Agents Universe

First Read
Learning the Ropes - Welcome to the NYPD Part 1

11:31 Boryslaw_Kowalczyk: I stepped over the corpse, his face a mangled mess of blood and brains. The other officer workers turned as one and ran. Let them run. They had no where to go. This was the only stairwell not destroyed.

I turned to Dariusz, "Take Mieczysław, and head up to the observation deck, prepare our little surprise for any attempts at brave rescue by helicopter." He nods, and heads up with Mieczysław. They had the disassembled pieces of two RPG's in their duffle bags. They headed up the stairs. They had orders to shoot and kill anyone they encountered.

Meanwhile, the rest of us, there were four now, headed down the corridor, following the sounds of screams and panicked office workers. And somewhere on this floor was Grzegorz. I couldn't wait to meet him again, in different circumstances. I would save his death for the end. I wanted to savor it.

11:31 Aiden_Fletcher: I start to head towards cover, but looking at the people coming in, I think back to what Jason said earlier, they're looking to us to lead them and make sure it's okay.

"Everyone, you need to get to the cafeteria." I look at the receptionist, she'd remained calm enough to answer my questions, that was a good sign. "Now, you're going to have to take them there, keep them calm, you're good at that okay."

I turn and head towards the door that the people who were covered in blood were coming through and after they came through I slammed the door closed and slowly pushed a large water cooler in front of it, it wouldn't hold anyone out for long, but any delay will help.

I didn't think of my own safety really, I hadn't got the self preservation down yet, but I was more concerned with the safety of the others.

I usher the staff out of the reception area. "Boss... what now," I turn and ask, none of this was covered by any training at the academy. "We're fifty stories up, that's not going to be easy to get stone, don't think they have fire escapes this high up."

12:17 OfficerJasonFrank: I was both impressed and frustrated by Aiden's actions. It was very noble of him to try and protect the civilians, it spoke highly of his character, but if we were killed or injured, then all his efforts would have been in vain, since we were the only ones standing between these terrorists and the civilians. It was a rookie mistake, and one I fervently hoped would not backfire on us.

He turned back, and he was calm, which was good, but he was standing out in the open, which was bad. I turned to open my mouth and usher him over to take cover with me, when suddenly I caught sight of two workmen rounding the corner, except that workmen didn't usually wear tactical belts and body armor. My Glock was already out, and I didn't hesitate, sending a round towards one of the men, as I leaned out from the edge of the desk. He staggered, but I'd only hit his body armor. But my gunshots were not the only ones fired. FUCK. Aiden... oh fuck... Aiden...

11:31 Boryslaw_Kowalczyk: Aleksy and I rounded the corner, our other two teammates a few steps behind us, only to see a fucking police man standing in the middle of the reception area, his back turned towards us, as he faced the reception desk. I didn't think, I simply acted, and so did Aleksy. Our combat trained reflexes kicked in and we both trained our Glocks on the Cop, a young looking man, and fired, as we were taught, aiming for center mass, before scattering to find cover. What the FUCK were police doing here??? There is NO way they could have known what we had been planning.

Another cop quickly leaned out from behind the reception desk, fired, and Aleksy staggered, but remarkably managed to maintain his footing, throwing himself into cover. behind a couch. I was crouched behind an upturned potted palm. This was fine, we'd simply kill the two policemen first.

12:58 Aiden_Fletcher: I slam forward into the wall, it's the first time I've ever been shot, and while the body armour takes the hit, it slams me into the wall and onto the floor near the reception desk - that hurt, knocking all the wind out of me.

Slowly I start to come around as I hear gunshots being fired, and see Jason firing from behind the desk .

"Fuck..." I roll over behind next to Jason, there isn't any blood and I'm just winded and I pull my glock out and get to my knees slowly.

"Who the fuck are these guys," it's less of a question and more of a statement of exasperation.

"Dispatch this is Officer Fletcher, Chrysler Building, we've got an 11-99 officers under attack," I said into the radio. "Code 30 Emergency, 51st floor. Armed terrorists." I wince as I move my arm and get up.

13:31 OfficerJasonFrank: Thankfully, Aiden wasn't hurt, but I have no time to dwell on the sensation of relief.

I exchange a few more shots with the two terrorists while Aiden updates dispatch on our situation. I'm not counting on help anytime soon though, we are on our own. And we can't stay here behind this reception desk. I somehow doubt there are only two of them. I turn my head towards the corridor leading deeper into the office.

"Aiden, we've got to move, we can't stay here. We've got to lose these guys and regroup. On the count of three, you need to break cover and head deeper into the office, down the corridor off to our left and around the corner. I'll provide covering fire, then I'll follow you. Don't argue, just do it. 1 ... 2 ... "

Then, something round and metallic hits the wall over my head, and I abort the count, screaming, "RUN RUN RUN!! NOW!" I pull the reception desk down, on top of the grenade as I sprint deeper into the office, keeping my body between Aiden and the grenade. And only just in time.

The fragmentation grenade explodes, and rips the desk to pieces, and the concussion nearly knocks me off my feet, but grimly, I keep my balance, half staggering half falling around the corner.

11:31 Boryslaw_Kowalczyk: Calmly, I bark out orders to my teammates behind me as me and Aleksy keep the cops pinned down with more fire. "I'm going to toss a grenade, after it explodes, we will all rush them."

I take out one of my fragmentation grenades, pull the pin and toss it at the wall behind the reception desk the two policemen are hiding behind. But then, I curse to myself as they dart out, the older one cleverly throwing the desk down on top of the grenade just before it explodes. The explosion throws my aim off.

FUCK. I don't want to waste time chasing down street cops. They can't go anywhere. And two cops are no match for a full team of Polish GROM. I make a snap decision, "Let's secure the hostages first, and find Grzegorz. Then, we can hunt down these policemen. It will be an entertaining diversion."

14:12 Aiden_Fletcher: I get up to move on his command, but I'm now been grenaded and this wasn't actually in any training that I've dealt with... Guns yes... not grenades. Public Order training involved shields and improved fire bombs not actual grenades. I'd only actually seen those in movies.

