“Pres! Would you make a cup of coffee for me?" Aria yelled from the living room.

  "When you break both your legs, I'll assist you then!" Preston chortled from the kitchen.

  "Seriously? That wasn't funny." Aria responded dryly over Preston's belly laugh.

  "Okay, I'm sorry." Preston said as he tried to find his composure. "How many sugars do you want?"

  "6." Aria replied confidently.

  "Put two sugars, Preston." Evan corrected, who was seated in the living room adjacent to the kitchen.

  "I need as much energy as I can get. The pills are making me so drowsy I don't think I'll be awake for the whole trip." Aria replied.

  "You don't have to." Evan said. "You'll sleep on the plane."

  "Plus, you become jittery and too energetic when you take in too much sugar." Preston noted.

  "Don't forget the bigger problem; diabetes." Jordan chimed in, who was also in the living room.

  "And heart disease!" Harper shouted from upstairs.

  "Okay, okay." Aria gave in. "Two sugars it is."

  In that moment, William walked into the room from the direction of the debrief room.

  "I can't find my laced shoes." he complained.

  "What?" Jay exclaimed in false confusion. "What do think happened to them?"

  "I'm not sure." William grumbled.

  Jay sipped his red tea. "I wonder where they are."

  "What am I supposed to wear to the March Of Fallen Heroes?" William asked in panic.

  "Will, you cannot wear those shoes." Preston said. "My great-great-great grandfather was alive when those things were manufactured and even then he probably would've thought those things were too ugly for wear."

  "You can borrow my dress shoes. How about that?" Jordan suggested. "Your renaissance shoes clearly disappeared mysteriously."

  Will nodded in agreement and threw himself onto the couch next to Evan.

  "Where did you put his shoes?" Evan mouthed silently to Jordan.

  Jordan just chuckled and sipped his tea.

  "We are wearing our SSU uniforms so it's strictly polished dress shoes. Not shoes from the Cold War." Aria jumped in.

  "Understood." William resigned. "What time are we leaving again?"

  "In about ninety minutes." Evan responded. "We have to leave early for the hangar. We will meet the Directors in Switzerland."

  "I'm not sure what I should wear to the party afterwards." Harper contemplated as she descended the stairs into the living room where everyone was.

  "Something decent." Aria mumbled.

  "Obviously, Aria. I'm not going to show up with no clothes on." Harper answered. "When have I not dressed accordingly?"

  "Well..."

  The room was filled with negative sounds with the notion that disagreed with Harper's stance on her way of dressing.

  Harper gasped. "Even you, Jay? You think I dress like a street walker?"

  "Uh...n-no. Y-you don't at all. I mean..." Jay stammered.

  "Pick your words wisely." Evan advised in a low voice.

  "You know what? Whatever." Harper sulked.

  "You'd look good in about anything you wear, okay?" Jay said nervously. "Everyone in here is just bitter because you put effort into how you look. That's all."

  "And that's how you get yourself out of the doghouse, ladies and gentlemen." William chuckled.

  "I have to. Who else am I going to dance with tonight?" Jordan replied as he winked at Harper.

  “I'm just going to that after party for the food." Aria announced. "The catering is always spectacular. I wonder what they'll have this time. You know what? I don't even care. I'll eat anything they serve."

  "I might pull one of the Directors to the side and propose a state-of-the-art laboratory to them. We will be able to test any matter of any case on our own and hire our personal coroner as an Organisation instead of relying on a third party." Preston stated excitedly.

  "I hope you're all not forgetting why we are really going to Geneva. To mourn for the dead who passed on the 17th of May." Evan reminded. "The after party is to celebrate their lives."

  "Is Nate coming?" Aria asked quietly.

  Evan didn't respond for a long time.

  "No." he answered shortly.

  "Why isn't he? We are all supposed to be there." Aria replied nervously.

  "Imagine having to attend a march for the dead because one of your parents caused it." Evan reasoned. "He feels guilty."

  "How is he?" William asked.

