, I'll speed things up for them."
Vin felt his heart skip a hollow beat. "You can detonate it from here?" He already knew the answer, but wanted to delay the situation as long as he could. He needed to think, to plan, to act, all at once.
"That's the idea." Shole turned once more to face the fence. "Alright, everybody get ready to move."
Vin moved closer to Shole, intentionally closing the distance between them. Like an ominous, menacing beast the truck finally pulled around the side of the building. Its brakes grated as they worked to slow down the massive hulk that sat above them to a crawl, taking a wide turn and rolling toward the bay marked Number Four with a loud final noise of compression as the driver brought it to a standstill. The engine remained idling as the bright front lights stabbed through the darkness like all-seeing eyes, catching the concrete wall of the building in their beams and illuminating a large metal door that led inside.
Vin felt his hand reaching for his boot and stopped himself. Not yet. He wished there was another way, but he couldn't let Shole blow that truck, no matter what else happened.
Now nothing moved. Vin's eyes worked furiously to see through the darkness before them and his ears strained to pick up any noise at all, knowing that the driver of the truck was most likely already out of his seat and heading down to safety.
..
Ivan and Cheese had reached the tower, accompanied by three of the security guards and were looking out over the scope of the bays lined before them when the truck made its way in. They could not see out through the darkness beyond the fence line, where they knew more of their men would be coming in, but they could see the surrounding bays and the men that were already closing in around the truck - and around the agents that they knew were lying in wait.
It took a few minutes of scouring the area, but finally one of the guards with them pointed to a truck a short distance beneath them.
"There, on the roof."
They peered out through the night and sure enough, were rewarded with the sight of an agent ducking his head out in their direction.
"He's spotted us," said another of the men watching at the window with them.
"Doesn't matter, they won't get up these stairs."
"Should we take him out?"
"No. We wait. We don't want to warn them off the truck, we have to lure them in. He's not going anywhere."
"Not if he sticks his head out like that again he's not."
Cheese exchanged a glance with Ivan and shrugged. Whatever the men did was fine by them, they were just up here to watch the show. They looked out into the darkness beyond the truck's lights that were now approaching, but could not see any sign of Vin or Bruce coming out of the scrub by the fence. From that distance, it was difficult to identify anyone clearly.
Meanwhile Murphy reached his men and together they circled around the base of the tower, trying to find a way up to the booth. Seeing none, they decided to climb back down the roof to the lower floor where they hoped to find an entry from the inside. Murphy kept Chris and the other teams informed as they moved, silently but quickly.
"JD keep your head down!" Josiah warned, seeing the young agent pop up beside him conspicuously yet again.
Chris shook his head but didn't say anything. How many times could he say the same thing? Repetition with JD obviously lost effect of the point rather than gained anything. Still, he didn't want him learning that particular lesson through experience. "Murphy, you reached your target yet?"
There was a short silence and then they heard Murphy answer them, sounding ever so slightly out of breath.
"Just reached a door beneath the second story landing, think it might take us up higher to the next platform. Give me another minute."
Again they waited and watched, every man on edge, knowing that at any moment the place could explode into action before they even made a move on the truck.
Murphy and his men broke into the door and sure enough found a set of stairs leading up to the next level, taking them cautiously but quickly until they came to another door, leading from within to what they were fairly certain was the tower, a story below the glass booth.
"OK, we're going in. Nigel, get your team ready," he spoke to the Captain of the Explosives Team. "Wait for my signal, when we've secured the tower you can move in if all clear."
An answering voice came in acknowledgement of the command and again there was silence.
Murphy signalled his men to follow, reaching forward and trying the door before moving back as he discovered it locked. He beckoned Niles forward, bidding him unlock the door and again they waited.
..
"What's takin' so damn long…" Bruce complained, his legs killing him from crouching on the ground. "Shouldn't they have moved in on the truck by now?"
Vin watched Shole's frown deepen, although he did not seem the least nervous. His hand still held the control and now he moved it in his grip as if testing its weight. He would have to move fast.
..
With a click the door opened and Murphy led his team inside the dark entrance, immediately spotting a staircase that was lit from above. Cautiously they stepped across the short space to the stairs and Murphy pointed up, gesturing with sharp, practised motions for Niles to cover the door and for Forrester to follow him up. They heard voices as they took the steps and approached the top floor and Murphy leant back into the shadows as the light reflected the shape of a body moving close to the stairwell. There was a half wall, which curved around before them and bent to the right, leading to the last step up into the room. The white, brick wall was low enough for someone to peer over from the top and look down.
..
"Why ain't they movin' in?" Cheese said in growing frustration. They'd been standing at the window of the massive tower waiting for something, anything, to happen.
"Lazy police work n nae mistake," Ivan said with authority. "Silly wee laddies prob'ly waitin' on a fuckin' dohnut delivray."
Cheese knew it was easy to be a smartass far removed behind a three story tower window, but found himself laughing all the same.
Their low chuckling was silenced by a sharp command for silence from the guards posted with them.
..
Below on the stairwell Murphy held his breath at the short, frustrated command that had silenced the voices above them. It stretched into long seconds until the heavily accented voice spoke again, not in the least deterred by the order.
