All was well for a moment as the men turned to see what had happened to the unfortunate tripper. Roland was surmising his next move when all hell broke loose. The fulcrum of time was quickly turning on its axis as the time for waiting ended. A shot rang out in the VIP lounge, followed by a groan of pain. A groan was a good sign, as it meant that Mark was still kicking. Silence would have been a bad omen. The police seemed to be waiting for a sign to move. Fortunately for Roland, he had no playbook to run.

Seconds began to lengthen into minutes as adrenaline coursed through his veins. Most of the other 'hostages' cried out in shock and hid their eyes, as if somehow by not watching they would be saved from the carnage. they became background as Roland's senses sharpened on the door in front of him. He was on his feet and pushing his body toward his target. His peripheral caught the little wifey in the black dress and her foolish husband rushing the man who had put his hands on her. It was a welcome distraction and only heightened his awareness for the prey in the room , the door of which was already closing in.

His body tucked into a roll as the door exploded inward, its hinges straining as it hit someone behind it. Guns turned in his direction, but with each one he saw, they vanished from the men's hands and appeared in the far corner of the room in a pile. Roland still had his gun and as his body rolled into a kneeling position, the chamber was already rattling away, explosion after explosion tagging the three men in sight, besides Mark. The first caught a bullet in the temple. The second received two. One in the thigh in the femural artery area, the next in the chest, just above the diaphragm. The third was moving a bit too fast, so his bullet met him in his right eye.

Roland stood, his eyes as cold as Death itself, as he regarded the man he had been waiting to lock eyes with. Mark was full of expected stupidity as his eyes scanned behind Roland . Oh yes, the one behind the door. No mirrors to see the gun, so he immediately vaulted backward, his weight slamming the man into the corner between the wall and the door. Anger was clouding his judgment, but really, hadn't this all gone on long enough? The assassin's head swiveled as he faced the final gunman. As his vision panned the room, a metal table left his sight and appeared before him, creating a partition between the two. Roland turned his wrist downward and emptied the clip into the area behind the table, blood and viscera coating the walls.

He stood as sound and light returned. His breathing slowed as did the course of adrenaline in his body. The gun in his hand was empty, but with a glance into the corner, his hand gripped a new one. Mark didn't seem to have much to say. For once, he saw the death's head and politely waited. The gun changed to Roland's left as a phone appeared in the right. With a Star Trekesque flip of the wrist, it opened. A few presses of keys and a live feed was recording the sweaty, pink face of the quarry who had slipped him once too often.

" I told you I would see you soon. The time and location of the meeting. Now." The gun in his left hand entered the field of the camera phone's view. Silly Mark tightened his lips and shook his head in defiance. A shot rang out as a bullet entered his shoulder. Mark gripped it, screaming. Roland placed the heel of his shoe in the wound in Mark's knee, regaining his attention. " One more time and your chance of fatherhood will dwindle dramatically." The gun sunk beneath the camera's eye as it prepared to fulfill Roland's promise."Okay!Okay! 6:30 PM, Trump Plaza parking, Level 3B!"

The gun rose from its depths and it fired once more before anymore gibbering could escape Mark's lips. The camera's feed ended there, the phone returning to Roland's pocket. A bottle of Bacardi 151was quickly emptied over the gun and Roland's hands. He wiped his prints from both that gun and the empty in the corner. Looking down at himself and the people around him, he knew he needed something to finish the masquerade. Taking a swig of the remnants of the bottle, he fired the gun into his own bicep and fell among the bodies. If all went well, the police would come in and escort him and the other hostages out before long.

"The hostages are attacking!" Jacen barked as he watched first Lee and then her husband rush two different armed men. "We're going in."

It was a split second decision but it was also one that the Lieutenant outside couldn't question. Jacen was the ranking officer on the inside and he was the one that could see what was happening. Sure his decision would be nitpicked and checked over after the situation was taken care of but that would come later.

