Chapter Six: Final Confrontation
Greg pushed aside his anger at both the sniper and Alanna's foolhardy behavior. Over the comm, Eddie sounded like he was nursing a bit of guilt; guilt that belonged to the sniper and no one else.
"Boss, this is about me. I come out, draw his fire, you get them out of there."
"Negative. Negative. We do it as a team," Greg shot back.
Eddie still sounded guilty, but his focus was coming back at Greg's teamwork reminder. "Copy, Greg. Get them out of there. Spike, you and me, West Tower, City Hall."
Parker turned to his two guys, lowering his goggles into place and ordering, "Low and tight. Lewis, you cover."
"Yup," Lou acknowledged.
The Sergeant hefted his shield, turning to the door. He crouched a little so that the shield covered his front completely. Wordy nudged him forward in a silent 'Go' signal. The trio entered the roof, Parker and Wordy's shields guarding their front and Lou staying behind them. He would stay free to help Jules limp off the roof. Parker immediately spotted Sam and Jules huddled behind Sam's shield, the line of purple fire just beyond them. The flames were slowly dying, as if their fuel had been the phoenix who had literally blazed her way into the hot call. Since they were dying and not spreading, Parker ignored them in favor of making his way to his two trapped constables.
Flamewings streaked across the sky toward City Hall's West Tower, her focus on the sniper still shooting at Sam and Jules. Once she'd left the immediate vicinity of the building at Bay and Queen, the sniper hadn't been able to keep her in view. She hissed as she hurtled upward at where her target was hiding. Uncle Ed and Uncle Spike had left the safety of the command truck and Flamewings was bound and determined to keep them safe from the hate filled sniper.
As the group reached Sam and Jules, Wordy yelled, "Stay tight. Stay tight."
Lou lowered his weapon and darted to Jules, helping her up. She whimpered involuntarily as the movement jarred her injured ankle. "You're gonna be okay," Lou reassured her.
"Yeah," Jules gasped out. "Let's go."
Wordy's yell of "Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!" came right on the heels of Jules' gasped statement.
Sarge and Wordy slid their shields in next to Sam's and the five worked their way back, Lou and Jules in the 'lead', though they stayed close to their three shield-wielding teammates. Once they reached the relative cover of the massive air conditioner, Wordy let Sarge and Sam take over the shield duties and helped Lou lift Jules up and over the door's threshold.
"We're clear," Lou called, still under Jules' shoulder to keep her weight off her bad ankle.
"Come on, come on," Wordy added.
Sarge was the next to lower his shield, hurrying inside away from the sniper's gunfire. Sam backed through the doorway, keeping his shield up until he was all the way inside and completely out of the line of fire.
"Okay, guys," Sarge panted out. "Let's get Jules to the EMTs to have her ankle looked at." When Jules made to argue, Sarge tossed her a minor glare. "Jules, we've got to get this guy now. Get your ankle looked at, we'll go help Ed and Spike. And see if you can think up a punishment the kids will actually pay attention to."
Jules made a face, but nodded. "Copy that, boss," she said softly as they crowded into the elevator for the trip down. "Maybe we shouldn't have let them get away with all the other stuff," she mused, referring to the team's habit of letting the kids help out with no real consequences.
Wordy ducked his head; he'd been the one to start that particular trend. But Sarge let out a sigh and, still speaking too softly for the transcriber to pick up, pointed out. "The first time was an option between letting them help or losing hostages. Alanna's kidnapping isn't her or Lance's fault; no more than it's my fault for forgetting to tell Kira they were at the station the day Danny showed up." Sarge's voice hardened as he continued, "This time though…we, I, told them to stay with Kira and Eddie even ordered the station locked down. I'll bet that's why only Alanna showed up."
"Huh?" Lou asked.
But Sam, their magic expert, had already figured it out. "Phoenixes can go anywhere," he hissed, keeping his own voice down. "I've never heard of the stunt 'Lanna pulled, but I've heard they can use some kind of fire travel. Even most wards can't keep them in…or out."
They might have discussed it further, but the elevator stopped and the door began to slid up and open. The group traded looks; they'd have to discuss things afterwards.
Flamewings shot over the rim of the rooftop, scanning the area for the sniper. She curved around and landed in a concealed area, flinging her magic outward. Two nearby 'chimes' told her that Uncle Spike and Uncle Ed were close by as well, hunting the sniper. The sniper was right above them, moving fast. Flamewings let her crest rise as she hissed. Trap, he was trying to lure them into a trap.
The EMTs surrounded Jules, whisking her away to check her over; they weren't inclined to believe her only injury was her ankle.
Greg reined in the hovering Sam with, "Hey, got to let her go. We're not done." He resisted the urge to shake his head. Behavior like that was precisely why there were rules against dating members of your own team.
Lou, eager to get moving, called, "Team Four Sierra's countering from the East Tower."
Wordy held out the rifle Sam had slipped off to help support Jules better. "Sam, let's find a Sierra shot."
Sam snatched the rifle with a terse, "I got it."
Behind them, Greg keyed his radio and announced, "Ed, we're on our way."
Flamewings trilled angrily as Uncle Spike and Uncle Ed split up. No, no, no, that's what he wants you to do. She took flight, trying to angle in close enough to shriek warning.
