The edge of the bed sinks down from my weight. I just fiddle with my wristwatch, adjusting it back and forth, watching the second-hand tick away. It's nearly a quarter to four. I'm still in Salzburg so it will take a while to get to Vienna. But I still have time.

The room to our hotel opens and Brendon steps in. "Macy will be joining us in a second," he says. "She went to get a meal and I'm to debrief you." I look away, glancing down at the maroon carpet.

Akari turns their wheelchair around, still struggling to operate the direction. "What is the news?"

"I met with Johnny's virologist contact," Brendon says. His voice is tense and slightly concerned. "She-erm-well, long story short, we now have a very likely idea of what they're working on." Brendon gestures to us. "You all were correct on figuring it was a bioattack. It seems they are planning on using a disease." He steps over toward Akari at the table. "May I?" Akari gestures for him to use the laptop, plugging in a USB and it loads up a file.

"Oh goodness," Akari mumbles, reading the screen.

"What?" I ask hesitantly.

Brendon has a tense look on his face and Akari glances at him. "Are you sure?"

"This is what the evidence is leading to," he says. "Ebola virus."

I stand up, staring at him. "Ebola? As in...as in Ebola? Like from Africa?"

Brendon sways his head and I stare at him. "Not always. This instance, it's lab created but you're thinking of the same concept," he says.

"This is very bad," I mutter.

"Well, that's what I originally thought," he says. "But I talked to Dr. Bree and we had a rather long...per say, hypothetical discussion on this specific variant strand." He paces back and forth, swaying to the side as he turns around, retracing his footsteps. "Yes, this is nasty stuff as this strand is lab created and it's tested to be worse than what mother nature intended."

"And this is not as bad?" Akari asks, turning away from the computer and looking up at Brendon. "From what I know, this disease causes you to bleed from every orifice, disintegrates your organs, and then kills you." Brendon doesn't say anything against them so it means Akari isn't wrong. Usually, Akari isn't wrong but man, I really wish they were this time.

"I'm really not liking the sound of this," I say, sitting back down on the bed, holding my head in my hands. "How contagious is it?"

Brendon pauses for a moment. "That's the thing. It is technically highly contagious but only by touch."

"WH-highly contagious, that's not-"

"Hear me out," he says. "As pandemics go, it's not as severe when it comes to spreading on a mass scale. And it kills it's host too quickly for it to spread very far."

"So people die before they can pass it along to others?" Akari suggests, finishing the thought.

Brendon snaps his fingers. "Yes, exactly. Unlike other viruses where there is a time period of contracting it and then showing symptoms, this is instantaneous. And it's not as threatening in the slightest as pandemics go."

"People would still get sick," I point out. "A lot of people will still die."

"Yes," Brendon says, "they would and yes, there will still be fatalities. But nothing on a catastrophic degree."

"Then why would they take it?" Akari asks. "They go to infiltrate LoVID, you think they would have taken a more effective disease. A flu strand or even a different variant strand of the Ebola. Why this one?"

"I talked to Dr. Bree on this," Brendon says. "I mean, from what I got, this wouldn't be something to cause a lot of damage. However, it would cause a large scare."

"Psychological terrorism," I mutter. "Fantastic. Because a few years back, when 3 people contracted it, everyone thought it was the end." I wipe my face with my hands and sit back. "And before that scare, there was the swine flu panic and it was only a dozen cases. A hundred though, that would be large."

Akari huffs as they try turning the wheelchair to face me. "Okay, but what if that is not their goal?" they ask. "What if they are still attempting to attack us on a large scale? How would they accomplish it?"

Brendon pauses, not sure what to say. "They would need a lot," I answer. "And you would have to just infect as many individuals as you can in the first release. High population such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago." I trail off, unsure of where to go from there.

"But even so, it will die out quick," Brendon adds on. "Everyone would be dead in less than a month and it can't continue spreading. And from what the records show, they didn't take enough for Gerard's theory to work."

