The bunker felt heavier without Charlie.
They were all gathered around the long metal table, screens flickering, gear stacked and ready.
Coffee going cold. Nerves running hot.
Rio drummed his fingers.
James paced like a man who'd been caged too long, fully healed, pumped, and annoyingly loud about it.
"Is he gonna show?" Rio muttered.
Billy exhaled. "He might."
Kris leaned back in his chair, not even looking up.
"I wouldn't bet on that."
No softness. No sentiment. Just fact.
The room went quiet again, the kind of quiet where everyone is thinking the same thing but nobody wants to say it.
The empty chair in the corner felt like a curse.
Mira stood.
"I need the bathroom."
No one blinked.
Thirty seconds later , of course, Kris pushed his chair back and followed after her.
Rio rolled his eyes.
James smirked, "Smooth."
Billy just rubbed his temples.
Mira had barely splashed water on her face when the door clicked shut behind her.
"Kris," she whispered, "you can't just"
"Yeah, I can," he said, stepping closer, voice low, warm, annoying in that way she liked.
"You ran off. I follow. Simple math."
She rolled her eyes, but her lips curled.
"You're impossible."
"And you're hiding," he said, backing her gently against the counter.
"Talk to me."
Her breath hitched , not fear, not nerves… that annoying pull she kept denying.
"Kris… we're prepping for a job."
"So?" He tilted her chin with two fingers.
"You think a little… stress relief… is gonna break the mission?"
"That's not what you want," she whispered.
He leaned in, lips brushing her cheek, slow enough to burn.
"I want you. And I want you talking. Pick the order."
She swallowed.
Her hands slid to his shirt, not pulling, not pushing, just… holding.
"You drive me crazy," she breathed.
He chuckled softly, mouth barely grazing her jawline.
"Good. Because you drive me stupid."
His words were warm against her skin, his voice rough in that way that always made her forget every smart decision she ever had.
Her fingers curled into his shirt.
"Keep talking like that…"
"And what?" he murmured at her ear.
"You gonna stop pretending you don't want this?"
Her answer wasn't verbal, just her lips catching his, slow but hungry, like she'd finally stopped fighting herself.
Kris responded instantly, hands sliding to her waist, pulling her closer, kissing her like he'd been waiting months for her to slip just once.
She whispered against his mouth, breath shaky,
"Don't get cocky."
He smirked.
"Too late."
The kiss deepened, still slow, still controlled, like two people trying not to lose themselves entirely… but absolutely losing anyway.
Her voice softened, a low breath between kisses:
"If the others hear us"
"They already know," he murmured.
"And I don't care."
She laughed quietly, a small, soft sound that only he ever got to hear — before pulling him back down for another kiss, her hands tracing the back of his neck.
The door opened.
Cecil stood there with one brow raised, arms crossed, giving pure fed up big sister energy.
"For real? Break it up, lovebirds."
Mira stepped back immediately, cheeks warm.
Kris didn't move. He just looked at Cecil like she was the one interrupting something sacred.
"Billy has an announcement," Cecil said.
Kris asked, "Is it Charlie?"
"No. We're doing it without him."
Mira and Kris exchanged a quick look. She looked worried. He looked irritated.
They followed Cecil out.
The moment they entered, James smirked.
"Well look at that. Bathroom duo is back."
Rio added, "Didn't even try to pretend."
Mira flipped them off and kept walking.
Kris glared, the kind that said shut your mouth or lose your teeth.
James nudged Rio.
"His shirt is crooked. Mira fixed his mood."
Billy ignored them and stepped forward, placing his hands on the table.
"Alright. Since we're all finally here…"
Just as he was about to continue
The door opened again.
A figure walked in quietly, eyes scanning the room once.
Charlie.
He nodded once. "Sorry. Got held up."
Rio choked on his laugh.
James stared like he couldn't believe it.
Mira froze.
Kris's jaw tightened, a mix of relief and annoyance.
Billy breathed out slowly.
"Good. You're here."
The whole room shifted instantly, tension snapping back into place.
Rio sat up slowly, staring at Charlie with a blank, confused look.
Billy walked toward him and gently pulled him aside.
Rio followed immediately, desperate for answers about the intel they had pieced together.
Nothing confrontational.
Just concern.
Just the need to understand.
Billy kept his voice low.
