Everyone Is Connected

Chapter 11 happy birthday

Leon's POV

I woke up to the familiar dull ache in my head. Another sleepless night. Groaning, I pushed myself up from the bed, the sheets crumpled beneath me like I'd spent the night wrestling with ghosts. Which, in a way, I had.

Routine. Focus on the routine. That's what keeps the demons at bay.

I rolled off the bed and dropped straight to the floor, pounding out push-ups until my muscles burned. Fifty, sixty... I stopped counting after a while, letting the physical strain clear the fog in my mind. Then sit-ups, each one a little harder than the last, until my stomach felt like it was on fire.

Breathing hard, I finally stood, sweat trickling down my temples. I didn't have time for exhaustion. Not today.

A cold shower came next, the icy water shocking me fully awake. It was better this way—letting the cold bite into my skin, stripping away whatever traces of exhaustion or... whatever else clung to me from last night. As the water rushed over me, I couldn't help but think of her. Elouise.

I let out a rough sigh, shaking my head under the shower. What the hell was wrong with me? It was just a job. She was just another mission. That's what I told Ada, and hell, I wanted to believe it. But it's getting harder to keep telling myself that when she keeps invading my thoughts. Even After Ada told me she could turn to an cyberpsycho and kill and destroy everyone .

Turning off the shower, I toweled off quickly and headed to the kitchen. Bacon sizzled in the pan while I cracked some eggs into a bowl, whisking them into a mess of scrambled yellow. Breakfast was quick, efficient, and tasteless. But it filled the void, and that was all that mattered.

With my plate clean, I grabbed my gear and headed out. The hallways of the BSAA headquarters were busy as usual, the sounds of boots on tile, murmured conversations, and ringing phones creating a chaotic background hum. I kept my head down, moving through the crowds, not interested in getting pulled into small talk.

Lately, Ada's been showing up by my side before every meeting. She'd always find some excuse to linger, to talk about something that kept me guessing whether she was serious or just toying with me. Today was no different. She fell into step beside me without a word, her presence a mixture of familiarity and tension. I didn't know what her game was, but I wasn't about to ask. Not now.

We walked in silence to the meeting room. I was grateful for that, honestly. Ada knew when to let the silence hang between us, which was more than I could say for most people. But as we reached the door, she gave me that look. The one that said she knew more than she was letting on.

"You ready for this?" she asked, a faint smirk playing on her lips.

I just nodded. No point in giving her the satisfaction of seeing me flinch.

When I walked into the room, my eyes immediately found her—Elouise. She was already seated, a distracted look on her face as she stared at the files laid out in front of her.

I felt something tighten in my chest. Damn it, why did it have to be her?

Ada's words echoed in my head, the ones she'd whispered the other day. "You're getting too involved, Leon. Don't forget—she is dangerous , and to complicated."

But it didn't feel like that. Not after everything Elouise had shared with me, the pieces of her past she'd never let anyone else see. That night, when she'd fallen apart in my arms, the way she clung to me like I was the only thing keeping her from breaking...

I swallowed hard, pushing the memory aside as I made my way to my seat. But the coldness in Elouise's eyes as she glanced up at me was impossible to ignore.