- a sip of caffeine -

~Cleoi, Oxzy's apartment~

The hero woke up with a start. Sweat dripped down his face and his mind raced with a loud booms coming from all around him. He was panting, looking around his room like that sound had come from within, he quickly realized it came from outside his window.

He shot up from his bed, almost falling back on the ground from the pain rushing through him. He breathed in a breath, "aahrg…"

Ignoring the pain and quickly locating the window. He looked outside, trying to find the source of the sound. He heard distant sirens, looking to his left, he could only make out smoke.

Smoke could have come from anything really in this town, but Oxzy knew better. It had to have been something from the villain, the reason the hero woke up with such adrenaline and fear already coursing through his body. He couldn't even feel the pain when he first woke up, he was on guard from the blast.

The hero slowly fell to the carpeted floor. His legs trembling from underneath him as his bare legs under his shorts began to feel a cold breeze. He was sitting on the floor in front of the window, holding onto his ribs in pain, breathing was becoming difficult the more his heart raced.

"Mhhh… Errrg…!" Calm down.. calm down!

He repeated the comforting words in his mind, trying to stop his racing heart so he could heal. He convinced himself slowly that he was safe, that the villain and the people had no way of knowing where he was. That the blast hasn't killed anyone, that it wasn't near him.

A small amount of worry still stood there, he knew everything he told himself was true, the more he told himself, the calmer he got. The more calm he was, the quicker he would heal. He had already healed some of his broken ribs, still a lot was still needed for him to be back to normal.

The more he stayed in his safe home, and slowly he moved with a calm mindset. He will heal everything himself. His body could heal quicker, and a lot easier then "normal humans" as he could guess was the same for Pierce.

"Aahhh…."

Sighing as the pain slowly began to turn into a small ache, Oxzy closed in on himself. His arms covering his head as if to protect himself, his legs close to his wounded chest.

The calmness going through him would not last long…

~Daylight, marketing circle~

Breathing out a heavy sigh, Mercy crossed her hands with a tired look. She had been waiting for Pierce for the past hour. She was waiting outside the circle market, leaning on the brick wall beside her. The woman and her friend had a plan for the weekend to be shopping, or well in their case stealing. But Mercy wasn't exactly stupid, she knew if she wanted free stuff she needed Pierce to help her.

Yet he still wasn't showing up. She gave out a frustrated sigh, pulling away from the wall and walking forward, all the while calling Pierce's number for a response.

The beeping stopped as she moved it from her ear, she growled under her breath after realizing he had turned off his phone. She sighed but didn't want her day to be ruined, she turned around while fumbling in her black leather purse.

She didn't find what she was looking for, looking around her surroundings she caught sight of something interesting. A sly smile crossed her lips, moving around the corner and to an old couple who was just leaving a small bakery. The woman wore bright jewelry, the husband had rings on his hands that shined as bright as his glasses.

Bingo.

Mercy smiled, moving a bit faster, her heels clicking under her heavy steps, the couple could hear her approaching, only they were too entranced in their conversation that they didn't notice until Mercy had bumped her shoulder into the woman's purse.

The old woman tripped on herself, almost falling over if not for her husband catching her. She groaned, looking at Mercy who had fallen on one knee.

"Sweetie, are you alright?" She bent down to help Mercy up. The young girl gave a shy smile and nodded her head. When the two were standing the old woman gave a sweet smile. "In a rush huh?"

"Yeah sorry about that…" Mercy brushed her short brown hair back, giving a shy smile. The old woman smiled back, giving a pat on the head before warning her. "Thank you." Mercy waved the couple goodbye, walking in small steps to seem timid.

When the couple was out of sight, Mercy looked at what she had taken from the woman's purse. It was a small bag with coins in it. Opening it, Mercy realized she was more lucky than she thought, it had coins in ones. Looking closer, she realized there were like 40 in the pouch.

That's enough for a drink and smokes. She thought to herself, putting the pouch in her pocket and making her way to a Starbucks.

After grabbing a drink, the girl sipped it as she checked for the nearest smoke shop close to her location. She couldn't find it in walking distance, looking around. She was tempted to call Pierce again, but just as her finger was gonna hit the call, a person called her name.

Felix, with a bright grin on, made his way to her. His hand waving with a few thug looking guys following behind him with the same grins. Mercy couldn't help but roll her eyes, unnoticed by them. She took a few more sips, waiting for the young brother and his "friends" to be near her to speak.

When they were now close enough, Felix gave the woman a joyful smile that could almost pass as real. Mercy saw something behind it, she gave no motion of response. "Are you waiting for Pierce?"

"Is it obvious?" Mercy responded with a smile.

"I mean, when you're bored you always call him."

