7 years ago…(Exactly one year after his birthday.)

A leg kicked Evan on his side. A punch to his nose. Another kick to his ribcage and he was down. Bleeding and bruised in numerous places, Evan lay on the cold cement floor of the training room, struggling to breathe.

“You’ve gotten better, but you’re still far from good.” Reid said to him as he offered him a hand.

He took it. “Thanks. I’ve been practicing.”

“I can tell. Quite impressive.” He gulped down water from a bottle.

“I heard Clarice sent you on another mission lately?”

“Yeah, she did. There was an attack on the suburbs recently.”

Evan nodded. “How many died?”

Reid hesitated. “A lot Evan. A lot. More than I can count.”

They both stood in silence for several minutes to honor the dead.

“So you’ve been secretly practicing by yourself at night eh?” Reid said.

Evan was about to reply with an equally snotty comment when a too pale assistant entered the room. “Sir-Evan- you have a call from the authorities.”

He raised an eyebrow in question. “What for?”

The assistant paled even more. “They did not go into specifics about it but, they did mention that it was about your sister.”

At that one word ‘sister’ his face fell and his heart plummeted. If the authorities had to get in contact with him, it must’ve been a serious matter. ‘Oh Emmeline, what trouble did you cause this time?’

He followed the assistant to the lobby and anxiously picked up the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hello, are we speaking to Evan Loughty? Brother of Emmeline Loughty?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

“Sir-I’m sorry to have to inform you but your sister has passed away.”