Desperate Souls

At the Sheriff Department, Jack was about to attach the sheriff's badge to his jacket, when Derek entered the office.

"Oh. I'm sorry. That's not for you."

"It's been two weeks. Promotion is automatic."

"Unless the mayor appoints someone else within the time period, which I'm doing today."

"So who's it gonna be?"

"After due judgment, Olga Sonork."

"Olga from the newspaper? How does that even make sense?"

"Well, she's covered the Sheriff's office for as long as anyone can remember."

"And she'll do whatever you want her to. You just can't stand the fact that things have been getting better around here, can you?"

"Better? Are you referring to Andrea leaving as better"?

"No."

"She made this town safe, and forgive me for saying it, but you haven't earned the right to wear her badge."

"Andrea picked me... to be deputy."

"She was wrong."

"No, she knew what she was doing. She freed this office from your leash. You're not getting it back."

"Actually, I just did. Jack, you're fired." Derek took the Sheriff's badge and left the office.

---------

Loud music played in the kitchen, with a bottle of scotch on the table. Jack tried to repair the broken toaster with a knife. Laura Reed entered, looked at Jack curiously, and turned the music off.

"Toaster broken?"

"It wasn't when I started with it. Pretty sure it is now. I just needed to hit something."

"What's going on?"

"Derek fired me so he can put one of his own puppets in as Sheriff. That's my job."

"Never heard you so passionate about it before. What happened?"

"I don't know. I just... I know I want it back."

"There must be a reason."

"Maybe..." There was a knock on the door. "I just want to beat him." Jack opened the door to see Ms. Wood.

"Good evening, Jack. Sorry for the intrusion. There's something I'd like to discuss with you."

"I'll let you two talk." Laura Reed left them alone.

"Come on in."

"Thank you. I- I heard about what happened. Such an injustice."

"Yeah, well, what's done is done."

"Spoken like a true fighter."

"I don't know what chance I have. He's the mayor, and I'm... well... me."

"Jack, two people with a common goal can accomplish many things. Two people with a common enemy... can accomplish even more. How would you like a benefactor?"

"A benefactor?"

"Do you mind?" They sat down at the kitchen table. "You know, it really is quite shocking how few people study the town charter."

"The town charter?"

"Well, it's quite comprehensive. And the mayor's authority? Well, maybe he's not quite as powerful as he seems." She smiled slightly.

---------

Derek, Olga, several news reporters, and a photographer were gathered at the town hall.

"Everyone deserves to feel safe in their own homes." Derek announced, smiling. "That's why Olga Sonork is my choice for the post of Sheriff. This woman has put the needs of Pixfare above her own for as long as any of us can remember, as chief editor of the Pixfare 'Daily Droid'. Please welcome your new Sheriff." He was about to attach the Sheriff's badge on Olga's shirt when Jack barged in.

"Hang on a second."

"Oh, Jack, this is not appropriate."

"The only thing not appropriate is this ceremony. He doesn't have the power to appoint her."

"The town charter clearly states 'the Mayor shall appoint-'"

"A candidate. You can appoint a candidate. It calls for an election."

"The term 'candidate' is applied loosely."

"No, it's not. It requires a vote. And guess what, Mr. Mayor- I'm running."

"Fine. So is Olga."

"I am?" Derek turned around and gave Olga a look. "I am."

"With my full support. I guess we'll learn a little something about the will of the people."

"I guess we will."

---------

Later, Derek stormed into Ms. Wood's shop.

"Derek." She smiled. He flipped the sign on the door to the 'Closed' side. Ms. Wood stood up. "Shall I remove some things? Make a bit of space for your rage?"

He walked towards her. "You found that loophole in the town charter."

"Legal documents- contracts if you like- always been a fascination of mine."

"Yes, you love to trifle with technicalities."

"I like small weapons, you see- The needle, the pen," She looked at Derek for a moment. "the fine point of a deal." She turned away again. "Subtlety – not your style, I know."

"You're a witch."

She chuckled. "I think your grief's getting the better of you, Derek. Shame what happened to Andrea."

"Don't you talk about her? You know nothing."

"What is there to know? She left."

"Are you really going up against me?"

"Not directly. We are, after all, both invested in the common good. We're just picking different sides."

"Well, I think you picked a really slow horse this time. It's not like you to back a loser."

"He hasn't lost yet."

"He will."

"Never underestimate someone who's acting for their child."

"She's not his child. Not legally."

"Oh. Now, who's trifling with technicalities?"

---------

"This is what I've been trying to tell you." Hilary tried to convince Jack. They were seated in a booth at the Diner. "Good can't beat evil because good doesn't do this kind of thing. My dad plays dirty. That's why you can't beat him, ever."

"I have a new ally. Ms. Wood said she's going to help."

"Ms. Wood? She's even worse than he is. You already owe her one favor. You don't want to owe her any more. Don't do this."

---------

Jack entered the mayor's office, holding the newspaper in his hand. "I don't know how you got it, but that's an abuse of power and illegal. Plus, this hurts Hilary."

