^^^BLOSSOM'S DRESS ❤️
                 

"Where's Nick?" Cash asked me as we all sat at breakfast.

"Nick was shot," blossom finally told them.

"What the hell? We've been here for a week now and you failed to mention this to us. Considering the fact that we last saw him on the day we got here, I'm going to assume that was the day he was shot?" Sunny asked.

"It's a very complicated story that we ourselves honestly don't even know anymore," I confessed.

And that was the truth.

Izsak, being the weirdo he is, came to tell us that we don't know what we're dealing with, and then he left the room. Jayme and blossom obviously went after him, but he'd already vanished. All talks ceased after that since we couldn't understand what had just occurred. Blossom didn't even sleep.

"Is that why you both look like hell?" Eli asked us. The rest of the Cypher agents were being wise by actually sleeping, with Bridgette joining her boyfriend.

I sighed. "We can't sleep, or at least blossom can't sleep, and I can't sleep if she's not ok."

"That right there is love. I would never sacrifice my sleep like that," Wesley said.

"Gee thanks babe," Felix commented, to which she received an unbothered shrug.

"That's why I love him," blossom said as she held my hand.

"I know we had a program for the day, but you guys should probably spend the day together," Sunny suggested.

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea," I agreed.

"The two of you haven't bonded since you got here, so you can go ahead whenever you're ready," Cash added.

"Want to go now?" my fiancée asked.

I nodded. "Sure."

We left the table and headed back to our room to change into our swimwear. Since I was already wearing shorts, I put on a black t-shirt, while she wore a beautiful sundress. We left the room and headed down to a more secluded part of the beach.

"I don't want to do this anymore," she commented after a while. We'd been sitting in silence for a couple of minutes.

"Do what exactly?" I asked.

She looked out at the sea. "Everything."

"You don't want to be with me?" I asked, trying to mask my panic.

"I'll never leave you Xander. I'm talking about everything else in our lives," she replied.

"This is what you signed up for blossom. You said it yourself," I reminded.

She lay her head on my shoulder. "That doesn't mean I have to be ok with it."

"Good point. I've been where you are though. We all go through this stage where we feel like perhaps being an agent isn't worth it, despite all the good that we do. It's normal. I just hope you're not giving up," I said ardently.

"Does every agent go through the whole 'the world actually needs me to not give up' debate in their heads?" she asked.

I nodded. "Again, it's normal, especially because the world does actually need you."

"Doesn't it irritate you that the world doesn't even know what you do for them?" she asked as she sat up straight.

I moved so that I was sitting in front of her. "If we were doing it for recognition, then we'd be doing it for all the wrong reasons. Saving the world is about doing what's right and not expecting anything in return for it, despite the lavish lifestyles we actually live thanks to this life."

"I hear you, but what about the sacrifices you constantly have to make?" she questioned.

"My mom said something to me that I carry with me the first time I asked her that question. She told me that people face and make sacrifices every day, whether they're an agent, an accountant or a model. It doesn't matter what life path you choose. We all face happiness, sadness, sacrifices, rewards, birth and death. That is the certainty of life," I told her.

She cupped my cheek. "You don't talk a lot about your mom."

"I mean my adoptive mom. I don't remember my biological mother," I reminded.

"I know. Either way, you don't talk about her a lot. What's her name?" she asked.

"Silver," I replied.

"Is she the person who recruited you for Cypher?" she continued.

"Yes and no. She was there when my family was killed. It was exactly on this day, fourteen years ago.  From the memory I have of that day, I gathered that they were Cypher agents too, so I guess I was already connected to the organization then. When they died, she told me that she would take care of me. I was shot that day, and I asked her if she would be my new mother. She promised me that she would on condition that I stay awake. I went into a coma for six months, and when I woke up, I was placed into the custody of Aziel's parents. He and I quickly became brothers, and when his parents were killed, I knew I had to take care of him. We were homeless for two years, and I'd honestly thought that Silver had forgotten about me. Apparently she'd gone dark just before Aziel's parents were killed, and by the time she got back, Aziel and I were off the radar. She spent months looking for us since we'd already trained ourselves in the art of laying low and staying alive. When she found us, she took us back to Cypher HQ and adopted both of us legally. My legal ties to her were broken last year when I turned eighteen, and Aziel will be cut off from her legally in the next month. She'll always be my mom though," I explained.

She was quiet for a very long time, and I was curious about why she was. "What's wrong blossom?"

"It's your birthday today," she said softly, leaving me gobsmacked.

Silver is the only person who knows when my birthday is.

"You're kidding me right now right?" I asked.

She shook her head. "It is, isn't it?"

"You can't possibly tell me that you're just as good as I am at deducing things," I said incredulously.

