I landed lightly on the roof of the palace two hours before the parade was to start, readying myself so that I could move on the slightest indication from the assassin's mind. I was hidden from her view, behind a dip in the roof. I had to make sure that I didn't move before she was about to shoot, so she wouldn't see me. If I went too early, she'd see me and wouldn't shoot, and it would look as if I was trying to hurt the Queen. If I went too late.... well, let's not think about that.

Then I began to wait. And wait. And wait.

The parade finally got going. I still waited. I didn't need this much time to think about what was about to happen. Half an hour into the parade, I felt a twinge from the assassin's mind.

Finally! The assassin was taking aim through her scope, so if I moved forward to the edge of the roof, she wouldn't see me. But, people down below would. So I had to go at just the right mome-

Now! I moved forward and jumped down right before the crack of a rifle filled the air.

I landed on the balcony where the royal family was sitting, in front of the young Queen. I grunted and took a step back from the force as the bullet meant for her lodged itself in my left shoulder. The street below erupted into chaos.

"Get to safety!" I yelled, shielding the Queen and her family from the assassin with my large wings, my right hand covering my wound, blood slowly flowing in between my fingers and running down my arm. The royals rushed to safety, and most of the guards left with them.

I quickly made my way towards the door, reaching with my wings behind me to avoid obstacles as I kept an eye on the window the assassin was shooting from.

Hmm, she thought. This freak has a death wish. Might as well kill her for blocking my shot at the Queen.

My eyes widened. I turned toward the remaining guards on the balcony right as another crack rang through the air. This bullet tore through my left arm, rendering it even more useless.

"Run!" I shouted at the remaining guards. They didn't argue and ran for the doors, and I followed after them. There was a young guard at the door, waving for me to get in.

Oh, no you don't. You're going to die today.

I was three feet from the door when another shot rang out. The third bullet hit me just above my left wing, where it was attached to my body. I shouted in surprise and stumbled forward, falling across the threshold of the door. Two hands grabbed me beneath my armpits and dragged me the rest of the way through the door, and somebody closed it. I was rushed to the palace hospital, slowly losing consciousness from blood loss.

The second the doctor saw me, covered in my own blood, she stopped what she was doing and called for assistance. Other doctors and nurses came, and began to cut away my shirt around my wounds to treat them.

