Shining sat at his desk, twirling a pencil around in his grasp. His office light's had been lowered to a low hue of light in an attempt to ease his headache brought on by hours of critical thinking and a caffeine crash he'd recently endured. The piles of papers on his desk stacked high into a small mountain, filled with crime scene reports, post mortem examination faxes and witness statements. Shining's anger had been steadily building over the past few weeks as he'd been ruthlessly hunting the city's infamous mob boss with no results. Every time he'd had a witness willing to come forward they either shut up or found dead in their apartment the next week, no evidence could be lifted from the crime scenes they'd examined and none of the thugs they'd arrested were even willing to admit they'd heard of a mob boss in the city. The stranglehold this guy had on the city was beginning to anger the once unstoppable crime gangs, the Vercetti's from Little Italy had been running the murder and weapons trade since they'd imported their business from Sicily after the end of the Second World War, the Harlem Viceroys had been completely shut out of the heroin trade by the newcomer that had conquered the city and even Battery City's Mexican immigrant gang had their business of cocaine and methadone, their eco-friendly version of heroin they'd been selling to try and contend with the Viceroys. In a way, Shining almost felt sorry for these guys as they'd had their decades of business and success yanked from out underneath them in a matter of years. He'd heard about the rise of this new crime lord when he was around eighteen years old before getting into the police academy. By the time he'd graduated this newcomer was a kingpin, running every thug worth a damn and killing off those who didn't work for him.

"This is getting out of hand" Shining muttered to himself, rubbing his temple with the tips of his fingers and exhaling slowly "I need to find something on this fucker before I end up getting picked off like everyone else" He'd thought about the danger working this case would bring on his family. He knew that someone could end up getting seriously hurt or that he could end up getting murdered in a drive-by while eating lunch with Cadance. He'd lay awake at night while his beautiful wife held him close, whispering to him that everything was going to be alright, that he was going to find this crime lord and put him away within the year. That was when they'd gotten married and just come back from their amazing honeymoon. That was when the both of them were twenty one years old. They were getting close to twenty six now, nearly five years of late nights and failed police raids.

"Ugh... I need some coffee" Shining sighed, pushing himself out of his desk and setting the pencil down on the desk. He walked out into the hall, stuffing his hands into his silver pant pockets, staring at his black wing-tip shoes with his fringe falling over his eyes. Before he'd started this case, when he'd first been promoted to Captain, he'd always have his white shirt clean and pressed, tucked into his black pants with a belt fastened securely around them, a matching suit jacket with a dark blue tie. The tie was his wife's idea to match his hair and his eyes, and having married a fashion designer he had no stance to argue with her and had simply gone along with it after she had given him the look. The look consisted of her placing a hand on her cocked hips, tilting her head to the side and raising both of her eyebrows whilst pursing her lips.

"Man, how the hell did I manage to land such a perfect wife?" Shining asked himself, slotting a few coins into the coffee machine and sliding the cup under the dispenser.

"I wouldn't call it trial and error son, I'd say luck" a deep, bassy voice chuckled. Shining turned his head to see his superior, a dark-skinned, large man with a thick moustache by the name of Marcus Glover.

"Commissioner, good evening sir" Shining said with a smile. He grabbed his coffee and moved to the side to let his official-superior but unofficial-friend purchase his own coffee.

"You too kid, how is the wife doing now anyway?" Glover asked.

"Great thanks sir" Shining nodded, sipping his coffee.

"And the rest of the family?" he asked, pouring an unhealthy amount of sugar into his cup.

"Just moved from Chicago into New York, Mom, Dad and Twilight too" Shining grinned.

"Good, good, I haven't seen Twilight since you and your folks brought her into the station for your induction" Glover commented "How is she?"

"She's great too, landed herself her first boyfriend now" Shining said, a bitter tone in his voice. Glover smiled at the young man, noticing the change in his posture at the mention of Twilight's new lover.

"And I'm guessing that big brother doesn't like the thought of some stranger in his little sister's bed?" he asked.

"Sir, she's only fifteen and only been dating him for a few weeks" Shining said, at first with confidence before seemingly second guessing himself "At least I hope not, I'll kill the fucker if he touches my sister like that"

"Who is the walking target by the way?" Glover queried, stirring the coffee with a wooden spoon.

"Harry Osborn" Shining answered before running a hand through his thick hair "Nah, he's a decent kid and he's got a good head on his shoulders... I think I trust him with Twilight"

"Harry Osborn?" Glover said in a surprised tone "That's quite an achievement for a first boyfriend, Twilight plays her cards right and she'll never have to work a day in her life" The two of them chuckled at the joke before Shining shook his head.

"I don't think so, Twilight wasn't raised to be a gold digger, and besides, she could make her own millions with her mind alone" Shining added.

"Yeah, she was quite the science whiz the last time we talked, explained to fully grown men why a gun goes bang when fired, completely blew their minds" Glover laughed "Pardon the pun" Shining groaned in mock disgust at the pun before drinking from his coffee.

