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Is this what normal couples argue about?

The thought carries wonder rather than frustration—recognition that we're engaging in relationship conflicts that have nothing to do with survival or tactical advantage, everything to do with emotional connection and territorial instinct. Ordinary problems for extraordinary people, mundane concerns arising from extraordinary circumstances.

Her laughter vibrates through my shoulder as she apparently receives additional commentary from her electronic companion.

The sound carries pure joy despite our dangerous circumstances—emotion so genuine and infectious it makes my own lips curve upward despite territorial irritation and lingering combat stress.

This is what I want for the rest of whatever life we manage to build together.

Not just survival or strategic alliance, but genuine connection that creates space for ordinary relationship dynamics amid extraordinary challenges. The ability to argue about jealousy and communication boundaries rather than life-and-death tactical decisions.

Permission to feel possessive and protective without those emotions being immediately weaponized against us through institutional manipulation.

Moments like these—suspended between institutional horrors and an uncertain future—when her presence transforms nightmare navigation into something approaching normal human experience. When conversation flows naturally rather than being filtered through tactical necessity or survival calculation.

"Keep talking to your computer boyfriend," I grumble with feigned irritation that masks genuine affection. "See if his challenge is still accepted when I'm buried so deep inside you that you forget electronic devices exist."

Her delighted laughter follows us through institutional corridors as we continue toward whatever fresh hell Press has prepared for our continuing education in survival and systematic torture.

But for these precious moments, terror feels distant and hope seems possible.

Because this—this bickering and jealousy and casual affection—feels like a glimpse of what normal life might offer if we survive long enough to claim it. And that possibility, however remote, makes every risk worth taking and every challenge worth facing.

We're going to make it out of here. All of us. Together.

The conviction settles deep in my bones as her warmth seeps through combat-worn clothing and her scent wraps around me like a promise of a future beyond institutional walls.

And when we do, I'm going to spend every day showing her exactly what real claiming looks like compared to electronic communication with disembodied voices.

The thought makes me smile as we disappear into institutional shadows, carrying precious cargo toward reunion with pack members who share our particular brand of beautiful damage and dangerous determination.

This is what home feels like. This is what we're fighting for.

This glimpse of normal in a world gone completely insane.

TWENTY-TWO

SANCTUARY IN THE SHADOWS

~JINX~

Warmth envelops me like the most expensive cashmere blanket, carrying scents that speak to safety rather than threat despite our dangerous circumstances.

Riot's natural musk mingles with traces of combat and adrenaline, creating an atmospheric cocktail that somehow makes institutional horror feel distant and manageable.

I find myself drifting between consciousness and sleep with unusual ease—mind floating through layers of awareness while my body remains perfectly secure in arms that promise protection beyond measure.

The rhythm of his breathing provides a natural lullaby, chest rising and falling beneath my cheek with a steady cadence that marks time in ways institutional clocks never could.

How long has it been since I felt this safe?

The question surfaces through drowsy contemplation as memory carries me backward through time, past recent combat and reunion, past years of external existence wearing someone else's identity.

Back to moments of preparation and training that occupied every spare hour once I committed to returning for my pack.

"The Parazodiac operates on principles most people never understand," my trainer's voice echoes through recollection with crystal clarity. "It's not simply a maze or series of challenges. It's a psychological battlefield designed to break subjects through systematic application of their own capabilities turned against them."

Nightshade had been an unexpected resource during my years of external planning—former military contractor who specialized in tactical training for enhanced subjects, his credentials impeccable despite questions I learned not to ask as to how he acquired such specialized knowledge.