As Steve hovered over Lawrence, Shane could only watch and hope Steve did the right thing. Shane understood the desire for revenge, but he knew Steve would regret letting Lawrence die.
". . . For a guy who thinks so damn much of himself, that's about as stupid as it gets."
"Steve!" Shane called out. The attempt to shout strained the muscles that were still coming back to life after being painfully frozen by the toxin. He had managed to lift his upper body off the ground, but the effort at yelling sapped his strength and he fell back to the floor.
The room spun and it took a little while for Shane to recover. After a series of short, sharp breaths, he managed to get his breathing back under control. The room began to right itself and, after a few deeper breaths, Shane managed to look again at Steve and Lawrence. Now, Steve was crouched beside Lawrence. Shane heard Steve laugh, but could not hear what he was saying. Then Steve rose. He was holding an empty vial of the antidote in his hand.
"You remember that, Larry," Steve said. "You remember that when you think of me - or the next time you think anyone's life doesn't matter because they aren't the great Lawrence Alamain." Steve looked around for a moment, and then took a few steps away from Lawrence. He picked up the remote control device that Lawrence had been holding and then found Lawrence's gun on the ground. After sticking both in his jacket pocket, Steve walked back over to Shane and crouched down.
A slight frown crossed his face. "How you doing there, Donovan?"
Shane had to admit that he had been better, but the pain from the toxin had receded and his muscles were loosening up. He nodded his head and, with some effort, pulled himself to a semi-seated position, leaning against the side of the gas chamber. "I'm alive," Shane said. Then, hoping he sounded as grateful as he felt, he added, "Thanks to you."
Steve just shrugged.
Unable to stop himself, Shane asked, "What in blazes possessed you to drag Lawrence inside this thing?"
Steve shrugged again. "Seemed like a good idea at the time. Good thing I'd developed an immunity to that stuff."
Something in Steve's voice told Shane the answer to his question, but he asked anyway. "You didn't know that, did you? I mean, about the immunity."
"Call me lucky, dude."
Shane laughed, a sort of hacking laugh that grew slightly louder as more of his muscles loosened. "Bloody hell, Steve. . . . You're never going to learn. Going off half-cocked like that." Steve started to respond, but Shane raised a hand. "And I'm damn thankful for it."
Steve had to chuckle. "I'll make a convert out of you yet, Donovan. Forget the damn rule book. You gotta make your own rules when it counts." He looked at Shane carefully in what obviously was an examination. Then, in a more serious tone, Steve asked, "Can you move? Alamain's goon's still out there. We're the only ones who know his plans."
Shane was confused. "But Lawrence. . . . The remote. . . ."
"You were probably too out of it to hear," Steve said. "After he gassed you. . . . His man has instructions. If Lawrence doesn't trigger the remote within the hour, he lets it go on his own."
No! Shane felt his heart freeze. After everything, they still had not stopped the toxin. Salem wasn't safe.
Andrew is there.
The realization that his son was in danger flooded Shane with adrenaline. "We've got to get over there," he said, staggering clumsily to his feet. His muscles did not fully cooperate though, and he stumbled, falling back to his knees. His legs stung, as if they had been asleep and were just coming awake.
"Dammit," Shane snapped. He flexed his hands and wrists. They too seemed heavy.
"Calm down," Steve said. Seeing Shane's frustration he added, "You got a much bigger dose of that stuff, so it's probably going to take you longer to get back to 100-percent. Not to mention you didn't spend weeks getting a daily dose of it." He helped Shane back to a seated position against the gas chamber, then reached for the boots he had removed earlier. As he pulled them on, Steve said, "You'd better just wait here."
Shane hated feeling so useless, but he reminded himself that he had already badly miscalculated his abilities. That's why Steve had to save you in the first place, he reminded himself. He looked up at Steve. "Do you think you can take out Marais on your own? Maybe call John-" Suddenly, it dawned on Shane that he had not wondered why Steve came alone. "John's okay, isn't he? Lawrence said he escaped-"
"He's okay," Steve said. "Took a bullet in the shoulder, but he's fine. As for me, I can take out that Marais dude. But just so you'll approve, I'll call the Salem PD and see if I can get some back-up. . . . Maybe with everything that's happened, Roman's finally figured out we're not the bad guys."
Steve stood up and looked around. Shane looked in the same direction and realized that Steve was looking for the gun he had tossed aside at Lawrence's command. It had slid across the floor and stopped a few feet from Shane. Steve walked over, picked it up, crouched back down, and handed it to Shane. "I have to get past the guy in the other room and anyone else Alamain has in here, so I can't drag him with me. Will you be able to handle Alamain 'til I get some cops down here?"
Shane took the M9. It felt oddly heavy and his right hand trembled a little as he took it.
"You okay?" Steve asked.
Not wanting to give Steve any reason to hesitate, Shane quickly nodded. He told himself Steve was right. He just needed a few more minutes to recover. He put his other hand on the gun and set it on his knee. "I'm fine. Like you said, I just got a bigger dose of the gas. It's probably just taking a little longer to work its way out of my system." He made a point of squeezing the grip of the gun and studiously ignored the tiny voice in the back of his head telling him that something was off. Don't think about that. Steve has to save those kids. Shane looked across the room toward the exit. "I can handle Lawrence. You need to go."
Steve seemed to hesitate, but then nodded. He patted Shane on the shoulder before he stood up. "Don't worry, dude. I've got this."