Well, I was there and I saw what you did, I saw it with my own two eyes

[out_of_time]

WHO: Jack Bauer and Seras Victoria
WHERE: Laughin’ Larry’s ‘Lectronics store, West Shore, Staten Island.
WHEN: The following takes place between 9PM and 10PM. Events occur in real time.
WARNINGS: Violence and torture.
SUMMARY: Routine surveillance on an electronics store run by the Zero’s Children gang takes a drastic and fateful turn for the City Police Department.
FORMAT: Paragraph.

The sign said ‘Closed for Renovations!’ complete with a staggeringly insincere smiley face. Within, ‘Larry’s ‘Lectronics’ was very much open for its real business. The lights were off and the blinds and curtains had been drawn on every window, hiding the store in shadows and away from the Moon. A cursory investigation of the establishment’s finances would have and had revealed it to be staggeringly corrupt, little more than a financial Laundromat for the Zero’s Children gang to process its blood money and stolen goods through.

It was a fine arrangement. The American owners and employees were able to stock their shelves with smuggled and counterfeit electronics without worrying about losing customers due to overpricing, shoddy quality, or the fact that they couldn’t even be bothered to sweep the place, while maintaining an easy lifestyle funded by their sinister Dolvanian backers. Late-night clandestine meetings were just part of the deal.

James Stiles was leaning against the central service counter in jeans and a brown jacket, looking more relaxed than he actually was. He was in his early thirties and had a black moustache that made him look distinguished but not as distinguished as he wanted, slicked-back black hair that made him look cool but not as cool as he wanted, and a job that got him respect but not the respect he wanted. Stiles was a Detective for the City Police Department, and he was about to get an early retirement.

Men advanced on him, out of the shadows. He recognized three of them: unshaven, slovenly ‘Laughing Larry Lewis’ and his two cronies, fringe members of the Zero’s Children organization and Stiles’ primary contact with his real employers. Stiles knew there would be another of the store’s workers hanging outside the front door as a lookout, armed with only his eyes.

The other nine were another matter. They were all dressed exactly alike: black jackets with meaningful bulges, black pants and gloves and steel-toed boots. They moved in pairs with military precision, alert eyes constantly scanning. Eight of them were wearing identical black ski masks. Their leader was unmasked, a tall, muscular square-jawed man in his forties with crew-cut blond hair and the cold grey eyes of a pitiless fanatic.

“Ivan Darov,” Stiles breathed. The Children’s top assassin, here with his personal hit squad. “Hell, you brought everybody.”

“Yes. For security.” Darov looked at the Americans in the room as though he expected them to reveal themselves as FBI agents any second now. He moved in on Stiles and stopped in front of the Detective. “You recognize me.” His English lacked both accent and emotion. “The police know my face.”

“Yeah. Interpol came through with a picture a few days ago, something they got off a security camera. I would have said something, but Larry wanted me to stay quiet until-“

“Correct.” Darov favoured Lewis with a curt nod before looking at the mole again. “Do you have the informant.”

“Took a lot of digging, but I got him. Money first, though.”

“The informant.” The assassin’s voice implied absolutely no patience for debate. Stiles immediately produced a scrap of paper and handed it over.

“It’s Mike Ryde. He’s been Bauer’s secret pet for months. The address is right there.”

Darov spoke in Russian to one of his lieutenants. His voice was as flat in his native tongue as it was in English. One henchman pulled out a phone to relay the information to more hitmen standing by elsewhere, while another handed Stiles the obligatory black, featureless briefcase.

“The bomb. How long.”

Stiles checked his watch. “Ten minutes before police HQ becomes a morgue. It’s always busy on Friday nights. You can expect lots of damage.” He set the briefcase on the counter and opened it to see the wealth he had sold his colleagues’ lives for. There was a lot of green paper in there, all properly untraceable, along with the necessary documents to start a new life anywhere he wished. He whistled. “Christ. How much money do you guys have?”

“Do not ask questions. Tell me if you are suspected.”

Stiles shut the case and shook his head. “No, we’re good. Bauer never caught on to that little test with the radio you had me do. But after this happens, I need to disappear, got it? Someplace sunny, with fewer superpowered freaks.” He looked around at the killers he was surrounded by. “Not that it’s any of my business, but blasting the station is gonna piss a lot of people off. Did you get sent here to start a war?”

