The SUV brought me back to my hotel room. I retrieved some painkillers as soon as I got back inside and slammed them down. My body ached with every small twist or turn I made. I woke up two days later with a slew of messages waiting for me. It seemed like somehow these individuals were aware of my health status, because practically all the messages stated something to the effect of, "Recover Soon" and "Great Job! Hit me up when you wake up and let me know if you need anything." The majority of the messages were from people within Scalpel that I hadn`t even been reacquainted with yet. It was a little overwhelming at first and I simply swiped most of them to a deleted status without truly reading over them.

　　There was a message from Terra, instructing me to tell her when I awoke. She`d re-coordinate getting me a plane ticket back to the office. As I started to regain my bearing I replied and informed her to give me roughly three more hours. I still needed to get my rusty gears back in motion. I closed my eyes and told my neurochip to set an alarm for 1 hr, as I let my body just lay there in a restful state.

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　　FLIGHT : Exploration 1698

　　FLIGHT TIME: 4h 31m

　　AIRCRAFT: Boeing 737-900

　　SEAT: 25C

　　BOARD TIME: 1515

　　DEPARTURE: 1559

　　ARRIVAL: 1830

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　　I had the hot water going in the bathroom to the point that the room was a steaming sauna by the time I finally entered. The water rushed over me and helped my tight contracted muscles to ease, the weariness slowly began to fade away. The one thing that never disappeared from me though was& her.

　　My mind was fixated on Sasha`s smile and her playful smirk. The way she looked into my eyes, and I could tell there was a history there, and how fucking badly I wished I could recall every single detail. The backstory behind the two of us. I asked my neurochip if I could replay the moment spent with her. There were brief video clips available for me to choose from, and I selected a few to watch. I paused the playback on one and was able to take a screenshot of Sasha.

　　I had the image of her stay in my top left portion of the HUD, directly to the right of my health icon. The image fixed there made me think of the old war stories of guys having their old ladies photo stashed inside their combat helmet. I guess this was just the futuristic version of that. It looked good fixed there next to me lime shade of green health status icon. Neurochip play, "Only One in Color" by Trapt.

　　The warmth I was feeling wasn`t just the hot water pouring over my body. It was internally radiating from my heart. The only thing I wanted was to be back in that moment with Sasha. Fuck& More like the two of us on the most remote island beach, or deep in the center of the Redwood Forest. Her and I& and nothing else around to try and pull us away from being together.

　　I sat down in the chair by the hotel window, waiting for my automated ride to come pick me up. I started to reflect on the way life hits us. There isn`t a fucking fairytale ending; no hallmark channel of a happily ever after. We always want to fight reality, and I was no different in that regard now. I was going to make it a point to press Brian for more answers once I got back to Scalpel.

　　As I sat by the window of the hotel room which pointed out towards the parking lot, I let me mind remain back within the moment at the bar with Sasha. What I wasn`t ready for was the quick transition of Sasha`s face being replaced with the kid`s face from the basement. The moment he first took the shatter round to his chest. The agony in his face as he struggled to breathe. The tears running down his face as death welcomed him.

　　Eventually all the targets facing came rushing into my mind. Each one staring at me from point blank range inside my vision. I couldn`t get them to leave. I gritted my teeth and kept breathing slowly. I was doing my best to recalibrate my thoughts back to Sasha and discard everything else my eyes had seen once I left her. I told my neurochip to play a new song, "Right Here" by Staind.

　　It was about a minute into the new song and I focused as best as I could on my breathing. I worked to control my inhale and exhale patterns. I then looked down at the floor and merely analyzed every tiny detail I could regarding it. A technique that Thomas had taught me during our meditation and yoga sessions. The faces slowly faded away and I was brought back to seeing Sasha`s smile, as my heart slowed to a normal pace. My eyes latched onto the SUV that pulled into my hotel parking lot and I was happy to start my trip back to HQ.

　　"Hey buddy!" Brian welcomed me as I walked into his office. His arms were outstretched as if he wanted to give me a big bear hug, a giant smile on his face. I walked past him and left him standing there with his arms still extended out. I made my way to an open chair and plopped my ass down as he followed me.

