Bryce snapped out of his trance and looked at the ragged man who blocked his way with a paper cup in his outstretched hand. Bryce looked at what the man managed to gather on his own and felt sorry for him, (seeing as he hardly had five dollars to his name). He fished his wallet out from his pocket, retrieved a ten dollar bill, and told the fellow to take care of himself.

The beggar thanked him with vigor before he discarded the ruse, took hold of Bryce by the shoulder, and swept him off the street and up high to a sky sc.r.a.per above the city.

Bryce took another look at the homeless fellow and realized who it was. "Twelve, what do you want?"

Twelve wrapped his blanket around his shoulders and asked how much progress Bryce had managed to make on the case.

"None," Bryce admitted. "You haven't given me very much to work with."

"I've given you everything I know," Twelve reminded him. "If I knew more, so would you."

Bryce took a breath and asked if he needed anything specific. "I've tried to figure out who it could be, but Sara Knowles met a lot of people in her line of work. Not to mention, she attended parties religiously."

Twelve gazed out over the city and asked when Bryce last attended church.

"What?"

"I'm trying to make a point."

"I don't know."

"Then she doesn't attend religiously by your standards," Twelve told him.

"Does it matter? It's just semantics."

Twelve took a moment to reply. A single crow flew past him, his line of sight followed after it, and it wasn't until the bird vanished into the night sky when Twelve finally asked, "How devoted are you?"

"To what?"

"To saving this city?"

Bryce said he didn't understand the question.

"I simply want to know how far you'd go to save someone," he clarified. Twelve turned and faced him with a tilted head, and asked, "What are you willing to sacrifice?"

Twelve transported the officer to a dank alley where two young men held a man at knifepoint. Bryce realized he was suddenly in uniform with his gun at his side. He hadn't attracted the attention of any of the three men though.

Twelve landed at his side and whispered softly in his ear, "Show me what you're made of."

Bryce felt his heart race and his hands shake, but he called out to the young men anyway and walked toward them. One of the boys turned with gun in hand and shot Bryce through the throat.

Bryce opened his eyes and saw that he hadn't taken a step from where Twelve left him in the alley. The young men and their victim still didn't see him, Bryce was fine, and Twelve returned to his side and repeated, "Show me what you're made of."

Bryce walked forward, with beads of sweat on his forehead, as he slowly grabbed his gun, took aim at one of the boys, and barked, "Drop the gun and the knife, now!"

The two whipped around, the one with the knife didn't relent and his comrade with the handgun only took aim at Bryce again. Neither of them made a single move though. Bryce repeated his order and midway through the last word of his command the boy shot him in the head.

Bryce opened his eyes and saw that he hadn't taken a step from where Twelve left him in the alley. The young men and their victim still didn't see him, Bryce was fine, and Twelve returned to his side and repeated, "Show me what you're made of."

"What am I supposed to do d.a.m.n it?"

Twelve didn't answer though. He only repeated, "Show me what you're made of."

"What do you want from me?"

The two boys heard him and shot him for a third time.

Bryce opened his eyes and saw that he hadn't taken a step from where Twelve left him in the alley. The young men and their victim still didn't see him, Bryce was fine, and Twelve returned to his side and repeated, "Show me what you're made of."

Bryce finally retrieved his gun, walked over to the young men, and pressed his gun to the back of the gunner's head and told him to drop his piece. "I swear if either of you screw with me now I'll blow your d.a.m.n head off."

He opened his eyes and found himself back on top of the sky sc.r.a.per with Twelve, who looked at him sideways and asked if he really would have killed the young man.

"Wasn't that what you wanted?"

"I didn't want anything other than to know how much you love this city."

"Then why didn't you just ask?"

"I did, twice actually."

Bryce looked away from him and asked who he really was. "How the h.e.l.l do I know you're not Cladis or that you don't work for him?"

"I would have killed you by now and been on my merry way." Twelve looked Bryce in the eye, "I'm not your enemy."

"Then why are you so d.a.m.n secretive?"

Twelve gripped his cape tightly and muttered that things weren't as safe as he'd originally thought. "You need to watch yourself too. Don't mention these meetings to anyone."

"Why?"

"Because I'm Deep Throat and you're Woodward," he told him. "Things aren't what they seem and I don't trust everyone."

"Then why do you trust me?"

Twelve looked him in the eye and said he knew he was incorruptible. "I need someone like you to keep things in perspective."

Bryce only looked at him, perplexed.

Twelve returned him to the street, resumed his guise as a beggar, and vanished into an alleyway.

7:32 PM.

Bellevue, Washington Mizuno trained Nick, as it was the final opportunity to do so before their mission the following day. Mizuno cut their session short though, which Nick believed was to allow enough time for him to make it to Drake's house for the small gathering Drake had planned.

They walked out to Mizuno's car and Nick's motorcycle where Mizuno stopped him. "Do you think you're ready Nick?" he asked.

Nick only shrugged and asked if Mizuno thought he was.

Mizuno didn't say. They only continued on in silence until they arrived at the car and motorcycle. Nick was ready to leave without another word, but Mizuno stopped him and asked, "What are your thoughts on all of this?"

"All of what?"

"What are your thoughts about the plan to counter the Dafu tomorrow?"

Nick said the mission sounded fine to him.

