She said thanks for saving my day.
I said that's what heroes are for.

-An artist (I can't remember his/her name).

××Playlist××

'What are you doing?' I asked, frowning at Gavin as he stared off into space with an intent expression on his face.

'I'm praying.' He replied.

'For what exactly?'

'I'm praying I get injured. Not enough to cause me any real harm but just enough that I have to go to the hospital so I won't have to go to the Callahan's house.'

'I'm hundred percent sure that's not how God works, Gavin.' I pointed out.

'Fine! Then I'll do it myself.' He huffed, picking up the metallic cover of the dustbin.

'You're not going to hurt yourself with a dustbin just so you can get out of seeing a baby. Now put the cover down!' I commanded.

He glanced longingly at it before replacing it.

'Gavin, it's just a baby! For chrissakes. I don't know what you're so worried about. Babies like everyone. Little Aubrey is no exception. She'll like you. Besides you're barely going to be in their house for five minutes so stop freaking out!'

'Easier said than done.' He ran a hand through his hair nervously.

'Gavin, it's just a baby!' Somebody help me knock some sense into this guy!

'Yeah. Exactly! A baby!'

'Gavin, you either calm down or I will slap you. I mean it. I know I can't touch stuff but I will find a way to slap the lights out of you.'

'Well, you definitely know how to dampen the mood.'

'Mood being you terrified of a baby.' I said sarcastically. 'Let's get moving. Standing in this alley isn't going to change anything.'

We were standing in the alley behind the the Callahan's shop where Gavin parked his car.

'Whatever.' He grumbled.

'Wait, Gavin. Shhh. Do you hear that?' I frowned.

'If you make a pun about babies, I will kill you.' He returned.

'You can't kill me.' I scoffed.

'Just like you'll find a way to slap me, I'll find a way to kill you.'

'Just shut up and listen.' I rolled my eyes. I crouched behind the dustbin and gestured for him to do the same. I could hear faint voices.

'Hear that?'

'Yeah. What was that?' He frowned.

'Gee let me just ask my third eye.' I muttered sarcastically. 'Of course I don't know! If I did, I wouldn't ask you!'

He rolled his eyes.

'Let's go see what's wrong?' I said, leading him around to a connecting alley.

A gunman was in the process of mugging a middle aged lady and her four year old son. The boy was bawling loudly and his mother was not doing much better. She was literally shaking in her boots. Her hands were trembling so badly, she couldn't even pull out her money.

'Oh my God.' I gasped. Gavin and I hid by the corner.

'Oh God. What now?' He whispered. 'I should call the cops.'

'Yeah but they won't get here on time.' I stated.

'I know but what do we do?' He asked.

'I don't know. What can we do?' I frowned.

'Personally, I'm a fan of ignoring the problem until it eventually goes away.'

'That's not going to work in this case. You are going to have to rescue them.'

'Me?' His mouth fell open. 'Me? You realize he's carrying a gun. Right? You see that shiny metallic thing in his hand? One pull of the trigger and I'm dead. I'm not sure if you had guns in the 1800s but we do in the twenty first century.'

'Shut up. We had guns too.'

'Great. Then you know exactly what's going to happen if I go out there. You're a ghost. If he shoots you, the bullet is going to right through you. Heck, he can't even see you so he can't shoot you. But me? Me, he can see. Me he can shoot. Me, he can kill! I'm not Superman or Batman. Not even Green Lantern.'

'I don't see what a lantern has to do with this.' I snapped.

'It's not a lantern. He's has a ring.'

'What does a lantern have to do with a ring? And what does any of that have to do with the woman who's being mugged?'

An aggrieved expression slid onto his face. 'Forget it. Just forget it.'

'You brought it up.' I snapped. He glared at me.

'Why are you even hiding? You're a ghost. They can't see you.'

I already opened my mouth ready to tell him off when what he said clicked. 'Fine. I'll see what's going on and tell you what you can do.'

'I could get killed.' He pointed out.

'You think I don't know that? I'm even more terrified than you are. If you die, I'm as good as done for but we can't just leave them to their fate. I can't walk away. We just have to be careful.'

'Okay.' He nodded. 'If I do this, you have to promise not to be mad at me anymore for blowing you off.'

'Gavin! This is your life at stake here! You could get kill and you're worried about me being mad? You're a lot dumber than I thought.'

'Just promise me you won't be angry anymore.'

'I'm not angry. I mean it.' I shouted.

He shot me a pointed look.

'Okay yes, I am angry.' I admitted. 'A little. But that's no reason for you to risk your life.'

