EPISODE 9: "The Pied Piper of Hamelin"

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We rewind a little to followShaurya after his confrontation with Yash, who's just found out that Shaurya is a reporter. After Yash's hate-filled warning to stay away, Shaurya heads back into the station to ask his Cap Shaan what he would do if he found a long-lost family member only to discover that he wasn't the same person. Shaan knows that he's asking about his brother, so he treads carefully and asks exactly what he means by different. Shaurya: "Say... he killed a person..."

Whoa, did you just say that out loud?

Shaan quickly shuts the door and asks if he's sure. Shaurya says he isn't sure at all, but it's a terrible hunch that he can feel, and asks what he's supposed to do. Cap says there's only one thing he would do: investigate and find out the truth. Deciding what to do with that truth can come later. Then we resume at the icy intersection that closed out the last episode, where Yash mistakes a boy crossing the street as his little brother and crashes his truck into an even bigger truck to save him. He stumbles away from the collision bleeding from the head to make sure the boy is okay, calling him Karan, and then collapses on his shoulder. Anokhi and her team at Jagruk Nation catch the entire accident and aftermath on camera, and once the initial shock wears off, they watch Yash get taken away on a stretcher and Anokhi asks in a daze, "This is an exclusive, isn't it?"

Looks like Anokhi and Shaurya are going to go to war over Yash.

Jagruk Nation goes into a frenzy of activity to get the story ready for the evening news as the top story, and Anokhi grumbles to herself when she gets sent to ride in the ambulance with Yash while Ahir gets to be on camera to do the report. Shaurya is late to meet his partner Shagun at the station, where she greets him with a big yawn and yet another reminder that she's comfortable enough to do that around him because she doesn't see him as a man. They perk up when they see two wrecked trucks being towed in, hoping for an accident to report. Shagun starts to ask the tow truck driver about the scene where he picked up the vehicles, but Shaurya's eyes widen when he notices the water delivery truck being towed behind that one... the one with Yash's license plate number on it. He panics and asks where the driver is, and all the towing guy knows is that he was taken to a hospital, but he doesn't know where. Shaurya takes off at a run, leaving Shagun shouting after him. Anokhi rides in the ambulance with Yash, who regains consciousness for a second. Ohthankgoodness.
He's delirious and asks for Karan again to make sure that he's okay, before passing out again. Anokhi records all this on her phone, and wonders who this Karan is. Shagun reports the basics of the accident to her team leader Alok at the exact moment that Jagruk Nation is opening their news hour with the exclusive. Mom has turned the accident story into a tale of heroic triumph and sacrifice, complete with emotional footage of the aftermath (Yash's face has been blurred out in the broadcast). Ahir's chaebol mommy yelps when she sees her son on TV, and even Anokhi's dad watches the broadcast over someone else's shoulder at the bus stop. Shaurya runs through all the nearby hospitals looking for Yash, and is shocked to see on the news that Jagruk Nation caught that very accident on camera. Yash gets treated for his surprisingly minor injuries and checks out of the hospital quietly, but Anokhi catches up to him before he leaves to beg for an interview. Yash's name rings a bell with Anokhi's cameraman, and from the look on his face, he seems to have connected the dots to Firefighter Dad. Anokhi hands over her card and asks Yash to consider an interview, and he asks if she's the reporter in all the Jagruk Nation commercials, knowing that it means she's Devi's daughter. He agrees to do the interview now, and a frightening smile spreads across his face.

Ack, Yash, I hope you're not a killer, but just in case you are: Don't kill Anokhi!

In the interview, Yash explains that Karan is his brother's name, and he died when he was about the same age as that boy in the street tonight, causing the momentary confusion. Shaurya runs in and finds Yash already doing the interview, and with Anokhi of all people. After hearing Yash's story about Firefighter Dad and how the reporters back then treated his family unjustly, Anokhi says sympathetically that it must be difficult for him to watch the news. He says that some of the reporters are still working today, and though he only remembers most of them vaguely, there was one so vicious that he remembers everything: face, name, and the way they spoke. Both Shaurya and the cameraman tense up as Anokhi leans forward and asks if he can tell her who that reporter is. Yash leans in and looks at her with a cunning smile, "That reporter is..." But both the cameraman andShaurya cut in, and Anokhi quickly tells Yash not to talk to other reporters. That won't be a problem for Yash, who looks at Shaurya with daggers in his eyes. But right now Shaurya is more concerned with separating the two of them, and he yells at Anokhi to follow and leads her out by the hand. At first Anokhi thinks he's just trying to interfere with her story, but she's surprised by the desperation in his voice as he asks her to stay away from that man because it's dangerous for her. She says that Yash told her about Firefighter Dad and she understands why he hates reporters, but he's a man who risked his life to save someone else. But Shaurya won't be consoled, and pleads with her to trust him and hand the story off to someone else. Anokhi asks him to give her a reason that she'll understand, because she sees that he's serious but doesn't get where this is coming from.
Shaurya: "Can't the reason be me? Can't it just be because it's me, because I worry about you more than anyone? Can't you just trust me?" He's so urgent as he begs her not to get mixed up with Yash, and to trust him just this once without asking why. It so goes against her nature, but Anokhi can see that he's not going to tell her why, and that whatever it is, it's because he cares about her. So she agrees not to follow up after the interview and not ask Shaurya the million questions she has in her head, because she trusts him. The relief washes over him and she tells him again and again that she'll keep her promise and proves that she means it with the absence of hiccups. He thanks her and clasps her hand as she gives him a reassuring hug. Inside, Yash stares at Anokhi's card in his hand, and the cameraman comes up to him and says nervously that he did a good thing today. The cameraman pretends not to recognize him, but Yash calls him by name and says he's heard his story once before-he was there when he gave that interview thirteen years ago with Devi. He points out how funny it is to be going through the same thing with her daughter Anokhi now, and says pointedly that he's grateful for the coincidence.
Oh dear.
Outside, Anokhi waits until Shaurya's calmer and then asks half-jokingly one last time if he's not pulling some kind of stunt to steal her exclusive, and he pinches her lips shut like always and swears he isn't. They get up to head back to work, and Anokhi stops to add that once their training days are over and they go back home, Dad will find out about their relationship and might be mean to him. Shaurya knows to expect it, but she cutely tells him, "Don't give up okay?" Aw. She starts to say that she'll work on getting Dad to come around, but he pinches her lips again and says, "I won't ever give up."

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