Chapter Text
“Jett!”
Sage could barely hold on to Jett as she hovered down from the ruined castle and dashed onto the beach, dropping a few more cloudbursts to cover her tracks.
The two had managed to gain enough distance between themselves and the mission area, and found themselves on a secluded beach. Jett tried to carry on, but the adrenaline inevitably wore off. The stinging from her shoulder got worse, and she collapsed onto the sand, dropping Sage in the process.
Sage tumbled across the sand, but was quick to get back up and dash up to Jett. Jett was conscious, but extremely weak. Her wound had gotten worse during the scramble to retreat.
Nothing that a healing orb couldn’t fix.
“You’re going to be alright,” Sage reassured a panting Jett.
After Jett caught her breath, she looked up at Sage.
“Did… you just... dash?”
Sage let out a sigh of relief, and collapsed onto the sand beside Jett.
“Your lessons paid off,” she replied. Her face then grew serious. “What did you think you were doing peeking that angle?”
Jett held out her hand to stroke Sage’s soft cheek. “I’m sorry, Sage. I thought there was an opening, but that Jett had good aim.”
Slowly, Jett retracted her hand and attempted to sit up. Although Sage was able to heal broken bones and bullet wounds, whoever she mended would still feel exhaustion and weakness to some extent. As Jett tried to lift herself off the sand, she could feel some sharp stings. Sage helped her sit up, and Jett looked out at the sea, trying to process everything that had just gone down.
“Take it easy,” Sage said, sensing Jett’s racing thoughts.
After a while, a sound from above prompted them to look up to the sky. Both of them could see an unmarked dropship leaving the area. It had to be the Valorant agents leaving the area. After all, there seemed to be no survivors from their fireteam, which would explain the radio silence.
“At least we’re safe for now.” Sage continued to look up at the sky as she spoke, and only brought her gaze back down when she felt two arms surround her.
“I’m sorry,” Jett said as she held on, as if for dear life. “This should’ve been our victory.”
“We will have our chance, Jett,” Sage replied while reaching for her radio. “Let me call for extraction.”
“W-wait…” Jett brought a hand to Sage’s, to stop her from calling anyone.
“Hmm?”
“Can we just… stay like this? For a little bit?”
Sage chuckled, and rubbed her cheek against Jett’s.
“Of course.”
For the next ten minutes, they cuddled on the beach while staring out at the sea. Deep down, however, both of them wished they were still fighting. They desperately wanted to shut Valorant down for good, but with one failure after another, it was starting to look impossible. Valorant’s outfit grew stronger with each passing month.
“How long do you think we can keep fighting like this?” Jett asked, breaking the silence between them.
Until the end, Sage thought, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it. Valorant's elimination was of utmost importance, but at the same time, both of them were still human. Thoughts crossed both of their minds on the daily, thoughts of a normal life together, away from all this fighting. Despite that, they were brought into this dimension for a reason, and they needed to see their duty through.
“I’m not sure,” was all Sage could say.
“If it meant we could spend our lives like this, I’d give up this fight in a heartbeat.” Jett sighed, and planted a soft kiss on Sage’s cheek.
“...but I know this life will catch up to us, one way or another.”
Sage let out a sigh, but smiled. “Yeah… whatever happens, though, we’ll see it through together.”
Both of them locked eyes, and after a soft kiss, Jett smiled too.
“Always.”