22

(A/N: Sorry for the delay on this chapter and if it seems a bit rushed, I wanted to publish it sooner but I had to have an emergency surgery to remove my appendix lol. Currently writing this while I'm on bed rest. But on the bright side, to make up for the delay I ended up making this the longest chapter so far. Enjoy!)

After nearly 20 agonizing minutes of Clayton pacing around the elevator, trying to think his way out of their current predicament, Carmen finally snapped at him to sit down.

They now sat on opposite sides of the elevator facing each other – but trying their best to avoid eye contact. Carmen was staring at the button panel and Clayton kept his eyes trained on the light fixture above them.

He didn't want to admit it out loud or even in his head, but Carmen was right. Taking an elevator with only one escape route was a dumb idea. He knew better. He'd been trained to know better. But for some reason, Carmen continuously tripped him up when it came to this mission. Either they were on the exact same page or worlds apart on decisions for this.

He was well aware that Carmen felt like she had something to prove to him on this mission, that's half the reason they've been so divided on so many things.

"We're so screwed," Carmen sighed after some time.

They finally made eye contact and Clayton listened to what she had to say, "The brothers are going to be back in just a couple of hours. Once they figure out the elevator is stuck, they'll try to fix it only to find us in here. We have no way of calling anyone for help. We're screwed," she reiterated. "So much for proving to Kendra that I can pull this off."

Clayton shook his head at her, not fully understanding. "Have you ever thought that maybe you didn't need to prove things to people?"

Carmen watched him with a questioning expression.

"I just mean," he began, "you never had to prove anything to anyone before, right? When we found out about you and you made all your tech, it wasn't because you were trying to prove something to anyone. It was because you did what you were best at."

"I'm not best at being a spy," she answered.

"No, but you also haven't been in training for as long as we have. You're bound to make mistakes along the way, but as long as you're doing it the way you know best, and you're confident in the decisions you make then that's better than nothing. At that point, you're not doing it to prove anything to anybody, you're doing it because you're good at it."

Carmen blinked in astonishment.

It was getting rather hot in this elevator; a layer of sweat was already starting to form on her forehead. But she didn't think that they'd been in here long enough for Clayton to reach the point of heat-stricken delirium to give her pep-talks.

"What?" Clayton asked.

"Nothing," Carmen started slowly, treading lightly, "just trying to figure out where the backhanded comment is in all that."

Clayton scoffed. "It's not a backhanded comment. You know what? Never mind. Stick to your sulking for all I care."

"You're one to talk about sulking." Carmen tugged her backpack off her.

Carmen leaned against the wall and set her bag next to her. "So, got a plan yet?"

Clayton ground his teeth together. "I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that I actually don't."

"Why would I be pleased to know that?"

"Because it means that I've screwed up, and you were right. Happy?"

Carmen couldn't help the glare she gave him. His eyes were now closed, and he couldn't see it or how she'd taken great offense to his comment. "No. That doesn't make me happy, Clayton."

"Why? Hate being stuck in an elevator with me that much?"

"I can handle it just fine, it seems to be you who can't handle it," she countered.

Clayton opened his eyes to look at her once more. "I can handle it."

"Prove it," she commanded.

He smirked. "I'm not the one with the need to prove myself."

Carmens face faltered and she tore her gaze away from him to stare at the ground once more.

Clayton could've kicked himself for what he felt in that moment. He actually felt a little bad for saying that after just telling her that she didn't need to prove anything to anyone – not even him. He even felt a little bad for putting that look on her face.

He chewed on his bottom lip as he pulled one leg to his chest and outstretched the other. "Look," he started, finally giving up, "can we just have one of those one percent times? If we really are going to die when those guys get back, I'd rather not spend the last of my time fighting."

Reluctantly, Carmen agreed with a subtle nod. "Fine. A one percent time."

This seemed to bring a bit of ease to both of them.

Carmen would be fine not arguing with Clayton, she never really wanted their rivalry to begin with, but she definitely can't sit here for an unknown number of hours in silence. "How pissed do you think your mom will be when she hears how this went?"

"Depends on whether we go back to The Compound in body bags or not."

Carmen closed her eyes with a disgusted scrunch of her nose. "Your optimism is so inspiring."

"Happy to help."

"Okay, but seriously?" she asked.

Clayton sighed. "You're lucky. If she hears then you won't be getting half the heat that I will."

Her eyes fluttered open, and she eyed him carefully. "Why would it be worse for you?"

"Because I'm held to a different standard than the rest of you," he replied in a robotic tone. It wasn't robotic or monotone because he was bored with the topic. It was just something he'd heard and been told a million times, something that he's had to tell his mother so that she believed he understood where he stood on this team. At this point, there's no emotion when he says it because he's so used to it. Even the rest of the team doesn't question it. Especially when he has to receive significantly longer lectures whenever someone makes a mistake on a mission. In everyone's eyes, that's just part of Clayton's job description. But judging by the look on Carmen's face right now, she didn't agree with that.

Something twisted in Carmens stomach. "That's kind of messed up, isn't it?"

"It's reality." He shrugged. "It's been like this my whole life."

Carmens eyes widened slightly. "Your whole life?"

