Counter Swap

Lena stood alone as all the people in the mall disappeared and she could only see one person in front of her. It wasn't the terrorist who was holding her hostage just a couple of minutes ago, nor was it any of her subordinates.

Instead, it was a young Rin. His back was facing her at first, but when he turned, his face was completely blank. It had neither of its eyes, a nose, or even a mouth. Despite that though, the boy was still able to let out one word.

"Goodbye."

Someone grabbed Lena's shoulder, snapping her back to reality.

It was Miles, who was already carrying Klein away from the scene.

"Hurry up!"

"But..."

Miles dragged Lena away with his free arm. The entire time though, Lena stared at the camera. And just like that night many years ago, she was forced to let Rin go again.

The entire mall had been cleared out.

"Are you serious about this?", Eva asked.

"Catch me and find out.", Rin said.

A couple of seconds passed, and Rin gave the go ahead.

"Good luck."

Eva already knew what she was looking for. The use of the intercom meant he could only be in one place. She raised a walkie talkie to her mouth.

"Make sure to lockdown the security office right away. Even if he's moving, we should be able to catch the bastard on his way out."

As soon as she finished speaking, she walked toward her destination. 

She walked and walked until she found a group of her men surrounding a see-through office.

"No one was seen exiting this room, ma'am."

Taking note of that silently, she stepped through the glass door. Immediately, she saw the back side of a bunch of computer monitors sitting atop a table. They did a phenomenal job of obscuring the person sitting in the chair behind them. 

When she got close enough to see over them however, she was shocked to see no one sitting there. She searched the entire room for another exit but found something else entirely.

***

It was dark outside, and the police had set up a secure area for all the hostages to settle down in. Klein as well as anyone else who was wounded was being carried away on a stretcher. 

As the officers went around asking everybody questions, Lena kept begging anyone who passed by her for help.

"Please, there's someone still inside! You need to-"

"I'm sorry ma'am, we're doing everything we can right now."

Time and time again, she was brushed off like that. She was right on the verge of tears. Just as she was about to give up though, a familiar voice called out to her.

"Oh Lena, I finally found you."

She recognized it immediately and turned around in disbelief. 

"...Rin?"

He was shoeless and more than a little sweaty but alive. He'd escaped with only a slight cut on his cheek. Lena grabbed both of his shoulders; afraid she might have been hallucinating. 

"B-But... how are you... here?", she asked.

Rin couldn't help but let out a proud little chuckle in response to that question.

***

There was something else in the security room. Eva had glossed over it at first, but it was sitting in plain sight for her on the table. It was smaller than the monitors beside it. There, right next to both the microphone and intercom button, sat a simple and portable voice recorder. 

Eva's face was stone cold. She showed no signs of emotion as she picked up the device.

*Beep*
She played the device. Rin's voice came through, just as staticky sounding as before.

"I have the stasis bomb. And if you hurt anybody else, you're never getting it."

In complete silence, Eva listened to the device play all the responses she'd been given throughout her conversation with it. All of them were separated by gaps of varying sizes.

*Beep*
She turned off the device, then motioned over one of her guys to take it. She stared at the computer monitors as he did.

A couple of seconds passed as everybody wondered what she was going to do. Then she suddenly ripped one of the monitors off the table, teared its wires in the process, and smashed it onto the floor. 

The screen shattered instantly, but Eva wasn't done. She grabbed a chair and struck the monitor over and over again with little to no break in between each of her attacks. By the time her rage subsided, the monitor had shattered into so many pieces it was almost impossible to tell what it was originally.

She fell onto her back, finally getting a chance to recuperate. They were completely surrounded by the police now, and without their hostages as a bargaining chip, her odds of escaping were dicey at best. But none of this mattered in comparison to what she thought about next.

The one who left this voice recording for her. She couldn't help but wonder what kind of person he was to have been able to best her so completely. And as she did, Eva broke into an uncontrollable laughter.

***

Neither Lena nor Miles seemed to fully understand Rin's trick even after he'd finished explaining it. But one was more vocal than the other.

"But that doesn't make sense. I mean, you had a full conversation with that psycho. How'd you know what she was going to say and how to respond to her?", Miles asked.

"That doesn't matter. Rin, we need to have a talk.", Lena said.

Rin didn't respond to either of them. He simply stared at his wristwatch.

"I played my role pretty well, didn't I?", his reflection asked.

"Rin. Listen to me!"

*Tick, tick, tick*
Once again, Rin didn't respond. He was too busy watching the smaller hand spin continuously. 

*Tick, tick, tick*
Looking back and forth between the watch and Lena, Rin stayed alert for anything else that might be in store for him. 

*Tick, tick, tick*
Seconds turned into minutes, but the minutes refused to turn into hours. Thankfully though, the world eventually decided to show mercy, and the clock finally struck midnight.

"Congratulations. Lena lives another day."

Rin balled his fist in triumph. 

It was then he felt a light bump against the top of his head. Confused, he looked up to see Lena looking back at him, tears streaming gently down her face. The shaky fist she was just barely able to make was still sitting atop his head, almost as if resting there.

"Please... Promise me you won't do anything like that ever again..." 

Complete silence. 

Rin was at a total loss at what to say as his cheek bled in response. He couldn't bring himself to say the following words, so he thought it to himself instead.

-Sorry... Lena. But this feeling I'm experiencing right now...

I wouldn't trade it for the world.