Dropping the fiber-optic camera, Jacen lifted his UMP and then shoved through the door. The other three men of his team were right behind him with their weapons also lifted and ready to fire. Jacen's eyes were icy and his hands were rock solid as he fired a double tap into one man and then a second. Already his team members were firing, ensuring that all three of the remaining hostage takers were dead.

"Lee! Get you and your husband on the ground!" Jacen barked even as he and his team swiveled to head for the back room. With the noise of gunfire still reverbating through the room there was no question that the people in the VIP room would know an assault had started. If there was any hope of getting in and getting the hostages out alive it required that they keep moving quickly.

Moving at a quick pace just below a jog, Jacen kicked open the door and rushed inside to find pure carnage. "Clear!" Jacen barked as his eyes swept the room, noticing the one injured man amidst all of the dead ones. "You two check on him. If he can be moved get him out of the building and out to the paramedics! NOW!"

The man was already fading, Lee could tell. In large part, she felt herself actually holding the man up, but she was not about to just let him go until he was out. The gun he had been holding had already clattered to the floor, chances were the man was going to have a worse bruise on his wrist than she had on her face. The man's other hand was grabbing at the hand she had over his mouth, but especially at this point, there was no way he was going to win that contest.

Then Lee heard the man, actually felt the man groan through her hand. And despite how tightly her hand was wrapped over his mouth, it was a fairly loud groan. Damn, maybe she should have gone for the throat rather than the mouth; it's not like she was holding the guy long enough that the lack of oxygen would have done serious injury to him, after all.

Apparently, it was a last ditch effort from the man, since a moment and a half later (not even a full two moments), Lee felt him go completely limp as he passed out in her grasp. So Lee let go, letting the man slump to the floor, and looked up just in time to see Tarin moving past her and punching a gunman in the face.

And the man went down. Lee blinked. Tarin always said that he wasn't a fighter, and with how much of a beating he had taken, it was somewhat surprising that he had managed to not only get over to the man, but had managed to take him down in a single hit.

Looking up, taking stock of the room again, Lee saw that the remaining gunmen had turned toward them. Guns raised as they turned toward them. And then Tarin was stepping in front of her. Damn it, couldn't he just stay down? Didn't he realize that these guys were nothing compared to what she had dealt with down in Columbia. Sure, that hadn't exactly worked out perfectly, but there were so many fewer here, so much less trained, so less willing to actually shoot...

A split second later, before Lee could push Tarin out of the way of the guns, before she could start moving again to take those men out, Lee heard a bang from a door. Jerking her head, Lee saw the cops finally entering, shooting the gunmen, just as she felt the blank emptiness of not siphoning while in a room full of people. Well, it was a damn good thing Jacen hadn't come in a couple moments earlier, wasn't it?

Then Jacen was telling her to get herself and Tarin back down on the floor as he was turning toward the back room. Well, if the cops were actually here now, and doing their job...it wasn't like Lee was going to be able to do anything with Jacen there anyway...

So Lee shook her head slightly and grabbed Tarin's hand, tugging him down to the floor with her where they stood. Lee couldn't envision the man she had taken out waking up any time soon, even with Jacen there, so she had no worries about him, and it had looked like the one Tarin had taken out was definitely out too. Just the same, after she was on the floor, Lee reached out and slid his gun away from him, just in case.

Just then, Lee suddenly felt her siphoning start again. Jacen must have moved far enough into the other room that he wasn't effecting her any more.

With a sigh, Lee looked around the room once more. All the other hostages were huddling against the walls, scared because of the shots that had rung out. Scared even now that the cops were there, now that the gunmen who had been in the room with them were dead or incapacitated.

And Lee saw the pools of blood spreading across the floor. That was going to be one hell of a clean up job, Lee knew from experience. She had already been doing her thing, if Jacen had just waited another minute or two since they had already taken their damn time to get in there, she could have taken out the other three men without all that blood.