"Did he just shush me?!"
Cheese nodded, "Yup."
Ivan turned incredulous eyes on the guard that had tried to silence him. He wanted to give the man a chance before he punched him out. Nobody shushed him.
The guard looked from the stairs to the insane biker and back again, wishing he were anywhere but with the two crazy men that did not seem to understand the situation they were in. Did they think they were invincible? He put a finger to his lips and then pointed to the stairs, trying to indicate the danger from below.
Cheese grew impatient, not liking all of the anxiety the security agents were causing him. Their serious, military-like demeanor was starting to get to him. "You boys gotta learn ta fuckin' chill a little. Yer gonna get ulcers actin' all strung out like this all th'time. We're just observin' up here, remember? `Sides, yer holdin' a fuckin' machine gun, a mosquito couldn't get past that."
The guards ignored him, too intent on the men that they knew were coming up the stairs, one signalling to another and each pointing their guns at the stairwell exit.
It was Ivan that finally confirmed their proximity to the stairs for the listening agents down in the stairwell.
"You lads are startin' tae give me the fuckin' willies, all this sneakin `roond… the actions oot thair, not doon the fuckin' stairs!"
..
Murphy, leaning against the wall and looking up at the top of the stairs to their right, heard the warning and judged the shadow that suddenly grew over the low wall above their heads for what it was. He kicked back from the brick in a sudden movement that pushed Forrester back behind him just as the head of the first guard appeared in unison with a gun barrel pointed downwards towards them. Both Murphy and the guard opened fire at the same time but unlike the guard, Murphy had an exact position to shoot at when the rifle had nosed over the wall. He knew he'd hit home when blood sprayed over the white wall and the shadow disappeared.
The second to advance was right then but as he moved forward, Forrester right behind him and heading for the last steps up to the right, another gun suddenly replaced the first and this time the guard was taking no chances. He sprayed fire over the wall in all directions, relentlessly holding his finger on the trigger.
"BACK!" Murphy yelled, pushing back down the curved stairwell and out of the reach of the bullets. As he strove to descend the stairs to safety he felt a hot bullet sneak under his armour to nest into the top of his shoulder and fell the last steps into his men who were already in position to defend the stairwell.
Outside the tower, everything seemed to happen at once. The booth was by no means soundproof and the noise of the machine gun reaching full throttle was not mistaken, accompanied as it was by the peppered flashes of lightening that filled the window.
Guards circling beneath the tower reacted to the firing above and opened fire on the first agents they saw and the DEA was instant in its response. What ensued was a gun battle of the likes Denver had yet to see.
..
Cheese and Ivan had ducked to the ground as soon as the first shot had come from the stairs and they'd seen the guard's head explode from the back. As the guards moved to take up positions to pin the men and stop their advancement, they crawled beneath the window, which shattered above them, deciding enough was enough as they stayed low to avoid being hit by the gunfire now spraying up into the room.
"That'll teach the bastard tae shush me," Ivan pointed out with dark satisfaction as he moved. It was fate, he believed, the man getting his head blown off like that. Ivan was a firm believer in karma – and he thought the man's death a deserving end for the shushing.
"Thought we were jist watchin' up here! Watchin' my ass!" Cheese yelled as he led the fast crawl along the wall away from the window, Ivan right behind him. It was almost comical to watch the two big men on their hands and knees scampering along on all fours.
Ivan frowned then as a sudden noise that was not gunfire, but just as potentially deadly, reached his ears, his head not far from Cheese's rear end as they moved. He was suddenly worried about more than bullets and his suspicion was confirmed when he felt the air grow thick around his nose.
"Yer fuckin' kiddin' me!" He cried out in dismay. "Ye dirty wee fuck!" he continued to rant his own brand of insults as Cheese broke into gleeful laughter, crawling the rest of the way to the corner and collapsing as he turned around.
It was excellent timing – and Ivan was always good for a reaction, but if he thought he was away from the danger he was wrong. Ivan's enraged face was coming at him at a terrifying pace as he dove toward him.
"That wis bleedin' disgraceful! Right `n mah fuckin' mooth!"
The stunned guard that had been moving toward the window to return fire had stopped in his tracks then and turned, not believing what he was seeing. The two bikers were wrestling on the ground and, laughing? He'd heard these boys were all crazy, but now he knew it was true. Shaking his head and once more ducking from the bullets again flying above his head, smashing shards of glass still hanging defiantly around the edges of the frame, he waited for a lull in the firing and propped his machine gun up onto the ledge above him, letting loose his own deadly barrage of fire.
..
"Take cover!" Chris yelled from below. "Murphy!" He called desperately into his radio, wanting to know their situation.
"Chris," came a pained response over the noise of gunfire. "Got one from the stairwell… but we're pinned here… Can't get… to the booth."
Chris frowned but concentrated on the immediate danger. "Who's firing from the window? Can anyone get a shot?"
Even as Murphy contemplated the stairs, another hail of bullets slammed into the brick before them. "Not from here… we can't get up there. There's a man guarding the stairs."
Chris watched the booth light up again and heard the ricochette of bullets firing aimlessly around the area. The gunman could not stand up at the window to aim, which was one good thing.
