The night air hit her like ice.
Elena stumbled into the alleyway, lungs burning as if they'd been lit from the inside. Her hospital gown flapped around her legs, soaked in sweat and blood—most of it not her own. Sirens blared in the distance, but they weren't coming for her. Not yet.
She ducked behind a dumpster, pressing her back against the cold metal. Her hands were still shaking. Her mind reeled.
Herring.
No—Henri.
He remembered her.
For a second, he remembered.
But then he told her to run.
And she did.
Like a coward.
Elena buried her head in her hands, biting back a sob. She had fought so hard to stay in control for weeks, pushing through secrets, betrayals, kidnappings, whispers of a world that didn't make sense—and now she was alone again. More alone than ever.
Her breath hitched.
He was right there.
He had looked at her like a stranger and then… like the man she loved.
"What did they do to you?" she whispered aloud to no one.
She felt broken. Splintered.
Was she even still herself anymore?
Footsteps echoed behind her.
She tensed, grabbed a shard of broken glass from the ground—her only weapon.
But it was just an old woman, walking her dog, oblivious to the hurricane Elena had just escaped.
Elena dropped the glass. She couldn't afford to spiral.
Not now.
Not when there was still a chance.
A few hours later, she sat at a gas station bathroom, scrubbing her arms raw under freezing water. Her reflection looked haunted—eyes sunken, hair matted, a bruise forming along her jawline. The words Ivy had said kept replaying in her mind.
"He doesn't remember you… not anymore."
But she saw it. That flicker of recognition. The way Henri had hesitated. The emotion—buried, but alive.
It wasn't all gone.
Something inside him still knew her.
Still loved her.
She clutched the edge of the sink and whispered,
"I'm not giving up on you."
Even if the rest of the world had.
By nightfall, she made it to a safehouse Ivy had shown her once—back before the betrayal. It was hidden above an abandoned laundromat on 15th Street. Everything was coated in dust, but the power still worked.
She curled into the couch, blanket wrapped around her like armor.
Sleep came in fragments.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw his—the programmed emptiness, the shadow of the man who once held her face like she was something fragile and precious.
Where had he gone?
And could she bring him back?
Morning light spilled across the wooden floors.
Elena had barely slept. Her phone—stolen from the clinic she'd passed—buzzed with news alerts.
"BREAKING: Explosion at Virex Warehouse. Unknown casualties."
She stared at the screen, her heart seizing. Henri…
Was he alive?
Or had that place taken him too?
She had to find out. She couldn't just sit here.
A knock at the door made her jump.
She grabbed the lamp beside her, ready to swing.
"It's me."
The voice froze her in place.
It was raspy, weak… but him.
She rushed to the door and flung it open.
Henri stood there—barely.
His shirt was torn, blood smeared down his arm. One eye was swollen shut. But it was him.
Alive.
And staring at her like she was the only thing holding him upright.
"Elena," he said, voice hoarse, "I—I didn't know where else to go."
Tears sprang to her eyes.
"You came back to me."
He nodded, collapsing against the doorframe. She caught him, guiding him inside with trembling hands.
They sat in silence for minutes that felt like hours.
And then he spoke.
"I remember pieces."
She looked at him, heart caught in her throat.
"Pieces?"
"Your laugh. The way you sleep on your side. The scar behind your ear. But most of all… I remember feeling safe. Like home. And that scares me more than anything else, because they told me I was built for war."
Elena cupped his face gently.
"You were built for more, Henri. And you were never just theirs. You were mine first."
He let out a shaky breath.
"I don't know how to fix this."
"Then don't. Let's break it all and start over. Just… stay with me."
He leaned into her touch.
"Always."
And for the first time in weeks, Elena allowed herself to believe they had a chance—not just to survive, but to take everything that was stolen from them and make it whole again.
Together.