Nate runs faster than he's ever had, weaving between people and going through the never-ending hallways. It feels like he's walking miles and miles, yet the closer he gets, the more energy he has, and he's guided faster and faster by the strong beats of his heart.

He doesn't even take second glances at the glimpses of white uniforms. He's on a mission, and he only stops when he's standing in front of the simple but imposing steel gray door.

There, he has to take a deep breath to try to regulate his heart rate and not barge into the room like a madman, as he can't arouse suspicions. He has to act professionally and calmly like the perfect Captain Johnson.

However, as his knuckles connect with the hard surface to knock, his whole being is shaking, and when he has no answer, his blood starts to boil with a rush of impatience that resembles Anastasia's fire and that leads his hands on the handle, only to find it locked.

Of course, it's still early; Nate realizes it just at this instant, as he throws a glance around the corner of this empty hallway. He's forgotten this detail in his race against time, and now, he can only wait and calm down.

But as the adrenaline is coming down, it's his haunting fears that are returning, invading his veins with another kind of rush, and his fingers keep running frantically through his curls, messing them more than they've already been, as if it could put some order in his thoughts.

'Fight for it', that's the only thing clear in the whirlwind, and he repeats it again and again, when he doesn't even know what he's doing.

He has no real plan of attack. He's acting on impulse like everything he's ever done with Anastasia. Yet there are so many details to think about in this fight for love and freedom, in this matter of life and death.

"Captain Johnson?"

His heart, along with all his thoughts, freezes as if caught red-handed at the sound of his title, and he actually needs a few seconds to come back to this role, putting his 'perfect' mask on as he turns to the strict-looking man. "Colonel Munoz, good morning."

"Good morning. You must have heard of the general Perry, who is newly in charge of the AR." The colonel points to the man standing beside him, and Nate has to gulp.

AR, Anti-Rebels service that manages all the attacks and arrestations of the rebels, the universe must be mocking him, or testing him, though Nate keeps his emotionless shield like he would on a battlefield as he nods to the imposing man.

The general may be one head smaller than the colonel Munoz, but something in his prideful stand and his lifted chin, or maybe just his function and what he has in his hands, sends a stab of fear in Nate's guts.

"Nate Johnson, here, is our youngest and most promising captain."

For now, Nate muses, another jab knotting his stomach.

"So to what do I owe the honor of your visit?" the colonel continues, unlocking the door to his large office and leading both men to step inside.

"Um, I wanted to talk about my assignments..." Nate's gaze trails all around the neat room from the many army certificates on the wall to the tall and locked cabinet and finally, to the glass desk, where in front, the general Perry is already sitting on one of the two chairs.

He hasn't planned for this. He hasn't planned anything actually. It's dangerous on this kind of mission, and seeing the head of the AR service here is raising 'hell' alarms in his already clouded mind.

"But if you're busy, I can come back?"

"Oh, no, it's okay. We're waiting for the others to start the meeting," the colonel replies, taking a seat behind his desk, and as if to encourage him, the general Perry adds with a shrug,

"Yes, the meeting doesn't start before twenty minutes."

A meeting about what? Nate has an inkling about the answer, and that's why the curiosity is tickling, or more exactly, pricking his stomach. Are they planning something? What will they talk about? Why now?

He knows these meetings are usual, yet he's always made sure to stay away, and now, he's regretting his cowardice as he's getting tangled closer than he could have ever imagined.

He isn't here for this though, and he quickly shakes his head and those useless questions to focus on his current mission.

"Okay, so I..." He pauses at the breathless and rushed echo of his voice, and under both men's expectant gazes, he forces himself to take in some oxygen and sits down, even if his legs are restless and his chest too tight.

"I want to apply for the archives supervisory mission." Another breath, and his fingers wrap around his compass pendant to stop any nervous movement that could give him away as he continues, "I know the deadline is today, but I was hoping it isn't too late?" More like praying, and as the colonel's thin gray eyebrows are lifting up, Nate is holding his breath like a convicted person waiting for his sentence. 

