When Adrian dropped the bombshell about Anya's background, Yor felt every muscle in her body go slack, and she had to focus hard just to keep her breathing even .

The information had left her stunned, but Yor was also a world-class assassin. She had been trained from a very early age to control her emotions in the face of danger, and knew exactly how to deal with stress.

But Damian?

She couldn't understand how, after his initial distress, he seemed to keep himself together fairly well. He even listened to Adrian's information with an even head and seemed to take it all in.

Still, Yor's instincts as a mother told her that not all was as it seemed.

Unfortunately, Adrian didn't quite know the location of the facility, but he told them what he could about the security and layout of the building. Then, when it looked like things were coming to a close, Yor insisted that Damian come round to the Forger's house for dinner.

Her excuse was that it was close by anyway, but she also thought it would be good to keep an eye on him while she could.

Yor was glad that she trusted her instincts, because as soon as Damian seated himself at the Forger dining table, he held his hands and sighed wearily. Suddenly, he felt at least thirty years older than he was.

"What do we do now?" he muttered. He didn't expect Mrs Forger to suggest anything yet, but she pinched her lips in silence.

They still had not heard any updates from the police, who should have been prioritising Anya's search and rescue, but so far nothing had moved forward. It had already been three days - how much longer did they need to go and find her?

In those few days since Anya's disappearance, he had still gone to school, but could not pay attention to any of the classes. He was so sure that his grades had already started to slip. He couldn't even face seeing any of his classmates, and the news of Anya's disappearance hadn't yet been announced, so his other classmates (who didn't quite know him as well) were a little confused by Becky and Damian's seemingly erratic behaviour.

He didn't care if they thought he was overreacting to Anya being ill or having a sick day, but if she was going to be away for much longer, then the announcement would have to be made to the whole school, and Damian just didn't know if he was emotionally prepared for that.

It was bad enough when he was kidnapped, and he had returned to school the next day after some time in hospital with a broken nose, two black eyes, and a ribcage so bruised he was out of P.E. for over a month. Kids stared at him in the corridors almost constantly, and every time someone whispered around him, or even looked in his direction, he was struck with paranoia at the idea that they were talking about him behind his back.

Well, they were. His mysterious disappearance - followed by mysterious reappearance, and Anya's award for bravery - got everyone talking. If Anya went missing, the whispers and the stares wouldn't just get worse. They would become unbearable.

But it still wouldn't be as unbearable as the thought that he might never see her again. Might never be able to ask her to the Imperial Ball, might never sit behind her in class again, or stare at her hair, or text her, or pass notes, or get excited whenever she got close to him. The whispers and the stares wouldn't even be as unbearable as never meeting her at the bus stop again, or feeling her hand in the crook of his elbow, or pretending not to notice whenever she rested her head on his shoulders.

He felt so dejected. Only a couple of days ago he had tried so hard to motivate his friends and lift their spirits, tried to encourage them into realising that they had more power than they thought, tried to convince them all that they could do something for Anya if they put their heads together. But it was all a lie.

So what could he actually do?

The only adults he had seen who actually seemed to know what they were doing in a fight were Anya's own parents.

Mr Forger had joined Anya on the mission to rescue him from the attempted kidnappers, and even though Mr Forger usually kept his suit jacket buttoned up and secure, Damian had seen the extremely faint outline of a gun at Mr Forger's side.

He didn't dare bring it up though, obviously. He wasn't about to let a man with a weapon know that he knew his secret.

As for Mrs Forger, he had directly witnessed her physical prowess as she jumped up buildings and kicked doors down, and held an eighteen year old boy in the air by his collar. If that wasn't terrifying enough, he had seen the glint of murder in her eyes, and something told him that when it came to Anya, she would absolutely be capable of total destruction.

He had seen a different side to them both that made him realise that if they were going to get Anya back, they may have to do it themselves.

But there was still one significant issue: they had zero information on the facility's location. Adrian had apparently been shielded from that information, too.

How could he ask for help storming the place down without knowing where to go?

Just then, the front door opened, and Damian and Yor jumped back at the same time.