"We need to take out that tower," Chris said.
"There's one man firing out the window," came the voice of Brett Thomas, leader of the DEA's Denver mobile unit.
"Can you get a shot?"
"He's not standing up, just holding the gun above the window ledge. I can send a man in to fire smoke from below, clear the booth out."
Chris spoke to Buck. "That would send them down to the stairs… Murphy?"
"Do it." They'd be ready for them.
"Alright, move your man in," he told Thomas.
The DEA leader motioned to his men and conveyed the order as Chris looked behind him and out into the darkness beyond the fence. Tanner had agreed to meet them on the left side perimeter… where the hell was he?
..
"Jesus, they've opened fire!" Bruce said as gunfire erupted from the complex.
"Let's move in!" Shole shouted and took off for the fence and ran into the grounds of the facility.
Vin reacted instantly, needing to get to Shole and stop him from blowing the truck and cursing himself for not being quicker on his feet. He ran on the heels of Bruce and watched as the guards moved on ahead. Suddenly he heard a shouted demand and in response, the guards opened fire ahead of him.
The DEA agents reacted instantly, returning fire and Vin found himself diving for cover. "Bruce get down!" he yelled as he hit the ground roughly and ducked behind a stack of wooden pallets. He tried to see how far Shole and his men had gotten but was driven back by another hail of bullets.
Bruce, too, threw himself behind a makeshift barricade of old pallets that had far too many open slats for his liking. He could not see Vin in the darkness but he had heard the warning shout and knew he was behind him to his left.
"This is the DEA, Drop your weapons and come out!"
Vin scowled. The situation was going to hell, fast. He darted a glance along the left of his barricade, seeing a path that he could take to another pile of stacked crates. It would be a risky dash but he would have to try it. He couldn't afford to let Shole out of his sight, not while the man was intent on blowing the place to hell.
Ian Riker, the leader of the DEA's second mobile unit called out that they had several men pinned just inside the cut fence line they had entered through and Chris exchanged a quick look with Buck, thinking the same thing. Was Tanner one of them?
"I'm in place and ready to fire."
Thomas heard his agent, now positioned within firing range of the tower, and addressed Murphy. "Ready for your go-ahead Murphy."
Murphy nodded to his men, who were crouched and ready in the stairwell around him. Niles was holding pressure to the wound on his shoulder and he indicated for him to stop, gesturing that he would take the door and for him to advance on the booth, then he spoke closely into his headset. "Send it in."
..
Cheese and Ivan were no longer laughing, but they were still in the corner of the room away from the window when they heard a whistling noise and saw something fly through the open frame to land with a thud on the floor.
"What the fuck was that?" Cheese popped up to see, but Ivan dragged him back down.
"Git down ye fool!" He was picturing all sorts of evil grenades that cut people in half when they went off, but cops didn't have those… did they?
A moment later a hissing noise started and within mere seconds they heard the guards coughing.
"Gas!" One of the guards cried in alarm.
Now they were in trouble. It might not be a limb-hacking, shrapnel-filled grenade like Ivan had feared, but the stairs were blocked and they couldn't jump out on the window ledge to avoid being overcome. Or could they...
"Come oan…" he dragged Cheese with him to the window.
Cheese saw where he was being led and baulked, even as the gunfire from the stairs escalated and another guard went down. "Ya think ya can fly now? I ain't goin' that way!"
But Ivan pulled him along to the ledge despite the protests. "Ye'd rather take the stairs?" He practically launched Cheese up and over the ledge, following right beside him.
Both men held on desperately as their weight caught up with them, struggling to find a grip and tearing their hands open on the broken glass.
"Fuck you Ivan!" Cheese cursed, not daring to look down as his legs swung in the free space.
"Stop moanin' ye fuckin' woman! Ye dinnae see me bein' aw negative now do ye?!" But the glass had gotten him too and it was all he could do not to shout with the pain. Still, even as he looked around for the nearest drop down, seeing a sloping roof that looked impossibly far away to their right, he'd never admit it had been a bad plan.
..
"Vin?"
Vin had been just about to haul himself forward and make a run for it when Bruce's voice called out to him.
"We gotta move!" he called back impatiently.
"Hang on!"
Before Vin could wonder what Bruce was going to do he heard the heavy thud of boots on the ground and a moment later the solid man came sliding in beside him like a player tackling home base, diverting his attention from the guards up ahead.
"So, what's the plan?"
For a moment Vin considered asking Bruce if he realised there were men with guns surrounding them, then decided he would just be wasting his breath, and time, which he didn't have an abundance of. Instead, he shook his head, peering back out at the path he'd been about to take before ducking back. "Ain't good. Shole's up thataway," he gestured up ahead to their left. "Figured I'd make a run fer it, try an' get ta that stack'a crates up ahead there."
Bruce leant in to Vin, trying to see over his shoulder. "Ok you go, I'll cover you. Then you can cover me."
Vin raised an eyebrow and looked at Bruce, letting the sarcasm swarm his words. "That's a hell'v'a plan."
"Thanks," came with a wide grin.
When Vin looked out again at the distance they had to run the flash of humour was gone. "Stay low."
