Hi all, I'm back!! I'd just like to thank you all for sticking with me, but I also have something important to say here. If you actually live in London, or anywhere in England and you're rolling your eyes because something that one of the characters from The Torch are saying things that wouldn't normally be said over there, or if it would be phrased differently please send me a PM (not a comment in the chapter, but a PM. I want to get these things as close to accurate as I can, so if something doesn't seem right, just send me a message and let me know. I'll do my best to try and fix it. thank you so much.

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My heart was pounding so hard that I could feel as well as hear the beating in my ears. Like my eardrums were going to the same beat. She knew that I hadn't done my best, she had the proof right there on camera. I couldn't believe that I hadn't thought of something like this happening. 

I didn't know what to do, I couldn't think straight, I couldn't speak, I was completely frozen in place. My eyes were wide in horror staring straight into the eyes of Steele. I'd been caught and I had no idea how things were going to go from this moment out. It was a crapshoot on what the result would be. My only hope was that if things went south, I had the skills to make it out alive and back to Jared. 

When faced with this now, I was glad that I had given into him that morning. I'd left him with his one wish, I'd given him the thing he'd wanted since we'd started this new life. If that was the last thing I could do for him-

"Well, Jacobson?" Steele said sternly. Her mouth pulled into a frown and Isaac was looking at me quizzically. He had no idea what was going on, the only one out of the loop. 

"I...I"

"You what? Think carefully, because we don't take well to liars or traitors. We brought you into our family here. We thought you'd be a valuable asset, and that we could help supply you with guidance. If we were wrong, let us know now. You may still have the chance to walk out of here. If you're trying to cross us though..." She didn't finish, leaving her threat open-ended, which didn't go unnoticed. 

I could see a deadly look in her eye. It was something that I'd seen in Klarke, only with Steele it was more prominent. Klarke was cold, calculative, manipulative, but somehow the look in Steele's gaze was ten times worse. 

"My name isn't Eliza Jacobson," I whispered. 

I wanted to kick myself for speaking up, but at this point I didn't see any other choice. I could try to run for it, but chances were that either of them could stop me before I got to the door. Even if by some miracle I made it to the door before them, it could be locked. Even if it weren't locked, there were people all throughout this facility and there was no way I would make it outside. Steele would have people on me before I made it back to the sparring room. 

"Then what is your name?" I couldn't judge her tone, and I couldn't bring myself to look into her eyes. I couldn't bring myself to look at anyone because these next words would be just as much of a shock to them as it had been to me when I found out the names of a few operatives working within these very walls. 

"My name is Electra Jaeger and I'm from The Organization in the United States."

Everything went so fast I didn't have time to process until the chair I was sitting in was leaning on its back legs and there was a firm grasp around my throat. I was forced to look into the dark eyes of Steele. I couldn't see anything past her face. I had no idea where Isaac was, how he'd taken the news, or if he'd even heard me. 

"What are you doing here? Why did they send you?"

I wasn't sure I could speak with her hand constricting my airway. I stretched my neck trying to find some way to open the passage and suck in more air but nothing helped. 

"I--I wasn't sent here." I paused trying to pull in more air to speak. "I ran away. They tried to kill me." It wasn't entirely true, but it also wasn't entirely a lie, and that's what I was best at. 

Steele's hand started to loosen, but I wasn't sure if it was because she believed me or because she realized it wouldn't be long until I passed out. My lungs burned as I brought in a large breath and I felt the oxygen start to run through my blood. 

"Why would they be after one of their own?" Steele asked. 

I sat there for a moment, rubbing the place where her hand had been wrapped around my throat to give myself time to formulate a response. I couldn't let her know about Jared. I didn't care how accepting they were about supernaturals, there was no way I would voluntarily give them that information. 

"We had a disagreement on our approach in hunting," I said carefully. 

"Which was?"

"They wanted to kill every creature, no questions asked, and I started to wonder if maybe they--we--were going about things all wrong. I started to wonder if not all humans are good or evil, then maybe the same went for them as well. They didn't like that idea."

"The Americans were never one for that sort of thing. Reason. It's like it's beneath them," she scoffed. 

For the first time, I broke my gaze from Steele and saw Isaac sitting at the table at the far end, as far as he could be from me while sitting. His eyes were fixed on the ground and I wondered if the same thoughts I'd had when I'd discovered his heritage were what he was experiencing then. 

"Your boyfriend that came with you?" She prompted. 

