Heather kicked off her shoes with a happy sigh Monday afternoon. The school day had gone well, and settling back into the familiar routine helped relieve stress of the weekend. Plus, since none of her coworkers knew about the incident, she hadn't had to fend off repeated inquires about whether she was doing okay.
She flipped her TV on for some background noise as she went about her afternoon routine, changing out of her work clothes into more comfortable sweatpants and sweatshirt and turning on her coffee maker. She could see her TV from her kitchen, and Heather glanced over at the screen while waiting for her coffee to be ready.
"…embezzlement of millions of dollars from their pension plans. It was the work John McClintock, the head of Union Allied's finance department. When authorities went to McClintock's home today to arrest him, they found him dead from a drug overdose."
Heather frowned at the depressing story. How many people had lost their whole retirement because of this man's schemes? How many people were frightened for their futures?
She shook her head. "Don't know why I ever put the news on. It's always sad." Heather changed the channel, flipping through until she landed on a show about couples looking for new houses. Her coffee maker beeped, letting her know it was done. Heather poured herself a cup, adding liberal amounts of sugar and creamer.
Her phone went off with the tune she'd set for Wilson's ringtone. Heather paused, staring at her phone as she debated whether to answer it. He was sure to bring up the idea of hiring her a bodyguard again, and she didn't really want to have the discussion with him since she knew it was going to end with her telling him no.
Heather groaned and reached for the phone. If she didn't answer he'd probably get worried and send someone to check on her. Might as well get it over with.
"Hey, Wilson," she answered.
"Good afternoon, Heather," Wilson said. She smiled at his formality and leaned against her counter. "How was your day?"
"It was good," she said. "School went well. For once none of my students are sick, which is a pretty big miracle for this time of year."
"That's good," he said. He paused for a moment, and Heather waited for what she knew was coming. "I was wondering if you had thought any about my suggestion of a bodyguard?"
Heather scuffed her toes on the laminate floor. "I have, yes. And I was thinking, you know, I've only ever been attacked once in twenty-seven years, and I think that's a good enough track record to not need a bodyguard."
"Heather," Wilson said, and Heather groaned.
"Wilson, please," she said. "I know you worry about me, but I really don't need a bodyguard. And I don't like the idea of someone following me around all the time anyway."
It was Wilson's turn to sigh. "Very well, Heather. You know I'd never want to make you uncomfortable. I just want you to be safe."
"I know," she said. "And I am safe, I promise. If it makes you feel better, I promise I won't walk home in the dark anymore. I'll take the subway, or get a cab or something."
"It will have to do as a compromise," Wilson said. "I need to go, but make sure you take good care of yourself."
"I always do," Heather said. "Love you."
"I love you too."
She hung up the phone and let her shoulders slump in relief. "There we go. That wasn't so bad." Heather set her phone aside and picked up the coffee. She took it to the couch where she already had the materials out that she needed to finalize her lesson plans for the next day. Once that task was done, it was time to cook dinner. She kept it simple, fixing a small salad and reheating some leftover spaghetti. After eating she rinsed her dishes and left them in the sink, promising herself that she'd definitely wash them and put them away before she went to bed.
There was a knock on her door, and Heather lifted her head in surprise. She wasn't expecting any visitors. She went to her door and peered through the peephole to see Maria waiting on the other side. Heather immediately opened the door. Maria flashed a bright smile. "Hey, Heather! I was in the neighborhood, so I thought I'd stop by and say hi. Hope you don't mind."
"Of course not," Heather said. "Come on in."
Maria followed her inside, shrugging off her trench coat as she did. It looked like she had come straight from work, based on the gray pencil skirt and teal sweater Maria was wearing.
"Would you like anything to drink?" Heather offered.
"I'll take anything hot right now," Maria said, rubbing her hands together. "It's freezing outside today."
"Coffee it is, then," Heather said. Maria followed her into the kitchen, hopping up to sit on the counter while Heather got the coffee on. "So, what brings you to my neck of the woods?" Heather asked. "Last I checked, the Landman and Zach building wasn't exactly close by."
"Oh, you know," Maria said, gesturing with one hand. "Paralegaling stuff."
Heather tilted her head slightly, looking up at Maria with what her friends had dubbed as the 'teacher look.' Maria held out for about ten seconds.
"Okay, fine," she said. "Dominique, Becky, and I decided one of us should check on you in person to make sure that you're actually okay."
"I told you I was fine!" Heather protested.
