Manson shook her head.
She was in the middle of dealing with a mountain of paperwork pertaining to the sudden Target case. Just a few hours ago, the elusive criminal Target had attacked Andy Morningstar in an attempt to use him as a political pawn. Andy refused, and Target attempted to kill him.
Target was almost successful until Green Guardian showed up in the nick of time and resolved the issue with little problem.
She sighed reading that.
A super powerful enough to take down a whole gang like that? Every day the Super Society got more and more powerful.
And the force got more and more obsolete.
She brushed her thoughts aside and began packing her things. That was enough super business for one day. She'd file the full case tomorrow.
She had a family to get back to.
And she wasn't ready to lose them like the last one.
Suddenly, as she picked up her briefcase, she heard a knock coming from her window.
As she turned, she nearly stumbled at the sight.
Green Guardian.
Floating outside her window.
Not the first time they met, as he was one of the three vigilantes that helped stop the Snek rampage.
And certainly not the last.
He knocked on the window again and smiled. She quickly opened it for him.
"What the hell are you doing here?" She said, trying her hardest to keep her composure.
"Needed to pay you a visit," He said with a deepened voice she couldn't remember him having.
"I don't take visitors," She said, slowly closing the window.
"I insist," He said, zooming past her to enter the room.
"Wh... what are you... get out!" She said, slowly reaching into her desk to find her gun.
"No need for that, ma'am. I'm just here to give you something," He said, reaching into a pocket of his poorly made costume.
She reached faster.
Then stopped once she saw what he pulled out.
"This drive contains a video of Andy Morningstar meeting up with Target and his gang, revealing they were partners not long ago."
Manson stared at it for a moment and spoke.
"Why are you showing me this?" She said, coughing slightly.
"Cuz you're one of the few people I can trust," He said, holding her hand and putting the pen drive in it.
"I don't even know you," She said as he walked to the window.
"Neither do I, but I feel this is the start of a beautiful relationship," He said, stepping out.
"What am I supposed to do with this?! Andy's a political figure. How am I supposed to believe this wasn't faked to defame him?"
"I guess that depends on what you do with it," He said with a smirk.
And in an instant, he was gone.
As she watched him fly away, she clenched her teeth and squeezed the drive. She knew what she had to do.
"I'm sorry," She whispered under her breath and picked up her phone to make a call.
"Hello?" She said, her voice quiet and shaky.
"Yeah? What is it, Manson?" A voice replied. It was deep, shrewd, yet confident. She could hear police sirens not far from him.
"You were right. He did come to me with the proof."
The man behind the voice smiled.
"Am I ever wrong?" He said. "Now you know what to do."
Before she gave him the chance to hang up, though, she spoke.
"Wait..."
"What is it, Manson?"
"How did you know he'd come to me?"
"Cuz anyone with even the slightest connections to the underworld knows that I bought most, if not all, the news stations and publishing houses. If he gave his proof to them, it would fall right into my hands."
"But why me?"
"Cuz you're a damn good cop."
"Not while I'm working with you."
"Come on, Manson, if we're gonna take the Yaksha down, we're gonna need to work together here. You know this."
"Y... yeah, I know," She said, her voice more shaky.
"Now I gotta go. Seems one of your men is trying to detain an asset of mine. I'll be seeing you. Excuse me, sir! Unhand that boy!"
"But sir..."
He hung up then and there.
Manson cursed and threw the pen drive to the side, breaking it apart.
She fell to her knees and started sobbing. She didn't want this. She thought being Commissioner would let her run things the way she wanted.
Not helping a scumbag like Andy.
But if working with him meant getting rid of the Yaksha...
She had no choice.
They already sent Target to her to try and corrupt her. They're making their presence known and she can't allow that.
Especially with the rumors that they can blow up a city.
Suddenly her phone rang again.
And it was a video call of all things.
As she took it out, she contemplated screaming at the caller or just hanging up.
After seeing his name, she picked up instantly.
"He... hello?" She said, her voice shaky for a different reason.
He noticed her sweating.
"Yeah. Annie... A... are you heading home soon?" He replied with a solemn smile. His voice was deeper than most, yet soothing to her.
"Y... yeah. Just packing up. I'll be there in a minute. You want me to buy dinner?"
"No need. I cooked something up for all of us. Just... please get home safe," He said. "Wanna say hi to Kal?"
"Oh. Yeah, put him on if he wants. I don't think he likes me that much, though."
"Oh, come on! Of course he does," He mused and called the boy over.
Once he came, she noticed he'd grown a few inches taller than when she last saw him. Odd for a normal child, but he was anything but.
"H... hey, Kal," She said and waved.
He nodded and smirked. It was so barely noticeable she would've missed it if she blinked.
"Ok, Kal, that's enough. Don't you have homework to finish?" The man said, causing Kal to freeze for a moment and run back to his room.
"Aw, why'd you send him away?"
"So you'd have a reason to stop wasting time and come back here," He said with a chuckle.
She chuckled back.
"Okay then. No promises, though," She said with a chuckle.
"It's nice to see you laughing. When you picked up, you looked way too stressed out. Something happened?"
"Y... yeah, some shit went down that's not leaving me in the best of moods."
"Yeah, I heard Andy got attacked a while ago. It's all over Phoenix news."
"Can we... not talk about that?"
"Yes, ma'am," Austin said with a mock salute. "We'll hit that road when you get here. Anyway, I gotta help Kal with his homework."
"Oh, of course."
Suddenly an odd silence fell on the two as they stared at each other for a brief moment.
Manson paused.
This was what she fought for. All the shady deals, the things she had to look away from, the things she let Andy get away with...
It was all for this.
And all the people who had what she had.
All the ones that couldn't get a chance to.
These small moments with him.
She lost John after Mr. E kidnapped his son, Snek. She wasn't gonna lose Austin.
Never again.
"Okay, Austin. I'll be there in a minute. Can't wait to taste what you made," She said with the biggest smile and hung up.
She expected to leave the station in tears...
But thanks to him, she left with a smile from ear to ear....
To be continued...