Chapter 25 - The Silence Between Us
But the coffee never happened.
By the time I finished showering off the dust of the field, Elren was gone.
There was no word, no explanation, no knock on the door. Just a quiet ping from my terminal an hour later:
>>>Hunter Vayne reassigned.
>>>Oversight: Level C Observation Wing.
No name.
No picture.
No reference to the boy we just saved.
Just cold text on a screen.
---
"So he just vanished?" Elliot asked the next morning, sliding into the booth across from me in the cafeteria with a cup of something that smelled vaguely caffeinated and wholly suspicious.
"Yup."
"Without a word?"
"Not even a note."
"Damn. That's colder than I expected."
"Colder than a system bathhouse."
He blinked. "...You've been to a system bathhouse?"
"Focus."
He sipped his drink. "Do you think he chose to go?"
"That's the thing. I don't know. And it sucks."
Because if he didn't choose it, then he was trapped.
And if he did choose it, then he chose it over us.
Over me.
---
The days passed like gray static.
Routine drills. Boring missions. Annoying debriefings.
Elren didn't return. Elliot stuck by me out of what I assumed was loyalty, curiosity, or just the desire to be around chaos.
I was grateful either way.
Not that I said it.
Instead, I buried myself in training. Hit harder. Ran farther. Focused more. Tried not to think about the boy.
Failed.
Every night, I found myself wondering if he was eating.
Sleeping.
Alive.
---
It was on the fourth evening that my feet took me where my brain had already warned me not to go: Level C.
Officially, I had no clearance.
Unofficially, I had Elliot's swipe card and a face people were too scared to question.
The hallway was cold. Dim. Quiet.
I found the room with the glass wall easily enough.
The boy was there.
He looked smaller.
He sat curled on a cot, hooked to at least six monitors. Electrodes on his skin. Sensors near his temples. He was trembling in his sleep.
And standing there, silent as stone, was Elren.
His arms were crossed behind his back. His eyes fixed on the boy. Not moving. Not blinking. A statue in the name of protocol.
I didn't go in.
I didn't knock.
I stood outside the glass like a coward and watched.
And when I turned and walked away, I told myself it didn't matter that he hadn't noticed me.
---
"You okay?" Elliot asked, two hours later.
"Why do people keep asking me that?"
"Because you're gripping that fork like you're about to duel someone with it."
I stared down at my tray. The food was untouched. Bland. Like everything lately.
"That boy looks worse every day."
Elliot sobered. "You saw him."
I nodded. "He looked at the door like he expected someone to come for him. But Elren just stood there. Watching. Not doing anything."
Elliot tapped his fingers on the table. "Maybe that was the only thing he could do."
"Not good enough."
Elliot leaned back. "You miss him."
"Obviously."
He smiled. "Took you long enough."
---
The next night, I returned.
The boy was still there. Still hooked to wires. Still pale.
But Elren wasn't.
And I hated that I noticed.
I leaned my forehead against the glass.
"I told you it was safe. I promised you wouldn't be alone."
The boy didn't stir.
"I lied."
---
It was coincidence. Or fate. Or punishment.
But the next morning, I nearly collided with Elren in the corridor outside the south training wing.
We both froze.
He looked the same.
Still immaculate. Still unreadable.
Still infuriating.
"So," I said. "You live."
He inclined his head. "Obviously."
"Don't you dare."
Silence stretched between us.
"You could have said goodbye."
"It was a direct assignment."
"You could have said something."
He looked away.
"You saw me at the lab."
A pause. Then: "Yes."
"And you still didn't speak."
Another pause.
"Why are you like this, Elren? Why do you think distance is safer? Why do you think silence is protection?"
He said nothing.
I stepped closer.
"I told him he'd be safe. And now he flinches every time a door opens. He barely eats. He sleeps in fear. And you just stand there."
His gaze flicked to me. For a moment, something raw flickered there.
"You think I don't care?"
"I don't know what you think. Because you never say it."
He exhaled. "I care."
"Prove it."
"I can't."
"Then you're no better than the system."
He flinched like I'd slapped him.
I walked past him.
I didn't look back.
---
Elliot was waiting for me.
"How bad?"
"Bad."
"On a scale of 1 to punching a wall?"
"I'm at 'redecorating the entire facility with fire.'"
He handed me a data chip. "Then maybe it's time we broke the rules."
I blinked. "What is this?"
"Floor plans. System logs. Surveillance blind spots. Everything we need to get that kid out."
I stared at him. "Yo
u're serious."
"Obviously."
I smiled, small and sharp.
"Then let's burn it down."