Clayton cleared his throat, not entirely sure if he was ready to dive down this road with Carmen. She wouldn't understand – but hell, sometimes, he didn't even understand it either. "From the second I was born, my mom knew exactly where she wanted me in this organization. I grew up being trained for this."

"You had the option though, right?"

Clayton drew back in the slightest at the question. "An option?"

"Yeah," she answered, "Kendra never asked outright if it's what you wanted?"

He opened his mouth to defend his mother's decision and tell Carmen that she indeed did ask him. But he would be lying.

Kendra never asked him what he wanted. No one did until now, until Carmen.

"What I wanted was never really a thought to anyone else," he told her.

Carmen tilted her head in wonder. "Did you ever have any other dreams growing up?"

Clayton had never been so stunned in his life. He shifted uncomfortably. "Why... why are you asking me this?"

Because someone should have, Carmen almost said. But instead, she half-shrugged. "I don't know."

Never in his entire life, had he ever had a real conversation about his dreams beyond the organization. He always assumed it was just never a thought to anyone else. Not even his father, who wasn't the biggest fan of the Twin Operative in the first place. But his dad went along with his moms plans for him. So did his siblings, so did his friends. Everyone just went along with it without question. But now, this girl he could hardly be in a room with for 5 minutes without some sort of banter was the only one in his life who questioned it besides him.

He didn't even know how to look at it, let alone how to feel about it. But he knew that there was no harm in being honest. Afterall, he may never be asked about it again.

"I think at one point I wanted to be an architect," Clayton admitted. "I used to look up different schools and degrees, but I knew that I would never be able to do it. This had to come first."

"You should have had a choice," Carmen stated matter-of-factly. "Why didn't you ever tell your mom that you wanted to do something different?"

"I saw how important it was to her."

"What about what's important to you?"

Clayton couldn't even cook up a response to that. The question genuinely had him thinking over all that he'd told himself over the years. His mother's dreams had to come first, even above his own. Afterall the goals were bigger; at least that's what he told himself to justify never going after anything he's ever wanted for himself. His mother's job for him saved lives and kept criminals off the streets. And yet, here was one of those very criminals causing him to question that life-long philosophy he's had.

"Everyone else here had a choice, except for you," Carmen carried on, "That's what it sounds like anyway."

Clayton rose his eyebrows at her. "You didn't."

"Technically I did. This or jail."

"That's not what I'm talking about," he explained, "You never left your mom because of her panic disorder. You didn't want to do what Ainsley did and because of that, you stuck around even if you had bigger dreams."

This had struck Carmen deep.

This was something she would never in a million years admit to herself, not even a therapist. But Clayton had read her like a book, even though she'd never felt like much of an open one. He'd seen right through her.

"I love my mom." She swallowed hard. "She needed me to stay. So, I did."

He nodded. "Looks like we're in similar boats then."

Carmen drew in a deep breath. That one sentence alone started to cause everything to make sense in her head. Mainly the reason why her and Clayton clashed so much. They were similar, they may have even seen a piece of what they'd neglected in each other. Seeing that side of you when you've turned your back on it for so long would be enough to make anyone hot-headed towards someone, especially when that person is the one that you're seeing it in.

Carmen was so lost in thought that she was somewhat startled to hear Clayton start speaking again, "You're the only person to ever ask me what I wanted instead of being the leader. I don't even think my sister knew. My mom drilled into my head from such a young age that this organization should be my priority. I never thought my dreams mattered enough or were more important than what we did here."

She simply shook her head at this in rejection to that ideology. "Our dreams always matter. We should always have a choice in what's important to us. Your mom should have at least asked if you ever wanted to do anything different."

"It's a little late for that." Clayton almost chuckled at the thought of how ridiculous it would be for him to walk up to his mom at this moment and tell her that he wanted to quit. She might never look him in the eye again.

"It's never too late. You're only twenty-three. You've still got time."

Clayton couldn't hide his curiosity for much longer. "What did you want to do?"

Carmen responded with a light shrug. "I mean, I've always wanted to work with computers. So, maybe cyber security or computer programming."

"Well," he began with a lighthearted tone, "at least we know that you would've been good at it."

She almost smiled. "I'm sure you would've been a great architect."

Clayton half-smirked. "Half-way decent at best."

"Oh." She rolled her eyes. "Don't be so self-deprecating."

Clayton's light laughter filled the elevator for a couple seconds and quickly faded as the pair exchanged shocked glances.

For Carmen, it's the first time that he's genuinely laughed around her.

For Clayton, it's the first time that he's actually laughed at something she said.

Carmens mouth curled up into a peaceful, small, smile. "Careful, Clay," she warned. "I might start to think that you want to be my friend."

"That's probably not gonna happen." He leaned his head back against the wall, never breaking their stare. "You're still a criminal."

Carmen's smile never faltered. "And you're still my least favorite asshole."

This time, it was Clayton's turn to smile softly.

**

Clayton and Carmen were running close to hitting their second hour being stuck in the elevator.

Carmen knew that if she didn't act soon then they would lose any chance of getting out of here alive.

She was running through the possibilities of trying to potentially reset the elevators system using the button panel, without sending them to a short freefall, when the fluorescent light above them flickered once more. The few flickers had occasionally sent them into a temporary state of darkness for no longer than a couple of seconds before brightening up the small space once more.

