The days that followed Selene's downfall brought calm, but not silence. The world had shifted beneath their feet, and even as peace painted the surface of their lives, something darker still churned beneath.
Aurora paced the hallway of the Hudson estate, her steps light despite the gravity in her chest. Damien was speaking with the Global Security Council over a secure call, and Maxwell was coordinating cleanup of the remaining pockets of Selene's biotech network. But Aurora's mind wasn't on global networks or lingering threats. It was on Noah.
He had barely spoken since Istanbul.
He wasn't withdrawn out of fear—Noah didn't cry or tremble. He sat quietly, like he was processing something far beyond his age. And maybe, in a way, he was. He had been used as a pawn in a global conspiracy. He had seen death. Faced his own mortality. And discovered truths about his blood that even adults would struggle to grasp.
Aurora stopped outside his room, listening to the quiet hum of his tablet. He was watching old space documentaries again.
She knocked gently and stepped in.
Noah looked up with a small smile. "Hi, Mom."
"Hey, baby. Can I join you?"
He nodded. Aurora sat on the edge of the bed, brushing his curls away from his forehead.
"You've been quiet," she said gently.
"I've been thinking."
"About what?"
"Selene said I was special. That I was made for something big. But… I just want to be a kid. Is that okay?"
Aurora's throat tightened. She cupped his cheek.
"That's more than okay. That's exactly what you should be. Whatever Selene said, whatever she planned—you're not her weapon. You're my son. Damien's son. And your life is your own."
He nodded solemnly. "Can I still be an astronaut though?"
She laughed, tears escaping. "You can be anything, Noah. Anything at all."
---
Elsewhere
Selene sat in a secure holding cell beneath an undisclosed facility, her shoulder still healing from the bullet Aurora had gifted her.
A visitor was granted access—a woman in her forties, lean, in a pressed suit that screamed authority.
"You're a hard woman to capture, Selene," she said.
"You finally caught me. Congratulations."
"I'm not here to gloat. I'm here to understand."
"Why? The war's over."
"No," the woman said. "Wars like these don't end with prisons. They end with leverage. And you still have some."
Selene raised a brow. "Who are you?"
"Call me Agent Reid. I represent a faction of global oversight. Not the UN. Not Aegis. Something older. Deeper."
Selene leaned forward. "You want the Helix Project."
"No. We want what comes next."
Selene grinned, blood blooming across her teeth from a cut she hadn't bothered to clean. "You're late to the future."
---
Hudson Estate, Two Weeks Later
Damien sat in the sunroom reviewing intel with Maxwell. He was still recovering, his arm in a sling, but his mind was sharp, dissecting the fragments they had gathered since the Istanbul raid.
"Selene's tech was advanced—years beyond anything even DARPA has in the open," Maxwell said. "We've recovered samples, data, schematics. But something doesn't add up."
Damien looked up. "Go on."
"There are files missing. Not deleted—just never uploaded. It's like there's another storage system we haven't found. Possibly off-grid."
Damien nodded. "A dead drop. Hidden server, likely local to the original Helix lab."
"You think she built a contingency?"
"She was Aegis. Of course she did."
They exchanged looks.
Another mission was brewing.
---
London
The trail led them to a derelict cathedral on the outskirts of London, long abandoned and hidden beneath layers of bureaucratic neglect. But to Aurora and Damien, it screamed covert lab.
They entered under cover of night. The sanctuary was empty, but the catacombs below were another matter.
Rows of server towers blinked in silent rhythm. Hidden under centuries of stone and secrecy.
Aurora approached the central terminal. "This isn't just a backup. It's an archive."
She decrypted the files.
The data was staggering.
Audio logs from Selene's private experiments. Video files of children enhanced through experimental gene splicing. Transcripts of conversations with unknown benefactors.
And one folder labeled: "REVENANT."
Inside was a blueprint.
Not for a weapon. For a successor.
"Selene wasn't working alone," Aurora whispered. "She was building something… and someone was funding her."
"The Revenant Protocol," Damien muttered. "If she failed, someone else would continue her work."
They downloaded everything and destroyed the servers. But the shadows of that place stayed with them.
---
Back at the Estate
Aurora met with Reid.
She had come unannounced, arriving in a black car with no plates, and stepping out like she owned every room she entered.
"You know who I am?" she asked.
"Not yet. But I know the type."
"Selene was one of ours. Until she went rogue. You finished her work, in a way. But you've also inherited her enemies."
"Enemies?"
"The Revenant Protocol was never just hers. It was an international initiative. She turned it into a nightmare. But others still believe in its potential."
Aurora folded her arms. "So what now?"
"We propose a partnership. Protection. Resources. You and Damien work with us."
Damien entered the room. "And what do you get in return?"
Reid smiled. "The child."
Aurora stepped in front of her. "No deal."
Reid nodded. "I expected as much. But know this—the world is changing. You've started a fire. Don't be surprised when others come to dance in its light."
She left.
---
That Night
Aurora sat by Noah's bed.
He was asleep, holding a small stuffed comet plushie he had gotten from the museum. Despite everything, he still dreamed of stars.
Damien came up behind her and slipped his arms around her waist.
"They're not going to stop, are they?"
"No. But neither will we."
She turned to him. "What do we do?"
He kissed her forehead. "We protect him. We fight. And when it's time—we show them what legacy really means."
---
In the depths of a mountain base across the world, a new figure stepped into the light.
Young. Male. Eyes glowing faintly blue.
A whisper from the shadows: "Revenant is ready."
And the next war began to breathe.
---