[center][sup][h1][b][color=black] A C E  O F  B L A D E S[/color]
[color=cadetblue]A C E  O F  B L A D E S[/color][/b][/h1][/sup][/center]
[hr][center][sup][color=cadetblue][b]HAVEN BAR AND GRILL IN MIDTOWN.
THE NEXT DAY.[/b][/color][/sup][/center]I step through the front door of Haven, immediately basking in the atmosphere: the dinner crowd filling every seat in the house, the sound of scattered conversations drowning out the live games on the TVs, the smell of every dish on offer being cooked up in the kitchen. A smile makes its way onto my face as I remember the weekends spent as a kid, sitting at a table with a stack of comics and dad's iPod while he tended the bar and mom was flying around the city. She'd drop in sometimes on dad's breaks if nothing was going on and we'd have lunch together as a family. There's a tinge of pain in the memories, thinking about the times after she died when I'd be at Haven, sulking in a quiet corner and trying to pretend for a moment that I didn't exist.

I shudder a bit, shaking off the memories before walking up to the bar. Dad's not tending it right now, but I recognize the woman who is, and I smile at her as I take a seat. [color=cadetblue]"Hey Char."[/color]

Charlotte has been working at the bar since I was in my last year of high school and she was in her second year of college. I got to know her a bit the summer before I left Calder to attend UMBC, then figured I'd never see her again. Lo and behold, she also ended up dropping out, and she was still working at Haven when I got back. It's always nice to see her.

Charlotte's head perks up when she hears my voice and she looks over to me with a grin, setting a mug of beer down in front of a patron before moving over to where I'm sitting. [color=orange]"Scott, it's so good to-"[/color] She cuts herself off, looking concerned now, and raises a hand to point at the bandage on my cheek. [color=orange]"What the hell happened?"[/color]

I let a finger rest on the bandage for a moment. After last night's encounter in the diner where Dusk pointed out my terrible lying skills, I decided to work on a cover story, and I only falter slightly before delivering it: [color=cadetblue]"Oh, this guy at the Haunt threw a bottle at me. Managed to duck out of the way but a shard hit me in the cheek after it bounced off the wall."[/color]

Charlotte frowns deeply when she hears that. [color=orange]"Jesus Scott, you gotta quit working at that shithole. You know they run drugs through there, right?"[/color]

I shrug. [color=cadetblue]"Hey, the Haunt pays pretty decent."[/color] I don't add that as a server, I can eavesdrop on conversations throughout the place and see if anything catches my interest. Not much has yet, but hey, hopefully something will pop up.

[color=orange]"Why don't you just come work here?"[/color]

[color=cadetblue]"The Haunt is way closer to where I live, it's a twenty minute bus ride there versus almost an hour to here. Plus if dad hired me, everyone would be crying nepotism."[/color]

She rolls her eyes. [color=orange]"That's bullshit, Scott. Everyone here loves you."[/color]

[color=cadetblue]"They might not love me so much when they have to spend forty hours a week with me."[/color]

She shakes her head with a sigh. [color=orange]"You really need to stop putting yourself down so much, Scott. You're a great guy."[/color]

[color=cadetblue]"Sure,"[/color] I say dismissively, giving another look around the bar again and still not seeing dad anywhere. [color=cadetblue]"Anyway, I came here to see dad. Is he around?"[/color]

Charlotte looks like she wants to press the issue, but probably figures it would be best to drop it. [color=orange]"... Yeah. He went on his break just before you got here, saw him head back to his office."[/color]

[color=cadetblue]"Thanks. Take it easy, Char."[/color] I slip out of my seat and pull away from the bar, heading to the back and through the door to the break room and the manager's office. I pass by the break room where a few servers are chatting and step up to the office. A simple plastic placard rests on the door, reading "Benjamin Knight". After a moment, I raise a hand and knock.

[color=MediumSeaGreen]"Come in."[/color]

I open the door and step inside, making sure to angle my head so that dad won't see the bandage immediately.

[url=https://i.ibb.co/4Z17vqzF/ben.png]My dad[/url] sets his eyes on me as soon as I walk in, and his bored expression instantly warms up into a smile. [color=mediumseagreen]"Scott! You didn't tell me you were coming."[/color] He stands up and approaches me with arms wide open. I meet him halfway and we give each other a hug, dad squeezing me tight. After a moment longer than I probably would've liked, he pulls back and looks at me, his grin slowly falling as takes in my face.

His face shifts into a stern mask, his eyes slightly narrowed. [color=mediumseagreen]"Finally went up against someone out of your league?"[/color] he asks, gesturing to his own face where the bandage is on mine.

I sigh. [color=cadetblue]"Yeah. It was uh, it was Rock, actually."[/color]

Dad blinks in surprise but quickly recovers. [color=mediumseagreen]"Saw's son? He's back in town?"[/color]

[color=cadetblue]"I guess he is. Thought I saw someone breaking into a store down by the docks, turns out it was where one of the Mountain's gadget stashes was. Rock kicked my ass."[/color]

[color=mediumseagreen]"Makes sense. He was trained for the life."[/color] Dad's probably trying to imply something with that.

[color=cadetblue]"Look, I don't really want to talk about it. I'm fine. I just came here to catch up because it's been a minute."[/color] I look over to his desk, a neat stack of paperwork sitting next to a keyboard. There's a photo frame on the desk, a picture of the two of us and mom when we visited Hersheypark for my seventh birthday. I look away from it and back at dad.

Dad purses his lips together, looking into my eyes. For a moment I meet his gaze, feeling some kind of pressure weighing down on me, then look down at my feet. He steps back and sits back down at his desk and I follow his lead, taking a seat on the sofa against the wall. [color=mediumseagreen]"You been getting out much, son? Other than your nightly escapades I mean."[/color]

I consider trying to lie for a minute, say something like "yeah, I've been seeing this guy I met at a coffee shop" or "I've been going out with friends from work", but dad can read me like an open book, so I just shake my head.

[color=mediumseagreen]"Come on, Scott. You live in a city with so much to do and you just stay at home when you're not at work or playing vigilante?"[/color]

[color=cadetblue]"I just don't see the point. Yeah, sure, I have to go to work, but that's just something I do to pay the bills. My real life is hitting the streets, saving people. Making a difference."[/color]

[color=mediumseagreen]"That's the only thing you care about?"[/color]

[color=cadetblue]"Yeah."[/color]

[color=mediumseagreen]"You should care about a lot more. Some of your friends from high school swing by sometimes to ask about you because they still think about you, they want to reconnect. You can't just throw away the people closest to you because you think it's for the greater good."[/color]

My shoulders tense up and I try my best not to look at dad. [color=cadetblue]"That doesn't matter. I can't be a hero and act like I can still live a normal life, too."[/color]

[color=mediumseagreen]"Scott. Look at me,"[/color] dad says. After a moment of hesitation, I shift my gaze over to him and he leans forward to emphasize what he's about to say. [color=mediumseagreen]"Just because you think you have to be a hero doesn't mean you have to stop being a [i]person[/i]."[/color]

I take in a breath. [color=cadetblue]"... It's my life. I'll decide what I have to be."[/color] I stand up and walk over to the door, yanking it open and stepping out.

[color=mediumseagreen]"Scott, please, don't-"[/color] I shut the door before dad can finish his sentence and rush back down the hall back into the bar proper, where the atmosphere is the same, everyone oblivious to the family drama that just took place in the back.

Normal people.

I can't ever be one of them.

I have a job to do.

I pull my headphones off my neck and put them on, [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-BtAnO9_dQ]hitting play on my phone[/url] as I walk down to the bus stop.