Clayton rubbed at his eyes. "If that light keeps doing that, I'm going to pass out."

Carmen nodded once in a subtle agreement as her eyes landed on the button panel – trying to recenter her focus. But suddenly, the light above them flickered once more. The elevator grew dark.

But the button panel did not.

The light came back on and she lightly gasped.

The realization slammed into Carmen instantly as she jumped up from her seated position.

Claytons head snapped up at her sudden action. "What?"

She almost laughed at how ridiculous she felt for not figuring it out sooner. Her eyes darted back and forth from the button panel to the single light panel above them.

"That's it," she breathed out with relief.

Clayton rose from the ground, the skepticism displayed on his face. "That's what?"

Carmen motioned to the button panel. "When the light flickers, that stays lit up the whole time. The elevator hasn't moved an inch even with the light doing it."

He still wasn't following. "So?"

"So," she started, "usually wiring for an elevator is built into the cage. The button panels system runs through the cage all the way to the top where the motor, and really the entire communication system is. It's all around the cage. But if the light was connected to that same system, and it was having issues with maintaining power, then when it flickered that would've affected the entire cage. The button panel wouldn't have only flickered with it, we would have gotten dropped. But we weren't."

"Meaning?"

"The light is on a completely different power system; it's not connected to the cage. It's basically just a loose panel," she explained.

Clayton still gave her a dumbfounded look and she sighed heavily. "The light panel isn't connected to the cage. We can push it up and climb out."

Finally, it clicked for him, and they both looked up at the blinding light.

'"Are you tall enough to reach it?" she asked.

He couldn't say for certain, so Clayton stood directly under the light and was able to slightly graze the panel with his fingertips. Even standing on his toes, he could only lift it about half an inch.

He sighed, frustrated and dropped his arms.

Carmen wasn't too sure how much she enjoyed what she was about to suggest, but if it gave them a shot at getting out – then she'd suck it up.

"Do you think you could lift me? I might be able to reach it if you do," she sheepishly offered.

He gave her an odd glance. "You sure about that one?"

She withheld the roll of her eyes. "I think I'd rather just try and get out of here. It's not that big of a deal."

To this, he didn't object.

Carmen picked her bag off the ground and shrugged it on. She turned to him just in time for Clayton to take a step back, allowing Carmen to stand directly beneath it.

She stepped beneath the light and gave Clayton a small, anxious nod. He bent down, wrapping his arms around Carmens legs and swiftly picked her up with ease.

Carmen, now significantly closer to the ceiling, wasted no time to press her hands into the light panel and lifted it. "It's going to get a little dark," she warned him.

He remained silent, just holding Carmen where she needed to be.

Carmen only received a small amount of resistance from the panel but was finally able to detach it from the surrounding metal that made up the ceiling and shoved it forward.

Luckily, there was a faint light glimmering through the elevator shaft, so Carmen was able to see the motor and pulley system above them. She reached her hand through the square hole and felt around the top of the elevator. She felt nothing sharp or concerning that would keep her from climbing through, so she used this as an opportunity to brace her hands against the metal and use all the strength in her body to push herself through the opening.

Clayton helped a bit once she finally was able to pull herself up to her ribcage by pushing her ankles up so that she could hold herself easier.

Her arms wobbled from holding all of her body weight, but if it weren't for the extensive conditioning and training that Colton had put her through – she wouldn't have been able to give one last push and swing her legs up through the hole.

Carmen sat on the top of the elevator and pulled her entire body through where the light panel once was.

It must have been lighter in the actual shaft than it was in the elevator itself because Carmen saw Clayton click on the flashlight from his phone and shine it through the hole.

Carmen looked to her left and saw what resembled the same door that she'd seen when they first entered the building.

The elevators door to the third floor.

"I see the door," she announced and began tugging off her backpack. "I think I might be able to get it open."

She hurriedly rummaged through the bag, knowing that they were running out of time to finish this thing before the brothers returned. Carmen retrieved the wire cutters.

"How do you plan on opening the door with those?" Clayton asked, not masking the condescending tone in his voice.

Carmen ignored it and turned to the door that had its opening split down the middle.

She would never be able to wedge her fingers through without something to help her reach inside.

Carmen turned the wire cutters so that they were flat and started to wedge it between the small sliver of space in the door.

She pushed and gently pulled the cutters to the side, hoping to at least separate the doors more than an inch so that she could use her hands to fully open it.

She bit her bottom lip while concentrating and pushed a little harder.

Finally, the door had given way and the cutters slipped through the crack, now giving her plenty of space to begin prying it open with her hands. She released a relieved breath and dug her fingers into the crack, using all the remaining strength left in her to pull the doors open.

Her hands trembled against the force, and she was worried for a moment that she wasn't strong enough on her own. But finally, the door was forced open a few more inches and Carmen shoved it open completely to reveal the entrance to the third floor.

"I did it!" she excitedly exclaimed to Clayton.

"Thank god." He sighed happily.

She looked down at him and began to gather her bag once more.

"See if there's something that I can stand on to get out of here," Clayton ordered her.

Carmen hesitated and checked the timer on her phone that she had set when the brothers left the distribution center.

They had, approximately, 20 minutes until the brothers could possibly return.

There wasn't time to waste.

She had to move now, and she would have to do so alone.