“No.” Darov turned away from him. “To win one. The police interfere. They will learn respect or die. The same for this City.”

***

“I can’t believe it,” Jack growled. His lips were peeling back from his teeth, and his shoulders were tense and hunched over the screen.

The entire exchange played out in front of him inside the police surveillance van parked across the street, captured on both camera and microphone. It had taken a long, aggravating process to get legal authorization for watching the electronics store, especially since it was based on a superhero tip from Blue Beetle, but it sure as hell had paid off right now. Jack and Seras had put themselves in the van when the store’s sign and smiley face had gone up, guessing correctly that it was cover for a high-profile meeting. He had no idea how right he was.

“That son of a bitch!” His newly-healed right arm, only recently brought back to full fitness, reached for his communicator as Jack moved into action. “Seras, notify the other officers to get moving, I’m going to warn the station. We need to hit the store and get Stiles so he can tell us where the bomb is. We’re breaching now, go go go!”

Comments

[out_of_time]

"I'm fine!" Jack managed to gasp out, feeling where the bullet had struck. He was going to be bruised as hell later on, but right now there was no time. Too many lives depended on him staying moving. "Stay down!"

He heard Darov barking out an order, and some of his subordinates emerged from where they had been crouching, firing as they advanced on the two downed officers. A nearby speaker tower exploded from a stray round. Jack grunted as he pushed himself to one knee and raised his weapon with the hand not clutching his chest. He fired, and another ZC henchman dropped dead to the floor. The enemies ducked out of sight again.

That made three or four down, five left, not counting the men with Stiles at the rear. The two of them could handle that, but not in less than ten minutes. They needed help, and most of the cops and heroes of the City were around Manhattan, not out in the remote end of Staten Island. "Seras, tell SWAT to breach! Do it now!"

[newbvampire]

"Get in here NOW!"

SWAT did exactly as they were trained to, busting down the back door and deploying flashbangs while the remaining teams hustled through the front door. The noise and chaos was fantastic. All those rehearsals and the team's desire to excel after losing so many comrades recently showed, as they took down another two ZC members. It was just the distraction Seras needed to clamber over her cover and grab Jack to help him to his feet before dashing forward to slam the butt of her rifle into the face of one of the criminals who had turned to deal with the SWAT flowing in from the back door.

Unfortunately, it also made her a prime target and another two bullets slammed into her, one catching in the vest the other in her shoulder. It hurt, but better her than the SWAT officers. It also only served to make her angrier.

[out_of_time]

Jack was moving even before his ears stopped ringing from the stun grenades, gritting his teeth as he ignored the pain in his chest, just as he ignored Seras getting hurt. He'd trust her to be okay just as he'd trust the other officers to handle the remnants of Darov's team. He only had a few minutes left to find Stiles.

The traitor couldn't be in the back anymore, that was where SWAT had entered from. All other entrances had been guarded. Which meant he had to have gone down. The store had a basement, ostensibly for product storage, really for helping to hide things the Children might need hidden. There was sewer access there. The police had covered that angle before, but now that SWAT had breached and the cordon was engaged a hole might be open in the perimeter. Jack ran for the staircase in the store's rear corner, near the manager's office.

The door to the office burst open when Jack neared it. Laughin' Larry Lewis stood inside, screaming, shooting, wide-eyed with panic. Jack heard and felt bullets passing by his face, and fired back. His shot took Lewis in his open mouth, and the store's proprietor tumbled backward to die in his office.

Jack swept the office for more hostiles, then stopped at the top of the bare concrete stairs and pulled out his flashlight. He shined it downward, bracing it against his wrist. He could hear someone down there. It was Stiles. He was sure of it. Jack took a breath, his nose wrinkling. Then he began to descend the steps.

[newbvampire]

Seras slammed one of Darov's men into a glass display case before hurrying after Jack. The other officers could handle the rest and if Jack was heading to the basement she needed to be there with him to make sure they didn't ambush him in the dark. That and she hadn't seen where Darov had gotten to, so there was no way she was going to leave Jakc on his own with that bastard running loose.

Running she jumped over Larry's corpse and caught up to Jack just as he started down the stairs. "Sir, wait. I'm coming with you."

