Helena found herself incredibly bothered that all of her friends had their own experiences with the rising crime rate in the city.  From deaths, to theft, to assault, the city had taken something from them.

Her heart broke for Casper's stolen bike.  She knew how much time and effort he put into it.  He expressed so much through his racing. If she had any money left over after the hospital bills, Helena was ready to offer him what she could- which even then might not be more than a couple hundred- to replace the bike.

Derek's story was particularly shocking.  Even with its rising crime, the amount of targeted hate crimes in Long Beach were fairly low compared to other cities.  Although Helena wished Derek had gone to the police over the incident, she also knew that the general public wasn't in support of the police with all of their suspicious activities of late.

When it came to Aleissa, she had no need to speak.  The group all knew very well about the hostage situation.  It was all over the news anywhere you went.  No one expected Aleissa to speak about it, they all knew about her savior's death and about the funeral.  Helena let out a sigh thinking about the robbery and what her friend must have went through.

Cole's story seemed to have a different ending.  He wasn't fearful of the men trying to steal.  In fact he was very proactive rather than reactive about the situation.  She respected and even admired this.  Her heart dropped when he referred to the shooting death of his brother.

Scott didn't seem to have a story involving crime.  If he did, he didn't share it.  He seemed to somehow be in denial of the condition of their city.  Helena was shocked by this.

"Long Beach isn't the city it used to be," Helena said, "Gangs are taking over and the cops can't catch up because half of them are paid off anyway."

Helena thought back on Cole's story.  He managed to successfully fight off the men who tried to steal.  Even if the police didn't catch them, Helena would be surprised if those two would be quick to rob again.

"It almost sounded like you were a superhero," Helena chuckled, trying to bring some light to the group's somber mood.  She then joked further, "If the cops don't do anything and the crime doesn't stop, maybe we should all dress up or something and stop those guys ourselves."