"They identify the strand from what they have and duplicate the gene sequence, they could make more," Akari says.

"Theoretically, yes, if they had the training to do that. But they would also need a lab."

The door opens and Macy walks in holding a white bag. "I grabbed dinner," she says, heading over to Brendon and Akari. She notes that I'm still here and sighs as she drops the bag on the table. "Way, it's Saturday, you know where you're supposed to be." I see Akari and Brendon shrink down. They knew I shouldn't be here still but neither of them has the heart to tell me to go. However, it's Macy's job.

"Brendon was debriefing me," I say.

"Don't go blaming him," she says, crossing her arms.

"You know," I say, sitting up a bit, "we seem to have enough information on the case." Macy gives me a warning look but I proceed. "There's nothing I can do in this affair." Macy takes a step towards me but I just stare at her. "With all due respect, I have done everything you asked. But these last few months, I have been playing date night with no goal for this mission. You're not having me collect data or go through her belongings anymore. You are having me just there."

"In case we need you later. It would be foolish to throw your connection to her away now," Macy says. "Way, until this is over, you are to stick this out."

"And what do I do when it's over?" I say. "There's a lot more at stake now."

"This cannot get personal," she says cautiously.

"A little too late for that," I scoff.

Her eyes soften up but her voice is still sharp. "I didn't order you to get her pregnant. And when you called Akari, they didn't suggest asking her to marry you. You did that."

My eyes sting as I refrain from raising my voice. I keep it at a consistent volume but I start shaking. "At that point, there wasn't much of a choice. And I wasn't allowed to..." I cut myself off, not wanting to talk about this. "You wouldn't let me use anything to avoid the first problem."

"I didn't say that," Macy starts.

I roll my eyes. "It was implied. She told me I didn't need to because she was taken care of. And you told me not to argue with her. So that's why I didn't. It is NOT my fault she forgot." I clench my jaw shut, trying to keep myself calm. I'm not doing very well.

Brendon and Akari keep their heads down, pretending they aren't here. I don't want them to feel awkward but it would make it worse if I told them to step out now. Macy shifts her stance, sighing a bit. "You knew you couldn't put your trust in her," she says.

I throw my hands in the air, huffing in frustration. "Wh-yeah, I knew that! But that was referring to trusting her with my life. Not...birth control!"

The room falls quiet as Macy looks at me sympathetically. I know her well and I know the cold frontier she puts up is just a facade. I know she feels conflicted but her job isn't to be sympathetic. "When this is over, what side are you on?" she asks. I don't feel threatened by the question. She keeps her lips firmly pressed together, looking at me sincerely.

"I don't know," I whisper. "The lines between right and wrong have more than blurred. They've mixed up."

"We'll discuss this more when you get back but right now, I need you-"

"Yeah, I know," I say bitterly. "I'll see you tomorrow to report." I grab the cover's keys, wallet, and cellphone before heading out.

The drive takes much longer than usual due to rush hour. It bothers me being alone for so long with nothing by my thoughts to dwell on. When this is over, what do I do? We get Kelcer, we stop the attack, everything is fine. But what happens between me and Elsa? If she ever finds out who I really am, she'll hate me understandably. That is if she doesn't kill me. But what if she never finds out? Do I flee or am I obligated to stay? I don't know if I want to stay or not. I don't know what I want but I do know that I wish none of this happened in the first place.

I catch a glimpse of my reflection in the review mirror. I look like a disaster. My hair is combed back but my face is ghostly, eyes sunken in and dark. I haven't been able to sleep the same. I mean, sleep and I have never been on speaking terms ever since I left. But that's who I am and I've adapted to cope. This is taking a toll on me. I wasn't supposed to have kids. No questions asked. I am a failure.

I get to Elsa's and I push those old memories and worries aside as I take out the key to her house. Before I unlock the door, she opens it. "Oh, Hallo," I say surprised.

"Guten Abend," she says, stepping out to join me. "I saw your car pull up and I was ready a while ago."

"Traffic was unexpected," I say.