  "As expected." Evan replied shortly.

  "What is he doing up there? He has been in his room ever since he got back last night." Harper asked. “He hasn’t once left his room.”

  Evan sucked in his teeth.

  "Uhm..." Evan stalled.

  "You rarely use hesitation forms, Evan." William noticed. "Your speech is almost flawless."

  "Is there something going on?" Aria asked worriedly.

  "After Nate came back last night, he was pretty messed up. He was in very bad shape." Evan started. "We talked and he made me promise to keep quiet about something."

  "Evan, we don't understand riddles." Harper chastised.

  "Nathan wanted to wait until after we all left for Geneva to say goodbye." Evan announced.

  “Oh.” Aria responded calmly. “He is going to his Nan’s? When will he be back?”

  Evan didn’t answer that question.

  “He usually goes after every case. That’s where he is going, right?” Preston asked.

  “That’s where he is going, yes.” Evan responded. “He’s just not coming back.”

  "What? Is that what he is doing upstairs? He is packing?" Jordan asked incredulously.

  Evan nodded silently as if the words were stuck in his throat.

  There was an uproar of noise.

  "Wait, are you serious?" William asked.

  "What do you mean he is packing? Packing what?" Aria asked.

  "Evan, I can't believe you waited until this moment to tell us this. This is news you could've told us hours ago!” Harper complained.

  "Maybe it's not what you think, guys." Preston attempted optimistically. "He could be packing the new clothes he bought from that thrift shop we went to into his closet."

  "Preston, you have an IQ of 170. Of all people, you should understand that if you're removing a set of clothes from a place you originally travelled from, it's called unpacking." Evan corrected. "I know you don't want to believe it but I tried to talk to him. Nathan is as stubborn is a mule. He doesn't know how he can stay when he feels he has caused so much pain."

  "But he didn't!" Aria contested. "It was that psychopath that ruined everything!"

  "That psychopath is still his father." Evan finished.

  That seemed to silence everyone in the room.

  "He wanted to leave after we all left. He knew that he wouldn't be able to do it if he stayed to say goodbye." Evan continued.

  "So, why are you telling us now?" Will asked curiously.

  "Because this is a promise I can't keep." Evan answered. "I'm hoping that we can all convince him to stay. He is the best DEC we'll ever have and I don't want him to be eaten by something that has nothing to do with him."

  "Does Cyan know?" Jordan asked.

  "No. And I don't know if it will be worth telling her. I mean, she might not want to be a part of this team anymore." Evan answered.

  In that moment, the team heard the entrance door shut loudly and footsteps from the side of the entryway near the glass window. The thigh high boots that hit the tile floor belonged to Cyan who now stood in front of the team. She was elegantly dressed in a short black skirt that followed the direction of her curves, a white cardigan and a black leather jacket.

  She looked brighter, better in a way. It could've been the way her eyes went back into position after they had bulged the day before. Or it could've been that her clothes were no longer creased and all her braids ran down her back.

  She smiled a small smile to everyone.

  "Cy." Aria called softly.

  She stood up to greet her but crouched as if she was going to sit back down on the couch. She stood up again and took baby steps towards Cyan.

  Cyan looked fine. Great, in fact. But Aria did not know what state she was in mentally. How would one look if they found out devastating news about a family member in the worst way imaginable? Aria didn't know what to do. She wasn’t sure if hugging Cyan was a good idea, though it was something she desperately wanted to do.

  Cyan walked all the way to where Aria stood and put her arms around her. She leaned into Aria's embrace and rested her head on her shoulder for what seemed a while. Suddenly, Cy began to feel warm. The temperatures outside were terrifyingly low for the Fall but being in a familiar place melted the ice that had begun to form around her.

  They let go of each other and Aria tucked a braid that flew astray from the other braids behind her back.

  "Hi, everyone." Cyan waved. The same way she had done when she first arrived.

  "Are you alright?" Harper asked as she stood to embrace Cyan.

  Cyan nodded her head yes.

