By the time the group dispersed, several people lingered, comforted by each other rather than by her—and that was the point.Community.Connection.A future.
When she stepped back into the hallway, Gray was waiting for her.
He leaned against the wall, arms folded, expression deceptively casual.But the bond hummed with pride and affection.
“How’d it go?”he asked.
She closed the distance and pressed her forehead to his chest.“Better than I expected.”
His fingers traced her spine.“Of course it did.”
She tilted her head back to meet his eyes.“You were eavesdropping.”
“Only a little,” he admitted, a smile tugging at his mouth.“You’re good with people, Hannah.”
“You think so?”
“I know so.”
The warmth in his voice made her toes curl.She rose on her toes and kissed him—just once, soft, quick, necessary.His hand lingered at her waist longer than the kiss lasted.
They parted reluctantly when Yaz called Gray back to the command center.Hannah followed him, but a cluster of aides escorting Senator Caldera into the main conference room caught her attention.
Caldera looked tired, sharp, and entirely too aware that both sides of the national debate wanted her support.When she spotted Hannah and Gray, relief softened her posture.
“Thank you for meeting with me,” she said, ushering them inside.“I don’t have long before the vote, but I wanted to speak directly.”
The room emptied around them until only the three of them remained.
“Your display last night changed things, but there’s still resistance,” Caldera said.“Fear runs deep.I’m prepared to propose a formal partnership between the Gemini Initiative and federal oversight.But I need to know you’re willing to work with us.”
Gray didn’t answer immediately.Hannah felt the push-pull inside him.The Pollux instinct to reject authority was warring with the soldier within him that understood chain of command.
Hannah touched his hand under the table, a small spark that steadied him.She didn’t tell him what to choose.She didn’t have to.The bond carried her quiet certainty:You’re not doing this alone.
“I’ll listen,” Gray said finally, voice low but steady.“If the goal is protecting people, not controlling supes.”
Caldera nodded, as if she’d expected as much.“That’s all I needed to hear.”
"There's still the matter of Protogenus's research," Gray said."The Dioscuri program specifically.They were developing methods to replicate bonded-pair abilities artificially or to harvest them from naturally-born variant children."
Caldera's expression hardened."That research needs to be destroyed.Completely."
"Agreed.But we need to find it first.Pierce took everything when she fled."
As the senator left, Hannah exhaled a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.
Gray squeezed her hand.“One battle at a time,” he murmured.
***
LATER THAT MORNING, Hannah found herself in the subterranean training arena, where a half-circle of Mercury variants watched Gray with unreadable expressions.Pisc towered at the front, arms crossed, gills flaring with impatience.
They weren’t villains anymore.But they were still dangerous.Still feared.
Still uncertain where they belonged.
Gray didn’t flinch under their scrutiny.“You’re not being left behind,” he told them.“Not by me.Not by this Initiative.If you want a future here, we’ll make one.”