"I don't think I am. However, I'd like to think that I've learnt how to read my fiancé in the year I've known him," she replied.

"I don't understand how..." I trailed off.

"Maybe it's the psychologist in me, but I pieced everything together based on what you've told me. You've never told me when your birthday is, and whenever I mention it, you visibly cringe, like you associate the day with something terrible, but based on what you just told me now, you also associate it with a special event, which is Silver unofficially adopting you. You have mixed feelings about this day. You hate the thought of your family being killed on your birthday, but she makes it worth remembering."

I sat there, probably with a stupid look on my face, but I couldn't say anything. She'd hit the nail right on the head. It was my birthday, and she was right about everything I associate with the day. I'd hoped to live the rest of my life with only Silver knowing when my birthday is.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made such a wild guess. I'm probably wrong anyway," she rambled when I wasn't saying anything.

"I love you," I blurted.

She frowned. "What?"

"You're right blossom, about everything. I'm just shocked because you're the only other person besides Silver who knows when my birthday is," I told her.

"That can't be true," she said in confusion.

I shrugged. "It is. I don't celebrate my birthday. The years just pass."

"What about Thales?" she asked so lowly that I almost didn't hear her.

"Where did you hear that name?" I asked, my blood boiling.

He wouldn't dare.

"He was shot Xander," she whispered.

"Please tell me you didn't do the one thing I probably will never forgive you for," I said as I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"He is your brother. How are you just going to shut him out without even listening to him?" she asked, seemingly just as angry as I was.

"I DO NOT HAVE A BROTHER!" I snapped.

"Then prove him wrong by getting the DNA test done. What do you have to lose?" she asked.

I gave her a dry look. "You've already done the test, haven't you?"

"Jayme conducted it four times with four different samples," she confirmed my irritated thoughts.

"The amount of lines you crossed with this is enough to grant me the right to never want to even associate myself with you. You do realize that right?" I asked.

"I also realize that I don't care. What I care about is you, so you can hate me for the rest of our lives if you want to, but I refuse to stand by you even when I know that you're wrong. It's not why you proposed to me," she replied.

More irritation – this time based on the fact that she's right.

"What did the tests prove?" I bothered to ask.

"He's your brother without a doubt," she responded.

"When exactly did you meet him?" I asked.

"He got in touch with me a few weeks after you left for Germany, but it wasn't until the day before you came back that I met him. He shared his story with me, and I promised to help him because I know how stubborn you can be. I don't understand why the knowledge of having a brother angers you so much," she said, visibly puzzled.

I sighed. "I'm comfortable with the way my life is right now blossom. I don't need to throw any more drama into my life."

"That's a lie and you're being selfish!" she snapped.

"I don't want a brother. I already have Aziel. Besides, where the hell has he been this entire time?" I asked.

"He was taken from your parents by the same people who Jayme's mother worked for. If you don't believe him, then just ask Franco since Franco is the one who rescued him the same time he rescued Jayme," she said passionately.

"Wait a minute! You're saying that Franco and Jayme have known that I have a brother this entire time?" I asked.

"Not exactly!" she said.

Two years ago, a guy by the name of Thales Demetriou approached Cypher, wanting contact with me. HQ immediately considered him a threat because he actually found our building. He resorted to following me and managed to corner me so that he could tell me that he was my brother.

Of course I didn't believe him.

I looked to my fiancée to start explaining herself. "Thales is actually Jayme's best friend, except Thales couldn't remember anything for the longest time. According to Jayme, there was a night when they roughed him up so bad that he suffered a major injury to the head, thus causing his amnesia.  When Franco rescued them, he had Thales admitted for treatment, and Thales stayed in hospital until the fateful day when he remembered everything. He was seven when they took him, and you were only three, which is probably why you don't remember him. According to Franco, they'd already considered him dead since he had a death certificate and all. On the day his memories came back, all he wanted to do was go back to his family, and that's when Franco told him the sad news. Since Franco had already left Cypher, he didn't tell you, and I don't think Jayme knew how to even broach the subject. All he knew was that his best friend needs his brother, so they both came to me about this, hoping I would talk some sense into you. I know my timing sucks, but with everything that's going on in our lives, there will honestly never be a perfect time to tell you."

"You said he was shot. What do you mean?" I asked.

"Remember the day you took me to HQ? The phone call that I received?" she asked, to which I nodded.

"That was the first time I was in connection with Black's men. They told me that they had Thales and that they'd shot him. I of course panicked and left with the twins. When we arrived at the place they had him, we found him bloodied and on the verge of death. That's also when I learnt about the chips in Kai and I. I learnt that Black thinks I'm having an affair with Thales, and doesn't actually know who he is to you, so I kept it that way. I played the concerned girlfriend just so that you wouldn't have one more thing on your plate to worry about, especially since you hate him so much for something he didn't do," she finished off.

