Of Fate & Consequence

[As Day Fades]

"This is Officer Emmanuel Connor, I repeat, this is Officer Connor. I'm at the Ace Chemical building. I just saw four men set up a ladder and sneak in through a side window. I repeat, I just witnessed four men sneaking into Ace Chemical. At least one of them was armed. ...I-I think I heard a scream just now. They may have taken a hostage. If there are any able officers in the area, I am requesting immediate backup! I can't wait. I'm going inside! Officer Connor, out."

And that was it. The man sat in the front seat of the squad car, door open, feet on the pavement. He wasn't at Ace Chemical. He wasn't anywhere near. He was three blocks away, body tense, holding his badge in his hand, a fingertip tracing wistfully back and forth over the top. Emmanuel sighed, averting his gaze, clutching it firmly from the sides of his palm. It wasn't...it wasn't that he wanted to lead any the other boys into a trap. It wasn't like he wanted them slaughtered, but he was getting paid for this. He was getting paid well. He'd been on Rane's payroll for awhile now, for a few months, and once in awhile he had to do something like this to stay good with the guy. It would only be another three months, maybe four, right? Just a few more shitty things like this...three, maybe four. Then he'd have enough extra cash set aside to sneak his family outta this forsaken city to somewhere new. The grass was always greener, right? He smirked, trying to find some sort of comfort in that amusement, if there was any to be had. Whatever cops answered that call, 'following' him inside... Look, they should know not to mess with Rane or his men. They should know. Everyone knew. Make believe you were taking a dump or something, that you didn't hear the call. If you messed with this guy, it was just common knowledge. It was just...look, these were people that were so dumb they'd just die anyway, right? He'd sleep tonight. He'd sleep well enough.


There were far more than four armed men inside that chemical building, just waiting to spring a trap. Oh, there were four out in the open, told to spend the next half hour tinkering with some disabled control panel in front of a big orange vat, but that was just for show. That was part of the bait. If there were 'only four' inside, and an officer was in there already, and there was a hostage situation...whatever goody two-shoes cops were left would charge on in, one, two at a time, think they could take control of the situation, and that's when all the others waiting in hiding would come out.

That's when the fun would begin.

"Hey, hey Rane, are we gonna kill 'em?"

"The hell else you think we're gonna do, dipshit?" Rane's voice chuckled. Others started to laugh along too. "Hey! Quiet down," he barked.

"Ha. Ha, yeah, but I mean, I mean, are we gonna go right for it or what?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe? Why? You got an itch to play around again?"

"Heh. Heh. Heh- maybe."

The side of his face grinned, illuminated by a sliver of light coming from a window, showing a smooth cheek and a thick goatee. "That's why I love you, you sick fuck. Tell you what. We catch a nigger with this net today, it's yours to play with. Otherwise you stay quiet and keep yourself under control." Two fingers, held together, rose up to point just beneath the man's face. His tone grew firm. Jeremiah Rane could appreciate some sick shit at the police's expense just as well as the next man, but James...James was a wacko right outta solitary. It was one thing to give your kid cousin a job. It was another to have to watch the twisted stuff he loved doing before a dude was even dead.

There was a sound of a car turning out front, like it slid a little bit. It was raining out. Raining heavy. One of those nights. Rane motioned with those two fingers to one of the other men in hiding, up on the rafters. He in turn glanced carefully out one of the filthy windows, rubbing a bit at the grime to be able to see; it was dark on the inside, so he'd be fine. He wouldn't be spotted. After a moment he turned back, nodded, and made a gesture with his hand. Jeremiah Rane, the leader of this motley bunch, had ordered one of his pig informants to go fishing, to make a make a big ado. It was time to gather up what dumbasses were still playing Boy Scout 'round this town, to thin the herd of some and strike fear into the rest, to give himself less resistance for when he actually did need to pull a job. It seemed like they were about to catch their first.

 

[GoodLilGirl]

The dark and rainy night matched Serenity Davidson’s mood as she sat in the back of an unmarked police car that was heading towards the Governor’s mansion for a ceremony in which she was going to receive some sort of commendation. In any other city, that might mean a hell of a lot to the person on the receiving end but in Gotham, it simply disgusted her. The commendation was being given simply because she, a woman, had the biggest set of balls out of anyone else on the police force and thus, held the highest number of arrests for the year. In a normal police force she probably wouldn’t even still be on the streets at the rank of Captain but too many of her boys in blue had been paid off by the gang bangers or were simply too scared to face the crime head on.

So tonight, instead of being out on patrol where she was needed, Serenity was being escorted to a fancy party that made the civilians feel better about the world around them. As if having someone like Captain Davidson on their side meant that things would eventually turn out all right but just because you parade around one of the most visible members of the police force in her dress blues doesn’t mean that crime took a night off and that was quite evident as the car’s radio crackled to life.

"This is Officer Emmanuel Connor, I repeat, this is Officer Connor. I'm at the Ace Chemical building. I just saw four men set up a ladder and sneak in through a side window. I repeat, I just witnessed four men sneaking into Ace Chemical. At least one of them was armed. ...I-I think I heard a scream just now. They may have taken a hostage. If there are any able officers in the area, I am requesting immediate backup! I can't wait. I'm going inside! Officer Connor, out."

Captain Davidson sat up straight in her seat, eyes wide at the message as it was received and as silence fell upon the car once more, she waited a moment to see who else would respond.

Nobody.

“Turn us around, Marshall. Radio in to dispatch and let ‘em know we’re coming.” Used to giving orders, she began spouting them out while the two Officers in the front of the car simply widened their eyes.

“But… Captain… Ma’am. The party? We were told….” Officer Simmons stuttered slightly as the car pulled a 180 to head in the opposite direction of the Governor’s mansion and the lights were flicked on as they sped down the street towards Ace Chemicals.

“The party can wait. We have a man that just went into a hostage situation with no back up. What if that was you!? Would you want your backup to hightail it to a party or came save your sorry ass?”

Simmons tilted his hat down and mumbled something about wanting to receive help though Serenity knew that he was one of those officers that would’ve pretended like he didn’t hear the message. Better safe than sorry, right? Well too bad for him. Serenity was in his car tonight and that meant he was going to rush head first into danger right next to her and his partner.

The undercover car zoomed into the parking lot, sliding slightly across the pavement as Marshall cut the wheel too quickly. Once parked, they all exited the vehicle, doing a visual sweep of the grounds before the Captain gestured for them all to move towards the entrance.

It was quiet in the building. Too quiet for a situation involving a hostage, an officer and four baddies. Serenity took point and did a silent countdown for her two comrades before kicking open the door and doing a sweep of the corners with her pistol held out in front of her. A moment or two of silence passed so Serenity could assess the situation but apparently Marshall saw something move because the next thing she heard was his deep, rumbling voice saying, “This is the police! Put your hands up!” Followed by the sound of gunfire.