  Her eyes shifted to the flight of stairs as if they were a great wall she had to climb. The person she wanted to see wasn’t down here only meaning that he was up there. Only twelve stairs stood between her and the section above but her body language showed that she was inviting strength just to climb them.

  "He's in his room." Evan answered Cyan's silent question.

  "Thanks." she expressed softly.

  She glanced at the stairs one more time and started on her journey up the house.

  It didn't take her very long to reach the landing but it did feel like a lifetime especially with the whispers that reached her from the living room.

  “Do you think she overheard us speaking?” Jordan asked.

  "When did she get here?" Preston whispered.

  "Will she be able to talk to him?" William asked.

  "Honestly, I don't know." Harper answered truthfully.

  Cyan almost paused on the stairs to ask what the rest of the team was talking about. It clicked that perhaps they wanted her to talk to Nathan after what happened at the police station. She could definitely do that. She was planning on it anyway. A conversation with him was obviously overdue to discuss the elephant in the room as well as possibly make her position on the team more permanent.

  If that was what the issue was about, why were they whispering?

  Cyan reached the top of the stairs and proceeded into the hallway.

  In the days that she had lived in this house, she had never been in Nathan's room. She didn’t know where it was. But she did remember Harper directing her in case she ever needed to speak with him and he wasn’t in either the Debrief or the Gadget rooms.

  Third room to the left, Harper had said.

  Upon walking up to Nathan’s door, Cyan found it slightly ajar. She knocked on his door and stood outside his room so that he could let her in.

  In a way, she was dealing with the death of her sister. Somewhat. She visited her family and it rejuvenated a part of her that she thought had died with Nala. Cyan had shoulders to cry on, people she could cry to.

  Unfortunately for Nathan, it wasn't the same. The only family he thought he had kept a devastating secret that had shifted his universe. Besides his grandmother and his friends, he had no real family that would tell him that everything would be okay. He was in a very fragile state and that was the exact reason why Cyan had to speak with him. She had to tell him it wasn't his fault. That he had nothing to be sorry for; he had a family here.

  After she went over her speech mentally, she realised that she was still standing outside. She knocked again on his oak door and there was still no response.

  Cyan squeezed her eyes through the little space that the door didn’t cover and noticed that Nathan was sitting on his bed, facing the window with his back to her. She couldn’t see much of him except the white sweater he was wearing and some white cotton shorts.

  Cyan wasn’t sure if he had heard her knock but she didn’t really care. She didn’t wait for him to answer but instead, pushed the door open and walked into his room.

  Her boots were pretty loud on the laminated wood but Nathan still didn't turn around. This confirmed that he was purposely ignoring anyone who attempted to speak with him.

  She walked towards the edge of the bed, to where he was sitting, and positioned herself next to him.

  His head whipped to her direction and his puffy eyes widened in surprise.

  "Cyan." he called quietly.

  "Hey." Cyan greeted with a smile.

  “Hi.” He responded. “What are you-how did you…?”

  “Oh. Uhm, I took a bus to my mum’s.” Cyan answered.

  “Oh.” Nathan replied.

  Silence fell over them.

  This gave Cyan time to notice how clean his room was. Way too clean. Shelves, where his property was supposed to be, were spotless. His walk-in closet, that was half open, was almost empty of all his clothes and shoes. The side of his dresser that stored his comic books was vacant. Where were his things? She meant to ask that out loud but the words remained in her throat because she had the feeling she already knew the answer.

  Instead, she asked him where his anime comic books were.

  “I’m taking them with me.” Nathan answered.

  “And where is that?” Cyan asked.

  “Back home.” He replied.

  “You’re visiting your Nan? When will you be back?” Cyan asked curiously.

  “Cy…”

  “Cy what?” Cyan replied irately. “I didn’t know visiting meant packing all your belongings.”

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Nathan clipped his mouth and stared at the ground.

  "You don't have to be here." he said without looking at her.

  "Well, I'm here. So, hi." Cyan responded tersely.

