I wasn't expecting there to be a pleasant mood in the SCPD when I got back. But it was much grimmer than I expected.
'11 officers died today,' Lance spoke gravely, his head down to cover up the fact that he was crying. '50 more are in a critical condition.'
The large room no longer looked crowded as it did a few hours ago, the department sparsely scattered across the space, all heads more or less bowed in mourning. It felt horrible, the atmosphere of the place, as if some sort of shadow had cast us all in the dark. I wanted to cry myself.
'More of us wouldn't be here now if the SWAT team hadn't have intervened,' Lance carried on, half angry, half thankful. 'And thanks to the valiant effort of all of you standing here, we managed to make it in time and turn that gang away.'
Lance suddenly looked my way and gestured towards me, consequently making everyone else look my way.
'It was only her first day back, but Aria made me come back here and call for help,' Lance continued. 'Without her help, there would be many more casualties today.'
An explosion of applause erupted, people patting my back and nodding their heads at me in thanks.
It felt good to be noticed for my help, but I still hated all the attention. First it was me returning to the city. Now it was being a 'brave soldier'. I didn't need thanks for my actions; I wanted to help unnoticed, behind the scenes, so only I could know what I did and be the only one to know that I was their saviour.
But no one gets everything they want.
---
'Where can I see the officers from this mornings attack?' I inquired.
As the nurse showed me the way, it felt as if the glaring white hospital walls were staring at me, telling me, 'You should have saved them all'. I knew I would find this particular visit hard, but I had to do this. I had to check if they were all okay.
I couldn't have dreamt what I was getting myself in for. As I stepped into that ward, I found myself in the middle of many wounded and dying men and women, all busy trying to get through to recovery. I didn't know if it was the blood or the shouts of pain that was worse, but I certainly felt a great deal of upset.
'I could have stopped this', my conscience toyed at my mind, stubbornly trying to make me believe it was my fault. I really did believe it too.
All of a sudden, applause rippled throughout the room. At me. How could they thank me? I hadn't helped them one bit. But they seemed to think otherwise.
'I saw you out there,' a familiar voice spoke.
It was Hilton, covered in blood and talking with a cracked voice.
'I didn't do anything,' I shook my head sadly. 'Why are you all cheering for me? Without you, we would have surely lost against them.'
'No, without you we would have,' Hilton corrected me with a weak smile. 'You ran into the middle of the battlefield, into the eye of the storm. You risked your life for us all. And I'm grateful for that. Everyone is.'
'But I didn't-' I tried to protest.
'Listen to yourself, Aria,' Hilton interrupted. 'Stop doubting yourself.'
'But I'm telling the truth!' I cried. 'I got you in this state. All of you in here. I could have saved you all. But I didn't.'
'You couldn't,' Hilton corrected me again. 'No one could be that great.'
Laughing in unison, I peered around the rest of the ward again. There were so many officers in beds in a much worse condition than Hilton, nurses and doctors hurrying to and fro to cope with the mass of people. And one of those nurses was Elliot.
'Aria?' He asked, relieved but in a stressed tone.
Coming closer, he grasped me into a long hug.
'It's nice to see you too,' I laughed nervously, confused at Elliot's concern.
'I was so worried about you!' He exclaimed, taking his arms away from me. 'I heard patients talking about 'the new forensic scientist saving them all', and I had a lucky guess at who they were talking about.'
'My, you are the detective,' I laughed sarcastically, before Elliot hugged me again.
'I thought... I thought you were dead,' he said gravely. 'You weren't here, so I assumed you'd... Died at the crime scene.'
'And you didn't come find me?' I asked, pretending to be offended.
'I'm being serious, Ari,' Elliot said quietly. 'I didn't come and find you because... Because couldn't the idea that you were gone.'
'Well, now you don't have to think about that,' I smiled reassuringly. 'I'm here now!'
'Yeah,' he smiled.
But if this is how Elliot reacted to me disappearing for a morning, how would he cope with us being in danger 24/7 when we started our crusade? Especially since I was the only one who could actually fight, I would be the one in the action head-on.
Maybe he just needed toughening up.
---
'Aria Coleman?' I heard a voice call my name as its owner strided up to the desk in the gym foyer that evening.
I nodded at him, realising he must have been my trainer for my boxing classes.
'That's me,' I smiled warmly.
As he looked at me, I felt as if I had seen these eyes before, and that mouth speak those words. But I had never met him before, surely. Yet a strange feeling had washed over me, trying to convince me this wasn't our first meeting.
