Participants:
| Scene Title | Squeeze II |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | A fortuitous phonecall saves the life of Donald Renner and his family, but company agents don't get there in time to stop Finney from escaping. |
| Date | August 23, 2010 |
Donald Renner's Apartment, Queens.
This was not how it was supposed to go.
Things had clearly gone wrong and as Finney squeezes and manipulates his body through the drain pipe until his body hits the sewer, his fractured mind goes over it again and again and again.
Solidity returning to his form, elongated and pliable arms reverting to a normal form, the body manipulator looks down to his left arm, the bullet hole that bleeds and to the blood that drenches his plaid shirt, the slices where shards of glass perforated his clothing and skin that have since tinkled and splashed onto the liquid where he stands.
A glance up the impossibly small hole where the night filters through the slitted grate, he looks up at the blue eyes of one of the agents before he's fleeing, footsteps splashing in the sewer and filth with only rats to witness where he flee's.
They ruined everything.
Ten Minutes Earlier.
Someone had seen something shadey happening in queens. Were it not for a vigilante neighbour, some nosey old woman who liked to sit on the stoop of her apartment building or sit at the window, this call might never have been made.
Donald Renner lives in queens, brother to Justin Renner who was murdered at Hunter Communications. Though he'd been questioned the other day by Agents Lupinetti and Bishop, the lead he gave was still being gone over. what was known was that Lawson Finney was now a suspect, escapee from a mental institute in Pennsylvania at some point a little over two years ago. Dawson was still going over the footage from security at Hunter Communications and no one had thought to put a detail on Donald Renner's house.
From this point on, they probably would.
A call put in for all agents in the area, Agents O'Neil, Bishop, Anderson and Sawyer, to get to the appointed address on the double. No stopping for coffee, no stopping to chit chat up the local evo. Do not pass go, do not collect $200 dollars.
By the time those four arrive, Anderson with Sawyer, there's already people fleeing out of the door sandwiched between a used electronics store and a Vacuum repair shop. A bank of mailboxes affixed to the wall list the residents and the 8 apartments total in the building. A scream somewhere above them heard clearly through the hall as doors slam. Two floors up is their intended destination.
Have they come in time to save Donald Renner?
"Anderson, if you get a look at the perp, try to make him think he's already been negated or something that might keep him from slipping away from us once we've got him," Veronica says as she hops out of the car, pulling her gun and her taser from her holsters. "Rain, this guy's a murderer, so no pacifism. Take him out if you have to. Bishop."
Veronica turns to look at the petite blonde, then shakes her own head of temporarily auburn hair. "Try not to electrocute me today, that's about all I ask." With that she nods toward the fire escape. "Someone wanna take the outside in case he tries to leave the way he came? The rest of us can go through the upstairs." The scream interrupts them. "We don't have a lot of time — hurry. You three go up, I'll take the outside."
Elle Bishop has arrived, decked out in 'casual' clothing today. The call caught her off guard, it seems, and she's running around in a pair of ripped skinny jeans and a simple 'I <3 New York', complete with a pair of tennis shoes. She hardly looks the part of a Company agent today. But who needs to look like an Agent when you can do what Elle does?
A slightly ironic smirk is cast toward Veronica, and the electrokinetic shrugs. "Try not to get in the way of my electricity today, and I'll try to do what you ask." She's about to say something else on the topic, but the scream is heard, and Elle is dashing toward the inside of the building as fast as her feet will carry her. Thank goodness she's not on the vicodin any longer. That would make this really fun.
Rain turns his head to look over at Veronica at her statement. He'll take the man down, but she knows very well he won't kill him. Smack him in the face with a barrier sure, kill him? Nope, not unless it's the absolute last choice. With Vernoica's order to go up, and the scream to help mobilize him, Rain jumps to the ladder and hauls himself up it double time, moving rather quickly, getting his skinny ass upstairs. He pauses for just a second, popping a barrier up into existence against the window, the pressure form the barrier shattering the window and clearing the way for Rain to dive through the space cleared by his barrier. Once within he rolls a bit, coming up crouched, a barrier springing into existence in front of him just in case.
Whomever came through the window previous to Rain hadn't opened it, or they had, closed it behind them. The large window that spans the width and height of the fire escape, broken up by sliders to allow access to the fire escape shatter and pops with the impact of the forefield let out by Rain. It rains down onto the slatted iron and down to the ground as he enters into what seems to be the livingroom of the apartment. No people, no open doors, no tossed or shattered furniture, only the glass that didn't fall outwards lay glittering on the wood floor in the dying sunlight.
