An explosion took down an entire skyscraper up, in the Hovering Hive—but Sky didn't even hear the blast or the subsequent fall. It was all just a muffled series of thunders in his ears after what Kovak had told him over the phone.

"Sky, Kovak's right," Hazel whispered in a broken voice, her arms crossed over her chest awkwardly as the chilly night breeze hit her skin. The call had long ended, the phone resting in her hand. "It's not what we wanted to hear, I get it. But-"

"He's not right!" Sky complained with his fists clenched and trembling. "It's what's... convenient."

Beneath the shimmering moonlight, Hazel sighed with discomfort and then pressed her lips into a thin line.

His neck was tense as he paced up and down before her. "It would be convenient just to... get rid of Haywire now that he's transformed into a monster. That's his point!" His angry voice surged from inside him like lava from a volcano.

"I know, but..." she said, coming closer to him as the breeze combed her long hazel hair behind her shoulders. "Would you kill him if he attacked you? If you had no other choice, I mean."

Holding his breath, Sky hesitated. His jaw clenched as he stared deeply into her eyes.

"If your life was at stake, would you let him kill you? Or would you kill him?" she insisted. "Because, the next time you meet, there will be no other outcome, Sky. You have to know before going."

"I..." His lower lip trembled as he stared at her.

She held his hands with hers in a slow, spoon-like movement and caressed them gently. The soft rustling of leaves and the distant hum of the engines which provided electricity to the hydroponics lab could be heard when the deafening sounds of explosions subsided.

"I'd try to immobilise him," he whispered with unborn tears in his bright eyes. "Sedate him. Anything but murdering my best friend. I can't do it."

"Oh, Sky..." She scoffed softly and massaged her temple. "He tried to eat you. He tried to bring down the lab's walls by charging against them. He's... different."

Her eyes became two pools of motherly care and understanding. Her facial expression softened as she gently tilted her head.

"He's changed too much. If you insist on having him immobilised or sedated," she whispered with dread, "we'll have to keep him in a coma for as long as he's like that, then. Kovak said there is no antidote. So, how long do you think this arrangement can last? Would that be even worth it?"

A nervous smile appeared on his lips, only to vanish awkwardly as he stammered the beginning of a word he didn't dare turn into a sentence. I know what you mean, Hazel, but...

Their fingers interlaced, creating a warm connection that spoke of understanding and affection. As the symphony of war thundered in the sky, they brushed against one another's skin, tracing careful patterns of longing and affection.

Then, Sky's eyes, then two deep pools of insecurity and worry, locked onto Hazel's with intensity. His body was stiff, aching to be free of tension.

"Would that be worth it, you ask?" He scoffed. "Fuck me if I know."

"Sky..."

He carefully drew little circles with his thumbs on the back of her hands. "Anything to buy time until we find a way to cure him," he whispered back.

He pressed his lips into a thin line, and then he chuckled.

"I've always wanted to give my body to science, you know. So, if I die, give one of my middle fingers to Kovak, will you? And then, find some other expert to find a cure for Haywire."

Hazel made a funny clicking noise with her tongue and briefly shook her head. "Sky..."

"I mean it."

"Sure you do." She sighed inaudibly. "We need to think of a good rescue plan. Let's sit down inside and brainstorm some ideas. I can't concentrate with all these loud explosions above us."

They entered the hydroponics lab, closed the doors behind them, and headed for the improvised tent she made at the far back near the bathroom. With the song of death and destruction muffled behind those doors, the world seemed to momentarily fade away. The fresh scent of vegetables filled their nostrils as they walked on by.

The soft peachy hue of the star-shaped light on the table eased Sky's tension a bit as they sat on the floor and leaned their backs on the stretcher's legs.

"Let's face it," Hazel whispered with uneasiness after a long moment of silence. "Whatever we decide, it's gonna be tough. We've been dealt a shitty hand in life, I guess."

"Life was never meant to be easy," he concluded, his eyes unfocused far ahead.

