Location: Serene Hope's Ruins – 1:23 A.M.
Rain still poured. Thunder growled like an angry god above. But Vashti and Shabd didn't flinch.
They stood shoulder-to-shoulder now. Two souls—torn apart by lies, stitched back together by war.
Five black-armored Health Board agents surrounded them. Tasers, tranquilizers, neural clamps in hand.
"Vashti Dhiman," the leader barked. "Step down. You are under arrest for unauthorized extraction and data breach—"
Before he could finish, Shabd flung a smoke capsule into the air. Chaos erupted.
---
Fight Begins
Vashti didn't wait. She charged like a bullet. One of the agents lunged with a baton—but she ducked, grabbed his wrist, twisted it till it snapped and kicked him hard in the gut.
"Touch me again and I'll dislocate more than bones," she hissed.
Shabd caught a stun rod mid-air, flipped it, and jabbed it into an attacker's chest—zap—the man collapsed, convulsing.
"Two down," Shabd called out.
"Three!" Vashti shouted, elbowing one into a steel pipe, blood splattering across the broken concrete.
---
An Agent Pulled a Gun
Shabd stepped in front of Vashti—instinct. Protecting her even now.
But she shoved him aside.
"I said—I'm not someone who hides behind people!"
She leaped, grabbed a metal shard, and threw it like a dart. It lodged perfectly in the shooter's shoulder. He dropped the gun.
Shabd raised an eyebrow. "Nice aim."
"I imagined it was your face," she smirked.
---
Final Agent – The Big One
6'5, muscle tank, neural enhancement.
He charged like a bull.
Shabd stepped forward.
Vashti grabbed his arm. "Let me."
She ran straight at the agent. He swung.
She slid underneath, kicked his knees from behind, and vaulted onto his back—slamming a tranquilizer she stole earlier straight into his neck.
He dropped like a statue.
---
Silence. All enemies down.
Shabd was bleeding from the lip. Vashti had a cut above her eyebrow.
They stood, chest heaving. The storm still thundered.
She looked at him. "We're not done fighting, you and I."
He looked back. "I know. But for now… we fight with each other."
A long pause. Then, for the first time in weeks—Vashti nodded.
---
Back at the Safehouse – 2:10 A.M.
Miafel patched them up silently. Vivek, still recovering, gave a small thumbs-up from his bed when he heard what happened.
Vashti sat on the couch, arms crossed. Shabd beside her, glancing over.
"You hate me less now?"
She turned to him. "You still suck."
"But?"
She cracked a tired smirk. "You're kind of hot when you throw punches."
He grinned. "So you admit it."
"Don't push it."
---