"Trust you? That would be new," Mike uttered, causing Sands to arch a dark eyebrow in his general direction.

"Well, yes… I do admit it would be a new experience for you," Sands said wryly as he stubbed out his second cigarette. He’d been careful to pay attention to how long he’d been holding it so as not to repeat his earlier blunder. "However, knowing that you’d have a difficult time trusting your dear ol’ partner Officer Sands, I will not ask you to rely on faith or loyalty. I have something better for you Mikey. I have proof."

"Proof?" Lake exclaimed, stepping in "What possible proof could you have?"

"Tell me Officer Lake, do I strike you as a stupid man? You can tell the truth," Sands said, his demeanor calm as he again leaned back in his chair, but an edge of warning creeping into his tone. "I won’t kill you for speaking your mind. I might shoot you where the sun don’t shine, but I won’t kill you Officer Lake."

Lake cleared his throat uncomfortably at the vision Sands’ words conjured up, but he regained his composure quickly as reality struck him. Officer Sands was blind, he probably couldn’t even hit Lake if he tried, assuming that Sands had a gun in the first place.

"All you have to do is find my cell phone. It has a tracking device in it so it shouldn’t be too difficult for the Company to find. If you manage to produce it, I might even develop a tiny smidgen of respect for the two of you," Sands continued, not waiting for an answer to his first question.

Mike looked at Lake and rolled his eyes, and Lake in turn looked at the perturbing officer.

Sands was leaning far back in his chair, the two front feet off the ground as he swayed the chair back and forth, looking totally full of himself.

Lake had really had enough of Sands macho bullshit.

Lake hit the stop button on the tape recorder. He doubted he’d get anything else important out of Sands in this meeting, and if by chance he did, he could just write it down. Besides, he had something he wanted to say that would be less than professional and frowned upon by the Company.

"You didn’t strike me as a stupid man until your last sentence, Officer Sands," Lake replied calmly, even as Mike gave him a serious warning glance and shook his head slightly to say ‘no’. Lake ignored him and went on, "How is a blind – handicapped – Officer, such as yourself, Officer Sands, going to shoot an able-bodied, fit officer, such as myself, when he can’t even see his target… especially when he doesn’t even have a gun in the first place?"

The front legs of Sands’ chair hit the floor with a thud.

Mike was speechless, and he noticed that Sands was too.

‘I swear it’s like watching a train wreck,’ Mike thought to himself. ‘Oh Lake, you idiot! Sands is going to kill you, and he certainly won’t need a gun to do it.’

"Officer Lake, that was way out of line! Are you forgetting that you are addressing a superior officer?" Mike said, his tone authoritative and slightly disgusted. Lake had gone way too far for any officer, but to call Officer Sands handicapped and stupid? That was suicide.

‘Sands is a dangerous man, a brilliant man, a psychotic man, but he certainly isn’t a helpless man. He could never be that.’ Of that, Mike was sure.

Sands was sitting there, deathly silent, as his brain digested the words Lake had said to him. It was as if the world around him was in slow motion and the words only slowly started to sink in.

Blind. Stupid. Handicapped.

Sands’ brows came together in a rush. The room was silent, waiting for his reaction as his mind argued with itself. Sands hated when his mind did this; it was during these times that he would think about all that had happened, and all it would truly mean.

Mike and Lake stood still, watching Sands intently. The tension in the debrief room was so thick you couldn’t have blasted through it with a grenade launcher. Evidently even Lake knew he’d crossed the line. Too bad he didn’t think before he talked.

Sands forced himself to snap out of the one-man argument he was having and flashed Lake an evil grin full of malice as he gave him the finger. "Climb it Tarzan."

Both Lake and Mike exhaled deeply as Sands finally broke the silence. Mike was still quite worried however, knowing it wasn’t like Sands to let something like this go so easily.

"I-I’m sorry Sands, Lake had no right." Mike apologized, trying to figure out what was going through Sands’ mind. ‘He has to be planning something.’

Sands said nothing, only lowering his head slightly as he let his hand drop to his side. His brow was furrowed as if frustrated. Actually, he almost looked defeated.

This worried Mike; as a matter of fact he got a downright chill.

Mike walked over to Sands slowly, cautiously, just as one would approach a dangerous wild animal. As he did so, Lake spoke again, "See Mike? I knew Sands was all talk and no show. Just a lot of hot air and bullshit."

Mike, now by Sands side, spun around to face Lake. ‘The kid must have a death wish. That can be the only explanation for his stupidity.’

Sands listened intently, knowing he was on the verge of losing his cool. He heard Mike defending him. ‘Well look at that, the man is good for somethin’ after all.’ He concentrated deeply on the sounds around him, a thought taking form. ‘Mike is standing right beside me…’

"What’s gotten into your head, Lake?!" Mike replied, as he shot Lake a scathing glare. Unfortunately, this caused Mike to let his guard down, and a highly peeved Sands was sitting next to him. It was not a good combination.