"Carmen?" Clayton's voice broke her thoughts, and she dragged her attention back to him.

She gulped. "Where is the security room? How do we know which one it is?"

Despite being slightly confused by her sudden question, he still answered, "It's on the east side of the building. There's not much over there except for rooms to hold some of their shipments. Why?"

She took a deep breath, preparing herself for his reaction.

"I have to do this," she told him. "We're running out of time."

His eyes grew wide. "You're not serious."

She offered a genuine apologetic look. "They'll be back soon and the sooner we finish this, the better."

"Carmen," he started, now angry, "do not leave me in here."

"I'll come back," she promised and picked up the light panel. "I've got this, okay?"

"Carmen! Don't!" Clayton yelled as Carmen quickly replaced the light panel. She could still hear his muffled protests from inside the elevator as she turned and peered outside the elevator shaft to inspect exactly where she was.

She kept his directions repeating in her head so that she wouldn't forget. But Carmen also wasn't stupid. She knew that a security room would look different than the others. It might even have someone guarding it 24/7 just because of what's on the computers in there.

She knew what to look for.

The room that the elevator had landed her on was a room bigger than any others that she'd ever been in. There were industrial shelves that reached from the floor to the ceiling holding large crates and boxes. In the center of the room were conveyer belts that had been turned off for the night, but there didn't seem to be any sign of life anywhere.

Carmen turned back to the elevator and pressed the button for the doors to close.

She had to be sure to leave no trace of them until they were finished with what they came here to do.

Carmen removed her handgun from her holster and held it before her, her body starting to sweat from how nervous she was.

Carmen crept towards the east side of the building, prepared to scour every hallway she could find as quickly as possible.

Her senses were on high alert for any type of noise that would give away if anyone else was nearby.

She went through a pair of double doors, checking to make sure that the coast was clear and was met with a long corridor.

Luckily, all of the doors in this hallway had windows on them, so she made sure to subtly and briefly check each room by peering through the glass. Most of the rooms only contained more crates and boxes, some of them even contained filing cabinets.

Once she reached the end of the hallway, there was a corner to turn into another. She noted that all the doors in this hall seemed to be the same as the others she'd already inspected. All except one.

She noticed it right away as she stayed glued to the side of the hall. This door was metal, and it had no handle. However, it did have a mechanism positioned beside it – imbedded into the wall.

The palm scanner.

She felt relief fill her; she'd found it.

Carmen was just about to round the corner when she'd suddenly seen the door to the security room slide open as someone started to exit. She swiftly slipped around the corner to remain out of sight, and she carefully peeked her head out to see who it was.

It was a tall man, wearing casual attire. He was busy typing away on his phone as the door closed behind him. Carmen immediately spotted the handgun secured to his hip.

She tried to remain calm.

There was no way around him. She would have to go through him to get inside the room.

She would need to use what she'd learned so far from Colton in order to go toe to toe with him.

Carmen instinctively ran through scenarios in her head while watching him carefully.

The guard suddenly turned his back away from Carmen to lean against the wall, still typing away at his phone.

Carmens body reacted before she'd even finished coming up with a plan and began to quietly stalk down the hall towards him.

He still hadn't detected Carmen, not even as she stood mere feet away from him.

She then raised her gun, pressing it to the back of his skull.

The guard suddenly tensed beneath the weapon.

"Don't even try it," Carmen demanded, knowing that he was going to go for his gun. "Hands up, slowly."

The guard was still facing away from her, and she was not willing to let him see her face. He surrendered, raising his hands and keeping a hold on his phone.

Carmen used her free hand to reach towards his waist and pulled his gun off him.

"So," he started, "the cameras weren't just another malfunction, were they?"

"Afraid not." Carmen stuffed his gun into her holster, keeping her own handgun trained on him. "Now, take five steps forward. Slowly. If I even think you're gonna pull anything, I'll shoot. Got it?"

"You would've shot me already if you were really-"

Bang!

The sound of Carmens gun suddenly firing into the wall off to their right had caused the guard to jump back in shock.

Carmen pressed the barrel of the gun harder into his neck than she had before. "I don't recommend testing me if I were you."

He was now breathing heavier than he was moments before.

"Five steps," she reminded him.

Finally, he submitted and stepped forwards 5 steps, clearing the doorway.

Carmen was glad that he couldn't see how badly her body was shaking right now. To say that she was in over her head was an understatement, but she was running out of time. "On your knees," had been her next command.

He did so reluctantly, and Carmen relaxed a bit. "Sorry about this," she muttered before raising her gun and hitting it to a specific part of his neck that she knew would knock him unconscious. Just as she'd expected, the guard dropped like a sack of potatoes and laid flat on the ground, unmoving.

It was a trick that Colton had taught her just last week.

Carmen figured that she'd save time by not using the lock bypass equipment she'd brought, and instead grabbed hold of the unconscious guard's hand. She had to give him a good tug or two to drag him closer to the palm scanner before she laid his hand flat against the device.

There was a red light that lit up beneath his hand, and the door made a sudden hissing noise as it slid open.

Carmen dropped his arm without a second thought and went inside just before the door closed behind her.