"Yeah, well, remember that time back in sophomore year of college," Maria started, and Heather groaned, knowing exactly what was coming, "and you were in that car accident? And you told us you were definitely fine? Except you actually had a broken arm which we didn't find out until you got back to the dorms that night?"
"I was fine!" Heather said. "Broken arms aren't exactly life threatening."
Maria pointed at her. "You see, that right there is why no one trusts your definition of fine. You think as long as you're not actively dying you're okay."
The coffee was ready, so Heather poured a cup and handed it to Maria before pouring herself another. She added liberal amounts of creamer to her own. "Well as you can clearly see, I actually am fine. No broken bones or terrible injuries."
"You do seem physically okay, which is great news," Maria said, "but…" She paused for a second, then continued softly. "Heather, are you okay? Getting attacked like that would be terrifying to me."
Heather sipped her coffee, kind of wishing Maria hadn't brought this part up. "It was." It had been the most terrifying moment of her whole life. She took a deep breath. "But I'm okay. The masked man saved me, and the police have the guy, so it's over. There's nothing to be scared of anymore."
Maria watched her without saying anything for a minute, but eventually she nodded. "Okay." She blew on her coffee and took a sip. "Wish we could find that masked man somehow. Guy deserves a proper thank you for saving you."
"Yeah, that was pretty amazing that he'd do that," Heather said. "I think we're going to end up hearing more about him, though."
Maria lifted her eyebrows. "Yeah? You don't think this was a onetime thing?"
Heather shook her head. "Nope. When I went to the police station yesterday, the officer mentioned that the masked man saved three other women from traffickers the same night he saved me. Sounds to me like Hell's Kitchen is getting a vigilante."
"Well cheers to that!" Maria said with a grin. "We could use some extra help around here!"
Heather smiled at her enthusiastic response. "Yeah, that's kind of my thoughts on the matter. Though I don't think the police are quite as thrilled as we are."
Maria snorted at that. "If they didn't want vigilantes popping up, they should be better at their jobs." She downed the rest of her coffee and set the mug aside before hopping off the counter. "Ugh, I wish I could stay longer, but I have to run some errands before I go home, and I still haven't eaten anything, so I've got to run. But remember, if you need anything, just tell us, okay? We're your friends, Heather. It's not bothering us if you need help."
"I know," Heather said. "Thank you. I'm really fine though."
Maria threw her arms around Heather's neck in a hug. "I'm glad. I'll see you later, girl, okay?"
Heather returned the hug with one arm, her coffee mug still in her other hand. "Later."
As Maria grabbed up her coat, she called over her shoulder, "Hey, you know, on the bright side, I think you've already used up your allotment of bad luck this week. That means things can only get better!"
Heather smiled and shook her head. "I hope you're right about that."
Principal Evans was waiting for Heather when she arrived at work Tuesday morning, his wrinkled face set in a worried expression. Heather's stomach dropped. Something bad must have happened.
"I need to speak with you in my office right away," he told her.
"Of course," she said. Heather followed him down the quiet hall. It was early enough that students hadn't started arriving yet, but soon they would, and then the halls would be bustling and full of noise. Principal Evans led her to his office, and Heather took one of the chairs in front of his large desk.
"Have you seen the news this morning?" he asked.
Heather shook her head. "No, I didn't have it on."
"Then you haven't heard," Principal Evans said. "Last night Jason Holloway was kidnapped."
It felt like someone had knocked the air from her lungs. Jason was one of Heather's students. He was a sweet boy; the only thing she'd ever really had to correct him for was drawing when he should have been doing schoolwork. The idea of someone kidnapping him, possibly hurting him, it was unthinkable.
"What happened?" she asked faintly.
"He was off with his father last night," Principal Evans said, "when some men attacked his father and dragged Jason off. Mr. Holloway will be okay, but he had to spend the night in the hospital."
Heather pressed a hand to her chest. "That's awful. How could anyone do something like that?" Jason had to be terrified. To see his father hurt, and then be dragged off by strange, violent men? It was a nightmare scenario.
Principal Evans shook his head, his dark eyes tired. "I don't know. The evil that exists in this world sometimes…" He shook his head and collected himself. "Obviously, this doesn't need to be discussed among the students. We don't want any of them frightened. But since it was on the news this morning, it's possible that some of them may have heard about the situation already."
Heather nodded. "Of course. I'll listen out for anything they might say."
She felt like she was in a daze as she went to her classroom. She kept picturing Jason's sweet, smiling face from the day before as he'd excitedly showed her a new picture he'd finished. To think that he'd been kidnapped, that his life was in danger at this very moment, and all Heather could do was wait and listen and hope he'd be okay…it was maddening.
