Chapter 4

Riya became conscious around Arjun following that day. She realized the confusion in his eyes as he tried to remember why she was familiar to him. And to avoid any problems from arising, she avoided mingling too much with him. She knew he didn't recognize her and she wanted to use that to her advantage.

There were times when her curiosity got the best of her and she ended up clashing with him, head-to-head, only to end up regretting it moments later. He infuriated her, more often than not, but his intelligence and great observational skills while cracking the case led to her admiring him. He was not exactly an open book but she could say that she was starting to understand him.

Arjun was forced to join ETF by the commissioner. The bribe given to him was the promise of assigning ETF to the mysterious case of Sikandar once enough proofs of his existence are gathered. The name was enough for him to agree to this 'deal' without a second thought. However, he never imagined that he would have to deal with a team of incompetent officers who lacked the basic training of strategic battle, or in other words, Riya.

It amazed him to see that she was selected for this specialized team when she couldn't even lift her gun in her defense. And it surprised him more to see her struggle to prove herself in this male-dominated field. However, he knew that she will lose her life or potentially lead to someone else's demise because of her fear. He had witnessed a criminal escaping, her getting shot in the arm due to her inability to press the trigger. Therefore, he made it his mission to wipe her unreasonable fear because in his dictionary, police officer meant shooting someone without hesitation when the moment called for it.

The team was investigating the murder of Maheto. It led them to the address of a suspect, secured by armed goons. After a long shootout, only a handful of goons were left. A scared Riya was hiding behind a wall, terrified of the sound of gunshots. Arjun took cover behind the wall adjacent to her. He counted the bullets in his gun when his eyes fell on her shaking figure. Almost immediately, he formulated the plan of forcing Riya to shoot and thought, Riya...aaj toh tumko shoot karna hi padega.

Despite being a trained officer, he purposely yelled out to Rathore that his gun had run out of bullets and alerted the goon. He coaxed Riya to shoot as her shaking increased. The goon saw him and slowly raised his gun, aiming for Arjun's head. Knowing that it was futile to get Riya to fire at a living being, Arjun tightly clutched his gun.

"Kise marne ki jagah agar iss baat pe dhyaan dogi ki kyun maar rahi ho, toh nishana kabhi nahi chukega.", he had told her when they were playing darts. His words echoed in her ears as she saw the goon lock his target. Without a second thought, she pressed the trigger of her revolver and bam! The bullet went straight through the goon's head, killing him instantly. Arjun looked satisfied at his success, however, this left her with an emotional trauma.

Hours later, he consoled her when he noticed how shaken she was by this incident. "Tumne ek jaan li nahi hai Riya, ek jaan bachayi hai. Dono mein bohot fark hai.", he said. The concern he felt for her showcased on his face. Realizing the position and the person in front of him, he quickly composed himself and adopted his 'akdu' avatar. But he knew that he truly cared for her, more than he let on.

Riya tried her hardest to not be in the same vicinity as him for long. But her fate and her stupid boss kept pairing her up with Arjun for every little operation of the case. Although she respected him for bringing her out of her fear, she couldn't risk him recognizing her. And she had noticed him wracking his brain for the same every time he saw her. Her life was a mess; the more she attempted to stay away from him, the closer they got. And if that wasn't enough, she felt the butterflies in her stomach when he looked at her or even when his name was mentioned.

Days passed and the ETF continued solving some intense cases. Along the journey, the team formed a bond with one another, some slightly deeper than the others. With time, the efficiency of the team increased exponentially. Several times, the male officers saw Riya for the remarkable woman she was, especially during the x-zora II case.

It takes a brave man to take his own life, but it takes a braver man to sacrifice his life for others. In this case, it was a woman who willingly and single-handedly took the risk of losing her life for the safety of the entire city. Riya, the woman who cleaned the rim of the cup until every bacteria was demolished, swallowed a bacteria-induced ball without a moment of hesitation. Shree used to call her a detergent that killed even that 0.01% of the bacteria that other detergents left behind. But her selfless actions made them respect her on a whole new level.

It was a terrifying experience to see her so close to death, and the team never wished to witness it again. When she was saying her last words to them, Arjun felt fear; not for himself but for her. And he realized that he did develop a soft corner for her. Her feelings were clear to him when she asked Shree and Chotu to never reveal her secret.

When she said, "Main kehti thi na ki main samajh sakti hoon? Nahi samajhti thi...aur na hi koi samajh sakta hai. Kyunki aapne...", he didn't know what made him complete her sentence. However, he did and replied, "Kyunki pyaar ka dard sirf wahi samajh sakta hai, jiska pyaar adhoora reh gaya ho." And his heart cracked as his wife's face flashed in front of his eyes, along with the girl who was lying limp on the white bed.

Fortunately, the doctors were successful in her blood transfusion, gifting her a new life. Everyone was thankful for this opportunity because she truly mattered a lot to every single one of them; for someone she was a friend, a sister for someone, a student for someone else, and for someone she was the sukoon jiski talaash use barso se thi. The team never got the chance to celebrate on her victory against death as duty called them. But even the criminals couldn't cease the joy that filled them.

It has been 5 months since Arjun joined ETF, two since Riya ate the bacteria, and life became a new routine now. After the whole fiasco, there were a couple new recruits, all girls. Aisha came as an officer, Lisa as a doctor and the unwanted addition, Sakshi, joined as the media liaison for the team. Although their presence annoyed Arjun, he sobered down and didn't bother.

Two months of working as a complete team, Sakshi developed feelings for the ruthless cop. Nobody was unaware of this, not even Arjun himself, but they didn't dare and encourage her either. Shree and Chotu remembered Riya every time Sakshi approached Arjun and prayed for her early return. Even though he wouldn't outwardly admit it, Arjun was eagerly looking forward to Riya re-joining ETF.

Finally, the day arrived when the research specialist was regaining her position in the team. The place buzzed with hustling crowd as Shree ensured the preparations for her arrival were perfect. Chotu was overlooking the cleanliness of her cabin, knowing that the hygiene-freak would literally freak out if a speck of dust was left behind. Even Sameer and Arjun glanced at the door time and again, hoping to see the familiar smile and indented cheeks walk through it. But the girls were perturbed to witness the impatience on the faces of the male members because Riya's name wasn't mentioned in their presence, not once.

After what felt like a long time had passed, although it was barely half an hour, Sameer picked up his phone to inquire about her whereabouts. He was about to dial her number when a voice caught everyone's attention, "Good morning everyone." Everyone twirled around and faced the smiling face of the girl they had been waiting for.

Riya Mukherjee was back.