What the hell had Lee been thinking. What. The. Hell. Tarin stood, facing three guys with guns in the middle of a restaurant dining room and wondered exactly when it was that Lee had developed a hero complex. It might have been Colombia, it was probably Colombia. Lee had swept into the middle of a bloody Q&A session and absolutely wreaked havoc. Tarin had been a little concerned at the time, simply because of how calm Lee had been after everything she’d done, but he’d passed it off as the same small touch of post traumatic stress that Lee always seemed to get when bad things happened. Now she’d interrupted a hostage situation where there were at least 20 people other than the two of them involved.

All that thought in the span of just a few minutes. It was amazing what the brain could do when it was put under a lot of stress. Then the doors to the kitchen slammed open and SWAT came in. Gunmen dropped like flies in front of Tarin and it disturbed him just a little bit that he looked at them dispassionately and didn’t feel anything other than relief that their guns weren’t pointed at him anymore.

The professional swat types rushed through the dining area, and Tarin could have sworn one of them singled Lee out and told her to get them down. Heh, what was the point of getting down now? The gun men were all dead. As Lee tugged him down, Tarin looked around the room. All the other couples were huddled together, most of the women were crying. Lee just looked c alm. They were surrounded by bodies, some were still living and some not, and Lee looked calm. Tarin nodded his head to himself and sank down next to her on the ground. They were alive…despite Lee’s best efforts, they were both alive. Tarin’s head was absolutely pounding by this point, and every time he blinked his vision blurred, just slightly. Lee had rushed a man with a gun…she’d thought her powers would be enough to take on five armed gunmen. Something small snapped in Tarin and his emotions spilled over.

Turning to his wife, Tarin looked at her for a moment, and then did something he hadn’t thought he’d ever do. Reaching out the short distance between them, Tarin grasped Lee by her upper arms and shook her. “What the hell were you thinking Lee?!” he said, not quite shouting, but the distress obvious in his voice. “You could be dead right now Lee…dead…these weren’t professionals…they were assholes with guns… god, we’re so lucky…”

Then he wasn’t shaking Lee anymore, Tarin was hugging her, and hugging her tight, almost desperate, “Lee….this has to stop…you can't do everything...”

Very little time existed for Roland's charade. The pain in his arm was already hot and screaming. He let his guard down and focused on the pain, letting it take his body over as it would a normal person. His eyes welled up with tears, his breathing became shallow and he could feel the sinking feeling that shock brought on as his face became clammy and sweaty.He really tried to recall what fear looked like. All he could come up with was the look on his victims' faces. A montage of surprise, pain and utter disbelief ran like a blooper reel in his mind. He put on the best conglomeration he could summon.

The door burst open again and he jumped in surprise. He was inwardly pleased with himself that the faux fear had finally taken hold of him. Roland thought on some practice in the future. " Oh, oh God! I'm so glad you are here! It was a nightmare!" He thought back to the original Die Hard movie when Hans turned into the helpless victim and fooled John McClain into trusting him. Unlike Hans, Roland had no intention of sustaining the illusion beyond the building. The two men ordered to assist him knelt at the various other bodies, checking pulses. " It's a miracle you survived. What happened here?"

Roland's eyes moved over the tactical vests of the men like an old man might lust over young girls on a beach. While taking their guns would be suicidal, he suspected that they may not miss their small spray canisters of mace. Strange thing was, the canisters continued to dangle. His eyes panned around in every direction. Was Tyranny nearby? How could she be? This wasn't her scene, especially with the donut convention present. Something wasn't right.

" Sir? Sir? Can you hear us? What happened here? I think he is going into shock. Let's get a medic evac in here." Oh, they were talking to him. Roland started moving with a start, but they quickly put their hands on his shoulders in a gesture of both security and safety." I-I'm sorry. This is just all too much to take in. I just came here for a drink to soothe my nerves an then, and the,...oh, it's just too horrible. I think I can stand though. I would at least like to retain the dignity to walk out of here, if that's alright with you. " They seemed to agree and assisted Roland in standing. He looked ahead at their apparent commander and made a small weak smile of thanks to him. His eyes still scanned the area for Tyranny." Th-Thank you, officers. I think I'm ready." No reason to lay it on too thick, old boy.

