The safehouse was nothing more than a crumbling loft above an abandoned warehouse, shadows stitched into the corners.
The windows were boarded, the air thick with dust, but it was shelter good enough.
Ryu lay stretched on a splintered cot, her tunic dark with blood.
Eel knelt beside her, hands steady as he bound the gash across her ribs.
She hissed when the cloth pulled tight, but said nothing.
"Hold it," he muttered, pressing her palm to the bandage. "It'll slow the bleeding until we get back."
Across the room, Echo leaned against the wall, arms folded, a bruise already blooming along his jaw.
His eyes flicked toward the door, restless, but Eel's voice cut through before he could speak.
"You almost got us all killed tonight."
Echo bristled. "I—"
"You blew our cover. Every handler in that place will know our faces now."
The weight in Eel's tone was heavier than the bandage in his hands.
"And you'll answer for it when we return to headquarters."
Echo's jaw tightened. He looked away, swallowing down words he didn't dare speak.
Meanwhile, Caelum hadn't stopped moving since they entered. He trailed after Vesper like a shadow that didn't know when to vanish.
"Is Vesper your real name?" he asked, leaning against the wall beside her.
Silence. She pulled a whetstone across her daggers and blades.
His jaw flexed, but no words came.
Caelum leaned closer, voice hushed but insistent. "You could've left, but you didn't..."
For the first time, her eyes lifted to his sharp, cold warning. But he didn't flinch.
Eel's voice rumbled across the room again, snapping the silence. "Sit down, boy. You're not part of this unit. Don't mistake silence for tolerance."
Caelum just shrugged, stubborn fire in his gaze. His eyes slid back to Vesper. "Doesn't change the fact she caught me. If she wanted me gone, she'd have let me burn."
The safehouse hummed with low voices. Ryu breathed shallowly, trying to sleep off the pain.
But Caelum wasn't done.
His laughter drifted from where he pestered Vesper with questions, his stubbornness filling the silence like a candle fighting smoke. Ryu turned her face toward the wall, eyes shutting against the flicker of memory.
Johnny's (Kevin) voice ... soft, teasing.
The way he used to tug her sleeve in the courtyard when the world was still whole.
Her fingers curled into the blanket, knuckles white. For a moment, it wasn't Caelum's voice she heard, but Johnny(Kevin)'s, echoing across years she wanted to live again.