South Brooklyn, NYC, USA.

Ben's P.O.V.

Once outside the vehicle, Ben positioned the shield between the man aiming his rifle at him and his own body, his eyes briefly examining the man's surroundings, confirming that Cross was with the hostages, leaving Marco alone there. Turning his gaze toward the man, he noted the black balaclava he wore to hide his face, which made a question instantly surface in his mind.

Knowing that his earpiece microphone was activated, he immediately reported his findings. “This is Grey Knight.” He started while using the 'superhero' name he decided to adopt after talking with May about it. The idea actually came from her as she believed it would connect his previous life's identity with his current one.

What he did not tell anyone however was that the child inside him found the name cool, and thus, after some hesitation, it was approved. “Marco's alone at the entrance. I've got no visual on Cross. Also, Marco got his face covered. How the heck did they get his identity? Over.” The tone he used was just high enough for everyone connected to the earpiece to hear him before he suddenly spoke loud enough for the man up the stone staircase to hear him.

“I'm John from the SWAT team. I've been sent as a negotiator to make sure that the two of you get the money and the car, and we get back all the hostages in one piece. Everyone gets what they want and goes back home happy and safe.” He understood that his getup looked very threatening to civilians, whether they were Supes or not. That was why he had to explain himself to the man, or else he might get shot at by mistake.

“What about the other cop? And why do you have a fucking shield? Think I'm a dumbass or what? Want me to kill a few in there or what?!” As the man's words flowed into Ben's ears, he spotted the change in the former's body language which showcased Marco's increasingly unstable emotions.

'Not good!' He thought before cutting off the man's rant with his magnetic voice. “I can't answer you if you don't let me, son.” Obviously not expecting to be interrupted, the man lashed out quickly. “Don't fucking call me son! I'm not your son, you fucker!” “Alright, alright, I won't call you son, then.”

[This is Black Widow. Marco got identified by a security camera in one of the adjacent streets before he put on his balaclava. He doesn't know that we know. Over.”] As the words came out of his earpiece, Parker thought in relief. 'Right on time.' Before continuing out loud. “Since you don't want me to call you son, why don't you tell me your name?”

“Ain't you a smart fucker! Think I'll tell you and get the cops on my ass later? No way!” With a wry smile hidden by his mask and helmet, he thought. 'Think you're so smart, uh kid? But at least, he seemed to have calmed down.'

He then tried again. “You got me. Why don't you choose a name I can use to call you, then? I can't exactly call you robber, now can I?” His words seemed to plunge the gunman into a contemplative silence. A few seconds later, the silver-eyed man heard Nat's whisper this time.

[”This is Black Widow. I got in from the back door. I found Cross and the hostages. He's keeping them on the west side of the building, in a semi-open room with no door and some clerestory windows. From what I can tell, there are only two injured men. The guard and another blond guy. The first looked unconscious with no visible injuries, but the other one got a broken leg and a broken arm. His face seemed to be injured as well. From his physical characteristics, he should be the guy who bullied Cross, James Wallace. Over.”]

Whispering similarly, Ben paid attention not to be heard by Marco. “Grey Knight here. Is his life in danger? And do you think you can neutralize him? Over.” [”It's hard to say. Someone seemed to have treated his injuries enough for him to at least not bleed out. But we can't waste too much time.”] Pausing for a second, she added.

[”Also, I could neutralize him permanently with a 100% guarantee, but because of his shell-like power, I'm not sure I could knock him out without risking the hostages' lives. The odds are 50-50 and I'm not much of a gambler, so I'll refrain for now. Try to speed the negotiation along so that we can get them back. Over.”]

“Copy that. Over.” He replied before a small sigh of frustration escaped him, while a thought appeared in his mind. 'I really hate hostage situations. It's always so restrictive... Whatever, I'll just do my best here and if that guy doesn't make it, that'd just make one less asshole on Earth.'

With his eyes focused on the armed man's figure, Ben suddenly cut off the former's dragging pondering with a question. “So, did you choose a name? It's just a name. There's no need to make it too complicated.” As if his words helped him decide, Marco replied with some hesitation, showcasing once more how out of his depths he was with the current situation.

“Sandman? Right, Sandman! Call me Sandman!” Freezing for a second, the silver-eyed man thought wryly. 'And here I thought that Grey Knight was embarrassing. I guess I was too naive.' Before replying to Flint Marco A.K.A. Sandman. “Sandman, right? It's got a nice ring to it. Simple and fitting.”

At his words, the young man looked proud, helping Ben complete the 'file' he created in his mind about him. 'The kid doesn't seem irredeemable. We may even end this without any more bloodshed.' He thought relieved, before continuing. “Why don't we go back to our previous conversation about the negotiation?”

Nodding his head stiffly at 'John''s words, Marco retorted. “Alright, dude. You ain't too bad.” “Perfect! For a start, why don't you let a few of the hostages go? If there are some injured, you could let them out to get treated. After all, I'm sure you don't want any dead bodies on your hands.”

Shaking his head, Sandman responded. “Nah. We're only doing this for the cash...” Hesitating for a second, he added. “But the guy with me got some beef with the big boss here, so I ain't sure if he wants the dude out or not... I'll get the guard first, so stay there!”

