Kael didn't speak for a long time after they left the wrecked vessel behind. The ship drifted through the quiet of open space, but his mind wasn't quiet at all.
Nova watched him from across the control room. He sat in the pilot's chair, elbows on his knees, staring at nothing. His jaw was tight, eyes darker than usual. Something had changed in him the moment he saw that broken ship.
She approached slowly. "Kael… what did you see out there?"
He didn't answer.
Her voice softened. "Talk to me."
Kael breathed out through his nose, a slow, heavy exhale. "That wreck wasn't random. Someone destroyed it deliberately."
Nova frowned. "Who?"
He lifted his head. "The Dominion Fleet."
She froze. "The people who made you?"
"Yes."
A cold feeling sank into Nova's stomach. She didn't know much about the Dominion, only what Kael had told her and none of it was good.
"Why would they be here?" she asked.
"Because they're looking for something," Kael said. "Maybe someone."
Nova's throat tightened. "You think they're looking for you?"
Kael didn't move. He didn't have to answer his silence said enough.
He looked back at the stars. They passed like small, dying sparks. "I knew running wouldn't erase them," he said quietly. "I just hoped I had more time."
Nova stepped closer. "You're not with them anymore."
"But they don't see it like that." His tone hardened. "To them, I'm property."
Nova shook her head. "That's not true."
"That's how they see it," Kael repeated. "And they don't accept losing what belongs to them."
The way he said it made Nova's chest ache. He wasn't scared for himself he was scared for her.
Later, Kael went to the engine deck. Tools, metal panels, and exposed wiring lined the walls. He wasn't doing repairs; he just needed space. Somewhere to think without Nova looking at him with those eyes that made him feel seen.
He leaned over the console, gripping the edge until his knuckles went white.
Voices from the past whispered through his head. Commands. Threats. Punishments for disobedience. Rhel's voice above all cold, perfect, merciless.
He had escaped him once. But escape only lasted until the hunter found the trail again.
Footsteps approached behind him. He didn't turn. He didn't need to.
Nova.
She stopped a few steps away. "You left pretty fast," she said softly.
Kael muttered, "I needed air."
"We're in space. There is no air." Her tone was gentle but firm.
He almost smiled. Almost.
Nova moved in front of him so he had to look at her. "Kael. Talk."
"There's nothing to say."
"You're lying."
His jaw tightened.
Nova took a slow breath. "I know you want to protect me. But not talking doesn't protect anything. It just hurts you."
He looked away, but she stepped closer again, refusing to let him hide.
"Kael," she said quietly, "what did they do to you?"
He closed his eyes.
Nova waited. Patient. Soft. Unyielding.
Finally, he said, "They made me into something that doesn't get to choose its own life."
"Not anymore," she whispered.
He opened his eyes, meeting hers. "Nova… if the Dominion is near, then being with me becomes a death sentence."
She didn't flinch. "Then I'll face it with you."
"You don't understand," he said. "The man who commands them… Rhel Arcis… he doesn't stop. He doesn't forget. And he doesn't forgive."
Nova felt her heartbeat quicken. "Is he the one who trained you?"
Kael nodded once.
"And hurt you?"
He didn't answer. He didn't have to.
Nova stepped close enough that their arms brushed. "Kael. You're not his. And you're not going back."
Kael's voice dropped to a low whisper. "People like him don't lose. They take back what they think they're owed."
"Then let them try," she said. "I'm not running."
He stared at her really stared. Like she was something he couldn't understand, something he didn't think he deserved.
Finally, he said, "I don't want you to get hurt because of me."
"And I don't want you to face this alone."
His breath caught for a moment. He wasn't used to someone choosing him. Not without force. Not without fear.
Nova's hand reached for his slow, almost hesitant.
Kael didn't pull away.
Her fingers curled gently around his, and something inside him broke. Not painfully more like a chain snapping.
He squeezed her hand back, firm and protective.
It was the closest thing to a promise he'd ever given.
An hour later, alarms flickered on the ship's monitors. Small at first then sharp.
Nova rushed to the cockpit. "Kael!"
He was already there, turning on the scanners.
"What is it?" she asked.
Kael didn't look away from the screen. "A gravitational pulse."
"From what?"
He adjusted the readings, and when the data came up, his expression hardened.
"A hunter-class vessel."
Nova swallowed. "Dominion?"
"Yes."
Her breathing quickened. "How far?"
"Close enough," Kael said. "They found us."
The ship creaked as energy waves brushed against its hull a signature ripple of a vessel dropping out of warp.
Nova gripped the seat. "What do we do?"
Kael's voice changed steady, lethal, calm.
"We survive."
She nodded, eyes locked on him.
Kael took the controls, jaw set. "Whatever happens next… stay behind me. And don't let go."
His hand brushed hers again not gently this time, but urgently, like it was the last quiet moment they would have.
The stars outside flickered.
Then something massive emerged from the dark sharp, black, predatory.
The Dominion hunter ship.
Kael whispered under his breath, "Rhel is here."
And the war he tried to escape had finally caught up.