Weak

"Before we go anywhere, I have to ask you one thing."

Jessica said as she faced Lucas.

"Tell me. Why do you feel so guilty about what's happened?"

Lucas shifted his gaze to the side.

"I am partly responsible for all this."

He replied in a rather emotionless tone.

Jessica saw him bite his lip as he had said that, so she knew that he was worried about it.

"Well, you should understand that it's the police that's responsible to keep the citizens safe. And you're a citizen."

'So you shouldn't blame yourself.'

Lucas understood the underlying message. He recalled the scene when the train had derailed and crashed into something. The injured people, the cries, the crimson blood on the floor; it was all still vivid in his mind. In a panic, he had used his healing ability on those that had been critically injured. Before he had even realized, he had overused his ability.

After he had regained consciousness, he had checked if there were any casualties. Thankfully, there had been none.

But still, in his opinion, since those people had been harmed by 'that' organization, he wasn't completely unrelated. He didn't think that everything that had happened was his fault. No. The crime was the criminals' fault. It wasn't the victim's place to feel guilty about the criminals' crimes. But,

'There were so many ways I could've prevented this from even happening.'

From the train derailment to the attack on the hospital, a lot of people had gotten involved. If he had been more careful, more diligent, if he hadn't let his guard down - maybe he could've done something.

Lucas clenched his fists.

Judging from how he was still tense, Jessica understood that he was still feeling guilty and heaved a sigh. She didn't know the whole situation, so she didn't say any more.

"Are you all alright?"

The police officers were finally here. At first, their eyes had been on the three that were standing in the middle of the room, but when their sight landed on the rest of the room, they froze for a moment.

But they were professionals after all, so they quickly recovered. They first handcuffed all of the intruders and were surprised to see that there weren't any deaths.

One of them asked,

"Could you tell us where the ones who took care of these intruders might be? Even you couldn't have done this all by yourself, Miss Jessica."

This officer was rather familiar with Jessica and had worked with her a few times, so he knew how skilled she was. But even she wasn't able to handle so many criminals all at once while having to protect two other people.

"Haha, you know me well. There's a CCTV camera here. You guys can check the footage. Oh, it isn't connected to anything else so nobody could've hacked into it."

Jessica explained. After the hacking incidents, the hospital staff, and really all the organizations and institutions in the capital, had disconnected CCTV cameras from the main servers as a temporary measure to prevent them from being hacked.

One of the officers went to the camera while the others examined the scene. Although they needed the victims' testimonies as well, they postponed it to another time after seeing Lucas's condition.

"I'll take the kid to a doctor."

One of the rougher looking police officers said to the other officers. If he wasn't wearing the standard uniform, he might be mistaken for a thug. The scar on his cheek gave him an even fiercer look. That officer then gave what he thought was a reassuring smile to Lucas, Jessica and Carolina.

"The three of ya shouldn't worry too much. We'll do our best to keep y'all safe…ouch!"

Another officer elbowed him from the side and grumbled,

"With that menacing smile on your face, you might've scared those kids more than those intruders on the floor."

"Hahahaha!"

Carolina doubled over and said, 

"You couldn't have been more accurate!"

Jessica's mouth twitched.

'Hey, even if that is true, don't you think it's rude to laugh at others like that?'

She thought.

Lucas kept his usual poker face. After a moment, he glanced at Jessica. The latter noticed his gaze and felt that he wanted her to do something.

'What does he… ah.'

She understood. She asked the police officers about the situation outside. One of the officers told them that all of the police officers that had been stationed in the basement were all missing.

"We found a passage those bastards might've used to break in without being detected. What's strange is that the hospital staff didn't even know that it was there."

The officer frowned as he explained. Jessica asked if they knew anything else, but unfortunately, they didn't and were still investigating.

The officer that looked like a thug and his partner escorted the three to where the healthcare workers were in the other building, while the other police officers continued investigating the basement.

Jessica's aunt, Olivia, came back from her meeting with Lucas's father. As soon as she reached the hospital, she rushed to Jessica and checked for any injuries. She even had the doctor do a thorough physical exam.

'She couldn't be any healthier.'

The doctor wanted to reassure Olivia, but seeing the deathly glare in her eyes, the doctor cleared her throat and changed her words.

"She seems…. to be tired and needs to rest."

And thus Olivia took Jessica home, even though the latter wanted to stay.

"Looking after that kid isn't your job. That girl Carolina looks like she can do that well enough."

Olivia said.

'That… seems to be true.'

Carolina's fighting prowess was way above Jessica's. It was something Jessica hadn't expected at all. Carolina had always had a scholarly air around her and her image couldn't be any farther from someone involved in hand-to-hand combat. But the moment she had taken action, Jessica had realized the difference between their skills.

"But aunt…"

Jacob Graham was missing and Lucas only had Carolina to look after him. As a crimefighter, if she were to see someone in danger, it was her duty to help out.

"No buts."

Olivia cut her off sternly.

"This isn't a matter you should involve yourself in."

Seeing that her aunt would not budge on the matter, Jessica asked another question,

"Aunt, what did Mr Williams say to you about that organization?"

