I rolled my shoulders, feeling a slight tightness. All week, I've been doing nothing but sparring and testing out new moves with Gavin. Even with my healing factor, getting hit by a Dempsey roll, along with several hard body shots, didn't feel exactly pleasant. Which I could feel even today. I yawned, rubbing my eyes.

  I didn't get much sleep last night, as I was out at night doing...stuff. Doing Red Justice stuff, but not in my usual threads. My suit is still being repaired, so I brought up some old clothes and winter gloves and haphazardly tried to look presentable. Lastly, to protect my identity, I put on a ski mask. Yeah, I totally looked like a robber, then again, maybe my short height would make people less intimidated by me?

  So yeah, I went out at night. Beating up a couple of rough scumbags, wannabe gangsters, thieves and overall it was a physical night. Usually, as Red Justice, I would be louder, more spectacular, and help out someone publicly. But I didn't want Gavin to know, so I did things more lowkey. I couldn't help it. I know I'm going behind Gavin's back, but Red Justice hasn't shown for about five days!

  Who knows how people got hurt or harmed while I wasn't there! Hopefully, my suit would be repaired today as its a Friday. I reached the school, and students chatted and talked about the most mundane things. Then I spotted him in front of me, his back turned, but I knew it was him. Jimmy.

  I jogged to reach him, tapping his shoulder. He freezes before turning his head slightly, not showing his face.

  "Oh, hey, Ben. Good morning."

  He tried to move away, but I quickly moved in front to ask him where he's been, but I froze like a deer in headlights. I blinked rapidly before my face turned white like paper. Jimmy quickly turned his head so only his right face was showing.

  "...What happened?"

  "...It's nothing." Jimmy released a deep sigh. "I just got into a fight with someone."

  "Jimmy..."

  Then he looks straight at me. He got a black eye on his left face, swollen to the point where his blue iris is barely peaking out. It's not just that, he looks rattled, messier. And in both eyes, there were bags under them, implying that he didn't get the best sleep in the world. Overall, he looked like someone who survived getting attacked by a wild animal.

  "Look, I'm fine, okay?" He pushed me slightly as he walked past to get to class.

  I stared at his back, as my heart filled with worry and guilt. Obviously, Gavin's plan with the child services didn't work out. Damn it, why didn't it work? Wait, is the reason Jimmy looks that way that we called child services? I could already imagine it, the door closed as Thomas gave them a charming smile as he waved the inspectors away.

  But now alone, he goes to Jimmy's room and he...my blood boils. I gritted my teeth. The hallway was loud. Lockers slamming. People are laughing. Someone yelling about a math test as if it were the end of civilization.

  Everyone was normally unaware that a student like them was being hurt by their own parents. It wasn't their fault, I know that; they have no clue. But the way everyone is just being...normal, ignoring that Jimmy has a black eye and honestly, with his reputation, I wouldn't be surprised that someone out there is happy that he got hurt. That ticked me off. I could feel it.

  That familiar heat in my chest. That furious fire that wants to unleash that upon that sorry excuse of a man. I could wait after school. Follow Thomas home. Make sure nobody was around.

  Just one punch. And then I'll threaten him, make sure that he never touches even a hair on Jimmy. To show him what it's like to be the victim. It would be so easy, and honestly, even without powers, my recent training with Gavin, I was fairly confident I would knock him down. Problem solved.

  Jimmy would be safe, and that would be all that matters. Then I pause, forcing myself to control my anger, remembering Gavin's words. The police will believe him; he'll lie through his teeth with that fake charming smile. And if they connect it back to us calling child services...

  My stomach twisted. It wasn't just that. Gavin is right, I have no idea what he's capable of. He could panic and, like a wild animal, do something drastic. Maybe even putting Jimmy in a body bag, that's an event that I cannot let happen. I let out a shaky breath.

  I'm not supposed to lose control like that. I silently walked to my classroom, then to my desk. Jimmy avoided looking at me like I was Medusa. I pressed my forehead against the cold wood of my desk. I have to be smart.

  If I mess up, Jimmy pays the price, not me. I need proof. Something solid. Something he can't smile his way out of. Maybe talk to Jimmy alone. Maybe tell Gavin.

  He seems to know everything; that is an option. But...I wanted to save Jimmy now. Because part of me doesn't care about being smart. And if Thomas lays a hand on Jimmy again, I don't think I could restrain myself.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  RED

  After School / Gavin's Shop

  JUSTICE

  Gavin sipped his energy drink as he looked down at the floor with a frustrated face. I ran straight from school to here, texting my parents to let them know that I'm heading to Gavin's. That's where I am sitting on the couch, my backpack tossed near the couch, waiting for him to say something, anything. But all I get is him releasing a tired breath that escapes his lips before leaning back to his chair.

  "I got nothing."

  Huh, I think my ear failed for a minute, did I just hear him say that, he, Gavin? One of the smartest and most rational people in the world said he doesn't have a plan.

  "Excuse me?" My eyes widen before scoffing. "No, no. That's not how this works. You're supposed to have like... seventeen backup plans."

  "I usually do. But this is different, obviously, Jimmy is covering for that scumbag, which severely limits our options."