She finally turned to take in her surroundings. The room was smaller than she thought, and dark. There was a single desk pressed against the wall with 4 different monitors sat on top of it. There was one chair that Carmen sat down in. She placed the gun beside her and turned on the monitors. There was a password on the main monitor that Carmen was focused on, but she was a professional at getting passed those. While working her magic, typing away frequently at the keyboard - Carmen got through the password and now had full access to all that the computer held.

Kendra said that there was sensitive information on this computer she had to retrieve, but without Claytons help, she had no idea what she was looking for.

Knowing that it would come back to bite her in the ass later, she knew that there was only one thing she could do to at least try and finish this mission in somewhat of a proper way.

She would need to wipe the entire computer, and then destroy it.

Carmen got to work, praying that the guard wouldn't wake up before she finished doing a hard reset on all the computers.

The monitors may have been on the desk, but the actual computers motherboards were built into the towers on the ground beside her feet.

One by one, Carmen wiped every single thing off each computer, leaving nothing behind. Anything that the brothers may have left on here, sensitive or not, was long gone by the time she was finished. To be sure, she even made sure that no files whatsoever were being backed up to something else.

When each computer was blank with the reset, Carmen got up from the desk and grabbed her gun.

Holding her breath, she aimed her gun at each of the computer towers and fired right into where the motherboards would be. She didn't dare to breathe in, given that toxins can be released from damaged motherboards, as she raced over to the door and pressed the button on the side of the doorframe.

The moment the door opened, Carmen rushed out and took off in a sprint back down the hall in the direction she came. Finally, she took deep breaths.

What's done was done. Kendra was just going to have to live with it.

Carmen raced back to the elevator as quick as she could, now having a little less than ten minutes to get her and Clayton out of this building.

The moment she reached the elevator, she collapsed onto her knees beside the button panel and control box.

The doors closed earlier when she'd pushed the button. That told Carmen all that she needed to know about why the elevator stopped. There had been a faulty communication between the button commands - but by it responding to her earlier, she knew that it'd been working again. It would just need a little bit of a reset.

Carmen tinkered with the control box to the elevator for only a minute or so before hearing a grinding noise coming from inside the shaft. The noise died down after a moment or two and the doors suddenly opened.

Clayton rushed out, frantically looking around with his weapon drawn.

His wide eyes fell on Carmen, and she thought she almost saw a rush of relief in his expression. "I heard a gunshot," he told her.

"That was me." She got up from the ground as Clayton holstered his weapon. "But we don't exactly have the power of discretion on our side anymore."

Clayton's mouth parted. "Oh god, what did you do?"

"That's not important. We just need to leave now." She held her hand up at him. "And don't even think about suggesting the elevator."

Clayton shook his head at her and motioned towards the east side of the building once more. "There's a second staircase, but we'll have to go around the front of the building outside to get back to the van."

"As long as we're gone before they get back, we'll be fine," she replied and fell into step behind him as they hurried to the opposite side of the building.

The pair ran as fast as they could to reach the staircase that Clayton had memorized the location of. It wasn't the most ideal escape route, definitely not the safest – but it was better than potentially being stuck in the elevator again.

The staircase ended up leading them to an exit located on the side of the building.

As soon as Clayton pushed open the door, Carmen followed him out and inhaled the fresh air.

"To be honest," she began as she trailed behind Clayton to the front of the building. "I was starting to worry that we'd never get out of that elevator."

Clayton was scanning the front of the building as they stalked across it, watching out for anyone who may be lingering outside. But he saw nothing. He peered over his shoulder at Carmen instead, whose eyes were trained on the dirt before her as she navigated her way behind him in the dark.

He was beyond pissed at her for leaving him in that elevator. She could've blown this whole mission. "We were supposed to work as a team to finish this," he said to her, not hiding his annoyance.

Carmens head lifted to meet his gaze and he slowed to a halt to face her. "But I did it," she replied.

"We were supposed to do it together, that's the whole reason my mom even sent us here in the first place. To force us to work together and do this as a team," he argued.

Carmen gave him an incredulous look. "We were running out of time. I'm sorry I left you there, but I didn't really have another choice. It was either that or risk still being here when they got back and brought the rest of their back up."

"And what if they'd killed you?" He shoved his hands into his pockets. "What if you never got to the security room because they caught you? You haven't had enough training to handle that on your own."

"I did handle it on my own," she abruptly cut him off and threw her hands up in exaggeration. "Where do you think the gunshot came from?"

Clayton paused and drew back. "You shot one of them?"

She shook her head. "No, I knocked him unconscious; on my own – might I add. The gunshot was just to scare him. It worked."

It was too dark out to properly tell, but Carmen almost thought she detected confusion in his eyes. "You didn't kill him?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Why would I kill him when it wasn't necessary?"

Clayton hesitated before answering, "I just figured that you-"

He shut his mouth immediately as he and Carmens attentions were directed to the road.

They were so caught up in their talk that they didn't even realize that the SUVs were returning up the drive.

But there was no hiding from them, as the blinding headlights were positioned directly onto them as they grew closer.

"Run," Clayton ordered. "Now!"

He then turned on his heels and the two began sprinting across the front of the property to round to the back of the building and get back to the van. But they'd already heard the uproar of shouts as the SUVs grew closer.

The Sovetsky brothers had returned to the distribution center, and they'd discovered Clayton and Carmen.

