Chapter Text
It bears repeating that Issa has been described as many things. Foolhardy, crippled by overempathy, a prodigy wasting her talents. Those who know her may not hesitate to call out her flaws, but, as Mouse told the new recruits yesterday, “Issa may be self-sacrificial, but like a saint or messiah she'll find just the right path even when it looks like there are no other ways.” The comparison may have gained some laughs from the older members, although they, and Issa herself, would like to argue that once upon a time, she had overestimated just how necessary those sacrifices really were. But neither she, nor anyone else, would go back and change anything: Because it led them here.
In a way, every sacrifice she made was rewarded in the end.
Issa runs her hand through the dark grey fur of her kitten, Bastet, as she reads her book. The kitten purrs, contented, and looks up at her owner with big blue eyes. The clock on the nightstand reads 08:00 am, but she couldn’t care less right now.
It is peaceful, lights are coming through the blinds in soft little rays. She had been woken up before the sunset, which had been nice to watch. But now she’s waiting. She turns the page.
There’s a jingling of keys down the hallway, signalling that the wait is over. Issa turns back to her book—she can finish this chapter in time. She hears shuffling coming through the hallway, the sound of one duffel bag accompanied by two plastic ones being set down, shoes and masks taken off with a sigh. It makes her smile, these wonderful, wonderful sounds.
Because, by Issa's standards, very few sounds are as wonderful as your lovers coming home.
Bastet perks up and Issa giggles as she scratches under the kitten's chin, her little face showing clear delight. She keeps reading, something in her brain stubbornly making her read faster as footsteps walk towards the bedroom. Light ones, not as unnoticeable as Issa knows they could be.
The footsteps stop as Issa reads the last sentence. She looks up and sees Raquel standing in the doorway. She’s wearing cat-print pajama pants she had refused to change out of, a cat-eared hoodie up over her dirty blonde hair, and an indulgent smile on her lips. She is beautiful as always.
Issa doesn’t really know why she’s calling her beloved ‘Raquel’ in her head, but the way she holds herself makes her think she is in that headspace, even with the grey mask off—a mask she places to the left of Issa’s bright blue one, in front of their framed picture of Bastet and underneath the framed sunset painting.
“You’re home early. I’m guessing the mission went well?” Issa asks with a smile. Raquel nods, and as if mirroring the masks on the table she climbs on the bed, settling in to the left of Issa, who almost falls off the bed from the sudden change in weight making the mattress jostle. Issa makes a stupid joke about the fact that they manage to sleep three people on it every night.
Speaking of which. “Where is—” Issa doesn’t get to finish as Raquel kisses her as a greeting, causing Issa to jump in surprise. Issa is still not used to it, to how open Raquel is with her affections, but it makes her feel warm. Then, as if anticipating what Issa wanted to ask, Raquel mimes opening a fridge door and putting stuff in. “Oh, you went grocery shopping?”
Raquel nods. Huh, Issa certainly admits that she is curious. “How did you manage time for that? I thought getting the supplies would take all morning?”
Her girlfriend just winks at her, offering no further explanation. Issa is still curious about how they managed to do that, but she guesses they just finished the mission early. It would also explain why they aren't covered in blood like they usually are.
Having enough of answering questions, Raquel runs a hand through Bastet's fur, who purrs contently, being more than delighted to be receiving attention again. Issa is forever grateful that they have such an affectionate kitten.
“Do you want me to use ASL?” she asks, to which Raquel shakes her head.
“I want to hear your voice,” Raquel signs with quick movements before resuming petting their kitten. Issa hums in acknowledgement, lowering her gaze back to her book.
They sit like that for a little while. Issa can't hear the shuffling in the kitchen, which she hadn’t expected when they first moved into the safe house. But, it was something she appreciated since it meant that she could never hear Mouse being up at 3 am, which usually involved tea, quiet swears and ‘successful’ tries to be quiet. It also means Issa can now prepare breakfast at 2 am in peace. A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.
“Did you buy milk?” Issa is almost taken aback when she hears herself. She’s asking something so... mundane. It feels good. She once thought that she would never ask such a domestic question to either of her crushes and now she gets more used to living together by the day. Waking up in the same bed, eating the same meals, kissing each other without a care for whether they are unmasked or not. It’s a truly blissful moment. Raquel nods and scratches Bastet behind her ear. The kitten purrs in delight, moving her tail up and down. It reminds Issa a bit of how you would pet a dog, the specific circular motions. But it makes Bastet happy, often causing her to fall asleep too, which is really cute.