"I don't hate him," I defended.

"You just want nothing to do with him because you're comfortable with your life. You couldn't care less what he's been through," she said with a bored tone.

I couldn't say anything to that. So maybe I was being selfish about this, but my life has been turned in all directions, so could I really be blamed for not believing some guy who insisted that he's my brother out of nowhere?

"You know, it's my birthday. A person would think I'd get special treatment," I tried to lighten the mood after a while.

She looked up, the sun catching her emerald orbs perfectly. "You're not getting any special treatment until you admit that you're wrong."

I sighed. "Where is he right now?"

"You're going to have to ask Franco. I only speak to him over the phone," she replied.

"You speak to him regularly?" I asked.

She nodded. "He only asks about you though. He's very proud of his little brother."

"Am I a terrible person?" I asked after another long while of silence.

"What you do from this point onwards will determine the answer to that question," she said.

"I'll visit him as soon as we've dealt with Nadia," I promised.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"I owe it to my parents," I said in agreement.

"I'll be here for you the whole way," she said, holding my hands.

"I know you will. Is he a nice guy?" I asked.

"He's not an asshole if that's what you're asking. Your parents only got that right with one son," she teased, earning herself a nice glare from me.

"You're terrible at birthdays," I commented.

She giggled. "I never said I was brilliant at them to begin with. What would you like to do?"

"I'm actually good with us talking. You were going to tell me what you're doing with the de Villiers brothers," I reminded.

"Oh, right! They're helping me with getting my memories back," she informed.

"How?" I asked.

"Frankie is apparently good with such things. The fact that you're questioning me so much can only mean that you know that I lied to you. While you were in Germany, instead of missing you every day, I decided to do something about my own life. Franco found out a long time ago that I wasn't Zero, and he told me that he's not mad at me, and neither would he kill me. We met up and I told him my life story and he promised to help me. They put me through a whole lot of mental tests to determine the extent of my memory loss. It turns out my childhood isn't the only thing I don't remember. I have different memory lapses, and they also suspect that my memories have been tampered with," she started off.

I was fully intrigued. "How would they know that?"

"Frankie developed this one test where he asks me different questions about different parts of my life. It took them three sessions before they noticed that something was off about my answers, and that's when they picked it up. My answers are never the same. It's like my brain doesn't know what's true and what isn't. Franco figures that different memories were put into my brain to confuse me. Frankie built this machine that required me to get into some chamber with as minimal clothing as possible with wires and stuff hooked to my brain. They would then ask me random questions to see if that triggers anything. What they've done is compile all the memories I told them and the data from the memory machine as Frankie calls it, and try to look into Cypher records to see if anything matches.," she explained.

"They think its Cypher related?" I asked in confusion.

"Not necessarily, but they aren't overlooking it either. Franco was new to Cypher around the time of the fire, and he insists that there was no official record of a Cypher event around the time, so they're hoping to find some clues. The only memories of mine that are clear are those of when my mom and I moved in with my aunt and uncle. That's when my mom and I had stopped moving around so much," she said, but I could see that something else was bothering her.

I went back to sit next to her so that I could put my arm around her. "What's bothering you my blossom sparkle?"

"I don't think the woman who raised me is my biological mother. I can just feel it in my gut that she wasn't. She may have loved me, but there's just something that's not right here, and I have a feeling that my dad knows the truth. It has something to do with all of this and why I wasn't allowed to stay with him. Either that or he is completely clueless about everything. Something just doesn't feel right," she ended lowly.

"Her last name is Solano," I found myself informing.

She looked up at me. "Who?"

"Silver," I replied.

"Your adoptive mother?" she asked with a scowl.

I nodded. "She's Margaux's vice and one of the most important people at Cypher. However, her records are sealed away somewhere. When I first heard your full name, I was suspicious, but then I quickly thought nothing of it, until I learnt that your father works for the FBI. It intrigued me that two Solano's could be in such high positions of power, so I had Mordecai look into it. He searched for any connection between Silver and your father, but it turns out his records aren't that clear either. In fact, I'm beginning to think none of you Solano's have records. The only people who do have records are Nick and your stepmom, and only because they originally weren't Solano's."

She was quiet for the longest time and I didn't bother her thinking. I'd just dropped a heavy bomb on her, and it would take her a while to process the information. However, I was glad that we were making some kind of progress.

"Do you have a picture of her?" she suddenly asked.

"I actually do," I replied before taking out my wallet.

I handed her the small photo. I know its old school to keep photos like that, but she gave it to me when I turned ten, and I've kept it since. I had it laminated so that it wouldn't get easily ruined. I'm proud to say that it looks almost the same as it did back then.

