The flight back to Astra was quiet.
Too quiet.
Jack sat opposite Maya in the aircraft, strapped into his seat, staring at the metal floor like it held answers to questions he never wanted to ask. His hands shook uncontrollably—barely noticeable to most people, but not to her.
She noticed everything.
He had two cracked ribs, bruised ribs everywhere else, and shallow cuts across his shoulders from where the helmeted soldier smashed him. He wasn't bleeding much. He wasn't dying.
But Maya had seen people break without shedding a single drop of blood.
And right now, Jack looked like he was fracturing.
Maya exhaled slowly through her nose, forcing herself to stay calm, professional, detached.
But her hands…
Her hands wouldn't stop clenching.
Because every time she closed her eyes, she saw Mantis standing on that dune.
Smiling.
Pointing at Jack.
Threatening him with a simple gesture, like he was already dead.
Maya wanted to stab that smile off her face.
Back at Astra
The aircraft landed in the underground hangar. Medical staff rushed forward, ready with stretchers. Jack stumbled off the ramp, trying to refuse the help.
"I'm fine—"
Maya caught his arm before he could collapse.
"Stop pretending," she said sharply. "You're hurt."
Jack's lips twitched into a weak smile. "It's just a few ribs."
Rafael snorted. "Ribs are important, genius."
Jack winced. "They're optional."
"No," Maya said. "They're not."
Her voice came out too sharp. Too emotional.
Jack blinked at her.
She looked away.
The medic moved in. "We need him in the exam bay. He's unstable."
Maya stiffened. "I'll accompany him."
Jack frowned. "You don't have to—"
"I'm not asking," Maya snapped.
Jack nodded quietly.
He let the medics guide him down the corridor while Maya walked beside him, shoulder brushing his arm to steady him. Rafael walked behind them, guarding their backs.
It was only when Jack was seated on the examination table that Maya took a step back.
The medic touched his ribs.
Jack hissed in pain.
Maya's jaw twitched.
The medic glanced at her. "Agent Rios, we need space."
She didn't move.
Jack murmured, "Maya… it's okay."
Reluctantly, she stepped aside.
But she didn't leave.
Her eyes stayed locked on him the entire time.
Rafael leaned against the wall and muttered under his breath, "At this point, you're practically glued to him."
Maya shot him a warning glare.
Rafael raised his hands in surrender.
But the truth was—Rafael was right.
She was glued to him.
Emotionally.
Instinctively.
In ways she wasn't ready to admit.
The Debriefing Room, Later
Ward waited inside, arms crossed, expression unreadable.
Jack sat in a chair across from her, ribs taped, exhaustion clinging to him like a second skin. Maya stood behind him, because she refused to stand anywhere else.
Rafael sat beside Jack, tired but alert.
Ward started without preamble.
"Tell me everything."
Rafael delivered most of the report—tactics, enemy behavior, the dropsite layout, the armor weaknesses. Maya filled gaps, focusing on Mantis's control of the soldiers.
Then Ward turned to Jack.
"And you? What did you feel during combat?"
Jack faltered.
He looked down at his hands—the same hands that had taken down an enhanced soldier.
"I… don't know," he whispered. "It felt like someone else was moving. Someone inside me."
Maya's shoulders tightened.
Ward leaned forward.
"Did it feel… familiar?"
Jack swallowed. "Yes."
Familiar.
Instinctive.
Awakening.
Ward sighed. "Then the Alpha traits are surfacing more quickly than we expected."
Maya spoke sharply, "He's not a trait. He's not a weapon."
Ward's gaze hardened. "He was engineered as one."
Maya took a step forward. "He is not what Helix made him."
"Maybe not," Ward said quietly. "But his body remembers things he doesn't."
Jack looked physically ill.
Ward sighed. "Jack. You did well. Better than projected. But you need to be prepared. Helix will move faster now."
Jack nodded slowly, but his eyes were distant.
Maya stepped closer until her hand brushed his shoulder.
He didn't pull away.
Ward dismissed them.
Outside the Debrief Room
Jack walked slowly down the hallway toward the dorm levels, ribs aching.
Maya walked beside him.
Rafael peeled off at the fork. "I'll update the surveillance team. Don't open the door unless it's me."
Maya jerked her chin in acknowledgment.
