Leo
I stared at the old family photograph resting in the wooden box. The smiling man holding me as a baby. He had been happy once. He had been human. But the system had turned him into a beast because they couldn’t accept what he truly was.
A cold, fierce determination washed over me as I closed the lid of the box with a quiet click.
"I am not going to turn into my father," I said, my voice firm and steady.
I looked Gerald directly in the eyes. "I will not let some outdated medical council inject me with toxins to preserve some useless concept of Enigma dominance. I would rather my body completely dissolve and turn me into an Omega. I would rather lose every single drop of my Enigma strength than let that happen to me. I would rather be soft than be a monster."
"And you won’t have to be," Miller said immediately, leaning in close. "I won’t let anyone touch you, Leo. We are going to figure this out together."
I turned to Miller, seeing the absolute sincerity in his face. The lingering anger I had carried all night finally began to melt away, leaving only a quiet, healing warmth.
I heaved a deep, long sigh, the tension leaving my shoulders.
As long as I have Miller by my side, everything was going to turn out well.
"When will the tests be carried out?" I asked Gerald, wanting to approach this logically. "We need a baseline. A full endocrinology panel, a genetic sequencing of my secondary sex chromosomes, and a comprehensive analysis of my pheromone emission rates. We need empirical data."
Gerald smiled, looking relieved to see my medical mind back in action. "I will have everything fixed and scheduled for tomorrow morning in the private medical wing. My personal team will handle it, and the data will remain entirely confidential. No one on the mainland council will have access to your files."
"Good," I nodded. "The fewer people who know about this biological deviation, the lower the probability of external interference."
"Indeed," Gerald said. He stood up from his sofa, smoothing his suit jacket.
"Now, if you will excuse me, I have some administrative matters to attend to before the night ends. I suggest you two use this quiet time to talk. Fix what was broken tonight. You have each other’s backs, and you need to keep it that way."
"Thank you, Director," Miller said.
Gerald gave us a brief nod and walked out of the living room, leaving the two of us alone in front of the crackling fire.
The silence that followed was comfortable, but there was still so much that needed to be said.
After what I had done to miller tonight, I knew that a simple apology wouldn’t fix it and I might have to continuously apologize for the rest of my life.
I looked down at our joined hands, tracing the lines of Miller’s palm with my thumb.
"I really am sorry, Miller," I whispered, not looking up yet. "When I saw the blood on your face... I felt this horrible, sickening realization. I thought I was becoming just like him. I thought my Enigma side was finally taking over, and that the only thing I was capable of doing was hurting the person I love most."
Miller reached up with his free hand, gently lifting my chin until I was forced to look into his warm, green eyes.
"Leo, look at me," he said, his voice incredibly soft. "You could never be like him. Even when you lost control, your first instinct wasn’t to keep hurting me or to blame me. Your first instinct was to cry, to worry about my safety, and to run away so I wouldn’t get hurt again. That is not what a monster does. That is what a good man does when he is scared and I already promised you that no matter what happens, I will always have your back.’’
"I still pushed you," I murmured. "I used physical force."
"And I held onto you too tightly when you asked me to let go," Miller countered gently. "I was trying to force you to listen because I was desperate, but I should have respected your boundaries. We both made mistakes tonight, Leo. But we promised we would resolve things together. There will be no more secrets. No more going behind each other’s backs."
"No more secrets," I agreed, as the weight I had been holding in all night lifted from my chest. "From now on, if you want to know something about my past, you should ask me directly. And if I am acting difficult, you press me until I answer. Deal?"
"Deal," Miller smiled, leaning forward to press a soft, lingering kiss against my forehead. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me close against his side.
I rested my head on his shoulder, breathing in the comforting scent of him, finally feeling safe.
We sat like that for a long time, just watching the fire dance against the stone hearth.
The warmth of the room and the hot tea had finally completely stopped my shivering.
And everything makes sense now that he was holding me like I meant the whole world to him.
Suddenly, the large television screen mounted on the far wall of the living room turned on.
Gerald had left the system on standby, and the screen flashed to life, displaying a live broadcast from the global news network.
Miller and I both looked up, our attention caught by the bright red breaking news banner scrolling across the bottom of the screen.
The headline read:
COUNCIL CHAIRMAN ANNOUNCES UPCOMING RELEASE OF CLASSIFIED ENIGMA PROTOCOLS: END OF THE ENIGMA BAN?
A serious-looking news anchor in a dark suit was speaking directly to the camera, her voice filled with professional excitement.
"...and sources close to the high-ranking Council members suggest that the decade-long Enigma ban might finally be coming to an end. This sudden shift comes after reports that a highly influential, secret council member has finally been found to be an enigma. The Chairman is expected to release a formal statement within the week, detailing the steps toward integrating Enigmas back into high-society roles..."
I let out a cold, cynical scoff, my eyes narrowing at the screen. "Fools," I muttered. "They are absolute fools."
Miller looked down at me, a curious brow raised. "Why do you say that?"
"Because they do not care about integration or equality," I explained. ’’The only reason why they are going to this extent is because one of their own was discovered. If it were somewhere, they wouldn’t have removed the ban and this doesn’t even mean they see the enigmas as the same as them. The mainland council has spent ten years treating Enigmas like dangerous, unpredictable weapons. If they are suddenly planning to lift the ban, it is not because they have developed a sense of humanity. It is because they have realized they can no longer control the underground factions without using our dominance as a tool. They want to put us back on display, to use us as political chess pieces. They are playing with fire, and they have no idea how unstable the biological reality of our designation actually is."
"Maybe," Gerald’s voice called out from the doorway. He had walked back into the room, holding a tablet in his hand, his eyes fixed on the television screen. "But it is still progress, Leo."
"Progress?" I questioned, turning my head toward him. "It is a highly calculated risk with a high probability of backfiring. If they release those protocols without understanding mutations like the Janis Enigma, they will end up destroying more lives, just like they did with my father."
"Which is exactly why we need to get our research done," Gerald said, his expression serious. "If we can present concrete, scientific proof of the Janis Enigma mutation, we can force them to change the protocols. We can show them that Enigmas do not need to be suppressed or controlled with dangerous chemicals. We can offer a biological alternative. A path to peace. I believe that will work better.’’
He looked between Miller and me, a small, hopeful smile appearing on his face. "But tonight, we rest. Tomorrow, we will start looking for the truth about janis enigma.’’
I looked at Miller, who gave me a reassuring nod, squeezing my hand. ’’Thank you for today Gerald,’’ Miller muttered slowly.
’’You are both welcome and besides, you deserve the best.’’