A Police Officer's Story - part 7
by Ben Nettleship

FBI Safehouse, at the edge of Patriot City

"In here," Johnson said, opening the door of what appeared to be an abandoned apartment building. The two officers shrugged and walked in.

After going up a flight of stairs, they walked into a room that looked nothing like what one would expect it to look like after seeing the outside. Modern, up to date, and busy.

About eight men in suits, like Johnson, were bustling about inside, accompanied by an equal number of men in white lab coats. There was a map of Patriot City pinned up on the wall, and a map of the United States. Pins were stuck in them.

"As I said, I'm the leader of the Super-Human Enforcement Division," Johnson said, hanging his M-16 up on a hook on the wall. "This is our headquarters within Patriot City. It's safer here, nobody knows where we are, except you, of course. I assume you want an explanation."

"Damn straight," Pam stated.

"All right, let me show you what's causing the problems in your city," Johnson walked over to a table and pulled a cloth off of a metallic, glowing can.

"This is Energy X," he said. "We have no idea what it is, but we know that it enhances the abilities of humans to, pardon the pun, superhuman levels. We found this canister yesterday; we're going to be shipping it to the eggheads in Washington tomorrow. See that map?" he said, pointing at the map of the United States. "See those pins on it? They represent superhuman activity. Tell me what's unusual about it."

Pam and Patrick took a look, it only took them a few seconds to figure out.

"They're all near Patriot city, only a few elsewhere," Patrick said.

"Precisely. Remember the meteor showers a while ago? We believe that's when it started. That's what was responsible. Nuclear Winter, Freedom Force, they've all been exposed. That's why we're here, unofficially."

"Unofficially, why?" Pam asked, this was getting interesting, she'd never imagined anything like this would happen when she'd signed up for the force. Of course, to be fair, nobody else had either.

"Because there's nothing on the books about this sort of thing. Nothing in the constitution. And I'm sure you know how long it takes a bureaucracy to make a decision. Hoover formed the division without bothering to get support, because he knew that Patriot City would be in flames by the time the government decided to officially take care of the problem."

"I get it," Patrick said. "So, came out here right away, and have been working behind the scenes, right? You picked up Nuclear Winter?"

Johnson coughed. "Er, actually," he said, somewhat sheepishly. "The bureaucracy at the FBI is no better. We didn't get out here until the end of the Nuclear Winter crisis, and we didn't get setup until that bank robbery. It was Freedom Force that kept the city from falling apart."

"I see," Pat crossed his arms over his chest and grinned. Despite the fact that they were on the same side, he still had the innate cop's dislike for people trespassing on his jurisdiction, and the innate ability to be amused at their screw-ups. "So, where do we come in?"

"You've been present at most of the incidents so far. Now, until we're officially set, we can't make any overt actions. In the chaos of the dinosaur attack, for instance, we could move in and try to clean some things up without being noticed. But without an official sanction, our hands are tied when it comes to making arrests and providing assistance, for instance."

"Doesn't answer the question," Pam stated. "I doubt it's just to give us this brief. What's in it for you?"

"Cynical, aren't you?" Johnson suggested.

"And you aren't?"

"Point. Anyway, we want to take in this character, the Assassin. Super-villains on their own are threatening enough, we don't want them to become tools of the organized crime in this country."

Pat snapped his fingers. "And that's why you brought us here. We take care of him for you, we solve your problem, and you don't have to risk yourself."

"And, if it doesn't work, you don't get any of the blame," Pam continued, in the logical thread.

Johnson shrugged. "It's in both our best interests. We can provide you with some equipment we've come up with that's a bit more effective that the stuff you've got, and you both want a chance for a revenge, right? He did try to kill you and your partners."

"Justice, not revenge," Pat corrected. It was one of things that got him upset. "I'm a cop, revenge is for vigilantes."

"Fine, justice then. You in?"

"I want to see that madman behind bars just as much as you do. Give me what you've got."

"Count me in too," Pam said, with sudden intensity. "I've seen what these new super-villians can do, and I want to help stop them."

"I'm not sure, I mean, you are a wo-" Johnson suddenly stopped talking as Pam grabbed his tie and jerked him forward, knocking his sunglasses off and sending them skittering along the floor.

"Finish that sentence, and I'll force feed you your teeth," she said sweetly.

"Never mind," Johnson said quickly, and stepped back as she let go of his tie. "Is she always like this?" he asked Patrick.

"She pointed a gun at me, but she didn't actually physically assault me. I think she was in a good mood at the time, though," Pat had acquired a grudging respect of Pam over the course of the day. And he had a hunch that most of the other people on the force would too. Or be picking their teeth up off the floor.

"Anyway, doctor, show these people what you've got."

One of the men in lab coats beckoned, and the two cops stepped over next to him. He held out two boxes of ammunition. "Phosphorous bullets," the man explained. "While they won't work on people with fire affinity, they'll be useful against those who are resistant to normal gunfire. .45 and .38 ammo."