'...I'm Ted Grant, your boxing coach,' he said to break the awkward silence between us both.
I got the impression he had the same strange feeling I had.
'Its nice to meet you,' I shook his sweaty hand, instantly regretting it.
Discretely wiping my hands on my clothes, I realised how fussy and frivolous I had become. I needed these classes badly; I'd suffered through much worse than a not-so-perfect handshake, and now I was disgusted at perspiration. I really needed a reality check if I was going to be the new vigilante of this city.
'Have you done any boxing before?' Ted asked as we entered the training room.
'Not boxing,' I shook my head. 'But I know some self defence techniques. Nothing much.'
I didn't want to sound too big for my boots, and I also didn't want to give Ted too big an impression of my skills. I wasn't that good anyway, I just knew enough to stay alive.
'Let's put your skills to the test then,' Ted suggested, throwing me a pair of boxing gloves.
I aimed controlled punches at Ted, who deflected them with no trouble. I upped the ante, throwing more powerful punches this time. Ted had given me more of a chance at this point, as I managed to punch him a fair few times, each blow obviously causing a slight amount of pain to him.
'You're good,' he complimented, stopping me before I could do any serious damage to him. 'I didn't realise you had such good technique.'
I still had it in me? I marvelled as I reflected on his very positive comments. Maybe I was ready to become a vigilante sooner than I thought.
As we continued with the lesson, I kept feeling as if I recognised his moves, as if I knew Ted Grant already, but for his skills, not his personality. I just couldn't put my finger on it.
---
As the lesson was coming to a close, I felt a buzz from my phone. It was the SCPD.
'Aria, we need backup ASAP,' Lance's voice erupted from the speaker urgently. 'It's the gang again. They're back.'
'I have to go,' I announced to Ted, but when I turned around, he had already left.
Taking my belongings from the gym, I ran out of the building and found an SCPD car waiting for me outside. Strange, but I was glad of it.
'Thanks,' I said to the driver.
He just gave me sorry, concerned look, and sped off.
And then I realised why.
Hiding under a sheet in the back seat was a gunman, his clothes similar to the gang we were about to stop. How did I not notice he was in the car? I was so stupid!
Shouting in shock, I tried to get out of the car, but the doors were all locked. Before I could lean over into the front of the car and escape, I was met with the man's pistol pointed at me. How original.
'What do you want?' I asked quickly, drawing myself away from him as much as I could.
'Boss' orders,' he growled with a smirk.
'Why do you want me?' I asked in confusion.
I always seemed to be the person of interest in this city.
'You killed our brothers,' he spat with spite, clearly at me.
I hadn't thought about this. The repercussions of killing members of a bloody and violent gang were obviously going to be high.
'What is your gang even called?' I contested.
I might as well get some useful information whilst I was in confinement.
'You haven't heard of us?' He hissed angrily, as if I had offended him. 'We are the Culebra Gang, and we are going to take the Glades and this city!'
'But, how are you supposed to take the Glades if your boss doesn't do it himself?' I further contested, trying to get more information from the pawn I was dealing with. 'Shouldn't he be the one here right now?'
'Mr Bellini is a very busy man,' the man said huffily, not realising what he had just revealed.
Suddenly, I felt the car judder to a stop. The Vigilante was kicking the door in and punching down the gunman.
Before the gunman could stop me, I jumped out of the car through the passenger door, the driver trying to escape with me. The driver ran from the scene towards the SCPD, shouting things into his radio to communicate to the officers. As the gunman aimed at the officer, the Vigilante and I protected the officer by both of us pointing our own guns at him.
'Put your weapon down,' the Vigilante ordered.
'I won't let you get away!' He shouted hysterically. 'I was given orders!'
'And if you don't fulfil them, then what?' I shouted in question, slightly raising my gun.
'Then I... I'll,' but he shot himself before he finished his sentence.
---
'What was he so scared of?' I asked the Vigilante as we looked at his body. 'Honour? Death?'
'No,' the Vigilante disagreed with me. 'He was scared. Scared of something more than death.'
But something else was playing on my mind. The Vigilante's fighting technique seemed strangely familiar, like it had with Ted. I must have been seeing things. I kept thinking people were who they weren't. The only reason I would think his moves looked familiar was because I had seen the Vigilante fight before.
'Who are you?' I asked the Vigilante, wanting to know something about him and to stop myself thinking I knew him. 'I feel like I've... Met you somehow, not just as the Vigilante.'
'You have,' he said, taking his mask off in the shadows, so only I could see his true self.
I was right. Ted Grant was the Vigilante.