Lawson's reign in Concordia was in its sixth month when the party occurred. By then, Diego had gotten word from Mister Johnson thanking him for the warning and that he was bringing a regiment of the state's National Guard. It would take time to get to Concordia from the capital, about three days, and they would be entering from Crimson Banks; Mister Johnson would be reporting to the governor as soon as the inquiry was finished. Diego needed to tell the Flying Squad and the resistance about the state finally arriving. There would be no chances taken in waiting for the state, too much had happened since Lawson became Mayor and if Diego had to hear one more damn speech from that overbearing, vindictive ass, he was going to go mad!

"'Punishment is fair', 'revenge is righteous', 'the eyes of justice are blind no more', 'justified anger is nothing to be ashamed of'! It's no wonder Concordia is going to hell in a handbasket, with drivel like this preached day after day!" Diego said to himself. "Lawson is delusional if he thinks any of that's going to promote justice!" Lawson said many things during his speeches, but those sayings were more frequent than others, and Diego can see the disaster they could produce by sheer interpretation. Anyone listening to those speeches would consider it their right to retaliate against whoever they perceived to cause them an injustice, whether real or imagined. How can punishment be fair if its sole purpose was to make the offender suffer rather than correct their behavior when possible? If justice was no longer blind, how can it be impartial in its dispensation? Justified anger may not be shameful, but that didn't mean one could express it in any way they pleased. And despite Lawson's delusions to the contrary, revenge was NOT righteous, it was a soul-sucking trap that destroyed whoever sought it in the end, along with so many others.

"A person can go for revenge," Diego muttered as he left the party, a draining event of its own merit. "But they have to dig two graves." He arrived at the tenement building where he had lived since becoming Eddie Lebold, and let himself into the single room he rented, collapsing in exhaustion on the bed. But despite how tired he was, Diego was unable to sleep. He had been having trouble sleeping as of late, and he knew he was stressed to the point his blood pressure rose, much like everyone else in Concordia; the nightmares he had about what happened when he was a boy in Barcelona, as well as its aftermath, were no help. Yes, he knew all too well the price of revenge, because he sought it when he was a younger man and when he achieved it, it brought him nothing but a bigger hole in his soul and a desire to punish others. That desire shook Diego to the core, and while he managed to rid himself of that desire, the damage was already done; his acting on revenge had cost him his future in Barcelona and became the start of his criminal career. For a long time, he accepted the consequences and made peace with his actions, but until the Flying Squad he thought he would never have a chance at an honest life.

"I owe them," Diego thought. "I owe them more than I can express." His thoughts were interrupted by a banging on the door. Diego answered and saw a Justice Corps officer. Diego recognized him as a pathetic little lout who used his position to harass one of the younger telegraph girls, going so far as to threaten her with arrest if she didn't accept him as a suitor. The lout was looking for the girl, who had disappeared a week ago, and Diego had to tell him that no, he had not seen her since his last appearance at the telegraph office and maybe he could ask one of her co-workers.

"I tried! No one's seen her, not even that new head telegraph girl!" The officer cried. "Useless, all of them, especially that one! Why did they even put such a dumpy, dull woman as head telegraph girl in the first place?"

"I heard it was due to her competence and efficiency in transcribing a very important message for Mayor Lawson." Diego said, keeping his voice neutral. "Perhaps the young lady you're looking for is in the resistance? That is why you're searching for her, isn't it? Because she is some sort of criminal?"

"Actually, this young lady is my sweetheart, and…and she's very vulnerable. I wanted to make sure she's all right."

"Of course you do. I'm sorry to say that I don't know where your young lady is. Tomorrow stands for justice!"

