The captain's eyes widened for a moment. "Is this line secure enough for you to tell me your location?"

"I believe so. No one besides myself knows of this phone. I am in the lowest level of The Volcano on East 40th Street."

"I will be there in less than twenty minutes."

Mala got off the line and contacted Throk. There was no officer she trusted more. Though it was late, he did not even sound irritated to have received her call.

"I need you to be at the Volcano in fifteen minutes," she said, heading out to the squad car. "This will be in case backup is necessary."

"I will be there, Captain."

They ended the call and Mala kept the sirens off as she rode to the place. It was a sleazy club that would have seemed too small for the Grimborn to even enter. The fact that he was there let Mala know that he was genuinely concerned about what would happen if his former allies found him. Stealthily, Mala went around the party-goers and found the basement to the establishment. She spotted the dark-haired man sitting near an unfamiliar person. He had a beard and a large nose. Mala did not look at him for long since her attention quickly moved to Viggo. The right side of his body was bandaged. He gestured to the other individual.

"This is Johann, owner of The Volcano. He was of great help to me after the accident."

Mala immediately disliked the man's shifty eyes, but she decided that she would deal with him at a later date.

"He was a dreadful sight, Captain," Johann said. "Must have looked how I'd often imagined Icarus did once he flew too close to the sun. Fortunately, he was able to get here before the Flyers found him. I shudder to think of what would have happened otherwise. This one time, I saw a former Flyer–"

The club owner was about to continue when Viggo lifted a hand. "My friend, now might not be the best time for anecdotes."

Slightly disappointed, Johann nodded as Mala helped Viggo get to his feet. They were led to an exit on that level and Mala kept her pistol ready. Carefully, she opened the door. In an instant, the captain moved back, pulling Viggo with her. Several shots had been fired, forcing them to take cover. Johann squealed and jumped down to his stomach. Mala stayed ducked down, counting as she heard the bullets. She wished that she could see what types of guns were being used so that she could get an idea of the shot limit, but any information was still helpful. There was a short pause as someone reloaded the weapon. As soon as this happened, the captain moved forward, spotting a shooter and getting him between the eyes. He and another Flyer dropped in the same manner.

More shots forced Mala to duck again. One of the enemies changed positions, getting his bullet to go closer to the captain even though it missed. Mala rolled and found him, getting the man in his knee. She did the same to more of the criminals until the Flyers began retreating. The captain might have been outnumbered, but they were outmatched. Mala could hear the tires screeching as they drove away to return to their base of operations. Going back to the injured man, Mala helped him to his feet.

"We need to go before they bring more support," she stated.

"They shouldn't have known about this place," Viggo said, grimacing as he put more weight on his right foot. "The only one besides you and I who knew was…"

The man's face paled as he turned his head to the third individual.

"I guess that you're not as good a judge of character as you thought, Grimborn," Johann commented, smirking as he pointed a gun at the man.

"Drop your weapon," Mala warned, hand close to her own firearm.

"You won't be able to pull that gun before I pull the trigger, Captain. You might be quick with your draw, but your real skill is your aim, not speed." Johann started to look genuinely excited. "And what a story I'll have when I tell the tale of how I ended the lives of both the feared Viggo Grimborn and the honorable Captain Mala! It's almost too perfect, but who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth?"

The club owner chuckled as he moved the barrel of the gun from Viggo to Mala.

"Maybe it would be smarter to get rid of you first. People might think it was foolish of me to not save the best for last, so I think you've downed your last perp–"

The sound of a bullet firing rang through the air. Johann's eyes widened and he lowered his hand. He could tell warm blood was dripping down his forehead. Unsteadily, he lifted his left hand and felt a hole in the center of his head. Johann stumbled to the ground, becoming completely still. Entering through the doorway, Throk glared at the corpse. He then turned to Mala to see if she was all right.

"Your timing is impeccable as always, Lieutenant," she said. "Thank you."

The officer gave a nod of his head and switched places with her, helping Viggo walk as she ensured that the coast was clear for them to bring him to the car. Once there, they began to transport the man. Mala sat in the back with the crime boss as Throk drove. With a stern expression, she regarded Viggo.

"Is Drago Bludvist a real person involved in this operation?"