After he agreed to his request, Ben had to wait while feeling slightly impatient. Fortunately, Natalia's voice resounded in his ear again. [”Black Widow here. Marco and Cross are discussing with each other. They seem to have some disagreements.”] Pausing for a somewhat longer moment, the woman then added.

[”They look like they have reached some sort of agreement. Marco took the guard's body with him and he's heading in your direction, Grey Knight. Over.”] “Copy that. Over.” A few seconds later, the man came back while dragging the body of the knocked-out security guard before setting him down in the middle of the stone stairs, backing up immediately after.

“Here's the guard, dude. We'll keep the dickhead though. My pal said we'll keep the guy with us and when we're sure you ain't following us, then we'll let him out.” Sighing inwardly at those not-so-unexpected words, Ben replied. “What about the other hostages?”

“We'll only keep one else. The others will go.” From what he understood of Marco and Cross, it was the best he would get, and he could not really afford to waste too much time as the Wallace guy needed urgent medical care. Thus he nodded his head and replied. “Alright then. Why don't you let go of those hostages while I get the guard to some ambulance?”

Nodding his head, the masked young man retorted in a voice that revealed his calmer emotions. “Sure, dude. Don't get in though, or I'll shoot some of 'em!” After reassuring Marco, the tall Shield agent advanced slowly toward the guard, keeping the ballistic shield aimed in the rifle's direction.

Once he arrived by the side of the older man's unconscious body, he bent his upper body quickly, grabbed him with one hand, and put him over his shoulder. Then he stepped back faster than he previously arrived, reaching the other side of the bulletproof car in a few short seconds.

As soon as the younger man noticed Ben recovering the man lying out cold on the stone steps, he nodded before likewise stepping back inside the bank to, hopefully, let go of most of the hostages inside. Not wanting to waste time waiting there, the silver-eyed man dashed toward the ambulance waiting behind the police, all the while communicating with the other three SHIELD agents.

“This is Grey Knight. I negotiated for Marco to free all the hostages but two. One of them is that Wallace guy because of Cross and the other is unknown. I'm currently getting the guard to an ambulance before going back there. Over.” Once the words left his mouth, it did not take long for the redhead's reply to appear.

[”Black Widow here. I copy. Agents 25 and 28, get the car ready for a pursuit. Grey Knight, once they get the car, get in our own with the other two agents. I'll leave here as soon as all the hostages, but the two they intend to keep, leave. I'll then regroup with you three if I'm on time. If not I'll acquire another means of transportation. Are we clear? Over.”]

“Crystal.” [”28 here. Crystal clear, Ma'am.”] [”This is 25. Copy that, Ma'am.”] With his superhuman physique, it only took less than a dozen seconds to reach the ambulance, and hand over the man slumped over his shoulder to the paramedics present there. Now that he did not have to be careful not to hurt someone else, the muscular man ran back to the car, this time at a speed around three times faster than previously.

During those few seconds of running, Ben focused his mind on his legs' muscles tensing and loosening under his skin and started to realize how powerful he had become, something that he hadn't had the time nor the facilities to test the limit of. The feeling was... Exhilarating! As a small smile of enjoyment surfaced on his face, his body became still, as he had already reached the bulletproof vehicle's side.

A bit of frustration appeared in his heart, as he made a decision. 'I really have to find a way to test what I can do. Having strength but not being able to use it is... irritating.' He thought before his mind started to wander a bit while waiting for the hostages. Of course, he did not forget to hold his ballistic shield in front of him, as there was no need to take more risks than needed.

After an unknown amount of time, he heard the sound of multiple footsteps, all coming from the building's interior. Focusing his gaze on the entrance, he only had to wait a brief moment before spotting numerous people coming out from inside, all of them looking pale and trembling from what he could guess was the fear of dying then and there.

Wanting to be sure of something, he examined all of them and almost instantly felt relieved. Indeed, besides some of them having dark patches in the middle of their pants, none of them seemed injured. Seeing the people dawdling around, he commanded them loudly.

“Everyone! My name is John and I'm the negotiator for the police. Don't waste time and go that way where there'll be some of my colleagues ready to receive you.” Maybe it was because of his charismatic voice, or because of his intimidating presence due to his SWAT gear, but the ex-hostages immediately obeyed his instruction and left for the police officers waiting for them. Some of them even started running clumsily, pushing everyone else to walk at a quicker pace.

Once he was sure that they were all safe, the man turned back toward the entrance, noting the two robbers standing there, with Marco still with his AR15 in his hands while Cross was holding the heavily injured Wallace fellow from the back of his pants belt. Surprisingly, the other hostage was not restrained in any way and was even standing behind the physical Supe, the latter unconsciously shielding her from his gaze.

Examining their body language made him realize that the man's demand for keeping two hostages was not as straightforward as he previously thought. 'Interesting.' Ben thought as he informed the other agents of the successful rescue of most of the hostages before he was interrupted by the voice of the man whose physique looked as imposing as Ben's.

“We've freed everyone but those two as per our agreement. Now, we want the cash and car.”