Mal Fallon

As I shouted out to her, I felt the ice cold grip of my Captain's fingers pull me away. "Mal!" She shouted in a whisper. "What are you doing? Calm yourself!"

I did what she said, but only for a moment. "Captain, are you insane? She's walking into her own death trap!"

Maria shook her head. "Come on, Mal. Don't undermine your partner. She's very smart, and she knows exactly what she's doing."

"No! Relying on her intelligence is one thing. But this is suicide! You sent one agent, unarmed, into a hostage situation with no backup?"

Maria looked irritated. "I know it's unorthodox. But if Natara didn't feel comfortable doing it, she wouldn't of. You should know better than anyone how awesomely stubborn that woman is."

"You better be right, Captain."

Her brow raised. "Or what?"

My voice lowered. And I moved closer. "After removing the partnership, and now this. If anything happens to Natara, Captain, you can have my badge."

She didn't even say anything. She studied me for a moment, identifying and confirming my seriousness. Then she walked away.

I thought for a moment. Trying to plot my next move. I couldn't let Natara do this alone. Sure, she was capable, but I didn't want her to do it alone. Even as just her friend, I couldn't let her. I surveyed the building, trying to find an entry point. The roof was out of the question, since helicopters were circling overhead. And then I remembered everybody's attention was focused on the front door, and what was going on up here. I left the scene, pushing through the giant mob of people, and made my way down the street, cutting through a tiny alley and around the building. There was a clear backdoor entry. But that was too easy. I would have been ambushed, easily. Then I made out a tiny, fogged window that went into some kind of basement. I chuckled, and muttered, "jackpot".

Natara Williams

As soon as I made my way through the door, it seemed like, I felt a heavy force bring me down. My entire body was crushed underneath it. "Youch!" I yelled, only because my hair got snagged on whatever it was. "What the hell-"

I pried my eyes open to a black mask, of course. If I ever saw an unmasked criminal at a crime scene, I'd tell Mal to pinch me, because I'd be dreaming. "Miss Williams, it's about time. I was beginning to wonder if you would show up."

I tried to move, and then I realized that when I had gotten thrown down, my arms had been bound behind my back. "Was it necessary to give me a minor concussion on my way in? That's pretty poor hosting."

The masked man laughed. "You're so witty. No wonder your partner is so into you."

"Wait, how do you know Mal?"

The man chuckled, as two other armed men grabbed the back of my wrists, and lifted me off of the ground.

"Come on, Agent. Your little love triangle is all over the news. And quite frankly, the whole story is a bit addicting. But that's not why you're here, I have a much more… plausible reason. And we can discuss that upstairs, in my new, temporary headquarters."

Before I knew it, cold fingers slid a blindfold around my eyes, and I was dragged brutally down a flight of stairs. "Ouch! Couldn't we have taken the elevator since you opted to blindfold your hostage?"

I heard a chuckle. "Yeah, I'm not stupid, Miss Williams, I know that your little police department would put a stop on the electrical wiring, the elevator would freeze, and we'd be sitting ducks. Plus, you can't see my face. Not yet, anyways. I want the two of you to be surprised, together."

That made me think. Who else could he be referring to? I couldn't think long, though. I felt my body tossed into a corner, followed by my head smacking into the wall behind me. "Ah… Gee, we can't be gentle? Is it really necessary to be so.."

Suddenly, I was cut off.

And the blindfold was removed. I couldn't believe what I was staring at.

Mal Fallon

I had to be discreet. The slightest hint of somebody breaking in from the outside would send an alert to the hostages, and they might start turning heads. It would alert their captors in turn, and they wouldn't hesitate to have my head. And if the captors heard me period, it's sort of self-explanatory.

I figured breaking in the window wasn't a swift plan, so I dug through the pocket of my khakis for my tiny switchblade. I released the handle and watched the spring action of the slicing metal. "…. Nice." I couldn't help but mumble.

It was a risk, seeing as it was a bank, and the glass was quite potentially even bulletproof glass. But thankfully, the building had poorly-executed security features, and I slipped right in. I removed the glass after etching out a perfect square, catching it before it crashed on the concrete, and gently set it down on the pavement outside.

My first move after getting in was something I hadn't considered. I could either whip out my gun and make a run for it, or stealthily sneak around.

