It was raining. Black umbrellas were circled around the plot of Deandra Ward with the exception of one pink and white polka-dotted umbrella.

Dr. Alexis Reyna looked at her friend Gabby who mouthed the words, "Sorry...I couldn't find a black umbrella."

Normally, Alexis would have smiled but today she couldn't. She was emotionally numb. Deandra was dead-- brutally murdered and the police still didn't know who had committed such a disturbing crime. Deandra had been robbed. She wasn't rich so her life was essentially valued at a few hundred dollars.

Alexis looked over at Damon Ward, Deandra's brother. He was sobbing. Alexis inhaled a shaky breath. Damon was a Navy Seal. He was probably the bravest man she knew and there he was-- proof that real men showed emotions. Gabby and Ivy looked pale and distraught, mirroring how Alexis assumed she looked as well. When the preacher finally said the last few words of his prayer, family members and friends began to step forward and place red roses over her casket.

Behind an old weather-beaten tree, he was watching. Dr. Reyna looked upset. He smiled. He could hear the thumping of the rain splattering against his umbrella but he couldn't remove himself from the scene. This was his doing. His actions brought Alexis to this cemetery. If he wanted, he could bring her here again. Maybe next time it would be to her own funeral. He chuckled and turned around. As he walked back to his car, he couldn't help but whistle at how wonderful the day was.

"We're all going to Dendra's apartment. Does no one but me think that's weird?" Gabby asked.

"It is weird," Ivy chimed in from the backseat of Alexis' car.

"Her brother, Damon, isn't from here so it makes sense to have it at her place. Besides, it'll be cathartic for us to see her things, look at her pictures, that sort of thing."

"Will you stop your psychobabble, Alexis, and get real? No amount of looking at her stuff is going to make this better." Ivy was sitting in the back seat with her arms crossed and her eyes closed.

"I know that. We all miss her, Ivy."

"I miss her like crazy," Gabby whispered. "Who is going to get their nails done with me from now on?"

"Stop it, Gabby. I know what you're trying to do," Ivy said with her eyes still closed.

"What am I trying to do?"

"Get one of us to go with you to the nail place where they insult you in a foreign language. No thank you!"

Gabby rolled her eyes. "One of our friends was just buried and all you can do is make jokes? Don't you care at all?"

Ivy opened her eyes and grimaced. "Of course I care! Why wouldn't I care? Just because I'm not crying every five minutes doesn't mean I'm not sad."

Gabby was about to snap back at Ivy but Alexis intervened, "Okay you two that's enough. We're here."

They walked to Deandra's apartment and were instructed to leave their umbrellas, rain jackets, and purses in the spare bedroom.

As they were walking out of the room, Alexis overheard Damon, Deandra's brother telling one of Deandra's work associates, "I still can't believe it. All she had was our grandmother's ring and maybe less than a hundred dollars on her. Why would anyone want to kill her for that?"

Alexis remembered the ring Damon spoke about. Deandra always wore it and even once said she wanted to be buried in it. That wasn't able to happen. Someone took that choice from her. As the gathering was coming to an end, Alexis felt her phone vibrating. It was a text from her brother Nicholas.

"When are you coming home?"

She responded, "Within thirty minutes."

"Okay. See you later, snake."

"That's not how the saying goes!" she muttered before texting back."It's see you later, alligator."

She gave a faint smile as she thought of Nicholas. She was lucky he was still with her unlike Damon and Deandra. She gave Damon her condolences before grabbing her purse and jacket from the spare bedroom. Her friends were already waiting for her beside her car. Alexis dropped them both off before heading home.

"Nicholas!" she shouted into the house. She walked into the living room. "Nicholas?"

The house was silent. "That's strange. He said he would be home," Alexis whispered to herself. She was about to step into the kitchen when a hooded figure jumped in front of her.

Alexis screamed and grabbed a decorative glass statue she had in the hallway. She shrieked before hitting the hooded figure in the face.

"Dammit, Alexis! That hurt!"

Alexis looked down to see her brother Nicholas, wearing a too tight Spiderman costume.

She hiccupped then giggled which turned into outright laughter. "What are you doing?"

"I was trying to cheer you up." Nicholas removed his hood and began rubbing his face.

"Nicholas, you wore that costume when you were eighteen...how are you able to fit into it at twenty-four?"

"Duct tape and determination."

Alexis looked at her brother. "What did you just say?"

"You don't want to know." He was shaking his head.

Alexis began laughing as she thought of her huge brother fitting himself into a tight costume just to cheer her up. She smiled and hugged him. "Thank you, Nicholas, for being such a great brother. You really did cheer me up."

"That's not all. Dinner is on me. It'll be a brother-sister date." Nicholas began ushering Alexis out the door.

"That doesn't sound right," Alexis mumbled, scrunching up her face.

Nicholas shrugged. "They have shows about sister-wives. I'm sure there's nothing wrong with platonic brother-sister time."

"Nicholas, you're still in that costume!"

"So?"

Alexis laughed in response. "You're going to go out in public like that? Where did you even find it?"

"In the attic. I started cleaning it out so I can use it as a studio for my graphic designs." He put the hood back on and escorted Alexis to his car.

