Maya Rios didn't like hospitals.
Not because of blood.
Not because of pain.
Both were familiar companions.
But because hospitals meant stillness, and stillness meant she had to sit alone with her thoughts — something she had spent most of her life avoiding with military precision.
She sat on the metal examination table, flexing her bruised wrist for the third time. The Helix soldier's grip had been powerful… almost inhuman. The ache ran deep, bone-deep, enough to remind her that every battle had a cost, even the ones she won.
And then there was him.
Jack Williams.
The rookie who'd shot his first enemy with terror in his eyes and saved her life with the same breath.
She hated how that moment kept replaying.
Not because he killed someone.
Not because she'd been in danger.
But because of the look he'd given her after — like she mattered.
Maya sighed and pressed her fingers to her temples.
"Get it together," she muttered to herself.
Feelings were a liability. A weakness. She'd sworn never to let them interfere again after losing her first partner — the person who had mattered more to her than duty, more than the mission. She still heard his last words sometimes, choked between blood and urgency:
"Maya… don't follow me down."
So she never did again.
But Jack Williams…
He was different.
Not because he was brave.
Not because he was smart.
But because he was dangerously, unsettlingly human.
And Helix wanted him.
That was the part she couldn't ignore.
The door slid open. Rafael entered, arms crossed, his expression somewhere between irritation and worry.
"You good?" he asked.
"I'm fine."
A lie. But believable.
Rafael didn't push. They'd learned each other's tells years ago. Maya didn't show pain unless she wanted someone to underestimate her — and Rafael never underestimated his sister.
"You shouldn't have stepped in front of that blade," he said.
"I wasn't going to let him kill Jack."
Rafael raised an eyebrow. "Rookie already on your priority list?"
Maya rolled her eyes. "It's not like that."
"Oh?" Rafael leaned against the wall. "Because from where I was standing, you moved faster for him than you do for most agents."
"I move fast for any teammate."
"Not that fast."
Maya clenched her jaw.
Rafael always saw too much.
"What did Ward say?" Maya asked, changing the subject.
Rafael's expression hardened. "You're not going to like it."
The Briefing Room
Director Olivia Ward paced in front of the holographic display, fingers interlaced behind her back. She hardly blinked. The data streams reflected in her sharp, calculating eyes.
"Three minutes," she said without looking up. "That's how long it took Helix to breach our perimeter and target Williams."
Maya frowned. "They came specifically for him."
Ward nodded slowly. "Yes."
"Why?" Maya asked.
Ward hesitated — very unlike her.
"Maya," she said softly, "what I'm about to tell you is classified beyond field level. Not even Rafael has access."
Rafael straightened.
Maya's pulse quickened.
Ward turned the hologram to a medical file.
A child.
Dark-haired.
Thin.
Eyes closed.
SUBJECT: ALPHA-01
PROJECT: HELIX — BLOODLINE INITIATIVE
STATUS: UNRECOVERED
The breath left Maya's lungs.
"What is this?"
Ward met her gaze.
"Jack Williams was not born Jack Williams."
Maya felt the world tilt.
"That's not possible. His records—"
"Were fabricated," Ward said. "By me."
She stepped closer.
"Jack's real name is classified, but Helix called him Alpha. He was part of a test group — infants selected for enhancement trials. His parents fled before Helix completed the experiment."
Maya's stomach twisted.
"You mean—he's enhanced?"
"Not fully," Ward said. "But he carries dormant traits Helix wants to awaken."
Maya swallowed hard.
Because suddenly everything made sense — Jack's pattern recognition, his unnatural reflex adaptation in the alley, the way Helix had prioritized him over senior agents.
"He doesn't know, does he?" Maya asked quietly.
Ward shook her head. "And he can't. Not yet."
Rafael stepped forward. "So what's the plan?"
Ward locked eyes with Maya.
"Protect him. Train him. Keep him alive."
Maya opened her mouth, then closed it again.
Her chest felt tight — not with fear for herself, but with something she despised:
Fear for Jack.
Ward's voice softened — only slightly.
"Maya, I assigned you to him for a reason."
"Why me?" Maya asked.
Ward's answer hit like a blade drawn clean:
"Because Jack trusts you already. And because you're the only one he'll listen to when his world starts to crumble."
Maya froze.
She didn't want that responsibility.
She didn't want anyone's trust.
She didn't want to feel anything she couldn't afford.
But she also knew something else:
She wouldn't let Helix take him.
Rafael stepped close, lowering his voice.
"Are you sure you're the right one for this? You know what happened last time—"
"Yes," Maya snapped.
Rafael sighed. "Maya—"
"I won't fail him," she said sharply. "Like I failed—"
She stopped.
Ward understood. "This isn't about the past, Maya. This is about the future Helix wants."
The hologram shifted again — this time to an image that made Maya's blood turn to ice.
The man she had fought earlier.
Only not as a man — but as a specimen.
ENHANCED SOLDIER TYPE: R-09
OPERATIONAL HOST: ROURKE
"Rourke," Ward said, voice low. "One of Mercer's top commanders."
Maya gripped the edge of the table.
"Mercer… he's here?"
"No," Ward said. "But he's watching."
Maya didn't scare easily. But Mercer was different.
A predator in human skin.
She took a deep breath.
"What do we tell Jack?"
For the first time all morning, Ward looked tired.
"The truth," she said. "In small pieces."
Rafael nodded.
"And what's his next step?"
Ward turned off the projector.
"Training," she said. "Then a mission. Helix will strike again soon."
Then she looked at Maya — and something in her expression shifted, softened.
"Stay close to him."
Maya didn't answer.
Because she already knew she would.
Later — Observation Deck
Jack sat alone on the observation railing overlooking Astra's lower training center. Lights danced across the floor as drones reset themselves, the air vibrating with mechanical hums.
He still looked shaken.
He still looked pale.
He still looked like someone who hadn't processed the weight of a life he didn't know he had.
Maya approached silently, stopping beside him.
He didn't look up.
"You okay?" he asked quietly.
She allowed herself a small exhale.
"Doesn't matter if I am."
Jack glanced at her then, eyebrows knitting. "It matters to me."
Maya froze for a fraction of a second.
Too raw.
Too open.
Too unexpected.
She sat beside him, folding her hands in her lap.
"You did everything right today," she said.
Jack didn't speak. His eyes stayed fixed on the training drones resetting below.
"I killed someone," he whispered.
"You saved someone," Maya corrected. "There's a difference."
Jack's fingers clenched on the railing.
"I'm not built for this."
"Yes, you are," she said before she could stop herself.
Jack turned, meeting her eyes.
Maya looked away first.
He studied her quietly. "Why do I get the feeling you know more than you're saying?"
Maya's heartbeat stuttered.
Because she did.
Because telling him now would break him.
Because she was afraid of what would happen when he found out.
Instead, she said:
"Because I'll tell you when you're ready."
Jack didn't like the answer.
But he didn't push further.
Maya stood. "Come on. Rafael wants us in the range in ten."
Jack rose slowly. "Another test?"
Maya's lips curved — not a smile, but a challenge.
"No, Jack. A beginning."