Aidan sprawled in the four-legged desk chair, tapping a few quick lines into his keyboard. Due to his comprehension of the covert conversation that Raven and Kieran had engaged in during their interaction, he had learned of the meeting that Kieran had arranged between them--in his rooms, midnight. Giving Aidan a perfect opportunity to use the camera and mic that he'd planted in Kieran's rooms. 

He was rather surprised that they had communicated so openly in front of him; they couldn't seriously have expected him not to notice the Morse code speeding back and forth between them. Well, Kieran knew better, but if Raven had underestimated him, that only worked to his benefit.

Aidan turned his attention back to the screen as the woman known as Mistral stepped out of the shadows. She wore a sleeveless black bodysuit that exposed the entirety of her long legs and bared her arms, while a black half mask covered her face, matte so as not to reflect the light. All in all, the outfit was acutely revealing, but it provided freedom of movement and that, as Aidan well knew, was the most important thing.

"Aida?" she whispered, her accent indiscernible. "Is it truly you?"

"Kalila?" Raven's voice was barely audible.

Both stared at each other for a few moments before Raven leapt out of the chair and embraced the other young woman in a show of emotion that caused Aidan's brow to quirk in curiosity. And then Raven stepped back, regaining control of her dignity as Mistral/Kalila reached up to her face, taking her mask off with a trembling hand and letting it fall to the floor. Her eyes were brown whereas Raven's were grey, but their familial relationship was obvious; if Aidan had to guess, he'd say they were sisters.

"What happened, Kalila?"Raven's voice held notes of anguish, a deep revealing of emotion for her.

Mistral/Kalila's voice was calm. "I let her have me, told her you were dead. That was the only way to ensure your safe escape."

The only sound from Raven was a controlled exhale that Aidan had to strain his ears to hear.

"About three years in, I escaped, with his help." Mistral/Kalila indicated Kieran, who was standing to her left. "I searched and searched for you, but every lead turned out to be a dead end. When I had given up hope of finding you on my own, I turned to the one person in the world who I knew would be able to." Her gaze slid gratefully to meet Kieran's.

"Oh, Kalila." Raven embraced the other woman once more. "Or should I call you Mistral?"

"I think," Mistral/Kalila said slowly, "Kalila is behind me. I am Mistral now. And you, I think, have become used to being Raven."

"Yes, I have," Raven responded. "It's fitting--new names for new lives. Neither of us are the same people we used to be."

Mistral regarded Raven. "Yes, our choice of profession has matured us faster than a lot of people, but I think that neither of us would trade our life for a normal one."

"No, we wouldn't." The depth of emotion in Raven's gaze startled Aidan; she had indeed let her guard down tonight.

Kieran cleared his throat. "Mistral, your suite is adjacent to both mine and Raven's." He held out a keyring that Mistral accepted with a nod of thanks before turning back to Raven.

"I assume you're capable of showing me to my rooms?" A smile played teasingly on her full lips, and Aidan noticed once more just how deep the pulchritude in Raven's family ran.

"Of course. They're this way." Raven smiled at Mistral in return as they walked out of sight of the camera.

"Yep. Definitely sisters," Aidan chuckled to himself, tipping the chair back onto its two hind legs and shaking his head in amusement. "This will be fun."

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A/N:

Now there's a neat little quartet: two brothers and two sisters. I love how delightfully cliche I'm being right now, don't you? Vote and comment to make this writer feel like she did an almost-good job with a chapter that she feels is exceptionally awkward xD