Liv didn't look away.
"Explain how you're still alive."
Her voice wasn't restrained anymore, no longer trying to sound steady. Everything she had buried finally reached that point — and this time, she had no reason to hold it back.
Leon didn't answer right away.
He stood in front of her, quiet, as if choosing his words carefully. Not because he didn't know what to say — but because he knew whatever came next couldn't be taken back.
"That night wasn't a mission," he said at last. "It was an extraction."
Liv's brows pulled together, something already feeling off.
"What do you mean?"
"It was a trap," Leon continued, quieter now. "Not for all of us. For me."
Silence settled between them.
"My father set it up. And Crowe… opened the way."
That name hit immediately.
"Crowe?" Her voice dropped, disbelief creeping in. "Our commander?"
Leon didn't confirm it. Didn't deny it either. That was enough.
"Leon Archer," he went on after a short pause, "died that night."
The words landed flat. No emotion. No emphasis. And somehow that made them heavier.
"You buried him. You went there every week. Every birthday."
Liv's breath caught. She had never told anyone that.
A few seconds passed.
"Since when did you know," Liv asked finally, quieter but sharper, "that you were Alexander Darx's son."
Leon held her gaze.
"Since that night."
Simple. Clear. And it hurt.
Liv didn't answer right away. Because she understood what that meant.
Before all of this. Before that mission. Leon had lived like anyone else — with his mother, without the Darx name, without Eclipse hanging over him. No signs. No hints.
Now it felt like two lives that were never meant to meet.
"The one standing in front of you now," Leon said, "is Leon Darx."
Silence fell again. Deeper this time.
Liv shook her head slightly. Not ready to accept it. Not willing to.
"So you're one of them," she said. "Eclipse Order."
Leon didn't answer immediately. And that silence said enough.
"Then why am I the target?" Liv pressed. "Isn't Volkov one of them, too?"
Leon looked at her.
"He's part of the system," he said. "But he doesn't play by its rules."
Liv narrowed her eyes.
"He was assigned to bring you to Eclipse. But Volkov has no intention of handing you over."
A pause.
"He wants to use you for himself."
The air shifted. Tighter. Heavier.
Liv stepped closer.
"Why me?" Her voice dropped, sharper now. "I don't have anything."
Leon shook his head.
"You're more valuable than every system they have."
It didn't make sense. Or at least — it wasn't supposed to.
"If you know something," she said, low but pressing, "say it."
Leon studied her for a moment, then spoke.
"None of those systems is completely secure. And the only way to keep them locked… is someone who can open them."
Silence. And something inside Liv started to move.
Training. Patterns. The way she read systems without ever being fully taught.
Not habit. Not talent.
Something planted.
"My father…"
The name surfaced on its own.
Emanuel Hart. System architect.
And with it, the memories came.
—
"Dad's going to make our lives better, Livia."
Liv stood at the doorway that night, watching lines of code she didn't fully understand yet.
"We're going to be rich," her father said. "I'm selling this program to a major organization."
A pause.
"Eclipse Order."
Back then, the name meant nothing.
—
That night, before going to bed, Liv stopped.
The office door wasn't fully closed. Her father's voice came through — lower, tense.
"I've given you the access you asked for."
A pause.
"No. I'm not handing over the full program."
Silence.
"I'm not stupid."
Liv didn't go in. Didn't ask. She just walked away.
—
Midnight. She woke up.
The house was too quiet.
She walked downstairs slowly, unease settling in for no clear reason.
And there — on the stairs — her father.
Still. Not moving. Not breathing.
"Dad…?"
No answer.
Her hands shook as she reached for her phone. One name appeared.
Voss.
—
"You'll be safe in the military."
That voice still lingered.
"I'll make you a great soldier, Livia."
A pause.
"Your father would be proud."
—
Liv snapped back to the present, her breathing uneven.
Everything connected.
Eclipse. Her father. Herself.
And at the center of it — Leon.
The version from before.
They met during military training. First day. Cold, harsh, filled with people trying to survive in their own way.
And Leon — never tried to stand out. But it was impossible to ignore.
They were placed in the same unit from the beginning. And it never changed.
Training after training. Simulation after simulation. Mission after mission.
Always together.
Until it became… normal.
"I'm going to be a programmer," he once said, half joking, half serious. "Get paid well. Live easy."
Liv had laughed.
But she knew — he wasn't joking.
The way he saw code. The way he understood systems… It reminded her of her father.
Maybe that's why she felt safe.
With Leon, she didn't need to explain anything. He just… understood.
—
Now everything was different.
She finally understood her mother's resistance. The way she pushed Leon toward the military.
Not doubt. Fear.
She was protecting him. From his own father.
—
"So…" Liv's voice was quiet. "…what am I."
Leon answered without hesitation.
"The key."
Silence fell. And this time — Liv didn't argue.
—
She looked at him again. Sharper.
"Who are you standing for?"
Leon didn't answer right away. A few seconds passed before he said,
"I stand with you."
Liv let out a short laugh. Bitter.
"You left me. You stood with your father."
A pause.
"And now you're telling me you're against him — for me?"
Leon stepped closer. Close enough to erase the space between them.
His hand lifted, brushing her cheek gently.
"I never left you."
Liv tried to pull away, but he held her — not forcefully, just enough.
His hand moved to the necklace at her neck, pulling it free from beneath her shirt.
The ring appeared. Still there. Unchanged.
"You never took it off."
Liv shook her head faintly.
Leon opened the ring, revealing a small black stone inside. Then he activated something on his wrist.
A display appeared — not just a map, but a living network.
A single point moved. Every second. Every step.
It was her.
"I never lost you," he said softly. "Not once."
Liv's breath broke.
Tears fell before she realized it.
"While I was with them, I built this system. So I could always find you."
And that — finally broke her.
Liv covered her face. Her shoulders, always steady, finally gave in.
She didn't hold back anymore. Not this time.
Leon said nothing.
He just pulled her into him.
Close. Warm.
And for the first time in far too long — Liv stopped fighting.
Because there — it felt like home.
---