'I guess that all we need to do now is confirm this information. '

Handler looked surprised when Twilight reported everything that Donovan Desmond told him at that dinner party.

'I can hardly believe it myself, ' assured the agent. 'But my gut says he's telling the truth. '

And his gut rarely failed him.

'I find it strange that a powerful man like Desmond, with everything to gain from a war, wouldn 't want to initiate conflict, ' Handler pondered looking at Desmond's photographs in front of her. 'Something is not right. '

'Could be. That 's why we 're investigating, right? ' Twilight took off his black gloves and put them inside his pocket.

'That 's right, ' Sherwood answered. 'In the meantime, stay put. You 'll continue to live as Loid Forger, until we can confirm or dismiss this information. '

He knew what Handler meant. They were going to look into every connection and every piece of business Desmond had to find out if what he was saying was true. While this happened, he had to wait.

'Understood. '

Twilight got up and headed towards the door, but Handler 's voice reached him before he could touch the doorknob.

'Agent Twilight, if this information turns out to be true (which is unlikely), it 'll be time to end Operation Strix. '

He turned his head a bit to look at her, without saying a word. Then he opened the door of her office and left.

He knew that already.

Good

, he thought, as he left the safehouse.

Good. About damn time

, he thought walking down the street on his way back to the hospital.

Good, because I 'm sick of this

, he tried to convince himself as he entered his office.

After reporting to Wise, he spent more than a week like this 'redirecting his thoughts.

In his report, Twilight had conveniently forgotten to mention the part where he had kissed his wife in front of everyone at the party. He could have justified his actions easily in front of his superiors, by saying it had been

for the mission

, but instead he 'd chosen to keep it to himself.

Oh, he knew he 'd done something he shouldn 't have.

The worst part was that he wasn 't even that surprised 'whenever he was near Yor, he often malfunctioned as a spy.

He also knew the cause of said malfunction 'it was just a silly infatuation.

It happened to everyone, even the best spies. That's what he kept telling himself. Of course, if a spy spent months and months immersed in a character, playing house with a beautiful woman and a cute little girl, things might get

confusing

. But it wasn 't anything to worry about. He was still in complete control of himself.

All those feelings of longing and nostalgia would surely go away once he was done with Strix and far away from his wife.

Fake wife

, he corrected himself for the millionth time.

He wasn 't in love with Yor, and he wasn 't Anya 's father either. All of this was a well-played illusion and a testament to his good work as a master of disguise.

If Wise confirmed Donovan Desmond was telling the truth (and something told him they would), this illusion would be over, along with all those temporary uncomfortable feelings.

It was almost time for Loid Forger to die.

Good

, he thought again.

But the tightness in his chest said otherwise.

***

Yor was thinking about her mom, while dragging her feet on her way home.

It was a bad omen.

She remembered the tiny meals, the worn off clothes, but most of all, her mother always working, never having enough to make it through the month, always hiding her concern behind her kind smile. But Yor knew anyways.

Yuri was so little, barely four, practically still a baby. She was older, she could work to help her mama.

Luckily, she 'd been born strong, so people would hire her to carry heavy stuff in town, and occasionally, she would also help clean the kitchen a small caf '. They would pay her very little because she was still a young girl, and nobody had a lot of money to spare those days. That didn't matter; she was so grateful to bring that money home.

Her mama always insisted she quit working. She wanted her to focus on school and enjoy being a normal girl, but Yor was never good a school (or a normal girl) and she preferred helping her family.

With the war, this situation was very common for a lot of families. There were plenty of war widows and orphans. At least Yor had her mom.

At school, she never managed to make one single friend. She was always too quiet, too shy, too strong, too odd. She tried not to think about it too much, plus, she had more important things to worry about, like that strange cough her mother had for weeks.

Yuri had just turned five the day her mother couldn 't get out of bed anymore. What happened afterwards was all jumbled up in her memory. Did her mother die a few days afterwards? Or was it weeks? Yuri cried all the time and she wanted to cry too, but if she did, her little brother would know they were lost.

She didn 't remember who helped her bury her mother 's corpse; probably one of the neighbors. Or how she managed to finally calm Yuri down. Once they were alone, Yor had never been more scared in her life. How was she going to support Yuri and herself? She was only twelve! Nobody would want to hire her; they were going to starve.

Even when fear and grief were eating her away, she didn 't let it show. The last thing she wanted was for her little brother to worry. So, just like her mother had done it, she also hid behind a kind smile.

Every morning, she would greet her brother happily, fed him whatever she could manage for breakfast and took him to school. She quit school herself, so she could provide. Times were tough, and nobody could take care of another pair of orphans, so she could only rely on herself.

Situation got worse when Yuri got sick later that year. Yor grew desperate thinking that her little brother would meet the same fate as their mother, and she would be completely alone. Nevertheless, by some miracle, Yuri got better and, no long after, the Garden recruited her.