　　"You did a really good job on that immediate response operation. I mean let`s be frank, it was a bit sloppy, but & the bigger thing is that the client was impressed. So much so, that he gave a bonus to the agency and directly called some of the exec board members. All of it being about how impressed he was with your response and efficiency in getting the items recovered so quickly." Brian reported.

　　I had my arms crossed in front of my chest as I propped my feet up on the countertop and leaned back slightly in the chair. "I didn`t recover the items though."

　　"Okay& technically, no you didn`t physically take them out of the garage and put them back in the clients $4.5 million dollar house. But & you cleared the house for the recovery team, they did their thing, and we all got out of there okay. The board is happy with you, and they haven`t been happy with you in a long& well pretty much, ever." Brian said as he took a drag of his vape pen.

　　I rolled my head slightly to the side, "Well& I`m happy the board is happy."

　　He narrowed his eyes but after I remained silent he finally conceded, "You`re not going to let me get out of this are you?"

　　"Why didn`t you tell me about Sasha, Brian?" I watched as his demeanor instantly changed while he sat down in the chair adjacent to me. The joy and excitement Brian just had , was now gone from his face. "Well?" I extended my arms out, expecting him to give me some answers.

　　"She asked me, Terra and the others, to not say anything."

　　"So why was I given that mission then?" I asked.

　　"Because she asked for you specifically." Brian said with a slight tilt of his head.

　　"So, she didn`t want you to tell me anything about her or our past, but asked for me directly?"

　　"B2& she was messaging me every day on the dot while you were in your comma. Every& day. Then once she heard you were, back with us, so to speak, she pestered me for more updates on your training and how everything was going."

　　"Come on Brian! You could still tell me something, why didn`t she want me to know about her? About& whatever it was that she and I had?"

　　Brian shook his head as he spewed out another drag from his vape pen, "She was afraid B2."

　　"Afraid of what? That I`d remember?"

　　He nodded, "Yeah& that you would remember. That you`d remember who she was, who you two were, what you two had done, and had shared together. But most importantly, all the times that you tore her heart apart and left it shattered upon the ground."

　　The words Brian said, hit me hard. It felt worse than the rounds I had been shot with inside the house. How could I hurt someone like that? Why would I ever want to hurt her like that? I was mesmerized from the very moment I saw her and didn`t want to leave. For fuck sake& I even took a damn screenshot of the video feed. It was still in my HUD display as we were having the conversation.

　　"When she heard that you had come out of your coma, she was, hopeful. Hopeful that there might be a new B2& a new Trevor who wouldn`t hurt her all over again and might take things seriously for once." Brian shared.

　　I looked away as soon as he finished. I didn`t want to look into the eyes of someone being so honest with me. The truth hurts. The reality was, even though I couldn`t remember my past, my actions had a rippled effect that I still was connected to. At least, until I proved otherwise. I felt as if my mind was certainly differently. I had a new focus, a new perspective and a new purpose. But is that good enough?

　　"So what changed, why did she ask for me to make that delivery?" I asked.

　　Brian smiled at me, "What changed? You changed Trevor."

　　I could feel my brow tighten from the undivided attention I had towards Brian as he continued. "When you had that& ending in Oklahoma& Sasha was worried that it was the old B2 all over again. Fuck, we all did. The Board, Terra, even me. She asked of course why you were suspended and I& I was honest with her. But& she asked me about 6 weeks into your suspension how you were doing. So& I started to talk to Thomas, Bill, and Jack. Everyone had been shockingly surprised. You were the most serious they had ever seen you. A completely different person. You were actually dedicated and focused on something and the childish side of B2 was gone. The dull knife was now an ever sharpening blade of serious lethality; ready to prove who they were." Brian paused and he let his words sink in as I thought it all over. My face beginning to ease as he continued. "Sasha asked for more updates, and she even spoke to those three as well."

　　"Sasha knows Thomas, Bill and Jack?" I asked.

