Diego felt his heart race when he saw the group of Justice Corps coming towards them. How the hell did they get through Ramirez? Or did the Constable not have the perimeter established when they came through? At this point, it didn't matter; they were coming and they had to be stopped. (Name) took on Lawson alone, which left the rest of their group to handle the Justice Corps.
"Ideas?" Diego asked. Chief Wright was looking grim.
"Barricade the door while (Name) handles Lawson." Chief Wright said. "It's all any of us can do." Diego nodded and helped hold the door with Chief Wright, Isaac, Maddie and Charlie. Diego could feel the Justice Corps pushing to get in, could hear (Name) fighting Lawson. The Mayor was ranting about something, but Diego didn't pay attention to the exact words. All he heard was grunts, struggles and the occasional gunshot, which paused due to something metal—the gun most likely—falling to the floor.
"What was that?" Charlie asked. Diego glanced at him as the door continued to pound from the other side.
"What was what?" Diego answered.
"I thought I heard banging on the other side, and not from the door."
"If there was I didn't hear it." The door kept being pushed upon until it flew open and three Justice Corps came running through. Isaac and Chief Wright engaged in combat with two of them, while Diego took on the third. Maddie positioned herself in the door way and fired her gun at more oncoming Justice Corps. With the door open, Diego heard a distinct banging sound, but couldn't place what it was, but whatever it was limited the Corps returning fire. Not long after, he heard a yelp of pain from (Name).
"YOU HAVE DEFIED ME FOR TOO LONG!" Lawson shouted, having picked up the gun. (Name) was kneeling on the floor, coughing. "I shall put an end to this business here and now!" By then, Charlie had managed to knock the Justice Corps goon Diego was holding off out from behind using the tracking device. Diego looked at Charlie and was about to thank him for his aid when Charlie glanced at Lawson and his face turned to alarm.
"DIEGO, LOOK OUT!" Charlie shouted, pushing Diego to the side. A moment later, Diego heard a gunshot; then he saw Charlie fall as the bullet hit his heart.
"No…" Diego whispered as he watched Charlie fall. Chief Wright and Isaac had by then subdued the Justice Corps they were engaged with; all of them looked at the sight in horror.
"CHARLIE!" Maddie screamed as she went to her husband's side. "NO!" (Name) had gotten up and tackled Lawson, sending the gun to the ground as the Mayor gloated at his actions. One of the Justice Corps broke loose but before he could do anything, the banging Diego had heard sounded again, right behind the goon. Said goon had fallen, revealing Ramirez, who was wielding a frying pan, right behind him. He was followed by soldiers who burst through the door.
"Everyone, drop your weapons!" One of the soldiers shouted. "NOW!" Both the Justice Corps and the Concordian Flying Squad complied with the demand as soldiers rushed into the fray, National Guard if Diego was right about the uniforms. The soldiers had their rifles drawn and pointing at Lawson and his Justice Corps. Lawson was by then shackled by (Name), who handed him over to two of the soldiers, and was reading him the charges he was facing as far as city law went.
"Get these thugs in irons and bring them out," Mister Johnson said as he came up behind the soldiers. "I'll handle Lawson." Lawson could only stare when Mister Johnson came up, his hands shackled behind his back and the pair of soldiers sandwiching him between them.
"Buchanan Johnson, our vaunted Assistant Attorney General for the state." Lawson sneered. "You have some nerve coming back here after what you've done!"
"Mayor Lawson. I am here on behalf of the Governor to conduct an inquiry into your administration." Johnson answered. "What the hell have you done to this city, Justin?"
"What have I done? I have made Concordia great again! I've brought justice back!"
"Have you lost what sense you had left since entering politics?! I've seen the reports from this city, about what your administration's been doing for the past six months since you became Mayor, and the weeks since I left!"
"You know the Flying Squad has turned a blind eye to crime, even releasing criminals! You know this because you helped them!"
"If by criminals you mean Florence Samuels, the Flying Squad transferred her into my custody, on my orders, after YOU sentenced her to death. I brought her before the state court, and they sentenced her to life in a state penitentiary for Judge Takakura's murder. They deemed your original sentence a violation of state law and repealed it, which got the Governor's attention. So, I repeat—what have you done?"
"I did what had to be done for the good of this city!"
"By reinstating the death penalty? The city of Concordia abolished it fifty years ago, along with the rest of the state. That means you violated state law, you idiot! Then there's the violation of personal liberties, which are too long to list, and an even longer one for the counts of facilitation to murder, three of which were handled by the Flying Squad!"
