Six

6:44 P.M

Brandon comes to a halt and I stop moving.

He turns on his knees and faces me. On his left continues the vent until there is no other place to go.

He points towards that direction.

"They'll have their reunion there," he says in a low voice and I nod. "We should wait."

I sit and lean against the surface behind me, sighing. I barely have space for my legs and I take a deep breath.

"I'm surprised," Brandon suddenly declares, sitting opposite from me and I keep my gaze on my hands. "You hate confined places—"

"How can you say what I like and dislike?" I snap, turning my head towards him. "Years have passed. You don't know anything."

Brandon sighs, shaking his head. "Sophia, I think we should talk."

"Talk?" I scoff softly, raising my eyebrows. "That's what we should do right now?"

He stays silent.

"There's nothing to say, Brandon."

"You know it's not true. Look, I know—"

And then, I just lose it.

"How did you think I would react, Brandon?" I cut him off, my voice hard. "When I found out that my boyfriend of the time who died in front of me wasn't dead? That he was out there, continuing his life, while me... I was breathing, but dying inside."

I take a deep breath and already regret it. Shit. You should have kept your mouth shut, Sophia.

"Do you think I wished for this? You think it was easy for me?" Brandon says quietly, making me look up at him. "Because it wasn't, okay? I got shot in the head and I'm fucking alive. It took a while to remember things and it felt pretty scary to wake up with no idea of what happened!"

I nod slowly. "With what I've seen, you're feeling much better now, don't you?"

He stares at me for a while, his eyes searching for something. Searching for what? I don't know. After a while, he just shakes his head and looks down.

Minutes pass and I can't wait until we can get out of here. I focus on my breathing, forget where I am. It doesn't help though, and I can hear my own heartbeat a little bit too fast.

"I'm sorry for yesterday," Brandon says suddenly, his eyes meeting mine again.

I finally realize he's talking about that ball and our fight and I raise my eyebrows.

"I got worse," I cross my arms and lean my head against the wall.

"Still, I could have killed you," he frowns.

"But you didn't."

He blinks and again, searches for my eyes. I look away and we stay silent for a while.

"Anyway, I still hurt you and I'm sorry," he finally voices and I roll my eyes.

"Oh, don't brag yourself like that," I raise an eyebrow and he gives me a questioned look. "You didn't hurt me that much."

A small smile appears on his face. It's a sad one, though.

"I'm not talking only physically, Sophia."

I look away, shaking my head. "Stop that."

"What?"

I take a look at my watch and change the subject.

"So I died, huh?"

Silence.

When I look at Brandon, he puts his mask on and hides his emotions from me, watching me blankly. I don't miss how his jaw clenches, though, or how he suddenly looks away, like looking at me is a curse.

I smile softly at the irony and shake my head.

"Nova told me that you told her about your girlfriend—" I pause, letting out a bittersweet laugh. "Sorry, ex-girlfriend, who died."

"Sophia," he murmurs and I shake my head, still laughing.

"No, I'm sorry. God, what the hell is wrong with me? I don't know why I talked about that. I don't even care."

"Sophia, please," he says loudly this time and I glare at him. He takes a breath. "Look, I know it must be hard and that's not how I expected things to go, but—"

"I don't care, Brandon! I don't want to know why you told her that or what you told her. I don't give a fuck. Just, stop acting like..."

I close my eyes and clench my jaw. I talked way too much.

We are on a mission. What the fuck are you doing, Sophia?

"Acting like what?" he asks quietly and I open my eyes.

I look straight at him. "Stop acting like you care about me. Stop asking me if I'm okay, or worrying about my fucking fears or acting like you know me after all this time. Stop making me believe that the man I've known and... fell in love with is still in front of me."

He doesn't blink, doesn't look away and me neither. I can't tell what he's thinking but he definitely wasn't expecting my answer.

You're so stupid, Sophia. Clap, clap, congratulation for saying shit like that.

Do I regret it? Yes.

But it's done. And this is not even half of what I would like to say. This is not half of what I feel.

But you don't feel anything, remember? You need to keep control of your life.

Focus.

Taking a deep breath, I look at him.

"Anyway, it's okay. Let's just not talk about this anymore, all right? You're not even dead, after all."

A moment passes and the intensity of his gaze scares me.

"But it doesn't change a thing," he states lowly, although it sounds more like a question.

I don't know why I say this. Maybe because I've been more honest than I intended to already, or maybe because this is the first time we really talk in years. Maybe I'm just crazy.