  Nathan raked his cotton-silk hair that had grown a few inches in the day that Cyan hadn't seen him.

  He stood up from the king-size bed and marched over to the other side of the headboard and procured some of his rings and chains and placed them on the bed.

  "The Directors are releasing you from the Organisation. The criminals have been caught and are yet to be sentenced so you're free to go." Nathan informed monotonously.

  "Well, I want to stay." Cyan replied quickly.

  Nathan nodded.

  "I want you to stay as well." Cyan added.

  "That's not possible." Nathan replied shortly.

  "Why is it not possible, Nathan?" Cyan asked.

  "In case you haven't heard, my father is a good for nothing criminal. He caused so much pain to the people I love and I can't imagine looking at them in the eye knowing what he did." Nathan responded in a low voice.

  "What he did. What George did." Cyan emphasised. "Why are you carrying a burden that's not yours?"

  "He is my father, Cyan." Nathan responded.

  Cyan stood up wanting to march over to Nathan but her left eye noticed his black duffel bag stuffed under his dresser. That must’ve been the luggage he packed his belongings in.

  Cyan crouched to the level of the dresser and pulled the bag from underneath it. She zipped the bag open and unpacked the sweaters and sweatpants that Nathan had originally packed in the bag.

  “Cyan!”

  "You're not going anywhere." Cyan ordered firmly.

  "Cy-"

  "Don't you dare call my name!" Cyan exclaimed. "You’re leaving? The team? Me? Who do you think you are?”

  Nathan took a deep breath.

  “That day affected me too but you don't see me running away!" Cyan continued.

  "Running away?" Nathan repeated incredulously. He crunched his teeth to regain his patience. "Would you hand over my bag, please?"

  "No." Cyan replied stubbornly.

  "You've been doing so well without me, Cyan. Every time I'm in your life, I just cause you pain." Nathan explained. "I can't stand making you unhappy over and over again."

  “So, you’re going to abandon the life you’ve built because you feel sorry for yourself?” Cyan asked in an appalled tone. “You’re just going to be what- a nobody, after you leave?”

  Nathan clenched his teeth in order to calm himself down.

  “Leave this room right now and give your fruitcake of a father the power.” Cyan pushed. “Do it.”

  Nathan began to huff and puff.

  “I’m sorry, am I making you mad?” Cyan asked sardonically. “Because if I am then great! Hyperventilate and wheeze. Do whatever the hell you have to do!”

  “I don’t know what you’re trying to achieve here.” Nathan responded as he grabbed his clothes from where Cyan had thrown them and stuffed them back in his bag.

  “That’s right.” Cyan urged. “Get mad, Nathan. That way you can admit the real reason you’re leaving.”

  “Oh, really? And what would that be? You seem to know so much.” Nathan challenged.

  “You’re remorseful for what your father did. But a bigger part of you is afraid that all you’ll live up to is his legacy. You’re afraid of not achieving more than you have right now because knowing that George is your father could potentially reveal characteristics about you that could make you hate yourself. And that’s what scares the heck out of you. That we will see outside of who you are.” Cyan explained.

  Nathan couldn’t breathe with anger.

  “Are you done?” he asked.

  “No.” Cyan responded with just as much agitation. “No, I’m not done. You are angry because your whole life, you’ve always yearned for a father. You were depressed about it and it turns out that he is not what you pictured. He is the complete opposite. And you don’t know how to deal with it.”

  “You hit the nail on the head.” Nathan responded gruffly. "Can I pack now or you're not yet finished analysing me?”

  “You are running away from your emotions. Not from this team. And that is what I want you to realise so that you don’t fool yourself as you walk out that door.” Cyan explained. “Don’t you get it? You’re allowed to be angry at your father. You’re allowed to throw things and punch the wall. Do that for Pete’s sake instead of leaving those who truly care about you!”

  "Cy..." Nathan whispered.

  "Do it!” Cyan cried. “Scream!”