Outside in the hall Elle takes the steps, the close quarters on the first steps making for single file passage but opens up once they hit the first landing. Doors slam shut, heads pulling back after seeing people sprint up stairs, elle at the fore, Veronica bringing up the rear. The second floor isn't hard to come by and only one way to go down a hall. 202, where Donald lives, the door closed. A black woman pokes her head out from across the hall, screaming - familiar sounding to the first - and her hand pointing to 202. "In there! A man with a knife!"
"I said—" Veronica begins as Rain hurtles himself through the window, before shaking her head and tearing up the inside stairs to the second floor. "DHS, go outside," Veronica shouts to those disappearing into their respective apartments. "You can't lock him out. Safer downstairs, stay together!" When they approach the door, with a taser in one hand and a firearm in the other, Veronica gestures Elle to move aside so that Veronica, in her heavy black boots, can kick the door open, sweeping her entry with her guns as she searches for Finney and Renner.
Rain takes a quick, and brief look around the living room before his barrier fades and he's moving deeper into the apartment. He reaches into his coat, only for his hand to come back empty, and instead he moves on weaponless. His footsteps unheard as he creeps along the wood floor, moving towards the hallway, and the door over there that's closed. Eyes fly up as Veronica kicks the door in, Rain arching a slight brow. "Damn, got here fast." He winks at her, then reaches a hand out to test the doorknob to the as of yet unseen room.
This is no time to wait for someone to open the door or get out a battering ram. There's a possibly evolved man in there, with a knife, and a man who is possibly in danger of his life. Moving off to the side, Elle unleashes a currrent of electricity into the door lock right as Veronica is kicking at it, to make it a bit easier on the woman. Then, she's making her way into the apartment behind Veronica, her hands crackling with electricity.
Elle's current strikes the deadbolt, even as Veronica's rubber soled booted foot strikes at the regular doorknob with all the force she can muster and it gives way with a groan and ease that signals the door wasn't even locked in the first place. The view afforded the two women is Rain crouched on the hardwood floor and everything that he see's. The pristine untouched apartment, the glass shards littering the floor by the window where he came through, pictures hanging on the wall of a man standing proudly with his hands on the shoulders of a girl and boy, a blonde haired middle aged woman smiling proudly beside him through various ages in their frames.
No sounds in the apartment other than Rain when he speaks and the crackling of Elle's electricity as she conjures it up in her hands. The doorknob that Rain tests gives, turning easily, and a quick peek in reveals a closet with a neat row of coats in various colors, shoes, a lone lightbulb bare, with a chain dangling down ready to be pulled to light up the contents of the closet. Whomever was seen coming in through the fire escape, is not in the small hallway/foyer. That leaves the rest of the apartment to explore. Down a hall, over the hill and off to grandma's house. Only one hopes, that by the time they get to grandma's house, the big bad wolf hasn't already swallowed grandma. Or in this case, killed Donald Renner and the rest of his family.
More pictures line the wall, 5 closed doors and no clue as to where or who, might be behind any of them. Bathrooms? Bedrooms? Crazy killers? Who knows! It's agents choice tonight even as Flora's voice crackles over radio's. "Nothing down here, I'll stay out in case we have a runner"
"Subtlety isn't your strong point, there, O'Niel," Veronica murmurs wryly, as she moves past him to peer down the hallway, at each of the doors, tilting her head to listen for any sounds that might give a clue as to which one holds the prize. She moves to one of the doors, slipping her taser in its holster in preference of the gun, then points to one of the remaining doors for Elle and one for Rain, making eye contact with each. Next, she silently counts of three. One. Two. Three… before her own hand comes down on the door knob to turn it, if it turns — hoping they follow suit. If the door doesn't turn, then it's another job for her Hapkido-trained feet.
Rain glances over to Veronica at her comment and offers a solid snort. "yes, and kicking the door in is so much sneakier." He actually sticks his tongue out at her before he ducks through the door into the hallway, eyes going to each of the doors in it. "One by one?" He comments over his shoulder to her, scooting down the hall to the farthest door, that way if anyone comes running from one of the other doors they have Elle and Veronica to deal with. He steps in and neatly turns the handle, pushing the door open and dropping to a knee, barrier springing into place in front of him as he traverses his eyes around the room, but doesn't enter it quite yet, waiting in case bullets, knives, or anything else fly his way, he'd rather have his barrier in place thank you.
