I love the feeling of the wind in my feathers, I thought as I soared high above my city. I don't get to do this enough.

Looking down at the grid of streets shining with the lights of a busy city, I smiled as I spread my wings further. The smile faded as I heard a scream from down below.

On one of the side streets, I could see two men cornering a woman. Without thinking, I dived. Down, down, down I went, gathering speed as I got closer and closer and closer to the earth. At the last second, I snapped my wings open and lost speed quickly as I slammed into one of the men assaulting the woman. I heard a crack and he went down screaming as the other turned around at the noise. He froze, staring at me, while the woman ran away.

"Wh- what are you?" he cried, terrified at my sudden appearance.

I didn't know what to say, so on an impulse I said, "I am Novastar's Guardian. I protect those who cannot protect themselves. And you, sir, are causing harm to one of my citizens. Begone!"

He quickly ran away from me, in the opposite direction from where the woman had gone. I turned to the man on the ground. I could tell I had broken a major bone or two in his body, so I crouched down to see if he was still conscious. He wasn't, so I called an ambulance for him and took flight, watching over him from a nearby rooftop until the ambulance got there.

When the ambulance left, sirens blaring, I had to think hard about what I had just said. "I am Novastar's Guardian. I protect those who cannot protect themselves." What am I, stupid? I'm not the Flash! How am I going to be able to get to people in time? What are the police going to think? What are my parents going to think? How am I going to know who needs me? I can't be everywhere at once! Oh, man, what am I going to do?

~~~¥~~~

Back at home, I was sewing. I had committed myself to this city without knowing it, and now I needed to look the part. I had taken careful thought into designing my outfit. It was white with electric blue accents to match my wings, which are white with an electric blue stripe along the leading edge. The lines of blue go along the edges of the shirt- around the neckline and down the hem of the opening that accounts for my wings in the back. The pants were similar- a blue stripe went down each leg on the outside, like a pinstripe. The emblem I decided for myself was a pair of spread wings coming out of a circle with a blue background. I was now sewing the mask- a white patch of cloth trimmed in electric blue just like the rest of the outfit with two large holes for my eyes so that I wouldn't lose any of my peripheral vision.

Finishing that up and putting on the final touches, I held up the suit to myself, looking in the mirror. Yeah, I'm really doing this, aren't I? I'm going to be so tired.... but it'll be worth it, I hope. I tried on the suit and went back to look in the mirror. Putting on the mask, I realized I looked like a completely different person. That woman in the mirror is completely sure of herself. She is a protector of the city, and she's proud of it. And I realized that she was me, and that I really am proud of being the protector of my city. Now all I gotta do is figure out how I'm going to know who needs me.

~~~¥~~~

Flying over the city the next night, wearing my new suit and mask, I was keeping an eye on the ground and my ears open for any sound of distress that I would hear with my super-human ears. Perks of being a girl with wings, I guess.

Sirens. On Third Street. Spreading my wings, I flew faster, catching up to them. It was a couple of police cars, chasing a speeding truck. I caught up to the truck and flew above it, where no one would see me. I wanted to see what this person was trying to do before making my move. I couldn't hear what the police officers were saying inside their cars- their sirens were too loud and I can't hear through moving cars from so high. Obviously, the person driving the truck was trying not to get caught, but I wasn't sure why. Maybe they had a good reason. Nope, just kidding. They just ran a red and nearly caused an accident. I'm stopping them. But how?

Looking at the situation, I had to figure it out quick. They were heading towards the waterfront, and I needed to stop them before they caused an accident at the many stoplights along that road. Maybe I could just repeat what I did the other day- dive-bombing them and slamming into them. I'd need to time it just right.... with the rate they're going, and the rate at which I fall, I need to get ahead of them and begin my dive.... NOW!

I folded my wings and nose-dived, dropping like a bullet, watching as the truck got closer and closer until the last moment where I spread my wings -orienting myself right-side-up- and SLAM-CRUNCH!! The force of my dive and all my momentum stopped immediately by me hitting the hood of the truck, caving it in, nearly bringing the truck into a wheelie on its front wheels. The cop cars screeched to a stop around him as I fled the scene. I quickly flew up high again, hiding in the clouds, and then came from a different direction to watch from a nearby rooftop as the police officers converged on the truck, guns drawn. They dragged out a dazed man from behind the wheel and cuffed him, telling him his Miranda rights. I heard his charges- theft of the truck and drug abuse. Awesome. I had made the right decision to stop him. Now I just need to figure out where to go to get my ankle fixed. I had injured it when I landed on the hood of the truck. I'm not sure if it's broken or what but it sure as hell hurts a crap ton.

