Rory was wide awake and sitting on a chair watching the TV when Decha walked into the infirmary. She was starving, but Jessica told her she couldn't eat until after the surgery.

Rory wasn't shocked at all when Jessica told her that she'd be having an operation in the morning. But she was surprised that Decha walked in a bit earlier than she was expecting.

"Why aren't you in bed?" Decha placed a hand on his hip and gestured at her.

"I needed to sit up and—"

"You're not supposed to move around!"

"Decha, please, I just woke up and I still feel very exhausted. The last thing I wanna hear is you reprimanding me this early in the morning." Rory sighed.

Decha crouched and slid one of his arms under her legs and the other behind her back. Then he lifted her, and she squeaked in response.

"Decha! Put me back down!"

Decha placed her back onto the bed, laying her body to rest gently. Then he placed the sheet back over her and pulled the IV stand closer.

Decha sat on the edge of the bed and grabbed onto Rory's arm. "I need you to take this seriously,"

"I'm very nervous," Rory pouted. "Aren't you?"

"Why would I be? Jessica is one of the best surgeons out there. She'll take care of you."

Rory didn't like his answer. He was still hiding it from her, and she knew. He was avoiding the topic on purpose. "You know that's not what I meant."

"Huh?"

He was still pretending like he didn't have a clue. Rory didn't think she would have to go this far, but there was no other choice. "I left my phone in my room. Could you get it for me?"

"... Okay," Decha pushed himself off the bed and took a few steps before he heard her call him again.

"Wait," Rory stood up again and followed him toward the exit. Before Decha could scold her, she embraced him. Rory thought carefully about what she was going to do next. But it was the only way.

Rory gave Decha a quick kiss and grabbed onto his hands. The gloves began to buzz at her touch. Swiftly, she shoved Decha out of the infirmary and a transparent door shifted to a close. It was locked in place.

Decha was very taken aback by her action and his back rammed into the wall in the hallway. "What the heck?!" He steadied himself and sprinted back to the door frame. He didn't see the transparent solid and smacked right into the door.

He let out a curse when he realized that there was a barrier.

"I didn't want to do this," A tear cascaded down Rory's face. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Open the door," Decha massaged his nose and gestured at the lock.

"You weren't ever going to tell me that you were my donor. Were you?" Rory spat at him.

Decha froze. How did she find out? Did Jessica tell her? "Who told you?"

"I may be naive about a lot of things, Decha," Rory shook her head. "But I can figure things out on my own. I thought I was dreaming, but I realized I wasn't when I put everything together. You were rushing the day of my surgery. And I heard you and Jessica talk about it last night."

"Shite, open the door, Rory!" Decha dug into the door frame and tried pushing his weight against the glass.

"I'm more upset that you tried to hide it from me," Rory narrowed her eyes at him. "You know I'd never ask you to do something for me that was so... so... stupid!"

"Is it stupid of me to want to save you?" Decha spat venomously. He was angered by the insult. He didn't even want to point out the stunt she pulled. He wondered why she thought he was being foolish for wanting to help her.

"I think it's stupid that you're acting selfish!"

"Me?" Decha chortled bitterly. "How am I acting selfish? Do tell."

"The Sectors need you!"

"You need me!" Decha retorted. "Do you realize how bad your condition is getting, Rory?"

"I'm very aware of the pain my body is putting me through." Rory crossed her arms. "I can't let you do this. I won't let you do this. It's very selfish of you to want to save ONE person rather than to save the Sectors you swore to protect."

Decha rammed into the glass. The sound of it cracking made him stop. Decha wanted badly to break down the door, but he didn't want to risk breaking all the glass and hurting her.

"Rory! Please! Open the door!"

"No!" Rory refused. "You have a job to finish!" Rory gestured to her hands and pointed at his gloves. "I'm not going to have any operation until you've done what you're supposed to."

"You need the surgery!" He growled. "You'll die without it!"

"Then you'd better hurry."

"Stop acting like a child and open this door before I—"

"When I upgraded your gloves, I programmed it to transmit a tracking device onto anyone who attacked you. You should've received a signal by now!" Rory whined.

