I rewrote this chapter too many times to count. Well, enjoy!

Happy reading :)

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I felt like I was wrapped in a warm blanket and I didn't want to wake up. Someone was gently caressing my back, tracing light, undecipherable swirls and loops. I hummed in slight annoyance as I wanted to continue to sleep.

"Angel?" The moment I heard that, I knew who it was immediately.

"Open your eyes," Alexander urged softly, his smooth baritone voice almost lulling me back to sleep. "Angel..." I felt my hand being lifted up and met with a pair of soft lips. The kiss lingered and even after he pulled away, I still felt his touch, making warmth spread throughout me.

As I was about to roll away from Alexander's voice, pain flared and I groaned. Alexander wrapped one arm firmly around my hips and he used his other to brush the hair away from my face. My body felt tender and raw so I gave up.

I opened my eyes and winced when the lights of the room blinded me. When I looked up, I saw Alexander's dark grey eyes staring back down at me. I looked over at him carefully and saw that there were slight bags under his eyes. He looked exhausted yet there was relief in his eyes as he met my gaze.

When I looked around in a daze, I found that I was on top of him, my injured leg thrown across his body and my head on his shoulders, almost buried in the crook of his neck.

"What?" I grumbled out as I lifted my head up slightly. "Why are you..."

There was amusement glinting in Alexander's eyes and I suddenly did not want to know what happened.

"The first time you woke up, you escaped the hospital room and found a shower for employees only. You locked all the nurses out and took a shower, getting all of your bandages soaked. They broke the door open and when they did, they found you all dressed and clean, sleeping on one of the benches in the room."

"No..." I moaned out in disbelief.

"It gets worse." Alexander let out a small chuckle and I felt him shake under me. "You escaped a second time and almost made it out of Phoenix. A doctor called me come over and calm you down because apparently you were trying to escape to find me. When I arrived, you were handcuffed to the bed, sedated. When you woke up again, you made me remove the cuffs and moved over to make room for me next to you on the bed."

"Seriously?" I buried my burning face into his shoulder, avoiding him altogether. That sounded absolutely mortifying. At least I was clean. "Where exactly am I?"

"Phoenix headquarters."

Silence fell upon us as he ran his hands softly through my hair again and again. His silence bothered me as I could feel his unsaid word floating around us. He had something to say, yet he was holding back his tongue.

"What did Wolf tell you?" I asked quietly as my heart started to pound a little faster in nervousness.

He squeezed me a little tighter and the hand that was running through my hair stopped entirely, holding my head to his shoulder. "Your capture, your escape, the hospitalization."

I stiffened and squeezed my eyes tightly shut as I realized how much he'd learned.

"If I had known, Angel, I would have-"

I immediately cut him off. "I know, Red. You would have dropped everything, come straight to the hospital to take care of me. That's the kind of person you are, at least to me." I tightened my hands into fists. "But I didn't want anyone to see me like that. Pathetic, useless, weak. I felt like a failure."

He flipped our positions and I was on my back; he was leaning over me on his left elbow. Our faces were mere inches apart. "Never talk about yourself like that." Alexander frowned, upset. "You are one of the strongest people I know. Brave, courageous, always a warrior." He cupped my cheek with his right hand.

I blinked in surprise and tried to quickly cover it by rolling my eyes. "There's no need for you to sweet talk me."

He leaned in closer with a small smile and his tired grey eyes brightened. "And beautiful."

Alexander pressed a kiss on my jaw and whispered softly near my ear. "When I realized that you left, I never felt so terrified in my life."

I pulled up my arms and wrapped them around his neck, pulling him closer to me. He tremored slightly as he exhaled deeply, nudging into the crook of my neck. When he leaned back, I cupped his face with both of my hands and pulled his face lower until our noses were skimming each other. His usually hardened grey eyes now softened and exuded warmth. I've never such an expression on his face, but that's when I knew. "Say it."

Alexander paused for a moment. "I lose."

I frowned since that wasn't what I wanted to hear and there was amusement glinting in Alexander's eyes. He was teasing me.

"Alexander..." I narrowed my eyes at him.

He chuckled softly but as it faded, his eyes turned tender and warm. "I love you, Vita."

"And I adore you."

Alexander looked confused for a second, not hearing what he was expecting. I simply pulled him down and whispered just barely loud enough, "I love you, Alexander," before I kissed him with a smile on my face.

