~~~Aaron~~~
"These guys are too good to get caught, so why did they?" Rossi questioned.
"911 received a call alerting them to a robbery in progress." Will said.
"That wasn't Elizabeth, was it?" Morgan asked. I shook my head.
"Actually, it was a text," Garcia corrected, "DC added 911 messaging after the Virgina Tech students' texts went unanswered during the massacre."
"Can you trace it, Garcia?" I asked.
"Yeah, that message was sent from a cellphone that is currently inside the bank, and it is registered to a Larry Phillips JR."
"Why does that name sound familiar?" Will questioned.
"That's the name of one of the gunmen from the '97 North Hollywood bank shootout in California." Rossi realized allowed.
"So this is an homage?" Morgan asked.
"Guys, that text was sent thirty seconds before they blacked out the security feeds for entry."
"How's that possible?" Strauss inquired.
"it didn't come from a hostage. It came from one of the robbers."
"She wanted us here." I concluded.
~~~Elizabeth~~~
"What's that?" Chris asked, into the phone. "Mm, I don't believe in Wild Cards. They dumb down the game. This is your new negotiation tactic? Insulting me? Impossible. You're lying." He turned, looking at the girl. "Did you call the police?"
"Is that waht they're telling you?" She asked.
"Its the only way they could have gotten here so fast." I said. "There's no way they could have gotten here within minutes of the 911 call once you started shooting."
"Nobody is talking to you." The girl snapped. "They're trying to turn us against one another, and she's obviously helping them."
"Why would you even do that? Olly's dead 'cause of that."
"She doesn't care about Olly, Chris. She never did." The girl pressed the barrel of her gun to my forehead.
"You talk too much." She snarled. "I wouldn't do that. I'm trapped here too."
"Are you lying to me?" He pointed his gun at her.
"We've come too far for you to start doubting me now." She told him. "Lost too much. Hey...hey...don't let them tear us apart." She put a hand on his face. "Right as we're about to win. If you do that, Olly's death won't mean anything."
"Enough. I'm done talking to you. I want to talk to someone who won't jerk me around face to face."
"No more Feds." She added.
"I want to talk to the cop who shot my brother."
~~~Aaron~~~
"No. No, forget it." JJ argued.
"JJ, if it means we can end this..." Will started.
"What makes you think he won't shoot you the minute you walk inside?"
"Look, he wants out of there just as much as we want him out."
"its not happening. Forget it."
"There's no guarantee he won't retaliate for the death of his brother." I reasoned.
"I know you'd do it if you were me."
"Will, I know how you're feeling, but you are too close to this case to make that call." Morgan told him.
"You're dang right I'm close. Four people are dead because I shot his brother. and no one else needs to die 'cause of what I did, especially not Elizabeth." A twinge of panic rose up in my chest at that statement.
"This isn't about you." Morgan said.
"Risking your life won't bring them back." JJ added.
"I'm sorry, Will." I told him.
~~~Elizabeth~~~
"Where's that cop, huh? I ain't got all day. We'll, I'll make it easy. Send in the cop, I'll let a couple hostages go. Sign of good faith, isn't that what you said? This ain't a friggin' debate." He walked over, grabbing one of the male back employees. "Come on, Bud. Lets go! Pick up the phone."
"Why?"
"PICK UP THE PHONE!" He did so.
"Hello?"
"Tell him your name."
"Its...its Shawn Harper." Then he shot him in the head. The other hostages screamed.
"Ugh, you just killed Shawn Harper. Not me, you. I'm gonna shoot another hostage every sixty seconds until you send in the cop, and I'm gonna make dang well sure that Elizabeth Bartlett's boyfriend and all the rest of you Feds will hear her scream." He hung up. "Every sixty seconds. Who's next? Huh? Who's the lucky one? Nah, nah, nah, nah nah. You!" He grabbed a female employee and she started crying.
"No! No..."
"Please, take me instead, don't hurt her!" I shouted.
"Oh, don't worry Lizzie...I'm saving the best for last. Pick it up. Come on. What's your name?"
"No, please."
"TELL HIM YOUR NAME!"
"Annie..." She cried. "Its Annie."
"You got about thirty seconds, Annie. I hope Agent Rossi doesn't make me shoot you, too."
"its ok." One of the hostages whispered to the woman holding the little boy.
"Hey you," Chris said to him, "Get over here."