Jacen nodded slightly to the man that was quite obviously in shock. Since they had never had cameras in this room there was no way of knowing whether this particular man really had been an innocent bystander or whether he'd actually been a target, but for now he had to be treated as an innocent victim.

"You're welcome." Jacen said curtly as he stepped away from the doorway and motioned to his other two officers, "You two get him out to an ambulance."

Apparently dismissing them, Jacen and his one other officer turned to walk back out into the main dining room. Keying his mic as he walked, Jacen passed on the good news to the Lieutenant. "We're all clear in here. Two men are escorting an injured man out. Send in some officers to secure the scene as well as some medics to check on the rest of the people here."

"Nice work men. We'll debrief you one things settle down here."

"Copy." Jacen replied before turning off his mic and heading directly for Lee and her apparently husband. Reaching up he pulled off his ski mask and then used the fabric to wipe the sweat off of his face. Lowing the fabric Jacen gave Lee his best dissaproving glower, even as he tried to keep a slight smirk from appearing on his face. Lee and her husband had handled themselves well, even if they should have waited for the professionals.

"You two did well, but please leave it to the professionals next time. We were already coming in as soon as that shot was fired but with you two jumping up like that it put you in our line of fire."

Tarin followed Lee down to the floor, though his reaction, even with her tugging on his hand, was delayed. Maybe that hit to the head he'd gotten was worse than Lee had thought; she hadn't bothered taking that good of a look at it yet because she hadn't seen any blood.

And then Tarin was reaching out, grabbing her by her upper arms, and shaking her. Lee blinked at him as he was talking, no not talking, almost shouting, and shaking her, she didn't know what else to do. He was actually physically shaking her and yelling at her.

He was worried, Lee knew he was worried, but Lee wasn't sure whether the hit to the head was making that better or worse.

And then Tarin was hugging her, hugging her almost tighter than she could remember him ever hugging her, and Lee wrapped her arms around Tarin in return. She wanted to tell him she was sorry, wanted to say something like that to make him feel better, but the fact of the matter was that she wasn't sorry, to say so would be a lie, and with their relationship, there couldn't be lies.

So instead, Lee started speaking softly into Tarin's ear as they hugged, the tone almost apologetic though the words were far from it. "My life is always at risk, hon. There's still a man with a gun out there who knows where we live. What do you think will happen the next time Rupert decides to drop by?

"And what makes Columbia any better than this?" Lee asked, pulling back only slightly so she could actually look at her husband. "Yes, we chose to walk into Columbia, but these guys weren't trained. They were easier to take out, and most of them didn't want to shoot anyone, or they would have shot you.

"That's when I was terrified, Tarin," Lee pointed out, her voice finally taking on more emotion. "We were already singled out, already involved, as soon as they made me talk on the phone, and then you charged them like that...If they were going to shoot anyone, to make an example or whatever, it probably would have been us whether we stayed on the floor or not. I had to do something."

Then Lee just sat there, hugging her husband for another few moments before she pulled away, her hands reaching up to the sides of Tarin's face as she looked at him. "How's your head feeling?" She asked. Her own injury was just going to be tender for quite a few days from where the man had slapped her, but Tarin's was quite potentially more serious.

As she was starting to examine Tarin's forehead, Lee felt the flow of energy through her touch, the energy coming from everyone in the room, suddenly stop. A moment later, she heard a voice approaching. Looking up, Lee saw Jacen come to a stop beside where her and Tarin were sitting on the floor.

