Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 3

protest and started to rise, only to have Twitchy's gun pointed at him.
    "Move and I'll blow your fucking brains out."
    Charlie froze, his eyes glued to Niko and wishing he could somehow help.
    "Boss, this son of a bitch is packing!" Bear shouted, jabbing the tip of his rifle harder into Niko's chest. The movement made Niko's jacket part and Charlie could see the black butt of a handgun tucked inside a shoulder holster.
    The first gunman moved swiftly toward them, not bothering to point his rifle at Niko; Bear had that more than covered. He ripped at Niko's jacket, pulled out the gun, and inspected it.
    "Standard police issue." He handed the gun off to Twitchy—not the wisest decision in Charlie's opinion— and slid his hands into Niko's jacket pockets, rooting around until he pulled out a black leather wallet. He opened it and sneered. "Looks like we got ourselves one of Seattle's finest, boys. Isn't that right, Sergeant Stephanopoulos?" His words were flippant, but his eyes were hard as diamonds as he threw Niko's badge to the ground. "Strip."
    Niko blinked. "I'm sorry?"
    "I said strip, pretty boy. How else am I going to know you ain't hiding something else on you?"
    The muscle in Niko's jaw twitched, but he nodded. Bear stood back enough to give him room and Niko carefully stripped off his jacket and holster. Before he could take anything else off, Boss yanked his arm and spun him around, frisking him thoroughly. Charlie gritted his teeth and barely resisted the urge to tell him to back off. The last thing he needed to do was get killed because some dickhead with a gun couldn't keep his hands to himself. Besides, Niko seemed to be taking it all in stride.
    "Clean," Boss determined before shoving Niko around and to the ground again. "Keep an eye on him. I got shit to take care of."
    With that, Boss marched back over to the window and leveled his gun at Bob, who straightened and raised his hands a little higher. "You and me are going for a little stroll, Bobby boy."
    Charlie watched as the man forced Bob through a door, presumably leading to the vault, leaving Twitchy and Bear to guard the hostages. The final gunman was busy harassing the other teller, a lovely blonde woman whose name Charlie didn't know, making lewd, jeering comments while he instructed her to load up a duffel bag with money from the cash drawers. Bear gave Niko one last sneer and a growl before heading over to the far side of the bank to incite more terror. Mindful of Twitchy's nearness, Charlie scooted a bit closer to Niko.
    "You're a cop?" he whispered, trying not to stare at the way Niko's shirt pulled tight across his chest. Now was really not the time for that.
    Niko nodded, his eyes scanning the room as if he was formulating a plan. At least, that's what Charlie hoped he was doing. "I'm a SWAT sergeant."
    Charlie felt his heart skip a beat. Sexy, gay, and a militarized cop with specialized training for hostage situations and other ridiculously kick-ass things? He was so fucked.
    Before Charlie could make a quip about Niko's job putting his Shift Leader status at Game Stop into rather harsh perspective, the sound of sirens rang through the air. Twitchy flinched so hard, Charlie was amazed he didn't shoot his own foot off. Within seconds, he was on Niko, shoving his gun at him and screaming at the top of his lungs.
    "What did you do?"
    Niko's hands were raised in surrender. Charlie was amazed to see that they were steady as a rock, and the knowledge that Niko could face down a semi-automatic weapon and not show any outward signs of fear gave him the courage to speak up.
    "How could he have done anything? You took everything he had! You saw that other guy frisk him!"
    Twitchy whipped the gun at Charlie and then back again, seemingly unable to decide who he wanted to shoot first.
    "It was probably a silent alarm," Niko said reasonably, his eyes locked onto Twitchy's. "They'll surround the building. Come on, you're already in deep for armed robbery. Don't add murder to the list."
    He sounded sensible and calm, but Charlie couldn't breathe for the way the gun was jerking in Twitchy's hands. His heart leapt viciously when a voice sounded from outside the building.
    "This is Sergeant McCoy of the Seattle police department! We have the building surrounded! Come out with your hands up!"
    "Dude, they actually say that? What a cliche," Charlie joked somewhat hysterically, desperate to find some humor somewhere in this fucked up situation.
    Niko