"I acted for justice, and I had nothing to do with those murders! The killers acted on their own reconnaissance!"
"You acted on your own interest, and those killers cited you as the example they followed when they committed those murders! We have the arrest records, the plans for where you plan to execute people that were arrested, even those who have spoken out against your regime!"
"Plans to make Concordia safe!" Johnson only shook his head.
"I saw your memos, your notes…everything you've done since becoming Mayor after Castletown was assassinated. Declaring a state of emergency where there was NO emergency, just so you could abolish free press and replace it with your own personal mouthpiece, putting your Justice Corps in charge of law enforcement, with aims to control the entire judicial branch eventually, dismantling the city council before they could even discuss the changes with you, the arrest orders for people on frivolous charges…I even saw the damned guillotine in the city square, or what's left of it as it was burned down! I was worried when you went for the candidature for Deputy Mayor after Sandra Hwang's murder, that you would be getting in over your head, but I never imagined this!" Diego noticed Lawson didn't deny anything he'd done, how arrogant was he that he thought he could get away with this, let alone be right in his actions? They'd have been better off with the Rochester takeover, at least they were honest about their coveting power; Lawson hid his desires behind 'justice' and used it as an excuse for his actions.
"Then you know I plan to do whatever it takes to bring justice to this city." Lawson said. "Far more than you did, Buchanan."
"It's over, Justin." Johnson said. "Your forces here know you're beat, and the rest are being dealt with by the Concordian Police Department after the fire at Saint Gerolamo Emiliani's Children's Home." Lawson stared at Johnson in shock.
"What fire?" Lawson asked. "Johnson, what fire are you talking about?!"
"(Rank) (Name), did you tell him what happened?" Johnson asked.
"I did, sir." (Name) said. "I told him what that sadistic harpy he called a judge, and his Deputy, had done to the orphanage and its inhabitants and I charged him with accessory to arson, abduction of a child, attempted murder of same, murder of the priest in charge of the orphanage and attempted murder of at least two hundred children and their caretakers. I even explained how Umbright bragged at how she followed the orders he gave her. Either he doesn't believe me or is being deliberately obtuse."
"I see. Well, Lawson, you can ask that godless shrew Umbright, who you made a judge after old Takakura's murder, what she's done on your orders."
"Buchanan, you can't possibly believe what they have said!" Lawson said.
"I can believe them, because I was there when the fire happened. I was there when the fire caused an explosion and Father Saccarelli's body was tossed outside from it. I was there when Umbright admitted, more like bragged, about what she had done in your name." Johnson said. "I was there, and learned you planned to execute priests for upholding the seal of the confessional. I know everything you've done and planned to do, and though it pains me to do this, for the sake of the city of Concordia I have no choice. Justin Lawson, you're under arrest—"
"No." Madeline said, her gun out and pointing at Lawson. (Name) looked at her, and at Charlie's body as Diego cursed. "He's not being arrested."
"Madeline, what are you doing?" Isaac asked.
"Detective O'Ma—I mean, Dupont, stand down." Chief Wright said, concerned. "It's out of our hands."
"Do as your chief says, ma'am." Johnson said. "This is a state matter now."
"The hell it is! That monster murdered my husband!" Maddie cried. "Arresting him is too good for him!"
"Dupont was a criminal!" Lawson said. "I executed him, and you have no right—" He was interrupted by Maddie pistol-whipping him, then pushing the gun's muzzle into his forehead.
"You dare tell me that?! That I have no right to make you answer for murdering the man I love, the father of my child?!" Maddie shouted. "You, of all people?!"
"Maddie, don't!" (Name) cried, pulling Maddie away. "It's not going to bring Charlie back, and regardless, he wouldn't want you to do this." Maddie fought as (Name) pulled her enough away so her gun wasn't on Lawson's head.
"Let go of me, (Name)! He says I can't seek justice for Charlie! My husband's dead at his hand, and I have the right to seek justice. That's what you've been preaching for six months, isn't it Lawson? That if a person is wronged, they're entitled to take matters into their own hands for justice!"
"This isn't justice, Maddie, it's vengeance!"
"I don't care! Enzo was right—as long as he lives, we'll never be safe!"
"No, we won't be safe if you kill him. Madeline, listen to me. We are officers of the law, and as such we are held to a higher standard. We are better than this, YOU are better than this—better than him! Goddamnit, you have to remember your badge!"