I land badly in the other room, staggering around the corner into the corridors nearly being knocked off my feet by Jason. But I manage to hit the wall and continue down the corridor. "Fucking hell, what the fucking hell is going on."

I run down and see an open door and head inside closing the door behind me and Jason. "That's fucking a whole load of firepower that we don't have right now to deal with it. What the fuck."

14:49 OfficerJasonFrank: I recognized it at once. It turns out I have been grenaded before. To be fair it was only a flashbang, but that was enough.

We stagger down the hall, and I realize I'm bleeding out of my ears, having been too close to the concussive shockwave. Aiden is in slightly better shape, since my body shielded his from the worst of the shockwave, and he leads the way.

Aiden leads us to an office, and closes the door. I turn, and look out the window for a moment, then focus hard, but I don't immediately hear sounds of pursuit.

I turn, breathing heavy, my heart pounding in my chest. I check out Aiden, and other than the cut on his head, he seems okay. I can a torn up, chewed up hold in the middle of his uniform where he was shot.

I take a deep breath, keeping my Glock in hand. I listen for a moment, motioning Aiden to stay quiet as I try and hear any sounds of pursuit. I hear screams in the distance, and the sound of a door being slammed open.

Then, I turn to Aiden, speaking quietly, answering him at last, I put my hand on his shoulder, "My best guess is some kind of hostage situation. It's not traditional terrorism, or they would have simply blown the whole building down. Judging by the firepower they are packing and the tactics they displayed, I'd say they are some kind of ex-military. Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine."

"We can't stay here though, we have to keep moving. If they are going for hostages, then I reckon the civilians will be safe enough for now. This is way more than we are equipped to handle, as you pointed out. My guess is they will send in SWAT teams and negotiators."

I take a deep breath, and try to think. Then, my radio squawked. I picked it up, and what followed was a long conversation with dispatch. I explained our situation and what I knew. There was a long silence, clearly someone of high rank was consulting real time with the dispatcher, then I got my answer. I nodded.

"Okay Aiden, they are going to send out SWAT teams. They want us to head up to the observation deck and meet with the SWAT team they are going to land up there by helicopter. Another team will try coming up the stairs from below. We are to lead the SWAT team from the roof back to this floor. We have to move. Follow me." Times like these would seperate the men from the boys. I had a pretty good idea that Aiden was up to the task. He hadn't cracked yet, and that was a good sign.

11:31 Boryslaw_Kowalczyk: I stride through the wreckage of the reception area, looking down through a new hole in the floor, blown out by the frag grenade, down into a hallway below, covered in chunks of concrete and plaster. I grunted. The office workers were easy to find. Just follow the sound of the screams.

The four of us walked down a hall, to a set of double doors with a water cooler in front of it. I laughed. Then, as one, we raised our boots, and smashed the doors down, along with the water cooler, sending the wreckage into what looked like a cafeteria.

I shouted out, "ALL RIGHT YOU MEWLING LITTLE FUCKERS, WHERE IS GRZEGORZ? YOU HAVE ONE MINUTE TO PRODUCE HIM, OR WE START KILLING PEOPLE."
15:23 Aiden_Fletcher: I look out into the corridor, no-one was there but I turn back to Jason. "Are you sure, surely we're meant to help them. They saw two police officers, surely the people who work here would expect us to stay around."

But I am a little scared and know Jason is saying the right things here. "How do we get up there, didn't you say the staircases had been ruined."

"Is there a way to the observation deck from inside, a service staircase they may have missed or something."

16:15 OfficerJasonFrank: I'm about to head out into the corridor, when Aiden turns back to me. I stop and reach out, grabbing both of his shoulders and looking him right in the eye.

"Aiden, you are a good cop. You've got your priorities in the right order. Trust me, I'd march back there and confront those fucking bastards right now if I thought it would save those people. But it won't. You know it, and I know it. It would get us killed and maybe some of them as well. I hate leaving those civilians behind as much as you do, but we need those SWAT teams to deal with this situation, and those SWAT teams need us."

I pull out my Glock, and head out towards the north east corner of the building, speaking quietly as I go, "Good, good Aiden. You are thinking along the same lines I am. The one staircase I checked was blown out, but it seemed that it was all right a few floors up. We just need to figure out a way to get up a floor or two, and we should be able to use the stairs again. How's your rock climbing skills? As I recall there is a freight elevator down this way... We can force the doors and climb up the side of the shaft to the next floor."

11:31 Boryslaw_Kowalczyk: It was clear that these stupid simpletons were dumb struck with fear. Well, I don't have time for this. I point my Glock at the nearest man, and casually shoot him in the knee. There is an explosion of gore from his ruined knee as he screams. "WHERE THE FUCK IS HE?"

10:01 Grzegorz_Nowak: I was stunned, just like all my employees as I sat in the corner of the cafeteria. But nothing prepared me for what I saw... Boryslaw Kowalczyk ... the man who had conveniently murdered my son, for no other reason than that he wouldn't give false evidence in front of the tribunal investigating the deaths of those villagers in Eastern Poland. The civilian casualties had been excessive when the GROM team had descended on the village to eradicate a group of suspected Syndicate terrorists. There had been an investigation... and my son refused to lie for his comrades.

And so they had killed him. I had my own resources, and hired a private investigator to get to the bottom of it, and his findings had resulted in the conviction and dishonorable discharge of the entire team, but they had gone rogue before they could be brought to justice.

And now, here, in America, in MY office... that murdering, cold-hearted mother fucker and his renegade team had come.... looking for me.

Fear and terror gripped me. I was a dead man. There was no escape. Not for me. But maybe I could save some of my employees. I stood up. "Boryslaw ... here I am." I said simply, though I was so petrified with fear it was a wonder I could even speak.

10:52 Aiden_Fletcher: "Rock climbing... not the best on the list, but I'm okay at climbing up ropes a lot more, normally.. you know .. with a safety net." I look at Jason. "You serious about climbing up an elevator shaft. Are you insane?"

"You're not joking are you?"

I hear another gunshot outside. "This feels terribly like running away you know," but it is scary and it is completely outside my training.