"Damian Desmond?" Loid wondered aloud. "What are you doing here?"

Silence hung in the air for a few seconds, before Yor decided to break the tension. "Oh we were just… Damian's been having a rough time at school and he said he wanted someone to talk to…"

Damian picked up the storyline immediately. "Yeah, uh, I just.. This has all been really hard and I don't know how to deal with it."

Loid nodded in understanding. "This is a difficult situation, absolutely, but I hope you know Damian, that the police and the search teams are doing their best. They are professionals, and they will be able to find Anya in no time."

What Loid didn't say out loud, was that he had been deploying spies and informants and agents as if they were disposable. He hadn't been sleeping, instead scouring every network of information that he could to try and find anything on her. He even had Franky make use of every network he had ever made in his life just to try and find a scrap of information. But Loid was losing hope, and he wondered what the hell WISE and the authorities were doing.

Damian furrowed his brows as he remembered something, too. "I thought you don't trust the police?"

Loid stilled. How did he know that?

He regarded Damian carefully. He was a close friend of Anya's so it made sense that he would be upset, and that he would possibly seek solace in the Forger residence. Maybe he felt that being here would mean that he would feel closer to Anya during her disappearance.

Damian hung his head. "Sorry, maybe I wasn't supposed to know that. Anya told me."

Loid nodded slowly in understanding. So they really were close friends.

He sighed. He would have to handle this carefully. "I understand, Dmaian. We are... Having trouble with the idea of putting our trust in people that have not exactly been a help to us in the past, but we can only do so much as ordinary citizens."

Damian puffed his chest. "I am a Desmond. There's no such thing as 'ordinary citizen' when it comes to my family. There are things that I can do," and he glanced at Loid with a pleading look. "But I can't do anything alone. If we team up, there might be a chance that we can get Anya back."

"Yes!" Yor jumped up enthusiastically. "We can work as a team to get Anya back!"

Loid's eyes flicked between the two.

Their enthusiasm was contagious, and a part of him did want to join in and do something that they could all be proud of, but he also couldn't forget that he was a spy.. They could plan all they liked, but if Twilight slipped up and revealed his identity, then it would all be over. Operation Strix would fail, and he would lose Anya and Yor forever.

Rescuing Damian with Anya was one thing: she had been the driver on that mission, and he didn't have any WISE agents involved. But with what Damian was suggesting, they would have to organise a more well-planned operation than 'Loid Forger' would have ever been involved in.

It would have to be as well planned as any of Twilight's missions - and he could not afford to mix Twilight with 'Loid'. Any mistake would spell absolute disaster for his entire family, and his way of life.

Damian's expression was so impassioned, but Loid could see the line of explosives clearly waiting ahead of him. He couldn't spring that trap.

"I'm sorry," Loid said eventually. "I appreciate your enthusiasm Damian, I really do. You have no idea how much of a comfort it is to have you so determined to save our daughter, but there's more that we have to consider. You have school, and you have obligations of your own that you must fulfil. Leave us to do what we can, and we will update you as soon as we hear anything about Anya. I promise."

Damian deflated. "But – I can help! We can do something - together!"

Loid sighed, genuinely sorry. "I know, and we really do appreciate it. I understand that you and Anya were very close, so if we can be of any comfort to you, you are more than welcome to come and visit whenever you like, but we need to be realistic about this."

To Loid's surprise, Yor stepped closer and put her hand on Damian's shoulder. "He's right, Damian. I'm sorry for bringing up your expectations."

Damian shook himself out of Yor's touch, and his head hung, while tears stung his eyes. "Can I at least… I have something to give to Anya when she comes back." He placed a hand over his bag. "Can I leave it in her room?"

Loid's eyes softened. "Of course."

He led Damian to Anya's room, and stayed outside while Damian went in.

The smell of strawberry hit him like a wall, and Damian tightened his fists on his bag as he shook with the effort of holding back tears. Everything in here was hers… he should have known that he wasn't ready to see her room without her to be there with him.

