As the Seven men entered the courthouse they talked quietly in between themselves.
They had been able to apprehend the murder suspects a month ago, without much difficulty. Now they had all been called in to testify.
As they came towards the courtroom a man in his 30´s approached them and stopped in front of Chris.
"Mr. Larabee?" he asked.
"Yes?" Chris said.
"I have been assigned to escort you to the witness room." The man who obviously was nervous said.
"Why, thank you very much," Ezra said ironically. "You know I have never been in that particular room before."
"Ezra!" Chris warned as the Seven followed the man.
"What?!" Ezra said innocently.
"I know you hate doing this, getting up early and that, but this has to be done," Chris said.
"I am sorry, Mr. Larabee," Ezra said as they entered the witness room.
Inside the room a lone woman was sitting by the window staring out of it. She had long brown, curly hair and she was looking very nervous. She looked up as Josiah cleared his throat to get her attention.
Ezra immediately noticed her dark brown intense eyes. She rose to her feet and approached the men with a small smile. Josiah took a step forward and extended his hand towards her, and she carefully took it. Ezra smiled slightly to himself as he watched the two beside each other, Josiah tall and quite burly while the woman was slender and of medium height.
"Josiah Sanchez," he said with a warm smile.
"Madelaine Sinclair." She smiled back.
"Meet my friends and fellow agents," Josiah continued. "Vin Tanner, Nathan Jackson, JD Dunne, Buck Wilmington, Chris Larabee and..."
"Ezra Standish," Ezra quickly interrupted Josiah and extended his hand towards Madelaine.
"Hi." Madelaine smiled and took Ezra´s hand.
The eight people sat down in various chairs in the room and thirty minutes later Josiah was first to be called in to take the witness stand.
Josiah followed the nervous man into the courtroom and stepped up into the witness stand. A female police officer swore him in and then he started to testify.
"Mr. Sanchez, could you tell us when you saw the suspects?" The prosecutor asked.
"Yes, me and Nathan Jackson made our way into the warehouse which we had staked out for quite a while. As we approached the suspects we saw them stand over two lifeless bodies," Josiah said.
"Objection! Mr. Sanchez is not a doctor!" The suspects' lawyer exclaimed.
Inside the witness room Buck just threw a pen at JD for laughing at his attempt to charm Madelaine. Vin and Chris sat quietly discussing the case they were working on at the moment, while Nathan sat laughing at Buck and JD. Ezra on the other hand sat beside Chris talking to Madelaine as much as he could. She seemed intelligent but she also seemed very nervous. Ezra tried to make her think about anything else than the case, so he kept her entertained by doing card tricks while talking about anything and everything.
"Excuse me, Ms Sinclair?" JD said after a while.
"Yes?" She said and looked at him.
"I was just wondering why you are here?" JD said.
"JD! Perhaps Ms Sinclair would rather not talk about it," Ezra warned.
"It´s okay." Madelaine smiled. "I am the only person who have survived an encounter with them."
"Really?! I mean they didn't kill you?"
"No, apparently not." She smiled slightly.
"I'm sorry, Ms Sinclair, I didn't mean to..." JD blushed.
"It´s okay. And please call me Madelaine," she said.
Many hours later seven men came back from lunch and as Chris was the last of the men to testify he went directly into the courtroom. He took his place in the witness stand and the female police officer came up to him.
"Do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?" She said in a melodic voice.
"I do," Chris said and couldn't help but notice her icy blue eyes as she looked directly at him.
"Mr. Larabee, could you be so kind as to tell the court where you apprehended the suspects?" The prosecutor asked.
"Yes, me and my team had been staking out the warehouse for several days and when we were certain that the suspects were in there we moved in," Chris said.
"Can you tell me what you saw when you came in?"
"We saw the suspects stand over two lifeless bodies."
"Objection, Mr. Larabee is not a doctor!" The suspect's lawyer yet again exclaimed.
"Over ruled." The judge said with an annoyed glared in the lawyers direction.
"Did you then apprehend the suspects?"
"Yes, we did," Chris answered.
"Were the victims on the floor dead?" The prosecutor asked.
"Yes, they were. I could not feel a pulse on either of the victims," Chris said.
"Do you believe that the suspects had killed the victims?"
"Objection!"
"Over ruled! Mr. Smith if you keep yelling objection I will hold you in contempt of court." The judge warned.
"I´m sorry." Lawyer Smith said and sat down again.
"Mr. Larabee do you want me to repeat the question?"
"No, that´s not necessary. Yes I believe that the suspects had killed the victims."
"Why would you believe that?"
"Because they had weapons that recently had been used," Chris said.
"Thank you, Mr. Larabee."
As Chris left the courtroom he met Madelaine on her way in. She looked nervously at him and he smiled reassuringly at her before they passed each other. Chris headed into the witness room again and the rest rose from their chairs.
"We leavin´?" Buck asked.
"Yeah, I guess so," Chris said. "They won't give the verdict until tomorrow anyway."
"I think I´d rather stay. I promised her," Ezra said and sat down again.
"You promised Madelaine?" Vin asked.
"Yes, Mr. Tanner I did," Ezra said.
"Alright, fine. We'll see you tomorrow then," Chris said and was about to exit the room as he heard gunshots.
"What the hell!" Buck exclaimed as they pinpointed the shots to come from inside the courtroom.
The Seven men rushed towards the courtroom as the lawyer and the prosecutor dived out of it. Chris attempted to stop them but they broke free and ran away.
+ + + + + + +
The gunfire had stopped.
Down the hall the men could already see the security forces making their way towards the disturbance. Much longer and they'd be here, taking control of the situation...and they probably wouldn't welcome the help of seven outsiders. If they were going to do anything about this situation, it had to be done now.
With a glance over at Ezra, Chris started to move.
"OK guys - we're going in! Ezra, Buck - cover me. Vin, Josiah - go see if you can get in through the judge's chambers - if we come at 'em from two sides, maybe we can take 'em by surprise. Nathan and JD - wait 'til I'm in, then follow - but only if it's safe. Everyone got that? Good. Let's go!"
"Uh - Mr. Larabee? There would appear to be minor fault in your plan... Just how are we to cover you when we are temporarily without firearms?"
Chris looked at Ezra. Damn! In the rush he'd forgotten that they'd had to leave their weapons when they'd entered the building. For just a second he seemed unsure.
"What in God's name is going on in there?" a voice just behind him asked.
He turned to see the first of the security men pushing his way through the small crowd that had begun to gather. If he was going to do anything he had to do it now.