"Fine... Fine.. lets do it your crazy way, you're the boss." I put my hands in my jacket pocket. "Lets climb up a death trap."

11:18 OfficerJasonFrank: I make my way carefully down the corridor, holding my sidearm with both hands, every sense straining for unusual noise or motion. I listen to Aiden as we begin to approach the freight elevator, it's right where I remember it.

I turn to look at him, my eyes are deadly serious, "If you have a better idea, I'm all ears." Then, the sound of another gunshot in the distance rings out. It makes me feel sick. Those people in there need us... but I know that this is the best way to get them the help they need.

We reach the shaft, and I turn to Aiden, "Don't worry Aiden, we'll do it one at a time, and I'll go first. Then, I'll help you up. But first, lets get these doors open." I wedge my fingers in the small gap between the doors, brace myself, and tense up, sending a surge of strength rippling through my hard-muscled body, cords standing out on my neck as I work with Aiden to open the door.

11:56 Dariusz_Bakula: Together, me and Mieczysław reached the observation deck, just shy of the 77th floor, completely encircling the building. The stairwell had been full of people trying to escape, but after we had killed about a dozen, and left their bloodstained corpses to litter the stairwell, the rest had fled to cower back in their offices.

We split up then, and each of us took up station on opposite corners of the building, and working quickly I soon had my RPG assembled. I crouched low behind a cornice and waited for the would-be SWAT team to come and try to save that pig Grzegorz.

10:51 Aiden_Fletcher: Opening an elevator door is harder than I imagined it would be, but soon we're inside the elevator shaft and I look inside, of course it would be too much to hope that the elevator was one floor below in case of accidental dropping, but no, it's a massive drop and I take a deep breath.

"Yeah fine, boss, I don't need the help, I'll be okay." I look up the shaft. "You do the rock climbing of the sides, I'll do the rope climbing of the elevator rope. Used to have a lot of them on fishing boats in town."

I pull my belt off and loop it around the rope in the middle of the elevator shaft, throwing it around it and closing it. Handcuffing one of my own wrists, and pulling the other handcuff around my belt creating a makeshift rappelling device in case of accidental falling to break the fall.

"Lets go, boss. And no offense, not racing you up this one. Don't want to die without having sex with Ryan Reynolds, it's on my bucket list." I take a deep breath and jump onto the rope, putting my gloved hands around it, "Fuck... Fuck... Fuck... why the fuck am I doing this..." I say quietly and then start to climb up the rope.

11:41 OfficerJasonFrank: With a great deal of sweat, muscle, and effort we force the doors open. I look at the shaft, there are enough nooks and crannies and sticking out bits to make a climb of it.

I look down, it's a long, long drop. I look over at Aiden with a new sense of respect. I nod, "Sounds like a plan, officer." He was really beginning to impress me with both his grit and his ability to adapt to this unprecedented situation.

As he begins to carefully rappel up the steel elevator cable, I climb my way up the shaft. Another gunshot rings out as we are halfway up. I freeze for a second, but there is nothing I can do about it. Not now. It makes me sick though, another civilian we are pledged to protect, injured or killed.

An ice cold determination fills me, and I make my way up to the next floor, the 52nd floor. There is a bit of a ledge, and I wedge myself on it. I handcuff myself to a metal bracket off to the side, and exchange a glance with Aiden, taking the time to speak up, "Wanna make that a threesome? I've had the hots for Ryan Reynolds for a long time now." I grinned at him.

Then, together, we put our hands in the crack, and once more exerted some good ol'fashioned All American muscle attempting to force the doors open.

12:03 Aiden_Fletcher: I don't speak until I'm on the ledge and the door is open. I take my handcuffs off and take the belt back with some effort, just in case there's another rope to climb up, which I really don't want to happen.

I take a deep breath. "Sure... I'm into older men, and you're about Ryan's age." I smile and look at him, I hadn't looked at him in that way before this morning. But I did for a second imagine him and Ryan Reynolds in the same bed before getting through the door with some effort.

The door was an effort more from this side, as the ledge was a lot smaller, but a couple of minutes later, we were through, covered in oil and dirt.

"Isn't there a rule that you can't sleep with your partner though. There was an academy course about not sleeping with your women partners, don't think they'd updated it for gays."

12:30 OfficerJasonFrank: As we recover on the other side of the door, both of us covered in sweat, grime and oil, I take a moment to laugh as I listen to Aiden.

I look at him, I mean, really look at him for the first time. He's young, but he's competent, handsome, and I realize that I'm finding myself growing attracted to him. "Well then boy, I'll take that as a compliment." I smile back at him, and good-naturedly punch his shoulder.

I stand up, breathing deep, my stamina recharging quickly, thanks to my elite levels of fitness. "You know, it's never come up for me before, cause I've never had a gay partner." Aaron didn't count, since we weren't actually working together. "I tell you what, if we make it out of this alive, we can submit a request to the HR department for clarification."

I keep a straight face, then look him right in the eye, "Or we can just accept that it's a bit of a grey area, and see what happens. There are certain times when it is truly better to ask for forgiveness rather than permission." I wink at him.

"All right, let's keep moving. We have about 25 flights of stairs to climb. Now's your chance to show off your fitness to me, boy."

I begin to make my way through the office, where clusters of office workers are gathered around, terrified. I speak up as we walk by, "Just stay calm, and stay put. The situation is being handled, stay away from the stairwells, and stay spread out, don't congregate. Everything is under control."

I hoped I wasn't lying. We reached the stairwell, I opened the door, and saw that the stairs here were intact, but a few feet down, there was nothing but mangled wreckage. I grunt. "Some kind of special forces work. Precision shaped charges. I've heard about it. Not common criminals. Ready to climb, boy?"

13:40 Aiden_Fletcher: I nod at Jason looking at him. I wasn’t sure whether I should sleep with him or not. That’d be strange. I am attracted to older people and like dominant guys in the bedroom. Not something I openly admit as I certainly look like I would be the top in any relationship but I’m really not. And I do like older guys. But it’s probably not polite to call your partner daddy in the bedroom.