Hearing nothing from the agents that had fired ahead on their right, he got up on his good knee and let out a short, sharp breath, then without further hesitation, sprang out into the open, pushing himself up and clear of the barricade in the blink of an eye. He wasn't as fast as he would have been if his knee wasn't pounding with every stride but together with the shots that Bruce started firing wildly behind him he made quick progress to the next cover. A too close bullet whizzing past his ear gave him the extra adrenaline he needed to sprint across the sodden ground and he threw himself behind the barricade, lying on his stomach and quickly looking for Shole. He spotted him not far ahead, close to a large metal shipping container. He wasn't all that far now from the left perimeter and wondered if Larabee had waited there or moved further in. His ribs were screaming at him as he lay on the damp, muddy ground, not near ready for all of the rough movement
and he straightened out his bent knee, rubbing the swollen muscle to try and ease the pain.
"VIN!"
He turned his body with a grimace and tried to gesture to Bruce to tell him to stay put, but the stocky frame was already clear of the barrier and on the move toward him. Quickly he sat up, gun in hand and looked out toward the agents positioned nearby. He saw several guns poke out of the side of the barrier that had fired at them before and fired himself before they could take a shot, not hesitating to give Bruce the cover he needed, but keeping his aim just higher than their heads. It was enough to stop them from returning fire on the madly running man. Once again Bruce made it to safety, this time with a wild `Yeehaa!' as he slid home.
Lowering his gun and checking the clip, his back up against the wooden crates, Vin did not bother to look at Bruce as he sarcastically suggested, "Reckon there might be a few agent's left that don't know we're here." At this rate, they were going to bring the whole field down on them.
Bruce slapped him on the arm, too pumped up to take him seriously. "Then we'd better wake `em the hell up!" He looked around and suddenly his gaze was drawn upward by the noise of the gunfire coming from the tower that they could now see clearly. Suddenly his jaw dropped as recognition hit and again he tapped Vin on the arm, harder this time. "Tell me that ain't who I think it is."
Vin slid his cartridge back in place and looked up with a frown. It didn't take long to see Cheese and Ivan swinging like monkeys from the broken window as the sounds of the gun battle raged inside. He realised he probably shouldn't have been surprised at seeing them in such a predicament, but they had certainly surpassed anything he could have imagined them getting up to. They were sitting ducks up there, with nowhere to go that he could see.
"What the fuck are those clowns doin'," Bruce said, shaking his head. Without warning he half stood up, "JUMP YA STUPID BASTARDS!"
A wild shot was fired toward them from the agents, who couldn't get a good shot at their position from the angle of their cover, but there was always the chance of a stray bullet finding its way and so Vin ducked low with a curse, grabbing Bruce and violently pulling him back behind the crates. Enough was enough.
"Are ya tryin'a get us killed?!" he asked in disbelief. Bruce was like a moving, dodging, screaming target pinned to his side. He looked around, ready for the entire force of agents to close in on them, still cursing the man beside him.
Stretching out along the ground he looked for Shole and saw him crouched down, his men gathered close and giving their attention to the device in Shole's hands. He didn't want to get his hopes up but from where he sat, it looked like there was a problem with the detonator. The way his luck had been going lately, he could do with a break.
..
Josiah looked at Nathan as they both heard a loud shout come from just around their metal barrier. A moment earlier they had heard the noise of men running not far ahead, but they had not realised how close they were until the shout to jump had rung out and a shot had sounded just a short distance away. It was all JD could do not to jump up and run out of their cover firing.
"Did you hear that? They're right there!"
Josiah did not say anything to JD, he was past that, past trying to understand how the kid could fail to recognise the seriousness of their situation and so he merely looked at him, staring at the younger man until the unaware agent finally blinked back in understanding. Josiah's stern face had delivered its request for silence without having had to say a word.
Having also heard the shout from ahead Buck turned to Chris, having no idea how close Tanner actually was to them and just frustrated that the man had yet to show as agreed. "We can't sit here forever."
Chris again scanned the darkness behind them. No, they couldn't sit there while their men closed in on the truck. Buck was right, they needed to move forward. Besides, if Tanner was going to meet them there, he would have shown up by then. So why the hell hadn't he?
Riker's voice informed them. "Larabee, two men have come your way, they're directly in front of you, no longer in our range. They're both armed."
Chris acknowledged the call and got ready to move. "Heads up, Buck and I are coming in," he called to his team ahead, motioning to Buck to move out first.
Josiah moved back to his position on the left, giving the two agents room to run in and take position along side them.
"All clear," Nathan called, constantly listening and watching for any movement.
Buck and Chris moved fast and quietly, coming up behind the three agents and settling into position along the damp ground.
"Just the two?" Chris whispered to Nathan who was closest, wanting to confirm Riker's call.
Nathan nodded, pointed straight ahead through their metal barricade, then he gestured over to their left.
He spoke softly. "Take caution, it could be him." He then gave a nod, signalling that Josiah, JD and Buck take the left and he and Nathan would round the container from the right, looking for the two men just in front of them. He was about to signal to move forward when the gunfire in the tower came to an abrupt halt and he gestured to Josiah to take a look, the only one who could see from their position.
