The room remained silent.
Nobody moved.
Nobody even breathed properly.
The file sat in the center of the table.
After days of dead ends.
Days of searching.
Days of absolutely nothing.
This folder suddenly felt heavier than anything else in the room.
Keifer reached for it first.
His fingers tightened around the cover.
Then he opened it.
The first page appeared.
A photograph.
Everybody leaned closer.
A busy street.
New York.
The image had clearly been taken from a distance.
At first glance it seemed useless.
Then Angelo froze.
"Wait."
Keifer immediately looked again.
This time more carefully.
A familiar figure stood near the corner of the photograph.
A woman.
Long dark hair.
Black clothes.
Arms crossed.
Watching traffic.
Cora.
The room instantly came alive.
"That's Cora."
"It is."
"No doubt."
Another page.
Another photograph.
Different location.
Different day.
This time Luna appeared.
Walking out of a building carrying several bags.
Aries immediately pointed.
"Luna."
Keifer's pulse began rising.
Another page.
Alex.
Another.
Deniel.
The room fell completely silent.
Because everyone had reached the same conclusion.
If Luna was there.
If Alex was there.
If Deniel and Cora were there.
Then—
Jay was there too.
Keifer immediately turned the page.
The next photograph appeared.
And suddenly the room became still.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
It was blurry.
Taken from far away.
The quality wasn't good.
The person's face wasn't visible.
Only a side profile.
A black hoodie.
Dark hair.
A smaller figure walking beside Cora.
But Keifer's heart stopped instantly.
"That's her."
Percy looked at the image.
Then back at him.
"You can't even see her face."
"It's her."
His answer came without hesitation.
Without doubt.
Without uncertainty.
Because after everything—
he would recognize Jay anywhere.
The way she walked.
The way she held herself.
The slight lean she had whenever she was tired.
It was her.
It had to be.
For the first time in days—
hope appeared inside the room.
Real hope.
Not guesses.
Not theories.
Proof.
Jay was alive.
Keifer quickly turned another page.
Then another.
The further he read—
the more his expression changed.
Percy noticed first.
"What is it?"
Keifer didn't answer immediately.
His eyes remained fixed on the report.
Medical records.
Not official.
Not complete.
Just information gathered through contacts.
But enough.
Enough to make his stomach drop.
Recent treatment.
Female.
Age matched.
Timeline matched.
Description matched.
Injuries consistent with reopened stitches.
The room instantly became serious again.
Angelo grabbed the page.
His expression darkened.
"She reopened them."
Nobody looked surprised.
Because that sounded exactly like Jay.
Ignoring pain.
Ignoring recovery.
Ignoring herself.
Keifer stared at the report.
The words blurring together.
She was injured.
Still injured.
And she had been handling it alone.
A painful silence filled the office.
Then Percy quietly slid over another report.
A recent observation.
Only a few hours old.
Keifer looked down.
And froze.
The image showed part of the base compound.
Near one of the quieter sections.
A girl sat alone on a concrete step.
Head lowered.
Phone resting loosely in her hands.
Face partially hidden beneath her hair.
Yet once again—
he knew immediately.
Jay.
His chest tightened.
Because even through a photograph—
she looked exhausted.
Tired.
Smaller somehow.
Like she had been carrying everything by herself for far too long.
There was something in the way she sat.
Something empty.
Like the fight had finally caught up to her when nobody was looking.
Nobody said anything.
They didn't need to.
Because everyone could see the same thing.
She wasn't okay.
She was alive.
But she wasn't okay.
Keifer stared at the photograph for several seconds.
Then carefully picked it up.
Holding it tighter than he should have.
Like it might disappear.
Like it was the closest thing he had to her.
His throat tightened.
Because for the first time since she left—
he could see how much she had been hurting.
And he hadn't been there.
Finally—
he looked up.
His eyes sharper than they had been in days.
More determined.
More alive.
"Get me everything."
The room went silent.
"Everything on New York."
Nobody argued.
Nobody questioned it.
Because for the first time since Jay left—
they finally had a direction.
And Keifer wasn't about to lose it.