Nick's car squealed as he quickly parked it. He was frantic as he unhooked his seat belt. Cold sweat beaded down his forehead like melting cream and he breathed heavily. He got out and started to run.

It was a snowy December night in the city, but he kept running. He was afraid. He didn't know if he was being watched or not, but that didn't matter to him right now. Each crunch in the brown slush was in rhythm with his heartbeat. His arms went as wild and as fast as his legs. He searched through all the alleyways. She had to be here somewhere, and he feared the worst. He couldn't let her be killed also.

Nick finally got to a run-down alley that smelled of drugs and dumpsters. Shopping carts full of crushed aluminum cans and old dirty clothes were scattered around. This was a haven for the homeless and vigilantes, no doubt. These were their homes. Why would they all leave so suddenly in the middle of night? Nick knew, and his heart sank. She had to have been here, and of stead of getting help, they fled in case cops would come. He pulled back one of the rat-infested dumpsters and there, sprawled out in the deep snow, was Sapphire. Her eschewed body lay lifelessly and unconscience. Blood oozed from her stomach and all her equipment had been ripped from her body. She'd been wounded by one of Them. He couldn't believe she had slipped up, but he knew it would have eventually come.

Cursing, Nick cradled her body in his arms. Not another one, he didn't want to be responsible for her too. "Sapphire," he said boldly, his throat tightening.

Her eyes opened slightly, and she coughed. "Hey," she said weakly. She forced out a smile, but it faded.

"I'm sorry," Nick insisted. "I told you this would happen."

Sapphire nodded, her blue eyes blurring.

"Are you over?"

She nodded. "I'll die if I don't get help." Her eyes shifted a bit. "How have I…"

"You've done great. You're so brave." He was glad that Sapphire was retiring, because he didn't want her to die in his arms. She had made the wise choice instead of the honorable one. She would no longer work with him, no longer be his aide in the fight against murder, crime, and evil.

Sapphire moaned and used her last bit of strength to fight back stinging tears as Nick carried her and ran back to the car. He slipped her into the back seat and lay her down, putting a bandage over her stomach.

"While you're down there…" she said weakly.

Nick gave her a strange look. "What?"

"It's in my right boot."

He took it off, and sure enough, it was there. The small microchip fell out and hit the carpeted floor. He picked it up gently. He glanced up at her, and was impressed.

Sapphire smiled. Her last mission was glorious. "Man, I'm good."

After making an anonymous drop-off at the near by hospital, Nick was well on his way to his show that night. There was still an hour and a half until the concert started. Driving up to the back of the venue, it took him nearly 15 minutes to get through security, which made him angry. Couldn't they see it was him?

In a matter of minutes he was dressed in his first outfit for that night's concert, behind the stage. While waiting, he sat on a turned over black chest, slouched over. He had made it, again, and he had had another devastating day, again. He would never see Sapphire again, now that she had agreed to give up. Give up? No, Nick thought. That really wasn't the right word. Giving up was for losers, and Sapphire had proven herself a winner multiple times. But now she would go back to living a normal life, pretending to have never known him. They had worked together for nearly two years, and Nick knew she had done an excellent job. Could he ever find another person to fill her place? Did he want to keep doing all of this, in secret?

He looked up, and blinked, as if dazed. A bright orange basketball bounced in front of him. It reminded him of the steady and terrifying thuds of his feet on the frozen sidewalk when he was looking for his partner. He forced a bright, beautiful, smile. "Hey, Brian."

Brian smiled back and held the ball. "Are you ok, man?" He sat down next to his best friend on the overturned chest.

"Yeah, really tired."

Brian began spinning the ball on his finger. "Yeah, me too." He paused. They heard the fans in the arena, screaming as they started chanting: BSB, BSB, BSB…

The chanting got louder, and Brian's deep blue eyes seemed to get brighter. "I don't think I'll ever get tired of that."

Nick laughed a little. It had been a day of loss, but at least he still had his real job, at least he still had his best friend, and the fans. That gave Nick a sense of hope. "You ready?" He asked Brian.

"I'm ready!" He shot up, and Nick joined him. Soon they met up with the other Boys and dancers.

That night the Backstreet Boys concert was flawless. Every Boy sounded and looked great. Even Nick was perfect, though his mind was forever clouded.