The office was in a good mood at the start of the new week, just as they had been last week. They didn’t let any case shake them; they knew how to distance themselves emotionally. Jamie was starting to envy them. The question of the unknown woman had troubled him over the weekend, and her face had begun to haunt him, even in his sleep. He was still certain it was Amelia. Yet, even after searching for her name on all social media, he found no trace of anyone by that name. She seemed like a figment of his imagination, even though he had seen her just a few days ago on the floor of the old laundromat.

“Anything new?” As he did every day, he asked the same question upon arriving at the office before moving toward his desk.

"The agents are checking out the dealer Nate ran into at the party. He finally found out who he works for. Looks like a big fish," Adrian informed him, causing an immediate frown to cross the dark-haired hero’s face. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one starting to lose his mind.

Jamie stopped two steps away from his desk and turned toward his teammate. “I know. You told me on Thursday, remember?”

Adrian paused, as if he didn’t understand what he was talking about. Then he recovered and gave Jamie an apologetic look. “Sorry, man. I must have forgotten. Maybe I should switch back to coffee.” He shifted his frown toward the cup of chamomile tea in front of him.

“Has anyone seen Xavier?” Elias appeared in the office doorway, holding a cup of coffee. He must have arrived earlier and stopped by the cafeteria for coffee. Not that there wasn't a coffee machine in the office, but they had run out of coffee long ago and always forgot to restock it.

“Among the corpses,” Adrian replied. “He went to the coroner for more results. Apparently, they had suspected a possible abduction for a while, so they had continued working in the morgue, even on Saturday.”

Although they hadn't learned anything new yet, Jamie considered this good news. The sooner this case was wrapped up, the sooner he could return to the Sunshine Boy case and breathe again.

“And Nate?” the hero with glasses asked about the other missing team member.

“He went with him,” Adrian told him. "He came in early this morning. Since he wasn’t at the crime scene, he wanted to make up for it.”

School had been taking up a lot of his time lately, and although Nate seemed confident on the surface, like he handled all his responsibilities with ease, that wasn’t entirely true. His recent patrol swap with Elias, as well as his catching up on cases early in the morning, spoke volumes.

“Did you get some rest over the weekend?”

At first, Jamie didn’t realize that Eli’s question was directed at him. When he didn’t hear Adrian respond, though, he turned his head and met a pair of brown, worried eyes.

“I’m fine,” the dark-haired hero assured his teammate. "I slept, I ate, and I'm as rested as I should be after a weekend. You don’t have to worry.”

Eli didn’t seem convinced right away, judging by the tense set of his jaw, but then he nodded and turned his attention back to his computer. After all, Mondays were their busiest day, and he couldn’t afford to waste time worrying or arguing.

A hero’s job wasn’t a typical nine-to-five. Even though they came to the office every morning and spent hours there, their work didn’t end once they went home. Every evening, someone from the team had patrol duty, and sometimes they even patrolled during the day if the city seemed restless. They also had to stay alert on weekends. At any moment, they could be called to respond to a situation that regular police officers or Legion agents couldn’t handle. Usually, one team member was assigned to be on standby in case of emergencies, but sometimes they needed all of them, though that wasn’t common. It had been a while since they’d encountered a villain with superpowers who intended to commit serious crimes.

What they didn’t do on weekends, however, was search databases, so they had to catch up on Mondays. As usual, Jamie took charge of browsing police reports while Adrian looked through paramedic reports, and Elias reviewed those from firefighters. It was the same old routine as every day.

The dark-haired hero immersed himself in his work, relishing the fact that he finally had something that could occupy his mind, if only temporarily. It allowed him to work mechanically, keeping his thoughts from drifting back to the thing that had kept him up for days. It was just clicking, scrolling, and reading over and over again.

An hour later, the remaining two team members joined the three heroes already in the office, interrupting his work. However, the older one’s expression didn’t carry the seriousness Jamie had expected.

“What did you find out?” he asked impatiently.

