The base glowed in the night, a structure of shadows and noise lit under harsh floodlights. From a distance, it looked like a ship anchored in still water — silent to the world, but loud to those inside. Daniel walked toward it, his hands tucked in his jacket pockets, his pace calm. Behind him, eight of them moved — Ethan, Ryan, Logan, Julian, Zach, Owen, Adrian, and Rowan — a formation that had slowly become a constant.
They hadn't shown up for weeks. Not since the exam preparation had started. And not since Dane. That one encounter—that sharp, deliberate moment—had been the only glimpse of him. He hadn't surfaced after. No follow-up. No trace. No reason to believe he ever would. James hadn't brought him up either. It was easy, in the quiet that followed, to believe Dane had simply been a passing chapter.
Until this morning.
James had called. Short message. "Be there tonight. Bring your group."
It wasn't the usual Friday meeting — the ones where only crew leaders showed up, where Daniel and his friends had quietly built passing connections. Tonight, everyone was here. Every crew. Every corner. This wasn't their kind of meeting. In fact, James had specifically told them not to attend the monthly gatherings where everyone showed. But now… here they were.
Daniel didn't ask questions. He just walked.
He wasn't tense. Not anymore. Not like the first time. His footsteps were slow, almost deliberate, like the stillness before rainfall. He wasn't afraid of the people waiting inside. After all, over the weeks, he'd looked into the eyes of every crew leader. Talked. Listened. Fought — once. That was enough. Respect had been built where resistance used to be.
Still, this place wasn't theirs. The others had uniforms. Colours. Crews. Daniel and his friends walked in wearing casual hoodies and street shoes. They were the only ones here who didn't belong, and yet… the room didn't reject them.
Well — not outright.
Behind him, Rowan walked a little slower than the rest. Not because he was nervous. Just… quieter. His eyes scanned the tall ceiling, the chatter bouncing off the old concrete walls. This structure — this atmosphere — it wasn't foreign to him. Just… distant. Like a life seen through glass. He didn't flinch at the noise or the weight of the crowd. If anything, his silence felt heavier than the rest of them combined.
There was history buried in him. And somewhere in this building was a piece of it.
They stepped inside.
A few heads turned.
Recognition flickered in a few eyes — mostly from the leaders. But when they saw it wasn't James entering, attention drifted back to half-finished conversations and background music playing from someone's speaker.
Still, Daniel could feel it. The occasional glances. The way voices dipped just a notch when they passed by. There was a reason James never invited them to this particular Friday. Something about tonight always felt different.
They found a corner near the entrance and quietly settled there. No need to walk across the entire base like out-of-place guests.
The sun had already slipped out of the sky during their walk here. The last orange smears had turned into full dark by now. The buzz inside the base was loud — crews scattered in groups, talking, laughing, arguing.
Julian stood with arms crossed, clearly uncomfortable. Logan smirked at his stance.
"You scared?" Logan asked, raising an eyebrow.
Julian's reply came fast and flat. "No."
Owen swung an arm around Julian's shoulder, leaning in. "Mate, when I'm here, what's there to worry about?"
Julian rolled his eyes but didn't move Owen's hand.
Near them, Daniel stood with Ethan, Ryan, and Rowan. He spoke in short sentences, leaning his hand toward his mouth each time like he didn't want the sound to carry. Rowan didn't speak much — just nodded occasionally. His eyes weren't on the group. They were across the room, scanning faces he didn't seem to recognize.
But he was looking for someone.
The energy in the room changed.
It wasn't sudden. Just… slow enough to notice.
Voices dropped. Music stopped.
A silent ripple ran through the base, like wind brushing tall grass. Daniel's group turned almost at once, expecting to see James.
It wasn't him.
It was one of his subordinates.
The man walked in with the kind of stillness that cut through a room without needing to say a word. Eyes followed him. Conversations paused. And no one — not a single crew — dared to speak until he passed them.
Daniel's brow twitched.
Even his subordinates could silence a base like this?
The man kept walking. Straight. Toward them.
Ryan and Zach stepped behind Daniel in instinct, a quiet formation. Ethan didn't move — he just tensed. The group wasn't scared, but they understood what this meant.
The man stopped in front of Daniel. His voice was even. Neutral. Almost bored.
"James has been waiting for you. He's outside, in the car. He wants you to come with him."