"Thank you for your time anyway. Mayor Lawson shall never falter!" Diego watched the lout leave, and had to grin. He truly had no idea where the girl was, only that she left Concordia to get away from the lout who had managed to convince himself that their courtship was genuine. Diego heard their exchanges, especially the last one where the lout threatened the young lady with arrest and to be used by his compatriots if she didn't submit to him, and had helped her to get out of the city by giving her money for the first train leaving Concordia. Unfortunately, with price gouging in the city so wide-spread and rising, he had to obtain the money from the till and now that Diego thought about it, Mrs. Pembrooke was in the building at the time; he wondered if she saw him. Giving up on sleep, Diego left and decided to return to the telegraph office. He did notice the badge he had wasn't on him, but maybe he left it at the office. When he got there, Diego saw (Rank) (Name) and Isaac looking around the telegraph office and they had found his badge, which was in pieces. Naturally, (Name) pieced it together and Isaac picked it up.

"(Name), I'm not sure what to make of this badge you restored…'Eddie Lebold, authorized to access the telegraph office at all times.'" Isaac said. "Who is this Eddie Lebold and what does he—"

"Psst!" Diego whispered. "(Name)!" Isaac and (Name) turned to look at him.

"Do we know you, sir?" Isaac asked. "Your voice is familiar, but—" Diego removed his disguise, earning a gasp from (Name).

"How about now?"

"Diego? Is it really you?" Diego put the disguise back on as he shushed them.

"Hush, not so loud! If you don't mind, I'd rather not be seen in public without my disguise! (Name), let's go to my place where we can talk undisturbed!" (Name) nodded and they and Isaac followed Diego home where he locked and barred the door before removing his disguise. (Name) and Isaac looked around Diego's current dwellings in silence.

"Most pleased to see you again, (Name)! Admit it, you're in awe of my disguise!" Diego said, holding his badge. "And my badge looks authentic, doesn't it? Thanks for restoring it!"

"You're welcome, Diego." (Name) said.

"Diego, it's good to see you too, but…" Isaac said. "Pray tell, what is this charade about?"

"(Name), I must admit life's not been easy for me since Lawson unceremoniously kicked me out of the Squad." Diego said. "I had to find alternative employment…and, as our dear Mayor said in his inaugural speech, "half-measures will no longer do!" If I wanted to survive, I needed to assume a new identity!"

"So, you're pulling a con by pretending to be a city employee?" Isaac asked.

"I reinvented myself as Eddie Lebold: a government clerk, inspecting the Telegraph Office. I stand around, looking busy…chatting to pretty telegraph girls…" Diego said. "What else could I do, (Name)? I need to be crafty to fool the Justice Corps! Or else they'd kill me on sight!"

"You mean arrest you on sight," (Name) said.

"You haven't heard, have you? Lawson ordered his goons to kill me on sight for my part in turning Florence Samuels over to the state, though when I left Georgie tried to take the initiative on that, and for some reason they're under the impression that I destroyed the DNA Machine!"

"Probably because Charlie told them you were in the lab when the DNA Machine was destroyed." (Name) said. "After you told him to say it when he was questioned about the DNA Machine's destruction. Don't deny it, Charlie told me everything."

"I was already a target for Lawson's regime, I couldn't let Charlie be one too."

"I just hope this game doesn't put you in more danger, Diego…but alas, we've got more pressing matters on our minds." Isaac said. "An employee of the Telegraph Office was murdered. Have you come across a certain Jane Pembroke during your…"assignment"?"

"Actually…I have had some interactions with her, the most recent being when she transcribed a message from the state to Mayor Lawson himself!"

"You heard from the state?" (Name) asked. "And gave it to Lawson personally?"

"I did. Mister Johnson is coming to Concordia to conduct an inquiry into Lawson's administration, and is bringing reinforcements. They'll be here in three days."

"Three days? They'll be arriving in time for the executions! How did Lawson respond when he got the message?"

"He was annoyed, but unconcerned, and issued orders to the Justice Corps to arrest Mister Johnson on sight, hence why he's bringing reinforcements. They'll be entering from Crimson Banks."

"Thank God. This reign of Lawson's has been hell on earth, a living nightmare!"

"It has been. But fear not, (Name), this too shall pass! We'll be sipping champagne on the airship together one day when all this is over!"

