Morning comes and Brandon is riding his bike looking around alleys. He asks some people if they have seen the two as he has photos of them. With no clues as to where Eveline and Maria are, he continues to ride as his eyes look as he had not slept since the kidnapping had happened. While on his bike ride he eventually stops on the sidewalk that is above the sewer water as it flows away.

Brandon: *looks at cell phone* Sorry guys, but I have to find them. I have to save them from those psychopaths, no matter what the cost.

Getting ready to ride once again, he hears a sound like someone coughing as if they were drowning. He looks down the bridge he is on and sees someone in a cloak and on their stomach struggling to move. At first he doesn’t want to deal with it and move on, but decides to go help him as he began to feel guilty to just leave someone in need.

Brandon: Hey, you okay?

With no response Brandon tries to help him, but before he can flip him over the cloaked individual shrugs Brandon off as he starts to breathe again.

Brandon: Hey sorry I grabbed you, just wanted to help.

As Brandon starts to walk away, he then gets a response in a deep voice.

Cipher: … *deep voice* Thanks. (Why the hell did I speak?)

When Brandon looks at the guy, he cannot see his face as he has it hidden beneath the hood.

Brandon: No prob. I’m not gonna ask what you were doing here, but is it okay if I ask you one thing? Have you seen these people? *shows the photos* They’re important to me.

Looking at the photos Cipher, notices that they are of his mother, Maria Avalon, and a girl that he saved before. He shakes his head. Then Brandon’s cell phone rings and as he looks at it he sees its Marshall calling him. Before he can ignore it he stops and looks at it once more to answer it. At first Marshall starts to yell at him as Brandon could have gotten hurt while looking for him and scolds him for having Sharon and Iris worry even more. As Brandon exhaustingly says sorry, he asks if they had found anything about the kidnapping.

Marshall: Maria is here with me in the hospital. She’ll be fine but she needs some time to recover. Looks like they were torturing her for a bit, but she’ll live.

Brandon: What hospital is she staying at?

Marshall: Beverly Hospital.

Brandon: Beverly? That’s close to where I’m at. I’ll be there shortly. *hangs up*

After hanging up the phone, he looks to the hooded individual as he still is unable to see his face.

Brandon: Well since nothing is wrong with you, I’m gonna get going.

Cipher notices that Brandon looks incredibly tired and is somewhat wobbling. As Brandon turns he loses his balance and begins to fall. Before he hits the ground Cipher catches him from behind, causing a wound on his head to open and a drop of blood lands onto Brandon’s cheek.

Cipher: Get some sleep you idiot. You push yourself like this again and you’ll only be a liability even if you find that girl.

Brandon’s eyes close from exhaustion as he passes out. After seeing he is asleep, Cipher lays him on the wall and wipes his blood off of Brandon’s cheek. He then gets the cell phone from Brandon’s hand and tries to use it but is having trouble since he can barely use a touch screen phone with his claws. He sees Iris’s phone address and thinks about calling but instead tries to go to Marshall’s address, only to accidentally make a call to Iris. He fumbles with the phone to try to end the call but is too late as Iris picks up almost instantly.

Iris: Hey dumbass where the hell are you?! Mom’s worried sick and I’m out here looking for you! Dad just called telling us Maria is at the hospital now. Where are you so I can pick your dumbass up?

After hearing her voice, Cipher just begins to smile as he hasn’t heard her voice for a long time.

Cipher: (Still sounding like a pain in the ass huh.)

Iris: Well? Aren’t you going to answer?

Cipher: *deep voice* He’s going to be okay. At the moment he’s-

Iris: WHO IS THIS!

Cipher: Ow! Hey you didn’t need to yell like that you know! That loud ass voice of yours could have popped my eardrum!

Iris: Aright then, who is this that I’m speaking to?

Cipher: *clears throat for deep voice* Like I was trying to say, he’s fine at the moment he just collapsed from exhaustion and is sleeping now. He’s going to be by the bridge near the Beverly hospital.

Iris: Oh really? That’s might nice of you to tell me this. How can I trust he’ll be fine, mister stranger?

Cipher: *deep voice* Because I know how much you love your little brother and like hell if I become the unfortunate soul to harm him.

Iris: Huh?

Cipher: *deep voice* He’ll be lying on the grassland near Beverly Hospital. It’ll be right beside a bridge. Watch over him, and make sure he doesn’t do anything like this again.

