MIKE
We climbed up the creaky metal stairs of the old building, the air thick with rust and dust. The rooftop groaned under our weight, but Agent Tiger didn’t seem to care. He moved like he’s done this a hundred times.
I stepped up beside him, took a look around and what I saw made my gut twist.
Below us was a city or what used to be one. Everything looked dead. Abandoned buildings. Broken windows. Overgrown streets. Not a single soul in sight.
“What the hell happened here?” I muttered, scanning the area like I was in some post-apocalyptic movie. Tiger didn’t even glance at me. He just tapped my shoulder and pointed off to the far right.
I followed his hand... and saw him.
Agent Leon.
Standing alone at the edge of a cracked parking lot like he was in a daze.
“What’s he doing?” I asked.
“Waiting,” Tiger replied, short and vague, as always.
I turned to him. “Waiting for who?”
Tiger’s lips curved slightly. “We’ll see.”
So I leaned on the ledge, eyes fixed on Leon, who looked like a guy who just got stood up. Pacing. Checking his watch. Pacing again. He even rubbed his head in frustration like some heartbroken teenager.
“Dude’s acting like his girlfriend ghosted him on their first date,” I muttered. Tiger chuckled but didn’t say a word. Instead, he walked to the opposite side of the rooftop.
“Mike,” he called out a second later, motioning with his head.
I jogged over to where he stood and saw it a sleek black car creeping toward Leon’s location. Its windows were pitch black. Tinted so deep, we couldn’t even guess who was inside.
I glanced at Tiger.
“You know who that is?”
He shook his head. “Not yet.”
The car rolled to a slow stop still about a kilometer away from where Leon stood stiff like a statue. Me and Tiger stayed crouched behind a wall of rusted pipes, watching closely, barely even breathing.
Then the driver’s door opened.
I squinted.
And my heart nearly jumped out of my damn chest.
“Siren?” I muttered, blinking just to make sure my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me.
Yep. That was her. Calm, stone-faced, deadly as hell. Tiger let out a breath that sounded too much like a laugh.
“I knew it,” he said, like he’d just won a bet with himself. Then he stared back at Leon, eyebrows furrowed.
“What are you doing, Leon?”
I could feel it the tension stretching in the air like a rubber band about to snap. Siren kept walking toward him, slow and confident, like she wasn’t staring down a guy who clearly lost his mind. And Leon? Man, the dude suddenly pulled out his gun. Pointed it right at her.
“Sh*t,” I hissed, tensing up.
Tiger leaned forward, squinting like he was trying to read Leon’s mind, but something had him on edge too. I could tell. He wasn’t just watching he was calculating something. Distracted. Meanwhile, Siren? She didn’t flinch. Not even a little. She just kept walking like that gun didn’t mean a thing. Then, she smirked. Full-on, knowing smirk that said she had Leon exactly where she wanted him. She stopped just a few feet in front of him.
She spoke but we couldn’t hear it from up here. Whatever it was, it hit Leon hard. His hand started to shake. The barrel of the gun slowly dropped, like it was too heavy to hold now. Then out of nowhere he rushed her.
He grabbed her by the shirt and started saying something, his voice all frantic. I could see Siren just staring at him, unfazed, eyes locked in.
And then, bam.
Leon raised the gun again.
But before he could even blink BANG. His weapon flew from his hand, metal clattering to the pavement.
Me and Tiger both jerked, eyes snapping to the direction the shot came from.
“What the hell” I whispered, scanning the rooftops.
And then I saw him. Standing tall, steady with the sniper still hot in his grip. My breath caught in my throat. That face. That build. That stare.
It was my brother Again.
Again.
Right there in front of me, just as real as the last time I saw him. Maybe even more.
I didn’t need proof. I didn’t need time to think.
It was him.
I watched from the rooftop edge, crouched low behind a crumbling concrete barrier, eyes fixed on the scene below.
Siren… she turned her head just a bit, enough to shoot a glare behind her and just like that, Ian backed off like a trained dog. She didn’t even say anything. That threat was in her eyes.
I muttered under my breath,
“What the hell does my brother see in someone like her?”
Tiger cursed beside me.
“Sh*t… he's bleeding. Bullet grazed him,” he said, nodding toward Leon’s arm, which now had a streak of red soaking through his sleeve.
Leon stood there stunned, clutching his arm as Siren leaned in, whispered something again then just turned and walked away. Calm as ever. She got back in the car, engine growled, and then she was gone.
Tiger didn’t waste a second. He got up fast.
“Let’s go,” he barked, heading down the stairs.
I was on his heels, but the second we reached ground level and were just a few feet from Leon, Tiger extended his arm, stopping me.
“No. You stay here,” he said firmly. “I’ll handle it.”
And for some reason, I didn’t argue. Maybe I shouldn’t have trusted him that easily but I did.
So I watched. I ducked behind the wall, staying low, eyes locked on Tiger and Leon.
Leon looked startled when Tiger approached, his hand still pressing on the wound.
“What are you doing here?” Leon asked, glancing around, eyes sharp like a hunted man.
“If she sees you, she’s gonna shoot you, you know that right? She spared you before for a reason, but now? She doesn’t have one.”
Tiger just gave a half-smile, like he wasn’t even phased.
“Relax. I’m pretty damn sure Siren doesn’t know I’m here.”
But then… Tiger’s whole vibe changed. His smile faded, and his voice dropped lower, more serious.
“Why are you meeting with her, Leon? And how the hell did you even know where to find her?”
“Why Italy?”
Leon didn’t say anything. But Tiger wasn’t letting up.
“You do remember she killed our team, right? Every last one of them. So what the hell is this, huh? Don’t tell me you’re still in love with her.”
I swear my heart stopped for a second.
“No way,” I whispered to myself. “That can’t be real.”
But Leon he didn’t deny it. His expression darkened, jaw clenched. Then he looked Tiger dead in the eye and said,
“If I tell you… I have to kill you.”
And just like that, he turned his back, limping away.
“Leave, Agent,” Leon warned as he walked. “I can’t help you if Siren finds you here. And don’t tell anyone about this.”
And that was it.
I stayed frozen behind the wall, my head spinning.