CODENAME: I Swore I'd Hate You

Yeah I'm alive - A.C

"You always need a permission slip," Cho says, voice flat. "And a therapist, but one thing at a time." 

Naomi smirks. "Dibs on her Spotify if she dies."

"Seriously...that's morbid you know that right?," Jess mutters, tapping something on her wristband.

"Na...just more realistic," Naomi says.

Raven sighs. "Can we not discuss Calder's hypothetical death before I've had breakfast?"

I toss the towel at her. "See, she cares."

"Barely," she says, catching it. But she's smiling now—just a ghost of it.

We fall into our usual rhythm after that. Cho's stationed in the tech bay, Naomi's lounging on the mat pretending to stretch, and Jess is recalibrating a drone like she's diffusing a bomb.

Raven paces between us. "Alright, geniuses. Field report: the Norwick op's being reassigned to Tier Two. Calder, you're off active rotation until your next evaluation."

I pause mid-wrap. "What? Why?"

"Because you're sixteen," Raven says bluntly.

Naomi snickers. "She hates that number."

Raven shoots her a look. "Don't test me, Limes."

Cho glances up from her screen. "She's not wrong, though. Lils' trained for missions older recruits can't handle."

"Training isn't the same as living through it," Raven says. "You'll get your turn, Calder. But not if you burn out before then."

I hate that she's right. I hate it even more that she knows it.

I wipe my hands, jaw tight. "So what—just school and training tonight? I'm fine, Raven."

Her eyes soften a little. "You're good, kid. Scary good. But fine isn't the same as whole."

"Whole is overrated," I mutter. Because if I stop long enough to be "whole," I'll remember what broke me in the first place.

The room goes quiet. Naomi's gum pops again, breaking the silence.

Raven exhales. "You've got school in an hour. Go be a normal teenager. Eat breakfast, argue with your brothers, pretend you don't know twenty ways to kill a man."

Jess whistles. "Only twenty?"

"At least a hundred," I correct, deadpan.

Raven pinches the bridge of her nose. "Out. All of you. Before I start assigning hugs as punishment."

Naomi gasps. "You wouldn't."

Jess nods gravely. "You know she will."

Cho raises her mug. "I'd pay to see it."

I grab my duffel and sling it over my shoulder. "I'll see you guys later."

"Try to survive school," Naomi calls after me.

"No promises," I mutter.

Outside, the world feels... louder. The Agency is all order and edges—inside, I know who I am. Out here, I'm just Aurelia Calder. The sister. The quiet one. The good girl.

I slide into my car—a beat-up black sedan that rattles when it's cold—and catch my reflection in the rearview mirror. The face staring back looks tired, older than sixteen.

The girl who doesn't break. The one who dances on fire. 

Right...

I start the engine and drive.