Sands let a small smile creep across his face; both officers too busy sparring with each other to notice the look of mischief. Lake was saying something else, the idiot no doubt insulting him again… but Sands wasn’t paying attention to what was being said… no, what concerned him was where it was being said.

Sands was so quick that the two other officers in the room didn’t even see it happening until Sands stood up sharply with the automatic in his right hand.

Sands had easily zeroed in on the sound of his former partner’s gun in its holster. With expert precision he’d snaked his hand across Mike’s back, freeing the gun from the holster and owner, and into Sands’ dangerous possession within a mere couple seconds.

‘Now things will get interesting,’ Sands thought wickedly as he lifted the gun, training it on Lake’s voice. Lake immediately stopped talking.

He heard Mike start to move towards him and he swung around, training the weapon on his old partner.

"Don’t get into this, ol’ pal. I’d hate to have to shoot you too, because the truth is I kinda like you."

Mike wisely backed off and the gun zeroed back in on Sands’ main target, as Lake started backing towards the door.

"Oh no, no, no, Lake… you’re not getting away that easy. One more step to that door you’re undoubtedly trying to flee through, one call for help and I will shoot you. I swear I’ll blow your fucking brains out… and believe me, I won’t miss." He paused and cocked his head to one side. "You follow?"

Lake wisely stopped moving.

"Sands…" Lake started meekly, but stopped almost as quickly, at a loss for words as he stared at the now frightening figure of a black-clad Sands with a gun zeroed in on him.

Sands knew the kid was scared to death, which was exactly what he wanted.

A menacing smile crept across Sands lips as he slowly and stealthily made his way closer to Lake, making sure to remember where the desk and chairs were. Sands felt like he was there in Mexico again, using his newly heightened sense of hearing to bring the cartel men - and women - down.

He could almost feel the heat of the Mexican sun beating down on him, feel the dust off the street enter his lungs…

Sands was directly in front of Lake now, the gun still aimed at Lake’s chest… much to Lake’s surprise.

"What’s the matter Lake? Cat got your tongue?" Sands asked him, tilting his head. He knew Lake was surprised at the sudden development, and he knew that Mike was not.

"Sands, he’s just a stupid kid. Please…" Mike tried one last time, and Sands head snapped around to face him briefly.

"Stay out of this Mikey, I’m handling it," Sands said to Mike before turning his head back to Lake and speaking to him in a dangerously flippant voice, "and when I say I’m handling it…" he paused for dramatic effect, "I’m handling it."

Sands edged closer to Lake, gun still poised at the ready, not wavering an inch. Lake took a step back, but Sands was too close and his left arm quickly grabbed for Lake’s neck. Since he couldn’t see him he had to guess where that might be. He missed, instead only getting a firm hold on Lake’s jacket, but it would do.

Sands yanked Lake closer as his left hand quickly found its way to Lake’s neck. Their faces were only a couple of inches apart now and Sands could hear the shaky breaths Lake was taking.

The rookie was terrified.

Sands gave his neck a squeeze and slowly backed Lake up until he felt Lake’s body press into the wall.

Sands smiled wider. "N’ayez pas peur," Sands purred dangerously, using the different languages to keep Lake worried, one of his favorite tactics. Sands clicked off the gun’s safety so Lake would know he meant business.

Sands leaned forward a little more, his face almost touching Lake’s, before whispering "It means… don’t be afraid."

Sands roughly shoved the barrel of the gun under Lake’s chin. Mike said something to him, but Sands wasn’t listening.

"I-I-I didn’t mean… t-t-to insult you. It just slipped out, I-" Lake stuttered, but was cut off by Sands.

"Flocci non facio! You said it, and now it’s time for you to pay the piper." Sands breathed in deeply through his nose and Lake could swear Sands could smell his fear.

"Handicapped, am I? Wouldn’t be able to shoot you if I tried? Then how do you, pray tell, an able-bodied and fit young officer, explain the current situation? Held at gunpoint by a blind, handicapped officer who’s all talk and no show, huh?" Sands pressed the barrel of the gun harder into the officer to accentuate his point.

"You’ve underestimated me, and now things have gotten a wee bit dangerous… haven’t they?" Sands said. The chill in his voice could freeze water. "Take a right leer, dear Lake. See that? It’s your partner doing nothing to save your lousy hide. Do you know why?" Sands asked, waiting for a reply. He was greeted with silence. "Do you?!" Sands repeated forcefully.

"No," Lake said, his voice barely audible.

"Because Mike Gleason knows me, he knows how dangerous I really am, and he knows that I’m more than just talk… savvy? I can put on quite a show as well."

Lake gulped, trying to swallow the lump that had lodged in his throat.

"You wouldn’t dare kill me, a fellow officer, here at OOS," Lake stated, sounding more than a little unsure of himself as his voice wavered slightly.

Sands raised his eyebrows in mock surprise and leaned into Lake, whispering almost silently into his ear, barely loud enough for Lake to even make it out.

"Oh yes I would."

~*~

Flocci non facio - I don’t give a damn