He waited for the first two men to pass him. Then, moving as fast as lightning, he moved up behind them. With one fluid movement he pulled their weapons from their holsters, and threw them to Buck and Ezra. A quick nod to Vin, telling him to get started on his part of the plan, and he turned towards the courtroom door. Checking the others were ready he shouted "Now!", as he opened it and dived inside.
As the door burst open the gunfire erupted again.
From her position under the witness stand Madelaine couldn't see what was going on. But she wasn't about to get up and take a look. Especially as it seemed that she was the main target of all of those bullets flying around out there.
She had been as nervous as hell when she'd stepped up to the stand. As she'd taken her oath her hand had been shaking so badly... Only the friendly smile she'd received from the officer swearing her in had stopped her from bolting right then and there. That and the fact that, scared as she was, she knew in her heart that she was doing the right thing. These men were animals, and she'd feel so much safer when they were behind bars. All she had to do was tell the court what she'd seen, and that's exactly where they'd be, for a very long time. They wouldn't be able to frighten her any more.
The defense lawyer had just stood up to begin his questioning when all hell had broken loose.
Over towards the back of the courtroom, where the accused's family and friends all seemed to have gathered to watch the proceedings, there was a sudden movement as three men left their seats and jumped over the barrier into the main area.
The officers inside the court had reacted quickly - but not quickly enough. The men had had the element of surprise on their side. Before the lawmen could even unholster their guns they had been shot down.
Total chaos had broken out, as everyone inside the courtroom tried desperately to get out. A handful had made it to the door and through it to safety, amongst them the two lawyers, but the exit was soon blocked by one of the armed men. As the second man rounded up those who'd tried to escape and made them all sit down where he could keep an eye on them, the third moved towards the front of the courtroom.
The lady police officer that had sworn in all the witnesses saw him coming, saw him raise his gun and point it at the woman in the stand. She didn't have time to draw her own weapon. Launching herself towards the shocked witness she knocked her to the floor, out of the path of the bullet meant to kill her. And placed herself directly in its way. A sharp, hot pain lanced through her shoulder at the impact. She landed heavily, the jolt to her arm sending waves of pain through her body as the world around her went hazy then faded to black.
Over on the other side of the room Chris had made it inside only to come face to face with one of the armed men. Both of them had frozen in shock for just a moment, but Chris had been the first to recover. He hit out at the man's arm, loosening his grip on the gun. Another punch, to the face this time, and the man staggered backwards, temporarily disorientated. Chris took the opportunity to disarm him - and arm himself.
Ezra and Buck moved forward into the room, followed by Nathan and JD. Three armed men against two - the odds seemed to be in their favor.
"Give it up - you've got nowhere to go!" Chris shouted to the criminals.
Ezra looked around the room. As his eyes rested upon something he turned to Nathan.
"Mr. Jackson, I believe that your expertise may be required" The concern was obvious in his voice as he pointed over towards the front of the room, where the witness stand was.
Around it's base the men could see a pool of blood, rapidly growing.
"Holy...."
Nathan didn't need to be told twice. He rushed forward, Ezra right behind him.
As the two men reached the witness stand they heard a low crying. As they looked they saw the female police officer unconscious and bloody.
"Oh Lord," Ezra said.
"Ezra?" A quite voice was suddenly heard.
"Madelaine?" Ezra said as she crawled out from underneath the policewoman.
"Oh my God, Ezra!" She was crying heavily.
"Are you alright?" He said as he put his arms around the frightened Madelaine.
"I'm okay, but she's been shot," Madelaine said nodding towards the policewoman.
Nathan started examining the police officer and found that the bullet had gone straight through her shoulder. He quickly ripped his shirt and bandaged her shoulder. As he pulled it on as tight as possible she whimpered and started coming to. She looked up, disoriented, and immediately reached for her gun.
"Hey! Calm down, I'm Nathan of Team 7, ATF," Nathan said quickly and he saw her relax.
"The gunfire." She whispered.
"It's taken care of," Nathan said.
"Oh really?!" A dark voice said from behind.
As Ezra looked up he stared into the barrel of a gun. It was one of the men, Scott Jones, who Team 7 had apprehended. He was aiming directly at Ezra´s head with an evil grin.
"Get up!" He barked and Ezra and Madelaine complied.
"Ezra..," Madelaine whispered.
"It´s okay," Ezra said pulling Madelaine close to himself.
"Sit down over there." Scott said, who was the leader of the particular gang.
Ezra and Madelaine went and sat down beside JD and Buck, JD sporting bleeding wound over his left eyebrow and Buck with a swollen eye. Chris sat staring coldly at Scott Jones and his five gangmembers, he had been hit over the mouth and there was a thin trail of blood coming.
Ezra watched as another member of the gang, a small, thin, blonde kid, Ezra wouldn´t call him anything else but a kid, since he looked younger than JD, move towards Nathan and the wounded police officer.
"Get up!" He said and Nathan complied.
"She needs medical help," Nathan said nodding to the police officer.
"Now she doesn´t!" The kid said. "The bullet went straight through, I can see that myself!"
"She´s lost a lot of blood," Nathan said again.
"She´ll be fine."
"You sure she´s fine Joe?" Scott asked the young man.
"Yep, I´m sure."
"Get over here!" Scott barked at Nathan.
"And you too!" Joe Campbell said at the policewoman.
"Help her up then!" Nathan said obviously angry.
"You do that." A dark, slender man in his 30´s said, another member of the gang, called Max Whitmore.
"I could use some help," Nathan said.
"You!" Jones said and pointed to Chris with the gun. "You help him get her over here."
"Sure," Chris growled and walked over to the policewoman. "You okay, Ms?"
"Just great," she said with an ironic grin.
Nathan and Chris lifted her off the floor and helped her over to the rest. Chris quickly looked at how many people were in the room, beside his team members. There was Madelaine, the wounded police officer, the judge, and 6 of the jury members. Chris thanked the Lord that the rest had been able to get out before it was too late.
As Nathan and Chris sat the police officer down she winced in pain.
"Are you okay, Ms?" Chris asked again.
"I´ll live. And the name´s Nikita, not Ms." She smiled slightly.
"Nikita... I´m Chris," he said as he sat down close beside her.
"So what do you want?" Buck asked Scott.
"Guess?! We want a safe passage out of here."
"Out of here? I´ll tell you what..," Buck said but he was interrupted by Chris warning.
"Don´t Buck!"
Chris innocently glanced around the room to see where the six men were positioned. Two of the men who had jumped over the barriers were now posted by the front door to the courtroom. One was standing by the judges chambers and Joe Campbell was standing by the other door leading to the jury room. Scott Jones and Max Whitmore were standing infront of the hostages. The six men were all heavily armed.
"How´d you get the weapons in?" Chris asked.