Alexis stifled a guffaw as the neighbors spotted her brother in his Spiderman costume. It was clearly too tight and he was walking very slowly so that he didn't rip the costume's cheap material.

"Where are we going?" Alexis asked.

"The best place ever!"

Fifteen minutes later, they were waiting in the drive-thru of their local What-A-Burger, a fast food restaurant.

"This is the best place ever?" Alexis asked.

She laughed as Nicholas nodded in his Spiderman outfit. He pulled up to the drive thru and she continued to giggle as he ordered them two number fives all the way. She was in tears of laughter as he pulled up and the poor teenager that was working the window didn't know how to respond.

"That'll be twelve seventy-two sir," the pimpled teen mumbled.

"What? Superheroes don't eat for free?" Nicholas asked while Alexis was looking out the passenger side window to stop herself from laughing.

"I could ask my manager," the teen said, clearly flustered.

"No need." Nicholas realized that he didn't have any pockets to put his wallet in.

"Typical!" Alexis groaned. "Even Spiderman pulls this kind of trick to get out of paying." She handed him her debit card and he handed it to the cashier. On their way back home, Nicholas rolled down his window at a red intersection light. The young kids in the car next door to them kept banging their fists against the window to get his attention. Nicholas laughed and flicked them off. Alexis gasped and hit her brother, who was driving. "Nicholas they're kids!"

He shrugged. "So?"

"So? You probably shattered their superhero dreams for life. What if they looked up to Spiderman?"

Nicholas shrugged again. "They should learn early on in life that they have to look up to themselves not others."

"You're an idiot."

"Awww but sister, you have to love me anyway."

Alexis was still laughing when they got home. Because of Nicholas, she had forgotten all about her grief from Deandra's passing...at least for the time being. As they came inside, Alexis tossed her purse on the couch and followed her brother into the kitchen.

"I love you. You know that, right?" Alexis asked her brother. "Even if you still act like a kid most of the time."

Nicholas looked to the ceiling and groaned. "We're just about to eat and you want to get all girly with me."

"I'm serious. You're my brother and I love you so please...don't leave me like Deandra left Damon. He looked so broken up at the funeral."

They were quiet for a moment. Nicholas sighed and looked over at her. "Alexis. You're my sister and I love to give you a hard time but if anything ever happened to you, I would be devastated. I mean...who else would financially support me?"

"Please, you probably make more money than me," Alexis muttered.

Nicholas grinned as he bit into his burger. "Yeah I probably do. I'm in high demand sister. High demand."

Alexis rolled her eyes. "You weren't supposed to agree with me."

Nicholas shrugged.

"Anyway, don't forget...you can't die on me first."

Nicholas laughed. "I don't make promises I can't keep." He got up to get some paper towels but accidentally tugged too hard on the dispenser, causing the roll of towels to fall to the ground. He bent over to pick it up when they both heard a loud ripping sound followed by Nicholas cursing.

Alexis pounded the table in laughter.

"Don't even say it, Alexis!" Nicholas wrapped paper towels around his waist and slowly walked to his bedroom to change out of his Spiderman costume.

He groaned in embarrassment as he heard his sister shout behind him, "You should have used more duct tape!"

The next day, Alexis was running late to work and slammed her purse in between the closing elevator doors.

"So we meet here again," Dr. Chace Ryder said smiling at her.

"Yeah, I guess we do."

"I'm sorry about your friend," Chace said.

"Thank you. I'm still wrapping my mind around the whole thing."

Chace nodded. "I got your message about doing a show on losing your loved ones in a relationship. I think it'll be great."

"Thanks. I prepared a list of books I thought I could share with our listeners."

"Sounds great." Chace smiled at Alexis and they both walked to the office they were now sharing. Alexis placed her purse on the desk she used and then left with Chace to the sound booth.

"Where's your list of books?" Chace asked about ten minutes after they began prepping for the show.

"I left it in my purse. Let me go get it. I'll be right back."

She sprinted to the office that they shared and bumped into a janitor who had a cap on and his face lowered as he was leaving her office. "Be careful, miss."

"Oh sorry," she automatically responded, a little flustered to almost be run over by the giant waste bin he carted around.

She stepped into the office and a feeling of dread filled her. "What is up with me?" she asked herself. She spotted her purse sitting on her desk. "You're going to sit in Purgatory for doing this, Alexis," she said as she began checking her wallet to make sure her cards and money were still in place. She didn't know the janitor but she didn't want to take a chance that he may have gone through the purse she left foolishly out in the open. Everything was in its place. She rummaged through her purse for her list of books when something caught her eye.

She ran back outside of the room and down the hall but she didn't see the janitor.

"Alexis? There you are! I've been looking for you. You need to hurry up and get back to the booth." Mack, her producer, was standing in the hallway, flagging her down.

"Mack, do you know where the janitor's office is at? I need to ask him a question."

"The janitor? I don't think they're here today. I think they only come in on the weekends. I don't know what cleaning issue you're having, but it can wait. Get back to the booth now!" Mack rushed back the way he came, leaving Alexis alone in the hall while carrying her purse. She pulled out the object that had caught her attention earlier. It was a ruby ring with small opals. She didn't know how it had been in her purse, but she knew, without a doubt...that it was her dead friend Deandra's ring.