Jay's pov:
Everything went quiet after the chaos.
Not the peaceful kind of quiet—
the kind that feels heavy, like the air itself is holding its breath.
The woman sat on the bench near the café exit, shoulders slumped, eyes unfocused.
One of the security guards offered her a chair; she barely noticed. Edrix stood in front of her like a wall, blocking everyone else, his hands clenched so tightly I could see his knuckles whitening.
Freya broke the stillness.
She walked to the café counter without saying a word, grabbed a bottle of water, twisted the cap open, and knelt in front of the woman.
"Aunty," she said gently, holding it out, "drink a little. Please."
The woman looked up at her—really looked—and for a second her face changed. Something flickered there. Recognition.
Her hand trembled as she took the bottle.
"Thank you," she whispered.
We didn't question her.
Not then.
Not when Edrix froze like the world had tilted under his feet.
Not when Section E went unnaturally quiet, like even chaos knew this wasn't its moment.
She looked exhausted—dust on her sleeves, a faint tremor in her hands, eyes too sharp for someone who had just walked back into a life she once lost.
Keifer was the first to move.
"Hospital," he said, firm, no debate. "Now."
No one argued.
We got her into the cars. Freya sat beside her, silently holding the bottle of water she'd offered earlier, like it was the only thing keeping the moment stitched together. Edrix didn't speak. He didn't even blink much. Just stared ahead, jaw locked so tight I thought it might crack.
I watched him from the back seat, my chest aching in a way I couldn't explain.
At the hospital, everything blurred into motion
—wheelchairs, forms, nurses asking questions none of us knew how to answer properly. She didn't resist. She followed instructions like someone who'd learned long ago that survival sometimes meant obedience.
They gave her a private room. Clean sheets. Warm light. Silence
That's when she finally sat down.
Freya adjusted the pillow behind her back. "Drink slowly," she said, softer than I'd ever heard her.
The woman—Edrix's mother—nodded.
Only then did she look at him properly.
Edrix stood near the door at first, like he wasn't sure he was allowed to be closer. Like this could vanish if he moved too fast.
"Sit," Keifer said quietly.
Edrix obeyed.
No one spoke for a long minute.
The beeping of a monitor filled the space, steady and indifferent.
"I didn't plan to come like this," she said finally, voice low. "I wanted more time."
Rory leaned against the wall. "You don't owe us anything," he said. "Rest first."
She smiled faintly. "You sound like him."
Edrix flinched.
She noticed.
"I'm okay," she said after a moment. "Physically."
No one rushed her.
We waited.
She drank water. Took a breath. Then another.
Still, she didn't continue.
Her eyes kept drifting to Edrix and then away again, like she was afraid if she looked too long, she'd lose control.
Edrix finally stood up.
That's when the room changed.
"Mom," he said. His voice cracked on the word, like it had never been used before. "Please."
Not demanding.
Not angry.
Just… desperate.
"If you stop now," he continued, "I won't push. I swear. But if you're here—if you survived—then whatever happened matters. To me."
Silence pressed down on us.
She closed her eyes.
And then she nodded.
"I was a white-hat hacker," she said. "Government-employed. Cybercrime division."
Everyone straightened instinctively.
"Our department was tracking drug circulation," she continued. "Not just trafficking
—distribution patterns. How drugs were being mixed into daily-use items. Snacks. Supplements. Things teenagers wouldn't question."
Freya's fingers curled.
"We found the warehouse locations," she said. "Routes. Partners."
Her gaze lifted, sharp now.
"It wasn't national. It was international."
Rory spoke carefully. "Then why—"
"We were kidnapped," she cut in calmly. "Before we could pass the data to higher authorities."
My stomach dropped.
"The entire department," she said. "Taken. Forced to work for them."
Edrix's hands shook.
"Where?" he asked.
"Russia," she replied.
No one breathed.
"We were monitored constantly," she said. "If anyone tried to contact the outside world—anyone—they were killed."
Her eyes hardened.
"Publicly. Hung where the rest of us could see."
A chill went through me so sharp I had to clench my fists.
"Security was absolute," she continued. "No phones. No names. Just work."
Rory asked, voice low, "Did you ever think of escaping?"
She looked at him.
"Every day," she said. "And every day I chose to stay alive."
Then she turned—to Keifer.
"In that chain," she said quietly, "your father is also a partner."
The room went dead silent.
Keifer didn't move.
Didn't blink.
Just nodded once, like a man hearing a truth he'd already been preparing himself for.
"How did you get out?" I asked, my voice coming out thinner than I expected.
She exhaled slowly.
"Do you remember the blast?" she asked.
We all nodded.
"They moved us afterward," she said. "Locked inside sealed trucks. No windows. Just steel."
Her hands trembled slightly as she spoke now.
"There was firing outside. Screams. Then silence."
Edrix leaned forward without realizing it.
"Our truck opened," she said. "We thought it was the end."
She shook her head.
"But it wasn't."
Her voice lowered.
"There were people. In black suits. No badges. No explanations."
I felt my pulse in my ears.
"They rescued us," she said.
"Took us somewhere unknown. Safe. Fed us. Treated our injuries."
Freya whispered, "Government?"
"At first, we thought so," she said. "Later… we learned it wasn't."
My chest tightened.
"It was done by the same person who caused the blast," she said. "The one who disrupted the transport."
Edrix stared at her.
"For months," she continued, "we stayed there. Then slowly, they sent us back. One country at a time."
She looked tired now.
"I arrived yesterday."
A pause.
"They still offered security," she added. "But today… they told us to return to our lives."
Her lips pressed together.
"On my way home, the security with me was attacked. They told me to run."
Her voice faltered.
"I don't know what happened to them."
Edrix stood up abruptly and hugged her.
She stiffened for half a second—then broke.
She cried into his shoulder like the years had finally caught up.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
I realized then—
This wasn't just a reunion.
This was the beginning of something much bigger.
And much more dangerous.