I thought about who I knew who could fix me up, because I couldn't go to a hospital. They would ask too many questions. I thought about my closest friends, but then quickly rescinded that thought. None of them had medical experience. I thought of the people I worked with. No, they can't help me either. I work in a lab, not a hospital. Wait. I work in a lab. It might not be a hospital, but I'm sure there's at least someone there who can help me. Then it hit me. Meredith. She could help me- she works with the animals that we have on hand for our tests. She knows anatomy- well, most of it, anyway.

I dragged myself to my feet, leaning heavily on my good leg, and jumped off the side of the building to get into the air, knowing I wouldn't've been able to otherwise. I made my way back to my home and painfully changed into normal clothing. About to call a taxi, I stopped. She would wonder why I am coming to her so late at night with this injury. I'm going to have to wait until work tomorrow. Awesome...

~~~¥~~~

The next morning, I called a taxi to work. Overnight, my foot had gotten worse and I could not drive given that I could barely move it. I had to walk to the taxi, and that was painful enough. The taxi driver was a bit concerned.

"You okay?" she asked as I got into her cab. "You're limping pretty badly. What'd you do to your foot?"

I grimaced. "I jumped off my countertop to the floor after grabbing something from the top shelf and somehow landed pretty hard on it. I'm sure it'll go away by this evening. Thank you for asking."

The taxi driver shrugged. "Okay then. Where to?"

I told her where I worked and we continued the ride in silence. Carefully getting out of the car, I limped slowly to my lab space. My luck was in. Meredith saw me walk in, and she was worried.

"Crystal! What happened? Are you okay?!"

I smiled at her. "I just jarred my ankle pretty bad. I'm sure it'll be fine by tonight." Please insist please insist please insist...

"At least let me take a look at it," she said. "I can see how swollen it is from all the way over here." Thank goodness.

I relented and limped towards her area and sat down in her chair, as there wasn't anywhere else for me to go. She raised my leg up so that she could see my foot better, and when she got a closer look, she frowned.

"What did you say you were doing to do this?" she asked.

"I was jumping down from my countertop after grabbing something from the top shelf this morning, and I landed a bit harder than I expected on my right ankle," I said, wincing at the pain as she carefully moved it around to check the range of motion.

"How tall are the counters in your home? 50 feet?" she asked, a bit skeptical. "You have severely sprained your ankle. There's no way you could've done this from just jumping down from a countertop."

I grimaced. "Yeah, I'd rather not say. It's too embarrassing, to be honest. I'd like to just stick with that story if you would...?"

Meredith rolled her eyes. "Okay then, Crystal. I won't pry. I would suggest you go home and get yourself an ankle brace and put it on and don't take it off until you can walk without limping. Got it?"

I nodded. "Thanks Meredith."

~~~¥~~~

Back home, I ordered myself an ankle brace on Amazane and sat down in my apartment's living room and turned on the TV, elevating my foot on the coffee table in front of my chair with some ice. Watching Fletnix for a while, I decided to check on the news and see if anyone was talking about what I did last night.

"--dy with a chance of sunshine tomorrow. Back to you, Cindy."

"Thank you, Charlie. Last night, police were in a high-speed chase with a thief who stole a truck and was on drugs. But, the truck was stopped mysteriously, causing great damage to the hood and engine. Witnesses say that there was a fast-moving blur that fell -seemingly out of the sky- onto the hood of the truck, and then when the truck was stopped, the object flew away. They said it 'looked like a human with wings.' More on that later tonight." She went on to talk about other news stories, but I had stopped listening, thinking about what people had said about me.

