Author's Notes: Hey Gang! Back again with a new episode of Pulse and boy is this one is a doozy. The aftermath of Sam learning the truth. I worked very hard to get everything right for the readers and the fans. If I didn't do very well, I apologize and will try my best in the future.

Also please be kind because I tried to keep situations plausible. I am not fluent in police procedures or anything. I learn most of it from TV so if I didn't get anything right, I do apologize for that.

Again, I want to thank my bestie honour632 for helping to motivate me to get this done. I worked extremely hard to give you guys something for you all and you can thank her for that by checking out her stories. She is a very talented writer and a very good friend. Thank you so much, home slice!

Disclaimer: As stated before, all characters not created by me are owned by Dan Schneider and his production company Schneider's Bakery. I treat actors with dignity and respect which is the opposite of that scumbag.

Also, there are some scenes borrowed from other properties, including The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and Batman Forever. If you can spot them, you get a meta cookie! One scene I have to point out that I used is from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer season five episode "The Replacement". I wasn't a fan of Riley Finn but what he said struck a chord with me and fit what I used the scene for. I do not own the music I use, I just like to set the tone of the episode and the scene.

Reminder: There are heavy rewrites going on to fix grammar errors as well as adding some things that hopefully interest you guys. I will go into greater details when you figure out what I'm doing. I hope you guys like it.

All that said, onward to episode twelve!

•••

"Always do what you are afraid to do."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

•••

Everything was black.

Freddie lays on the ground where he had fallen. He started to open his eyes but everything was a blur. He starts to slowly get up when he finds a figure knelt down next to him.

"Cassie?" Freddie stammers out. "Cassie, is that you?"

Freddie's vision begins to clear and found that the lighting in the room is almost cobalt blue. He also sees the figure crouched next to him wasn't Cassie but himself. Except something wasn't right about him. Something dark. Sinister. He was dressed in black with his hair combed back.

"Trying to get us killed?" The other Freddie asked.

"What?" Freddie asked as he sat up.

"All to save her life? You know she's not going to take this well." The other Freddie said as he stood up straight and started walking around. "Guess that's for the best. She's not good for you and you know it."

Freddie slowly gets up off the floor and stands to face his doppelgänger. "Who are you?"

"All in good time. Good things come to those who wait." The other Freddie said.

"You know, I'm getting really sick of the voices in my head speaking in riddles!" Freddie snapped.

"Then allow me to get to the point... She isn't going to accept this." The other Freddie said. "What you are. What you've become."

Freddie was taken aback by the statement and struggles to find words. "Sam... She-"

"She's going to hate you. Never want to speak to you again! I mean, if she doesn't rat you out to her cop brother." The other Freddie stated.

"Sam would never do that!" Freddie yelled.

"Because she loves you?" The other Freddie scoffs. "You are like a lovesick puppy dog, aren't you? Makes it difficult to see the forest through the trees."

"What does that even mean?" Freddie asked, still reeling from what has been said. He starts to realize what he thinks is going on. "Wait... This isn't real. This is all some mental delusion caused by the Phobos I was exposed to. You're just my fear made manifest in my own head due to the drugs and the stress I've been under. You aren't real."

The other Freddie lets out a maniacal laugh that caused Freddie to jump back in fear, a laugh that sent chills down his spine.

"I'm more real than you think, Boy Scout." The other Freddie said with an evil grin.

Suddenly the other Freddie swings and punches Freddie in the face.

•••

Back in the real world, Freddie snaps awake and looks around at his surroundings. He was still wearing his suit and there was gooey fluid leaking from his eyes, like most victims of Phobos. Only the color of the goo was jet black. Similar to the goo leaking from Sam's eyes in his dream. He realizes he was in the Pulse Cave where he finds Cassie was standing over her, holding his hand.

"Welcome back." Cassie said softly.

Freddie gives a weak smile as Millie, Gabe and Galen return to the room to find Freddie was awake. Millie practically runs over.

"Freddie!" Millie called out as the trio made their way to him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so." Freddie said weakly as he went to sit up. "Except I feel like I got tackled by six linebackers." He notices that the others were looking at him with matching worrying stares. "What?"

"Um, there's-" Cassie began until she handed him a mirror. "Take a look."

Freddie looks in the mirror and sees that the black goo is leaking from his eyes. "Oh! That's... That's different. Why did that happen?"

"I think your body burned out the Phobos in your system." Gabe estimated while Cassie hands Freddie a wet nap. "When most drugs go through your body, it's being metabolized in their system. Same can be said for Phobos. Only your metabolism is... Well, it's super charged."

"Super charged?" Millie asked.

"Basically his metabolism burned the drug out of his bloodstream at a much faster rate than a normal person." Gabe explained. "That's why his body bounces back so quickly after his nights out. His cells are-"

"Responding to any foreign agent or stress his body is under." Galen figures. "Working on a cellular level to repair the damage."

"Exactly. It's healing but we aren't talking Cassie levels here." Gabe said. "You didn't realize this?"

"At this point, I've accepted the fact that I'm not normal." Freddie said as he finished wiping the goo from his eyes. He looks around the room. "Where's Sam? Is she-"

"She's fine, she's stable. That antitoxin really did the trick." Cassie said.

"I only hope that he can make enough to help my dad and the other officers." Millie said.

Cassie notices Freddie's uneasiness and tries to calm him down. "We put her in the dojo on a bed. Thought it would be better if she were away from the chaos out here."

"But she's alone in an unfamiliar place." Freddie said frantically as he hops off the bed. "I need to see her."

"Easy there, kiddo. You're still woozy from all that's happened." Cassie said while blocking his way by putting her hands on his shoulders. "You've still got some open cuts on your hands."

Freddie looks at his hands and sees that his knuckles were a bit raw but he dismisses it. "I'm fine."

"Freddie!" Cassie said assertively.

"Cassie, please!" Freddie begged, a twinge of panic hanging at the end of the last word he had spoken. "I need to be there for her when she wakes up. She's going to be freaked by all of this. Particularly by what I did. It might help to see me first, to explain what's going on. Please don't try to stop me. I have to do this."

Cassie looks down and sighs. She removes her hands from his shoulders and takes his hands. She starts to heal his cut up hands. After the glow fades and she finishes healing her nephew, she catches her breath and looks him in the eyes. She brushes his messy and matted hair. "Go. Do what you need to do."

Freddie nods as he fixes his hair and walks past his aunt. He enters the dojo and closes the door behind him but he leaves the door open a crack.

Cassie runs her left hand through her hair and lets out a deep sigh. Galen walks over to Cassie with grave concern in his demeanor.

"You sure he should be doing this on his own?" Galen asked.

"Yeah, a couple hours ago he wasn't exactly thinking straight." Millie said. "I understand why but-"

"Freddie is facing an eventuality of this line of work. Having to come clean." Cassie said with a somber tone.

Gabe looks at Cassie with a perplexed look on his face. "You speak from experience, Cass?"

Galen looks at Cassie with a raised eyebrow and Cassie bites her bottom lip. "It's... complicated."

"It's never anything else."

The four look up to where the voice came from and find Pete standing at the top of entrance staircase. He clutched his right forearm, grimacing in pain.

"Oh god, Pete. Are you okay?" Millie said, sounding worried.

"Yeah, just got into a scuffle with a certain assassin acquaintance of ours." Pete said as he made his way down the stairs.

"I smell blood. Fresh blood." Galen pointed out.

Cassie and Millie glance at Pete with genuine concern over him. "Take off your jacket and let us see the damage." Cassie stated.

Pete sighs and slowly takes off his jacket. He groans in pain as he gets the jacket all the way off. The gang sees the cut on Pete's forearm was fairly deep which causes the four to have varied reactions of worry on their faces.

"I need to take care of that." Cassie said as she offered to heal him but he put up his uninjured arm in polite refusal.

"If it's alright with you, I would prefer if our nurse patched me up." Pete said, which catches everyone by surprise, including Millie.

"Are you sure? If I do this, I'm going to have to sew that up." Millie told him. "It's gonna hurt and it's gonna leave a scar-"

"It's okay. I don't mind the pain and I have my fair share of scars so I'm not foreign to the concept." Pete said.

Millie sighs. "I'll grab my first aid kit." She goes over to a table with a large white box sat, grabs it. Pete sits on a chair that was next to the bed Freddie had been lying on while Millie sets the box on the bed. She opened the box and inside was a well stocked first aid kit.

Millie looks inside the kit and pulls out some supplies but couldn't find something. She walks over to the metal cabinet she had been loading yesterday, opens it and looks inside, unable to find what she was looking for.

"Have you guys seen the anesthetic?" Millie asked.

"I think you left it in the dojo. You forgot to put it in the cabinet yesterday." Gabe said.

Millie realizes this and facepalms herself. "Chizz. I'm such a ditz." She sighs and walks over to the dojo. "I'll just have to go in there and get it."

"Sure that's a good idea?" Gabe asked.

"No, not really but I'll just be in and out. He won't even know I'm in there." Millie said as she slowly opened the door and creeped in.

Pete looks at the others. "Did I miss something?"

"Short version: Freddie rescued Sam, brought her here then was forced to reveal his secret identity to her." Cassie said frankly.

Pete looks flabbergasted then sighs. "Oh."

•••

Millie tries to remain undetected while inside the dojo only to stop dead in her tracks when she sees Freddie standing a foot away from the bed Sam was lying on. Sam looked peaceful, sound asleep, like a princess out of a fairy tale.

Freddie sighs and grabs a chair against the wall. He placed the chair next to the bed and he sat at her bedside. He remained silent but the look on his face said more than words could express. A look of longing mixed with regret. A knowing stare that he had a lot of explaining to do once Sam was awake.

Millie watches silently as Freddie takes Sam's right hand and gently holds it. He lets out a deep breath and uses his free hand to stroke her blond hair. She sees the deep and loving compassion behind Freddie's touch which makes Millie smile.

Millie goes around and finds a bottle of anesthetic sitting on the wooden bench. She quickly but quietly gets the bottle and goes to make her way out. However before she could make a quick getaway, her foot bumps into an empty soda can which makes some noise.

The noise attracts Freddie's attention as he turns his head and sees Millie standing there, mortified that she wasn't inconspicuous as she hoped she'd be.

The two friends share a look of mutual concern for one another. Freddie felt sorry for what happened to Detective Flores, to Millie's dad. She didn't show it but she was in pain, filled with great turmoil. She didn't deserve it. Millie saw the anxiety and the frustration in Freddie's eyes. He was very worried about having to tell Sam what he's been through the last few months and he was terrified.

The two share a knowing and silent exchange and Millie quietly makes her way out while Freddie turns back to Sam.

•••

"Want to tell me what the hell you were thinking?"

Danny was standing in front of his boss's desk while Captain Irving Thompson read him the riot act over what had happened tonight.

"You followed Singh into an obvious ambush where not one but TWO masked vigilantes beat the crap out of several of Deimos' men and despite all this insanity, Deimos still got away!" Thompson yelled. "What were you even doing there? You walked into a blatant trap!"

"I did what I had to." Danny said, not backing down. "I was trying to save my sister."

"Parker, I know the only reason you wanted to be there was to put an end to Deimos. You wanted to kill him, am I right?" Thompson said, knowing the answer by the look on Danny's face. "You can't take the law into your own hands. You do and you're no worse than Pulse or that other guy."

"People call him the Fox, sir." Danny replied. "I wasn't going to kill him. I just couldn't let him get away with what he did."

"I know but there are rules, protocol we need to follow to uphold the law." Thompson stated. "We are the thin blue line-"

"And yet those rules were the ones Singh couldn't uphold herself." Danny spat. "Deimos had her in his pocket. She led Victor into that warehouse, she- She tried to kill me. If it wasn't for the Fox, I would not be standing here being chewed out by you!"

Thompson sighs and walks away from his desk. "Parker... Danny, I understand you have had a rough time but-"

"'But' nothing! You keep saying you understand but honestly I don't think you do!" Danny snapped. "There's only a handful of people who have had my back throughout all of this and only one of them has a badge! I do uphold the law but I can't stand back and wait for the worst! I need to get my sister back."

"Then believe me, I understand more than you think I do." Thompson replied. "You don't have to go home but you can't stay here. Understood?"

Danny glares at him. "Noted... Sir." With that, Danny stomps out of the office.

Thompson looks down and remains silent.

Danny walks over to his desk and goes to grab his coat and the rest of his belongings to leave.

Leo, now in his civilian clothes, enters the main room of the precinct. He has a slight limp and has an evidence bag in his hands that had a Pearphone inside. He sees Danny and makes his way over to him.

"Detective?" Leo said in a low voice but loud enough to get Danny's attention. "Are you heading home?"

"Not really sure where I'm going, Leo." Danny said sadly. He notices Leo grimace in pain. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I just had a bit of an accident in the lab. I tripped on my own shoelace. I'm really clumsy, it's embarrassing." Leo said which made Danny smile slightly. "Are you okay?"

Danny sighs. "Short question, long answer."

Leo looks at the phone in the bag then hands it to Danny. "The lab cleared Detective Flores' phone out of evidence. I was going to give it back to Millie but that terrible incident with your sister made me forget to give to her. Do you mind giving it to her? I'd do it myself but I'm gonna have a long night, making more batches of the antitoxin to help Deimos' victims."

Danny nods. "I don't mind. I'm heading over to see Millie and check on her."

"I really hope the antitoxin worked. It was a Hail Mary move on my part so I'm worried." Leo said.

"We all have faith in you. Don't doubt your skills now, all right?" Danny reassured him.

Leo smiles and makes his way off to his lab. "I'd better get to work. Try to have a good night."

"Good night." Danny replied. He opens the evidence bag and pulls out the phone. He starts looking through Victor's contacts. His eyes widened as one of them caught his eye - it read 'Him'.

Danny was flabbergasted. Could this be what he thought it was? He knew his partner was able to get in contact with the vigilante they were hunting down. He has made peace with the fact that he might not exactly be the bad guy but... This guy knew where Sam was. He saved her life and had her somewhere. There was only one thing Danny could do.

•••

At an expensive looking loft apartment with all white walls and pricey furniture with greenish black and white color scheme, Deimos walks in with Raina and three of his men flanking him. Deimos had removed his mask but he seems unnerved by all that has transpired.

"I want intel on the damage at the warehouse." Deimos demanded while he sets his mask down. "I want to know how much was lost tonight and whether or not it infers with my plans."

"Yes sir." One of his men said as he and his fellow lackey walked out of the apartment.

"Well, it looks like we both had a rough night." Raina said. "Lucky for you I showed up when I did otherwise Parker would've locked you up. Would've put a damper on your 'big' plan."

Deimos seems distant as he looks out the window. "He's going to pay."

Raina grins amused. "I'm sure they'll be plenty of time to make Parker's life more difficult-"

"Not Parker. Not him." Deimos said, gritting his teeth.

"Pulse? What did that guy do to you?" Raina scoffed.

"He- He made me afraid." Deimos said in hushed anger. "It is unacceptable. I will make him pay for that." He sighs, regaining some of his composure. "But all in good time. But now I must concentrate on my master plan. The reason I am doing all this. Revenge isn't my only goal."

"You still haven't been clear on that goal. What exactly is your endgame?" Raina asked.

"Why are you so interested?" Deimos asked.

"I want to know if I should stand by your side or be as far away from all of this and watch as Rome burns." Raina said.

"How poetic." Deimos said with a small smirk.

"I do enjoy alliteration from time to time." Raina said. "My father liked his daughters to be quite well read."

"Daughters? You have a sister?" Deimos asked.

"Had, Andre." Raina said grimly. "She died almost ten years ago. She was murdered by someone who was in the Morgan estate. I spent most of my life trying to find out who did it. Tortured and killed anyone who knew or were directly or indirectly responsible. And they only got a name, the Maestro."

A twisted smile forms on Deimos' face. "Seems like our interests are far more aligned than we realized."

"Care to elaborate?" Raina asked, folding her arms over her chest.

"I didn't come to New York City just to gain my revenge on Danny Parker. I've come to take control of this city's criminal underworld." Deimos stated bluntly. "I'm going to take down the Maestro."

•••

Back at the Pulse Cave, Pete sits on a chair while Millie sews up the slash wound on his forearm. He looked over at Cassie who was sitting on the stairs, Gabe sat at the hub computer working on more research on Deimos and Galen stood next to him.

"Let me get this straight, Freddie just pulled off his mask and goggles and revealed his secret identity to Sam?" Pete asked.

"He said it was the only way to get her to calm down." Cassie said as she rubbed the back of her neck with her palm.

"He wasn't wrong, the antitoxin couldn't be injected into her without bringing her heart rate down to a normal pace." Millie says as she tries to focus on sewing up Pete.

"I'm not saying he's wrong. I feel for him. This is going to be the hardest thing he's ever done." Cassie said with a heavy heart. "Telling someone he loves his biggest secret. Believe me, it won't be easy."

Gabe looks at her with a puzzled look on his face "I know I'm sounding like a broken record but how do you know what he's going through? You're acting like you've been through this yourself."

Galen turns his head towards Cassie who was looking down then looks up. "Cassie needs to be the one to tell you but when she's ready."

"I've got a lot of baggage and I'm not really ready to talk about that just yet." Cassie said.

"So, were you a vigilante or something?" Gabe asked.

Cassie sighs "I don't like talking about it. I just- it ended badly."

"Why? You didn't kill somebody, did you?" Millie asked as she tried to concentrate.

"No, but someone did die because of me. I made the wrong choice and it cost someone their life." Cassie said sadly as she wiped a tear that managed to free itself from her eyes.

Gabe looks at Cassie and sees a pain behind her words. He read enough comics to know the look of pathos that was written on her face. "It was someone close to you, wasn't it?"

Galen continues to look at his friend as Cassie lets out a deep breath to cover a sob. "Like I said, it ended badly."

"We've all lost. It's the only guarantee in this life." Pete said. "I remember what it was like when my family died. Feeling responsible for what happened to them."

"How was it your fault?" Millie asked but as soon as the question left her lips, her finger slips and she accidentally stabs Pete with the needle. He flinched in pain and Millie gasped. "Oh gosh, I am so sorry."

"It's all right. You could only hurt me if you wanted." Pete said with stoically calm as he gives her a small reassuring smile which causes Millie's cheek to turn bright pink while she finishes treating Pete's injury.

Gabe notices this and looks at Millie "I knew it."

"Knew what?" Millie asked, perplexed. She realizes what he meant and glares at him. "Gabe, zip it!"

"What? I think it's adorable that you have a tiny crush on Pete." Gabe said and Millie turns bright red of embarrassment while Pete smiles. "I am secure enough with my own sexuality to say Pete is a very handsome man."

"So you'd be secure with me telling everyone about your little crush?" Millie said in a jovial manner.

"Millie, no!" Gabe exclaimed, sounding mortified.

"What? I think it's totally adorable that you have a crush on Cassie." Millie said in a slightly mocking tone, mimicking how Gabe spoke to her.

"I-I don't- I don't have a crush on-" Gabe stammered as Cassie stares at him with amusement on her face. "Not that you aren't attractive. You're real- Boy, you are staring a hole into my soul."

"It's all right, God of Mischief. We're good." Cassie said grinning. "But if you decide to have any impure thoughts about me, keep them to yourself. 'Kay?"

"Okay." Gabe replied.

•••

Inside the dojo, Freddie was still sitting by Sam's bedside. He anxiously taps his left foot as awaited for her to wake up, he needed to explain all that's happened to him and what he's been through for the last few months.

How was she going to react? Would she cut all ties with him like he feared? Would she never want to see him again? He didn't want to lose her but it is the possibility he would have to consider once he revealed himself as Pulse. Would she even remember doing it? What if the Phobos bought him some time to explain?

No, he thought, Sam was smarter than most gave her credit for. She was going to remember and have to face the fact that he is Pulse.

Unexpectedly, Sam begins to stir from her induced sleep and Freddie gets up from the chair. He looked down at her as she slowly began to open her eyes.

Sam squinted her eyes as her eyes adjusted to the light from the dojo. Her vision became clear and she looked up to find Freddie standing over. Sam's memory was a bit fuzzy from the drug she was given but her memory quickly recalled what had happened when she saw Freddie wearing Pulse's battle armor.

Sam springs up and, before Freddie could react, punches him hard in the face. She gets off the bed and gets in a defensive posture while the suckerpunched Freddie rubs his face.

"Um... Ow!" Freddie replied.

"You- You're him?" Sam stammered out with incredulousness in her voice. "You're Pulse!"

"Sam, please let me explain." Freddie said.

"N-no, this can't be right. You can't be Pulse. You are Freddie Benson, tech whiz and all around wimpy nerd! You can't be him!" Sam said with shock vibrating from the words she spoke.

"Sam, if you'll give me a chance to explain, I'll tell you everything." Freddie said as he reels from the physical and verbal assault.

Sam regains some of her composure and nods. "Fine. Explain why you're... Man, I can't even say it."

Freddie exhales deeply and paces a bit. He sees Sam had folded her arms over her chest and glaring at him. "I think I should start from the beginning. Seems like a good place to start, right?"