"He is very real, my dear. He oversees all that the Hunters and Flyers do. I'm sure you also know about Krogan."

"I would like to know more."

"I'm sure you would." Viggo adjusted some to accommodate his injuries. "Know that Krogan works quietly. He's a violent man, but he's an intelligent one and efficient as well. He goes in, removes whoever he sees as a problem, and leaves without a trace. There have even been officers in his presence when he has killed someone and he has escaped unscathed. I doubt they were able to do so much as learn of his identity."

"He sounds impossible to arrest."

"He would be if it weren't for his boss. Everyone has a weakness. Drago is his. He fears the man and always reports to him, even if there is a failure."

Mala's eyes lit up in intrigue. Viggo saw this and smirked, but it soon faded as curiosity covered his expression.

"Captain," he said quietly, "I had been operating for years and had never so much as spent the night in a holding cell. I never had Drago or any of the others do more than try to get out of the business. Now, here I am after two attempts on my life, working with you to preserve it. I have my suspicions, but I need to know. How did that happen? Was Dagur really more than a fool?"

The officer did not respond, but the man could see his answer in her eyes. He simultaneously felt enraged and impressed.

"Interesting," he muttered to himself. "It seems Krogan might have been right. I do underestimate people." He raised his voice to be heard more clearly. "In that case, I have one more request for you."

Mala's brow lifted and they continued to speak as they neared their secure location. By morning, Farid returned to the prison. It felt strange there again. The psychologist went to the warden's office and knocked.

"Come in," he heard Stoick say.

When the doctor entered, his forehead was creased with a frown. "Did someone get killed?"

"No," Stoick said. "At least not as of this moment, but I'd hate to jinx it. Why do you ask?"

"It's in the air. I can't really explain it. I just feel uneasy."

"Actually, I know what you mean. Stay here long enough and you begin to notice when trouble is on the horizon. I've spoken with Gobber and he has our best men on high alert."

"I hope we're just being paranoid."

"Ideally, but I've found that's rarely the case here."

One of the officers called to the warden, getting him to stand from his desk and go to the door.

"I'll have to deal with this, Doctor."

Farid nodded in understanding. "Of course."

As the taller man left to deal with other matters, Farid went to the therapy session room. There was someone else who was busy during this time. Having kept a close eye on everyone's whereabouts, Savage went to the back room and pulled out his phone.

"All right," he said quietly, "I'm alone."

"Good," a voice responded. "Alone is how I want Dagur to be later today. Get him somewhere without anyone seeing."

"How would I do that?"

"That's not my problem. Just get it done."

"Krogan, he's an inmate here. I have to run everything by Stoick. He's not going to authorize me to take Dagur out for some field trip."

"Arrange it to look like an escape attempt if you can't think of anything else."

"Alvin already tried that. It backfired. No one would believe it a second time."

"I don't care how you do it. Get him alone and let me know where he'll be when that happens."

"I just don't know how I'm going to do that."

"If you can't, I'll find someone who can. Viggo is already being dealt with, Savage. He was a problem. Are you one too?"

The officer turned ashen. "N-no, I'm not. I'll figure something out."

"I expected as much. Call me when it's ready."

Krogan hung up the phone, leaving Savage trying to exit the room without a tremble in his knees. He walked by the therapy session room, gaze lingering on the door as some irritation tugged at him. The officer did not like being ordered to do things by Krogan. It was always the same. Everyone bossed him around like he was nothing. He also did not like the idea of killing off the peculiar redhead, however, it was not out of loyalty. Truly, it was because Dagur had the unique mark of being selected by Savage personally. As long as he did well, they both looked good. For Dagur to get killed, that reflected badly on the officer. It made him look like he picked unreliable operatives. His chances for moving up in the ranks would be at risk. Still, he would not fight for the life of the inmate at the cost of his own. He just had to think and think quickly because he knew that the Flyer leader was not known for his patience.

In the therapy room, Dagur was beginning his session with Farid. He had also noticed that something felt odd, but he knew why. For the entire night, he had stayed even more aware of his surroundings than normal. The inmate did not want to go out like Ryker had. If someone wanted to stab him, he wanted to take out that person as well. He would not make killing him so easy on his murderer. That was why he stayed on edge until he got to the room. His restraints were removed and Gobber exited. Dagur gave Farid a half-hearted smile.

