He wanted to

The urgency in Ryan's voice did not set well with Reese. What was really going on? What had happened? What did the situation really look like?

"It's alright, Ryan. If you're in a safe place, you just sit tight. Everything will be okay."

He'd already gotten several calls that something was happening, but no real details had come through yet. It sounded like an officer was down, but that's about all he knew. He decides to at least keep Ryan on the line and keep her calm while gaining information at the same time.

"So you're at the hotel then? You want to tell me exactly what happened?..."


Before Carson even reaches the hotel, he spots Alec sprinting from an emergency exit and into the adjoining parking garage. "Alec!"

Sweat pours down Alec's face as he skids into the parking garage. His stomach felt queezy again and his knees threatened to buckle. Hearing his name, he doesn't stop. Carson never should have come. Yvette was already down - Alec was alone and he wasn't going to be taken. Not now. Not like this. What had happened in the hotel had been chaos. The police had come, barged in... he and Yvette had battled out, she'd been shot but still managed to shove one of the cops out the window. Panicked, Alec had run. At least in here, he might be able to find a car and get out.

Carson reaches the parking garage just as a police officer does. Flashing his Elite badge, he lets the guy know he's safe, then points. "He went inside. He's still alone."

"Great. You take this entrance - I'll swing around the other side."

"Got it." Carson enters the garage carefully, gun drawn. "Alec... Alec just give yourself up. You know it's the only way."

A shot rings out, ricocheting against the concrete and Carson ducks. "Come on, Alec... don't be stupid." He sees a shadow and knows Alec is heading up to the next level. Spotting the officer, he waves to him and signals where Alec is going.

The chase continues for another ten minutes with Alec ducking in between cars and firing at both Carson and the officer. Once they're on the third level, Carson and the cop close in, boxing Alec into one of the corners.

"Just give it up," Carson calls to him. "Don't do this."

Alec crouches behind a vehicle, kicking himself for getting cornered. He shouldn't have come this way. Carson and the other guy were too fast though, not giving him enough time to break in and hotwire a car. He was trapped with no way out.

Breathing heavily, he peers around the back of the car, able to see the officer opposite him beside the column, and he knew what would happen if he stepped out from the shadows. Fingering his gun, he gazes at the weapon in his hand. This past week had been a nightmare. The things he'd done... who he'd been with... and today's earlier episode. There was no way he could redeem himself. No way he could make up for what had happened or the trust he had betrayed. This whole thing had been a mess from the beginning and he'd been stupid to try and maintain any kind of pride at all. And now if he gave up, he'd be put behind bars. There was no way out of this. But he could end it all. He could end it all on his terms right now and be done with it forever. No more pain. No more trials. No more running. No more heartache.

From his own position, Carson sees movement and swings his gaze in the direction of the parking garage corner. As he sees his brother rise with pointed gun, he instantly knows what he is doing.

Gun raised and aimed at the officer, Alec rises. Finger on the trigger, his sights line up with the officer's chest. Carson's scream echoes through the basement. "Alec, no!"

The officer whose life was being threatened had no choice but to draw. And sickening final shot rings out.

As the world spins and grows dim, the pain doesn't seem to penetrate. Alec's gun is dropped as he falls to his knees then slides to the ground. Muffled shouting was the last thing he heard. Feeling someone's hands putting pressure on his chest was the last thing he felt.

"Come on, Alec," Carson growls as he presses his hands to the chest wound. "You've got to be the stupidest..." He bites his tongue, not knowing why he was even trying to save his brother's life.

The police officer joins him and checks Alec's pulse. "He's still alive. He didn't give me any choice."

"I know. He didn't want to."

"What do you mean?"

"He wanted to die, don't you understand?" Carson glares at the policeman. "Just call for an ambulance."

...Since a call was already out for the officer who had been thrown through a window, the sirens come sooner than expected. More police arrive, along with two ambulances and the medics find their way to anyone who was hurt. It's all a blur and Carson tries to hand off Alec to the medics while explaining to the cops exactly what happened, and telling the Elite agents to report it all back to headquarters. By the time he's walking back to the car, his adrenaline rush was gone and he felt exhausted. Everything seemed to have taken forever, when in reality, it had gone down very quickly.

Arriving back to the car, he's relieved to see Ryan still there and still okay. He was sorry he'd had to leave her, and hoped she really was okay. Reaching for the door handle, its the first time Carson realizes all of the blood that was still on his hands. Standing a moment, all he can do is wipe them on his jeans, but his skin is still stained.

Slowly getting into the car, he sinks down behind the wheel, silent for a few moments as he tries to recover. Finally, he looks over to Ryan. She had a right to know.

"Alec took a bullet to the chest. They don't know if he's going to make it."

Starting up the engine yet again, Carson had a hard time not seeing Alec fall over and over in his mind. "They're going to try to stabilize him, and if they can, they'll fly him back to the hospital in North Springs where he'll be in the custody of the Elite."

He shakes his head. It never should have happened like this. Pulling away from the curb and making a u-turn, he steers back the way they had come in the first place. "I need to make a stop somewhere and clean up. Then we'll head home." He didn't mean to be so matter-of-fact... some might think him cold. But he really didn't know what else to say. He'd just watched his brother get shot and didn't know if he was going to survive. Ryan had just had her heart torn in two for sure, and now didn't even know if her ex would live. It was a bad day for both of them.


rockin_gts: Ten commandments... those are always good. Back to the basics.

Rocky looks down as he feels something on his leg and he smirks at Puzzle asking permission to come up again. "Okay, fine." He leans back and lets his cat hop up into his lap. "Lap is fine. Keyboard not." Petting him a moment, he realizes Thundercat has asked another question. He gives his computer screen a wry grin.

rockin_gts: Insomnia. Does wonders for one's social life.

He pauses.

rockin_gts: Nah, I've been to this site a few times. Just tonight realized there was a chat room so I decided to check it out. And viola... here I am. And you?

rockin_gts: (Saw your profile by the way - nice looking cat. Mine's a calico.)

Small talk? Him? He rolls his eyes. He really must have a bad case of insomnia tonight to be chatting it up with a stranger online.