Issa feels warmth in her chest again, for no reason at all. “I love you,” she says, just because she can do that now. She can say it out loud. Her lover smiles at her and boops Issa's nose before mouthing 'I love you too' back. It makes her giddy. They have been together for months, but the butterflies in Issa's stomach still haven't left. Because... They love her. Something she once thought impossible, relegated to guilty dreams she had sworn to kill off one day because they would never feel the same, no matter how good it felt to truly be in love. And yet, here she is, sitting by one of her lovers in the morning while reading a book, while the other one is putting away the groceries. Because they do, in fact, feel the same.
They sit like that for a little while, Issa and Raquel, just enjoying each other's company. And that's not a novelty, they've done it hundreds of times before, but it still fills her with a content warmth. Still, she feels Raquel looking her way with a mischievous glint in her eyes, like someone who's just waiting for the surprise to be revealed. Issa knows there's nothing to worry about, a playful Raquel is not a playful Rook after all, so instead she's curious. Curious, because Raquel keeps glancing at the doorway, waiting for their third soulmate.
That word feels odd too. Soulmates. She's considered Raquel and Gabriel as something akin to soulmates before, as far back as her first loop, but acknowledging her as a part of this intrinsic connection still makes her ears redden just thinking about it.
She really doesn't feel like she used to anymore—like an outsider looking in, an observer of their love. Well, she still is an observer, but she is a participant in it too, now. Someone who loves them and is loved in return. She has said it before, about how it shouldn't feel like it does, but Issa doesn't think the euphoria will ever fade away, it will simply have to become part of her everyday life now.
There are footsteps in the hallway again, nowhere as light as Raquel's, but still hard to hear if you aren't always searching for them, know their sound by heart. Bastet meows in delight, as if she is happy that her other owner will return, completing the set. Issa briefly wonders if their kitten may be spliced with shepherd DNA. Bastet is not content unless everyone is in the same room.
Pulling herself from her book again, Issa looks up to see Gabriel: Gabriel because he has his mask perched on his forehead and stands like he hasn't come back to being Galilae yet despite changing out of his suit, standing by their little coffee table with a tray in his hands. A tray which she actually remembers using when she used to bring Raquel and Gabriel food during their late-night planning sessions in previous loops. The memory makes her smile, and she sees how Gabriel gives one in return, a soft one as he sets down the tray on their little table by the door before picking something up, a teacup.
“Gabriel,” she starts, “Is that... tea?”
The man in question chuckles. “Well, it isn’t a coffee cup,” he replies in that teasing tone he uses when he’s stating the obvious. The only thing stopping Issa from throwing a pillow at him is Bastet, who is currently sitting on her lap. Correction, sleeping on her lap.
“I, but, how did you? The tea kettle here isn't exactly quiet!” Issa is genuinely curious now, she knows well enough that you can hear that god-awful machine even with a closed door. How hadn't she heard its incessant whistling and bubbling? Gabriel gives her a sheepish smile and the look in his eyes that tells her everything she needs to know.
“Seriously, Gabriel? Seriously, of all the things you could have done, you decided to save the tea kettle before the Mill was attacked?”
Gabriel gives a half-shrug as he sets down the teacup on the nightstand and his mask on the drawer, to the right of Issa's. “I remembered how you would complain about the one here, so I just stashed away the previous one with the other supplies.” Issa thinks suddenly starting a pillow fight at 08:13 in the morning seems like an excellent idea.
Alas, it is not meant to be. Gabriel smiles at his two girlfriends and goes to kiss them both on the lips. “You aren't the only one using their knowledge of the future now, amore mio.” He smiles at them. “We woke up too, and that means we will do everything we can to set a better course.”
Issa raises an eyebrow at him. “So, saving a tea kettle?”
“Saving a tea kettle my girlfriend is very fond of,” Gabriel corrects. “It felt like the least I could do. There wasn't exactly a ton to do about the raid itself, or saving Greg early. I took an opportunity for a small victory when I had one.”
Issa will admit to doing that too, like making sure Kaz isn’t scared out of his mind by Raquel, but having it stated so plainly throws her off guard. Not like Gabriel lets her process as he peppers her face with kisses, making her giggle. “Besides,” he punctuates each word with a butterfly-light kiss, “I owe you for all the milk tea you have made me.”
Raquel makes that short, cut-off laugh she does as he says that, and Issa groans theatrically. “You're as bad as I am!” He doesn't even try to deny it, they both know it to be true. Self-sacrificial idiots as they're called. Well, they are Raquel's self-sacrificial idiots.
Issa decides to pick up her book again, making Gabriel laugh. “Hey, don't go back to reading, Issa. I missed you.”
She huffs in jest, but Issa can't help but smile. “You two were gone for less than three hours.”