  Nathan let out a deep roar, one that came from the depths of him, covering the entirety of the room they were in. He threw the duffel bag at the wall and covered this face with his palms. His knees gave out and he fell to the ground.

  "Every time you look at me, you see my father, don't you?" Nathan asked in between tears.

  Cyan was silent for some moments.

  "I thought I would." Cyan admitted. "But all I see is you."

  Nathan shook his head, his hair moving in all directions.

  "Your sister is not here anymore because of someone I'm affiliated with. No matter how many times we deny that fact, it'll always be true. George Charles Caldwell still remains my blood, Cyan." Nathan whispered. "How can you even stand to be in the same room as me?"

  Cyan removed her boots and threw them on top of Nathan's duffel bag and knelt where Nathan was.

  "Look at me.” Cyan said to him.

  Nathan’s eyes remained on the ground.

  “Look at me.” she urged again. This time she put her fingers under his chin and turned his head towards her.

  She smiled at him.

  "I want children in the future.” she giggled.

  Nathan stared at her in confusion.

  “Don’t get me wrong, I still want to enjoy my youth but if I was blessed with a bundle of joy with your beautiful eyes, I wouldn’t be against the idea. Let alone being half the man that you are, I would do a backflip.” she expressed.

  Nathan chortled.

  She put her soft hand in his.

  "Unless there was another version of you present with either your father or Jan Jalesmycie when those people were killed then I don't understand why you're feeling guilty." Cyan reassured.

  "You had nothing to do with Nala's death or all the other deaths that your father is responsible for. You helped me look for my little sister and helped get everyone including Donna to safety.

  Your father had his own agenda he wanted to achieve that had nothing to do with you. You are not going to assume his sins. I won't let you."

  "Won’t being a DEC be difficult?” Nathan whispered. “What if I don’t have it in me to lead anymore?”

  “George was a criminal when you were made Division Expert Chief and he'll forever hold that title. Don't give him that power; to dictate how your life works from inside a cell."

  Nathan sighed and he sat down against the footboard of the bed. He pulled Cyan by the waist and sat her down on his lap.

  "I don’t know how I can apologise for Nala. Psychotic father or not. She was everything to you, your mother and Mari." he apologised. He put his head on her stomach.

  "I'm so sorry."

  Cyan pecked him on the cheek.

  "She always loved you. She thought you were very cute." Cyan reminisced. "I realised this when she told me about the time you went to the amusement park without me."

  "We tried looking for you. But she said she couldn’t wait to jump on the rides and buy cotton candy.” Nathan remembered. “She was strong-willed.”

  "That she was. And beautiful. Bold. And very young."

  Nathan squeezed Cyan tightly.

  “She is watching over me. Over all of us. Watching every move I make, telling me that I’m the cool older sister.” Cyan laughed softly.

  Nathan chuckled. “She is making the face too.”

  Cyan chuckled too. “That face that was the definition of the term ‘unbothered’. She wasn’t easily impressed. An old soul.”

  They sat again in silence. Only this time, it was the comfortable silence that Cyan was always used to. The silence that they used for resting, and after the shouting they did at each other, they really needed it.

  "Are you going to unpack the clothes in that duffel bag of yours?" Cyan asked.

  Nathan nodded.

  They stayed that way; Cyan on Nathan's lap, Nathan in Cyan's arms, until they had forgotten all the trauma they were both going through. They were both tired and, in that moment, they rested in each other's embrace.

  In his arms, Cyan felt very familiar as if they were at a place she hadn't visited not because he hadn't longed to do so but because she had lost the directions on the way.

  She had found them somehow, she didn't care how; she was just glad to be back home sitting near a hot furnace shutting out the freezing cold.

  "Yes." Cyan filled the silence.

  "What?" Nathan asked curiously.

  "I agree to your deal. I agree to a lifetime of cheesecakes with you." Cyan whispered.

  "Do you think this is a wrong time to ask you to take me back?" Nathan asked Cyan.

  She tilted his head to face hers.

  “I mean, I expected roses and confetti but I will settle for an empty duffel bag.” Cyan replied.