"Did we, or is that just something you're supposed to say?" Lee asked as she pushed herself to her feet again. And felt tiny next to Jacen since she wasn't wearing heels, just her bare feet at the moment. "If the cops had come in as soon as that shot was fired, I wouldn't have gotten up. I waited, expecting you guys to rush in, and nothing. And if you," Lee stressed the word so that she'd know Jacen knew exactly what she was talking about without any of the other cops being able to figure it out. "Hadn't come in so soon after I did get up, there wouldn't be those three blood stains on the floor, they'd just be out like this guy," Lee finished, nudging the unconscious man on the floor near her with her foot.

It was Lee’s calm more than anything that was making the panic well up inside of Tarin. Nobody went through the things that they went through and handled them as well as Lee was. Not even Lee handled the things that they were going through as well as she had convinced herself she had. It was coming, that inevitable event that would cause that wall of calm to crumble down. The last time it had been the camps, and she’d left him. Tarin didn’t know what she’d do this time, but it was that more than any of the traumatic events that scared Tarin.

Tarin was sure that Lee thought her logic was sound, but as she explained things Tarin stiffened in her arms and slowly pulled back. Lee continued, then explained when she’d actually gotten worried and Tarin shook his head. “I couldn’t just sit there…that guy hit you…” he said, “But Lee…honey, you’re not invincible. Why tempt fate just that little bit more?” Lee had a decent point when she explained that they’d already been singled out, but Tarin shook his head, wanting to shake Lee again but refraining.

Lee asked about his head and Tarin’s brow furrowed for a moment while he tried to figure out what Lee was talking about. Oh yeah, his head. As if the thought activated the injury, Tarin’s head started to throb dully from his forehead and even as he leaned into Lee’s hands on his face he sighed, “It hurts, but I’ve felt worse. Makes me wish Slate were around. What about your face?” Tarin said, raising his hand to hover by the place on Lee’s cheek that was already darkening. A thought occurred to Tarin and he sighed, “And please make sure Robert knows that I didn’t have anything to do with this…”

A voice sounded out and it took Tarin a moment to realize that it was directed at them. One of the SWAT guys was approaching them, and Tarin got ready to accept the scolding/praise with an indifferent shrug. Then Lee was up, and talking to the guy who had by this point removed his mask.

Confused, Tarin climbed to his feet, wondering who this guy was an exactly what Lee was talking about. Then she pointed out how if the professionals had just stayed where they were, the tiny woman would have handled everything. Apparently nothing he’d said had sunk in. Tarin looked at Lee for a moment, then at the tall, all American looking guy and shook his head.

“I need a drink.” Tarin said, and crossed the restaurant in confident strides until he found the bar. Screw all the people still huddling with their loved ones on the floor, and the police officers trying to convince them that their horrible ordeal was over. They didn’t know anything about horrible ordeals. Tarin knew what a horrible ordeal really was, so did Lee, and Tarin was really starting to worry about her.

The bar had escaped the assault relatively unscathed and it didn’t take Tarin long to locate a glass and a bottle of scotch. One would be enough, he thought as he filled the glass, then made his way back to Lee, sipping as he walked and ignoring the startled glances of the other hostages.

She was still talking to GI Joe and Tarin stopped beside Lee and took another sip before offering Lee the glass, then turning to more fully face the SWAT guy. Tarin spoke, voice controlled but not unfriendly, “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Tarin Brooks.”

How did this guy know Lee? Something was tugging at the back of Tarin’s mind, but the specific memory of that night before they’d left was buried under everything that had happened since. Two and two were not being put together, and Tarin decided that pissing Lee off by not giving the guy a chance was a bad idea. She was, apparently, invincible after all.

Crossing paths with the commander, he smiled and nodded when he responded to his thanks. Once Roland passed him and was on his way through the main restaurant, his eyes returned to the obsessive scan of the patrons, as he searched for Tyranny. Maybe it was the shock that threw him off. He looked down at the small utility belt pocket holding the capsicum spray. Still nothing. Tyranny's range was not that large, so unless she was in the ceiling poking about....hmm.it was just too much of a coincidence.