"We, like, went in here earlier and taped them under, like, the chairs and stuff, you know?!." A redhaired overweight guy in his early 20´s said. Ezra thought that this guy seemed to be a complete airhead.
"I thought they sweeped the room before everyone was let in," Chris said.
"Yeah, they do, but I did the sweeping." The man at the door to the judge´s chambers said. He had black long hair, dark eyes and he looked very muscular. "I work here."
"Isn´t that, like, great! Steve works here!" The airhead snorted.
"Shut up Jim!" Scott ordered and he fell silent.
The whole room fell silent after that, Buck checked up on JD who was still bleeding from the wound above his eyebrow. Ezra still held Madelaine who had stopped crying but was still very frightened. Nathan checked up on Nikita while Chris kept a close watch on the men to learn more about them. If they were gonna have a chance to get out of here he had to know their strengths and their weaknesses.
Suddenly they heard a phone ring. Chris quickly pinpointed the sound to come from within the judge´s chambers. Scott Jones walked over and into the room and soon returned with the ringing cellphone.
While Chris and the others were forcing their way into the courtroom Vin and Josiah had made their way round to the door of the judges chambers.
They'd just reached it, and Vin was about to try the handle when they heard the first shots.
With a quick, worried look at Josiah he turned the handle - but the door wouldn't open.
"It's locked! That's not right, is it?" he questioned as Josiah took a step closer.
"Not as far as I know. Want to try a bit of force?" the older man replied.
"Sure. We've got to get in there somehow!" Vin stepped aside, giving Josiah clear access to the door.
Bracing his hands on either side of the doorframe he raised his foot and with one swift movement brought it crashing down in the center. The door shuddered in its frame, but stayed closed. Josiah was just about to try again when a bullet smashed its way through the wood, narrowly missing his head.
"Don't even think about comin' in this way!" a voice shouted from inside the chambers. ''Less you're wanting more of that - and I got plenty where that came from, believe me!" the man snarled.
Vin, who'd been standing to the right of the doorframe, rushed towards his friend.
"You Ok pard?" he asked.
"Yeah - he missed" Josiah gave a sour smile. "Better go tell the officer in charge out there what's going on," he said, as the two made their way back to the hall in front of the courtroom.
The sight that greeted them as they rounded the corner was encouraging, at least at first glance. A whole array of lawmen, listening intently to a tall black man giving out orders with an air of total confidence, as all around others busily went about the tasks already assigned to them.
As Vin and Josiah came closer one of the men in the group noticed them and gestured towards his leader. The man turned round to face them.
"Who the hell are you, and what are you doing on this floor? I ordered total evacuation, did I not Sergeant?"
"Yes Sir, you did. Just getting underway, Sir" one of his men replied.
"Good. I want this entire level clear in ten minutes" He turned back towards Vin and Josiah, giving them an appraising look.
"Now, who the hell are you?"
"Vin Tanner and this here is Josiah Sanchez. Team 7, ATF" Vin replied, holding out his hand.
The officer looked at it for a second, before speaking again. No handshake.
"Lieutenant Al Lewis. What has this got to do with ATF?"
Well, he's certainly...focused.. Vin thought as he explained about the case that had resulted in today's court appearance, and gave all the details he could of what had just happened.
"Five of our colleagues are in there too," Josiah explained.
"So, it was you lot that went busting in there, guns blazing, was it? I'm surprised they're not carrying you all out in body bags right about now."
"We had to do something...if we hadn't there would be a whole lot more people stuck in there" Vin replied, defensive of the teams actions.
"Sure, right. For all we know every last one of those people who weren't lucky enough to get out during all the commotion you caused is already dead. I appreciate you want to help your friends, but if you're staying round here, you're gonna have to do what I say - I don't tolerate mavericks on my team."
With that he walked away, yelling instructions as he went "Brody, Smith - I need a visual on the inside of that courtroom...ASAP. Where the hell is Collins?..."
"Nice fella." said Vin as they stood in the midst of all the chaos.
"Just doing his job, I guess," replied Josiah. "Seems to know what he's up to as well."
"Well, I sure hope so. But I can't just stand around here like some kind of spare part. I need to be doing something."
"Me too. Come on - let's go see what Lieutenant Lewis' plans are."
"Brody!" Lewis yelled across the room, causing the man in question to drop what he was doing immediately and rush over to where his superior stood pouring over the plans of the courthouse.
"When did you say you could get pictures from inside the room? "
The younger officer squirmed just a little before replying, "Uh, I didn't Sir. We still need to decide where to drill, so the hostage takers won't notice it."
Lewis glared at the man, then rolled his eyes. "Do I have to do every damn thing around here? You!" he said, pointing over at Vin, who'd been standing listening intently to what was going on. "You've been inside the room - where abouts could we drill a hole in the wall where it wouldn't be noticed?"
Walking over to the table, followed by Josiah, Vin began thinking. Looking down at the plans he pointed to the back wall of the room.
"Anywhere round the walls should be fine, if you take it slow, don't attract too much attention. But I guess this'd be your best bet - behind the gallery. Darkest spot in the room, shadows would hide almost any movement. "
Josiah nodded in agreement.
"Right. Brody, you heard that - get Smith and get started on it - NOW!"
Brody rushed off at top speed, Lewis shaking his head after him.
"As if I haven't got enough to worry about, I gotta hold their hands for 'em too" he said, before turning back to Vin and Josiah.
"You two - follow me. I may be able to find a use for you after all. Right now though I need to establish contact with the hostage takers."
He moved through the corridor, passing into a small office to one side.
Inside sat two women, one, who looked to be in shock, the other doing her best to provide a little comfort.
"Miss Jameson, I need to know if there's any way we can talk to the people in those two rooms - the courtroom or the judges chambers." Lewis asked the shocked woman, his voice softening as he did so.
Wringing her hands and glancing nervously up at the other woman, who Vin could now see was a police officer, she replied, her voice wavering as she spoke.
"There's no phone in either of the rooms...I don't know...I..I'm sorry.."
The police officer put her hand on the woman's arm.
"Don't worry Miss Jameson - it's OK."
"Wait! I remember...the judge has one of those cellular phones...he keeps it in his chambers when he's in court."
"Do you have the number?" Lewis asked.
"I'm sure I have it somewhere...in my bag. It's in my address book."
The police officer handed her her bag, and she began rummaging through it for the book.
"Here it is!" She flicked through the pages until she found what she was looking for, then handed the book to Lewis.
"Thank you Miss Jameson. You've been a big help."
With that he left the room, gesturing to Vin and Josiah to follow.
They had a phone call they needed to make.
Part II
"Answer the damn phone!" Joe said. "It's driving me crazy!"
"Shut up!" Jones exclaimed and handed the phone to Chris "You answer!"
