Epilogue – Zeth
Epilogue
Zeth
I wait in the corridor for a few moments longer. Captain Holt looks up, catches my eye, and gives me a small nod. I open the door and step inside.
“I’m sure you’ll get used to working with a partner quickly enough,” Holt is saying. “You’ve been a lone wolf for too long. Here he is, now.” He gives me a bright smile.
Rhea sighs and turns in her chair toward me. The moment she sees me, her jaw drops. She stares at me for a full minute, her mouth open, but no words come out. I can’t help myself. I chuckle and walk forward, placing the coffee cup on the table in front of her.
“Just as you like it,” I say.
I wink at her and pull out the chair next to hers. I sit down and turn to face her.
“Ready for our next mission, partner?”
“No. No!” She looks between me and Holt. “But how? Zeth, you work for Monster Security Agency!”
Captain Holt grins. “Zeth applied with the FBI a month ago, and we thought, why not? He’s a great asset and he’s already proven himself.”
Rhea’s bewilderment transforms into a wide smile that spreads across her face. She looks at me with gratefulness but also hunger. It’s subtle, just a flash in her eyes, but I know her well enough now to catch it. I know exactly what that look means.
Captain Holt clears his throat and stands up.
“I’ll let you two talk.”
He walks out of the conference room and closes the door behind him.
Rhea and I stare at each other for a moment, then she laughs and punches me playfully in the shoulder.
“You! Why did you keep this a secret? All this time, you were training with the FBI, and I thought you were going to work.”
“Well, technically it was still work,” I say. “I wanted to surprise you.”
“I can’t believe you quit the MSA. You know, the pay is shit compared to what you made as a bodyguard.”
I shrug. “I don’t care. I have plenty put aside. We can move to a bigger apartment if you want.”
Rhea gave me the key to her apartment the night I went to her with roses and told her everything. Since then, I’ve been living with her and we’ve been inseparable. We even went on vacation together.
“Now I can protect you properly,” I say. “Day and night. We’ll do all missions together, and I will never allow you to get hurt.”
Rhea squeezes my hand as she wraps her other hand around the coffee cup.
“Thank you. This is the best surprise. Honestly, I was a little worried about going on the next mission without you.”
“I know.”
She rolls her eyes at me.
“Of course you do. You’re listening to my thoughts when I’m not paying attention, aren’t you?”
I bite my lip and look down at our entwined fingers.
“Maybe?”
She chuckles and takes a sip of coffee.
“Mm... This is good.”
Then she leans over and pecks me on the cheek. I’m surprised she’s so close and intimate with me seeing how we’re at work. But our relationship is not a secret, since it was in both our interests to divulge it to Rhea’s boss.
“You’re good to me,” she adds. “And we’re good together.”
I grin at her, then pull the folder that’s on the table toward me. I open it, and we both start reading.
THE END
Monster Security Agency
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Thing of Ruin
US | UK | AU | CA
Born in a dungeon so deep that the sky, the grass, and the sea are just myths.
He has no name, only what they call him: Construct-XII. His memories, his fears and nightmares are not his own, and his hands know skills he never learned. He is a collection of parts that came from dead men.
When a fire burns it all to the ground, he finds himself alone and disoriented in a world too vast. His sudden freedom is torture.
He does what he must to secure a place in a prison cell, the constriction of four walls the only thing that gives him comfort.
He’d rather waste away than live. It’s what he deserves.
He saw the humans outside and how they react to him. He’s an abomination.
Then one night, a new prisoner is thrown into the cell next to his. Instead of screaming, like all the others, she sings.
She sings, and he wants to sing with her.