The smells of the barbecue wafted around and could be smelled at least a mile away. The day was perfect, not a cloud in the sky and summer was finally here. Sophia relaxed and thought about how happy she was. The summer of her sixteenth year was upon her. "How the time flies," she thought to herself as she listened to the healthy banter of her relatives and friends as they enjoyed the annual Start of Summer barbecue. With the sun shining on her face and surrounded by her loved ones, Sophia was content and wished life could always be like this. Turning her attention back to her mother's conversation, Sophia caught the end of a story.

"And then," her mom said, "she and Giulietta ran down the beach buck naked!" Laughing, she continued, "even when they were little they got along pretty well and they always did things like that! Why the stories I could tell you. Like this other time when we went to the movies, the two of them sat in front of us in the theater because it was really crowded. Now keep in mind that Sophia was only about eight and Giulie was about six and we were seeing one of those kids movies. Anyway, they were giggling the whole movie long and I finally had to lean over and tell them to quiet down. When I did, I asked them what they were laughing about and Sophie looked up at me and said, 'Mom, he's hot!'" All the women listening to her laughed. "And then there was the time.."

“Mom,” Sophia interrupted, “How come I don’t remember that?”

“You were very little,” my mom replied.

“But I must’ve been at least five and I remember other things from back then,” she countered.

“Maybe you don’t remember, FOR YOUR OWN GOOD!!” Her mother’s face and body became a black void from which the new deeper, scratchier, voice came. This was a horrible void, one that Sophia recognized. The evil voice screamed, “You don’t want to remember, YOU WEREN’T MEANT TO REMEMBER YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO DIE TOO!!!”

Clammy with sweat, Sophia wrenched herself out of the nightmare. Breathing heavily, Sophia struggled to remain calm. By this time she was beginning to become accustomed to such nightmares; she had even begun writing them down. She had to rid herself of them; these dreams had been plaguing her for too long. “It has been four years,” Sophia thought fiercely, “and I still can’t remember!”

Sophia rose and went to her bathroom for a drink of water. “All those people that have died needlessly,” Sophia said to herself. “If only I could remember his face, then no more would have to have their life taken away by that monster.”

Moving to her bathroom window to look out at all the destruction that had been caused by this evil man, Sophia hardened. “One day I will remember, you bastard, and then I will see you die for what you did to my family and my friends, for killing those innocent people, and for what you did to MY life. I WILL BRING YOU DOWN!!”

Leon was awakened by the incessant shrilling of his phone. Rolling over in his tangle of blankets, he reached his hand out toward the nightstand to find the cause of his torture. Finding it, he answered it sleepily, "Yeah?"

When the voice of his commander came through the ear piece, Leon lazily sat up, knowing he wouldn't be getting anymore sleep today. "Leon, what the hell do you think you are doing?" the voice demanded.

"What anyone else would be at 6 am on a Sunday, sleeping."

"Don't you start with me. You know very well what I'm talking about. Get your ass in here detective, and get it in here now!" The dial tone ensued as Commander Pierce hung up.

"Oh great," Leon muttered to himself as he rubbed his tired face. "Now I get to be yelled at at the crack of dawn." He yawned hugely and pulled a hand through his sleep-tangled dirty blond hair. "Well I better get moving or it'll just get worse," he thought to himself.

Raising himself to a standing position, the exhausted detective pulled out a pair of jeans and a random shirt. Moving into the bathroom, he splashed some cold water on his face and proceeded to dress. With remnants of sleep still in his gray eyes, he grabbed his keys from his kitchen table and left.

Leon pulled up in front of the dingy gray building that now served as the home base for New York City's very best, or at least the only police force NYC had been able to pull together in the midst of the terrorism. He lingered in his car for a few moments, dreading whatever it was the Chief was going to yell at him for. Finally, heaving a sigh, he slid his rangy frame out of his battered police issue vehicle and headed inside to face the music.

"Finally! I was going to send someone out after you in a minute!" The silver haired man glanced at Leon with annoyance and then turned on his heel, walking into a smaller room with only one desk in it. Seating himself behind his desk, the older man glared at Leon.

Appearing as if he didn't notice the look, Leon seated himself in the folding chair that faced the slightly chubby man. Leaning back in the chair, he placed his feet on the top of Pierce's desk and said, "Thanks for your concern. Now can you please tell me why the hell you dragged me out of bed at the crack of dawn? Or do I have to guess?" The irritated Leon knew how to play the game and simply raised an eyebrow at his boss. When silence ensued, Leon assumed it was the later and began to guess, "Now, hmm, let me see, was it that showgirl? Or me and your wife?"

"It pertains to the termination you made last night," the Chief, having had the pleasure of dealing with Leon's antics for the past five years, schooled any reaction from his face as he spoke. He merely folded his hands and watched the young detective.

"Which one would that be? After all I kill so many pieces of scum in one night it's hard to tell one from another." Leon smiled sweetly. "Wait a minute, I think it's coming to me.. could it have been that sort of head scum?"

His patience getting short, the veteran policeman spoke more forcefully, "The sort of head scum you killed was a head member in the Living Gods organization. He was also one of the few who knew the mastermind's identity and you killed him!" Just saying it angered him further. "We get so close only to have your incompetence and inability to think mess it all up!"

Despite himself, Leon could see the Chief's point, but would never admit that he had screwed up, at least not to this know-it-all. He interrupted the man before he could continue with his tirade, "Oh I'm sorry, but I thought murderers and terrorists were bad guys. Oops, my mistake."

Pierce was being pushed to his limits, "I don't have to remind you that I can fire you whenever I want, do I?"

"And I don't have to remind you that I'm the best you've got, do I?" Leon smiled smugly, knowing not even Pierce would do anything so stupid as to fire him.

"I know. That's why you aren't out on your ass as we speak," Leon preened at Pierce's admittance of his talent and almost missed the next thing the beefy man said. "but I can't have you screwing up and getting away with it, so... you're going to be riding a desk for the next six months."

The chair slammed to the floor as Leon jumped up angrily. "But, but, you can't do this to me! Not while the LG are still at large!" Desperate, Leon reached across the desk and grabbed his hand.

Pierce yanked his hand out of Leon's grasp, "I can and I am. Six months of desk work for you starting now." The unreasonable man smiled, "Got you there, didn't I? Now leave I have work to do." Satisfied with Leon's reaction, Pierce dismissed the detective with a wave of his hand.

"Later we WILL talk about this!" With fury turning his eyes to a steely gray, Leon stalked out of the office, slamming the door as he left. Veering towards the stairs, he headed to the gym in hopes of working off his frustration.