Title: Siege Situation

Author: badly-knitted

Characters: Dee, Ryo, JJ, OCs.

Rating: PG

Setting: During the manga.

Summary: The gunman isn't about to give up, so the cops' only priority is to save the hostage.

Word Count: 761

Written For: darkhavens's prompt 'Any, any, The hail of bullets was enough of an answer,' at fic_promptly.

Disclaimer: I don't own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.

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"You're surrounded, Lewis, you can't win! Why don't you just put the gun down and give yourself up?!" Dee shouted

The gunman didn't have to say a word; the hail of bullets he sent in Dee's direction was answer enough and Dee hurriedly ducked back down behind the dumpster, hoping he wouldn't get hit by a ricochet. This was one of the things he hated about police work, those times when some idiot refused to admit defeat even when he was outnumbered, outgunned, and backed into a corner, and just kept shooting, putting the lives of innocent people at risk. He was probably hoping to take a few cops with him.

The worst of it was, if he'd given himself up right at the start instead of grabbing a hostage and trying to make a run for it, he would've been facing at most a year in prison, and by the time the case got to court he might even have got off with time served. The guy had no priors, and holding his former boss at gunpoint while trying to get the wages he was still owed after being 'let go' was sort of understandable. Now though, if they managed to take him alive, they'd have to throw the book at him. His ex-boss would live, having only been shot in the shoulder, but Ronald Lewis would be facing charges of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, resisting arrest, and kidnapping, among other things, instead of just carrying an unlicensed gun and using threatening behaviour. At least so far the hostage was still alive; Dee could tell that because she was still screaming, and begging her former colleague to let her go.

That was unlikely to happen. Lewis already felt he had nothing left to lose, and her screaming was probably just serving to make him more agitated. Any moment he might snap and put a bullet through the young woman's head just to shut her up. Dee had no way of knowing how much ammo the idiot had left; all he could do was hope and pray that either Ryo or JJ managed to get to a vantage point where they had a clear shot at him.

The blind alley Lewis had taken refuge in would make that tricky; it was a confined space and a dumping ground for trash. Intermittently, Dee could hear Lewis trying to pull away the sheet of plywood nailed over the window of the derelict building on the left, which he saw as his only chance of escape. It wouldn't do him any good if he succeeded though; there were bars on the opening behind the plywood, meaning it didn't do the police much good either. They couldn't afford to spook him.

Dee glanced up at the rooftops to either side of the alley, hoping the squad's sharpshooters could see more from up there than he could from where he stood. "You in position?" he asked through his headset.

"Standing by," Ryo's calm voice replied.

"Ready and waiting," came JJ's voice, unusually subdued.

"The moment either of you has a clear shot, take it," Dee told his colleagues. "We're unlikely to get a second chance. Shoot to kill if you have to."

Trying to negotiate with Lewis had been useless to start with, although it had been attempted. Now it was a siege situation and their only concern was getting the hostage out alive. If they could take Lewis alive as well, they would, but if they couldn't… so be it.

The sharp crack of a sniper rifle rang out, setting the hostage screaming again, and she burst out from behind the dumpster, splattered with blood and gore.

"Hold your fire!" Dee bellowed at the other armed cops.

"Subject is down." There was no triumph in JJ's voice.

"Good shooting, JJ." That was Ryo.

The hysterical hostage was hustled away and Dee made his way down the alley, gun at the ready, just in case. He kicked the gun away from Lewis' hand and bent to check for a pulse; that there wasn't one came as no surprise, considering the massive hole in his head.

Dee felt a small pang of regret, quickly stifled. All Lewis had wanted was what he was owed, but his former employer had used expensive lawyers to avoid paying him, and dragged the case through the courts for months until Lewis had snapped and confronted him. Now Lewis was dead and his boss wouldn't have to pay him a penny.

Justice had failed Ronnie Lewis and he'd paid with his life.

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The End