They raced around the back of the building, but not before they heard car doors slamming and footsteps rapidly catching up to them.

As they rounded to the back of the building, the van parked on the large dock came into view and relief filled Carmen for only a moment. But then, they heard the sound of gunfire and bullets bouncing off things around them.

She instinctively ducked her head lower and ran towards the van.

Once they'd reached the vehicle, Clayton hopped inside the drivers side and Carmen got into the passenger seat.

He started the van and put on his seatbelt. Carmen realized that her window was still open and was about to roll it up when she heard the shouting growing closer.

She heard a loud voice scream one word that had her whole body freezing.

"Drums!"

For a split second she was puzzled, but as she looked ahead of where the van was parked, it clicked.

They'd parked beside the gas drums.

The bullets weren't even hitting their own van anymore, let alone seemed to be aimed at them.

They were aiming for the drums.

"Clayton, drive," Carmen spoke with a shaky tone. She looked over to see Clayton putting the van in reverse and turning the van suddenly, throwing Carmen against her door. "They're going to blow up the van," she whispered to herself in shock.

"What?" Clayton asked loudly.

He peeled away from the gas drums to drive down the dock – but it was no use.

One second, Clayton was trying to speed away from the gun fire and gas drums to escape. But the next, a bullet must have hit a drum that was half full.

Because a spark ignited, and the drum burst into flames with a sudden explosion.

The force of the explosion being so close to the van hit the back of the vehicle with such a force that Clayton lost complete control of the steering wheel.

He couldn't stop the van as it suddenly veered off the dock and launched right into the water.

**

The consequences of Carmen not putting her seatbelt on immediately upon getting into the van, was that she had been thrown into the door and temporarily knocked unconscious once the vehicle made impact with the water.

The one thing that had managed to pull her out of her temporary lull of darkness was Clayton's voice, frantically saying her name. It sounded muffled and distant - but it was there, reaching out to her like a lifeline.

Before even opening her eyes, she felt a hand pressed against the side of her head. A pulsating ache began inside her skull, and she reluctantly peeled her eyelids open. Despite the softest blur in her vision, she was able to make out Clayton sitting in the driver's seat half-turned towards her wearing a worried expression on his face. His arm was outstretched towards her, and his hand was gently touching the left side of her head.

Carmen didn't have much time to process that before she finally felt the gushing of water that was flowing into their van.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been knocked out, but it was long enough for the water from the bay to fill their van and cover up to their laps.

Now shocked into alert, Carmen sat up quickly in her seat.

The gunfire had ceased, but the water was filling the van at a rapid rate.

It would be a mere seconds before the vehicle was completely submerged in the bay.

"Carmen!" Clayton said loudly, grabbing her focus again. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "I'm fine!"

Carmen sucked in a breath and looked around. The doors were closed. There would be no point in trying to open them, the pressure from the water would never allow it. But thankfully, Carmen's window was still wide open. They could swim out.

"We can get out through here," she explained to him.

"I can't," Clayton told her.

Confused, she turned back around in her seat to face him. Her face fell in terror as she watched him struggle to unbuckle the seat belt.

"It's stuck," he couldn't hide the smallest bit of fear that Carmen detected in his voice.

Carmen cursed and moved to sit beside him. "Shit."

The water was rising the further the vehicle sunk into the water. Moments ago, the water was up to their laps. Now, it was up to their chests. Soon enough, it would fill the entire van.

Carmen tried to undoing the seat belt herself but the button was stuck and wouldn't release Clayton.

Now panicked, Carmen frantically pulled and tugged at the strap.

Clayton was trying to pull himself out but could see how fast the water was rising.

This seatbelt wasn't going to give way any time soon and they were running out of time.

Clayton closed his eyes and tensed his jaw.

"Carmen, you have to go."

She lifted her head with a startled stare. The water was now up to their necks, and she shook her head, still pulling on the buckle of the seatbelt - hoping that it would give way. "No."

"There's no point in both of us drowning. You have a way out, go!" he demanded.

Carmen slowly shook her head. Clayton refused to let her see even the smallest bit of anxiety that was building in his stomach.

He didn't want to die.

But he knew that there wasn't a way out, at least not for him.

Carmen lowered her gaze back to the seatbelt and continued to angrily yank and pull at it.

"Carmen," he started.

"I'm not leaving you here," Carmen snapped.

Just then, the water began to rise past their chins, and the pair of them tilted their heads back to draw in one last deep breath of air as the water flowed past their mouths and noses.

They were officially submerged.

Clayton held his breath and watched as Carmen continued to try and free him from the hold of the seatbelt. Carmen's face twisted as the struggled to continue to hold her breath.

Even in the dark water, he could see her face as she looked up at him and held up one finger, telling him to hang on a moment.

To Clayton's surprise, Carmen turned and quickly swam through the open window.

A pang of despair struck him deep in the chest at the realization that he was going to die here.

Carmen was leaving him and he had no way out.

He was going to drown.

The inside of his lungs began to feel as if they'd caught fire. Someone had struck a match in the center of his chest, and he fought against the urge to suck in air that he knew wasn't there.

His head began to fill with a pressure, and he knew that he was moments from meeting his end.

But then, out of nowhere, Clayton caught movement to his right as someone swam back through the window.

