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aleo_70Author:
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aleo_70 Rating: PG 13+
Genre: Gen
Characters: Don Eppes with cameo by David
Challenge: Clue Challenge #12, June 2010 at
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hurt_don . Prompts: Who? Don; What? TASER; Where? Police precinct.Disclaimer: I don't own them, I just borrowed them. Numb3rs and its characters are the property of those that created them. No copyright infringement intended. No financial reward gained. All real places and organisations are used in a fictional sense. Original characters and the storyline are mine however.
Spoilers: (more mention than spoiler) Chinese Box, Rampage, Graphic, Janus List, Trust Metric and Two Daughters.
Warnings: violence
Word count this chapter: 2424
Word count total: ~21,200
Summary: It starts as a bid for freedom from a police precinct but after being taken hostage Don learns things are not quite as they seem.
CHAPTER FIVE
Lying on the cold concrete Don tried to make sense of what had just happened.
His thoughts were scattered and tangled up with the emotions of the last few minutes but there was no escaping the fact that Crowd had set up a cold blooded execution. There was no way that he could have survived, no way that the executioner could have missed his target, but somehow, he had.
For the moment Don's mind was unable to process anything more complex than that just as his body was unable to do more than lie there and breathe, trembling and shaking in reaction. He tried to take stock, willing his brain to function but the adrenalin high was making that next to impossible. There were voices from back near the car but he couldn’t make out the words over the too loud sound of his own blood rushing through his ears. He fought to keep his ragged and harsh breathing as quiet as possible and hoped it was just his heightened senses that made it seem so loud.
Unable yet to direct his thoughts in any sort of coherent fashion his shocked mind went back over what had happened, reliving the horror of a few moments before. Forced to his knees he'd had no way of saving his own life, no chance of escape and no possibility of rescue. The sound of the safety being released and then the weapon being cocked behind his head still rang in his ears, almost as loud and as clear as the gunshot that had followed. He should never have heard it. His body, keyed to the moment in complete expectation of death had reacted by collapsing. His memory was blank at that point and he was aware now that at least a few seconds had passed whilst his senses had completely shut down. It wasn’t until he heard the sound of the gun being dropped next to him that he’d realised he was still alive even if he couldn’t make sense of it. Or believe it.
Training and experience finally started to win out over the adrenalin allowing his mind to clear somewhat and strength to return to his body. He remained motionless for a little longer as he got his thoughts in order. With his mind starting to work again he was now able to understand the conversation taking place somewhere behind him but he didn't listen to the words, instead using them to fix the men's positions as best he could. Determining that they were far enough away that a small movement on his part should be missed he got his eyes open as a first step. His heart hammered even harder in his chest, if that were possible, but his eyes confirmed what his ears had reported, there was no-one in a position to have seen his return from the dead. All he could see was a gun lying a foot or so away and then empty warehouse beyond that, having fallen with his head turned away from the men. All of which didn't really help him all that much, he had to risk moving if he was to find out more.
About to turn his head he stopped, there was a weapon within reach and if this larger movement was spotted he would need one in a hurry. Moving an inch at a time, the bulk of his body shielding his arms from view he reached out and got a hold of the gun pulling it back against his body. The comfort the weapon gave him was immeasurable and he savoured the moment, cradling it against his chest much like a child's favourite toy. The recently fired smell finally penetrated his senses and brought him crashing back to reality. Realising that he'd wasted precious time he pushed the gun away from his body slightly. If he was going to use the weapon he had to check it. Looking to the safety he found it off. Pushing the small lever with his thumb he put it back on before pulling the slide back just far enough to confirm the next round was correctly chambered. It was counter to proper procedure but outnumbered eight-to-one he couldn't afford to waste a round by racking the gun if he could avoid it. Not to mention the noise that would make, he would have to jerk the slide back and let it move forward at full speed as working the action gently could just as easily lead to a jam as clearing one. By not displacing the already chambered round he could silently ease the slide forward with less risk. For the same reasons he didn’t drop the magazine out, he could see other rounds waiting below the chambered one, enough to let him know the weapon was loaded. There was nothing he could do about the number of rounds available to him in any event; he had to take what he could get. He thumbed the safety off. It was good to go.