Pat and Pam took the bullets, and started loading their guns with them, as the doctor continued showing them various pieces of high tech gear.

"Dart gun, loaded with a radioactive solution. Get this into a man's veins, and he's a walking dead man. Half a minute after you hit him, he'll be unconscious. Ten minutes, and he'll be dead."

Pat and Pam stuck the dart guns in their belts, grim expressions on their faces. Fun and games were over now; it was time to get down to business.

"And finally, for that villain that won't go down, two nice concealable tazers. Fifty thousand volts of electricity, this'll take down anything that moves on two legs."

"Nice stuff," Patrick commented. "So, you work for the FBI?"

"Me, a fed?" the doctor laughed. "No, I work at the nuclear power plant, theoretical research mainly. I did some good work, so Johnson asked me to come help develop some tools for his new bureau."

"Looks like you did good work, thanks. Who are you anyway?"

"Dr Ben Nettleship. Anyway, I've got to get back to work, we've got reports that some of the enhanced humans have radiation powers, so I'm working on a device to neutralize radioactive elements."

He headed off as Pat and Pam continued checking their new equipment. After a minute, Patrick said, "You know, he looked familiar."

"Yeah, now that you mention it. I wonder where I saw him before?"

Pat shrugged. "Beats me."

After another minute, and satisfied that they understand their equipment, the pair returned to talk to Johnson, who had finally found his sunglasses.

"What's the plan?" Pam asked. "We don't know where he is, unless you know something we don't."

"No, we don't," Johnson replied. "But we do know that he's trying to kill Jack. So we're going to call off the police guards, we've got enough authority to do that. They'd be useless against the Assassin anyways. That's where you come in. Once he finds out Jack's unguarded, he'll come for him. You'll ambush him."

"Sounds simple enough," Pat said. "Let's get started."

The next day

"Pardon me, ma'am," a man wearing a trenchcoat said. "But could you tell me where all the police officers who here the other day went?"

"Oh, they had to go back on duty. There were some injuries on the force, and they couldn't spare them to stay here," the nurse replied.

"Thank you," the man said. His fist then shot out, catching the nurse on the forehead and sending her into the realms of unconscious. Nobody else was around to see as he dragged her into a closet and broke the lock so that the door wouldn't open. "Now I'm going to finish this, permanently," he muttered.

The Assassin opened the door to Jack's room, and stepped inside. "Time to die," he said to the unconscious cop. "Nobody crosses Pinstripe and lives."

He took a step forward and raised his fist. And then grunted in pain as Patrick rose from behind the bed where he was hiding and fired a dart into his shoulder. Pam stepped out from behind a curtain, leveling her .45 at the Assassin's back.

"You're dead now," Patrick said. "Killed in the defense of innocent lives. Perfectly justifiable."

The Assassin pulled the dart out of his shoulder. "Is this some kind of joke?" he asked, crunching it in his hand.

Pat frowned; this wasn't going the way it was supposed to. "Aren't you feeling the slightest bit weak?"

"Not at all? What was it supposed to be, poison? Pathetic."

"Damn it, you must be immune to radiation. Bloody hell, is there anything that will stop you?"

"Apparently not," the Assassin grinned, then stepped forward, raising his fist to deal a massive blow to remove Patrick's head from its shoulders. Patrick stepped back, raising his hands to try to block the blow.

The Assassin just grinned wider, pulled back his fist, and then fell forward onto the ground, unconscious. Pam was standing behind him, holding her tazer.

"You certainly took your time," Pat commented, as he pulled out a pair of handcuffs and cuffed the Assassin.

"Couldn't risk alerting him," Pam replied. "Be grateful I didn't let him kill you."

"Oh I am, I was just worried there for a minute though. Now, call the station and let's book this bastard."

Outside, Patrick looked up at the sky. It had been an interesting week, and the future was looking to be interesting as well. The doctors had told him that Jack was recovering faster than expected, and would be on his feet in a few days. He wouldn't be out on patrol any time soon, but at least he'd be back on the force. The Assassin was going to jail, and the detectives were narrowing down Pinstripe's location, and would be moving in for an arrest once they found him. Maybe there was hope for the city after all.

A few days later

"All rise for the verdict."

"The court finds the man entitled the Assassin guilty of all the charges laid against him. In view of the nature of his crimes, as well as the inherent difficulties of keeping him imprisoned, we sentence him to life in the newly constructed military prison on the outskirts of Patriot city which, as we speak, is being refurbished to hold criminals such as him. Take him away."

And that was the end. The only bang being that of the gavel. The system did work after all. The people could rest easy; a major threat had been locked up. But even worse threats were in store for the city, threats that would have to be defeated through the combined forces of Freedom Force and the police. The people taking care of the supervillians, and the people who took care of the business afterwards. It wasn't the most glamorous of jobs, but it had to be done.

The End
... of this story, that is.