  My chest tightens. So he really did protect his father despite what he's done to him. Child services couldn't do much if the victim is protecting his abuser, but why? I don't get it, why protect that butthole? Sure, no matter what, Thomas is his father, to go this far to protect him?

  "He's scared." Said Gavin, answering the question inside my head.

  "Fear makes people loyal to the wrong person." Gavin paused, letting that sink in before continuing. "If Jimmy won't testify, won't admit abuse, won't cooperate with investigators, then child services have nothing solid. Suspicion isn't enough. A black eye isn't enough. Not legally."

  My fingers twitched before clenching my fist, and with a broken voice, I asked:

  "So what? We just wait until Jimmy ends up in the hospital?"

  Gavin looks at me with a sad look. Getting up from his chair, sat next to me on the sofa before gently hugging me. I held him tight.

  "I don't know what to do."

  He rubs my back. "It's okay, Ben. Not all of us have the answers. We can save Jimmy, I know it."

  We stayed there for several minutes until I managed to rein in my emotions. Gavin gets up, ruffing up my black hair before grabbing a soda from his mini-fridge and tossing it to me.

  "Thanks," I murmured before drinking it.

  The cool sensation of sugar invading my mouth calms me more. Gavin allowed the room to become less tense before continuing. Saying that there is another big potential reason why Jimmy is covering for his dad.

  "I've been digging through the Bullard family records." He starts. "Public filings. Hospital registry cross-references. Financial statements. I even went to the nook and cranny using malware to hack Thomas's computer."

  "Isn't that a crime?"

  "Well, isn't Red Justice a vigilante?"

  "Fair point."

  "Anyways, here."

  Gavin hands me a folder containing papers and documents. I was about to make fun of the old fart cause I have no idea what these papers mean, before I could find a name that caught my eye. Sarah Bullard. And then a photo of a woman with light blonde hair and blue eyes...that looks exactly like Jimmy's.

  "Wait," I say, looking up. "Jimmy's mom is alive?"

  I thought, with the way Jimmy spoke up about her briefly, that she had passed away. Gavin nods once.

  "She's been in a hospital for about two years. Admitted with an unidentified degenerative condition. Rapid neurological collapse. I fell into a coma shortly after."

  My heart shook, damn, that's rough. Looks like the Bullard family is more complicated than I thought. I thought of Jimmy, despite being rough and a bully, he was still calmly collected. Chill as long as you don't cross him and pay him money...wait, could it be...? Gavin continues during my musing.

  "Treatment isn't curative, but stabilization. Life support. Experimental meds. Specialists, however, it's expensive."

  "How expensive?"

  He gives me a look.

  "Incredibly."

  I look back down at the papers. Payment logs. Transfers. Holy...

  "Thomas is paying for this?" I ask quietly.

  Gavin nods, then explains that while yes other family members certainly pitch in and tribute for Sarah's Bullard, it's mainly Thomas's income that keeps the hospital from pulling the plug. My stomach drops and not even my soda could help me calm down from the dark realization.

  "If Thomas goes to jail..." I say slowly.

  "The funding likely stops," Gavin finishes.

  "And the hospital—"

  "...Doesn't run on charity."

  The way he said it felt like a blow to the liver. Harder than any attack he threw during our sparring match. I felt sick, disgusted, and horrified. And as if to make things worse, it pretty much confirms why Jimmy is such a weird bully. He isn't like his two stooges; he doesn't care about feeling superior or looking tough.

  You give him money, and he becomes chill and doesn't come after you. The money Jimmy's got from bullying other kids, he's using that tiny amount of money for his mom. This was such a messed-up situation, even if we bring Thomas to justice, Sarah Bullard just might die. Jimmy would be safe, but he would have no parents.

  "Ben, look at me," Gavin said softly.

  I did, taking a knee so we could see eye to eye.

  "Don't worry about her treatment. I'll handle it."

  "You? But-"

  "Don't worry, to the average household, her treatment may seem a lot, but don't forget I'm a millionaire and have the literal guy leading the entire country of Canada on speed dial."

  I let out a shaky sigh of relief. Thank god that I have Gavin and Jason backing me up. If I didn't have them, things would be far too complicated and tragic even for me to handle. Still, it goes to show that without Gavin, I won't be nearly as effective a hero. Without his money, I probably would have broken down making such a difficult decision.

  Yes, money. Now that I think about it, a lot of people's problems would be solved if they had more of that. I wondered if homelessness, hospitals, and charity would be much more effective if I threw thousands of dollars their way. The number of people and animals that could be saved would mean a lot more than what they currently are.

  That gives me an idea...

  "Ben?"

  I snapped from my musing and returned my focus to Gavin.

  "If we remove Thomas's leverage, Jimmy won't need to protect him financially. But legally? We still need cooperation. Jimmy's cooperation."

  "So all we need is Jimmy to talk," I mutter.

  "Yeah, pretty much."

  I swallowed a lump in my throat; it would mean that I would have to talk to him personally as Ben. I know how to save people as Red Justice. I know how to stop disasters. I know how to throw myself in front of something dangerous. But as Ben Armstrong? I don't know how to do that.

  It's not like I can talk to him as Red Justice; I might just out myself. I gripped my fists. No, don't think that way. Jimmy needs help.

  "Okay. I'll do it."