The Commission

[JellyMuffins]

"There's been a bomb threat in the hospital, all patients are being evacuated" he calmly explains to the pair exiting the car, pretending not to recognise Kistrev, "Sir, please get back into your car, it's obstructing the evacuation" he dicided not to tell the feline that his impromptu boss (and hence the money to pay for his new wheels) may soon cease to exist.

[Armalite_]

Paul drove up to the hospital to notice the large crowd of people gathered around. He saw the rabbit from the drive by there as well, the one who'd arrested Spike...without Spike next to him. They were all looking up towards the floor of which Spike's room was located. "That son of a -" Paul slammed on the gas, driving around to the back of the building. He got out and sprinted into the doors and up to Spike's room.

It had suddenly occured to Spike what he was doing. Then instead of defusing the bomb, he pulled out the charging wire, the tip of it having just enough of an "explosion" to break the chain. He pulled out the small wire with just enough for as not to snap off the explosive compound off the tip. He wrapped it around the end of the hand cuffs and looked away as the last two seconds ticked by. *BANG* Spike opened one eye to peer at the result. His arm was free. The were the sound of footsteps coming from down the hallway. Paul, Spike's man, had appeared in the doorway. "Boss!" He said, rushing to his side. "That rat of a cop left me here to die, Paulie!" Spike yelled. Paul looked at the defused bomb. "C'mon, we're outta here." He slung Spike over his shoulder and walked him out of the room.

[JellyMuffins]

Jay headed back up to the room, looking at his watch and seeing that the bomb timer was way overdue. 'He actually did it' he thought, somewhat impressed. Reaching the hallway that Spike room came off, the rabbit spotted a figure hurrying around the corner. "No..." he checks in Spike's room, seeing noone he sprints off down to the other end of the hallway, "not again..." he already had one of his Colt's out of the back holster as he reached the corner, checking around and only catching a glimpse of his prey as he tries to escape.

[Armalite_]

Spike and Paul made it down the hall to the stairs. Instead of escaping, Paul picked up Spike in his arms and carried him down to the front doors where they were met by cops and reporters all rushing over. "It was Agent Kaelin, he left me to die chain to my bed!" Spike yelled. The reporters went wild, snapping photos of Spike's condition and the one handcuff link attached to his arm. "And who saved you!?" One reporter asked, being held back by a police officer. "...Not Agent Kaelin." Spike replied back. Paul carried him over to an ambulance stretcher. A familiar Agent showed up next to Spike's side. "Callum!?" Spike yelled. "Callum looked at Paul and they shook hands. "I'll take it from here." Callum said. He walked over to the group of officers and the Sergeant. "Arrest Agent Kaelin under suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder under second degree, and for harassment." Callum said, the group of police officers looked at eachother and immediately rushed inside looking for the rabbit. Spike was met by doctors and police who began to ask questions.

[JellyMuffins]

"I did no such thing" the rabbit explains smoothly as a nurse replaces the bandages on his shoulder from where he had been shot, "the suspect volunteered to stay and attempt to defuse the bomb, left by a known gang member in what looked like an over-large vase." He raises his paws, palms outwards with an amiable smile. He winked at Callum, standing behind the officers, holding up his irrefutable evidence; the lapine presses the playback button on the small tape-recorder, 'kshzzz...Listen to me. I was a Private with the one hundred and first Airbourne. I dealt with this kind of thing before. You get those people out of here...I'll deal with the bomb...zzkszz' Spike's voice emits clearly from the small device. There was no way he was going to sleep by a suspect's bedside without ears open at all times.

[Armalite_]

Callum laughed. "We have an eyewitness account of him CLEARLY being chained to the bed with a bomb next to him with cuffs, YOUR cuffs, your prints ALL over them. Can you prove the bomb was sent into the room with another person? Because right now, people are wondering how you, being the only one in the room while Spike was blacked out, you're the first one to leave. Whether he volunteered to defuse the supposed bomb not planted by you or not, how could have you had possibly known if he was capable to do so? If that was suicide, you assisted quite well. That's murder, Jay. You'll be hearing from a lot of lawyers." He said as police were in the room gathering evidence.

[JellyMuffins]

"Of course they were my cuffs, he was a suspect that I apprehended and this 'witness' of yours is not only a known accomplice of my suspect, but also a gang memeber who was seen earlier today shooting at cops!" he points to his shoulder, blood already seeping into the bandages, "This? This bullet wound was put there by your witness! I have 5 cops who will not only attest that he shot me, but that he got onto the crime scene using your badge!" he glares at the German shepherd that he had presumed dead for the last few days, "Care to explain how the mob got your badge?" he rewinds to earlier in the tape, the bulky machine slowly spinning the magnetic tape, 'kshzz...Mr. Gambino, my name is Mark Rigazzi, Angelo sent me. It's good to see that you're ok... ksshh... Angelo sends his regards. He also sent you these.' Jay's smug smile returns, the resolve of the officers in front of him wavering as they turn back to Callum.

