Driving to work, my ankle healed, I was thinking about how Meredith would take what had happened at the bank last week. I hadn't been in to work since then, as I worked from home until the bruises on my neck faded and I was able to speak again. Meredith hadn't called me at all, maybe that was a good indicator that she didn't suspect anything.

Finding a parking spot in the spacious parking garage by our lab, I walked in and went to my space to check on my experiments that I had had to put on hold while I was out. Seeing that they were fine and continuing beautifully, I sat down at my desk and began taking down notes of their progress.

Within minutes, Meredith came by. "Crystal, can I talk to you?"

I looked up. "Sure, what's up?"

She grabbed my arm and led me over to a secluded corner, away from the other scientists and spoke quietly. "Last week, you didn't want to tell me how you'd injured your ankle. But, there was the supposed guardian angel with the truck, and then on the day you took off, that guardian angel stopped a bank robbery! And you always wear large lab coats and jackets that seem to big for you but then don't, and you worked from home the rest of last week, and now you're not even limping at all when that sprain should've taken at least a month to heal! Crystal, what is going on with you?"

I stared at her, amazed that she had seen through my secret so quickly. I should probably be more careful now. I took a deep breath. "Meredith, I need you to trust me. Please don't say anything about this to our coworkers, and meet me on the roof of the parking garage at midnight tonight."