Elle nods toward Veronica, moving over to the door she was instructed toward. In time with Veronica, the electrokinetic brings her hand down on the doorknob to turn it, even as a large ball of electricity crackles to life in her hands. If her door is locked, that's just another chance to zap things, something she really loves to do. It's fun. When she doesn't get shot or make with the friendly fire.
A whimper, faint, behind the door that Rain opens, a handful of seconds reveal the blonde haired girl in the pictures huddling between the toilet and the counter, blue eyes and blonde hair peering out real quick before she pulls back, screaming at the sight of the pacifistic agent. "Please don't kill me, please don't kill me, please, please" High and reedy, blubbered out as only a tween can manage. No other person in the cream and navy decorated bathroom only the fan going in the vent above the door.
Veronica's door proves to be the bedroom to the girl that Rain has found, pink floral bedspread, Zac Efron giving that devilish grin that makes girls swoon. Edward Cullen smolders from another wall and glossy 4x5's of her and her friends cover the walls of the small room.
Elle's door doesn't prove fruitless either, melting the doorknob, opting to bypass just opening the door to the …. linen closet. Shelf after shelf of bedding, towels, the top with shoebox marked with the names of the two kids, this and that.
There's a bellow from the room beside Veronica's door, Donald's voice familiar to Elle from her interview the other day. "In here! He's in he-" Whatever else he was going to say it's cut off with a scream, two screams to be exact and both from behind that door.
Veronica peers into her room, then turns. "Get her out of here," she says to Rain. She doesn't want the little girl to see anyone murdered or killed in self defense.
The call to door number 2 gets her attention, and she nods to Elle. "Check the others, get anyone else out of here," she directs, putting her hand on the door, her gun held and ready to fire if she can get a clean shot.
"Finney," she calls through the door. "Talk to me." It's a hostage situation, and the man might have the blade at Renner's neck, ready to slice when she opens the door. Her heart pounds. "What do you want? Let's talk. I have friends in high places. We can find a way out of this for you."
In an instant, Elle has whirled around, and is about to dart toward door number two when Veronica suggests she check the other doors. Nodding, she goes for the fourth door, zapping the lock whether she needs to or not, occasionally glancing over her shoulder at the door that the voices have come from, a large frown on her face. It's probably best for Sawyer to handle that part, anyhow. With her luck (and lack of subtlety), she'd get someone killed.
Plus, it might be nice to avoid getting injured this time. And injuring Veronica…poor woman has taken way too many jolts from Elle lately.
Rain glances over to Veronica when she tells him to get the girl out of there. He blinks a few times before shrugging and moving into the room. He shifts and turns in a way that puts a barrier up against the inside of the door but lets him still talk to the girl, keeping both in his line of sight. He kneels down, eyes going to the doorway, then to the hysterical girl. He eyes her for a few moments, trying to figure out a way to calm her and get her out of here before the shit hits the fan. "Hey. I'm a good guy okay? See, no weapons." He holds his hands up, and even opens his coat so she can see that he's not carrying a weapon. "Let me get you out of here okay? My friends are going to take care of the bad man and save your Dad." He winks at th egirl and offers her out a hand to take, the blonde's bright smile an attempt to put her at ease and get her to go with him.
Elle finds the bedroom of a boy, dark blues and blacks, rock posters on the wall and as she melts the door and opens it. She's quick though, poking her head in and ducking almost by instinct as a baseball bat comes down where her head used to be, bouncing off the door with a crack and the tall gangly, pimply, teenager bearing it rushing at the door. "Gonan fucking kill you!" Blonde, he's not who they're looking for and is the other Renner kid in the pictures. He's gearing up for another swing when he realizes it's a blonde and female and stops himself, knuckles white around the wood and points to Veronica's door.
The girl, safe behind the barrier with him doesn't care whether he's the good guy or not. Her hands up, palms covering each side of her head eyes squeezed shut. "He's gonna kill us, he's going to kill us" Up close, Rain can see that she's had a run in with Finney, the parting of skin along the young girls arm that reveals muscle, blood coming from the wound, smeared along her Team Edward shirt and along her jaw. "He's gonna kill my dad!"
"FUCK YOU! FUCKING HELL!"
Whether that's yelled at Donald in the room, or towards Veronica at the door, there's a higher pitched scream as something heavy hits the floor on the other side followed by a rush of footsteps away from the door. A crash of glass and yell, muffled only by the door.
