Under the brown fog of a winter dawn,
A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many,
I had not thought death had undone so many.
===
"You know, doll, I got to write this up for the morning press."
Sirens shrieked across the city towards what they and perhaps only they could see in all its glory from the rooftop, a smoldering car fire that Minako knew, deep down, had killed at least four. The morning press, as Alan called it, would read that Sailor V saved another hundred - no, thousand! - people by thwarting the newest dark monster that haunted the city, leaving the last line to note how, unfortunately, a mini-van had exploded in the crossfire, killing a family of four. With her mask on she was able to hide the moisture in her eyes.
"I know," she finally said, holding down her skirt in an updraft.
Alan nodded. "You did the right thing, savin' the bridge," he prided, a hand landing on the small of her back. "You know that, right? Dozens, hundreds of hard workin' blokes and their families could've been toast. A little sacrifice for the greater good? Eh, V?"
She stepped away from his touch and wandered across the roof. He barely seemed to notice.
"The headline's'll read 'Blast On the Bridge! Sailor V Saves Thousands!'" He gestured broadly. "And there it'll be. A thousand on the blessing that is Sailor V, mysterious masked heroine!" He laughed and then turned, and she met his eyes without a word. "V, I know it ain't all fun and games, but this is something you can do for us. A couple people dying, it's sad, but maybe it's what has to happen. Four lives or four thousand. What's the better thing?"
She turned on him. "You want a sound bite?" she asked him bitterly. "What about this? 'Sailor V herself reports that it's a curse to hold so many lives in her hands.'" She hopped up on to the ledge of the building. "You think it's so simple for me, saving lives, working with Interpol, feeding soundbites to a greedy reporter - " The last of which made Alan flinch. " - but it's not. There's more to it than that."
Alan looked up at her for another long minute. "C'mere, V, and let me - "
"No." She held his gaze and then wrenched her eyes away. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"V - "
He may have said more. He may not have. She wasn't sure, not while she dove five stories down and disappeared into back-alleys and unused thoroughfares. What she did know is that, the next morning, the headline was as Alan had promised and the only line worth mentioning was the second to last, "The brave rescue was cursed to fail, however, when the bomb did destroy one family vehicle."