Damian carefully unzipped his school bag, and brought out a small soft toy of a gryphon. He didn't plan on giving it to Anya, but it was something he had in his room at home for a long time, and he thought it was about time that he gave her something like this that she could keep for herself.

Damian shuffled over to the bed, and placed the toy in between Anya's collection: the chimaera, the penguin, and a few others she had collected over the years. It was so cute that Anya still kept her soft toys, and even slept with them.

He swallowed thickly. He wondered if Anya missed them right now, because she had nothing to hold before she was going to sleep.

Before even realising it, Damian sat on her bed and held his face in his hands.

Gods, he missed her so much. How could his life ever be so empty without her? How had he not noticed that she took up so much space in his life, and that with her missing, it was like his entire heart had been ripped away from him?

His heart still beat, but it was somewhere else, he could feel it. That had to mean that she was still alive, somewhere, and that had to mean that she was going to come back. She had to.

They had to find her.

Something glinted in the corner of his vision, and Damian slowly lifted his head to see what it was.

If it weren't for the reflection of the sunlight streaming through the window, he might have never seen it, but just in the space between the writing desk and the back of the door, there it was.

Why does Anya have a gun in her room?

As he held the gun in his hands, Damian marvelled at the weight of it. He didn't even remember walking over to it, and he definitely didn't remember picking it up, but something about it felt like it was calling to him.

In perfect clarity, he suddenly remembered the vision of Anya standing tall and confident, holding the gun to the guard's face.

She had used it to protect him.

This tiny thing that shone silver, had saved his own life. How was she able to hide it from both him and Mr Forger?

Damian jumped as he heard a knock at the door, and hurriedly held the gun behind his back as Loid leaned his head into the room. "Are you okay in there, Damian?"

"Yep!" Damian squeaked. He thought his heart must have been loud enough for Mr Forger himself to hear it.

Loid gave him a brief once over, and nodded warily. "Right, well, I can give you a lift home if you like…"

"No!" Damian shouted, and then cleared his throat. "I'll, er, walk back. Clear my head. But thanks for the offer," he added hurriedly.

Loid looked Damian up and down, before he sighed. "Sure."

Damian remained tense as Loid started to close the door slowly, and then stepped back into the room once more.

"You should come by again tomorrow," said Loid. "I understand you live far from your home, so you are still welcome to stay with us whenever you need."

Damian nodded hurriedly, then breathed a sigh of relief when Loid left Anya's room, and he was alone once again. Quickly, he retrieved his backpack and made his way out, thanking the Forger's and promising to come by again the next day, before he closed the door behind him.

Walking back to Eden College had never been such a scary feat before. Damian could feel the sweat patches on his back and armpits getting bigger, even though his back pack wasn't that much heavier. The fear of being watched was coming in full force.

Even as he entered the Cecile Hall boys' dorms, he looked around each corner before turning them, making sure not to bump into anyone who knew him. He didn't know if he would be able to hold himself together for much longer.

When he made it back to his room, Damian quickly locked the door behind him, and in an effort to alleviate his own anxiety, he pulled up a chair under the doorknob. Then, he went over to his window and closed the curtains. He needed to be secure for what he was about to do, and he could not afford to be interrupted.

Damian slowly unzipped his backpack and gulped. The gun glinted slyly back at him.

Shaking, Damian reached out his hand and carefully picked it up, almost afraid that it would go off at any second. It still weighed heavy in his hands, but Damian knew that he had to be extremely careful with it.

A part of him knew that he should have told Loid, should have let him keep it, but Damian couldn't even justify to himself why he took it. His arm moved on its own to stash away as he was fuelled by the thought that this was the gun that once saved him, and he had stuffed it in his bag before Loid could come back.

Damian nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a knock at the door, followed by a shout: "Damian-sama! Are you in?"

"Y-yeah!" Damian called back, and he cursed at how unnaturally high his voice sounded. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Just coming!"

Damian put the gun back in his bag, then stuffed it under his bed, before going to join his friends.

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To everyone that I am torturing with this story - Anya WILL be rescued and the lab kids will be okay! She will be rescued around Chapter 46-47 so not that much longer to go! Thank you all for your patience xxxx