"She would've learned eventually. We all lose our heroes at some point." Derek and Jack exited the office and walked through the building.

"She doesn't need to lose anything more. She's depressed, Mr. Mayor. She doesn't have any… any hope. Don't you see that?"

"He's fine." Derek switched off the lights.

"She's not fine. I mean, think about it- Watching her adoptive father throw an illegal smear campaign against her birth father? You don't think that would be upsetting?"

"All I did was expose her to the truth. And as for the legality, I did nothing wrong. But you and Olga will have a chance to get into all that at the debate."

"Debate?" Jack looked surprised.

"Yes, Jack, there's a debate." They walked down a staircase leading to the building's front door. "You two can talk about jail time and juvie records and maybe even your new association with Ms. Wood. She's a snake, Jack. You need to be careful who you get into bed with."

"I'm not getting into bed with anyone. I'm just fighting fire with-"

Derek opened the door when an explosion was set off, setting the next room on fire. Both were thrown back from the blast. Derek's ankle was crushed by a piece of debris and immobilized. Jack tossed the debris away, freeing him. "Alright. Come on. Let's go. We got to get out of here."

"I can't move! You have to get me out. Help me!" Jack was about to leave, but Derek grabbed his hand and stopped him. "You're going to leave me, aren't you?" Jack didn't answer, broke free from his grasp, and left into the next room. Derek couldn't get up on his own. With a fire extinguisher, Jack was able to get the fire under control and cleared the way to the exit. Holding onto him, Jack supported Derek and they made it out of the building. Outside, a reporter took a picture of them.

"Oh! Oh! Ow! My ankle! Set me down gently!"

"Seriously? You're complaining about how I saved your life?"

Fire engines soon approached the scene. "The firemen are here. It's not like we were really in danger."

Jack started walking away. "Fine. Next time I'll just… I'll just… Ah, you know what?" He turned to face Derek. "Next time, I'll just- No, you know that? Next time, I'll do the same thing and the time after that, because that is what decent human beings do. That's what good people do."

"Hey, did Jack really rescue my dad?" Hilary asked a firefighter.

On a stretcher, wearing an oxygen mask, Derek overheard Hilary and threw off the mask in anger. "Enough! I'm fine."

Olga ran up to Derek with a camera and took a picture. "Nice shot of the victim?"

"Olga, what are you doing? Are you trying to hand this election to him?"

"But it's news."

"He's the competition, woman!"

Jack and various people from the town were talking in a group.

"Did you really rescue Derek?" Laura Reed asked.

"He did." Hilary cried, coming over. "The fireman said it. They saw it."

"You are a hero." Michelle smiled.

"We should see if they have a picture of the rescue." Laura Reed suggested.

"We could make campaign posters." added Ellen.

"Oh, people would love that!" Felix said with excitement. "That's a great idea. Wait. So I'll get the photo and then you…" The group walked away, leaving Jack and Hilary alone.

"This is how good wins." He knelt beside her, smiling. "You do something good and people see it and then they want to help you."

"Maybe you're right."

"You see, Hilary? We don't have to fight dirty." Jack noticed a piece of fabric similar to the one Ms. Wood was preparing earlier in the day while they had their conversation.

---------

Ms. Wood was in her shop, using a rag to clean her hands which were blackened with soot. Jack entered the shop.

"Loads of visitors today." He slammed the door behind him. "Do hope you're not going to break my little bell."

"You set the fire."

"I've been right here, Jack." She scoffed.

Jack approached her, holding the fabric in his hands. "Take a whiff. It smells like your sheep oil stuff. Turns out it's flammable."

"Well, are you sure? There's some construction working on at City Hall at the moment. There are loads of flammable solvents used in construction."

"Why did you do it?"

She stopped cleaning her hands and walked around her desk. "If I did it, if I did it, that would be because you can't win without something big, something like, uh, oh, I don't know, being the hero in a fire?"

"How could you even know I'd be there at the right time?"

"Maybe Derek's not the only one with eyes and ears in this town or maybe... I'm just intuitive. Where I involved."

"I could've run and left him there."

"Not the type."

"I can't go along with this."

She gave him half of a smile. "You just did. This is just the price of an election, Jack."

"A price I'm not willing to pay." He threw the fabric down at her desk. "Find another sucker."

"Okay, go ahead. Expose me. But if you do, just think about what you'll be exposing and what you'll be walking away from." Jack glared at her for a moment, then started to leave, heading for the door. "Oh, yes, and uh, who you might be disappointing."

Jack turned around, glared at her, and slammed the shop door.

---------

Above the entrance of the town hall hung a banner that read 'Debate Today - Sheriff's election.' Laura Reed stapled 'Swan for Sheriff' promotion posters on the bulletin board. Going onto the other side of the board, she ran into Clark.

"Clark, hi."

"Laura Reed. Hi."

"I was just, uh..."

"Yeah, me, too."

"How are things?"

"Okay. Oh, I got a job. Yeah. I'm working at the animal shelter."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

She noticed the posters he put up read 'Olga Sonork Sheriff'. "So... Olga?"

"Yeah, well, my wife is friends with Derek, so..."