[out_of_time]

"Got it," Jack muttered under his breath. He didn't look behind him, but was quietly glad Seras was still okay after taking two hits. He crept down the stairs and shined his light across the basement.

It was pitch-black except for Jack's flashlight. Boxes shrouded in tarps, cases containing goods both legitimate and illicit, pillars, shadows. He was grateful for Seras' senses- Stiles wouldn't be able to ambush them here.

Jack moved deeper into the basement, away from the stairs. Things were quieting down above them, it sounded like the store was almost secure. But so little time was left. Jack could feel it boiling inside him, the knowledge of the imperative. It was mixed in with a stew of other feelings from his time behind this badge- frustration, sadness, rage.

He could hear something, coming from by the far wall. Stalking forward, he shined his light on Detective James Stiles, red-faced and disheveled, straining against an access hatch to the sewers. Stiles shrank away from the light, cried out, backed against the wall. His gun remained in its holster, his hands went up. Jack began to growl.

"Stiles, you have no idea-"

A shot pierced the darkness. A red hole appeared in Stile's chest, and a red wetness began to spread across his jacket. He sank to the ground with a look of shock on his face. Jack whirled around to see Ivan Darov crouched near the bottom of the stairwell. There was no time to react. With the man who knew where the bomb was taken care of, the assassin had already lined up his sights on Jack's head.

[newbvampire]

Seras didn't hesitate and leaped on to Darov to throw his aim off. As strong and as fast as she was she knew she'd have him handled in no time. At least she would have if the assassin hadn't had a silver knife that he'd he stuck into her side. Snarling, she headbutted him in response. It wasn't enough to knock him out though and he rolled with the blow back onto his feet.

Seras staggered back to her feet and glared at Darov, irises completely red now. The wound in her side hurt, but it wasn't going to stop her. No, she wasn't going to be taken down by some street scum. She'd survived an encounter with Father Anderson so who did this creep think he was with that knife? Yelling she charged forward, intent on showing Darov just what a big mistake he had made.

[out_of_time]

Seras had saved his life, again. There was no time to think about it. While she wrestled with Darov, Jack advanced on Stiles and knelt by him, setting down his flashlight. The corrupt Detective coughed weakly and stared at nothing in particular.

"James. Look at me." No response. "Look at me!" Stiles' eyes rolled up to meet Jack's, and his head tilted slightly. "You are dying, you understand me? You're not going to last long without medical attention."

"Paramedics... should be here," he moaned. "Standard... procedure."

Wrong thing to say. Jack got his face right up close to Stiles', snarling. "Yeah, you'd know all about that. You were one of us. I know about the bomb, James. You need to tell me where it is, right now." Jack paused for a moment, made sure he understood what he said next:

"Or you are going to die in this basement."

Stiles actually chuckled weakly. "Wouldn't... do that. You're a cop." His hand went to his wound. Jack snatched it away, then punched Stiles in the gut. Stiles lurched forward, and his wound blazed with pain. He screamed.

So did Jack. "Do I look like I'm joking?" He roared right in his face, even as the clock in his head counted coolly and dispassionately. Less than three minutes left.

[newbvampire]

Darov slashed at Seras' arm as she charged him, making her snarl at him in pain. It wasn't deep, but the silver burned and if she kept letting him take swipes at her like that he'd do real damage eventually. She had to get the knife away from him. Not easy, he probably knew it was the only thing keeping him alive right now.

Charging again she came up with a plan, a stupid and reckless plan, but it would work. This time she ducked at the last minute and Darov was forced to shift his swipe into a stab, plunging the knife into her already wounded shoulder. The bad news was Seras was easily able to wrench it out of his grasp now. He was strong for a human, but he still wasn't anywhere near as strong as a true vampire.

Yelling she ripped the knife from her shoulder and then pulled back her fist slamming it into Darov's chest sending the assassin flying back into the wall, his head slamming against the concrete with a wet, pulpy sound, his ribcage a crushed mess.

Slumping down to the floor she looked over at Jack. "I...I got him, sir."