Just before she can say anything, he hangs up and begins to carry Brandon to the grass and lays him there. He hides within the trees to make sure she safely gets to Brandon. Once he sees her get out of the car and cautiously goes to wake him, Cipher smiles to himself and teleports away as Iris drives away with Brandon inside. Teleporting back to his own home, the old orphanage, he begins to breaths heavily as he gets down onto his knees.

Cipher: *breathing hard* Damn it, why is it like I’m chocking all of a sudden. And teleporting is starting to hurt! What the hell?

After lying on the ground for a bit he begins to think to himself about the events that took place during the club raid.

Cipher: (Let’s see, from what I can remember mom was being strangled and then I blacked out.) *sighs*

Cipher extends his arm to the horizon where the sun is rising and can see the light reflecting off the red crystal-like claws.

Cipher: I'll just take an hour nap then to the hospital. *closes his eyes*

An hour passes and Cipher wakes from his sleep feeling a bit refreshed in comparison from earlier. Getting up he feels better but sees his claws has small traces of darkness but unlike before, it does not cover his body nor give him pain. He looks down to where he was and sees that all the grass dried up and some insects dead on the ruined dirt. Once he does the darkness begins to fade once more, as he then feels his energy has fully returned.

Cipher: *looks at his claws* So did these things grab the life-force of whatever was near me while I slept?

Not understanding on what just happened; Cipher decides teleports back to the area where Brandon found him. Above he can hear the streets brimming with movement of cars.

Cipher: Okay, now... What direction is the hospital?

The hospital was actually not the far, as it's only 10 minutes away north from where Cipher is. In the hospital, Steven sits up in bed with one arm in a cast while he eats breakfast with the other. He is bandaged on his head and has another wrapped around his waist as well. As he eats Marshall comes in and notices that Steven had awakened and has already started to eat.

Marshall: You're looking better. How's the arm feel?

Steven: Not too sure really. The anesthesia is doing the job so I can move and eat like this.

Marshall: Well at least you’re up and dandy like usual. But just remember when that thing wears off your going to be wishing you didn't move so damn much.

Steven: That'll be future Steven’s problem. For now I'm going to eat what I can to recover faster.

As he continues to eat, Marshall looks out the window and thinks about the events that happened from last night. Mostly all of the people they found where killed by the Bloodstained Crow or were hiding as they couldn't get out due to the gunfire. One of the people they did get was one of the leaders of Soldados de Reyes, Gomez Santiago. Although he was shot on the stomach, he is currently in stable condition and is going to be questioned. One factor in Marshall's mind remains; he wants to confirm the crow's identity but to do that he needs to find him.

Steven: Thinking about the crow?

Marshall: What do you think he was trying to do? If he wanted to end Cross, he wouldn't have let some of them escape. It's as if he stayed because something else more important to him came up.

Steven: Maybe he knows your nun friend and wanted to protect her.

Marshall remembers the sadness he saw on Cipher's face as he placed Maria onto him.

Marshall: ... Yeah.

Steven: So how is she? Is it really bad?

Marshall: Right now she's asleep. Broken ribs, a bruised liver, slight head trauma... It’s a miracle that she's survived.

Steven: That's reassuring to hear. How are you holding up though? From my angle you look horrible. You haven't even taken a nap have you?

Marshall: Yeah took one earlier. Now that I know Maria is going to be okay, I was able to get some rest, but those good damn reports are waiting you know. So get better fast got it.

Steven: I have a broken arm remember? Can't speed up my recovery like its magic you know.

A doctor walks into the room and Steven notices that the doctor looks familiar. He then realizes who it is and greets the doctor before she speaks.

Steven: Hello Dr. Patientia. If you keep giving me more anesthesia, that’ll be great so I can eat more.

Sharon: Mr. Xiao, you shouldn't exaggerate so much. Count yourself lucky that it was only dislocated from the shoulder socket. You need to rest a bit since your ribs are somewhat fractured, doctor's orders.

She looks at Marshall and notices he hasn't said a word or even looked at her direction.

Sharon: Hey, you okay?

Marshall: Yeah. Sorry was just thinking about something, that's all. Since Steven is doing fine, I'm going to check up on Maria one more time and head back to work. I’ll see you two later.

Walking away from them, Sharon looks to Steven with a sign of worry.

Sharon: Steven, is he really doing fine? I mean the damage you got looks as if you got into a fight against something horrible. The news also said that some SWAT members were killed as were most of the people that were in the building.