So, people saw me stop the truck, I thought. I guess I'm not too surprised. That was a major road in the city, and there were other cars on the road that night. Now I just need to heal and get out there again. But, how am I going to know where to go next? I need access to the police radio frequency. Somehow.

~~~¥~~~

Woken up by my phone ringing, I realized I had fallen asleep after watching the news that morning. I picked up my phone and saw that it was Meredith calling.

"Hello?" I answered, my voice still gravelly from sleep.

"Have you seen the news?"

"About?" I was still somewhat sleepy, but becoming more alert now.

"The high speed chase last night that was stopped mysteriously."

I sat up. "Yeah, what about it?"

"The thing that stopped the truck? The 'human with wings'? It fell from a pretty high height, feet first. You wouldn't happen to be that person, would you? You never exactly said how you got your injury, and the heavy landing of that thing looked like enough to injure an ankle as badly as you did. And--"

"Wait, wait, wait," I interrupted. "Meredith. There's one flaw in your logic here."

"And what is that, Crystal?"

"I don't have wings. That's impossible. Humans don't have wings, Meredith. You should know that by now, right?"

"... You're right, Crystal. Humans don't have wings. But one obviously does, and they've taken it upon themselves to start guarding the city. But, Crystal?"

"Yeah?"

"If you don't have wings, why do you always wear jackets and lab coats three sizes too big?"

My heart stopped. "Because I don't like form-fitting clothes?"

".. Okay then, Crystal. Goodnight. Take tomorrow off- your ankle is too badly injured for you to be walking on it."

I grinned and chuckled. "Okay, Meredith. I will."

I hung up the phone and put it back in my pocket. Thinking about my next problem to being Novastar's Guardian, an idea hit me. Why don't I just Doogle it? I grabbed my laptop from my office and limped back to the couch. Typing in the words "Novastar Police Department" brought up their website, and navigating around it brought me to their phone, but not their radio frequency. I sighed and stretched out my wings, ruffling my feathers. Turning back to the computer, I stopped as my phone rang again. Digging it out of my pocket, I checked the caller ID. Mom. Oh dear.

"Hi, Mom!" I said, overly cheerful because I knew what she was calling me about. "What brought you to calling me tonight?"

"Gee, I wonder," she replied dryly. "Is there a different person with wings out there that we should know about, or was the person that stopped that truck last night you?"

"'We'? Who's 'we'?" I asked, totally stalling.

"Crystal, your mother and I are worried about you." I winced. Dad was on the phone too. He continued, "We just want to know why you suddenly started doing this. Why have you taken it upon yourself to protect this city?"

I sighed. "Dad, to be honest, it was more an accident than planned. Three nights ago, I was doing my once-in-a-lifetime nighttime flight and I heard a woman screaming. Two guys were assaulting her, Dad, and I didn't even think. I dived down and stopped them. I landed on one to take him down, and when the other saw me, he was afraid, and when he asked me what I was, I just said 'I am Novastar's Guardian. I protect those who cannot protect themselves. And you sir, are harming one of my citizens. Begone!' and he ran away. The other man was badly injured from when I landed on him, so I called an ambulance for him and waited on a rooftop until they had come and got him before I left for home."

They were silent for a long moment. "Mom, Dad? You there?"

"Yes, we're still here," Mom replied. "We are so proud of you, sweetheart. We knew that you would have a very special role in our world, Crystal. Why else would the universe have given you wings?"

I was surprised. "You're not- you're not mad?"

"No, Crystal," Dad replied, the smile evident in his voice. "We're proud."

"Oh. Okay. I could use some help then, Dad. Do you know where I could find what radio frequency the police use?"

"I'll look into it."

"Thanks, Dad. I love you."

"We love you too, Crystal. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

I hung up the phone for the second time that night, and opened my laptop back up. With Dad figuring out the radio frequency, I needed to get a radio receiver into my suit somehow. It shouldn't be that hard, right?

~~~¥~~~

"UGH!" I exclaimed, sitting up and leaning back in my chair. Here I am trying to put radio into my suit and failing miserably. I'm trying to put this transmitter here and this receiver here, but it's just not working! I set down my mask and looked at it. I thought about the other masked crusaders I knew about- The Flash and Arrow. Their suits both had hoods of some sort. Maybe I should do the same....

I got more of the same white cloth that I had used for the rest of the suit and got to work. Designing it wasn't that hard- I just used the main color as white again and added an electric blue trim around the edges. Deciding to make the fit snug, I made a mask into the design of the hood, and added the transmitter and receiver to either side of it, right over where my ears would be. I then attached the entire assembly to the back of the neckline of the shirt. Finishing up, I took a look at it and tried it on, and was happy to discover that it fit perfectly.

Knock knock. I glanced at the door in alarm. Crap, it's the delivery person with my ankle brace. I did order same-day delivery. Quickly changing my shirt and covering my wings, I limped over to the door and opened it, smiling.

The package had been left on my threshold, and the delivery person was already gone. Thank goodness for that. I grabbed the package and went back inside to open it. Putting the brace on my ankle was painful to say the least, but it did feel a bit better after it was on.

