Tru stepped off a trolley car in San Francisco and looked around. Her four days here had been more like a vacation than anything. She had dutifully collected all the handouts just as she had promised Davis. She had even attended one of the lectures just to see what they were like.
Just as she suspected, they were dull, boring, and very technical. She barely understood anything of what they were talking about. After the first one she decided to skip the rest of them. The weather was just too perfect to waste spending time sitting in some stuffy lecture hall listening to someone go on and on about decay rates or new autopsy procedures or something equally as boring. She had spent her four days looking around San Francisco and thoroughly enjoying herself.
In many ways, San Francisco was nearly identical to New York City. Very big with lots of people bustling about on their own business. But the air was much cleaner here and even considering its size, it seemed spacious. Not to mention the nearly perfect weather each day. Even the people seemed friendlier. It was nearly dinnertime and she decided to have one last meal in one of the restaurants before she returned to her hotel room to start packing for the trip home tomorrow.
As she walked into the restaurant she realized she was going to miss her stay here. She rarely went out to eat in New York. Mostly she got take out from some local place. And when she did go out the experience was all together different from going out here. She couldn't explain it but the restaurants seemed better here than back home. Mostly her imagination, she knew, but it didn't change her perception any.
As she walked into the restaurant she nearly collided with a young woman standing just inside the door. The woman was in her mid-twenties with short, dark hair. She was standing next to a young man, in his early to mid-twenties, with blonde hair. And very attractive.
"Oh, excuse me," said Tru, taking a step back. "I didn't see you standing there."
"No harm done," said the woman.
Tru continued on into the restaurant as the man and woman seemed to be having some sort of disagreement.
"No, Leo, I don't think it's a good idea," said the woman. "Piper is never going to agree to a vacation and leave Wyatt alone, even with us. You know how she is. Even with you and Chris around, there's just too much risk. You'll never get her to agree to it."
"She needs it, you know that, Phoebe," said the man named Leo. "She's been very tense ever since Wyatt was born. She needs to relax."
"Hey, preaching to the choir here," said Phoebe. "I just know she's never going to go for it. You know that as well as I do."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," said Leo. "We'll just have to think of some way to convince her."
Tru took her seat at a table and picked up a menu. She was having trouble deciding what to order. Everything looked so good. And it would be her last meal here. She wanted to make it a special one.
Phoebe and Leo turned and headed for a table near the windows. Tru's mind wandered to the two. Apparently they weren't a couple as she had first thought. Probably just good friends. Maybe this Piper was Leo's wife and Phoebe was her sister. That would explain their concern and the conversation.
She finally decided on her order and gave it to the waitress. As she waited for the meal to arrive, she looked around the restaurant. She noticed Phoebe glance her way a couple of times as she talked to Leo. Probably thinks I look familiar, thought Tru. Well, it was a beautiful day, she was returning to New York tomorrow and she was going to enjoy her last few hours here. She barely noticed the man dressed in black jeans, a black shirt, and black windbreaker enter the restaurant and look around.
"Are you okay?" Leo asked Phoebe. "You seem distracted all of a sudden."
"I think so," said Phoebe, looking over at Tru. "It's just that woman who came in behind us. There's something about her but I can't put my finger on it."
"An empathic feeling?" whispered Leo.
"Not exactly," Phoebe whispered back. "Not exactly a premonition, either. Kind of like an empathic premonition. Can I get those?"
"I don't know," said Leo, glancing over at Tru. "I suppose it's possible. Your power is still so new there's bound to be some things you can do with it you haven't done yet. Do you think she's... a problem?"
"I don't know," said Phoebe. "I don't think so. I'm not sensing any evil from her. Whatever it is, it seems important. Like I said, I can't put my finger on it. It's just a feeling I have."
"We'll keep an eye on her," said Leo, glancing at Tru again. "If she is... trouble, I don't think she'll try anything here. Too many people around. She wouldn't want to risk exposing herself any more than we would."
"Okay," said Phoebe.