Steven: I know, but trust in him. He's only in his work mode at the moment. Don't worry; I'll continue to keep an eye out for you.

Sharon: Thank you.

Giving her some reassurance, he remembers of the carnage from the club done by the Bloodstained Crow as it creeps up on him. He remembers the blood and body parts of the woman he saw scattered on the floor causing him to stop eating for the moment. Putting the fork that he was using down he tells Sharon that he lost his appetite for now.

Steven: (Bloodstained Crow, clearly not a human... However was he trying to protect that nun? Do they know each other? Or is he somehow related to the boy’s missing body?

Still walking in the hallway of the hospital, Marshall stops and opens a door to a room to find a sleeping Maria in bed wrapped up in bandages. He then stands beside her and looks down at her.

Marshall: Looks like you barely made it out of this, huh. Even though you might not be listening since you’re asleep, I want you to know that I'm sorry about what has happened to you. Even if you don't blame me... to this day I cannot sleep well knowing that people like Cross are out there. I promised you I will find Cipher's killer and bring him to justice, I will see to it.

Turning his back from her, he walks back to the door. His hand on the door knob right as he is about to turn it, he hears a voice.

Cipher: So that's how you see it huh, old man.

Marshall turns back fast with his hand holding out his gun; pointing his gun to the Bloodstained Crow.

Marshall: Get away from her.

Cipher: Put your gun down. Then I will.

Marshall: Not happening.

Cipher: Guess not then.

Marshall: Why are you here?

Cipher: I... I have my reasons. *looks at Maria's bandages*

Marshall: You killed a lot of people you know. At first they were people involved with Cross, but after last night, you have become a cop killer.

Seemingly ignoring Marshall's last sentence, Cipher reaches out to Maria only to see claws instead of his normal hands. So instead leans over to her and places his head onto hers.

Marshall: DO NOT TOUCH HER. Get any close to her and I WILL shoot.

Cipher: Don’t. The bullet could end up hitting her.

Marshall: So you use her as a shield even after "saving" her? What the hell are you plan-

Cipher: *stands away from Maria* LIKE HELL I WOULD DO THAT TO HER! My life was ripped away from me by Cross, so why not do the same to them.

Yelling at Marshall, the detective notices that there's tears falling on the Bloodstained Crow's face. However he chooses to ignore it.

Marshall: So whoever gets in your way is also killed then? Even though there were people you saved as well as the ones you could have, you didn't really care as long as they weren't in the way am I right?

Cipher: ... You’re the detective, figure it out.

On the bottom floor Iris has arrived to the hospital with Brandon besides her. She asks the front desk for Maria's room. Once they are told, they go into the elevator and push the floor button. Back in the room Cipher looks to his mom and smiles at her and looks to Marshall once more.

Cipher: Let’s end this cat and mouse game with Cross today. Whoever gets their hands on the leader of Cross wins.

Marshall: You think this is a game crow!

Cipher: Which is why when I leave here now, the game will end. I will get him and kill him. There's nothing you can do that will stop me Marshall.

Marshall: How do you know my name crow?

Cipher: Again, figure that out detective.

Turning his back from Marshall, the detective then points his gun at Cipher as he speaks.

Marshall: Wait!

Cipher: *stops walking* … What?

Marshall: Tell me. If she gets in danger like this again, will you protect her again?

Cipher: I will always be there to save her.

Marshall: What is she to you?

Cipher: ... She's-

Just as he answers him, the door behind them opens up as Marshall holds Cipher at gun point. Marshall tries to block the door but is not quick enough as Iris comes into the room with Brandon behind.

Iris: Dad what are you doing?

Marshall looks back at where Cipher was and sees that he is nowhere to be found. He runs to the window and cannot see him.

Iris: Wait dad what happened? What's wrong?

Marshall: Stay here got it! I need to leave now!

Brandon: Dad wait! I'm sorry that I-

Marshall: Not now Brandon! We'll talk after this is all over, Iris stay here with everyone else got it!

Iris: Yeah, of… of course but why are-

Before she can finish her sentence though, Marshall has already left running to exit the building. The two siblings then looks at Maria and see there are teardrops on her face.

Iris: Maria you’re awake! Are you okay!?

Maria: Yes I just woke up. Don't worry.

Getting into his car, he informs everyone by radio that the Bloodstained Crow is going to raid the hideout of Cross as he speaks. As Marshall starts to get ready, Cipher walks among the crowds with one goal in mind; walking with him, Vice guides the boy to Samuel’s location.