"Just let the women and children go." He said steadily. "They don't need to see this." Chris laughed.
"Pretty soon they're gonna be doing a lot more than just seeing. Annie, you just got yourself a reprieve. Get in line over there." She put the phone down, rushing away. "We got a new contender. Lets go."
"My name is Matthew Downs."
"Look!" The woman said. I looked up to see a man that, judging from the badge around his neck, was the cop we were looking for. Chris ran over, pointing his gun directly at him.
"Let these people go." He said, in a thick accent I couldn't quite identify.
"Alright, you, you, and you. The kids. Get out." Chris said. The woman with the little boy and the girl who's father was shot were ushered out the door.
"Hey. What's your name?" Chris asked the cop.
"William Lamontagne Jr." He answered. "MPD." Chris looked back at the girl before turning back and firing twice into the cop's chest.
~~~Aaron~~~
We stood in the mobile command center. The feed had cut out and we heard two gun shots.
"Did you see where he was shot?" JJ asked. "is he alive or dead, Garcia?"
"I don't know."
"He was wearing a vest, "Emily reasoned, "He might be ok."
"Might be." Rossi came in.
"They're not answering." He reported.
"Alright, we need to get inside." JJ said.
"JJ, its too risky. We don't have eyes in there anymore." JJ looked at me with tears in her eyes.
"Aaron...this isn't just about Will. Elizabeth's in there too, and if we don't do something, there's a chance that Charlotte and Sadie will loose their mother, just like Henry might've lost his father." She said. I nodded.
"Lets go in."
~~~Elizabeth~~~
I rushed over to Will, applying pressure on the wound, and Matthew Downs went over and grabbed the medic bag.
"What are you doing?" The girl asked.
"A dead cop isn't gonna be much of a negotiation tool."
"Huh...Boss, are you good with this?"
"What? Yeah fine."
"Ok...his blood pressure's dropping." Matthew reported. "Hold that, are you holding that as tight as you can?" I nodded. "Just hang in there Buddy. Are you armed?"
"No." Will groaned.
"Dang. I think we might have something of a chance here."
"What?"
"The girl's gone, the guy's off his head."
"He doesn't know who to trust." The Will confirmed.
"We can work them against each other. That's what you've been trying to do, right?" He asked me. I nodded.
"Wait, are you a cop?"
"A former Marine." He stated.
"You gotta listen to me," Will said, "You know JJ, right?"
"Yeah, I know JJ." I told him.
"She's my girlfriend. I need you to get a message to her."
"You can tell her yourself when we get you out of here." Matthew told him.
"Only I'm not gettin' out. You need someone to cause a distraction." Will stood up. "You tell her I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" Matthew asked. "Don't you wanna tell her you love her or something?"
"She already knows that."
"Well, she's going to hear that from you." I said.
"What-" Before he could stop me, I walked over to Chris.
"What do you want now?" he asked.
"How do you not see that she's not to be trusted?" I asked.
"She's taking orders from someone else." Will added, stepping up beside me. I shook my head, but he ignored me.
"No, she takes orders from me."
"Right...yeah, that would be why when the agents storm the place at any moment, you're going to be the only one here. She has been setting you up to take the fall since the beginning." I pointed out.
"That's not true."
"Where is she then?"
"She's back there."
"Doing what?" I asked. "You can only look for a nonexistent exit so many times."
"Alright...both of you, come here. I'll show you. Go on." Will and I exchanged a look before walking ahead of him into the back of the bank. I looked back at Matthew Downs, signalling that this was his chance to escape.
~~~Aaron~~~
I took cover behind a police car as we all prepared for action.
"We've got movement." Someone reported into my earpiece.
"Somebody's coming out. Be ready." Morgan said. "its hostages."
"Copy. Standing By for entry." Carlton appeared beside me, and I had a feeling we were both combing the crowd looking for Elizabeth's face. My heart sank when I didn't see it.
"Where is she?" Carlton asked. I shook my head. I don't know.
"We're going in." Morgan said. Emily and two SWAT took the side door, while Morgan, JJ and the rest of the SWAT team crept towards the front. I was beginning to lose focus as I began to think of the reasons that Elizabeth didn't leave with the other hostages. None of them were good.
"Abort, Abort!" Just before the team reached the door, an explosion blew the windows out and knocked the entire team to the ground.
"NO!" I shouted.