"Wouldn't make sense for you to start in the middle and work your way forward, now would it?" Sam said bitterly. She didn't have time for games, she wanted answers.

"Well, I'll start with what happened to me. During my first day at City Tech, Gabe, Millie and I met this professor who was working a Tesla coil." Freddie said.

"Wait, what's a Tessa coal?" Sam asked, perplexed by the science speak.

"A Tesla coil is... To put it simply, it's a machine that creates strong electrical currents." Freddie said.

"Oh. Okay." Sam replied, this was different from all the times he explained science stuff and she would tune him out. This was important.

"Anyway, we helped him finish his experiment but the coil had become too unstable and created a really strong electrical storm." Freddie said. "Gabe and I tried to stop it but it didn't matter because there was no stopping it. I focused on saving Millie from the professor and I saved her but one thing led to another... I got hit with a powerful bolt of electrical energy from the storm."

"You got struck by lightning?" Sam asked aghast.

Freddie nods, "Yeah, I spent three days in the hospital."

Sam sighs, surprised that this was the reason he was in the hospital. "So, then what happened?"

Freddie gulps. "When I woke up, these really weird things started happening to me. The weirdest being... Well, this." He extends his arm with his fist closed. Closing his eyes, Freddie opens his fist with his palm facing up and it surges with electrical energy.

Sam takes a step back as she sees this. She watches as Freddie opens his eyes and only finds that they are glowing electric blue. The sight filled her with both awe and horror and she reached out to touch his hand only to have the energy dissipate and return into his body just as Sam was about to touch his hand.

Freddie's eyes begin to return to normal and he looks at her. "Why did you do that?"

"I-I have no idea." Sam lied, she seemed to be drawn to the light like a moth to a flame. "So you have superpowers? That must have been weird for you."

"Try terrifying." Freddie told her. " I couldn't even shower without shocking myself. I honestly thought I was losing it. If it weren't for Cassie teaching me how to channel my powers, I probably would have."

"Wait, does your aunt have superpowers too?" Sam asked, struggling to take this in.

"Sort of. It's complicated. She also taught me how to defend myself so I can hold my own in a fight a lot better than I used to." Freddie said. "I spent days training myself to control my powers and how to fight but the professor, who was horribly disfigured and driven insane by the energy from the storm, kidnapped Millie in order to lure me out to face him."

"He wanted to fight you?" Sam inquired.

"He wanted to experiment on me to find out what happened to me. Even planning to slice me up and seeing how things work." Freddie explained.

"This is going to sound weird coming from me but why didn't you just let the police handle this guy?" Sam asked as she sat on the chair Freddie had been sitting on.

"Because he had gotten powers too only he was completely nuts and he was killing people. I was the only one who could stop him." Freddie answered, sitting on the bed to look at her. "I saved Millie but I had to kill him in order to do it."

"You killed him?" Sam said with horror behind her words.

"I had no choice." Freddie said somberly. After a long silence, he spoke up. "After all that happened, I decided I needed to use my powers to help people. Protect them from people who prey on the innocent. I know that sounds completely cliché but-"

"It sounds completely insane!" Sam said angrily as she got off the chair. "Benson, you are putting her life at risk trying to help strangers. Aren't you worried you'll be hurt? That you'll-"

"I knew the risks when I started doing this, Sam." Freddie said defensively.

"Really? Did you even consider what would- What would happen if you died?" Sam asked with her voice cracking as she held back her anger. "Did you even think of what this would do to your family? Your deranged mother? Your aunt? Your friends? To Carly and Spencer?" She swallowed hard and stared at him. "Do you know what that would do to me?"

Freddie gulps, struggling to keep his emotions in check. "I shouldn't be alive to begin with. That lightning should've killed me... but it didn't. I was given a second chance. A chance to do good. I just finally know what I'm meant to do."

Sam brushes her hair away from her face. "Do you expect me to give you my blessing? I can't do that! I don't want to watch you kill yourself because I... I care about you too much to do that!"

"Sam." Freddie said, getting off the bed.

"I can't do this. I can't deal with this right now." Sam said, trying to leave the dojo.

"Sam, wait!" Freddie yelled as he grabbed her wrist.

Sam instinctively goes to punch him in the face only this time Freddie ducks the punch and he grabs her by both her wrists. She kicks him repeatedly in his left shin to get him to let go. He reacts to each blow but his response was to flip her over his shoulders, causing her to fall flat on her back on the mat. Freddie runs over to her and jumps on top of her, pinning her arms down.

After the two of them catch their breaths, Sam looks up at Freddie with wide eyes. "Dude!"

"You aren't running away from this." Freddie said.

Sam takes this in and continues to stare up at him. "So... the lightning came with-"

"Super strength? Yeah." Freddie said, nodding.

Sam half smiles at him. "Guess you can finally take me."

Freddie sighs as a small smile forms on his lips.

•••

Inside the Cave, the team sat in silence as they waited when suddenly the 'Pulse' phone as it was was vibrates which causes everyone to jump up or react to the noise.

Gabe looked at the phone's caller ID and was confused. "Doesn't the police have Victor's phone in evidence?"

"Yeah, Leo was trying to get it cleared out of evidence so I can get it back." Millie said.

"Okay, then how is he calling the phone?" Gabe said as he holds up the phone and shows it reads 'Victor' on the caller ID.

Cassie realizes what was going on. "Danny might have gotten his hands on the phone."

"Why?" Pete asked.

"Because Pulse has his sister." Cassie stated. "Give me the phone. I'll talk to him."

Gabe pushes a few buttons on the phone. "I rigged this thing to disguise our voices differently when each of us answers the phone. It's on 'Athena' mode."

Cassie nods and answers the call. "Hey there, Detective."

"Who is this?" Danny's voice asked on the other end.

"This is Athena." Cassie's voice sounded a bit more high pitched than her normal voice on the phone. "You're Detective Parker, correct?"

"I am. Are you the same woman who jumped off that window months ago?" Danny asked. "The woman in black?"

Cassie sighs as Freddie and Sam both exit the dojo and walk into the room. "Yes, but I don't think that is why you called this number. This is about the blond haired girl we have here, isn't it?"

"That girl is my sister and I need to know if she's all right." Danny demanded.

Cassie looks over at Freddie and Sam and gives a worried look on face. "She's safe, Parker. I can assure you of that."

"I want to talk to him. Your partner." Danny said.

Cassie looks at Freddie then hands the phone to Gabe. "Do the thing and give the phone to him."

Gabe nods as he pushes buttons, walks over to Freddie and gives him the phone.

Freddie glances back at Sam but she looks away and stands next to Millie. He puts the phone to his ear. "Detective?"

"You have my sister, you saved her life. I want to know why." Danny said.

Freddie swallows hard. "Because it was the right thing to do. I got someone close to your partner to get me an antitoxin. We were able to rid her of the Phobos in her system. She's awake, groggy but she's going to be okay."

"I need you to bring her to me." Danny said bluntly.

Freddie looks at Sam again who still refuses to meet his gaze. "Will it be safe? You're still Deimos' target."

"Let me handle Deimos. I just- I need to see her." Danny said softly. "Please."

Freddie looks to Cassie who stares at Sam then nods "Where can we meet that is not too out in the open? Where can we be alone?"

Danny sighs "Where did you meet Victor?"

Freddie sighs. "The roof of an office building on 39th street. I'll bring her to you, safe and sound. I promise. But you need to promise me that this won't be turned into a trap for me."

"I'm going against my captain by doing this, he's the last one I want to know about this." Danny said. "I'll meet you there in half an hour."

"See you then." Freddie said and he hung up.

Sam finally speaks up after looking around the room. "So, you all know he's... The guy?"

The team gives matching glances at one another and Cassie speaks. "We are the few people who know."

"So you are supporting this chizz?" Sam asked. The team remains silent. "Nevermind, I just wanna go and see my brother."

"Sam." Freddie replied.

"Benson, put on your mask and goggles and take me to him. All right?" Sam said forwardly.

Freddie sighs as he walks off to go put on his mask while Sam glares at Cassie who just shakes her head.

•••

Half an hour later, Danny stands on the roof where Victor met Pulse when he needed his help with the Phillip Donner case. He impatiently paces back and forth waiting for the vigilante to arrive with Sam.

"Hello, Detective." Freddie's disguised voice greeted Danny.

Danny turns around to find Pulse standing there. "Where is she?"

"Are you alone?" Freddie asked.

"Like you asked." Danny said. "I need you to tell me-"

"What is it, Detective?" Freddie asked him.

"Tell me how you got Millie to help you." Danny said as he figured out who helped him.

"She didn't, not entirely. I heard that a forensic lab tech for your precinct had developed an antitoxin to cure this version of Phobos." Freddie explained as he tried to weave a convincing lie. "I caught up with her outside of the hospital before she saw her father."

"So you called in a favor because you saved her life?" Danny said bitterly.

"No. I told her about what happened to your sister and she offered to help but I only asked for the vial. I didn't want her to get involved with anything that I was doing." Freddie said to him.

"Knowing her, she would have helped you." Danny said then he sighs "Sam, is she okay?"

Pulse looks to his left as Sam steps out of the shadows. "You can ask her yourself."

A big smile forms on Danny's face "Sam?" Sam's smile forms on her face as she runs over to him and the two siblings embrace. "I was afraid I lost you."

"I was freaking out too." Sam said as they continued to hug.

Pulse turns away and goes to leave which causes Danny to pull away from the hug and walk over to him. "Hey! You know eventually I'm going to have to bring you in for what you're doing."

"I know." Freddie said not to turn around. "Hope this act puts me in your good graces when you do."

With that, Pulse runs off the roof and leaps on to another rooftop, making a swift escape. Sam watches this in awe, realizing that it was Freddie doing that. He had changed more than she expected.

Danny turns to face Sam. "I'm taking you to the hospital."

"Dude, I'm fine." Sam said.

"You were drugged by a psychopath and were given an untested antitoxin by a vigilante." Danny explained as Sam looked down. "Please, humor me."

Sam stares at him and nods "Okay. ."

Danny and Sam made their way off the roof when Danny's phone chimes. He sees that he has a text message from Cassie. It reads 'Everything ok?' He responds by sending back a text reading 'Meet me at St James. I need you'.

•••

Back at the Pulse Cave, Cassie stares at the text message and was a bit taken aback by the wording in the message. She puts her phone away and stares at the others. "I need to get to St James. Danny needs... my help."

"Can I go with you? I need to check on my dad." Millie said.

Cassie nods. "No problem."

"I'm coming too. Have to make sure Millie doesn't slip up and keeps the story straight." Gabe insisted, causing Millie to scowl at him.

"Pete and I will stay and wait for the kid to come back." Galen said and Pete nodded.

Cassie goes to climb up the stairs then stops and let's the teens go ahead of her. "If he does come back, make sure he doesn't do something... reckless."

"Like decide to engage in some underage drinking to drown his sorrows?" Pete surmised.

"Not my first thought but... Yeah." Cassie said as she follows Gabe and Millie up the stairs then shuts the door behind her.

Pete and Galen stare at each other and find a different place to sit and wait for Freddie's return.

•••

On top of a different rooftop, Pulse lands on the building and he looks around at his surroundings. He sits down on the floor of the roof and removes his goggles to reveal tear stained eyes.

Freddie breathes deeply and wipes away the tears, realizing that everything he feared had come true. Sam hates him. Her words cut him deeper than any injury he has sustained. He looks up at the sky and he extends his right arm up to the heavens, sending a large bolt of electricity upwards.

The bolt hits a radio antenna atop of a skyscraper and the energy causes the glass and metal of the building to glisten and spark. Passersby caught the sight and had mixed reactions of wonder and panic when they saw this unexplained phenomena.

Freddie looks on in horror at his handiwork and regains his composure. He puts on the goggles, leaps to another rooftop and takes off running once again.

•••

Meanwhile at St James Hospital, Sam was having blood drawn by a nurse in her early forties with long light brown hair pulled back in a tight bun. Danny stood in the room next to an emergency room doctor, Doctor Paulson who is a man in his late fifties with white hair and he watched as the nurse drew Sam's blood.

"She's lucky. Just minor injuries, the only thing I'm concerned with is this antitoxin that she was given. You said your precinct's lab technician made it?" Doctor Paulson asked.

Danny nods. "He was able to figure something out. I don't think it had been tested before it was given to Sam."

"From my examination, everything seems all right." Doctor Paulson said.

"Sure you got enough?" Sam asked the nurse in her typical prickly demeanor. Her eyes however seemed distant. Deep in thought.

"It's precautionary." The nurse said. "You'll be out of here in no time."

"Thanks but I'm really in no rush, Nurse Betty." Sam said, trying to sort everything that transpired in her head.

"We'll have the results from the tox screen and see if this antitoxin was able to purge the Phobos from your system." Doctor Paulson said. "We'll give the results to your precinct's forensics lab to better evaluate the effects of the antitoxin on affected individuals."

"Is it safe for me to take Sam home?" Danny asked.

"I would recommend she stay here and rest but judging by your sister's... surly demeanor, you can take her home but if anything occurs bring her back to the hospital immediately." Doctor Paulson stated and he and the nurse walked out of the room.

"Thank you." Danny said as the doctor left. He then steps closer to his sister and notices her thousand yard stare. "Hey. You okay?"

Sam's concentration was broken and she looked up. "Yeah, I'm fine. This whole thing has me freaking."

Danny sighs and takes her by the hand. "I know you've been through a lot so I won't force any answers out. You can tell me when you're ready."

"Thanks." Sam said quietly, tightly clutching his hand.

At that moment, Cassie walks into the room wearing her leather jacket again. She sees this and goes to leave but Danny turns his head and sees her.

"Cassie, you came." Danny called out.

Cassie turns around and puts a smile on her face to conceal her panic. She looks at Sam who looks away. "You found her."

"Well not exactly." Danny said.

"Pulse saved me. He found me and brought me to his secret lair." Sam said.

"Oh. Do you remember what it looks like?" Cassie asked Sam, almost as if she were testing her.

"Can't say that I do. It's not like I'm working with the guy." Sam said, hiding her bitterness towards Cassie.

Cassie bit her lip and looked down. "Guess that makes sense."

As the three talk, a man in dark green scrubs walks into the room and he begins to clean out the trash from the room. Cassie looks at him and seems to recognize him.

"I want to get her out of here. I'm not letting her out of my sight again." Danny insisted.

"Gee, a girl gets kidnapped and a guy gets all overprotective." Sam said in a joking manner.

"After all that's happened, I feel I have the right." Danny stated.

Cassie notices that the man in the scrubs was pulling something from behind his back.

The man was pulling out a handgun with a silencer attached to it but before he could aim it at Sam or Danny, Cassie grabs his wrist and twists it which makes him drop the gun. He looks up at her and it turns out to be one of the men that was there when Sam was taken. One of the men who attacked her and beat her down.

"Hi. Surprised to see me?" Cassie said in a mocking tone.

The man's eyes widen and he tries to backhand her across the face but Cassie grabs his other wrist and kicks him in the stomach repeatedly.

Danny and Sam watch as Cassie beats the man down. She kicks the gun to Danny's feet and as the man goes for the gun, she grabs him by the shoulders and throws him through a glass window.

Cassie looks back at the other two and they stood in silence for a second until Sam finally spoke up. "Holy crap! Why did you-"

"He's one of the guys who attacked us tonight. Guess Deimos sent him here to finish you off." Cassie said, she looks at Danny. "Stay here, I'll be back." Before he could object, she took off after the man.

A few members of the hospital's staff witness this, including Jake who was the closest to the room and barely dodges the flying glass. He stumbles back as the man thrown through the window attempts to get up.

Jake speaks up. "Holy-"

Cassie enters the hallway that slips into a bit of chaos as the hospital staff starts to flee the area. Everyone except for Jake who was frozen in fear.

The goon recovers and starts to get to his feet. He sees Jake and goes to attack him but Cassie grabs the goon from the back of the neck and shoves him down to the broken glass.

Cassie looks at Jake dead in the eye who snaps out of his panicked state. "Go get security, NOW!"

Jake nods quickly and runs down the hall towards the clerk's desk to call security. As he calls for help, he watches the fight from a safe distance.

The goon gets up and goes to take a swing at her but Cassie ducks and counters with a hard right cross to his jaw. He stumbles back and kicks her hard in the stomach which causes her to roll over the top of a stretcher and land hard on the floor.

Cassie groans in pain as she tries to get to her feet only to have the goon pull out another gun and aim it at her forehead. She gasps as she sees a piece of shattered glass on the ground behind and slowly makes her way to it.

The goon bends down and gets at her eye level. "I don't know how you survived the beating we gave you but I'm thinking a bullet to the head shuts you up."

Cassie gets a hold of the shard of glass and swiftly stabs the goon in the left eye with a shard. Blood splatters on Cassie's face as he howls in pain and drops the gun then writhes on the floor in agony. She then punches him hard in the face, knocking him out cold.

"And I'm thinking that shuts you up." Cassie catches her breath and looks back at the broken window where she finds Danny and Sam staring at her. Both of them witnessed the fight.

Security comes in and brandishes their weapons and points them at Cassie. Cassie raises her hands in the air as Danny rushes out into the hall holding up his badge.

"Whoa, easy!" Danny said. "NYPD. I'm Detective Danny Parker and she's with me."

The three security guards put the guns down which causes Cassie to lower her arms. She looks at Danny who has a strange look on his face.

"Um, you've got a little something-" Danny said as he pointed to the blood on her face by using his face as an example.

Cassie realizes this and she pulls out a wet nap then begins to casually wipe the blood off her face. "Yeah, I did not think that through."

Danny shakes his head in amusement while Sam watches them. Noticing how close they seem to be.

Jake slowly approaches the scene and sees the man on the floor as well as blood pooling around him. "Yeah, that's SO not gonna give me nightmares."

•••

In another part of the hospital, Gabe and Millie enter the ICU wing of St James. They see two security guards rush down the hall which confounds the pair.

"Wonder what that's about?" Millie asked as she watched the guards leave.

Gabe simply shrugs. "I'll take a guess and say it has something to do with our favorite indestructible redhead badass."

Millie grins when she turns to see Leo make her way to them. "Leo, hey!" She hugs him and kisses him on the cheek. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to check on your dad. See if the antitoxin worked." Leo stated which made Millie and Gabe anxious. "Except your dad is the same. You didn't give it to him?"

"Well, I was but... Pulse basically approached me in the parking garage." Millie said. "He told me he knew you had made an antitoxin for this form of Phobos and asked me for the vial."

"Wait, how did this guy know I made an antitoxin?" Leo asked, quite confused.

"Maybe he works inside the precinct and heard about it?" Gabe said.

"Weird because only Millie, Galen, Danny and I knew what I was doing?" Leo deduced.

"Leo, that building is notorious for having extremely thin walls." Millie said in a cheerful manner.

"Yeah, besides a crime fighting vigilante could easily hide inside a police precinct without anyone noticing." Gabe stated. "Works for Barry Allen and Wally West."

Leo clears his throat to hide his own duplicity. "I guess. But don't worry, I can make a batch of the stuff by tomorrow. Could take me most of the night."

"Leo, you don't have to-" Millie spoke up.

"I want to help. I want to feel like I'm a part of something." Leo said. "Watching you these past two days, it makes me hurt to see you in pain. It makes me want to try that much harder to help your dad and the other officers."

Millie smiles and blushes as Gabe rolls his eyes. Leo's charm could rival his own.

"So, have you seen Claud? Is she okay?" Gabe asked.

"Yeah, how is she?" Millie asked.

"She's doing fine. She calls me every few hours to give me a progress report." Leo said. "They might let her out of here in a couple days. At least until her test results come back."

"Have they found out if they can reverse what Circe did to her?" Millie asked.

"She said they aren't sure but they think that this is permanent." Leo said grimly.

"That's terrible." Millie said sincerely. "But Claud's tough, she can face this head on."

"Yeah, she's not one to shy away from adversity." Leo said with a smile.

"Plus if she got superpowers, it's a nice little bonus, right?" Gabe said in a joking manner.

"Just because you have powers doesn't make things better." Leo replied. "It only makes things much more complicated. Seeing as you're such a comic book geek, you of all people would know that."

Gabe sighs "Guess that's true."

"I better head back to the precinct and get to work. It's gonna be a long night." Leo said and he planted a quick kiss on Millie's lips. "I'll call you and let you know when I've got things done."

"Okay but don't work too hard." Millie said as Leo leaves.

Once Leo is gone, Gabe says "Think he bought that?"

"I hope so. I just really hate lying to him." Millie said.

"Well don't even think of telling him the big secret. Too many people already know." Gabe stated. "Really starting to think this is the best and worst kept secret in this city."

Millie laughs as she playfully punches him in the arm.

•••

Morning had come and back at Deimos' safe house, he was lying half naked on his king size bed where Raina lies next to him completely naked but covered by the bed sheets. After what happened last night, Deimos needed a form of comfort and Raina was happy to oblige. He goes to stroke her hair only to have her snap awake and grab a dagger from the nightstand and place it close to his neck.

Deimos smiles with no fear and says "Good morning to you too."

Raina relaxes and slowly moves the dagger from his neck. "Let me make this clear to you, I am not some whore you can have your way with. I merely slept with you because I was bored."