Mercy gave a sly but knowing smile. "You're good at observing huh."

One of the guys behind Felix that had a shaved head with a scruffy body and clothes barely covering his tattooed body smiled proudly. "Our boss is incredibly smart and observant!"

Another one that looked almost the same but was a bit shorter and had hair pulled back replied. "Exactly! I don't even know why Pierce can't notice it."

Felix's eyes twitch lightly, unnoticed by the men behind him. A man next to him put an arm around his shoulder giving a grin like the rest of the men. "Yeah I mean since he is the most feared man here, you would think he'd be smart enough to see it!"

The comment was followed by laughs from his fellow companies, only Felix dropped silent. The man who said the words looked down at his boss. His face turned pale, a mix of fear rolled onto his face. Pulling away and recoiling into himself, the man pulled away and gave a bow in apology.

Mercy gave a shocked look, seeing how the younger brother looked when someone talked down to Pierce. She couldn't help but feel interested in Felix more. Back when she first met the young boy, she thought of him as a little nerd who followed his elder brother everywhere.

Now. Now something clicked in her brain.

A smile formed on her lips and just then, Felix turned back to her. He gave a small smile of apology. "I'm sorry. They don't know how to shut up sometimes."

"Course." Mercy replied, licking her lips from the coffee that was there. She gave the younger man a look, ignoring the goons who took attention away from the younger man.

He is good. She thought to herself.

A buzzing came from her pocket jeans, she pulled it out only to see Pierce giving a text. She smirked, putting the phone away and turning around.

"Fun talk boys." She waved them goodbye.

Before disappearing, she turned her head and looked at Felix walking away, a few ideas forming in her head.

The ideas followed her, she only stopped when a similar voice called out next to her. "Thinking about your vibrator?" Pierce said in a low emotionless tone.

Mercy gave an annoyed huff. "Strangely enough, no," turning next to her, she gave a glare. "The fuck took you so long? I've called you and waited for almost an hour."

"I've taken longer, don't let your panties get into a twist."

"Seems like yours already are." Mercy snarky replied.

Pierce smirked, seeing how his friend could see how he felt. She didn't try to pry, knowing her friend since middle school, she already knows all his drama and angst. "Well you don't seem bored. I'm guessing you got something to keep you entertained." Pierce saw Mercy look at her drink, he shook his head. "Something that could please you."

"Coffee is great at making me wet." Mercy replied with a sip from the drink.

"Well you know what I mean. You're a slut for something higher than coffee."

Mercy pondered for a moment, brightening up when she realized what Pierce meant. "Boys?" She asked.

Pierce gave a look at her, showing how she didn't have to ask to know that's what he meant. She hit his shoulder, giving a growl. "That's sometimes! Unlike boys, coffee can satisfy me till the end."

Pierce laughed out loud, shaking his head and causing the already peering eyes to fearfully shift away. The woman stuffed her drink into his hands shushing the man from causing attention. Pierce took the drink, drinking some of it. He didn't have a high from the coffee like his friend did, he gave it back giving no emotion on how it tasted to him.

"Why act so nonchalant?" Pierce asked, noticing her looking around. "You're with me, you're gonna get attention no matter what."

"Well since you were late, I was thirsty but didn't have money. So I stole from a little old lady."

Pierce made a pff sound, looking around in a mocking way. "Really? Is she gonna come swoop in with the police?"

"Shut up! It was a good amount of money." Mercy defended, earning an eye roll from her friend.

"How much?"

"40 bucks asshole." She confidently replied, pulling up the pouch to show the coins. Pierce gave a look over, patting the girl on the back with a phony smile. She hit him in the chest with her elbow, making him stagger away.

Pierce held his chest with a tight look, moving his hand to be over his shoulder to steady himself. "Could have waited longer, you know I could have gotten something better." He winked at the already annoyed woman.

The woman gave a look at him, noticing the hold he had on himself. "Is the wound still hurting? It's been a few days, shouldn't it be gone by now?" Mercy had been with him after bad fights, she saw how he could heal in just a day. Sometimes it would take more days, it would just all depend on how serious the wound was and how calm his environment was to heal.

Normally. His environment was chaotic, so healing took longer in some cases. But this wound was small.

Pierce could feel a small amount of concern on the woman, not seeing it but feeling nonetheless. "It's almost done. I just opened it yesterday so it could be done by tomorrow."

"The fuck did your dumbass do?" She asked him. The man tilted his eyes away in a "shameful" look. She could tell he wasn't feeling bad about it at all. She could also just tell what he probably did, he used too much energy to power that side of him, causing a rip in his already broken skin.

