The heavy, metallic click-click of federal handcuffs locking around his wrists echoed through the silent lobby. It was the sound of a career ending, of false authority being stripped away permanently.
With the immediate threat neutralized, Marcus lowered his weapon, keeping it at his side but not yet holstering it. He took a deep, ragged breath. The federal agent persona, the cold, tactical operator, receded slightly to make way for the terrified, relieved son.
He walked past the agents who were currently patting down a weeping Officer Miller. He stopped in front of Arthur.
Arthur slowly lowered his hands. He set his briefcase down on the table, reached into his pocket, and withdrew a crisp white handkerchief. He dabbed his forehead, the only sign that the encounter had affected him physically.
"Are you okay, Dad?" Marcus asked. His voice was low, tight with a mixture of immense relief and residual, burning anger.
The entire lobby gasped collectively. The clerks peering from behind pillars, the civilians on the floor, and especially the handcuffed Officer Miller, whose face was mashed against the table.
Miller groaned in despair. He realized in that horrifying, crystal-clear moment that not only had he committed aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against a prominent civil rights lawyer, but he had done so in front of the man’s son—who happened to be a high-ranking Special Agent with the FBI.
Arthur looked at Marcus and offered a small, proud smile. He reached out and patted his son firmly on the shoulder.
"I am perfectly fine, Marcus," Arthur said, his voice as steady as it had been when he was staring down the barrel of the gun. "Your intervention was quite timely."
Arthur then bent down, finally picking up his driver's license and his bar association card from where they had fallen on the floor. He wiped a speck of dust off them and placed them neatly back into his wallet. He picked up his briefcase.
He looked over at Miller, who was now sobbing quietly, being hauled to his feet by the agents.
"I believe," Arthur said calmly, "I have a hearing to attend. Justice does not wait."
Arthur turned on his heel and walked down the long hallway toward Courtroom B, his head held high, ready to fight the next battle.