It had all started with a call. Afterwards, he would never forget the purpose of the call. It came early on a Saturday morning. The world was asleep because it was the weekend, which was usually a day when mornings were slept in and lazy. But that wasn’t Heckt Akinerti’s life. He worked for DATA – Defense Against Terrorist Attacks, which was a job that didn’t allow for many lazy mornings. There were no lazy afternoons or nights either. It was a long job, and any sleep he could get was much appreciated. He was tired when he got the call. But after he heard what the caller had to say, he was wide awake.
 “DATA, Akinerti,” he answered automatically.
 “It’s Sarien,” the voice answered. Heckt knew this person well; it was his friend and co-worker at DATA, Sarien Arvin. “Look, we just got the encrypted data off of Prett’s hard drive, and I thought I should tell you what we found.”
 “Give it to me straight,” Heckt responded, remembering instantly who Prett was. He was a DATA informant that had been killed about a month before. He had been working on encrypted data found on Ransem Skishi’s computer. Skishi was a former agent at DATA. He had been working for a large terrorist cell based in Europe. At the time all of DATA was working on stopping terror attacks on three major U.S. government facilities, one of them being DATA itself. Skishi had been selling anything he could to the highest bidder, one of those things being the plans to DATA headquarters.
 “It’s... an email correspondence.”
 “Correspondence with whom?” Heckt asked, suspicious.
 “It seems that it was with Eiron.” 
 Heckt lay in his bed for a moment. He didn’t fully understand why; it may have been incredible tiredness or incredible shock. “That’s not possible. Eiron died before we recruited Skishi.”
 “Heckt,” Sarien’s voice said over the receiver, “I hate to have to say this, but she may not actually be dead.”
  Eiron was a trained assassin, who had been contracted 6 months ago by the same terrorist group for which Prett was working. She was supposed to assassinate Heckt, because he was leading the investigation. Her method was to destroy everyone and everything close to Heckt, and then destroy him. However, Heckt stopped her before she could hurt anyone. He thought her to be dead, but there was no solid proof she was. 
 “Look, stop running from this. You’ll be putting yourself in jeopardy if you keep your guard down,” Arvin’s voice added, causing Heckt to snap back into reality.
 “Sarien, do you know how hard it was for me to tell my wife and three daughters that our own home wasn’t safe?”
 “Dad? It isn’t safe here?” a voice asked. He turned towards the source. It was a rather small girl, whom he immediately recognized as his daughter, Akaibell. She must have been awake for a while before himself, because she seemed to be wide awake.
 “I have to… go.” He hung up. He looked at his daughter not knowing what to say at all. He had never expected her to hear that, and now he had no idea what he was going to say to her in response. Being a secret agent, he had always been able to keep cool under cover, but his wife and daughters could read him like an open book. He forced something out. “Honey… I…”
 “I’m not a little girl anymore. Give it to me straight.”
 Despite the circumstances, despite everything he was feeling at that moment, Heckt started laughing. Maybe the laugh was from the fact that he was starting to realize just how like him his daughter was now that he was alone with her. It may also have been out of extreme fear for the lives of his family as well as his own life.
 “Dad! Why are you laughing at me?!” She growled angrily. She put her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face. This was her usual attitude that she took when she was angry at her father, which was often in her teenage years. 
 Heckt stopped laughing and sighed. “Akai, I’m not laughing at you. It’s just that I said the same thing a few minutes ago.”
 “Yeah, okay,” she responded dubiously. “How many times do you use that phrase?”
 “Pretty often, apparently,” He responded. Oh, great, I’m not only at danger of being assassinated by Eiron, but I’m headed for a fight with my daughter, he thought. 
 The phone suddenly rang, interrupting their conversation. Heckt didn’t know what this meant. He thought that it was probably Sarien, confirming that the e-mails were real or fake. Either way, he decided to bite the bullet and pick up.
 “Hello?”
 “Well, I can see we’re all having fun here, aren’t we, Heckt?” The voice at the other end answered. It was a voice with such edge that Heckt would never forget it, even if he was in a fatal car crash and delusional. His eyes opened wide, very quickly.
 “Who is it, Dad?” Akaibell asked, genuinely concerned at her father’s surprise. 