"Noted." Deimos said with a smirk on his face. "Besides, what happened between us last night was simply to provide me a sense of solace. Nothing more."

Raina grins and says, "In that case, I really hope you don't expect me to cuddle."

Deimos gets out of bed and there was a knock at the door. He puts on a green silk robe and calls out. "Enter."

One of Deimos' goons walks in and sees the nude Raina lying on the bed and snickers.

"Got a problem, expendable underling number seven?" Raina said as she played with her dagger, almost as if it was aimed at his head.

The goon gulps and looks at Deimos. "Sir, Grayson is here. Want us to get rid of him?"

Deimos grins and shakes his head. "Send him in. I'll be right there."

The goon goes to leave but before he does, Raina throws the dagger at the wall which lands inches away from his head. He recoils and reacts in horror which makes Raina grin like a Cheshire Cat. He quickly makes his exit from the room.

Deimos looks back at her with a smile. "Just couldn't resist, could you?"

Raina continues to smile. "Why do you want to talk to Grayson? Shouldn't you be avoiding anyone in the Maestro's inner circle?"

"I need to pass a message to his boss. Make my intentions perfectly clear." Deimos said. "And if my coup d'etat is successful, I could see you as my right hand."

Raina smiles "Even then you still couldn't afford me."

Deimos smiles at her "We shall see, won't we."

•••

Moments later, Deimos enters his living room where he finds Alec Grayson standing in the middle of the room wearing the clothes from the night before with Raina who was fully dressed following close behind. Alec was impeccably dressed as usual in a tailored dark blue suit. He doesn't seem to be in a very good mood but he puts on a manufactured smile to put Deimos in a false sense of security

"Heard you had yourself quite the eventful evening." Alec said in a faux happy demeanor.

"I did not ask you here for your brand of false pretense, Mr Grayson. I called you here for a purpose." Deimos said as he sat on an armchair and Raina standing behind the chair.

"I am aware, Andre. You said you want me to pass a message to my boss." Alec said as he looked around the room. Seven of Deimos' men enter the room and start to get a bit closer to Alec.

"I do want to send him a message, Mr Grayson." Deimos said as he snaps his fingers and two of his larger goons each roughly grabbed one of Alec's arms.

"What the hell is this!" Alec demanded.

"I want your boss to know that I am making a play for his position as the criminal kingpin of this city." Deimos said. "I am planning on sending him an aggressive message... Through you."

"So your plan is to beat it into me?" Alec asked.

"Precisely." Deimos said bluntly.

Alec scoffs at this, sounding amused. "Do you have any idea what I do, Andre? What my job actually entails?"

"You're his lawyer. Nothing I need to concern myself with." Deimos said dismissively.

"Well, that is my profession but another aspect of my job is to perform. I'm a cleaner and I tend to do what I like to call... aggressive negotiations." Alec said smiling.

Deimos looks back at Raina appearing very confused. He signals for his men to begin their assault only to see something that catches everyone in the room by surprise.

Alec elbows both the goons holding his arms in the stomach then he punches one of them hard in the face and elbows the other goon hard in his face as he punches the first goon. He then stomps hard on one of the men's head, knocking most of his teeth out of his mouth then punt kicks the other goon in his right temple.

Alec swiftly takes off his suit jacket and rolls up the sleeves and looks at the other five goons who go to attack him. Two of them take swings at him which Alec effortlessly dodges and he grabs the wrist of one and shatters it with one rough twist then kicks him in the stomach and throws him at his comrade and causes the two to crash into a wall that leaves a dent.

Another goon grabs a pipe and tries to pummel him with it only to have Alec grab his arm, twist his wrist and disarm him. Alec twirls the pipe and cracks the goon in the head.

The remaining conscious goons as well as Deimos and Raina watch as Alec repeatedly beats the goon over the head with the pipe. Not stopping until he was satisfied.

Alec stares up at Deimos, with his white dress shirt covered in blood and a few stray droplets of blood on his face. He throws down the pipe on the ground and stares at Deimos. "Let me give you a thought for you to ponder, Andre." He began as he wiped his face a moist towelette. "You don't know what you've started. As far as the Maestro's concerned, you've just declared war."

"Save your threats, Mr Grayson." Deimos said with a smirk. "Once my plan comes to fruition, your boss's days as the top dog are numbered and I will be calling the shots."

Alec smiles at him and gets in his face. "I admire the ambition but you're prepared to face the consequences. Nice a nice day."

With that, Alec grabs his suit jacket then exits the building.

Raina walks up to Deimos and asks "Want me to tail him?"

Deimos shakes his head. "We've got more pressing matters to attend to." He looks to the downed men and looks at the dead man. "You two, get rid of this."

They got to their feet and began the 'clean up'.

•••

At the City Tech campus, Freddie listlessly strolling through campus while he looks at his phone. He was wearing a black button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, dark jeans and black Chuck Taylors.

Freddie had hoped that Sam would respond to the twenty text messages he had left her. Not one of them got a response. He understood why she was angry but he hoped she'd let him explain. Freddie knows what it's like when Sam gets mad but this felt different.

Freddie's eyes furrow as he gets a text message but sadly not from Sam but from Gabe that reads 'Going to stop by MI to pick up some supplies. I'll see you back at the cave when you get there'.

A distracted Freddie accidentally bumps into another male student. The student was a young nineteen year old about average height, almost an inch taller than Freddie. He had short brown hair and blue eyes and was wearing a gray T-shirt underneath a light blue button up shirt that was open, blue jeans and sneakers.

When the two boys collided, the student dropped the book he had been reading and Freddie dropped his Pearphone. However Freddie instinctively catches both his phone and the book, surprising the student.

"Wow!" The student exclaimed in an English accent as Freddie read the title of the book. The student had been reading Homer's The Odyssey. "That was quite impressive."

"Um, thanks." Freddie asked as hands the book back to the student. "The Odyssey?"

"Yes, it's actually one of my favorite books. I'm alone a lot and I like to read." The student said while putting the book in his book bag. "You ever read it?"

"We read excerpts from it in Sophomore English. Never had a chance to read the whole thing." Freddie said.

"I think you might like it." The student stammered. "I mean, I don't want to impose on your personal tastes with my own- You are allowed to like what you want to. I mean, not that I'm the one who should give you permission to like anything." The student becomes increasingly anxious which makes Freddie crack a small smile. First time he's smiled in the last twelve hours. "Oh bugger."

"It's okay. I liked it from the excerpts we read in class. I'm sure I'd like the whole thing if I got to read it." Freddie said and he extended his right arm for a handshake. "I'm Freddie Benson."

The student smiles and accepts the handshake. "Benjamin Frances but my friends call me Ben. Well, they would if I had any. Not that I'm antisocial, I'm just rather awkward in interactions with people who aren't dead. I mean, I-"

"Don't worry. You're doing fine right now." Freddie said with a chuckle in his voice. "I haven't seen you around here. Are you new to City Tech?"

Ben shakes his head. "I've been here since school started. I just tend to blend into the background. I'm a perpetual wallflower."

"Well I've been so preoccupied with my own personal life that I don't notice things around me." Freddie said.

"Oh I know. I mean, I don't know but you just seem like you've got a lot on your mind, that's all." Ben replied nervously.

Freddie gives a weak smile. "Yeah, you could say that. I gotta go. It was nice meeting you, I'll see you around."

As Freddie goes to leave, Ben speaks up. "He's wrong. About what he said. He's wrong."

Freddie turns to face Ben. "Who?"

"The voice inside your head. That aggressive bloke that shares your face." Ben replied.

Freddie raises an eyebrow. "Wait- how do you-"

"Not sure how to explain without sounding like I should be thrown into the funny farm but I can say that it's all going to work out." Ben said sheepishly.

"What's going to work out?" Freddie asked, sounding confused and curious.

"Your problem with your friend." Ben said. "She's going to tell you."

Freddie swallows hard. "I-I gotta go... Somewhere t-that's not here. It was nice meeting you."

With that, Freddie took off and left Ben standing in the quad alone.

"Way to go, Benny. You scared another potential friend away with your freakish babble." Ben said as he strides off in another direction.

•••

Meanwhile at the precinct, Danny was in Thompson's office explaining what happened at the hospital. Cassie watches this through the window as she stands guard next to Sam who was lying on a wooden bench, trying to fall asleep. However she starts to stir as if she was having a bad dream. She snaps awake and finds Cassie standing next to her, realizing where she was and what happened.

"Oh. It's not a dream." Sam said, rubbing her head.

Cassie sits down next to her. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine." Sam said dismissively.

"Wow and I thought Freddie was a lousy liar." Cassie said jokingly.

"Apparently he's picked up some tricks from his dear aunt who turns out to be a freaking ninja assassin." Sam replied spitefully. "He's much better at it now, isn't he?"

Cassie sighs. "Okay, guess I had that coming."

"How can you let Freddie do any of this?" Sam asked in a hushed tone. "You aren't worried he could get himself killed?"

"I live with that constant panic every time he goes out there, Sam." Cassie said frankly.

"Then why do you let him? You could be like his 'bats in the bell free' mother and lock him up whenever he wants to go out?" Sam suggested.

"Because it was his decision." Cassie answers back. "You may not see it but he's a man now and he needs to make his own decisions. Thought more than anyone, you would understand that."

Sam remains silent for a moment. "He's going to get himself killed."

Cassie sighs "Kid has had some very close calls. In fact, first time he went out, he took a hell of a beating. If it weren't for me or Millie, he'd be in the ICU or worse."

"Millie's studying to be a nurse so she patches him up. I get that but... What do you do?" Sam asked.

Cassie sighs and looks around then she gets up from the bench. "Follow me."

Sam appears to be intrigued but nervous and she reluctantly gets up from the bench, following Cassie down the hall.

•••

Inside Thompson's office, Danny had finished explaining to his boss what had happened. The police captain leans back in his chair and stares at Danny. "So you're telling me Pulse managed to get Victor's daughter to give him an antitoxin that one of our forensic lab techs has made and used it to save your sister from an overdose?"

"Yes, sir." Danny said. "Pulse saved my sister from dying then he returned her to me unharmed."

Thompson sighs. "Then one of Deimos' men tried to attack the two of you while your sister was being treated in the emergency room?"

"He was disguised as an orderly and would have succeeded if not for Cassie." Danny explained. "She saved us, granted in a mildly gory fashion but she risked her own safety to protect my sister. The second time that night."

Thompson smiles, "Girl's got a habit of being in the right place at the right time." He looks at Danny seriously. "How do you want to approach this?"

"You're asking me?" Danny asked flummoxed.

"Seeing as how every time I tell you to stay out of this case, you don't listen. I think I should give you some leeway in this." Thompson said. "After everything that's happened, I think I owe you that."

"I want to question Singh. She's still in hospital, I want to know why she tried to kill me and why she led Victor into a trap?" Danny said honestly. "She's going to tell me, otherwise, I'm out of options."

"Then get out there and find your answers." Thompson said. "Do you want any back up?"

"Won't need it, I've got back up." Danny said as he exited the office, referring to Cassie.

•••

Cassie pulls Sam into an empty office and goes to shut the door only to have the door not stay open. She lets out a groan of frustration.

"Stupid door. They really need to have these fixed." Cassie said as she gives up and only leaves it open a crack. "I'll just make do."

Sam rolls her eyes. "Why'd you drag me in here? Going to threaten me so I won't tell Danny about Freddie's big secret? I can take you in a fight, you know."

"First off, no you really couldn't. Second, I'm not going to threaten you. From your reputation, you aren't exactly afraid of someone intimidating you." Cassie said. "I know how much you care about Freddie and I know you wouldn't do anything to hurt him."

"Yeah, all those years I spent pummeling the dweeb were just love taps." Sam said sarcastically.

"I'm serious. Freddie- he's been through a lot and you know as well as I do that it began long before he got struck by lightning." Cassie said. "Freddie's always been... Lost. Alone. No matter how many people he has around him, he always ends up alone. Everything he's been through... Everything he's going through now, he's strong enough to face it. I've seen him at his best and helped him through the worst since he's been here. You only saw one aspect of who he is when you two were in Seattle. You think he can stay that guy but you didn't realize there is more to him then you even knew."

Sam looks down and lets out a deep breath. "Maybe I did see a small fraction of what he is now. He did save Carly's life once. He's protected me a few times even though he knows I can take care of myself. He's always been a good guy."

"So why are you so against all this?" Cassie said. "He's been doing so much good. Why don't you want him to use his gifts to help people?"

"Maybe because the more he does this, the less and less he becomes the nub I knew." Sam said. "That I'll lose him."

Cassie smiles. "Freddie is still going to be that guy no matter how much he changes. You saw the good guy underneath the tech boy before anyone. That's why you're scared he's doing that. That and because you love him." Sam looks up and tries to defend herself. "Look, it's okay. I'm not trying to get you to admit to anything. Just think things through before you lose him forever. Not because he's going to get hurt, because you ran away from him. That would truly kill him."

Sam quickly wipes away the tears that had escaped from her eyes and clears her throat. "Um, is there another reason you brought me in here?"

"Yeah, there is." Cassie said.

While this is happening, Leo passes by the room and sees the door open a crack. He looks through the crack and sees Cassie and Sam in the room. Cassie pulls out the hunting knife from her leg holster.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" Sam asked bewildered.

"Just watch." Cassie replied.

With one fluid motion, Cassie slices her hand open with the knife. Sam's jaw drops and Leo's eyes widen in horror as Cassie lets out a small gasp of pain.

"Are you crazy?" Sam asked but her inquiry was silenced as she watches Cassie's deep open wound close up and completely heal. Leo watches this through the crack and was speechless.. "Whoa. That-"

"I heal. It's what I do." Cassie said.

"You have superpowers? Since when?" Sam asked.

"To quote Lady Gaga, I was born this way." Cassie said as she put away the knife and wiped the remaining blood off her palm. "It's rather complicated, actually."

"Boy when I thought Freddie's family was full of freaks, I was not expecting that." Sam replied.

Cassie lets out a small sigh of relief. She hoped this was putting Sam at ease.

Leo continues to peek through the crack only to be interrupted by a tap on the shoulder. He quickly looks behind him and finds standing there. In a panic, he puts his hand on the door to shut it which causes Cassie and Sam to look at the door.

"Uh oh." Cassie said in a horrified voice.

"Danny, what the hell!" Leo exclaimed which caught Cassie and Sam's attention.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Danny replied. "Have you seen Sam and Cassie? I've been looking for them."

"Nope. Haven't seen them." Leo said nervously.

Danny notes his anxiety. "You okay?"

Before Leo could answer, Cassie and Sam came out of the office. Cassie acted like she was surprised to find him there. "We were looking for the vending machines. Did they move them?"

"No, I think they're in the same place they have been since I've been here." Danny said, part of him not buying the excuse. "I'm going to interview Singh. Maybe she has some valuable information about what Deimos' next move is."

"Isn't that the cop who tried to shoot you last night?" Sam asked.

"Not just shoot. She was planning to kill me and frankly I want to know why." Danny stated.

"If it weren't for the Fox, I wouldn't be standing here."

Leo cracks a small smile. "I gotta go. I've got a fresh batch of the antitoxin ready. We'll just need permission from the hospital staff to give it to the victims. I better get back to work."

Leo leaves and Sam watches him leave. She wondered what he was doing outside the door. Did he see anything?

"So, do you want me to take Sam back to my place and wait there until you get back?" Cassie suggested.

"Actually I need you to help me with Singh. I've got a feeling that I might not be as objective when I talk to her." Danny said.

"And you want me to tag along to make sure you don't make anymore stupid decisions?" Cassie replied.

"Something like that." Danny stated.

"Consider it done, Dan Dan." Cassie said with a grin.

Sam rolls her eyes amused, she knew she liked her brother more than as a friend. "Am I going to be tagging along with you guys?"

Cassie makes a face which Sam sees. "I have an idea."

"You and Freddie have the same 'idea face'." Sam stated.

Cassie smirks and looks at them. "I can call someone to watch her while we question Singh."

"I don't need a babysitter." Sam replied. "But I don't think I have a choice."

"Who do you have in mind?" Danny asked while Cassie pulled out her cellphone and dials.

Cassie puts the phone to her ear and waits for someone to answer on the other end until that person does. "Hey, Pete. Is Galen still with you? Great. Could you do me a favor and you two get down to the precinct? I need your help."

Danny nods, he likes the idea of Pete and Galen watching over Sam. Sam however wasn't so sure.

•••

At the main offices of Morgan Innovations, Gabe steps out of the elevator with Lucius Hawkins with him. Gabe wore a tight white long sleeved shirt with dark blue jeans and black shoes. He had a large box in his arms that had the Morgan Innovations logo on it. These were the 'supplies' Gabe was picking up.

"Son, are you ever going to tell me what you're going to use those parts for?" Lucius asked as the two stepped out of the elevator to the main lobby.

"Super secret project, Lu. I don't want to reveal anything until it's ready." Gabe stated. Mixing the truth with some deception.

"Is this like that robot you built when you were seven years old?" Lucius asked with a smile.

"Something like that. Still surprised I got that little guy to actually work." Gabe said with a sense of nostalgia in his voice.

"Don't be so modest, Gabriel. You were always very bright for your age. Just like your father." Lucius stated.

Gabe hangs his head and sighs "I'm not my dad, Lu. I want to be my own man."

"And yet you still live off your trust fund and use equipment from the family trade." Lucius said frankly.

Gabe sighs and manages a smile. "I sound like a hypocrite, don't I?"

"It's understandable for someone your age. You want to step out of David's shadow." Lucius said.

"I want to make a difference. Be a part of something bigger. I think I may have found that with some friends at school." Gabe said smiling.

"Volunteer work?" Lucius guessed.

Gabe's knowing smile widen. "Something like that."

Lucius goes to lead Gabe out of the building but Gabe stops dead in his tracks when he sees his father in the lobby.

David was talking to a young man with short hair. He was of average height, an inch taller than Freddie but shorter than Gabe. He has a gothic look except there was no makeup or eyeliner on him. He has brown hair with a lone indigo colored streak in the front of his hair. He wore several studded bracelets and a studded belt. One accessory that stood out was a bracelet that had a symbol of the sun from of Celtic mythology.

What Gabe noticed besides his extreme look was that the young man was trying to hide several cigarette burn marks on his arms and he had quite a few scars including one on his cheek. The young man was also wearing black leather gloves on his hands and listening to David intently but David sees Gabe and focuses on him.

"Gabriel, what are you doing here?" David asked.

Gabe looks down at the box. "Just some supplies for a project I'm working on. You said it was cool if I could borrow some spare parts."

"I did but you keep me in the dark about this project, I'm starting to regret my decision." David replied.

"Come on, it's not like you tell me everything that goes on here." Gabe said, looking over at the young man David had been talking to. "Like who is he? He's a little young to be working here."

"This young gentleman is Clement Lehane, he's my personal courier." David said as he introduced him to his son. "Clem, this is my son Gabe."

"Nice to meet you, Clem." Gabe said, offering his hand for a shake. Clem stares at his hand and gives him a sour look. He shrugs and gives him a firm shake and squeezes his hand hard which causes Gabe to recoil in pain. "Ah! Quite a grip you got there, buddy."

"First of all, I'm not your buddy and second, at least it's not some limp wristed attempt at a handshake." Clem said bitterly.

Gabe raises his eyebrows in surprise. "Dude, what'd I do to you?"

Clem minced no words. "Nothing, I just don't like spoiled rich kids who had everything handed to them. That's all."

Gabe scowls at him while David and Lucius watch the scene. "This from the guy who is talking back to his boss's son."

"Just because I work for Mr Morgan, doesn't mean I have to be nice to you." Clem said.

Gabe sighs. "Okay dad, I'm gonna go before I decide to teach your courier some manners."

"I'd like to see you try. I could use a good laugh." Clem said in a sarcastic tone.

"I'll walk you to your car, Gabe." Lucius offered as he escorted Gabe out of the building.

David walks over to Clem. "Pity, I hoped you two would get along."

"I don't need friends. Having ties to anything gets in the way." Clem said. "As you've said, the mission is what matters."

"Yes but like it or not, you'll have to try to be cordial with my son... Or else." David said threateningly. "Now, let us continue our meeting in my office."

"Yes, sir." Clem replied as he followed David to the elevator.

•••

Danny and Cassie arrive at St James Hospital and walk into a room. They walked an older African American uniformed officer that was guarding the room.

"How are you, Ed?" Cassie greeted the officer standing guard.

The officer nods and smiles warmly "Hello, Cassie."

"Do you two know each other?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, Officer Milsap has been working at the precinct for years. He used to work alongside my brother and his dad knew my dad." Cassie said. "And they got him on guard duty."

"It doesn't bother me. I'm happy to do what I can." Ed said. He looks at Danny. "How can I help you, Detective?"

"We're here to talk to Nadira Singh." Danny told him.

"Did the captain give you permission to do this?" Ed asked.

"It was his idea." Danny stated.

Ed nods. "All right, I'll stay out here if you need me."

Danny nods and he and Cassie walk into the room. They find Nadira lying on a bed, the hand the Fox shot an arrow was bandaged up and her wrists were handcuffed to the side of the bed and she was restrained to the bed.