"Sure," Chris said and pushed the button to answer the phone. "Hello?"
"This is Lieutenant Al Lewis, who am I talking to?"
"Chris Larabee, Team 7, ATF."
"Mr. Larabee." Lewis said. "What can you tell me? What do they want?"
"Who is it?" Jones demanded to know.
"Lieutenant Al Lewis," Chris replied. "He wants to know what you want."
"Safe passage out of here, for starters." Jones said.
"Well, Mr. Larabee?" Lewis asked. "Mr. Tanner, shut up!"
"Vin?" Chris said at Lewis sudden exclaim.
"Yes, he's here and so is Mr. Sanchez." Lewis said.
"They're alright?" Chris asked as Jones started looking more and more angry.
"Yes. What do they want? How many are there?" Lewis asked.
"6 and they want a safe passage out of here," Chris said and Jones facial expression relaxed some.
Chris continued mediating between Jones and Lewis, telling Lewis their demands while trying to tell the Lieutenant as much as possible without Jones noticing.
After almost 5 minutes Chris turned off the phone and handed it back to Jones who looked at Chris with a questioning look.
"Well?" he asked.
"He´s working on a chopper and a pilot for you," Chris said. "He wanted you to release the hostages."
"Never!" Jones said with a small laugh.
"At least let the jury and the judge go. You´d still have us," Chris said gesturing to his other team members.
"Also you must let her go," Nathan said nodding to Nikita.
"No way!" Jones exclaimed. "She´s a cop, no way they´d break in here then."
"We´re cops too," JD said in an attempt to get Nikita out.
"But a lady cop is worth more." Joe said.
"Lewis will be calling back soon to find out what you demand for letting the hostages go," Chris said to Jones.
"Let them go? I never said anything about letting no one go!" Jones said.
Suddenly the phone rang again and Chris yet again had to answer it. It was Vin on the other end.
"You okay, pard?" Vin´s concerned voice asked.
"Yeah, we´re fine," Chris said.
"Okay, what do they want in exchange for the hostages," Vin said.
"He says that he´ll release the judge and the jury but that´s it," Chris said.
"What?!" Vin exclaimed.
"Yeah, agree with them. They want food and drink in return," Chris said.
"You got it!" Vin said. "What kind of food and for how many?"
"Pizza and it´s for 6 people," Chris said while staring coldly at Jones.
"6 people, but there´s more than 6 people in there," Vin said.
"Just do it," Chris said as Jones took the phone and turned it off.
30 minutes later there was a low knock on the door and Jones jerked Madelaine off the floor and held the gun to her head. Ezra tried to get up off the floor but Buck stopped him immediately. Jones gave Ezra a warning glare before he moved to the door and told Madelaine to open it. She did and soon she turned back into the room with 6 pizzas and drinks.
"Move!" Jones said and pushed the gun into Madelaine´s back.
Madelaine walked over to one of the tables where she put down the things. After that Jones grabbed her arm and threw her back on the floor. Ezra was quick to catch her and pulled her close to him.
"Are you okay, Madelaine?" Ezra whispered and held Madelaine tightly.
"I´m okay," Madelaine answered and put her head on Ezra´s shoulder.
"How´s Nikita?" Chris asked Nathan.
"I´m fine. You can ask me, I´m still conscious you know," Nikita said and smiled slightly.
"Sorry," Chris said and looked questioningly at Nathan.
"She´s okay," Nathan said. "I´ve managed to stop the bleeding, she´s lost quite alot of blood though."
"Mr. Larabee," Ezra said and Chris looked over at him. "What went wrong?"
"They came from behind," Chris said coldly obviously angry with himself for failing to disarm the men.
"You don´t talk much, do you?" Nikita suddenly asked.
"Mr. Larabee utters about 5 words a day I believe," Ezra said and smiled.
"Shut up," Chris said.
Suddenly Joe came up to them all and ordered the judge and the jury to get up, he then told them to get out and they did that, quickly.
The remaining hostages watched as the gang ate their pizzas and drank their colas. Chris watched them closely, as Jim seemed to be fighting with Jones. Jones never let his eyes of Chris even though Jim demanded that Jones had to look at him.
"Look at me!" Jim suddenly screamed and hit Jones on the shoulder.
"Get your filthy hands off of me!"
"You think I´m scared of you?" Jim said and hit Jones again.
"If you don´t stop doing that, I swear I will..." Jones threatened but Jim interrupted him.
"You´ll what? Kill me?" Jim laughed and hit Jones again.
"Yeah." Jones said and pulled the trigger and shot Jim in the chest.
Chris was quick to react and he jumped off the floor and tackled Jones. Buck, JD, Nathan and Ezra were up and soon they were all fighting the gang. The members of Team 7 had the upper hand because most of the gang members were shocked that Jones actually had shot Jim.
Suddenly a gunshot rang out and Nikita screamed as she saw Chris and Jones crash to the floor.
Everything seemed to stop as the sound of the gunshot echoed round the room.
Anxious to see what had happened, the men disentangled themselves - the fighting was over at least for now.
Nathan was the first to move, his instincts kicking in before he even had time to think. Gunshot. Someone could be hurt.
Over on the floor, in the space between the judges bench and the lawyers tables, Chris & Jones lay in a heap. Neither of them were moving.
Campbell, the blond kid, quickly crossed to where they lay, coming up behind Nathan.
"Jeez...Jones? You OK?"
No movement.
Nathan watched him warily - the man had a gun, he didn't want to make any sudden movements, startle him. He'd be no use to anyone if he was dead.
"Chris?" he called tentatively, praying for a response.
Campbell was down on his knees, checking over the two prone men. Jones lay on top of Chris, face down. Chris lay under him, his eyes closed. There was a spatter of blood on the floor beside them. Which man had been injured?
Nathan knelt down beside the kid and helped him roll Jones over. As they turned him onto his back they could see the source of the blood - there was a bullet hole in his right side, just below his rib cage. As Campbell checked for a pulse, Jones let out a low groan.
Knowing that Jones was at least alive, Nathan turned his attention to his friend. No major injuries, steady pulse - but he still wasn't moving.
"Buck, come give me a hand over here, would you?" he called.
Buck started over, only to be stopped by Whitmore.
"Where do you think you're going?" he sneered, raising his gun.
"To help my friend," Buck replied. His voice was icy, the anger he felt showing clearly on his face as he glared straight at Whitmore. The other man stood his ground, eyes locked on Buck's, a smirk forming on his face as he aimed his weapon directly at Buck's head.
"Come on Max, it isn't worth it! He won't be getting out of here any time soon, let him go and help." The voice came from the other side of the courtroom, a middle aged man, slightly balding. He was part of the gang, but so far had kept quiet - he'd even stayed out of the fighting.