 It was like he couldn’t think anymore. His worst nightmare was just confirmed, and he had no idea what he was going to say to his daughter. “Do not tell her that it’s me. The poor girl probably has too many problems already, you know, living with you. Now I need to do some things for me, or else…”
 “Why the hell should I do anything for you?” he whispered into the phone. 
 Heckt could almost hear the sick joy from the other end of the phone. Eiron was not only an extremely talented assassin, but she was also extremely sadistic and psychotic. The tone in her voice was chilling. “Because your wife and two daughters will die if you don’t.”
 This hit incredibly deep and stung. His eyes widened more and more as he thought about that statement. His mouth hung open. He wanted to control his rage, control the pit of fire collecting in his throat threatening to rip open his mouth and spit burning hot fire over the room. He wanted to contain the gut wrenching enfeebling feeling that was washing over him – that a highly trained, ruthless, psychotic criminal was holding his family for an unknown ransom. He had no idea how he wanted to control this feeling, and ultimately failed. “What do you know about my family?!” He screamed into the telephone. Akaibell jumped halfway out of her seat. 
 “Oh, lots of things. Your youngest daughter is 12, your wife is a famous musician, and one of your twin daughters has black hair and looks almost like you… oh, you mean about where they are now?” 
 “Where are they!?”
 He heard a click, and then, “Heckt?”
 Heckt, of course, recognized the voice. It was his wife, Celenei. “Honey… honey, are you all right? What…” Before he finished, he heard a click and Eiron was talking again.
 “Before I begin, I’d just like to say that you’ve violated rule one: alerting your daughter that anything suspicious is going on. I’m afraid the penalty for this can be very harsh – a life or two, perhaps…?”
 “You…!!” He pushed his rage down into a small corner of himself and limited his yelling. “Don’t you dare hurt my family... I will become your worst nightmare if you so much as touch them.”
 “Ah!” the evil laughter continued. “There’s the Heckt I know and despise with all my heart – or lack thereof. I’m sure you will become my worst nightmare, but I’m afraid if I touch your family you’ll most likely be dead and I’ll be mutilating your broken bodies.
 “In any case, if you’re done with the clichés, then let’s get down to business. In approximately 15 minutes, I’ll give you an address. I want you to come to that address with your daughter by 7:45 PM. If I see anyone following you, or if anyone other than you and your daughter enter the building, I’ll kill all of your family and then kill both you and your daughter. Understand?”
 Heckt scowled, responding, “Yes.”
 “Good.” He heard a click, and the dialtone went flat. Heckt’s head swam in confusion, fear and anger. He felt dizzy, mentally exhausted, and sick. He sat down, with a splitting headache. 
 “Dad…? What was that? What happened?” Akaibell asked, fear clouding her voice.
 Something in him changed. He knew that this was a situation that was unavoidable, so he had to tell her. He had to explain everything. “Akai… the reason I said that it isn’t safe here was because Eiron is still alive.”
 “Eiron?!” Akaibell cried. “You said she was dead!”
 “I thought she was,” Heckt responded. “She… she has your mother, Vertei and Keri.”
 “This...” Akaibell started, “This can’t be happening… Daddy… what are we going to do…?”
 “Whatever we can,” He responded, an idea dawning on him. “Let me use your cell and call Sarien Arvin. He’s a co-worker of mine, I’ll have him set up a trace.”
 She gave up her cell easily and he dialed the numbers that would patch him through to Sarien. As he could hear the phone ring through Akaibell’s cell, his own rang. He paused, but then picked up. “Hello?”
 “Put down the phone, right now,” Eiron’s voice reverberated through his cell as if she were really in the room with him. 
 “DATA, Arvin,” Sarien answered after picking up.
 Heckt had no idea that Eiron could see what he was doing. He was completely shocked when she called again. But his quick thinking allowed him to do more than gape. His fingers moved faster than light, punching necessary keys to set up a remote trace line. However, in his haste, he didn’t really know what he was doing. His cell showed Sector 7 on the screen, and started narrowing the search down.
 “Stop the trace, and put down the other phone now, or your little girl bites it,” Eiron said, that same jovial but fierce edge in her voice. He clicked off the trace and after a moment, clicked off Akaibell’s cell.
 Heckt ground his teeth. “I wouldn’t have done that if you’d tell me where my family is.”