Nadira looks up and sees the pair standing there. "I figure you'd get to me eventually."

"Did you think I was going to forget what happened?" Danny asks as he stands in front of her bed while Cassie flanks behind him.

"Why are you here? Come to get some kind of payback?" Nadira asked.

"I came here to get some answers." Danny said bluntly. "I want you to tell me why you're working for Andre Deimos?"

"What would be the point, Parker? I'm going to jail for attempted murder of an officer. My career is over." Nadira stated.

"The point would be to find a way to stop Deimos. Too many people have been hurt by this guy. You really want to let him get away with that?" Cassie replied angrily.

Nadira tries to throw her off. "You know, you're kind of cute when you get angry."

"Don't you dare pull this kind of crap on me!" Cassie yelled, trying to hide her blushing face.

"Pardon me for inserting some levity into my current situation." Nadira replied bitterly.

"And if you don't cut it out, I'll get downright adorable." Cassie said, putting her hands on her hips. "I don't think it's called for right now."

Danny sighs. "You didn't just try to kill me, you sent my partner and several members of your unit into that trap and please don't tell me you were behind my sister's kidnapping-"

"I wasn't, I swear." Nadira said.

"Then tell me why you helped him do all this." Danny said. "People are getting hurt and more will keep getting hurt if you don't help me stop him."

"I-I can't." Nadira stammered.

"Why the hell not?" Danny shouted. "My partner is lying in a hospital bed, one of the few friends I have was attacked by several of his men and my sister almost died! You're afraid of someone, right now that should be me!"

Before Danny could get another word out, Cassie places a hand on his shoulder in order to get him to calm down. He looks back at her and she shoots him a reassuring smile. "Easy there, Parker. You're close to getting Dirty Harry on her."

Danny shakes his head and manages a smile then looks back at Nadira.

Nadira raises an eyebrow "Sure you two aren't a thing?"

"I'm asking the questions here, all right." Danny spat. "Why are you working for Deimos?"

"It wasn't by choice, believe me." Nadira said. "I was coerced."

"What does he have on you?" Danny asked.

"Not what but who." Nadira informs them. "Deimos threatened my younger sister."

"Your sister?" Cassie asked.

Nadira nods. "My sister Amara. She's going to NYU and I found out she had been hitting the party scene. Deimos found who she was and threatened me that if I didn't do as I was told, she was as good as dead."

"Oh my god." Cassie replied as Danny stood there in shock.

"I didn't think that it would get to this point. I just wanted to protect her." Nadira said. "Now that I've failed to do what I was told, he's going to come for her."

"Where is she now?" Danny asked.

"She's at school, completely unprotected." Nadira said.

"Why didn't you tell anyone about this?" Danny asked.

"Because he told me that if I went to anyone for help, he'd kill her... Then me." Nadira told them. "Amara is the only thing I have left."

"And you were afraid to lose her." Cassie stated. Nadira nods. "Nadira, if there are two people who understand your current situation right now, it's us."

"My life is in the toilet but I don't want my sister to pay for my mistakes." Nadira said.

Danny sighs "I will do what I can to make sure your punishment is as lenient as possible but there's no guarantee that you'll come out of this without facing the consequences." Nadira looks down. "However, I give you my word that I will save your sister from Deimos."

"We will save her." Cassie said, strongly emphasizing on 'We'. A small smile appears on Danny's face.

"She's on campus right now." Nadira told him. "Thank you."

Danny nods and he and Cassie make their way out of the room.

•••

On the NYU campus, a pretty young woman with a cinnamon like complexion in a colorful short dress with a knitted sweater over it and flats walks toward a dorm room where she runs into a familiar face - Brad Warner.

"Hey Brad." The girl greeted him.

Brad turns to see her and gets a bit nervous. "Hey, Amara. How's it going?"

Amara Singh smiles brightly. "I'm okay. I just got some bad news."

"What's wrong?" Brad asked, expressing concern.

"My older sister is in the hospital." Amara told him.

"Is she okay?" Brad asked.

"I don't know. I'm heading over there now." Amara said.

"That's terrible. Do you want a ride over there?" Brad asked.

"No, that's okay but thank you." Amara asked. "But can you do me a favor and let me borrow your notes for Professor Farnsworth's lecture?"

"Sure thing. Let me know what else I can to help." Brad replied.

Amara smiles and pinches his cheek. "You're sweet." Brad turns bright red. "See you later."

"Later." Brad said as he headed off down the hall.

Amara walks to her dorm and opens the door to find Andre Deimos standing there wearing the disguise he wore when he was with Ashlyn and Heather.

"Oh!" Amara exclaimed. She then seems to recognize him. "Andre, what are you doing here?"

"Well, nice to see you too." Deimos said.

"I-I just wasn't expecting to see you. What are you doing here?" Amara asked as she closed the door behind her.

"I got something for you." Deimos said, walking closer to her. "You told me that you would be very interested in getting a taste of a new batch of Phobos."

"I-I can't- M-my sister told me to stay away from using drugs." Amara stated.

"And you're going to listen? Thought you were your own woman and didn't need someone else making your decisions?" Deimos goaded her.

"I want you to leave." Amara said angrily and goes to open the door but Deimos grabs her by the neck and shoves against the door.

"I wanted to do this with discretion but seeing as how you are being... difficult." Deimos said, pulling out some capsules of Phobos. "This is going to hurt for a short while."

Deimos forces the pills down her throat and shuts her mouth to muffle her screams. She tries to fight him off until the Phobos start taking effect.

•••

Freddie was at the Pulse Cave where he stands in front of the display case that held his battle costume. He seems despondent and lost over the whole situation. His focus is pulled away when he sees Gabe and Millie walk down the stairs. Gabe was carrying the box he brought from Morgan Innovations.

"I brought gifts!" Gabe replied.

"For what?" Freddie said quietly, sounding less enthusiastic.

"Just a few spare parts. Microchips, electrical relays." Gabe stated. "I'll need this stuff if I'm going to make some more toys."

"What's the point? Is any of this stuff going to get us close to stopping Deimos? Undoing the damage he's caused-" Freddie said weakly.

Millie and Gabe look at each other with worry on their faces as Millie walks over to him. "You okay?"

"No. No, I'm not." Freddie stated somberly.

"Is this about what happened with Sam?" Millie asked.

"It's not just that. I have spent months busting my butt to clean up the streets. And for what? To have creeps like Deimos throw their weight around and hurt innocent people?" Freddie stated. "I've tried so hard to do what I can to help and what do I get? Vilified by the police? The media? By-"

"Don't say that. You're doing good." Millie said.

"I know. I just-" Freddie paces a bit around the room until he stops in front of the hub computer. "How long have I been doing this? Almost three months? Honestly, what have I got to show for it?"

"Well you have us for one." Gabe jokes. Freddie glares at him. "And joke time has ended before it began."

Freddie sighs "I'm starting to wonder if all this is even worth all this pain."

"Wait, you aren't considering throwing in the towel, are you?" Gabe asked.

Freddie sighs. "Maybe. I don't know if I can continue if people don't believe in me."

"Freddie." Millie said softly as she pulled him to two chairs where she sat him down and she sat in the chair in front of him. "We all know this has more to do with what happened with Sam."

"Millie." Freddie spoke up.

"I'm being serious. In a way she basically rejected you because of all this. She doesn't see you as the same person she knew in Seattle." Millie said. "You're a totally different person."

Freddie raises an eyebrow with a withering look "Is this your attempt at making me feel better?"

"It is, now hush and let me finish." Millie said bluntly which made Freddie crack a smile and Gabe grin. "You say people don't believe you? We believe in you. The two of us owe you our lives because you saved us. You've helped a lot of people by doing all this."

"She's right. I did the math and I calculated that crime in the city has dropped almost fifteen percent. Especially with violent crimes against women." Gabe stated.

"See. You're doing so much good for the people of New York." Millie said. "What happened to Sam is messing with your head. You want to quit because you think that she won't want anything to do with you if you continue being Pulse, is that it?"

Freddie lets out a deep breath. "Yeah."

"Because you still love her." Millie surmised. Freddie looks up at her and tries to defend himself. "Don't try to deny it. Everyone sees the way you look at her."

"Stevie Wonder wearing a blindfold can see it, man." Gabe replied. "I may not be an expert on monogamy but I can see when someone is completely smitten."

Millie looks at Gabe "Did you just say 'smitten'?"

"I may not spout out Shakespeare sonnets but I do know romance." Gabe retorts.

"I'm more than 'smitten'. Sam's like nobody else in the world. When I'm with her, it's like I'm split in two - half of me is just on fire, going crazy if I'm not touching her." Freddie described and his friends listened. "Other half is so still and peaceful, just perfectly content. Just know: this is the one." His eyes flash with an electric blue hue then he looks down then back up at his friends. "But she doesn't love me."

Millie's heart breaks for Freddie while Gabe was for once at a loss for words. "Freddie, I think you should think this through before you do something rash. Promise me."

Freddie sighs. "Fine. I promise to think it over. But once I've made up my mind and Deimos is behind bars, I'm done with it. I'm quitting."

Freddie walks up the stairs and leaves the Cave. His two friends look at him with glances of worry.

•••

Back at the precinct, Sam was sitting on the bench while she read something on her phone. Something that caused Sam to shed a few tears. She stares at her phone for a long while until two individuals approach her.

"Sam?" Pete's voice is heard saying.

Sam quickly looks up and finds Pete and Galen standing before her. Pete was wearing a black hoodie over a white T-shirt with dark pants and black work boots. Galen wore a dark red shirt with jeans and dark sneakers. She quickly wipes away her tears and gets up from the bench.

"Remember us?" Galen asked.

"Freddie and Cassie's accomplices?" Sam said bluntly.

"Yeah." Pete sheepishly said. "Cassie asked us to help keep an eye on you while your brother is out."

"Does that mean you two have to do what I say?" Sam asked. "Take me where I want to go?"

"We're your bodyguards, not your personal assistants." Galen jokes.

"Still, you have to keep me entertained, right?" Sam asked.

Pete and Galen looked at each other and appeared to be a bit nervous. "Cassie is going to owe us."

"She owes me twelve." Galen said under his breath then they look at the blond haired teen. "All right then, Ms Puckett, where would you want to go?"

"I need to go to Danny's place to get some clean clothes." Sam said.

The two men look at each other then back at Sam. "I don't think that's such a good idea." Pete replied.

"What part of 'take me where I want to go' don't you get?" Sam said toying with them.

"Wasn't the place closed off by the police?" Galen asked.

"Leo told me CSU was all done getting stuff from the crime scene. Said it's safe for me to go back there but I don't think Danny would want me to go back there alone." Sam told them.

The two men sigh and give in. "Fine, we'll take you."

"Maybe afterwards you can do me a favor and take me back to your... hideout." Sam said, whispering the last part.

"Why would you want to go back there?" Pete asked as the three made their way out of the building.

"I need to talk to someone about something important." Sam simply said and the three left.

•••

Danny and Cassie stroll through the crowded and bustling NYU campus with Cassie walking with a reserved confidence while Danny seemed to stick out like a sore thumb which Cassie saw and started to snicker.

"Care to tell me what's so funny?" Danny asked.

"Because you look like a total cop." Cassie said, hiding her amusement.

"I am a cop." Danny said matter of fact like.

"I know but you are kind of stiff. You gotta loosen up a bit." Cassie stated. "It helps blend into crowds to keep you from being noticed until you want to be."

Danny smiles, "You truly are the cop's daughter."

Cassie smirks and the two look around and find a familiar face among the throng of students. "Brad?"

Brad was sitting on a bench studying from a textbook. He looks up and sees the two adults making their way toward him. "Can I help you?"

"I don't think we've been formally introduced. I'm Cassie Sinclair, I'm Freddie's aunt." Cassie replied.

"Oh right. I remember, you were the one who saved me from that guy in the sack on his head." Brad said then he looked at Danny. "And you were one of the cops that was in the alley, right?"

Danny nods. "Detective Danny Parker. I'm investigating a case. We're looking for Amara Singh, do you know her?"

"Uh, yeah. She's a friend and lives in my dorm." Brad told them.

"Can you take us to her?" Danny asked firmly.

"Uh yeah, sure." Brad said nervously as he puts his book in his backpack and gets off the bench. "Is Amara in some kind of trouble?"

"We believe she might be in grave danger." Cassie said.

"Oh. Oh okay." Brad anxiously uttered as he led the two to his dorm.

•••

The three walk down the hall towards Amara's dorm room. They reach the door but find a tall man in a black hoodie exiting the room and locking the door.

"Hey! Hey you!" Danny yelled but the man didn't stop and walk down the opposite end of the hall. He caught a glimpse of the man's face and saw it was Andre Deimos. "Son of a-"

"I'll check on Amara. Go." Cassie said to Danny and without a moment's pause, Danny takes off running.

Cassie approaches the door and turns the knob only to find the door locked. "Damn it!"

Brad looks at Cassie. "I can go get someone to get the door op-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Cassie kicks the door open which leaves Brad in awe of her strength.

"Whoa." Brad exclaimed as Cassie steps inside the dorm room with Brad following her inside. They find Amara lying on the floor and Brad turns white with fright. "Oh my god."

Cassie rushes over to Amara. She finds a folded note in her hands which Cassie pockets and she goes to check her pulse. "She's still alive but her pulse is weak." She looks up at Brad. "Go call an ambulance and get campus security down here."

Brad began to argue with her. "But what about-"

"Brad, listen to me. She's going to die if you don't get help." Cassie said assertively, taking control of the situation. "I'll take care of her. I promise. Now go!"

Brad nods and runs out of the room, leaving Cassie alone with Amara.

Cassie looks at the unresponsive girl and feels compelled to save her unconventionally. She grabs on to Amara's left wrist and Cassie's hand begins to glow with pale blue.

•••

Meanwhile, Danny continues to chase after the hooded man. Danny leaps over the railing of the stairs to ensure he'd catch him. The hooded man puts several students that were exiting their dorms in Danny's path. Danny narrowly avoids colliding with the students as he sees the hooded man exit the building.

Danny eventually makes it out of the building and looks around the crowd of students. He then sees the man in the hoodie casually walking through the crowd. Danny runs through the crowd and starts after the man in the hoodie who sees Danny running towards him and takes off running.

Danny continues the chase, ending with him leaping over a bench and jumping in the air to tackle the man to the ground. His victory is hollowed by the fact that who was running after in the quad wasn't Deimos.

It was an eighteen year old male student who was wearing the hoodie. "Dude! Take it easy!"

Danny realizes what has happened. "Where's the man who gave you this hoodie!"

"He took off. He paid me fifty bucks to take the jacket off his hands." The student said nervously. "I didn't do anything. I swear."

Danny gets off the student who ditches the hoodie then takes off running. Danny looked around the crowd and realized his chance to catch Deimos had slipped from his grasp again.

•••

Back in the dorm room, Cassie continues to heal Amara who was still unresponsive. Cassie stopped due to lack of energy only to have Amara snap awake as Brad returned to the room.

"The ambulance is on it's way." Brad said but is shocked by Amara being awake. "Amara!" He kneels down next to her. "Oh god. Are you okay?"

"I-I think so." Amara stammered, she felt the green goo leaking from her eyes. She looks over at Cassie. "W-who are you?"

"A friend." Cassie said, catching her breath.

"She came with the police. They said you were in danger." Brad said as he held her hand in a comforting manner. "Guess they were right."

Amara manages a weak smile and she sees Cassie's weakened state. "Are you okay?"

Beads of sweat run down Cassie's forehead and she wipes it away and nods. "I'm fine."

Danny returns to the room and finds the scene. "He got away."

"Andre got away?" Amara asked with horror in her voice.

"You know Andre Deimos?" Danny asked.

"Yes, he supplied drugs in the clubs my friends and I go to. He shoved a couple capsules of Phobos down my throat." Amara told them. "He isn't just some lowly drug dealer, is he?"

Danny swallows hard "I can't say that until we're sure."

Amara realizes something: "It should've killed me."

"You're gonna be fine." Cassie assured her.

Danny notices Cassie's weakened state as Cassie tries to get to her feet. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." Cassie said, sounding small. She becomes dizzy and starts to stumble. Instinctively Danny catches Cassie before she falls to the floor.

They look into each other's eyes and Danny gives her a small smile. "Sure about that?"

Cassie laughs weakly at this.

•••

At Danny's loft, Pete and Galen were waiting in the living room with Pete looking at Danny's investigation board and Galen sitting on the couch.

"He's really obsessed with finding out about Pulse." Pete stated.

"It's his job to find out who he is. I don't really blame him for being a little obsessed." Galen said. "However for Freddie's sake, he can never be allowed to find out."

Sam had changed clothes and was now wearing a black long sleeved, blue jeans and black platform boots. She also had a black leather jacket in her hands.

"Are you ready to go?" Pete asked Sam.

Sam goes towards the front door but stops. She gulps and turns to face the two, setting down her jacket on the couch. "There's something that's been bothering me since I've met you two."

"Yeah?" Pete replied.

"What's that?" Galen asked.

"Um, what do you two actually do?" Sam asked which caused the two of them to give her looks that range from amused to annoyed. "Seriously, the two of you look like you could probably be superheroes all on your own. What do you guys do that helps out the dork?"

"By what do we do, do you mean do we have powers of our own?" Galen asked.

"I mean, Cassie showed me her super healing and is basically a female ninja" Sam stated. "What can the two of you do if you guys actually have powers of your own?"

The two look at each other and Pete speaks up. "I'll go first." Galen nods and backs up a bit.

Pete takes a breath as Sam braces herself for what was going to happen. He extends his right arm and keeps his fist clenched until he opens his hand and a small flame forms on his hand.

Sam recoils in shock as he watches Pete put his left hand over the flame. She and Galen watch as the fire moves from his right hand to his left almost as if he had control over it. The flame forms into a fireball until Pete snuffs it out with his hand.

"Wow." Sam exclaimed after seeing this. "You-"

"I have pyrokinetic powers, basically I can create and control any form of fire." Pete said.

"That's just- Wow." Sam was at a loss for words. "And you're Freddie's sidekick or something?"

Galen snickers and Pete shakes his head. "Actually the kid hits the field on his own. No one really knew I could do that until a few days ago. I have trained him on how to fight when Cassie's not training him."

"Oh." Sam said bluntly then she turned her attention to Galen. "What about you?"

Pete looks at him and motions for him to take his turn. Galen steps forward to face Sam while Pete takes a few steps back.

"All right, you gotta promise that you won't freak out. I've had varied reactions when I showed people." Galen warned. "It's caught some people off guard."

"Believe me, I've probably seen weirder stuff." Sam said. Galen stares at her with a serious look on his face, waiting for her confirmation. "Fine, I promise."

Galen takes a deep breath of his own and starts to contort his neck as she hears muscles on his face adjust. She watches as his hands spout long claws from his fingers and his ears become pointed like a canine's. Once it's done, Galen's face turns to his hybrid form and concludes with him growling and brandishing his sharp wolf teeth.

"Whoa!" Sam said with shock on her face. "Holy crap!"

"You promised not to freak out." Galen replied.

"This is me NOT freaking out." Sam said, sounding annoyed. She slowly walks closer to him. "Um, would it be-"

"Go ahead." Galen said, knowing what she wanted to do.

Sam goes to touch Galen's forehead and once her fingertips touch his face, she jumps back in surprise. "Dude! That's nuts!" Galen is amused by this while Pete just laughs. "What are you guys? Mutants? Crazy science experiments or something different all together?"

"Well, I was born with my powers. They manifested when I reached puberty." Pete explained.

"While I was given my gifts by a mad scientist who experimented with splicing animal DNA." Galen said as his face shifts back to his normal face. "In my case, it was wolf DNA."

"Jeez. Is that why you're helping Freddie? Because he's got powers?" Sam asked with curiosity.

"We're helping him because he's a good kid." Galen stated. "We understand why he's doing it and want to help in any way we can."

"We also got involved because of Cassie. She's a childhood friend of Galen's and I'm her neighbor." Pete told Sam. "I had just moved into the building she lived in when this all happened?"

"Oh so it wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that you are totally jonesing for Cassie, now would it?" Sam asked playfully.

Pete stammers and Galen just laughs at this which causes Pete to scowl at him. "What? She's clearly seeing the painfully obvious." Galen said, still laughing.

"You know, why don't we discuss something else?" Pete suggested, changing the subject.

"So we aren't talking about your sad excuse for a love life?" Sam said, smirking.

"You're hilarious." Pete said sarcastically. "Why don't we talk about why you're so angry at your best friend?"

"I'm not mad at Carly." Sam said, her eyes darting from side to side.

"We aren't talking about her." Pete replied. "What's got you so worked up about Freddie being Pulse?"

Sam runs her hands through her golden blond hair. "Honestly because I'm the only one worried about him getting hurt. Something bad is going to happen to him."

"We worry about him too but he's proven himself capable enough to handle this." Pete replied. "I mean, we never got the pleasure of meeting Freddie before he got his powers. He's not any more different than he was when you two were growing up, is he?"