A sudden thought hit him. This was no accident. Crowd could not possibly believe that the agent was dead, a bullet delivered to the head bled messily and quickly, both from the pressure of the blood flowing through the skull and the efficiency of the heart to continue working for at least a few seconds longer. Even if Crowd hadn’t had the same experience as the agent in witnessing such things he would have to know there would be blood. The other man had been standing far enough back that he could have missed it but Crowd couldn’t from his position. Yet he'd still dropped the apparently tainted gun and walked off calmly as if the execution had been completed to his satisfaction. That was the thought that stopped Don, Crowd had been satisfied. He’d planned this, had ‘killed’ the agent to remove him from the equation. The ruse effectively armed the former hostage and gave him the freedom to act. He was still cuffed which made life a little harder but as he’d been trained to keep two hands on a gun he could live with the restriction.
Another thought surfaced, Crowd really was an undercover. There could be no other explanation for what had just happened. The man was seriously off the reservation but still acted like a cop where it absolutely counted. That conclusion led to another, Crowd meant to take down the crew he was meeting and was hoping that the agent could provide much needed backup. The whole situation had gone down so quickly that even if Crowd had called backup on the way over there was little likelihood they would make it in time.
Ready to put the next stage of his plan into action he hesitated again. Did he actually need to act? What was his obligation here, beside the obvious that there was a crime in progress? He'd been dragged into the whole thing very much against his will and was seriously outnumbered even if he counted Crowd as being on his side, a dangerous proposition. The sensible approach was to continue to play dead and wait for the buy to be completed and the men to leave, thus greatly increasing his chances of staying alive. If he acted the chances were more than good that he would be killed, particularly if his read of the situation was totally wrong. His thoughts were still not fully settled and he could easily be wrong, allowing his own hopes to twist the facts. He closed his eyes and let out a long breath as he knew what his path would be if an opportunity presented. There was much he didn’t like about what had happened but he still had a job to do, even if he’d been forced into the middle of it without any real idea of what was going on.
Fixing the locations of the voices again he took a deep breath and slowly turned his head. There were no sudden shouts, no change to the sounds he was hearing that would suggest his move was spotted and he forced himself to ease the virtual death grip he had on the weapon in his hands. Finally, a long second or so later he was facing the other way, twisted somewhat awkwardly. The discomfort was barely felt as he concentrated on his first priority, looking for each of the men to fix their locations. His next priority would be to look for available cover, both for himself and that which would be available to the men if he took action.
The men were no longer in a tight group. Four of the five men that he'd decided were muscle were standing over near the now opened container. Don barely allowed himself to note that the container held some large boxes of the kind used to store weapons up to the size of shoulder rocket launchers before he turned away. The remaining three men were standing with Crowd, finalising their negotiations. He had a bad moment then, Crowd glancing his way. Despite having decided that the man had to be what he'd claimed his grip again tightened on the gun and he tensed, ready to react and start shooting if the man called him out. Instead Crowd didn't appear to notice that the agent had moved, showing no reaction as he continued his conversation without missing a beat.
“You've seen the merchandise,” Crowd was saying, waving his left arm at the container. He turned the gesture into a shift of position, taking a half step so that he now faced the agent more directly. “Are we going to do this or what?”
Suit and the two men automatically adjusted their positions so that they were now turned further away from the agent. The deliberate move on Crowd's part provided the agent with a better chance. He glanced back over towards the container to see those men more focused on the contents rather than anything else, their weapons shoved into their belts. He was sure they would be quick to react however if they heard anything untoward. It was going to be hard for him to do anything with the men separated into two groups. There was nothing he could do about it so his best option for the moment was to wait and see what happened next.
“You're giving me a discount.” Suit stated flatly. At his words the bag man knelt opening the case to reveal a laptop. He started typing, presumably getting ready to adjust the amount of money on offer.
“Why would I do that?”