What I know is that I nod, looking him straight in the eye and,

"You're right. I still lost you, in the end."

You're not really supposed to say something like that to your ex-boyfriend, who you thought died but is still alive and has a new girlfriend, while doing an important mission.

Well, I did.

Clap clap, Sophia. Dammit.

He clenches his jaw and opens his mouth to say something, but before he can, Andrew talks.

"We just saw them arriving, be ready," he announces and both Brandon and I get into position.

We move at the end of the vent until we see the small grid that allows us to see the room below us. Carefully, I look through it. There's a large table with at least eight chairs around it. The room is slightly lighted but soon, footsteps can be heard until a door that I can't see open and someone turns on all the lights.

I blink and distance myself from the panel a little bit. Turning my head, I notice Brandon close behind me, looking over my shoulder. I ignore it and focus on the scene below us.

Five men in suits appear in our vision. They all take a seat around the table, not saying a word. A tension I didn't notice first is clearly in the room and I'm not even close to them.

"How come he is not here when it's all about him?" one of the men with brown hair and probably in his thirties asks, crossing his arms.

The man right in front of him straightens his posture before he crosses his big hands in front of him. His dark skin and the scar that starts at the back of his head and ends on his forehead give him a scary look. Not only this, but the piercing in his nose and his eyebrow, and the tattoo that covers his whole neck. His eyes are cold when they lay on the man that just talked, and it looks like he doesn't know what a smile is.

"He's busy. If you have a problem, you can leave."

The brown-haired man narrows his eyes, not scared of the glare the man gives him. He finally nods, leaning in his seat.

"If we're all here tonight," the scary man continues, his eyes going from a man to another, "it's to talk about this... situation."

"It's stupid," another man voices, shaking his head. "Honestly, it's not a good idea—"

"You're saying that you think the Master is stupid?" the scary man who most likely has the power in this room replies, tilting his head in a creepy way.

Master? What the hell is going on?

Shaking my head, I narrow my eyes and continue listening.

"Well, no. I'm here after all. I'm ready to do whatever it takes. I just want my reward at the end."

"And you will have it. The Circle will make sure of it."

"I always wondered who chose that name," another man says, chuckling. "Seriously, it doesn't sound scary for a—"

I'm so focused on what the man is saying, waiting for the end of his sentence, that I don't see it coming.

The scary man with piercings stands up and out of nowhere, takes out his gun and shoots the man right through his forehead.

I startle, letting out a small gasp of surprise. I feel Brandon's hand resting on my shoulder and I look at him over my shoulder. His eyes meet mine, sending me a silent message and I relax, moving away from the panel.

Thankfully, the men didn't hear anything, too focused on staring at the now dead man on the floor.

"He would have been useless anyway," the man sits down again like nothing happened, and his eyes move around, daring anyone to say something.

Once the silence settles again, he continues.

"The Circle is getting bigger and bigger. More powerful than ever. Don't ever doubt that."

"What about the Bird situation?" a man asks, narrowing his eyes.

The scary man nods. "He doesn't want us to hurt the Bird yet."

I look at Brandon with a confused expression. His own expression reflects mine, with a seriousness that surprises me.

The Master. The Circle. The Bird.

I look at my watch. I hope it'll be enough for Mr. Neil.

"Sir, two guards are missing outside," a new voice says.

Blinking, I look at the newcomer. Then his words register in my mind. I glance at Brandon to see his eyes narrowed, and I can tell he's thinking.

"What?" the man says slowly in a hard voice.

A warm, rough but soft hand grips mine and I look at Brandon with a questioned look. I would have moved my hand away if we weren't on a mission and if my mind wasn't already confused to what to do right now.

It seems Brandon has the answer because when I meet his serious, intense blue gaze, I get it.

We have to get out of here. Now.

I nod, moving to turn my body around.

But when I do that, we hear a loud creaking sound.

And I realize that I did that when turning to move.

I freeze, my eyes widening. In a quick motion, Brandon grips both of my arms and in less than a second, I'm basically in his arms, his hand covering my mouth.

I'm breathing faster and I try to take slower breaths as I look over my shoulder. I'm no longer close to the grid because of Brandon.

However, we hear it.

"What was that?" a man asks, and silence settles again.

I glance at Brandon, too shocked to move away from him. He slowly releases me and nods one time.

"Move. Fast," he whispers urgently.

No need to ask me twice.