"Well, I'll gladly give you the assignment, as we still haven't found anyone, and we were thinking about opening the call to the newbies, but a trustworthy captain like you is much better for the security."

Nate could jump for joy right now or even hug the old colonel, and he's controlling himself to just formally nod, gripping his pendant tighter and feeling its warmth against his palm.

"But I have to warn you. The mission starts on Monday, so it means that if you accept this assignment, you can't do the special missions."

The special missions, Nate has completely forgotten them with everything that has happened in the past days. He's been waiting for them his whole life, but now, the idea of traveling away from his angel is impossible. He doesn't even remember why he's ever wished so much for this promotion. To be a hero? He doubts it will make him feel like one. He isn't sure he has the strength and even less the heart to wear this soldier uniform anymore.

"I understand if you prefer the special missions over this plain assignment," the colonel adds in front of his silence, even though he's far from imagining what's going on inside Nate's mind.

"No! No, I'm sure."

He's sure he wants Anastasia. He needs Anastasia to be safe and happy; that's the only thing he's sure of. But that, he can't tell them, and he has to think of some plausible excuse.

"It's well-paid, right?" He tries with a small smile, though he's conscious it isn't his best lie.

"That's what one of my old colleagues said before doing it once, and he's regretted it when he's realized how boring it was." The general shakes his head, letting out a dry sound that must be a chuckle. "For having done several special missions, I can tell it's much more interesting than a plain supervisory assignment."

Nothing is boring if you're with the right person, and Nate has a feeling this assignment can turn out really interesting.

"I know, but the special missions are often far, and it requires going away for long sometimes, and... we... we agreed with my wife that it would be too much." Luckily, he's getting used to coming up with fast and solid lies, and for once, he hasn't even used a 'Darrell' excuse. It seems believable as both men are nodding.

"Oh, thinking of family projects?"

Nate hasn't thought about this, but it's indeed a good lie, and he hopes he can hide the shock widening his eyes for a second. Starting a family... It has always been a distant concept. He knows he wants kids someday, yet the thought now only brings him images of little toddlers with blond curls running around with a determined frown.

"Yes, gotta think about the future..." At least, his reply to the colonel is the truth, and this future depends on his assignment.

"Okay, then if you're sure, I give you the assignment. I'll send you the schedule and the papers to sign tomorrow." The colonel clasps his hands together, and Nate fights the victorious grin tickling his lips.

The first step is done. Next one, he has to find a way to be there alone with Anastasia.

He walks out of the room with still no concrete plan, but a conquering state of mind, and as he holds his compass pendant, he has the unstoppable faith that he can win this fight.

***

Second step, Anastasia is walking slowly and carefully in the empty hallway, one hand still tight around her pendant. She should have taken it off by now, but it provides her some strength, and as crazy as it sounds, it makes her feel less alone to fight. Though she isn't supposed to face anyone, since it is the lunch break, and the only movement around is from the rotating security camera that she is eyeing attentively.

It is the most dangerous and merciless opponent, but after three minutes of observation, she has memorized the patterns it is following. She has exactly 50 seconds if she doesn't want to get caught on the camera, and as its lens is almost reaching the opposite corner, she takes a deep breath to calm the hammering of her heart. Yet like the three previous ones she has taken, it does nothing except postponing her plan of attack.

Every time, she is more paralyzed when she has to race to get to that door, and every time, the thought of running away and curling up in cozy arms is coming back stronger. But she can't. There are no strong arms open for her anymore, and she has no other choice. If she wants to pass her test; if she wants freedom, she has to fight for it, and that's why this time, she doesn't take the risk of breathing again when the security camera comes back to the same point. She rushes forward to the door. 

40 seconds, she tries for the handle, but of course, it is locked. It confirms that it's the right door, even though the fact that it's the only room without glass door or window letting peek the inside and the large sign 'Do not enter' are already pretty obvious. So her hands slide to her pockets, while the seconds are ticking inside her head.