I didn't know how much time I had, or how much jeopardy Natara was in. And I had to really think for a minute…

I realized that if the captors had waited so long for Natara to arrive, they weren't going to chop her head off immediately. They probably wanted to toy with her first. Which was a situation she was pretty good at handling, too. As a matter of fact, Natara was pretty good in every situation. She could protect herself, at least for now.

So I snuck into the main basement hall, hearing whispering immediately from the next room. "Mal, you tiger. You're too good at your job."

The voice I heard was definitely Natara's. So I had at least accomplished that. But I knew there had to be somebody guarding her, at the very least. And they had to be close by. So either way, I was screwed. My next decision was quite different than the previous. It was based entirely off of my gut, but that's when I realized something: It wasn't my gut anymore, maybe it was just my heart.

Natara Williams

"Mal?" I stuttered, "E-Esmeralda Salazar?"

I had to have been dreaming. I blinked a few times thought, to confirm my suspicions. "Nice to see you again, Nat. Unfortunately… wish it would have been under better circumstances." Mal spoke.

I still was completely baffled. And couldn't say anything. "Shut up! I wish I could let you two hug, kiss, and do all of that… romantic mumbo jumbo. But frankly, there isn't the time. Natara, before we kill the both of you, I just wanted to say thank you for bringing this criminal, murderer, and corrupt cop to me. You have serviced me dearly, and it will actually bring me shame to drive a knife through you."

Mal looked surprisingly cool. He had been in life or death situations with the Salazar's before. The entire cartel wanted Mal dead for quite some time. And Mal had even done a massive favor for Jacob recently, risking both of their lives. Mal started shouting. "Ersheepella… or whatever your name is! We were even! Why are you here? What else could you possibly want from me?"

She laughed, and whipped out a switchblade from behind her back, and it was at Mal's neck. It sent a river of chills down my spine. I panicked, wanting to kill the beotch. But I couldn't. Not yet. "Falcon, I want your life! Your scum of a father screwed my plan! He robbed me! And the fool tried to run! But I couldn't let him get away. While my men were chasing him down, he put a bullet in his skull. He was a coward, just like you."

I saw Mal tense up, ready to start wailing. But I sent him my soothing gaze. He needed to remain calm. Not compliant, but calm. He understood. I couldn't imagine what he was going through right then, but for the time being, I shook my head at him.

Sure, Jacob was definitely dead if he was around Esmeralda. That was fact, but I needed him to focus so we could survive this. "Esmeralda!" I shouted.

All the faces turned to me. I had to kill the situation. Quick.

But her posse wouldn't allow it. "Enough, beauty queen! I'm tying to get this done. The last thing I need is you chirpin' over there. I'll get distracted."

One of her men stuffed the blindfold in my mouth. That wasn't one of my better plans…

Captain Maria Yeong

I waited outside as the crowd thickened. Friends and families of the hostages were all scattered throughout the street and sidewalk. I tried to think of what to do. S.W.A.T teams were sitting there, just waiting for the lieutenant's orders to head in and take control of the building.

But Natara was in there. We could only go so much longer. I had to take charge. "Lieutenant, we need to send the team in there. An agent is in there. We can't…"

His blonde brows furrowed in aggravation. "An agent along with about one hundred hostages. Just as well, it turns out someone spotted Detective Fallon running along the south side of the building. Did you see him?"

I swallowed the air in my throat, fearing the worst. "He talked to me. He was here."

His voice raised. "Captain! You should have told me. You know exactly where he is now, right?"

I nodded. "I do, but… "

I was interrupted. "He's putting everything in jeopardy. If those men in there caught on to us sending in officers, they might knock out a hostage! Who knows what they'll do!"

I shook my head, rubbing the temples on my forehead. "That's where you're wrong, lieutenant. Maybe Mal did go in there, sure. But those men asked for Natara. And since they have her, their guard is almost one-hundred percent down. You don't need a doctorate or master's degree to see that. Plus, they're partners. They work together."

His voice trumped mine. "They are no longer partners! And you know Mal didn't go in there for any other reason besides to save Natara."

I felt my fists clenched, and my cheeks turn red in fury. "Please, sir, undermine my staff one more time, and I will lock you out of the precinct, okay? Mal has a heart. He would save anybody's life over his own. And that is why he works for this city. They aren't going to shoot a hostage just because my Detective snuck in through a back door… Clearly, what we're dealing with, is a hell of a lot bigger than that."