"Is exactly who it says he is." I was starting to get into the dangerous waters now. I didn't know how well versed in the art of lying they were, and I didn't want to get caught. "He is clueless as to what's going on here."

Steele nodded and I saw Isaac's head move up slightly. I could see his eyes. They looked blank as if he weren't actually in the room with us. 

"I'll be back in a moment," she said as she stood from the table. Steele made her way out of the room, the door shutting with a click that echoed off the walls around Isaac and me.

"Isaac, I-"

"We're related." It was all he said, as he finally looked at me. 

"I guess we are."

"You knew we were related, and you never said anything."

"Believe me, it was just as much a shock to me as it was to you. Trying to pretend like I was learning after that bombshell was dropped was impossible."

"Were you even really fighting me in there?" He asked. 

My head tilted to the side. "What are you talking about?"

"When we were sparring. Were you even trying your best? You're a Jaeger. You've been doing this for years, was that really your best?"

"I've only been doing this for almost five years actually, and it was almost my best. You're just really good," I offered with a half smile, trying to lighten the mood. It apparently didn't work. 

"Electra-"

"Please don't call me that," I said quietly. 

"Why not?"

"Because that name holds too much power Electra Jaeger holds too many memories. It's a weight I just can't bear."

"You know that our ancestor who started the Jaeger hunting line wasn't originally a Jaeger, right?" I wasn't entirely sure where Isaac was going with this. It seemed a sudden change. "He'd chosen Jaeger because it meant 'hunter'. He figured that it would be a sign of a strong lineage. As you just said, names hold so much power. It's amazing what the act of naming something can do."

He was looking at the ground again, lost in thought. 

"I'm not sure if you study lineage over in America as much as we do. I've been learning about our line since I was small, before I even started learning how to do any of this. The power of a name can do great things. It turned a hunting line that would have been mediocre into one that was thriving near the top. We were a secondary founding family no matter what, but we had started to compete at a level with the founders."

Isaac nodded his head absentmindedly. 

"What I find most interesting though, is your choice of alias."

"Why's that?" I asked, my voice just a breathy whisper, barely audible to even myself. 

"Because the name our line was born with was Jacobson." His eyes locked on mine then and a shiver went down my spine. 

I wasn't sure what it meant. I'd somehow picked the name our line had been before we'd become a force to reckon with in the world of supernaturals. 

"It could just be a coincidence,"Isaac said. 

"But there's no such thing as coincidence," I replied, echoing the words I'd heard not just my father say, but my mother as well when we were children. My siblings and I had heard the phrase constantly and it was something we'd lived by. As the world of the paranormal opened up to us, it became even clearer how unlikely a coincidence actually was. 

The door opened and Steele came back in. 

"There's no record of you anywhere," she said. 

"Of course there isn't," I replied. "The Organization keeps all members off record. We're moved around constantly, and with what we do, they want us to remain anonymous."

"You were enrolled in school, weren't you?"

"I was."

"There's no record of that."

"That's because it was all paper. Klarke has her ways. You're not going to find anything online about me, my family, or any other hunter in America."

"I should report you back to your faction."

"Is it even really a faction if they've gone off on their own completely?"

"Unfortunately in their line of work they're still linked with us. It is good to know that they've dropped our name though."

"Anonymity," was all I said. 

Steele just scoffed. 

"If you report me to them, they're going to come for me. I have no idea what they'll do if they get their hands on me. I'm not one for begging, but please don't do that. I can't stand their values. I can't stand the person they turned me into. I've ki-" I cut myself off not wanting to say anything more. 

"I won't turn you over. Currently, the people in this room are the only ones who know about this. If you want it to stay this way, then I suggest you keep up your act. Your scores were good enough to get you into the field. How good of a shot are you?" She asked. 

"I hit every place I aimed."

"Good. You'll be in the field. I'm going to keep Jaeger with you. If you want to keep this going here, you better keep up your charade. If Klarke finds out who you are and who we're keeping you from, it will all be over."

My eyes went wide at the mention of Klarke. "Klarke is here?"

"Not the same one unless your Klarke went by the first name of Roland," she said. That was most certainly not the Klarke I'd been running from. "Klarke is the only person above me. They want a founder at the top, not some unknown," she scoffed. 

I could tell there was a bit of resentment there, which probably helped my case. Steele wanted to go behind Klarke's back anyway she could. 

"As long as you keep it up, and no one in here breathes a single word about it, everything will be fine. You'll go on as Eliza Jacobson, our new operative. If things take a turn for the worse, I'm claiming no knowledge. Do you understand?"