Decha narrowed his eyes. It explains why the coordinates popped up suddenly in the middle of the night. Rory didn't understand just how much she helped with her upgrade.

Decha began typing onto the keypad next to the door, but every code he entered was wrong.

"No matter what you do, the doors won't open. I reprogrammed the entire system in the infirmary to follow my orders." Rory wiped another tear. "I'm the only one with the key."

Decha growled and rammed his fist into the wall. It startled Rory, but she stood her ground.

"What's going on?" Jessica approached from behind. "Why are you shouting?"

"She locked herself in!"

"What?" Jessica sprinted over to the keypad. "No! Rory, what are you doing?!"

"I'm doing what's best for everyone," Rory frowned. "He knows what he has to do,"

"Can you override the system?" Decha mumbled to Jessica. Jessica was busy entering codes and being denied entry constantly. She didn't hear him the first time. "Mom, is there a way to override the system?"

"I don't know!" Jessica seethed. "Rory, sweetie, if you keep yourself locked in, you won't be able to have surgery!"

"I know that," Rory agreed.

"She's lost her mind," Decha groaned and stepped away. He was going to have to figure out another way for the door to open. If they couldn't override the system, then maybe Jamison knew the code. He knew her best.

Decha said goodbye to his mother and left to go to Strout's apartment.

~~~

"Decha—" Jax began, but he was quickly cut off before he could finish his sentence.

"Where is he?" Decha stormed into the hidden apartment. It was the most furious Jax had ever seen him. Decha's dark eyes were very dilated. And his face was redder than a beetroot.

"Jamison?—"

"Yes, Jamison! Where is he?" Decha fumed.

"Calm down," Jax placed a hand on his shoulder, but Decha snatched himself away. Decha stomped through the lounge and his eyes were set on one of the closed doors.

"Clarke! Open the door—"

Jamison swung open the door before Decha even got a chance to burst through. The look in Decha's eyes almost made him crap himself. Did Decha think he betrayed them? What in the world angered him?

"Yes?" Jamison cleared his throat first. He wanted to be mindful of his next words.

"Rory," Decha exhaled hard. "She..." Decha struggled to get his words right. He took another deep breath and clenched his jaw before trying again. "Rory locked herself in the infirmary at my house."

"She WHAT?!" Jax stepped over to them with his jaw dropped.

"She got stuck in the infirmary?" Jamison panicked momentarily. "Have you tried overriding the system?"

"She locked herself in purposely,"

"She WHA—" Jax began to choke on his own spit. "Can't you just override it with your fingerprint or ID chip? Or a backup security pin?"

"I tried that, but Rory reconfigured the entire system to do her bidding." Decha gestured at Jamison, "That's why I came here to ask Jamison for a code, to get inside."

"Why would Rory do something so drastic? Did you do or say something to upset her?" Jamison frowned, trying to understand why his daughter would do such a thing. "Not that it's right of her. She knows manners, I trained her well." Jamison added, not wanting to encourage her behavior.

"I told you I was taking care of her, that she was safe while in my care. I've been helping her to get a cure for IDS. My mother is a surgeon, one of the best in Astell. And we planned an operation for her." Decha motioned with his hands while describing the scenario. "I made arrangements to be a donor for her."

Those words struck Jamison as if they were lightning. It burned badly.

Jamison's worried expression changed to one of frustration. He interrupted his silence by punching Decha in the face. Decha stumbled back, and Jax held him against the wall to prevent another attack.

"You, idiot!" Jamison spat. "Are you insane? Do you realize who you are? O great and mighty Astellian High ranked General, are you trying to add "Savior" to that title? You want to donate your organs to her? Do you know what that'll do to her?!"

"Clarke," Jax pressed his weight on him.

"You think you'll get another Star Pin because of your deed? Is that what you want? Or are you just doing it to make yourself feel better? You want my little girl to be forever in your debt?"

"You need to take it down a notch!" Jax commanded. "Or you'll be arrested for assault!"

"I'm not donating because I want an achievement. I'm donating because I want to save her." Decha scowled at him.

"Why? WHY would YOU want to save her?!" Jamison snarled. "What evil entity has possessed your being, boy?"