The big man looked out and up at the tower before quickly moving back to cover and shaking his head. He'd just seen two bikers clinging to the window for their lives, swinging from the ledge like orang-utans at the zoo.
"All clear up here," came Murphy's voice. They'd just taken out the last guard, who had refused to surrender himself for arrest.
Chris frowned and looked at Josiah, the only one able to see the top of the tower clearly. "You've got two men hanging from the window, trying to find a way down," Josiah informed Murphy, at the same time speaking to Chris, not sure if the DEA leader was aware of the men trying to escape.
Chris shook his head, he couldn't see the tower, but knew it was a long drop to the ground.
Inside the booth, Murphy frowned at that information, even as he gestured to his men to move forward to the
window. Sure enough, they spotted hands clinging desperately to the torn ledge and a moment later heard their voices.
"Go!" Ivan yelled at Cheese, and not for the first time.
While the gunfire had still gone on above them, they'd been trying to get enough momentum in the swing of their legs to launch themselves from the ledge and try and land on the tin roof below and to their right. Yet even as Ivan hesitated to let go, he'd still tried to get Cheese to go first.
"Fuck you! You go!" was the terrified response. "Look at the angle we have ta make, I told ya it wasn't gonna work!"
Ivan considered the corrugated metal again before looking up at his hands. They were bleeding from the jagged pieces of glass that were cutting into them and the blood was dripping down into his face. Then suddenly the bullets stopped above them and everything went quiet. He shared a look with Cheese.
"Maybe we won..?" Cheese suggested.
"I ain't stickin' round tae find oot!"
It was now or never. As he saw the shadow of men looming out above them, Ivan made a final swing back with his legs and threw his body to the right, feeling his hands rip free of the glass as he let go. For a terrifying moment he felt himself falling through the free air, able to do nothing more than will himself to make contact with the roof – any part of the roof - he wasn't picky at that point.
Then, by some miracle of gravity, he managed to catch the guttering of metal with one desperate, bleeding hand. He was a good drop beneath the window and it took a valiant struggle of flailing legs and straining arms to drag himself up to safety, slightly battered and breathing hard, but well and truly alive.
..
"Well fuck me he made it!" Bruce said as he and Vin stared up at Ivan, now pulling himself up onto the roof, the guttering looking precariously unstable as it moved with his weight. "He'd do Wallace proud pullin' a move like that!"
Vin's head gave a slight, unconscious shake, he couldn't believe he'd made it either. For a moment there, he'd forgotten to take a breath as the Scotsman had let fly.
..
"One man's down, he made it to the roof below, there's still one up there," Josiah informed Murphy.
Ivan didn't waste time after he landed and immediately motioned to Cheese, shouting as he gestured for him to let go too.
"Come oan!" He beckoned wildly, not able to see the window any more from the side angle he was now on, but having a good view of his friend's dangling body.
Cheese looked back up at the agents now reaching out towards his hands. So much for the guards and their
machine guns.
"Back off!" he yelled at them.
"They're gonna get him," Bruce said, shaking his head, getting worried.
Sensing Bruce's panic Vin used a calm tone. "Just give him a minute.
They waited in silence while Cheese dangled over the ground, clearly at war with himself as he tried to mount the courage to swing himself to the landing.
"Seriously, they're gonna shoot him!"
"Just wait!" Vin said, but Bruce had had enough.
"Fuck it." And without another thought he stood up, gun in hand, and fired at the window, not stopping until his gun clicked empty.
The agents at the window weren't prepared for the volley of shots that went thankfully high and wide, slamming into the concrete around them. They ducked down immediately, Murphy instantly calling for information.
"Who the hell's firing down there?!"
Riker answered. "It's the two men bunkered down behind a stack of crates. You'll have to take them out Larabee, I can't get to them from here and I can hear more men coming up behind us. Keep your heads down up there boys!"
Chris scowled at the barrier in front of him. If it was Tanner, why the hell would he fire at the agents in the window?
He motioned to his men to get ready, not willing to let whoever it was take another shot.
..
"There's no point killing yourself, you'll never make the fall!" Forrester called out to Cheese, crouched now with Niles and Murphy beneath the window.
"Bite me," Cheese said almost to himself, his voice strained and speaking more to build his own courage than for the benefit of the men above him. He moved his hands over the broken glass towards the end of the window to close the distance to the roof that Ivan was now standing on and felt them slice open again. He cursed as he fought to hold onto his thread of composure, his arms straining at having to hold his own weight for so long.
"Now ye daft bastard! Come oan!" Ivan encouraged, knowing that someone was covering Cheese's escape by having fired up at the window.
"Shut the fuck up!" Cheese yelled, still manoeuvring himself to make the attempt at Ivan's landing spot.
"Ye waitin' oan a written fuckin' invitation?"
It was the final straw. As Ivan taunted him once more Cheese snapped from all of the pressure, just as Ivan wanted him to.
"I said shut the fuck up!" He was terrified, but he did it anyway, more to pounce on Ivan and pound him for
his insensitivity than to save himself. He swung out with everything he had, letting go at a precisely timed point in his swing… and missed the gutter completely.