"I met Krogan yesterday," he said. "Woo, he did not like me."

"What happened?"

"Savage gave me a heads up, but it didn't do much. I couldn't figure out what Krogan wanted. He thought I was doing a good job with the operation outside of not bringing in new buyers, but that wasn't enough for him. If anything, it made him more upset because it meant he couldn't point at something and use that to get everyone to gang up on me."

"It sounds like he was suspicious of you from everything that happened and just wanted to meet you."

"I think you're onto something with that. There was probably never a chance to convince him that I wasn't a threat. He knew I was before he even arrived. He just wanted to know how much of one I was." Dagur frowned at the table. "He's going to try to kill me."

Farid's eyes widened slightly, then he let out a quiet sigh. "The warden already spoke with Gobber and they have the honest officers keeping an eye on everything. They can tell that something is going on."

"It definitely is, but I wonder how much they'll be able to do. They couldn't stop Rykie from dying."

"They didn't know that he was in danger, though."

"He also didn't have Krogan personally going after him. The glimpse I got of the guy looked different. Judging by the way he was scowling at me, I think Krogs deems me special enough for some individual attention." The redhead considered something and glanced up. "Heather and the others are still doing all right, aren't they?"

"They're doing fine. I've been keeping in touch regularly to make sure."

"Good. And Mala too? I haven't seen her since that last time with the hug. I've been worrying about her a lot. She's in the thick of all the danger now. She could be in Krogan's crosshairs and if she is, who knows what kind of danger she could be in."

"I haven't been able to speak with her as often." Farid saw the client's face turn ashen. "But it's probably because she's busy. I've heard good news coming from the BPD. They've been arresting a lot of the operatives on both the Hunter and Flyer side."

"Love to hear that, but it also just means that she'll be higher up on their hit list."

"Unfortunately, that's true. What's also true is that she seems to be a lover of danger like yourself. She also seems like a very capable person. I don't think she'd enter a situation without at least having someone to help if it was necessary."

"I hope that's the case."

Dagur still was worried and Farid could understand his reason. Gradually, the psychologist started to smile.

"I do have some good news for you regarding Heather and your friends."

"Oh?" the redhead asked, looking up with a question in his eyes.

"They've been planning something."

"They have? What?"

"I can't tell you."

Dagur's jaw dropped in feign hurt. "That's not right, Doc. You can't leave me hanging."

"Well, they wanted to be the ones to deliver the news. I think you can relate to that."

The young man laughed at the callback. "Fair enough. I can understand wanting to be the one to tell somebody something. I guess it's only fair that they return the favor. Of course…that didn't totally happen since Heather got a sneak peek from Hiccup, so I could get a sneak peek from you." He grinned widely, trying to look innocent. "Pretty please!"

Farid smiled as he considered this. "I'll give you a hint. The common theme is that it's about your future in the outside world. So, before you start thinking that Krogan is going to be the end of you–because I can see in your eyes that you're thinking that–instead, think about everything that's waiting for you out there."

"It's not that I'm hoping it'll be the end or anything. I'm just not sure if it will be or not. Like you said about not knowing when someone's going to be in danger, I won't know if Krogan's plan is going to work or not until it happens."

"Then, I think a bit of faith and positivity could help. Put out in the world what you want to get back. Think dark thoughts and real events that match them will be drawn to you."

Dagur cringed. "Like the worst magnet in the world."

"Precisely. We all get to decide what types of magnets we want."

The young man tapped his chin before grinning brightly. "Mine's going to be the best!"

"I wouldn't doubt it for a moment. I'm glad that you won't either now."

This kept the smile on Dagur's face as they continued talking. It felt like time was flying by and too quickly, he had to return to his cell. Dagur worked out as he waited for more time to pass. He went to the cafeteria and yard, dealing with the operatives and buyers as usual. Regardless, he knew something was wrong. He did not see Savage for nearly the entire day. Few people did. The first time Stoick could recall seeing him was during the evening when he knocked to enter his office.

"I'm popular today," he said in a quiet voice. "Come in."

Savage entered and greeted the man. "Warden, I have some papers from Prison Headquarters. They want to transfer Dagur to a more secure location. With all the arrests of officers and Ryker Grimborn's murder, they think it would be better if he served his time in a different penitentiary."

