The world turns upside down.

My head spins, my mind stops working. I've been messaging Officer Cub this whole time. My hero. Who's working for the Listeners. I've been spying for the Listeners. Cub is actually a Listener. Elex is going to kill me. And if Cub faked an application for me, then I'm not a real Hawk. I've never been a real Hawk. It was all a lie. Everything was a lie.

'...ar! Scar? Can you hear me?' I jump at the sound of what must be Officer Cub's voice. 'Listen. You need to get out of your house right now.'

'You lied to me.'

'I'm sorry. Genuinely. But you need to go. Now. Grab anything you don't want to lose, and I'll give you more instructions then.'

'You- you've been lying to me this whole time!' Tears blur my vision. 'I'm not a Hawk, you're not Xisuma... I'm suddenly in mortal danger because I said 1 thing that you did. And- and...'

'Scar, breathe in. And hold, and breathe out. In, hold, and out. I'll get you out.'

I don't reply. I don't listen.  Everything's a lie. 

'Now, don't panic. I can get you out of there.' Cub's tone remains calm. He doesn't get it. He's a liar. He lied to me. 'Just grab anything you value, Scar.'

Everything's still a mess in here. I don't know what to get. I don't know what I'll need. I don't move from where I am, overwhelmed, the thoughts still running around my mind.

'Scar?' I pause as Cub's tone softens from calm and unemotional into something more sympathetic. 'I understand how you feel. The denial, and anger. I know how hard this is for you. I'm so sorry for everything. I'm not asking you to pretend you don't feel like this. I just don't want it to hinder you now. Ok? Close your eyes.' I obey. 'Take a deep breath in, and breathe out when you're ready to ignore everything except whatever's special to you. We're able to provide anything else you need. Ok? And you won't worry about anything else. Can you do that for me, Scar?'

'Y-yeah.'

5 minutes, or maybe more, or maybe less, I've collected everything I need. The VX_5 plane, the watch I used to bribe Bdubs into punching Impulse once, Bdubs's final note, a set of matches, and one of Bdubs's red bandannas.

'Done,' I mumble.

'Right, now you need to make your way out of your flat.'

'How do you know where I live?'

'You told me.'

'Oh.'

'And tell everyone on nearby floors to get out, ok?'

'Ok.' I do. It doesn't take long for Cleo's strange friend Joe to accept that he needs to grab his valuables and tell everyone to run. ('I mean... I was already looking to have a clear-out.') As soon as he's out, I turn back to the holoscreen, but Cub doesn't respond. I slip to the floor, legs against my chest, stuck thinking about everything again. What if Cub's been found? Or captured? What then? What will I do then? What if he's still lying? He might be dangerous.

'Is everyone out?'

'Yeah...?'

'Now, there's a door at the opposite end of the hall to the stairs. Through there, there's an external ladder to the roof. Get on that ladder, and don't move from it until I say. Ok?'

'Ok,' I stand to do what he says, but he's not finished talking.

'And... stay safe, Scar. Ok?'

'I will.'

He mutes again. I run to the door, forcing it open. Outside, there's a metal ladder leading the entire way up the building. I climb onto it and prepare for the wait.

It's freezing, almost night, the sun barely visible over the horizon. I'm left shivering, wishing I'd grabbed a coat as well, clinging to a metal ladder. A familiar drone fills the air. Fighter planes. I look over to barely see, shining in the moonlight, a pair of planes in combat. No one fires, but both struggle for dominance, using strategies I've only seen in the films, getting closer and closer. I hug tighter to the ladder, unable to look away, until the smaller plane veers away, leaving the other disappearing from view and-

The world shakes. I hold as tight as I can at what can only be one of the planes hitting the building with a terrible crash. I think I'm going to fall. Through the open door, I see a cloud of dust and the wreck of the plane, concrete raining from above. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I still hear the other one, before that drone too stops.

A minute passes.

'Scar? Are you there?' comes a voice from up on the roof. I don't move. 'It's safe. You can come up.'

After another second of staring at the wreck, I tear my eyes away and slowly climb. The sound of the plane crashing repeats in my mind. There's a plane parked there. A VX_5. And standing next to it is Officer Cub.

I take in the Listener badge on his long white jacket, the number scarred across his neck, his sombre expression. He smiles. I still don't move.

'Fighter Scar.'

'Officer Cub.'

Silence again.

'You're here,'

'I am. Are you hurt?'

'I got out. Thanks to you.'

'I couldn't let you die.'

'So...' I take a deep breath. 'I'm not a real Hawk, am I?'

'No.' There's sympathy in his eyes, slight guilt. 'I'm sorry. I never meant to put you in this much danger.'

I don't reply for a moment.

'Officer Cub?' I ask eventually.

'Yes, Scar?'

'Do you think Elex would've ever let me into the Hawks?' A pause. Cub shakes his head.

'I'm sorry.'

I fight tears of disappointment. And betrayal, and anger. At Elex, for everything. After everything. The final nail in the coffin of the dream I've had my whole life.

'But the Listeners are open to anyone who wants to come. Even your friend Grian.'

'He...'

'He was tasked to crash into your home, yes. But I've already called people over to rescue him. And we've got the best medics around. And you survived a plane crash when you weren't even strapped in properly. So, he's got hope of survival.'

'That's good.'

Another silence. I'm still freezing cold.

'What now?' I ask. 'Now I'm... out?'

'Elex will think you and Grian are dead. You're safe. But you can't return to the Hawks. And you'll have to stay in hiding.'

'Forever?'

'You can come with me, in my plane, and we'll provide everything you need.' He holds out his hand to me. 'But only if that's what you want. Do you want to join the Listeners?'

I consider everything. Elex, the Hawks, the lies. Bdubs's note, hidden inside my pocket.

And I take Cub's hand.

IT'S DOOOONE

Now, important question:

I will be going on writing hiatus, and then finishing The Hermit Musical, but after that point would y'all like a sequel to this?

I haven't planned much sequel stuff.

And I do have another book I want to write as well. 

But you lot can decide.