Selene burst into laughter, her delicate face contorting to the extreme. It wasn't mockery—more disbelief, edged with adrenaline.
"I guess we're preparing for a battle," she said, wiping at the corner of her eye, "but first—tell me all you know about this."
Robert didn't answer immediately.
He stood near the window, half-shadowed by the flickering streetlight outside. The room felt too small for what he was about to say, like the walls themselves might recoil from the truth. When he finally turned, his expression had changed—stripped of its usual control.
There was guilt there.
And fear.
Everybody knew what this would bring.
He looked at Selene, then instinctively reached for his wrist. She noticed. Her gaze dropped, sharp and observant—but he pulled his hand back quickly, hiding it against his side, as though the movement itself had betrayed too much.
"When I was three," he began, his voice low, uneven, "my mother died in a car accident. That's what I was told."
Selene stayed quiet.
"My father," he continued, swallowing, "he didn't get an explanation. He got butchered to death."
Her breath caught—but she didn't interrupt.
"By who?" Robert let out a bitter laugh. "I don't know. I've never known. All I know is that one day I had parents, and the next day I had a reason to hate the world."
He paced once, then stopped.
"I promised myself revenge," he said. "I told myself I'd find whoever did it and make them pay. But till this day… I haven't found the culprit."
His eyes hardened.
"So I trained. Became an assassin. Because brutality was all my life ever offered me. I wasn't a person—I was a function. A killing figure."
Selene's fingers curled slightly at her side.
"I killed countless people," he went on. "Without thinking twice. Not for justice. Not even for revenge anymore. Just… orders. Survival. Me and the others."
His voice faltered for the first time.
"Until I met you."
The room stilled.
"That day," he said, "the first day I saw you—you were smiling, posing for a camera. I thought killing you would be easy. Just another job."
He shook his head.
"But as I approached… she was standing right in front of you. And I froze."
Selene's eyes narrowed slightly. "She?"
"You," he said simply. "Not the target. You."
His face flashed then.
Not with anger—but with memory. With something raw and unfinished breaking through his control. His jaw clenched, eyes darkening, like that moment still had the power to undo him.
"I couldn't hurt you," he said. "I couldn't touch you."
He paused, then corrected himself, softer now.
"I couldn't even touch you. I fell for you right there. Now. At that place."
Silence settled between them—heavy, deliberate.
Selene studied him. Really studied him. The tension in his shoulders. The way his hands remained half-curled, as though violence was still waiting just beneath the skin. She saw the weapon—but she also saw the man carrying it.
When she finally spoke, her voice was calm.
She looked at him with pity—but not the kind that diminished. There was something deeper there, still undefined. As if she was searching herself, trying to understand what she felt when she looked at him now.
Then she smiled.
It wasn't charming. It wasn't playful. It was free. Almost unburdened. As if the world, for one fleeting second, no longer mattered.
"That was intense, Robert," she said. "Really intense."
She exhaled slowly.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that," she continued. "Sorry you had to become this—a soldier, an assassin, a weapon—just to survive."
Her gaze didn't waver.
"But it's interesting now," she added quietly. "Your skill. Your talent. It feels like there are a lot of secrets even you don't know yet."
Robert looked away.
"I don't know my bosses," he admitted. "I don't know who's really behind any of this. But one thing I do know—our lives are in danger."
He met her eyes again.
"I'll protect you," he said firmly. "I won't kill you. Never. I'll fight to the death by your side."
Selene stepped closer—not touching him, just close enough to be felt.
"For now," she said, "we don't have the luxury of answers. For now, we fight. Just to stay alive."
She hesitated.
"My parents also died," she said.
Robert stiffened.
"They were killed," she continued. "How? I don't know. Who did it? I don't know that either."
Her voice stayed steady, but something beneath it shifted.
"I promised myself I'd make them suffer," she said. "To return the pain they gave me."
She turned toward the window briefly.
"But now… they're cowards. Whoever they are. Hiding behind time."
She shook her head.
"No. Not even cowards. They're just a faded past. Something that doesn't get to own me anymore."
She faced him again.
"Maybe that's why I understand you," she said softly. "Not fully. But enough."
Robert swallowed.
"I didn't plan this," he said. "I didn't plan to care. I didn't plan to choose you over everything."
"And yet you did," Selene replied.
"Yes," he said. "And it might get us both killed."
"Or it might save us," she answered.
The world outside continued—ignorant, indifferent—but inside that room, something had shifted. Two broken paths had crossed, and neither could pretend it meant nothing.
"I don't know how this ends," Robert said.
Selene smiled faintly.
"Neither do I," she said. "But for now—we stand together."
And for the first time, that was enough.