Sam thinks for a moment and she tries to come up with some examples. Sure, Freddie Benson was a wimp but a brave wimp. He was always put in dangerous situations because he was defending or protecting his friends. The boy has alway had such a big heart. Maybe this was his destiny, to help others as Pulse.

Sam then puts on her leather jacket. "I need to get back to your hideout. I need to talk to them."

"All right. We'll go." Galen said and the three of them left the loft.

•••

An ambulance was parked outside of the dormitory building and two paramedics wheel Amara on a stretcher towards the vehicle. Danny, Cassie and Brad follow them close behind.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Cassie asked.

"Everything seems to be okay but we'll take her just as a precautionary measure." One of the paramedics told them. "Which one of you is going to accompany Ms Singh to the hospital?"

"I'll go." Brad volunteers as he hops into the ambulance.

"I'll call and get extra security for Amara." Danny told Brad. "We'll be there as soon as we can."

Brad nods as the paramedics shut the door and the vehicle drives off.

Danny looks back at Cassie who was rubbing her right temple. He then remembered what had happened to her in the room. "Hey. Are you feeling better?"

Cassie sighs "Yeah. I think I just got a little lightheaded. I'll be fine."

Danny looks a bit disappointed "Can't believe that son of a bitch got away."

"Well I have something that might cheer you up." Cassie said as she pulled out the note that she found on Amara. "This was in Amara's hands. Guessing Andy left it on her."

"He was leaving me a message." Danny replied while staring at the note in Cassie's hand. "Have you looked at it?"

Cassie shakes her head. "I was waiting for you to look at it and decide what you want to do about it."

Danny takes the note and opens it. He reads the note and after a moment, he looks up at Cassie. "There's an address on this."

Cassie looks at the piece of paper and reads it. "I know that address. It's in Chelsea, I had a couple clients have homes there."

"Do you know what's at this specific address?" Danny asked.

"Lots of loft space but the real estate is super pricey. Only those in the one percent can afford to live there." Cassie stated.

"Or a drug lord who can afford to keep the entire building to himself?" Danny estimated.

Cassie nods in agreement. "Looks to me like he's getting another trap for you. How do we play this? By the book?"

"No. We do this the alternative way." Danny stated.

•••

Danny and Cassie arrive at the building where Deimos had his safe house. The place looked deserted, not a soul in sight.

"This is the place." Cassie stated.

"This doesn't make sense. It should be swarming with his hired thugs." Danny replied, looking around.

"They're probably lying in wait inside the building. Wait for you to walk in." Cassie said. "I'll go in first, lead them out and we kick some skulls."

"Sure you can handle them by yourself?" Danny asked.

Cassie looks at him and raises her eyebrow. "Was that your attempt at humor?"

Danny smiles "Just be careful, all right?"

Cassie nods and enters the building where she finds cleaning supplies including a push broom and a glass bottle of heavy duty chemicals used for cleaning. She looks around and sees a staircase and starts walking upwards.

Danny waits outside until he is struck in the back by a wooden plank. He falls to his knees and finds six of Deimos' men standing before him.

"You shouldn't have sent your pretty little friend away." The main goon who struck him stated. "Would've made this much more sporting."

Danny gets to his feet and rubs the back of his neck. "Believe me, she's not the only one with fighting skills."

The goon swings to hit him but Danny dodges each strike and Danny counters with a left right combination that throws the goon for a loop. The rest of them swarm on him and Danny does his best to defend himself even performing a leg sweep takedown on one of the goons until it becomes too much for him and they pin him down.

"Should've stayed out of his way." The main goon said as he went to punch him again.

Suddenly, a glass container falls on the goons back and chemicals inside start to eat through his clothes. He reacts in pain as he removes his smoldering jacket and throws on the floor and everyone watches as the jacket disintegrates.

A whistle from above catches everyone's attention and they find Cassie standing on the third floor fire escape holding the push broom handle that she unscrewed from the broom end.

[Soundtrack Note: "Hey Mama" by David Guetta featuring Nicki Minaj plays in the background starting at 2:01]

"You boys looking for a fight because it's been less than twelve hours since I beat down on any of you Winkies." Cassie said. She does an elegant acrobatic leap off the fire escape and lands gracefully on her feet. With one fluid motion, she twirls the broom handle with dramatic flourish. "Let's dance."

"Get her!" The main goon ordered as the goons toss Danny aside and charge at Cassie.

One of the goons lunges for her. Cassie springs into action and in a series of blindingly fast, economical moves, Cassie clubs two of the goons with her makeshift staff weapon in the head so hard that the blows knock them out cold.

Fighting almost like Trinity from The Matrix, Cassie spins and thrusts her staff, taking down any incoming goons left and right. At one point, she stabs the staff down on the ground and uses it to perform multiple aerial kicks to them. The goons don't even have time to react - four of six are down for the count.

Danny looks up and sees the sixth man trying to jump her from behind. "Cassie, watch-"

Without even looking behind her, Cassie clocks the incoming goon square in the center of his face, breaking his nose. She twirls the staff and breaks it in half with her knee, clocking him in the head with one piece and clubs in the stomach with the other. He goes to attack her again only to have her crack him across the throat, fracturing his larynx.

The main goon reaches for his gun to shoot her only to have Cassie react quickly and grabs the sixth goon then uses him as a human shield. Once he's emptied his clip into the man, the main goon watches in shock as Cassie throws the now dead man to the ground.

Danny just stares at her in shock. No matter how many times he sees her throw down, he always finds himself surprised.

[Soundtrack Note: Song stops at 2:59]

"Um okay... Five second head start." Cassie told him and the goon was horrified. "In five, four, three, two..."

The goon goes to make a run for it only to have Cassie hurl one of the halves at him, hitting him in the back of the head, knocking him down.

"You forgot the one." Danny said as he got up off the floor.

Cassie just smirks. "It was intentional."

Danny walks over to the main goon who slowly starts to regain consciousness. He grabs him by the collar and yells in his face. "Where is your boss?"

"Screw you." The goon spat.

Cassie walks closer to him and steps on his hand with her heel from her boot with most of her weight stabbing his palm. "Either start talking or I'm going to have to have my shoes cleaned. No consequence to me, it's just rather annoying." She turns her foot to stab her high heel deeper into his palm and he screams in pain. "Last chance."

"All right! All right!" The main goon yells. "He's gone to execute his big plan."

"What plan?" Danny asked.

"I don't know." The goon said only to have Cassie push her foot down. "Ah! Ah! Okay. He's planning to release his weaponized Phobos at a college campus' Halloween party tonight. He's going to hold the partygoers hostage until Midnight then he's going to release it into the air."

"Why?" Danny asked.

"He's- he's making a play for the position of the kingpin of the criminal underworld. Usurp the main man calling the shots, the Maestro." The main goon said in pain. "Please, that's all I know. That's all I know."

Cassie and Danny look at each other as Cassie takes her foot off his hand.

•••

Inside of a black stretch limousine, Deimos sat in a well tailored green suit with his Phobos mask in his lap. Raina, who was dressed in a tight dark green leather catsuit with a long coat over it, was talking to someone on the phone.

"Understood. Keep us posted." Raina said as she quickly hangs up. "Parker went to the safe house but he wasn't alone."

"Was the red haired archnemesis with him?" Deimos asked.

"Yes and she made short work of your men... Again." Raina said, sounding slightly amused. "I'm assuming that one of them sang like a canary."

"Doesn't matter if they did. He can make any attempts he wants to try to stop this." Deimos said. "I won't let him or anyone else ruin my power play."

"How is killing a bunch of innocent kids going to win you the top spot?" Raina asked.

"My dear, if there's one thing about this wonderful country is that as much as they deny it, the public gives into fear and chaos." Deimos said. "This city will learn to fear me." He holds up a flyer that reads 'City Tech's Annual Halloween Party'. "One way or another."

•••

Back at the Pulse Cave, Millie paced nervously back and forth across the room while Gabe calmly and quietly worked on a new high tech device using a few of the parts he took from Morgan Innovations. Millie stops pacing and stares at him.

"How can you be so calm after what Freddie said?" Millie said. "He's talking about quitting."

"I know, Mills. I was there too." Gabe said as he continued working.

"Then why aren't you, oh I don't know, spazzing like me?" Millie asked with a mixture of anxiety and melancholy in her voice.

"Two reasons. One: I don't spaz. And two: Because it's not our decision. It's Freddie's." Gabe said, trying to sound serious. "He's been through something traumatic in the last forty eight hours. Compound that with all the stuff he's been through in the last two months and the pressure he's under. I don't blame him for buckling under it."

"I don't think he should do it. He's helped so many people." Millie said softly.

Gabe looks up from his work and gives her a genuine kind smile. "Then just hope he does what you think he should do."

Millie sighs. "I'm not trying to tell Freddie what he should-"

Their conversation is quieted by the door to the Cave entrance unlocks and opens. Millie hoped in the back of her mind that it was Freddie and he had come to his senses but her hopes were dashed when she saw Pete and Galen enter.

However both she and Gabe were surprised to see who else had come with them: Sam Puckett. The reason Freddie wanted to quit.

Sam notices the less than warm reception she got while making her way down the stairs with the boys. "Nice to see you guys too."

"Why'd you come back? You made it very clear you don't want anything to do with this?" Millie asked with her hands on her hips, her demeanor dripping with sass.

"Wow, breaking out the sass, Millicent?" Sam said, adding her own brand of sass.

Millie just glares at her, not letting the delinquent's brand of charm get her out of this. "Why are you here?"

Sam sighs, "I came here to ask you some questions."

"Why? So you can find new ways to make Freddie feel like crap?" Millie snapped. The outburst surprised everyone in the room, especially Millie herself. She calms down and sighs. "I'm sorry. Go ahead, what do you want to know?"

The guys look at Gabe who looks anxious. They don't know what had happened and why Millie was so upset.

"I want to know what Freddie's been up to since he's started doing this." Sam said.

Millie scoffs at this "You want to know what he's been up to? He's been helping people, saving lives. That's what he's been 'up to'."

"Okay, what crawled up your blouse and clamped down hard?" Sam asked, annoyed by Millie's behavior.

"You treated Freddie like crap because of all this, that's why?" Millie said.

"I'm sorry but I have every right to be upset. He's breaking the law." Sam said.

Millie gets in her face. "Really? The girl with the criminal record and arrest warrants in various states is concerned that he's doing something illegal. I think there's a phrase to describe this: pot calling the kettle black."

Sam stares Millie down right back. "You know I have a record. Then you know I have a tiny bit of a violent streak and pissing me off is the last thing you should do."

"I don't care what you'd do to me. I may look like the worst thing I could do to you is lightly bruise your fist with my face but that doesn't matter. You have to hear this." Millie said assertively. "Because you rejected him and now he wants to quit."

The guys are shocked by the news and Sam stares at her wide eyed. "H-he wants to quit?"

"Yeah. Freddie has been under so much pressure because of all that he's done. He's not a bad person but you treat him like he's some psycho." Millie said softly. "Freddie's a good guy. But I'm guessing you know that already."

"Yeah but he doesn't need to go out there risking his life for strangers." Sam said. "None of you are worried he's gonna get hurt."

"Who says we aren't worried?" Millie said. "When his aunt isn't healing his wounds, I'm the one having to patch him up. Some of his injuries scare me but I know that he strongly believes he's doing it for the greater good. He's done a lot."

"Care to tell me all the good stuff he's done because I'm all ears." Sam said.

"You're also all mouth." Gabe quips which causes Sam to give him a death glare. He looks legitimately fearful and hides behind Pete and Galen. "And I will now be standing over here so you don't murder me."

"Good choice." Sam retorts. She stares at Millie. "Just tell me."

"I think you should be talking to Freddie about-" Millie began.

"I'm asking you." Sam said, sounding sincere.

"Well, for starters, he's saved my life like twice now." Millie told her.

"He told me about what happened with that professor guy. Wait, twice? You like some damsel in distress?" Sam asked with a grin.

Millie rolls her eyes. "Are you going to let me talk or are you just going to throw snappy comebacks my way? And by the way, that happens to be a diversionary tactic most people use to avoid the truth."

Sam is taken aback by the snippy way Millie was speaking. She folds her arms in front of her chest and raises an eyebrow. "Please continue."

"Not only has he saved my life but numerous other people, including Gabe." Millie said. "Saved him from a scientist who was exposed to a chemical that gave her control over the cold and ice."

Sam looks back at Gabe. "Is that true?"

Gabe nods. "Suffered from a mild form of hypothermia in the process. I would've died if it weren't for Freddie."

"Whoa." Sam gasped.

"He also saved some friends of yours, Wendy and Brad." Millie said. "Brad had a run in with the same scientist and Wendy got kidnapped by some samurai type assassin. Freddie saved them both."

"Do they know it was him?" Sam asked.

Millie shakes her head. "He was able to keep his identity a secret."

"Because of him, crime has taken a significant drop in the last few months." Gabe points out.

"Especially with crimes against women. He doesn't stand by and let women get hurt." Millie said. "He's risking his life to protect people because he cares about people."

Sam swallowed hard and was feeling guilty for the way she had treated Freddie. "The nub's always had a big heart. That's why I- Why I care about him."

Millie's bitterness starts to melt away. "It's more than that. I see it on the look on your face. That's why you're so scared of him getting seriously hurt."

Sam doesn't say anything but the look on her face says more than any words could convey. After half a minute, she said, "What do you expect me to do?"

"That's up to you. I can only tell you to think about what we have told you." Millie said calmly. "He does care about you and he doesn't want to lose you. Think it through before you wipe your hands clean of him."

Sam sighs and looks at Freddie's other friends. She felt awful and had to make it up to Freddie somehow.

•••

In the courtyard outside of St James Hospital, Freddie walks up with his hands in his pockets. By the look on his face, he appeared to feel like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. He felt drained and defeated by what had happened.

From across the street, two men in a black SUV watch and see Freddie. They look like very imposing muscular figures who were doing surveillance for Deimos.

"Hey, Bobby. Isn't that the kid who came out of that Parker's apartment building?" One of the men asked. He had a bald head and wore all black.

"Yeah, Louie. Probably a friend of that Puckett girl." Bobby said to Louie. Bobby was the older of the men with salt and pepper hair and wore the same black outfit as Louie.

"Think he knows that tough redhead broad?" Louie asked.

Bobby smiles with malicious intent. "If he does, we should send her and Parker a message."

"By beating the kid down?" Louie asked with similar malice in his eyes.

"Bingo. Show that bitch she won't get away with beating down our boys." Bobby said as he and Louie got out of the car.

Freddie continues walks and looks around, feeling as if he was being followed only to stop and find Brad sitting on a stone bench in the courtyard. "Brad?"

Brad's intense stare was broken by Freddie's voice and he glanced up at him. "Freddie, hey. What are you doing here?"

"I came to see a friend. The better question is what are you doing here?" Freddie asked. "Everything all right?"

"Not really. A friend of mine, Amara, nearly died of a drug overdose." Brad answered somberly.

"Whoa, what happened?" Freddie asked as he sat down next to him.

"Some creep broke into her dorm room. He attacked her and forced some drugs down her throat." Brad said. "It was a good thing your aunt and her cop got there when they did or Amara would've been killed."

"Cassie was there?" Freddie asked, sounding surprised.

"Yeah. She stayed with her while I called an ambulance. She didn't tell you?" Brad asked.

Freddie sighs and shrugs. "I haven't talked to her recently. It's been a tough long day."

"And it's about to get tougher." Bobby's voice called out.

Freddie turns around and he and Brad find themselves confronted by Bobby and Louie. Freddie recognizes them as working for Deimos but he doesn't know who they are. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah, you can help us by making it easier for us and not fighting back." Louie said.

Brad looks at Freddie who he notices that his friend wasn't afraid. He only saw that Freddie's muscles tense up a bit as the men approached him. Almost like a feral animal ready to pounce.

"Look fellas, I've had a really bad couple days." Freddie said, sounding like a cross between politeness to word warning. "Do yourselves a favor and walk away."

Bobby laughs at this, "Or what? You're gonna teach us a lesson?"

"Pipsqueak's got some serious balls, doesn't he?" Louie said laughing.

"Leave. Now." Freddie said through gritted teeth in an angry tone.

"Or you'll do what?" Bobby asked amused.

Freddie shuts his eyes but quickly opens them and they flash with electric blue sparks. Bobby goes to punch him only for Freddie to grab his arm, pins it back and flips him on his back.

Louie was caught off guard and pulled a switchblade on Freddie. Almost on instinct, Freddie grabs his wrist and bends it back which causes it to snap and makes him drop the knife. Louie screams in pain that becomes a wail when Freddie shattered his forearm. Freddie then hits him with a hard right cross and knocks him to the ground.

Brad watches this in complete shock as Bobby gets to his feet and charges at Freddie. "Freddie, watch out!"

Freddie saw Bobby coming and gets punched in the face, causing Freddie to draw blood from his mouth. He spits bloody saliva out like an afterthought and quickly goes to kick him but Bobby catches his leg.

"Too slow." Bobby said with a grin.

Freddie just smiles then kicks him in the head with his free leg. Bobby topple backwards and he looks up at Freddie. "You were saying?"

Bobby gets back to his feet and pulls out his gun but Freddie disarms him by grabbing his arm, twists his wrist and causes Bobby to drop his gun. Bobby looks up and Freddie strikes him in the throat so hard that he fractured his larynx.

Bobby tries to speak but Freddie answers with a hard left that knocks out cold.

Freddie catches his breath as he looks around and sees what he had done then he looks up at Brad. Brad stares at him with eyes widened in shock.

"Um, we should go." Freddie said to Brad as he pulled him into the hospital, leaving Bobby and Louis moaning in pain.

From behind a stone pillar in the courtyard, Leo steps out of hiding. He had seen the whole scene go down and stared at the scene in shock. Did Freddie just single handedly beat two guys down?

Leo thinks then swiftly walks towards the scene. He pulls out his lab kit and takes out a cotton swab. He collects Freddie's bloody saliva as Louie stares at him.

Before Louie could speak up, Leo just coldly punches him in the face which knocks him out cold. He places the swab inside a glass vial and puts the vial inside his kit then walks off.

•••

Inside the hospital, Freddie pulls Brad into an empty public restroom. He checks each of the stalls to make sure the place was empty then stands in front of the main door to prevent anyone from entering. The two stood there in silence until Brad spoke up.

"Where did that come from?" Brad asked.

Freddie stammers as he starts to explain himself. "I-I've been meaning to tell that I'm- uh-"

"A what? A Power Ranger?" Brad asked, looking dumbfounded.

Freddie winces and looks down. He stares at his friend who was looking for an answer. "It's kind of hard to explain."

"Dude, just tell me. I'm sure I can handle it." Brad said in his genuine nice guy demeanor.

Freddie breathes deeply. "What I'm going to tell you... You gotta promise me you won't repeat this to anyone. That you can keep this a secret."

Brad nods.

Freddie takes another deep breath in and exhales. "I'm Pulse."

Brad stares at him for a moment then bursts into laughter. "That's hilarious." Freddie rubs his eyes in frustration. "Seriously, what's your big secret?"

Freddie sighs then extends his right arm and his hand starts sparking with electrical energy. Eventually, the sparks form into a small ball of lightning. "I am Pulse."

Brad stares at the energy ball then looks up at Freddie who was almost afraid to meet his gaze. Freddie braced himself for the worst. "Oh my god. You're him. You're Pulse."

"Yeah." Freddie said softly as he crushes the lightning ball which vanishes and is reabsorbed into his body.

"I can't believe it." Brad said. "That's..." Freddie shuts his eyes, ready for the tirade that might be coming his way. The word that comes out of his friend's mouth surprises Freddie. "Awesome!"

Freddie stares at Brad in shock. "What- Really?"

"Heck yeah! You're a freaking superhero!" Brad exclaimed. "I mean I figured something was up but I had no idea it was... Wow."

"So you aren't mad?" Freddie asked.

"Are you kidding? Why would I be mad?" Brad asked.

"Because Sam was mad when I told her." Freddie told him.

"Wait, you told Sam before you told me?" Brad asked.

Freddie sighs. "It wasn't my choice, believe me."

"What do you mean?" Brad asked.

"Well, I've been dealing with this drug lord named Andre Deimos for the last few days." Freddie explained and Brad listened. "He has this vendetta against Sam's half brother who is a detective who put him in jail and inadvertently killed his brother."

"Whoa wait, Sam has a brother?" Brad asked with surprise. "And he's a cop?"

"Technically he's her half brother and yeah. She's in town visiting him which is like the worst timing ever because Deimos has been out to make her brother's life hell." Freddie said. "Including drugging Sam and kidnapping her."

"Sam got kidnapped?" Brad said in shock.

"Yeah. I had gone in to save her but the drug was causing her severe hallucinations." Freddie said. "My friends and I had this antitoxin that we could only give her once she calmed down. The only way I could think of is-"

"Is to show her your face." Brad realized.

Freddie stares down. "Yeah."

"And it didn't go very well?" Brad asked, seeing Freddie depressed.

"Not really." Freddie said. "Sam was freaked out and I don't think she wants anything to do with me."

Brad smiles. "I may not know Sam like you do but I do know that she would never abandon you because of all this. Give her time, she'll come around."