I laugh slightly at the thought as we head up the stairs. “We’d have been done now in my town. I don’t think we have anything over six floors. Maximum. And that’s pushing it.”

But I start jogging behind him. Let’s me admire him a bit as I do so. I go on to my radio and explain the situation that we’d learnt as I run. Before turning to Jason. “Although after today I’m thinking fire fighter is safer. A lot.”

14:03 OfficerJasonFrank: I let Aiden handle the task of keeping dispatch informed of our status, as I replied back with a grin and a chuckle, "You want safe, boy? Then you should have joined the military. They only see action when there's a war on. None of those right now, that I know of. But cops and firefighters... we are in a war that never ends."

I had mostly been joking with Aiden, about wanting to fuck him, just something to help keep our morale up, I wasn't really sure if I was serious about wanting to fuck Aiden or not. He was hot, right enough, but he was also my partner. I wasn't really out on the force, at least, it wasn't general knowledge. And the idea of mixing sex and work ... well, that was a can of worms I hadn't ever faced.

But there would be plenty of time to sort things out later, after we were past the current crisis. But... well, he was one helluva tough young man... I wasn't so much attracted to his body, though he was proving himself tough enough, but more his attitude. That was making him fucking irresistible to me. Tough men always got my attention, and Aiden was proving his toughness to me.

I began to breath a bit heavier, but I didn't slacken my pace. Finally, we reached the 72nd floor, with access to the observation deck. I burst out of the door, breathing heavy, but even. There was a bank of windows next to us, and a final stairway heading up to the observation deck.

Suddenly, my radio squawked, I picked it up, "7321 Frank, this is Dispatch. Chopper inbound, SWAT Team 1, eta 45 seconds. SWAT Team 2, beginning ascent of stairs."

As if on cue, I could hear the growing sound of rotors chopping the air. I feel a huge sigh of relief as I look out the window, seeing the helicopter angling down towards the Chrysler building. Then, suddenly, the relief turns to horror as a streak of fire smashes into the side of the helicopter. Out of control, the helicopter drops out of sight, followed shortly by a huge explosion. I feel sick with horror.

11:56 Dariusz_Bakula: I hear the sound of a helicopter winging in before I see it, but it isn't long before I catch sight of it angling down towards us. Calmly, I radio Grzegorz, "SWAT Team incoming, just as we predicted. No doubt another team will be attempting to come up through the stairs."

Then, calmly, as the helicopter approached, I stood up, and before the pilot could react, I fired my RPG. The missile smashed into the helicopter, which shortly plummeted, trailing fire to smash to the street below. Easy as taking candy from a baby.

15:25 Aiden_Fletcher: After twenty floors of looking at Jason’s body I decided that it would be better to ask forgiveness just in case HR did say no. Didn’t want to risk that.

I’m breathing very heavily as we enter the observation deck. “I hate stairs. Fucking New York.” I get out and then watch in horror as the helicopter explodes.

“What the fuck. I mean. Real fuck. That’s. What. What the fuck just happened.”

I look out. “How did that happen.” I look at Jason for guidance. “What do we do now boss. They have like…. Whatever that was.”

15:51 OfficerJasonFrank: Even my normal cool-headed, level-headed reserve of calmness in the face of a crisis is rocked by what I've just witnessed. The entire SWAT team... dead. And possibly more death of any innocent gawkers gathered below. It made me sick to my stomach.

For a moment, I look at a loss for words, then suddenly, I stiffen up, the horror replaced by a savage grim resolve. "What do we do, Aiden? We take those mother fuckers out. This is our city. And I'll be fucked if I let them have their own way. That was some kind of shoulder mounted rocket, I'll judge. Like I said. These mother fuckers are not your common criminals, not with access to weaponry like that."

Quickly, I call dispatch to inform them of what has just happened.

11:56 Dariusz_Bakula: Suddenly, in the calm silence that followed, I could swear I heard voices from below, just near the stairwell. Carefully, I move closer to the door, and listen, just in time to overhear the sounds of a radio conversation. I stiffen, then draw back, radioing Grzegorz, speaking softly, "We have company. Police, in the building."

10:01 Boryslaw_Kowalczyk: I was interrupted in the middle of my fun and games.

Grzegorz was lying on the ground at my feet, bleeding from a dozen different cuts, his shirt ripped and torn off, his hairy chest and stomach criss crossed with savage cuts when the radio channel opened up again and words poured in through my earpiece.

I listened, then replied, "Take care of them. There are only two, and they are only beat cops. Kill them quickly. Let Mieczysław cover the observation deck. It's unlikely they are going to send in any more helicopters after our little demonstration."

11:56 Dariusz_Bakula: I closed the connection. This should be fun. I reached down to my belt, and pulled out a canister of tear gas. I slipped on my gas mask, and primed the canister. I didn't want to use a frag grenade, it might take out the stairs as well. This would work just as well. I silently opened the door, and threw the canister of tear gas directly into the middle of the two officers that I spied. The bigger officer had his back to me, speaking into his radio, but I think perhaps the smaller one caught a glimpse of me. But it didn't matter.

Just give that a few seconds to work on them... then I'd run down and finish them off. Quick, clean, easy.

16:09 Aiden_Fletcher: I turn and lean against the wall as he talks to dispatch and then I look at him. “But these people have a lot of weapons and you said they were like military guys”

“Unless there’s like two or three of them we don’t stand a chance.”

I’m quite scared now. This is like five hours into my first ever shift. “I may have graduated second in my class from the academy. Bloody Ryan. He was always just better. But this isn’t on the fucking list of things they train Jason.”

Then I see another grenade landing in the room behind Jason’s back as he finishes with dispatch. I jump straight at Jason and knock him to the ground, landing on top of him. Fuck he was fit as fuck as I felt his muscles as I knocked him to the floor.

But the grenade didn’t explode. It started to pour gas out. “There’s one in the stairway. get the window open boss.” I turn and take a deep breath and close my eyes running forward back across the room and slam into the door only opening my eyes when I got there. Tear gas I understood. We did use that in the academy.”

As suspected the guy has been going to come in and wasn’t expecting someone to barrel out of the door into the stairwell.