30 seconds, it's easy to count, as her heart is going twice as fast. She easily pulls out two bobby pins, reminding herself to thank Molly for the tips she has given her to force a lock, if she makes it out alive, of course.

She tries to remember her advice carefully, while her shaky fingers are more used to typing pointless pleas than handling tools to break in. It has sounded easier when Molly has explained it, yet she is already grateful for the help because she knows Hadi would have never helped her. Besides, the advice is working; she can feel the pins pushing against the latch, and a rush of victory is starting to brew in her veins, ready to be triggered at the slightest click.

"What are you doing here?"

A snap indeed happens, but it is inside her chest at the sound of those words, those exact same words as three days ago, and with them, all the memories are unleashed. Every word, every second of that day is still replaying too clearly, and she isn't more sure of what she is doing, guided by a fire consuming her painfully inside. 

"Miss?"

Except that she doesn't know this voice, and it freezes the rush of boldness along with her blood. She is alone to fight now, and as she turns around slowly, she is reminded of how defenseless she is.

"You aren't allowed to be here." The middle-aged man is already condemning her through his glare, and the ringing in her ears is taking the blood-curdling sound of arrest sirens as she hopelessly tries to find back her lawyer reflexes and defend herself.

"I... um..." No word is coming out of her parted lips, no breath either. The excuses she has planned have vanished from her blank mind, although it isn't blank; it is dark and blurry, invaded by the same thick smoke as in her lungs.

She is a rebel now, and not as she has wished. She will be condemned like one, without fighting like one.

Her head is already falling in defeat, and her heart would surely follow if it wasn't paralyzed. 

"I'll repeat: why are you trying to enter this forbidden-access room?"

"Ana?! What are you doing here?" The familiar voice arises like a ray of light, clearing the smoke of her mind and pulling her out of her frozen state as she jerks her head up to the tall figure approaching. "I told you the restroom is down the hallway on the right."

In less than a second, Andy appears between Anastasia and the austere man, keeping a friendly smile but standing like a shield despite the five feet separating them.

"You know this woman?" The man points his narrowed eyes at Anastasia.

"Yes, Mr. Frost, she's my friend." Andy smiles at the man, who must be one of his superiors, before turning to Anastasia with a pointed look. "I told you on the right."

"My right or your right?" Anastasia plays along, gesturing both of her hands in the opposite directions, and from Mr. Frost's sigh, their act is visibly annoying him, yet also convincing him.

"Okay, okay, but can't she read the sign?"

"I've lost my contacts," Anastasia explains, finding back her lies with her clear mind. "That's why I'm looking for a restroom to put my other ones."

"Hmm." Mr. Frost narrows his eyes for one more second, during which she can feel the drops of cold sweat pearling down her back, but finally, he turns around and walks away.

They have won this battle, though Andy makes sure to continue their grand act. "My right or your right is the same–"

"Not when you're facing me like now..." Anastasia finally lets out the sigh of relief she has been holding for too long, her act dropping with it, when the man disappears behind a door on the other end of the hallway, and she offers Andy a small smile as she whispers, "Thank you, you saved me."

"Oh no, don't think you're out of trouble!"

Her attention hasn't even trailed back to the security camera and the still-locked door when Andy points to the opposite direction, and in front of his serious look, which she hasn't seen often in his caramel eyes, she can only let out another sigh, this time resigned.

"You owe me a good explanation." He leads her towards the familiar door of his office, though she still gives one last longing glance at the one behind, like a promise she will come back. She has to. She can't give up.

"So?" Andy asks as soon as they are in the safe confined space of his office. "And don't try to pull me a lie!" His index finger stops the wheels of her brain before she can even begin to search for a plausible excuse.

"Okay, I was really trying to open this door." She looks down, avoiding his gaze, as they both know what is behind that door.