"They do? It's odd that they didn't contact me for this."

"Well, Sir, I have a friend who works there, so I think that's why I found out first. It was really just a matter of convenience."

Savage tried to not shrink from the larger man's gaze. It was penetrating, harsh, and if it had lasted a moment longer, the officer was certain he would have cracked. But it did not last a moment longer. Stoick accepted the papers and looked them over.

"Everything seems to be in order. I know Doctor Farid will be disappointed with him leaving, but it looks like our hands are tied."

"I could do the transport. I saw how Gobber was busy keeping a few inmates in line, but I haven't seen much action today. It wouldn't be a problem."

The warden gave him a nod of his head. "I'll authorize that. Just check in when you're there so that I know everything went smoothly."

"Will do."

Savage left the room and went to Dagur's cell. Coming up to the inmate, the officer had an unreadable look in his eyes.

"Dagur, we've got to go somewhere," he said under his breath. "Can't go into details."

The inmate nodded and the cell door was opened, then his handcuffs were attached. They went out through the exit and entered the transport bus. Once there, Dagur glanced out the window.

"How'd you get us out of there?"

"I've got a friend in the courthouse who knows how to forge documents pretty well."

"Cool friend to have."

"Especially in times like these."

"What exactly are these times?"

Savage stopped talking, focusing on the road ahead of them. Dagur began frowning.

"Krogan?"

Savage did not answer him.

"He wants you to kill me?"

"He doesn't want me to kill you."

"Then, he wants to do it himself."

Savage did not answer again.

"You can at least tell me, Savage. If I'm about to die, I'd like to know ahead of time."

"Fine, yes, he wants you dead."

"Did he say how he'd do it?"

"He doesn't tell me things like that. He just told me to get you by yourself."

"How come he sent you alone? Wasn't he worried that I'd attack?"

"Told you, he hates me. Most likely, he figured that even if you did attack, you'd just be helping out by killing me. If you didn't, then his plan still works. I'll admit that I don't want to fight. I have my pistol too, so I don't think you'd want to fight either."

Savage's hand tapped the holster and his eyes moved to the rearview mirror so that he could see the inmate. Dagur was just looking out the window again, watching as all the new sights went by.

"That's a funny looking tree. It's all twisty."

"You're taking this whole dying thing better than I expected."

The redhead shrugged. "Hey, everyone thought I was going to die in prison anyway, so at least this way, I can prove them wrong. I'll die outside prison."

"Whatever you have to tell yourself, I guess."

"Could you play some music?"

"Music?"

"Yeah, on your phone. I haven't heard anything in years. It'll be like the last meal for my ears."

Savage shrugged and pulled out the device. "You're still weird, but I guess there's no harm in it. Any requests?"

"I'm not partial." Dagur paused. "Actually, have anything bluesy?"

"I could find something." The officer chuckled. "I'd say I shouldn't be on my phone while driving, but that's really the most minor illegal thing I'll be doing tonight."

The inmate chuckled a little with him and tapped his foot when the song began to play. Savage kept driving until they got to an old parking lot. It was in the middle of nowhere with only the remains of what was probably a once flourishing forest to keep it company. Savage parked and went to get Dagur. He could see that the inmate was looking more tense and patted the gun as a reminder.

"No funny business, right?"

"Yeah, no funny business. I'm not laughing right now."

Savage led him out of the bus and they stood on the concrete for a few moments. From behind one of the trees, Krogan emerged. He had a knife in his hand.

"And here I was hoping for a bullet to the head," Dagur commented. "Seems like a faster way to go."

"I don't think this is a time-sensitive matter," Krogan said, stepping closer.

"I don't even get the bang treatment like Viggo? You could've killed Savage and me if you'd done that. Two problems fixed with one bomb."

"The explosion didn't work well for Viggo, so I'm trying a new tactic this time. I'm certain I'll enjoy the results much more."

Krogan stopped moving forward as he glanced around them. Jumping back, he avoided a bullet. The next one nicked him in the shoulder and caused him to stumble back with a grunt. Glaring, he saw that the trees were also hiding officers. At the end of the gun which had landed its hit on him was the captain. Krogan snarled at her before running into the thicket, disappearing into the night.