I jump on him and grab his mask and yank it off to level the playing field. My eyes streaming I needed his to as well as I bring my fist around into his face.

16:44 OfficerJasonFrank: I listen in deep sympathy as Aiden speaks to me, but I'm still finishing up with dispatch, as they struggle to figure out what instructions to provide. I can tell the dispatcher is shaken.

Just like Aiden. I'll give him a pep talk when I'm done, but the pep talk has to wait. Because suddenly Aiden tackles me down to the ground. I drop my radio, cutting the connection in mid conversation. What the fuck???

I feel his body on top of mine, and even now, in the midst of a crisis, I notice how fit he is, and even more so... how decisive. A stream of gas starts to flood the room, and I struggle to my feet, my training kicking in, my mouth closed and my eyes screwed shut.

By sheer memory, I dart over to a chair, and with an adrenaline surge of strength, I lift it, and hurl it at the window. The window shatters, letting some of the gas out, creating a suction effect that pulls the gas out the window in a noxious stream. I pull back, out of range of the gas, then open my eyes, which are stinging savagely, even from this distance to see Aiden holding a gas mask in one hand, and clocking one of the terrorists in the jaw with his other.

Forcing my eyes to stay open despite the stinging sensation, I pull out my Glock, drop to one knee to steady my aim, and fire, the bullet slamming into the staggering terrorist's chest, sending him sprawling on his ass.

11:56 Dariusz_Bakula: Confidently, I surged down the stairs, but those beat cops were clearly faster than I had given them credit for, and smarter too. One of them, I couldn't see at all, until suddenly the door to the stairwell burst open, and before I could train my sidearm on him, my mask was ripped off. With both my hands on my gun, I was defenseless, and suddenly as my eyes started to burn like fire the fucking cop smashed his fist across my jaw.

I staggered, then suddenly, I was thrown backwards as the other cop fired at me, the round smashing into my armored vest, sending me sprawling as though a mule had kicked me.

But I didn't lose my cool. I was GROM. There was no room in a fight for anything except the next action to ensure your survival and your enemy's death.

I scrambled backwards rapidly, my eyes shut. By memory alone, I raised my sidearm and let off a series of five rounds in rapid succession towards where I had remembered both cops were at. Not so much to hit them, though that would be a bonus, but to give me time to get clear of the gas cloud and find cover.

09:04 Aiden_Fletcher: Two of the bullets slam into my vest in different locations as the other two miss entirely, for the second time today knocking the wind out of me, but I know that with an armed opponent, it's better to stay close than moving away, give them less range to turn and point a gun at you.

I jump forward, my eyes still streaming from the gas, slamming into the guy who was off balance as well from Jason's shot slamming both of us down the stairwell, with me on top of him to add my weight to the damage of him slamming into the stone stairwell as I start punching him in the face, my range of attacks still limited by the fact that my eyes were still streaming from the tear gas even out of the range of it.

My chest was sore from this guy's bullets, but I am thankful for body armour at this point as I bring an elbow around into the guy's face.

09:23 OfficerJasonFrank: The terrorist is blasted back through the stairwell, followed by Aiden who charges right after him. They both tumble out of sight. A spike of approval and pride briefly wells up inside me. The boy has balls. Big hairy balls.

Grimly, I charge into the gas cloud, screwing my eyes shut, heading towards the stairwell, holding my breath.

11:56 Dariusz_Bakula: I hear some grunts and thuds as back up through the door of the stairwell, I risk opening my eyes, but they start burning instantly from the tear gas. I regret not throwing a frag grenade at these police now.

Vaguely, I catch sight of the young policeman charging at me. He's a brave one, I'll give him that. He smashes into me before I can bring my sidearm to bear on him, and my gun goes flying, clattering down the stairs at the impact. His charge drives me back, falling onto the stairs with him on top, the heavy blow as my back smashes into the stone stairs knocking the wind out of me.

I'm stunned and dazed as the berserking police officer smashes a fist into my face, my nose is bashed, and I start to bleed from the blow. Still, I don't lose my cool. Focused calm, ride the pain like a charging stallion, stay in the fight.

His elbow drives down towards my face, and on pure instinct, I lift my arm, catching his descending elbow in the cup of my hand, digging my boots into the stairs above me, and bridging violently, using the slope of the stairs to my advantage, looking to throw him head over heels down the stairs towards the landing.

10:21 Aiden_Fletcher: I had wondered if High School wrestling would ever actually come in useful in the job, as in general they train you in various techniques, and of course with guns, you don't actually normally need to get this close.

As he kicks me over his head, instinct from the wrestling days do kick in and he has already helped by grabbing my arm, giving me something to hang on to and I grab his neck by the other arm holding it tightly as I go over and slam into the stairs hard, but I don't slide down as I'm holding on to him and now I'm putting a lot of pressure onto his neck in a reverse choke hold from above.

I brought my arm he caught across and tightened it around his neck, although a different positioning from normal, I was still able to put pressure on his throat and tighten it. My back and ribs were killing me from hitting the stairs but at least this choke didn't require them, it was arm strength.

11:56 Dariusz_Bakula: I feel the cop start to sail over my head, but the next thing I know, to my complete amazement, the crafty police man has wedged his other arm under my chin, yanking my head back onto the stair in the process, dazing me.

I grunt, and reach up to grab his arm when his other arm joins the party, and he completely encircles my neck in his arms, starting to apply tremendous pressure to my throat, pain and dizziness spreading through my body, as we both lay on our backs, head to head.

I'm fading fast, his grip is tight, and even now, I stay calm. Reaching down to my tactical belt to grab my combat knife, pulling it free, lifting it towards his arms... when suddenly, as though I'm in a dream... everything fades away. My knife drops out of my hands, clattering down the steps as I lose consciousness, experiencing a final surge of shame and disbelief. How could a simple beat cop have taken me?

11:24 OfficerJasonFrank: I burst through the stairwell, as I leave the cloud of tear gas, my eyes still burning and tearing from the aftereffects. I take in a gasp of breath, choking on the remnants of the fumes, but blinking furiously, needing my eyes.