 “You win, Heckt. Meet me at the abandoned power plant at the corner of Shick and Alny. Use the silver Lexus GS 430 in the parking lot. It’s open. The keys are in the visor. Ditch all your weapons and both cell phones here.”
 He turned towards Akaibell and spoke in a monotone, broken voice. “Leave your cell here, honey. We need to go.” She complied without argument. Heckt did as well, taking his two guns out of their holsters and his knife from his pocket 
 “And just for that little stunt with the cell phone…” A gunshot went off, as well as a chorus of screams. “I think you’d better get here fast, my trigger finger’s gettin’ itchy.”

 For the most part, they remained silent on the drive over to the warehouse. It may have been because they were too afraid for their lives to say anything, but it was more likely because the car was probably bugged and Heckt had explained to Akaibell that the bugged rooms meant that Eiron could see and hear all they said while in the car. The fearful look on her face told him that she most likely didn’t want to talk because of the latter reason. When they arrived there, a cell phone in the glove compartment started to ring. Heckt quickly answered it. 
 “I’m here,” he said into the receiver.
 “Did you really think I wouldn’t know that the car which I gave you was parked outside of the power plant that’s our makeshift meeting place?” Eiron said dryly. When Heckt didn’t respond, she continued. “Go into the building.” Motioning for Akaibell to follow him, he got out of the car and walked towards the large doors. “They’re open.” He pushed on the cold metallic doors until they opened. He motioned once again for Akaibell to follow him, and he entered the building, stepping over the rust of the corroded metal floor. “Go to the second floor. Hurry up.” She went silent as Heckt and Akaibell ascended the stairs. As soon as they reached the second floor, further instructions ensued. “The second door on the left. Both of you enter.”
 As soon as they entered, they saw a face they never wanted to see again. She was standing by a window, cell phone in hand. She looked at him, smiled oddly and clicked the phone closed. She put it in her pocket and stepped forward one step, speaking to Heckt at the same time. “Welcome to my humble super secret evil supervillain headquarters! Don’t make yourself at home, you won’t be alive long enough to see any more of this place.”
 Two rather large men came from the back of the room, guns cocked at both Heckt’s and Akaibell’s heads. Akaibell looked back fearfully, but Heckt’s eyes remained on Eiron, emotionless and unforgiving.
 “Take the girl into the room where the rest are being held,” she commanded.
 “What about this?” One asked, pointing to Heckt.
 Eiron never missed a beat. She answered, “Kill him. Our orders are to only capture the 4 girls.”
 Heckt’s eye glinted as he lost control. He jumped far off the floor, lunging at the man leading Akaibell off into the other room. The man was caught off guard. Heckt grabbed the gun, tackling him to the ground. The other man leveled his firearm at him and shot, getting him in the back of the neck. This stunned him, but he still was able to do something. He jammed the gun in the back of his pants, hidden from sight, and beat the thug to death before being pulled off of him.
 “And that, Heckt, is why you’re going to be killed. Keep a gun to his head at point blank range at all times, keep his hands tied and make sure he’s dead after you kill him.”
 His hands were tied as Akaibell was led away by another man. He was already formulating a plan in his head as he was being taken out of the plant by a group of four men, all armed with two pistols each. They stood around him, three with their weapons aimed at his head at all times. He stayed silent and waited for the moment to strike. He exited the plant towards the forested area, with a slight depression and a rolling curve.
 “Stand facing the forest,” the gun-holding one ordered. Heckt complied, almost reaching for his pistol. The man got ready to shoot, and when he heard the gun click he fell to the ground, whipping out his gun. He rolled down the depression for cover after hitting the first one. He jumped up, skimmed by one bullet. He shot two bullets and hit one. He took cover behind a tree as about 4 bullets whizzed by his left side.
 He had one element on his side – he was smart, and these men didn’t seem to be very smart, judging from the shootout. Looking over the tree, he saw the two he shot on their feet again, not having received mortal blows. He shot two random shots, distracting them. He rolled out the other side and shot five bullets, hitting two of the remaining four men. He then took off into the forest, wanting to conserve the rest of his bullets. He fled into the forest, and soon the pursuers’ footsteps stopped, probably not able to see him anymore. He stopped as well.
 One thing was bothering him. Why did Eiron make the men take him out of the compound away from her to kill him? They didn’t seem to be very smart – the Eiron Heckt had fought six months before wouldn’t have even hired the help. She would have done it all herself. It was like she was inviting him to escape and take his family. But he couldn’t think about that now. 
