ADA

I OPENED MY eyes, hazy and unsure of where I was.

I raised my arm. From my fingertips to my shoulders, blood dripped slowly down like a leaky tap. I inhaled sharply and blinked. The blood vanished, replaced by a myriad of tubes.

I exhaled shakily and tilted my head to the right. A beautiful scene graced my tired eyes. I saw waves that seemed to be carved out of sapphire lap gently on a bed of white sand, glittering brighter than a thousand diamonds in the moonlight. Greedily drinking in the view, I sighed and relaxed into the covers.

"You're up."

I started and looked up, narrowing my eyes at Carter. Did he... did he help me?

"Wilson, why are you looking at me like I fed you poison?"

"Did you?"

"What?"

"Did you feed me poison?"

"What kind of- I just saved your life! A thank you would be appreciated."

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms with some difficulty. "Thank you o' Great Wise one- I hate you so much get out of my fucking face- I am so genuine, My Lord."

"Why the hell did I choose to save your ungrateful ass?"

"If it was such a difficulty, then you should've left me to die!"

"Don't think I didn't consider it!"

I paused. "You did?"

"I- No, obviously not you idiot. Now be quiet while I check to make sure I can compare you to an almost functioning human."

I stayed quiet, tilting my head aside as he did some questionable check ups. When he finished, I leaned back on the bedrest. "What's the verdict doc? Am I gonna make it?"

He snorted. "Unfortunately. Now this is gonna hurt like a bitch, but try not to move too much or it'll hurt like hell."

I stayed quiet while Carter carefully removed the stitches. I didn't even flinch. Not my first time dealing with so many of them.

Without warning, tears sprung to my eyes. In my effort to blink them back, two salty drops landed on Carter's hand.

I scowled and turned away. This is the second time I've cried in front of him. Now he'll definitely make fun of me.

A warm hand patted my head three times. "There, there."

I slowly turned back, my eyebrow raised, a snarky retort on the tip of my tongue. The retort sputtered out when I thought about how kind Carter had been lately.

"Carter?"

"Hmm?"

"You're...not as bad at comforting as you think."

His eyes widened and a tiny smile lifted his lips. "Thanks Wilson."

"I mean, you're still pretty bad at it–"

"Don't ruin the moment."

"Fine, have it your way." I flopped back and blew a few strands of black hair out of my face. "Now hurry up and discharge me so we can find Ezra."

"Alright. Try standing up. Be careful, though- you've been out for a few weeks."

What did he just say?

I swung my legs over the edge of the bed, and using the calming sounds as my strength, pulled myself up. I promptly fell forwards, face planting on the ground.

Carter, of course, made no attempt to catch me.

I groaned and turned on my back, extending an arm out towards his standing figure. "Help."

All he gave me was a smirk. "That was pathetic, but also really funny." He helped me back up.

"Shut up."

"So, I guess we'll have to wait a few days until you can-"

"No. We can't do that. It's way too dangerous for us to stay in one place. Plus Ez is going to be in trouble soon."

"What? How do you know?"

"The mission report, Carter. Seriously, just ten minutes. That's all it would take to read it."

"Not all of us have your weird Analyst brain! I prefer actually doing the mission rather than wasting time reading the fine print."

"This fine print is what's gonna save your life, Carter."

"Yeah, yeah, let's focus on the problem at hand, shall we?"

"I guess you're just gonna have to carry me then."

"No," Carter stepped away, hands behind his back, "I am never doing that. Nuh-uh. I am putting my foot down for this."

****

"You're too slow," I complained.

"Would you like to try walking?"

"I'm good, thanks. Just walk quicker!"

"I will shoot you right now if you don't shut up."

"No you won't! You saved me," I sang, the remnants of drugs making me a little loopy.

"I literally just need you so we can find Ezra."

"Yeah, but then you got all sappy and saved my life!"

"I will drop your dumbass body on the dirty floor if you don't stop."

"No you won't! I'm inju–argh! Carter! Get back here!"

"The car is right here. You can drag yourself over," He patted the vehicle that was a whooping six feet away from me.

I made a big show of dragging myself over, wincing and groaning every few seconds to really rub in that guilt. Carter didn't budge, leaning against the car and kept on scrolling through his phone- completely unbothered. He looked up when I sighed heavily.

"Ya finished, Drama Queen?"

I gracefully gave him the middle finger in response. My eyes laid upon our mode of transportation for the first time and I gasped, sitting up. "I am not getting into that thing!"

"It's a car."

"It's a monstrosity!" Bright, eye-watering yellow with red curse words sprayed across the back and two of the windows were broken.

"I'm sorry for not being picky while you were bleeding to death!" Carter snapped, hoisting me up by my arms and plonking me in the front seat.