"I honestly don't see the point of continuing being... I'm thinking about calling it quits." Freddie told him. "Leave the job of protecting the city to someone who knows what they're doing."

"You can't be serious. You can't just quit because Sam doesn't like it. You've saved a lot of people, Freddie. You can't give up!" Brad said.

"It's not that simple." Freddie said calmly. "I started this because I wanted to help people, to make a difference. It's just- It's getting hard to see if that's what I want anymore."

"All because Sam doesn't approve?" Brad asked and after long pause says "Do you have any idea how stupid that sounds?"

Freddie is caught off guard. "What?"

"Freddie, I saw what you could do and I'm guessing that's just the tip of the iceberg." Brad said. "And if you give up now, it would just be a waste."

Freddie sighs in relief. "Hadn't thought of it that way."

"Thought you were supposed to be smarter than that." Brad said jokingly. Freddie smiles brightly.

"What are you going to do?" Brad asked.

Freddie exhales as he runs his left hand through his hair. "I haven't figured that out yet."

"Look, I like Sam as a person and all but if she doesn't accept you, it's her loss." Brad replied.

"Thanks, man." Freddie replied.

Brad exhales then lets out a chuckle. "So, you said that you were here to see a friend. Is this a personal thing or superhero stuff?"

Freddie scoffs "A little of both. I really did come to see a friend. She goes to my school but she had a drug overdose and nearly died."

"Drug overdose?" Brad realizes something. "Was she-"

Freddie nods. "Yeah. She took Phobos too, only she intentionally took it."

"Do you think that it's a coincidence?" Brad asked, part of him knowing the answer.

"Not even remotely." Freddie said grimly.

Brad sighs. "You are going to stop these guys, right?"

Freddie gives a weak smile "That's the plan. But I need to talk to my friend."

"Then what? Are you still going to quit being Pulse?" Brad asked.

"To be honest, I don't know." Freddie replied.

"Well, you shouldn't. You are way more badass now than you ever were." Brad said which made Freddie laugh.

"I'll think about it." Freddie told him. "Let's get out of here."

"What about those guys you beat up? Are they going to come looking for you?" Brad asked.

"Think it's safe to assume those guys won't be bothering anyone for quite a while." Freddie said which made Brad laugh nervously. "Come on."

The two teenage boys walk out of the restroom.

•••

At the precinct, Captain Thompson was sitting at his desk with Danny and Cassie standing in front of him. He was speaking on the phone with someone. "Yes, I see. Thank you. Let me know if any of them are conscious enough to talk. Bye." He hangs up the phone then looks up at the pair. "All six of them are out of it. They aren't going to be talking right now."

"We don't need them to talk. We know exactly what Deimos is planning." Danny informed him.

"I told you to question Singh. Don't walk into another trap." Thompson replied. "Thought you were smarter than this."

"It wasn't his fault. It was my idea." Cassie said, taking the fall for Danny.

"You have enough to worry about right now. Do you realize how badly you hurt those guys? The one who was killed? You broke his larynx!" Thompson stated.

"Technically I fractured his larynx and he was killed by his own guy. I merely used him to protect myself." Cassie said with a smirk. She stares back at Thompson who glares at her. He was not having it. "Look, it's not like these whazz sacks weren't asking for it. Deimos personally went to Nadira's sister and tried to kill her with Phobos."

Thompson looks at Danny. "Is that true?"

Danny nods. "If Cassie and I hadn't shown up when we did, she would've died. I tried going after Deimos but he was able to give me the slip. Cassie was able to save Singh's sister, still trying to figure out how though."

Cassie swallows hard "Deimos left a note on Amara that had an address to his safe house. We figured it was a trap but we took the risk."

"And our risk paid off. We found out what's Deimos' next move is going to be." Danny stated. "His plan goes beyond getting revenge against me. Turns out he's after something else."

"What's he after?" Thompson asked.

"He wants to make a play to be the new kingpin of the criminal underworld. He's planning to stage an attack on an undisclosed location as a way to lay claim to the spot." Danny said. "We have a good idea of when and where he is going to attack."

"When is he going to attack?" Thompson asked.

"Tonight. He's going to attack a Halloween party on a college campus." Danny said.

Thompson breathes deeply "How do you want to handle this?"

"With all due respect, sir, I'd like to finish this." Danny said. "It started with me, that's where it should end."

Thompson nods. "I'll make sure you get a team to lead the assault on Deimos."

"Thank you." Danny said. He looks at Cassie then back at his boss. "And if it's alright with you, I'd like it if Cassie was a part of this."

Cassie looks up then she looks at Danny. "What?"

"I'm not sure that's a good idea." Thompson said. "Cassie's good but I can't risk the life of a civilian-"

"She's more than that, sir. This woman is more than capable of taking care of herself. I've seen it with my own two eyes." Danny said. "She has also put herself in harm's way to protect me and the people I care about. I trust her as much as I trust Victor. Maybe more. Frankly if there was anyone I'd trust to watch my back, it's her."

Cassie's eyes moistened with tears as she smiled. Part of it was from flattery but there was some guilt behind her emotional response.

Thompson stares at her as she quickly hides any trace of her tears. "Are you sure you can do this? That you will follow Danny's lead?"

Cassie thinks then nods. "I may not like following rules but I will stand by his side. He's my friend, I don't abandon my friends."

Danny smiles brightly.

"All right, Parker. You start trying to find out what school Deimos is going to hit and we'll start gathering a team for this operation. But if this ends badly, I'll have your job." Thompson told them as they left.

Once they are gone, Thompson opens a drawer in his desks, picks up cellphone inside, he dials then speaks to someone. "Mr Grayson? Tell your boss he might have a serious problem on his hands."

•••

"What was that about?" Danny asked as he and Cassie walked to his desk.

"What do you mean?" Cassie asked.

"Your eyes were a bit watery. You weren't crying, were you?" Danny asked mildly amused.

"No!" Cassie adamantly denied. "I was just- It was allergies."

"Allergies? Like it was low blood sugar that made you lightheaded at the dorm?" Danny said teasingly.

"Hey, I haven't eaten since yesterday. It's not my fault I got a little dizzy." Cassie retorts.

"Well once this is over, I will treat you to the meal of your choice." Danny stated.

"I'll hold you to that, Danny Boy." Cassie said and Danny laughed. Her mood becomes more serious as she pulls out the note Amara had and looks it over. "What's our next move?"

"We need to find out where Deimos is going to do this. It's not like he gave a major clue." Danny asked.

"I think he did." Cassie said. She turns the note inside out to reveal that the note was written on a flyer for the Halloween Party at City Tech. "He's going to do this at City Tech."

Danny shakes his head "And he wants me there for the final act."

"This guy does have a taste for the theatrical." Cassie said. Danny thinks and he realizes something. "What?"

"We're going to need help." He pulls out Victor's phone and dials. "From someone with a dramatic flair of his own."

Cassie stares at him, wide eyed. She knew who he was calling. She just hoped he was prepared for this.

•••

Freddie walks out of an elevator headed to the hospital room Heather was in. Suddenly his eyes furrow and he feels a vibration in his jacket pocket. He reaches back and finds the Pulse phone which surprised him until he remembered Millie was near his jacket before he had left. She could've left this inside.

Freddie saw the caller ID and saw it was Victor's phone calling the phone only he knew who was really calling. He slips into a supply closet and answers the phone. "Hello Detective."

"I almost thought you weren't going to answer." Danny's voice is heard saying.

"What can I help you with?" Freddie asked.

"Deimos is making his move tonight. He's planning to attack a college party with his weaponized form of Phobos. The same stuff he used on my partner and my sister." Danny said.

"And you need my help?" Freddie asked.

"I wouldn't ask if I wasn't truly desperate. I can handle Deimos alone but he's crossed several lines, put more and more people in danger. I can't stop him in the conventional way." Danny said. "I-I think you're the only person he is afraid of."

Freddie closes his eyes. "How do I know this isn't a trick? You could be luring me into a trap, you still want to bring me in."

"You saved my sister's life." Danny said.

"I also saved your partner's daughter and he betrayed me to your boss." Freddie said.

"And yet you still offered him your assistance." Danny retorts. "Look, I haven't earned your trust but I hope I have your respect. You and I both want to stop Deimos so the enemy of my enemy-"

"Makes us less antagonistic?" Freddie said jokingly.

Danny sighs. "If you don't want to help me, I understand-"

"Wait!" Freddie said before he could hang up. After a long pause, he speaks. "Where is Deimos going to attack?"

"The potential location they plan to attack is the New York City College of Technology." Danny said. "He plans to unleash the toxin during their Halloween party."

"City Tech?" Freddie said. Deimos had crossed another line. "What do you need me to do?"

•••

At the forensics lab, Leo was looking over Freddie's blood sample he took from the scene in the hospital courtyard inside vial. So many thoughts were going through his mind. How was someone as timid looking as Freddie able to commit that kind of violence? He seems to recognize his fighting stance, his posture. It all seemed very familiar to him.

Leo's hearing perks up and hears someone making their way to the lab. He quickly stashes the sample as he turns to see Danny and Cassie enter the room.

"Leo? Glad you caught you. I would've thought you'd be with the rest of the forensics lab, helping them administer the antitoxin?" Danny asked.

"I was there a couple hours ago. I was informing Nina how it should be administered then I came back here to run more tests." Leo said. He glances over at Cassie. "You seem to be hanging around here a lot lately."

Cassie crosses her arms over her chest "Is that a problem?"

Leo nervously says. "No, it was- I was only curious."

Cassie drops the defensive act and smiles warmly "Relax, I'm just pulling your peach."

"Huh?" Leo asked, perplexed.

"Nevermind." Cassie replied as she extended her arm. "I don't think we were really formally introduced. I'm Cassie Sinclair."

"I know. Millie told me a lot about you." Leo said. "From what she told me, she seemed to be describing you like some badass Amazonian warrior. Up until yesterday, I thought she was exaggerating."

Cassie smiles. "Amazonian warrior? Think I'm a wee bit too short to be an Amazon. Amazons were known to be close to six feet tall." She was met by incredulous stares from Danny and Leo. "Yes boys, I have partaken in the occasional reading of a book."

"I would've assumed you looked that up on Wikipedia." Danny joked.

"I was raised before the digital age took over, thank you very much." Cassie quips.

"Not to sound rude but why are you two here? Need my professional opinion on the Deimos case? I don't think there's anything else I can do." Leo replied.

"Actually there is. We need help for you for some undercover work." Danny said.

Leo raises an eyebrow "Um, I don't see why you would need me. I don't have a badge or a gun, I carry an ID card and a lab kit. What could I honestly offer that would help?"

"We need someone to go into a party, someone that will blend into a crowd." Danny told him. "We have a plan to stop Deimos once and for all."

"You're serious." Leo said, sounding surprised.

"Wouldn't hurt to see how things are beyond the lab work, don't you think?" Danny asked.

"We can really use you. You're not just smart but you're also very brave." Cassie said. "You saved me from Raina Tran and ended up with a gash on your arm for it. You didn't have to."

"I wanted to. Wasn't going to square off with that sociopath." Leo said which caught Cassie by surprise.

"Normally most can't discern whether or not Raina is a psychopath or a sociopath." Cassie said smiling.

"I think Helen Keller could tell the difference." Leo jokes which makes Cassie laugh.

"So what do you say? Are you up for the challenge?" Danny asked.

Leo smiles, looks like he found an excuse to use his extracurricular skills. A small grin forms on his face. "What do you need me to do?"

•••

Back at St James Hospital, Heather lays on her bed. She looks like she hasn't slept in days and her hair was messy. She stares out the window, it was late in the afternoon and her mom had gone to get something to eat. She was glad she wasn't there, finally getting some breathing room.

Suddenly there was a light rapping at her door. "Back so soon, mom? Gave up trying to find anything not wrapped in Saran Wrap?" Heather joked.

The door opens and Freddie stands outside the threshold. "This a bad time?"

Heather's eyes were widened with surprise. "Freddie, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see how you were doing. Can I come in?" Freddie asked softly.

"Yeah. Sure." Heather said as she sat up. "Shouldn't you be in class?"

"Kinda playing hooky. Taking a bit of a mental health day." Freddie said while walking into the room.

"You're just doing things left and right that aren't in your nature." Heather replied slightly bitterly. "Skipping classes, getting into fights, circulating naked photos."

Freddie looks down. "Go ahead. I deserve you putting me in my place."

"Fredward, if anyone deserves to be put in their place lately, it's me." Heather said. "I was nothing but awful to you and your friends. I treated you like you were some social outcast."

"Because I am. To be perfectly honest, if it weren't for iCarly, I would've been one taxidermy class away from becoming Norman Bates." Freddie said. "I had the odds stacked against me since utero. I did something terrible to you, I was wrong and I am really-"

"Stop! You stop that right now!" Heather spoke up, catching Freddie off guard. "You made one really stupid mistake and you act like you're committing an act of martyrdom. You're a good guy but nobody's perfect."

"I know, it's just- I feel like what happened is my fault." Freddie said.

"Did you stuff those pills down my throat? Make me swallow them?" Heather asked.

"No." Freddie said, shaking his head.

"Then explain to me how this is your fault?" Heather asked and after a moment of silence, she spoke. "See how idiotic you sound by falling on this sword?"

Freddie brushes the back of his head with the palm of his right hand. "Guess blaming myself has become my security blanket as of late."

"We all have our issues, you just handle things better than I ever could. I'm not going to mince words, I can be a real bitch which hasn't done me any favors." Heather said as she motions for him to stand next to her which he reluctantly does. "I was terrible to you and your friends and you retaliated against that."

"But I shouldn't have. It was childish and not the right thing to do." Freddie said. "I really am sorry."

"I know." Heather said, squeezing his hand. "Thank you. You saved my life. I wouldn't be here if it weren't, I would've died... like Ashlyn."

"I'm sorry about what happened to your friend." Freddie said with a weak smile.

Heather exhales. "I heard on the news that a bunch of police officers got exposed to a more aggressive form of the drug I took."

"Yeah, one of them was Millie's dad." Freddie told her.

"Oh my god." Heather gasped. "How is she?"

"Didn't think you cared?" Freddie asked in a joking tone.

"Look, she may be obnoxious sometimes but she's not a terrible person." Heather said.

Freddie sighs "She's okay but she was in rough shape when she found out."

"Do they know the guy who is behind all this?" Heather asked. "I told the police about the dealer who gave Ashlyn the Phobos. His name was Andre." Freddie's eyes widened. "What's wrong?"

"Andre is Andre Deimos. He's the man behind Phobos and he orchestrated everything, including your overdose and Ashlyn's death." Freddie told her.

"What? Why?" Heather asked, horrified.

"He has a vendetta against a detective friend of my aunt's who is also Millie's dad's partner. He set everything into motion to hurt him." Freddie said somberly. "Deimos even kidnapped his sister who just so happens to be one of best friends from Seattle."

"Jeez it. I'm so sorry. Is she all right?" Heather asked.

Freddie smiles "Yeah. I found out Pulse saved her life."

"No way." Heather said in awe. "Seems like this city is filled up with heroes, doesn't it?"

Freddie gives a weak smile. "Yeah."

Heather exhales. "I think this city needs him. More than even he realizes. Hope he knows he does."

"I'm sure he does." Freddie said, hiding a twinge of pride. "Listen, I have to go-"

"You're going to the City Tech Halloween party?" Heather asked, throwing Freddie off. "I remembered it was Halloween after watching some TV."

"Funny enough, I sorta forgot about it. I've had a lot on my mind." Freddie said. "Guess I should go, right?"

"Absolutely. Just because I can't have fun, doesn't mean you shouldn't." Heather said. Freddie smiles and he makes his way out of the room. "Just promise me you'll have fun for the both of us."

Freddie flashes a mischievous and knowing grin. "Oh I intend to."

•••

Outside of the precinct building, Sam pulls up riding Pete's motorcycle. About half a block away, Galen followed the bike with his car as Pete sat in the passenger side. Galen parks his car half a foot behind the bike as Sam takes off the helmet.

"Gotta say Torchwood, this baby handles like a dream." Sam said to Pete as she hands him back the helmet. "Almost as good as my own."

Pete takes the helmet from her. "You could've been more careful on it. You almost plowed into a bike messenger."

"Chillax, Firefly. I wasn't planning on committing vehicular manslaughter." Sam said. "Pucketts are a lot of things but we aren't murderers. Thieves, loan sharks, con artists, but none of us have committed murder... That can be proven."

"We don't need to know." Galen stated. "Danny said he was inside. Do you want us to walk you in?"

"Nah. I got it, Cujo." Sam quips which makes Galen roll his eyes. "You guys go do whatever it is you do for Freddie while I spend the night trying to hide stuff from my brother." She tosses Pete his keys. "Thanks for letting me ride." She goes to walk in then stops, turns and faces the two men. "Hey! Make sure the dork doesn't do something stupid, okay? Or you'll answer me."

With that, Sam walks inside the building as the two men get in their vehicles and drive off.

•••

Inside of the lab, Danny was finishing explaining his plan to Cassie and Leo. Both of them appear to be on board. Hesitant but on board.

"So, what do you think?" Danny asked.

"Let me get this straight. You want to send me and some other unlucky individual into that party in disguise so we can scope out the place and wait for the Calvary?" Leo asked

Danny nods "That's the long and short of it."

"I think this plan sounds insane." Leo said. "So yeah, I'm on board."

Cassie smirks "Oh you know I'm on board."

"So who are we going to get to go in with Leo?" Cassie asked.

"Can't you just go in?" Danny asked.

Cassie shakes her head. "I'll be spotted by Deimos and his goons and they don't really like me all that much."

"Because you've beaten a lot of them down?" Leo asked.

Cassie grins. "That would be a factor, yes. Anyway, I'd stick out like a sore thumb. We need to get someone to go in with Leo that Deimos won't expect."

"Any suggestions?" Danny asked.

Before either could respond, a voice answers his question. "How about me?" The three turn around and find Sam standing at the door. "How about I go in with him?"

"I-I don't think that's a good idea. I don't want to put in any more danger." Danny stated.

"This guy is going after you personally. He kidnapped me, remember? If anyone gets help you take this hobknocker down, it's me." Sam stated bluntly.

"What's a hobknocker?" Leo asks and Cassie whispers the answer into his ear. He recoils in horror. "Ew, gross!"

"And illegal." Cassie replied.

"Sam, I can't send you into the line of fire. I can't watch you get hurt because of me. I don't know what I would do if something happened to you." Danny said.

"Danny, this guy needs to pay for what he did. Not just what he did to me, but for all the other people he's hurt." Sam said calmly. "I'm not some formal officer or anything but if you're going to stop this guy, I want to be there to see it."

Danny stares at his sister, exasperated. "I'm really not going to win this argument, am I?"

"Not really, no." Sam said smiling.

Cassie was amused by her gutsy behavior. "All right, now what?"

"Well, Leo and Sam are going to need costumes for them to blend in." Danny said. "Unfortunately it's Halloween so it's going to be extremely difficult."

"Leave it to me. I know my way around costumes." Cassie said.

"Gee I wonder why?" Sam said sarcastically and Cassie rolled her eyes.

"I've already got a costume. I was planning to hand out candy tonight but seeing as how that's out the window, I don't mind using it." Leo said.

"What were you dressing up as?" Sam asked.

"Hawkeye." Leo said frankly. "Even constructed a bow and arrow that works."

"Oh." Sam replied. "Nice."

Cassie smirks and looks at Sam. "In that case, I know what costume I'm gonna put you in."

"Why don't I like the sound of that?" Sam stated. "Are we going to have any other backup besides the two of you?"

"Well, we're gathering a team together to help us basically storm the castle. But we are going to have some... unorthodox assistance." Danny stated.

"Who?" Leo asked.

Danny sighs. "Pulse. He's going to be helping us."

Leo looks dumbfounded while Sam was just in shock. Would she actually see Freddie in action as Pulse with her own eyes?

•••

At City Tech, Professor Tommy Bennett was having several students help decorate the recreation center for the Halloween party. He walks a group of female students who giggle and blush as he walks past.

Tommy turns and finds two men in delivery outfits. These two were Deimos' men in disguise. They had a large wooden crate with them. "Hello. Can I help you?"

"We got a delivery. We need you to sign for it." The 'delivery' man said.

"What is it?" Tommy asked, staring at the box.

"Party favors." The other 'delivery' man said. "Just sign."

Tommy didn't want to argue with the imposing men and signed the slip. "Who sent-"

Before he could finish, the men just left the building, "Well, that was strange." Tommy replied. He goes to open the crate.

"Professor, you got a call." A student called out.

Tommy walks over to the phone and answers. "Yes. Oh. Of course. Do you want us to-? Oh. Very well. Thank you for letting me know." He hangs up and addresses the volunteers. "Guys, I just got a call from the police and they're going to be sending extra uniformed officers as security for the event. So do not be alarmed, they're here to help."

The kids nod and get back to work decorating.

"Do you want us to take this crate anywhere?" One of the students asked.

"Yeah, just stash it in the kitchen. I'll decide what to do with it later." Tommy said as two larger students did as instructed and take the crate away.

