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Agent 4 looked back as she crested the hill. Several miles of lush green forest and meadows, and Inkopolis’s skyline in the distance. “Wonderful view for a break,” she muttered to herself, as she took her backpack off, wiped the sweat from her brow and grabbed her bottle of water.
Shortly after, she heard her companion scramble up the hill. Agent 8 had improved a lot physically since her return, but her stamina still left a lot to be desired, after a decade of malnourishment and lack of exercise. That showed when it came to hikes in the summer heat like this. She wasn’t carrying a pack but she needed the break a lot more than Agent 4. She gratefully sat down panting, took another bottle Four offered her and gulped it down.
“Good thing I brought more than one bottle for you,” Four jested. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had time away from her agent work.
“I...I never realized...how much...I’d gotten...out of shape…”, Eight panted, falling back into the grass beside the path.
“Well, this hike ought to be good for you then,” Four replied, sitting down next to her.
Eight looked at her angrily. “Yeah, suuuuure...just throw me...in the deep end...I can swim just fiiiiiine…”
“Kinda pass-fail. I always thought that was easier,” Four snarked back.
Eight smiled still. It’d been a while since she’d seen Agent 4 this relaxed and upbeat. Unwinding after being stressed with doing the agent work alone for so long clearly did wonders for her.
Agent 8 sat up and looked back down the way they’d come. The hike they were making was an overland trip between two towns north of Inkopolis. They’d take a bus back once they arrived in the next town over. “How much farther?”, Agent 8 asked.
“A good two hours, give or take,” Four replied.
“Can this be our lunch stop then? I mean, can’t beat the view,” Agent 8 asked again, gesturing.
“That was my thinking already,” Four said, pulling out two wads of tin foil containing sandwiches.
“Yes! I’m starving,” Agent 8 replied, snatching one of the packets out of Four’s hands.
“Easy there. This ain’t the mainland anymore, you can take your lunch easy,” Four smiled. This was something Eight needed to be reminded of still, despite everything that had gone down since her return.
Agent 4 unwrapped her own sandwiches and tucked in. They sat together in silence for a while, enjoying the view as they ate.
“You know,” Eight said, her voice more solemn now, “sometimes I wonder...what we’d be like now if Liz was still here.”
Agent 4 was surprised. Eight never brought up Agent 3 on her own. “How do you figure?”, she asked.
“I dunno. If we’d ever...y’know, got together…”, Agent 8 hesitated.
“I’m not following,” Agent 4 said.
“I...I had a dream last night. It wasn’t the nightmares, for a change, I was imagining me and...and Liz at a dinner table...and there were kids there...and I don’t-I don’t remember what was said but it all felt so...so wholesome, you know?”, Eight looked at Four again. “Just wondering if maybe...we could’ve had that. Somehow.”
Four smiled. “You two had a thing for each other, that’s for sure. I can’t say if you two would ever...y’know, get kids, but...you two would probably have been a good couple,” she assured Eight.
Eight smiled and nodded. “That’s good to hear, at least.”
“But, well, you shouldn’t be thinking about what might have been. That’ll do you no favors. What matters is that you’re happy here and now,” Four emphasized.
“Yeah, I’ve...I’ve gotten more into that mindset,” Eight smiled. “After what I went through...I’m more than happy to have you, and Pearl and Marina, and everyone.”
“That’s the spirit,” Four said, patting Eight on the back. She giggled. “Speaking of them, what do you think THOSE lovebirds are up to?”
Eight sniggered too. “They said they were having sushi for dinner, I dunno what else they’d do. They seemed happy to have me out the house though.”
Four full-out laughed now. “Gee, I wonder why.”
The pair finished up their lunch and got up. “Well, you feel well rested enough?”, Four asked.
Eight nodded. “I think I can last a while now,” she replied, smiling, “My battery’s been recharged.”
“Alright then. I’ll take it a bit slower, so you can get into a good rhythm,” Four said, letting Eight lead the way.
They turned away from the view and continued down the path.