"Charlie, talk to us. We're not trying to push you."
Charlie shook his head once.
"It's best I say it in front of everyone. I did put all of their lives in danger"
"I didn't disappear because I was scared. I disappeared because they hurt someone I cared about. She had nothing to do with this life. She didn't fight. She didn't steal. She wasn't on any mission with me. She was just… someone good who knew me."
The room went quiet.
"They targeted her because of me. Because they wanted to remind me that I belonged to them. That I don't get to have anything clean. That if I try to walk away, they'll take whatever matters to me."
He looked down for a moment, jaw tight, eyes burning.
"They took her. For nothing. Just to prove they could."
The room stayed frozen.
James was the first to break the silence.
"By 'they'… you mean who?"
Charlie lifted his head slowly. His eyes didn't shake.
"You already know the name. I used to work for them. The Black Hallow Division."
The entire room stiffened.
Billy's expression shifted.
That was the exact organization he had been trying to expose.
Charlie continued.
"I was one of their snipers. Their clean up guy. Their ghost. The person they sent in when they wanted someone gone without leaving a whisper behind."
Nobody breathed.
"But I got tired of watching people die for causes that meant nothing. I wanted a life. Something normal. Something soft. So I left. I hid. I took my daughter and cut all ties. She was all I had. My whole family. My whole reason."
His voice cracked for the first time, barely audible.
"They found us."
Mira covered her mouth with her hand.
Cecil blinked, stunned.
Rio looked like he might punch a wall.
Kris stood completely still, jaw locked.
Charlie swallowed hard.
"They gave me a choice. Come back or lose her. I refused. I thought I could protect her. I thought I could outrun them."
His hands trembled.
"I was wrong."
Silence sat heavy on the room.
Billy finally stepped closer.
"Charlie… they took your daughter?"
Charlie nodded once.
"She was the only person I ever loved without fear. And they stole her from me because I dared to leave."
His voice turned cold.
"That's who they are. That's what the Black Hallow Division does. They break anyone who tries to build a life without them."
Charlie looked around the room, tired, hurt, but burning inside.
"I'm here because I want them destroyed. Every branch. Every leader. Every building. I won't stop until they feel everything they did to me. To her."
Billy stepped forward and placed his hand on Charlie's shoulder.
"Listen to me," Billy said quietly. "There is no reason for you to feel guilty. You did what you had to do to survive. Yes, you hurt people. Yes, you did things you regret. But that does not define who you are now. What matters is the man standing in front of us. The one who walked away from darkness. The one who chose his daughter over blood money. The one who came back here, broken or not, ready to fight again."
Charlie's eyes lowered, breath shaking.
Billy kept going, voice steady, warm but firm.
"You think your past makes you unworthy. It doesn't. It makes you dangerous to the people who deserve it. It gives you clarity. It gives you purpose. And you being here does not put a stain on this team. It strengthens us. You are not the monster they created. You are the man they could not control."
The room was silent.
Charlie's jaw tightened, eyes glassy but holding everything in.
Billy gave a small nod.
"And honestly," he added, "you may have just made our plan easier."
Charlie looked up.
Billy's tone sharpened with purpose.
"If the Black Hallow Division took your daughter, then we find them, we corner them, and we tear their whole structure apart from the inside. No hesitation. No mercy."
He stepped back slightly so the whole team could hear him.
"Let's get your daughter back."
The room held the weight of it for a moment.
Then Mira exhaled and muttered, "Wow. I never knew Billy was this touch-feely. Should we be taking notes or something?"
James snorted.
Rio leaned back like he had been waiting for someone to break the tension.
Cecil smirked.
Kris raised an eyebrow at Billy, amused.
Billy rubbed his forehead.
"Seriously? I give one emotional speech and suddenly I'm a motivational speaker."
James grinned.
"Low-key inspirational though. Might cry later."
Rio added, "Should we clap or something? Give you a trophy? World's Softest Boss?"
Billy pointed at them.
"Enough. All of you."
Mira lifted her hands.
"Relax, we're just saying your heart grew three sizes today."
Billy gave her a flat look.
"Ok, ok. Back to business."
The team straightened immediately, joking mood fading but not disappearing completely, like a warm afterglow that made the room feel lighter.
Billy turned to Charlie again, voice settling back into leader mode.
"Now let's talk strategy."