This is a year after Day leaving and Anden and June are already together. June is also commander of all the squads in California.
I felt like I was drowning. Deep, deep into thick, black, inky water. The feeling had come and gone at disconcerting intervals ever since Day had left. Left for Antarctica and never came back. I shivered and wrapped my arms around me, sitting up, Anden's arms falling to the bed. Taking deep breaths, I closed my eyes and reminded myself that oxygen was entering my body at this very moment, and I could very much breathe. I got up and walked over to the window, opening it and feeling a slight breeze in this otherwise hot night. I remembered recording the temperature at 90 degrees, Fahrenheit, before leaving Batalla Hall.
I squeezed my eyes shut as a wave of breathlessness hit me again. In my head was a vivid image of a girl, dark hair tangled, drowning in an otherwise beautiful azure blue pool. I glanced at Anden's sleeping form. I calmed down, worried I might wake him. I took easy breaths. In. Out. In. Out. I put a hand on my chest. Crude way to feel a heartbeat, but it calmed me. The only thing that would call me was a night walk with fresh air. I dressed silently, putting on my agent clothes, as Anden would never let me walk by myself at night, unless I told him I had work.
CRASH! My thoughts were interrupted by a loud noise. My agent instincts kicked in. I silently ran over to the bed, grabbing my gun from underneath my pillow, crouching below Anden. I shook him awake. "June? Why are you dressed?" he asked sleepily. "Shhh..I heard something. Get down," I instructed, whispering quietly. His eyes were wide open now and he dropped to the floor beside me. "Stay down and don't get up," I handed him a knife from the nightstand and stood up, still low, gun loaded and pointed straight ahead of me. "June! Don't-" I glanced at him. "It's my job," I said and turned back to the darkness.
More noises as I made my way through the large apartment. As I entered the living room, I saw the silhouette of a shadowy figure. "Stop," I said,"Or I'll shoot." Shots and I dropped to the ground. I ran after the figure as I dashed through the rooms, shooting blindly. It hit true, once, twice, thrice as I heard the sound of groans, but the figure did not stop. Instead, it opened the window as I chased it back to the living room and jumped. I looked down and shot. The figure fell to the floor, but slowly crawled across the street. I watched it for a second, but then another figure erupted out of nowhere and threw a blade, hitting its shoulder. A high-pitched scream erupted and before I knew, the authorities crowded the streets, bearing familiar Canto knots.
"June! June!" I turned around to find Anden, incredulous, knife bared behind me. He wrapped me into a tight embrace. "Thank God you're safe," he whispered. "Wait," I said, pulling away and jumping straight out of the window. "JUNE!" he screamed. As I was suspended in the air for mere seconds, I anticipated the fall. It was after all, only 2 stories. It would hurt, no doubt, and maybe even break something, but I had to see who it was who threw the knife and attacked the intruder.
As I landed, my feet hit the ground hard, and pain ripped through, but I rolled smoothly, stopping in a crouch. I walked over to the figure. The medics had already clamped an oxygen mask over his mouth. He yelled unintelligibly at me. He was probably in shock, or had psychosis. Possibly just anger.
I saw a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye. It was the figure. I ran after it, taking out my gun. It was fast, a lithe and nimble person.
It headed deep into Ruby, as if confused. This person definitely did not live in Ruby. I trapped the figure in an alley, as it stumbled through the deserted streets. I tackled the figure, a reckless move. Who was the vigilante?
I pulled the mask off of it.
Blue eyes and long blonde hair stared back at me.
Day.