Max turned his head to glare at him. The man just shook his head slightly, his eyes locked on Max's. Max stared back for a few seconds then turned back towards Buck. Without a word he lowered his weapon, then walked away to sit down behind the prosecution table.
Buck started again on his way to Nathan's side.
"We need to move him. I can't see any injuries, but he's unconscious. Probably hit his head on the floor when Jones fell on top of him," Nathan told him.
"He's gonna be alright though?" Buck questioned as he took hold of Chris' legs.
The two men moved their leader gently over to where the others sat, JD removing his jacket and rolling it up to use as a cushion for his head.
"He sure looks pale," said JD, a worried look on his face.
"He'll be fine," Nathan reassured, hoping that he was right.
Outside in the corridor Vin, Josiah and Lieutenant Lewis had all heard the gunshots, and were each wondering what they meant. What was going on in there?
"Brody! You ready to give me that visual yet?" Lewis asked.
"Yes, Sir. Drilling's already started, should be through in five, ready to go in ten."
"Good. We need to know what the hell's going on behind those doors!"
As Nathan tended to Chris, Madelaine sat huddled on the floor beside Ezra, her head resting on his shoulder. Thinking back over the events of the last six months, and those that had unfolded here today in the courthouse, the tears began to fall faster down her already stained face, and her crying turned into sobbing.
"Madelaine?" Ezra said softly, turning so that he could see her face.
She raised her head to look at him, the tears streaming by now.
Ezra pulled her closer to him and as she buried her face against his shoulder began to stroke her hair in an effort to calm her down.
After a while the sobs stopped wracking her slim frame and she pulled away slightly, staying close enough to keep her head rested against him.
"You know" she started softly, wiping her eyes with the handkerchief Ezra had handed to her, "Before all of this happened I used to think that I was so strong. Nothing could intimidate me, I wasn't scared of anything. Now look at me - sitting huddled on the floor, crying like a baby. Terrified of my own shadow. Guess I wasn't as strong as I thought I was, huh?" She smiled weakly.
"Nonsense!" Ezra exclaimed, with a vehemence that took her slightly by surprise. "I know that it took great courage for you to walk through the doors to this courtroom today, to come face to face with those miscreants. To put aside your fears, and stand up for what you know to be right, that is true strength. And a few tears will never be able to change that. It is perfectly normal to be scared in a situation such as this. But our comrades are out there as we speak, no doubt engineering some elaborate plan by which to effect our release. So, you see, there really is nothing to worry about, Madelaine. Everything is going to turn out just fine."
Madelaine studied his face for a few moments before leaning forward to plant a kiss on his cheek.
"Thank you Ezra" she said, as she lay her head back down and closed her eyes.
"Is she okay?" JD asked quietly nodding towards Madelaine.
"I think she is," Ezra said. "How's Mr. Larabee doing?"
"Unconscious, steady pulse, strong heartbeat. I can't see that he's wounded anywhere," Nathan said.
"Good!" Whitmore exclaimed. "Now you come over here and help Jones."
"Alright," Nathan said and rose to his feet.
Nathan knelt down beside Jones and felt his pulse, he found one, very weak but still there. Whitmore hovered over him and urged him to do something. Nathan did his best to stop the bleeding, but in his heart Nathan knew it was too late. Without the proper medical care Jones would be dead within a few hours or even less.
Nikita crawled slowly over to Chris where he lay on the floor. She took his hand and squeezed it gently. Suddenly Chris opened his eyes and smiled at Nikita, and she gave a relived smile back.
"You okay?" she asked.
"Yep," Chris whispered. "My head hurts like hell."
"You probably hit your head when you and Jones fell to the floor," JD said.
"Chris, are you okay?" Buck asked.
"Yeah," Chris said.
"Excuse me," Nathan said and everyone's eyes turned towards him. "Mr. Jones is in need of medical care."
"BS!" Whitmore exclaimed.
"It´s true," Nathan said and explained what had happened.
"Okay, how do we get him out of here?" The middle aged man said.
"Well." Whitmore said who seemed to have taken charge after Jones was shot. "We need to get in touch with the cops again."
"And how are we supposed to do that?" Joe asked.
"The cellphone, idiot!" The middle-aged man exclaimed.
"Shut up, Carl!" Joe said.
"You shut up." He answered.
"Don´t start!" Whitmore warned and pulled out the cellphone.
"Okay, so who do we call now? We don´t have the number to that cop outside." Joe asked.
"You have people on the outside?" Whitmore said asking the question towards Team 7.
"Yes," Ezra said plainly.
"Good, you call them!" Whitmore demanded and handed Ezra the cellphone.
Ezra took the phone and dialed Vin´s cellphone number. Several rings went through before a familiar voice was heard on the other end of the line:
"Tanner."
"Mr. Tanner. We require your assistance," Ezra said.
"Ez! You boys okay?" Vin asked.
"Yes, we are quite fine. But it seems that Mr. Jones is in dire need of medical attention."
"Someone shot him, right? That was the gunshot we heard before?" Vin said.
"Yes."
"Who was it? Buck?" Vin asked anxious to know.
"No," Ezra said, as Whitmore looked at him a little bit annoyed.
"Chris?" Vin asked.
"Yes. Mr. Jones needs to get to a hospital," Ezra said as Whitmore raised his gun towards Madelaine.
"Okay. Get him out here and we´ll get him to a hospital," Vin said and Ezra told Whitmore what Vin said.
"Fine." Whitmore said. "Tell them to step away from the door and we´ll get him out."
"I believe you heard that, Mr. Tanner?" Ezra said.
"Yes, I did," Vin said and then they both turned off their phones.
Max Whitmore ordered Nathan and JD to carry Jones out the door. Joe followed them closely with the gun aimed at JD. Nathan opened the door and they carried him out to a stretcher that was located outside the door. They placed Jones gently there and Nathan quickly looked around to see both Vin and Josiah stand behind a door. Nathan nodded towards them and gave a reassuring smile and then they went in again.
"Hey, what was that?" Carl asked when everybody had sat down again.
"What?" Whitmore asked.
"I hear something. Don´t you guys hear it?" Carl said listening intently.
"You´re hallucinating." Joe said with a heavy sigh. "We don´t hear anything."
Everybody fell quiet, Buck tried to talk to distract the gang from the drilling sounds. Whitmore pulled his gun and aimed it towards Buck and growled to him to shut up.
Chris had already located where the sounds where coming from, they were faint and Chris prayed that they would be finished real soon.
"I still don´t hear anything." Joe said.
"That´s because you´re half deaf!" Carl exclaimed.
