My heart pounds in my chest as I walk from the shower, my eyes instantly narrowing on the man sitting on my bed.

"Archer." His name is a soft whisper falling from my lips.

He doesn't say anything, his silence weighted, almost suffocating.

"Why are you here?"

I let my face fill with amusement, dropping a hip as I turn to face him. "This is my room, remember?" I muse, crossing my arms, as if that could shield me from his curiosity.

His jaw clenches, his eyes alight with faint anger.
"You know what I mean, Eleven."

I narrow my eyes at the sound of my Agent number, feeling my spine strengthen, my eyes sweeping over his body.

"What happened to Sarge?" I murmur, raising a delicate brow.

He stands up, his arms crossed. "I found a file, pretty hidden and it had your details and stats on it."

I swallow, my heart stuttering in my chest.

"And?" My voice is calm but inside I'm freaking out. What has he seen, found?

I've worked too hard to let a mistake like this derail everything.

"You were trained with gun from a young age, many weapons actually." He murmurs, "Very proficient, practically raised with a gun in your hand."

I only blink back.

"Then why the fuck have you been acting like you don't even know what a bullet is?"

I shut, sighing. "Like you said, maybe I've slacked off the last year."

He laughs mirthlessly, shaking his head.

"Where are you going with this?" I prod, gliding my arms tighter around me.

He grinds his teeth, pushing off the door and stepping towards me. "What are you planning?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Stop bullshitting me right now, Eleven."

I shift my jaw, humming low under my breath.

"You came back for a reason, why? And why are you using my team to do whatever it is?"

I look away, "You brought me here." I remind him.

He scoffs, the sound so sharp I almost flinch if I wasn't prepared for his anger, his glare directed at me. "I don't believe for a second you had no control over that. You could've fought harder; you could have left."

I hum, not denying or agreeing and drop my arms, "What do you want me to say, Archer?"

"I want you to tell me the truth." He grinds out, "I want you to tell me if whatever you have planned will put my team in danger?"

I swallow, already knowing the truth but I can't stop now, I won't.

"Maybe you need to stay out of my way, then." Is the only confirmation I give him.

"What are you doing?" He mutters, stepping closer. "Why my team?"

I don't answer, and he steps closer. "Are you putting them in danger?"

I don't answer and he laughs mirthlessly.

"Fucking hell," He shakes his head hazel eyes dark with accusation and regret. "Yesterday, today." He pauses.

I furrow my brow, "What about it, Archer?"

"What we did-"

I can already here the regret in his voice, tinged with self loathing and I close my eyes for slightest second before flashing them open. I cut him off, "We fooled around, so what?"

His lips tips up at one side, a small scoff leaving him., "You're right, it was a mistake."

"Yes." I agree, my voice hard. "It was. One I'm not likely to repeat."

Trying to get close to this team, to him, was a bad idea.

He looks down, ripping his eyes from mine.

The silence between us is pulsing with everything we're not saying, all my secrets laid out between
us, hidden. and disjointed.

"Sarge."

He doesn't get the chance to say anything else, the door behind him opening.

Clav stands there, his green eves moving between the both of us

"Everything okay here?"

I turn from Archer, looking to Clay, feeling walls close around me. "Yeah, we're done."

• • •

The house sits across from us, the coffee bricked home dark and unaccompanied. I tune back into the conversation taking place behind me, turning my head slightly so I can hear clearly.

"I'm hungry." Liams voice echoes throughout the car.

The door clicks behind me, and I turn, hand resting on the gun in my lap before relaxing when there's no sign of a threat.

"Liam, get back in the car." Archer's voice interrupts. His piercing hazel eyes stare Liam down in the rear-view mirror, before he turns, raising a brow.

"But there's a pizza place just down the corner." Liam whines, looking longingly at the outside world.

Clay reaches over Liam, pulling the door shut with a resounding click.

"But pizza-"

"Liam."

"Can we get it on the way back?"

"Maybe."

"Maybe?!"

Archer breaths out, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Yes, we will get pizza." Cleo says to appease Liam, shaking her head as she braids her hair back from her face.

"Cool." Liam smiles boyishly. Resting back in his seat and reaching over the front console, taking the binoculars.

"You know we don't need binoculars, right?" Cleo says as she looks over his shoulder at the house.

"Shush. Don't question the process."

Disbelief shows on my face as I look at the boy. My eyes straying upwards to connect to Cleo's, she shakes her head with a smile. I faintly feel my lips lift in response before I look back out the front window.

Tapping my fingers against my thigh as boredom takes a hold of me.

"Who did Director say this person was again?"

"She's a Doctor. Her name is Daphne Jefferson." Clay mumbles, staring out the window at the house.

"And why does he think she'll be the next target?"

"He wouldn't elaborate, all he asked was that we watch her. Do not engage unless necessary."

"That's helpful." Archer mumbles, grabbing the folder and flicking through it for the fifth time this car ride.

"There's not much information on her." He flicks over a page before ripping it from the folder, passing it back to Clay. "See what you can find."

Clay takes the paper, grabbing his laptop and quickly typing some things in. Five minutes later, he hands the paper back.

"No new information, the only things I can find are already on the paperwork."

I glance down at the paper, pursing my lips.

