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Chapter 36 - You'll have to kill us both

INT. SAFEHOUSE – OPERATIONAL ROOM – NIGHT (FLASHBACK CONTINUES)

Rain hammers the windows.

Red lights blink on a large digital interface in front of Ahaan, who's still soaked, still tense.

The room glows with surveillance monitors — and in the center:

> LIVE FEED: DR. MAHI SHAIKH – Mumbai Medical Trust Hospital.

Ahaan watches her.

She's laughing softly with a nurse on the monitor.

Completely unaware her life has just been marked for termination.

A soft beep.

COMMANDER (V.O.):

> "Agent Ahaan, are you in position? You've gone silent."

Ahaan clenches his jaw.

Fists tight. Voice low.

AHAAN:

"She's not the threat."

COMMANDER (V.O.):

> "That's not your call."

AHAAN (firm):

"She's my fiancée."

Silence on the line.

Then:

COMMANDER (V.O.):

> "Which makes you compromised."

AHAAN:

"No. It makes me human."

COMMANDER (V.O.):

> "You knew what this job requires.

No attachments. No emotion. No names.

We don't marry our targets, Agent Ahaan."

AHAAN (gritted teeth):

"She's not a target. She's a doctor. Innocent.

And you think I'm going to kill her because your data says she 'might' know something?"

COMMANDER (V.O.):

> "It's not a request. This is your final directive.

Eliminate Dr. Mahi Shaikh or walk.

And if you walk — you become the liability."

Ahaan's face darkens.

His breath is ragged now — not from fear, but fury.

He slams his hand on the desk.

AHAAN (furious):

"You used me to get close to her."

COMMANDER (V.O.):

> "You knew what this mission was from the start."

AHAAN:

"I fell in love with her in the process.

She made me forget what I was — and remember who I am."

COMMANDER (V.O.):

> "Then you are a danger to national security.

And so is she."

AHAAN (quiet, but deadly):

"Then you'll have to kill us both."

COMMANDER (V.O.):

> "We already sent another agent."

Ahaan's blood freezes.

AHAAN:

"…What?"

COMMANDER (V.O.):

> "Backup operative. Just in case you failed.

Operation 54 proceeds — with or without you."

STATIC.

The comm line goes dead.

Ahaan stares at the screen — at Mahi's face.

He rips off his earpiece.

Then, without a second thought, he grabs his gun, a medpack, and a burner phone.

Storms out into the night.

---

EXT. MUMBAI STREETS – NIGHT – CONTINUOUS

Ahaan races through the rain.

Cars blur. Lights flicker.

Only one thought pulses in his mind:

> "They're going to kill her.

I have to get to her before they do."

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