..

Footsteps slammed against the stairs, the soles of their shoes squeaking from the force. It had started to pour as Aunt Belle pulled out of the hospital parking lot. The run from the car to the library soaked their clothes.

They burst into the main meeting room.

Parson beat them there with his head start and their pitstop at the hospital. He stood in front of that large window that always hung open. The roof of the building stretched out far enough that rain only came in with a gust of wind.

Nash, Lucy, and Cliff faced him with guns in their outstretched arms.

Dray and Wells slowly walked up to the group. Aunt Belle merely inched forward, staying by the closed door.

"Welcome to the show." Parson grinned. His palms faced the ceiling as he gestured the room.

Nash's deep voice boomed off the walls. "Wells."

"Nash."

They glanced at each other and Wells nodded.

Nash took a step forward and lined up his shot one final time, but a different kind of bang hit their ears.

The door swung open nearly knocking Aunt Belle from her spot.

"Ah, perfect," Parson said and clasped his hands together.

Sheriff Heron strolled into the room, his face turned down in a glower. He raised his gun at Wells.

Wells maintained his focus on Parson. "Do it, Nash."

Dray, on the other hand, couldn't tear her eyes from the sheriff. Her mouth opened slightly. She blindly reached to tug on Wells' arm.

Parson coughed drawing all attention back on him, though Dray's darted back and forth. She watched Aunt Belle creep out from the shadows towards the sheriff, but her gun still pointed towards Parson.

"What is...?" She mumbled and refocused on the sheriff.

His face twitched up in a soft smile.

"What is, indeed, Miss Dray," Parson mused after noticing the interaction. He pulled out his gun. "If you want something done, you have to do it yourself!" He lifted it to his son.

The room flared with a gunshot. It rang out, weaving in with the wind and rain that blew into the room.

Nash dove to cover Wells, who yanked Dray down with them. The others in the room dropped to the floor.

Dray searched Wells for blood. She tugged on his jacket and shirt.

After a moment, Wells steadied her hands. "I'm okay," he said in her ear. He stood up and looked at Nash. The two smiled and hugged.

Once everyone else popped to their feet, they took achingly slow steps towards the window where Parson stood seconds ago. The wind blew into the building and brought more rain to their faces as they peered outside.

Down on the ground lay the broken, bloodied body of Parson Walden.

Wells wrapped his arm around Dray's shoulder. Dray held onto Lucy's hand. Lucy leaned back into Nash. Nash stood next to Cliff and Aunt Belle stood behind holding onto Wells shoulder.

The group remained silent. Dray's eyes welled with tears again, but for an entirely different reason. The atmosphere in the room completely changed.

"It's over."

The voice came from behind. Sheriff Tieg Heron stood almost forgotten.

Dray snapped around and pointed her finger at him. "What the hell was that? Definitely not apart of the plan! Also, who shot him!"

The sheriff put his gun away. "I did, and I know, I'm sorry, but it was the only way I knew how to catch Parson off guard."

Aunt Belle leaned her gun against the table. "Tieg," she smiled and looked at Dray. "Tieg was never a bad guy." She hugged him before turning back to the group. "He's been on the right side every step of the way."

"I knew it!" Lucy clapped her hands.

Tieg chuckled. "Dray, I'm a little surprised you didn't figure it out. You saw me talking to Belle the other night in the alley."

Dray eye's widened as she recalled the memory. "Holy shit."

"And uh, thanks Cliff for not blowing my cover. I know you knew." He scratched the back of his neck.

"Wait."

"What?"

The sisters shared confused, floppy hands.

Cliff walked up to Tieg and shook his hand. "Ivory told me before she died." He didn't smile. "I think you helped her get through the end." He gulped, but didn't break eye contact.

Tieg gripped his shoulder. "Not as much as you, Cliff."

"Okay," Wells interrupted the moment, "what is going on?"

Nash stepped forward. "I second that. You sure as hell didn't act like you were always on our side."

Tieg nodded slowly. "I played the game. I knew I needed to protect my family and I knew what Parson was like." He took a deep breath and glanced at Wells.