Then I lost consciousness completely.

~~~¥~~~

When I woke up, I was lying down on my right side, facing the window, my left shoulder and arm bandaged heavily. My bloodstained white wings were lying limply behind me. I blinked and groaned.

"I'm alive," I said, stretching out my wings to see if they still worked and found that my left wing was bound so that I wouldn't agitate the wound in my back.

"Yes," an accented voice said, startling me. "How are you feeling?"

I groaned again, feeling the pain. "Holy." There was a confused pause, then surprised laughter. I smiled. "Whoever you are, come around here so I can see you, please."

I heard footsteps come around my bed, and a young man came into my sight. He was pretty tall, so I tilted my head to see him better. He had green eyes, dark hair, and a tan face.

"Hello," he said. "Thank you for saving the Queen yesterday."

"Yesterday? How long was I out?"

"You've been unconscious for 18 hours," he said. "You saved the Queen at around eleven am yesterday morning, and after I carried you to Doctor McKay, you fell unconscious, and it's been 18 hours since then."

I thought about that for a minute. "You were the one who carried me to the doctor?"

"Yes, madam."

"Then I must thank you. You saved my life."

"You saved the Queen's life," he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

I put my head back on my pillow. "Yes, so I did. And I have three holes in me because of it." The young man smiled and turned to leave. "Where are you going?"

"I'm telling the nurse you are awake."

"Ah, good. Before you do that, though, tell me your name."

"Oh! I apologize. I am Jared. Jared Scott."

"Thank you, Jared." He smiled and left.

When he came back, he had a middle-aged nurse in tow.

"You've made quite a name for yourself," she said as she raised my bed and helped me move so I was on my back and sitting up. "'The Queen's Guardian Angel.' Everyone wants to know who you are."

Before I could answer, there was a knock on the door. I sighed in resignation when I read the surface thoughts of the man outside. He was irritated and suspicious, and his main thought was attempting to figure out my intentions for saving the Queen, and whether or not they were good. The nurse went to open the door, and she gasped in excitement when she saw who it was.

"Your Majesty, we weren't expecting you so soon!" she exclaimed. Jared and I exchanged glances, and I wondered why I had heard a man's thoughts.

"Well, I'd like to visit the woman who saved my life. She is in here, correct?" the Queen's voice said.

The nurse was almost speechless. "Ah, yes, Your Majesty, she is in here. She just woke up a few minutes ago."

The nurse moved out of the way so that the Queen could come into my room. She walked in, followed by a tall, middle-aged man. I bowed my head to the Queen, suspicious of the man who was so suspicious of me. Why can't I hear the Queen's thoughts? I did I quick read of the room.

How did this freak know about the assassin before I did?! The man was thinking. I had all my agents and snipers on high alert for any threats! Unless... she's allied with the assassin?

The nurse was still surprised that the Queen had showed up out of the blue.

The Queen herself was silent.

And... so was Jared?

The Queen bowed back, which surprised me and broke me out of everyone's thoughts. "Good morning, miss. I am Queen Lisa the First, and this is James Sawyer, the current Special Security Services director."

"I'd like to know how you knew that there was an assassin aiming for the Queen, and why you didn't tell someone in authority about the assassin if you knew there was one," Mr. Sawyer said immediately, almost accusatory.

I didn't answer his questions right away, instead turning to the nurse. "Will you leave us, please, ma'am? Thank you."

When she closed the door, I turned my attention back to the Queen and Mr. Sawyer.

"Hello, my name is Crystal Kunz," I said with as much salt in my voice as I could muster without sounding rude. "It's very nice to meet you.

"Now, I didn't go to any police or secret service agents about the assassin because I knew that they wouldn't believe me," I said, answering his second question.

Queen Lisa asked the question I knew was coming without having to read her mind. "Why wouldn't they believe you?"

"Because I can do something I'm pretty sure no one else can do," I replied.

"And what is that?" Jared asked. I glanced at him and acknowledged his question, but I made cold eye contact with the SSS man to answer.

"I can read minds," I said. "And I'm not a freak, thank you very much, and I'm certainly not allied with the assassin! Why else would I have stood in front of the bullet that was aimed for her target?"

The man's eyes widened. Jared and the Queen looked confused.

"What do you mean, you're not allied with the assassin?" Jared asked, frowning.

"You said that because of me, didn't you," Mr. Sawyer said, looking at me. I nodded, and he turned to the Queen and Jared. "I was thinking about how she could've known, unless she was allied, when I walked in."

That convinced them. "So, when did you know?"

"On my plane here. Whenever I enter a new room, or whenever someone enters a room I'm in, I read the surface thoughts of everyone who is in it or enters. Except you, Your Majesty. For some reason, I can't read your thoughts. Or yours, Jared."

They all stared at me. Sawyer was the first to recover. "Do you know what the assassin looks like?"

"No, I do not. I just know that she's female, and she's an amazing sniper," I said, rubbing my wounded shoulder. The three of them smiled.

"Do you know why she kept shooting after Queen Lisa was safe?" Jared asked.

"Oh yes," I replied. "The first bullet was for the Queen. The other two were out of spite."

"What do you mean?" Queen Lisa asked.

I explained. "The first time she fired, she was aiming for you. However, since I jumped in front of you, the bullet hit me instead. Since you ran to safety, she decided to kill me because I had ruined her plans. I was lucky I didn't die right then and there."

"How did you evade the bullets?" Sawyer asked.

"Well, obviously, I didn't," I replied, gesturing to the sling my arm was in. "I was lucky. The second bullet was aimed for my heart, but I had turned around to warn the remaining guards on the balcony to run. That turn saved my life- the first time. The third bullet was also aimed for my heart, but I was running, so I was a bit harder target to aim at- and my wings were covering my back, so she was likely unsure for where she was aiming. That bullet hit right above where my wing connects to my spine."

They all looked floored. Queen Lisa took a breath to speak. "Why did you choose to get shot at instead of fighting the assassin? Would it have been easier?"

I shook my head. "No. Not for me, anyway. The only hand-to-hand combat I know is a few moves for self-defense, so I'm not that good for a prolonged fight. In my case, it was easier to get shot while saving you rather than trying to fight the assassin, who has an unknown skill level at combat, and most likely losing and not saving you. If I had been properly trained in hand-to-hand combat, and I was really good at it, I probably would have chosen that option."

The three Langdenians nodded as I spoke. There was a knock at the door, and we all turned our attention to it.

I glanced at my three visitors and did a quick surface read of the person outside. It was the nurse, come back to help me clean the dried blood off my wings. She was dying to know what we were talking about. "Come in," I called.

She opened the door and walked in, holding several washcloths and some towels and soap and smiling like all nurses do- as wide as they can, yet somehow still managing to look fake. She looked at my three visitors, and told them that they had to wait outside so that I could wash up.

When the three of them left, I pulled the blankets off and swung my legs off the side of the bed to stand.

"Okay, dear, if you would just come over here in the bathroom..." the nurse said, walking in and turning the tap on.

I walked in after her and watched as she wet one of her washcloths with the warm water. "Can't I just take a shower?"

"Oh no, dear, the water would ruin your bandages," she replied, turning to me, the wet washcloth in her hand. "How would you like to go about this?"

I looked around the bathroom, and saw that the shower head was in fact on a hose, so that it could be taken down and aimed.

"What about that?" I said, gesturing to it with my good hand. "The blood won't wash off my feathers without a good soak, or else it'll stain them."

The nurse looked at it reluctantly. "I..suppose.. it could work," she said slowly.