"It wasn't a murder," Xavier replied. While he acted as if that didn't surprise him, Jamie frowned, unable to understand how a clear homicide case had suddenly turned into something else.

"So what is it then?" The hero needed the answer as soon as possible because he felt, once again, as if he were the only one in the room missing something obvious.

“She overdosed,” the team leader said, and Jamie couldn’t believe his ears. None of the evidence they had seen at the crime scene suggested suicide, let alone drug overdose. The syringe, which was clearly from a laboratory and not from a cheap dealer, made that clear.

“What about her injuries?”

“The blood on her knees was caused by a fall. She must have fallen while the fentanyl dulled her senses,” Xavier began to explain, and with every word, the hero in glasses frowned more and more. "The blood on her chest came from scratches. Her own DNA was found under her nails, so the coroner assumes she scratched her chest while trying to breathe. The abrasion on her elbow suggests that she crawled on the ground and scraped herself against something rough while trying to orient herself.”

The coroner had not shown them any of the listed injuries, focusing only on her head and face. But suddenly, those suspicious bruises and cuts no longer seemed important.

"Additionally, the injection in her arm was the biggest indicator that she died from paralysis of the respiratory system caused by an excessive dose of the drug," Xavier added. At that moment, Jamie felt like they were dealing with an entirely different case.

"Injection in the arm?" he repeated.

"On her left arm. Belinda was right-handed, so it makes sense that she could have administered the drug herself.”

The dark-haired hero initially wanted to point out that they hadn’t found the syringe at the crime scene. However, he then realized the more important information the team leader had just revealed.

“Belinda?”

Xavier nodded. “Her name is Belinda Alvarez. She had past issues with the police because she was involved with a drug dealer. At the time, she was clean and claimed she didn’t know anything about his activities, so there was no reason to arrest her.”

“So that’s it?” Jamie tried to maintain a calm tone, but he was failing and beginning to fear that he sounded like a lunatic. Even worse, he was starting to believe he was one. “First, the police thought it was a murder, but now they say she just overdosed?”

"Jamie," Xavier's tone became more cautious as if he were afraid of his next reaction. "She was found in a place where addicts commonly meet. She probably thought it would be safe from the police, so she could use. She misjudged the dose.”

"And her other injuries?" The desperate hero clung to the last shred of evidence that worked in his favor—or at least he hoped it did.

"The scratches were caused by the syringe she was holding, according to the coroner. The bruises were darker, meaning they had happened earlier. The coroner gave several examples, from bumping her head on something with a round cap to accidentally hitting herself with the syringe cover due to uncoordinated movements." Of course, Xavier had a perfect explanation for all of this, leaving Jamie frozen and grasping at the last fragments of his sanity.

It couldn't be true. It simply couldn’t be. But Jamie had nothing else to hold onto, and every explanation seemed to work against him. What good was it that he believed he hadn’t made up the name Amelia?

"I—" he began, but didn't finish, not knowing how to defend what was happening to him at that moment.

And just like that, the case was closed. A sleepless weekend had taken a toll on Jamie’s mental health for nothing. Moreover, judging by the looks his teammates were giving him, it was clear that they didn’t know how to respond to his emotional breakdown. Adrian would always speak up when he saw someone struggling, trying to help, and Elias rarely managed to stay silent, no matter the situation. But now, both were quiet. Even Nate seemed uncomfortable, probably wishing he could miss another day at the office. All eyes were on Jamie, even though they tried to act as if they weren’t judging him.

"Jamie." A firm hand landed on his shoulder—the commander’s—and he knew what was coming. The hero in glasses closed his eyes, knowing there was nothing left to do but wait for the words he dreaded. They were probably the best solution right now, though.

“How about you go home and take the day off?”

Although he had expected Xavier’s suggestion, he hadn’t expected another day off. He thought he would simply be sent home and allowed to return to work tomorrow as usual, but the commander had decided to sideline him for longer.