She frowned, but nodded. "Okay, Crystal. I trust you."

~~~¥~~~

That night, I flew back to the parking garage ten minutes before midnight, and flew circles high above it, waiting for Meredith to show up. My radio was turned off so that I wouldn't be distracted by calls from the police frequency.

Two minutes from midnight, a car pulled into the garage from the street, and I listened as it slowly made its way up the ramps to the roof. Parking in a corner, it was turned off and Meredith stepped out, looking around nervously. I waited another two minutes to make sure she was alone, and then slowly descended.

She saw me as I got about twenty feet above her, and watched as I did one more circle and landed softly beside her and put down my hood. I waited for her to speak first.

She stared at my wings for a minute, then spoke softly. "So you really do have wings."

I ran a hand through my hair and shifted my wings, a bit embarrassed. "Yep."

"And obviously you can fly. What other stuff can you do?"

I shifted my weight nervously. "Well, before I tell you anything, you're going to keep quiet about this, right? No one else knows about my wings besides my parents."

She nodded. "Yes, I will."

"Thank you. So, I can hear and see amazingly well, much better than most humans. I also heal much faster than humans, as you found out because of my ankle. My temperature runs a few degrees higher than humans, as I have a higher metabolism. I need a lot more calories than humans do so that I have enough energy to fly. Most of my bones are hollow like a bird's, except for my ribcage, spine, and skull, which are important to protect my internal organs, as you know. I have an extra set of pectoral muscles to help control my wings, to get the power needed for the downstrokes in flight. That's all I can think of right now."

Meredith took a few moments to think about what I had just told her. "So, how did you get your wings? And how does no one else know about them?"

I took a deep breath and sat down by her, letting my wings spread out behind me. "I was born with them. Well, not quite. I didn't come out with them, but they started growing out of my back once I was at home with my parents. My parents decided to keep them secret so that  no unwanted attention was brought on me due to my wings, and when I was old enough to understand, I continued hiding them because I didn't want people to become friends with me just for my wings, you know?"

Meredith nodded, and leaned against her car to contemplate what I had said. "So what made you decide to do... this.. thing?" She gestured to my Guardian outfit.

I gave a half hearted laugh. "It was more of an accident, really. Two days before I stopped the truck, I was out flying over the city, and I heard a woman screaming in an alleyway below me. I dived without stopping to think and stopped the two guys assaulting her, and when one of them asked what the heck I was, I told him I was Novastar's Guardian and he ran away. So then I designed myself this outfit and went out again, stopped the truck, then I nearly died when I stopped the bank robbery -that was fun- and now here we are."

She waved her arms at me. "Wait, wait, wait. You nearly died?"

I grinned. "Yeah, they didn't show it on the news, did they? Ha. So they said I knocked the guy shooting at me over again the third time, and then ended the story there, right?" She nodded. "Well, it actually didn't end there. I knocked the guy over, but he grabbed me and took me down with him and began choking me. I was seeing through a black tunnel when one of the police officers put three bullets in him and got him off of me. I stood up and saluted the cops, then flew away. I wasn't able to talk for a couple days, and he had left some pretty bad bruises. That's why I worked from home the rest of the week last week- I didn't want anyone to question."

She frowned. "That's really dangerous, Crystal. Are you sure you want to do this?"

I stood up and stared at her, determined. "Yes, Meredith, I do. I want to help this city, even though I started on accident. I have committed myself, and I'm not about to abandon it now when I've barely even started. Are you going to help me?"

She seemed a bit surprised at my offer. "Why do you want me to help you? You seem pretty good on your own."

"Meredith, you said yourself that this is dangerous work. I've already gotten hurt twice, and I've only just begun. I'm going to need your expertise to help fix me up when I get hurt."

"I'll- I'll need some time to think about it," she said, starting towards her car.

"That's fine with me," I replied, reaching up to turn on my radio. "I'm going to go now. See you tomorrow, Meredith."

Before she could reply, I was running and jumping off the roof of the parking garage, taking flight as I listened for police radio chatter.

I scanned the streets for any sign of illegal or suspicious activity, but saw nothing. Wait. What was that?

Turning around, I scanned the street again. Sure enough, there were two men glancing around as if looking for somebody watching them. They were outside a jewelry store. I couldn't do anything about them until I saw sure signs of illegal activity, so I circled above them, descending lower, waiting for something to happen. They didn't do anything for a few minutes, and I grew impatient. I knew my fighting skills were inadequate, and I knew I had to dispatch them quickly if they did something stupid to prevent them from harming me in an elongated fight. I decided to take a risk and turned on my transmitter. "This is Novastar's Guardian. I have eyes on two guys who are outside the jewelry store on 7th and 9th and they have just broken in. I can't take both of them at the same time. Can anyone spare a minute?"

Radio silence. Then someone spoke up. "Guardian, this is Unit 5. We're on our way."

"10-4. Thank you," I replied, and swooped down, knocking down the guy standing guard. The other one had already broken in, as I had said over the radio. I heard sirens turn down the street, and I looked back and saw a police cruiser heading my way. I turned my attention back to the matter at hand, and realized that the other thief had come back out at the sound of the sirens and was aiming a punch at my face. I quickly ducked and dove at the guy's midsection, bringing him to the ground and knocking his breath from him. I sat on him to keep him out, but the other one got up from behind me and grabbed my wings and pulled me off of his friend, making me cry out in pain. He kept his hold on the base of my wings, rendering me practically immovable, while his friend stood up and walked over to me, raising his fist to punch me.

When one of the police officers of Unit 5 arrived and tackled him before he could get any closer. Using the distraction, I headbutted the guy holding on to my wings and I felt a solid impact of my head with his nose, sending him reeling. The other police officer tackled him. I stood up and shook out my wings, turning to the officers. I waited until they had the guys cuffed and in the back of their cruiser, and then shook their hands.

"Thanks for the help, officers," I said, smiling.

The one who had taken down the guy on my wings shook his head. "No, thank you for bringing them to our notice. As well as for the help with the bank robbery last week. If you hadn't been there, those robbers would've gotten away."

I grinned, then a thought occurred to me. "Actually, speaking of which, please give my greatest thanks to the officer who shot the robber choking me. They saved my life."

The other officer stepped forward. "That was me, Guardian."

I looked at him, remembering his face. "Thank you, Officer...?"

"Vasquez, Warren Vasquez," he supplied.

I shook his hand again. "Thank you for saving my life, Officer Vasquez."

He nodded and smiled, and then the first officer said that they had to go. I saluted them and then took off, flying over the city again. As I gained altitude, I could hear them talking before they got into their car.

"I see that crush forming, Warren," the first officer said teasingly to his partner.

"No it's not!" Warren said, too quickly. "I am just glad she's okay after what happened, Jack."

"Sure you are," Jack replied, laughing.

I smiled sadly as I flew away. He was pretty cute, but there's no way I'd be able to meet him as Crystal. I guess being a hero is more lonely than they make it seem.

~~~¥~~~

The next day at work, Meredith told me that she would join me in my efforts to make the city a better place. I was glad, and told her that I needed to find a better lair for our operations than my home. She told me she would put some thought into the issue, and I smiled and went back to my work.

As noon came and went, I stopped working and went out for lunch, asking my coworkers if they wanted anything. They all said no, so I went by myself to my car. Entering the parking garage, I slowly walked to my car, thinking about what I would be getting for lunch and not paying attention to my surroundings.