My phone whistled. Checking it, I saw that Dad had found the police frequency. Checking the time, I also saw that it was almost one in the morning. I'll try it out tomorrow.

~~~¥~~~

Waking up the next morning, I checked the time. 11:00. Perfect, I can try out my radio. Pulling on my suit, I stretched my wings, getting ready for the likely workout they'd get.

Opening the window and getting onto the fire escape, I meticulously checked my surroundings to see if anybody was watching me. Satisfied that no one was, I lifted off with some difficulty and flew over the city, listening for anything over the police frequency. Almost immediately, I heard something.

"All available units, please report to 415 East 71st Street. There is a bank robbery in progress. All available units, please report to 415 East 71st Street."

I sped up, flying over buildings as I heard the sirens coming. Getting to the bank, I got there right as the robbers were running to their getaway car. The police were still minutes out, so I stopped the robbers from getting to their car. I gained some height and then swooped low, taking their legs out from under them, sending the three of them sprawling with my large wings. Gaining height again, I turned around and did it again, right as they had just gotten back to their feet. Gaining height and turning around for a third time, I realized that they had seen me this time and one was pointing his gun at me. My eyes widened and I began performing evasive maneuvers, trying not to get shot until the police could get there. The guy fired a shot at me, but missed. I continued being evasive but was getting closer to him so that I could take his gun. Right as the police arrived, I managed to bowl him over, but he grabbed hold of me as I passed and I went down hard with him.

He recovered first and began to choke me, his hands and body weight pressing down on my throat. I struggled, trying to get him off of me, but he was too strong. I'm going to die. So much for Novastar's Guardian.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three shots rang out and the robber fell off me, eyes glazed. I sucked in a huge breath and coughed, sitting up. Still breathing hard, I glanced over towards the cops, who were all staring at me. I stood, saluted them, and took a limping takeoff, high-tailing it out of there.

Flying back home, I took several detours, not wanting people to find out where I lived. Inside again, I changed out of my suit and into normal clothes, and limped over to my mirror to see that bruises were already forming high up on my neck. I sighed. That's going to be hard to cover up.

I turned on the news, knowing that by now everybody would be talking about it.

"B R E A K I N G N E W S: Winged human stops bank robbers from getting away before police arrived," was the banner on the screen. The anchor was talking about some other story at the moment, so I waited for her to begin speaking about what happened at the bank. It didn't take long.

"Today, a mysterious winged person stopped three bank robbers from getting away before police arrived on scene. Kyle has more on that at the scene. What's happening, Kyle?"

"Well, Cindy, barely twenty minutes ago, this bank behind me, Novastar Trust Bank, was robbed by three masked men. When they ran from the bank after their deed was done, this winged woman stopped them, swooping low and tripping them." As he said "this winged woman" the screen showed some grainy footage of me swooping down on the three robbers. I leaned forward, examining it. I hadn't realized that there were security cameras at the bank, but I guess I shouldn't be so surprised. And, besides, the footage is so grainy that there's no way anyone could see my face. Kyle continued, "After her second pass, one of the robbers saw her and pointed his gun at her, firing a shot but missing. She masterfully performed aerial maneuvers to get closer to him without getting shot, and right as police arrived, managed to knock him over again, allowing police to take him into custody. We really do have a literal guardian angel for our city, don't we, Cindy?" I noticed that he left out the part where the robber had nearly choked me to death. I guess they don't want to show the people that I nearly died before I had actually gotten a name for myself.

"Indeed we do, Kyle," Cindy responded. "We will have to look out for this guardian angel and hopefully we will see her again soon."

Turning the TV off, I smiled. Man, even though my throat hurts, I'm feeling really good right now. It feels good to help people. I'm glad I can make a difference here.

My phone rang. Picking it up, I answered. "He- hello?" I frowned. My voice is gone. I guess getting choked almost to death means more than just a bruise.

"Are you okay!?" Mom was a bit frantic. "They said the man shot at you. He didn't hit you, right? Where's your voice?"

"Mom," I whispered, unable to speak louder than that. "I'm fine. I just have a sore throat is all."

Her voice got suspicious. "Why do you have a sore throat? I talked to you last night and you were fine. What actually happened during the fight at the bank today?"

I winced. There's no way to tell a convincing lie. She'd just see right through it. "Ma, if I tell you, you have to promise not to get worried or mad. Okay?"

She sighed. "Okay, I promise."

I rolled my eyes, knowing that she will still worry. Telling her about what had happened, I could almost feel the worry emanating across the connection. When I finished, she exploded. I held the phone away from my ear, cringing at my mother's outburst.

"YOU ALMOST DIED! CRYSTAL! MY ONLY CHILD!"

I sighed. "Mom! You promised you wouldn't worry. And besides, I didn't die. The police officers shot the guy off me before he could finish me off. My throat will be sore for a few days but I'll heal, Mom. You know that. You know how abnormally fast my healing is. I'll be better by the end of the week, as will my ankle."

"Your ankle? What happened to your ankle?" I winced. I forgot she didn't know that I had injured myself when I stopped the truck. So I told her. And she sighed again. "I just want you to be safe, Crystal."

I sighed myself. "Mom, this is dangerous work. I likely won't be safe all the time. You just have to accept that, and support me like you and Dad were last night."

"I know, Crystal. I know."

~~~¥~~~

Being a winged human had its perks. My hearing was much better than a normal human's, my healing was faster than a normal human's, my sight was much better than a normal human's, and, I had wings. No one else could top flying over the city at night, watching all the lights, not a care in the world, just feeling the wind in your face.

However, now I have a responsibility to go with these wings. I have committed to guarding my city, and I will keep that commitment for as long as I am able.

I am Novastar's Guardian, and I will protect those who cannot protect themselves.

~~~¥~~~

Episode One, y'all! 4255 words- please enjoy and don't forget to vote and comment and tell me what ya think!