The night stretched endlessly over the battered headquarters.
A soft wind stirred the cracked windows, carrying the faint scent of rain and smoke.
Inside, everything was quiet.
No one joked.
No one celebrated.
They simply... existed.
Sophie sat by Anna's bedside, her hands trembling as she brushed matted hair away from her sister's bruised forehead.
Anna slept fitfully, twitching and murmuring nonsense words under her breath.
Nightmares.
Jayden knew the sound too well.
He leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, watching them with a heavy heart.
There was no manual for moments like this.
No guidebook for stitching souls back together.
You just... stayed.
You showed up.
You didn't run.
Even when it broke you inside.
Especially then.
--
In the kitchen, Aria and Elias bickered quietly over coffee.
It was a familiar sound — grounding somehow.
Normal.
Jayden smiled faintly as he grabbed a mug, nodding to them.
> "Any more of that sludge?"
Aria wrinkled her nose.
> "It's not sludge.
It's artisanal poison."
Elias snorted into his cup.
> "Better than your cooking, Princess."
Aria threw a sugar packet at his head.
Jayden caught it mid-air, tossing it back onto the counter without comment.
Tiny sparks of humor crackled between them — frayed, bruised, but alive.
It wasn't much.
But it was something.
And sometimes, something was enough.
---
Jayden slipped outside after midnight, unable to stand the suffocating air inside.
The cold bit into him through the thin t-shirt, but he welcomed it.
Punishment.
Clarity.
He sat on the steps, staring up at the scattered stars.
They looked so peaceful from down here.
Distant.
Untouchable.
Above all the blood and heartbreak.
> "Mind if I join you?"
Sophie's voice was barely a whisper.
Jayden glanced over, surprised.
She stood in the doorway, arms hugging herself tightly.
Still pale.
Still trembling.
But standing.
Choosing to move forward.
Jayden shrugged, scooting over.
> "Plenty of steps."
She laughed softly — a cracked, painful sound.
But a laugh, nonetheless.
She sat down beside him, knees pulled up to her chest.
For a long time, they said nothing.
Just breathed.
Listened.
Existed together.
The way two broken people sometimes do.
---
Sophie finally spoke, voice rough.
> "Thank you."
Jayden shook his head.
> "Don't thank me.
It was your fight too."
She smiled — a crooked, sad thing that carved a canyon across her face.
> "Maybe.
But you didn't have to stay."
Jayden stared at his hands.
Scars mapped them like battlefields.
Old burns.
New cuts.
Wounds that had healed ugly.
> "Yeah," he said quietly.
"I did."
Because leaving wasn't an option.
Not for people who mattered.
Not anymore.
He wasn't that guy.
Not the runner.
Not the deserter.
Not when it counted.
--
The sky above them bled slowly from deep indigo to smoky purple.
False dawn creeping in.
Jayden heard Sophie sniffle quietly.
Not loud sobs.
Just... a leaking of pain.
Small.
Private.
Raw.
Without thinking, he reached out and took her hand.
It was cold.
Brittle.
Like something precious on the verge of shattering.
But she didn't pull away.
She just held on.
Tightly.
Desperately.
And Jayden let her.
Because sometimes words were useless.
Sometimes the only thing that mattered was being the anchor someone could cling to.
Even if you were drowning too.
---
> "I was supposed to protect her," Sophie whispered.
Her voice cracked.
> "When our parents died...
I promised I'd keep her safe.
That nothing would ever hurt her again."
Jayden swallowed hard.
> "You did.
You fought for her."
> "Not enough."
"I hesitated.
I... I trusted the wrong people.
I made deals with monsters.
And she paid the price."
Jayden squeezed her hand.
> "You think you're the first person who made mistakes?"
Sophie laughed bitterly.
> "Feels like it."
Jayden tilted his head back, staring at the endless sky.
> "I've made mistakes too.
Big ones.
Ugly ones."
He thought of the lives lost because of him.
The missions he botched.
The betrayals he hadn't seen coming.
> "What matters is what you do after."
Sophie turned to look at him.
Really looked.
Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears, reflecting the starlight like tiny broken mirrors.
> "And what if I can't fix it?"
Jayden smiled — a sad, soft thing.
> "Then you live with it.
You carry it.
And you keep moving anyway."
> "Is it enough?"
Jayden didn't answer.
Because he didn't know.
Maybe it wasn't.
Maybe nothing ever would be.
But it was all they had.
And sometimes... that had to be enough.
---
A shooting star streaked across the sky, silent and beautiful.
Sophie gasped.
Jayden smiled.
> "Make a wish."
Sophie shook her head.
> "Wishes are for people who believe they deserve good things."
Jayden nudged her gently with his shoulder.
> "Maybe we all deserve one good thing."
Sophie was silent for a moment.
Then she closed her eyes.
Whispered something so soft he couldn't hear.
When she opened them again, she looked lighter.
Not healed.
Not fixed.
But lighter.
And that was a start.
---
They sat together until the sun threatened the horizon, painting the world in bruised gold and violet.
Sophie leaned her head against Jayden's shoulder.
Her breathing slowed.
Steadied.
Jayden didn't move.
Didn't speak.
Just stayed.
Because maybe healing didn't look like fairy tales.
Maybe it wasn't magic kisses and perfect closure.
Maybe it was sitting beside someone in the dirt, blood still crusted under your nails, hearts still broken...
And choosing to stay anyway.
Maybe that was enough.
Maybe that was everything.
---
Inside the headquarters, Elias watched from the window.
Aria stood beside him, arms crossed.
> "You think they'll make it?" she asked.
Elias grunted.
> "They'll survive."
Aria raised an eyebrow.
> "Survival's not the same as living."
Elias didn't respond.
Because he knew the truth.
Survival was easy.
Living — really living — was the hard part.
Especially with the war that was coming.
He saw the warning signs in the Syndicate's latest moves.
Whispers of betrayals.
Promised bounties.
Contracts.
The city wasn't just dangerous anymore.
It was an open wound — festering, poisoned.
And Jayden?
Jayden was the infection the Syndicate would stop at nothing to burn out.
Aria sighed, watching Jayden and Sophie below.
> "They'll need us."
Elias nodded.
Grim.
Certain.
> "They'll have us."
Whatever came next...
They would face it together.
Broken.
Bleeding.
Unbowed.
---