'Just promise me.'

'Okay. Alright. I promise. But this is too big a risk to take just so I won't be angry at you. You know I would not do the same for you right?'

'I know. That's why I'm the good one and you're the bad one and I'm going to heaven and you're going to hell.' He grinned.

'Great. At least if you die out there, we know where you're going.' I said with a saccharine smile. He looked at the gunman and the lady and her son.

'I hope so.'

'Okay, my usual snarky sarcastic amazing self aside, you realize this is dangerous and you will probably die.' I said.

'Thanks for the pep talk and vote of confidence.'

'You should be thanking me. I'm just making sure you realize how dangerous and potentially disastrous this could be for you. You should thank me for that.'

'Well, thank you. If I wasn't scared before, I am now.' He snapped.

'Fear isn't necessarily a bad thing.' I replied. 'Are sure you still want to do this?'

'Yeah. Before I change my mind.'

We exchanged one more meaningful look.

'Hang on.' I told him while I looked for something I could use to distract the criminal.

I noticed one of the windows in the building behind the gunman was open. I used all my power to close it as loudly as possible.

The sound echoed in the otherwise empty alley. The gunman and the lady whirled around to stare at the building trying to figure out if someone had seem them.

Thank God that worked.

I gestured for Gavin to come out of hiding now that their backs were turned.

He crept to where they stood, the dustbin cover in hand. Never thought I'd be happy to see that.

He raised his hand to hit the mugger on his head with it but before he could, the mugger turned back and aimed the gun at his head.

'One more move and you're dead.' His deep voice warned. Gavin and I shared a panicked look.

Oh on.

The gunman snatched the dustbin cover out if his hand and flung it away.

'Thought you could play hero?' He taunted.

'What do we do now? Please don't die. If you die, I'm done for. Please don't die. Not now.' I cried.

'I'll try not to.' He glared.

'I appreciate it.' I replied solemnly.

His glare intensified. 'Do something!'

'Okay! Okay.' I searched for something I could use to distract the mugger. Again.

'Think you can play hero, eh? Your money. Now!' The gunman gestured with his gun.

With a glare as cold as the Arctic circle, Gavin eyed me.

'I'm coming. I'll get you out of this.' I said frantically. I was searching the alley like a crazed woman. I tried to ignore the way the gunman kept his gun pointed at Gavin.

Oh God.

Fear like I haven't felt in a long time gripped me. The gunman had all but forgotten the lady and her son seeing as they posed little to no threat compared Gavin with his six foot something height and trim muscular frame.

Why couldn't Gavin be a short fat kid who's hobby was collecting bottle caps? I'm sure the thief wouldn't see him as a threat but no, he had to be a tall, muscular football player.

Fear squeezed my airways. What do I do? What do I do? What the heck do I do? What have I gotten him into now? I should've just let him call the cops and wait. Why did I have to push him into this?

My stomach dropped and my eyes prickled.

'Don't. Just focus on getting us out.' It took a few seconds before my mind registered that Gavin was speaking to me. My eyes sought him out. Tears blurred my vision.

'What do I do? Oh Gavin! I'm so sorry.'

'You can cry later. Focus now. You see that birdbath up on that balcony?'

'Yeah.' I sniffed.

'Good. Think you ca--' He suddenly stopped talking.

'What? Think I can what?' I frowned trying to understand what he meant.

'Who are you talking to, boy?' The gunman sneered, shoving Gavin's head with his gun.

'Ohhh.'

Gavin shot me a pointed look.

'Right. Gun to your head is a real conversation damper.'

Gavin arched a brow.

'Right! Focus. So how do I know what you want me to do?' I asked.

Gavin glanced at the birdbath and then at perp. He inclined his head stiffly.

I frowned. 'Are you having a neck cramp?'

He shot me an annoyed look.

'What?' I asked, getting more confused by the second.

He sighed deeply.

'Look, I'll make the birdbath fall on his head. It's the best I can do. The rest is up to you.' I shrugged. 'Kindly try not to die on me.'

He didn't nod but a steely determination entered his eyes.

God help us all.

I concentrated on making the birdbath fall where I wanted it to. Damn the stupid curse. I used to be able to do easy spells like this no problem but since I got cursed, even the smallest spells take a lot out of me.

Once it was done, I moved out way and waited to see how it would play out.

The birdbath hit the gunman on his head with a loud bang. The lady and her son winced. I hoped it didn't do any permanent brain damage. Gavin wasted no time in snatching the gun from the mugger. He punched the gunman squarely in the jaw. A resounding crack echoed down the alley.