“The risk level on this deal went through the roof when you brought the federal agent here and killed him.” There was no sympathy for the alleged dead agent, the man was simply upset at how he could be held to account if he were ever linked to the death. It was just plain bad for business.
As would be expected given the comment Crowd looked toward the man he'd just supposedly murdered. Their gazes locked for the briefest of moments before Crowd presented his argument. “My mess, not yours.”
Already tense Don tensed even further, on high alert in case Suit or any of the others also looked his way. He was ignored, the conversation continuing.
“I'm taking one mil off for emotional distress and dry-cleaning.” Suit declared, again brushing at his suit. He sounded anything but emotionally distressed.
“That’s twenty-five percent!” Crowd complained.
“Either that or we walk.”
Don found himself hoping that Crowd would let the man walk even as he suspected the chances of that were virtually non-existent.
“Fine. Let's get this done, the sooner we're away from here the better.” Crowd handed over a slip of paper and stepped back a pace, his demeanour suggesting he was less than impressed but was going to accept the loss so that the deal could proceed. His move also further turned the men away from the prone agent.
The bag man accepted the note from his boss and started typing a series of commands into the laptop. After a moment he stood and turned the case around presenting the computer screen for inspection. Crowd bent close enough to read the screen then nodded, the deal was done.
“Here.” Reaching into a pocket he pulled out a set of keys that he tossed at the third man. The keys were snatched out of the air and held up, the tilt of the man's head clearly asking his question. Crowd waved at an electrical fuse box on the wall then addressed himself to Suit. “Power for the crane. Your discount means your boys do all the work.”
Suit jerked his head at his man and the man headed off towards the fuse box with a parting rude gesture towards Crowd. Crowd returned the gesture before taking another pace back. There was no love lost between the men but as he'd pointed out earlier they were not in this business to make friends. Suit also turned away, walking towards the container leaving the bag man to shut down the laptop and close the case that held it. The bag man then backed away, keeping Crowd under surveillance as he headed over to join his companions.
Crowd appeared relaxed, giving the man a cheeky wave as he leant back against the stolen police car and gave every indication of waiting. When the bag man's attention wavered Crowd sent another glance Don's way, this one more significant than the others. Forcing down the surge of anger at the man expecting his help he interpreted the question and prepared his answer. Still keeping his movements slow and careful he shifted his arms across under his body until he could lift his hands slightly and show the other man the weapon now in his possession. He was about as ready as he could get and returned the slight nod sent his way in acknowledgement.
As Crowd pushed off from the car and checked the gun in his hand in preparation Don had another thought, something needed to be done about the undercover. As with the other thoughts that had no relevance in the now he pushed that aside. There was no time to waste dwelling on that, not with things about to come to a head. He would have to leave it for when he had both the time and the opportunity to do something about it.
Assuming they survived the next few minutes.
Next chapter - here
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no subject
Date: 5 Nov 2010 08:02 (UTC)Can't wait for the next part!!
no subject
Date: 5 Nov 2010 08:09 (UTC)Cheers.
no subject
Date: 5 Nov 2010 08:05 (UTC)Come over here... You need some hugs. ;-P
And yeah, I'd be a bit worried about Crowd still, as well. Considering everything he's done up to now, he might decide to cover his tracks in relation to Don.
no subject
Date: 5 Nov 2010 08:11 (UTC)Uh, Don, I'd really think twice about
no subject
Date: 5 Nov 2010 08:14 (UTC)no subject
Date: 5 Nov 2010 08:19 (UTC)Don, no! *runs off to intercept him*
no subject
Date: 5 Nov 2010 08:20 (UTC)Mwahahahahaha!!! He's all miiiiiinnnnneeee!!!!!
no subject
Date: 5 Nov 2010 08:25 (UTC)Mine.
no subject
Date: 5 Nov 2010 08:26 (UTC)*backs off*
no subject
Date: 5 Nov 2010 08:32 (UTC)You still have that clone machine, right?
no subject
Date: 5 Nov 2010 08:32 (UTC)*sets it running*
*sets it running again*
Hello, Don and Don!
no subject
Date: 3 Jan 2011 15:09 (UTC)