Sam jogged to a handy wall, close enough to the West Tower to get a good shot, but with decent cover. He swung his rifle up into position, resting it on his arm to get a better angle. "Boss, I found a vantage point," he reported, "I can see the mechanical room."
Ed moved forward, scanning the area as he moved. A gap on his left drew attention and he spotted a platform. Even as he turned, there was a shriek of warning from behind him; a bird's shriek. Before he could react, Tomasić had grabbed him, gun already pointed at his head.
"Petar," Ed tried.
"For the first five minutes of every day, I forget he'd gone!" Tomasić yelled in Ed's ear. "Then I remember, and I see him die."
Above them, Spike emerged and spotted the situation immediately, his own gun swiveling down in an attempt to aim at Tomasić.
"He's got Ed," Spike informed the others. "He's got a gun to his head."
Greg's, "We're on our way, Spike," was comforting, but Ed knew they'd be too late. He swallowed, trying to figure out something to talk the other man down.
Flamewings shrieked her warning, too late. No, this wasn't happening. She hadn't saved Uncle Sam and Aunt Jules only to lose Uncle Ed. The phoenix wheeled, struggling to find some way in, some way to help.
"Why did the fire bird protect them?" Tomasić demanded, to Ed's surprise.
"Fire bird?" he asked. The gun was jabbed harder into his neck.
"Your teammates, I had them. The fire bird interfered, why?"
Because she's stubborn, like her uncle. "I don't know," Ed replied, keeping his voice as cool as possible. Outside, he could hear the frustrated shrieks, hisses, and trills of a bird. Ed sucked in a breath and started trying to stall long enough for his team to come through. "You know what it's like to do what you got to do to save your family, okay? I'm just…I just…"
Tomasić all but spat, "My family's dead."
"Okay, take a breath," Ed urged, hearing the furious pants of the man behind him.
"You killed my father," Tomasić cried, ignoring all of Ed's attempts to slow things down. "He was all I had."
"Let's just slow it down here, buddy, okay?" Ed kept trying. "I need you to…"
"Tomorrow morning," Tomasić spat, "for the first five minutes…" He broke off to pant a moment. "Your son will forget that you're gone."
Ed felt his heart clench at that statement. Clark…you're stronger than this, buddy.
"Sam, we need a solution," Greg's voice rang out, steady and clear, a lifeline for Ed to grab.
"I can't get a clear shot," Sam growled. "He's behind the pillar. Ed, you got to move forward."
Ed leaned forward, edging as carefully as he could. "I need you to listen to me," he stalled, still edging. "I'm sorry, but I need you to listen to me," Alanna, get the heck out of the way. "Please don't shoot."
The sound of the shot did not, could not carry far enough for Ed to really hear it. Part of him fancied that he had though, as Petar Tomasić dropped, his handgun spilling out of his hand; his revenge halted before he could carry it out. He looked down for a moment, managing a grim, "Subject's down."
He looked up, his gaze locking with Spike's. Then Spike let out a visible sigh and let his weapon muzzle drop away. It was over.
"Not a good day for either of us," Inspector Stainton observed to Sergeant Parker.
"Yes, sir," Greg agreed, still mulling over what his punishment for both his nipotes would be. After all, it was very likely that both of them had planned to come, breaking the rules he had set down for their own safety. Alanna would get the worst of the punishment, for actually coming, but her brother would join her for his own part in the day's foolishness.
Sam approached, already under SIU's oversight for his Sierra shot. "Where is she?" the blond sniper demanded.
Greg repressed a sigh at the confirmation of what he already knew. The discussion, however, would have to wait. "She's fine, they released her, we're all heading back to the station. Get there when you can, okay?"
Sam nodded reluctantly and turned to follow Stainton.
"Sam." Greg waited for his sniper to turn. "Good job."
Behind Greg, Ed approached and made his own nod to the sniper.
Greg was about to pack up and leave when he spotted the EMTs bringing out the body. Beyond the stretcher, Luka Boblic watched, his eyes full of unshed tears. The young man tried to follow, only to be halted by a patrolman.
"Please. Please," Luka begged. "He was my friend."
"He's cleared," Greg called, coming over. "He's next of kin."
Luka's eyes were locked on the stretcher as it was put in the ambulance. "What should I have said to him?" he asked. "What should I have said?"
Greg put an arm around the grieving man's shoulders. "What?" he questioned, getting Luka's attention. "Hey. You did the best you could do." He paused to shake the young man a little. "Know that. You hear me?" Luka sniffed back his sobs as he nodded. "You know that," Greg repeated. "That's all you can do. Go on," he added, pushing Luka to the ambulance.
He watched the ambulance pull away, sighing. The best you could do. No question about it, somewhere he'd fallen short, screwed up enough that the kids thought they had to protect the adults in their life, rather than the other way around. Or maybe it was the fear they still carried; the fear of losing more people, more family. Disciplining them for saving lives was going to be hard, really hard, but it had to be done. Because the kids weren't the only ones afraid of losing more family.
I am too.
~Fin
Author note: And another story comes to a close. Thanks for reading and a very sincere thank you to my few reviewers.
The next story, "Trial By Fire" will be located in the Flashpoint/Harry Potter crossover archive and I'll start that story on April 4th, 2017.