A hand came out of nowhere, grabbing my wrist and dragging me towards its owner. I screamed. The man who had grabbed me put his hand across my mouth and said with slurring speech, "Thas enough o' dat now. Wouldn' wantchya to bring any atteshun to me, now would we?"

I shrugged my shoulders, trying to free my wings from my lab coat, but to no avail. He shoved me against the wall of the garage, causing me to whimper in fear. Man, so much for being Novastar's Guardian. I can't even defend myself from a drunken idiot like this.

The drunk man pinned his body against mine, forcing me harder against the wall. I have to think quickly or else I'm going to either be raped or killed or both by this man. I put my foot against the wall, getting ready to kick off of it and headbutt him in the nose as I did so. He thought I was enjoying his advances and leaned harder into me.

I carefully timed my actions, and as he pulled away to take a breath from where he was wetly kissing my neck, I executed my plan, headbutting him and pushing off of the wall in one movement, throwing his head back and getting me off of the wall. Not bothering to deal with him any longer, I ran as fast as I could to my car, unlocking the driver door and sliding in before he caught up to me. I sat in my car and caught my breath, calling the police as I watched the man try to enter my car, forgetting in his drunken state that he could easily break my windows.

"911, what is your emergency?"

"Hi, yes, I was just sexually assaulted by a drunken man in the parking garage of my workplace. I'm in my car now and he's trying to get in."

"Okay, where is the parking garage you are in, and what floor are you on?"

"It's the parking garage for Quincy Labs, and I am on the third floor, in a blue Toyota Avalon. The man is white, with blond hair and a five o'clock shadow. He is still trying to get into my car."

"Sit tight, we have a unit on route. If he tries to break a window, drive around the floor you are on but don't leave the parking garage. Stay on the phone and keep me updated, okay?"

"Okay." I continued watching the man as he drunkenly tried all of the doors to my car, before coming over to my window and knocking on it, smiling evilly. "He's knocking on my window now with a creepy smile on his face."

"But he's not trying to break it, correct?"

"No, not yet."

"Okay. Our unit should be there now."

Sure enough, I saw in my rear-view mirror that a police car was silently pulling up behind me. Two officers got out. I gasped. It's Warren and Jack!

"What's the matter?"

"Oh, nothing, the officers just took him down." And indeed they had, Warren tackling the man before he knew what had happened. "Thank you for your help."

The 911 operator said "you're welcome" and hung up. Jack came up to my window and told me it was safe for me to come out now. I glanced between Jack and Warren, trying to see where the drunk man had gone. Warren soon dragged the cuffed man to his feet, took him back to their cruiser, and stuffed him in the back. Only then did I get out of my car.

"Hello, officers," I greeted, still a bit shaken. "Thank you for coming so quickly."

"Not a problem, ma'am," Jack replied. "We were already close by when you called."

I smiled thinly at him, then turned to Warren. "What are your names?"

"I'm Officer Jack Nichols, and this is my partner Officer Warren Vasquez," Jack said, gesturing to himself and Warren as he said each name. "What's yours?"

I held out my hand to shake Warren's, smiling a genuine smile for him. "I'm Dr. Crystal Kunz, and I work here at Quincy Labs. Thank you for helping me, Officer."

I turned to Officer Nichols, shaking his hand. A thought occurred to me. "Do you guys need me to tell you what happened here regarding the jerk in your car, or will that wait for a later date?"

"That will wait; we have enough probable cause from your call and the state we found you two in and his drunkenness to incarcerate him until the hearing," Officer Nichols replied.