I nodded my head and Steele gave a final look at both Isaac and me before putting her hand on the door. "You'll receive an assignment on your way out. Make sure you're prepared for it." Steele left then, leaving me with Isaac. 

He just started shaking his head. "I can't believe that you didn't say anything sooner."

"If you were on the run from an organization, but went into a different area, would you willingly tell them who you really were?"

"That's another thing. If you were on the run from them, then why didn't you leave when we showed up that night in the alley?"

"Oh... I uh meant to be found by you. I went out that night hoping that someone would show up."

"That's bloody insane. Why on earth would you do something like that?"

I looked at the wall for a moment before meeting Isaac's eyes. "Because I was hoping to get weapons in case my boyfriend and I ever had to leave. In the United States it's easy to get them. You can go to a pawn shop for crying out loud and get a gun. That's not exactly the case here."

"So you were trying to use us to get weapons."

"At first I was. Then I realized that you were different than the system I'd been brought into back home. I wanted to stay, I just didn't want to do anything that brought attention to myself. That's why I threw the exams."

"You put quite a bit of thought into this didn't you?"

"Apparently not enough," I mumbled. 

"I'd like to see what you're really like on the range. Wanna have a little competition?" I think he was trying to lighten the mood a bit. A strong feat after all the information that had spilled out in the past hour or so. 

I shrugged and stood up. "Sure."

We made our way through the labyrinth of halls and back to the room that contained the weapons and targets. We went over to the wall and grabbed our choice of gun and loaded them. 

"We don't actually get to take the weapons home you know," Isaac said. 

"That doesn't seem smart."

"They keep them regulated. We may get them for hunting, but once we leave these walls and we're not on a job, we're just like other civilians."

"But what if a job follows you home? What if you're home alone without any weapons, completely vulnerable and some creature, say a vampire who wants revenge because you killed someone they knew? Then what do you do?"

"It's never really happened, at least not that I can recall in the past twenty-three years."

"That's stupid though. Just because it hasn't happened doesn't mean that it can't. Don't you focus on preparedness for any situation?" I snapped everything into place and took the small box with me as we moved over to the target. 

"It's worked so far," Isaac said with a shrug as we set up at the line.

"That doesn't mean it won't get you killed in the future," I said. "Head then heart."

I took aim first at the head, directly between what would be the eyes. I fired off two shots before moving over what would be the heart, emptying the rest of the bullets there. 

Isaac nodded in approval and went for the same shots I'd taken. When we walked down the line to the target we examined our own targets. I'd done better by one shot. 

"Not bad, Jacobson." I'd noticed his slight pause before saying the name I now went by. I hoped that it wouldn't become a habit, or a problem. 

We did a few more rounds before we finished up for the day. When I looked at the clock, it was nearly four in the afternoon. Isaac had tried to get me to spar with him again, determined to figure out if he'd actually win against me, or if he'd only won earlier because I had let him. I knew that he would have beaten me all the same, he most likely would have given Durin a run for his money as well. I'd told him just as much, but he hadn't taken me at my word. Not that I could really blame him entirely when I'd lied about basically everything since meeting him in that alley. In the end though, it had been late and I'd told him I needed to get back to my boyfriend. 

After putting the gun and box of ammunition away, I gave Isaac a wave and headed out, coming face to face with Steele in the hallway. 

"I didn't think you'd still be here," she said. 

"Jaeger wanted to have a do over on my aim. Decided to make it a little contest."

She nodded silently, about to pass me.

"Actually, I have a question, ma'am."

"What's that?"

"You see, my boyfriend and I are currently living in an hotel. We were talking about getting a car, but you sort of need a permanent address for that. We don't exactly have the right documents for that though. If I'm staying here with The Torch, do you think it would be possible to get something worked out so we can get an apartment in the area or something?" I was mentally crossing my fingers. I wasn't sure if they'd actually be able to do anything, but it never hurt to ask. The worst she could say was that there was nothing they could do for us.

"I'll talk to some people to see if something can't be worked out. Nothing will happen immediately though."

"Thank you, ma'am," I said as I tried not to jump up and down with excitement. 

I passed the check point that was stationed at the entrance on my way out. The man standing behind the scanner's screen looked at my name tag and handed me a sealed envelope which most likely had my next assignment inside. 

"Jacobson, wait up!" Isaac called from down the hall. He jogged up to me and gave the guard a brief nod as we walked out together. "Can I give you a ride back?" 