Alexander may call me Angel, but he was mine.

*

Someone coughed and both Alexander and I looked towards the door. A female doctor dressed in scrubs and a white coat walked in with a nurse. I immediately let go of Alexander and he got up and off the hospital bed. He reached for my hand. I laced our fingers together and gave him a squeeze.

As the nurse did regular checkups, the doctor began her questioning.

"Sore, but okay," I replied back sincerely and she nodded in understanding. "When will you discharge me?"

"We're just keeping an eye on your leg for a few days since we removed the bullet."

"I assume I'm on pain medication right now."

"You are correct."

"I don't want any," I told her firmly. She looked like he wanted to say something but ended up conceding.

Alexander squeezed my hand and when I looked over, I saw the concern written on his face. I simply squeezed his hand back to let him know it was alright.

"If you change your mind, let us know," the doctor replied and I nodded.

The doctor also told me to rest well and to move my wounded leg as little as possible for the next few days. Alexander looked at me when she said that and I knew he was probably going to be enforcing that rule.

When they finished, they left the room and it was just Alexander and I once again. I scooted over slightly and Alexander joined me on the narrow bed. He held me in his warm embrace, being careful of my injuries.

"The USB, is it open?" I asked with my eyes closed, almost asleep.

"Not yet. I'll keep you updated."

"Good."

"About Cadence..." I trailed off, unable to ask.

"She and her nephew Nolan are fine."

I hummed in understanding and soon melted into his safe embrace, quickly falling asleep.

*

I stood in front of my mother's hospital room with Alexander firmly holding me upright. The nurse highly recommended that I take a wheelchair but I strongly refused. I didn't want to show my mom or dad I was hurt badly and then have to explain why. I would definitely get an earful and my mother can scold me for a long time.

Alexander had carried me to my mother's room and set me on my feet in front of her door. He looked at me to see if I was ready and I simply swallowed the lump in my throat and knocked.

When I heard my mother's voice, I opened the door and rushed in. My weakened legs couldn't hold me and I would have collapsed and fallen flat on my face if it weren't for Alexander catching me at the last second.

"Vita!" My mother looked at me with no surprise on her face meaning someone must have told her that I knew what she did and what Phoenix was.

She was sitting on the hospital bed with a book in her hands, but she immediately put the book down and reached out both her arms towards me as I walked closer to her.

One of her eyes were black and blue and there seems to be cuts and bruises on her arms, but I couldn't see much from the hospital gown covering her and the bandages wrapped around her. My heart shattered as I saw her right in front of me. I was relieved that she was alive but my heart was broken seeing her in such pain. If I could take her pain away, I would without a second thought.

I put on a brave smile and tried to walk as normally as I could towards her. "Mom."

She pulled me into a hug and I held her tightly, her familiar scent fluttered around me and enveloped me in warmth.

"I'm so glad you're okay mom."

"Of course, sweetheart." She rubbed my back and assured me like any mother would to comfort their child. "Let me take a look at you."

I pulled back and she quickly cupped my face with motherly worry. "You're hurt? What happened?"

"I'm really okay." I smiled widely and hugged her again. "What about you, mom? How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright. I was confused when I saw Cadence there, working with Efren, but she told me she was there undercover. If it weren't for her, both your dad and I may not be alive right now."

I stiffened at the mention of Cadence. "It's a good thing she was there then."

Alexander left the room abruptly and I wondered why he was in a such a hurry.

"Do you know what's on the USB?" I looked at my mother and asked.

"No. Your father does. He wanted to tell me, but he didn't get a chance."

"Are you really alright?" She checked me over and was worried more for me than about herself.

"Just a small accident, no big deal." I leaned my head on her shoulder as she patted my head. "Mom, how's dad doing?"

The light in her eyes dimmed. "I'm not too sure yet. They haven't told me anything. I'm sure he's fine."

There was a knock on the door and I looked over at my mother in confusion.

Her face mimicked my expression and she responded cautiously with a, "Come in."

A woman dressed in a black suit with a white shirt entered the room. Her dark brown hair was tied tightly in a high ponytail and she had a handgun visible from underneath her blazer. "Agent Simmons," she looked completely emotionless as she stared at my mother, "you will need to come with me for questioning."

My mother's expression hardened and she looked like she knew who this newcomer was. "Estelle Kage."