"That's only a little suspicious." Cleo murmurs behind me. I flick my head up as I see movement in the corner of my eyes.

"Liam." I whisper, snapping my head back as Archer follows.

"For fuck's sake." Archer growls, glaring at the open back door of the car.

"Let's go." I hop out of the car, watching the two sides of the road for witnesses as we all walk over to the house.

We approach Liam quickly, Archer glaring at the boy as he stands by the open doorway of the house.

"What'd I do?" Liam questions with a pout as I walk past him, into the open house.

"What are you doing?" Cleo questions, whacking him upside the head softly.

"Hey, watch the hair." Liam pouts as he smooths his strawberry blonde locks back from his face.

"You couldn't find information" He gestures to the house with jazz hands, lifting his brows. "What better place to find information than her house."

"You're an idiot," Cleo chuckles, walking past him with Clay following.

"A loveable idiot." Liam amends.

"No, just an idiot," I reply into the silence.

"Oh, Eleven, I knew you loved me." I glance back at him with a blank face.

"Like me?" He amends.

I raise a brow.

"Puts up with you, more like it," Clay hushes, walking past all of us towards the computer room.

"That sounds about right," Archer points to Clay before walking into the kitchen.

"Okay, you guys are rude." Liam scoffs.

I walk up the stairs, my gaze wondering throughout the house. Trying to capture information in the dark, with only the moonlight to see by.

I push open the bedroom door, the hinges squeaking as I step in, timber panels groaning under my weight.

The bedroom is extravagant, plush sunny yellow cover tucked neatly around the mattress, numerous pillows decorating the bed.

I walk around the room, gaze tracing the bedside drawers before walking into the closet.

I thumb through the hanging clothes, toeing polished heels out of the way. Nothing is out of the ordinary.

I look up, reaching for the box placed neatly on the shelves above the buttoned shirts and A-line skirts.

Opening it, I furrow my brows at the contents. I pull the top paper from the box, unfolding it.

Gender: F

Age: twenty-six

Weight: 73kg

Blood Type: AB Negative.

Patient alert and oriented to time and place. Able to undertake full activities of daily living. Tolerated AM diet and fluid intake appropriately. Patient seems more agitated after initial injection. No signs of worsening symptoms and or reactions to proposed treatment.

Medications given as charted. Nil further concerns at times of report.

Vitals as listed below.

Blood pressure: 120/80 mm Hg.

Breathing: 12 RR

Pulse: 72 BPM

Sp02 notes at 98% during hourly observations.

I pull the next paper out, unfolding it.

Subject #002632 - First injection. | 03/12/2019 (D/M/Y)

Gender: F

Age: twenty-four

Weight: 58kg

Blood type: B Negative.

Patient showing increased level in loss of conscious state. Responsive to pain and sound stimulus. Patient showing adverse signs post initial injection. Notes to be in Respiratory distress, slow shallow breathes, notes to be taken.

Blood Pressure < 90mmHg despite treatment with a pulse rate below 40 notes at a sudden drop and sustained.

Unable to obtain prompt assistance, MET call criteria has been initiated.

Respiratory rate: < 6

SPO2 < 90% on 2L of O2 nasal prongs.

Heart rate: averaging between 40 - 50 BPM.

Blood pressure 90/40 mm Hg

I grab another.

Subject #005661 - First injection | 26/02/2020 (D/M/Y)

Gender: M

Age: seventeen

Weight: 63kg

Blood type: O Positive.

Patient has been noted to show a complete negative reaction to injection. Respiratory distress and shortness of breath noted. Upon oscillation wheeze in notes as well as the sound of wet lungs, (possible pneumonia).

Heart rate persistently > 120 with increasing tachycardia. Sudden decease in level of conscious.

No stimulus to pain, sound, light, or noise.

Sudden inset of seizures noted. Code blue rapid response has been called upon. Patient vital continued to drop at an increased rate.

Blood pressure dropping below an 80 mm Hg.

EKG and EEG Galen ya orient bedside.

Arrhythmia notes and patient is seen to be in sudden cardiac arrest. Manual resuscitation implemented and patient has been bagged and tubed.

CPR continued and defibrillation commenced.

Post proactive care: patient not breathing. Patient found to have continued unresponsiveness. No respirations, no pulse, no heart, or breath sounds auscultated.

I thumb through the rest of the box, paper after paper blurring before my eyes.

A crash echoes from below and I stuff the papers back in the box, leaving it on the bed as I walk out and peer down.

Cleo looks up at me with a wince. "I didn't see it."

I look at her feet and the smashed vase that lay scattered in front of her before shaking my head.

Head lights glare through the front window, a car pulling into the driveway.

Cleo moves, quickly walking up the stairs towards me.

Archer and Clay follow, Liam nowhere in sight.

I walk back to the room I was in, shutting the door slightly so it's only open a crack before walking to the window that points outside.

I move the blinds subtly, Archer walking up beside me as we both watch the woman who exits the car, and the man who follows.

My back tenses as a deep rumble exits his lips, feeling his eyes on the side of my face for a fraction of a second before he looks back out the window.

"Daphne?" He mumbles.

"But who is next to her?" I ask, narrowing my eyes on the two.

"I don't think they're friends." I hear Archer say just as I notice the gun pressed against the woman's side.

Another car pulls up beside the first, doors slamming.