 What he needed to do was find his family. He saw the general direction where Akaibell was taken. She was taken southward. He circled the compound until he reached the southern side of it. He then opened the door to the southern end. There were 2 hostiles in the corridors. He ducked behind a nearby trashcan and took out the closer one. Hidden from the one farther away, he waited until he was within range and took him out too. He searched their bodies and luckily one had a cell phone. His fingers dialed the familiar number for DATA.
 “DATA, Arvin.”
 “Sarien, it’s me. I…”
 “What’s wrong? You sound really tired. Was it you that called and hung up an hour ago?”
 “Sarien, listen carefully to what I’m about to tell you and don’t interrupt. I’ve confirmed that Eiron is not dead. She’s had my hotel bugged and my family kidnapped. I’m at her compound. She gave me this address so that she could get Akaibell and kill me. She’s been hired by someone. Her base’s at the old power plant at 1142 Melvior. There are at least six hostiles still alive, minimally armed. I need backup and evac.”
 “I have to run this by Kerine, but I’ll try,” Sarien answered after a shocked pause. Serino was the senior director at DATA, and extremely by the book. It would probably take about 5 hours just to get through to Proenn and 5 hours to convince him to send backup.
 “I’ll run it by him when I get back, I really need them now…”
 “They’re already on their way. Just wait there until they arrive,” Sarien instructed.
 But Heckt had already hung up. He was ascending the stairs, taking out the one guard standing in his way. He took cover and saw two guards standing in front of a door, most likely where his family was being held. He drew a pistol he took from a dead hostile and killed both guards in his way. He broke down the door without missing a beat, ready for anything to meet him in the room.
 “Daddy?!”
 That word was like music to his ears. He hugged all of his family, deeply relieved that Eiron hadn’t killed any of them. The joy he felt was incomparable to any joy that he had previously felt. He was glad that his family was okay, and deeply regretted that it was his stupidity and ineptitude that got Akaibell for one captured. “It’s all right honey, I’m here. I’m never going to leave you again. Never. Ever.” He almost broke down when he said these words. He could barely think. But his head cleared, and the embrace subsided. He turned towards the door. The corpses of the men that he’d shot were laying on the floor, bleeding. He looked out through the hallway and saw none anywhere. He heard the backup finally arriving, and knew Eiron would know what was going on. She would try to stop him. He knew what he had to do. He had to apprehend him. Even though she had captured his family he couldn’t kill her in cold blood, he only wanted to apprehend her.
 “I need all of you to meet those DATA agents out there. Tell them you’re Heckt’s family. They’ll take you back to DATA and probably debrief you there. I’ll see you after I’m done here.”
 “Why aren’t you coming too?” Akaibell asked.
 “I need to capture Eiron,” he answered simply.
 He ran off in the direction of Eiron, as his family went off in the direction of the DATA agents. It didn’t take him long to make his way to her room. He remembered it was the one they met in. He listened for sound, and broke the door down. She was looking out the window, directly at the DATA agents and her former captives. This puzzled Heckt. He speculated that she set her own plan up to fail, but he didn’t know why.
 “So you finally made it,” She said. “You did take your time in taking out my guards, didn’t you?”
 Heckt looked at her, his suspicions confirmed. He now knew he’d been set up to escape from her guards and free his family, but he didn’t know why. “You know me, always ready to ‘foil your plans’…”
 “I’ll get you yet!” she said, mocking the clichéd supervillain character that she often thought of herself as. Her expression then, however, grew serious. “I will. Get you, I mean. It’s been fun for now.”
 Dammit, she’s about to jump! Heckt thought. He started to shoot, but it was too late. The glass on the window was broken. She dove from the window past the bullets. He sprinted to the window, and saw her on a metal beam far away.
 “Just remember, Heckt. You won’t ever be safe, no matter where you go.”
 In a flash of anger and confusion, he shot at her. She ducked without hesitation and returned fire. Heckt dropped to the floor, avoiding the fire. He jumped right back up to shoot, but she was gone. 
 He sighed in release. He knew that he wasn’t safe yet, but the immediate threat was gone. Looking at the spot where Eiron one stood, he thought about what she had said. Her words echoed in his head.
 “You won’t ever be safe, no matter where you go.”
 

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