FAKE Ficlet: One Chance
Title: One Chance
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ryo, JJ, Dee, OC.
Rating: PG-13
Setting: After Vol. 7.
Summary: With Dee being held hostage, it’s down to Ryo and JJ to save him by taking out the gunman. But can they do it?
Word Count: 879
Written For: Theme Prompt: 211 - Hesitation at fandomweekly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
It wasn’t unheard of for cops to get caught up in hostage situations. It wasn’t even unusual for a cop to trade him- or herself for the hostages, because even unarmed, cops were better equipped than civilians to deal with the hostage-takers, either disarming them or talking them down. This time, however, it was Dee who’d traded places with the hostages, a pregnant woman, and her terrified young daughter, and that made a huge difference.
Ryo didn’t blame Dee for the decision he’d made. Hell, he would have willingly done it himself, except for the fact that he was a police sniper and Dee wasn’t. Even though JJ was also on the scene, sniper rifle at the ready, Ryo knew that Dee would have a better chance of coming out of this alive, and hopefully unharmed, if there were two snipers positioned in suitable spots on the rooftops opposite the diner, ready and waiting to get a clear shot at the man holding him hostage.
It was difficult to see the interior of the diner clearly. It was an overcast day, and the gunman was keeping well to the back, behind the counter, holding Dee in front of him like a shield, the barrel of a pistol pressing up beneath Dee’s chin. Through the scope of his rifle, Ryo could see that Dee was talking, no doubt trying to reason with the man behind him, although it didn’t look like he was getting anywhere.
Ryo spoke into the mic on his headset. “I can’t get a clear shot from here. How do things look from where you are?”
“No good,” JJ replied, sounding tense and worried. “Not with the way he’s got his gun jammed under Dee’s chin. If we do anything, he’ll pull the trigger, and…”
“I know. Just be ready the moment he moves his gun away. You’ve got a better angle on him from your position.”
“You don’t need to tell me that,” JJ snapped, annoyed at what he saw as disrespect for his superior talents. “I HAVE done this before, you know.”
Not wanting to irritate his colleague further, Ryo kept quiet, focusing intently on the target, keeping his breathing slow and steady. The life of his partner, his lover, was at stake here. Dee was depending on him and JJ; they couldn’t afford to let him down.
On the street below, someone was using a bullhorn to talk to the man in the diner, trying to get him to give himself up; it wasn’t helping matters, just making him even more agitated. He was swaying slightly behind Dee, like he was shifting from foot to foot. Then he moved the hand holding the gun, raising it so he could use his sleeve to wipe the sweat from his forehead.
“Now, JJ!” Ryo hissed into his mic.
Nothing happened.
“JJ!”
“I can’t! What if I hit Dee instead?”
Ryo had never known JJ to hesitate when it came to taking the shot, and he couldn’t have picked a worse time. He sounded almost frantic with fear, his crush on Dee affecting his judgement, and Ryo simply didn’t have a good angle. It was already too late anyway; the barrel of the gun was back under Dee’s chin, and Dee was looking confused. He’d clearly been ready and waiting for his colleagues to do their job, holding himself as still as possible so he wouldn’t get in the way.
“Dammit, JJ! We might not get another chance as good as that, and you just blew it. Pull yourself together! You may have just cost Dee his life!” The thought sent a chill right through Ryo, like ice water flooding his veins, but he forced himself to remain still, breathe slowly, stay focused, because it looked like he couldn’t count on JJ to do what was necessary.
The seconds ticked past, stretched to a minute, two minutes, five… The clock on the diner’s wall must have been ticking away too, because the gunman suddenly turned, taking a shot at it and missing, but scattering plaster everywhere.
JJ still probably had the better angle, and Ryo had no margin for error whatsoever, but he knew he couldn’t afford to hesitate even for a heartbeat. As the target shifted slightly, leaning his head to one side, glaring at the clock in frustration but already bringing his gun back around towards Dee, Ryo fired, knowing if he was so much as a fraction of an inch off, he’d hit the man he loved.
It was so close the bullet nicked Dee’s collar on its way past, hitting the target just above the eye, both men dropping out of sight behind the counter. Ryo knew the shot was good, that Dee was okay, and had simply been dragged down by the dead weight of the man behind him, but JJ clearly didn’t because he was screaming in Ryo’s ear about stupid risks and irresponsible idiots.
Ryo ignored him, watching through his scope as Dee got to his feet and dusted himself off, fingering his frayed collar and glancing up with a smile at the roof opposite, where the shot had come from. He knew he’d done the right thing in taking the shot; sometimes it was hesitation that got people killed.