Suddenly, I'm looking down on an incredible sight. Aiden and the terrorist, lying head to head on their backs on the stairs, with Aiden choking the life out of the terrorist. I'm just in time to see the knife he was holding fall out of his suddenly limp and lifeless hand.

There is a look of pure admiration on my face as I kneel down beside him. I reach my hand down to Aiden, asking him, "You alright boy?" Then, I look again at the unconscious terrorist. Shaking my head with wonder. "Not bad for your first day on the job. Not bad at all." I smile at him warmly.

11:56 Aiden_Fletcher: "Not really," I say. "My ribs are killing me..."

"Don't suppose you can help me up can you, because my ribs at the front and the back are both hurting at the same time, and I'm not sure which way is up right now."

I put my arm around his as he helps me up and stops me from falling down the stairs. "Tomorrow I join the fire service." I lean down and handcuff the terrorist leaving him on the stairs but removing his grenades and handing them over to Jason. "These are for you."

And then I pick up his radio as well and attach it to my ear. "In case they give out any intel over their radios we should listen in to."

"Are you okay? I feel like crap."

12:31 OfficerJasonFrank: I grin at Aiden, he is definitely handling this situation a hundred times better than most rookies would.

I take possession of the grenades from Aiden, and clip them onto my tactical belt. I've never thrown a grenade before... but I think I could figure it out if I needed. But Aiden doesn't need to know that.

I look at with a new respect though... he might be a rookie, but he was thinking on his feet, learning on the job. Appropriating the terrorists radio? Sheer genius.

"I'm fine. Other than my eyes burning and my lungs on fire, fuck I hate tear gas. Nah, you don't want to join the fire service. You'd be bored. Not enough action. Most of the time you just sit around on your ass and stare at the wall."

Then, I walk down the steps, helping Aiden, letting him lean on me. "Anything broken, do you think?"

Then, I radioed dispatch again, "Dispatch, 7321 Frank, we have incapacitated one of the terrorists. Awaiting further instructions."

The dispatcher acknowledged, "7321 Frank, understood. Stay out of sight. Do not provoke the terrorists to retaliate against the civilians. We have received a ransom demand, and are attempting to negotiate. Team 2 was unable to reach the 51st floor."

I looked over at Aiden, my eyes reflecting my fury. "Stay fucking put?" The sight of that chopper getting blown out of the sky... like hell I was going to stay put.

We reach the 75th floor, and I guide Aiden through the door, to sit on a bench. Despite the crisis situation we were in.. I was suddenly very aware of Aiden sitting next to me, our legs and hips touching. But this was no time for thoughts like that.

"Let me think for a minute boy. There has got to be something we can do." I look down at the grenades, an idea coming to me...

10:01 Boryslaw_Kowalczyk: I listen to the report coming in, "Another SWAT time tried to rush the stairs, but as we had planned, they never detected the thermite charges we'd set for remote detonation. Most of them were burned to a crisp."

Good, I look down at Grzegorz, my smile is cold. "There will be no rescue, Grzegorz . You will transfer the entire contents of your bank account over to the account I have provided, or I will begin killing your employees in front of your eyes, one by one." I raise my sidearm, target one of his employees at random, and fire. I deliberately shoot him in the gut, giving him a wound that will not kill him instantly. That way, his screams of agony can give the rest of these worms something to think about.

Then, I realized I hadn't heard from Dariusz in a while. I radioed him, "Dariusz, report. What's your status?" There was no reply. I frowned, then I spoke again, over the broadcast channel so the entire team could hear, "Krzysztof, Jan head up and find out what has happened to Dariusz. Be ready for trouble."

Surely it wasn't those cops, was it? They were only beat cops. Still, best not to take chances. That left three men to guard the stairwell and two others to stay here with me, and of course our man Mieczysław was up there covering the skies.

13:20 Aiden_Fletcher: "I'd like to stare at the wall.. right now.. I would love to be staring at a wall in my uniform, being bored stupid."

"This is a bit TOO much excitement today."

"Erm.. I don't think anything is broken, but I've not had medical training, do you mind looking. I can do simple first aid, but that's about it. I know he shot me twice, but I don't think they penetrated though."

Sitting on the bench I look at Jason, unlike him I don't have the self-control to not think thoughts like that, I liked muscular guys, older guys, guys that are dominant in the bedroom, and I guessed that Jason was very like that. I don't think he could be any different. I'm getting a hard on simply by sitting this close to him after the talk we had earlier about maybe hooking up together.

I wince, but I hear the call through on the radio. "Two more... coming to look for the guy we handcuffed, they'll take a bit to get here, looks like everything happening on the 51st floor."

"Two of them, and expecting trouble. What do you think?"

13:49 OfficerJasonFrank: I'm working out how to use these grenades ... and I think I get an idea, when Aiden speaks up, asking me to look him over.

I put my idea on the back shelf for the moment, and focus on Aiden. I can tell by the way he's wincing that something is definitely hurting.

"Sure kid. Let's check you out." Gently I unbutton his uniform shirt, and help him shrug out of it. Then, I work his body armor off him, and gently lift his undershirt.

The first thing I notice is how fit he looks without his shirt, nice abs, nice build. To my surprise, my dick reacts, twitching in my trousers. I keep my eyes off his face, and sternly tell myself to FOCUS. FOCUS JASON. FOCUS.

Clearly though... I was falling for this kid. Young, determined, tough, handsome, strong... there was a lot to like about him. Very fuckable. Just the kind of young man that needed a daddy type to... FOCUS JASON. FOCUS.

I gently probe the bruises on his ribs, feeling carefully for any breaks. Finally, I look up, catching his eyes. Staring at him for a second before I regain my composure, "Nothing broken Aiden. Sprained for sure though."

Then, Aiden intercepts the radio transmission. I look grim. "We prepare a little welcoming present for them." My glock was almost out of ammunition, and I didn't fancy a gun battle with special forces.

We had the grenades, right enough, but I'd never thrown a grenade. I didn't know exactly how long the delay was between the time you pulled the pin and it exploded. I didn't want to take chances.

