"'And now,' said the unknown, 'farewell kindness, humanity, and gratitude. Farewell to all the feelings that expand the heart! I have been heaven's substitute to recompense the good - now the god of vengeance yields to me his power to punish the wicked!" - Alexandre Dumas (The Count of Monte Cristo)

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Kailey sipped her coffee slowly, letting the dark warmth linger on her tongue.

It wasn't just the richness of the beans or the craftsmanship of the barista that kept bringing her back to this tucked-away music café, though she could certainly appreciate the brew.

No, there was something else here. Or rather…someone.

A few members of Aegis had long whispered theories, offering teasing remarks or knowing looks. They weren't entirely wrong.

"Back again?" came a voice beside her—low, warm, and unmistakably familiar.

Kailey glanced sideways, giving a small, almost amused smile as Jonan slid onto the stool next to her, his blonde hair slightly tousled as always, pale blue eyes faintly shadowed beneath the café's amber lighting. Without missing a beat, he snapped his fingers to the barista and ordered a coffee, as if this were a regular ritual rather than a rare indulgence.

"Hey, Jonan," she greeted, her voice soft. "I could say the same. Haven't seen you around in a while."

Jonan scratched the back of his head sheepishly, his lips tilting into a half-smile. "Yeah… Work's been keeping me busy," he said, a note of weariness slipping into his usually upbeat voice. "Don't think we'll be doing any music gigs for a while."

Kailey hummed noncommittally, her gaze steady on him. She knew exactly why he'd be busy over the coming months, and it had nothing to do with music.

The barista approached and gently set Jonan's coffee down between them. The two lapsed into silence, broken only by the mellow hum of guitar notes drifting from the speakers, the soft murmur of other patrons lost in their own quiet corners of the café.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Jonan was the one to break it. "Can I ask you something?"

Kailey tilted her head slightly, her pearl-white eyes narrowing in curiosity. "Sure."

He hesitated. "What…would you do if you'd done something unforgivable?"

His voice dropped so low by the end that Kailey had to strain to hear it, even though he was seated right next to her. The weight of the question hung between them, heavy and personal.

"Like what?" she asked softly, her fingers still wrapped around her coffee cup.

Jonan didn't answer immediately. His thumb traced slow circles along the rim of his mug, and his eyes dropped to the surface of the dark liquid inside, as if he might find the answer there.

"…I'm ESA," he said at last.

Kailey nodded once, unfazed.

Jonan blinked, surprised. "You're not…surprised?"

Kailey shrugged. "I figured you must be." She said it so plainly, so matter-of-factly, as though it had been obvious from the beginning. "The way you carry yourself… Even the way you move. You've seen real combat. You have the reflexes and posture of someone who's had to survive it."

Even if she hadn't known his affiliation when she first began frequenting this café, she would've picked him out eventually. He had that unmistakable presence, like a fuse waiting to be lit.

Jonan gave a strained laugh and looked down. "I…see." The smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "It's not something I talk about. Not with anyone outside the team. Not even with Allen."

Kailey said nothing, letting him speak. She could tell this wasn't easy for him.

"In my position," he continued slowly, "I've done things I'm not proud of. I joined the ESA because I thought I could do good. Thought I could make a difference. And maybe, sometimes… I still believe that." His shoulders slumped as he exhaled, his fingers tightening around the cup. "But there was one time, just one decision, that ruined all of that. I made a mistake. A terrible one. There was a raid. A fast decision. And I got an innocent man killed."

Kailey's gaze didn't waver.

Jonan's voice was quieter now. "No one talks about it. The incident was buried under everything else that happened after. Lost in the chaos. The kind of mess the ESA knows how to clean up, and pretend it never happened. But I…" He trailed off.

"Couldn't live with yourself?" Kailey offered gently.

Jonan nodded, his throat tight. "Yeah."

She could see the guilt etched in his face now—the kind that went deeper than regret. The kind that carved itself into your sleep.

"I tell myself I'm still here because I want to fix things," he said. "But I don't know anymore. I don't even know if that's possible."

Jonan ran a hand through his hair, the tremble in his fingers betraying the emotion he was fighting to keep buried. "Allen—my team—they'd just say I made the best decision I could. That I followed protocol. But that doesn't make it right. It doesn't change the fact that I pulled the trigger. That someone died because of me." He paused, swallowing hard. "I still see his daughter's eyes in my dreams," he whispered. "She was just a kid. And I don't even know where she is now. I want to make it right. But I don't even know how."

Silence settled over them again. The music played on in the background—gentle and melancholic, as if it too could feel the weight of the moment.

Kailey stared ahead for a long moment, then turned her gaze to Jonan's profile—quiet, raw, and human.

"I see," she said simply, but her voice carried something deeper. Not judgment. Not pity. Understanding. She looked away again, her thoughts racing.

Jonan's story struck something in her. Something far too familiar.

Who was the man he killed? she wondered, her mind already turning over names and memories like puzzle pieces desperate to click into place.

She said nothing. Not yet.

But something had changed between them—something subtle, something that might just lead them both toward an answer neither of them expected.

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