Rain came down. Niles Bridge had been blocked off, and only police were allowed by the barricades. Good thing Buster had his Junior Detective badge on him. The raven haired girl standing on the bridge looked down at the Elwood City river, the water kicking up in small waves. Blue eyes stared at the blue liquid lashing the riverbank, contemplating the solution provided by the soothing sounds.
Buster pushed through to the negotiator, Fern on his heels. Buster forcibly grabbed the megaphone from the police negotiator, and moved past the barricades. His grey trench coat whipped around him violently as the wind rushed over the bridge and into the police blockade.
"Aleah!" Buster shouted. The girl looked up at him, holding his gaze. Buster looked down, contemplating his next move. "You don't have to do this," he said.
"What's that kid doing? He'll blow this!" the negotiator was furious.
"Like you can do better," Fern snapped. The officer scowled at her, and an older detective held his arm.
"The kid knows what he's doing," she said.
On the bridge, the girl, Aleah, turned to face Buster. He looked at her in silence a little longer.
"How old are you? Sixteen? Seventeen? You've got a long life ahead of you," Buster said. "It seems hard, but life's always hard. I can't promise that it'll get easier, but," Buster looked down. He restarted, "But you'll have help."
Aleah turned towards the water again, and stepped forward.
"I know it looks easy, it seems easy. But it's not," Buster reasoned. "I know this was a hard decision, but it's not made, not yet. It takes strength to do this, and so I know you have the strength to resist. Your problems won't go away, they'll simply carry onto your friends, your family. They need you, we need you."
She didn't look up.
"Like I said, the problems, the pain, isn't doesn't go away, but it only feels unbearable because you feel like no one understands, no one cares. But someone does care."
Aleah looked at Buster.
"I care," Buster said. "And Fern cares."
Said Fern stepped forward.
Buster waved behind him. "All these people are here because they care. For you."
Aleah stepped away from the edge.
"You're not alone, you'll never be alone. We'll help you get through this. Together, the bullies, the threats, we can take them. And we can win. And we will win," Buster brought down the megaphone, letting the handle slack in his hand. Flipping it up again, he said, "But there's no we without me," he paused again, "and you."
Aleah stepped towards Buster slowly. One step at a time she came forward. The officers behind Buster tensed, this was the hard part. Would it work? Buster was more scared than all of them. He wasn't an expert at calming people down, he had no clue if his speech would work. He tried to be encouraging, but deep down he knew, he was crap at this stuff.
As Aleah continued traversing the distance towards the Junior Detective, Fern stared, limbs unlocking in case she had to act fast. Finally Aleah was ten steps from Buster. Then nine. Then eight. Eventually she was in front of Buster, and fell to her knees. As Buster followed suit, she hugged him tightly. Buster felt warm tears on his neck, contrasting the cold liquid drops from the clouds overhead. Buster hugged back.
Two officers ran forwards, holding a blanket, and placing it around Aleah's shoulders.
Buster remained still, not believing what had just happened. Fern came forward, and joined the two in an even bigger hug.
Ten years later
Buster Baxter was a police negotiator for precinct 11 of the Elwood City Police Department. It was another rainy night, another saddened teen. He raised his megaphone, as he had many times in the past.
"Devon! You don't have to do this."