Episode 78 – A Breath Between Wars
The hideout was quiet.
A secluded cabin in the northern woods, hidden beneath layers of silence, surrounded by tall pines and the scent of wet earth. No wires. No surveillance. No Syndicate. Just wind and trees — and time that moved without urgency.
Raian lay in the back room, shirtless and bandaged, bruises shadowing his ribs and cuts trailing down his arms. His chest rose and fell steadily. For once, he wasn't waking up to alarms or gunfire.
He was safe.
Aria sat beside him, her hair tied back loosely, dark circles under her eyes. She had barely slept. Her fingers traced the edge of the gauze she'd wrapped across his side, checking the stitches for the fifth time.
"You can stop," he muttered without opening his eyes.
"I'm your doctor," she replied.
He cracked a faint smile. "You're also the reason I'm still breathing."
"That's non-medical."
Raian opened his eyes then — slow and quiet. The light outside the window filtered through the curtains, casting a golden glow over her face.
"You didn't leave me," he whispered.
"I never would."
A pause stretched between them. Not heavy. Not awkward. Just quiet — like the calm after a hurricane.
He reached up, fingers brushing hers. "How many did we save?"
"Twenty-three," she answered. "Six of them are children. Some still sedated. Some… too damaged to understand yet."
Raian's jaw clenched. "We'll find the others. Wherever they're keeping them."
"We will." Her voice was steady. "But not today. You're not moving until your ribs heal."
"Control freak."
She leaned forward, resting her head gently on his uninjured shoulder. "Only when the person I love keeps throwing himself into death."
His hand stilled against hers.
"What did you say?"
Aria didn't pull back. "You heard me."
A long silence.
He turned his face, his lips barely brushing her hair. "You're dangerous, Dr. Han."
"To your heart?"
"To everything I was before you."
She didn't say anything else. She didn't need to. The truth had already settled in the room, wrapping them both in something warm, something rare.
Peace.
—
Elsewhere in the cabin, the others gathered.
Ayan leaned over maps spread across the wooden table, red markers circling locations of known Syndicate labs. Saira paced nearby, loading ammo and checking the satellite phone. Lina returned from a perimeter check, shaking rain from her hoodie.
"How's the boss?" Lina asked.
"Alive," Ayan answered. "Mostly because Aria hasn't let him die."
Lina chuckled dryly. "She's got more fight in her than half this team."
Saira sighed. "We'll need that fight soon. This victory exposed our position. It's only a matter of time before the Syndicate retaliates."
"Then we move before they do," Ayan said. "Hit the next compound. Destroy the root — not just the branches."
"And Raian?" Lina asked.
Ayan paused. "He'll catch up when he can. Right now, he deserves rest."
Silence.
For the first time, none of them argued.
—
That night, the cabin glowed under candlelight. The power was kept off deliberately. No signals. No tracks. Just warmth.
Aria joined the others after ensuring Raian was asleep. She sat beside Lina and poured herself tea.
"How are you?" Lina asked.
"Tired. Relieved. Still processing."
"Same."
Ayan entered then, a file in hand. He placed it on the table — a photograph slipped from the folder. Aria picked it up.
A girl. No older than seven. Her eyes hollow. Her arm marked with a barcode.
"She was found in one of the smaller cages," Ayan said quietly. "Didn't speak a word. But she held onto a photo of her parents. One of them was a nurse from Seoul General. The other… worked for the Syndicate."
Aria's hand shook slightly.
"They're using families," she whispered.
"They're using everyone," Ayan replied. "We need to expose the full chain. Not just the generals."
Lina spoke, her voice low. "Then we need more than missions. We need the media. The public. Evidence."
"We'll get it," Saira said. "Piece by piece."
Aria nodded.
And for the first time, she didn't feel like a surgeon lost in someone else's war. She felt like a soldier.
A woman with purpose.
—
Later, as the others slept in turns, Aria returned to Raian's room.
He was awake.
"I felt the storm coming," he said softly, staring out the window. "But tonight… it's quiet."
She sat beside him. "Even storms rest."
Raian looked at her. Really looked. "You should have had a normal life. A hospital. A family. Not this."
"Normal isn't peace," she replied. "Peace is being where you're meant to be."
"And you think that's here? With me?"
She smiled, brushing her fingers along his cheek. "I know it is."
He closed his eyes. "Then promise me one thing."
"Anything."
"When this is over… when all of it is done… don't walk away."
She leaned forward, resting her forehead to his.
"I'll walk with you. Never away."
Raian's breath hitched. His fingers wrapped around hers like anchors — not in desperation, but in silent assurance.
They had won a battle.
But the war still waited.
And they would face it side by side.