"She won't be going with you anywhere," I firmly objected while I stood up, trying to cover Estelle's view of my mother.

"I do need to ask some questions. If she is not coming with me, then I will need to speak to her alone in here." The way she talked bristled me. It felt like she was looking down at us, as if she was better.

I didn't move a step away from my mother's hospital bed, instead, I stared straight at Estelle with a similar vacant expression on my face. "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm from the CIA. That's all you need to know."

I raised an eyebrow at her curtness, feeling my temper flare. She was rude and her attitude annoyed me. Just as I was about to step forward to knock her down from her high horse, Alexander came back in. His expression immediately darkened in suppressed anger when he saw Estelle. It seems that everyone knew who she was except me. He came to stand next to me.

"The Efren Carter case and the USB situation are being handled by us. Kage, you lost your chance when you accidentally lost the USB," Alexander bit out icily.

Estelle's eyes narrowed at Alexander. "I congratulate you on finding Efren Carter's compound, but it's unfortunate that you failed to capture him. Now, Alexander Blades, I need not remind you that the USB belongs to the CIA and if you are in possession of it, hand it over."

"You are wrong. As I just said, the USB situation will be handled by us. You can talk to your boss if you didn't understand what I just repeated for you."

There was fury in Estelle's eyes as she glared at Alexander.

During their interaction, I stood frozen in shock.

What?

"Wait. You lost the USB by accident?" I paused, unable to process what I just heard. "By accident!"

I couldn't see anything in front of me anymore from the rage that boiled in my veins, all thoughts of being somewhat civil flew out of my mind. I quickly made my way towards her, grabbed the lapels of her blazer and yanked down so that our eyes were level since she was taller than me.

"You lost classified information by fu*king accident?" I growled at her in disbelief and my fists were so tightly clenched in anger that they were shaking.

"Get your hands off of me. And it wasn't by accident."

This b*tch was digging herself a deeper grave.

"So, it was on purpose?" I growled out through gritted teeth.

She grabbed my hands and tried to rip them off from her jacket, but I didn't relent. Instead, I held on tighter and slammed her against the wall next to the door.

Estelle narrowed her eyes at me. "None of your business. Now, if you don't let go of me, I'll make you."

"Some agents are dead and some are in the hospital due to your carelessness." I took a deep breath, but it did little to calm me. My parents were captured and tortured and Alexander's parents were attacked because of her negligence.

Unforgivable.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Alexander walk towards us, probably to diffuse the situation.

"Don't," I shouted just loud enough and Alexander must have realized I was directing that comment to him because he stopped moving.

"If they died because of the mission, they didn't deserve their rank. They failed. Worthless and useless," Estelle sneered out haughtily.

This. Fu*king. B*tch.

Immediately, I couldn't see anything but her. Rage hazed my vision and I didn't care anymore.

As the daughter of two agents who've risked their lives, as the wife of someone who continues to fight in the shadows for the safety of the citizens in this country, as a soldier that fought and lost close friends on the battlefield, her words lit the fire of fury in me.

"The only worthless and useless person is you!" I yelled as I threw her to the ground, most likely ripping most of my stitches in the process, and aimed my fists towards her face.

I've never felt so bloodthirsty. I wanted to kill her.

I couldn't see anyone other than her nor feel any pain as I pinned her to the ground and pummeled her face. I didn't know when I was pulled off of her, but I suddenly felt myself being restrained so I twisted, kicked and tried to wiggle out of it. As I calmed myself enough, I realized that Alexander had his arms around my torso, also effectively caging my arms in his hold.

We were a few meters away from a broken-nosed and bloody Estelle Kage.

My breaths came out in angry huffs. "Let me go, Red. I'm not done."

"Angel," he whispered into my ear.

I stopped fighting against his hold and he loosened slightly.

Estelle got up off the floor with her hands on her face. "You crazy-"

I didn't let her finish as I slipped out of Alexander's hold and quickly landed another punch on her jaw. Her face whipped to the side on impact.

"Get. Out." I growled out in unrestrained anger. "If I ever see you again, I will kill you."

Estelle was about to retaliate when Alexander spoke. "Walk out, or someone will escort you out."

Estelle paused for a moment before stomping out of the room, her blood dripping on the floor.

I looked at both my mother and Alexander.

"How do you both know her?"

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(>.<) Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Vote, comment and share if you liked it :D

Happy holidays everyone,

InvincibleBunny