Police sirens began to gradually sound closer and closer. The commotion began to grow louder and louder. My head began to ache more and more.

"Are you okay? Beth, can you hear me... Beth!" A voice panted.

I blinked my eyes open. The first face that became visible was the dude from the bar. Once I began to become aware of what just happened, I quickly sat up, getting whiplash. Despite that, I found strength to keep myself up anyway, squinting through the blurriness. His feather-light fingertips touched my forehead, wincing at the injury. "What happened...?" he asked.

"I- I have to go... Now!" I told him.

"You need to see a doctor-"

"No! No... I have to go." My head suddenly felt light and the throbbing in my skull was putting me in agonizing pain but I really needed to get away from here... From the... Fuck my head... My...

My eyes slightly rolled back and darkness began to creep up on me as I weakly fell back with him catching me.

"I'll take you." he looked at me as if he could feel my pain.

I hazily stared at him with a skeptical look. I didn't want this guy taking me anywhere, it's better if I drove myself.

I stood up, using his shoulder for support but my vision suddenly blurred again while my head numbed.

Dammit.

"Take my car... " If he did anything stupid, I'll make sure he pays for it, and not with cash.

He put his arm around my waist and lifted my arm around his shoulder. "You'll be thanking me."

He walked me to my car as quick as he could and helped me inside. The cops weren't at the scene yet but they were definitely on their way. I've always hated talking to the cops. Not that they annoyed me, they just... Nevermind, that's exactly why. That, and I could be "impatient at times" as Simon puts it. I just don't like being questioned and then being asked follow-up questions about the question I just answered, which should've already answered that follow-up question! It pisses me off when I have to constantly repeat myself which is why I was in such a rush to get the hell away from this place.

As I settled myself inside, I set the GPS on my dashboard to a pizza place half a mile away from the headquarters. I didn't need this man knowing too much about me. I'll be in deep hell if I ever brought an outsider to headquarters. "Follow that," I told him with my hand on my head. My head was throbbing so hard that it put an unbearably painful sting in my eye.

He started the car, "Are you sure you'll be aight without a doctor?"

"Yeah... Don't worry, keep driving."

He chuckled softly, "We hadn't even moved yet..."

I sighed at the pain, "Well... Start driving."

He nodded then turned to the road and began driving.

I sighed to myself, disappointed that I let a team of worthless thugs get the best of me back there. I usually never assume a place to be safe enough to let your guard down but I stupidly did that tonight. The sucky reality of my life is that there is no such thing as breaks. No matter where I am, I'm always at work, trying to protect myself or the innocent lives of others. It's what I've signed up for.

* * * * *

After a fairly short ride, we made it to the pizza place. I could smell the delicious scent of fresh cheese and garlic breadsticks coming through the window as he parked in the parking lot. He looked over at me for a moment with slight concern, "I'll be right back." he almost whispered before leaving.

I watched as he headed out of my car and walked his way inside of the pizza place. As soon as he got to the counter, he talked with one of the clerks.

Great, now I need a way to get away from him.

"Bullshit..." I muttered as I pulled my phone out to contact Simon.

As soon as he picked up, I spoke, "Simon... I need your help, immediately."

"What's wrong?" he asked, knowing something was up by the tone in my voice.

"I'll explain later but could you come to pick me up? I'm at the pizza place not too far from headquarters."

I could hear the hesitation in his voice but he didn't question me, "Sure thing. I'll send someone down right away." he hung up.

Please hurry...

The dude returned with an ice pack in one hand and held a slice of pepperoni pizza in a paper plate in his other hand. He got in the car and set the pizza on the dashboard. "Alright. Come here, let the doctor take a look..." he leaned closer to me and moved my hand so he could observe my injury. He took a napkin and gently dabbed it over the blood dripping from my forehead.

I winced at the pain and grabbed his arm. "Leave it... I'll deal with it later."

His grey-brown eyes gazed down at me saying that he really wanted to help. "It's only gonna get worse... I'll be gentle," he told me in a low, promising voice. Without waiting for my answer he continued to clean it up. "What did they want with you anyway?" he asked.

I looked at his face as he focused on my forehead. "I don't know. They were just pathetic delinquents." I said with a sigh and then noticed the bruises on his knuckles when he began to fold the napkin. "What happened to your hand?" I asked, curiously.