With a slightly open mouth Ivan watched Cheese fall past him, arms still out and ready to assist him. He winced as his friend fell and his body connected with edge of the next level down. For a moment he thought he might grab a hold of the ledge below, but it was not to be. His blood slick fingers were not able to get a grip on the smooth metal guttering and Cheese fell the remaining distance to the ground.
With dismay, Ivan watched Cheese free fall the remaining level down, his mouth forming an empathetic grimace as he heard his body land on the concrete, twisting awkwardly before becoming still.
"Jesus!" Bruce said, ready to run and help him.
"Wait!" Vin cursed, grabbing the impetuous man and holding him back. "There's agents all over the place, ya can't run out there now!" He knew every agent around them had a bead on them after Bruce had jumped up and unloaded his gun at the window, if they hadn't before that. He could almost feel the creeping silence around them. The agents were closing in, he could sense the danger as vividly as if he were seeing them with his own eyes.
But Bruce had other ideas. He shrugged out of Vin's hold. "I ain't sittin' here while they take him!"
"You're empty," Vin pointed out.
For a second Bruce looked at his gun and then shrugged, grinning at him. He hadn't brought any extra ammo, hadn't thought they would need it. "Fuck it. They don't know that."
"Are you crazy?!" Vin felt his hold on Bruce's sleeve slip as the hell bent man sprung up. He tried to stretch himself out to grab his legs before he got away but was not quick enough to stop him leaving their meagre cover. "Bruce!" he whispered harshly, watching him run out into the night. "Fuck!" He hit the wooden crate with his hand in frustration. He was already ducking himself back to cover when he felt a hot sting across his temple accompanied by an instant, burning pain. As the sound of the stray bullet tearing into the wood next to his head registered he knew he'd been damn lucky. A few millimetres more and it could have been all over. As it was, he was having a hard time sitting back up.
He raised a hand to the graze and felt warm blood coat his fingers, cursing again as he realised that Bruce's
foolishness was forcing him to make a decision. The reckless man was going to get himself killed if he didn't back him up, but a lot more people would die if Shole got that detonator working. With a groan he got to his knees, the pain from the swollen joint forgotten with the new rhythmic throbbing at the side of his head. He needed to move and yet suddenly all he wanted to do right then was lie down and sleep. The
night seemed to be colourless all of a sudden, a canvas of black and white. Everything seemed dulled, subdued, quiet… but he knew that couldn't be right, for a moment ago he had plainly heard gunfire behind him. He had to get moving, that much he knew. Bruce. Where the hell did he go?
..
Ivan continued to watch Cheese for a sign of life, keeping low on the roof and peering over the edge, his breath held tight in his chest. After what seemed like a lifetime, he saw Cheese's hand move, then his arm, then he heard a distinct groan, even from the long distance and a wide grin split his face. His messy contact with the gutter might not have stopped his friend's fall, but it had broken his impact with the ground, hopefully saving his life. He called out in glee.
"Cheese ye useless git!"
Cheese groaned again and blinked up at the darkness above him, wondering if he was dead. Mom...?
"Ye fuckin' unco twat!"
A bit deep in the voice, but still possibly his mother… He blinked again and finally saw Ivan's pale face peering down at him from a distance. If he wasn't mistaken, his friend was grinning as he shouted through his cupped hands.
"A little maire tae yer right the next time!"
It took a while, but an answering hand finally lifted itself off the pavement and one finger came up in response.
"Shuuuush!" Cheese managed to call feebly before collapsing back on the ground to stare up at the black sky. He knew he needed to move, but he had no idea how he was going to manage it. He didn't even know if he had broken anything, he was too scared to check.
"Cheeky bastard," Ivan said with great affection before shouting. "Dinnae make me come doon there!" But there was a smile on the man's lips as he began looking for a way down.
Cheese, too, was smiling as he let his head fall back on the concrete, content to wait exactly where he was for Ivan to come and get him. He closed his eyes but opened them again as he felt a heavy drop of water hit his face. Great, that's all he needed to top things off. Flat on his back in the rain… Then he heard the noise of a heavy door opening and closing along the wall not far away. Lifting his head he tried to focus on the man he saw emerge from the bright light of the door, fully illuminated by the truck's blinding headlights. A second earlier and he might have believed it was God with all that white light, but now he was seeing a little more clearly. Or was he... What the hell would Rizzo be doing out there?!
..
As the drama on the roof came to an abrupt end, Josiah informed Chris that both men were now down and together the team shifted around the metal container, looking for the men that had shot at the tower right in front of them. They crept silently around their cover. A shout suddenly came from ahead, up on the other side of the truck, accompanied by gunfire and Riker's men called that they had engaged with more guards who had tried to come up behind them. There was an agent down.
Chris cursed. They were meant to have had the upper hand and here they were, engaged in battle with armed, uniformed men coming out of the woodwork all around them. And where the hell was Tanner?! This was his parade!
They crept on, forming a line as they searched for the gunmen, each man's hand ready on the trigger of their gun as rain started to fall straight down, hindering their vision and making the situation even more precarious.
..
