THE BOSS AGENT

25. YOU ARE WORTH IT.

Alex's POV:

"Emma Sterling, my mother," she finally breaks the silence. I turn my worried glance towards her to see her eyes held the same ferocity which I witnessed many years back.

Liam, Jen, Noah had confusion written all over their face. Meghan looks at eighteen expecting her to elaborate. Ben had a pained expression and Katherine also did look sad.

I was actually hoping this day would never come, she opening up to the team about her past. Nobody knew except for her family and me. But I think she finally decided not to keep the secret from the team anymore. She always told me the team deserved to know her past as they have always been supporting her and never let her down. But going through the darkest days of hers is arduous and painful.

"She and my dad were assigned on this mission to get hold of the coordinates before anything fatal can happen," she continues with a guff voice. Her eyes holding or better yet barricading hundreds of emotion but I clearly see through it.

"As Katherine already mentioned, they won the mission. They stopped the missile and saved millions but they didn't know that by doing so they got a target on their back. The criminal organizations are interconnected and when they got to know that their years of hard work had perished, they decided to take their anger out on the best agent in the agency," she hissed the last part in rage. I notice the fork she has been holding is bend badly and a little more pressure would make it snap into two.

She stops and takes a deep breath with her eyes tightly shut. I place my hand on top of hers. It's not out of pity, no, I was deeply dreading for the next words she was about to say. In fact, I don't want her to go through that again. She looks at me and smiles sadly. I shake my head indicating 'you don't have to do this.' But she nods her head in return which says, 'I have to do this.' She turns towards the team and let's out the truth.

"They attacked our home. Set the house on fire," she pauses for a mere second, "And killed my mum," she mumbles slowly as I hear the fork snap into two.

She gets up and leaves the room without another word. I turn around to see everyone still shocked to comprehend what she said. But I notice Ben had his head ducked down hiding from everyone. He thought we wouldn't notice by I did, a single tear streaks down his cheek.

I leave the dining room and go in search of eighteen. Where would she go? Just as a clue I hear the gym door close shut. I walk towards it and hold the handle to push open but stop the action in midway. She might need time for herself, I think. I let go and stand outside as I hear her fist colliding with the bag. I notice Ben walk up to me. He stands quiet for few minutes before speaking up.

"Do you think she is gonna be okay?" he asks slowly for the first time without humor lasing his voice.

I look straight at his eyes. "I don't think, I know she is going to be fine," I assure him as he nods in return.

"Try to calm the storm. If you need help, I'll be around the corner," he says with a smile and I match his own.

"Sure thing," I say and turn towards the door. I open it and get inside to see she is still punching the bag. I wait for her to let out all the pent up frustration and anger.

3 minutes.

5 minutes.

10 minutes.

20 minutes.

35 minutes.

Okay. I think that's enough.

I walk forward to stop her but pause on my track when I see her punch with every ounce of power left in her. The punching bag breaks apart and lands few meters away from her with sand spilling out all over the place.

She removes the gloves and throws it away in the corner. I walk towards her and place my hand on her shoulder. She went stiff for a moment before she kicks out her legs and gets my shins. I fall down with a thud but she doesn't waste a second and tries to punch me. I grab hold of it before it connects with my face.

"Calm down! It's me," I say quickly. I see her stop on her tracks and blink twice as if she is back to the real world. When she realizes what she has done, she quickly let's go of me and get back to her feet.

"I am sorry. I didn't mean... I didn't know," she stutters.

"It's alright," I assure her. I know what she did was on impulse and she didn't meant it. I see her vaguely nod and walk towards the couch. She sits down and gets hold of her water before gulping.

I take my seat beside her. We both sit enveloped in our own silence. It's not awkward, it's just calm and nice.

"Why did she do that? Why did she sacrifice herself for me?" I hear her mumble slowly.

"Eighteen, not all are brave enough to give up their life for others. Most of them promise but very few fulfill. Your mother was one among the one who kept her promise."

"But was it really worth it?" she asks doubtfully. Anger flares in me when she asks this question.

"Of course it was worth it. You are worth it. Why would you even ask me such a question? I still feel agonized when I think of your loss. But don't go blaming yourself for what happened. You know very well that whole building was on fire. There was no way out. You being saved with him was a miracle. And if I do get any chance to get back in time, I would for sure thank your mum for saving you," I barked hoping it gets drilled in her brain. She looks at me for few seconds before a sigh escapes her lips. She looks tired, worn out but she would never really proclaim so. She mumbles a small sorry and leans her head on my shoulder closing her eyes. We were quiet for few minutes until a ringtone broke the silence. I look at the table beside me to see her phone and get hold of it. Before I could pass it on to her...

"Decline the call please," she mumbles slowly. I look at the familiar caller ID.

"I think you should pick up the call."

"No, I don't think so," she says quietly still with her eyes closed.

"How long have you been ignoring his calls?" I ask.

"I lost the count."

"You know, you would have to eventually forgive him. I think he still cares."

"But he never cared when I needed him the most. He was grieving for his own loss not even considering that I lost someone too."

I see her phone light up again as he consistently tries to get her to pick up.

"Give him a chance eighteen. You can't stay angry forever on your dad."

She lets out a sigh. "Maybe tomorrow. It's late and let's get to bed and tomorrow is a big day," she says and walk towards the door.

"What? Why?" I wondered.

"Really? You are such a bad brother. I'll let Meghan know about your partial amnesia," she teased. As realization washes over me, my eyes widen in surprise.

Oh shoot. How did I forget?