SIMON P.O.V
The terminal lights buzzed above them, casting long shadows over the glass floor.Simon adjusted the fake passport in his pocket, trying to steady his breathing.Disguise or not, airports always made his nerves itch.Too many cameras.Too many eyes.
Beside him,Lisa wore huge glasses.She moved like a predator forced into a cage-her steps controlled,but her eyes restless.Darian and Carman flanked her,both calm on the surface but wired tight underneath.They were kids playing adults,and Lisa wondered if she was dragging them so far into hell.
The terminal hummed with voices and rolling suitcases.Their disguises held so far-lisa in a dark wig and glasses, Darian and Carman dresses like tourists, Simon in a bland suit that screamed businessman.
But the tension in Simon's gut only grew.He excused himself near the gates, ducking into the restroom,he froze, standing next to the door,sleeves rolled up,typing on a tablet balanced against the marble walls.The same sharp eyes,the same thin smirk, Simon's old rival.Not a fighter,but a brain that could bend wires and codes until they snapped.
"Kira."Simon's voice was flat.
The girl didn't look up."you always did arrive just before the storm."She tapped her screen one last time, then finally met Simon's gaze."Funny, isn't it?The FBI drops you,and here you are.....still chasing ghosts.or maybe running with them."
Simon's pulse quickened,if kira was here,this wasn't coincidence.It was a net tightening.
"Stay out of my way."Simon muttered, stepping closer.
But kira only smiled,cold and certain as she walked away, disappearing into the crowd.
Simon returned to the group,the tension in his gut doubled after meeting kira,he wondered what she was up to,he kept looking around and fidgeting.It was time for check in and they moved fast.
They reached the first checkpoint.Simon slipped his forged papers to the guard,heart hammering in his ribs.For one moment,it looked clean.For one moment ,it looked like they might make it.
Then he saw them.Dark suites.Earpieces.A cluster of agents moving fast through the crowd.
"FBI,"Simon hissed under his breath."They're here.Kira that bitch."
Lisa's head snapped up."Who the hell is kira?"She asked but Simon couldn't give an answer...."Answer me"Lisa hit his shoulder.
"I'm sorry."Simon said with a low voice,face down,he couldn't meet Lisa's face,he knew it was his fault.
The panic in her eyes lasted only a second before it hardend into fire.She turned sharply to the twins."Go.Both of you.Get on that plane.Don't wait for me.Don't wait for him either,"she added, jerking her chin at Jasper."Set everything up in Afghanistan.i'll meet you there."
Darian started to protest,but she cut him off with a glare.Carman pulled him back, whispering something Simon couldn't catch,and then-just like that-the twins melted into the crowd,swallowed by the tide of travellers.
The agents closed in,Lisa didn't run.She didn't even lift her fists.When they clamped the cuffs on her,she stood tall,her glasses falling off,her face revealed.
For a second Simon caught the look in her eyes-he saw it clear as daylight.She thought he had betrayed her.
Mira glared at Simon,her lips pressing into a single,bitter line.That look burned deeper than any wound.To her,he was no ally.Just the guy who handed her to the wolves...
DARIAN P.O.V
The low rumble of the engines filled the cabin, steady and endless,but it didn't quiet the storm in Darian's head.He sat rigid in his seat,arms pressed tight across his chest, eyes shifting from the aisle to the back of the plane and back again.Too many faces.Too many unknowns.
Beside him, Carman hadn't said much since takeoff.His shoulders were tense,eyes locked on the window,his reflection staring back cold and unblinking.Finally, Carman broke the silence.
"She should've known Simon would sell her out."
Darian's jaw tightened.He had expected the words ,but hearing them still stung.He turned slowly to face his twin."You don't know that.The FBI conered him.They don't exactly play fair."
Carman gave a sharp scoff."Play fair? Darian,he worked for them.He's one of them.Maybe he never stopped being one of them."
The words dug deep,and for a moment Darian felt the same doubt echoing inside him.He remembered Simon's awkwardness,his nervous smile,his hands shook when he wasn't behind a computer screen.Not a fighter,not a soldier -just a boy who knew how to break into systems.Could someone like that really have betrayed Lisa?
Darian leaned closer, lowering his voice."Listen...Lisa doesn't let people in.Not ever.But she trusted Simon.That has to mean something.He's not a traitor, Carman.Not to her."
Carman's eyes narrowed."Trust gets people killed."
The silence that followed was heavier than the engine's roar.Darian shifted in his seat, staring at his hands.He remembered Lisa's face at the airport before everything went wrong -her stubborn fire,her refusal to quit,even when it meant standing against the world alone.She didn't care about saving anyone else,not really.She just wanted her mother.And Darian couldn't blame her for that.
Carman's voice came again,quieter this time."What if she doesn't make it out alive?"
Darian's chest tightened.He forced himself to answer."Then we don't let Ricardo win.We'll find ground in Afghanistan-contacts, weapons, hideouts.If Lisa makes it to us, we'll be ready.And if she doesn't....."His voice dropped,be he didn't look away.".....then we finish this for her."
His twin didn't argue,but the tension between them stayed,thick as smoke.
Darian leaned back, staring at the ceiling of the plane.His gut twisted with doubt,but he buried it.He had to believe Lisa would survive.He had to believe Simon hadn't betrayed her.
Because if both of those hopes died...then there was no point in even landing.