Unbeknownst to all, the crate is shown to have a large contraption with greenish yellow mist inside canisters. It looked like a bomb ready to be detonated.

•••

Back at Cassie's place, Cassie was helping Sam get into a costume she had picked out for Sam. It was a near exact replica of Black Widow's costume from the first Avengers film. Sam appeared a bit uncomfortable in it as Cassie gave her a once over.

Cassie was now in clean clothes, wearing a long sleeved black top, tight black pants and knee high dark brown boots. Her hair was down in soft curls.

"Hmm, am I good or what?" Cassie bragged.

"I feel like an idiot." Sam stated. "How does that chick wear this stuff?"

"It's not so bad. Like her costume, this one is quite flexible and you can move around it better than most girls in leather catsuit." Cassie said.

"You speak from personal experience with costuming?" Sam snidely quips.

"I didn't make his costume if that's what you think." Cassie told her.

"That's not what I mean." Sam replied. "After you showed me your... talents, I realized something."

"And what's that?" Cassie asked.

"You're Danny's Woman in Black. The one who's drawing he has on his 'Pulse' board." Sam stated.

Cassie exhales. "Yeah. That's me."

"So you're willing to dress up to help out Freddie?" Sam asks and Cassie nods. "Why would you do that?"

"Because he's my nephew and I'll protect him at all costs." Cassie said.

"But it seems like you might be more than comfortable in wearing disguises or am I wrong?" Sam asked, trying to get information out of Cassie.

"It's a long story and your brother could walk through my door at any moment so I don't have time for a recap on my personal history." Cassie said.

Sam sighs. "Bad stuff will happen?"

"Something like that." Cassie said as she grabbed a wig that looked exactly like how short Natasha Romanoff had in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. "Ready?"

Sam puts on the wig cap to conceal her wild long blond hair. Cassie starts to put on the wig and adjusts it. She brushes it a bit and looks back at Sam. "Does it look okay?"

"Take a look for yourself." Cassie said as she motions for her full length mirror in her room.

Sam walks over to the mirror and checks out her reflection, surprised by how she looked.

"Not bad, huh?" Cassie asked.

"You certainly are good with wigs." Sam joked which made Cassie smile.

There was a knock at the front door which surprised the women. "That must be your brother." The two of them walk into the living room and Cassie opens the door to find Freddie standing at the door. "Oh hey."

Freddie catches a glimpse of Sam in the Black Widow costume. "Oh. Wow."

Sam blushes with embarrassment then clears her throat "Why'd you come here? Shouldn't you be doing... Your thing?"

"I-uh- I am but I wanted to check in on you. I mean, on you guys. I wanted to check on you guys." Freddie stammers.

"Sure." Sam said as they stood awkwardly.

"Why are you dressed like that anyway?" Freddie asked.

"You're questioning my fashion choices?" Sam said sardonically.

"Oh ha ha." Freddie said sarcastically. "I'm serious. Why are you in that costume?"

"I'm helping my brother and your aunt bring Deimos down." Sam said. "I'm doing some undercover stuff."

"Are you serious? Was this Danny's idea?" Freddie asked, sounding incredulous.

"Actually, it was my idea." Sam said.

Freddie looks at Cassie and glares at her. "And you agreed to this?"

"It was her decision, kiddo." Cassie said.

"Sound familiar?" Sam retorts.

Freddie's scowl becomes fixed on her. "Is this your way of getting back at me?"

"No! I want to help. Same as you." Sam yelled.

"This isn't a game. You're putting your own life at risk." Freddie replied.

"So you're allowed to jump from rooftops and beat up bad guys and I'm not allowed to help my brother stop the guy has made his life hell?" Sam asked. "Double standard, much?"

"I fully understand the risks of what I do. You may have been around scary stuff growing up but this is different." Freddie told her.

"Justify yourself all you want. If you're allowed to do stuff like this, so am I." Sam bluntly stated.

"Fine." Freddie said through gritted teeth. "I gotta go."

Freddie leaves the apartment as Danny enters the hallway. He sees that Freddie seems upset.

"Is he okay?" Danny asked.

"Yeah. He just wanted to hang out and I couldn't." Sam said to cover for Freddie.

Danny looks at his sister in her costume. "Whoa."

"Do I look good?" Sam said, faking a sexy voice.

"You look very authentic." Danny said smiling.

"Well I'm no Scarlett Johansson but I look pretty good." Sam replied.

At that moment, Leo walks into the apartment wearing a costume that was the exact replica of Hawkeye's costume in the film except he was actually wearing the sunglasses Clint Barton never got to wear in the movie.

"Are we leaving or what?" Leo asked.

"Wow! You look good there, Hurt Locker." Sam joked.

Leo grins. "Right back at ya, Nanny Diaries."

Sam rolls her eyes as Cassie looks at the bow he was carrying and the quiver filled with arrows he had. Cassie quickly plucks an arrow from the quiver and touches the time. She also sees it has an electronic device attached to it.

"Jeez, these are sharp." Cassie noted as he handed him back the arrow. "You made these?"

"I like to go the whole nine yards. I take Halloween very seriously." Leo said, to hide his true identity.

"Obviously." Sam replied.

"Let's get going. It's getting dark and I prefer to hide in the cover of darkness." Danny said as the two made their way out.

Cassie grabs her jacket and shuts the door as all four leave.

•••

At the Pulse Cave, the team sat in the room as if they were waiting for someone when Freddie rushed down the stairs.

"Thank you guys for coming back." Freddie said as he effortlessly removed his jacket.

"We're a team, remember?" Gabe said as the gang got up from their seats.

Millie notices his anxiety as he opens the display case for his costume. "Are you okay?"

"Sam is helping Danny with stopping Deimos at the City Tech Halloween party." Freddie said as he removed his shirt. "As if I didn't have enough to deal with, right?"

"So does this mean you aren't quitting?" Millie asked.

"I can't quit. Not with Deimos still out there causing this kind of mayhem." Freddie said as he looked at them.

"You aren't doing this because Sam is now involved?" Pete asked.

"Maybe." Freddie gulps "If I want to quit, that's up to me but as of right now, I will what it takes to keep her safe."

The team looks at him and nods in agreement.

Freddie looks at the costume on the mannequin then takes it off the suit. If this was the last time he donned the suit, he was going to make it count.

•••

That night in front of the recreation center, Sam and Leo stand in line waiting in line to get inside while Danny and Cassie wait inside his car. Cassie watches over then using a pair of binoculars.

"So far so good." Cassie said. She looks at Danny and notices his nervousness. "She'll be fine."

"I don't like this. She shouldn't have to get involved in all this. I should've kept her far from this." Danny said.

"You and I both know that wasn't going to happen." Cassie said. She looks through the binoculars and sees the uniformed officers that were surrounding the building. "And we've got several of your boys standing guard."

"I hope we don't need them. I don't want Deimos to hurt more people." Danny said.

"Then you're lucky you got me, huh?" Cassie said.

Danny smiles and takes her hand which confuses Cassie and she laughs uncomfortably. "In this case, that's what I need."

"Guess so." Cassie said as she slowly pulled her hand away and continued her surveillance.

Sam looks around and sees they are getting close to the front of the line. "Hey, how are we going to get in? Don't we need a school ID or something?"

Leo wipes out an authentic looking City Tech student identification card. "I made this while you were getting in your costume. I found out a student can get in and have one outside guest with them."

"Whoa, you got mad skills." Sam said.

"All sorts." Leo said as he put the card away. "Say, what's been going on with you and Freddie?"

Sam becomes a bit flummoxed. "W-what do you mean?"

"I saw him come out of Cassie's building. He seemed kinda pissed off." Leo pointed out. "You two aren't mad at each other, are you?"

"Not that it's any of your business but we had a tiny spat. He doesn't want me doing this and is being a bit of a hypocrite about it." Sam said.

"Why is he doing dangerous stuff or something?" Leo asked.

Sam realizes what she said and covers it up. "He wouldn't say. I think he might be doing underground cage fighting or something."

"Huh. Would explain some things." Leo said. "Why would jump to him going all Fight Club?"

"It's not important. We just tend to act stupid around each other, it's a thing." Sam said.

"Look, Freddie seems like a good guy but I'm guessing you know that." Leo said as Sam smiled. "Just talk to him, work things out. No sense ending your friendship over something trivial."

Sam smiles "You know, you can be a decent guy when you aren't some braggy know it all."

"Thanks... I think." Leo said.

The two made it to the front of the line, Leo shows the fake ID and the guard lets them in.

Inside the party, students in a variety of costumes danced and were having a good time.

[Soundtrack Note: 'Beautiful Lies' by B-Complex plays over the speakers]

"Now what?" Sam asked.

"Try to blend in." Danny's voice said on her and Leo's earpieces. "If you see anything out of the ordinary, let us know immediately."

"Roger that." Leo answered back.

"In that case, I'm going to shove party snacks down the throat." Sam said as she walked to the food and drink table.

Leo stares at her then he starts looking around. His observant eye looked at every detail in the room to see what was amiss. He sees an odd man who seemed out of place there walk through the crowd and make his way to the kitchen. Leo then follows him.

Sam was at the table stuffing a boneless buffalo chicken wing down. She senses someone was watching her.

[Soundtrack Note: the song changes to 'Worth It' by Fifth Harmony featuring Kid Ink]

Sam turns and finds Ben Frances was next to her. He was dressed like a James Bond type secret agent. "Dude! You ever heard of 'personal space'?"

"My apologies. I recognized you, you're Sam from iCarly, right?" Ben said.

"So much for this costume hiding anything." Sam said under her breath. "I'm trying to remain incogritto."

"You mean incognito." Ben corrected her.

"Just because you English fellas have much more refined accents does mean you get to correct my grammar, okay?" Sam said as she ate a tortilla chip with guacamole on it. "Got a name there, Cumberbatch?"

"Oh right. I'm Ben Frances." Ben said. He clears his throat intimated by Sam. "I was wondering if- If it isn't to much of a bother-"

"You trying to ask me to dance?" Sam asked.

"Yes and I'm struggling to find the words. I'm never good around pretty girls honestly." Ben said.

Sam rolls her eyes and pulls him to the dance floor. "You're lucky I like guys with British accents."

"Well- um, good on me then." Ben said as they began to dance.

•••

Leo follows the guy who was heading towards the kitchen. He rounds the corner and is attacked by the guy he was following. Leo looks up and sees the man holding a pipe.

"You should've stayed at your party, kid." The guy said as he went to strike Leo with the pipe only to have Leo deflect it with his bow. Leo then sweeps the guy's leg and causes him to fall backwards.

Leo gets to his feet, draws his bow and points the arrow at the guy's face. "Where's your boss? Tell me because I really don't have time for a paper thin lie."

The guy gets up and runs only to have Leo fire his arrow and stick the guy to the wall by his sleeve. He goes for his gun with his other hand only to have Leo fire another arrow to catch the sleeve.

Leo walks towards him. "For the record, I tried being nice. Now where is your boss?"

"Go to hell." The guy seethed and Leo punched him in the face, knocking him out cold.

Leo walks into the kitchen and finds the crate delivered by Deimos' men. "Guys, I have a problem."

"What's wrong?" Danny asked through Leo's earpiece.

"I think Deimos is here. And he may have had a nasty delivered in a crate." Leo said.

"Where are you now?" Danny asked.

"In the kitchen, that's where this crate is stashed." Leo said.

"And you left Sam alone!" Danny yelled.

Suddenly, two of Deimos' men round the corner and find Leo standing in the kitchen.

"Hey you!" One of the goons yelled.

"Gotta go!" Leo said as he plucks another arrow that he fires at the floor and it explodes at the goons feet. Leo uses that distraction to run back to the party.

•••

The party was in full swing as Leo ran toward Sam who was still dancing with Ben.

"Sam, we gotta get you out of here." Leo said.

"What is it?" Sam asks as Ben looks around, half expecting something bad to happen.

All of a sudden there was a loud explosion that caused two large doors to open. Through the smoke, Deimos, who was wearing his mask and suit, appears being flanked by Raina and his men.

"Oh boy." Sam exclaimed as she, Leo and Ben hide through the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like you to meet the new face of fear!" Deimos announced to the crowd of frightened teenagers. "Now this is going be really quick and if no one tries anything, we'll get through this with moderate casualties."

Professor Tommy tries to keep the students calm as the students are corralled to the stage.

"I promise that it's going to be as painless as possible." Deimos said as some of his men bring in the crate.

"What is this?" Tommy asked.

"As stated to you this morning, Professor." Deimos said as he motions for his men to open the crate. Inside was a small detonator with the Phobos bomb. "A party favor."

The crowd starts to scream in panic as Sam looks at Leo. She was hoping for something she normally wouldn't be asking for, someone to save her.

Suddenly someone crashes through the skylight of the recreation center.

One of the students points up and recognizes the figure leaping down. "Pulse!"

Sam looks up and sees that it was Pulse descending down from a broken skylight. She was shocked that Freddie was the one doing all this.

Pulse lands on top of a large decorative pumpkin as the goons fire upwards but miss and he flips off and clotheslines them as jumps down.

Raina was mildly amused. "Your entrance was good. His was better."

Deimos motions to his men and points at Pulse. "Kill him!"

The group of twelve goons charge at him only to have Pulse effortlessly and systematically dismantle the men who dare approach. With a mix of spins, kicks, brutal strikes and shocks of electricity, Pulse took down nine of the men by breaking some bones and injuring the severely. Sam watches this in awe of her friend's skills.

The crowd of students start to make their way towards the exits which causes Sam and Leo to become separated.

Deimos looks through the crowd and sees someone. He pulls something from his pocket and speaks to Raina. "Make sure this bomb goes off." He hands her the detonator which she takes happily as Drimos walks around the crowd.

Just then, the cops burst in through the door with Danny leading the charge and Cassie close behind him.

"Lead any stragglers out of here! Ensure no civilian casualties!" Danny ordered the officers.

The officers did as instructed as they led the remaining students out, including Ben.

Raina sees Cassie and grins evilly. She throws one of her knives in her direction only to have Danny pull Cassie out of the way.

As this goes on, the distracted Raina fails to notice an arrow with a grappling attachment was stuck to the detonator and is pulled out of her hand. Raina looks around and finds Leo now holding the detonator.

"Lose something?" Leo asked smugly.

Raina goes to attack him only to have Cassie tackle her and lead her into a different room.

Sam tries to make her way out only to be grabbed from behind by Deimos. She struggles to get free from his hold but that protest is stopped by Deimos sticking a syringe filled with greenish yellow liquid.

"One flinch and I pump you full of Phobos." Deimos threatens her as he drags her away.

Both Danny and Pulse see this and go after the pair as they head deeper into the building.

•••

Back at the Pulse Cave, the team watches this from the POV camera in Freddie's mask.

"Where is he taking her?" Millie asked.

"I think Deimos wants to end this." Galen said.

"He wants a grand finale." Gabe stated.

"You can do it, Freddie. You can do it." Millie said as Pete holds her hand supportively.

•••

Cassie continued to fight Raina with both women trading kicks and blows until Raina hits Cassie hard in the face, causing Cassie to stumble back. Cassie wipes her bleeding lip while Raina laughs. "You can't win this."

"No. But I'm not even tired." Cassie said.

Raina pulls out one of her knives and goes to stab her but Cassie blocks it with her right arm then she punches her with her left. Cassie pulls her arm out of the knife as she backs away. "As soon as I get that detonator back, this will all be over."

"Hmm, are you really getting attached to Deimos?" Cassie asked. "Tell me something. Was he that good in bed?"

Raina screams and charges at her only to have Cassie punch her square in the face. The swift and hard punch knocks Raina out cold.

Cassie rubs her knuckles and stares down at Raina. "Sleep tight."

Cassie feels someone behind her and reaches for the nearest weapon which was a broken piece of glass only to find Leo standing behind her. "Jeez it!"

"You okay?" Leo asked.

"Yeah, nothing I couldn't handle." Cassie said as one of Deimos's goons approached her from behind.

Leo instinctively pulls an arrow from his quiver and shoots the goon in the shoulder before he could reach Cassie. Cassie reacts as the goon falls back and she looks back at Leo.

"Wicked shot." Cassie comments.

"Thanks." Leo said.

"Let's go find Danny and Sam." Cassie said and Leo nodded in agreement.

The two of them run off to where Deimos pulled Sam.

•••

Inside of a loading dock area of the building, Deimos pulls Sam into the room. She is trying hard to resist but she knew that he would inject her with the Phobos that was inside the syringe.

"Let go of me!" Sam demanded as Deimos pulled off the wig with the wig cap so her blond hair was now free..

"No, not yet, my dear." Deimos said, whispering in her ear. "I want your brother here to see this. I want him to watch you die."

Sam gasps, she is helpless. She HATED feeling helpless.

Danny rushes into the loading dock and sees that Sam was being held by Deimos. "Let the girl go!"

"Hmm, the girl?" Deimos said as he lightly pressed the needle against her skin. "Thought she mattered more to you than that."

"Your issue is with me. Let her go." Danny said as he saw Sam wince.

"Put the weapon away, Detective. We can discuss this like men." Deimos replied.

"Says the man with a needle to my sister's neck." Danny said.

"Put the gun away." Deimos said as he pressed the needle a bit more.

"All right!" Danny yelled. He puts his gun in his holster.

"Did you know that this Phobos is a concentrated form of the Phobos I used on your partner." Deimos told him. "One drop could probably drop a charging bull elephant. Imagine if I gave her the whole thing. It'd be a little experiment."

"I know why you're doing this. You feel guilt over what happened to your brother. You blamed me and now you want to make me pay by hurting what I love." Danny said. "I've suffered, you win."

"I haven't won." Deimos said as he roughly grabs Sam and moves his arm to get a better grip. "Not until you feel my loss. Until you lose the one person who means the most to you." Cassie runs into the scene which makes him smile. "Although I could get two for the price of one." He pulls out a handgun and points it at Cassie's head.

"Andre, don't do it!" Danny shouted.

"Not sure who you care about more. Your sister? Or her?" Deimos said as he cocks the gun.

Cassie gasps as she stares at Danny. "It's gonna be okay." He said as she gulped.

"How about you let them both go and we end this."

Deimos quickly turns around and finds Pulse behind him, stepping out of the shadows. He seems very fearful of Pulse as he tries to regain control of the situation. "No! You are not taking this away from me!"

"It's over, Deimos." Freddie said as he steps forward. "Game's over."

"It's not over!" Deimos yelled as he switched the aim from Cassie to Pulse, back and forth in a fearful manner. "It's not over until I say it is!"

"I will give you only one chance. Let them go or you don't walk out of here." Pulse half threatened.

Deimos laughed dementedly as he started to loosen his grip on Sam. "Are you going to kill me? You won't do it. You hero types don't kill."

"I never said I was going to kill you. You just aren't going to walk out of here." Freddie said. "Because you just made your biggest mistake of the entire evening."

"Really? And what is that?" Deimos goaded as Sam notices he has pulled the needle from her neck.

"You took that needle off her neck." Freddie said.

Before Deimos could react, Sam elbows Deimos in the sternum then punches him in the face, causing him to drop the gun and the syringe.

Deimos writhes on the floor in pain as Cassie pulls Sam away from him and the two stand behind Danny.

Deimos reaches for his gun and prepares to fire at the three only for an arrow to go through his arm. He screams in agony as he sees who had fired the arrow: Leo who stood on the railing, prepared with another arrow aimed at Deimos.

"One move towards them and the next one goes in your eye!" Leo spat.

Deimos scowls at Pulse then charges at him. Deimos tries to hit him but Pulse just dodges out of the way of each attempt with minimal effort. Pulse creates two hard light dagger constructs using his lightning.

Pulse slashes at Deimos and cuts his suit jacket to ribbons but draws little to no blood. Deimos attempts to hit him again only for Pulse to stab Deimos in the right shoulder.

Sam watches the fight and flinches at each act of violence. Shocked that it was Freddie doing all this. She clutched Cassie's hand tightly as she looked on.

Pulse pulls out the dagger and makes both daggers disappear. "You had enough?"

Deimos gasps in pain and he gets up. He attempts to punch Pulse again only for his arms to be pinned behind his back.

Pulse sees the syringe on the ground and picks it up. "Time for a taste of your own medicine." He plunges the needle into Deimos' neck and injects the Phobos into his body.

Pulse lets him go and Deimos writhes on the floor for thirty seconds until his body goes limp. Danny walks over to Deimos as Pulse backs away a bit and stands over Deimos.

"Is he dead?" Cassie asked.

Danny checks his pulse "He's alive. Not sure how."

"Deimos is immune to his own product." Freddie said. "A dosage that should kill a normal person only put him in a catatonic state. He won't be up for quite a while."

"He's right." Leo said as he walked forward. "Years of exposure to the stuff has a possibility of changing his body chemistry."

Danny gets to his feet and stares at Pulse. "You didn't have to do this. Considering I'm supposed to bring you in."

"One of life's little ironies." Freddie said.

"Why did you do it?" Danny asked.

Pulse looks past him to look at Sam who gives a weak smile before looking down. "I got my reasons. So, is this the part where you attempt to arrest me?"