I winced. I think he loosened some teeth.

'Damn, that hurt.' Gavin hissed through his teeth, flexing his fingers. The gunman swayed on his feet for a few seconds before he collapsed to the ground.

'Think about how he feels.' I pointed at the unconscious man on the ground.

'Serves him right.' Gavin muttered.

'Are you hurt? Are you okay?' The woman chattered. 'Did he hurt you?'

'I'm fine. You and your son?' Gavin asked.

'You saved us!' The woman gushed.

'Yeah, no need to thank me or anything.' I muttered. Gavin shot me a look.

'I just got lucky.' Gavin replied shyly.

'More like you had help.' I muttered. Gavin rolled his eyes.

'I called the cops. They should be here any minute.' He said.

'I called the cops. They should be here any minute.' I mimicked. He shot me a pointed look, as if to say, what is your problem?

'This is how I deal with near death experiences.' I shrugged. He gaped.

'It wasn't a near death experience for you. You're already dead!' He pointed out.

'Ahhh! I forgot. You're Albert Einstein's great grandson's great grandson.'

'Really?' He frowned skeptically.

'No, Captain Obvious. And just so you know, I never actually died. I just turned into this version of me overnight.'

'Whatever. The point is you're a ghost. This wasn't a near death experience for you.'

'Zip it tiny Tim.' I snapped.

'I'm taller than you.' He pointed out.

'Gee, you must be so proud of yourself.' I muttered drily.

'I have no idea how the conversation even got to this point. Talking to you is impossible.' He shook his head. I rolled my eyes in response.

'You're so immature.' He remarked.

'I'm way older than you.' I commented.

'Technically you're younger. You're still seventeen. The fact that you've been seventeen for the past hundred years or so isn't my problem.'

'Are you even listening to the words coming out your mouth right now? You sound absurd.'

'Says the girl who sings about having a throne in hell.' Gavin replied.

'Annoy me and I'll have them make a special dungeon in hell for you.' My eyes narrowed.

'Ha! You realize you're not the Queen of hell. Making such demands isn't within your power.' He remarked.

'Of course its within my po-- God! What are we even talking about?' I smiled.

'No idea.' Gavin shook his head. One shared look later, we burst into gales of laughter.

'Why are we laughing?' Gavin managed to choke out.

'No idea.' But we still couldn't stop laughing.

A few moments later, the patrol car pulled up at the beginning of the alley.

Gavin and the lady narrated what happened to the two cops. They handcuffed the mugger and took him away but Gavin, the lady and her son had to go to the station to give their statements.

'Looks like your prayer was answered after all.' I commented as Gavin backed his car out of the bakery.

'What prayer?' He frowned. His brows furrowed.

'You won't have to go see little Aubrey since you have to go to the precinct.' I shrugged.

'Precinct?' He frowned.

'Police station.'

'Right!' He looked pleasantly surprised. I rolled my eyes.

'But I should go. I said I'd be there.' He mumbled. His forehead creased like it usually does when his thinking. A thoughtful silence filled the car.

'If this whole statement thing doesn't take too much time then I'll go but if it does I won't.' He decided.

'Aren't you still afraid of baby Aubrey?' I raised an eyebrow.

'Well, yeah but I faced a gunman today so...'

'Okay.' I smiled. 'I guess a baby is piece of cake compared to a gunman.'

'It's not actually the baby that terrifies me. Its the fact that I might hurt her that terrifies me. And what her mother would do to me if that happens. And her father. And basically her entire family.'

'What's that saying?' I smirked. 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Or in your case, hell hath no fury like a mother protecting her kid.'

'Exactly.' He grinned.

A comfortable companionable silence settled between us and he drove to the police station. The radio crooned softly in the background. I watched houses and other buildings whiz past.

Today was quite a day.

'Well, today was interesting.' He remarked.

'Very.' I grinned. 'Oh and what were you trying to do when you kept nodding your head when the gunman had a gun pointed to your head?'

'I was trying to tell you about the birdbath.'

'Really? How was I supposed to get that from you nodding your head like a lizard in heat?'

'I wasn't nodding my head like a lizard in heat!'

'No, you were nodding your head like a desperate foolish lizard in heat.' I said.

'I was not!'

'You were. You really were.'

'I wasn't!' He glared.

'Whatever floats your boat.' I shrugged. He glared at me murderously.

Author's Note:

I had so much fun writing this chapter. I hope you liked reading it as well. I made the deadline. I updated within 24 hours!

Let me know your thoughts as always.

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