~~~¥~~~

When I was all cleaned up and dressed in comfortable, loose clothes, I sat down at the edge of my bed, and asked the nurse if I could go outside.

"Yes, dear, you can leave your room, just as long as you have me or another nurse with you in case you need anything," she said, misunderstanding my question.

"No, you don't understand," I said. "Am I allowed to go outside outside?"

"Oh," she said apologetically. "No, I'm sorry. You can't leave the hospital unless you have been released by a doctor."

I sighed. "Okay. Where is it okay for me to go in the hospital?"

"Anywhere in the halls, but not in any rooms unless you're invited. You can go to any of the family visitors areas, but not in the staff areas."

I nodded and stood up, walking to the door. "Come on, then; I'd do anything to get out of this room."

I walked out, and all activity stopped. Apparently I had a reputation. Everyone was staring, and my nerves started to show as my feathers began to puff up. I forced myself to turn away from the stares and start walking down the hall. I felt the stares behind me, watching me go as the nurse kept along beside me.

"Where can I get some food?" I asked the nurse. "I'm starving."

She led me down the halls and into a cafe area with a serving area and tables and chairs. People stared everywhere I went. I ate my food as fast as I could with one arm, and went back to my room, deciding to see what the media was saying about me on the TV in my room.

I quickly found the remote, and turned the TV on and leaned against the end of my bed.

I flipped through channels, and found a news channel after a few tries.

"-the Queen's mysterious guardian angel?" The news anchor was saying. "More on that after Tony with the weather. Tony."

"Thank you, Charlotte..."

I zoned out, staring at the TV, and vaguely comprehended that the weather should be good today; sunny with a chance of clouds.

When Tony gave the attention back to Charlotte, I immediately grew interested again.

"Who could this girl be?" Charlotte said as their footage of me jumping in front of the Queen played. I froze, putting my hand over my mouth. I looked good, jumping down and taking a bullet gracefully. My face only showed an angry grimace while getting shot. Like a hero. "All we know is that she has beautiful white wings with a blue stripe at the top, long brown hair, and is around 1.7 meters tall, based on the Queen's height. She looks to be in her late twenties. The Queen's Guardian Angel is the world's largest mystery."

I turned the TV off and smiled mischievously to myself. I didn't plan on it, but I was famous now. I don't know what to think; how am I going to deal with this potential problem? How can I use it? Maybe now I could finally meet my favorite actor.

~~~¥~~~

I got released from the hospital the week after I had saved the Queen. My arm was still in the sling, and I was told I was not to fly until the wound in my back had sufficient time to heal, which would be at least two months. That meant being stuck on the ground to deal with unexpected mobs of Langdenian fans.

Luckily, the Queen had me in her best interests, so when I was released, I had two guards -one of which was Jared- and a government vehicle to be transported in.

I had missed my flight home, so I was staying at the hotel I had stayed in the week before I was shot.

I settled in at the hotel, again, and Jared and his colleague, Sam, went back to the car.

The next morning, I found that I was invited to have lunch with the Queen and Mr. Sawyer at the palace. I accepted, of course, and left the hotel, getting my room for another night.

Jared and Sam were waiting for me outside. They accompanied me back to the car the Queen provided for me, and we all piled in, Jared driving, Sam in the passenger side, and me in the back, sitting sideways so I had room for my wings.

When we arrived at the palace, Jared and Sam led me to the small dining area where Queen Lisa and Mr. Sawyer were waiting for me.

I sat down at the circular table. "Good afternoon."

"Good afternoon," they replied.

"Crystal," Sawyer said, leaning forward, "would you mind telling us exactly what happened and what went through your mind from the plane to when you saved Queen Lisa?"

"Not at all," I replied. "I knew that there was a conspiracy to kill Queen Lisa as soon as I got onto my second flight to come across the Talinact...."

~~~¥~~~

Hey guys! This is an original piece, set in an alternate reality, if you haven't figured out by now. The next chapter is Crystal's story of how she knew about the assassin, so it's written like she's talking to the Queen, Mr. Sawyer, and Jared.

I will post a reference chapter eventually, for the this-world equivalent of the names and places in this story.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to vote!