He looked at it then just shrugged it off as if it were no big deal, "I... It's nothing... It doesn't hurt or anything."

"That doesn't answer my question..." I said, suspiciously.

"Oh, that was a serious question? I thought it'd be obvious..." He set the bloody napkin to the side then started cleaning with a new one. "You had four guys on you, I had to get you outta that. You have some serious skills by the way, I saw you out there."

I hissed at the pressure he applied. "Yeah... I've been working on it, Ah..." I stopped his hands.

He frowned with his eyes. "Sorry... This is really bad."

I eyed him intently for a moment, wondering why he went this far to help me. I'm a stranger to him but he didn't seem to care. His eyes met mine for a while and just lingered there until I became a little uncomfortable. "I think I have some rubbing alcohol somewhere," I told him, getting caught up in the unique colors of his eyes.

"Nah, you're in enough pain... You don't need anymore."

The corner of his lips slightly curled up as he rested a clean napkin on my injury and set the ice pack on top of it. "The bleeding is slowing down. You should be okay." He said.

I sat up straight and held the pack of ice upon my forehead, ignoring the burning sensation it put there. "Thanks... But you'd better get going, your friends might be missing you."

He snickered at that, "And leave you here? They could wait."

I narrowed my eyes at him as he sat back comfortably in the driver's seat. "Someone is coming to get me right now. You can leave."

"Then I'll wait until they show up." he insisted.

I let out a deep, annoyed sigh and rested my head back. I get that he's trying to be nice and all but when I say "leave", I mean leave.

He smiled with a soft chuckle. "I'm only trying to be a good samaritan."

I shot him a glare, "You've done your deed. You can go now."

He only smiled at me, shaking his head, "Pizza?" he offered, holding the slice he bought near my face.

I stared at him with a slight sneer which only made him grin and wiggle the plate at me.

"No thanks... Stop doing that." I pushed the plate away.

He laughed, "So you don't like pizza? What a bummer." he took a bite out of it. "So. Are you going to tell me your real name yet? Or do I have to guess?"

I opened my mouth to question him on how he figured out my lie just as there was a sudden knock on my window. "Nicole, let's go." one of our agents, Tyler, finally showed up. His voice was muffled behind the closed window.

I almost smiled when I saw him. Seeing him meant that it was time to finally go home.

And get this "good samaritan" off my back.

"Ahh... So it's Nicole...?" the dude smirked, turning my attention back to him.

"And don't wear it out." I opened my door and headed out to stand by one of the agents.

Tyler looked through our door and began to reach for his gun, "Do you know this man?" he asked me in a low voice but I knew the guy could hear because he was starting to get worried.

I thought for a moment. I didn't even know his name so I shook my head, "I just met him at the bar. He was helping me." I informed, pointing to the ice pack on my forehead to hint what happened.

Tyler turned to me and I could see his eyebrows crease from behind his shades when he looked at it. "Ooh..." he slightly grimaced as he carefully moved my hand to take a peek. "How did you let that happen?"

I let out a deep breath. I was disappointed that I let this happen too. "I wasn't as alert as I should've been."

"And don't forget about the part where I drove you here." the dude said as he climbed out of my car and made his way around to me, "They call me Jay." He held his hand out to me.

I shook his hand as I gave his name a taste, "Jay..." it's not horrible. "Thanks for driving me here."

He smiled as the other agent, DT interrupted, "Simon was informed about the incident recently. He wants to speak with you as soon as we get you back where you need to be." he informed and I nodded.

"I'll make sure he knows you're alright. Let's get back and address those wounds properly." he walked me to his black minivan and held the door open for me when we got there to allow me to hop inside. I must say, I am truly relieved that he and Tyler came through in time. I didn't think I would be able to get rid of Jay over there without completely losing my patience.

I got seated and looked out of the window as DT closed my door. I saw Tyler beginning to speak with Jay but we already started moving so there wasn't much to see after that. He's a good guy, I guess, but I'm glad to finally get away from him. I rested my head back and enjoyed the quiet car ride back to headquarters.

* * * * *

Tyler

"I saw people running out of the bar and couldn't help but to go and take a look for myself." The witness told me as I listened carefully, scribbling down every detail he narrated to me into a report for the boss. He continued by saying, "That girl can fight... But there were like 3 guys on her so I jumped in to do something..." He looked over my shoulder then asked, "Where are you guys taking her anyway?"

