Chapter 222 - First Question

October 26

While Katherine Young was still in shock, a large sweaty hand grabbed her forward and then she was pressed to Styles's chest. She had almost forgotten how it felt like to be hugged by Styles as it had been five years since the last time she had seen him. Now she remembered how he was a few inches taller than her and that he always swayed her from side to side while his arms were tightly wrapped around her.

She wanted to hit him again because the last time she saw him was before the blast in Shadow where she thought he had already gone home. To her surprise, he was still there and could have also easily been one of the casualties.

Styles was a year older than her and he also came in Shadow a year before her but he was her very first friend in the organization. One didn't naturally get to have a good friend inside because of the nature of the business and while everyone else looked at her differently due to her "special case", Styles sat next to her during mealtimes and they easily became good friends.

Just like Chris, he was also an orphan. He was a mixed-race child that ended up in an orphanage at three years old after his parents died in an overdose. He had lived in a few foster homes but he never stayed there for longer than a few months. At fifteen years old, he lived on the streets for a few months after escaping an abusive foster parent. His studies weren't solid due to being sent from one house to another a lot of times but there was one thing that he loved a lot – computers.

He fended for himself and whenever he gets enough money, he would stay in a 24/7 internet cafe where he learned how to hack impressively fast. Styles was simply a genius!

However, even though he was a computer whiz, he didn't exactly have the needed knowledge of laws. It was why after a couple of months on his "hackventure" — as he calls it, Shadow found him. He was sheltered and he got to play with computers as much as he wanted. Since he didn't have any real family and he wasn't going to be an agent, Styles didn't go through any invasive procedure.

Styles rose up the ranks as the head of the Tech Team really fast and it was all because of his skills. Brains and looks — he definitely has it. The only thing that Styles wasn't good at was talking to women. But back then and until now, he had only treated Katherine as his sister so his weakness didn't apply to her. 

Katherine's many questions caused her to snap out of her trance and she pulled back from the hug abruptly. "Wait, why are you two together? Why are you here? How did you find me? Did Shadow sent you?!" The confused expression on her face made Styles worry, he had forgotten how Katherine overthinks most of the time.

"Okay, Sweetie, you need to sit down. You just got home. And…" Sniff. "Actually, you may want to shower first. You smell like a baby's barf." Styles looked at her with a weird expression. "Don't worry we're not here to kill you."

Katherine stared at Styles, trying to read him if he was telling the truth. It wasn't hard to be convinced because she knew that Styles would never hurt her. Shifting her gaze to Falcon, she saw her small smile and a somewhat harmless expression, making her want to trust her. Now, this was such a weird combination. Styles and Falcon.

Before she could have so many more questions in her head, Style's spun her towards the bathroom and pushed her. "Go, I promise we will answer your questions. You need to cool down first."

Katherine sniffed herself on the way to the bathroom and her brows furrowed. Of course she would smell like baby barf because a baby from the airplane barfed on her.

When Katherine was out of earshot, Styles glared at Falcon. "Why did you kick her?"

"Hey, she started it first. She was the one who threw her dagger at me as soon as she saw me. I just retaliated." Falcon shrugged her shoulders, snatched the paper bag in Styles's hands and sat on the sofa.

"Huh. Are you sure you didn't hit her because she left your son brokenhearted?" Styles's eyes didn't leave Falcon's face as he tried to study her. "You do know your son's family also did something bad to her, right?"

Falcon shrugged again. "I was just testing her skills. She let her guard down so my kick landed. As for whatever accusation you're spouting… I don't know what you're talking about."

Styles sat next to her and looked at her for a few more seconds before looking away. "Fair enough. But you know, you keep on brushing off any emotions you have towards your son as if you don't care. It's okay, you know—nghhh nghhh"

Falcon stuffed Styles's mouth with a steamed bun to shut him up. "Stop talking and eat."

Instead of getting annoyed, Styles only smiled and bit off the bun, following her order. Maybe this was why he liked Falcon... because, in a way, she was like Katherine. She acted like a big sister.

Katherine was already inside the bathroom but she could still hear the two of them talking. She didn't know what to feel about this situation. It was just so strange.

She had only heard of Falcon when she was still in Shadow but they were all rumors only. She hadn't seen any pictures of her and her name was a taboo. No one spoke of her so casually especially when Parker was around. Once, she had asked Chris but even Chris didn't tell her much. So she didn't know anything except that Falcon was the first rogue agent.

As for the reason why she went rogue or what her status was, she had no idea. However, this wasn't what she was really concerned about.

It's the fact that Falcon and Amelia Silva were one person. And most importantly, she was Damien's biological mother. 'How twisted is this?'

Her heart drummed so wildly that she could practically hear her heartbeat in her ear. It seemed like what she knew about Damien's background or herself wasn't so simple. What else did she not know? Wasn't knowing that the Parks were behind her family's massacre enough? Or that Shadow was also involved in it too for reasons she did not understand?

Katherine was already so exhausted and she just really wanted to get some sleep as much as she wanted some answers. But first thing's first – shower.

…

After getting out of the shower, Styles made sure that Katherine was fed first before they start talking. She ate awkwardly because Styles and Falcon were watching her the whole time and it was so weird not having the whole place to herself. 

She had been alone for some time and now that there were other people in the room, one being an old friend while the other was her supposed to be mother-in-law slash Shadow's first rogue agent — the set up was just too odd. 

With knitted brows, Katherine wiped her mouth and crossed her arms in front of her chest as she stared back at the two pairs of eyes looking at her. "Okay, no more stalling. What is going on?"

"Um… Sure, we can talk. But first, Queen… can you put that knife down? It's giving me the heebie-jeebies." Styles nodded at her hand.

"What knife?" Katherine raised a brow as she followed the direction of Styles's eyes and saw her fingers casually twirling a dagger. "Oh."

Her fingers stopped moving and with a long sigh, she placed the dagger in the middle of the table. "Okay, first question. I thought you were dead, Styles… If you've been alive all this time, why did you only come to me now?"

Instead of letting Styles answer the question, Falcon leaned forward and spoke, "Because we need your help."