"Oh, right. How is Evelyn?"

"Good. She's meeting me here later."

"That's wonderful." She stapled the posters more forcefully to the wall. "Well, I'm all out of posters. I'm going to go get some more." She quickly walked away.

---------

Inside the Town Hall, Olga was getting ready for the debate.

Felix practiced his opening speech. "Citizens of Pixfare, uh- we welcome you to- Uh- Welcome citizens of Pixfare. Oh. Uh, we welcome you- citizens of Pixfare, welcome, uh..."

Jack sat at the podium. Drawing back the curtains, he noticed Hilary sitting in the audience who smiled at him. Laura Reed approached him, handing Jack some cards. As he took them, she also handed him a bottle of water.

"I'm not going to win."

"What are you talking about? Everyone's talking about what you did in the fire."

"No, Hilary's right. I can't beat Derek at this. Not the way he fights. Watch and see." He took a sip of water.

"Is this really about beating Derek?"

Jack drew back the curtains again to get another look at Hilary. "It's just-"

"Hilary."

"I wanna show her that good can actually win."

"That's why you want to win it for her, but why do you want to win the election for yourself?"

"That is why. I wanna show her that a hero can win. And if I'm not... If I'm not a hero and I'm not a savior, then what part do I have in her life? Okay, there it is."

"There it is." Jack drew back the curtains a third time. He noticed Ms. Wood entering the Town Hall.

Felix welcomed the audience. Jack and Olga were seated on either side of him.

"So, without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to the candidates– Olga Sonork" he briefly looked at Olga. "and Jack Swan." He briefly looked at Jack. "Uh, Ms. Sonork, your opening statement."

Olga walked to the podium. "I just wanna say that if elected, I wanna serve as a sentiment of the best qualities of Pixfare- Honesty," From his seat, Derek silently mouthed her words. "Neighborliness... and strength. Thank you." The audience applauded. Derek cheered her proudly.

"And Jack Swan." Felix announced.

Jack walked up to the podium. "You guys all know I have... what they call a, uh, troubled past, but you've been able to overlook it because of the, um... hero thing. But here's the thing... The fire was a setup." The audience began to murmur amongst themselves. "Ms. Wood agreed to support me in this race, but I didn't know that that meant she was going to set a fire. I don't have definitive evidence, but I'm sure. And the worst part of all this was... The worst part of all this is I let you all think it was real... and I can't win that way. I'm sorry." Ms. Wood stood up and left the Town Hall. Jack stepped away from the podium.

---------

At the Diner, Jack finished his drink.

"Another?" Michelle asked from behind the counter.

"Oh, yeah." Hilary soon entered the Diner. "Hey, Hilary." She handed him a walkie talkie from her backpack. "What's this for?"

"You stood up to Ms. Wood." She sat beside Jack. "It's pretty amazing."

"Well, she did something illegal."

"That's what heroes do- expose stuff like that." Michelle brought Jack another drink and placed a glass of milk in front of Hilary. "I shouldn't have given up on Operation Cobra." Hilary leaned closer, whispering to Jack.

Derek and Olga entered the Diner.

"I thought I might find you here... with a drink. And my daughter."

"Here to card me, officer?" Jack asked Olga.

"Well, not at all. In fact, I think I'll join you."

"Here? I don't know. I think they're setting up a back room for the victory party."

"Well, you'll have to tell me what that's like."

Looking angry for a moment, Derek took the Sheriff's badge out of his pocket and then smiled. "Congratulations..." He placed the badge in front of Jack on the counter. "Sheriff Swan."

"Wait. What?" Hilary asked, confused. Jack also looked shocked.

"It was a very close vote." Derek explained. "But people really seem to like the idea of a sheriff brave enough to stand up to Ms. Wood."

Slowly, people began to enter the Diner.

"Are you joking?"

"He doesn't joke." Olga shook her head.

"You didn't pick a great friend in Ms. Wood, Jack... but she does make a superlative enemy. Enjoy that." Derek smiled at Jack.

---------

Jack entered the Sheriff's office and placed his things on the desk. Looking up, he noticed Andrea's jacket hanging on the coat rack.

"The Sheriff's jacket." Ms. Wood said, standing by the door. "I thought you might want it after all."

Jack jumped back, startled. "You do know I'm armed, right?"

She smiled and entered the room. "It's all part of the act, my dear. Political theater in an actual theater. I knew no one was going to vote for you unless we gave you some kind of extraordinary quality. And I'm afraid saving Derek from the fire just wasn't gonna do now. We had to give you a higher form of bravery. They had to see you defy me, and they did."

"No way. There's no way you planned that."

"Everyone's afraid of Derek, but they're more afraid of me. By standing up to me, you won them over. It was the only way."

"You knew I'd agree."

"Oh, yeah." She nodded. "I know how to recognize a desperate soul."

"Why did you do this?"

"We made a deal sometime back. We established that you owed me a favor. I know that can be a bad feeling- owing someone. Now that you're sheriff, I'm sure we'll find some way for you to pay back what you owe me." She left the Sheriff's office. "Congratulations."