It was Carmen, and she had a recognizable object in hand.

He knew that red pocket knife anywhere. Ainsley had wielded it in front of him plenty of times for him to know it belonged to her.

Carmen swam right up to him but didn't instantly get to cutting.

Instead, she pointed to her air-filled cheeks and then to Clayton's mouth.

It was obvious what she had planned on doing, and he was so desperate for air that he just accepted it without a second thought.

Carmen placed her free hand to Clayton's cheek and the world seemed to still as she brought him closer to her and pressed her mouth against his own.

Clayton fit the shape of his mouth to hers; in response, Carmen parted her lips and breathed out, giving Clayton the final gust of air that he so desperately needed.

Clayton breathed in and felt Carmen's knife cutting away at the seatbelt wrapped around his waist.

Once she'd given him the breath of air, she pulled away and cut the last of the strap away.

The two swiftly pulled the seatbelt off of him and Clayton followed Carmen out of the vans window.

The pair swam to the surface as fast as they could. The second they broke through the water, Clayton drew in several gasps of air.

He coughed against the small bit of water that had managed to get trapped in his throat.

He'd turned his attention to the docks, which they were quite far enough from at this point.

He could hear shouting coming from the Sovetsky brothers and their guards still coming from the building and the docks. It was still too close for comfort.

Carmen tapping his arm had broken his daze completely, he looked over at her as she nodded towards the beach at the opposite end of the bay. "It's a long swim but we'll be safer over there."

He knew that she was right, the farther they got from the brothers - the better. The last thing they needed was for them to realize that they weren't in that van any longer.

Clayton nodded in agreement and the two swam to the opposite shore.

Carmen's arms were burning by the time they reached the sand bar. Once their feet found solid ground to stand on, they rose and waded through the rest of the water, until they finally reached the shore.

Carmen collapsed onto the sand, lying on her side and coughing out the salt water that coated the inside of her mouth. Clayton dropped to his knees and fought to get his breathing under control as he stared down at Carmen.

She could've left him to die in that van. He would've expected it.

He wasn't expecting her to swim back down and cut him out; and he definitely wasn't expecting her to breathe air back into him. He would've passed out and drowned without it.

The two had fought so much since she'd joined the team, he would've thought she'd rather leave him down there just to get the extra nagging off her back.

But she didn't.

Just like she didn't kill the guard she found, also like he would've expected her to.

At this point, she was unpredictable to him.

And she saved his life.

He no longer had her figured out. Now, he just had to find out what that meant for him.

"Thank you," he choked out.

"What?" she asked, rolling onto her back and looking up at him.

He hesitated, watching her dark eyes search his. "You could've just let me drown but you didn't. Thank you."

"Why would I leave you to drown?"

Clayton would've had an answer to this an hour ago. But now he wasn't so sure. So, he simply shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted.

Carmen wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and she laughed. Clayton didn't dare fight his own smile as he shook his head at her in disbelief. "Maybe you're not so bad after all."

Carmen locked eyes with him and kept her smile. "For a criminal?"

He nodded and held out a hand to help her up. "For a criminal," he agreed.

**

"Bingo, motherfucker." Santana exploded out of her seat by Ainsley's bedside.

"Bullshit!" Ainsley shot back, leaning forward in her bed to look at Santana's bingo card. "You're cheating, you can't win three times in a row."

Alexa tossed down the marker she was using for her bingo card and leaned back in her seat. "I don't care who wins, I just want to go to bed."

"Come on, ref," Santana said to Colton with a grin. "Tell them how it is."

Colton rubbed at his eyes. "Santana wins. Again."

Sophie sighed. "I never win," she grumbled.

Nearly 2 hours ago, the group of them had been eating dinner in the kitchen when Luke got a call from an unknown number.

All of them were equally surprised when it turned out to be Clayton calling from a gas station, explaining that there had been a mishap and he and Carmen had lost the van. They needed Luke to come pick them up.

While everyone was concerned and wanted to go to check on them, Kendra only allowed Luke to go. She didn't want to bombard Clayton and Carmen, so she had the rest of the team remain at The Compound.

Ainsley needed to return to the infirmary to rest, so the group decided to join her and play a few rounds of bingo to keep their minds busy.

Colton had been the one calling out the spaces this game and Santana had somehow won 3 times in a row.

He tried remaining focused on the game, but he was practically on the edge of his seat with anticipation about how the mission had gone for Clayton and Carmen.

He got up from his chair and stretched his arms above his head. Sophie directed her attention to him. "You don't want to play another round?"

He shook his head and Alexa piped up, "Honestly, I don't really want to keep getting my ass handed to me by Santana either."

To this, Santana grinned. "I can't help that I'm a jack of all trades."

Colton smirked and turned to leave the room just as the girls sparked up a conversation in regards to Ainsley's recovery. Luckily, she was almost out of the woods.

Kendra didn't trust that Ainsley wouldn't try training in secret, so she temporarily voided her Agent ID Number to the training room, armory, and the shooting range. She was left with no choice but to rest until the doctor cleared her to return to a normal routine.

Colton rode the elevator to the second floor, half-tempted to pull out his phone and call Luke to ask what the hell was taking so long. However, the elevator doors parted and he didn't even get the chance to reach for his phone before he stepped out and caught three people walking through the foyer. Clayton, Luke, and Carmen.

