Jack's eyes fluttered open.
For the first few seconds, his gaze was unfocused, drifting between the lights in the medical wing ceiling and the shapes of people crowding his bedside.
But when he saw Maya—
His breathing steadied.
Relief washed across his exhausted features.
"Maya…" he whispered.
"I'm here," she said softly, brushing his hair back.
He leaned into her hand as if it were the only thing keeping him tethered to himself.
But Maya felt something else in his touch now—
A faint tremor beneath his skin, like the echo of something still awake inside him.
Something she couldn't name yet.
Something she didn't want to.
Ward Arrives
The doors to Isolation Unit 4 burst open.
Ward stormed inside, flanked by two armed security officers.
Her eyes went straight to Jack—alive, breathing, trembling—but awake.
Jack tensed instantly, fingers tightening around Maya's wrist.
She felt it.
His fear.
Ward lifted a hand.
"Sedate him."
Maya stepped between Jack and the medics before they even moved.
"Absolutely not."
Ward didn't look surprised.
She expected this.
"Agent Rios," Ward said, keeping her tone carefully measured, "this is not up for debate. Jack is unstable and could surge again at any moment."
"He just woke up," Maya snapped. "He needs time."
"He needs sedation," Ward countered. "Before he hurts someone."
"Before he hurts someone?" Maya's voice sharpened. "Or before he stops listening to you?"
Rafael sucked in a breath.
The medics froze.
Ward's expression hardened.
"This is bigger than your attachment—"
"Attachment?" Maya stepped closer, close enough that Ward stiffened. "Say that again."
"Maya," Rafael whispered, alarmed.
Ward didn't back down.
"You're compromised."
Maya's jaw clenched.
"I'm protecting him."
"You're protecting a possible threat."
Jack flinched, eyes lowering.
Maya immediately turned to him, cupping his cheek.
"No," she whispered. "You're not a threat."
Ward crossed her arms.
"Maya, look at him. His neural network is unstable. His eyes have been flickering between brown and silver since he opened them. He's showing early signs of Phase 5 activation."
Jack's breath hitched.
Maya's heart clenched.
"Ward," Rafael interrupted softly, "there has to be another way."
"There isn't," Ward said.
Maya stepped fully between Jack and everyone else.
"You sedate him over my dead body."
Ward's eyes narrowed.
"You're putting Astra at risk."
"I'm putting myself between him and harm," Maya corrected.
Ward inhaled sharply.
"Stand down, Agent Rios."
"No."
"That's an order."
"No."
The room went still.
Even the machines quieted, as if waiting to see who would crack first.
Ward's voice dropped into a dangerously calm register.
"If you obstruct this any further, I will relieve you of duty."
Maya's fingers twitched toward her knife.
Rafael stepped closer, ready to pull her back.
"Maya—"
But Jack's hand suddenly found hers.
His voice was hoarse.
"Maya. Don't…"
She froze.
He squeezed her fingers gently.
"It's okay," he whispered.
"No," Maya snapped immediately, turning on him. "It's not okay."
"I don't want you to fight everyone for me."
"I will fight the entire world if I have to."
"Maya—"
"You don't sedate someone who's terrified," Maya said, staring at Ward again. "You don't sedate someone who just escaped Mercer inside his own mind."
Ward blinked.
"You know," Maya continued, "you should be thanking him. He fought it. He chose us over Helix."
Jack closed his eyes, trembling.
That truth was heavy.
Too heavy.
Ward stared at him for a long moment.
Then she exhaled.
"Lower the sedation dosage," Ward told the medics. "He stays awake. But monitored."
The medics nodded and backed off.
Maya didn't move until they were several steps away.
Ward pinched the bridge of her nose.
"This changes nothing, Maya," she said quietly. "He's still unstable. And we need answers."
Maya stepped aside just enough for Ward to see Jack—but didn't let go of his hand.
The Debrief Begins
Ward turned to the doctor.
"Status report."
The doctor glanced at the neural readouts.
"His neural patterns are fluctuating unpredictably. The Alpha imprint is activating in bursts, but he's still resisting."
"Resisting?" Maya echoed softly.
The doctor nodded.
"Yes. Which is… unprecedented."
Ward raised an eyebrow. "Explain."
"Alpha subjects were designed to accept imprinting without conscious resistance. They weren't supposed to have the mental compartmentalization to reject it."
Maya tightened her hold on Jack's hand.
"So what does that mean?" she demanded.
"It means…" the doctor hesitated, shocked by her own words.
"He's not following Helix conditioning. He's forming his own."
Jack swallowed.
His voice shook.
"I—I fought him. I fought Mercer."
Maya's heart tightened.
"That's right," she said gently. "You did."
Ward leaned in slightly.
"What did he say to you?"
Jack hesitated.
Maya rubbed his knuckles with her thumb.
"It's okay," she murmured. "Tell us."
Jack took a shaky breath.
"He said… Phase 5 is almost complete."