It must have been a strong amount of energy. She thought that maybe he fought with someone, or he got attacked and fought his way out? That could be the only reason for him to use that much strength.

Instead of thinking with her brainless head, Mercy thought better to ask. "What even happened for you to get so emotional?"

"I don't know." He replied with a shrug of his shoulders. Mercy only growled at him, seeing that he was bothered by the thought and refused to explain. He normally tells her everything. He's closer to Mercy then he is to his entire family.

Only there is one person Pierce is closer to than anything.

"Was it Rosamee?" Mercy decided to ask. She noticed a small twitch in his jaw at the mention of her name.

Right.

"Even if it was, I did it on my own. It's done and over with." He gave a slight glare at her in warning. "So don't talk about it."

"About what you did yesterday or Rosamee?" Mercy prodded, no fear in her voice or look at Pierce's threats. The villain growled under his breath in clear annoyance, knowing that Mercy is just gonna annoy him about it, he went along with the tattooed woman.

His hands went behind his head, closing his eyes like he was meditating. Mercy prodded for more questions, finally giving up when Pierce made comments on the weather.

~Formay, police station~

Milo had just got a call back from the hospital. He was told that his partner would have to stay for over a month due to the serious burning, meaning he would have to get another person to replace him for the time being.

Jamisen had been really shaken up after everything, when he got calls about an inconvenience involving Pierce, he was tempted to hang up. He made it seem unimportant so he didn't have to deal with it. He went to visit Ronny a few times, checking with his health and secretly wanting revenge.

He was too afraid to seek vengeance. He only thought about it, leaving and finishing his work to just go back to the station and continue his boring work. At the time, a few passing officers rushed past him. He turned back to his sheriff in concern. "Sir? What's going on here?"

"They are training for the new position." Milo answered without looking up.

Jamisen stopped his steps, turning to his officer. "You're replacing him already!?" He let out in a hast, looking angry at just the thought.

Milo gave a frustrated sigh, "we need to Jamisen. Someone needs to take that position for the time being." He elaborated, looking up and seeing the hurt in his partner's eyes. "When Ronny gets better he will be back in his position. But for now. Someone needs to take over."

"Then what are you even doing? That lack of leadership when Ronny was on fire made the burns even worse!" Jamisen yelled out, stepping closer and causing attention from fellow officers to take notice. "If you would have just stopped the fight, it wouldn't have been this bad!"

"I did stop the fight! Ronny is alive isn't he!?" Milo shot back, slamming his hands on the desk and sitting up.

"That doesn't mean he is fine! You are our sheriff, I trusted you to take care of the situation, but no! Not only was Ronny injured, but the prisoners got away!" Jamisen defended, making sense of the matter while his sheriff shook with anger. "-And what are you doing? Looking for a damn replacement!?"

"I am doing what I am supposed to do!" Milo looked down, his blonde hair covering his rage filled face. "When the replacement is final, I will start looking into the missing prisoner. I have knowledge of where the fuck he is since Pierce got him out." Milo gave a last look up to his second hand man. "Now fucking piss off."

With hateful words, Milo sat back down. Ignoring the look and anger flying off Jamisen. The officer swung around and out the door in a fit, looking at his partner's concerned looks. The concerned officers looked over to Milo, the hunched over sheriff stayed shuffled in papers. Thoughts drifting through him, and frustrating his brain even more.

Milo shuffled the papers away and got a new pile with the names of his partners. Skimming down, he looked for the names and information that had signed up for the position, when skimming down, his mind couldn't help but wander to the hero.

He kept thinking back to him after the officer had dropped him off. The man limped his way into the dark, not even looking back at Milo who watched him off. Milo was tempted to run after him and take him to his own home, to heal him in his watchful eye. It was a weird urge he had never had before.

The officer felt his face heat, thinking about how he held him. His body close, he was light, soft and slim, easy to grab. Milo blushed furiously at the intrusive thoughts. He shouldn't be thinking about the hero in such a manner. He had never thought of him like that before…

Oxzy was the strongest, and bravest one in town. A man that isn't meant to fantasize about in lewd situations, to be on the bottom in situations. But Milo couldn't help himself. His face red and body aching with the mere thought of touching him. Skimming his hands down his back and all the way down, body flushed and face red hot.

He used to think about Oxzy in an annoyed manner, he never thought of Oxzy except with the instance of how he was reckless. Lucky and spoiled.

But now.. He thought of something different when he imagined Oxzy. The slim curly haired man, pale porcelain skin and delicate eyelashes.

"Erh!"

His hand slammed the desk, sparking the papers to flutter to the ground, Milo sat in silence. His body shaking and feelings tumbling around his mind like a damaged washing machine.

He couldn't help it.

He had to see the hero again.