Episode 18

"So that's that; after that, I won over my father-in-law, and now we're best friends. If I don't go to watch our team play, he won't go, and if he doesn't, well, neither do I" Camilo boasted proudly as he strolled around the house.

He seemed to struggle with the cold, constantly rubbing his hands and breathing into them to warm them up, but the redhead just walked making fists, as he always did when Maverick was outside.

He looked all around, counting the guards outside and memorizing other details.

He didn't listen to any of Camilo's stories because he wasn't interested in the slightest.

"Hey, you were strangely nice yesterday, and today you're as silent as usual, something wrong? And stop balling your fists, man, you're not even letting your blood circulate. It’s not like some guy is going to jump out of nowhere to hit you. You never sit down and you’re always clenching your fists. You’re going to end up with issues in both areas."

No answer. He saw him looking away and assumed that what he had seen the day before had been just a dream since, well, Maverick being nice? That just didn't fit in his head when he always seemed to be carrying a sign that read: I WANT TO KILL EVERYONE.

He shrugged his shoulders and continued talking nonstop because that was his favorite pastime.

"In my defense, I didn't even know he had fish, let alone that they were in the garden fountain! He should have warned there was a living creature there; then I wouldn’t have peed in it"—he recounted with regret, as it had been the first time he had killed an animal—“That time my father-in-law nearly killed me. Those were his favorite fish, and I sent them to fish heaven. That made me sure I would never get his approval, but my wife encouraged me not to lose hope, and after all that, now we're best friends."

He smiled happily at achieving one of the most difficult goals of his life.

"I admit, he often yelled he didn’t like me because I was a Beta, but there I’d go, like: dear father-in-law, I know it's little, but it's honest work."

The redhead continued walking, noticing an entrance that, from the times he had been observing, was always unattended and no one seemed to care enough to guard it.

"Winning over my mother-in-law was different. She liked me right away and found me quite handsome, and I know I'm not ugly, but I'm also not what my father-in-law said, do I have a pig's butt face? Or am I ugly as a sin? He always told me he would prefer a rat for a son-in-law and pointed a gun at me every now and then. What a difficult man."

He let out a sigh, remembering times when he couldn’t even touch his wife’s hand because gunfire would make him run away.

"Once our first grandchild arrived, he totally softened up. No one can resist babies, especially not a baby as beautiful as my wife. Her lovely eyes, her pretty hair, or… better not look at her, I wouldn’t like you to end up falling for her. And, well, if you don’t like girls, that’s okay. To each their own because…"

He stopped when he realized the redhead was no longer by his side. He hadn't paid much attention because he was always trailing behind, looking at something, and he was tired of waiting for him.

However, looking back, he saw no trace of him.

"Where did he go? I was about to tell him how my first child came into the world."

He tried to think about where he had gone. He even imagined that he might be hiding behind a tree doing some things, but no. Maverick was far away, and behind him, a guard lay on the ground, not dead, but unconscious from the hit he had taken.

He checked the card—one that he or Camilo would never have, being assigned other areas—and swiped it at the door.

He looked up because right where he was going was a blind spot, where there were no cameras, and that was what Alay had investigated. He took quick steps and the door opened. He entered quickly, having the reach of the security camera memorized. He edged over to the other corner and looked both ways. This was trickier because, from both sides, cameras were focused.

He waited a few seconds, trying to think of something, and drew his weapon just as a guard appeared around the corner, which he didn't like one bit, as if he were asked how he had entered without a single key, things would get complicated.

Therefore, he did not move and just waited until the man arrived. The guard, preoccupied with something else, didn't notice the redhead who grabbed him by the neck, squeezing just where he needed to so that the man didn't have much time to react and lost consciousness. Having seen his face, he didn’t have many options, and a silenced shot was fired. Without losing more time, he shot the hallway cameras to advance and enter another room. He went down the stairs to continue and counted the minutes before an alarm would start sounding.

He went on, guided by what Alay had told him, and turned, swiping the card through another door. Seeing what he was looking for, he entered.

