He had the urge to hold her. To brush her tears off her cheeks. To run away with her. He didn’t do any of those things. He had cultivated enough control to stand perfectly still and watch her.

He had been told he would be sent out of the country. For his last mission. Then he would be sold to the next contractor. And he would spend ten years in a different country, with a different name, and he couldn’t take anything but painful memories. Memories he would no doubt relive every night before he slept.

He had already explained to her that he would leave and never be back. That he loved her and would never forget her and that she would have to move on because she couldn’t follow him. That she would never see him again.

He watched her silent tears as she stared into his eyes. He didn’t touch her. He watched her turn. He didn’t stop her. He watched her run away, sobs escaping her throat. He didn’t go after her.

He turned the opposite way like he trained himself over the years to do every time & walked away.