"Actually, this is the part where I let you go." Danny said, surprising everyone. "Go before I change my mind."

Pulse nods as he runs out of the building as a few officers arrive.

Sam watches the superhero leave still in awe at all that has happened.

•••

An hour later, the police, crime scene investigators and news reporters try to understand what had happened. The partygoers try to understand what had happened as well.

Cassie stands next to Leo who was having a small cut treated on his forehead by an EMT. "Does that hurt?"

"Not as bad as you might think." Leo said as the EMT finishes up. "How's your arm?"

"What?" Cassie asked, mildly confused.

Leo pulls her away from the ambulance. "I saw Tran slice up your arm and I also saw you pull your arm out."

"Oh." Cassie said caught off guard. "You saw."

"Saw a lot today." Leo said. "But I won't say anything."

"Why would you want to keep my secret?" Cassie asked.

"Because you have your secrets and I have mine." Leo said.

"And you do have a whopper of a secret." Cassie said, almost laughing.

"I'm sorry." Leo asked.

"It doesn't take much to put it together." Cassie said. "But I can keep secrets too."

Leo smiles and they shake hands as they agree to their silence.

"Leo!"

The two turn to see Millie standing behind the police barricade with Gabe.

"That's my cue to explain myself." Leo said. "Excuse me."

Cassie nods as she watches Leo go to Millie who hugs him. She turns to see Danny sticking close to Sam who sat on the cement floor.

"Hey." Cassie said while walking over to them. "How are you guys doing?"

"A bit shaken up but we'll deal." Danny said as Sam managed a smile. "How about you? You aren't-"

"I'm fine." Cassie said.

"Really? You had a gun pointed at your face. You're not the least bit... freaked out?" Danny asked.

"Nah. I'm used to the danger." Cassie said.

"What, you've had a lot of guns pointed at your face?" Sam asked.

"I grew up in a very rough neighborhood." Cassie said. Danny stares at her with worry. "I'm fine, okay? No need for the therapy session."

"All right. All right." Danny said.

"Sam!"

The three look up to see Freddie standing by the barricade, wearing his civilian clothing.

"Go talk to him. You need a break from all this." Danny said.

Sam smiles as she gets up off the floor and walls over to Freddie.

"Parker!" Captain Thompson's voice yelled.

Danny and Cassie look up and see Captain Thompson making their way towards them.

"Uh oh. Enter the dragon." Cassie said as she steps aside.

"Do you know how much crap I am dealing with now? I've got the press hounding me about all this!" Thompson yelled. "I have the administration at City Tech breathing down my neck! And top that, my bosses are asking me why I didn't take action against this!"

"I ensured no one would get hurt and they didn't. Every civilian got out of there alive, didn't they?" Danny stated. "Deimos is alive despite the fact that he had my sister by her neck with a needle and had a gun pointed at Cassie!"

"And despite the fact that your Keystone Cops let Raina give them the slip!" Cassie said. The two cops look at her. "Had to state the obvious."

"My point is that I kept my word. There were little to no casualties there." Danny said. "Give me a little credit."

"I would if I hadn't found out that you had eyes on Pulse and you let him get away!" Thompson yelled.

"This wasn't about him! This was about Deimos and we stopped him. The good guys won." Danny said.

Thompson sighs and looks at Danny. "I understand but I do have to reprimand you for this."

"I know." Danny said, sounding defeated.

Thompson exhales. "One month suspension."

"What? That's not fair!" Cassie said angrily.

"Let me finish. One month suspension... with pay." Thompson said. "It'll give you some time to get to know your sister."

"Thank you, sir." Danny said.

Before he leaves, Thompson turns and says "Tell Maxwell that antitoxin worked. Victor and the others are starting to make full recoveries. Thought you deserve some good news. Have a good night."

"Oh my god." Cassie exclaimed.

"That's honestly the best news I've gotten all night." Danny said as he grabbed her and pulled her into a big hug. He practically spins her in his arms. They both realize this and Danny slowly lets her down and they pull away.

"Well." Cassie said, clearing her throat. "That was-"

"Something we never speak of again?" Danny asked embarrassed.

"Bingo bango." Cassie said as both of them were bright red, filled with many emotions.

Sam reaches the barricade where Freddie was and sighs "So, had some time to change?"

"Uh yeah. I kinda mastered the art of quick change." Freddie said sheepishly.

After a long moment of silence, Sam spoke up. "Listen, Freddie-"

"You don't have to say it. I know. After what you saw, you don't want anything to do with me." Freddie said. "I understand why and I wish you didn't-"

"Benson, could you shut up and let me talk." Sam spat which shut Freddie up. "What I was going to say is that there are a lot of things I have to think about and it might take me a while to get used to all this. But that doesn't mean I don't want anything to do with you. It just means that... I need some time."

"So, we're cool?" Freddie asked.

"Right now, I don't know what we are." Sam said. "I still want to be your friend. I don't ever want to lose that. Just give me a little space so I can think things through, okay?"

Freddie hangs his head and nods. "Okay." He then walks off slowly into the crowd. Shame and defeat fill his face.

Sam watches him with some heartbreak etched in her eyes as she heads off the opposite way.

•••

Three Days Later

It was late afternoon at Danny's loft, Danny pulled a hot baking pan out of the oven that had aluminum foil on top of it using a pair of oven mitts. Sam stands at the counter, watching him.

"Think it's cool enough." Danny said as he set down the pan in front of Sam.

Sam grins and pulls the foil back to reveal a steaming lasagna. "Dude, it looks good."

"Well I won't know for sure until you try it." Danny said while removing the oven mitts.

"All right." Sam said, grabbing a fork and sticking it into the pan of lasagna. She takes a big spoonful and puts it in her mouth. The look on her face was an expression of pure joy. "Whoa. That is delicious."

"You think so?" Danny asked.

"Heck yeah. This is almost as good as the one at Pini's." Sam exclaimed as she took another spoonful from the pan.

"Thanks." Danny said sheepishly.

"I still can't believe you know how to cook." Sam replied, still eating the food.

"Well I used to spend a lot of time with my mom and she taught me how to cook. Her grandmother was a very old school Italian and taught her what she knew and then my mom taught me." Danny told her.

"Huh. I don't think my mom has taught me stuff like that." Sam replied. "She did show me how to break into and hotwire a car. And I don't think I should've admitted I can do that."

Danny chuckles. "Can't believe you want to spend your last day in New York City stuffing your face."

"You'd be surprised what I've done while I'm on vacation." Sam retorts.

Danny laughed at this. "You know, having you around has really made this suspension less intolerable."

"Well gee, thanks." Sam said jokingly.

"I mean it. It was nice doing some sights, I haven't really seen much of the city since I got here so it was nice to use this as an excuse." Danny said. There was a beat before he spoke again. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Sam stops herself from taking another bit of lasagna and looks at him. "For the nine billionth time, yes! I want to do this."

"But why? You have it good in LA, why would you-" Danny realizes something and smiles. "You're doing this because of Freddie, aren't you?"

Sam rolls her eyes. "You're reading too much into this. I want to get to-"

"I know. I get that. It's just- you were almost attached to him for the first two days but you've spent the last three days avoiding him. What gives?" Danny asked.

Sam sighs. "I kinda asked Freddie for some space. I needed to think of stuff."

"Think about what?" Danny asked. "Is this about you helping take Deimos down?"

"First of all, the only help I gave was getting captured by that psycho, and second, the nub and I have had other deep seeded issues." Sam told her brother. "I'm starting to feel like I don't even know him anymore."

"The only advice I can give is that people change. Sometimes for the better." Danny said. "I never got the pleasure of meeting Freddie when you guys were growing up but from what I've seen, he's a good guy."

"So you think I should give Freddie some leeway?" Sam asked. "I care about him. I honestly don't know."

"Look, I think that you should give him a chance. If he really means this much to you, you shouldn't lose someone like him." Danny said.

Sam looks down, looking very pensive. She knew what she had to do.

•••

Galen was standing inside his office at the Centre reading from a file. He had his back facing away from the door.

Claud Moon slowly walks towards the door and she weakly knocks at the door frame. Galen looks up from the file and sees Claud standing at the door.

"Hey." Galen warmly greeted her.

"Bad time?" Claud asked softly.

"Not at all. Come in." Galen said as Claud walked into the office and shut the door. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I swallowed melted phosphorus." Claud said.

A small smile forms on his face. "It'll pass. Trust me, the transition is a real bitch."

"So, how long have you... Well, how long have you been a-" Claud stuttered.

"A hybrid? It's what we're called. Hybrids." Galen said.

"We? That means there are more like you?" Claud asked. "I mean, us."

"A few but I'm one of the few who are more man than beast." Galen said. "Most hybrids have weak will and give into the animal instincts, letting it take over."

"Do you think that's gonna happen to me?" Claud asked.

Galen sighs. "I'm not going to lie to you, learning control isn't easy. But if you'll allow me, I'd be more than happy to teach you."

Claud smiles and she hugs him. "Thank you." She pulls away from the hug. "Um, can I see-"

"You want to see my eyes?" Galen asked and Claud nodded. He sighs, shuts his eyes and when they open, they are golden yellow.

"Whoa!" Claud said as he blinked and they reverted back to normal. "And you can just do that at will?"

"That skill takes a lot of practice to master." Galen stated. "Now you show me your eyes."

"I don't know if I can control that yet." Claud said nervously.

"It's not too hard. Getting your eyes back to normal is a bit more of a challenge." Galen assured her. "Give it a try."

Claud takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. When she opened them, her eyes were all black. They appear to resemble the eyes of a barn owl. She blinks again and they revert back to normal. "Holy crap."

"Yeah, I know." He said to her,

"It's not going to get easier, is it?" Claud asked.

Galen shakes her head. "No."

Claud tears up and goes to hug him and he holds her in a comforting manner.

•••

Evening had fallen and Freddie was standing on the fire escape outside the window of Cassie's apartment, his hands on the rail and looking at the city below. He was dressed in a light blue plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up, dark blue jeans and black Chuck Taylors. He looks pensively out at the city, feeling dejected.

Cassie steps out onto the fire escape, wearing a low cut long sleeved green top with dark blue jeans and black ankle boots. She goes stand next to her nephew, leaning on the railing. "You're gonna catch our cold standing out here."

"Why would it matter? With my luck, I'll probably catch some rare blood disorder from having my bare hands on the railing which would be a better fate for me." Freddie moped.

"Relax, Emo Boy. It's not the end of the world." Cassie said.

Freddie lets out a frustrated groan. "I'm so glad you're making light of all this."

Cassie sighs."This is me trying to make you feel better. You have been moping for the last three days. I'm just grateful you've taken a break from your crime fighting duties otherwise one unlucky mugger would've lost an arm."

Freddie frowns. "Are you still afraid I'm going to quit?"

"Whether you do or don't, it doesn't matter to me. I'll accept whatever decision you make." Cassie said as she pats his head. "But I have failed you at one thing."

"And how is that?" Freddie asked.

"I haven't taught you how to channel your anger the right way." Cassie said. "I've only taught you one way to go about it when I should've taught you how I learned."

"How did you learn?" Freddie asked.

"Meditation." she replied.

Freddie raises an eyebrow. "Meditation?" Cassie nods. "Never figured you for being very into new age techniques."

"Meditation is actually the oldest form of relaxation and finding balance." Cassie said. "When I was younger, I was a very angry kid and it just got worse after my parents died. I was just mad at the world."

"And you just stumbled upon meditation?" Freddie questions.

"Not exactly. When I first started my work as Mockingbird, I would just attack random criminals and pummeled them until my hands were coarse and bloody. I had no discipline or form at all." Cassie told him. "Then one day, I met this blind Japanese woman named Ishi. She seemed to know everything about me and how I was feeling. She then offered to teach me how to fight."

"Wait, a blind woman taught you how to fight?" Freddie retorts.

"You'd be surprised what you could learn from someone who is lacking one of their five senses." Cassie replied. "But she only did so if I learned to channel my rage otherwise I would only turn into one of the monsters I was trying to stop. So I learned different forms of meditation and I think I should've been teaching you these techniques."

"This is crazy. You want me to meditate so I won't snap?" Freddie asked.

"I think it would benefit you to learn this. So your emotions are in a healthy balance." Cassie said.

Freddie exhales, "Guess it wouldn't be such a bad thing."

A knock at the front door is heard which catches the pair's attention. "I'll see who that is and then we can go to Victor's homecoming party." Cassie said and Freddie groaned. "You are not going to stay in and sulk."

"Fine." Freddie said, resigning.

Cassie walks over to the door and opens it, finding Sam Puckett standing at her door. "Oh. Hi." Sam was wearing a stylish red zip up hooded sweater over a black T-shirt, dark pants and black boots.

"Hey." Sam said softly. "Is Freddie-"

"On the fire escape." Cassie said as she pointed to her window.

"Is it cool if I talk to him?" Sam asked.

Cassie smiles as she welcomes the girl inside. "I think that would help him out."

Freddie continues to lean on the railing, looking forlornly almost staring at nothing. He listened to the sounds of the city as the crisp evening air ran a chill through his body,

Sam slowly crept to the window and she stares at Freddie for a long while until she knocks on the glass.

Freddie turns his head and finds Sam standing by the window. He was ecstatic to see her but was wary of why she was here.

"So, you are punishing yourself by standing out in the cold?" Sam asked.

"Sam?" Freddie said anxiously then he clears his throat. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you, doofus! I'm leaving tonight. Going back to LA." Sam said as she looked at the fire escape. "Can I join you?"

"Uh, yeah sure." Freddie said.

Sam smiles as she walks out onto the fire escape. "You still like fire escapes, I see."

"It's surprisingly peaceful out here." Freddie said. "Are you still mad at me?"

Sam sighs as she stands next to Freddie and leans on the railing. "Part of me wants to stay mad at you but after what I saw you do that night, I'm still not sure how to feel."

"So, the space I gave you didn't help." Freddie said soberly.

"Actually it did." Sam said. "Someone told me something that made me think."

"What did they tell you?" Freddie asked.

"That I should accept that you've changed. You might not be the same person you were when we were kids but are still a good guy." Sam said as Freddie stared at her. "May have overreacted slightly but I was right that what you're doing is dangerous."

"I know what I'm doing is right." Freddie said.

"Which is why I don't want you to quit." Sam said which surprised Freddie. "Millie told me some of the stuff you did. Did you really fight a female Mr Freeze?"

Freddie nods. "Yeah."

Sam laughs. "Wow."

"And that's not even the scariest thing I've faced." Freddie said. "I even fought a Catwoman wannabe."

"Are you serious?" Sam asked and Freddie nodded. "Dude. I gotta say, you've been living one weird life."

"You have no idea." Freddie said. "Why don't you want me to quit?"

"Because there are a lot of bad people, worse than Deimos, Lady Freeze and Hello Kitty." Sam said. "This city needs someone like you. Someone who is going to stand up for people who can't protect themselves. I may not like you getting hurt... Well, I don't like seeing people hurt you who aren't me." Freddie manages a laugh. "You have my blessing."

Freddie looks down "I was going to keep doing it even if I didn't have your blessing. I was only considering quitting."

"Really?" Sam said, raising an eyebrow. "So I just made that long winded speech for nothing?"

"No!" Freddie replied. "I appreciate that you said it. I didn't want you to hate me."

Sam takes his left hand and holds it. "There is nothing you can do that would make me hate you. Sure, you sorta annoy the fudge out of me sometimes..." Freddie laughs at this. "But I could never hate you."

"Same here, Puckett." Freddie said. "Really wish you weren't leaving."

"I'll be back. I got stuff waiting for me here." Same said. "Danny, Cassie, your new friends... You."

Freddie smiles. "So this isn't goodbye?"

"More like 'see ya soon'." Sam said as she goes to reenter the apartment then she stops and looks back at Freddie. "Do me one favor though."

"What's that?" Freddie asked.

Sam smiles and says "Give em hell." With those words, she goes back through the window and leaves the apartment.

Cassie pokes her head out the window. "Hey. You okay?"

"Yeah." Freddie said with a smile. "But I gotta pass on the party."

"Why?" Cassie asked.

Freddie smiles. "I have work to do."

•••

Sam walks towards and steps into Danny's car where Danny was waiting. "Everything go alright?"

"Yeah, Benson and I talked it out." Sam said. "Things are good."

"So did you tell him?" Danny asked.

Sam shakes her head "I want it to be a surprise. I don't want him to know I'm going to move to New York."

"Sure you want to keep it a secret?" Danny asked.

Sam flashes a mischievous grin. "If he's allowed to have secrets, then so am I."

Danny seems a bit confused. "Okay. Let's get going then."

Sam nods as Danny begins to drive off. She pulls out her Pearphone and opens her email. One of the emails read 'unknown' but it had already been read. She was reading the email again.

What the email said was what Freddie said to Gabe and Millie in the Cave:

'Sam's like nobody else in the world. When I'm with her, it's like I'm split in two - half of me is just on fire, going crazy if I'm not touching her. Other half is so still and peaceful, just perfectly content. Just know: this is the one. But she doesn't love me.'

[Soundtrack Note: 'Love 2012' by 3Oh!3 plays starting at 2:02]

Sam smiles at this as she puts her phone away and stares out the window.

•••

It was nightfall in another part of the city, a burly looking man shoves a defenseless and frail looking young man into an alley.

"Leave me alone!" The young man said weakly.

"Nah, you are going to give me your money or I'm going to rearrange your face!" The burly man said.

Suddenly, the alley fills with electricity as both men look over at who had entered the alley.

It was Pulse standing there with his hands sparking with electrical energy.

"Even at your age, you're hitting kids up for their lunch money?" Freddie jokes.

The burly man shoves the young man to the floor and focuses his attention on Pulse. "Thought you disappeared or skipped town. Thought we had the city back."

"Well you thought wrong." Freddie said. "Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Your choice."

The burly man yells and charges at Pulse.

"Hard way it is." Freddie said as he balls his fist that was filled with electric energy and goes to punch the man in the chest.

[Soundtrack Note: Song ends at 3:25]

•••

Inside of a dimly lit but well furnished office that was in a high rise that overlooked the city, Alec Grayson enters the office and closes the door. He walks closer to a large desk and stops in the middle of the room.

"I have a status update on Andre Deimos' condition." Alec informed the man who sat at the large desk who was facing the window. "That Phobos he was injected with affected his body. Put him in a catatonic state. From what my sources could gather, it is doubtful he will ever regain consciousness."

"What does that mean for the grand design, Mr Grayson?" The man at the desk asked. His voice sounded familiar.

"It means that he possesses no threat to your organization." Alec said. "His men are being rounded up by the police and those who are lucky are being found by your squadrons and being exterminated with extreme prejudice."

"Good, we can't have any bad apples spoiling everything, now can we?" The man said.

"No sir." Alec said."What's your next move?"

The man laughs "We move forward with Phase Two. You were able to get Dr Circe, correct?"

"Yes, sir, but she is still reluctant to trust us." Alec said.

"Did you show her Specimen 314?" The man asked.

"Yes sir, she believes she can do it but she needs full access to more test subjects." Alec said.

"Tell her she will get them." The man said.

"Yes, sir." Alec goes to leave but stops and turns to look at him. "Permission to speak freely, sir?"

After a long pause, the man says "You may speak."

"How is doing this going to help with your plan to rebuild the city?" Alec asked.

"Mr Grayson, I have put a lot of foresight to see this through." The man said then he slowly turned his chair to reveal the man's identity: David Morgan. "This city has to die in order for it to be reborn."

This man, David Morgan, was none other than the Maestro.

•••

•••

Main Cast

Fredward 'Freddie' Benson - Nathan Kress

Cassandra 'Cassie' Sinclair - Melissa Archer

Millicent 'Millie' Flores - Ashley Argota

Gabriel 'Gabe' Morgan - Landon Liboiron

Peter 'Pete' Sawyer - Charlie Hunnam

Also Starring

Detective Victor Flores - Daniel Dae Kim

Detective Daniel 'Danny' Parker - David Giuntoli

Galen Lennox - Tyler Hoechlin

Guest Stars

Samantha 'Sam' Puckett - Jennette McCurdy

Alec Grayson - Colin Donnell

Leopold 'Leo' Maxwell/The Fox - Dylan O'Brien

Claudia 'Claud' Moon - Bex Taylor-Klaus

Andre Deimos - Gabriel Mann

Raina Tran - Kelly Hu

Jake - Thomas Sanders

Benjamin 'Ben' Frances - Max Deacon

Lucius Hawkins - Khary Payton

David Morgan - David Morrissey

Clement 'Clem' Lehane - Cody Christian

Brad Warner - Justin Prentice

Heather Chase - Ashley Benson

Detective Nadira Singh - Janina Gavankar

Amara Singh - Tiya Sircar

Professor Thomas 'Tommy' Bennett - Matt Davis

•••

And that's Episode Twelve. I really hope you guys like this episode.

The coming episodes in the rewrites are gonna be really fun. Especially the newer stuff I'm adding… and a certain addition to the cast hopefully doesn't make anyone feel uncomfortable. I was just inspired by this individual and I have had so many new inspirations.

Please do leave reviews. I love hearing what you think.