“Isn’t it nice to sit here in this diner and eat an omelet…” said Luke eating, as a 40-year-old detective was staring daggers into his very being, “just the… two of us… alone… one of us with a loaded gun!”

“How long have you been beating my daughter?” asked the father

“Alright I’ll bite Detective Stoe, I haven’t been beating your daughter,” Luke said raising his hands to his shoulders

“Hands on the table…” Luke lowered his arms to his leg, which he obliged

“We’ve been sparring sir”

“Comes home, bruised like an apple. You on the other hand fit as a fiddle”

“She’s strong, but lacks training” Luke answered, “She hasn’t trained as I have and it would clearly show”

“So abusing her makes you proud of your accomplishments does it?”

“Far from it, do you think I enjoy seeing her like that? Any human would cringe at her condition.”

“Then why didn’t you stop fighting”

“Because she didn’t”, Luke responded instantly, “You think she would stay down after one loss? No, of course not, she’s stubborn and you know it. Most of the fights couldn’t end due to the fact that she didn’t stop swinging”

“So, she wanted to get hurt?”

“YES!” Jessie had finally found them

“Sweetie, I’ll talk to you after-”

“AFTER WHAT? YOU SHOOT HIM?” Jessie shouted

The other patrons in the diner started looking in their direction, looking a tad bit anxious.

“It’s okay, I’m a detective and she’s joking” Stoe had said trying to settle the patrons down

“AM I?” Jessie butted in

The detective paid for their meal hurriedly and walked outside into a black Charger with our duo by their shoulders.

“Shouting I have a gun isn’t okay Jessie,” Stoe said disgruntled

“A lot better if it wasn’t on you, which it isn’t supposed to be, might I add”

“I’m working a case”

“ON LUKE?” Jessie said hysterically

“I feel like I bring you guys a lot of tension in your relationship, maybe we could try a breathing technique I learned. Ready one-tw-” Luke interjected trying to stop the frantic yelling

“SHUT UP”

“SHUT UP” Jessie and her father both shouted at the same time, having caught that, they paused

“Ok,” Luke said a bit dejected

“If you wanted training you could’ve come to m-”

“Could I have? Look me in my eyes and tell me I could’ve come to you to learn how to fight…”

Stoe looked at his daughter and opened his mouth, but quickly closed it.

“Do you have to get training from him? I mean look at you. How can I let him do this you?” he asked sternly

“He won’t”

“How do you know he won’t?” He asked finally

“Because I’ll listen to him,” she said affirmatively, “If he says to stop then I’ll stop, no back-punches”

“Back-punches?”

“It’s like back-stabbing but with fists” Luke interjected before a momentary pause, “I’ll stay quiet now”

After that comment, the silence in the car was extraordinary. The thoughts, while remaining inside, were extremely loud. After what seemed like an eternity. Detective Stoe broke the silence.

“Everyday… I want you to show me the extent of injuries you get… and if I see a smidge too much… I’m arresting him and grounding you. Understand?”

After the shock of his compromise settled on Jessie’s face, “YES, yes, of course. I will never get grounded because of that”

“Get out of here now, and get home safe”, Stoe warned, “Don’t want you falling down more stairs”

“So not what happened!” Jessie exclaimed

Jessie walked out of the car and waited for Luke was still sitting in the car. He looked at her through the window and signaled her to wait.

“Sir, if I may, and excuse me if you can’t but… about that case, why do you have your gun and badge outside of work hours” Luke asked cautiously

“You know that’s police info right,” the detective said, but Luke sat there with a curious face, “there’s been a series of robberies happening because of a pyromaniac… he burns the camera and leaves while setting off a ball of fire that shoots into the sky. He vanishes into plain air. He’s dangerous and we’re not sure what exactly he wants to steal next. Know anything about that”

“All I know is that a detective is worried, and quite frankly it’s making me worried too”

“We’re keeping it under wraps, he takes his time to decide a shop and it seems to be at random. The public would panic if we don’t have anything solid… You know why I’m telling you this, right?” He said while looking at Luke through the rearview mirror nodding slowly, “She trusts you, don’t fail her”

“You should know” Luke paused, “She’s doing this because of you”

Luke walked out of the car and started talking to Jessie. They started walking down the street. Detective Stoe sat there. He proceeded to pull out a file from the cupboard labeled, “PROMETHEUS”. “What the hell is this world coming to?”