**Episode 10: The Girl Who Was Rainbird**
The rain had slowed, but the silence between them was heavier than ever.
Under the shelter of the old bridge, Elina sat with her knees pulled to her chest, eyes staring into nothing.
Ayaan didn't push her.
Finally, she spoke.
"I was thirteen when they found me. Living on the streets of Karachi after my parents were killed in a cross-border raid. No names, no relatives. Just me."
She paused, then smiled bitterly.
"But I wasn't alone for long. A man named Colonel Rauf took me in. Said I was 'special.' Said I had the kind of mind that could be *trained*."
Ayaan sat still, processing.
"I spent the next five years inside a facility called **Unit K-4**. You won't find it on maps. It doesn't officially exist. They raised us to be ghosts. Gave us new names. I became **Rainbird** — a watcher, a recorder, a weapon without a gun."
"What did they make you do?" Ayaan asked softly.
She didn't look at him.
"Missions. Surveillance. Blackmail. On targets of interest — politicians, businessmen, foreign operatives. I was placed in elite schools. Corporate internships. Always close enough to listen."
"And then?"
"One day, I was assigned to a man in Chattogram. A smuggler with links to weapons trade. I was ordered to seduce him. Gather leverage. But he… he wasn't like the others. He found out what I was."
Her voice cracked.
"And he sold me. Back to the highest bidder."
She took a shaky breath.
"I escaped before the transaction was complete. Burned everything I had. Changed my name. Moved city to city. Cut off every contact. I thought I was free…"
Ayaan's voice was low. "Until Reza Murad's people started watching you."
She nodded. "They weren't the first. But they're the closest anyone's gotten in years. And now…"
She turned to him, eyes raw.
"You're caught in it too. Because of me."
Ayaan shook his head.
"No," he said firmly. "Because of *us.*"
Elina looked away, swallowing the emotion rising in her throat.
"I didn't ask for this life," she whispered. "I just wanted to live. Maybe find peace. Maybe even… someone to believe in."
"You found someone," Ayaan said. "And now we face them together."
She looked at him then — really looked — as if seeing him for the first time.
And for the first time since she ran… she didn't feel alone.
**To be continued…**