The End
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ryo, JJ, Dee, OC.
Rating: PG-13
Setting: After Vol. 7.
Summary: With Dee being held hostage, it’s down to Ryo and JJ to save him by taking out the gunman. But can they do it?
Word Count: 879
Written For: Theme Prompt: 211 - Hesitation at fandomweekly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
It wasn’t unheard of for cops to get caught up in hostage situations. It wasn’t even unusual for a cop to trade him- or herself for the hostages, because even unarmed, cops were better equipped than civilians to deal with the hostage-takers, either disarming them or talking them down. This time, however, it was Dee who’d traded places with the hostages, a pregnant woman, and her terrified young daughter, and that made a huge difference.
Ryo didn’t blame Dee for the decision he’d made. Hell, he would have willingly done it himself, except for the fact that he was a police sniper and Dee wasn’t. Even though JJ was also on the scene, sniper rifle at the ready, Ryo knew that Dee would have a better chance of coming out of this alive, and hopefully unharmed, if there were two snipers positioned in suitable spots on the rooftops opposite the diner, ready and waiting to get a clear shot at the man holding him hostage.
It was difficult to see the interior of the diner clearly. It was an overcast day, and the gunman was keeping well to the back, behind the counter, holding Dee in front of him like a shield, the barrel of a pistol pressing up beneath Dee’s chin. Through the scope of his rifle, Ryo could see that Dee was talking, no doubt trying to reason with the man behind him, although it didn’t look like he was getting anywhere.
Ryo spoke into the mic on his headset. “I can’t get a clear shot from here. How do things look from where you are?”
“No good,” JJ replied, sounding tense and worried. “Not with the way he’s got his gun jammed under Dee’s chin. If we do anything, he’ll pull the trigger, and…”
“I know. Just be ready the moment he moves his gun away. You’ve got a better angle on him from your position.”
“You don’t need to tell me that,” JJ snapped, annoyed at what he saw as disrespect for his superior talents. “I HAVE done this before, you know.”
Not wanting to irritate his colleague further, Ryo kept quiet, focusing intently on the target, keeping his breathing slow and steady. The life of his partner, his lover, was at stake here. Dee was depending on him and JJ; they couldn’t afford to let him down.
On the street below, someone was using a bullhorn to talk to the man in the diner, trying to get him to give himself up; it wasn’t helping matters, just making him even more agitated. He was swaying slightly behind Dee, like he was shifting from foot to foot. Then he moved the hand holding the gun, raising it so he could use his sleeve to wipe the sweat from his forehead.
“Now, JJ!” Ryo hissed into his mic.
Nothing happened.
“JJ!”
“I can’t! What if I hit Dee instead?”
Ryo had never known JJ to hesitate when it came to taking the shot, and he couldn’t have picked a worse time. He sounded almost frantic with fear, his crush on Dee affecting his judgement, and Ryo simply didn’t have a good angle. It was already too late anyway; the barrel of the gun was back under Dee’s chin, and Dee was looking confused. He’d clearly been ready and waiting for his colleagues to do their job, holding himself as still as possible so he wouldn’t get in the way.
“Dammit, JJ! We might not get another chance as good as that, and you just blew it. Pull yourself together! You may have just cost Dee his life!” The thought sent a chill right through Ryo, like ice water flooding his veins, but he forced himself to remain still, breathe slowly, stay focused, because it looked like he couldn’t count on JJ to do what was necessary.
The seconds ticked past, stretched to a minute, two minutes, five… The clock on the diner’s wall must have been ticking away too, because the gunman suddenly turned, taking a shot at it and missing, but scattering plaster everywhere.
JJ still probably had the better angle, and Ryo had no margin for error whatsoever, but he knew he couldn’t afford to hesitate even for a heartbeat. As the target shifted slightly, leaning his head to one side, glaring at the clock in frustration but already bringing his gun back around towards Dee, Ryo fired, knowing if he was so much as a fraction of an inch off, he’d hit the man he loved.
It was so close the bullet nicked Dee’s collar on its way past, hitting the target just above the eye, both men dropping out of sight behind the counter. Ryo knew the shot was good, that Dee was okay, and had simply been dragged down by the dead weight of the man behind him, but JJ clearly didn’t because he was screaming in Ryo’s ear about stupid risks and irresponsible idiots.
Ryo ignored him, watching through his scope as Dee got to his feet and dusted himself off, fingering his frayed collar and glancing up with a smile at the roof opposite, where the shot had come from. He knew he’d done the right thing in taking the shot; sometimes it was hesitation that got people killed.
The End