Lion's Den

Inseparable from the past

Diana and I decided not to return home just yet. Pulling all nighters was a piece of cake for us. The stars were scattered and packed, fully covering up the night sky. Unlike the view from our previous home, the entire milkyway galaxy was visible. The night was peaceful and serene with owls hooting softly. There were tranquil cool breezes brushing past us gently.

Putting our work aside for a day, we wanted to make the best of every moment before our duties eat up our time. We had rare moments like these so we never miss them. Also, this would be an opportunity we make for ourselves to bond with the city. Diana loved to take pictures of everything, especially the sky. Be it a cloudy day or constellations or different colored skies, she loved everything about it.

I watched the surroundings as she clicked pictures. Now and then, we hid when any vehicles sped by. But we stayed on the streets until it was close to sunrise and then came back home to lay on the rooftop. There was a small door from the attic to reach there so it was quite the view. Slow hues of pink and orange filled the sky welcoming the sun. The camera button clicks were nonstop.

Diana yawned and sighed as the rays of sunshine peeked from the horizon. She has never been so relaxed like this. I thought she forgot how to relax after living through a hectic atmosphere. This place felt more like home than it's predecessors. Her head leant onto my shoulder and a smile bloomed on my face. She is my only family left and I will do anything to protect her. Besides that, we had no time to actually date someone and expand our family. In the end, it was just us.

I knew it was selfish of me to put the burden of the entire past on her but not choosing to remember helped me stay calm and collected. We had many chances but never talked about the nightmares or what she saw in them and tried our best to move forward and live our own lives. I had accepted my adoptive parents so far as to not even wonder once about our real ones. It felt better this way.

"Shall we go for breakfast, sleepyhead?"

She shook her head and played with my fingers.

"Wanna sleep for a bit?"

A nod was all that returned. Tucking her into bed, I was lost in thought as I watched her curling into the blanket.

Dangers were 'normal' in our life but I sincerely hoped that our past would never be a part of it. Somehow, deep down there was, this feeling in me. That our past would mess up our lives entirely. I wish we would never meet our real family, ever. During this entire lifetime, this was my only wish. To continue this path as it is.

A few hours had already passed when I realized that I had fallen asleep on the couch. A click woke me up causing my eyes to alertly scan through the room. It was Diana. She had taken a picture of me asleep on the couch. Giving a short laugh tilting her head, she shook the camera at me.

"The fuck...Diana, hand over the camera to me."

"Private collection of your drools,bro.. can't do"

"You are gonna regret saying that"

"Oh shit.."

As soon as I rose to my feet, Diana bolted across the house running between the furniture while I jumped through and tackled her to the floor. Twisting her arm from behind, she struggled face down to the floor. My right leg pressured her not allowing her to get up. I didn't crush her breath but she couldn't get up either.

"You jerk!!"

I took the camera, let go of her and shook it the same way she did, right to her face. The camera had no pictures of me drooling.

Instead, I had a peaceful sleeping face. She lied. I should admit, the pictures were actually good.

"You owe me breakfast for that picture,twinnie"

"Get ready first and we can go"

Although we paused our investigation, we still were going to the station. Fully clad in our uniforms, we ordered sandwiches and were munching away in the nearby restaurant.

"Diana, do you remember that case where we put that psycho killer in our neighborhood behind bars? The one who tricked and almost stabbed you?"

"Oh yeah, I remember that one..he conversed with me in a really nice and sweet tone. That case taught me to not trust anyone so easily since I am in the police force."

"Yes, that is why we shouldn't trust anyone in the station this time as well. My instincts are screaming on this one, there might be more eyes watching the police force very carefully. So do not involve anyone into this mission no matter what. It is the 3 of us and will always be the 3 of us."

"Yes sir"

Our phones vibrated at the same time making it obvious that it was Nate.

'Traffickers-Lansky, coordinates sent'