We both move the fastest we can in the vent. I don't even have time to think about my surroundings anymore. We just need to get out of here.

I suddenly stop, looking to my left and my right and frown.

"Left, Sophia," Brandon's voice behind me says and I blink, going to the left.

Focus. Focus.

"Andrew, tell me we'll be able to get out of here," I say, placing a hand to my ear.

A few seconds pass before he speaks. He annoys me but we need him if we want to stay alive right now.

"You'll probably need to get rid of a few men in your way. Nova left to help you guys a little bit with the guards outside."

Great. Let's see if she can really help.

We reach the panel and I jump, landing on my feet and Brandon follows quickly. He takes out his guns and shoots the camera in the corner. I look over his shoulder and see the guard that appeared at the end of the hallway. I place my left hand on Brandon's shoulder to move him away and shoot the guard.

Brandon looks at the guard before at me.

We both start running and before we turn the next corner, I stop him and raise my gun. I know exactly where the camera is without needing to look and I shoot. We then turn the corner.

"I suggest you go faster unless you want to die," Andrew speaks and I clench my jaw.

"No shit," Brandon mutters under his breath, shaking his head.

Fortunately, there are no lasers on our way this time and we both make a run for the door at the end of the hallway.

Brandon is faster than me and so I'm running a little bit behind him when something hits me so hard I fall backward, my head hitting the floor.

I close my eyes shut when black spots are in my vision. Open them again when I realize what is happening. The man above me is about to knock me out when I beat him to it and kick him between the legs, earning his scream of pain.

I roll onto my side and quickly stand up, turning to face my opponent who already throws a punch at me.

I think my head hit the floor so hard earlier because I don't react quick enough and his fist meets my face. I take a few steps backward and search for the wall to steady myself.

Why do I feel so dizzy? I'm stronger than that.

He's about to throw another punch that will surely knock me out this time when his fist is stopped by an angry Brandon who turns him around, throwing a punch before he grabs his arm, twisting it until we hear a scream of agony.

He broke his arm.

With one last punch, the man passes out.

Brandon turns to face me but when I look over his shoulder with a warning look, he take out his gun and shoots behind him, reaching his target.

Without even looking.

My eyes meet his again and without waiting, he grabs my hand and we both make our way to the exit.

My head is still aching and I feel an annoying pulsation when we step out outside. Automatically, I see two guards in front of us and I don't wait to think and shoot.

Nova helped, huh.

"She forgot a couple of guards," I mutter under my breath before I follow Brandon.

Brandon still has my hand in his and we run until we reach the van. Not so far away, the sound of shooting can be heard.

"Go!" Brandon exclaims as we climb in the van, both breathless.

Andrew doesn't wait and drive away as some bullets hit the van from behind us.

I let out a sigh when silence finally invades us.

"Babe!" Nova's high voice says, turning towards Brandon.

I talked too soon.

Closing my eyes, I place a careful hand behind my head and take a deep breath. I can't wait to go home and forget this damn night.

"Let me see your head," a voice surprises me to my right and when I open my eyes, I'm half-surprised to find Brandon beside me.

Blinking, I shake my head. Bad thing, the pulsation intensifies.

"It's nothing, I'm fine," I sigh, glancing at Nova carefully.

"That's why you couldn't even beat one guy?" Brandon retorts softly—too softly. "You're stronger than that, Sophia."

"You don't know anyt—"

"Anyone would know that with one look at you," he cuts me off. "Stop it."

Even with my protest, Brandon looks at the back of my head, placing his hands carefully not to hurt me. I don't know how to feel about that. A part of me is angry—angry he didn't listen to what I told him earlier about worrying about me and everything. He shouldn't do that, shouldn't act like that with me. Especially with Nova who's looking at us with anger and something else I don't have time to decipher.

If eyes could kill, I would be dead.

I don't want that. I don't want Brandon close to me like that again, I don't want his protection when I hit my head so hard I can't properly defend myself. And I don't want partners.

I can't work properly with others. Tonight is another proof that nothing goes as planned when I need to think of others before me.

I was responsible for one death four years ago—or so I thought. But it doesn't change a thing. It happened, and that night was my fault.

I can't forget that.

"There's no blood," Brandon finally says, letting my head go. "Still, you'll need to go to the infirmary at the N.A."

I groan, almost hitting my head behind me but decide against it. Wouldn't be a good idea.

I close my eyes again, exhausted.

"Don't fall asleep," he warns me.

I nod, sighing.

*

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