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Jett reached for a vandal on a rack at the practice range.
"Nuh uh. Not so fast wind girl." Yoru grabbed it first.
"Dude, come on. I was gonna use that."
"Says who? You? The shortest of Valorant? Come get it then." He raised it above his head.
"Bro this isn't funny, I only got like half an hour of free time."
"If you really care about your free time, come get it short stuff."
Jett huffed, realizing she had no other options. She struggled to reach for the vandal so she opted to use her abilities but he still managed to pull it away from her.
Skye came between the both of them.
"We're nearly the same height, so if ya got somethin' to say to Jett you'll say it to me too." She crossed her arms.
"Well, to be SHORT with you-"
"That's it."
She grabbed his wrist and in a second he was flung to the ground.
"Here ya' go." Skye handed Jett the vandal.
"Bam! Thats what you get when you... when you... mess with the king of the jungle!" Jett whooped at Yoru.
Skye high fived Jett for her sick burn and off they were.
~~
Later, Jett looked at her career and sighed.
"Negative, negative, bottom frag."
Her cockiness used to be backed up by her exceptional skills. She hardly felt like herself if she couldn't boast about nearly 5k'ing every round. Instead her guilt kept her shut; even if a teammate made a horrendous move, she felt she had no room to speak. It's not like she cared what people thought about her, but she was seen as the smug hard carry and if she wasn't that, what was she?
"I'll have to give it my all next mission!"
~~
Jett was the only one on site when the enemies executed a hard push.
"I can do this, like I've done 1000 times before. I know I still have it in me!" Jett reassured herself.
To prove to herself she still has it, she tried to summon the fighting energy within herself as she took on a 1v5 with her ult.
~~
Back at Valorant HQ, Jett hissed between gritted teeth,
"Fuck!"
Sage who had been nearly depleted of her healing ability, attempted to mend Jett's bullet wounds consequential of the 1v5.
"I was able to close the wounds but I bet you still feel pain. Here, this is all I can do for you as of now."
Sage handed Jett a bottle of painkillers.
"Thank you, for your help."
'Which I don't deserve' Jett's conscious quickly retorted.
Sage eyed the duelist before her and seized the opportunity while they were alone.
"Jett, if there's anything you ever need to get off your chest I am here for you." Sage had an idea of what might be bothering Jett.
Jett bit her lip while trying to decide if she should burden sage with her inner turmoil.
"Yes, there is something actually."
Sage sat down, ready to listen.
"I, uh well as you know I haven't been doing as good on missions lately. But the thing is, I just don't know why that is or what I've been doing differently. I also feel like a huge liabillity to the team. I feel... useless."
She bowed her head.
"It is true that your usual efforts push this team above and beyond, but you know that we can handle ourselves just as fine if you were to feel you're lacking. We are VALORANT, I'm sure we can figure it out together."
Jett tried to appreciate Sage's attempt to reassure her, yet she still felt misunderstood; that there was more inner ramifications from her decline in skill other than the effect it has on the team. While she cares about her team, there was still a pain within herself she struggled to grasp. 'What is wrong with me, what is the reason for this sudden change in my abilities?' She thought.
From the look of Jett's face, Sage noticed her own effort to comfort Jett was less than successful. Sage hurt to see her teammate suffer but at the time she didn't know how else to help her.
Jett was on her way to her room in HQ when she heard the muffled sound of her name come from another room. She heard Yoru's and Phoenix's voices but she couldn't make much of what they were saying. Only broken phrases such as "Jett," "bottom frag," and laughter. Really? Phoenix of all people? Jett didn't care to stay to hear what her best friend was actually saying. Her insecurities concerning the team were confirmed, that was all she could think about as she began to hold back tears and finish the route to her room.
She closed herself off in her room and just nearly composed herself, until she glanced at the window sill and saw that her plant had died. It was just a plant, but it was the final blow.
She paused at first. Then came the tears that threatened to fall from her eyelids. Then came the audible yet infrequent sobs. She squeezed her lips and eyes shut to keep from full on exploding, then all the memories rushed in at once. Costing their success at missions, the lack of identity, the isolation from her team, and then a plant. A fucking plant, she thought.
She threw back her head and screamed. Her hands squeezed her head as if she were trying to crush it and escape the mental torment. She continued to violently sob, her hands furiously grasping at her clothes in a struggle to breathe.
Skye was just on her way to Jett's room with plans to invite her on a walk when the noise of howling and choked whimpering coming from her destination stopped her in her place.
Skye quietly walked up to Jett's door and contemplated whether or not she should interfere. Usually Skye would give Jett her privacy, but she was worried for her safety this time. She knocked lightly.
"Jett?"
No response, just sobbing and the sound of what seemed like pounding on the floor.
"I'm comin' in, alright?"
Jett didn't protest.
Slowly she opened the door and when she closed it she turned around and saw Jett bent over on her knees, clutching her chest.
Skye knew Jett to be emotional but this was a new layer of depth to what Skye knew about Jett. Her eyes were wide at her discovery as she bent down infront of Jett.
Jett faced the other way, avoiding Skye's eye contact. She tried to restrain her tears again now that Skye was there, but when Skye brought Jett to her feet and pulled her into a firm hug, it was hard not for Jett to fall apart again in her arms.
Jett tried to explain, but all that came out was rambles about Yoru, how much of a failure she was, and something about a plant.
"And then, and then-" Jett gasped for air.
Skye interrupted her.
"Jus' hold onto me girlie."
Skye held Jett throughout her entropy, she remained smiling and tightened her hold on Jett even when she pounded on Skye's back in frustration.
Eventually it was silent. Skye looked down at her, marveled by the contrast of peace and quiet verses the storm Jett went through one minute ago. In that moment, Skye examined the girl in her arms. She thought about how she takes care of Jett as if she were one of mother nature's own endangered animals. She thought about how Jett could be hostile towards anything or anyone unknown or slightly threatening in order to ensure her own safety. But if you could capture her during one of her rare moments of vulnerability where she believed to not be in danger, (like how she is in Skye's arms), then you could see she was just another creature in the biosphere deserving of unconditional love and support. Judging by Jett's steady pace of breathing, Skye assumed she had tired herself out and fallen asleep. She laid Jett on her bed and sat next to her. She didn't want to leave, not yet. She spoke to Jett even though she thought she was sleeping.
"You'll get ya skills back. We'll train everyday together. And oy'll bend Yoru in half if he tries to start anythin'. And I can still save your plant. Whatever it is, we'll figure it out together."
A smile grew on Jett's face when she opened her eyes to look at Skye.
"Ok."
They stayed still and held their eye contact while silently assessing the other, imagining each other in their own futures. Skye's heart burned at the sign of a pivotal advancement in her relationship with Jett.