　　Brian smiled, "Well& I mean, B2, you brought her around the office a few times and even to the Christmas party. We`ve all known Sasha since& well you two first, connected." Brian smiled, "Granted, I don`t know what she talked about with those three. But it was a few days later when she reached out and asked my thoughts on you making a simple delivery. She didn`t want you to know about her. She wanted to see for herself how you`d be. It was her idea, and though the exec board had their suspicions when the specific request for you came in, they still approved it sense it was a simple mission and it wasn`t like it was tying up a more, proficient field agent." He smiled again, "But! Look at what happened? You fucking nailed that immediate response request and my inbox as been blowing up ever sense. All good stuff too! That is also somewhat of a weird feeling, given the fact that it is regarding you." Brian chuckled.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

　　"How did Sasha and I& start? Where did we meet? How did we meet?" My heart and head were racing as I burned with the sole desire of knowing everything I could& The desire to try and fix all the fucked up shit I had previously done.

　　Brian waved his hands in front of him though, "No, no, no. I am not going all the way down memory lane. Sasha would already be pissed if she knew how much information I`ve already shared with you& and I think you now realize that she could kick my ass, just as much as you can. I would prefer that didn`t happen."

　　I gritted my teeth and sighed as I looked across the room, but then turned back and tried a different approach. "So& she is just a client of the organization, and& well, who exactly does she work for?"

　　I watched Brian`s face as he continued to struggle. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place. I was now the eleven-year-old, standing over him with a magnifying glass. The narrowing sun beam closing in upon him and slowly scorching him with all my pestering. "She is CIA. That`s how you two met. It was on one of your missions."

　　"Brian& what happened?"

　　I could see the torment in his gaze had ended from the two wolves battling within himself. He finally surrendered to the one that fought for the side of telling me the details. "You broke her heart B2& She loved you&" He instantly cut himself off and shook his head slightly as he realized he needed to rephrase, "She does love you&"

　　Brian let out a long breathe as he continued, "Fuck B2& I can remember& I remember the next day you arrived here in the office after you met her on that mission in Italy. I fucking swear on all things that are holy. You were the biggest, head-over-heels, in love schoolboy I have ever seen in my life. For the first time ever, I saw you, for a brief moment in time , forget about yourself, and the world was revolving around only one person& Sasha.

　　"You fell madly in love with her and every free moment you had, at the beginning, was all devoted to her. You were traveling all around the world, wherever she was, you were. You two were like a nuclear bomb&" I wanted to interrupt him as he took a short pause, but instead I let him continue. "There was only one thing on this planet that could stop your love for each other."

　　I already knew what Brian was going to say. It still ripped a hole through my heart and soul like a 50 caliber bullet when he said it though. "You& B2& you started to develop this& God complex. An invincibility towards everything. You started to abuse your chips` UTINIP& like a drug addict abuses narcotics. You started to overuse the protocol so much that it started to fail and you went on a downward spiral. In your altered state of mind, you thought you could do whatever the fuck you wanted and began to cheat on Sasha with& well& the HR briefing is a snapshot of all the activities."

　　Brian took a sip of water from a small cup which had been on his desk. "Whenever you were with Sasha, your intensity was like a wildland fire that couldn`t be stopped, but& that was also your problem, you couldn`t stop yourself from being& yourself."

　　"Sounds like we were pretty great, I guess." I said with a long exhale.

　　"B2& there was a few of us who thought for a brief moment in time that you two were going to leave the agencies and go start a life together." He instantly stopped himself, my impression was that he almost shared information with me that Sasha had only shared with him.

　　He corrected himself before he continued. "I admire Sasha so much Trevor& that woman, after all you`ve put her through& she still loves you more than anything this world could offer. I fucking swear& that women doesn`t deserve what the fuck you did to her& no one does& I don`t know where Sasha`s head, or heart is at. But& my guess is that this coma was the best thing that could have happened to you. At least in regard to you and her. There seems to be a shattered heart that has been picking up the pieces and seems to be strong enough to let you close to it once again& Don`t fuck this up& take it step by step and let her come to you."

