[kernelkink]

Well, I guess I didn't know how this board worked, but all is well and the other chapters should be up in the next few minutes. Sorry about that!

“Why would he need to storm the building?” Amy squeaked. Stephanie elbowed her in the side.

“Quiet!” she hissed, “Be a tough policewoman, okay? Be tough.” Amy shut up, but still looked terrified. Stephanie felt bad- she was supposed to be empowering Amy, training her. She thought for a second. “Something that always helps me when I'm nervous is to take account of all the equipment I have. Everything that can intimidate the bad guys. Like my gun,” Stephanie said, patting her holster. “And my tazer. And my uniform.” She patted the tazer, and her belt line. “And my b-”

Stephanie stopped short and closed her eyes in annoyance. She had placed her hands over her chest without realizing it, and had almost said boobs. But it was true. Secretly, deep down inside her stern, Catholic heart, Stephanie was aware and proud of the way her body projected sexual power. The way men tripped over her words when they first met her made that clear enough. And in some weird way, her body helped Stephanie feel regal and intimidating in the most dangerous of situations. But she couldn't tell that to Amy, that would be humiliating. “My badge..” Stephanie said at last, shifting her hands slightly north.

“You count your uniform and your badge separately?” Amy mused.

“Yes, Amy. Your badge is your symbol of authority, or it will be, when you get one.”

“You think I will, Steffy?” Amy said gleefully. Stephanie groaned. She hated that nickname. But Amy kept forgetting that, over and over, so Stephanie just stopped protesting at some point. Amy seemed better, too, so Stephanie said nothing and kept walking toward the location of the hostages. They were all kept in the central lobby, just a short hallway ahead.

As Stephanie entered the lobby, she quickly scanned the exits. Apart from the way they'd came, there was a little alcove with bathrooms, and a wide hall on the other side, heading toward all the patient rooms. There was also a stairwell and an elevator on the opposite side of the bathrooms. But all of that quickly faded away in light of the appearance of the hostage taker. He was an ugly bastard of about 65, with a balding scalp, a scraggly beard, and a lazy eye. His gray sweats had a few flecks of blood on them, and in his hairy right hand he held a long kitchen knife. “Don't move another foot, pigs! Or all these squares are gonna get it! And get your hands up!”

Stephanie and Amy froze, hands in the air, but visibly confused by the man's dated slang. A voice echoed from the floor: “He's an ex-hippie by the name of Bruce,” the voice explained, “took too much acid and it's all up in his spinal fluid.” Stephanie took a tiny step and leaned to the left to see the source of the voice, a older man who was presumably a doctor. He was on the floor, and beside him were three women, who by appearance Stephanie guessed to be a doctor and two nurses.

“You're just mad we won the culture war,” Bruce spat as his lazy eye rolled. “So what the hell do you want?” he said as he turned back to Stephanie and Amy.

“We're negotiating, Bruce,” Stephanie said, “Remember? My deputy talked to you about this.”

“Oh yeah, that's right,” Bruce mused, looking genuinely forgetful. Stephanie exchanged a look with Amy. “Well, I'm gonna want Timothy Leary freed,” Bruce started.

“Done,” Stephanie nodded. When Amy turned to her, shocked, she hissed to her: “Look it up on Wikipedia later. He's been free for decades! And also dead for decades!”

“Third, I want a police cruiser with $1000 in cash in the backseat,” Bruce said, forgetting his place.

“It might take a little while, but we can do it,” Stephanie replied. Easy enough to fake or even do for real if they had to. This might be easier than she thought! Maybe they wouldn't even need a SWAT team.

“And finally, I want to meet my favorite celebrity,” Bruce crowed, “Kermit the Frog!” Stephanie's heart dropped into her stomach. So much for the easy way.

“Bruce, I don't know if we can do that. I mean...Kermit isn't even real,” Stephanie said. That was the wrong move. Bruce's eyes darkened and he sn*tched a nurse off the floor. Both the nurse and Amy screamed.

“How dare you say that! Man, you really have me pissed off now!” Bruce howled as he pressed his knife against the nurse's throat. “I think I'm gonna kill one of these little squares!”

“No, Bruce, no!” Stephanie yelled. “We'll...we'll bring Kermit. But he lives in Hollywood, it'll take a few hours for his jet to get here.”

Amy turned to her, eyes wide. “Do you really know Kermit the Frog?” she breathed.

“I know your FBI tricks, pig!” Bruce scoffed. “That's way too long to take you at your word.” His grip on the nurse tightened, and a drop of blood ran down her neck as she yelped. Stephanie's mind raced. How could she stop this? Finally, a desperate idea came.

“We'll trade for time!” Stephanie blurted out, “For every hour you wait, we'll bring you another thousand dollars!”

“I don't need cash!” Bruce replied. But the idea had struck him in some way. He thought for a second. “But I do need a disguise to get out of here if things go bad. So for each hour we wait, pigs, you give me a piece of your uniform.”

Stephanie's immediate reaction was to refuse, but she repressed it. It couldn't take more than two hours for the SWAT team to arrive. That would be her shirt and shoes, and she was wearing a tank top over her bra. She wouldn't even have to drop her holster. Still, it seemed so dirty and wrong to give in...but it would save the hostages. Stephanie nodded slowly. “Okay. It's a deal.”

She slowly leaned down to unlace her black boots, sliding them off to reveal crisp white socks. Stephanie clenched her toes, nervous. Socks weren't particularly scandalous, no, but her boots gave her an extra inch or two. It bothered Stephanie to lose any aspect of her intimidating posture. As she slid them over to Bruce, he nodded eagerly. “Good, good. Now Blondie, you go,” he said, gesturing to Amy with his knife hand.

“Me?! Why?” Amy yelped. Apparently she was surprised to be included in the situation for the first time, but Stephanie had to admit she didn't get it either.

“Backup uniform!” Bruce spat, “In case I lose any pieces on the road.” Amy turned to Stephanie, who tilted her head urgently. Amy, trembling, bent over and popped off her white-and-pink Sketchers, awkwardly tossing them towards Bruce. He immediately dropped the nurse and hungrily gathered up the shoes. “Perfect! Now bring on the frog!”

Stephanie held down a button on her earpiece to reach Robert. “You heard the man,” she muttered sardonically, “make the call to Kermit's people.” She let go, slowly sinking to the floor where Amy already sat. “Amy, sweetheart... it's gonna be a long night.”