I stared at the ceiling without blinking. I was in bed, trying to fall asleep, but how could I after such a night? It was five in the morning, and I was still alone at the base. It was so quiet... Too quiet... My omega and I both listened very carefully to the sounds in the building, tensing up every time we heard even the tiniest of sounds. It was mostly the cars outside the building or the fridges in our closets that made noise, but I couldn't relax. I had to keep fighting myself so I wouldn't go check the doors and windows again.
Fuck's sake... I was afraid of the alphas close to me, and the loneliness when they were gone... Never good enough, huh...?
But finally, a couple of cars parked just outside our headquarters, and when I jumped out of the bed to peer outside, I saw two trucks and people getting out of them by the street. I assumed they were my teammates. They were still in their full tactical gear, their faces hidden behind masks, and standing so far away I couldn't really tell who was who. Some of them were heading to the door, so I quickly tiptoed my way out of the room and closer to the stairs.
I stopped behind the corner to listen as the main entrance opened without an issue. A second later, I heard quiet words and recognized all the voices, so both my omega and I were finally able to relax.
I stepped out of the shadows and leaned against the railing to greet the guys who were climbing up the stairs. The first one who spotted me stopped to stare at me.
"You."
Captain pulled his mask off and gave me a stern glare as he marched the rest of the way up.
"Why are you still up?" he asked with a furious frown.
I had only one way to save myself.
"I... couldn't sleep," I said, keeping my voice small. "I tried to, but it was too quiet... My omega couldn't relax at all..."
Captain's stare softened. "I'm sorry we left you all alone," he muttered, carefully touching my arm. "But we're home. You can rest now."
"I can try, but... So much happened last night, and I'm still very confused about everything, so I don't know if I can sleep... If I could stay up and listen for a bit..."
He leaned closer to me, crossing arms over his chest. "Is that so...?"
"Yes. I'd definitely sleep better if I got some answers," I said.
"Uh-huh," he uttered slowly, then squinted his eyes at me. "Nice try. You're going to bed. Now."
I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "But I want to know what happened!"
"Stubborn, stubborn little omega..." Captain muttered, grabbing me by my arm. "Reid? Make sure he goes straight to bed."
"Yes, sir," my partner said, and reached toward me like he was grabbing me, but stopped to wait for my permission.
I rolled my eyes again. "Fine..."
"That's a good boy," Captain said. "We'll talk tomorrow morning."
"Can you at least tell me, did you find the real terrorist group?" I asked, while Reid took a hold of my arm.
"Negative," Captain said with a sigh. "But the search isn't over yet."
"And the alpha kid? Is he all right with the mafia?" I asked.
"Michael will do the right thing. The kid will show up at a hospital soon," Captain said.
"And what if he doesn't?" I asked.
"We know where to look for him. But now you will go to bed," Captain said.
"Come on," Reid said, yanking my arm.
"Fine..." I muttered, and let him lead me to our room.
I peered at him, and I had to say... Reid was a big, strong alpha, and an intimidating one at that, but this guy? The notorious Gambit in his full tactical gear that made him look even bigger and stronger? And taller, for some reason?
He noticed me looking, so he turned to me, his sharp, gleaming eyes meeting mine. I could almost feel his body radiating power and the rest of his adrenalin.
Fuck, I felt insignificant...
"All good?" he asked as we stopped behind our door.
"All good," I breathed out, but he lowered his head.
"You sure?" he murmured.
His hand was like hot iron on my arm, and I felt even smaller as he towered over me. I could feel his alpha's presence as they both studied us. My omega was timid, but not too scared. It was growing to like this alpha...
"I'm sure," I said. "I guess I got tired, after all..."
"It's been one hell of a night, huh...?" he asked while opening the door. "You really should sleep."
"Unless you want to tell me what happened?" I asked with a smirk.
"Nice try," he said, chuckling. "Captain ordered me to make sure you'll go to bed."
"And I will," I said and went to sit down on my bed. "See? I'm in my bed now."
He took a few steps closer to me. "You're supposed to sleep."
"No, no, no. No one said anything about sleep. I just need to be in bed," I said, trying not to smirk too widely.
Reid laughed and shook his head. "You stubborn little thing... Fine. I'll go take a quick shower, and if you're still up by the time I come back, I'll tell you what you want to know."
I gave him a smug smile and watched him leave the room, barely fitting through the doorway in his gear. Once he'd entered the showers, I lay down and made myself comfortable. I felt mischievously good about myself.
Too bad I actually fell asleep while waiting for Reid to come back.
*****
I woke up late in the morning, feeling groggy and still very tired. I guess I wasn't the only one. Reid was still in bed as well, but I couldn't tell if he was asleep. I listened carefully, but he wasn't making any sounds. While I was at it, my omega woke up and tried to figure out why I was paying so much attention to the alpha. It couldn't spot anything unusual, so it drifted back to sleep.
It was a weird feeling, really... That my omega was comfortable enough to sleep with an alpha in the same room. I couldn't remember if it had ever been calm enough to sleep, or let me sleep. Back in the old unit, it would constantly wake me up if someone moved in the room, and I'd shared it with nine other guys. It had been pure torture...