Vin cursed as he stumbled yet again, the ground seeming unsteady beneath his determined boots. His single focus was to get to Shole, knowing he could not be far ahead. He'd lost track of Bruce when he'd run off to save Cheese and he'd had to make the decision to go for Shole, who posed the greater threat. He kept low, the pain in his knee resurging with the added pressure, but he was not yet willing to risk another bullet finding his head by standing too high. The shock of the close call had subsided, but the instant pain he'd felt had not.
He could not see Shole right then, but knew he could not be far ahead. Gunfire sounded behind him and he was almost relieved to hear it. He'd been frightened for a moment when he realised that his world had been blanketed in an unnatural silence. A flash of skin up ahead had him ducking again to the ground, his eyes taking in every bit of the darkness before him, but the rain had started up again, making it harder to see. Again he pushed up, his world tilting with the sudden change in elevation, but moved forward.
Chris too, was moving forward, impatiently wiping water from his face, his men creeping with him on either side. Now they could see the truck clearly through the streaks of heavy rain on their left and the fallen man from the tower lying flat on his back. In the headlights of the truck there was another biker, simply standing there, staring back at the truck as if trying to determine its species.
Then from their right came the sound of pounding boots on the sodden ground and he signalled for his team to drop. Instantly they complied, kneeling on the wet earth with their guns ready to face what was obviously an open attack.
Bruce had been running with all of the stealth of a steam train at full speed when he finally spotted the agents dead ahead of him. They were turned toward him and although they had heard him, they still could not see him, but he could see them, for they were in the light cast by the tower and the truck, whereas he was still in the shadows. He had the advantage of the darkness and he quickly tried to divert his path to his right, trying to avoid them.
Not far behind Vin heard, more than saw, Bruce running straight toward the agents and knew he would not reach him in time, there were too many of them and the hell bent man had dashed right at them. All the same, he willed himself to run. He could barely make him out, but what he could see was enough. Flashes of white skin up ahead told him that Bruce was surrounded, he was facing off with a group of men that he could have avoided if he had just thought ahead. He was right on top of them and there was no way he would get there in time to help him. He wasn't going to make it. The agents were going to take him down.
He lifted his gun and tried to make out Bruce's body, his vision blurred by more than rain as he contemplated taking the biker down himself with a shot that would not be as lethal as the agents would likely deliver. Maybe he could bring him down without killing him, but his arm shook as his arm wavered. He could not see clearly and he could not risk hitting the agents.
He heard Bruce shout and knew then that the damn fool was going to make a stand. He would raise his gun to them and they would shoot him down, not knowing that his gun was not loaded. He was desperate to avoid an unnecessary death, frustrated that he could not use his gun when he needed it most, pissed off as hell that his head was pounding and the rain was blinding him and bordering on opening fire on Bruce
himself just for the sake of it because the man had acted so stupidly… and so he ran forward again, trying to divert their attention, letting them see him as he shouted out with everything that he could put into his voice.
"It's not loaded! Don't shoot!"
Even as the biker pelted straight for them, Larabee and his men realised that he had not intentionally come at them, rather he had mistakenly run straight at them and then tried to alter his course by dodging to his right. Chris shouted a warning as he trained his gun at him all the same.
"Stop! Throw down your gun!"
Each of them aimed at the shape of the man before them, the little light that there was revealing him just in time to see that he was brandishing a gun with little care for a target.
Bruce had realised too late that he was outnumbered with nowhere to go. He'd run straight into them and now they were right on top of him. But he had a secret weapon, he knew that Vin was behind him. He had made an attempt to run, but knew now it was pointless, they would shoot him down if he ran – and he wasn't going out like that. He spun back and faced them, raising his empty gun in a fearless show of misspent courage, aware that he was now revealed to them in the light.
"Fuck you!" he shouted back at the line of men, even as some part of him willed frantically for Vin to back him up.
As he re-aimed his own gun, Chris was confident that his bullet would be fast enough to stop the man firing, but he was waiting until the last possible second to give the man a chance to back down.
"Just drop the gun and take a step back, there's no need to go down this way," he reasoned, but when he saw the gunman concentrate his aim directly toward the sound of his voice, he knew he was going to fire. His first shot rang out in time to Buck's, with JD's own gun exploding right beside him. It was the first shot Agent
Dunne had taken in the field, and it landed an inch from Bruce MacKay's heart.
As the gunfire sounded before him, Vin's determined shout was lost to the noise as he could only look on in horror at what was happening. He stepped forward toward the scene, still trying to close the distance even as he saw Bruce jerk with the impact of bullets hitting him chest height and felt his own legs try for a halting jog. He shouted again, not caring any more about giving himself away as he surged forward, his own voice causing his head to pound mercilessly as he tried to stop them.
"It's not loaded!" He yelled again in a rough voice, knowing it was futile as his shout was again drowned out by the explosion of bullets. "Damn it!" he staggered forward until suddenly the agents were all aware of him, but he was too intent on watching Bruce fall backward to the ground.
"Drop your weapon!" Buck shouted, spinning and re-aiming toward the second figure that had moved up beside them.
Vin heard the command but for a brief moment was aware only that Bruce had just been shot dead, and he had done nothing to stop it. He tipped his head back to the rain and for a second nearly shouted out his frustration to the sky. The movement of his head nearly toppled him backward.