  "Cy. " Nathan said in a low voice. “I'd do more than roses and confetti if you let me. So much more. Favour me with your love again and I promise to hold you tightly when the ground beneath our feet loses balance. Be with me in everything until I'm just a memory.’’

  For the first time in six months, Cyan and Nathan kissed passionately. Butterflies sprung into Cyan's stomach and it made her kiss Nathan more. They were so in sync, each movement mimicking the other perfectly.

  "Mm-hm." she agreed.

  "I'm so in love with you." Nathan whispered.

  "This is as good as it gets." Cyan joked.

  Nathan chuckled.

  "I love you." Cyan responded.

  "...esss!"

  Nathan paused.

  "Did you hear that?" he asked.

  He effortlessly picked Cyan from his lap and gently set her down on the bed. He stealthily walked over to his bedroom door and opened it quickly.

  On the other side of the door, the rest of the team piled on top of each other, ears plastered on the door. All of them except Evan, who seemed to be the only civilised among the six.

  Because Aria was the shortest, she was stationed in front. Her whole body must have been resting on the door when Nathan opened it because she lost her balance and stumbled into his room. He caught her before her straight teeth met the ground.

  "Are you alright?" Nathan asked her.

  "Yep." she answered sheepishly as she stood up straight.

  Jordan, Preston, Harper and William faded away in embarrassment, backing away from the door and dispersing to different areas of the house.

  Aria, who wasn’t fazed that she was interrupting an intimate moment, made eye contact with Cyan, who was still sitting on the bed, and signalled a hidden smile.

  She stared at Nathan and asked, "We are walking to the hangar in twenty minutes, right?"

  "Yes." Nathan smiled.

  It took everything in Aria had not to jump and hug him.

  "Okay, then." Aria smiled. "Bye."

  "Bye, Aria." Nathan laughed.

  Once she was out of view, he shut his door.

  He walked back to his bed and gently removed Cyan's leather jacket and hung it on the coat rack that stood in the corner of his room near the window.

  As if they had one mind, they both lay down on the puffy bed spread, all the air dissipating from under them.

  They faced each other, Cyan’s hand in Nathan’s hair and Nathan’s hand engulfing hers.

  "I didn't know the Organisation was hosting a March Of The Dead." Cyan noted.

  "They sent last minute emails this morning on the SSU Platform. Since the criminals in Denmark were caught, the Directors saw it fit host a little celebration." Nathan explained.

  "How nice of them." Cyan expressed.

  Her hand traced Nathan's jawline softly.

  “You hate parties.” Nathan chuckled.

  “Because they keep me out too late.” Cyan reasoned. “But I’ll go to this one. It would be a good way to honour and say goodbye to everyone.”

  "We can always sneak out and find a cotton candy place.” Nathan suggested.

  “That sounds like a plan.” Cyan excitedly. “And maybe we can find a coffee shop. I remember you said your mom loved hot croissants.”

  Nathan chuckled softly. "She had this thing for them with vermicelli, apparently. The taste fascinated her.”

  "Cotton candy and croissants. Tonight. It's a date." Cyan announced.

  Nathan checked his watch.

  "We have exactly seventeen minutes before we have to leave this bed and get moving." He noted in DEC voice. “And I want to spend each and every second looking at you."

  They kissed again, softly and deeper, reintroducing themselves to each other again.

  When they pulled apart, Cyan pecked his nose and made herself comfortable in Nathan’s soft nape, absorbing his heat until she felt warm again. The coldness that she had felt inside because of her tragedy had melted into a liquid, flowing like a waterfall into a small lake.

  Knowing that they could fight battles as long as they were on the same side, Cyan and Nathan held each other tightly, breathing the same air.

  Nathan set his watch aside, in hopes that he wouldn't be tempted to check how much time they had left before they had to travel to Geneva. He discarded the concept of time and relaxed in Cyan’s embrace.

  He held onto her and she held onto him, until they both closed their eyes.