"Two girls, a fifteen year old and a nineteen year old. They were sisters. The oldest was on Christmas break from college and the younger one finally made it onto her school's volleyball team." The overseer began as he narrowed his Prussian eyes at Michelle who simply hung her head in shame, her lengthy twists effectively hiding her face.

She grimaced at the sight of the photos of the destroyed home and burnt bodies that Mr. Everette sprawled out onto his office desk.

"But, none of that matters now, right? 'Cuz they're dead...all because you refused to do your job." He bellowed. "Why the hell didn't you show up to the retribution? I mean, had you listened to me and followed orders we wouldn't be staring at pictures of dead, ignited children for Christ's sake! Can you imagine coming home after having date night with your spouse just to see that your kids are so scorched beyond recognition that you can barely even identify their bodies?"

"I know!" Michelle shrieked back. "Don't you think I know that?"

"No, I don't know what you know or what the hell you're thinking. I told you to take care of the sick fuck that liked to play with fire. If you even bothered to read this guy's case file, you'd know that he liked to light homes on fire. We decided that it was time for him to die because his death was going to serve as a preventative measure, that way no one died at his hand. But, you couldn't do that could you?" The overseer towered over her with an unamused look, Michelle still refusing to meet his gaze.

"I thought you were bullshiting me, I thought you were giving me a test or something, I didn't even think that the target was real, I've never even heard of the guy. I thought he was just someone you made up to screw with me or something." The ebony woman admitted, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

"You've never heard of him, Michelle, because he flew under the radar." The overseer explained. "His crimes weren't on the news or in the papers or anything because he has a way of making all of them look like accidents. And he does a hell of a job at it too. If he wasn't dangerous, I'd recruit 'em for Versa Vice Sensus." He chuckled, his deeply ingrained crows feet softened once he saw the remorse in Michelle's eyes.

"I'm sorry," The brunette whispered hoarsely. "they didn't deserve that, God, they didn't deserve that. I should've been there."

"Yeah," The overseer agreed. "you should've and you weren't. But...It's okay."

Michelle slowly looked up to Mr. Everette once the words slithered past his lips.

"Sometimes bad things have to happen so that we can get an understanding. Like now, for you, you didn't believe me when I said that I was doing what was best for this agency. You had a bone to pick with me, you were pissed, so you didn't do your job...and look what it lead to." The man shrugged. "I can assure you, no matter what shit happens between my employees and I, I'm still looking out for the greater good. I never let that get in the way of anything. Ever. No matter what it is that has to be done...I get it done because I care about this agency and I care about making the world out there a decent place to live. I never forget why we're doing this, I never loose sight of the bigger picture and I hope that you can learn to do the same."

As much as Michelle hated the overseer at times, she had to admit, his words held truth. No matter how much of an asshole he was, he always made decisions with Versa Vice Sensus in mind and even though Michelle knew that she could never be as die hard for the agency as he was, she was well aware that Mr. Everette was in fact effective and he never allowed personal matters to ruin the lives of others. Not like she did.

"You're right." She nodded in agreement as she stood to her feet, not allowing her newfound determination to falter. "Where's the piece of shit that did this? I'll do the retribution tonight, I'll make it slow, bloody, painful. It's not gonna be an accident...I'm gonna beat him to death, maybe feed his corpse to Georgie Fulton's dogs. He's gonna get his." She hissed through clenched teeth. "Where can I find him?"

Mr. Everette turned away once a sinister grin eased onto his lips. He moseyed towards the wide window that allowed the morning sun to beam through. His eyes settled onto the raven that was perched onto an oak tree feeding a squirming worm to its young. "His case file is on my desk, take it along with the tranquilizer gun. It'll be easier to beat him if he's subdued. And this time...get the job done."

Michelle let out the deep breath that she didn't realize she was holding once nighttime fell sooner than she anticipated. Her fingers silently pulled at her car handle, she slithered out of the vehicle and hid behind the overgrown weeds that surrounded the graffiti painted, worn down house.

She stealthily ran towards the window of the home, peaking through the small entrance. A smirk sneaked it's way onto her lips once her gaze landed on the ripped up couch that her target lied upon. The luminous glow from the t.v. screen provided the only light in the entire house as it rested on the man who lied across from it. His black sweat suit concealed his fetus positioned body as he curled up onto the sofa, facing away from Michelle.

The ebony woman eased the window open before climbing inside of the home as quietly as possible. Her eyes danced across the television screen before softening for a mere second once she realized it was a rerun of Look Who's Talking. She looked away from the screen and pulled the tranquilizer gun from the depths of her cargo pants. She aimed her weapon at the resting man, releasing the calming dart into his arm, causing the man to instantaneously fall face first onto the termite infested floor.

Michelle removed her scarf from her face and the shawl from her head, freeing her lengthy hair from its binds. She gripped the tire iron tightly, her leather gloves pressing against the hard metal as she eased up towards the man.

She straddled him as he lay on his side before lifting the weapon high into the air with one hand as the other slowly pulled the hood from his head. She longed to see the face of the man that they called the arsonist. The man that snatched the lives of two innocent children.

Her eyes went from narrow and hard to soft and confused once they rested on an all too familiar face.