Her aunt had been like this ever since she came back after meeting with Lucas's father and head of Williams corp, Robert Williams. It was obvious that this had to do with something that man had said.

Olivia took in a deep breath. She remembered all the shocking details Robert Williams had told her and heaved a sighed.

"Don't involve yourself in this anymore."

Jessica looked like she wanted answers, so Olivia said,

"Please."

Although Olivia had tried to not make herself sound desperate, she had failed.

"Auntie…" 

Jessica had only seen this side of her aunt when her parents had died. She didn't argue with her aunt anymore and obediently went into the house she was all too familiar with. She had been staying in this house ever since her aunt had taken her in.

She put her stuff in her room and plopped onto a couch.

"Sigh."

She felt tired. A lot had happened today, just like yesterday.

'Abilities, the information that Aunt got from Mr Williams, Mr Graham's disappearance…'

"Oh."

She remembered that Lucas had smiled for a brief moment.

'I wonder what good thing he had discovered then.'

Jessica wanted to hear something positive and was about to text Lucas, but after thinking about it, she texted Carolina instead.

[Earlier this day, Lucas smiled for a brief moment.]

Carolina seemed to have been already using her phone because her reply came fast.

[Ah! I almost forgot about it. I'll ask him right away.]

Jessica waited for a reply. After waiting for ten whole minutes, Carolina finally texted back.

[The young master fell asleep without answering my question. It seems that he was quite tired although he didn't show it.]

A lot had happened to Lucas in a short span of time.

'Poor kid. He must've been tired both physically and emotionally.'

[I see. If possible, you need to rest too. Anyway, I was wondering what those abilities you talked about might be.]

After some time, Carolina's reply came.

[Abilities are literally abilities. Just like all those superhuman, supernatural abilities you see in fiction stories.]

'Uh-huh.'

Jessica had already figured this much. She waited for Carolina to send another message explaining more about abilities. She waited, and waited. But that long awaited reply didn't come.

Finally tired of waiting, Jessica texted,

[I want to know more than that.]

Shortly after, Carolina replied,

[I'll explain it to you in person sometime later.]

'Is it inconvenient to explain it over the phone?'

Jessica wondered.

[I see. Thank you.]

[Don't mention it.]

"Sigh."

Jessica put her phone back. The fight they'd had with the intruders played in her mind. Carolina had moved so fast it had been hard to keep track of her movements. The way she had dodged bullets at point blank range was something even more impressive.

'Then there was also the time when she had reacted to that sneaky drone before I could even move despite being closer to it.'

The more she thought about it, the more badass Carolina seemed to be.

'And Jacob Graham's even stronger than her.'

At least that was how Jessica felt. Although Carolina's speed was superhuman, something about Jacob seemed to be intimidating. After comparing the uncle-niece pair, Jessica thought to herself,

'I'd much rather get beaten by Carolina than ever mess with her uncle.'

"For now, though…"

Jessica got up from the couch and stretched her arms.

"To the training room!"

She didn't want to lose to anyone in terms of battle prowess, so she got right down to training.

Some time earlier, at the military base in the capital.

Lucas lay in a bed and stared at the ceiling. He had been moved from the hospital to this base. He could've been sent to the police base, but because the police were very busy dealing with all that had been happening recently, they had decided to send him to the military base for better protection instead.

'Don't worry. We'll make sure to keep you safe here.'

The kind-looking officer who was escorting Lucas had said to him. Lucas had shifted his gaze to the side. He had felt uncomfortable, and still did, not because he was afraid that the military might do something, but because he felt like he was being nothing but a bother.

Lucas gazed at the ceiling and thought back about all that had happened over the span of two days.

After losing consciousness because of over-using his healing ability, he had woken up in the hospital he was all too familiar with. Because of his poor health, he had to visit the hospital frequently.

If it was only that reason, he wouldn't hate visiting the hospital this much.

The unique smell of the hospital reminded him of the time before he had been adopted by the Williams family. Those nightmarish days that he never wanted to recall.

After the incident caused by the organization, he had to be sent away from the hospital to the military base, the only positive thing that had happened today.

'Mr Graham and those missing squad members…'

He felt uneasy and wanted to do something to find their trail, but,

"I'm sorry, young master, but it's the doctor's orders. If you don't rest, you could have a seizure."

Carolina said in a serious tone as she put away Lucas's laptop in a cupboard.

Lucas stared at her. After a moment, he said,

"Don't you want me to try to find your uncle?"

Carolina paused. She hurriedly took out the laptop and presented it to Lucas. With a bow, she said,

"Please, young master."

Lucas got up and put the laptop on his lap while Carolina sat on a nearby chair and started using her mobile phone. Lucas didn't pay any more attention to her and focused solely on looking for clues.

'If only they hadn't burned down my house…'

He could've connected to the computer at his home and things would've been a whole lot easier. But now that the computer and the drones at his house were out of commission, searching for clues was harder and more time consuming.

After some time,

Bang.

Carolina was shocked and looked at Lucas in incredulity. She had never seen Lucas so frustrated.

Lucas had punched the keyboard.

