Author's Note:

This is one of the stories that I had written and previously published, ., but when I went back and read it, I didn't much like the way it was so I rewrote it. It's still generally the same story, just with more details added into it. So without further a due, let's get on with the story.

Story:

Live Without Regret

My white mask, marking me as a sergeant of the Protector Corporation, was cracked and close to breaking. Every Protector wears one to help prevent people from finding out their identity. Now, it may not be foolproof, but it still works ninety percent of the time. My cloak was ripped and torn, and no longer good for fighting; I'd have to get a new one for my next shift. My opponent was in just as bad shape.

The murderer had a mask as well, although his was black and was only held on by a mere thread. I don't know what the black mask stood for. Maybe it was just his way of signifying that he was a night killer, or maybe it was a signification that he knew what he was doing and felt guilty. Whatever the signification was, it wasn't going to be used for very much longer. His cloak had fallen off a while ago, leaving him in just his jeans and bare chest.

Our swords clashed together in the dead of night. The Protectors used swords since it was a reliable weapon, guns weren't as reliable. They jammed, and backfired just as often as they actually worked, taking more Protector lives than they did the targets'. Sure we carried them, but they were to be used as a last resort. The moon was the only source of light. In the area that we were in, there weren't many lights, and I preferred being in areas like this. Lights in the bigger cities made it more difficult to sneak around to surprise your target.

Our swords clashed once again, and we threw each other back. We stood there for a few moments, panting, assessing ourselves, and each other. His sword had collided with my shoulder near the beginning of the fight, causing blood to drip down my arm, but I had gotten his leg. His ear was bleeding from where I had collided my fist into his head, trying to knock him to the ground before the actual fight began. I was sporting a bloody lip from where he had punched me, causing my mask to smash into my face.

Damn. I shouldn't be doing this in my condition, I thought. I stood there shaking from exhaustion.

I was a week into my pregnancy when I received the folder on my desk. At the time I didn't know I was pregnant, so I accepted the mission with open arms. The case of the Midnight Killer had been open for a month already, and all the other Protectors who had taken it on had been killed because they had relied on their artillery instead of the sword. My commanding officer had said, "I'm giving this to you because I know you won't be a fool. I know you won't get killed. I know YOU will get him, dead or alive." By the time I actually found out I was expecting, it was too late for me to turn back. I had to be the one to bring him in.

"You just gonna stand there and stare, or are you gonna fight?" his cold voice called out to me.

I let out a small hiss and charged at him; I hated him. I hated his voice, it sounded too much like my husband's, and that was the only reason he hadn't been brought in just yet. Every time he spoke to me I thought of my husband and how much he would be upset if we lost the baby, or if I got killed like the others during this mission. This murdering bastard took that slight hesitation to get away every time. I hated him, but most of all I hated how he toyed with me.

He had been a pain in my ass, a pain to the town, and a pain to the government, for the whole time he'd been out. Murdering women, men, and children, anyone he could get his hands on. The biggest coincidence was that everyone he killed was running from the law. Many of us down at the local station didn't want to take him in because he was killing the bad people. They said he was making our job a lot easier, but the law is the law, and a murder is a murder, whether you're murdering to help or not.

I could hear his cruel chuckle, as he charged at me.

I had heard it so many times while tracking him down. I had to watch so many people die at his hands, just to get where I am now. Who's he gonna kill now? I thought. Whose family is going to be ripped apart this time because of him? I was getting tired of this toying. I just wanted him off the streets so no more families would be torn apart, whether the member deserved to die or not.

Our swords locked once again.

"How much longer do you think you will survive, Sergeant?" He chuckled.

"A lot longer than you think," I grunted as I threw him back again.

In the morning, everyone would know just by looking at the dirt road, that there had been a battle. That is, if they didn't know already by the clashing of metal against metal now. Our footprints were all over. Scuff marks covered the wooden porches. Chunks were ripped from the wooden poles that held the fire lanterns for late night walkers to see by. Shreds of fabric that once belonged to a number of flags hung from rafters. The remains of an empty stable would be left as well from when he threw a lit lantern at me in the beginning. We were lucky the barn was in the middle of a deserted field where it couldn't spread very far. It went up in flames pretty fast from the hay bales kept inside. But everyone would know about the battle in the end.

I went after him but I stopped when I realized he had disappeared.

I let out a frustrated scream. "Get back here, you coward!"

"Behind you," his cold voice whispered in my ear.

I quickly turned around, only to feel his sword run through the center of my chest. "I don't know why you Protectors keep getting in my way. You don't do your jobs. So why not let me do it for you?" I listened to him laugh as he ripped the cold blade from my body.