"I, um, I grew up in foster care," he continued. "I was adopted by my mother when I was ten. It was a fairly common childhood and a good life. I even looked like my adoptive family, which helped sometimes, but I had my real last name, so everyone knew. I learned later that Heron had been made up upon my arrival to the foster home."

Dray hummed and bit her lip. She knew that name was too weird.

The side of the sheriff's mouth turned up. "I've lived in Hero since I can remember and all I'd ever wanted to do was help. I wanted to lead, but didn't have much self-esteem back in the day." He tilted his head and gazed off like he was watching his past play out.

"I met Grove and Belle during school when I worked in Lockton and eventually that's how I met Parson. He told me of his plans to lead the towns in the area. He said if I helped, he'd ensure my rise to sheriff. He made it sound so perfect," he shrugged, "aside from the illegal activity thing, I mean."

Another sigh and he looked back at the group. "I agreed because at that point, I thought I had nothing to lose. Mom had passed. I hadn't met my wife. My adoptive brother hadn't come back to town, yet. I didn't have much for redeeming qualities. Plus, he was quite the salesman."

"I'm sorry," Dray interrupted and shook her head. "What does this have to do with anything?"

Lucy hit her on the back. "Don't be rude."

She opened her mouth to retort with the sheer facts of him being terribly rude and pointing guns at them, but the sheriff smiled.

"It's okay. I do ramble, drives the wife crazy. I know I'm acting different, but this is the real me." He rubbed his forehead and stepped closer to them. "Parson held something heavy over my head and it made me feel like I belonged and once I realized the full scope of the situation, it was too late."

"When Grove and I found out, we filled him in on Parson," Aunt Belle said. "We worked together. We didn't want him involved, but like he said, it was too late." Her gaze lingered on Tieg. "We just wanted to protect him."

Dray's eyes drifted around the room. Her mind clouded as she figured out she missed something. The tension in the room built, but the suspense felt light. She watched Wells' feature soften.

"Are you...? Parson was your dad." Wells said.

Tieg calmly nodded.

Dray noticed a lack of surprise on his face and scouted the room, flabbergasted at the lack of shock from any of them. "What?" She whispered to herself.

"That's why Uncle Grove saw you as a son," Wells glanced at Belle, "and you were so casual when speaking about him."

Aunt Belle smiled. "I wished to tell you two, but I knew it would only create more danger. I tried to make it easy for you to suspect, though, with you being such good investigators." She winked.

"Yeah, I really missed the boat on that one." Dray rubbed her temples and the room buzzed in soft laughter.

"Look, Wells, you're my half brother," Tieg took in a shaky breath, "and I know I've treated you like gum on the bottom of my shoe, but I didn't know how else to keep you safe. You are much more of a man than Parson ever was and you deserved better, but I hope now we can have a real relationship. I've learned a lot through this thing and I've realized that nothing is more important than those you call family. And I'm here. I'm ready for," he paused, "I'm ready for family."

One cohesive breath of air let out in the room. A few beams of light shined through the window. The rain lessened. The wind died down.

Wells moved forward, dragging Dray with and the entire group followed. Crowded around the sheriff, he held out a hand.

Tieg immediately grasped it.

A small smile rose to Wells' lips. "Family."

..

[EDITED OCTOBER 9, 2021]

I hope you all enjoyed the most recently edited version! I've left all the previous notes because it's kind of cool to look back. 

Anyway, this is the end of Dray and Wells' journey for now. I always have ideas for more (specially for my first set of fleshed out characters), but I need to focus on my writing, get some training, and figure out my life (lol).

Until next time,

Jen

ALL DONE. 

In reality, the last two chapters would be combined, but for the sake of Wattpad, I split them up. 

BUT YAY. 

I hope you all have enjoyed this journey in Hero! I am now set to edit, edit, edit, and try and make this story a real physical book! It'll be better and most likely longer, but seriously, how cool?

I'll keep updating on my profile and probably this book, but definitely my profile about publishing or possible sequels, etc. (I haven't thought that far ahead, yet.) :) 

Please let me know what you thought! I'd love to hear from each and everyone of my readers! 

Thank you so, so much!