Harry

"Mum?" I say quietly, completely shocked.

Her eyes are the same, a light green colour resembling mine, her black hair falling over her shoulders. A wide smile slowly spreads over her lips as her eyes scan me from head to toes. Almost nothing about her appearance has changed. The temperature seems to drop a few degrees as I stare at her, my hands painfully gripping the edge of the desk, heart hammering against my ribcage.

My mother. She's the leader.

"Uncle, what the hell is this?" Elena demands as she motions to my mother.

Isaac shrugs nonchalantly. "Two family reunions?"

"I have no idea what's going on," Alex mutters, his eyes looking at everyone in confusion.

"Harry," my mot- no, Anne, says.

"Don't you dare," I say, my voice cold. "Don't call me that. Don't you dare come up with some shitty sob story because I don't want to hear it."

Anne's face slightly falls, but she tries to appear unaffected, quickly putting on a facade. I wish she would show me she's hurt, I would love to see it. This woman doesn't deserve anything less, especially for me to call her my mother.

My gaze slides from her to Isaac, Alex and ultimately, Elena. She's already looking at me, eyes wide and filled with fear as she slowly shakes her head as if trying to convince me she didn't know about this. Whatever it is the truth, I'm too overwhelmed to face it, too many questions and doubts swirling like a hurricane inside my head.

I can't deal with this shit right now.

I push myself away from the table and walk toward the doorway where Anne is standing, stopping right in front of her, directing my harsh glare at her. After a few moments, I move around her and storm out of the room, my boots stomping over the polished floor, hands gripping my hair in frustration. How, when, why?

"Harry!" I hear Anne call out after me, but I only quicken my pace, not wanting to look at her, much less talk to her.

Two bulky soldiers suddenly block my path, surely having orders from my own fucking mother to stop me. "Get the fuck out of my way," I say flatly, not even bothering to stop as I push them both away, walking between them.

Their rough hands quickly pull me back, each of them grabbing one of my arms. At first I'm calm, a humourless laugh escaping my mouth as I sniffle and force a smile, pretending I'm giving up. I suddenly tear my arms from their grip, pushing one of them into the wall while I elbow the other one in the face then push his head down with my hand and raise my knee, hitting him in the face again, letting him fall unconscious on the floor.

That felt good actually, I didn't realise how much I miss my frequent training until now. I didn't feel the need to train as excessively as I used to because I had so much support from the people around me who made sure I don't feel my guilt and pain, but now I might just start again since everything went to hell.

"Harry, stop struggling, I just want to talk," Anne says in a calm tone as she approaches me. "I know you don't want to talk to me, but maybe you'd be interested to hear where is your father."

Like there's some kind of switch inside me, I immediately stop struggling and attacking the other soldier, my sceptical gaze falling on the woman in front of me, inspecting her carefully to see if she's bluffing. She lifts her hand, motioning for the soldier to step away. My chest is heaving slightly as the result of my fight, narrowed eyes locking with hers.

"Tell me what you know," I demand gruffly, absolutely hating to be in this position right now. I'm not even sure I've processed what has happened in the past five minutes yet.

"Not here," she says firmly. "Let's talk somewhere else."

. . . .

Anne pulls out a leather wheeling chair at one end of he table in the conference room, sitting down. She motions for me to take a seat as well, but I only let out a sarcastic laugh and stand at the other, far end of the table. I want to have as much distance from this woman as possible. The woman who left me, my brother, and my father when I was fourteen to become this, I suppose.

"Where is David?" I demand. The thought he's alive and well brings a strong sense of relief to me. I didn't lose another person I care about after all.

"That's all you want to know?" She asks, furrowing her eyebrows slightly.

"I don't know if you figured it out, Anne, but I couldn't care less about you and the fact you're leading this base." I glare at her. "I only want to know where is my father. You know, the person who has been taking care of me for all these years after you left? The one who has never given up on me? Tall, blue eyes, probably with a stack of cigars glued to his ass. Yeah, that man."

She stays silent for almost a minute, not taking her eyes off me. "David is recovering. When he was released from Vortex, he was in a really bad shape, and my men brought him to me. I knew he was there beforehand, I have a few of my soldiers keeping a close eye on Vortex."

My eyes widen for a second as I process her words, deciding to focus on what's important to me at the moment. "How is he now? I want to see him."

"You should know he's not the saint you think he is," Anne tells me as she stands up, slowly starting to approach me. "A while after I left, I tried to reach you and your brother to let you know where I am. But David wouldn't allow me to go near Hazard nor did he want you to know where I am, no matter how hard I was pleading with him. I-"

"Okay that is really low, talking shit about him when he's not here to defend himself," I interrupt her. "This just shows what kind of a person you are, do you honestly think you can turn me against dad? I think the fuck not."