I raised an eyebrow at him then continued writing in my report as I told him, "Have you not seen the huge turtle on her head? She needs medical attention."

He nodded with a sigh of defeat, "Well, there goes my date..."

Date?

I snickered at that. People don't just date Nicole. She finds katanas to be more attractive than any human. "Could you describe the suspects. Clothing? Skin colors?" I questioned.

"Yeah, I-" he stopped himself then pursed his lips with a small point to the paper I was holding, "Actually, can I...?"

I eyed him briefly, realizing that he wanted to be the one to write. Shrugging, I handed the paper and pen over to him, "Be as accurate as possible." I instructed.

He smiled then headed to the front of Nicole's car to place the report on it with the blank side facing him before he began to doodle on it. "I saw one of them in the bar..." He created four separate circles then began to draw a face on one of them. "He was like, in his 30's and he wore all black, him and his partners..."

As he finished the first face, my eyes widened at how talented this guy actually was. I observed as he glared at the second person he began to draw, "This is the son of a bitch who hurt my girl..." I watched as he clenched his jaw while drawing him. "He owns a ring that kinda looks like this..." He stopped halfway through his portrait to draw the ring next to the suspect's face as he said, "She has a mark from it on her left cheek, about 3 inches from her eye."

I crossed my arms as he continued to draw, asking him, "You haven't been doing any drinking tonight, have you?"

"I have." He answered. "But it's not enough to screw with what I remember." He handed the paper to me and I noticed that two of the circles were left empty but one of them had a symbol next to it.

"You missed some." I pointed out.

He shook his head, "I couldn't get a good look at this 3rd guy but he had a tattoo on his neck that looked a little like that." He pointed to the symbol with the pen to show me then his hand dragged over to the last picture where he placed a question mark in the empty circle, "This last guy... I never saw him for myself but, from what I've heard, there is a fourth guy."

"You have some gift, Brown," I said, taking the report from him and placing it under my armpit before giving him his ID back.

He shrugged with his eyebrows as he placed his ID in his back pocket, "What can I say, officer, I have good senses... Need anything else?"

I chuckled at the fact that he thought I was a cop. "Nope, this will do just fine. That is unless you have more information."

He shook his head, "That was basically it. Hey, do you think you could give me a ride back to the bar, my car is there."

I accepted with a short gesture to follow and allowed him into the passenger side of my ride. I needed to head there myself to retrieve more information about the incident.

As I drove silently on the dark road, I couldn't help but wonder about this guy's ability to recall the details he's forked out to me. It seemed a little atypical for someone to be so calm and collected after a situation like this...

I glanced over and noticed Brown watching the scenery through the window with a hand on his chin and a look of slight disappoint in his eyes. I didn't understand why, he's made himself really useful tonight. I found it to be astounding that he could aid one of our own and then safely elude Nicole and himself from the scene to be able to provide us with some valuable information.

"Something bothering you?" I asked softly.

"Ah... Kinda, I-" he chuckled. "It's just, the girl..."

I nodded, telling him, "Don't worry about her, she's going to be fine."

"No," he smiled, "I was looking forward to spending the night with her."

To do what? Plan your funeral?

"Hmm... Maybe next time." was all I told him. It's not uncommon for some guys to walk into a bar and leave with a partner to have a one-night stand with. Only this guy had a negative 12 chance of getting a shot at Nicole. She works for secret services which makes her off-limits to the people of the public. "Next time" doesn't exist for him.

When we pulled up at the bar, he thanked me and headed out to where a group of his friends was standing. All of them trying to talk over each other, going on and on about the incident. I watched as a woman in a chic black dress rushed up into his arms and went in for an emotional hug and a kiss on his cheek.

As they began to walk towards their rides, I pulled out my phone and called DT.

He answered quickly, "Talk to me."

"I just arrived at the scene," I told him, watching Brown leave the scene until he was out of sight. "After you drop Greene off, I need you to come and bring about two other agents with you. They can investigate her car then tow it back to headquarters, while that's being done, I need you to accompany me at the scene."

"You got it." He said before hanging up.

Soon after, I got out of my vehicle and headed straight for the inside of the bar to speak with the manager so I could gain access to security camera footage and turn in a copy for the boss.