A bullet ricocheted off a steel I-beam just a few feet from Leslie, making her jump back. She ducked behind a stack of similar I-beams and turned to Charley, who was sneaking up on the other side of the stack. Leslie held up one finger, pointed off to the right, and counted off twenty-two yards on her fingers. Charley nodded and slipped between two tall rolls of sheet steel.
A hand fell on Leslie's right shoulder, and she felt the cold circle of a gun muzzle pressed against her left temple. "I wouldn't move if I were you," a low voice growled behind her.
Leslie rolled her eyes. "A bit wooden. You read too many comics."
Her left arm snapped up and around in a flash, knocking the would-be assailant's gun straight up in the air. Just as swiftly, Leslie grabbed the assailant's other arm with both hands and threw him over her shoulder headfirst into the stack of I-beams. The MAW agent let out a muffled groan and went limp.
The loud clang! of the MAW agent colliding with the pile of steel got the other shooter's attention. He leapt to his feet and took a step toward where Leslie was hiding. Charley softly landed behind him and pistol-whipped him into unconsciousness. "Two!" she called.
Phil looked at Gabi. "They took out two." He stood up slowly. "Either of them Fisher?"
"Nope," Leslie said. "These guys weren't with the bunch in the building."
"So there could be more shooters we didn't know about," Phil concluded. "I wish there were an easier way out of here."
"I can arrange that."
Phil looked up to see Fisher coming toward him with his gun drawn. "I wasn't planning on any of this going down this way, but for some reason you had to go and piss me off. But I'm a generous guy. You can put your gun down now, and come with me, and everyone goes home without a scratch."
"And if I decide I've got better things to do?"
Fisher laughed. "You may have noticed that the two agents you managed to take down out there weren't among the crowd in the building, Phil, be honest. You really have no idea how many more men I have with me, do you?" Phil didn't answer. "Now, I would really hate to see anything bad happen to any of your friends, but you won't leave me with too much of a choice if you keep trying to stall for time until more of your buddies show up."
Phil looked down. "I really don't think we should have to negotiate like this. Someone with your experience on the HRT should know better."
"That's beside the point," Fisher insisted.
"Is it?" Phil asked.
"Don't push your luck!" Fisher snapped.
BLAM!
Gabi cried out in pain as another MAW agent emerged from his hiding place, lowering his gun and laughing.
"Gabi!" Phil dove over to where Gabriela was lying on the ground. She was bleeding from another gunshot wound, this one in her lower abdomen.
Fisher scowled. "I thought I said not to hurt any of them until Smith makes up his mind." He turned to the MAW agent who had shot Gabi and leveled his gun at the agent's head.
And pulled the trigger.
Gabi screamed again as the MAW agent's head disappeared behind a cloud of red.
Fisher turned to Phil. "That wasn't supposed to happen."
"You bastard," Phil growled. "Give me one good reason I shouldn't kill you right now."
"Because every second you worry about me," Fisher said, "is one less second you can spare her." He motioned to Gabi, who was clutching at her stomach in agony. "You can kill me or you can save her. You can take a life or maybe save one. But I'm pretty sure you can't do both."
Fisher turned and headed off throuigh the maze.
"Let him go!" Phil shouted to Leslie and Charley. "We have to help Gabi!"
Leslie ran up and took a look at Gabi. "Let's see how bad the wound is."
Charley pulled out her cell phone and dialed 911. As she was on the phone with the dispatcher, Leslie lifted Gabi's top gently and examined the wound. Her eyes widened, then she squeezed them shut tightly.
"What is it?" Phil asked.
Leslie turned slowly and looked at him. "Transverse exit wound. The bullet must have bounced off the pavement and back through her before it exited." She looked at Gabi, whose pretty olive complexion was growing pale at an alarming rate. "She's got serious liver damage, her spleen has been ruptured, and one of her lungs was punctured."
Charley repeated that into her cell phone. "What should we do?" she asked Leslie.
"You have some kind of wacky healing power?" Leslie asked the other metahumans. They didn't answer. Leslie looked down. "Then I'm not sure there's anything we can do."
