Page 1 of Remade

CHAPTER 1

October 2nd, 2024

Leighton Watts

Panic rose further when I heard heavy footfalls rustling through the foliage. In the corner of my eye, I spotted two operators entering our makeshift camp—if you could call it that—and I heard him. Beckett greeted Coach in a less-than-enthusiastic tone.

“The amount of stupid in this situation is off the fucking charts, man.”

“You wanna hash this out now?” Coach demanded. “Just say the word, but you better get your defense in order after what I’ve learned today.”

“What the fuck are you… Quinn’s here.” Beckett’s tone changed. “And…aw,shit.” He didn’t say anything else to Coach; he headed my way instead, and I wasn’t sure that was a good thing when I was seconds away from falling apart. He removed his helmet and came right up to me, then cupped my elbow and ushered me deeper into the forest. “Let’s go.”

“It’s him,” I croaked.

“I know.” He put the helmet on my head instead. “I thought I had time. I thought he was still on watch.”

I sniffled and did my best to stifle a sob behind my hand.

The ground slanted up a little, and we walked over the hill and even farther.

“Christ. You’re not supposed to be here, Leighton.” He draped an arm around my shoulders and squeezed me to him. “When Coach told me how you got dragged into the mess, I wanted to junk-punch him.”

“It wasn’t his fault,” I said, wiping at my cheeks.

“No, I’m sure you volunteered quicker than a bomb can explode outside Hillcroft,” he replied. “Doesn’t fucking matter.” He pulled me to a stop and cupped my face in his hands, and I felt so damn pathetic. I was full-on crying and saw no end to it.

My dad’s brother was here. I’d shaken his hand. He’d asked if we’d met before.

All my memories, fictional or not, hung in the balance, because reality had caught up to me. All the stories Mom had told me, where I was Dad’s wingman, where we went out on adventures together and saved the world…

I screwed my eyes shut, terrified they’d hate me.

Beckett sighed and hugged me to him.

“Can anyone see us now?” I asked hoarsely.

I dropped my water bottle on the ground.

“No.”

Thank fuck. Somehow, I had to compose myself. “When did you find out he was gonna be here?”

“Yesterday.” He removed the helmet, probably deeming things safe, and he pressed his lips to the side of my head. “Shira called him and Crew in after I requested more people with experience in close combat. Most of our operators are out on assignments. And I figured, fuck it, it wasn’t like you’d be around.”

I whimpered, a part of me still in disbelief.Dad’s brother.

In a way, it made my dad more real than he’d ever been.

“Shh…I got you.” He shushed me quietly and held me tighter. “Baby, I think we need to do this now. We have three hours of daylight left before we can… What?”

I was shaking my head and fucking breaking inside, because he couldn’t call me that. It hurt way too much, and it started a new round of pathetic crying.

“You can’t call me that,” I cried. “I was a fucking idiot—Coach knows about us, and we gotta stop. I slipped. And he s-said a senior operator and a recruit… They gotta draw the line somewhere, and he can’t allow it. And I get it. I get it.” I eased away so I could wipe at my face. Fucking hell, couldn’t I just stop crying? I was such a loser! “I know how you feel about relationships, so yeah, I?—”

“Okay, that’s enough.” He cupped my face again, and he made me look him in the eye. “I don’t care what was said or what Coach thinks. We’ll deal with that later, but I’ll make one thing clear, all right?”

I sniffled and peered up at him.

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