Uncovered Truths

Dave sat by the balcony outside Gina's study, fingers wrapped tightly around a coffee mug long gone cold. The night stretched quiet, too quiet for a man with a thousand questions. Questions Gina never answered.

He turned over everything in his mind—Richard's war, the fires, the assaults. Geneva's revelations still haunted him. And now Davina's strength—too calculated for a child her age.

Something didn't add up.

His mother had always told him: "If your gut talks, listen louder than your ears."

Tonight, his gut screamed.

---

Inside the estate, Gina stood in front of her private safe. Her fingers hesitated before entering the code. Inside was a small velvet box—not jewelry, not weapons—just a single ultrasound photo.

The heartbeat had flickered clear.

Proof of life.

Proof of vulnerability.

But Houna had warned her not to discard it too quickly. "Use every piece," she'd said. "Even the ones that shake you."

Gina sighed, tucked the photo into her pocket, and turned.

Only to find Dave standing behind her.

He looked at the photo, then at her.

His voice was a whisper. "You're pregnant?"

Gina froze. Her poker face slipped—only slightly—but Dave noticed.

"You weren't going to tell me."

"No," she said honestly.

"Why?"

"Because I'm not ready to raise another child in a world at war. And because I knew you'd want to protect it. Protect me. And that makes you soft when we need to be steel."

Dave stepped forward. "Maybe I don't want to be steel. Maybe I want to be human."

She shook her head. "There's no space for that right now."

"You were going to get rid of it, weren't you?"

Silence.

"That wasn't the plan," she said finally. "But yes… I considered it."

A crack spread across Dave's composure. But he didn't yell. Didn't accuse.

Instead, he walked toward her and gently placed a hand on her stomach. "This is mine, too. I deserve to know."

She closed her eyes. "Everything I touch turns to war."

He kissed her forehead. "Then maybe this child can be your peace."

---

Later that night, Dave couldn't sleep.

He walked through the quiet halls of the Michaels estate, every step echoing memories—both recent and buried. He remembered the way his mother used to hold his hand when he had nightmares. How she whispered that love could still win, even in a family built on shadows.

He remembered the day she died—or the day he was told she had. Car crash. No body. No closure. Just silence.

That silence had carved a hollow into his soul. A hollow he filled with music… and later with Gina.

Maybe that's why losing her the first time had nearly broken him.

And now she was here, again. Carrying his child. Hiding truths.

Was she saving him—or using him?

He couldn't tell.

---

In the surveillance wing, Houna watched the silent footage.

Dave. Gina. The child.

She saw the threads tightening.

She sipped her tea, eyes sharp.

"They're beginning to move as one," she murmured. "Good."

Then her monitor beeped.

INCOMING THREAT – E. LARA. INITIATED.

Her face stilled.

She turned, unlocked the case by her side, and drew out a single black envelope marked with the sigil of a raven.

The message inside was short:

"Asset awakened. Estimated target contact: 72 hours."

She looked out the window at the storm brewing in the sky.

"It begins again."

---

Across the ocean, a private jet landed at an abandoned military outpost.

A woman stepped out. Lean, calm, cloaked in black.

No words.

Just a single directive burned into her mind:

"Eliminate Gina Michaels. Or extract what remains."

Elara walked through the mist, eyes like frozen steel.

The deadliest secret Richard Lansing had ever kept.

And now she was awake.