"Apology not accepted." I sniffed and grabbed my emergency bag. "Right, from what I can remember, we need to go to some place called 'Motmot ceja turquesa'."

"What does it mean?"

"Apparently, it's Spanish for 'Turquoise-browed Motmot'... which is El Salvador's national animal."

"How far away is it?"

"Not too far- about half an hour's drive from here."

"What if I go over the speed limit?"

"Then we will never get there as we will crash and die painful deaths."

"You are so cynical."

"I prefer the term 'realist'." A shard of pain flared up in my stomach and I winced, shifting in my seat.

Carter's brows furrowed together and he side-eyed me. "You okay?"

"Yeah... I was kinda stabbed a while ago and it hurts."

"It does. I was stabbed in my last mission too."

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"

"I was in Paris investigating some suspicious activity and I found myself in a bar."

I chuckled incredulously. "You found yourself in a bar?"

"Yeah!"

"Really?"

"Well, I may have accidentally wandered towards it- but that's not the point. I was in that bar and I spotted one of my targets. So I approached them and tried to make conversation." He sucked in a sharp breath. "I may or may not have had a drink before then... or seven."

"Oh man." I snorted, pulling my hair into a tight bun. "Did you mess it up?"

"I didn't just mess it up. I supremely fucked it up."

"I'm listening."

"I was so drunk and out of it, that I managed to spill that they were my target. Somehow, they convinced me they repent their sins- which probably wasn't too difficult- and wanted to show me their evil plans." He sighed through his nose. "They then lured me to an isolated space and attacked me. I got stabbed in the process."

"Damn..." I whistled. "how did you get out of that?"

"Fortunately, my Agent partner was on standby and swooped in to save me at the last second."

"Very lucky! Who was the Agent?"

Carter hesitated and glanced at me quickly before answering. "Emma Keen."

My mind went blank. I remembered that awful day in that rancid London alleyway.

"Oh," I said in a very small voice.

For a few minutes, we stayed in silence.

Emma's words played through my mind.

'"Do you understand how irritating it is to respect the person beneath you?"'

Without any warning, the dark roads before me disappeared and the windshield was replaced with a flashback. It was like an ad decided to play right at the interesting moment in a film, sending waves of anguish to my core.

"Aunt Addy." The little girl rested her arms on her knees, staring at me with wide, doleful eyes.

I mimicked her position. "Yes Liv?"

"Can I have a chocolate please?"

I raised an eyebrow. "What did your Mum say?"

"I haven't asked her yet... but it's 'cus you're soo cool Aunt Addy! Plus Mama is not the boss of you!"

I grinned and stood up, scooping Liv into my arms, kissing her cheek, "You'd think after all these years I'd be immune to your obvious flattery."

"Sooo..?" Liv wrapped her arms around my neck and rested her head against my shoulder.

"...I think we might have some in the fridge."

Liv cheered and clapped while I laughed and sang- a loud, joyous sound that came from deep within my soul.

The setting changed.

I was on my knees, blood coated my hands. My arms. I screamed and pressed my hands to my face. Innocent blood smeared across my cheeks like disgusting face paint. Cam howled in pain, clutching a bloodied pink dress to her chest. Zaza simply stared, eyes glassy and empty, at the opposite wall.

Gunshots replaced my frenetic heartbeats, obliterating all rational thoughts and made my head spin.

I screamed until my throat was raw. Until the hurt was reduced to a throbbing ache.

I blinked and the scene faded into the inky, black sky that was mingled with obvious signs of pollution. I stared at my hands and allowed my fingers to loosely curl inwards.

After That Day, I never sang again. Even though it had been many years, the wound never healed. Time did not make it better as everyone said, it did not make the sting go away, it forced me to become numb to it. But at highly inconvenient moments, these memories came back, and I don't know how long I could have stood for this long for.

Carter parked, neatly parallel to the pavement, next to a building cloaked in shadows. I couldn't even see the details and would have definitely missed it. But the neon, dusty sign lying next to it told me this was our stop.

"Let's go." My voice sounded choked and foreign- even to my own ears.

"Wait, Wilson." Carter grabbed my arm. I looked at his hand and he quickly let go, palms up in surrender. "Are you... are you okay?"

'I'm fine'- the lie immediately sprung to mind. But I hesitated. Carter saved my life and, whether I liked it or not, I was going to have to be a little more honest with him.

Especially if I wanted to find Ezra.

"No," I said with a tight smile. "I'm not fine. And I don't think I ever will be. But we don't have time for that right now. Let's go save our friend, Carter."*******

I hope you guys liked it!

Stay safe and thanks for reading :)

Next chapter: "It's not my fault!"