"I´m not deaf!" Joe said obviously angry.
"You two calm down now!" Whitmore said.
Chris gave a relieved sigh because the drilling sounds had stopped. As Chris decided to sit up he got some unexpected help from Nikita. He looked over at her and she smiled faintly at him. Chris worried about her, she looked so pale.
"Are you okay, Nikita?" he asked.
"Yeah, I guess. I´m feeling a bit tired," she said. "You?"
"I´m fine," Chris said and lowered his voice. "Nikita, I have a gun."
"What?!" Nikita exclaimed and caused everyone to look at her. "Sorry."
"I took it from Jones, no one has realized that I have it," Chris said almost whispering.
"So... what do we do now?" Nikita asked as everyone had turned their attention back to what they were doing previously.
"I have a plan," Chris said. "And I need you to help me."
"I´ll help in any way I can," Nikita said as Chris leaned in and whispered the plan quickly in her ear.
Part III
"Mr. Tanner, you want to come take a look at this?"
Lewis made room for him as they all crowded round the small monitor. They had a clear image of the inside of the courtroom. Hostages on the right, between the jury box and witness stand, two of the hostage takers covering them while the rest stood in a huddle towards the middle of the room. Ezra, Buck, JD and Nathan all sat together directly under the witness stand, Ezra cradling Madelaine in his arms. A little to their left sat Nikita and Chris.
Lieutenant Lewis turned to face Vin before speaking.
"As far as we can tell they're all OK. For now at least. It's up to us to make sure they stay that way. We need to get them out of there as soon as possible. Anyone got any ideas?"
Vin locked eyes with Josiah as the suggestions were put forward.
"Full assault, entrance through the window, sniper backup from helicopter Sir?" one young, redheaded officer suggested.
"Yeah, great idea John - what's to stop them executing every last one of the hostages before we even get inside, huh? They'd see us coming a mile off. We need something a little more subtle this time."
"Sir" A slim Asian officer stepped forward. "There's no easy access to the room - none that they haven't already got well covered. We use the doors, they'll pick us off like sitting ducks. Same with the air-conditioning vents - soon as we show ourselves they'd just open fire."
Lewis glared. "I realize that this isn't going to be easy - but this is what you're trained for goddam it!"
Taking a deep breath and a few seconds to compose himself the Lieutenant turned to the ATF agents.
"How about you two - got any ideas how we're gonna get out of this one?"
Vin and Josiah again exchanged glances.
"Maybe" Josiah replied.
"I'm all ears gentlemen" Lewis responded, as the agents began to outline their plan.
"We need to get them out of that room."
"Fine idea, Mr. Tanner." Lewis ran his hands over his head and sighed. "In fact, that's what we're trying to do, if you've been paying any attention whatsoever. I'm assuming from the look on your face that you have an idea of how to do this?"
Vin gave a small smile, as Josiah chipped in with "Give them what they want."
Lewis looked at him, his expression rapidly changing from one of disbelief to curiosity. "Give them what they want? Promise them their helicopter? Safe passage? You know that I can't just let them walk out of here."
"Don't intend to" Vin replied. "Just need to get them out in the open, that way it'll be easier to separate them from the hostages."
The Lieutenant considered what the ATF agent had said for a moment. "What makes you so sure they'll go for it?"
Vin shrugged. "I'm not. Just figured it was worth a shot. We're not getting anywhere at the moment are we?"
"Figure it's time we changed tactics" Josiah added.
Lewis ran a hand over his head again, giving the ATF agents an appraising look as he did so.
"OK. I guess it's worth a shot, as you said Mr. Tanner. But we're going to need a plan. I want everything mapped out in the smallest detail. There's no room for errors here gentleman."
The hallway soon filled with a flurry of activity, as orders were given and men rushed around to carry them out.
Vin and Josiah stood beside Lewis as he barked out orders outlining their plan to the rest of his men.
"Santini - I don't care how you do it, but I need a helicopter here in half an hour. Williams - I want you to go over the building plans again. We need to be sure that every exit is covered. We don't want them going out any way but our way. The rest of you take up your positions and wait for further instructions."
Donning body armour and taking up their weapons Vin and Josiah made their way to their positions, up on the roof.
"Do you really think this is going to work?" Josiah asked as he checked his gun.
"I sure hope so" Vin replied. "Guess we'll know soon enough."
Inside the courtroom Chris had mapped out his plan to Nikita, without telling any of the others. Just as they were to start executing the plan the cellphone rang again. Whitmore handed the phone to Ezra who answered it. On the other end Ezra heard Josiah's voice.
"Mr. Sanchez," Ezra said.
"Ezra, I need to talk to someone," Josiah said.
"He wants to speak to one of you," Ezra said and handed over the phone to Whitmore.
"Hello?"
"Hello, this is Josiah Sanchez, Lieutenant Lewis has fixed a helicopter for you. It is on the roof of this building."
"Well, that's good." Whitmore said. "Now, don't attempt to grow a brain or we will kill the hostages."
"I assure you we will step back," Josiah said as he made his way up to the roof along with Vin.
"Good!" Whitmore said and tossed the phone on one of the table. "Boys it seems like we're getting out of here."
"What?!" Chris exclaimed.
"Yes, they've agreed to give us the chopper. You all will of course be joining us."
"All of us? We can't fit into a helicopter, not all of us," JD said.
"Well, that's too bad, I guess we'll have to do something about that then." Whitmore said and aimed his gun at JD.
"Not now!" Carl exclaimed stopping Whitmore. "We have to get out of here first."
"Okay, so we'll take care of the problem up on the roof."
"Now… Everybody get up!" Steve said.
Everyone got to their feet, Nikita with a bit of help from Chris. They all had to stand two by two, Ezra grabbing Madelaine´s hand, while Chris supported Nikita. JD & Buck walked behind Joe and Nathan close after them. As they came out of the courtroom both Nikita & Madelaine had guns aimed at their heads. Chris found the hallway empty, not a single movement.
"Something´s wrong." Carl said. "There should be some cops here."
"There they are," Buck said and nodded towards the five lawmen that stood at the end of the hallway with weapons trained at them.
"Let´s keep moving." Whitmore said as they started making their way up to the roof.
When they got up on the roof they saw the helicopter standing there waiting for them, a smirk spread on Whitmore´s face. Chris had already noticed Vin & Josiah lying on the ground further away, both with sniper rifles trained at the gang. Chris also noticed other 2 more snipers on the nearby building. Oddly enough it seemed like the gang hadn´t noticed Vin & Josiah because they were all staring at the snipers on the nearby building. Vin & Chris locked eyes and Chris knew that both Vin & Josiah had clear shots of the men. Chris leaned in towards Nikita and whispered in her ear, then he turned to Vin and gave a quick nod.