"It's exactly as I said. There's nothing evil about it."

"Yeah, N96, you're gonna have to explain a little better. This guy is kinda hard to hold back!" Jax grumbled.

"She deserves to live." Decha relaxed his shoulders and released the tension he was keeping on his fists. "Rory has a lot of potential. I already told you that I'm grateful to her. More than anything, I owe her this. She doesn't know it, but this invention of hers has saved my life plenty of times. The gloves and the shoes,"

Jamison weakened his stance against Jax and began to listen more calmly.

"She's very smart. Her intellect can be used for Astell and the better of Sector B. It was a process for me to realize that. In all honesty, I wish I had realized it sooner. I would've done a better job at protecting her more," Decha sighed.

"Rory's very persistent. If she sets her mind on something, you can't stop her,"

"Don't I know it," Jamison chortled in agreement. "She's stubborn,"

"But that stubbornness gets her somewhere. It always does. I envy her ability to work hard and achieve. It seems that everything comes easy for me, so I never know what my efforts truly are."

Jamison watched as Decha brushed a hand through his hair, very frustrated. It was then that he noticed there was something quite odd about Decha. Whenever he spoke about Rory, he didn't just say whatever casually as if it was a momentary compliment.

"She's just as important as the rest of us. Losing Rory won't make me guilty. But truthfully, I don't think it'll be easy for me to recover. I..." Decha looked at his feet, wanting to avoid Jamison's stare. There were butterflies in his stomach. "That's why I'm asking for your help. Not as an order, but as someone else who cares about her."

Jamison could tell just by Decha's behavior how nervous he was. Decha's eyes didn't hold a simple emotion. It was much more complex. Jamison could feel that there was something deeper going on between him and Rory.

And because he understood, he decided to help.

"Did you try to type in her age?"

"I did."

"What about my name or hers?"

"Yep."

"What else did you type?"

"Her favorite food, her ID number, and my name. But none of them worked."

Jamison scratched his chin. "Rory gets like this when she is trying to make a point. You told her that you were going to be her donor. Does this surgery result in the death of one of you?"

"Not exactly." Decha shook his head. "We both can recover. Mine may take a while."

"Ah, that's why." Jamison sighed. "Rory doesn't like to be a burden to anyone. She's secretive about many things because of it. What exactly did she tell you when she locked herself in?"

"It's related to the case." Decha groaned. "She upgraded the gloves she made to help me find the droid that assassinates Astell's Generals. But she wants me to do it while she's getting worse, and I don't want to just leave her."

Jamison placed both hands on his hips. "I advise you to do what she says."

"Her condition is not stable! I don't know how long she has left—"

"Listen, N96," Jamison frowned. "I don't want to lose my daughter either. But Rory isn't stupid. She does crazy things when she has a good reason to, not because she lacks mental capacity. If it's related to the case, then you need to pursue whatever she wants. What's stopping you from saving the Sectors and her, together? Other than your fear."

It was a good point. Decha couldn't argue with that.

"Rory probably noticed your attitude change and thought this was for the best. She gave you a tool. Use it. For a General with the sharpest IQ in Astell, you don't seem to process things as quickly as they said you do." Jamison teased him.

"Logically? He does. Emotionally, not at all." Jax snickered, earning a bitter glare from Decha. "Don't look at me like that, you know he's right!"

Decha shook his head and rolled his eyes, before clapping his hands together. In front of them, the same large display from the previous night fizzed. The same red dot that was moving last night was in one place.

"It seems that Windsor hasn't commanded POYO to go anywhere else because of the sunrise."

"Windsor? Who's Windsor?" Jamison looked between Jax and Decha.

"Windsor is Deliverance. He's an Engineering Lab Professor at Grandell University, one of Rory's teachers."

"That dastard. No wonder he threatened me with Rory. How did you guys find out?"

"He came to my house to kill me." Decha shrugged.

"With POYO?" Jamison gasped.

"A bomb," Decha corrected.

"Heavens!"

"It looks like POYO is located somewhere on an old abandoned street of warehouses and complexes. That neighborhood was being renovated but I think Stein abandoned the project because of the rumors of rust." Jax pointed at the display.