"«Head's up!»" Veronica snaps into the radio to Flora at street level as she hears those footsteps running. The warning might serve as well for anyone on the other side of the door, because Veronica's hand moves to the handle and she shoulders the door as well in case it is locked — it isn't. The window crashes just as she steps into the room.
Veronica's eyes sweep the area, taking in an injured Donald Renner, a knife in his shoulder. "Keep that in, I'll be with you in a second!" she tells him, moving to the now shattered window. She peers out to try to find Finney, her plan to aim and fire her revolver to wound and disable the fleeing suspect, if she can.
Elle is quite thankful for her instincts as she narrowly avoids getting a nice crack to the skull to compete with her still-healing gunshot wound. She looks angry for a moment, before she realizes it's a teen and he's not attacking again. Once he's calmed, she suddenly pushes past the teen, making for his window; on her way, she attempts to quickly grab something heavy with her right hand…and fling it toward the window in an attempt to break it, with electricity crackling in her left hand all the while.
Rain sighs softly as the girl freaks out further. His head shakes slowly. "He's not. My two teammates out there know exactly what they're doing and they are professionals." He looks to her, then out the door and sighs, then sees her arm and he curses softly. His coat is shrugged off and dropped to the floor, and with a quick tug he rips his sleeve off of his dress shirt, then tugs again to finish the rip and pull it off. "Come here." And if he has to get forceful with the girl he will. He steps in and grabs hold of her arm, tying his torn sleeve off on her arm in a tourniquet fashion. Then, he'll grab the girl up, struggling or not, and put her ove rhis shoulder, drop his barrier, and go hustling out the door and down the hallway, heading for the stiars to head down them, trying to get the girl to safety.
It's a sight, for those who can see it. Glass shattered on the floor of the master bedroom, Donald Renner wheezing as he palms a hand over the knife that lodges in his shoulder, a terrified look in his eyes as Veronica dodges across the floor and his gaze goes to Rain who's got his daughter over his shoulder, making all out down the hall as Veronica instructs. No fighting from the little blonde, clinging to the pacifistic agent tight around his shoulders and waist at the odd angle, sobbing as she's jostled. Her brother follows behind, yelling her name as he goes.
Outside the window is a different matter. Glass falls like rain, Finney's hand stretching out to grab the corner of the fire escape and stretches as if his body was made of gum, so that when his feet touch the ground moments later in the time it takes for Veronica to make it to the window and for elle to toss the dinky little barbells that belong to the son in the family, he's already touched down with only some minor cuts to show for his foray through the window.
He's stupid enough to pause, look up at Veronica at the window when she fires off a shot. He's too late in his attempt to make himself as skinny as possible, the bullet going through his arm and that's all they're going to get for a stationary target as he's going, taking a few wobbly and unstable steps due to his changing of his form and starting to slide right through the slats in a grate leading to the tunnels and tubes that make up the sewer system. Flora comes around the corner a fraction too soon, seeing what the rest see. Their target, getting away.
With the window shattered, Elle pushes out a few shards with her foot, before she pokes her head out and aims her already crackling left hand toward the man who is sliding through the grate. With narrowed eyes, the electrokinetic sends the largest jolt of electricity she can muster in his direction with gritted teeth. "Mother—" She snarls, watching him slip away.
"«Shit. O'Niel, you can stop and bring the girl back to her family,»" Veronica speaks into the radio. "«That system has way too many places for him to get to, there's no way we can cover it. We need to get this family out of here and a surveillance team on them if he strikes again.»" She sighs. "«Anderson, call 9-1-1, we need an ambulance»."
With that she turns to Renner, feet crunching on the glass. She swipes a shirt off the bed before she kneels to put pressure on the wound around the knife. "Sorry the bastard got away. It's just you and two kids here, right?"
Rain takes the girl out into the hallway, and then down the stairs, he's careful not to toss her around too much though, and as he speaks he's flipping open his phone to place a call for a medical team, from whoever it would be proper to call. The Company for a medical team, the institute, or 911, whatever gets people there and he's allowed to call. Once outside of the building he sets the girl down and reaches up to tear off his other sleeve with two hard pulls, taking that one and wrapping it around the wound in the girl's arm, more carefully this time, to help soak up the blood and to bind the wound somewhat until emergency services arrive, only to blink at the command and grunt. He scoops the girl back up, and turns around, then heads back into the building, taking the girl back up the stairs towards the apartment. «Already called an ambulance, but would be good to call a second one if anyone else is injured.»
