Brown slumped on the ground with Valkyrie next to him. The wind was chilly in December but they were rather warm and sweating. A three-storey house was burning right in front of them and with no way of escape. Anyone inside were trapped in this hellish flame.

Old Man Arc burnt his own place to stop anyone from capturing him. Instead of suffering in prison, he would rather die in his own place. It was as if he already expected that they were coming and had placed several remote bombs inside her own abode. Before they could even get to him, he detonated everything and blew her own roof.

"That man was insane." Brown commented. "As one of the Four Herald Bosses, he was rather stupid and dumb." He added.

"He must have wanted to put an end to his crime and to his life. Well, it saved us time and a space in jail." Valkyrie responded. "I wonder if Hawk and Savannah managed to take his underlings."

"Not yet. If they did it, she would have called us already."

The four of them were divided into two pairs again. Brown and Valkyrie were asked to take down the mastermind behind the abduction of children who were sold to different families as sex slaves. Hawk and Savannah were tasked to take care if his underlings who were responsible for abduction.

"How do I say this..uh..don't you think it was kind of easier and quicker? Do you think he blew himself together with his house?" Brown asked in wonder. It was true that they have been observing the man from a distance but when they came to surprisingly catch him, they were overwhelmed with the number of bombs and it wasn't even a minute after they reached that the two of them ran away, scampering off like a little squirrel running for his life. Splinters and debris flew from all direction as they fled from the place, stumbled and fell on the pavement while other households look over as to what happened.

They were able to see the man himself standing with a detonator in the middle of his spacious living room but they weren't so sure now.

"We will know once the fire fighters put off the flame. I don't think he will be burn to ashes." Valkyrie's eyes reflected the scene from hell in front of him. The flame rose, reaching for the sky but the fire fighters rained it with so much water. His right hand was covering his left arm that was wounded from the splinter and debris. The blood was dripping on the ground and it took Brown quite sometime before he noticed it.

It wasn't because he neglected him that he didn't notice the wound but Valkyrie was lying on the ground, hiding his arm out of his field of vision. Brown choked up and stood up from where he was lying. "There should be a medic from the fire fighter's group. Let's get your wound tended to first."

Valkyrie nodded his head and reached out his right arm so that Brown can pull him up. "Don't cry. This is far from my intestine. I won't just die because of this."

"Who the hell is crying?!" Brown retorted while wiping away his tears. He wasn't really a cry baby but every time Valkyrie gets hurt, he would cry from guilt. Because Valkyrie would be wounded in order to protect him. Just like in this mission, when they were running away earlier, he remembered that Valkyrie hugged him and the two of them stumbled before getting up and ran again. It was probable because he saw a sharp thing coming towards him and he used his own body to shield him from it.

Valkyrie just chuckled while rubbing her head. "Just reward me something after this."

"Tsk! Who will reward a foolish man like you?"

"You, of course."

"Shut up! I might ask them to sew your mouth instead of your wound."

"It wouldn't do you good if you ask them to stitch my sweet mouth. After all, my mouth is better than my hands, don't you think so?"

"La la la la la la la la la la la la la…" Brown didn't want to hear anymore of his nonsense. It would only increase the beating of his heart and lose his mind. He dragged him to one of the waiting ambulances and asked one of the doctors to aid his partner. The chief of the fire fighters asked them some question and they answered truthfully to gain cooperation.

Just as the two were resting, waiting for the firemen to put off the fire, Savannah called and exclaimed happily. "We did it! We can finally celebrate a peaceful Christmas with everyone!"

"You are done in your end?" Brown asked the obvious. "That is good for you. In our case we needed to make sure if the man is really dead or if he was also able to escape." Even though it was impossible to get out from that explosion, Brown and Valkyrie didn't want to overlook any possibilities. It was their job to make sure that the mastermind won't escape. If the man is still alive, it would be their demerit and they might be suspended from work. Though suspension isn't really a bad thing, it will still tarnish your record and Calhoun might pull them out from his group.

"Wait for us there. We are on the way." Savannah informed them and ended the call. This was what people often say, 'all for one, one for all'. They wanted to celebrate Christmas together so it was natural that they would come to help.

Brown put down his phone and looked towards Valkyrie. "They will be here in a moment. I just hope that everything will be fine. I want to go home and have fun."

"We will go home soon." Valkyrie assured him with a smile. Not long after, one of the firemen came to inform them that it was safe to come to the burned house.

The majestic house earlier was now a black of ashes and charcoal. There were few smokes here and there but there wasn't any fire anymore. The heat wave from the fire earlier wasn't all gone but it was already doable for someone to come. Brown took a pair of gloves from the rescuers and wore it. It was to makes sure that he won't get burn from the lingering heat on the metal and other materials.

The two of them walked towards the burnt living room and found nothing that remains of the standing man earlier. "I guess he died from the impact of the explosion. Explosion comes first before the flame so I think his body was scattered from the impact before it was burnt to ashes." Brown stated. It wasn't just his assumption but from the factual things that he knew.

The continued to walk and covered almost all nook and cranny of the house but they couldn't find anyone's bones. "Officers, I found a head over here." One of the rescuers called. He was just about to come up and see if there was anyone who died from the second floor and the third floor when he saw a skull under some rubbles and stones.

Valkyrie and Brown were still looking around at the ground floor since that was where they saw the man; just didn't expect him to be blown away towards the staircase. The two of the approached them man who called them and looked at the dark skull.

"If there isn't anyone else in this house, this skull must be from the one we're looking for. Can we ask someone to come and fetch this for DNA analysis?" Valkyrie questioned the rescuer who called them.

"Yes, sir. I have reported this to the chief as well. He should be sending someone to get this.' And sure enough, after he was done talking, someone came with a bag to get the bones of the dead. "I'll take a look upstairs and let you know if I find any other body."

"Thank you so much for your assistance." Brown gave him a salute before helping the other rescuer picked up the intact bones. The lower half was nowhere to be found so, they retreated and kept the upper remains of the body.

Savannah and Hawk also arrived and spotted the two of them immediately. Savannah checked the two of them from head-to-toe and front-and-back. "I can't believe you're hurt again." Savannah mumbled when she saw the state of Valkyrie.

"To be wounded on behalf of him is my greatest honor." Valkyrie responded which earned him two sets of rolling eyes. "I don't want my father to flare up if he knew that Evan is wounded. If I am wounded, he would be angry and kill of the enemies in one go. If Evan is wounded, he would become extremely angry, kill of the enemies in one go, scold me to death and refuse me to see Evan again. Do you see the difference?"

Hawk and Savannah nodded their heads like a hen pecking some grains. What he said was true and base on experience and observation. "Anyway, it would be great if the test result will be out as soon as possible. In that way, we can surprise them of our arrival once again." Savannah happily stated, her eyes sparkling without any shade of gloominess. Still in the dark of what was happening to their friend.