"And I believe I've told you already I'm not interested in your shitty sob stories, nothing can change what you did," I say accusingly. "Oh, and too bad Zayn can't hear it, did you know he was killed in a battle two years ago?"

Saying it so bluntly brings a strong wave of pain through me, but I manage to keep my expression emotionless, pushing away the sadness and focusing on my anger instead. Anne, however, is visibly shaken up, her lips trembling slightly as she casts her gaze down.

"Yes, I heard about that. And I'm so terribly sorry." She looks up at me again, eyes slightly glossy, but she sheds no tears.

"Oh give me a break, you don't deserve to cry, you gave up on him too. And I'm sure David did all that to protect us from more pain." My hands ball into tight fists. I'm slightly angry at him for keeping this away from me, but I'm sure he did it for the reason I've mentioned. "Now what, huh? Can you tell me what was your goal with all this charade? And what does Elena have to do with it?"

She takes a deep breath like she's trying to calm down. "Ah yes, the Vortex girl you've brought with you and her brother. They had a mission to fulfil and they have officially succeeded." I open my mouth to bombard her with questions, but she puts up her hand, silencing me. "To spare you the details of how their uncle ended up here, let's just say he found a way for both of us to get what we want. I wanted you to come to me, and he wanted Wildfire to make an alliance with Hazard that would benefit him immensely. That's where the twins come along. They wanted something else, and in order to get that, they simply needed to make that alliance possible, finding a way to persuade you into coming here. Honestly, I thought it won't happen knowing David, but I guess fate was on our side."

Now I understand the reason Elena was so persistent for us to make this alliance, that's why she didn't try harder when trying to settle an agreement with Ace, that's why she came in Hazard in the first place. I'm surprised I don't feel anything in this moment, it's as if something is blocking me from actually admitting to myself what happened and it will all come to crush me later. The only thing I know for certain is that she lied to me. More than once. It was clear to me the reason behind their stay was never explained and I knew they were hiding something, but I never thought it would be something like this.

I told Elena how my mother had abandoned me, she knew I could never forgive her for that yet she went behind my back and manipulated me into this whole charade, bringing me to her. And not only that, she has betrayed David and his trust, my trust, and for what? What was so important she felt the need to do that to us? To me?

Now that I think about it, everything that didn't make sense suddenly does. It's so clear to me now why was my father so against this alliance with Wildfire. He was trying to protect me from crossing paths with my mother again. The only thing that doesn't have an answer is who is the traitor who's been giving all the information about us to Vortex? It can't be Elena and Alex since they're working for my mother, and she has nothing to do with it.

"I want you to join me, Harry," Anne tells me, snapping me from my thoughts. "We could win this war together. Remember how I used to tell you mum's going to fix everything?"

"First of all, I'm not five years old," I say flatly. "And second of all, you have to be dense to think I'll actually do anything with you. I want you as far away from me as possible."

"You're not thinking clearly, I know this is a lot to take in, but I want what's best for you," she tries to persuade me. "You're in more danger than ever, son-"

"Ah, pulling out the worried parent card, I see. How original." I roll my eyes. "I've been in danger for the past seven years, mummy dearest, where have you been?" I pull my lips in a fake smile.

"I'll give you some time to think about it, you have to understand this is your only chance, even your father knows that now," she says, moving closer to me.

I lift my palm, signalling her to stop moving, swaying my index finger left and right. "Tsk, tsk, personal space is very important to me, only my closest friends and family are allowed to cross my invisible personal space line." I take a few steps back. "I won't repeat this again, I want to see David."

She fails to hide how hurt she is by my actions or she's simply faking it. She used to fake to care about me and we all know the end of that story. She gives me a small nod and begins walking toward the door, making me follow her in reluctance. Involuntary, my thoughts drift to Elena and the reason why I'm in this mess in the first place. I find myself frowning at the thought of her, my jaw clenching in frustration. I should focus on David, not her. He's the one that matters right now.

Anne leads me all the way to their infirmary and I don't fail to notice the respectful glances she receives from the soldiers passing by. She might have their respect, but she had lost mine years ago. She finally stops in front of one the closed doors, turning around to face me.

"Don't come in," I warn her as I grab the handle and she freezes, reluctantly taking a step back. I frown at her one last time before opening the door and entering the room. The curtains are almost fully drawn, allowing little light to seep through the crack and illuminate the room.