[Armalite_]

Callum smiled. "Well, Agent Kaelin, it's not what you know...it's what you can prove in court." Callum said, looking at Jay once again. "By the way, I hope that the jury knows that wasn't edited. It being in the suspects possession and all. The Lieutenant certainly isn't going to like this one. You can most definitely expect being kicked off the case." He said, giving a wave and walking away to Spike. Spike looked at Jay. "See you in court." Spike said giving a wink.

[JellyMuffins]

Jay smiled warmly at Spike, "There are no grounds here, you won't even see court... that is, until you're the one on trial." he handed the tape recorder off to the nearest officer, Peterson, a man he could trust. Callum's claims had been ridiculous, how could he have edited the tape? He had been herding patients out of the hospital while Spike was defusing the bomb, there would have been no time for that. He whispered to Peterson, "Listen through it, all of it" with that he left, heading home to his apartment. There would be no formal charges today, with accusations flying so freely between Bureau agents. At home he looked through all the files again, fnding the file of Mark Rigazzi, a grin spread across his face, "Excellent..."

When Peterson returned to the station he immediately set up the tape recorder, listening through it. The evidence given by the tape was pretty convincing, the officer taking diligent notes all the way through:
-"That's the man who saved me..."
-"...they could be on their way here right now to finish the job."
-"Mr. Gambino, my name is Mark Rigazzi, Angelo sent me. It's good to see that you're ok... Angelo sends his regards. He also sent you these."
-"Who do you honestly think runs the legal system around here? Politicians over in Washington? No. The Commission does"
-"That's not the man Angelo usually sends. I'm a little unsure about him."
-"...I don't know about hi- do you hear that?"
-"Get all of the patients out of here, now! ...Can you move fast, or do I need to carry you?"
-"Help me get that bomb out! ...We'll have a better chance to defuse it. If it's simple TNT, all we need to do is pull out the charging wire!"
-"We need to get the people to safety, in case this does blow"
-"Jay...Listen to me. I was a Private with the one hundred and first Airbourne. I dealt with this kind of thing before. You get those people out of here...I'll deal with the bomb."
-"It didn't have to come to this, I'll get the patients and staff out and you... learn to not run away. And remember, this city doesn't want to have to pay for another hospital."
-"That rat of a cop left me here to die, Paulie!"

[KittKat chunky~]

"what was all that about eh?"
"who cares Jake... better them than us.."
"too right..."
Kistrev and Jake where back on the road to the docks, a cold nor'easterly picking up, slashing sea spray across the windscreen and onto the worn concrete road....
"jeez.. 'orrible wheather ennit Kitt?"
"sure is jake... 'orrible..."

[Armalite_]

Spike was waiting back at the docks. He held his overcoat close to his fur as the harsh winds swept across the empty docks. He had something to say to Krisrev when he made it back. His arm still broken and holding a cane to keep his weight off his broken left leg, he waited in the dark for the car to roll up. He was pissed. What was Krisrev doing with Agent Kaelin? Ratting him out most likely. He'd get some answers from him and depending on how reliable his answers were, would depend if he would make this it out alive tonight. Sea water dripped off the brim of Spike's black fedora hat. His fur on his face dripped as his eyes were shining yellow in the moonlight. He waited.

[JellyMuffins]

Jau read through the file with a grin; he'd seen files like this one plenty of times before, it was a fake. The file held little real information, with only generic references that made it sound legitimate. All besides the grainy photo of 'Mark' was useless until he reached the bottom of the meager file, signed by Agent Denton. "Looks like he's covering for someone" he muttered quietly, heading off to finally get some sleep, reflecting over the events of the night, "I guess that's what I get for saving his sorry hide..."

[KittKat chunky~]

The sound of the wipers was monotonous and depressing, sweeping back and forth, with no real affect on the stupid amount of rain sleeting down the windscreen...
"slow down a bit Kistrev, ya gonna fall inta tha docks.... cant see a damned thing.."
Slowing down to a crawl, the tires crunched over the wet concrete... the dark figure ahead was illuminated in stark contrast to the rest of the dark, sea spray swept dockside.... Stopping just aside Kistrev wound down the window and leant out to shout to the fur...
"ya wanna lift? bad day to be walkin if ya ask me..."

[Armalite_]

Spike stood there. The voice of his man rang out. He kept his ground and wondered if he should call him out. Instead, Kristrev did raise a good point. It wasn't the best weather to have a chat in. He approached the car slowly, hobbling along with his cane and got in the back seat without saying a word. Spike took off his hat and slciked back the soaked fur on his head. "Thanks for picking me up." Spike said.

[KittKat chunky~]

It was spike... Mr Gambino... Kistrev looked wildy from the underboss to Jake the Romano Officer in the passenger seat who was fiddling with the radio and hadnt looked up yet...
"jake... say your office is over there... you can walk the rest of the way cant ya buddy?"
Jake opened the door, stepping out and tilting his flatcap to Spike hurridly, grumbling about inconsiderate youngsters before running with a splash towards a dockside building...

"Mr. Gambino... I mean, Spike.... surprising to see you here... ya hear about the bomb at the hospital?... i drive past when they where....."

Kistrev stopped when he saw the cane and remembered how he had hobbled on his way to the car....

"you okay sir? ya dont look good.. here, let me put on the heating... warm us up eh?"