"No. It's not always rainbows and unicorns, but-"

"There's no way, is there?" he asked, interrupting her. He bit his lower lip as his eyes went brighter with the promise of tears. "You're trying to tell me I'll have to kill him, aren't you?"

She opened her mouth but hesitated.

He stared at the wristband that formerly was his father's and toyed with the phoenix charm with trembling fingers. "I can't kill my best friend."

"I know," she whispered in a bittersweet voice.

They locked each other's gazes for a long moment. Hazel opened her mouth to speak, but Sky was faster.

"Are you going to offer yourself to do it in my place? Forget it."

"No, that would be awful. It would probably make things even more complicated."

"Then, why do I get the feeling you're trying to force me to make up my mind?"

"Because we have to take action, Sky. Like it or not, we can't stay here and do nothing about it. He's your best friend. So, you should decide what to do. Honest to God, I'd love to hide you here forever, believe me. Take you away from trouble altogether. But I don't think that's a realistic possibility here. We will need to come out sooner or later and confront the war out there, the people and the phoenixes involved in it—including Haywire—if he's still alive and not sent to Mrs Evergreen's suicide mission yet."

"And my mother, probably," he added, sinking his hands in his hair.

"Yes."

"Without my aunt."

"Well, Kovak said..." she began in a hopeful tone.

"Kovak can go fuck himself!" he yelled with clenched fists.

Hazel froze with wide eyes.

"Sorry," he whispered. "You didn't deserve that."

"Maybe I do," she whispered back.

Her soft reply met with the appalled look on his face as his eyes aimed at hers with incredulity.

"Because I believe he's capable of doing things the right way—for once," she explained. "Give him a chance."

He dropped his arms on either side of him and frowned. "Oh, come on."

"I was a git, remember? Did I deserve a chance? Probably not, yet you were kind to me."

Touché.

"Anyway, he promised he'd find a way to take care of her current problem. I know he can be sketchy, but I think he'll help her somehow."

He tilted his head to one side and said with a funny undertone, "He ended the call and left us hanging before we could ask him how he was gonna do that, in case you don't remember."

She nodded. "Which makes you suspicious of him."

"Among other things, yes." He stared at the floor between his feet with a stern face.

"Agreed. The man is shady as fuck. I guess that might've been the reason not to tell him that your body has also got the Lifebringer in it."

"He already knows too much."

"But he's resourceful." She shrugged her shoulders. "Got to hand it to him. He could very well save your aunt."

"I really really hope so." The way he stressed that word confirmed the little faith Sky had in the older man. "Depending on a stranger with his own agenda to save my aunt. If only I knew where she was taken to save her myself! Dang it."

"I understand why you're unwilling to trust him. But he's not really a stranger—to your aunt."

He grunted softly. "Let's focus on what needs to be done, okay?" Running a hand through his long, green fringe, his mind reeled. "He said he needs us to infiltrate Anti-Ageing Inc.'s headquarters and plant a bug in the system. How do we do that now that Endurance is no longer messing with the Internet and all electrical systems?"

"With my trustworthy Swiss army knife... and your brain, genius." She pointed her forefinger at his forehead, smiling.

"You think I can pull anything off, just like a magician pulls a rabbit from a hat, don't you?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"I don't know. Maybe." She shrugged her shoulders. "Don't you?"

"It's not that easy." He sighed. His eyes got cloudy. "It was easier when I still believed that my worth depended on whether or not I got into the academy and made my mother proud. Ignorance made me naïve. Too blind to see reality, but eager to push forward and try harder. When the spell broke, so to speak, I..." He chuckled.

"You what?"

"When I started to excel, and my mother and Mrs Evergreen showed their true colours, I was so disillusioned, so angry and frustrated, so... betrayed that now I no longer think it's worth it. All that effort. It was all for nothing, for the most part. Only to get all taken from me so that a greedy and power-hungry Mrs Evergreen can benefit from my talent without my consent."