She remembers that day, one of the few she has paid Andy a visit at his work, when he has shown her around the building. He has explained her mindlessly that it is the most important room where they keep the central computer, and none of them would have imagined he would find her trying to break into this exact room.

The law student who has always followed the rules of a few years ago doesn't exist anymore, and Andy sees it immediately, his unbending frown falling quickly into a compassionate expression.

"I know you're heartbroken and hurt, but acting recklessly isn't the solution."

"I'm not hur–" Even she can hear how unconvincing her cracking voice is, and she lets out another shaky sigh as if it would loosen the pressure inside her chest and behind her eyes.

She would have never thought it could hurt so much. The heartache is indescribable. A part of herself has been torn away, and she will never find it back in the emptiness. It doesn't fade, not even one second. No matter how much she tries to convince herself she is strong and everything she does to distract herself, it always comes back to hit her stronger.

Now, she understands why they have forbidden love. The pain is as intense as the happiness, and maybe it's the 51% of difference that makes it so sharp. They are too different...

49% haven't been enough. The last time she has been here she has already known, and the distress has already been there, a foreshadow of the one hitting her right now.

Though the biggest change is that then, she has been ashamed of breaking the law, and now, she has consciously stepped over the line. Maybe the Anastasia from that day doesn't exist anymore either.

It is the past, and she has to focus on the present.

"It's not about this." She lifts up her gaze to hold Andy's sorry one. "It's a test to join the rebels. If I don't put a flash drive in the central computer and hack their system, they won't let me join," she explains low, expecting Andy's eyes to look like saucers like the last time she has confessed her 'crimes'.

But except for the momentary rise of his eyebrows, he doesn't seem as shocked, and instead, a crease of worry is shadowing his eyes, something that doesn't resemble him, and it is a clear reminder of the seriousness of the situation.

"Is it really worth it?"

"Yes, it is for freedom, for you, for me, and for all the innocent lives taken away." Anastasia's frown doesn't falter either, and as she loosens her fist for the first time since she has been caught so close to break into the room, she realizes how hard she has been gripping the small bobby pin in her palm. She has hidden it with the strength of all her emotions, and she hasn't felt it, but the deep red mark and the drop of blood are the proof of their intensity.

"It is worth it," she whispers softly, making Andy sit down in reply, for once with no dramatic gesture.

It announces nothing good...

"There's an alarm on the computer and a password. Only the supervisors have it, and if you touch that computer, you'll trigger the alarm."

She's always right, though it is even worse than what she has expected.

"Can't you ask for another easier test?"

She gulps, taking a seat as well, while Hadi's disdainful gaze returns in a flashback, contrasting with Andy's worried eyes. "No, let's say the one who decides doesn't really like me..."

"How can people not like a pretty face like yours?" He pokes her nose from the other side of the small desk, and his excessive nature is quickly coming back, even if it isn't enough to pull a smile on Anastasia's face. "I'd like to have a talk with those 'people'!"

She barely has the strength to lift one corner of her mouth. "You can't force people to like or love me..."

They have already had a similar conversation where Andy has recklessly suggested fighting a certain Captain yesterday, not even afraid of having never thrown a punch in his life, except in his video games, and Anastasia has reminded him the same thing, after telling him how crazy and useless it is.

She must still be marked with Nathaniel's name all over her tired and tense features because Andy immediately understands and changes the subject.

"What's on that flash drive exactly?"

"From what I know, it's a virus that hacks the matchmaking application and freezes it, but only for a few hours because their encoding or something like that is easy to break." She isn't sure of using the right words, yet seeing a light switch on in Andy's eyes, she supposes that it's clear to him. 

"What if I told you I have another idea that could work?"

She jumps on her seat, looking almost stricken as the feeling of hope appears as surprising and foreign as lightning hitting inside these days, and she doesn't know how many skips her broken heart can handle as she asks breathlessly, "Really?"

"Yeah, you know the central computer is out of reach and too dangerous, but it only contains the algorithm. It's the other computers that are selecting and sending the information, and they're operating through a network." He starts tracing plans with his finger on the gray surface of his desk to make it clear, and she follows it carefully with her gaze.