It was another point where some cameras were visible, not as entirely as the place where Alay had been, but enough to notice that, from this one, other rooms could be seen from a different angle. He checked everything until he arrived at one where Bley's father was seen leaving a room inside another room only to exit through his own room.

And he knew, that was the place he was looking for, and where the safe must be.

He knew it was going to be complicated, but he already had a part of the start, and that was enough to keep him calm for a few days while he planned something to reach it. He didn't delay in pulling out his phone and making a brief call.

The other person answered quickly but said nothing.

"I know where the safe is hidden. He has a secret room in his bedroom."

"That's perfect, that news has made my day, Maverick. Just don't do anything stupid and leave no evidence, as you know me well, you are aware that would greatly anger me."

"I'll need a week to devise a careful plan, and I'll call you again to report what happened."

"That sounds reasonable. I'll be waiting for your call."

He hung up and put away his phone.

He placed his hands, covered in black gloves to leave no evidence, on the keypad and started to type to erase certain footage and disable more cameras he would need to exit the ordeal. Through one of the screens, he noticed someone approaching, but he wasn't much concerned.

He kept typing until the door opened.

"What are you doing here?"

He didn't stop typing, ignoring the person who was closing the door to approach him. The moment the man touched him, Maverick pressed "enter," and everything started to erase. He quickly grabbed the man by the neck and smashed his head onto the table, sending him to the ground, and fired without a second thought or fear.

He left the place, looking both ways, taking a different route as he noticed the cameras were off. He hid as some people ran by and continued on until he exited the other side of the house.

He removed his gloves to store them and walked away calmly, his face betraying absolutely nothing. Anyone who saw him would just notice calmness, tranquility, and a living demonstration that he had done nothing. He crossed paths with some guards until he turned to head for the house's exit as he heard a melody. He looked ahead, but the soft, soothing melody came from the door on his right. He couldn't ignore it, especially not when the lyrics spoke of things he knew and had experienced.

He couldn't simply walk past, and his feet led him to open the door. He saw a small staircase going to the left and descended the steps to find out what it was.

It wasn't a large room, but big enough for Bley. There was a mirror where he could see all his steps, and the floor was specially designed for him. He watched him move his arms with delicacy, from shoulder to fingertip. He watched him spin, his hair flowing perfectly with each move that matched the song.

And Maverick, who always walked through life filled with anger, with a yearning to kill, and hunched on vengeful desires, had never seen someone dance the way he was dancing.

For the first time, his heart raced, and he didn't know what to do with his hands. They were so sweaty he couldn't make fists, he couldn't breathe properly, he couldn't even stand, and he didn't know if entering and watching had been a good, bad, or redemptive thing for everything he was doing.

Bley, immersed in his dance, didn't notice his presence.

But there was Maverick, sitting on the steps, unable to stop watching.

He never sat, and he never stopped making fists, always worried about being attacked. Yet, in front of Bley, he felt incredibly weak.

He saw him spin, laughing joyfully. His blonde, fine hair looked beautiful, and the melody of his smile seemed to quench the fiercest fire. He stopped abruptly upon noticing Maverick. Bley didn't know when he had arrived, and his rapid breathing didn't let him speak right away.

And he didn't know who he was really seeing.

Bley saw him as if two people were battling something within one body. Frozen for a few seconds, confused about what was happening, but Maverick, now seated, didn't seem so daunting, so intimidating, so dangerous. He just seemed hurt.

Before Bley could say anything, the alarms in the house began to sound.

He looked around because it had been years since they had rung, and he knew what it meant: an intruder was inside, and even though the one in front of him was supposed to be his bodyguard, he showed no intention to stand up. Bley felt that there was no need to be scared or worried because Maverick wouldn't let anything happen to him.

And Maverick, for the first time since being created to protect and assist Alay, the original personality, felt incapable of following a plan.

And above all, of killing him when the time came, because, after so long, someone had made him lower his guard without any effort.

He had sat down for someone, and Maverick never sat down for anyone.

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