"Hey! Swat!"
One's yelling through the door caught the team's attention.
"I know you're in there, and I know you have what I am looking for! Just let her out, and all this will end."
Hondo looked at his teammates, waiting for a good idea to pop up in one of their minds.
"Come on, it's easy..." One's voice came through the door once again.
Deacon nodded to his boss, making him a sign to say something.
"How do we know you will not hurt any of us after you get what you want?" Hondo yelled back.
"Hey, are you crazy?" Morris approached him, looking him straight. "What the hell did they teach you in your academy? We are not giving her to them!"
"Just send her out!" another of the inmates jumped in the conversation, "Her life is not more precious than all ours combined."
"Hey! Don't you dare, Amanda!" Joanna tried to go after her, but Luca stopped her.
"Calm down, ladies, this is not the time to resolve your personal issues." He kept them apart.
Morris briefly glanced at his witness, then turned his attention back to Hondo, still being an inch from his face, and waiting for a good explanation from him.
"Stop it!" Hondo lowered his voice. "I am not seriously considering that!" he tried to cool people down.
"I'm just trying to buy us some time, till our backup is here." He moved away from Morris. "And now, stay out of my way!"
"Hey, let's not waste our time here," One's vice kept coming through the door. "We all have our mission. Yours is to keep everybody safe, and mine is taking the girl back to where she belongs.
"I assure you, once we have her, we're out in no time, and you can take the rest of the hostages. And I promise you, we're not going to hurt her."
"It seems fair to me." he added, tired of waiting for a sign from inside the room.
"Fair!" Luca said, shaking his head, not impressed by his words.
"Yeah, well, the fact is, I don't believe you man." Hondo replied, keeping up his efforts to buy some more time.
"I am a man of my word, you can trust me!"
"That's not gonna happen, and you seem pretty expert in this kind of things, you should know better."
One started to get impatient, and took his radio in his hand. "Two, let's the dance begin, grab the first hostage, he has a call to make."
'Copy that boss, where do you want me to start?'
'We don't have much time, let's start directly with the kid.'
...
Two was about to take the boy from his mother's arms when she started crying loudly, and praying them to leave him alone.
"Wait! Take him!" she pointed at Street. "He is a cop! He's one of them, he's Swat!"
Hearing that leak from a fellow inmate, Karen couldn't help but gave her one of her best furious looks.
"I'm sorry... I..." the lady looked Karen, then she looked back at her son, whom she tightened to her breast.
"You're gonna pay for this, you stupid bit..." Karen whispered, keeping her eyes fixed on her.
"SWAT?" All the bad guys turned to him, eyes full of surprise.
Street closed his eyes for a few seconds, and gritted his teeth, imagining what his fate could be.
"Oh m'am you should tell us this a long ago." Two left her and her son alone, and approached Street.
"Oh, I knew from the beginning you were kind of a hero." He took Street by his neck, making him stand up and lean on the wall, keeping his hand strongly grabbing the cop's throat.
"So, tell us, what are your friends up to? What's the procedure, uh?"
"Go to hell!" Street grinned.
Two hit him in the stomach, making him crawl down, unable to give anything back.
"Stop!" Karen yelled, but Nine got to her, and pointed his gun at her temple.
"I got this, mom!" Street managed to say, biting the bullet. "Don't worry!"
"So this is your mom, uh?" Two approached Karen, and made her stand up.
"Let her go, you bastard!" Street painfully got back up, barely able to breath, with a hand holding his chest, and the other firmly on the wall, as the only thing that kept him on his feet.
"Wait, Two," Nine intervened. "As much as I would love to play with him a little, that's not worth it."
"Yeah, I know... he will be more valuable as a bargaining chip." Two made Karen sit down aside, to maintain full control on her son, and arranged a last, solid hit in Street's stomach, leaving him down, completely out of strengths.
As Street heavily abandoned his sore body to the ground, Grace rushed to him, sustaining his head while he tried to recover.
"It's ok..." Street forced his voice out.
"It's all... gonna be... okay..." he said to reassure her, noticing how genuinely terrified she was, but also to remind that to himself.
He knew he couldn't give up now.
He had to hold on, and keep biting the bullet.
"We have been in worse spots, right?" He succeeded in sitting up again, leaning his head on the wall.
Grace looked straight at him, and forced out a smile, with tears still descending on her cheeks.
"We sure survived worse..." she sniffed.
"One," Two contacted his boss, looking directly in Street's direction. "I have a little present for you here,"
...
"Right side clear,"
"Left side clear,"
"Okay, let's go." Munford whispered, as his team advanced through the penitentiary's hallways.
"Alright," the sergeant stopped them, "Time to split the team."
He quickly inspected the surroundings, then he called his men to him.
"Rocker, Tan, Chris, you go this way, and round them." He looked them straight, waiting for a sign of agreement.
