Kael didn't sleep.
The apartment was still. The kind of still that crept into your chest and wrapped around your ribs like it didn't want you to breathe too deep.
He lay in bed, staring at the ceiling fan above him. It spun lazily, like even it had nothing to say.
On the nightstand, the sketch of Amara still sat beside Rin's. He hadn't moved either page.
His hand hovered above both… then dropped between them.
At Boston Medical, Liana adjusted the IV drip for the patient in Room 512, then stepped out quietly. She made a note on her tablet, then paused outside Amara's room.
The light was off.
The door was cracked.
She didn't knock.
Just stood there a second—listening. Watching.
Inside, Amara sat curled on the edge of her bed, sketchbook in her lap, blanket around her shoulders. The window was open just enough for cold air to slip in.
She didn't look up when Liana finally stepped inside.
"You're awake early," Liana said softly, careful not to disturb the quiet too much.
Amara nodded once. "Didn't sleep."
Liana walked to the edge of the bed and sat on the armchair beside it.
"No nightmares?"
"No. Just silence," Amara whispered. "It's louder."
Back at Tasha's apartment, Rin stood in the kitchen, pouring water into the kettle. Her hands were steady now. Her back straight. She was dressed already—casual jeans, a clean black tee, sneakers by the door.
Tasha walked in, eyebrows raised. "You're going out?"
"Yeah."
"Where?"
"I don't know yet. But I can't sit here waiting for him to decide how real I am."
Tasha leaned against the counter. "So this is the warrior arc?"
"This is the I'm not a ghost arc."
At the precinct, Nova stood in front of Detective Kade's desk, arms folded, eyes locked on a file he hadn't yet handed her.
"You're still running background?" she asked.
Kade didn't look up. "I'm re-checking everything. Names. Logs. Records from the art center. Anything that slipped through the first time."
"He planned this, didn't he?" Nova asked, voice low. "It wasn't random. He waited."
Kade finally looked at her. His expression was sharp, controlled—but his eyes carried something heavier.
"He waited," he said. "And he watched. For years."
Nova swallowed hard.
"I want to see his face when we find him."
Kade didn't blink.
"You will."
Later that afternoon, Amara walked the hall with Harper, the physical therapist. Each step was slow, careful. Her muscles ached, but she didn't say it.
Harper walked beside her with quiet encouragement.
"You doing okay?" she asked gently.
Amara nodded. "Just sore."
"You need a break?"
Amara glanced at the bench against the wall. A man in a suit—mid-40s, wedding band, cane leaning beside him—was already sitting there, eyes closed like he was counting seconds.
She shook her head. "He looks like he needs it more than me."
Harper smiled faintly. "You sure?"
"I'm tired of sitting down."
Kael stood outside a small bookstore downtown, his hands in his pockets, eyes on nothing. He hadn't meant to come here. It just… happened. Like muscle memory.
He used to meet Amara here between shifts. Before life knew how to hurt him.
He stepped inside.
The bell above the door jingled. A barista glanced up from the café counter at the back—Raul, maybe mid-20s, sleepy eyes, warm smile.
"Welcome in," he said. "Take your time."
Kael nodded silently and drifted past the shelves.
He didn't touch anything.
Didn't read.
He just stood in the aisle where Amara once leaned against his chest, reading a book aloud he never remembered the title of—but always remembered the sound of her laugh halfway through a line.
That night, Amara sat on the rooftop again. The city looked softer at this height. Less threatening.
Kael walked up slowly, hands stuffed in his coat pockets.
"You cold?" he asked.
"A little."
He slipped off his coat and wrapped it around her without asking.
She let him.
They sat in silence.
Then Amara said, "Do you want me to disappear again?"
Kael blinked. "What?"
"I see it sometimes. The way people look at me. Like I'm a memory that shouldn't've been brought back."
"You're not."
"But I'm not the same."
"I know."
She looked over.
"And you're not scared of that?"
"I am," Kael said. "But I'd rather be scared with you than safe without you."