The bullet was worming about in his flesh, burning and itching. There was great fortune in his escort to the ambulance, as all the tools he would need would be there waiting for him, with minimal resistance. The three of them made their way through throngs of tactical officers, all seemingly disappointed that there hadn't been the opportunity to get involved. Roland thought it funny, though he remembered not to let the ironic humor reach his exterior. It seemed they would be going down the stairs, since the elevator was still out due to the tactical end of the situation. Three flights went by rather smoothly.

Once they reached the bottom floor, Roland was further pleased to see that the media had been cordoned off some length away. No reason for pictures. They insisted he lie down on the gurney and apply a neck brace. Roland tried not to protest much, but just a little to maintain the illusion. As the doors were closing and the EMTs were assessing him, Roland tried a final time for the spray canister. It appeared in his hand. Coincidence no more, officer. He looked up at the restaurant glass through the ambulance doors as it pulled away.

"No, I'm supposed to tell you what an idiot you were to try anything at all, I'm not supposed to compliment you on a good job." Jacen replied calmly as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Lee. For the moment he chose to ignore her comment about the blood stains and instead turned his gaze over to the husband that was now heading off to get a drink.

"Wait a second... You know her King?" The other S.W.A.T. officer asked as he turned to look at Jacen with raised eyebrow, "You know the procedures."

"I didn't know until we were already in position." Jacen replied quietly as he focused his eyes on the other man, "Why don't you go check on the guy that we sent out to the medics?"

For a moment the man returned Jacen stare but then finally with a slight nod he turned and walked out of the room.

"I don't think we've met. I'm Tarin Brooks." Lee's husband spoke up in a very even and controlled voice as he once again moved to stand by his wife while holding a glass of some liquor. Scotch if Jacen wasn't mistaken. He had always been more of a brandy man himself but he was glad to see that Tarin could appreciate the finer side of alcohol.

"Sorry we had to meet like this." Jacen replied as he looked at Tarin and nodded slightly, "We were actually supposed to meet in a bar over a couple of cold beers. I'm Jacen King... your wife's late night jogging partner."

Lee simply nodded when Tarin requested that she make sure her brother knew that he hadn't had anything to do with the bruise that had to be forming quite well on her face at this point. That...could be an interesting conversation there.

At least Lee didn't have to dwell on that for very long since Jacen being there and talking to them distracted Lee. But apparently what Jacen had told them wasn't what he was supposed to have told them.

"Don't worry, he's already given me that lecture," Lee said softly just before Jacen turned to speak to another officer. Just as Tarin said he needed a drink and started walking away. Lee's eyes followed him. He still didn't look all that steady on his feet, but at the same time it didn't look like he was about to fall. So Lee stayed where she was, she knew Tarin and knew he wouldn't be happy if she jumped over there to help him, but she kept her eye open just in case he did end up needing it.

It didn't take long before Tarin was making his way back, sipping on his liquor as he came. Really, with a knock to the head, did Tarin really think that Scotch was the best idea? Well, it had been his best idea the night that Rupert had shown up at the apartment, and somehow it seemed to have diffused that situation, at least somewhat.

As Tarin came to a stop beside her again, Lee watched as he took another sip, then held out the glass to her. Lee blinked at it for a second. Why was he offering her some Scotch? She never drank Scotch.

Despite that, Lee reached her hand out to take the half full glass as Tarin was introducing himself. And Jacen was introducing himself as her 'late night jogging partner'. Yeah, cause that would go over well.

With a slight shake of her head, Lee raised the glass Tarin had offered her to her lips. And downed the rest of the liquid. Her eyes closed as she took the glass away, Lee shuddered as she held it out for Tarin to take back. This was the reason she didn't drink Scotch.

Taking a slightly shaky breath after that drink, Lee opened her eyes once more. "Yeah, beers would have been much nicer..."