"Damn." She bit her lower lip. "But you should be proud of what you have achieved so far. Don't let other people define your worth."

"Maybe you're right." His tone lacked conviction. He sighed.

"Like the time-skipping wristwatch. If I don't get it back asap, Mrs Evergreen might use it—and then, I'll lose it all."

"How?"

"Only the person wearing the watch can remember what happened when travelling back in time, so that events can be changed according to what they might want. I set it right before I hit Haywire with my sonic gun, before he became my friend."

"Oh, no. Can the point in time be reset? Like erasing the settings or-"

"Yes, the green button does that, but I need to get my hands on it to do so." He stared ahead with furrowed brows.

"Either way, we must face her in person."

"If Endurance kills her after we plant the bug," he said with bright eyes, "we might have a chance to sneak in and grab it."

Her eyes went open wide with dread. "But the place will be full of dangerous machines obeying Endurance's orders—and he also wants you dead, remember?"

"Do you think we can strike a deal?" He raised an eyebrow.

"After giving him access to kill his greatest enemy?" She scoffed. "I don't think he's even gonna thank you for that, much less give you what you want. If anything, he would seize this opportunity to kill you, too." She put a hand on his arm and whispered lovingly, "Sky, don't go in there."

"I have to," he insisted. "I could rescind his access once the job is done. Then, I can enter Mrs Evergreen's private chambers and look for my watch."

"Are you sure this will work?"

"If the bloody AI doesn't install a back door, yes." A nervous smile danced on his lips. "Otherwise, I'm fucked."

"What's a back door?"

"Broadly speaking, a digital way to access a system remotely, regardless of any security measures, and seize control of it."

"Can you be sure Endurance doesn't install one?" she asked, with a warning tone, as if she already knew the answer.

"Nope."

"Then, you can't go!" she whisper-shouted with clenched fists. "You'd be risking your life! It's not worth it."

"Yes, it is!" he whisper-shouted back at her, staring right into her eyes, his body tense all over. "No one should have my time-skipping watch. I have to find it and destroy it no matter what! Otherwise-"

He stopped for a moment, only to gather strength to say some painful words.

"If I fail and die, I want you to get it and press the red reset button to go back in time. Tell me what's happened and we'll work from there, okay?" His eyes were glued to hers, as if begging her to accept.

"No, I won't do it," she said with pride.

He scoffed. "Hazel, I-"

"I won't do it because you're an idiot, okay?!" Tears gathered in her eyelids. They started running down her cheeks when she kicked his chest with both hands in a pathetic attempt to call his attention, to make him come to his senses. "You're stupid, an arsehole, and a dickhead! How can you say these things, huh?!"

Sky took her fists into his caring hands and stared at her seriously.

"Because I trust you... because I love you," he whispered.

"I... love you too," she whispered almost inaudibly, with a broken voice and repressing a sob.

They locked their gazes for a long moment. Hazel's eyes were two pools of tenderness and worry. They exchanged a silent conversation, emotions too profound for words.

As their faces drew nearer, their breaths synchronised. Despite the silence and grim prospects, the world's chaos slipped away.

Their lips met in a delicate kiss, a promise of unspoken desires. It was a fleeting connection, innocent yet passionate, as if their souls had discovered an uncharted realm of intimacy.

After a brief moment, they pulled away reluctantly, their foreheads resting against each other, sharing an unspoken vow.

Sky's hand cradled Hazel's cheek, his thumb brushing a stray strand of hair away, and her eyes fluttered closed, savouring the warmth of his touch. In that stolen moment, time seemed to stand still. It was easy to forget everything for the time being.

When Sky gently pulled away, he opened his eyes and asked, "What's in the gadget chest exactly? Maybe we could still use something to our advantage." He grinned.

Hello, my sugar cubes!

Did you enjoy this moment of respite? 😉 Now, let's get back to the action!

Stay tuned!

XOXO

Mar