Time stopped.

All noises faded away.

There was only here, only now.

He could sense his heart beating as if he’d just run twenty blocks.

He could hear the air moving through his mouth as it rushed to his lungs.

He could feel the adrenaline spiking in his system.

He could see with more clarity than usual, knowing, somewhere in his mind, that his pupils were dilated.

He knew that he was alive and that his life was now balanced on a precarious point. Things could go very badly very quickly.

“I’m a federal agent. You don’t want to do this.”

In the silence the voice took on tones and gravity that he was sure weren’t there normally. There was also a note of pleading evident.

Harsh laughter barked into the silence after the statement.

This couldn’t end well for one of them. Things had gone too far. Looking into the eyes of the man across from him, he wondered if he would be able to pull the trigger.

The next moment, the muzzle of a gun pressed into the base of his skull. “Drop it!” came the terse command.

He hesitated a moment, unsure. The gun was pressed more firmly, causing his head to move forward slightly.

Releasing his tight hold on his gun, he allowed it to spin harmlessly on his index finger before dropping onto a nearby shelf as both arms were raised in surrender. As he did so, the muzzle of the gun was pulled away.

“On the floor,” the unseen force commanded.

Closing his eyes in defeat, he slowly made his way to his knees, hands still raised, uncertain what would happen next. He found out soon enough as his hands were cuffed behind him.

“You all right, Martin?” the unseen voice asked, as the woman who had snuck up behind him.

“Fine,” the agent assured. “You?”

The woman walked around him and now he could see her face as well. “I’m fine, Martin,” Vivian assured. “I just don’t know about you, though. We can’t even send you out for creamer without you getting into trouble.”

The agent he’d been facing down, the one identified as Martin, smiled and blushed.

End.