As it turned out, Scotch was a gift straight from God. Tarin sipped and almost sighed as the warm liquid burned a direct path straight down to his stomach where it burned very happily while he stood next to Lee and waited to see if she actually took the glass. She did. Lee didn’t drink scotch, so this made Tarin feel a little bit better about the whole situation. Maybe Lee was a little more shaken up by the whole situation than he’d originally thought she was. Good. SWAT boy did have a point though and when he said that they were idiots for getting involved, Tarin turned blazing eyes of “I told you so” on his wife for a moment. She should feel silly for doing what she’d done, but if that was the case, shouldn’t she be doing something other than just standing there and having a conversation with GI Joe? GI Joe who was really tall. How exactly did he know Lee again?

Tarin didn’t have to wait long, because GI Joe…Jacen…explained exactly who he was. Under normal circumstances, that type of response would have probably resulted in a fierce glare from Tarin and some sort of snarky remark. There was no need to add the words, ‘late night’ onto the whole jogging thing. Tarin also realized that considering everything they’d been going through, there was no reason to point out that he was the reason that Lee had to jog. Tarin remembered the night of jogging now, remembered it well. He and Lee had fought.

Tarin turned to look at Lee, “Ohh, so this is your jogging buddy. It’s nice to officially meet you. Lee told me you helped wear her out that night.” He said, then realized exactly how that sounded and took the glass back from Lee, who was apparently done. Tarin needed it again, he cleared his throat and looked at Jacen, “You know what I meant…” He said, then lifted the glass to take a liberal sip…only to find himself looking through the slightly blurry bottom of the glass.

Tarin dropped his hand and looked over at Lee, shock clearly written on his face. “You don’t drink Scotch…” he said softly, the earlier relief he’d felt in Lee taking the drink fading at the sheer amount she’d taken.

Jacen pointed out that they were all supposed to meet over beers and Lee agreed that it would have been a much better situation. Tarin had to agree, and was begrudgingly pleased to hear that he had been an integral enough part of the conversation that he’d been part of the plans for a drink. “Yeah…we should do that some time.” Tarin said, staring wistfully at his empty glass but not wanting to walk all the way to the bar. His head was really starting to hurt again, “I’m loving this chat Jacen, and I’m glad it was you and not some pervert monster that ran with my wife…but is there any way I could get some advil, and we could get Lee some ice for her face? Her brother is already halfway convinced that I beat her, and I’d like to head that bruising off at the pass.”

It didn’t occur to Tarin that this was an odd thing to say to a cop. It also didn’t occur to Tarin that their conversation about beer and jogging might be strange considering the fact that they were standing in a room full of dead and/or unconscious bodies. In fact, the only thing that really seemed strange to Tarin at that moment, besides Lee’s behavior, was the fact that his glass of Scotch was empty. Where was that advil?

Traffic buzzed along the corridors of the city. What appeared to be orderly movements from on high became more and more chaotic as a pigeon sailed down over the warm air currents which piped up from every corner of the metropolis. Lives beginning and ending in the streets of the Big Apple. The bird fluttered down to a fairly vacant power line, landing and grooming itself as it cooed to the others who were already planning their attack. Beneath them, in this fairly quiet section of space beneath an overpass, sat a recently washed ambulance, its pristine white exterior goading the birds on.

Furthering the illusion of exterior appearances, the inside of the truck was a mess. All was quiet now since the radio had been turned off. Roland worked quietly and efficiently, knowing that without the constant calls from the ambulance, that others would be seeking it before long. He had taken care in the VIP lounge to shoot himself in a manner where the bullet would be easily extracted. Using a mirror, he used a topical anesthetic to numb the outer layers of tissue, leaving only mild discomfort as he probed the flesh with a pair of forceps. The blood washed bullet became visible after a bit of rooting and was teleported from his arm. He kept it as a souvenir.

Next came the stitches. Roland had given himself minor field surgery before. Usually he didn't have so many resources available, which made the work neat and speedy. The wound was closed, sanitized, and wrapped while he set about to pouring out alcohol over the pristine cotton gauze and other flammable materials. Stepping over the body of one of the EMTs, he opened the back door of the van. A canister of oxygen had its top knocked off, the life giving gas venting with a loud whoosh. It was a lovely afternoon. Splat. One of the pigeons missed, leaving a healthy gout of droppings on Roland's shoulder. He looked up at the perpetrators. " I can't blame you there." Walking away from the wreckage, he opened a Zippo and struck the wheel. The flame appeared. It then disappeared, along with its housing. The explosion was as beautiful as the coming sunset.

