ANGEL IN BONDAGE © | 2.5: UNFORGIVABLE

Yiuna was concerned that the researcher had not returned at his usual time in the afternoon. She went into his room’s lab, wondering if any updates to his files would explain his absence. She was surprised to find her scarf beside his keyboard. Neatly nestled into it was a small syringe, along with a note. Feeling uneasy, she held her breath as she unfolded the paper.

“This is the cartel’s latest beta. Take it back for quarantine in Her Majesty’s good graces – I have been waiting for years to give this to the right person with my limited freedom. I will activate the antidote today in place of the beta, then destroy the activator. This should halt the mafia’s activities for some time and save the remaining test subjects, as well as fully cure you.

Angel, you’re a heavensend. You now know the nature of my work in full. I won’t ask forgiveness. I’m sorry. I love you.

Gianni”

Yiuna pocketed the syringe, heart lurching terribly. No matter how she spun it, Gianni’s plan could not possibly end well for him. How did he find out I’m connected to the government? Her mind was racing. The monitor he used on my arm…that’s the only thing that could have scanned my Go-Card. No one should be able to decrypt an MI6 extension, but I may have already been on the mafia’s record, considering my past. She wandered outside to the garden, each heartbeat jarring her as the words of his note sunk in. Between the fuller blooms in the rose bushes were new pink buds, just beginning to blossom. In his solitary toil against the cartel, the researcher had nurtured budding hope for the future that he might never bear witness to. She didn’t know the full weight of his atrocities nor how he got into his position, but she saw how much peace had he sacrificed to help those like her. How much guilt must have visited him every night for him to decide on such a blatant and dangerous betrayal to the cartel? She felt a grave sense of foreboding as she walked up to the roses.

The agent heard a rustling sound from behind her. Intuition confirmed, her heart sunk as her senses heightened. Gianni had definitely been found out if he had managed to attract unwelcome company to his home. She cupped a rose in her hand, lashes lowering in sorrow as she recalled the full bloom her lover had placed in her hair. As the agent held the flower in reverie, she felt a tingle down her neck. Left side. More than one, she noted, allowing her visitors to close in behind her. With a sharp pivot, Yiuna snapped back to knock out one assailant with a jab to his face. He crumpled as she ducked down, dodging a punch from the second man as he rushed her. The agent grounded her feet firmly as she lunged back upwards, bringing an open palm sharply up the attacker’s center line to snap his chin back. With her assailants unconscious, she ran towards the facility. She passed the same stalls Gianni had picked up food from, wondering if she would ever spend another day in his presence.

She approached the facility’s back entrance, where Gianni had snuck her out on the day they had met. A guard outside was surprised when he became trapped in an armlock from behind.

“The activator. Tell me where it is.” The agent’s breath tingled in his ear, her sweet voice laced with malice.

“I’m afraid I can’t help you, miss – ” The woman tightened her chokehold as he struggled without success. Her mood to dally was deteriorating quickly.

“In the basement. On the other side from here,” he replied through painful breaths.

“Grazie,” she said, choking off his air. He dropped to the ground.

She entered the facility. Yiuna’s body seemed to move on its own as she flew towards the basement. As she neared the activator, her back gradually started pulsing in pain again. She knew that Gianni had yet to activate the cure if her pain had not subsided. If the researcher still hadn’t gotten to the activator, he was likely in trouble. She had to find him quickly.

Upon reaching basement level, she opened the doors to a large central room. As she silently moved behind the pillars along the wall, the agent looked towards the center of the basement. Two of the mafia’s foot soldiers stood out in the open. One mafioso held the battered researcher from behind in an armlock. Blood was splattered on the floor. The agent’s heart dropped as she crept closer. She laid low and readied her gun.

“…and you had until the deadline to complete it, but the new beta is missing. You’re not leaving until you tell us where it is,” said the man holding the researcher.

“The hell did you do with the formula? Traitor! Do you think the boss is just gonna let us go without it?” said the other.

Gianni’s head was bowed low. She saw his shoulders heave with each heavy breath.

“Out with it!” The mafioso standing in front of Gianni brought a knee to his torso. Gianni coughed blood through gritted teeth. Gianni’s aggressor then pulled out his gun, digging it into the researcher’s temple. “You know what happens to traitors, right?”

Upon hearing the threat, Yiuna fired at the aggressor from behind her pillar. He crumpled to the ground, but not before another guard unexpectedly returned fire at her from behind the pillar of an adjacent wall. The agent cursed at the appearance of a third foe.

“The Queen’s spy. Back so soon?” The remaining mafioso addressed the agent while holding the researcher as a body shield. His anger towards her grew at the lifeless body of his family member beside him. Gianni looked towards the pillar Yiuna was behind with pain in his eyes.

“Time to play a game of kill the messenger,” the mafioso said. He was about to draw his gun when Gianni stomped on his foot, causing him to yelp in pain. As the researcher wrestled his opponent, Yiuna waited for an opening, firing a shot at the foe once his back turned to face her. Her relief was short-lived as the guard behind the pillar shot Gianni. The next moments were a haze. The agent felt her heart stop as she fired back at the guard. She continued to plant bullets into his body even as he lied lifeless on the ground. Empty shells clinked on the floor. She approached her lover.

With all aggressors dead, it grew deathly quiet. Yiuna’s breathing softened as she held him in her arms.

“I’m sorry,” he said, voice fading. The angel shook her head in refute of his apology as tears began to well in her eyes. It was unfair of him to look so at peace when her time with him was coming to an end. He had given her so much, and she would never have the opportunity to return it. She grasped for the right words.

“Yiuna. My name…Yiuna Li.” His smile devastated her.

“You knew, didn’t you?” she asked, voice growing weaker. And you still loved me.

He stared into her glistening eyes beneath the white aura of the fluorescent lights. He felt he didn’t deserve her, the woman that had been sent to him from heaven.

“Yiuna. Save yourself first.” Cool fingers ran through the light golden waves framing her face. She didn’t want to accept the reality before her. In a world that she could no longer imagine without him, she faced unbearable solitude once more.

His angel smiled stupidly for him, lips trembling. She couldn’t hold it for long. Don’t look, she thought, as her smile started shattering. She bent down to kiss him goodnight. He felt warm tears on his cheeks as her lips lingered on his. Yiuna’s heart twisted as his warmth faded. She held him tightly as his presence ascended.

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