thin walls (are calling me home)

Chapter 14

trigger warning for gunfire and panic attack.

--//--

At first things were going well enough.

Lauren and Normani got to Battery Park around the estimated time, rushing toward where they'd been directed. What they found there wasn't ideal, but it was pretty manageable.

The scenery was that of a typical birthday party. Three tables held snacks and candies, a few others had chairs so that adults could sit down and talk while the kids played around. All in all, a small, normal child's party.

Or, it would be, if it wasn't for the fact that even from a big distance Lauren could see that two of the tables were turned and that some children were screaming in the distance with women holding them down as three men dressed in suits argued heatedly with another one who was wearing jeans and a big hoodie. The women themselves called for them, one of them crying, and Lauren felt her heart go cold when the obviously drunk man drew out a gun.

"Shit." Normani hissed.

Lauren had her own gun in hand, her heart beating hard inside her chest, as she started running to the scene with Normani right beside her. She saw one of the women let go of her child to run toward the men only to go back when the child started running as well. Two of the unarmed three backed away slightly, the most aggravated one still trying to confront the drunk armed guy.

His companions held him back as the drunk man just stood there, but when he raised his gun, the third man stepped back as well.

Lauren could hear some indistinctive shouting before, but now she could make out that the unarmed men were trying to calm the drunk one down. They weren't being successful if the way the drunk was getting redder and waving his gun around more frantically was any indication, but when he settled on one of the three and the shouting came back, Lauren and Normani got close enough so that they could be seen and heard.

"NYPD, freeze!" Normani yelled from Lauren's left, catching everyone's attention.

The unarmed men raised their arms immediately, Lauren pointing her gun at them as Normani had hers to the drunk man, the difference being that Lauren's finger was nowhere near her trigger, using her gun only to gesture the men away. They ran to the women and children, who latched themselves onto them, and Lauren turned to the man with a gun, who still had it up and pointing toward all those people, with his eyes glazed over and a scowl on his face. Thankfully his movements were slowed down by the alcohol, since he did try to grab one of the men's arm to no success, raising his gun once again and starting to walk there.

"Put the gun down on the ground, now." Lauren almost growled out her order, pointing her loaded gun at him. It made him stop, but he didn't turn.

"Fuck you." He drawled out, clearly more than just a bit intoxicated, as he continued to glare at the most aggravated of the three men. "He t- took everything from me, he- he's gonna get what he deserves."

"Shut up and put the fucking gun down now." Normani yelled, stepping closer and gesturing with her own gun for emphasis.

The man's eyes widened as he turned and saw who he was facing, probably only understanding the severity of the situation then. He seemed to sober up a little, the scowl still present on his face, though there was also fear, alongside something that Lauren identified as disgust. Normani kept her aim at him as he lowered himself to the ground and put the gun there, but made no move to rise.

"Stand up." Normani ordered and he did just that. "Kick the gun over here."

The hood of his hoodie was off, so Lauren saw the look on his face perfectly as he rose to his feet and kicked the gun toward Normani. He put his hands behind his head without even being told to and Lauren felt her breathing picking up. Up until now, she had acted on instinct and adrenaline, letting her training take over her body in quick, well trained and precise movements. Now that she would cuff the man, though, she started to grow nervous once again. Her chest went cold and she fought the need to shudder, ignoring the feeling that something would go wrong. It was probably just some anxiety from her last encounter with a call involving guns.