It was interesting to watch the way Lee and Tarin acted toward each other. Even in the small stuff it was obvious that they cared deeply for each other. If Jacen had seen any of this back before he had met Lee in the park he never would have tried to push for things to get to a physical level instead of just mindless flirting.

Reaching up to his throat, Jacen reactivated his throat Mic as he gave the two of them a slight smile. "We need a medic in here with some pain killers and an ice pack."

Turning the system back off, Jacen stood comfortably with his hands now crossed over his chest. "It sounds like you didn't get accepted by the family with open arms, although if her brother knows anything about her, I'd think that he could realize your wife is more than capable of taking care of herself." He said with something between a grin and a smirk on his face. Already a mental change had taken place as Jacen was now referring to her as 'Tarin's Wife' instead of just 'Lee'.

"Sir!" A man's voice called out just before Jacen's fellow S.W.A.T. member came jogging back into the room. "Problem. The ambulance carrying our injured man from the back room is out of contact. A couple of patrol cars have gone to investigate."

"Damn!" Jacen swore, his expression immediately turning business like. "Get the team back to the van. We may be going back out sooner than we thought."

Turning back to Lee and Tarin, Jacen gave them both a quick nod and a somewhat forced smile as his mind was already preoccupied with the situation that had suddenly presented itself. "I'd give you a card, but I don't pack them in this gear. Jacen King, I'm in the phone book. Give me a call sometime and we'll meet up for that beer."

Turning without hesitation, Jacen broke into a jog and swiftly exited the room. Either the injured man was actually the target that this group had been after or he'd been a part of the group and somehow managed to come off looking like a victim. If he was the target another hostage situation was very likely.

Lee saw Tarin turn to look at her when Jacen said he was supposed to be telling them what idiots they were for what they had done. Lee didn't look over at her husband, she could guess what the expression on his face would be.

But then Tarin had his glass back, went to take a sip. This time Lee did look at Tarin when he looked at her. And saw his surprise over the fact that she had actually drank the Scotch. Lee simply shrugged. He needed a drink, how did he know that she hadn't needed one just as bad, but hadn't been wanting to go take one from the bar like he had?

Tarin didn't stop there, and Lee actually groaned when he mentioned to Jacen that her brother was halfway convinced that he beat her. Ice probably would be a good thing at this point, but that was so not the thing to say to a cop.

At least Jacen didn't take it badly, didn't seem to think that there was any truth in the statement. That was a good thing. And they had painkillers and an ice pack on the way. That was also good.

"Well, it depends on what part of the family," Lee replied, her tone somewhat off hand. Robert hadn't liked Tarin from the start, and her parents didn't seem too thrilled about him either, however they were still having issues just dealing with the fact that she was a mutant. Rachael, on the other hand, loved Tarin.

Just then, another officer came running back into the room, talking to Jacen. It was really only then that Lee saw officers and paramedics dealing with the other people who had been held hostage, as well noticed the fact that there was an officer standing beside each of the gunmen who she and Tarin had taken out. Huh, now that things finally seemed to be under control, she really wasn't paying any attention to what all was going on around her, was she?

Then Jacen was leaving, just as a paramedic got to them and started checking her and Tarin over. "I'm fine, I'm fine," Lee said, trying to shoo the man off. "If you'll just give me an ice pack..."

Unfortunately, the paramedic didn't seem to want to let her off that easily, and was still checking her. Even going so far as to check her pulse. "I'm fine!" Lee stressed, then saw another paramedic crouching down beside the man she had drained. "And he'll just be asleep like that for a good three or four hours, but he'll be fine," she said.