"I always thought that I have my father's eyes, but looking at her, I feel like I have her eyes. Do you think she could be my biological mother?" she asked.

"I can't say I know, but I can promise to help you find out if it's even a possibility. You deserve that, and I think I also want to know why she'd abandon you," I replied.

"Do you talk to her a lot?" she asked.

"Not really. I last spoke to her on our trip to the island after your birthday. She called after I'd sent you back home and she told me not to do anything stupid. I haven't hear from her since," I informed.

She frowned. "So she's gone, just like with Margaux?"

"Now that you mention it, it's very strange that they're both gone. I think we need to abandon this mission," I said as I stood up.

"Where are we going?" she questioned as I helped her up.

"We first need to get to father. There's a very important question I need him to answer because I have a gut feeling that Karr was right," I said.

"Right about what Xander?" she asked anxiously.

"We're about to be majorly blindsided."

The two of us ran back to the safe house, but we knew that we couldn't wake up everyone. We only woke up Aziel, Zuri, Karr and Mordecai and told them the plan. They agreed to come with us, and we went looking for Jayme and Franco.

When we found them, it was my first time seeing Nick since he'd been shot and he really didn't look like he was even breathing. He had tubes connected to him in different places, and I heard the slight hitch in breath from my fiancée. I pulled her into my side and kissed her forehead.

"He's going to be ok," I told her.

"I know," she whispered. I reached out to wipe away her fallen tear.

"What are you doing here?" Franco asked us.

"We're heading back to my place to check something with Mr Solano and then we're heading straight to HQ," I replied.

"What about the mission? What's so important about what you have to do that you're abandoning it?" he asked.

"I'm pretty sure you know that there's a lot that's just not right about what's going on right now, and I have a feeling that something is about to go down at HQ. Margaux and Silver have both been off the grid for a suspiciously long time. The last time I heard anything solid about Margaux, she had a meeting in the vault, and they were discussing Silver. Karr warned me that something big is going on, and quite frankly, I'm beginning to see it," I explained.

"Well about damn time! I take it you need to get out of here quickly?" he asked.

"I've got us covered. We just need you to take care of Nick," Zuri told him.

He nodded. "He's in the safest hands."

"What should I do?" Jayme asked.

"You're leaving his side?" blossom asked him.

Jayme looked over at Nick fondly. "There's nothing I can do for him here. I need to do something before I go crazy."

"We're going to avenge him Jay, but just not now," blossom said softly.

"We have a much bigger threat, I get it. Just tell me what I need to do," he said, turning back to face us.

"I don't know what's about to happen, but I know we need to make sure we don't lose everything. I need you to get a head start at HQ and see how much you and Ayah can protect," I instructed.

"Got it!" he replied with a curt nod.

Everything moved pretty quickly after that. We left a message for Nigel, Malachi and the E's to wrap up as much as they can, and to get our civilian friends to leave St Barts. I trusted that they would get around to it when they woke up.

"We need Silo's help," blossom commented once we were in the air.

"As much as I'd love to agree, that's a negative," Zuri said.

"Why not?" blossom asked in confusion.

"I know you see the best in everyone, but this very moment is not the moment for that. Unlike me, Silo and Rio were born into Genesis and double crossing is something they know best. Silo may have a soft spot for you, but he wouldn't think twice about grabbing an opportunity to sink Cypher," Zuri explained.

I could see the confusion on blossom's face. "What she means is that we shouldn't rule Silo out as a suspect just yet."

I was relieved when she nodded in understanding. As much as I love the fact that she wants to see the best in everyone, not everyone is worth that benefit of the doubt, especially in this line of work. I need to know that she'll think smart and not let her emotions cloud her judgement.

We were anxious the whole trip back as we discussed our plan. By the time we landed, we'd changed into our mission gear. Zuri had hooked blossom up, and I had a moment of pride seeing my fiancée about to kick ass.

"Stop looking at me like that," she said with a smirk.

"You do know just how sexy you look right now though right?" I asked as she strapped a gun to her thigh.

She stepped up to me, biting her lip sexily. "I'd say no, but you have me all kinds of bothered with the look in your eyes right now."

"Before I hurl, can we please get a move on it?" Aziel requested.

We laughed and headed to the SUV. We drove out and it was a relatively quick ride to the safe house. We arrived just as a red haired woman was leaving the house. She was laughing and saying something to Mr Solano. She walked passed us as we approached the door, and I saw her bright grey eyes as she winked at us.

"I'm not the only one who saw that right?" Mordecai asked as we reached Mr Solano.

"Oh! You guys just missed her," Mr Solano told us.

"Missed who?" we asked.

"Your boss; wasn't that Margaux?" he asked in confusion.

And that's when the dread truly settled in me.

"That wasn't Margaux. Margaux is a blonde woman with blue eyes."

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