The firing range was colder than Jack expected — all concrete, steel, and the faint smell of gun oil.
Rows of human-shaped targets hung at various distances.
Some stood still. Others moved along tracks, swaying side to side like ghostly silhouettes under fluorescent lights.
Jack entered behind Maya and Rafael, his muscles still sore from the drone drill.
Rafael locked the door behind them.
"Today," Rafael said, "we find out whether you belong behind a keyboard… or on the field."
Jack swallowed. "I thought yesterday already answered that."
Maya shot him a look — half amusement, half warning.
"That was survival. This is control."
She stepped forward, lifted her handgun, and fired three shots.
THACK. THACK. THACK.
All three hit center mass of a moving target.
Effortless.
Jack shifted awkwardly. "You know, when I imagined my future, guns weren't—"
"Jack," Rafael interrupted, "your fear of weapons is now a luxury you can't afford."
Maya added, "Helix won't hesitate. Neither can you."
Jack nodded, jaw tight.
Rafael pushed a pistol into Jack's hands. "Load it."
Jack fumbled with the magazine.
Maya took it from him, loaded it with a swift click-click-click, then handed it back.
"You'll learn," she said. "But right now… follow me."
She walked to Lane Six — the longest in the room.
"Why the furthest one?" Jack asked.
"Because distance forces accuracy," Maya replied. "Real fights are never convenient."
She positioned him at the shooting line, hands guiding his stance.
When she placed her hands on his shoulders to square them, Jack froze — not from fear… but from something he couldn't name.
Maya noticed.
Her voice softened, just a shade.
"Relax. I'm not going to let you mess up."
Jack exhaled slowly.
"Good," she murmured. "Now grip the pistol like it's going to jump out of your hands."
He tightened his grip.
"Too much," she corrected.
He loosened.
"Still too much."
Jack sighed. "This feels like defusing a bomb with chopsticks."
Maya smirked. "Welcome to our world."
She stepped back.
"Whenever you're ready — fire."
Jack aimed at the nearest target.
His hands trembled.
His mind replayed the Helix soldier's collapse, the way his body hit the ground, the blood—
He clenched his jaw.
Not now.
Not here.
He fired.
The bullet flew wide, missing the target entirely.
Maya didn't sigh or scowl.
She simply walked up beside him.
"What were you thinking about?" she asked.
Jack hesitated. "The man I killed."
She nodded once.
Not dismissing it — acknowledging it.
"Good. That means you're still human."
Jack swallowed.
"Is that going to… go away?"
"No," Maya said bluntly. "It shouldn't. But you'll learn how to function through it."
She replaced his magazine.
"Try again."
He fired.
Miss.
Again.
Miss.
Jack's frustration rose like heat.
His grip tightened.
His breath shortened.
Finally he slammed the pistol down on the table.
"I can't do this!"
Rafael shook his head.
"Yes, you can. You're thinking too much."
"That's literally what I'm good at!" Jack snapped. "Thinking!"
"And right now," Maya said, stepping close, "your thoughts are suffocating you."
Her voice wasn't angry.
It was… understanding.
Too understanding.
Jack looked away. "What if I'm not meant for this?"
Maya held his chin gently, turning his face back to hers.
"Then you wouldn't be here."
Her tone was soft but firm, a blade wrapped in velvet.
"Jack… you don't choose the field. It chooses you. And like it or not, Helix already chose you."
He didn't respond.
"Now breathe," she ordered.
He inhaled.
"Again."
He exhaled.
"Good. Focus on the target. Don't see a man. Don't see a threat. Don't see the past."
Her hand hovered near his shoulder — not touching, but close enough that he felt her steady presence.
"See the space between you and the target," she whispered.
Jack lifted the pistol again.
Hands steadier.
Heart quieter.
He fired.
THACK.
A clean shot — shoulder of the target.
Maya smiled — small, but undeniably proud.
"There you go," she said. "Now again."
Jack fired again.
THACK.
And again.
THACK. THACK.
Three shots grouped tight in the upper torso.
Rafael nodded.
"Now you're getting it."
Jack lowered the gun, breath shaking — but not from fear.
From the feeling that, for the first time, he wasn't drowning.
"Good job," Maya said — and this time, she didn't hide the softness in her voice.
Jack felt warmth in his chest he tried to ignore.
Break Time
Thirty minutes later, Jack sat on a bench wiping sweat from his forehead as Maya cleaned her gun with precise, mechanical motions.
"You pushed me hard," Jack said.
"That was nothing," Maya replied. "Tomorrow will be worse."
Jack groaned. "Why?"
"Because you survived today," she said, almost teasing.
Jack found himself smiling — then immediately tried to hide it.
Maya noticed.
She leaned forward slightly.
"You know… you don't have to pretend you're not scared."
Jack shrugged. "If being scared is normal, why hide it?"
"Because showing fear on the field gets people killed," she said quietly. "I learned that the hard way."
Jack sensed the shift — a memory, heavy and sharp, flickering behind her eyes.
"Your partner?" he asked softly.
Maya's hands paused mid-cleaning.
She didn't look at him.
"Yes," she said. "He died because I hesitated. Because I cared too much. Because I wasn't willing to break the rules to save him."
Jack's chest tightened.
"That wasn't your fault—"
"It was," Maya interrupted. Her voice was firm, but her eyes trembled at the edges.
"And I promised myself I wouldn't repeat that mistake."
She finally met his gaze.
"So don't expect softness from me, Jack. I can't be soft with you."
Jack swallowed.
"But you don't have to be hard, either."
Maya blinked — surprised.
Jack continued, voice steady:
"You said fear keeps us alive. Caring does too. You can't shut everything down and expect to win."
For a moment, Maya's expression cracked.
Just a little.
But she patched it quickly.
"We're done talking," she said. "Time for close-combat drills."
Jack sighed dramatically. "Of course it is."
Maya allowed the faintest smirk.
"Get up, Williams."
The Warning
They had only taken ten steps toward the combat ring when Rafael's phone buzzed sharply.
He stopped mid-stride, eyes narrowing at the screen.
"What is it?" Maya asked, instantly alert.
Rafael didn't answer at first.
Then he looked up, face pale.
"Ward wants us in the briefing room," he said. "Now."
"What happened?" Jack asked.
Rafael exhaled slowly.
"They picked up a transmission."
Maya stiffened. "Helix again?"
"Not just Helix," Rafael said.
"Mercer."
Jack's blood ran cold.
"What did he say?" Maya asked.
Rafael swallowed.
"He said—
'If you want the boy alive, stop training him.
Learning will only make him harder to control.'"
Jack's body locked in place.
Maya's eyes darkened with fury.
Rafael holstered his weapon.
"We move now."