Elsa smiles, leaning up to kiss me. I smile against her lips, holding her at the waist. "You look tired," she murmurs.

"It's middle of the semester. I've been overwhelmed at work lately," I say smoothly. "But all is well now that I have you, angel."

She takes my hand, intertwining our fingers. We step down her front porch and head to my car.

Dinner goes swiftly as it usually does. My brain is on autopilot with what to say and do while undercover. Disassociating makes it easier to get through. By the time we get done and head out, it's after 9:00. Night has flooded the streets and only a few buildings light up the outside.

"How are you feeling?" I ask.

"I'm doing well," she says with a gentle laugh. "Nothing has changed since the last time you asked me."

"I'm just making sure," I say, holding open her door. She just smiles as she steps in the car. I go around and get in the driver's seat and start heading back to her place. She hasn't brought up the suggestion of living together yet and honestly, I'm glad. I wouldn't know what to do to be staying there permanently. There are agents in years of deep cover who've had to do this and my respects go to them. But I prefer not.

The roads are rather empty tonight as it is too late to be regularly out but too early for a Saturday to turn in. It's dark now, only my headlights shining forward providing light. Elsa scrolls through her phone, from what I see, checking her emails. I doubt she's cocky enough to be doing work related tasks in front of me, even if she thinks I'm not paying attention. She shuts off her phone and leans back. I glance at her and she turns her head in my direction.

"Angel, do you think-"

"Achtung!" Elsa screams, grabbing my shoulder but only for a second. I don't see anything but a force collides into us from my side of the car and Elsa's hand falls off my shoulder. My body whips to the side and the seatbelt cuts into my throat. My window shatters, the broken shards rain down on me. I grip the steering wheel tightly but it doesn't have control of the car as we're thrown sideways, the axels vibrating as the car is pushed against the direction of the tires while they scrape against the cement as we're shoved into an alley. Eventually, we lose momentum and come to a halt, the body of the car easing back down in resting position.

I groan out, my head pulsating violently from whiplash, the back of my neck vibrating, ears slighting ringing and replaying the sound of the crash. "Are you okay?" I sputter out, unable to turn my head to look at Elsa. My breathing is shallow as the force knocked my breath out. I dart my eyes in her direction. She didn't scream but she's holding onto the handle above her window and gripping the armrest tightly. She doesn't say anything, just holding her mouth open and slowly breathing. "Elsa?" I can barely get her name out. She doesn't seem in much shock as I am. The impact came on my side, taking the brunt of the force. Her window is still intact. A bright light blares from her side at the end of the alleyway and silhouettes walk out of the light and toward us. She doesn't move and I can't move as they come near us.

Her door opens and a figure in all black holds a gun out at her. She slowly glares at them and aggressively unbuckles her seatbelt. I pull my sleeve over my hand and start brushing the glass off of me. The shards tinker down on the ground. I look out the gaping hole that used to be a window. There's a large, black vehicle slammed against my door. They don't have their headlights on, which explains why I didn't see them ram us sideways. But the car is empty. They got out too.

The door behind the passenger seat opens and a man points a gun at me. "You, out," he orders in German.

As far as I'm aware, my cover isn't blown. "What's going-" I lose my breath but it's not acting. My head is throbbing and staring at him, I realize I'm seeing double down, both images swirling around in my head. This is not good.

"Out!" he barks. I weakly unbuckle the clip, the seatbelt sliding across my chest. The support it gave vanishes and I flop forward over the center console. I can't hold myself up, I'm going to get killed. Someone reaches through the passenger seat and grabs the back of my jacket, dragging me out of the seat. I groan out in discomfort as my legs are bent and yanked from the seat. I don't have the ability to fight back.

