"Quinn and the others have returned!"
I quickly turned from sorting the fruit in the Square as everyone erupted in cheers, quickly joining the others in watching Quinn and his team enter the now crowded Alley.
They must have succeeded!
It had been a week since they left and the tension was high, everyone wanted to know how the mission went, and if we could pull off a rescue mission or not.
Arrow locked eyes with me and waved as he ran up to me, who was anxiously waiting to pick his brain.
"Did you-" I started.
"Let's find your mom so we don't have to repeat information twice. We'll explain everything."
"At least tell me good news?" I said, trying to keep up as he be-lined it for the War Room.
"Gotta catch up first!" he teased, heading into the dark candle-lit room where my mother was already sitting.
"Did you get what you needed?" she asked eagerly.
The team nodded. "Yes, ma'am," Luke stated. "We succeeded!"
We all cheered and patted the team on the back, but the celebration was short when Quinn grunted.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" he asked, surprising me. He just went on a mission to make this idea possible, and now he's questioning if we should even go through with it?
Mother sighed. "Yes, I am. There's no other way."
"But why put our people in danger if all we're doing is stopping a hybrid from going to war?"
I stayed quiet, primarily out of shock. Didn't he see the hybrid himself? What was actually stopping him from wanting to do this mission?
"You do realize that if Project: A.L.P.H.A. is to continue developing, the DOA could overtake the rebels, and there won't be anyone left to rise back up against them!" Mother barked back.
"So we kill the hybrid! That way, they can't make anymore!"
The room gasped at Quinn's suggestion and watched for Mother's response, her face clenched in anger.
"Maybe, but then she wouldn't live the life she should've been given! She didn't ask for this! We can't just kill her. I won't allow it! Now sit down, or I will release you, regardless of whether you're my son!"
Quinn yelled in frustration but sat down, the room not speaking a word. You could cut the tension with a knife as we looked between a boiling Quinn and Mother, breathing big, slow breaths.
Luke cleared his throat as he shifted in his seat. "If I may, I do have a plan."
All attention was immediately on Luke as he leaned into the table.
"Go on," Mother encouraged.
"The lab was just outside the city, about an hour away. Jake, I will need you to hack into the system and disable the camera, alarms, and whatever else we might come across."
Jake nodded and smiled.
"Arrow, you and I will lure people away from where the hybrid is being kept while Quinn guides Benji to where the hybrid's room is. Jake, make sure to disable any locked doors blocking Benji's path."
"Wait, you want me to rescue the hybrid?" I interrupted.
"Yes," Luke responded as if it was the plan all along, and I was just stupid. "We need you to take the hybrid far from here to the rebel city in Seattle."
My eyes widened larger than I thought was possible.
"Seattle? That's almost a week-long trip!"
"Do you have a problem with that?" Mother butted in.
"No, but it will be a long way from home."
I watched Mother reach over to grab my hand, rubbing it in reassurance.
"Imagine a better home, a better world. We've been planning to join the rebels over there for a while now, and this mission is the kicker that will get us there. You'll be a hero, you know that?"
That's the last thing I care about right now.
Instead of voicing my opinion, I just nodded and let Luke continue telling us his plan.
"Once Benji can get the hybrid out, Arrow and I will cover them so they can get into the car to hit the road and avoid being tracked. Does everyone understand?"
With a nod from everyone in the room, Mother smiled. "Great plan," she praised. "I want you all to leave tomorrow morning. Before you go in, I want Quinn to disable Benji's tracker, and then you should be all set for another successful mission."
I sighed. Mother wants me, of all people, to rescue the thing that is going to destroy us? I can't protect anyone, let alone myself! Why me?
Without a goodbye or a dismissal, I left the room, walking with a purpose out into the Square. The sky had gone dark now, and only a few people lingered in the Square as I made my way up the side of the wall where it was easy to climb until I reached my usual spot, overlooking the whole Square.
It was pretty high up. A fall from this height could surely end in my bones getting snapped, but a part of me loved it, observing, alone with my thoughts.
Well, not for long.
"Hey, dreamer."
My eyes darted over to where Arrow had climbed up, not even batting an eye at the fact that he followed me, and I sighed.
"What the hell am I going to do?" I asked, primarily to myself. "I'm not fit for a mission like this. I can't protect anyone..."
Arrow sat beside me, legs dangling over the edge, and gave me a nudge.
"You do protect people, Benji. You help us a lot during missions, healing us and all, don't you? I'd call that protecting."
"This is more than just healing someone," I argued. "I have to take a hybrid away from the DOA, and if we fail, they'll have my head, and the rebels are going to lose."
"Your mother believes in you, Benji. Otherwise, she would have sent someone else on this mission."
Before I could argue more, Arrow stood up and stretched with a yawn.
"Don't stay up too late. We've got a big day tomorrow."
I watched as he climbed back down with a sigh.
Could someone like me really be able to pull this off?
I decided no matter how hard I fought myself or my own mother, I wasn't going to get out of this. I can do this. I can do this. I have to.
For the rebels.
"Ok, I'm in."
I watched as the guards left the entrance, following Jake's distraction, and got ready to move in.
"Is Benji's tracker disabled?" Jake asked Quinn.
"Tracker disabled," he answered with a nod.
Jake nodded back, and with a thumbs up, it was my turn.
"Whenever you're ready, you're free to go."
With a nod, I made my way down the steep hill we were on, Luke and Arrow close behind, down towards the lab's entrance. Once we made it, we waited for the green light from Jake in their earpieces.
"Ok, you're clear."
I hit the door with the gun in my hands, and it busted open. Quickly, Quinn gave us directions through the labyrinth we had before us, getting us closer and closer to the hybrid.
"Make a right."
The lab was quite large, with wide hallways.
"Now a left."
It baffled me that they needed all of this for just one hybrid.
"Left again."
Then again, it was probably intended to hold more than one.
A smile crept up on my face as I felt us getting closer and closer. I was helping the rebels, and this plan was working very well in our favor. Until, of course, the sound of a blaring alarm filled our ears, casing feedback in our earpieces, and we all groaned.
"Jake, what the hell was that?" Arrow yelled.
"An alarm! How did I not see it?" Jake replied.
My heart started racing as the sound of footsteps came through the halls, getting louder.
"Go!" Luke shouted at me. "We'll distract them!"
I hesitated. Go alone? But without being able to stall, I nodded and followed Quinn's instructions to where the hybrid's room was.
It wasn't long until I finally found it. A large, wide window let me peek through, and that's when I saw her.
Lying on the ground was the small figure of a girl wearing a white jumpsuit, with the color of her black ears and tail striking hard against the white of everything in the room.
I watched as she got up, seeming to sense my presence, and she turned to look at me, her eyes a color I'd never seen before, staring into my soul; I could feel them calling for help. I found you.