I speak up, "All right Aiden, here's what we do. See that interior hallway behind us? With the power out, once you turn that corner the hallway is dark. If we can find some string... and tie it to the grenade pin, looping it around the corner of a desk or chair, we can run the string across the hallway, a few inches off the floor. We make sure those bastards know we are on this floor, and when they come after us, we lead them down the darkened corridor. They'll trip the line... and after that point, I don't think we'll have to worry about them."

I might normally have balked at the property damage it would cause, and I'm not too keen on killing if I don't have to, but these were exceptional circumstances.

14:05 Aiden_Fletcher: As he takes my shirt off, I look directly into his eyes. Fuck if I was going to die to fucking terrorists I wish I could just jump him right here. I imagined him naked, as he checked over my ribs. Bet he was hung like a horse. Far better than the guys back in Cape Cod.

"Right... you know how to do that ... right ... because making an improvised explosive isn't actually on the courses I did."

"You okay to set all that up, I'm happy to act as bait while you trigger it, I can probably run faster than you... yeah yeah you've got the stamina, but I think I'm quicker, comes from not having to carry around all that muscle."

Sexy Sexy muscle.

14:26 OfficerJasonFrank: As I help Aiden get geared up again, I'm very aware of how close he is, and I'm suddenly fighting the urge not to kiss him.

What a bizarre day this has been... Aaron, missing ... A new rookie that I have the hots for... terrorists taking over the Chrysler building with me and said rookie in the thick of it. My mind touched on the deep ache and worry I felt for Aaron. Fuck how I missed him. Briefly, I wondered if I was being unfaithful to Aaron by letting myself get turned on by this kid.

But, I knew that having the hots for this kid didn't change how I felt for Aaron at all. Aaron and I weren't 'boyfriends' anymore, true enough, but then... Aaron had always been more worried about that than I had.

I smile suddenly, a warm smile. I think Aaron would like this kid too.

"Don't worry kid, I know what I'm doing." I hope I do. But Aiden doesn't need to know I'm winging it.

I nod at him, "All right, you lead them in, and I'll set this up. And this muscle I'm carrying, it's not for show, ya know." I grin at him. "When this is over, you and I will have a little race and I'll show exactly how fast I am."

I stand up, and ruffle his hair, a kind of unconscious gesture of affection that I did without even realizing it until it was too late. I swallow, feeling a bit embarrassed, and my dick stiffened a bit more, but all I did was speak up, "Okay, I'll raid one of these offices for the supplies I need, you stand guard near the stairwell."

I stride off, finding the materials I need to set up my booby trap. Hoping like hell it will work.

10:22 Krzysztof_Biernacki: Stairs, so many fucking stairs. I never want to see another set of stairs again. Jan is right beside me, and we both have our sidearms out, ready to use. Alert, scanning the surroundings, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

I looked at the number, "73". Nearly there. Our eyes were peeled.

14:39 Aiden_Fletcher: I move over to the stairwell pulling my gun out as I looked down the stairs carefully, and I notice that there are some people below coming up, two of them, as suspected.

I whisper into my own radio. "Jason.. you've got maybe a minute."

I keep watching as they start moving up the stairs carefully and watching out, and a couple of times I have to move backwards so they didn't see me. I keep myself low as they get into the 70's and I radio Jason again. "Nearly there.. I hope you're ready partner."

I'm going to need them to chase me through this at some speed. I couldn't get a good shot on them anyway. but I needed to let them think I was running because i missed, as they hit the 74th, I take a pot shot, and then a second, as suspected I missed on both. Then sliding my magazine out of the gun slightly , I fired again, and it clicked, making the noise that should be familiar to them of an empty gun.

"Fuck.. out of ammo," I say loudly as I turn and run down the corridor, hopefully getting them to follow me assuming I was ripe for the taking.

14:54 OfficerJasonFrank: Working quickly, I find some string in a reception desk.

Aiden's voice comes through over the radio, only a minute. I grunt, focusing like a laser, determination becoming razor sharp to finish this.

Then, using my flashlight to illuminate the area, I quickly loop the string across the corridor, tying one end of to the foot of a heavy armchair, and the other end to the pin on the grenade, wedged between the leg of a long table and the wall. Now, it should act like a tripwire. I hope.

And not a moment too soon, as Aiden's voice calls out again. I hear shots ring out, and plaster myself against the corner of the wall, ready to guide Aiden over the improvised tripwire when he comes. I can feel the adrenaline start to surge in my veins.

10:22 Krzysztof_Biernacki: Suddenly, two shots ring out, as Jan and I throw ourselves against the wall. Clearly, the cops were still alive.

Working smoothly as a team, Jan began to lay down covering fire as I surged up the stairs, but suddenly I heard the clear clicking sound of a gun that had just run out of ammo. I gesture to Jan, and together we race up the stairs.

He was a dead man walking. This would be easy. Too easy. Together, we burst out of the door catching sight of him at the far end of the hallway, just about to turn a corner. I fired once, but it was a clear miss, and Jan fired, but he also missed. Firing while running is much, much more difficult than the movies make it out to be.

15:33 Aiden_Fletcher: I almost feel the bullets as they wizz past me as I don't hesitate and quickly try a door which I knew was locked, just to make them think I was actually scared of them, then turned the corner, hoping Jason is actually ready, because I can't actually imagine there is going to be much place to run to.

I head down the darkened corridor and I see the flash of Jason's flashlight and I jump over the tripwire before they turn the corner, continuing to run down this corridor, as I want them to be continuing to follow me even as Jason's light goes out so it's more darkened. But I'm deliberately making noise, now kicking the doors as I go down, to show them I'm trying to get in the offices and away from them. I don't want them suspecting.

15:51 OfficerJasonFrank: Gunshots ring out, and from my vantage point, I catch sight of two new holes in the plaster from the stray shots.

Then Aiden darts around the corner, as I flash the beam of my flashlight onto the tripwire, which he promptly leaps over. I turn off my light and follow him down the darkened corridor. Praying that this works. The boy is clever... pretending to panic to lull our pursuers into a false sense of security.

Then, the two terrorists round the corner, and only moments later there is a savage explosion, a bright flash of light, and the screams of wounded men. Chest heaving, I dart around another corner, with Aiden at my side. We had done it... three down... but how many to go?