The room stiffened.
Rafael muttered a curse.
Ward's eyes sharpened. "What else?"
Jack swallowed again.
"He said I wasn't born Jack Williams. That Astra gave me that name."
Maya's pulse stuttered.
Ward looked away, jaw tightening.
Jack's voice cracked.
"Is it true?"
Maya stared at Ward.
Her expression revealed everything.
Jack deflated.
"So it is true," he whispered.
Ward didn't answer the question.
Which was answer enough.
Maya knelt beside him.
"Jack… your name doesn't define you."
He looked at her, pain in his eyes.
"Then what does?"
Her voice softened.
"You."
Rafael cleared his throat awkwardly. "Also your terrible aim. That defines you too."
Jack nearly smiled.
Almost.
Then he grimaced.
"There's more."
Ward stiffened. "Continue."
Jack closed his eyes.
"I saw… versions of myself."
Maya's stomach twisted.
"What versions?"
"Children. Teenagers. Adult versions. All of them were… engineered."
Ward inhaled sharply.
Rafael muttered, "Lab projections… holy shit."
Jack clutched Maya's hand harder.
He shook violently.
"I saw lab rooms. Doctors. Tests. Mercer touching my head."
Maya felt sick.
Ward whispered, "He's accessing suppressed memories."
"And…" Jack hesitated.
"Maya saved me."
Maya froze.
Ward blinked. "What?"
"When I was about to… break," Jack said quietly, "I heard her voice. Not yours. Not Rafael's. Hers."
Maya's throat tightened painfully.
He continued.
"She's the reason I woke up."
Ward stared at Maya.
Not with anger.
With understanding.
And calculation.
"So Maya is the stabilizing factor," Ward murmured.
"She's not a tool," Jack snapped, surprising everyone—including himself.
Maya's eyes widened slightly.
Ward nodded slowly.
"No. She's not. But she is the reason you're still conscious."
The doctor checked the monitors.
"It's true," she said. "Every time Maya touches him, the neural spikes decrease."
Rafael smirked. "Wow. That's… intimate."
Maya shot him a glare that could kill.
Then—
Jack suddenly tensed.
His back arched slightly.
His hand slipped from Maya's.
Maya immediately grabbed it again.
"Jack? Hey—Jack, look at me."
He trembled, eyes fluttering.
"M-Maya…"
"I'm here."
He swallowed, sweat beading on his forehead.
"Something's coming."
Ward stiffened. "What?"
Jack looked at her.
At all of them.
His voice dropped to a hollow whisper.
"…Mercer isn't trying to control me."
The room froze.
Maya's breath hitched.
"…then what is he trying to do?" she whispered.
Jack shook violently as another tremor passed through him.
"He's trying to wake me."
The monitors spiked wildly.
Phase 5 pulses flashed across the screen.
Rafael muttered, "Oh shit—"
The doctor gasped. "Neurological surge incoming!"
Ward stepped back. "Hold him down!"
Maya didn't move.
She held Jack's face in her hands.
"Jack! Look at me!"
He fought to open his eyes.
"Maya…"
His pupils flickered between brown and silver like dueling flames.
"He wants me awake," Jack whispered.
"Why?" Maya demanded.
Jack swallowed hard.
When he spoke—
Everyone in the room went still.
"…because he can't complete Phase 5 unless I come to him willingly."
Maya's heart froze.
Ward whispered, horrified:
"So Mercer isn't trying to control you."
Jack nodded weakly.
"He's trying to lure me."
A cold silence washed over the room.
The implication was worse than anything they'd imagined.
Mercer didn't want to brainwash Jack.
He wanted Jack to choose him.
To walk into Helix willingly.
To complete Phase 5 by his own free will.
Maya leaned closer, voice shaking for the first time:
"Jack… you're not going to him."
He looked at her with fear and something else—
Guilt.
"Maya… what if one day… I want to?"
Her breath caught.
"I won't let that happen."
He shook his head faintly.
"You can't stop what's happening to me."
She cupped his cheek, forcing him to see her.
"Watch me."
Jack stared at her—
As though she was the last thing keeping him human.
As though he needed her to breathe.
A soft sound hummed on the monitor.
His neural spikes dropped—
Only when Maya touched him.
Ward leaned back, whispering:
"…He's bonding to her."
Rafael muttered, "He's anchored to her."
The doctor added, "She's literally stabilizing his neural imprint."
Maya ignored them.
She only saw Jack.
His eyes flickered.
Then finally—
They settled.
Brown.
Human.
He exhaled.
"Maya…" he whispered.
"Yes?"
"Don't let go."
"I won't."
But she didn't realize—
Someone else was listening through the neural backchannel.
Watching.
Smiling.
Deep within the shadows of Helix, Mercer whispered:
"Yes… anchor yourself.
Bond with her.
Cling to her."
He leaned closer to the holographic display of Jack's neural map.
"Because when I take you back…"
His eyes glowed.
"…she will be the reason you break."