Heather blinked back tears from her eyes, took a steadying breath as she set her things down on her desk. "Keep it together," she whispered. Jason wasn't her only student. The others would be arriving soon, and they didn't know Jason was in danger, didn't need to know. They'd be expecting a normal, happy school day, and it was Heather's job to give that to them, regardless of how she was feeling. So, she took a few more deep breaths, pasted a smile on her face, and got to work.
That evening, once she was home from work, Heather was glued to the TV, listening for any bit of news about Jason. Unfortunately, there wasn't much. Just a brief update that police were still looking for him, but they currently had no leads. Still, Heather kept the news on as she made dinner, while she cleaned her kitchen, then stress cleaned her living room, then started reorganizing her bookshelves – which really only served to scatter piles of books across her newly cleaned living room.
Still, she had to keep busy doing something, or she'd go crazy worrying about Jason. Wednesday went much the same way; Heather kept a calm, happy face for her students, pretending everything was normal, and quietly stressed at home with the news on after school. Thursday started the same, until lunch. Heather eating her lunch in her classroom, unable to handle eating with the other teachers that day. She didn't want to hear them talking about Jason in hushed whispers like they had the day before. While she was eating, Principal Evans came to her room.
"They found him," he said simply.
Heather immediately set her food aside. "Is he okay?"
Principal Evans nodded, a tired smile breaking out on his face. "He is. I spoke to his mother a few minutes ago. She said that he isn't hurt; he won't be coming back to school until next week at the earliest though."
That was fine; Heather didn't care how long it took Jason to come back to school, as long as he was safe. Tears of relief sprang to her eyes and she blinked them back. "Thank God the police found him."
"Actually, it seems it wasn't the police," Principal Evans said. "Mrs. Holloway says that Jason told them a masked man saved him."
Heather's breath caught. A masked man? What were the chances of two masked men running around Hell's Kitchen saving people? It has to be him. The masked man had saved her, and now one of her students, and Heather wished more than ever that there was something she could do to thank him. Thanks probably didn't matter to him, given he did the things he did while wearing a mask, but still.
"Then Jason was very fortunate," Heather said. "Thank you so much for keeping me updated."
The afternoon lessons were a blur for Heather, and for once she didn't stick around after the school day ended, packing up what she needed and immediately heading out. She was able to keep it together until she got back to her apartment. Once there, Heather went straight to her bedroom, flopped down on her bed, and let the tears of relief that she'd been holding in slip down her face.
Jason is safe, he's safe!
And they had the masked man to thank.
This week had been one inconvenience after another for Wesley. First the Union Allied mess, which had left more dead bodies in its wake than was ideal, discovering that the masked man who'd saved Heather was also the masked man that was interfering with the Russians, and now he received word that Healy had been arrested after killing Prohaszka. He could certainly handle the mess with Healy, but it shouldn't have been necessary. About the only thing that had gone right this week was arranging for the death of the mugger that had attacked Heather. Even then, that hadn't gone quite as Mr. Fisk would have wished; the mugger's death had been too swift.
It was time to make his report to Mr. Fisk. Wesley called him, waiting patiently for him to answer the phone. "Wesley," Mr. Fisk greeted. "What news do you have for me?"
"Healy was arrested after taking care of Prohaszka," Wesley said. "I will have our lawyers take care of the matter tomorrow."
"No," Mr. Fisk said, "don't use our usual lawyers. Hire those two from the Union Allied incident, Nelson and Murdock. I want to see how they perform."
"Very well, sir," Wesley said.
"Any updates from Heather's detail?" Mr. Fisk asked.
"Nothing of note, sir," Wesley said. This report was a new addition to the usual updates that Wesley provided. When Heather had refused Mr. Fisk's offer of a bodyguard, he'd had Wesley assign a detail for her protection. Wesley had been careful with this assignment, choosing men that were loyal and discreet. Heather hadn't noticed them following her yet, and Wesley doubted that she would. "She went to work then home again. She didn't leave her apartment after getting back today. No suspicious activity near her building."
"Good," Mr. Fisk said. "Thank you, Wesley. I trust you will take care of these matters."
"Of course, sir," Wesley said. "Have a good evening."
AN: For those of you wanting more Matt POV, he's going to feature pretty heavily in the next chapter, so fear not :) And thanks again to everyone supporting this story. I'm having fun writing it, so I'm glad others are enjoying it too!