　　We sat there in silence for a long considerable amount of time. Brian sipped on his water as his digital device just buzzed with activity. I sat there reflecting on the dark past I didn`t know about but was certainly still responsible for. Brian was right though. I couldn`t fix the broken past I had caused, but I at least could frame it within my mind. A reminder of who I wasn`t going to allow myself to be, ever again.

　　I had been staring at the floor the whole time, but finally felt I needed to move forward and stop reflecting on my past. There was a positive future on the horizon and I didn`t fucking care how long it would take me to reach it. My head finally lifted as I gave a nod towards Brian. "What now boss?"

　　He smirked, "Come with me, there is something you need to see. You`re going to fucking love it!"

　　We walked down to the armory where Brian hit a button on the side of an enclosed section. The closest container sprang to life with a smooth and silent movement. The compartment extended out from the wall, and I took sight of the matte black hardened armor hung within it. The shell and design looked as if it was straight off the set of a superhero movie.

　　I could see inspiration from comic books and video games written all over it. I grabbed hold of it and took it from the arm system that kept it suspended within the enclosure. The armor was lighter than the plate carrier I had just worn on my mission on the outskirts of Chicago. "Holy shit" I said in a slight shock.

　　I lifted the armor up and down, getting a good feel of the entire density and construction. The exterior shell was hardened, with the front chest area slightly curved. The molded form was similar in appearance to the batman suit used during the Dark Knight movie series. The plating slightly raised at the center sternum line and then curved backwards at a slight angle towards the obliques. The center line was where the armor separated and connected. An inlay made of the same material as the exterior shell. I could see how the left side formed the portion which would fit snug inside the right inlay.

　　Brian commented on it as I admired the intricate design, "This armor is designed to practically not come off. An emphasis for you of, if you go down and there is still power to the suit, only another Scalpel agent or member can unlock the device through the special RFID access cards, or their neurochips . So& don`t go down!"

　　"What level of protection is this?" I asked.

　　"It would be similar to Level 3+ plates that you were wearing on your last mission. The difference being that these plates are angled away from the body. Think of the angling of the armor like that of an army tank. It is angled to deflect the blast. If it is a complete head on direct hit, then that might be a slight problem. The graphene armor is extremely light with a soft-shell carbon fiber interior lining that is the last line of defense before your padding, should a round still defeat the exterior shield."

　　I noticed that the left and right front chest plating pivoted from the rear shoulder joint area. A thick connection point between the back and front shoulder harness area which overlapped across the trapezius muscles. Just like a traditional plate carrier rig. This however, allowed the chest to swing completely out in a butterfly movement similar to a ski vest. I looked at the interior portion and saw tiny tube inlays and holes within the tubing. I raised an eyebrow and glanced at Brian who took the cue to continue. "This is a personal air coolant system. A tiny motor within the lower back portion of the armor takes exterior air and pumps it inside to help provide some comfort during extended wear."

　　The interior shell lining looked to have been something made by NASA. A thin squishy gel layering which gave me the impression it would conform to each person`s body as they wore it. I let the chest pieces rotate back inwards to their original starting position. I took notice of the trapezius connection points and noticed a small button located on the interior side of the vest. A cascading shell overlay that extended out and collapsed inward as I worked with it.

　　"Interesting&" I said.

　　"Put it on, see for yourself." Brian said with a grin on his face.

　　I hesitated with a curious look, but finally gave in. Throwing it over my body and putting my arms through their slots as the front shell moved inward. I grabbed the armor and ensured the inlay wedged together. As soon as the armor inlay connected, I felt a slight shift occur within the two sides of the armor and it made a sound which I guessed meant it was locked together. I grabbed the bottom edge and tried to pull it apart, but the thing was solid and didn`t move an inch at my effort. I tried to break the latch apart, but nothing.

　　Down at the bottom of the armor shell was a hardened belt. I took notice of it when I realized it was firmly connected at the bottom of the armor. I turned and moved over towards a mirror in the center of the armory, getting a better look at the belt system I was now running my hands over. Now that I could better see the belt system, I noticed how it looked more like an electric rail drive.