"My wife, my wife she's grocery shopping. Just my daughter and my son" Donald gasps and sucks in air like a beach fish stuck on a dock with a hook through it. "Thank god. He got Joleen, got her good"
«Understood Agent O'Neil» Flora's already flipping open her phone with her empty hand, the other holding her gun out as she lopes down the alley. "This is Agent Anderson, I need a bus" The address rattled off even as cop cars and their sirens come closer and the screech of tires mean they're present. She was calling even as she saw glass breaking in case one of her co-workers got hurt. She skids to a stop even as Elle's ball of electricity hits the disgusting pavement and disperses, the illusionist looking up then down to her knee's, looking in between the slits in the hopes of seeing Finney.
This was not how it was supposed to go.
Things had clearly gone wrong and as Finney squeezes and manipulates his body through the drain pipe until his body hits the sewer, his fractured mind goes over it again and again and again.
Solidity returning to his form, elongated and pliable arms reverting to a normal form, the body manipulator looks down to his left arm, the bullet hole that bleeds and to the blood that drenches his plaid shirt, the slices where shards of glass perforated his clothing and skin that have since tinkled and splashed onto the liquid where he stands.
A glance up the impossibly small hole where the night filters through the slitted grate, he looks up at the blue eyes of one of the agents before he's fleeing, footsteps splashing in the sewer and filth with only rats to witness where he flee's.
They ruined everything.
Ten Minutes Earlier.
Someone had seen something shady happening in queens. Were it not for a vigilante neighbour, some nosy old woman who liked to sit on the stoop of her apartment building or sit at the window, this call might never have been made.
Donald Renner lives in queens, brother to Justin Renner who was murdered at Hunter Communications. Though he'd been questioned the other day by Agents Lupinetti and Bishop, the lead he gave was still being gone over. what was known was that Lawson Finney was now a suspect, escapee from a mental institute in Pennsylvania at some point a little over two years ago. Dawson was still going over the footage from security at Hunter Communications and no one had thought to put a detail on Donald Renner's house.
From this point on, they probably would.
A call put in for all agents in the area, Agents O'Neil, Bishop, Anderson and Sawyer, to get to the appointed address on the double. No stopping for coffee, no stopping to chit chat up the local evo. Do not pass go, do not collect $200 dollars.
By the time those four arrive, Anderson with Sawyer, there's already people fleeing out of the door sandwiched between a used electronics store and a Vacuum repair shop. A bank of mailboxes affixed to the wall list the residents and the 8 apartments total in the building. A scream somewhere above them heard clearly through the hall as doors slam. Two floors up is their intended destination.
Have they come in time to save Donald Renner?
"Anderson, if you get a look at the perp, try to make him think he's already been negated or something that might keep him from slipping away from us once we've got him," Veronica says as she hops out of the car, pulling her gun and her taser from her holsters. "Rain, this guy's a murderer, so no pacifism. Take him out if you have to. Bishop."
Veronica turns to look at the petite blonde, then shakes her own head of temporarily auburn hair. "Try not to electrocute me today, that's about all I ask." With that she nods toward the fire escape. "Someone wanna take the outside in case he tries to leave the way he came? The rest of us can go through the upstairs." The scream interrupts them. "We don't have a lot of time — hurry. You three go up, I'll take the outside."
Elle Bishop has arrived, decked out in 'casual' clothing today. The call caught her off guard, it seems, and she's running around in a pair of ripped skinny jeans and a simple 'I <3 New York', complete with a pair of tennis shoes. She hardly looks the part of a Company agent today. But who needs to look like an Agent when you can do what Elle does?
A slightly ironic smirk is cast toward Veronica, and the electrokinetic shrugs. "Try not to get in the way of my electricity today, and I'll try to do what you ask." She's about to say something else on the topic, but the scream is heard, and Elle is dashing toward the inside of the building as fast as her feet will carry her. Thank goodness she's not on the vicodin any longer. That would make this really fun.
Rain turns his head to look over at Veronica at her statement. He'll take the man down, but she knows very well he won't kill him. Smack him in the face with a barrier sure, kill him? Nope, not unless it's the absolute last choice. With Veronica's order to go up, and the scream to help mobilize him, Rain jumps to the ladder and hauls himself up it double time, moving rather quickly, getting his skinny ass upstairs. He pauses for just a second, popping a barrier up into existence against the window, the pressure form the barrier shattering the window and clearing the way for Rain to dive through the space cleared by his barrier. Once within he rolls a bit, coming up crouched, a barrier springing into existence in front of him just in case.
