A Celebrity and a Hero

Chapter 17

Jaces POV
I went to the hospital. I'm a little suspicious of Ruffs methods now. So I'm gonna do it myself instead. I'm also basing my next project on this too. I have my camera with me to take some photos while I'm here. I walked into the first room and set some flowers next to the person. They aren't awake. I went back to the doorway, snapped a photo and went to the the next room. I went from room to room of people who weren't awake and finally, I found one that the nurses said was awake. I walked in and was shocked. "Carter?" I asked. She looked over. "Hi Jace. What are you doing here?" She asked. "School project" I lifted up my camera. "What about you?" I asked. "Oh, I donated to the hospital and now I'm just talking with some of the patients" she said. I smiled. "That's cool" I said. I walked closer and saw that the person awake was a child. "The Mad Magician attacked a kid?" I asked shocked. "Seems like it" Carter shrugged. The kid tugged on Carters sleeve and she looked over. "Can you check if my mom is awake?" He asked. "Of course" Carter said. I followed Carter out. We walked into the next room and who I'm guessing is the kids mom actually was awake. The nurse was with her but she left as we walked in. "Ms. Garrett? Your son is awake." Carter said. "Thank god" the woman breathed out relieved and laid her head back. Carter and I smiled at each other. The woman looked at us and squinted. "You... you're that gay actress" she said. Carter stiffened. "Is that your girlfriend?" She asked eyeing me. "What?! No!" Carter and I said. We looked at each other and then her. The woman rolled her eyes, obviously not believing us. "Thank you for telling me about my son, but please get out of my room" she said. She's really trying not to be a bitch right now. "Is there anything you want to say him?" Carter asked. "If I want to say something to him, Ill do it myself" she snapped. "Carter, stop. Lets just go" I said, grabbing her arm lightly. Carter took a deep breath and we left. We went back to the kids room. "Your mom is awake" Carter said. The kid smiled. So his mom is definitely some sort of homophobe. Why was he attacked though? "Hey kid, why were you with your mom when the attack happened?" I asked. Carter raised an eyebrow at me but I ignored her. "My babysitter canceled so mom had to bring me to work with her" he said. My eyes widened. I might cry. "Have a good day." Carter left. I followed her. "That was a weird question" Carter said, as I walked with her. "I was just curious. The Mad Magician doesn't seem like the person to attack a child at random" I said. "I guess that's true." Carter shrugged. "Mom! Come on, we're gonna be late!" I heard. Carter looked over. "Coming!" She said. "You have a kid?" I asked. "I have an adopted daughter. She's not much younger then me" she said. "Mom!" The girl called again. "Coming Kai! Bye Jace" she said, walking away. She walked to her daughter who I recognized all too well. Kaida. I stood in shock and horror. There is no way in hell that Carter Jackson and the Ruff Ranger could be the same person. Right? Kaida saw me and her eyes widened. She quickly turned away and walked with Carter. Nope, I was right. Carter is the Ruff Ranger.

Carters POV
I got in the car and Kaida got in the passenger seat. "You fucked up bad" she said. "What? How?" I asked. "I cant tell you everything, but basically, lets just say Jaces project goes a little deeper then you think" she said. I raised an eyebrow. "After today, I think that she thinks that you're the Ruff Ranger" she said. "Oh shit! Not again" I groaned. "What are you gonna tell her?" She asked. "As much as I hate it, I'm gonna have to do the two in one situation" I said. "What's that?" She asked. "It means I have to make an illusion of the Ruff Ranger while I'm with Jace so that she sees both of us at the same time" I said. She looked at me like I'm stupid. "Well do you have a better idea?" I snapped. "Yeah, but as much as Id like too, I cant tell you" she said. I rolled my eyes. "Then shut up and call Harlow. We're going on a date" I said.

Crystal agreed to a double date with Harlow and I. I held Harlow's hand on the table and my other hand rested on my knee. We sat next to a window. In hindsight that probably wasn't a good idea seeing how the Mad Magician likes to smash in through windows. I brushed my thumb over Harlow's hand. I looked at her confused. "When did you get this cut on your hand?" I asked, bringing it to my face. "Oh... there's a cut?" She asked confused. She looked at it. "Huh. I didn't notice. I don't know where it came from" she shrugged. I kissed it and she smiled. Crystal and Jace sat down across from us. "Sorry girls. Traffic sucked" Crystal said. "That's ok" I smiled. "So Crystal, I heard you needed a stunt double for your sex scene" Harlow said. Crystal blushed hard. "Yeah... I just... couldn't do it" Crystal said, looking to the side. Jace looked at her and grabbed her hand. There was an awkward silence. "So do you have a release date yet?" Harlow asked. "Not that I know of" Crystal shrugged. Harlow nodded. "Hey Carter, do you ever get really bad itches on your ears. Cause I have this one that just wont go away. I'm starting to think I have fleas" Jace said. I laughed. "No, I dont. Maybe you just have a rash" I suggested. "Maybe" she said, scratching her ear.

I decided its time to make my illusion. "Is that the Ruff Ranger?" Harlow asked. We looked over. I smiled at my work. I made an illusion of me and the Wolf running across the roof. I looked at Crystal and Jace who are staring at each other deeply concerned and confused. "Are you guys ok?" I asked. They hesitated and then looked away. "Yeah. Excuse me for a moment" Jace went to the bathroom. I looked back out the window. My illusion is gone now but the real Wolf is on the roof now. She looks confused. I looked at Crystal again who was looking at the Wolf worryingly. It suddenly clicked in my head. Jace... is the Wolf. "Oh shit" I mumbled. "What?" Harlow asked. "Nothing" I said with a smile. She shrugged it off. Now I understand what Kaida was saying. Now I have to talk to the Wolf.

"Hey, what was this emergency meeting for?" Wolf asked. We're at Cave Canine. "You were at the restaurant right?" I asked. I never looked at her. "Yeah?" She said confused. "Were you with anyone?" I asked. "Yeah?" She repeated. "Who were you with?" I asked. "Can I actually tell you that? I thought you didn't want to know who I was" she said. "You said you saw Crystal Anderson. You wouldn't have seen her though because they put celebrities away from the other customers to not disturb them" I said. She hesitated. "How do you know that?" She asked. I looked at her. "Same way I know you were having dinner with her, Jace" I said. She was shocked. "How did you-?" She asked. "Kaida told me you might be suspicious of me. I was confused on why, but you being the Wolf makes so much more sense" I said. "Yeah, and you being the Ruff Ranger didn't make sense at all, Carter" she said. I raised my eyebrows. We stared at each other for a moment. I stood up and walked to her. "I'm sorry. We should have told each other from the beginning. I guess I'm just afraid of making the same mistake twice" I said. She smiled. "Its ok. Trust me I get it" she said. I smiled. "I'm assuming Crystal knows?" I asked. She nodded. "I wont tell her about you" she said. "Thank you... you're really brave. I actually admire you. I haven't told Harlow. Its been three years and I haven't told her" I said. She put her hand on my shoulder. "Baby steps. You'll get there" she said. I smiled. "Thanks." I said. She nodded. "More importantly. We now know that the Mad Magician is going after homophobes" she said. "Which means that she's probably gay." I added. She nodded in agreement. "We need to figure out more about her, but we cant even land a hit on her" I said. "Then maybe that's where we should start" she said.