My vision doubles.
Footsteps.
Real ones.
Voices cut through the fog—urgent, panicked.
"No—this way," someone says.
Rain.
And then I hear her.
"Zain!"
I almost smile.
Definitely hallucinating now.
She breaks through the smoke, eyes searching wildly, breath ragged. For a second, she just stares at me—like she's afraid I'll vanish if she blinks.
"It seems," I murmur, or think I do, "like you're actually in front of me, little rabbit… even though I'm dreaming."
Her hand grabs my face, warm and shaking.
"You're not dreaming," she says, voice breaking. "And you're not dying. We're not letting you."
I want to tell her I can't move.
That my body won't respond.
That the gas has me locked inside myself.
Nothing comes out.
Rain's beside her now. "He's paralyzed. Gas exposure. The whole base can explode in any moment. We have to move—now."
They hook their arms under mine.
The moment they lift me, my body lags behind, useless weight. No pain—just terrifying emptiness.
"Back exit," Rain says. "Less gas. Daisy checked the blueprints."
Of course she did, smart ass she is. She'd texted me about the kidnapping too. Otherwise, I never would've known.
They drag me, half-carry me, every step a race against the ticking in my head.
The air changes suddenly—cooler, thinner. I gasp, lungs spasming like they've remembered their job.
Sirens wail outside.
The building groans.
They pull me clear—
And then the place explodes behind us.
The force hits like a wall of heat and sound.
Lara doesn't let go of me.
Not for a second.
She holds on like if she does, I'll slip away.
My vision dims.
But the last thing I feel—
Is her grip.
And the last thing I know—
She came back for me.
And that's enough.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
At hospital,
Zain wakes up to white ceilings and the steady bite of antiseptic.
He can't move. Not at first. His body feels heavy, distant—like it isn't fully his yet. Machines hum beside him, slow and patient, doing what his lungs couldn't for hours.
Gas exposure, they tell him later. Temporary paralysis. He was lucky.
Two rooms down, Rain isn't. He had to go through surgery.
A bullet had torn through his shoulder when he shoved Daisy out of the line of fire. He is conscious, jaw clenched, refusing painkillers like stubbornness is armor. Lara sits beside him anyway, arms crossed, eyes sharp—watching monitors, watching doors, watching him.
"You're not getting up," she says flatly when he shifts.
Rain smirks weakly. "Didn't plan to."
Across the corridor, Ben lies under observation—alive, shaken, furious in that quiet way power carries when it's been threatened. He keeps asking for Lara. She checks on him between rooms, steadying him, promising answers later.
---------------------------------------------------
Outside, Daisy doesn't stop moving.
Police. Fire department. Statements. Evidence. Orders barked into radios. She's covered in soot and blood that isn't hers, hair tied back, eyes locked in. This is her zone now—control, clarity, no room to break.
Nick is gone.
--------------------------------------------------------
Back in hospital, Lara finally sits, in the corridor close to the 3 rooms.
Guarding.
Zain turns his head just enough to see her.
She's exhausted. Her shoulders slump the moment she thinks no one's watching. Her hands shake, betraying the strength she's been holding onto for too long. She looks smaller here—human.
Then she breaks.
Lara covers her mouth with both hands, choking back the sound, but tears slip through anyway.