But last night, we couldn't calm down until the alphas had returned, and we'd peacefully slept through the night knowing they were close by... We didn't wake up even when Reid had returned from the shower. I couldn't really wrap my head around how easily my omega had decided to trust them. It had been only a week, after all... But it always trusted its instincts, and I trusted it.
And I so desperately wanted to trust these guys, this team. Foolish, maybe, but I needed it.
"Morning."
I froze for a brief second, and watched as Reid moved under his covers, stretching his body. So he'd been awake.
"Morning," I replied, sitting up. "What time is it?"
"Like... eleven?" he replied.
I stopped to listen to the sounds in the building, but couldn't tell if someone else was awake as well.
"Is everyone sleeping in?" I asked.
"Pretty much. We were told to head back home. Lonnie Hill is still our primary mission," Reid explained.
"So... What happened?" I asked him.
"That's a very broad question," he noted.
I took a deep breath, trying to organize my thoughts. "Okay, uh... Why did Captain order a full mobilization? That's a very expensive thing to do."
Reid pushed himself up as well and leaned against the wall to watch me. "It's because what Lonnie Hill did made no sense. Not after they avoided us so perfectly."
I nodded slowly. "But why would they do that? They must've known they'll get caught. They must've understood they could get themselves killed. They were showing off their emblems in a very crowded place."
"Don't underestimate how fanatic some of the True Order supporters can be," Reid said. "It is possible it was a suicide mission for the greater good."
I leaned back against the wall as well. "I don't think I'll ever understand what's going on in their heads... Why do they keep fighting...? Why are alphas still joining them...? They are fighting against their very own spirits. You'd think they'd understand something is wrong when their alphas choose to go into the darkness and never return."
It was so common for terrorists to lose their alpha spirits because they couldn't stand the pain the human spirits were causing omegas... And they still thought True Order was right?
"How can they live without their second spirit and act like it's fine?" I asked quietly.
"I'll never understand that either," Reid agreed. "It's... I mean, my alpha gets worried if you even have nightmares, and it won't leave me alone if I won't check up on you. I will never understand how they can go against their true nature."
I stopped to stare at him with a small smile on my face. "You... check up on me if I have nightmares?"
He wrinkled his nose at me and turned to look away. "It's just because my alpha won't calm down if I don't..."
"Ah, right," I said, chuckling a little. "That's still kind of you."
"Anyway. You have more questions, right?" he asked, still not quite looking at me.
"What did you find at the nightclub?"
"Nothing more than what you already saw," he said with a shrug. "They might've found something after we left, though, so you'll have to ask Captain."
"Okay, and what about..." I said, jumped out of my bed to walk to his desk, where he'd left his backpack last night. He didn't stop me when I opened the largest pocket. I quickly found what I was looking for. "This?"
I pulled the whiskey glass from the bag and showed it to him. He smirked at it.
"I have no idea how that glass ended up in my bag.
"Uh-huh," I said, chuckling. "So it is true? We're hiding evidence linked to the mafia?"
"Of course we don't. Never have, never will," he said, still grinning.
"Right... Right... So this doesn't have anything to do with the mafia?"
He chuckled a little, then shook his head in amusement. "I mean, we can't be sure, but Michael Mercer is known for his love of whiskey," he finally admitted, then sighed. "He is a criminal. He does what criminals do, and trust me when I say we're not always happy letting him get off easily, especially since he's messing with drugs and guns, but... True Order is much worse. And he hates them just as much as we do."
"Yeah, I get it," I said, staring at the glass. It was full of fingerprints, mine included.
"The mafia used to be way worse. Prostitution, murders, robbing banks and people, even kidnappings, but after Eleven Flags, and when Mercer became the leader, they've cleaned up their act," he said.
"So I've heard," I said with a nod.
Reid watched me for a moment, then leaned closer. "Do you know his story? Mercer's?"
"Pieces of it," I said.
"You know he wasn't a leader when Eleven Flags happened?" he asked, and I nodded.
"He killed his old leader after that, right? And took control of the mafia," I said.
"Yeah. He was a very popular guy in the mafia when it was still run by George Wayland. And Wayland lost a lot of his popularity when he chose not to take any part in the terrorism that was going on in our city. A lot of the mafiosos were omegas, and the alphas had omega mates and children. Mercer saw him as a coward, a traitor who refused to protect his own people."
"So he shot him," I said, nodding.
"His supporters declared him as their new leader, and those who refused to follow him were either kicked out or killed. Mercer was quick to change things within the group. His focus was on selling as many guns to the civilians as he could, and there was a huge demand for them. And we... let him. He was efficiently arming the entire city to fight against True Order, after all. He was protecting his territory better than any army could in years, and his group grew big as he took in people who wanted to join the fight. I think they still have more than four hundred active members."
I whistled. "That's a lot of people."
"Too many to arrest," Reid said with a smirk. "And to be honest, people love Mercer more than they love us. He's a hero. We'd have a full-blown rebellion in our hands if we dared to do anything to him. And last night, he once again showed us we still need him. We still owe him, and I doubt we ever stop owing him."
I agreed with him. Criminal or not, he had done so much to keep the city safe.