Suddenly Nikita fainted and Chris was quick to pull out the weapon he had taken from Jones earlier. In the blink of an eye Vin had shot Joe and Josiah had shot Whitmore. Carl turned and fired several shots toward Vin & Josiah and Steve fired at the hostages. Chris managed to shoot Carl before he was able to hit Vin or Josiah. One of the snipers on the roof took out Steve and he fell to the ground bleeding from his chest.
As Chris realized that it was over he dropped the gun and turned towards his team members, Nikita & Madelaine and what he saw made him gasp.
"Oh no." Was all Chris managed to get out.
"You okay, Chris?" Vin called.
"Get an ambulance NOW!" Chris exclaimed.
In front of him Nikita lay, yet again unconscious and bloody. Steve had managed to shoot her in the chest and she was bleeding heavily. But Nikita wasn´t the only one hit, Ezra lay close to Madelaine, his white shirt stained red with blood, unconscious. Madelaine was lying close to him, also unconscious and bleeding from her shoulder. JD, Buck & Nathan were the only ones who had managed to escape the bullets and now they stood staring at the scene in shock.
The ATF agents could only stand back and watch as the paramedics went about their work. They quickly assessed the condition of each victim and began to remove them from the rooftop, getting them to the nearest hospital as quickly as possible. Ezra was one of the first to be taken, being in pretty bad shape. When the paramedics came to Nikita there was a brief discussion among them.
"What's going on?" Chris demanded.
"She's in a very bad condition Mr.."
"Larabee" Chris finished for him. "She'll be OK though won't she? You've just got to get her to the hospital..."
"I'm afraid she might not make it Mr. Larabee. She's already lost a lot of blood. It'll take too long to get her down to the ambulance, then on to General...we don't have that sort of time.."
Chris looked down at Nikita, desperately trying to think of a way out of this mess.
Vin came up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey Pard." Looking at the paramedics he asked "What about the helicopter? Hasn't General got a hele-pad? We could get her there much quicker that way."
The paramedic considered it for a moment before yelling to his colleague, and they were soon loading the unconscious policewoman onto the helicopter.
"You going with her?" Vin asked.
Chris just nodded his head.
"Don't worry - I'll take care of everything back here. And get that wound of yours looked at while you're there too." He smiled at his partner, before walking away.
JD and Buck rode with Ezra to the hospital, Nathan going in the ambulance that carried Madelaine. Before they got there she woke up. The first thing she said was 'Ezra?!' As she tried to sit up Nathan placed his hand on her arm and gently forced her back down.
"Lay down Madelaine. You've got to take it easy. Ezra's being taken good care of. "
She looked up at him questioningly, not sure if he was telling her the truth, or what he thought she needed to hear right now. She'd seen the bullet hit Ezra, seen the blood start to spread over his white shirt... It'd looked pretty bad. She hoped that he was going to be all right.
At the hospital Ezra was rushed straight into surgery, leaving Buck and JD to sit and wait in the reception room.
Shortly after the helicopter touched down, and Nikita was also whisked off to surgery.
Chris was persuaded to go over to the ER, and have someone look at his wound. Once there he met up with Nathan.
"You look terrible Chris," he said, causing Chris to give a grim smile.
"Thanks. How's she doing in there?"
"Fine, far as I can tell. It was a pretty clean wound, no complications. She's more worried about how Ezra is. Any news yet?"
"Not yet. Still in surgery. Guess we'll just have to wait" Chris grimaced again. He wasn't good at waiting.
Half an hour later Vin and Josiah joined them in the ER's waiting room. Nathan had just been round to see Buck and JD, to find out how Ezra and Nikita were doing.
"They're both in a pretty bad way. Nikita's condition has been complicated by her other injury, and the amount of blood she's lost" he reported back to the other ATF agents.
"What about Ezra?" asked Josiah.
Nathan looked unsure, as if he wasn't entirely convinced about what he was about to say.
"They say he should be OK. No major damage, they just need to get the bullet out, patch him up a bit."
The agents caught the touch of skepticism in his voice and they all sat in silence for a while, staring at the floor.
"Mr. Larabee?" A woman's voice came from behind them.
"That's me," Chris answered, looking up at the doctor now standing in front of him.
"I'm Doctor Reynolds. I've just come from the OR where my colleagues are operating on your friend, Mr. Standish. I thought you might like to know that he's doing just fine. The operation was a success. We'll be moving him to intensive care, we need to keep an eye on him for a while. But he's going to be OK."
The men all let out a sigh of relief as the Doctor began to walk away.
"Doctor?" Chris called out before she disappeared. "How's the policewoman who came in doing?"
Dr Reynolds looked uncomfortable for a moment, before replying, "I really don't know Mr. Larabee. I'm sure they'll let you know as soon as they can."
She gave an encouraging smile, then left to deal with another patient.
Chris sat back down and settled in for the wait, a sick feeling forming in his stomach. He could only pray that Nikita was as strong a woman as she appeared.
Madelaine was feeling sick, not because she had been shot but because she was worried about Ezra. She had tried to get an answer out of all the nurses rushing past her room. Finally Madelaine got tired of waiting so she got up herself. She made her way towards the ER waiting room where she found Team 7 minus 1, waiting. JD was the first to notice her and he leapt out of his chair and grabbed hold of her.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"You should be in bed." Josiah fell in as Madelaine sat down in one of the chairs.
"No way! Not until I know that Ezra's okay," she said.
"He's okay," JD said. "The doctor was here and told us that he'll be fine."
"Good." Madelaine gave a weak smile.
"You okay?" Vin asked her.
"I'm fine," she said. "I just need to rest a bit."
Madelaine and the rest of the Seven sat and waited in the waiting room. After a while Dr. Reynolds came out and told them that they could see Ezra. Madelaine was the first to rise from her chair but she felt dizzy so she had to sit down again. JD saw this and quickly went and got a wheelchair for her. When she had sat down in that he drove her to Ezra's room where the rest had all taken up chairs and floor waiting for Ezra to come to. Madelaine asked JD to drive her up to Ezra's bed, which he did, there she took his hand and squeezed it gently.
"Ezra, you have to wake up," Madelaine whispered. "You have to, Ezra. You have to."
After a while Chris rose from his chair and went out to the ER. He asked how Nikita was doing but noone was able to tell him anything. Finally Chris grabbed a near by male - nurse and pushed him up against the wall.
"Now," Chris said through clenched teeth. "Get me an update on how Nikita is doing. And I mean now!"
"Ye…Yes, sir I…I will." The male nurse stuttered and took off.