When Rafael was gone, silence filled the corridor.
Jack finally whispered:
"Maya… what if he's right?"
"Who?"
"Mercer."
Maya stiffened. "Don't say that."
Jack kept walking, voice trembling.
"He said I would change. And today—when I fought—that wasn't me. I moved like someone else. I wasn't thinking. I wasn't scared. I was just… reacting."
"That's training," Maya said.
"No it's not," Jack whispered. "You saw it."
She froze.
Yes.
She saw it.
The speed.
The precision.
The brutality.
That wasn't a rookie.
That wasn't even a trained agent.
It was something else.
Something Helix made.
Jack stared at her.
"Maya… what if he turns me into him?"
Her heartbeat stuttered.
"Jack—"
"What if I become Mercer's Alpha?"
Maya grabbed his shirt and pulled him close—angry, scared, fierce.
"You're not him," she said through clenched teeth. "You're not his. Do you understand me? You will NEVER become what he wants."
Jack looked stunned.
She stepped closer.
"You're Jack Williams. You hesitate when you shouldn't. You overthink everything. You apologize too much. You talk too fast when you're scared. You get nervous around knives."
Her voice softened.
"And you care. Too much. About people you barely know."
Her eyes trembled.
"That's not Helix. That's not Alpha. That's you."
Jack blinked.
Then whispered, "Maya… why do you care this much?"
Her breath caught.
Her brain screamed: Lie. Deflect. Ruthless. Cold.
But her heart whispered something else.
Something dangerous.
Something honest.
She exhaled shakily.
"Because you're my responsibility," she said.
Jack looked away.
"Is that all?"
Silence.
Maya's chest tightened painfully.
Her voice cracked just a little.
Barely audible.
"No."
Jack's breath hitched.
He turned slowly. "Then… what am I to you?"
The question felt like a blade sliding into her ribs.
She stepped closer—heart pounding, pulse racing, instincts warring.
She wanted to say it.
She wanted to say everything she felt.
But she wasn't ready.
Not yet.
Not when Helix was watching.
Not when Mantis was hunting him.
Not when Jack was breaking.
So she swallowed the truth and said:
"You're someone I refuse to lose."
Jack stared into her eyes.
Maya stared back.
The air between them felt charged—like lightning before a storm.
But then—
A sudden beep interrupted them.
Maya stiffened and tapped her earpiece.
"Rafael?" she said.
Static.
Then—
"—ya, get Jack back to the dorm. Now. We have movement—"
Maya's blood ran cold.
"What movement?" she demanded.
Rafael's voice crackled.
"Mantis."
Jack froze.
Maya grabbed his wrist.
"Move," she commanded.
They sprinted down the corridor.
Lights flickered.
A shadow passed across the hallway cameras.
Maya shoved Jack into his room and locked the door.
"Stay behind me," she ordered.
Jack's voice shook. "Is she here?"
Maya drew her knife.
"Yes."
Footsteps echoed outside.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Predatory.
Maya lowered into a stance.
Jack held his breath.
A whisper crawled through the door.
"Jack…"
Mantis.
Maya's grip tightened.
"Stay away from him," she snarled.
A pause.
Then a sickeningly soft chuckle.
"Oh, Maya… you think you can protect him forever?"
Jack trembled.
Maya stepped forward.
"Come through that door and find out."
Silence.
Then—
A single word:
"Soon."
A rush of air.
Then nothing.
Rafael's voice hit the comms. "She's gone. She slipped the cameras again."
Maya exhaled through her teeth.
Jack slumped against the wall.
"I hate her," he whispered.
Maya looked at him.
Her heart ached.
"Good," she said. "Because she's terrified of something too."
Jack frowned. "What?"
Maya stepped closer, eyes fierce.
"You."
Jack blinked. "Me? Why me? I can barely fight—"
"No," Maya whispered. "You don't understand."
She pressed a hand to his chest.
"You scare her… because you're unpredictable. Because she can't read you. Because you're changing. Because you're becoming something Mercer didn't plan."
Jack swallowed. "What am I becoming?"
Maya leaned in.
Dangerously.
Honest.
Human.
"You're becoming someone who can destroy them."
Jack stared at her.
The room felt too small.
The air felt too hot.
And for the first time since he learned who he was…
He believed her.