The Vortex cut across the night sky like a blade, its engines screaming against the silence of shock that had settled inside the cockpit. Haven burned behind them, a pyre against the horizon, its destruction visible even from miles away.
Inside, no one spoke at first. Sophia's hands trembled faintly as she patched into what remained of SHIELD's network, her lips pressed into a thin line. Wolf sat rigid in the backseat, jaw clenched, his weapon still resting across his knees as if the fight wasn't over.
But all of them kept stealing glances at Mariam.
Her skin still shimmered faintly, metallic veins pulsing just beneath the surface before fading back into flesh. She sat unnervingly still, eyes forward, hands resting in her lap like she was afraid to move—afraid of what might happen if she did.
Ethan gripped the controls tighter than necessary, knuckles pale. The masked figure's words still rang in his skull: She is your undoing.
Sophia broke the silence first. "The feed wasn't just localized. It hit every open network. Governments, corporations, black markets—everyone saw her. Mariam… you're on every screen in the world right now."
Mariam's breath caught, her throat tightening. She turned toward Ethan, her voice breaking. "So what am I now? A target? A weapon? Or a monster?"
Wolf's voice came out like gravel. "You're a liability."
The words landed like a blade. Mariam's eyes widened, stung deeper than she wanted to admit. Ethan snapped his head back, fury flashing in his gaze.
"Shut your mouth, Wolf."
But Wolf didn't flinch. His eyes stayed locked on Mariam, unrelenting. "Tell me I'm wrong. The Syndicate doesn't need to spin this—every army on the planet just saw her turn into something… inhuman. You think they're going to see a girl? No. They'll see a weapon. And weapons get seized. Or destroyed."
The weight of his words settled over them all.
Mariam finally spoke, softer now but steady, each word deliberate.
"Maybe they're right. Maybe I am changing. But don't you dare think I'll just sit here waiting to be captured or killed." She turned her eyes on Wolf, then Sophia, finally settling on Ethan. There was steel in them now. "If the whole world is coming for me, then they'll find out I won't break as easily as they think."
Ethan's chest tightened at the sight of her—terrified, yes, but also burning with something dangerous, something new. The girl he had sworn to protect was gone. In her place was someone who might not need protection at all.
And that terrified him more than anything.
The Vortex pierced through the cloud cover, heading toward a rendezvous point Ethan hadn't even told the others about. His mind raced through contingencies: hidden caches, dead-drop safehouses, fallback bunkers. But with Haven gone, SHIELD's resources crippled, and Mariam exposed, there was no such thing as safe anymore.
Sophia's console beeped, pulling them back into the present. "We've got multiple pings. Not Syndicate. These are… governments. Military divisions. Mercenary guilds. They're already mobilizing."
Wolf exhaled sharply. "The world just declared open season on your girlfriend, Stone."
Mariam's eyes flicked to Ethan, waiting for his answer. For the first time, his silence lingered. Not because he doubted her, but because—for the first time—he doubted himself.
Haven was lost. The world had seen too much.
And the Ghost Protocol had begun.