Jace’s consciousness returned in a rush, a tide of throbbing pain and disoriented awareness. He blinked, the harsh fluorescent lights of a familiar, sterile ceiling grating against his eyes. He was back in the CDE facility. Not the pizzeria. Here. He was lying on a narrow cot, the same uncomfortable slab he’d occupied before, in the same stark, windowless room. Patched up. His spandex suit had been replaced with a rough, scratchy cotton uniform. He ran a tentative hand over his torso, bandages beneath the fabric, skin still burning with residual heat despite the treatment. His side throbbed, a dull, persistent ache. He was definitely feeling the aftermath of the night, the adrenaline crash a brutal descent from heroics to raw, exhausted pain.

  The air was sterile, cold, and silent save for the low hum of the facility. No comforting scent of oregano and cheap tomato sauce here. He sat up slowly, wincing, he swallowed, throat dry and raw, and waited. He knew they would come. It was just a matter of time.

  And they did. The door hissed open with quiet authority, and Zara and Kai entered. They filled the small room, their presence imposing even without their armored suits. Zara’s expression was unreadable, her usual sharp intensity softened by a cool, professional detachment. Kai, as always, was an impassive wall, his gaze steady, unwavering, and devoid of any discernible emotion. They weren't in combat gear, but there was a rigid formality to their movements, a contained readiness that spoke volumes. They were here to bring him to account.

  “Dynamo,” Zara stated, her voice clipped and formal, using his CDE designation, not his name. It felt colder somehow. Kai remained silent, a looming shadow at her side.

  Neither offered a greeting, no preamble, just that single, charged word hanging in the sterile air. Then, Zara gestured curtly towards the door. “Come with us.”

  The escort back to the debriefing room was silent and swift. No rough handling, no restraints, but the firm pressure of Kai’s presence at his back, Zara’s unwavering gaze fixed on him from the front, made escape unthinkable. The silence was heavy, oppressive, filled with unspoken accusations and the palpable weight of his disobedience. He was led through the familiar, cold corridors of the CDE facility, every step echoing the gravity of his situation. He was no longer a trainee, no longer on a path to becoming their weapon. He was… something else. A problem. A breach.

  The debriefing room was stark, functional, designed for efficiency, not comfort. Metal table, two chairs already positioned, and the cold, unwavering gaze of Zara and Kai fixed upon him as he entered. He sat, unbidden, feeling the weight of their scrutiny like a physical pressure.

  Zara initiated the questioning, her voice controlled, devoid of warmth. “Begin with a complete account of your actions following the unscheduled termination of your training session this evening, Dynamo.” It was an interrogation, not a conversation. Clinical, detached, focused solely on procedure.

  Jace recounted the events, starting with his outburst in the training room, the news headlines, the rising panic for his mother, the desperate sprint to the elevator, the confrontation with Kai, the fight with security, the escape, the journey to Pantheon, the chaos within the lab, the robbers, the hostages, the fights… he laid it all out, the words tumbling out in a rush, a torrent of explanation and justification, driven by a desperate need to make them understand.

  He emphasized his fear for his mother, the overwhelming panic that had overridden his training, the instinct to protect, to rescue. “Pantheon was under attack. My mom was there. I… I had to go.” He looked at Zara, then Kai, seeking some flicker of understanding, some sign of human recognition beneath their professional facades.

  Kai remained impassive, a statue carved from granite. Zara’s expression softened, almost imperceptibly, a flicker of something akin to understanding in her eyes, quickly suppressed. But her voice remained formal, detached. “You disobeyed a direct order, Dynamo. You engaged CDE security personnel. You left the facility without authorization. You operated in public, potentially compromising CDE operations and security protocols.” She ticked off each violation, her tone flat, factual, each point landing like a hammer blow.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Kai finally spoke, his voice a low, resonant baritone, devoid of emotion. “Your actions were reckless, Dynamo. Uncontrolled. Insubordinate. Protocol Sierra-Nine was initiated because of your direct violation. You understand the severity of this?”

  “But… I saved people,” Jace protested, frustration and a desperate need to justify his actions rising in his voice. “The hostages at Pantheon… my mom… they could have died.”

  Zara’s gaze sharpened, a hint of steel returning to her eyes. “The outcome is… acceptable. Civilian casualties were minimized, the immediate threat neutralized. However,” she stressed the word, her voice hardening, “your methods were unacceptable, Dynamo. Completely outside protocol. Chaos. Uncontrolled variables. That is… undesirable.”

  “Undesirable?” Jace repeated, incredulous, a bitter laugh escaping him. “People were in danger! My mother was in danger! What was I supposed to do, stand here and wait for orders while they died?”