It isn't that she isn't smart enough to understand, but her brain is a little too clouded, and the loud thuds of her heart are making it hard to focus.

"So if we managed to infect one computer and send it to the others, it would have the same effect."

"It's possible?" She doesn't dare to move, breathe, or even let her heart leap until she is sure because it sounds too good to be true.

"Yes, we just need to go through the firewall, but I can show you the manip." He shrugs as if it was the simplest and most normal thing in the world, and she finally allows the hope to invade her, almost jumping over the desk to hug him.

"You would?! You're the best!"

"I know I am." Even before he pulls away from the embrace, she can hear his smug grin, an expression that fits him so much better, while she keeps her furrowed eyebrows.

"You're sure it will have the same effect?" She has to ask, although she knows he is indeed the best genius with technology and the best friend. 

"It'll be even better because it'll be more spread out, which means it'll be a pain in the ass that I'll have to fix! So it's only because it's for you that I'd do it." He holds her gaze with a mix of seriousness and playfulness that only he can have to lighten the heavy mood. "And you'll owe me a ton of chocolate!"

"Two if it works!" She finally gives him a genuine smile, even if it's just a flash. "But first, we need to organize. Which computer can I use? Yours would be too risky."

Taking risks for herself is one thing, yet she can't drag down with her the people she cares about. What Andy is doing is already a lot.

"Right... How about the one in the entrance hall? It's easier to access, and there's a security camera, but if you wear a hood and I distract Mrs. Delgado, which will be easy because the old woman isn't insensitive to my charms." He flashes his eyebrows up to demonstrate his assets. "It can work."

"Okay, let's do it!"

"Not so fast." He pulls her back by the hand, making her frown come back as quickly. "We can't do that today when Mr. Frost has almost caught you breaking in. We'll do it tomorrow."

She has to recognize that he's right, and if even Andy has to be reasonable, it means it is necessary. It is a matter of life and death.

"Tonight we'll have a games night and eat our tons of chocolate." Andy's knowing glance falls on the pendant she is once again holding tightly, and before she can protest or come up with another lie to pretend she is fine, he adds, "And we'll plan everything for your 'mission'."

He surely knows her too well, and while some would need to mourn their broken heart over chocolates and moments with friends, he knows she needs to distract her brain and regain control over her life.

"I'll text Khloe to tell her to prepare everything."

"And I'll go get us some chocolates." She puts her small bobby pin back in her pocket, safely with the flash drive, but before heading for the door, she takes a deep breath for one last important thing.

"Thank you." Even if the words will never be enough, she pours all her thankfulness, all her emotions, and all the broken pieces of her heart into them.

"Don't thank me. But when you make your way in this 'club', try to get me a place too."

Her friend will never cease to leave her speechless, and she doesn't even have time to find back her words that Andy answers her unspoken question.

"There's no way I'll let my best friend risk her life alone. Plus, they surely need a hot technology genius!" He grins, although the seriousness of his first words doesn't go unnoticed.

"You're sure? You don't–"

"I'm sure since a long time." He holds her gaze with the same determination she has shown to Hadi and Molly. "I think it's time that I fight for freedom."

He has already passed his test, at least for her, as she offers him a hug and a smile in return, and she may still be broken, yet not being alone gives her a new strength to fight.

It looks like Nate and Ana are both fighting, and they aren't alone! 😉❤

Did you expect it would be Andy who would be saving Ana? Or did you think it would be someone else...? 😉

Speaking of this 'someone else'... Now that you got to see Nate's first reckless step of his impossible mission, do you have an idea what he's planning? 🤔😉🤭🤫

Let me know in the comments your suppositions and also your thoughts on this chapter, and like always, don't forget to vote ⭐ if you liked it! 😉

I'm so excited for what's to come in this story, and seeing your feedbacks makes me even more motivated!! So keep them going! I love you all 😘❤