Mizuno rubbed his eyes and muttered that it wasn't. "The plan, the original plan I pitched to the group was flawed, and I knew it. I wanted you, or David, or Kyle, or anyone for that matter to realize that it was a terrible plan and to at the very least voice some concern, if not offer a better plan. None of you, with the exception of Bruce, could manage that."

"What's wrong with your plan?"

"The whole plot Nick! I mean, how the h.e.l.l are we supposed to remove, carry, and transport over two dozen nineteenth-century paintings without damaging them, causing wide-spread panic, and alerting the Dafu to our presence? And even then, how were we supposed to return to the museum dressed in costumes and 'apprehend' or kill any of the terrorists that did show up? They wouldn't be waiting outside dressed in anything that would give them away; they're too intelligent and ambiguous to do something that stupid."

"Then why waste our"

"Because it was a test Nick, and you failed."

"What were you testing me for?"

"To see whether you would question me or if you would simply fall in line blindly."

Nick glared at him and muttered that he had voiced his opinion. "I told you I wanted to go out with Amy and you said no."

Mizuno swore and told him to forget about her. "She has absolutely nothing to do with this. She's a distraction and a waste of your time. You've known her for less than two months and you act as if you're soul mates Nick. She's nothing but a d.a.m.n hindrance and you can't see it because you're so strung out between being here, with her, and mourning over your dead brother to realize that she is going to leave you. Eventually she will leave you." Mizuno looked him in the eye and told him he needed to move on. "All she's doing is holding you back and jeopardizing"

"What?" Nick stopped him. "Your grand mission?"

"Yes!" Mizuno yelled. "I'm trying to help you Nick and all you're doing is moping around, complaining, and making me do everything for you. You want to catch your brother's killer so badly, yet you're completely unwilling to listen to the one person who can and will help you find him."

"You haven't done anything for me," Nick murmured.

"I haven't?" Mizuno stopped and reminded him of the physical change he built up in Nick, of how he helped remove Nick's stutter, how he stood up to his stepfather and gave Nick the courage to do so as well, and introduced him to his own unique ability. "Do you want me to continue?"

Nick shut his mouth and looked away.

Mizuno's eyes flashed. He retrieved his own set of car keys, unlocked the driver's door, and told Nick he'd talk to him again once the mission was over. He left Nick there in the parking lot to think about what they'd talked about while he headed toward Seattle to have a final meeting with the rest of the group.

Nick remained where he was in the parking lot, bitter about what Mizuno said.

8:14 PM.

Both.e.l.l, Washington Jordan sat on Drake's sofa while he played an advanced copy of Creeping Darkness 2. Three pizzas were on their way and Jordan was halfway through a bag of barbecue potato chips when he commented on Nick's tardiness, though Drake only ignored him. Drake's phone went off and Jordan asked if it was Nick.

Drake checked and said it wasn't, "No, it's Hiromi." He answered and spoke in j.a.panese, """"He looked at Jordan as he was entranced with the game and said he was free."""" Drake didn't hang up, but turned to Jordan and told him he would be upstairs taking a call.Jordan chuckled, "Dude, she's your girlfriend. Don't make it sound so official."Drake left him there as the door opened and Nick finally joined them. Jordan paused his game, looked over the back of the couch, and said he wasn't sure he was going to show up. Nick just took a seat and didn't respond. Jordan noticed his att.i.tude and asked if everything between him and Amy was alright.Nick rubbed his eyes and admitted that he was unsure. "I hope so...Work's just constricting my time.""Well you had tonight off, why didn't you just bail on us and hang out with her?""She's in Oregon this weekend.""Oh.""No it's fine, considering I'm working all day tomorrow."Jordan laughed, "That sucks."Nick asked about his new job, but Jordan told him he just quit. Drake rejoined them a short while later and asked how Nick was. Nick said he was fine. Jordan turned his game off and the three of them quickly decided on playing one of their favorite games that Drake introduced to them, Phantasy Star Online Episode I &II.The evening felt rather alien to the boys though, as they usually played the game as a quartet. The silence was foreign too, seeing as they usually laughed, joked, and acted as if there wasn't a care in the world. Instead Drake and Nick were off in other worlds that Jordan wasn't blind enough to ignore."It's not the same, is it?""What do you mean?""With Ian gone, with Nick working, our senior year, the death of your brother and Drake's dad..." Jordan regretted mentioning the last bit, but continued nevertheless, "It isn't the same anymore, especially with the drastic changes in our lives.""It was bound to happen though," Drake admitted. "Life's always in constant motion...you cannot avoid change."Nick frowned and said he wished it wasn't so abrupt though."Life's that way though," Jordan told him. "You don't realize what's happening until it's over."The doorbell rang and Drake told them it was their pizza. He paid the deliverer, tipped him quite well too, and brought their meal into his kitchen and told them to serve themselves. Nick had a pepperoni and mushroom pizza, Drake ordered a supreme, and Jordan had a cheese pizza.Drake retrieved three bottled root beers from his fridge and a few napkins out of one of the drawers next to the refrigerator and handed a set to each of his friends. They ate at the counter for a moment before Jordan asked to see Drake's ability."Later, okay? We're eating.""I know, but it'll only take a second, right?"Drake rolled his eyes and told him he'd show him later.