The man hauls me out of the car and I topple on the cement. He forces me on my feet and shoves me forward but I can barely catch my bearings. From momentum, I take a few steps before my shoulder smacks into the brick wall and I nearly collapse. Someone catches me, hoisting me back up. I know it's Elsa holding me upright, keeping my back to the rest of them. I try snapping out of it but my head is still spinning. I close my eyes, focusing on collecting my thoughts. I know there are several men surrounding us. It's safe to assume they are all armed and have their guns pointing at us right now. She doesn't want me to see this. Maybe it's a good thing I'm stunned right now because while I am aware of the situation, Warh wouldn't know. He'd be freaking out right now since he's a civilian. Being dazed is the best play I have right now. Granted, I don't have much of a choice.

"You're still with this man," a man says in Russian. I know that voice. A very distinctive voice. Kelcer himself is here. My heart drops to my stomach but I still don't have enough sense or coordination back to fight Elsa and turn around.

Elsa turns to face the direction he's in, still keeping a steady hand around me. She starts speaking but I don't understand her. I close my eyes to listen. Serbian, no, it can't be, I would at least be able to understand the Slavic roots-Hungarian. I don't understand Hungarian. And she knows this.

Kelcer pauses for a moment before replying back in what I assume is Hungarian. Now I really don't know what's going on. He noted that she was still with me. He saw me at the house before so that's how he'd recognize me with her. But Elsa doesn't want me to hear what's happening. Kelcer doesn't know I understand Russian so her switching means she doesn't trust me. Does she know who I am? But she's still supporting me up, not aggressively either.

The two of them raise their voices as their argument grows heated. Slowly, I start regaining my sense but I don't show it, still acting dazed and incoherent. Elsa lets go of me and I let myself go limp, my jacket scraping against the textured brick and crumpling to the ground. The loose rocks of the cement embed into my spine but I can't adjust myself. Before she can turn to me, a man grabs her wrist. The courier that I met all those months ago at the shipping docks. Kelcer menacingly steps closer to me. Elsa warns him in Hungarian but Kelcer dismisses her.

He kneels down at my side but I keep my eyes gazing upward and my breath still short. "You are someone special," he says in German, "you tainted the best of the best. Who are you?"

I take a wheezing breath, thickly swallowing. "Pro...fessor Warh, I-" Kelcer starts laughing and I trail off. The headlights of the cars cast deep shadows and spread over Elsa. She stares down at me. I can sense her trying to remain calm and neutral but I can see in her eyes she's worried. Maybe not necessarily for me but in general. I shift my head in her direction, straining from the jarring movement in my head. "Angel, what's going on?" I wheeze, still in German. "You know these men?"

Kelcer stands up straight, taking a step toward Elsa. She remains unmoved, staring back at him. "All because of him?" He's back in Russian, his natural tongue yet he speaks perfect German. The switching is to avoid me knowing but him going back to Russian means Elsa didn't tell him I understand, she just continued the conversation in Hungarian. Kelcer gestures to me with distaste. "Eh, I could see why any woman would fall for such a pretty face. But I didn't think you were an ordinary woman."

Elsa speaks back, again in Hungarian. If we get out of this, somehow, I'd have a lot of questions for her. She'd have a lot of explaining and I want to see how she spins the lies. She would never tell me the truth, even if she still thinks I am a college professor. And Kelcer wouldn't allow it either. Him coming here means he no longer trusts her. That means Elsa and I are not walking out of this. At least, I'm not.

The two of them go back and forth, he's remaining more civil than her. Why didn't I learn Hungarian? From what I can gather, she is repeating herself mostly and Kelcer is not listening as she keeps reiterating the same phrases.

Two men haul me off the ground and I grunt out, sharp needles stabbing my side. Broken glass is still covering my clothing. "Leave him out of this," Elsa says in Russian to the others. They don't acknowledge her. She switched back, I don't think it was for my sake. They must only know Russian and German then. The courier stands at the side of the two men holding me. Elsa stares at him. "I let you investigate, it came back clean."

"We didn't look hard enough," Kelcer states in Russian as well. "Whoever he is, he's good."

"You are wasting time," Elsa says. "We're done here."

"Yeah, you're right," he replies. He pulls out his gun and raises it at me. I catch my breath.