A Blessing in Disguise 5 | COMPLETED

Better Person

Two people stood in the middle of the streets amidst the rushing bodies. Hailey slowly raised her hands and took her finger off the trigger of the gun as she slowly made her way closer to him. "Stop!" Even though he wasn't looking her in the eyes, his fear was crystal clear in his voice. The hand that held the detonator shook and his eyes frantically darted around his surroundings. "What's your name?" Hailey cautiously asked. She suddenly met his eyes for a brief moment; a flash of fury passed through him, causing alarms in the blonde's head to ring repeatedly. "Why do you care?! No one cares." He replied. "I care." The soft and gentle way she uttered the sentence left the man to stare dumbfoundedly at her. Through the exchange of words, not once did Hailey break their eye contact for her fear drove her to make sure that her sincerity was received. "Will it matter, though?" He held the detonator higher. For a brief moment, his eyes glanced towards the red button of the detonator. "What does he have on you?" Hailey's question made him snap his head towards her, drawing his attention away from the device. She was now trying her best to pierce through the man's walls in a desperate attempt to save this man from an unmendable mistake. Despite the feelings of anxiety she felt, a small part of her knew that the man's detonator was only a decoy but she couldn't risk her chances. "What?!" The man's voice was barely a whisper and it surprised Hailey she was even able to catch his response. "Did a man tell you to do this?" Hailey asked. His furrowed eyebrows then slowly relaxed and a wide-eyed expression replaced it instantly. 'I knew it.'  Suddenly, a swift movement behind the man caught Hailey's attention. Her vision focused on it and she saw Maggie.

Her azure eyes met her brown ones and a quick plan was exchanged with that single look. Her attention went back to the man in front of her. "Why?" She asked as she tried to stall. "Why?! Because people don't deserve to live! We just keep polluting our planet. We kill each other. We take advantage of the natural resources provided to us. What good are we to the world if we keep acting like this?!" He lashed out. Hailey had to think on her feet. She knew he was about to do something impulsive and drastic if she didn't think of something quick. "Yeah, there are a lot of people that do a lot of terrible things. But, there are also people out there who are trying to fix the mess we continue to make. Do they also deserve to die?" The man stood frozen in his place as Hailey's words slowly hit him. A smirk grew on his face and Hailey knew she had failed. Just at the last second before he decided to press the button, Maggie quickly came up from behind and tried to disarm him. Hailey rushed towards them and helped her fellow FBI agent. "Stop! Don't move." She ordered. However, she found it hard to point her gun at him. She knew he had a point, but she also had a duty to protect the people in the area. This dilemma pondered in Hailey's mind as Maggie got the phone off of his hands and the man raised both his hands in the air. A bomb squad officer appeared by Hailey's side and started defusing the bomb. The bomb wasn't bothering Hailey since she's been in situations like this before, but the man's words wouldn't leave her alone. She looked back at the man and saw that he was back to his fearful state.

Hailey remained at the same spot for a while. From the sight of the male being cuffed by OA to being guided to one of their vehicles, her eyes mindlessly trailed him.  As  she watched OA shut the car door and she lost sight of the teenager, she was brought back to reality. She walked back to where she knew Jay's truck was parked. As she neared the truck, she saw its owner leaning by it. Seeing him made her worries wash away. Though not entirely gone from her mind, but enough for her to form coherent sentences. "I'm sorry," she leaned by his side, not making any eye contact with him. Jay shifted and faced Hailey. "You know you don't have to be sorry for anything, right?" He didn't get a response, and he finally noticed preoccupied Hailey was . "Hailey." His gentle call made the blonde look at him. "You wanna talk about it?" Hailey looked back into the distance as she was transported back to what happened a while ago. "He had a point, you know. Humans just keep destroying the planet that's meant to be our home, and we kill each other for inexcusable reasons. Yeah, I know that there is always bad in good, but when did it turn this bad? Why did it turn this terrible? No one is safe anymore." She felt Jay's strong arm wrapped around her. "I can't answer any of that since I don't really have them, but I think what we can do is be the better person in this situation, teach future generations to do good, and of course, we should also do good in our time. As we continue to do this, the good will soon outweigh the bad and the world will probably become a better one to live in." She leaned in as Jay finished his last sentence. "When did you become so philosophical?" She asked. "I also don't have an answer to that too." An unexpected chuckle escaped her, but it was also a sigh of relief. They saved a lot of people today. Some may not deserve it, but the good should outweigh the bad so she's the better person in this.