"Remember my badge? Damn my badge, (Name)!" Maddie turned to shove (Name) away from her; Diego took that moment to stand between her and Lawson. "I'm ending this here and now. Lawson killed my husband, and his bitch almost murdered my son! This is the only way to stop him, to gain justice for Charlie!"
"Madeline!" Diego cried. Maddie turned around and saw Diego standing before her, in front of Lawson. Maddie pointed her gun straight at Diego, who just stared her down.
"Get out of my way, Diego." Maddie said. "He has to pay, you know he does!"
"Of course he does." Diego said. "Lawson needs to pay for all of it, for Charlie, for what he's done to Concordia…most certainly the deaths he caused by giving fools an excuse to commit murder—more than the three you've arrested; four if you count what Umbright did to poor Father Saccarelli, on Lawson's orders, though I think the 'good Mayor' is still oblivious to that as well as what she almost did to baby George."
"Then stand aside and let me do what I have to!" Diego shook his head.
"I can't do that, Maddie. You want revenge on Lawson for killing Charlie, fine—but you'll have to shoot through me to take it."
"You're protecting him?!" Maddie asked, aghast. Diego shook his head. The others, he saw, were holding their positions. Even the soldiers and Johnson didn't move.
"Of course not; you're not thinking clearly or you'd know I'm not. Right now, you're angry and grieving and want his blood." Diego said. "I know what that's like, Maddie, to have someone you love taken from you in such a manner and the desire to go after the creatures responsible. I know there's a hole in your soul caused by that pain, that loss. But this isn't the way to fill it."
"And what do you know about it?!"
"More than I wish to know about it, let alone speak about in mixed company. Let me explain the full scope of what you'll be getting if you kill Lawson. Vengeance or not, it's murder—you would be throwing away your badge, and everything you believe in, everything you are. There will certainly be a prison sentence, which would make young George an orphan for all intents and purposes, not knowing either of his parents, and that's only the beginning. If Lawson dies now, his Justice Corps won't be stopped. If anything, they'll be bolstered by his martyrdom, as will everyone else who shares his radical notions."
"You're lying…" Maddie said, her hand shaking as she gripped the gun.
"Not this time, my dear. You won't gain any peace from this, or justice or vindication. There may be a moment of satisfaction, but it's fleeting and that hole in your soul? It will only get bigger; your first instinct will be to seek more revenge to sate it." Diego answered. "Who else can you blame for Charlie's death? The Flying Squad you both joined? Most certainly every member of the Justice Corps who followed Lawson. How about the murderers you've arrested who killed in Lawson's name, whether he wanted it or not, or the city council he disbanded before they could keep him in check? People who agreed with him, people who didn't but were too afraid to speak out, those who did and lost everything…so many targets for your revenge. It won't end, and that hole will just keep growing and growing until it consumes you."
"Shut up!" Maddie cried, ready to pull the trigger. "You think I won't shoot you right now?"
"I don't know what you'll do or won't do, Madeline. But I do know this—you have two, and only two options here." Diego said, holding his hand out. "You either shoot me where I stand or you give me that gun. One way or the other, you're not going to kill Lawson. Even if you shoot me, you're surrounded by the rest of the Flying Squad and the Assistant Attorney General's forces. They'll stop you before you can get a second shot off, and I wouldn't count on that first bullet going through me to hit Lawson. On the bright side, you'll have killed me, one of the people responsible for Charlie's death."
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Maddie wavered. "I don't blame you for Charlie's death! I don't blame anyone but Lawson, and you're in my way!"
"Of course you do. Charlie died because he took the bullet that was meant for me. I should be the one lying there shot in the heart, not him. Why wouldn't you blame me?"
"Why are you telling me this? Why are you standing between me and a monster who needs to die, risking your life for him?! Don't you want to live?!"
"This isn't for him and no, Madeline, I don't want to live. Not if it means seeing you turn into the same monster Lawson did."
"No…" Maddie whispered, pale.
"Yes." Diego said, still holding out his hand. "So what's it going to be, Madeline? How does this play out? Do I die by your hand for revenge, or do you stand down and let Lawson answer to true justice?" Maddie looked torn, but no one moved. The seconds went slowly, until Maddie forced her finger off the trigger, and shoved her gun into Diego's hand. Diego gave the gun to (Name), who took it and he held Maddie as she sank to the ground sobbing, holding her tight and keeping her head buried in his chest, so she couldn't see either Lawson or Charlie's body.
"Oh, Charlie…" Maddie sobbed.
"If it's any consolation, Maddie," Diego whispered, a tear going down his cheek. "I'm going to miss him too."