Lynn pulled up outside her flat just after midnight. The drive back from S'bu's had been silent, but her mind wasn't.
Zee.
Of all people.
She had barely stepped out of the car when she saw someone leaning against the wall near her gate.
Tall frame. Familiar posture.
And then he looked up.
> "Michael."
She stopped cold.
His face was unreadable—shadowed by streetlight, but his eyes gave everything away. Worry. Disappointment. Maybe even something deeper.
> "I wasn't sure you'd still come back here," he said quietly.
> "Why are you here?" she asked, keeping her voice steady.
> "Because I saw the news," he said. "And I needed answers—from you, not the internet."
She folded her arms, suddenly feeling exposed.
> "What do you want me to say? That it's true? That I have a past? That I'm not the clean little woman you thought I was?"
He took a step closer. "I never wanted you to be clean. I wanted you to be honest."
That stung.
> "You don't get to show up after disappearing and ask for honesty," she snapped. "You left."
> "Because I thought I was protecting myself," he admitted. "But I never stopped thinking about you."
Lynn looked away. The walls she'd rebuilt were cracking again.
> "Now the world sees me as a criminal," she said bitterly. "I thought you'd be the one person who wouldn't."
> "I don't care what the world sees," Michael said, his voice suddenly fierce. "I care about who you are when no one's watching. And I know that woman didn't burn everything down for fun. She survived."
Silence fell between them.
The wind rustled the leaves above.
> "So what now?" she asked, barely a whisper.
> "Now," Michael said, stepping even closer, "I ask you to let me help. Whatever this war is—you shouldn't fight it alone."
Lynn searched his eyes, unsure whether to push him away or fall into him.
But then her phone buzzed.
New message: Anonymous
"You're too late. She already made the drop."
Her blood turned to ice.
> "I have to go," she said, already walking away.
Michael caught her hand.
> "Where?"
She looked back at him, fire in her eyes.
> "To clean up another mess. One I won't let ruin me."
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