Whomever came through the window previous to Rain hadn't opened it, or they had, closed it behind them. The large window that spans the width and height of the fire escape, broken up by sliders to allow access to the fire escape shatter and pops with the impact of the forcefield let out by Rain. It rains down onto the slatted iron and down to the ground as he enters into what seems to be the living-room of the apartment. No people, no open doors, no tossed or shattered furniture, only the glass that didn't fall outwards lay glittering on the wood floor in the dying sunlight.
Outside in the hall Elle takes the steps, the close quarters on the first steps making for single file passage but opens up once they hit the first landing. Doors slam shut, heads pulling back after seeing people sprint up stairs, Elle at the fore, Veronica bringing up the rear. The second floor isn't hard to come by and only one way to go down a hall. 202, where Donald lives, the door closed. A black woman pokes her head out from across the hall, screaming - familiar sounding to the first - and her hand pointing to 202. "In there! A man with a knife!"
"I said—" Veronica begins as Rain hurtles himself through the window, before shaking her head and tearing up the inside stairs to the second floor. "DHS, go outside," Veronica shouts to those disappearing into their respective apartments. "You can't lock him out. Safer downstairs, stay together!" When they approach the door, with a taser in one hand and a firearm in the other, Veronica gestures Elle to move aside so that Veronica, in her heavy black boots, can kick the door open, sweeping her entry with her guns as she searches for Finney and Renner.
Rain takes a quick, and brief look around the living room before his barrier fades and he's moving deeper into the apartment. He reaches into his coat, only for his hand to come back empty, and instead he moves on weaponless. His footsteps unheard as he creeps along the wood floor, moving towards the hallway, and the door over there that's closed. Eyes fly up as Veronica kicks the door in, Rain arching a slight brow. "Damn, got here fast." He winks at her, then reaches a hand out to test the doorknob to the as of yet unseen room.
This is no time to wait for someone to open the door or get out a battering ram. There's a possibly evolved man in there, with a knife, and a man who is possibly in danger of his life. Moving off to the side, Elle unleashes a current of electricity into the door lock right as Veronica is kicking at it, to make it a bit easier on the woman. Then, she's making her way into the apartment behind Veronica, her hands crackling with electricity.
Elle's current strikes the deadbolt, even as Veronica's rubber soled booted foot strikes at the regular doorknob with all the force she can muster and it gives way with a groan and ease that signals the door wasn't even locked in the first place. The view afforded the two women is Rain crouched on the hardwood floor and everything that he see's. The pristine untouched apartment, the glass shards littering the floor by the window where he came through, pictures hanging on the wall of a man standing proudly with his hands on the shoulders of a girl and boy, a blonde haired middle aged woman smiling proudly beside him through various ages in their frames.
No sounds in the apartment other than Rain when he speaks and the crackling of Elle's electricity as she conjures it up in her hands. The doorknob that Rain tests gives, turning easily, and a quick peek in reveals a closet with a neat row of coats in various colors, shoes, a lone light-bulb bare, with a chain dangling down ready to be pulled to light up the contents of the closet. Whomever was seen coming in through the fire escape, is not in the small hallway/foyer. That leaves the rest of the apartment to explore. Down a hall, over the hill and off to grandma's house. Only one hopes, that by the time they get to grandma's house, the big bad wolf hasn't already swallowed grandma. Or in this case, killed Donald Renner and the rest of his family.
More pictures line the wall, 5 closed doors and no clue as to where or who, might be behind any of them. Bathrooms? Bedrooms? Crazy killers? Who knows! It's agents choice tonight even as Flora's voice crackles over radio's. "Nothing down here, I'll stay out in case we have a runner"
"Subtlety isn't your strong point, there, O'Niel," Veronica murmurs wryly, as she moves past him to peer down the hallway, at each of the doors, tilting her head to listen for any sounds that might give a clue as to which one holds the prize. She moves to one of the doors, slipping her taser in its holster in preference of the gun, then points to one of the remaining doors for Elle and one for Rain, making eye contact with each. Next, she silently counts of three. One. Two. Three… before her own hand comes down on the door knob to turn it, if it turns — hoping they follow suit. If the door doesn't turn, then it's another job for her Hapkido-trained feet.
