Playing Super Hero, A Gifted and Talented Anthology

Life of the Party

Life of the Party

It was supposed to be routine, John Jacobsen was told. The team had handled robberies gone awry multiple times. What John Jacobsen was not told, was how they handled these hostage situations. The team immediately fanned out, each taking the position that they were accustomed to. Golden Girl started to circle around towards the back while Heavyweight positioned himself near the entrance of the bank. Prince followed Golden Girl on foot. Her Majesty went over to the communications center of the swat team and found herself a spot to sit down. There she telepathically linked everyone on the team and kept them informed. Dreamy did not bother to get out of the car, but instead she pulled out a pillow and stretched out to take a nap. Hot Shot took a position next to another officer. He was carrying both his throwing instruments and a long distance stun weapon.

The head of the swat team motioned John and Dead End over to where he was stationed. He looked relieved to see the team had arrived. Looking over John, the incident commander smiled approving of what he saw.

"Good to meet you." I'm Officer Davies." The officer locked him in a firm handshake.

John returned the grip. "John Jacobsen, I'm the new team adviser. What do you need us to do?"

Officer Davies smiled. "It looks like your team is already getting into position. I am glad to see our negotiator though. There is only one perpetrator inside at this time and he is fairly unstable. We are unsure what he will do."
John looked in the same direction as Officer Davies, right at Dead End. Dead End was talking to another police officer and putting on a headset. He looked confident as he was debriefed.

"So he is your negotiator?" John asked. "Are you sure he has the skills for it?"

Davies nodded. "We prefer to use one of our trained negotiators but occasionally, the perpetrator refuses to communicate with us. In that case, he is our best option. We don't have many people that we can get into the building without having to worry about repercussions. He has a few advantages for him besides his ability. Most people don't feel threatened by a child."

John watched uneasily as Dead End entered the building. He was aware of Dead End's unusual ability, but didn't realize how uncomfortable it was going to make him. He let out a breath as he heard Dead End talking with the bank robber. Suddenly the robber started yelling as Dead End tried to calm him down.

When the shot rang out, it was as if a switch was turned on that activated the team. As the man backed in front of the window for a second, Prince caused his weapon to fly into the air and Hot Shot pressed the trigger on his stunner. Heavyweight charged the entryway. Golden Girl came through the back a moment later. After 30 long seconds, Heavyweight gave the all clear. Davies looked preoccupied for a moment then stepped over to John Jacobsen and put a restraining hand on his shoulder as the paramedics rushed the building.

John's stomach clenched as he looked over at Davies. "His ability was activated, wasn't it? I thought Her Majesty was supposed to keep me in the loop."

Davies locked eyes with him. "She wasn't sure how you would handle it. This has always been difficult for the team leaders. I still have trouble with it and I have seen his ability operate handful of times. Now we wait and let the paramedics do what they need to. We always have a set that are familiar with how to help Dead End's ability work faster. They will signal us when they are ready."

"Why not use Heavyweight instead?" John asked. He was hoping that the question would disguise the dread that had now taken residence in his gut.

Davis looked sympathetically. "He may be bullet resistant but a shot to the eye would still be fatal and anytime he does get hit, he gets to spend time with Abby. He doesn't have quite the tact that Dead End does either. Dead End has training for this. I know this isn't easy, but it will be all right."