Cut and Run 4 - Divide and Conquer

the
    sidewalk opposite the FBI building. More protesters.
    6 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

    Protesters lobbed more water balloons across the street. Ty deftly
    caught one, cradling it like a football to keep it from popping. He
    reared back as if preparing to sling it back toward the crowd.
    “Grady!” Special Agent in Charge Dan McCoy barked from
    somewhere near the main entrance.
    Ty‟s shoulders slumped, making him look like a scolded puppy
    who was miraculously good at dodging water balloons, and he dropped
    his ammunition as more landed around them.
    Zane wasn‟t so calm. He angrily batted down the next balloon
    thrown at him, and it hit the concrete with a smack and splash. The
    frigid wind bit into his wet skin and sucked the breath from his lungs,
    and Zane couldn‟t suppress the shudder, still feeling the sting of
    busting balloons on his skin. “What the hell?”
    “Quit bitching. At least they‟re full of water and not something
    worse,” Ty shot back at Zane through gritted teeth. He folded his hands
    over his chest and the white words on his blue T-shirt—“Relax, I‟m
    hilarious”—and hunched his shoulders as he turned to look up at the
    concrete structure behind them. “Goddammit, it‟s not on fire!”
    Those around them close enough to hear began to laugh,
    including some of the protesters across the street. Zane shook his head.
    How the hell did Ty manage to relate to people without even trying? It
    would never cease to amaze him.
    Another balloon sailed through the air, landing at the feet of a
    man with a bullhorn who stood near the entrance to the office building.
    He began to inform the crowd that any further action would be
    considered an attack on federal property and federal agents, and that
    arrests would be made. When the words “up to and including deadly
    force” came out of his mouth, the crowd began to rumble.
    Zane had read the memos. But this was the first time he had
    personally run into an attack. “I guess they figure we won‟t arrest them
    for assault,” he said with a shake of his head as he watched his breath
    practically crystallize as he exhaled, it was so cold.
    Ty looked around the crowd, his face expressionless. “Couple
    rubber rounds int-to them should f-fix them up,” he decided, his teeth
    beginning to chatter in the cold.
    Divide & Conquer | 7

    Zane snorted. “Into the balloons, or into the crowd?” He crossed
    his arms, mirroring his partner, and took a step back. He glanced at Ty.
    “Imagine the paperwork.”
    “Garrett! Grady! Get your asses back inside!” McCoy yelled from
    across the lawn. “I‟m not signing off on the sick leave when you get
    pneumonia!”
    “You say that now, but I‟m n-not f-filling out any f-forms!” Ty
    yelled back, stuttering harder. He was watching one of the agents
    decked out in riot gear, specifically eyeing the gun filled with rubber
    bullets. Another volley of balloons, yellow and green and red and blue,
    pulsing with freezing water, sailed through the air toward them.
    If Ty had one of those rifles in hand, he could make an impressive
    show of those flying targets; that might clear these people out fast.
    Zane knew that was exactly what Ty was thinking. He also knew Ty
    wasn‟t thinking about the PR aftermath. Even when Ty considered the
    public backlash of his actions, he rarely cared.
    “Fuck this,” Zane growled. He took Ty by the upper arm even as
    Ty took an impulsive step toward the man in riot gear. Zane turned
    them around and started pulling him back toward the building,
    dismissing the people watching and jeering at them.
    “Those little yellow f-forms with the rippy s-sides, and the blue
    ones th-that ask the s-same questions f-fourteen times, and the
    goddamn p-pink ones that make your fingers b-blue,” Ty rambled as he
    followed along without protest. He sounded like Porky Pig. “I‟d f-fill
    all those out if I could sh-shoot someone right now.”
    “This time I‟m with you. It would be worth it.” Another agent
    swiped an ID card for them, and Zane opened the side door to the
    building, shoved Ty inside, and followed, pulling the solid steel door
    shut behind them and wincing because the alarm was still wailing.
    Ty threw his arm over Zane‟s shoulders and hugged him close.
    His skin was cold against Zane‟s. “This is g-getting ugly,” he said, not
    looking at Zane. Zane knew he was referring to the situation at large,
    the unrest in the city. He continued to speak,