The Garden was always honest with her from the beginning. They had recruited her because of her strength, and they would train her to kill bad people. By then, Yor was so desperate to provide for Yuri that she would have done absolutely

anything

. When she received her first payment, she was relieved she 'd be able to buy enough food for both of them.

The rest she didn 't care to remember.

It was just a whirlwind of blood and death. Yeah, she 'd been terrified at the beginning of her assassin career, even when her first few times had been accompanied by a mentor. In time, she 'd gotten so good at her job that she 'd earn a name and reputation 'Thorn Princess.

Look at me now, mama. I 'm about to give out

, she thought walking slowly by the empty street.

She

had to

make it home.

Those were the rules. Every time a member of the Garden would finish a job, another junior member would follow the assassin, just to make sure a wounded (or dead) body was not found on the street. It was their way of preserving their secret.

If she didn 't make it home, someone from the Garden would pick up her wounded body and they would take her away from her family. She would vanish without explanation, and Loid and Anya would think she had abandoned them, or she simply disappeared. She couldn 't do that to them.

Blood came with every cough. She noticed it when she had to spit it on the pavement.

Getting hurt came with the job, no matter how competent she was. Yor had been hurt before, many times, but not like this. And the worst part was the reason 'she 'd been afraid and distracted.

She realized that if she 'd been such a good contract killer it was because she didn 't have anything to lose. Before meeting Loid and Anya, she really had nothing to live for. Yuri was a grown man, who didn't need her anymore. If she was killed in battle, it didn 't really matter. Well, now it did.

Yor cleaned the blood coming from her mouth with the back of her hand. Her feet were dragging even more, and her head was in so much pain that she had to lean on a street lamppost. She didn 't realize when she sat down on the pavement.

That was a mistake.

Now she couldn 't get up.

She felt so dizzy and it was so late. What time was it? Loid and Anya were waiting for her.

She 'd been

so close

. So close from home.

Someone from the Garden would probably pick her up any minute. Their specialty was cleaning and, laying on the street, coughing blood, she looked like trash that needed to be discarded.

Yor was seconds from passing out. It was all over. Her life. Her family.

"I 'm sorry

."

***

Loid fed Anya, but decided he wouldn 't have dinner until Yor got home.

He was often late, and Yor always waited for him. He didn 't remember since when this had become a thing. Now he was used to eating dinner with her.

Tonight, however, it was later than usual. He tried to ignore that nervous pain in his stomach.

'How many times do I have to tell you to go brush your teeth? ' Loid scolded Anya.

Already wearing pajamas, Anya was glued to the window.

'But Mama isn 't here, ' the girl explained. 'She 's never this late. What if something happened to her? '

Loid face softened. Of course, Anya was worried. She was used to being with Yor.

'Don 't worry. She probably had to stay extra time or maybe her train is running late, ' he tried to reassure her (and himself). 'You 'll see how she 'll show up any minute now. Go brush... '

Twilight jolted when someone knocked on the door urgently.

'Dr. Forger? Are you there? It 's your neighbor from downstairs ', said a female voice he didn 't fully recognize, on the other side of the door. 'If you 're there, please open the door. It 's an emergency! '

Twilight hesitated for a second.

Could this be a trap from the SSS? Maybe I should get my gun

, he thought.

But before he could head towards his bedroom, the female voice continued talking:

'It 's your wife. She was hit by a car about a block from here. Someone found ' '

Loid opened the door without even checking if it was really one of his neighbors.

'Where is she? ' his thunderous voice asked and Anya ran to the door from the living room.

'One of the other neighbors found her. They already called an ambulance, and I ran to let you know, ' answered the woman. 'The ambulance is on the way. My friend Francine is with her. We didn 't want to leave her alone. '

'MAMA! ' shrieked A before starting to wail.

By that time, Loid was already down the hall heading downstairs.

Anya and the neighbor ran behind him, the woman yelled at him to head a block towards his right when he finally reached the exit of the building.

As he ran, he wasn 't thinking clearly. It was as if Twilight, with all his years of training and experience, had just evaporated.

He got there at the same time as the ambulance.

Yor wasn 't conscious. Her face was covered in bruises and her pink coat was filthy and bloody. He wanted to reach and grab her face, but the paramedics were doing their job.

Between Anya 's cries, the neighbors scared whispers, and his own heartbeat, he could barely hear anything.

'I 'm her hus-husband, ' he stuttered as they loaded her inside the ambulance. 'Can I ride with her? '

'Papa, I want to go too! ' Anya demanded.

'No! Stay here with the neighbors, ' he ordered loudly and that just made her cry even more. 'I 'll call Franky and he 'll come stay with you. '

'Is mama going to die? ' the little girl asked crying as they were about to close the door of the ambulance.

'No, ' he answered completely determined. 'I won 't let her. '