[out_of_time]

Jack didn't acknowledge her, or Darov's demise. His attention was focused on Stiles. "You need to understand something, James. I'm not a cop, not really. I've worked for this force because that was the best way to help this City. But for most of my life, I've been a federal agent. I've done things for the CIA, for the Army, that you can't even imagine. And when you get down to it, that's who I still am."

Jack remembered Stiles participating in a training exercise to work with and against ImPorts, watching him fail to tackle Maggie Mui. Was that where this had started? A bit of embarrassment from a private eye? He felt it boiling in him: being trapped away from his family, watching Los Angeles burn, all the failures and sorrows he had seen with the Department. Everything they'd done and worked for and lost together, blasted away because of this bastard? No. No, I won't let that happen.

Stiles tried to look away. His face was pale. Jack grabbed him and hauled him up against the wall, forcing him to maintain eye contact. Jack's gaze was pitiless, unflinching. Stiles whimpered. "So you need to believe me when I say I am completely willing to let your miserable ass die on this dirty floor to stop that bomb."

Most of Stiles' jacket was wet with blood now. He wouldn't last much longer without the services of a professional. Jack didn't care. Stiles' lips moved. "...why I did it. Fucking Imports... you, th'others... crazy. Money..."

So little time left. Jack let him go, stood up, pointed his gun. "Tell me where the bomb is, Stiles." His face was completely still. "I swear to God, if that bomb goes off, you won't have time to bleed to death. You hear me? I will make sure the medics don't get to you myself." He chambered a round. Stiles looked up at the gun, and at Jack's narrowed, pitiless eyes, and Jack saw that he believed him. He had no choice but to believe, because Jack was telling the absolute truth. He yelled one last time. "TELL ME WHERE THE BOMB IS!"

Stiles' eyes closed. Jack's finger tensed on the trigger. Then:

"Evidence locker." His voice sounded like it was coming from far away. "Bottom left. Evidence locker."

Jack lowered the gun and walked away without another word, grabbing for his comm. "Seras, get paramedics in here. Make sure he stays alive." He had to tell Garrus. Under two minutes left.

[newbvampire]

Seras stared at Jack, but mechanically complied with this order. See had known he was capable of something like that, he'd told her about about it, but seeing it. It was a different thing altogether and a little frightening and she had her Master to compare him to. In fact it reminded her a little of him, that same determination to fulfill his orders.

Soon enough the paramedics were running down the stairs with the SWAT officers in the lead. While she had been tangling with Darov they had done an excellent job of rounding up and arresting the members of ZC that were still alive. One paramedic rushed over to Stiles while the other tried to tend to Seras. "I'm fine, make sure Captain is alright."

[out_of_time]

Jack was all right. He remained on the communicator with Garrus even while the paramedics led him upstairs to take off his vest and confirm that yes, he had been shot, yes, the vest had stopped the round, yes, he was still badly bruised and was going to hurt like hell.

Seconds ticked by. At some point Jack stopped breathing normally, and when Garrus reported that the bomb was safe with four seconds left, Jack sighed with relief. He lowered the comm and turned to Seras. "It's over. The bomb's been defused, everyone at the station is safe." And it looked like Stiles would survive after all, but that wasn't really on his mind.

[newbvampire]

Seras gotten up and followed Jack when they moved him. She even managed a smile through the pain when she heard the good news. "Good. I...don't want to even think about how bad it could have been if..." If he hadn't threatened to blow dirty cop's brains all over the basement. Well everyone was safe and Stiles was still alive so who cared?

"IA is going to have a lot of work, sir. Stiles can't be the only one on the take."

[out_of_time]

Jack sat down, allowing himself to feel fatigue, not to mention pain. He looked around at the store, now lit by flashing lights from the cars outside. Bodies were being bagged, suspects bandaged up and hauled away. The American fringe members of Zero's Children talked and complained loudly, while Darov's few remaining men stayed silent even as their masks were torn away.

"I don't want to think about it," he growled. "But you're right. We're going to have to look for more moles."

[newbvampire]

"I'm sure we can get a couple of names out of Stiles sir, and after tonight I'm sure anyone who even suspects someone of taking money from these bastards will say something." She didn't like the idea that there might be officers that knew who was on the take and didn't say so out of loyalty, but she'd deal with that after getting any information they had. They needed to plug whatever leaks they had first.

"SWAT did good though, sir. They really needed this."