Before Leon Eagles was Leon Eagles, before he was Wild Fire, before he even felt the need to change names and live in the shadows, Leon Eagles was just a kid from Regina named Matthew Hartigan. His father was Jack Hartigan, a man with vague Apache lineage, who worked as a bodyguard to the Algonkian Council Civil Chief Robert Bear. His mother was Lisa Stonecrow, a half-Ojibwa woman who ran a legitimate mail-order business. Together, the two had their only child Matthew in 2028, and lived serene lives on the outskirts of Regina, in a vast, 20-acre property owned by Jack as a family legacy. The property had a log cabin, a second, rather destroyed log cabin, an abandoned airplane hangar used as a makeshift garage and toolshed, and a swimming pool.

It was a fairly rural life that would be the envy of any upper-middle class retiree. It was a beautiful family, with Matthew as the only child of two parents who loved each other more than life itself.

And in 2045, it all shattered.

~~~

July 9, 2045

Property of Jack Hartigan

Regina, Algonkian-Manitou Council

~~~

Matthew Hartigan was in the backyard, carefully loading a relic of a Colt revolver his dad had given him for his 15th birthday. He spun the cylinder, checked the load, and sighted in on his target, a thick, beat-up sheet of plywood in the shape of a person. Matthew blasted one-handed at his target, hitting a rough approximation of the head, the heart, the stomach, the groin, and the right kneecap, before holstering his gun in a hand-crafted holster and walking several paces away.

Suddenly, Matthew turned, quickly drew his pistol, and fired a 6th and final round right between the drawn eyes of his wooden target. The wood cracked deeply under the force of the shot, as Matthew coolly blew out the gunsmoke and holstered his weapon, walking back to the family's log cabin.

Matthew took the time to admire the scenery as he went. It was a gorgeous summer day, school was out for the year, the rabbits and birds were enjoying the limited wilderness surrounding their property, and there was a good vibe in the air. There was also a good smell in the air, as Matthew approached the cabin they called home and saw the door open, with the smell of roast beef wafting out.

Matthew dashed to the cabin and into the kitchen, peeking over his mothers shoulder as she took a heavily seasoned round roast out of the oven.

"Looks good! But it might need some taste testing first, just to be sure."

Matthew's mother Lisa rolled her eyes at her son, and sighed as she hacked off an end piece of the roast and gave it to him. Matthew taste tested it, and judged it immediately to be delicious. Even in a farming-based nation like the one they lived in, it was important to appreciate good food when you could get it, because at any time you might have to eat some...... occasionally questionable soy-based substitutes of food instead.

Lisa began carving up the roast beef for sandwiches, while Matthew cut some sandwich rolls in half adn toasted them. Suddenly, Matthew's father Jack bounded down the stairs.

"Sorry love, I can't stay at home tonight after all, I'm needed in Calgary."

Lisa sighed. "A surprise job again?"

"Yeah, the Chief decided he needs the extra security for these next few speeches, he's expecting some pushback for recognizing the Manitou."

At the time, the Algonkian-Manitou Council was merely the Algonkian Council, and the Manitou were not yet recognized as a formal, influential tribe within it. Of course, they were barely recognized much afterwards, but there was important political posturing afoot. Chief Robert Bear was trying to quell the masses worried over the elves getting a place at the table. Wounds were still fresh over Tir Tairngire's formation 9 years ago, with the elven nation tearing a major chunk of western North America away from the Native American Nations. Terrorist threats were being thrown around on both sides. Strong leadership and fiery speeches were needed, and Jack's presence as a bodyguard was necessary to prevent the speeches from ending badly.

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"Pack me 4 sandwiches, would you dear? Room service is hit or miss for the guards sometimes."

Lisa and Matthew made him 4 sandwiches, as Jack hurriedly arranged his guns and equipment in his briefcase. Eventually, he was satisfied with how everything was packed, and headed out the door, grabbing food from his wife and giving her a quick kiss.