"I said drop it!" Bruck commanded again, Chris, JD and Josiah all joining him in training their weapons on the second biker.
They had killed Bruce. Bruce who had run head first into a team of agents and defied them all with an empty gun, and he had not done anything.
"Last warning, drop the fucking gun!"
He blinked and tilted his head back down, finding the silhouette of the man ordering him to relinquish his gun… He could end this now. He could stop the ache in his head, and more importantly, stop people from dying at his hands, and he could do it in a heartbeat… all he had to do was raise his arm…
"Vin?"
For a moment the voice didn't register, he merely stared back at the shadowed faces before him. But then he turned his head to the shape of the man who had moved out toward him, taking one tentative step in his direction and a sliver of light found it's way to revealing Chris Larabee standing before him.
Chris saw the recognition returned in Vin's eyes as he moved closer and sighed a breath of relief. For a moment, he'd had the feeling that he wasn't going to comply. Something in the lean frame shadowed before them had told him who it was. He couldn't say exactly when he'd realised it, but it was in the way the man had just stood, his gun lowered seeming… lost somehow.
Seeing that it was indeed Tanner, Nathan moved and crouched over Bruce, checking his condition just as the man spoke through bloodied lips.
"Vin…"
The word, spoken this time through the rain with a voice filled with pain and confusion, caused Vin to turn his head, blinking again to clear the dark thoughts that had entered without warning. He looked at Bruce, lying on the ground before him, before stepping forward and finding Larabee's probing eyes.
"It wasn't loaded…" he repeated simply, his voice rough and barely heard above the rain pounding on the ground around them, but Chris heard him.
As Vin stepped toward him, the ATF Captain caught site of the blood spilling down his face, fighting the rain for dominance of his skin. Vin moved past him to the bleeding man on the ground and his torn words registered. It wasn't loaded. Damn. They couldn't have known that, the threat was real enough. Still, it changed the situation. He followed behind the injured undercover agent, seeing that he looked ready to fall and grew more concerned by the dark blood covering his face. As he stepped closer, Vin indeed staggered forward, his knees breaking his fall with an accompanied grunt of pain beside the dying man on the ground.
Buck looked at Chris and shook his head. He stepped forward but was stopped when the long haired man spoke to Nathan, who shook his head to Vin in silence. The man they had shot was seconds away from dying.
"Vin?"
Vin looked at Bruce, regret in his eyes as he saw the blood frothing from the pale lips.
"Bruce," he said, reaching out for his hand.
Bruce opened his eyes, struggling to speak. "Vin… fuck… were… you?"
Vin closed his eyes for a moment before looking again at Bruce, determined to face him. He wanted to tell him he was sorry but could not seem to find the words and by the time he looked up, he saw that words were no longer necessary. He was dead. In silence he reached out and closed the man's eyes to the rain.
"Where the fuck were you?!"
Buck had waited long past his patience for answers, but the words he chose at that moment served to stab Vin right in the heart, for they were the same ones that Bruce had just spoken. His final words. He suddenly realised the irony of the situation. His team were pissed at him for not finding them sooner and Bruce had died pissed at him for not getting to him on time… and for what? Why hadn't he been watching Bruce's back? What could be more important?
And with that thought he snapped back to reality with a determined glint in his eye. He was thinking clearer than he had since the night had started. Shole.
Shole was the reason he hadn't followed Bruce. He'd been going after the detonator. Getting up so fast he swayed and had to ward off the helping hand of Nathan, who had risen with him, he ignored Buck and faced Larabee.
"Call everyone back, the truck's gonna blow," he said to Chris directly and made to move away, needing to resume his search for Shole. The bullet had caused him to forget his purpose and he needed to rectify that immediately now that his head didn't feel like it was swimming in a bucket of water.
But Buck stopped him with his gun. "Stay where you are, I want some answers." He didn't even look at Chris before he argued. "He shows up at the last second, nearly letting his friend here take us out, and you expect me not to have questions?!"
Vin looked back at Buck even as he limped away from them. "Check his gun an' see how far he'd a gotten takin' ya'll out… And shoot me in the damn back if ya want, but I gotta stop that truck from blowin'."
Chris called out to him. "Wait."
He turned and impatiently met the solid gaze.
"The bomb squad have already entered the truck. They'll disarm the mechanism as planned. You're in no condition to go back out there."
"Look, I know I got a lot ta explain and I know this night's been one big fuckin' mess, but right now ya need ta call everyone back. The truck's got a remote detonator and right now it's in the hands a' the guards."
Chris stared at Vin's expression for less than a second before making the call as he moved toward him.
"Fall back from the truck! All teams fall back – it's rigged with a remote - clear the hell out of there!"
He stepped up to Vin who nodded and started to turn away but was stopped again by a hand to his arm. Chris studied Vin's determined face.
"You know where the remote is?"
Vin nodded. "Big guy. Shole. He's in charge out here."
Still Chris held his arm, making sure he understood his intention. "You're not going after him alone."
Vin looked back at the men standing behind Chris, all ready to follow him. He gave a short nod and headed out.