The man's eyes flashed open and met Michelle's and before the woman could react, he brought his rough fist to her jaw, forcefully knocking the brunette onto her back. The tire iron broke free of her grasp and skidded across the rough floors before crashing into the dented, off-white walls.

Michelle spit the thick blood from her mouth as she rested on her elbows. She quickly rolled over, dodging the man's steel toed, black boots from swinging into her skull.

"Tyson, what the hell!" She yelled as she struggled to her feet.

Tyson pushed against the lengthy couch, skidding it across the floor, briefly crushing Michelle against the wall. He took the woman's minor setback as an opportunity to seize the chipped, black tire iron.

As Tyson ran back towards Michelle, she swiftly pushed the sofa away from her abdomen and stuck her foot out, effectively tripping her fellow colleague. He landed onto the hard ground, Michelle then climbed on top of him and mimicked his actions by repeatedly ramming her fist into his jaw.

Tyson absorbed her relentless blows until he finally caught her wrist and gripped it tightly. He switched their positions and flipped her onto the ground, her head slamming into the floorboards, disorienting her ever so slightly.

She blinked her eyes repeatedly as her surroundings danced around her. Once her vision finally cleared, she looked up towards the syringe that Tyson held high into the air. Her hands fought against the man's touch, the syringe inching closer and closer to her chest.

"Why are you doing this?" Michelle demanded in a strained voice, her digits wrapped around Tyson's wrist as he used both hands in attempts to impale her. "What is this?"

Michelle's strength faltered while Tyson's grew, the syringe surpassing her black clothing and penetrating into her chest, instantly eliciting a shriek from the brunette. Tyson watched as Michelle's face relaxed, her grip loosened, and an artificial calmness overtook her.

"It's a tranquilizer...as I'm sure you can tell." Tyson panted. "The one Mr. Everette gave you was bullshit, they don't shoot anything but blanks, but this...yeah, this is the real deal."

Michelle rested on the floorboards as her breathing calmed despite the panic that brewed within her at the sight of Tyson lifting the tire iron from the floor, the hard, rusty metal scrapping against the wooden floor as he did so.

"I knew it was bullshit. The fires, the arsonist. I knew it. I should've trusted my gut." Michelle slurred.

"Well, truth be told it wasn't all bullshit. There was an arsonist and believe it or not he did live here." Tyson affirmed as he motioned to the house. "But, we already caught him, even before the most recent fire. We have something special planned for him."

"...A-a-and that fire, those kids..." Michelle stuttered. "Was it you?"

Tyson clenched his teeth and took in a deep breath through his nose. "No, that was you. You forced Mr. Everette's hand. He had to do something drastic to make you come here, he had to make sure what had to be done got done. If you didn't lose sight of what was important, none of this would've had to happen, but you did. So...here we are.  You're the reason that those girls are dead and for that, for forgetting what we do, what we work so hard for...it's gonna cost you. It's gonna cost you big. Think of it as an eye for eye, tick for tack. There's a price to pay for your actions, that's what Mr. Everette always says, that's what I believe, and soon...so will you. "

"So, the overseer got his bitch to do his grunt work."

"Listen, you gotta understand, this wasn't my idea. I didn't wanna have to do this, to hurt you like this, but we all know that this, what's about to happen right now, it's best for the agency. Mr. Everette knows it, I know it, and deep down...I think you know it too. You see, Mr. Everette, Martin, me...we have what it takes, we make the hard decisions because we know and understand what has to be done. We're not weak." Tyson explained as he hovered above Michelle, watching her as she lay still. He blinked away the tears that threatened to spill over as he thought about what he did just the night before and the horrible reality of what he was about to do right now.

"What is he gonna have you do? Kill me?" Michelle whispered hoarsely. The sweat that festered on her brow dripped down as her anxiety grew.

Tyson lowered his gaze towards the tire iron that rested in his hands as he shook is head. "...No."

He lifted the weapon into the air before using all of his force to slam it down into Michelle's stomach. The volume of the muffled sounds of the metal thrashing into her matched the brunette's strained cries, the effects of the tranquilizer holding back the panicked shrieks and blood curdling pleads that she longed to set free.

Tears streamed down her brown cheeks as Tyson continued his ruthless task, black and blue bruises instantly plastering all over her growing belly. She sobbed from the pain that soared through her body, she sobbed at the inevitable end result of this merciless beating, but most of all she sobbed at the thought of Lincoln losing the one thing that he wanted the most. Losing the only being in her life that was truly innocent, the child that she already loved being snatched away by a sick man, as she lay on the wooden floor inside of a cold, worn-down house, that sat in a shitty part of town.

Her eyes traveled down her dark clothing to the crotch of her pants as she felt what she was sure was blood pooling into her underwear.

She rested her eye lids as the effects of the tranquilizer truly made its presence known and the sounds of Tyson's violent grunts rang through her ears while the excruciating pain that spread over her tummy finally left her.

"I didn't want this!" The man repeatedly yelled, sweat pouring down his face while he pounded the tire iron into her stomach, not skipping a beat. "You did this!" Tyson's shrieked words were the final ones that she heard as a peaceful bliss finally swept over her, allowing her to slip into a deep slumber.

She could only hope that when she awoke again, she'd be in her bed within the serene embrace of her husband and she'd realize that the unspeakable events that she was enduring was nothing more than a stomach churning, horrible, unbearable nightmare.