Loid didn't know how to talk to Damian while he was driving him in the passenger seat. He glanced sideways at the boy that he had rescued in a joint mission with his daughter.

Apparently, this boy had already been on a cinema date with his daughter. Loid eyed him suspiciously, which seemed to make Damian sweat. Loid narrowed his eyes - this was the boy that Anya was interested in, and that she said wasn't secretly dating behind his back?

Loid wondered if there was something that Anya wasn't telling him. Not for the first time, he thought about the evenings missing from home, and the patches of time where she had apparently been busy. But when Loid had gone to the school to tail her, she had rarely been where she said she was. Which meant that Anya had a few secrets that she was hiding. He frowned at that - he had somehow convinced himself that as the spy in the family, only he was allowed to keep secrets, but Yor said that teenagers were naturally secretive. He had to start getting used to that if he was going to keep a good relationship with his daughter.

It had taken a lot of effort for Loid to convince Anya to go back to school after everything that happened. Anya, overexcited and completely out of line, wanted to come to the hospital with Loid and Damian, Loid was having none of it.

"You've already missed enough school as it is today! Make sure you get the information on the lessons you missed."

"But Papa," she whined, and Loid had to look away from her puppy dog eyes. "I want to come with you and Damian! I wanna make sure he's okay!"

Loid didn't miss Damian blush and look away. He sighed.

"Look, Damian needs some time to get checked over at the hospital, he needs his injuries seen to and that could take a bit of time. Why don't you be a good friend and collect his missed schoolwork? When we get back from the hospital, that way Damian will be able to catch up."

Anya had whined and wheedled a little more, but in the end that managed to convince her. She knew how much he wanted to maintain his status as an Imperial Scholar and have an exemplary academic record.

Which meant that after Loid dropped Anya off at Eden College, he was alone with Damian as he took him to hospital. Thankfully, Damian's nose had stopped bleeding, but Loid could hear the slight wheeze in Damian's breath. He guessed that he had probably been kicked in the ribs as well, and he hoped that didn't leave any fractures, or worse, any lung damage.

Damian was exhausted, but he sat shock-still and stared ahead on the road with a resolute gaze. His clenched hands tightened into fights.

Loid sighed. It appeared that Damian was just as on-guard around him, as he was around Damian. Maybe that would have to change, especially if they needed Damian as a part of Operation Strix.

Loid cleared his throat. "So, er, Damian, I imagine that was all a bit of an ordeal for you… how are you holding up?"

"Uh," said Damian. "I dunno. It all feels a bit weird, like none of it is really happening."

"Ah," said Loid. "That's called dissociation. Don't worry, it's perfectly normal for people who have gone through something traumatic."

"Um, right. Okay," said Damian.

Loid kept his hands steady on the wheel, but gave a side glance towards Damian. "You don't sound convinced."

"Like I said," sighed Damian. "It just doesn't feel real."

Silence fell in the car once again.

Damian could feel his face heating up without his permission.

"Uhm, back at the factory, Anya said something strange…"

"She did?" said Loid in genuine surprise. "I mean, what kind of something?"

A part of Damian wondered if he should say what was really on his mind. He toyed with the sentence before speaking it aloud. "She mentioned that she had been kidnapped before, too. What did she mean by that?"

"Ah," said Loid. "I didn't think she remembered that." It might have been Damian's imagination, but Loid actually sounded... embarrassed?

"So it's true?" Damian guffawed. He knew that Anya had seen some pretty strange things in her life, but surely this topped them all. He had to completely reassess what he knew about her. "I thought she was just saying it to make me feel better."

"Well, Anya does have a knack for being more perceptive that I give her credit for, but she rarely ever lies." Loid sighed. Sometimes he felt like she saw right through him. Especially the other day, when he only thought that she and Damian might be dating, and somehow she refuted it straight away…

"She was just a child when she was kidnapped. They were quite amateur, same as the guys who tried to kidnap you today, but I think it left quite an impression on her. She was always wary when we were out and about, and often mentioned being on the lookout for 'enemies'." Loid reminisced to when she was just a child, only eight years old, and she hid behind corners of buildings as they walked to the park. He imagined it was just something that she picked up from Spy Wars, but now that he thought about it, she had been kidnapped more than the average child. (As far as he knew, only two or three times). It wouldn't be unreasonable for her to adapt to that fear from childhood.

"Huh," said Damian simply, and returned to staring at his hands.

Damian couldn't stop thinking about it. Anya was kidnapped, too?

Given how little he really knew about her, he was beginning to think that was the only thing they had in common. That, and the fact that they were both in the same class in Eden College.

Damian bit his lip. He had just gone through his entire childhood assuming that he and Anya would get together at some point. It was just a fact of nature at this point, but he had never, not once, ever stopped to consider that he might be mistaken, that Anya might have more to her than he ever knew.

How could she have kept this a secret from him, too? Was it because she thought that he would never understand?

No, he couldn't let himself think like this. Anya was his friend. They had known each other almost since they were six. Nearly twelve years. Was he really going to throw away that friendship just because of a few secrets?

Even though they were quite big secrets…

First the adoption thing, now this. Damian desperately wanted to ask Loid, but Anya was so distraught when she told him, it must have taken a lot of courage for her to tell him. Damian pressed his lips together in an effort to remind himself to keep his damn lips shut. Anya just had a lot going on, it was natural for her to keep a few things to herself.

And now that Damian thought about it, there were a few things that he had definitely never told her. Like what his real relationship with his Dad was like, or where he really spent the holidays, and how he felt about Anya. (He couldn't afford for her to know just yet.)

So maybe there was still hope for them both after all. Damian felt himself start to brighten up a bit. They could each have secrets, but it didn't mean that they had nothing in common. They had… They had…

Urgh, why was this so hard?

They were both at Eden. They had both had an experience of being kidnapped. They both like Spy Wars (even though Damian often pretended not to).

And also…also…

Damian blanked.

That couldn't be it… could it?

Could it be that he actually didn't have anything else in common with Anya?

That was impossible. Surely.

Damian breathed in and tried to relax. Even if they didn't have a lot in common, there must still be a way to establish a solid foundation with someone. He couldn't imagine not ending up with her. So it was going to happen - he just didn't know when. That was a surprise that Fate was still keeping from him.

He felt a breath of relief pass his lips. He would still end up with Anya. He had to. He couldn't imagine anything else.

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Thank you guys so much for your genuine enthusiasm and leaving such lovely comments/reviews! I love hearing what you like and what all of your thoughts are on the chapters :D

I really wanted this story to be one of growth, so the characters get closer as the stakes get higher - so just a warning, things are not gonig to slow down by any means. In fact, they will accelerate. I came up with the outline for this back in March 2022 and it's been the only thing on my mind for the last 9 (?) months, so it brings me so much joy to share this with you and to know that there are people out there enjoying it!