"Fast and clear, right?" Rocker answered to his boss, "We will be there for Hondo and the others in no time."
"Just let me know when you're in position, okay?" The sergeant ordered, giving them his green light to go.
The three young agents nodded, and quickly headed toward their destination, only focusing on getting their men back.
...
'This is a hell of a gift, Two,' One's voice was full of surprise, 'It seems our luck is changing around.'
"Let's just close this deal and get out of here, please," Two harshly said, feeling the urge to get out of that situation. "Where do you want him?"
'Grab him, and pass him your radio, his teammates would be glad to hear his voice.' One's sadistic tone made the hostages shiver.
"I'm on it, we'll use channel four, alright?"
'Copy that, I'll make sure his Swat friends will be listening.'
"You heard that?" Two approached Street, and made him a sign to stand up again.
"No, no, please, don't go..." Grace grabbed his left arm, trying to hold him back, fearing that if she let him go that would be the last time she could hold his hand.
He turned back to her, and looked her in the eyes, heartbroken by her terrified look.
"Move!" Two's impatient tone made Grace start, and tight her grab even more.
"It's okay," He tried to reassure her, "Let me go, it will all be alright, trust me." He quickly loosened the hand shake, trying to give her the most comforting look he could.
"Come on, we don't have the whole day!" Two put the radio in Street's hand, "Now it's your turn, hero, convince your people to give us what we want, and it won't happen anything to your beloved mom." He glanced toward Karen, making him look her way, only to find Nine with his gun pointed at her jaw.
...
"Hey, Swat leader!" One's voice drew Hondo's attention once again.
"I suggest you to switch your radio to channel four, I really think you want to hear this!"
Hondo's eyes meet Deacon's as they both started to feel the chills on their back, knowing exactly what was going to happen: that was a manual hostage situation, and negotiation were about to start.
The silence grew heavy in the room, with all the presents waiting for something to happen.
'Hondo,' A familiar voice finally came from the radio. 'This is Street, I'm held hostage in visiting roo...'
"Street!" Hondo felt the concern growing on him, as he listened to his young teammate's weak voice.
Silence again.
'He was talking too much...' Hondo acknowledged, biting his tongue.
"Street! Are you all okay there? We heard a shot..." he tried to resume the conversation.
'They are probably instructing him on what to say.' he thought, patiently waiting for an answer.
'All the ten hostages are good for now... but there's a boy here, he is very scared... agh...'
The last thing they heard was Street coughing, then nothing more.
"What happened?" Luca said, extremely alarmed.
"He gave us his position, and the numbers of hostages... that must have annoyed them..." Hondo tried to give a solid explanation.
'Smart kid,' he thought, 'You're doing great, hold on, we will come to you.'
'They are not joking here...' Street's suffering voice reached them again. 'You have to do what they say or...'
"I'm sorry, kid," Hondo took a deep breath.
'I'm sure he knows,' the three Swat members kept thinking, 'I'm sure he is saying those things only to not worsen the situation there... I'm sure he doesn't want us to surrender to their requests,' their eyes met, and in each of their look the others could read the extreme concern they were feeling for their friend.
'He knows we would do everything we can to prevent anything happens to him or his family...'
"We can't do that... you know." Hondo continued.
Silence.
Again.
'Look boss, the shot you heard before...' Street continued, inadvertently letting a bit of his fear transpiring from his voice. 'They already killed a guard, Hondo...and they are going to kill more of us, if you don't hand them the lady...'
The three of them crossed their look again.
'Damn it!' they all thought. 'What do we do now?'
"You heard that?" One started yelling again. "What's your answer?"
"Hey man," Hondo continued to buy time talking to their leader. "Can you tell me why this lady is so important to you to make you risk your life?"
"Well, let's do one thing, you give her to us, and I tell you everything you want, deal?"
"Come on, you know I'm not going to surrender that easily... Tell me why it's so important to you to catch her alive, and maybe we can find a satisfying arrangement."
"Fine, let's try something different, okay? I'll give you one more choice," One continued, "Laura, can you hear me?"
Joanna startled, hearing her real name called, while everyone in the room started staring at her.
"We are all listening, go ahead." Hondo said, noticing the lady had no intention of speaking up.
"Tell me where you put the money, and maybe I can consider to not kill you."
"Are you kidding me?" Luca said, discouraged. "We are here for some stupid money the lady stole from the wrong person?"
"You knew that, didn't you?" Deacon said approaching the FBI agent.
"Yes, some money was missing, but she swore she didn't take them."
"Unbelievable," Luca shook his head, letting out all his frustration.
"Alright Swat, I'll give you five minutes to make up your minds, then my mates there will start killing the first hostages."
'And be aware,' Another voice came through the radio. "Your friend's mother is the next on the line."
"What are we waiting for?" The inmates became seriously impatient. "Just tell them where the damn money is! They will let her go then..."