To his surprise. Luke was walking ahead of his brother and partner. What made him halt in his tracks was that they were talking to each other. He even noticed the ghost of a smile on Carmen's face at something Clayton had said.

He blinked at the sight as the three of them approached him.

"How'd it go?" Colton asked, glancing back and forth between Clayton and Carmen.

Carmen poised her hands on her hips and drew in a long breath. "It was... hectic."

At this, he looked to Clayton in question. "We had a few issues with the guys we were dealing with. But the job is done and that's what matters."

Colton found himself gazing at Carmen. Her ponytail was a beautiful mess, but she stood a bit taller in this moment. She seemed more confident; prouder. He couldn't help but smile as her dark eyes met his.

"I'm covered in salt water," she stated as she looked down at her outfit. "I'm going to take a shower and give Ainsley her knife back."

"Thank her for lending it to you," Clayton said to her, the corner of his lips turning up in the slightest. "It came in handy."

Carmen nodded and waved a quick goodbye to the group of boys as she headed to the elevator. For some reason, Colton noticed her hesitating for a moment before pressing the buttons and stepping inside when the doors opened.

He turned back to Clayton and Luke.

"Sounds like you guys had quite the night," Luke remarked to Clayton.

He nodded in response and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll brief Mom on it tomorrow, I need a shower too. I've been stuck in an elevator for most of the night, so I'm going to bed."

"Whoa," Colton started, "an elevator?"

"Yeah," Clayton sighed. "Like Carmen said, it's been hectic."

Luke ran a hand through his blond hair. "I'm going to bed. Later, losers."

Without waiting for a goodnight from either of them, Luke fled to the elevator, leaving Clayton and Colton alone in the foyer.

Colton was watching his older brother with a mild concern. "You're okay though, right?"

Clayton smiled and nodded. "Yeah, bud." He laid a hand on Colton's shoulder. "I'm fine."

Colton relaxed at the reassurance. "I'm glad you guys didn't kill each other."

Clayton shook his head and removed his hand from his brothers shoulder to stuff it into his jean pockets. "I thought we might have there for a few minutes. But... she surprised me." He shrugged sheepishly and looked down at the floor. "She's something else."

Colton's eyes wandered to the elevator doors, and he smiled slightly. "She is," he agreed.

**

The garden that The McGuire brothers and their father built for Kendra looked more beautiful at night than it ever did during the day. It's partly why Colton loved the fact that his bedroom window faced the back of The Compound. There was a myriad of lights connected to all parts of the flower beds, the walkway, and even circling the apple tree in the center. He came here for comfort quite often.

But he was partially shocked when he walked outside to make his way to the garden and found Carmen standing in front of the apple tree with her back to him. Her hair was no longer in a ponytail, instead it hung down her back, clearly still wet from her shower. Colton couldn't stop that his feet carried him closer to her, but he had half a mind not to disturb her. She was watching the lights on the tree change between the three colors programmed into it and seemed to be at peace.

But he desperately wanted to be near her, to talk to her, to see her smile, to hear her laugh.

He was in over his head, and he didn't even understand what it was that he was feeling. Not entirely.

His feet had shuffled against the pavement and broke Carmens focus. She turned, arms folded over her chest, and caught him standing a few feet behind her. "Hey." She smiled.

"Hi," he greeted her and planted himself at her side. His gaze went to the lights strung to the trees as well and tipped his head back to see the way that the branches extended far over them, completely clouding their view of the night sky with these tiny colorful bulbs. "What brings you out here?"

She half-shrugged. "I don't know. I just wanted some fresh air for a minute." They met each other's eyes. "Had a lot on my mind."

"Do you want to be alone?" his voice came out soft.

She shook her head. "No. I like that you're out here."

He gave her a questioning look and Carmens expression faltered – shifting to a near nervous look. She turned to fully face him, and he did the same.

"When I first got here, I didn't see myself fitting in with any of you," she admitted. "I've never really had a group of people that I ever thought I could see myself really meshing with well. For a long time, I always felt like the odd one out. Coming here at first only sort of amplified that and it made me really insecure about what I could do and what I was good at." Slowly, a smile began to appear on her face. "But after the mission with Clayton tonight, it opened my eyes. Something we talked about made me see that fitting in here isn't impossible. This entire mission really proved to me that I'm more than capable of doing what needs to be done, and that I can do this. I can be who I need to be here. Finally making up with Ainsley was a good first step, but you've been trying to help me see all of this the entire time. That insecurity of not fitting in wouldn't let me see that, but tonight – I finally do."

Colton's heart leapt to his throat when Carmen reached forward and took her hand into his. She was looking up at him admiringly.

"Tonight, I remembered the value of my choices, and how they can affect people and how we should all have one. In everything. We shouldn't just let those insecurities or fears hold us back."

Colton felt his stomach whirling as she took a step closer to him.

Carmen went on, "Do you remember when we were in Monroe, and you told me about how you didn't want me to have any regrets in this life?"

He held his breath but nodded slowly.

Carmen gave his hand a soft squeeze. "This is me doing that."

Colton froze as Carmens hands went from his hands to his cheeks; she stepped closer and rose on her tiptoes to softly press her lips to his.

-

updated 5/15/23