[District Six Headquarters for the Elites - Friday, 9:01 pm]
Stephan could not breathe for a second.
He stared at the large screen in the middle of the room. It was playing the footages of the security cameras around this small local café - 'Stacie's'. Simultaneously, all of the cameras near the store went out once the corrupt lifted its arm. So, the last footage of Sage was her flying straight into the café.
He bit the inside of his cheek and quickly switched his screen to check if the corrupt was still on their radar. A map of District Six popped up, and he zoomed to the area around Stacie's. His eyes darted around the map, looking for a red dot that would indicate the presence of a corrupt. From what it seemed, it had disappeared under the radar.
It usually meant that the corrupt was cleansed. However, as all the electricity went out in that area, the signals placed there probably went out along with it. So, Stephan could not determine that Sage won the battle yet.
"Okay." Stephan breathed out, "I'll just send someone there."
He put on his headphones and pressed a yellow rectangular button on his keyboard, before speaking into a nearby desk microphone, "Hey guys, anyone free right now?"
Initially, there was silence. All the elites, which weren't many, were out tonight cleansing corrupts around District Six. He was hoping that if anyone was free, he or she could head to Stacie's to look at the situation. Only when it is safe, he would then send the paramedics.
As cruel as it might sound, Stephan did not want to send the paramedics if the corrupt was still there. Most of them are just regular humans working at the HQ's infirmary or nearby hospitals. So, sending them there would be suicidal. And he cannot afford that.
After all, they had already lost so many lives.
"Hey, Stephan!" Someone replied in a rather enthusiastic voice despite a whole evening of cleansing, "I'm done with my area. What's up?"
Stephan sighed quietly upon hearing his voice, "...All of all people, why him?"
"Stephan?" The voice called out once more.
"I'm here," He answered as he pulled up another screen on the monitor, "I'm just checking your location."
...
"Dammit." He cussed internally as he cradled his face in his hands, "He's even the closest one to her."
"Helloooooo, Stephan? You okay?" The voice spoke.
"Ahem, yes!" Stephan straightened and cleared his throat before accepting that he had no choice but to send this guy to Sage, "Okay! I need you to listen very carefully, Nathan."
"Umm, okay?"
"So, there is another corrupt near this café, Stacie's."
"Soooo," Nathan considered, "You need me to cleanse it?"
"Maybe, I'm not sure." Stephan replayed the footage of Sage again on the screen, pausing once he got a clear view of the corrupt, "Someone was in the middle of cleansing it, and I don't know if she managed to cleanse it. The CCTVs in the area went out because of that corrupt's electrical abilities."
"She?" Nathan asked, and Stephan could already tell he was puzzled, "Who's she? Do you mean Laila? Or Tiff?"
Damn his sharp ears!
"Umm," Stephan cleared his throat again, "There's no time now. I need you to head there as soon as possible, the café is at 2 o'clock, probably around 1.8 kilometres from you."
"Alright. I'm heading there." Nathan complied as Stephan heaved a sigh of relief.
However, not for long, his voice popped up again, "Stephan, you're acting suspiciously. Who's fighting the corrupt again?"
Stephan was sipping on his third cup of coffee when he heard Nathan, and it made him choked. He took a moment to wheeze and cough before responding, "Oh... Um-"
"Hey! hey! I'm done with my rounds. Since Nathan is heading for the last one. There's nothing else for me, right? I'm heading back now." Tiffany's voice chirped through the communication system.
And, Laila spoke just after Tiffany.
"I'm done too. Nathan, you need help?" She asked.
"Nope. I think I'm fine on my own." He answered through the system, "Thanks."
"Wait, this means Tiffany and Laila are not fighting the corrupt at Stacie's," At this point, Nathan finally caught on, "So, who's fighting it?"
Shit.
"As I said, I need you to listen carefully, Nathan. Don't freak out. Don't charge in without thinking." Stephan swallowed hard as he braced himself, "It's... Sage."
