The report landed on my desk wrapped in silence.
Petra had intercepted a low-frequency signal clean, encrypted, and government-grade. Traced back to the U.S., routed through dead satellites and misdirected proxies. But we cracked the pattern. It was Phoenix Foundation protocol.
I stared at the metadata, the familiar strings of code.
Angus's people.
They were looking into us.
Not by name. Not yet. But the pattern of their dig was too familiar. They were following the breadcrumbs. My breadcrumbs.
I leaned back in my chair, the weight of a thousand memories pressing down on me. Angus didn't know it was me behind the organization, but he was getting closer.
"Problem?" Riley asked, stepping into the room with a tablet in hand.
I turned the screen toward her. "Phoenix Foundation is running an investigation. Tracking movement. Network acquisitions. They're getting too close."
Her eyes narrowed. "Angus?"
"Indirectly. But yeah. It's him. I know how he thinks."
She walked closer, her voice lower now. "What are you going to do?"
I paused, then answered, "I think it's time we talk to him."
That evening, we sat by the window. The city below buzzed quietly, unaware of the world we were building above and beneath them.
"He's going to be angry," Riley said.
"He'll feel betrayed," I replied.
"You did it to protect him."
"And I'm still doing it." I looked out into the skyline. "This organization it's not meant to conquer anything. It's layers. Defense. Contingencies. Every piece of it is designed to protect those we love."
She rested her head on my shoulder. "So show him that. Slowly. Don't hit him with the whole picture."
"I will. I'll give him pieces enough to understand, enough to trust. The full truth can come in time."
Riley looked at me, eyes soft but steady. "Then let's do it. Together."
It started with a message. Encrypted. Personal. No names.
Let's meet. Alone. Neutral ground. No lies.
Angus showed up at a quiet hilltop café just outside Zurich. No security. No backup. Just curiosity.
I was already there when he arrived.
He froze when he saw me alive, older, hardened, but unmistakably his brother.
"Dean?"
I stood. "Yeah. It's me."
For a long moment, Angus didn't move. Then he walked up and pulled me into a hug tight, angry, emotional.
"You were dead," he said. "They said you were."
"I had to be," I cut in. "To protect you."
He stepped back, jaw clenched. "Protect me from what?"
"From everything I got involved in. And everything I knew would come for you if they found out we were connected. Just like dad is also in hiding for the same reason i know it is cliché but it's still the truth. "
"Look, I can't tell you anything about dad yet, but about me, I don't think there's any problem anymore but baby steps. Okay,"
He sat down, eyes scanning me like he was trying to rebuild a lost picture. "What are you doing now?"
I paused. "Building something. Something that looks like a global military force on paper.. but in reality, it's a shell. A shield. A deterrent. To keep the real threats away from the people I care about. You, Riley and..."
Angus narrowed his eyes. "Riley?"
"Yes and our child, we've been seeing each other for a while now," I said softly.
His face shifted surprise, realization, and then concern.
"You could've told me."
"I couldn't risk it. But now? Now, things are changing. You're going to be an uncle, Mac. And I'm done hiding from you."
He sat in silence for a while. Then he finally nodded. "You're going to have to explain a lot more."
"I will. Just.. let me do it right. Piece by piece."
Angus stood up and put a hand on my shoulder. "Start with the truth, Dean. That's all I ask."
When I returned to Riley that night, she was waiting for me on the balcony, wrapped in a blanket.
"How'd it go?" she asked.
"Well, he didn't punch me, so i think it went well," I said, managing a small smile. "We've got a long way to go. But I think.. he wants to understand."
She stepped into my arms. "Then you made the right call."
I held her tightly, feeling for the first time in a long time that maybe, just maybe, we could live in a world that didn't demand shadows to survive.
This wasn't about war.
It was about peace.
One worth building.
One worth protecting.