"It makes the perfect hiding spot. Windsor could be located there." Decha got an idea. His eyes lightened up and he smirked at Jax. "WE should suit up and find him."

"I don't particularly like the way you emphasized 'we'. What's that all about?" Jax furrowed his eyebrows.

Decha remembered Rory saying she also created gloves for Jax and Amir.

"Call Amir, tell him to meet up at the Agency."

"Shouldn't we report to Director Chen first? If we're going after Windsor, maybe it's best to have backup. We can recruit a few Agents along the way,"

"No, it's too risky if we bring some of the Agents. We'll report to Chen so he can have the Agents watch our backs from the computers. Actually," Decha turned to Jamison. "You're good at hacking, aren't you?"

"Sort of," Jamison shrugged.

"You tapped into the Agency's computers to look for Rory's file. Can you prevent Kilos from sneaking a peek at what we're trying to do?"

"Allowing me to take down the dastard who tried to kill my little girl?" Jamison smiled. "You're being too nice. I accept."

Decha nodded, "Jax, bring Clarke to the Agency, and give Theodore the rundown of the situation. I'll meet up with you guys later."

"Where are you going?"

"I've gotta pick up a few tools." Decha brushed off his shoulders and walked toward the Elevator.

When Decha arrived back at his house, the first room he began searching inside of was the guest room Rory was staying in. He looked under the bed, in the nightstand drawers, on the desk, and in the dresser. But he couldn't find the gloves.

She made them, but he didn't know where she could've put them. Another 30 minutes went by and he had nearly turned the room upside down. But he realized that maybe she hid them in her closet, just in case her inventions went into the wrong hands.

Decha pressed his hands against the keypad, and the closet door unlocked. The door slid right open and he began pushing aside all the clothes inside. He saw Rory's book bag, the one she arrived here with on the floor. He took it and unzipped it before searching inside.

Sloshing around the other material, he felt the same fabric used for his gloves and he yanked it out. He frowned when he noticed that there were only 1 pair of gloves and an extra one by itself.

He searched some more, but the other glove for the one that was missing wasn't there. Maybe Rory created it to be that way purposefully? And sure enough, the pair was for Jax, but the extra one was for Amir.

Written on a small tag was Jax's name, but the other one had question marks on it. It had to be for Amir because they'd never introduced each other formally.

He placed all three in his pockets and tossed her bag back inside the closet before shutting the door. Then he walked out of the guest room and to the infirmary. Through the transparent locked door, he spotted her sitting on a chair nearby, coughing.

The cough didn't sound good at all. That same worry fueled his veins, but he knew that he couldn't just stand there letting his fear control him. "I'm going to find him," He announced, and looked at his feet, wanting to avoid her gaze.

"Oh?" Rory coughed lighter than the first time.

"And after I catch him, I promise that I'll be right back here. I'll be here for the surgery."

"I'll be fine, Decha," Rory stood up and sauntered over to the door and smiled at him. "It doesn't hurt to smile a bit more, you know."

"You've already said that," Decha sighed.

"It may not be easy because of your job," Rory gestured at his cap. "But what's there not to smile about? You're about to catch the guy who caused all of this, and you've got people who care about you cheering for you. You think that because I'm sick, I won't cheer you on? I've still got a voice. I can howl."

Decha chuckled softly, and a faint smile pulled at his lips.

"There you go, was that so hard?"

"I don't know how to handle you sometimes, I'll admit." Decha snorted, "How the heck did I let you get under my skin? I ask myself that question almost every day."

"Maybe I have that effect on people." Rory shrugged. "Who knows,"

"Take care of yourself in there," Decha reminded her in a tone that wasn't too stern but not soft either. "When my job is done, be sure to unlock the door," Decha finished.

Before he left, Rory called after him. "I love you!" Her voice echoed down the hall, stopping Decha mid-step. He spun around and wanted to say the words back to her, but Rory had already gone back to her bed.

"Love you too," He mumbled under his breath, before leaving the home.