Hero

RODRIGUEZ

               Sam wouldn't stop pacing.

               "Sam?" I called. She stopped suddenly and looked at me.

               "I think we should go back to them," she suggested. I sighed.

               "Calm down, will you? You need to trust LeBron," I told her.

               "How can I?" she shrugged. "LeBron could be dead right now, and Sergei could be on the run with Adrian!" I held up a hand.

               "No," I said quickly. "Absolutely not. LeBron will never die by the bullet. He'll be here in the next fifteen seconds." Sam crossed her arms.

               "And how do you know that, Mister Know-It-All?" she retorted.

               "Because I told LeBron to meet us back here in thirty minutes, and he's never late, so if he's not here in the next five seconds, then I'm assuming something's wrong," I told her, "And can you stop calling me cheesy names?"

               We waited for what seemed like the longest five seconds of my life.

               Suddenly, LeBron and Adrian jumped from a short building.

               "Speak of the devil. There they are now," I said. Sam rushed to Adrian and hugged him tightly.

               "So, what's the status, LeBron?" I asked.

               "Adrian got all the breath knocked out of him. Twice, when Sergei chucked him at the wall, but other than that, he's fine," he answered. I cleared my throat.

               "I was talking about you," I mentioned.

               "Oh, I'm fine. The only injuries I have are a bullet skimming on my arm from where that sniper shot me, a bullet wound on the side from where Sergei shot me, and a cut on my neck from where Sergei tried to kill me," he replied. "Other than that, I've never felt better. I'm perfectly fine."

               "LeBron, that is not fine. You need medical treatment. Let's wrap this up and leave," I said. I looked at Sam, who practically killed Adrian with her bear hug.

               "I can't...breathe...!" Adrian groaned.

               "Samantha, you're suffocating him," LeBron told her.

               "Oops!" Sam dropped him, and Adrian took a deep breath. "I'm so glad that you two are still alive. I was worried there for a second."

               "Yeah, you should've seen her pacing around. I thought she was gonna make a sidewalk on the sidewalk." I said with a straight face.

               "And what about the sniper?" LeBron asked, "I'm assuming the police took him away?"

               "Correct," I answered. "And what about Sergei?"

               "Adrian saved me from him," LeBron told us, "Sergei was about to kill me when Adrian ran to fight him. It wasn't much of a fight, but it gave me time to get back on my feet and escape."

               "Huh?" Sam looked at Adrian, who was dusting himself off. She hugged him tightly again, and Adrian groaned when she did so. "You're a hero!"

               I rolled my eyes.

               "Come on, you guys, LeBron's wounds aren't gonna wait to be treated," I said, and we entered the car with LeBron and Adrian in the backseat, Sam in the passenger seat, and I was driving.

               "Oh, and Rodriguez," LeBron mentioned, "Sergei had a whistle. When he blew into it, no one could hear it except Adrian. Sergei said that the reason is because only people under twenty can hear it. Would you mind explaining what it sounded like, Adrian?" Adrian stared out the window.

               Instead of answering, Adrian suddenly sat up and grabbed the window, looking out as if he had seen something.

               "What?" LeBron asked, looking as well. "Did you see something?"

               "Huh?" Adrian quickly turned away from the window. "I mean, um... It sounded very deafening... It was very high-pitched." he rephrased.

               "So now, we can look forward to telling the police and higher-ups that Sergei has been sighted," I said.

               "Hey, Adrian, you should join the SIU!" Sam chimed in.

               "Sam, no, it's too dangerous–"

               "You can meet Daniel, Tod, and Ruth. They're part of the SIU, too!" she went on.

               "Sam," I said, "It's too dangerous. He's not ready."

               "I told you already," Adrian reasoned, "I'm not getting involved in all this killing and stuff."

               "You don't have a choice, Adrian," LeBron told him, looking out the window. "Because your whole family—your whole adoptive family, that is—works in the Special Investigative Unit, you either sign the Official Secrets Act or join the Special Investigative Unit because you keep getting involved in our missions anyway, and to keep signing the Official Secrets Act is starting to get really annoying because it's causing our pens to run out of ink, so I really suggest you take the second option of joining the Special Investigative Unit and besides, if you keep signing the Official Secrets Act, then we'll run out of ink in our pens, and sooner or later you'll have to join us–"

               "Fine, fine!" Adrian submitted, "I-I'll do it, okay? I'll join."