"Be careful out there, Diego." (Name) said as they and Isaac left. Diego decided a walk would do him some good. He went back to the telegraph office, he had left some paperwork there, and one of his more recent reports on Mrs. Pembrooke was there, with her handwriting on it in red ink.

"'YOU don't get to judge ME! I know the truth about you!'." Diego read. "Damn, she must have seen me take that money. But if I hadn't, that poor girl would have and if she had been reported…" Diego didn't want to think about what would have been, he just tore the now-defunct report up and tossed it away. It didn't mean anything to the investigation, since poor Mrs. Pembrooke never got the chance to report him and regardless, he would never seek to harm a woman. Well…except Jade Carnegie when she threatened him, and she had gotten herself killed by her accomplice in her counterfeit scheme before Diego could deal with her, which was for the best; if that unfortunate girl hadn't killed Jade, he would have, and he wouldn't have used a gun to do it. He decided to turn on the wireless, maybe he'll hear something useful. Instead, Lawson was on the wireless, ready to spout out more propaganda.

"To all Concordians! Tonight's Justice Day celebrations ended in a serious disturbance of the public order!" The wireless cried. "Therefore, I hereby forbid all gatherings and demonstrations, effective immediately. I repeat, freedom of assembly is suspended!"

"Lovely." Diego muttered as he turned the wireless off. "Now we can't even be seen talking to each other on the street!" This was going to make communicating with the resistance that much harder, if not impossible, and who knows how long this "suspension" of yet another civil right would last. Thankfully the state was coming in three—now two—days. But Lawson still had to be stopped, and they couldn't wait for the state to do that. They were going to have to arrest Lawson themselves, and hold him in custody until the state arrived and conducted their inquiry. Diego decided on impulse to take another walk, to the town square where the party was held. He took a look around the tables, still decked out for the party; no one had cleaned up yet, not even the Justice Corps, though that could change any minute now. Diego saw a document carrier with the Justice Corps' insignia on it. Looking around, he took the carrier and hurried back to the tenement building. Once he was secured, Diego opened the tube and looked through the documents. Among them was a diagram of the upcoming executions and contained the entire layout and all it entailed—the timing, the positions of Lawson and the guards…everything. The names of the two criminals Lawson was suspending execution for, Bart McMullen and Tommy Fletcher, were mentioned here; they would be in a pair of hanging cages to watch the executions. Diego noticed they were labeled "the last criminals". Before Diego could think about what that meant, he was interrupted by a banging on his door. Diego put the diagram back and hid the document carrier in his mattress before opening the door. He sighed with relief when he saw Isaac and (Rank) (Name), even if they didn't look too pleased.

"Come in," Diego said, standing aside so they could enter. Once inside, Diego locked and bolted his door. "What brings you by late this night…or early this morning?"

"Diego, we thought your "Eddie Lebold" persona was just a disguise…" Isaac said, holding up an employee report, taped together after being torn. "But (Name) found this report you wrote about Jane Pembroke!"

"Well, I had to put on a convincing act, so I scribbled something down, yes!" Diego said.

"What about this note? Did Jane realize you were a fraud?"

"Please! NOBODY knows who I really am!" At (Name)'s look, he felt himself sweat. "But…Mrs. Pembrooke might have seen me help myself to some cash from the till at the telegraph office…"

"You stole money?"

"Damnit, Diego, have you lost your senses completely?!" (Name) asked. "Do you realize that could cost you your life these days?"

"Times are hard, (Name)! Since Lawson sacked me from the Squad, I cannot sleep, my blood pressure is sky high…I really needed some money!"

"For what? I'll admit you like the good life, but you know to be economical AND how to NOT draw attention! Look at this place, a far cry from your apartment at Wolf Street. You took a government job, which I doubt is the best paying job in the world, especially with this administration, and your attire…let's just say I've seen you more dapper. Eddie Lebold is about as opposite of Diego del Lobo as you could make him, so what the hell did you need money for that you had to steal from the telegraph office?"

"I can't tell you."