"Told you, you wouldn't last…" He started, but then I saw him freeze on the spot when he looked closely at my face, after my mask fell to the ground. He slid his arm around my waist to catch me before I fell in a mud puddle. "Why'd it have to be you I fought, Jessie?" he asked, holding me with one arm and taking off his mask with his other hand.

"Jack…" I whispered, coughing up blood.

He put a hand over my stomach. I could see the tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Why Jack?" I whispered.

"These people needed to be punished, Jess, and the law wasn't doing anything for them," he whispered.

I smirked, and my eyes fell closed. I was too tired to keep them open any longer.

"Help!" I heard him call. "He's struck again!" he yelled. I felt, and then heard, him throw something. "You'll be fine, Jessie. I swear," he whispered.

I managed to shake my head and say, "Save the baby," before I lost consciousness.

Jack and I had been married for five years, and for five long years we had been trying to have a baby. I finally was able to become pregnant, but that made me regret becoming a Protector, for we aren't allowed to tell anyone about what we are, not our husbands, sons, daughters. No one. Of course the other Protectors knew, but absolutely no one else could know. We made up some story. We told everyone we worked as an accountant, a firefighter, a store clerk, something else, anything that would justify our hours. I guess now he'll get away free. Sure the Admiral would send someone else out after him, but if he keeps moving, they wouldn't catch him. I'm happy he won't have to hang now that I won't have to write my report of him, I'm happy this baby will at least have one parent to raise her.

"Help!" I heard him call. "He's struck again!" he yelled. "You'll be fine, Jessie. I swear," I whispered. I grabbed my mask and sword and threw them into a nearby alley. "You're gonna be okay, Jessie, I promise." I whispered, holding her body tightly against mine.

I watched her shake her head. "Save the baby." She whispered before she passed out.

"Jessie…no you've got to stay with me. Please, open your eyes." I could feel hot tears streaming down my face. "SOMEBODY HELP!" I yelled at the top of my lungs and watched front door lamps lit up the town square as people walked out of their houses in their pajamas and housecoats to stare at me. "Please, help me," I said, looking around. "He's struck again."

"What happened?" A woman in her early forties came forward in a purple nightdress and housecoat.

"I don't know. I was walking down the street, looking for my wife. We had a fight and she just stormed out of the house. I found her here with a sword through her chest, held by him. He ran down the street as I ran towards them," I lied.

"Let me see, I'm a nurse for the local hospital," she said.

She undid the cloak and let it fall to the ground before she started to move Jessie's shirt so she could examine the wound as closely as she possibly could. "If we get her to the hospital we might be able to save the baby, but she's lost too much blood and her vital organs have been hit. I'm sorry, but there's no saving her."

I looked down at Jessie and let a few tears fall onto her face. "Please, save the baby," I whispered just as the nurse's husband came over with a horse and carriage.

They must have helped me carry Jess into the carriage because the next thing I remember is being in a room with wooden chairs. I was sitting on one of them.

I looked up and saw a doctor walking towards me. "Who are you?"

"I'm Doctor Briant. I was your wife's doctor in the surgery."

"Is she okay?"

"She's awake, but I don't know how much longer she has. She's asking for you."

"Can I go see her?"

"I don't see why not. Please follow me." I got up and followed him towards a room that had Jessie in it.

It looked exactly like the room I had just came from, only half the size and with nothing to sit on, but it had a bed in the middle of it, with Jessie hooked up to a couple of machines.

"A nurse will be waiting outside," the doctor said before leaving the room.

I nodded, walked over to Jessie's bed, sat down on the edge of it, and stroked the side of her face. I smiled when I saw her smile and look up at me. "How are you?" I asked.

"Been better."

"How's the baby?"

"She's fine. Healthy as a horse," Jessie wheezed.

"What's her name?"

"I didn't name her."

"Why not?"

"I figured I'd let you name her, since I'm not gonna be around to watch her grow up."

My face started to go hot again as I held back tears.

"I'm so sorry Jessie. I'm gonna miss you. I love you." I said and gave her a kiss before I got up and walked over to the basinet with a bundle of pink blankets inside. I picked up the baby and cradled her in my arms. She cooed a bit and waved her arms in the air up at me. I lowered my head and kissed hers. "She looks just like you," I said to Jessie, but when I looked at her, her face was white, and her body was still. Lifeless. The tears I was holding back started to fall as I looked down at the baby in my arms. "How about we name you after your mother, Jessie?"