She glanced up and notice the man dressed in all black enter the restaurant. This time, however, she had no trouble identifying the feelings she was getting from him. Intense hatred. And intense anger. Whoever he was, he was obviously up to no good. While the windbreaker was very light, it was still much too warm for any kind of jacket. The only reason to wear a jacket like that on a day like this would be to conceal something.
She watched as the man walked over to the register where one of the waitresses was making change for a customer. The waitress handed the customer his change, then smiled at the man in black.
"Can I help you?" asked the waitress, smiling at the man.
"Yeah," said the man, pulling a pistol out of the windbreaker, "just give me all the money in the register and no one gets hurt."
Several of the customers saw the exchange and a couple of the women screamed. The man turned to the restaurant flashing the pistol around.
"Everyone just stay calm," he said, "and no one gets hurt."
"No," Leo whispered to Phoebe as she started to rise from the table. "Your powers aren't offensive. If he only wants the money let him have it. He'll take it an leave."
"I don't think so," said Phoebe. "He's not thinking about the money right now. He has something else on his mind, I can sense it."
"What are you two whispering about?" demanded the man, pointing the gun at Leo and Phoebe.
"Nothing," said Leo.
"Liar," said the man. "I heard you whispering. Think you're faster than a bullet? Don't even try it."
"We won't," said Leo. "We have no intentions of trying to stop you."
"You think I'm an idiot?" asked the man. "That's it, isn't it? You think I'm just some stupid punk, don't you? That if I turn my back you can jump me and take the gun away."
"No," said Phoebe, "we don't think that. Just take the money and leave. We don't want any trouble."
"Yeah, right," said the man. The waitress was holding a handful of bills in her hand waiting for the man to take them but his attention seemed centered on Leo and Phoebe at the moment. "You're some kind of hero, aren't you? Think you can impress your girl by taking me down, don't you?"
"No, I don't," said Leo. "Like she said, we don't want any trouble."
"Too late for that," said the man. "Let me show you what I think of heroes."
Without warning he pulled the trigger on the pistol. Four shots rang out and four slugs struck Leo directly in the chest. Leo was knocked out of his chair by the force of the bullets and fell to the floor.
"No," screamed Phoebe, moving to help Leo.
She wasn't really concerned for him. She knew that a simple pistol couldn't really hurt him. But his healing power would work automatically. When the other customers saw that he was uninjured, there would be way too many questions they couldn't answer.
But Leo lay on the floor of the restaurant gasping for air. The front of his shirt was covered in blood and the normal healing processes he had didn't seem to be working. He looked up at Phoebe, fear and confusion in his eyes. How could he be hurt? They were only bullets. They shouldn't be able to cause him any serious injuries.
Almost immediately Tru jumped up from her chair and ran to Leo and Phoebe without thinking. As she did she noticed the man in black turn and run from the restaurant leaving the dumbfounded waitress still holding the cash she had taken from the register. She glanced out the door to see what direction he was heading but he had seemed to simply vanish from the street. As Tru knelt over the wounded Leo, she put her hands on his chest, attempting to apply pressure to the wounds.
"Here," she said, taking Phoebe's hands and putting them over two of the wounds, "press as hard as you can. We have to stop the bleeding. Someone call 911. We need an ambulance right now."
Leo looked up at Tru and Phoebe and gasped one last time, then his body went limp. Tru reached up and put her fingers to his neck and held them there for several seconds, and then she looked at Phoebe, sadness in her eyes.
"I'm sorry," said Tru, "he's gone."
"No," said Phoebe, tears in her eyes, "that's impossible. He can't be dead."
"I'm afraid he is," said Tru. "I work for the medical examiner in New York City. I don't think anyone could have survived these kinds of injuries. There just wasn't enough time."
"You don't understand," said Phoebe. "They were just bullets. He can't be dead. It's just not possible."
"You're in shock," said Tru, reaching to take Phoebe's hand. "Come on. Have a seat over here. You'll be better in a few minutes. Just try to stay calm and..."
Her thought went unfinished as Leo suddenly looked up at her and grasped her right wrist.
"Help me," gasped Leo and suddenly Tru Davies' day rewound as it had on so many occasions before.
