The safehouse was little more than a forgotten hunting cabin, tucked deep in the woods beyond Gilead's most northern checkpoint. Moonlight filtered through dusty windows, casting long shadows across the worn floorboards that creaked with each movement. It had been three days since your escape—three days of constant movement, of fear so thick it coated your tongue with metallic bitterness. Now, finally, you could breathe the cool night air without the constant dread of discovery.

You watched Paige stoke the small fire, the flames crackling and popping as they illuminated her face in a warm orange glow that made her features seem softer than usual. Paige—not Ofdan anymore, but simply Paige, reclaiming her name with each passing hour of freedom. The scent of pine lingered in her dark hair that had grown longer than was allowed in Gilead. You had escaped together, using the chaos of the Ceremony Day protests as cover, your hearts pounding in synchrony as you ran through back alleys and across fields.

"We should reach the Canadian border by tomorrow night," Paige said, settling beside you on the threadbare couch that smelled of mildew and time. She sat closer than necessary, your shoulders nearly touching, sending a tingle down your arm at the forbidden contact. "My contact will meet us with new identities." Her hand found yours in the darkness, calloused fingers intertwining with yours—a deliberate, questioning touch that sent warmth spiraling through your chest. In Gilead, connections between Handmaids were forbidden, punishable by mutilation or death. Here, outside those walls, possibility stretched before you like an undiscovered country. When Paige leaned in, her breath warm against your cheek carrying the faint scent of woodsmoke, you didn't pull away. "We're free now," she whispered, her voice rough with emotion. "We can be whoever we want to be." The words hung between you in the quiet of the cabin, heavy with implication and the weight of years of enforced submission falling away as you prepared to make a choice that was entirely your own.