Rain glances over to Veronica at her comment and offers a solid snort. "yes, and kicking the door in is so much sneakier." He actually sticks his tongue out at her before he ducks through the door into the hallway, eyes going to each of the doors in it. "One by one?" He comments over his shoulder to her, scooting down the hall to the farthest door, that way if anyone comes running from one of the other doors they have Elle and Veronica to deal with. He steps in and neatly turns the handle, pushing the door open and dropping to a knee, barrier springing into place in front of him as he traverses his eyes around the room, but doesn't enter it quite yet, waiting in case bullets, knives, or anything else fly his way, he'd rather have his barrier in place thank you.
Elle nods toward Veronica, moving over to the door she was instructed toward. In time with Veronica, the electrokinetic brings her hand down on the doorknob to turn it, even as a large ball of electricity crackles to life in her hands. If her door is locked, that's just another chance to zap things, something she really loves to do. It's fun. When she doesn't get shot or make with the friendly fire.
A whimper, faint, behind the door that Rain opens, a handful of seconds reveal the blonde haired girl in the pictures huddling between the toilet and the counter, blue eyes and blonde hair peering out real quick before she pulls back, screaming at the sight of the pacifistic agent. "Please don't kill me, please don't kill me, please, please" High and reedy, blubbered out as only a tween can manage. No other person in the cream and navy decorated bathroom only the fan going in the vent above the door.
Veronica's door proves to be the bedroom to the girl that Rain has found, pink floral bedspread, Zac Efron giving that devilish grin that makes girls swoon. Edward Cullen smolders from another wall and glossy 4x5's of her and her friends cover the walls of the small room.
Elle's door doesn't prove fruitless either, melting the doorknob, opting to bypass just opening the door to the …. linen closet. Shelf after shelf of bedding, towels, the top with shoebox marked with the names of the two kids, this and that.
There's a bellow from the room beside Veronica's door, Donald's voice familiar to Elle from her interview the other day. "In here! He's in he-" Whatever else he was going to say it's cut off with a scream, two screams to be exact and both from behind that door.
The comment about the door not being subtle will have to wait for later for a reprimand — there's no point to entering quietly when one of their party crashed through the window a moment before. Veronica peers into her room, then turns. "Get her out of here," she says to Rain. She doesn't want the little girl to see anyone murdered or killed in self defense.
The call to door number 2 gets her attention, and she nods to Elle. "Check the others, get anyone else out of here," she directs, putting her hand on the door, her gun held and ready to fire if she can get a clean shot.
"Finney," she calls through the door. "Talk to me." It's a hostage situation, and the man might have the blade at Renner's neck, ready to slice when she opens the door. Her heart pounds. "What do you want? Let's talk. I have friends in high places. We can find a way out of this for you."
In an instant, Elle has whirled around, and is about to dart toward door number two when Veronica suggests she check the other doors. Nodding, she goes for the fourth door, zapping the lock whether she needs to or not, occasionally glancing over her shoulder at the door that the voices have come from, a large frown on her face. It's probably best for Sawyer to handle that part, anyhow. With her luck (and lack of subtlety), she'd get someone killed.
Plus, it might be nice to avoid getting injured this time. And injuring Veronica…poor woman has taken way too many jolts from Elle lately.
Rain glances over to Veronica when she tells him to get the girl out of there. He blinks a few times before shrugging and moving into the room. He shifts and turns in a way that puts a barrier up against the inside of the door but lets him still talk to the girl, keeping both in his line of sight. He kneels down, eyes going to the doorway, then to the hysterical girl. He eyes her for a few moments, trying to figure out a way to calm her and get her out of here before the shit hits the fan. "Hey. I'm a good guy okay? See, no weapons." He holds his hands up, and even opens his coat so she can see that he's not carrying a weapon. "Let me get you out of here okay? My friends are going to take care of the bad man and save your Dad." He winks at the girl and offers her out a hand to take, the blonde's bright smile an attempt to put her at ease and get her to go with him.
Elle finds the bedroom of a boy, dark blues and blacks, rock posters on the wall and as she melts the door and opens it. She's quick though, poking her head in and ducking almost by instinct as a baseball bat comes down where her head used to be, bouncing off the door with a crack and the tall gangly, pimply, teenager bearing it rushing at the door. "Gonna fucking kill you!" Blonde, he's not who they're looking for and is the other Renner kid in the pictures. He's gearing up for another swing when he realizes it's a blonde and female and stops himself, knuckles white around the wood and points to Veronica's door.