I was a little surprised that he was already cool with the whole thing. It had taken me quite a bit of time to adjust to the news that we'd been related. Then again I'd gone to a completely different country and had been unaware that their set up was fairly similar in terms of families. 

"Sure. I'm going to a pub that's just a few blocks away from the hotel. I think that's where my boyfriend is at, and I need a good drink after today."

"Fair enough," Isaac chuckled. "You know, I didn't say this before, but I think American accents are so cool."

I scoffed at that. "Well I think that British accents are cool."

"Then you must be in heaven," Isaac said with a huge grin as he turned the key and the engine of the car roared to life. 

We rolled to a stop in front of the pub and I thanked Isaac for the ride, telling him I'd see him the next day. He pulled away and I crossed the street. I could see Jared inside talking to someone. I couldn't tell with the glare in the window, but it looked like the guy who'd been in the pub when I'd stormed out on him and gotten plastered. The one who'd given Jared a nod when he'd walked in. Jared caught sight of me in the window and turned back to the guy he was talking to. 

When I got inside, he started to walk away from the table and toward me, but not before I had seen that the man sitting there was in fact the same man from that day. 

"Friend of yours?" I asked as we made our way to our own table. 

"You could say that I suppose."

"Here you are, making friends already," I said with a smile. 

Jared went over and ordered me a drink, coming back with two in his hand. He set it down in front of me and I took a sip. 

"I've got some interesting news and some good news. Which would you like first?" I asked. 

"I'd like whatever won't put me on edge," he said with a knowing look. 

"So the good news then," I said with a smile that I knew was just a little too much. "I talked to Steele and she said that she would see what she could do about getting us a place. We don't have the right documents to get ourselves something right now, but through The Torch we might be able to work something out. Hopefully we won't have to be in that blasted hotel too much longer." I'd made sure to speak quietly so no one around would hear us. The place was fairly busy, but no one was around us, and everyone was noisy on their own. They most likely weren't paying attention to a couple talking in a corner. 

"That's great. When will you know?"

"I don't know. She said she would look into it, but she said not to expect anything to happen too fast. How are we doing on money to stay in our room?"

"We're fine on that front. Alex put money in and even with renting the car we're okay."

"Good."

"So what's this interesting news then?" Jared asked. 

"Are you sure you want me to tell you right now? We're out in public and we're having such a good time. I mean, we're not arguing, we're not stressed out, do you really want to ruin that?"

"Is what you have to say going to ruin that?"

I shrugged and took another sip. "I don't know. It all depends on how you take it. Everything worked out fine in the end."

"Then I'm sure it will be fine now. Just tell me, Eliza." 

"Steele and one other person know about me."

"They know about you..." he trailed off. 

I glanced around before looking back at Jared. "They know that my 'E' and 'J' stand for something else," I whispered. 

Jared's eyes went wide. "How much did you tell them?" I could feel the tension as his hand clenched around the handle of the mug he had. 

"They know everything about me. Only me though, that's all I told them." I reassured him that they were going to keep quiet and that as far as the rest of The Torch knew, I was Eliza Jacobson with a human boyfriend. 

"What if you get caught in the lie about me though?" Jared asked pointedly. 

"We can hope that it doesn't come to that, but if it does, just don't act like a homicidal werewolf and theoretically it should all be good."

I could tell that he was uneasy and that had been why I'd wanted to wait until we were back at the hotel to talk to him about it. It was out now though, and he couldn't do or say much about any of it while we were out in public. Jared was ready to go though. He wanted to get out of there, he wanted to talk about it. 

"Did you walk?"

Jared nodded and I stood up. 

"I know you're ready to go, and I've had a long day. I'd like to get back to the room." 

Jared stood as well and we started to weave through the people and out onto the busy sidewalk. After taking a few steps in the direction of our hotel, I tucked the envelope with my instructions under my arm and reached my hand out grabbing his and crossed my other arm, placing that hand on his arm. He looked down at me for a moment and I could feel some of the tension seep from him. I smiled slightly and rested my head on his arm for a moment as we made our way back. 

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Sorry for the long break, but I had quite a few deadlines. I was sending in a query letter that had a time line, I sent in an entry to a contest, and had a few other things I had to do. I have some exciting news coming up shortly though. 

Also, I have an idea for a new story, but I haven't decided if I should post it on this profile or on Linna1029. So yeah. Thanks everyone for sticking around. I should be back soon with another chapter!

Let me know what you thought about this one in the comments. I love hearing your thoughts. I read them all even if I don't respond to every single one of them. Thank you all so much for all you do! :) 

Much love

Red