Gabriel smiles at that. “And? I,” Issa sees Raquel raise an eyebrow at him, “Sorry, we still missed you.”
Issa doesn't really know how to respond to that, so she just kinda stares at him. Her ears feel hot.
“I love you two, so much,” Gabriel says, because he can do that now. Issa smiles at him, says it back, but she doesn't have time to react as both of her lovers suddenly lean in.
“Hey!” Issa giggles as they kiss her cheeks. She doesn't know how to react: Sure, they do this a lot. Sudden affection. This isn't even the first time she has been kissed on both cheeks simultaneously. But, it still makes her feel giddy. That they can do that now. They can kiss each other on the cheek and cuddle and be together without their masks. It's… it's such a rush. What the hell, Issa thought all she would have of them was her kitten and a necklace. And now… now she's sitting on a bed they share while holding a book, their kitten in her lap as they kiss her.
It's a quick kiss, a sudden one, but Issa feels a giggle bubbling up. She hears Gabriel chuckle too, and sees Raquel smile brightly. If only she had known back then that they loved her, she thinks. But even having technically done it, she can't change the past. What matters is the now, and that they love each other.
Her boyfriend pulls back and walks over to pick up the teacup. “Come on, it's drinkable,” he jokes, referencing that line she must have said over a hundred times to him as he hands it to her.
“Thanks, love.” Issa isn't really sure where to put the book, Bastet is still in her lap, but Raquel gently takes the book from her hands, letting Issa take the cup, immediately bringing it to her lips. It tastes sweet, just how she likes it. It fills her with warmth, that he knows her favourite way to prepare it. It makes her laugh in realisation, is this how Gabriel felt when she brought him milk tea?
Gabriel looks over at the nightstand again. His eyes look at the clock, 8:17, then at the necklace. “I've said it before,” he starts, “But that necklace really suits you.”
Issa giggles. “Because of my eyes?” Because that's what everyone compliments her on, her sapphire blue irises and the little speckles of Archangel blue in them. It's the feature she's proudest of, along with her freckles.
Gabriel gives her this soft smile, a smile that makes Issa melt. “Your eyes make it even more beautiful for me now, but it has always been beautiful on you.”
Issa squeaks and feels herself blush to the tips of her ears again, especially as Raquel gives an empathetic nod in response to what Gabriel said.
“Gods damn you Galilae,” Issa mutters, hiding her face behind the steaming cup. “Gods damn you and your silver tongue.”
Gabriel laughs and nudges at the both of them to scoot in on the bed so he can climb in. Of course, they oblige him, especially as Raquel slings an arm over both of their shoulders, bringing them into a sort of cuddle.
“I do mean it though, I always thought the necklace looked better on you than it would on anyone else.” Gabriel nuzzles his face into Issa's neck, kissing her on the nape there. Raquel purrs in agreement and leans over to kiss Gabriel.
“You two just say that because you are in love with me,” Issa jokes, although she hisses in pain soon after, Raquel digging her nails through her sweater. “Ow! I was joking, love.” Raquel stares at her, unimpressed. “Alright, alright. I'm pretty. Happy now?”
Satisfied, Raquel purrs again and nustles herself into Issa's neck too, leaving playful nips there, not deep enough to mark, but they remind Issa of the ways puppies bite you when they're happy.
Issa quietly drinks her tea, just... happy to be around her lovers. She wonders again if these feelings will ever fade, but she doubts it. They are too strong, too all-consuming to ever fade. She doesn't know how to live without them anymore, without kissing them good morning and goodnight.
She finishes her tea, and without so much as a word, Gabriel takes the cup and puts it on the nightstand again. She's jostled by it though, by him leaning over to kiss Raquel again, and Bastet wakes up with a disgruntled mewl, stretching before hopping out of Issa's lap, who has to fight a giggle. Poor Bastet, being so rudely woken up.
It's morning still, the sun high in the sky. And... they don't need to do anything today. Nothing at all. Issa secretly hopes she can convince them to leave the safehouse, maybe go shopping for little knickknacks to decorate their... home. Perhaps she can drag them to a café, though Issa doubts she can get Raquel to come with her unless it involves cats. But, all of that has to wait, because she's sitting between her two beloveds as they slowly come back to 'life'. Back to her, to being all hers, the three no longer Archangels... but simply three people in love.
Issa tries to grab the book back from Raquel, no, Haroz, and fails, while Gabri—Galilae watches while laughing. And honestly, that's more than Issa could ever have thought she would get. Because Galilae isn't wearing white gloves, and Haroz is looking at her with something soft, love, but nothing hesitant.
“I love you,” she says again, because she can never get enough of saying it.
She catches both their eyes, and that's more than she needs to know they love her back.