"Yeah, she met another kid, her pen-pal from school I think, and to be honest I thought she'd hook up with him" Shining shrugged, debating whether to add more sugar, contemplating his wife's advice that more sugar would ruin his body-builder physique. Carefully discarding the suggestion he poured a small tube of sugar into his cup and stirred it thoroughly, enjoying the taste of the beverage much more.

"Oh?" Glover hummed "And who was that?"

"Kid named Peter Parker, and for the first time I think Twilight's met someone who might be an intellectual match for her, if not close to it" Shining explained "I nearly punched the kid square in the jaw for eyeing up my wife, though" Glover rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall.

"You need to stop threatening everyone kid, it's not good for your image" Glover said with a chuckle.

"I can't help it, I'm very protective of the girls in my life" Shining laughed, sipping from his cup again "And you're right, I shouldn't threaten the kid, he doesn't have a chance with Cadance"

"Why is that Shining?" Glover asked.

"Because, he's a nerdy kid with no game, can barely hold a conversation with a woman and wouldn't know where to put himself if a woman decided she liked him and made a move" Shining described, taking a large gulp from his coffee.

"Stop me if I'm wrong, but, so were you at his age" Glover grinned "And Cadance fell for you, didn't she? Shining froze in place, his eyes widening in shock. He looked at Glover straight in the eyes before speaking into his cup.

"Fuck" was all he said. Glover laughed loudly at the younger man's reaction before patting him on the shoulder.

"I'd keep an eye on that kid if I were you, he might just pull the rug out from under you" Glover joked. Shining finished his cup, now feeling slightly sour at the fact he may have competition before nodding quickly.

"Alright boss, great to talk to you but I've got a fuck-ton of work to get done before I can go home" Shining said.

"Right then, see you later kid" Glover nodded, finishing his coffee and throwing it into the stationed trash can. The two turned and walked back to their offices and Shining slumped back into his desk, waiting a few minutes before the caffeine kicked in. He was ready to pick up his pencil and start working again before his phone went off in his pocket, buzzing loudly in its silent function. He slipped it out of his pocket and checked the caller ID.

"Cadance... oh shit" Shining said, realizing what day it was. He answered the phone and put it to his ear, waiting for his wife to greet him first.

"Hey honey, uh, are you gonna be home soon?" Cadance asked "I'm getting kinda lonely drinking by myself"

"Sorry babe, I'm not gonna be able to make it home any time soon" Shining sighed "I've got a hell of a lotta work to get finished before I can leave, do you wanna head to bed and I'll wake you when I get home?"

"Shiny, you promised me that you'd be home by now" Cadance moped, her misery seeping through the phone "And you also promised that you wouldn't let work get between our special nights, remember?" Shining rubbed his eyes with a hand, guilt welling up in his chest before he spoke again.

"I know, I know and I'm really sorry, but this work needs to be done and then I'll be home as soon as possible" Shining pleaded.

"Is this work that needs to be finished or work that you want to finish?" she asked angrily.

"Cadance..." Shining said.

"Well, what is it Shining-" Cadance began before a loud shattering sound cut her off, followed by an agonized scream and the line going dead. Alarms went off in Shining's head, frantic thoughts and theories blasting through his mind as to what the fuck had just happened.

"Cadance... Cadance!" He roared down the line before throwing his phone across the room. He yanked open his desk and retrieved his gun, belting it onto his waist and nearly throwing his chair out from underneath him.

Shining sprinted up the stairs, his great height allowing him to take them four at a time. His white shirt was soaked through from the pouring rain outside and his hair was plastered to his head, droplets falling off as he made it to the penthouse landing. The door to his apartment was lying in pieces inside the apartment with the furniture inside the hall destroyed. grabbing his gun from his belt, he dashed inside and aimed the gun, checking corner after corner before he came into the living room where he saw a sight that made his heart drop.

"Cadance!" he screamed, sprinting over to his wife's body, lying in a pool of her own blood. He dropped to his knees and placed two fingers on a vein on her neck. After holding his breath he could feel a very faint pulse, signifying that she was alive. He frantically looked her over, his rage building and mixing with his anguish as he saw her injuries. Both of her hands were cut and bleeding, fingers dislocated with large gashes running up her arms. Her shirt had been torn off and there were bruises and cuts all over her stomach and chest, one of her arms wrenched from the socket with violent hand marks on her neck with blood on her nose, forehead and mouth. Her eyes were black and her mouth was swollen, blood running from her lip and down to her chin. Her hair was clumped and stuck together with her own blood with several strands having been torn and slashed. He turned her over and checked her back, looking like she had been stomped on repeatedly.

"Armour!" a voice yelled, Glover's voice, from the entrance.

"In here!" he roared back, holding back his anger and tears as he held his wife close to him. Glover ran in and surveyed the scene before his eyes fell onto Cadance.

"Fuck me" he gasped, his eyes wide and terrified.

"Call an ambulance!" Shining hollered, looking at his wife's battered face as her eyelids fluttered gently. He lifted his head up and roared a primal, strained curse that caused the strings of the guitar in the corner to vibrate loudly, tears dripping onto his wife's chest as he began to weep in pure rage. Next Chapter: Aftermath Estimated time remaining: 15 Hours, 14 Minutes