Soon an elderly doctor, with gray hair and blue eyes approached Chris. He presented himself as Doctor Wyle.
"How is Nikita doing?" Chris was out of patience.
"She is out of surgery." Doctor Wyle said. "She has lost alot of blood but we were able to remove the bullet."
"Will she be okay?" Chris asked just as Vin came over.
"Truth be told, Mr. Larabee, I don´t know," he said.
Vin saw Chris´ entire frame freeze up and he saw Chris eyes turn black. Vin put a reassuring hand on Chris´ shoulder, but Chris removed the hand and looked at the doctor with his cold blue eyes.
"Why don´t you know?" Chris asked.
"Considering the amount of bloodloss it is all up to her." The Doctor said.
"No," Chris growled and punched the concrete wall beside him.
"Easy Chris," Vin said and grabbed Chris as he kept punching the wall.
"She´ll pull through, right.?" Chris said to Vin.
"She will, Chris, I know she will," Vin said, it was a long time ago since he saw Chris this upset.
An hour later Chris entered Nikita´s room together with Vin. The rest was still sitting with Ezra, Madelaine not letting go of his hand.
As they came in Chris felt nauseous, Nikita was hooked up on all kinds of machines and she was heavily bandaged. Chris pulled up a chair and sat down beside her and took her hand.
"Now you don't dare leave me," Chris whispered. "Don't leave me."
As a single tear trickled down Chris´ cheek Vin quietly left the room, going to check up on Ezra.
When Vin came into the room he was quite shocked, Ezra was fully awake and had a big grin on his face. Madelaine was still sitting close by him, still holding his hand, but now she was smiling towards Ezra.
"Hey there, Ez," Vin said.
"Mr. Tanner," Ezra said, nodding slightly.
"You seem to be doing a whole lot better?"
"Yes, that is correct. Madelaine convinced me to come out that dreadful thing. I'm feeling quite okay," Ezra said smiling widely at Madelaine. "How is Mr. Larabee doing?"
"He's okay," Vin said. "He's with Nikita."
"Is she okay?" Madelaine asked worried about the policewoman who had saved her life.
"Well, we don't know," Vin said. "She's out of surgery but they don't know if she'll make it, she's lost a lot of blood."
Several hours later Chris was still sitting at Nikita´s bedside, he was asleep. Chris had rested his head on her bed, wanting to be as close as possible to her and he had fallen asleep.
Suddenly Chris was awakened by something stroking his hair, he looked up and met Nikita´s blue eyes smiling down at him. Chris sat up and studied her and then gave her a warm smile.
"Welcome back," he said.
"Thank you." She smiled. "How are the rest."
"They're fine," Chris said. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm okay, I feel like a bus has run over me but I'm fine," she said.
"Good," Chris said.
"You know I think you do utter more than 5 words a day," Nikita said smiling.
"Maybe, but I don´t think I want to talk anymore," Chris said and leaned down and captured Nikita´s lips.
+ + + + + + +
A few weeks later and Ezra was ready to leave the hospital. On the morning he was to be discharged Buck and JD picked Madelaine up - she was still in some pain with her shoulder and unable to drive herself - and made their way to General. Walking up to Ezra's room together they all stopped just outside the door.
Madelaine hesitated in going inside for a moment, straightening her dress and pushing a few strands of loose hair behind her ears.
"What are you so nervous about?" Buck asked her, a smile on his face. "It's not as if he's never seen you before. Hell, you spent almost every day in that room with him the last few weeks."
"Quit teasing her Buck" said JD, as Madelaine smiled at the two of them.
Taking a deep breath she knocked on the door.
Still grinning Buck said "We'll wait out here for you" as she opened the door and stepped inside.
Ezra was sitting over by the window, dressed in beige pants and a crisp white shirt. Smiling at her he got to his feet, taking it slowly to avoid aggravating the dull pain he was still feeling from his wound.
"Well, hello Madelaine"
"Hi Ezra. Ready to go?" she asked as he walked towards her, and took her hand in his.
Rolling his eyes he replied "You have no idea...One more day of this establishments cuisine, and I would have quite lost up all will to live"
Madelaine laughed softly. "Well then, we'll have to go get you some decent food won't we? How about your favourite restaurant?"
"Just the two of us, or are we to be graced with the delightful presence of Mr. Dunne and Mr. Wilmington?" he asked, one eyebrow raised.
"Oh, I was thinking just us two"
"Well then. I suggest we vacate these premises as soon as possible." As he picked up his bag and started towards the door, Madelaine put a hand on his arm to hold him back.
"Ezra, I just wanted to say something before...I mean, I never really thanked you, for looking after me through everything." Leaning forward she planted a kiss on his cheek.
As she went to pull away, Ezra bought his hand up to her face, stopping her. Smiling he pulled her closer to him, and they met in a tender kiss. Both smiled as, breathless, they finally parted. Then bag over one arm, the other wrapped around Madelaine's waist, Ezra opened the door to be met by his two colleagues who were grinning from ear to ear. JD quickly took Ezra's bag from him, telling him he should be taking it easy, and the small group left the hospital.
Watching them go, Nurse Hatfield smiled, before making her way over to the next ward, where her patient sat up in bed waiting for her.
"Hello Nikita, how are you feeling today?" she asked.
The policewoman grimaced, replying "Oh, great. Never felt better."
As she checked the chart at the bottom of her bed Nurse Hatfield asked "All alone today? No visitors?"
Smiling as she did so. Every day since the blond woman had been brought up to this ward, Mr. Larabee had been here to see her, without fail.
"Oh, he's around somewhere" Nikita grinned.
"I'll go then, so you two youngsters can be alone. Just be sure to call if you need anything" As she walked out the door she passed Chris in the corridor.
"Everything OK?" he asked Nikita as he got into the room.
"Fine" she smiled. "Doc says I'll be out of here in no time"
"Good" said Chris, returning the smile. "I got a call this morning, saying Whitmore's off the critical list - he should be well enough to stand trial by the time the case comes up."
Nikita grimaced. "Let's hope they keep a closer eye on him this time - we could all do without a repeat performance I think. Do you think Madelaine will be up to it again?" she asked, concerned.
Chris grinned before replying, "Oh, I think she'll be OK. She and Ezra have become pretty close. He'll help her through it."
Sighing Nikita rested her head back on her pillow and closed her eyes. "God I'm so tired. I can't believe it's over, it was all such a nightmare."
Again Chris grinned "All of it?"
Raising her head again to look at him she smiled mischievously.
"Well, not all of it. I might be able to think of one or two good things that came out of the whole experience."
"Glad to hear it" he replied, before they both leant forward, meeting in a deep, passionate kiss.
The End
Follow-up Story:: Undercover