A pause. Then:
"It'll be a long drive. Your friends stay here."
Daniel took his time. He opened his mouth, about to speak —
but the man cut in, his tone unchanged.
"It's not a request. Just take it as a command. He's been waiting long enough."
The irritation flicked across Daniel's face — fast, controlled. He hadn't planned to argue. But something about the guy's delivery ticked at him. Still, he didn't let it linger.
"I'll go," he said.
Ethan spoke up behind him. "I'll go with him."
Daniel turned before the man could reply.
"No. Stay here," he said, calm but clear. "If there's anyone I trust after you guys, it's James. If he's calling me, there's a reason."
He looked across the group.
"Just don't piss anyone off and start a fight like you always do."
Ethan nodded reluctantly. The rest of them stayed quiet. But when Daniel stepped forward, the entire base shifted again — eyes locking onto him like heat. Daniel felt it this time. Not fear — just attention. He lowered his gaze slightly, letting the weight of those stares slide past him like rain on glass.
He glanced back once — eyes moving across his group, then landing on Rowan.
Their eyes met. No words. Just the silent message between two people who understood what wasn't being said.
Look after them.
Rowan didn't nod. He just blinked slowly — the kind of blink that meant "I hear you."
Maybe there was something in his eyes. Something like… disappointment. That this wasn't the moment he'd finally see James.
Daniel didn't linger. He turned and followed the man through the now-silent base.
The night outside felt colder than it should have.
Daniel followed the man silently, his footsteps crunching against the gravel beneath. The base door swung behind them without a sound. And ahead — lined like sentinels under the lights — were a row of black cars.
Engines off. Headlights on. Waiting.
Each car looked the same, but Daniel's eyes went straight to the one where James stood — hands in his pockets, head tilted slightly upward, staring at nothing in particular. He wore black, like always — shirt, pants, boots, everything about him sharp-edged and clean, like a man who didn't let the world touch him unless he chose it.
He didn't nod when Daniel approached. Just said, as if continuing a thought that had been playing in his head long before Daniel arrived:
"It's Dane."
Daniel's steps froze for half a second. Not because he was shocked. But because it confirmed what had been hovering in the back of his mind the entire walk.
James turned to face him fully now. The lights behind him made it hard to read his face, but the voice was calm. Firm.
"We need to go. Get in."
Daniel didn't ask questions. He walked around and slid into the passenger seat.
James moved to the driver's side. The moment the doors shut, the silence inside became a different kind of loud — the kind that hummed with the sound of the road waiting to happen.
The car pulled out. One by one, the others followed behind — but James's was the lead.
The city blurred past them — empty storefronts, flickering signals, old lamp posts leaning with the wind. For a while, James didn't speak.
Daniel didn't either.
His arm rested against the window frame, fingers loosely curled. The wind from the half-open window rushed in, brushing through his hair, tugging at his hoodie. His face tilted to the side, watching the world fall behind.
Then James spoke — eyes never leaving the road.
"He called."
No name needed. Daniel knew.
"Said he wanted to meet you again."
A pause.
"Said he wants you to come to his place. That's all I got."
Daniel didn't move. "What's this about?"
"I don't know," James said. "But it's Dane."
That name didn't scare Daniel anymore. But it still carried a weight — not of fear, but of unpredictability. Dane was a ripple in still water. Always calm, but impossible to measure. That one encounter had been enough to know that.
James continued.
"I thought this ended when I didn't hear anything about him again. Thought that was the last of it. Guess not."
Daniel finally turned his face toward James. "So why bring me?"
"Because if there's something he wants… I'd rather hear it now than later. I'm not letting him circle you again. I already broke my own word once."
The car moved faster now, wheels humming as they crossed out of city limits. The buildings faded behind them. The street opened wide — flanked by trees, fences, and nothing else.
Daniel looked at the sky above the treeline. No stars. Just clouds shifting slowly.
The car moved through the dark, and the wind from the window filled the space between them again. Daniel leaned his head slightly back, closing his eyes for a moment — not from fatigue, but to let the world slow down.
And somewhere inside that stillness, he thought about his friends back at the base.
Rowan.
That silent nod they shared.
James didn't look his way, but somehow — as if reading the room without reading the face — he spoke again.
"They'll be fine."
"I know," Daniel said.
He opened his eyes.
But something inside him whispered — for how long?