"Matthew, walk with me to the road, I want to tell you some things before I leave."

~~~

Jack smoked a nico-stick as he waited near the edge of his property for a ride. Matthew was alongside him, not knowing what his father wanted to discuss, but knowing it was serious.

"Listen, Matthew...... there's gonna be some big changes around here soon."

"How so?"

"The Manitou tribe will be getting formal recognition soon, and people are angry about it. We have a lot of people who hate elves here, who see some of them as traitors because they hate what they don't understand."

"I know Dad, I've beaten up a couple of those racist drek-heads. Don't worry, I'll take care of myself."

"I need you to watch out for some of those elves too though."

"......Dad?......"

"Theres some terrorist elements within the Manitou. I don't agree with them, but I understand them. They hate what the Nations have done to the land we live on, and they see anyone who isn't them as an enemy. Even if we recognize them, it isn't enough. Some of them want us gone from these parts entirely. I'm worried about this property. You need to look out for your mom while I'm gone, okay?"

"Of course Dad."

"Matthew......promise me. I'm serious about this. Watch out for your mom. I'm going to talk to some people to improve security around here, maybe get some cameras linked up to the government's Matrix network. But you need to watch out for her, okay? Because people wanting to get at government staff might see a bodyguard's wife as a target, to manipulate us."

"I'll keep an eye out, don't worry. You'll only be gone for a few days though, right?"

Jack had a pained expression on his face. As Matthew morphed into the shadowrun persona of Leon Eagles, he would replay this moment over and over in his mind later in life, wondering whether Jack knew something was going to happen to him before it did.

"......Hopefully. Take care kid, and keep practising your marksmanship."

"I will."

Jack's ride pulled up, and he embraced his son for an unusually long time, before heading into the car.

"Love you Matthew!"

"I love you too dad! Stay safe!"

Jack's car drove off.

It was the last time Matthew would be able to touch or talk to him.

~~~

(four days later)

Matthew had finished his marksmanship practise for the day with a flourish, putting bullets in a button-up shirt pattern up his wooden target, before walking back to the house for supper.

Today's supper was chicken soyburgers, and his mother dished it out quickly, as the two tried to eat it with watching trid-vision, without thinking too hard or too long about just what exactly they were eating.

"You didn't hurt yourself shooting that damned gun around, did you?"

"No mom, I just shot the target and nothing else...... I wish I could get a gun with a Smartlink hookup. Then I could put em' down with one round."

"No more cyberware until you're 18!"

"I know, I know."

Lisa shuddered at the thought, however. "I wish you and Jack wouldn't even get it then. Those cyberware surgeons make me nervous. Men and women came from the Earth, and were meant to be what they are, not augmented by technology."

Matthew wanted to explain that every component of technology technically came from the literal earth, but he had heard Jack argue this point with her before. If Jack couldn't change her mind, no one could......

Speaking of Jack, he was currently on the trideo unit they were watching while eating supper, standing to the right of Civil Chief Robert Bear as he gave a speech in front of a Calgary court house. His serious, sunglasses-clad expression hovered just over the Chief's shoulder (recorded in full detail by Lisa, who made a hobby of catching some of his on-camera appearances doing his job), and Bear was addressing the crowd and viewers at home with just as much seriousness as his bodyguard.

"We have gone on too long, refusing to acknowledge the men and women who fought alongside us for our freedom, refusing to acknowledge them, why?......Because their ears are pointed?......No, this injustice cannot stand. The Native American Nations stand by the belief that metahumans are welcome within our lands, and we stand with the Native American Nations!"

Mild applause leaked from the speakers, but there were a few barely muted catcalls, and Matthew thought some sections of the crowd were downright mutinous.

"Furthermore......"

Robert Bear paused before saying anything else, and looked at a section of the crowd curiously. Matthew noticed Jack off to the side looking with a an expression of sheer horror, before suddenly he dashed in front of his boss. Matthew caught the briefest flash of a man with a leather jacket leaping at the Chief, before Jack tackled him off-camera. Chief Bear backed off with his other bodyguards, and an explosion burst from the lower-right corner of the screen Jack disappeared to, shaking the camera and flooding the feed with smoke and flame.

Matthew and Lisa looked at the trid screen in abject horror, before Lisa let out mournful shrieks of pain that rattled the windows, in shock at what she just saw happen to her husband.

Matthew was 16 years old, and it was the end of innocence for him.