"Listen kid, you better have a stack of cigars with you this time or I'm about to shove that bottle of painkillers right up- son?" David blinks in confusion as he registers my presence in the room. He's lying on the bed with white sheets pulled to his abdomen, leaving his bare torso exposed. There's a bandage wrapped around his shoulder, looping around his ribcage and almost full length of his left arm, a few faded bruises and cuts scattered over the skin of his chest and face.

"Dad," I say and before I know it, I'm sitting on his bed beside him, my arms pulling him into a hug. I'm so incredibly relieved to see he's okay, he's alive.

He inhales sharply and I'm not sure if it's because of the pain or shock because I haven't hugged him in years, ever since I was a little kid. He returns the hug with equal affection, making me smile to myself. "How are you here? Tell me you came to rescue me? Oh, and that you have cigars with you."

I pull away, looking into his dark blue eyes. "Hold up, tell me why the hell do you look like a mummy, wrapped in all those bandages?"

He sighs, a slight frown on his face. "I assume you know Vortex captured me, gave me some rough time then released me." I nod. "Well, I was in really bad shape and weak when it happened, and I was forced to walk all the way to Hazard. I never made it obviously since I had been attacked by the enemy soldiers that recognised me. That was when these other soldiers swooped in out of nowhere and saved my weak ass and here I am. I wanted to let you know where I am, but I wasn't allowed as if I'm their god damn prisoner."

"Mum- I mean, Anne's soldiers saved you," I clarify angrily. "You knew about this. You knew where she was all these years."

Guilt flickers over his expression and he looks away. "I just wanted to protect you and your brother from more pain. Whenever I tried to talk to you about her, you would avoid the subject angrily and there would be such hatred in your eyes. . . you crossed her off the minute she stepped out of our lives."

There are a few moments of silence between us and I end up sighing heavily. "I understand. I guess I should get used to people keeping shit from me. Like Elena, for an instance." I feel a painful sting in my chest. "Stupid gullible me and my stupid trust, ah what's new."

Dad places his hand on my shoulder, making me look at him. "I know what they did. It's my fault, I thought I could trust them like I trusted their father. So, listen to me son, you couldn't have known about their little scam as much as I couldn't. What's important now is to focus on getting out of here and starting to prepare the army-"

"That's already taken care of," I interrupt. "I've taken certain measures after taking your position. We've planned this deal so we can have a strong ally when we go against Vortex, but all of that goes down the drain now. But I'll find a way, I won't give up so easily."

Suprise mixed with pride is visible in his expression and he smiles widely. "I- I never thought I'd see the day. You're actually leading them, you- wow."

I allow myself to smile as well before the smile vanishes, my features turning grim. "I'm just waiting, you know," I say bitterly. "I'm waiting to snap. Because I know I will. So many shit has happened today and it all hasn't quite sunk it yet, but when it does. . . fuck!" I stand up, my fingers threading through my hair.

Why did this have to happen? Right when I started to think we had a chance, right when I started to think I can redeem myself in a way, I can do something right for once in my life. But once again, I've been betrayed by the people closest to me. How fucking original.

Anne opens the door and walks into the room, my eyebrows immediately drawing in a deep frown, my eyes shooting her a glare. "I told you to stay outside."

"I couldn't, Harry. The three of us have a lot to talk about, whether you like it or not."

"I literally cannot put into words how unappealing that idea is to me, to be in the same room with you for longer than a minute," I say harshly. "You're not my mother anymore. The moment you walked out of my life- our lives, you were dead to me."

A pained expression flashes over her features, almost making me feel sorry for her. Almost. A loud knock on the door breaks the tension that has fallen between us, making her frown, but her eyes still remain on me. "Not now!"

"It's urgent," a male voice says. "It's about Hazard, you told me to let you know when something-"

Before he can finish the sentence, I yank the door open, facing a soldier standing on the other side. "What about Hazard?"

"Uh, there was an attack. Vortex. Somewhere in the North."

My eyes widen as I process his words, my heart plummeting to my stomach, and for a moment I feel like passing out. "The children. . ." I mumble and push him away, running as fast as I can, a surge of adrenaline giving me the strength I need.

"Harry, wait!" Anne and David call out at the same time, but I ignore them completely.

Images of Alice and Tommy flash before my eyes, giving me the extra push I need to reach Hazard. It can't be, anything but that. Please be okay. Please. I'm running and panting, finally finding the exit, breathing in the fresh air and only sprinting faster. A few heads turn as I run, my only focus being the vehicle I used to come here. I should've known.

I yank the door open, jumping inside and slamming it shut. A fleeting thought about Elena and Alex runs through my mind when I see the empty seats, but I quickly push it away, knowing it's not the time nor place to deal with that now. I have people that need me now more than ever. As I start the engine, my foot slams on the gas pedal, a cloud of dust trailing behind me as I drive away.