  Before Zara or Kai could respond, the door to the debriefing room hissed open again. Axel stood in the doorway, his presence radiating an unexpected authority that immediately silenced the room. He glanced at Zara and Kai, his expression unreadable.

  “That will be all,” Axel stated, his voice firm, brooking no argument. He didn’t look at Jace, didn’t acknowledge him directly, but the dismissal was clear. Zara and Kai exchanged a brief, questioning look, surprise flickering across Zara’s face, but protocol reigned supreme. They nodded curtly and moved to exit the room, leaving Jace alone with Axel.

  Axel finally turned his gaze to Jace, his expression still unreadable, but the air of cold command had lessened, replaced by something… else. Weariness? Resignation? “You are dismissed, Dynamo.”

  Jace blinked, confusion warring with a tentative surge of relief. “Dismissed? From… CDE?”

  “For now,” Axel clarified, his voice softening slightly, a hint of something almost… human in his tone. “Go home, Jace. Be with your mother.” He paused, a flicker of something unreadable in his eyes. “See to her.”

  Confusion warred with disbelief on Jace’s face. “But… the debriefing… the violations…”

  Axel waved a hand dismissively, cutting off his protest. “Consider this… a temporary leave of absence. We will… re-evaluate your status at a later time.” His gaze hardened again, a flicker of the old steel returning. “Do not… complicate matters further, Dynamo. Go home.”

  Jace didn’t need to be told twice. He rose, still stiff and sore, and walked out of the debriefing room, leaving Axel standing alone, a solitary figure amidst the sterile efficiency of CDE. He moved quickly, his mind reeling, a whirlwind of confusion and tentative hope. Dismissed? Leave of absence? After everything? It made no sense.

  Jace rose, dismissed by Axel, a confusing mix of relief and dread churning within him. He was escorted not by Zara or Kai, but by a CDE officer to the teleportation chamber, a transit hub he vaguely recalled from his induction. Inside, a technician, impersonal and focused on his console, curtly instructed him to the neon podium, the podium, now repurposed for his departure. Hesitating a moment, a silent question for vanished authorities hanging in the sterile air, Jace stepped onto the platform as ordered, the familiar hum vibrating beneath his feet, a strange finality settling in his gut. Then, the disorienting rush of teleportation, and just as abruptly, solid ground beneath his feet once more – rain-slicked pavement, the soft neon glow, the sounds of his neighborhood washing over him, a wave of surreal normalcy. He was home, impossibly, inexplicably home, yet adrift, uncertain, stepping off the podium into the cool night air, the scent of ozone and sterile CDE fading, replaced by the fragile, uncertain scent of freedom.

  His apartment building was a familiar, almost alien sight after the underground facility. He unlocked his door, stepping into the dim, familiar space of his home and there she was. His mother, pacing frantically in the small living room, her face etched with worry, her movements agitated, restless energy radiating from her in waves. As soon as he stepped inside, her pacing stopped, her head snapping up, her eyes locking onto his face.

  “Jace!” Relief flooded her features, her worry instantly melting away, replaced by a rush of emotion. She surged forward, engulfing him in a fierce, desperate hug, clinging to him tightly, burying her face against his shoulder.

  “Mom,” he murmured, relief washing over him in a warm wave, hugging her back just as fiercely, holding her close, the familiar scent of her comforting him more than he could articulate. She was safe. She was here.

  Then, the hug broke, and she stepped back, her expression shifting, relief fading, replaced by a complex mixture of emotions – anger, hurt, and a deep, simmering sadness. Tears welled in her eyes, and her voice trembled as she finally spoke, the words laced with a heartbreaking mix of anger and pain.

  “Why… why are you lying to me, Jace?”

  He blinked, confusion clouding his relief. “Lying? Mom, what… what do you mean?”

  Her voice cracked, tears finally spilling down her cheeks, her gaze searching his face, accusing, knowing. “Don’t you think… don’t you think wearing a black spandex suit and a ridiculous mask would be enough to stop me from recognizing my own son?”

  Jace froze, his blood running cold, his mind blanking, all coherent thought dissolving into stunned, utter silence. He stared at his mother, her tear-streaked face, her knowing, heartbroken eyes, and for the first time in weeks, in months, maybe ever, he was completely, utterly… stumped.

  The silence stretched, thick and heavy with unspoken truths, with years of carefully constructed lies and suddenly, devastatingly, shattered illusions. And in that silence, in the raw, unfiltered emotion in his mother’s gaze, Jace knew, with a certainty that chilled him to the bone, that everything had just irrevocably changed.