The Blues Author: Limonize Email: spiral@spinfinder.com Rating: PG Summary: Nick's visit at his bank --+-- Nick had the blues. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt this way. "Will that be in large bills, Mr. Fallin?" "Uh, yeah." he replied absently to the bank teller's question. As she counted out his $900.00 withdrawal with a brisk, controlled speed, Nick took in the all the new promotional posters the bank had recently mounted, with an uncharacteristically slow glance. A picture of a couple in a loving embrace, depicted in a poster promoting vacation loans caught his eye, making him almost wince. He did not want to be reminded even indirectly of Lulu or Venna or Kim -- or of anyone who had slipped out of his life. With his money safely tucked away in his pocket, he turned to leave. But as he stepped in the direction of the bank's revolving door, he noticed an alarmed expression on the faces of a couple of new arrivals approaching the lineups. They seemed to be looking directly behind him. He turned to investigate the source of their focus. After scanning for a couple of seconds, he noticed that the face of teller who had serviced him, had grown very pale. Her eyes were downcast, and as Nick puzzled over this, the cause of her problem came into finally into his purview: the customer behind Nick was brandishing a gun at the teller at roughly chest level. He had it pointed not even a foot away from the teller's upper chest levels, while she hurriedly tried to lift her drawer out in an attempt to assuage the robber that no more bills were had been stored underneath. "Get some from the teller on your left." he growled in a menacing but unruffled tone. "Don't try pulling anything!" he added. To Nick, he looked like a drug dealer, probably all coked up or needing a fix. Nick had no doubt he meant business. He was probably even counting on the fact that having his gun levelled at her would deter any surprise attacks on him from behind Nick assessed his chances at jumping him. In a mostly unthinking, impulsive gesture, Nick cried out: "Hey asshole!! - Didn't your mother raise you right?!?" Everyone who had become aware of the situation – some of the customers had not even noticed the developments at the two wickets - glanced at Nick's with shock and disbelief in their faces. They were greatly apprehensive. All were wondering what the gunman would do next. It was the distraction that Nick had hoped for. The gunman's attention was momentarily compromised while he tried to determine the origin and direction of the insult. Nick did not hesitate. He charged straight forward, ramming his entire body headfirst like a bull in a bullfight, directly into the center of the gunman's back. The gun discharged wildly in an oblique direction, and Nick banged it quickly from his hand, where it fell onto the floor, largely unseen. The sound of its gunshot crack echoed throughout the marble columns of the bank, shocking everyone's sensibilities – particularly those who had been wholly unaware of the danger. No one moved after the echoes had died away. A security guard and a man dressed like a manager finally rushed in, charged in at the sides of the gunman while he remained pinned roughly against the counter, trapped in Nick's forward push and vise-like embrace. More people began to swarm in. Nick now felt pinned against the bank robber uncomfortably, against his will. The heat of the many bodies pressing in on him was also becoming unbearable. He began to shout, but his voice did not carry, the sound was mostly muffled. "Let me out. Let me up! N-n-ph" . He squirmed to escape, but too many pressing bodies blocked his retreat. Someone, eventually seeing his predicament drew away finally, to make room for him to extricate himself. As he pulled back out from huddle of bodies, he felt rather astonished at what he saw: while the gunman was now having his wrists handcuffed behind his back by the guard, at least six people were holding the captive gunman at bay in some way or another, either gripping, pinning or pushing him so that he did could not easily struggle or attempt to escape. After a couple more minutes of unsuccessful struggling on the part of the gunman, his arrest now seemed imminent to most onlookers. But then the gunman suddenly broke himself out of the huddle, determined to bolt and disappear. He unknowingly headed toward Nick's vicinity, Nick being partly shielded by a post. Nick responded reflexively, throwing his leg out to trip him up. The gunman tripped hard over Nick's sudden outthrusting. He was propelled so violently by the force of his own flight, that he landed arms and headfirst onto the floor, his chin hitting the marble floor so hard, it made a resounding cracking sound. Without delay, the overweight guard who had handcuffed the gunman, emerged quickly up from behind Nick and ran over the where the man lay. Then he lowered himself and sat full-weight on the gunman's backside, ensuring that it would not be so easy for his to bolt as before. A second person, taking his cue from the guard, proceeded to sit on his ankles. The crowd began to laugh and clap almost as if this had been a prime-time show they had attended -- as if the whole series of events had been sponsored by the bank to keep them entertained during their hurried lunch hours. In many respects the sequence of events had almost parodied things one saw on TV. "Hey, Nick!" Nick turned around toward the sound of a familiar voice. "Great going!!" exclaimed Gretchen, the receptionist at the Fallin & Fallin offices, who had been there to make the Fallin & Fallin lunchtime deposit. Her eyes twinkled while she grinned at him, admiringly. She gave him a vigorous "thumbs up" and broad smile, displaying her approval.. "Way to go, Nick!" she exclaimed. "Hey Nick!" the guard yelled up at him, now knowing the well-dressed, young man's name, thanks to Gretchen's greeting. "Great going, man!" The guard too, gave him the thumbs up. Nick smiled self-consciously. Then everyone joined in. "Thanks man! You probably saved a couple of lives today." "Quick thinking, jeez – it could have been so bad!" said a young man in his twenties, thanking Nick appreciatively. Another older woman looked at him appraisingly and then went to shake his hand. As Nick took her hand, she placing a second hand on his. "It takes a lot of courage to do what you did." she said clearly, looking directly at him, patting his hand in a maternal way. Nick blushed. He was in a crowd of strangers who were thanking him for expressing his temper and outrage. But he had lost it in the right context this time. He was not a failure today. It began to sink in - their appreciation was genuine and real. Nonetheless, he continued to feel largely self-conscious. He thanked everyone and excused himself. ~ ~ ~ "..and then.." Gretchen stopped talking and looked up as Nick entered. Three of the Fallin & Fallin employees were standing around the reception counter, listening to Gretchen recount the terrifying moments at the bank. One of them was Jake. "Wow, man - great going! I can't believe that happened..wow! Did he try to punch you, or.." "- Let's hope it generates a few more clients around here. Has anyone contacted the bank and let them know about our great legal services?" said Nick, cutting him off, and breaking into a devilish smile. "Uh, no." replied Jake, taken aback. "But I'll…I'll get on it!" he replied sheepishly. "Just kidding, Jake." Nick smiled at him, seeming for once to Jake, to be in a genuinely good frame of mind. "Oh…by the way, Nick – Lulu called long-distance." Gretchen announced, remembering she was also still charged with passing on messages. "You didn't tell her about…" Nick asked deadpan, hoping secretly that his heroics HAD been discussed with Lulu. "Yeah, as a matter fact I did, Nick. Is something wrong, or..?" Gretchen asked with concern. "Too late now.." grumbled Nick, making a beeline for his office before anyone noticed his barely suppressed grin. He went to his office and found four messages on his answering tape from Lulu. They were all prefaced with some variant of "Nick! Omigod! Call me, and tell me you're okay! Call me as soon as you get this message!" He smiled, feeling at peace with himself and everything around him. "Say son! That's quite a thing that happened. I hope you're going to tell me all about it, and not leave your old man on the hook about this!" said Burton, walking straight up to Nick's desk, his eyes wide with excitement and relief. "Well, it wasn't much really. This guy was holding a gun and..." ~ ~ ~ THE END