Chapter 51: How Do You Plead?

~LIAM.

~FLASHBACK~

FOUR YEARS AGO.

The gate creaked shut behind me, its sound soft yet final. Mission complete. There had been no struggle as she never woke up. It was all easy, just how I fucking preferred it.

I didn't look back. The gravel crunched under my boots as I made my way to the motorcycle parked beneath the shadows. My gloves were already off, helmet under one arm. The night felt cold and familiar.

The ride back was quiet, the only sound the hum of the engine and the noise in my head.

When I pulled into headquarters, it was late. I parked, killed the engine, and walked in. No chatter, no footsteps, just the sterile buzz of lights and the sharp scent of disinfectant.

Our dorm was on the second floor.

I pushed open the door and saw that only one bed was occupied. Jake sat hunched forward on the edge, shirtless, with his phone glowing in his hands.

No sign of Kelvin.

"Yo," he muttered without looking up. "Mission?"

"Clean," I replied, peeling off my jacket. "She never even stirred."

He grunted his approval. "Kelvin's probably off screwing someone. Or two someones."

I snorted. "Sounds about right."

Jake, Kelvin, and I had been roommates for four years, recruited from the same orphanage by Marcus, who trained us like dogs, molding us into something lethal. Jake and I had clicked from the beginning; survival instincts that spoke the same language. Kelvin, though... not so much. He was chaos where we were precision.

Jake suddenly straightened up. "Let's go out."

I raised an eyebrow mid-boot unlacing. "It's past one."

"Exactly. No crowd. Just us. You've been so obsessed with impressing Marcus lately. Time you relaxed, man. One drink."

He had that cocky glint in his eyes, the kind that had dragged me into far worse.

I sighed. "Fine. One."

Grinning, he threw on a hoodie. "I know just the place."

Of course, he did.

We took his Camaro, the black one he bought with his first big paycheck. I leaned against the headrest, letting the streetlights blur past as my eyes drifted shut.

When I opened my eyes, we weren't at a bar; the engine had cut, and the wind outside whispered like a warning.

I sat up. "Where the hell are we?"

But Jake was already out of the car, and I followed, boots crunching against dirt and gravel as the cliffside opened up ahead of us-dark ocean below, the city spread out in shimmering lights.

It was... beautiful.

Stepping closer to the edge, I breathed in air that smelled like salt and space.

"How'd you find this?" I asked.

Jake's voice was quieter than usual, then he spoke. "Assignment. Needed air. Found this instead."

Nodding, I let the silence wash over me. It felt good. Still, for once.

"Thanks," I murmured.

When I turned to look at him, I froze, seeing the gun in his hand, pointed straight at me.

"What the hell are you doing?" I laughed, feeling uneasy. "Put that shit away."

He didn't, his expression was tight and his voice cracked as he said, "I'm sorry."

"Jake, what the fuck is going on?"

"I want out," he said. "Out of this ghost life. Out of pretending to believe in something I never did. And I've found someone who sees the world the way I do."

I felt ice slide into my spine at those words. "You're setting me up," I whispered.

He nodded. "If you're dead, they won't come after me."

"Then just fucking leave," I hissed. "You don't have to do this."

"I do," he said. "You're too good. If I vanish, they'll hunt me down. But if you die... they'll be too busy mourning the Foundation's golden boy to look deeper."

He didn't want to do it, I could see it, but that didn't mean he wouldn't.

I moved too quickly, in an attempt to overpower him, but the shot tore through my side before I could, and I hit the ground.

Another crack echoed through the night, then nothing, just darkness.

~END OF FLASHBACK~

I woke up barely alive in the infirmary three days later.

If it hadn't been for the emergency tracker embedded in my watch, the one Marcus gave me, I'd be dead.

Jake vanished without a trace. The Foundation searched everywhere: black markets, encrypted databases, international ghost channels, but found nothing.

Whoever he aligned with had power, enough to erase him completely.

Then, four years later, he resurfaced: a reservation was booked in a resort under his name.

He made a mistake, and I personally took the assignment.

Not out of revenge, not officially. I was under orders; no emotion, and no attachments. Just find out who he was working for and bring back intel.

That was the mission, but then I saw Scarlett.

Jake's girl.

At first, I told myself she was just leverage, but it didn't stay that way. I hadn't expected her pretty green eyes, her fire, her laugh.

I hadn't expected to feel anything.

Now everything's gone to hell; Jake's gone again.

And Scarlett?

I saw the security footage myself.

The resort doesn't have cameras inside for God fucking knows what reason, only outside. So, I saw her walk out the front gate with her bag, alone, with no hesitation, no goodbye, and no clue where the hell she went. Now I'm screwed.

The Foundation won't believe she was part of the plan, not after I let her go, and definitely not after they saw the way I looked at her.

The door pushed open behind me.

"They'll see you now," a woman said, and I rose slowly from my seat.

Time to face the fallout.

The walk down the hall felt longer than it should, each step louder than the last. The lights were too bright, and the air too still.

I reached a door and pushed it open, entering the tribunal chamber. It looked exactly as I remembered it: three pillars, three council members, and a glass box in the center of the floor, but now, it was to be my cage.

Kelvin stood by the wall with his arms crossed, wearing a blank expression.

Councilor Mirek was on the left, sharp-eyed and silent. Councilor Aster was on the right, tapping her fingers like a gavel against her armrest. In the middle was my mentor, my handler, and the closest thing I had to a father, Dr. Marcus Callahan.

I stepped into the box, and they started firing questions like bullets.

"How did you lose the target?"

"What happened to the woman, Scarlett?"

"From the intel we've gathered, it seems she was the only path to Jake, and you let her disappear."

"You compromised everything."

"You got attached."

I stayed silent because they were right.

Finally, Councilor Aster leaned forward. "How do you plead?"

I looked up and Marcus met my eyes, no anger, just disappointment. And that... hurt worse.

"Guilty," I said, feeling the word land heavy.

"Effective immediately," Aster said, "you are suspended from the Foundation. Four years. No contact and no access. You are to remain off-grid. If you are seen, you will be considered hostile and you will be shot on sight."

The sentence was swift and final. No appeals.

I turned and walked out, the hallway feeling emptier than before.

Four years.

Four years to think, to stew, to remember what I'd done. And maybe that was what I deserved. Because the only thing worse than failure was knowing I could've stopped it, and didn't.