After learning the truth about Mickey's past and the parting question he left her to reflect on—along with Roxxy revealing that it was Syd who recruited him into the organization—Seraphina Gilmore had been sitting completely still in her favorite seat for over five minutes.
She was trapped in a deep state of thought, silent, not saying a word to Roxxy Barrett who sat beside her.
A storm of emotions swirled within her—astonishment, sorrow, pity, compassion, pain, unease, intimidation, and a chilling sense of danger—all flooding in at once, too tangled to separate.
But one thing was certain: Mickey had never known what a safe zone felt like. Not even once. His life was so unbelievable it made Sera's chest tighten. He had a mother who never wanted him to be born. A father whose face he never even knew. And on top of that, he'd been raped countless times by depraved rich people—and even by his own mother.
It was a level of trauma and pain that not even Sera could begin to imagine enduring. If she had been in his place, would she have made it this far with her sanity intact?
When she thought back to the very first day she brought Mickey to her room... all the small things she remembered—the way he waited for her to finish her shower for hours, ate whatever she tossed his way without complaint, or even when she kicked him out to sleep on the hallway floor and he never said a word—every action pointed to one thing.
Mickey didn't care about any of it. Because he'd already lived through far worse.
Back when he was still a drifter… he had to sleep in sewer drains, in canals, in trash piles. He scavenged food from garbage, was beaten by cops, abused in every imaginable way. He'd known violence since the day he could walk.
Sera's lower eyelids began to tremble. She slowly lifted her hands and looked at them—and not long after, her fingers began to shake too.
"...The things I've done to him… how is that any different from those people?"
It was a rhetorical question, but the answer was obvious. Whenever she couldn't win an argument with Mickey, she'd lash out physically, using him as a punching bag to blow off steam.
"...Syd told me... When he first brought Mickey back, his body was unrecognizable. Three broken ribs... a torn rectum... damaged sperm ducts... peeled skin, bruises all over, internal bleeding... and even—"
"Enough! …I—I get it. I know what he's been through. I mean… you don't need to spell it out."
"...That's what I was trying to say, Sera. I'm not telling you to stop messing with him completely… just maybe ease up a bit..."
"...."
A crushing wave of guilt welled up inside Sera. Sure, Mickey could drive her crazy sometimes with his antics, but looking back… maybe her retaliation was over the top.
Thank God Sera's private jet was able to land safely at London Airport.
However, the weather outside was absolutely brutal.
The storm clouds that had been forming for the past five or six hours had finally arrived in full force, casting darkness across the sky and unleashing a torrential downpour.
Because of this, the airport had to link a direct tunnel from Sera's plane to the terminal so they could step right into the building without stepping foot in the storm.
Even inside the building, the sound of rain and wind still seeped through, making the agents visibly uneasy.
"Ugh… damn it, a storm?"
Syd and Sally leaned against the glass wall, peering out at the chaos outside as ground staff scrambled against the howling winds.
They could even smell the dampness creeping in from outside… and the contrast between the indoor air conditioning and the stormy weather only made it feel colder.
"We're grounded for sure. Gotta wait till the storm dies down."
Toshi walked up beside them and leaned against the window.
Syd: "How long we gotta wait? If we sit here too long, the enemy'll catch up. By now they've—no, they definitely know what went down in Paris."
"I think they're already here with us,"
Mickey said as he joined them at the window.
Toshi: "You think so?"
"Yeah… We've still got a long road ahead, and as long as we don't switch planes, they'll ambush us for sure."
Sera rolled up with her suitcase—packed by Mickey—rushing over to Roxxy, who was checking her phone nearby.
"Hey… is your team's plane parked here too?"
"Yeah, they're prepping for takeoff right now."
Roxxy turned her phone to show Sera the meteorological reports.
"But we'll have to wait till the storm calms down before we can fly…"
The screen displayed a weather alert: a severe storm currently active. Trying to take off now would basically be a death wish.
"You guys can't just… I dunno… tell your organization to stop the rain?"
"…Huh?"
Roxxy squinted at her.
"Isn't Thrak supposed to control the world or whatever? Why can't you control the weather?"
"..."
"..."
"How many joints have you smoked today?"
"Come on."
"Thrak's still made of people, y'know. We've got stuff we can't control too."
"What, your organization doesn't have like, y'know, one of those machines that shoots stuff into the sky and makes the rain go away?"
Just then, Sera heard Syd's voice from the other end of the window.
"You're delusional. Lay off the drugs."
"💢"
She turned, ready to throw her bag at him, but stopped when she caught eyes with Mickey Mannix standing right next to Syd, quietly watching her.
And just like that, the urge to slap someone vanished.
The British girl turned back to Roxxy and continued.
"So we're stuck in here till the storm clears up."
"Yup."
At the glass wall, Syd pulled out a zip tie and cuffed his hand to Sally's, sighing.
"Sigh… Tight enough?"
Sally nodded and gave the tie a little tug.
"Put your sunglasses on properly."
Syd adjusted her round sunglasses and beanie, which together disguised her face so well she now looked like a tiny British rapper.
Then the whole group wandered into the airport's retail section, stopping near a large LED wall displaying advertisements.
Ten minutes later…
"…When's this storm gonna end, man…"
Syd sat crouched. Sally crouched beside him.
Suddenly, Jody walked up and stood next to him.
"…Never heard the saying? England's the only place where you can get all four seasons in a day."
"I've heard it. The weather here's nuts. But I'm pretty sure storms don't count as a season."
"But they're still part of the weather."
"…Ah… okay, fine."
Syd stood up, meeting Jody's eye level.
"You control air, right? C'mon, just do your thing. Boom—one flick and the skies are clear."
"You want me to die of dehydration on the spot?"
"Like—one puff and you turn into Groot? Just dry out and crumble?"
"You really wanna see that? I'll do it."
"Nope. I'm not dragging your corpse to the ER. Let's go sit somewhere while we wait. My legs are killing me."
"Where do you suggest?"
Just then, Sally tugged at the zip tie.
Syd and Jody paused and looked down at the girl.
"Boss."
"What is it?"
"…I'm hungry…"
"…"
"Didn't you just eat on the plane?"
"…"
Sally looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes.
It didn't work. This kind of thing didn't faze Syd one bit.
"Not a chance, you little gremlin."
But then Sally's stomach let out a loud growl.
"…"
"Oh, great."
Syd raised his hand to smack her, but Jody caught it mid-air.
"How about we check out a bakery nearby?"
Jody offered.
"I've got a regular spot here."
"…"
Syd glanced between her and the kid.
"…Fine! But make it quick."
"Yay~!"
Syd and Sally walked off hand in hand, with Jody leading the way.
"Where you going?"
Toshi called out after them. Syd turned back to answer.
"Kid's hungry. Gonna go feed her. Be right back."
And with that, they walked off…
Unaware that a new wave of enemies had already set up an ambush nearby.