'Thankfully, with his puny strength, the keyboard seems to have sustained no damage.'

Carolina thought.

Lucas, on the other hand, had a scowl on his face. After a moment, he took in a deep breath and put his laptop to the side. He layed back down and stared at the ceiling again.

Since none of the CCTV cameras in the city were connected to the main server or the local servers anymore, he couldn't view any footage in order to look for clues.

He heaved a sigh and felt pensive, but there wasn't anything he could do for the time being.

"Sigh."

'Maybe I should just rest after all.'

He felt weak and heavy-eyed.

"Young master, Jess asked something. She was wondering why you had smiled earlier, and I am too. It is the first time I saw you smile in five years."

'I smiled earlier? When?'

Lucas was confused. He was drowsy so it took him a moment to remember.

'Ah, it was because of that.'

He had found something useful while searching for his housekeeper and bodyguard, Mr Graham. But because all the CCTV cameras had been disconnected from the main or local servers, that clue was of no use now.

He recalled something else. He had talked more today than he had talked in the last few months combined. He usually did not talk to people he wasn't too familiar with, not because he was arrogant, but because he couldn't let others associate with him. The organization had deliberately harmed those that had been acquainted with him. After a few such incidents, he had stopped replying to people at all. That way, he wouldn't be acquainted with anyone and no one would get hurt because they were related to him.

'But she is different.'

Jessica had unwittingly gotten involved with the organization long before she had even met Lucas. She had thwarted a few of their minor plans during her regular missions. As for why Lucas knew about it, it was because he had been keeping an eye on the organization's movements, and had foiled quite a few of their plans while he was at it.

The fact that Jessica had already messed with the organization and was now also acquainted with him meant that she would be in greater danger.

'But with her ability, she should be fine.'

He thought as he fell asleep.

Meanwhile, at Williams manor in the northern part of Excelentia, the capital of Britannia.

"Big brother Lulu was at the hospital, and you're telling me about it now?"

A girl in her early teens said in a displeased voice.

"You don't have to be so concerned about him. It's not like he thinks of us as family in the first place."

Said a young man in his early twenties.

"He's only introverted. I know that he cares about us."

"What on earth makes you think that? Have you ever looked at his emotionless eyes?"

The young man asked incredulously.

"A woman's intuition."

"Ha-"

He felt speechless for a while.

"Anyway, it's not like this is the first time he got hospitalized just this month."

"Then that makes it all the more serious! We should go see him now."

The teenage girl who wanted to go see Lucas was Miranda Williams. She put back the hair brush she was using just a while ago to brush her wavy blonde hair and glared at her older brother, Theodore.

"There seems to be something else you're keeping from me, big bro Theo."

Theodore brushed back his sleek dark hair and said,

"You'll find out about it sooner or later, so I won't tell you."

Miranda picked up her hair brush and waved it in the air, making a threatening gesture.

Theodore leaned back to the wall and said regretfully,

"If only you cared about me half as much as you care about that other brother of yours."

"Who'd ever need to care about you? You're like a cockroach. Even if someone wanted you dead, you'd somehow come out unscathed. Big bro Luke, on the other hand, looks like he'd get hurt if you so much as give him a light push."

"Hey! Who're you calling a cockroach?"

"You, that's who. Humph. You slipped and fell down a whole flight of stairs and didn't get so much as a scratch."

"Shouldn't you be glad that I didn't get hurt?"

"You slipped on the water you had spilled there yourself. You reaped what you had sowed."

Miranda glared at Theodore. The latter glared back at her. After some time, they ended their staring contest and humphed in concert.

A moment later.

"Tell me about the thing you were talking about earlier. I'll find out about it sooner or later, so it's better to know it sooner rather than later."

Miranda was the first to say something

"Fine."

He told Miranda about the latest things that had happened to Lucas. Since he knew that some organization was after Lucas, he also warned her,

"Miranda, it's best if you don't associate with him."

Miranda was first shocked, and then furious. She hit her brother with the hair brush and said,

"You mean all of that happened to him and you're only telling me right now!? How is Luke? Is he alright?"

She knew about all of these incidents from the news, but never had she imagined that they were related to Lucas. As for Theodore's warning, she'd think about it later.

"They moved him to the military base for protection. He should be fine there."

"Was he hurt?"

"Tsk."

Theodore clicked his tongue as he recalled the picture Carolina had sent. Normally, he didn't care much about Lucas and was mostly indifferent about him. It wasn't that he had never wanted to get close to Lucas, but after seeing that Lucas seemed to actively avoid him and the rest of the family, he stopped.

Despite the fact that they weren't related by blood, Lucas was his younger brother, so he checked about Lucas's well-being from time to time. Since Jacob wasn't reachable, Theodore had asked Jacob's niece, Carolina instead.

Carolina had sent him a picture and had explained to him all of what had happened since yesterday.

"He was, but he's fine now."

"Let's go see him."

"We can't."

"Why not?"

"Because father told us not to go anywhere today."

Although Theodore didn't know much, he guessed it had something to do with all the organization that was targeting Lucas.

He heaved a sigh.

'Maybe I should look into them more?'

He thought.