"Good job boy... You have a knack for this kind of work, I gotta say."

"But that was the easy part... for the next act, we have to figure out how to save those hostages. Cause, the way things are going, no one else is gonna do it if we don't."

10:22 Krzysztof_Biernacki: It's clear that the cop is panicking. Of course he is. He's not special forces. Just a beat cop. He desperately tries doors in a wild attempt to escape us. But there is no escape.

Jan and I watch as he turns the corner. A few seconds later, we reach the turn, and follow him. The corridor is dark, and it's hard to see, but he is still kicking at doors. My eyes are focused on his, until suddenly, I nearly trip. My foot catches something.. What was that???

Then, my whole world goes white... the next thing I know, I'm laying on the floor of the corridor... and my legs have become a massive burning wound... I start to scream, my composure shattering as I turn and look at the shrapnel shredded mess that my legs have become. Those bastard cops... they led us into a trap...

Then, I scream again, overwhelmed by the searing, burning pain... unable to think any rational thoughts.

16:02 Aiden_Fletcher: I wince as I breathe heavily leaning against a door. "We can't do this single handed, this is... well I'm running out of good ideas... not that I had many in the first place."

I turn around and look at Jason. "We don't know how many of them are left, there could be dozens. Aren't they sending actual people who are good at this, you know there must be fucking more SWAT they can send."

I'm panicking a bit now, this is a lot for your first day, a hell of a lot, and there is a lot of adrenaline going on right now.

16:48 OfficerJasonFrank: I put my hands on Aiden's shoulder, sensing the rising panic in his voice.

Then I lean forward and touch foreheads with the young rookie, staring deep into his eyes, my voice taking on a core of steel.

"Listen to me Aiden. You did well back there. You amazed the hell out of me. You are one tough mother fucker. You have everything you need to do this with me. I believe in you. Completely. You've heard what dispatch is saying, they are trying to negotiate. Negotiate with those cold-blooded murderers. Like that's going to end well. These mother fuckers have already killed one SWAT team, and maybe another. Right now, those hostages down below, and all the other civilians cowering in their offices, have noone standing between them and those terrorists. Except us."

I take a deep breath, and wrap my arms around Aiden, pulling him in close, enfolding him in my embrace, letting him feel my strength and determination, transmitted not only through the tone of my voice, but the hard feel of my muscles. "I need you partner, need you with me. You've proven to me that you are up for this. Believe in yourself. I'm right here with you."

I let him go then, and gently kiss him on the forehead as I pulled back. I needed that bit of human contact right now every bit as much as he did. It helped to ground me, remind me of what was important, what I was fighting for. This was big shit.

"What we need is something that will let us get the drop on those mother fuckers. Something that will let us take out the bastards without endangering the hostages. We need a way to distract them... to lure them out of that cafeteria, something that they can't ignore...."

17:34 Aiden_Fletcher: I shudder slightly as he kisses me, fuck he was really really just my type, I was very attracted to this type of protective, daddy types, couldn't help it, always have been.

I take a few seconds to think. "Fire? Do you think their self preservation will be more important than whatever they're here to do?"

09:07 OfficerJasonFrank: I sit back and consider Aiden's response. "Fire... Mmmmm... That would cause a distraction right enough. But we don't want to turn the Chrysler building into the Towering Inferno... If the fire gets out of control.... it could be worse than the terrorists."

"Here's an idea... Those two fuckers we got with the grenades... I wonder if they have any more tear gas on them? And didn't you rip the gas mask off that man you choked out up the stairs. And the cafeteria.. usually will have a kitchen attached, and kitchens usually have a back entrance. If I create a diversion using the tear gas... and you find the back entrance to the cafeteria, you can get those civilians out while I gas them out from the front."

11:53 Aiden_Fletcher: I think about this for a while - "Would make sense, they didn't get the chance to use any grenades - and yeah I've got a gas mask." I take it off my belt and hand it over. "You'll need this."

"Does this mean climbing down that fucking lift shaft again, I fucking swear no-one at the academy mentioned climbing lift shafts."

I sigh as we head back towards the other floor and grab the tear gas from the now dead terrorists and I hand them over while picking up their guns and handing one to Jason. "Since you're low on ammo."

"If I get them, I can take them to the staircase the terrorists were using. Right?"

"You sure you can deal with them all on your own."

12:31 OfficerJasonFrank: I take the gas mask, walking with Aiden as he strips the dead terrorists of their tear gas. I also take their fragmentation grenades at the same time. They certainly won't need it anymore.

Gratefully, I take the two sidearms, jamming them into my tactical belt. I looked more like a commando than a cop now, with my belt bulging with extra sidearms and grenades.

Together, we start back down the stairs. "Yep, I'm afraid it means climbing back down the lift shaft. Consider it extra-curricular learning." I smile at him.

I consider his question. "Yes... that's the only way out. Let's hope that I can create a big enough distraction to pull away whoever they have guarding those stairs as well as the fuckers watching over the hostages. Don't worry, I can deal with them. Not planning on fighting them, just going to lead them on a goose chase, keep them away from you long enough to get those civilians to safety." I was almost certain this plan was going to get me killed. But taking risks to save lives was what I was paid to do. Two things were certain, there was no way in hell I was going to let Aiden face that kind of danger, and there was no way in hell I was going to let those terrorists fuck over my city any longer.

As we head down back towards the 52nd floor, I radio back to dispatch, updating them on our status. I told them exactly what we were planning to do. My announcement was greeted by a long silence. Then, finally the Chief of Police got on the line. I'd never even met the guy. With nearly 36,000 cops in New York, it wasn't surprising.

He was frank with me, telling me that they had temporarily run out of options, and me and Aiden were literally their last hope. I'd already figured that out though. When the chopper had been blown out of the sky, it was pretty clear that getting help to us would be a very, very long shot.

I terminated the conversation, turning to Aiden as we approached the 52nd floor, grinning at him ruefully, "Well... at least we have an official blessing to teach those mother fuckers not to mess with the NYPD."

Published: 2021-11-14, viewed 27 times.