39. Hannah
Hannah
For one tiny moment in the middle of the storm…everything feels still.
Not safe.
Not normal.
But still.
Clay’s forehead rests against mine while rain pours around us, and for the first time since this nightmare started, I can actually breathe.
Not because Sentinel disappeared.
Not because Wu stopped hunting us.
Because somebody finally chose me over the mission.
Over survival.
Over themselves.
My chest aches so hard it almost hurts.
Clay brushes his thumb gently across my cheek again.
“You with me?”
I nod.
Barely.
Because honestly?
Part of me is still back there in the tunnel with Avery.
Part of me is still eight years old and terrified and trying to survive whatever Sentinel turned us into.
But another part—
the stronger part now—
is here with him.
And somehow that changes everything.
Thunder rolls across the sky again.
This time I don’t flinch as hard.
Clay notices anyway.
Of course he does.
His arm tightens around my waist slightly.
Protective.
Always protective.
A strange warmth spreads through my chest at that.
Not fear.
Not conditioning.
Trust.
Gabriel suddenly coughs hard behind us.
Reality crashes back instantly.
Right.
We are still soaked, bleeding, hunted fugitives lying beside a river while an underground government nightmare tries to bury us alive.
Russ rises first, scanning the dark streets above the embankment.
“We need to move.”
Unfortunately true.
Lucas checks his weapon while Miles tries to wrap the little girl in a thermal blanket from his emergency pack.
Nora sits beside Eli beneath the bridge overhang, both of them looking shell-shocked.
Like they still can’t fully process having names again.
Gabriel slowly pushes himself upright.
The second he moves too fast, pain flashes across his face.
I notice immediately.
Doctor brain overrides emotional meltdown automatically.
“You’re hurt.”
Gabriel gives me a tired look.
“I’m alive.”
“Sit down.”
That surprises him.
Probably because little sisters ordering him around apparently survived memory suppression too.
Clay smirks slightly beside me.
Oh no.
He noticed that.
Gabriel notices the smirk too.
His eyes narrow instantly.
“You’re enjoying this.”
“Little bit.”
I almost laugh.
Almost.
The sound feels strange in my chest after tonight.
Gabriel mutters something under his breath and sits anyway while I move toward him.
Clay follows immediately.
Of course he does.
I kneel in front of Gabriel carefully and pull his soaked tactical jacket aside.
Bullet graze.
Bruised ribs.
Possible shoulder strain from the river.
Nothing fatal.
Thank God.
“You saved Eli,” I murmur while checking his shoulder.
Gabriel watches me quietly for a second.
Then:
“You used to try saving everybody.”
The words hit harder than they should.
Because suddenly another memory flickers—
me patching up scraped knees in a dim underground room while Gabriel sat beside me handing me bandages stolen from medical storage.
My throat tightens instantly.
“You stayed with me.”
Gabriel’s expression softens.
“Always.”
Emotion crashes into me so fast I nearly lose it again.
Clay’s hand settles against the back of my neck gently.
Grounding me.
Keeping me here.
Gabriel notices immediately.
Not jealous.
Not angry.
Relieved.
Like some part of him spent years terrified I’d never have anyone safe again.
Russ suddenly turns sharply toward the street above us.
“Vehicle.”
Everybody goes still instantly.
Weapons come up. Thank God their weapons weren’t ripped away in the flood. Clay rises in one smooth motion, placing himself between me and the road automatically.
The headlights sweep briefly across the rain-soaked embankment.
Too slow for patrol.
Too quiet for police.
Gabriel’s face hardens immediately.
“Sentinel.”
Fear slices through me instantly.
Wu.
Already moving again.
Already hunting us.
The SUV stops above the embankment.
Doors open.
Footsteps.
Heavy.
Organized.
Russ motions sharply.
“Under the bridge. Move.”
Everybody disappears beneath the concrete overhang fast.
Clay keeps one arm around my waist while we crouch behind broken support pillars near the riverbank.
Rain crashes against the river hard enough to blur visibility.
Good.
Maybe enough to hide us.
The footsteps stop above us.
Then a calm familiar voice cuts through the storm.
“Hannah.”
Ice floods my veins instantly.
Wu.
Dear God.
He sounds completely composed.
Like none of tonight rattled him at all.
Like Avery didn’t die.
Like children didn’t remember.
Like he didn’t lose control.
Clay’s entire body goes rigid beside me.
Gabriel quietly chambers another round into his rifle.
Wu continues calmly from above the embankment.
“You are frightened right now. That’s understandable.”
I hate that voice.
That calm.
That fake gentleness.
It makes my skin crawl.
“You’ve experienced severe memory destabilization and emotional overload,” Wu says smoothly. “Your judgment is currently compromised.”
Clay leans closer to my ear.
“Don’t listen to him.”
Too late.
Not because I believe Wu.
Because part of me remembers believing him once.
And that terrifies me.
Wu’s voice softens further.
“Sentinel can still help you.”
Gabriel actually laughs quietly beside me.
Cold.
Dangerous.
“Still selling poison.”
Wu ignores him.
“Hannah, the others with you are not equipped to handle what you are becoming.”
Clay’s hand tightens around mine.
“What does that mean?” I whisper.
Nobody answers.
That silence scares me more than Wu’s words.
Wu continues.
“Your recall acceleration will worsen now that reintegration has begun.”
Migraines.
Flashbacks.
Memory fractures.
My pulse spikes.
Wu knows it.
“Soon you will begin experiencing overlap episodes.”
Russ mutters:
“What the hell is that?”
Wu answers calmly.
“Past and present memory convergence.”
Oh no.
He means hallucinations.
Disorientation.
Breaks from reality.
Wu’s voice lowers.
“You were never meant to recover your full memory set without stabilization protocols.”
Clay’s arm tightens around me immediately.
Protective.
Steady.
But fear curls low in my stomach anyway.
Because what if he’s telling the truth about that part?
Wu takes another slow step somewhere above us.
“I can stop the damage, Hannah.”
“No,” Gabriel says sharply.
Wu’s tone cools slightly.
“You are emotionally contaminating her judgment again.”
Gabriel’s entire face darkens.
“She’s my sister.”
Silence.
Then Wu says the most horrifying thing yet.
“She stopped being your sister the day we rebuilt her.”
My stomach drops.
Clay moves instantly.
Pure instinct.
He rises from cover with his weapon up before anybody can stop him.
“Clay—” Russ hisses.
Too late.
Clay steps out into the rain beneath the bridge, fury radiating off him like heat.
Wu stands at the top of the embankment beside black SUVs and armed Sentinel operatives.
Calm.
Untouched.
Like a king surveying damage.
Then Clay says quietly—
“If you ever talk about her like she’s property again…”
The storm rumbles overhead.
Rain pours down his face.
And even from here I can see the murder in his eyes.
“…I’ll bury you so deep nobody will ever find the body.”