"Alright," I said. "I'll go back into work then. Thank you again."

~~~¥~~~

After work, I began searching the city for a good spot for a base of operations. It couldn't be in either of my or Meredith's homes, as that would draw too many questions. It couldn't be in any area that saw a lot of foot or car traffic, as that would also draw too many questions. So that ruled out downtown and the waterfront. I couldn't do it at work, and I couldn't do it at home. Maybe I could do it in one of those abandoned suburb offices?

I called Meredith. "Hey, what do you think about that abandoned suburban office off of St. Peter street?"

"That sounds good to me. How are you going to get it?"

"I'm going to buy it with my excess doctorate money."

"Funny. Why don't you use that so-called 'excess doctorate money' and buy yourself an actual house?"

"Because I like my apartment- it's perfect for just me and I don't want to pack up all my stuff and move again."

I could almost hear Meredith's eyes rolling through the phone. "Whatever, Crystal."

"What? That's a perfectly valid reason not to move!"

She laughed and hung up, and I drove over to the office in question to look at it, wearing a jacket in lieu of my lab coat.

There was a faded sign in the window with a number to call for interested buyers, and, finding the door locked, I called it. The person on the other end was very happy that someone wanted the office, and they got their realtor out quickly.

He walked me through the building and, when asked, told me the asking price, and I said I'd take it. He was happy and told me he'd finalize the details and paperwork within the week.

With that taken care of, I went home and got ready for the night, eating dinner, suiting up, stretching out my wings, and then taking flight, turning on my radio.

I began my patrol, flying methodically around the city, starting in downtown and working my way out.

"All units, be advised. Three armed men on the corner of 17th and South 34th, forced entry and hostages taken. All units, be advised."

I headed over to the building to see if I could help, but knowing I probably couldn't, given how little I actually knew about fighting. The reason I had won my fights so far was because I had gotten in and gotten out so fast, and because I had help.

I circled above the building, taking note of all the police units there already. They had the building surrounded, and were trying to negotiate with the men inside. I noticed someone on the roof, holding a sniper rifle, pointing it at the police. I turned my transmitter on as I dived. "Sniper on the roof! Take cover!"

The police down below scattered, not questioning who had given them the info. I employed my tactic of landing on the bad guys to take out the sniper, sending him sprawling. I grabbed him and flew him down to the police, depositing him by one of the police cars before gaining altitude again to circle the roof to check for more threats. I also checked the surrounding buildings' roofs, just to be sure. Finding nothing, I gave the "all clear" and continued circling, keeping a watchful eye on the police officers down on the ground as well as watching for any more potential dangers.

I listened with half an ear to the ongoing negotiations, watching instead for other threats to the cops down below. Until I heard one of the men negotiating from inside yell out "And we want Novastar's Guardian to show herself!"

Then I was paying attention to hear the police negotiator's reply, "She's already here. What do you want from her?"

"She is?"

"Yes."

They didn't reply, most likely conferring amongst themselves. Then I heard a walkie-talkie on the roof go off. "Rogue! Where are you? Didn't you take out the winged freak?"

I landed on the roof and picked up the walkie-talkie, and debated on whether or not to respond. Deciding not to, I took it down to the police and handed it to the closest sargeant, telling him I had found it on the roof where the sniper had been. As I handed it over, it went off again. "Rogue! Did you take out the winged freak?"

The sargeant and I exchanged glances. He got a mischievious look on his face and responded to the man. "No, she wasn't available for a date tonight. Did you want me to ask her?"

I busted out laughing as the man inside spluttered as he realized the sniper on the roof had been compromised. The negotiator inside then called out for me again. "Novastar's Guardian! I know you're out there! Come forward and be recognized!"

The police negotiator turned to look at me with a questioning look on her face. I asked her for the megaphone, and she handed it to me. Pointing it towards the doors of the building, I spoke. "I don't follow orders from a criminal who calls me 'winged freak,' and unless you meant to take me out on a date, then I ain't going anywhere near you, friend! I don't plan on dyin' tonight!"

"Well, neither does this hostage!" he replied, shoving someone forward in front of him. I took a step forward, not wanting to let someone die if I could do anything about it, but the sargeant stopped me with a hand on my arm.

"Guardian! You can't," he said. "You'll die."

I shook off his hand. "That hostage will if I don't. I'll take my chances, Sargeant."

I stepped forward and spread my wings, leaping into the air above the police cars towards the front of the barricade by the negotiator. "I'm here, what do you want?"

"You to... DIE!"

Yep, totally saw that coming, I thought as I ducked and took cover from the bullets whizzing past. I handed the negotiator her megaphone back as I tried to figure out what to do.

"Guardian!" A hissed whisper of a voice behind me.

I turned around to see the sargeant from earlier beckoning. I ran over to him and he led me to the back of the barricade. "Fly away!"

"No!" I replied. "If I can get in from the roof, maybe then I can take him out before he harms anyone."

"Then go!"

I took a running start and flew low over the ground, turning a corner before gaining height and getting above the building. Landing on the roof, I quietly messaged Meredith. You might want to get your medical training ready. I'm not getting out of this one unharmed.

Be careful, she replied. I can't help you if you're dead.

I know. I will do the best I can.

Good luck.

I took a deep breath and quietly entered the building.

~~~¥~~~

Yes, that's a cliffhanger. #sorrynotsorry