"I think we should wash this glass," I said quietly.
"We have cleaning supplies that will erase every little trace of his fingerprints," Reid said. "No one will come looking for it, though, so it's fine."
"Just in case," I muttered. "I've looked up to Mercer ever since I heard about him."
"I heard what you said earlier," Reid muttered. "That you used to dream about joining the mafia."
I nodded. "Yeah..."
"But you joined the army instead," he continued carefully.
I nodded again. "Yeah..."
I knew he wanted to know... But I wasn't sure if I was ready to talk about it. He stayed silent and didn't even try to ask about it...
"Anyway... You have more questions?" he eventually asked.
"You really want to know why I chose the army instead?" I asked, suddenly feeling numb.
"You don't have to talk about it," he said, clearly sensing it was a hard topic for me.
I stared at the glass. "Maybe I should..."
"You really don't have to," Reid said, coming closer to me.
"It's the same old story," I said, and sighed. "Every omega who was born before Eleven Flags has the same story..."
"I think I know how it goes, yeah," he said quietly.
I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. Maybe I was fine talking about it...
"I was... pre-purchased by an alpha couple long before I was born," I began slowly. "True Order supporters. They wanted an alpha child, but instead they got me... But they decided to keep me as a broodmare and sell the babies once I'd get old enough to carry."
Suddenly, I felt... empty. I had no emotions... Like it wasn't my story I was telling. At the same time, I could feel Reid's anger rising. His alpha was awake and steaming. The look in his eyes grew harder as he watched me.
"I had a decent childhood for a baby maker. I had food, my own room, education..." I continued. "Eleven Flags happened when I was five, but they still kept me in case True Order would get back in power and change the laws back. Didn't happen, of course... But they wanted their money back. I was an expensive investment, after all... They did try to get me pregnant a few times after I got my first heat at sixteen, but when that didn't work..."
"Prostitution?" Reid asked through his gritted teeth.
"Yeah... It became my hell for two years, but... " I breathed out. "That's how I got here, away from them... One of the men I had to meet was an officer in this army, and I begged him to get me recruited. I mean, my adopters can't say shit about it as long as I belong to the governor... They can't get to me for as long as I'm in this army."
"They can't say shit even if you weren't here. What they're doing is fucking illegal! Give me their names and they'll be thrown in jail," Reid practically growled and came to sit down in front of me. "And that fucking cunt officer. Who is he?"
"The officer died long ago, and... I don't want to talk about my adopters..."
"If you'd just give me their names, I'll make sure they'll vanish off the face of the Earth," he told me.
"Please... Just let it go," I muttered. "This is why I don't want to talk about what happened to me. I just want to move on..."
He glared at me, breathing heavily, and I knew he wanted to force the names out of me.
"Come on," I said maybe a little too lightly. "It's the same story every omega born before Eleven Flags has. But we were saved by people like you two decades ago. This world is already better for us now because of alphas like you. And when I joined this army... That officer saved me. I don't hate him. No matter if it was wrong, he still gave me a way out. When I was still at home, I was completely at their mercy. Here I've grown strong enough to protect myself."
"That's still so fucking sick..." Reid said. "How can people just...!"
He looked so angry he couldn't even speak anymore. And that... made me smile.
"That's why we exist now, right? To make sure True Order will never get back in power," I said as calmly as I could.
He stopped and turned to face me. "Yes. And you're now safe with us. We won't let anyone lay a finger on you again."
"Then I'm all right now, right?" I asked, smiling a little.
He nodded slowly, staying silent while he tried to calm his rage. Aggressive alphas... Always ready to rip throats out...
"I'm fine now. Really," I told Reid when he still couldn't speak in his anger. "You probably understand now why I don't mind that Captain is the way he is..."
"Yeah..." he said, glancing at me. "I'm sorry I made you talk about it."
I shook my head. "It's in the past. And... It's staying in the past, right?"
"Right," he said, his eyes studying me. "No one's going to touch you again."
"Then I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be," I said. "Anyway, I'm getting hungry. Breakfast?"
He watched me for a moment, but finally nodded. "Sure..."
We got up from the floor and headed to the door, but I suddenly felt the need to stop him. When I touched his arm, he turned to face me.
"I appreciate that you want to make things right. I really do. I just want you to know that," I told him quietly.
"What they did to you is–"
"I know," I breathed out. "But I don't talk about any of that. Ever. I still feel bad and uncomfortable for telling you, so... I know you want to help, but I'm not used to this. Let me pretend I never said anything. For now, at least."
He frowned as he watched me carefully. His gaze was so intense I wanted to look away...
"I'll give you the time and space you need," he said. "And thank you for telling me. It shows you are brave."
I smiled at him. "I don't feel brave, but thanks."
"You are brave," he said reassuringly. "And one day, I'll make sure you'll get justice."
I nodded and walked past him. I heard him following me.
I actually did it... I talked... I wished I hadn't said anything because now everything was awkward and horrible, but... Wasn't that what they always tried to do...? To make sure I'd never talk? But I did it... Now my partner knew what they did to me, and he was pissed.
And... He could easily find out who they were if he wanted to.