• Fire was all around him and his face was buried in the sand when he regained consciousness. There was a sharp ringing in his ear as if someone had set off a flash bang grenade nearby. He spat out mouthfuls of the gritty material and coughed up blood, staining the untouched beaches of the small island. He tried to stand but was beaten down by an unbearable spasm of pain, causing him to cry out. He looked down at his shoulder and abdomen and realized to his horror that three-foot long pieces of shrapnel from his downed plane had passed right through his body completely soaked in his own blood. There was no way that he'd be able to pull them out by himself, let alone sew it up with stitches and bandage it. The edges of his vision began to darken and he told himself, "No, you can't die here. Sarah is waiting for you back home. She needs you." Despite his best efforts to remain conscience, he finally felt his strength leave him and he once again fell into the pit of darkness within his mind.

    Somewhere, part of his brain occasionally remained alert of its surroundings and brief flashes and sensations flooded his memory. He could remember being lifted onto a crude stretcher and quickly taken to an unknown destination through the dense jungle undergrowth. Then an ordinately dressed man with a helm made from bone leaning over him, muttering some unknown incantation. Finally, waking up in a primitive tent wearing a cloth robe and simple sandals. From that point on, it was all a confusing blur, until he returned home to the city that he grew up in. "Wake up, Nathan." someone said in a distant voice, "Wake up."

    Nathan awoke with a start, panting like he had just run a marathon as he tried to slow his beating heart. His face and bare, dark-skinned chest was caked with sweat along with the sheets covering his bed. That was the fourth time this week that he had woken up like this, and the sleeping pills were doing next to nothing to keep him sleeping throughout the night, except of course when he was busy with his alternate persona. As his pulse began to lessen in pace, he sighed deeply and rubbed the sides of his temples with his hands, casually glancing at the alarm clock that sat on the nightstand to his left. It was still early in the morning, but Nathan was wide awake now, so he decided to get a jump start on the day before he had to leave for work.

    He then crawled out of the covers and strode out of the room towards the kitchen of his small, downtown apartment. There wasn't much in the pantry or the refrigerator to choose from for breakfast, however, he did manage to scrounge up enough to whip together a batch of bacon and eggs. He'd have to embark on an expedition into the unexplored aisles of the grocery store on his way home tonight. As the food was frying, Nathan grabbed a remote and flipped on the TV, making sure that it was tuned to the local news station. "In the news this morning, a well-known crime lord and two of his conspirators are in police custody, thanks to a mysterious vigilante who literally gave the wanted criminals to the authorities." the male news anchor was saying, "Little details are known about this blessing-in-disguise, but one thing's for sure, whoever it is has made the city a much safer place to be."

    Nathan smiled as he flipped the eggs over in the fry pan. It was always a good thing to see how the community reacted to his Samaritan deeds, gives one a source of encouragement to keep going when you know that the public appreciates what you're doing for them. "In other news," the man continued, "Scientist excavating a newly-discovered ice cave in Alaska have uncovered what appears to be the remains of a member of ancient species of humans known as Neanderthals, perfectly preserved in the ice. Needless to say the worldwide archeological community is extremely excited about the find, saying that it could hold the key to learning more about our common ancestors. The specimens will be taken to a lab here in Sacramento and examined as thoroughly as possible. Heading up the project is a man by the name of Sean Pitt, a brilliant young scientist and an expert in Neanderthal research..."

    At this point, Nathan switched the channel to something more interesting as he sat down at the table with his breakfast in hand. Out of all the things in the world, science was the one subject that always bored him and the one subject that he flunked on back in high school. He preffered a more direct approach to questions that needed answers, not a path riddled with rules, methods, and ideas of what is relevant and what isn't. After a half hour of flipping through the two hundred plus channels, he eventually switched it off and went into his room to change into his work clothes, pausing briefly to deposit his dirty dishes into the dishwasher. His day job thankfully didn't require any fancy suits; just a collard shirt and a pair of blue jeans would more than suffice. Once he was completely ready to go, he walked out the front door, locked it behind him, and made his way over to the parking lot where his black 2005 Ford Mustang was waiting. The drive through the labyrinth of streets in downtown Sacramento was mostly uneventful, save for the occasional idiot who tried to cut in front of him. It usually took him about ten minutes to reach his workplace, the Sacramento Police Department Headquarters, but today he managed to cut the time in half.

    Following an excessively long elevator ride up to the right floor, Nathan strode into the crowded office and took a seat at his desk. "Morning, Agent Banes." one of his coworkers greeted him in a cheery voice.

    Nathan smiled at the use of his fake name and gave her a polite nod, "Morning."

    "Did you hear? La Ciudad is finally off the streets." the woman told him, "The chief and another unit found him all tied up to a lamppost last night, as well as two of his merc buddies."

    "Yeah, I heard. Saw it on the news today." Nathan replied, "This vigilante guy is sure making our job easier."

    The woman shrugged, "Maybe so, but I prefer doing the job ourselves instead of sitting back and letting whoever it is do our work for us."

    Nathan agreed, even though it was really him she was talking about, and proceeded with the day's work. There was little that needed doing throughout his work day, and he hated the fact that he had to stay behind a desk instead of working out in the field, but this was what he was assigned to so he had to make the best of it. His shift ended ten hours later and he walked out of the building, slipped into the driver’s seat of his car, and drove out of the parking lot. On the ride home, he didn't take the usual route, but took a left turn and headed into a moderately sized suburban neighborhood. He continued driving between the tightly spaced buildings until he reached a specific home and parked on the opposite side of the street. Through the open window of the house across the way, Nathan watched as an athletic, blonde-haired woman busily made her way around the spacious kitchen, apparently preparing her evening meal. Every other day for the past three years, he had sat in the exact same spot trying to summon up the courage to walk up to the front door and tell Sarah that he was still alive. However, several factors kept beating down his efforts and forcing him to stay inside the car, such as the fear that she'd moved on after all those years and no longer loved him and that she wouldn't understand what he had become since the last time she saw him. The other issue was that since his alter ego dealt with some very dangerous people ninety percent of the time, his enemies might find out about her and uncover a means to exploit a potentially vulnerable spot, so in a way, he was protecting her safety as well as his own. Nathan tore his gaze away from Sarah's image and shook his shaved head in defeat. I hate my conscience, he thought angrily. With that, he started the engine once more, pulled away from the curb, and back down the street towards home. The sound of the Mustang's revving engine just outside her window caught Sarah's attention, but when she looked out her window, all she could see was the dark suburban street and the taillights of a car quickly driving away.