The girl, safe behind the barrier with him doesn't care whether he's the good guy or not. Her hands up, palms covering each side of her head eyes squeezed shut. "He's gonna kill us, he's going to kill us" Up close, Rain can see that she's had a run in with Finney, the parting of skin along the young girls arm that reveals muscle, blood coming from the wound, smeared along her Team Edward shirt and along her jaw. "He's gonna kill my dad!"
"FUCK YOU! FUCKING HELL!"
Whether that's yelled at Donald in the room, or towards Veronica at the door, there's a higher pitched scream as something heavy hits the floor on the other side followed by a rush of footsteps away from the door. A crash of glass and yell, muffled only by the door.
"«Head's up!»" Veronica snaps into the radio to Flora at street level as she hears those footsteps running. The warning might serve as well for anyone on the other side of the door, because Veronica's hand moves to the handle and she shoulders the door as well in case it is locked — it isn't. The window crashes just as she steps into the room.
Veronica's eyes sweep the area, taking in an injured Donald Renner, a knife in his shoulder. "Keep that in, I'll be with you in a second!" she tells him, moving to the now shattered window. She peers out to try to find Finney, her plan to aim and fire her revolver to wound and disable the fleeing suspect, if she can.
Elle is quite thankful for her instincts as she narrowly avoids getting a nice crack to the skull to compete with her still-healing gunshot wound. She looks angry for a moment, before she realizes it's a teen and he's not attacking again. Once he's calmed, she suddenly pushes past the teen, making for his window; on her way, she attempts to quickly grab something heavy with her right hand…and fling it toward the window in an attempt to break it, with electricity crackling in her left hand all the while.
Rain sighs softly as the girl freaks out further. His head shakes slowly. "He's not. My two teammates out there know exactly what they're doing and they are professionals." He looks to her, then out the door and sighs, then sees her arm and he curses softly. His coat is shrugged off and dropped to the floor, and with a quick tug he rips his sleeve off of his dress shirt, then tugs again to finish the rip and pull it off. "Come here." And if he has to get forceful with the girl he will. He steps in and grabs hold of her arm, tying his torn sleeve off on her arm in a tourniquet fashion. Then, he'll grab the girl up, struggling or not, and put her over his shoulder, drop his barrier, and go hustling out the door and down the hallway, heading for the stairs to head down them, trying to get the girl to safety.
It's a sight, for those who can see it. Glass shattered on the floor of the master bedroom, Donald Renner wheezing as he palms a hand over the knife that lodges in his shoulder, a terrified look in his eyes as Veronica dodges across the floor and his gaze goes to Rain who's got his daughter over his shoulder, making all out down the hall as Veronica instructs. No fighting from the little blonde, clinging to the pacifistic agent tight around his shoulders and waist at the odd angle, sobbing as she's jostled. Her brother follows behind, yelling her name as he goes.
Outside the window is a different matter. Glass falls like rain, Finney's hand stretching out to grab the corner of the fire escape and stretches as if his body was made of gum, so that when his feet touch the ground moments later in the time it takes for Veronica to make it to the window and for elle to toss the dinky little barbells that belong to the son in the family, he's already touched down with only some minor cuts to show for his foray through the window.
He's stupid enough to pause, look up at Veronica at the window when she fires off a shot. He's too late in his attempt to make himself as skinny as possible, the bullet going through his arm and that's all they're going to get for a stationary target as he's going, taking a few wobbly and unstable steps due to his changing of his form and starting to slide right through the slats in a grate leading to the tunnels and tubes that make up the sewer system. Flora comes around the corner a fraction too soon, seeing what the rest see. Their target, getting away.
With the window shattered, Elle pushes out a few shards with her foot, before she pokes her head out and aims her already crackling left hand toward the man who is sliding through the grate. With narrowed eyes, the electrokinetic sends the largest jolt of electricity she can muster in his direction with gritted teeth. "Mother—" She snarls, watching him slip away.
"«Shit. O'Niel, you can stop and bring the girl back to her family,»" Veronica speaks into the radio. "«That system has way too many places for him to get to, there's no way we can cover it. We need to get this family out of here and a surveillance team on them if he strikes again.»" She sighs. "«Anderson, call 9-1-1, we need an ambulance»."
With that she turns to Renner, feet crunching on the glass. She swipes a shirt off the bed before she kneels to put pressure on the wound around the knife. "Sorry the bastard got away. It's just you and two kids here, right?"