"Can't or won't?"

"Both, but mostly can't. You're better off not knowing, (Name)."

"Was it for the resistance?"

"What?" Isaac asked.

"It's something I've suspected since I last spoke with Katherine. You're her source, aren't you Diego?" (Name) asked. "You're not just hiding in plain sight, you're working with the resistance."

"I was. But since Katherine's capture, I've lost touch with them." Diego said. "I've gotten your message, (Name)."

"That's going to be cut off, too. With freedom of assembly "suspended", the Justice Corps have closed down every public gathering place—parks, restaurants, pubs…even the churches are closed."

"Then I should give this to you now, to somehow get to the resistance." Diego said. He pulled out the document carrier from the mattress and showed them what was inside.

"This…this is a layout of the town square, where the executions are taking place." (Name) said. "This has everything, down to the positions of the guards and the timing! This has just what we need to bring down Lawson, and arrest him to turn over to the state when they come!"

"I thought as much."

"What are these names under the pair of cages?" Isaac asked. "A Bart McMullen and Tommy Fletcher?"

"What?" (Name) asked, and Diego noticed they paled. "Let me see that."

"I don't know who they are, exactly," Diego said as (Name) looked over the other documents. "But I do know Lawson must have it in for them good because he has a stay of execution order on them. He plans to execute them on June 18, no year yet, but it's clear from his plans after the executions of his political prisoners he wants them to be the last to die."

"The last to die?" Isaac asked.

"Yes; after the executions, Lawson has ordered there to be a "Prison Purge", as in executing the convicts in prison, and after that—and more likely after the so-called "last criminals" as these two are labeled as—the Justice Corps will have the authority to execute anyone committing a crime. Lawson wants death to be the only way to deal with crime."

"Mon Dieu! There would be death everywhere! The entire city would burn, be destroyed!" Isaac cried. "There is no reason for any of this!"

"Yes, there is. He's doing this for revenge." (Name) said, putting down the documents. "He's trying to purge crime from Concordia, and he sees this as the only way; the brutes are a personal matter to him, and his endgame."

"Personal how?"

"I looked into those brutes myself," Diego said. "All I know is they murdered a woman six years ago on June 16, and they're currently serving a lengthy prison sentence for it."

"Her name was Abigail Baines, and she was killed after she picked up her damn wedding dress two days before her wedding to Justin Lawson." (Name) grabbed the wireless and hurled it at the wall. "That bastard! That self-righteous, sanctimoius hypocrite!"

"Oh my God…" Diego sank to his bed as he processed this information. "According to my information, they're still in prison."

"They are, and is it enough for Lawson? NO!" (Name) snapped. "He described that sentence as 'light!' "A mockery of justice", he called it! To hear him talk about it, you would've thought the brutes were acquitted on a fucking technicality!"

"(Name), please!" Isaac cried.

"Lecture me on my language later, Isaac!"

"We should go." Isaac said as he pulled (Name) aside. "Evie was in the middle of analyzing the victim's diary when we left; let us see if she has finished." (Name) did nothing but nod and they left. All Diego could do was think about the horrors that were unleashed since Lawson became Mayor. Brutes in the Justice Corps using their position for their own gains, to hurt others with any excuse…people starving in the streets as prices rise beyond control…young ladies threatened with rape if they didn't submit to the suit of some lout with delusions of entitlement…children left to fend for themselves even by the courts because of something beyond their control…he began to pray. Praying that they would stop him before any further atrocities were caused by Lawson's actions—actions he now realized were a result of Lawson trading the justice he once championed for revenge, which he wanted since the death of his fiancée and saw himself as being able to take it once he became Mayor.

"And—and forgive us our trespasses…as we—as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil…" Diego said, finishing the prayer. "Deliver us…please God, deliver us…deliver us from this monster who has succumbed to wrath and pride…" His prayers broke under a sudden sob, and the grief and despair overwhelmed him as more sobs followed.

For the first time since he was a boy in Barcelona, Diego del Lobo wept.