"Yeah, it's not that you can use it from here anyway..." Another lady pointed out.
"I don't know, what they are talking about..." Joanna insisted.
"Are you still sticking on that lie? How stupid can you be?" the inmate continued.
"Hey, stop," Deacon intervened before the situation could degenerate. "We can't however do that. There's no chance they will let us out once they have what they want, our best chance is to buy a little more time, our backup is on his way, don't worry."
"That's not good, Hondo," Luca's tone let out all his concern. "Street won't let them hurt his mother, or anyone else in there, we have to do something."
"We can't think about the other hostages right now!" The FBI agent jumped in the conversation. "We are in enough trouble ourselves."
Hearing those selfish words, Luca completely lost self control, but before he could say or do anything to him the tension was broken by the sound of an explosion.
"What the..." they all startled, trying to understand what was happening.
"Come on, get behind the table, quick..." Deacon promptly made all the ladies move in a safer position.
They heard shots, and yells, but the commotion was illegible from their current position.
The Swat members had no other choice to holster up their guns, and get ready for whoever could come from the door.
"Hondo, the outside is clear," Munford's reassuring voice reached their ears. "We have the men under control.
Relief pervaded them, as they felt free to lower their guns, and open the door.
But that good sensation lasted only a couple of seconds, till the thought of their friend still in the bad guys' hands flashed in their minds again.
"We have to go take Street," Hondo said, "They gave us five minutes till they would start killing hostages," he looked at his watch, "we have three..."
"We have to move before they can realize we neutralized their teammates." Luca pointed out, edgy.
"No, we have to get out of here!" Morris abruptly interrupted them.
All Hondo's team members had to bite their tongue to not put their hands on him.
"Munford, you got this?" Hondo glanced at the group of guards and inmates they just rescued from the mercenaries.
"My men do. Rocker and I are coming with you." Munford severally replied. "Come on, what are we waiting for? we're wasting time we don't have!"
...
"Four minutes," Two said, walking randomly around the visiting room. "Time is almost up." He approached Karen, ready to execute any order would come from the radio.
"Wait! Take me instead!" Street put his fear aside, and made a move to stand, but Nine pointed his gun on him and Grace, preventing him to do anything.
"Oh, don't worry, momma's hero, it will soon come your turn!" Two said to him, still maintaining his grab on Karen.
'Come on guys! It's time to do something! I can't handle this alone... let me know what to do... come on..." Street thought, making every little cog in his brain run in search for a solution.
"Five minutes," Nine said to his teammates, "It's time, what do we do?"
"Wait for One's orders, maybe the girl is talking, give them a little more time."
"I don't know Two, I don't like this," Nine continued, constantly sneaking his head out to check on their sentinel outside the room. "There's something wrong here..."
"One, this is Two, what are our orders?" Two tried to break the radio silence, but no response came through.
"I told you!" Nine started pacing the room, "Listen to me, just drop everything, and let's get out of here. This is not worth the money they offered us."
"Are you nuts?" Two stopped him in the center of the room. "We are not leaving our team just for a missed communication. Be patient, and stay at your place!" He looked him straight in the eyes, "Understood?"
Nine nodded, looking away. At that moment his eyes went back at the door, where there was supposed to be a sentinel, but there wasn't.
"What the..." He tried to draw Two's attention on the situation, but before he could open his mouth again, Swat was in the room, and the fight started.
"Metro Swat! Put the guns down!" They yelled getting in, ready to shoot at anyone who didn't obey their orders.
'They're here,' Street thought, looking toward Grace to share his relief with her, but meeting his eyes with her, he immediately understood her panic, as well that of the other hostages.
'Of course, they are not trained as I am...'
"Stay down, and stay together," he tried to reassure them, as the fight between the cops and the mercenaries heated up the place.
It all happened in a blink, and Street found himself overwhelmed by the events.
But this time, he reacted without thinking, taking care of the other hostages, protecting them.
He was finally free from the fear that constantly paralyzed him till the day he got kidnapped and tortured.
Unfortunately, in that situation, he could still do nothing more that watch his friends fighting.
He was powerless once again.
As the first of his teammates went down under the Swat's fire, Two promptly hide behind Karen, pointing his gun to her temple.
Street was back to himself, but he could not still help his mother.
His mind went back to all the times he could not protect her from his father's beatings, to all the times he had to watch her suffer, waiting for his turn to come.
Now he was fully grown up, but he could still do nothing for her.
As Karen felt the man's grab tightening her, she instantly tried to free herself.
She was sick of being threatened, and if there was a thing she learned from her late husband was to fight.
She took a deep breath, and arranged a strong hit in Two's stomach with her elbow, making him loosen his catch.
At that point Street had the opportunity to jump on him, and he promptly took it, making the two of them fall on the ground together.
They started fighting for the gun, and suddenly an accidental shot went off, leaving them both motionless on the ground, with a pool of blood expanding under them.