Jamie inhaled to protest but, after a brief glance at the faces of his teammates, realized he had no choice. "All right. I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize. You work a lot. It was about time you took a break,” Xavier assured him. To his credit, he sounded genuinely sincere, as if he didn’t think Jamie had lost his mind completely.

So the dark-haired hero packed his things, forced himself to his feet, and, without giving his teammates another look, headed to his apartment in the same building. At least thanks to that, he wouldn’t have to worry about getting lost in his own head so deeply that cars or people bumping into him could become dangerous.

The bigger problem was that he didn't know what to do with the rest of the day, let alone another day off. Jamie was accustomed to immersing himself in work, skipping sleep, and forgetting to eat. Time off was an unfamiliar concept to him.

First, he went to his closet to change. Even though he had only recently put on his work clothes, he couldn't wear chinos if he was going to accept staying home, so he exchanged them for plain sweatpants.

Then, he headed to the kitchen but quickly realized that his constant work schedule meant his fridge was practically empty except for a carton of eggs and a bottle of ketchup. A quick check of the cabinets revealed that there weren't many options there either: just instant ramen and popcorn. Jamie specialized in long-shelf-life food.

With no other ideas, the hero grabbed a bag of popcorn and put it in the microwave. While it spun on the glass turntable, he moved to the living room and turned on the TV. He knew nothing normal would be on at this hour, so he went straight to the streaming services menu. True crime was his favorite genre, but the thought of watching it didn't appeal to him as usual, so he chose a random movie.

He would have preferred to add wine or tequila to the mix, but since he didn't have any food at home, he certainly didn't have any alcohol either. He didn't drink often, only when long-term stress from work overwhelmed him or when he failed to save people. It didn't happen often, but every extinguished life took its toll on him.

Luckily, today he was bothered only by a troubled mind, not his conscience. Not that that was much better.

Holding the popcorn, he sat on the sofa, started the movie, and tried to find a comfortable position. One movie turned into two, and two turned into three. Although his stomach started rumbling, he ignored it. He didn't have an appetite, even though his body protested.

Before he knew it, crumbs were on his shirt, his head was in an awkward position that would later give him a sore neck, and he fell asleep.

Beep... beep... beep...

Jamie opened his eyes, confused, not remembering when he had set the alarm.

The annoying beeping wouldn't stop, so he groggily pushed himself into a sitting position and turned his head until he heard a crack in his neck. Then he finally stood up.

Beep... beep... beep...

It didn't sound like his usual alarm, but it had to be it, so the hero headed to the bedroom. Like every morning, he pressed the button on top without looking to turn it off.

However, the beeping still wouldn't stop.

After difficult days at work and time off he hadn't planned for, Jamie's patience was wearing thin. After the button didn't work the second time, he decided on a more radical solution. The alarm clock met the wall at a speed it couldn't handle and although it shattered into several pieces…

Beep... beep... beep…

Jamie's frustration escalated, and he did the only thing he could think of.

The cabinet in his bathroom was much better stocked than the ones in the kitchen. Without bothering to look at his reflection, he opened the cabinet behind the mirror and automatically grabbed a bottle of sleeping pills. If he was going to truly rest during his time off, there was no other way. Not with the annoying alarm clock, the uncomfortable couch, or his thoughts.

He tossed two pills into his mouth and leaned toward the faucet to drink.

He raised his head, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and closed the cabinet door. He almost turned back to leave, but then he blinked, confused, and shifted his gaze back to his reflection. Incomprehensibly, he raised his fingers to his forehead and noticed a strange bruise that definitely hadn't been there that morning. What was stranger, though, was its perfect circular shape and placement. It was almost as if he had seen it somewhere before.

The hero shook his head, convinced his mind was playing tricks on him. Although sleeping pills couldn't react that quickly, he attributed some weight to them as well. Therefore, he decided it would be best to follow through with his original plan.

When he lay back down on the couch because the alarm clock in his room continued to beep, he had no idea that this agonizing day off was not the end but merely the loud beginning.