Immediately, a voice boomed through the system, "WHAT?! THAT SAGE?!"
Stephan flinched away from headphones momentarily. Sighing, he put it back on and exhaled, "Yes, Tiff. That Sage."
"Wait, are you serious?" Laila gasped, "You're not playing a sick prank, right?"
"What?" Stephan scrunched up his face knowing full well that she could not see him through the communicator, "I don't know how you see me, but I'm not THAT mean."
"Anyway," Stephan started, "Nathan, you heard me, right? Keep your hot-headed ass together, okay?"
He did not respond.
"Nathan?"
Stephan stood up, flicked his headphones off and checked for Nathan's location once again. The tiny blue dot on the map which represented him was cutting through the district at an insane speed.
He sucked in a sharp breath as his eyes went wide, "...He's not listening to me at all!"
———
[District Six, Stacie's - Friday, 9:33 pm]
His heart pounded in his chest when he saw the scene.
The small but respectable café was completely obliterated. Windows were shattered, debris was everywhere, furniture was overturned.
Fortunately, there seemed to be no causalities on the street, outside the Stacie's.
But, with a whiff, Nathan did smell blood from the inside. He rushed into the store through the broken window.
And, there she was. Laying on the black and white tiled floor, bloodied up and unconscious.
His heart sank into his stomach, and he felt winded. Shakily, he kneeled next to her and checked for pulses.
...
Thank god! She's alive.
He fell back with his hands planted on the ground beneath him, letting out a long and relieved sigh.
"You scared me," Nathan huffed as he pulled her unconscious body onto his lap. He tugged a lock of her hair behind her ear as his expression softened, "Reckless as always."
He has not seen her for four years, and maybe a little more. She looked like she grew a tiny bit, but her face looked exactly like the last time he saw her. Same heart face, same upturned eyes, same button nose, same downward-turned lips, and he loved all of those features.
He grimaced at the sight of her wounds. Gently, he checked if they were serious. She had a gash on her forehead, but it did not look life-threatening. Unfortunately, her right leg was in a bad state. It was burnt, scratched up and probably electrified.
He glanced over to the two other bodies near her, a male and a female, "...Let's see who did this to you."
There were both in uniform, and it looked like both of them work here.
The guy was probably in his late twenties and completely unharmed. As for the girl, Nathan would guess late teen or early twenties, and she had a swollen ankle.
Between these two, he would guess that the guy was corrupted.
"...You must be that asshole who hurt her," He threw a glare over to his unconscious body but suppressed the urge to beat the crap out of him.
He reached for his right ear and touched the tiny communicator in his ear, "Stephan-"
"OH! LOOK WHO FINALLY ANSWERED?"
Nathan pulled out his earpiece upon hearing Stephan's yelling.
"Geez." He whispered before putting the earpiece back, "Alright, alright. I'm sorry. But, you can't blame me."
He stared down at the silver ring on one of his fingers, "...She's my fiancé, Stephan."
Stephan sighed, and Nathan knew that he was probably shaking his head now.
"You mean ex," Laila's voice came in, "Ex-fiancé."
Stephan choked.
"Shut up." Nathan rolled his eyes.
She laughed, "You're the one being dramatic."
He rolled his eyes again.
"So, what's the situation like?" Stephan asked sternly, "Are there any causalities?"
"The corrupt is cleansed," Nathan muttered as he took a look around the wreckage, "As for causalities, there is just one injured female. The other guy is just passed out, unharmed."
"Okay, great. I'll send the paramedics over." Stephan said as he typed something on his keyboard, "...How's Sage?"
"She's unconscious." Nathan answered as he looked down at her, "And, injured. But I don't think it's fatal. I'll bring her over to the HQ ASAP."
"Okay, I'll get Micheal ready."
Cautiously, he dug one of his arms under her upper back and the other under her knees. With a swift upward motion, he hoisted her onto his arms.
"Alright, let's go."