The flashing red and blue lights bathed the broken facility in chaotic color.
Paramedics rushed in and out. Police officers barked orders. Hazmat suits swarmed the lower vault. The place that once hid darkness was now flooded with truth—and justice.
Leo stood outside near the ambulance, arms crossed, shirt stiff with dried blood. He watched the stretchers roll by.
Rael was one of them.
Strapped down. Sedated. Alive.
A crowd of reporters had already started gathering past the barricades, their voices rising like a sea of buzzards. Camera flashes popped in the distance.
"Leo Reyes," one called. "Is it true you and your team took down Rael without backup?"
"Were you working undercover?"
"Who's the girl? Is she the victim or an accomplice?"
Leo turned away, jaw clenched.
Ashley sat on the back of an ambulance, a blanket draped around her shoulders. Her wrists were bandaged, but her eyes were sharp now. Clear. The fight hadn't broken her. If anything, she looked stronger.
Kieran stood beside her, arms loose at his sides. He looked like he was trying to stay still, but his eyes kept scanning for Leo.
The moment their gazes met, Kieran started walking toward him.
Leo met him halfway.
"You alright?" Kieran asked.
Leo nodded. "Yeah. You?"
"Same." Kieran's voice dropped lower. "They're taking Rael to a high-security lockup. Special task force's already picking apart his files."
Leo let out a slow breath. "Good."
They walked side by side through the mess, ignoring the stares and whispers.
Ashley looked up as they approached and offered a tired smile. "You two look like hell."
Leo gave a half-laugh. "You're one to talk."
"Fair." She glanced between them, then sobered. "Thanks. For everything."
"You don't have to thank us," Kieran said. "We owed you."
Ashley tilted her head. "You didn't owe me anything. But you still came."
Leo's gaze softened. "You're family. That's what matters."
Ashley looked like she might cry again, but she blinked fast and nodded.
Just then, a detective approached, flipping open his notepad. "Leo Reyes, Kieran Vale, Ashley Lin. We'll need your statements. And we have a lot of questions."
Kieran sighed. "Of course you do."
Ashley stood, rolling her shoulders. "Let's get it over with."
---
Hours passed.
One by one, they were questioned, debriefed, cleared by medics. The sun began to rise over the city skyline, casting a golden wash over the building's ruined shell.
When it was over, the three of them stepped into the cool dawn air, free but changed.
Ashley was being escorted to a secure center for trauma survivors. She turned to the boys before she left.
"Promise me something."
Leo raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Don't pretend this didn't change you," she said. "Don't shove it down. Talk to each other. Heal."
Kieran nodded. "We will."
Ashley smirked. "And stop dancing around each other. It's annoying."
Leo blinked. "Wait, what—?"
But she just winked, climbed into the car, and left.
---
That evening, Leo sat on the rooftop of the apartment complex, staring out over the city. The sky was streaked orange and purple. A breeze rustled his hair.
Footsteps behind him.
Kieran.
He didn't say anything, just sat beside him, the silence easy now.
"You think we'll be okay?" Leo asked.
Kieran thought for a moment. "Yeah. Eventually."
Leo turned to him. "I've been trying not to feel it. Everything. But it hits me all at once when I stop moving."
Kieran looked at him. "Then don't do it alone."
A pause.
Then Leo shifted closer. Just a little.
Kieran didn't move away.
They sat like that, shoulder to shoulder, watching the sun disappear behind the skyline. For the first time in a long while, the silence wasn't heavy. It was warm.
A beginning.