"What's that?" this was the first and only question Luka asked her during this whole ordeal. Yana held the weapon in her hand and inspected it as the car swayed a bit since they finally got out of the forest.
"I'm not sure, by the way, you can drive a bit slower," Yana was afraid Luka would make an accident and was only assured when Luka softly said, "Ok," and the car immediately slowed down.
Yana pulled out a phone and called Marie, not even waiting for Marie to say something Yana spoke, ''I sent you a location. Send some people there, be careful though."
With that Yana hung up, not hearing Marie's voice for a single second.
Yana didn't want Luka to hear more but surprisingly, like always, Luka didn't question her, only asked, "You're not hurt?"
"I'm fine, thanks for caring and helping me."
"Really?" in less than a second Luka started to beam.
"Why are you so happy about it?"
"Because I thought you'd be angry. You said I should wait in the car but seeing suddenly a commotion outside the factory, I got worried and rushed in," Luka quickly wanted to justify himself but hearing Yana light laugh, he was relieved.
"No, you did a good job," Yana's voice was warm and Luka's spirits rose.
"Hehe, you should praise me more."
Shameless. Truly shameless. Yana threw him a bone and he instantly demanded more. For the rest of the ride, Yana refused to acknowledge Luka's presence until they've arrived at home.
Luka saw Yana off at her door but before he could leave, Yana grabbed his arm and without hesitation said, "Stay at my place tonight."
Luka: ???
Stay… at… my… place… tonight?
Luka.exe stopped working.
Luka.exe. repairs itself.
Luka.exe becomes human!
Confusion made way for a huge bright smile.
"With pleasure, yes! Yes! We should eat dinner soon!"
It was almost evening. The trip to the factory took longer than anticipated mainly because of how far away it was. Yana wordlessly entered her apartment with Luka. Yana didn't tell Luka the real reason she asked him to stay. Because he was seen at the factory and probably by Mik, Yana was worried about two things.
First was about his safety but this was only if he wasn't related to the factory and Mik's plans. The second was to see what actions Luka took. If Luka indeed was part of the plan, as long as he stayed at Yana's place, he wouldn't dare to contact Mik or anyone else.
However, seeing how Luka acted since they escaped the factory, Yana was 99% sure that Luka really had nothing to do with it. So mainly keeping Luka here was because, in any case, Mik came after her, Yana could help and protect Luka.
This was also why she endured Luka turning into a giddy little boy and making himself home at her place.
He managed his way around the kitchen as if he lived here himself. After opening the fridge, he said, "What do you want? I'll cook of course."
Yana rolled her eyes, "Anything that's left in the fridge."
"Don't worry, I'll make a three-course meal that's bound you to want me as your husb-"
"Shut up."
"Yes," obediently Luka worked in the kitchen while Yana vanished into her bedroom.
Sitting at her desk, she pulled out the small weapon and took a video of it. It was similar to a black cube, the design was elegant and sleek.
The outer material seemed to be made out of steel. There should be a function to open or trigger it but Yana didn't dare to do anything. So she only turned it slightly in her hand. It was too dangerous since the weapon was still unknown.
Then she sent the video to Roy and sealed the weapon in a small plastic bag and locked it in her desk drawer. For now, this had to make do. Yana would've loved for any of the EF captains to take a look but since they were spread across the world, it was impossible.
Sending it to the headquarters was also a risk. Even if the EF dispatched people to pick it up, Yana didn't trust anyone but herself and the captains, so for now she had to hold onto it.
Yana rewatched the video she took at the factory and sent it to Roy as well as Marie.
"There should be a connection," Yana was sure of it. A large number of flowers constantly delivered to a factory producing weapons that should be sent to the borders... there was only one reasonable explanation.
The flowers were used to deliver the weapons as a disguise, so the weapons went unnoticed. Since the weapons were small enough to be hidden in the bouquets, they couldn't be discovered. However, wasn't it too strange to send flowers to the borders? Wouldn't the weapons still be detected with a detector?
Yet Yana guessed the flowers were only needed for the first checkpoint, afterwards, the weapon was delivered with another method.
"Ah," Yana sighed, there's no point thinking about it now. Yana rolled her chair back and headed to the kitchen. A delicious and tempting smell lured her straight next to Luka.
"Here you are," cheekily Luka bumped Yana's nose with his finger before he continued to stir the pot.
Surprisingly Yana let it go and nodded before she said, "Luka about what happened today, don't tell anyone."
"Of course," Luka gently smiled, "Do you need help?"
"No."
"Oh," a bit sulky, Luka turned to the pot again before he said, "Then how about-"
"No."
"You didn't even hear what I said!"
Yana sighed, he was acting like a whiny kid.
"I-"
Brrr brrring Yana's phone rang.
It was Marie. Yana walked to the living room before picking up, "Any news?"
"About that, when we got there, the factory was completely abandoned."
"What?" Yana said it a bit too loud and Luka, worried, turned in her direction.
"How is that possible?"
"I don't know, I've seen the video you sent me and what the guys then sent me. The factory's completely empty."
How? Yana froze and shock couldn't even describe what she felt. How in the fucking world was it possible to clear such a giant place in probably less than an hour?
Beep Beep.
Yana hung up.
Then lowered her head.
"Are you ok?" seeing that Yana seemed out of it, Luka approached her before Yana's head bobbed up and her eyes flashed.
"Yes, I do."
"What?" Luka was perplexed.
"Yes, I do need your help."