　　A bottom and top lip that had a center drive shaft which had a vast multitude of clips which were currently floating within the rail system back and forth. The movement was smooth with not an ounce of resistance between the motion of the pieces. I ran my fingers along the belt rail system and felt how it connected all the way around. I twisted in the mirror and then noticed and felt an additional rail that curved upwards and into a protrusion of the back armament system.

　　The portion extending out from the back plate of the armor was similar in size to that of the camelback hydration systems we had carried in the military. A water bladder set inside a soft fabric carrying pouch. The system I was looking at though had the same shape and hardened design as the front. The bottom mouth portion which fed the rail drive also looked like a stealth fighter jet intake.

　　I ran my hands back forward and when they arrived at the front, I felt a similar inlay connection point as with the front armor plating. I snapped the belt together and felt a slight vibration for a moment. The belt drive system felt as if it had now come online. As I secured it to my body and connected the belt, I noticed the ammo designation icons appear at the bottom of my HUD. "Ohh shit." Each ammo designation assigned to a slot on the drive belt it was inserted into.

　　"Okay& think of scrolling from left to right, or right to left. It doesn`t matter which way you want to go." Brian said with a devious grin as he rubbed his hands together and his eyebrows danced with anticipation.

　　As soon as I did what he told me, I watched the newly displayed icons rotate in a circular fashion in my HUD while in unison felt the belt come to life. The magazines began to rotate around my waste in a rapid smooth motion which matched my HUD display. The yellow designations then changed to blue armor piercing, then orange for shatter, green for uranium rounds.

　　I kept mentally scrolling through the options and the belt kept driving the magazines around and around until I finally had it come to a stop. I was curious and grabbed a magazine and pulled it out of its hardened drive belt slot and placed it on the island counter in the middle of the room. The icon in my HUD then changed to an empty square designation. I tried it again, same result. I glanced back over to Brian who was now grinning ear to ear.

　　"Fucking bad ass isn`t it?" He asked as he finished with a drag of his vape.

　　"Bruhh& this is next fucking level!" I could feel my eyes widen as I was still taking it all in. This was a game changer with what this armor system was capable of doing.

　　Brian then continued, "It get`s even better!"

　　"What? How?"

　　Brian walked over to the weapons rack and retrieved my custom M1A Carbine and handed it to me. As soon as the weapons RFID came into close proximity to me, the additional icons came to life. The carbine ammo display was just off to the right side where the pistol ammo display was located in my HUD. I then saw an additional row of ammo designations directly on top of the bottom row of pistols magazine designations at the bottom of my HUD.

　　I mentally worked to rotate the view in the same fashion as the pistol delivery system. I then felt the faint vibration activate in the back compartment and felt it continue into the belt as I then felt and saw the rifle magazines appear in between the pistol magazines on my belt. The system was now able to deliver both weapon systems ammunition however I preferred.

　　It took a little bit to get used to seeing one ammo display stacked directly on top of the other. It mentally felt clunky trying to shift between the two. The more I played with the delivery system though, the easier it became in time.

　　The armor felt like a giant turtle shell at first. I had an initial feeling of stiffness and being crammed into a sardine can. I was positive that I would get used to the new feeling soon enough. I had to give it to Brian though. The armor was light but seemed to be strong and reliable. The ammo selection and deliverable ability though& next fucking level of badass technology.

　　"Fuck man. I am ready to take this thing out to the range and really get some trigger time in. Try out this new ammunition drive system." I proclaimed.

　　Brian chucked, "Well& go get some time in and then come see me. The board has approved you to do another transportation mission."

　　My ears perked up to life and I could feel my face light up in unison as my heart skipped a beat& That was until Brian brought me back to reality. "It has no connection to Sasha." Damn it. I thought until Brian continued, "Give it time Trevor& one step at a time, Sasha will approach you when the time is right. I believe that."

　　I sighed, but knew Brian was right. I decided to message Jack and told him I wanted to run and gun with the rifle and the new armor setup. He told me to give him roughly an hour and he`d have the range ready to go.