Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Murmurs of something along the lines of "yeah" and "yes, sir" can be heard in the tiny room, to which Brimstone nods. He turns the device off and dismisses the team to prepare for the mission, everyone but Sova, a fellow agent, following suit.

Noticing your shifty eyes and fiddling, Sova nudges softly at you, his accent delicately lacing his concern, "Hey, U/N, you alright?"

You nod, "Yeah, sorry. Just... y'know... my first mission's getting on my nerves. Just a bit nervous, that's all."

He sympathises, knowing the feeling of loud, erratic heartbeats, sweaty palms, and high expectations. After all, everyone has been in the same state as you.

He looks at you worriedly, but decides not to push any further, instead opting to give a warm smile, "Okay, we should get ready."

Your organisation, known as "VALORANT," is infamous for doing the government's dirty work. The organisation doesn't exactly own or work for them. It is more so of a mutual alliance: VALORANT working in the shadows while the government keeps their name clean, offering assistance in clearing names for the sake of justice and peace in case one of the agents gets in a rather rough spot.

How you got in is still a mystery to you. You, fresh out of college, have been applying for jobs to support yourself. If you remembered correctly, you accidentally stumbled across a forum about cracking a cold case from 1XXX. Though you had no idea what you got yourself into, out of sheer boredom, you delved deep into the case while waiting for calls from any of the companies you applied to.

It had taken you a week to find a lead, a couple days to find solid evidence, and eventually solving the case. The satisfaction cooled your bones as you submitted your findings to the original poster of the said forum. Delighted, they sent you a message afterwards, inviting you to a nearby cafe to discuss private matters about the case.

From the other side of the line, the original poster, an agent named Killjoy, and the head of the organisation, Brimstone, posted an underground cold case from the FBI's case files, albeit with their permission. They planned to hire one more agent capable of intel gathering, and much like the Cicada 3301 internet phenomenon, they went on a hunt for a recruit open to the public, though with a less intimidating approach.

One sunny day in Killjoy's lab, she received a message from her burner account, the same account she posted the cold case from. She opened the message, thinking it was another pre-teen spamming her inbox begging for hints, when she saw a word document, along with photos accompanying it. Her eyebrow raised, sending a message to her leader about the message. She could hear the excitement from Brimstone's voice message, rushing to her lab to see the results.

They opened the file together and were surprised to see the amount of information you provided. You went into detail about the case, informing them even of things they didn't have knowledge of. The case was lost some years ago and was thought to be hopeless, but you only proved to be a valuable asset to the team. Brimstone decided to meet up with you right then and there, forcing Killjoy with him.

On the day of, you squint your eyes at your phone, wondering why the meet-up spot was so close to your apartment. You didn't question it, fearing that you'd be late for the meeting. Although you still had your doubts on the message, you merely shrugged, as if you have anything to lose.

Opening the cafe, you were greeted by the sweet aroma of the coffee, smiling to yourself. Not only did it comfort you, but it also provided a sense of security. Looking around, you noticed the lack of customers, assuming they haven't arrived. You took a moment to order something for yourself while you waited. You sat at the farthest table, isolated and inconspicuous. You were scrolling on your phone when you felt a presence next to you. You looked up to see a large, burly man wearing camouflage pants, a black t-shirt tightly hugging his frame and an orange beret with an unfamiliar badge, his well-kempt beard adding to the touch. Beside him is a woman around your age with round glasses wearing a yellow puffy jacket with a snuggly-fitted beanie. She took the seat in front of you, inviting herself to your table.

They stared at you, and you shrunk down in your seat ever so slightly, "D-do you need something?"

The burly man laughed, "Are you U/N?"

You nodded, confirming that the username was indeed yours.

The girl in front of you grabbed your hands, nearly spilling your coffee, "The case is now closed thanks to you! You do not know how long it took the CIA to solve that case," She huffed in annoyance, "Sometimes I think they're just sitting in their offices playing some idle game or a rip-off poker that was poorly coded."

You laughed heartily, amused at the girl's rant, "Thank you. But why did you arrange a meeting?" You turned to the burly man, who was awkwardly standing beside your table, "You can sit, y'know?"

He gratefully accepted your offer and sat beside the beanie woman, "We called for you so you can join us."

Your eyebrow raises, "Join what?"

"VALORANT."

And that's how you ended up in the tiny conference room. You blink, mentally slapping yourself for zoning out. You see Sova leave the room, turning around to see if you would follow.

"You comin'?"

After getting ready, you sling your backpack over your shoulder and hold your tablet tightly across your chest. You take another look around your room to see if you've missed anything. Knowing there is nothing else to bring, you swing the door open, a little too sudden as you bump into a solid surface.

You rub your forehead as you look up to see what you bumped into. Or rather, who.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, Sova. I didn't see you there."

The man laughs, "Do not worry about me. Are you good?"

You nod. He takes it upon himself to bring you to the pod where everyone is waiting for the rest of the crew. You notice Brimstone talking to Omen with hushed voices. You would have found it intimidating if it weren't for the latter knitting furiously, you giggle at the thought.

Jett and Reyna notice your duo's arrival and salute you, "Here they are."

Brimstone nods at Omen and acknowledges you and Sova, "Alright team. Follow the plan and you'll be out of there in no time. All ears on U/N."

The four agents glance at you and you feel yourself shrivel away. You feel a hand on your shoulder and look up to see Sova give you an encouraging smile. You take a deep breath and steady yourself.

"Alright, so..."

"Sova?"

The man in question adjusts his earpiece, hearing the slight crackle from his end, "All clear here."

"Omen?"

"Need to infiltrate. Otherwise it's all clear."

"Give me a moment." You whisper, furiously typing on your laptop, your tablet beside showing each agent's statuses. After several seconds of hacking, you hear a sound of approval from Omen, letting you know he is able to enter.

"Reyna? Jett? How are things on your end?"

There was a pause before Jett chirps happily on the earpiece, "All good! Just knocked these guys out."

You laugh softly as Reyna grunts, "Remember what we're here for, airhead."

Sova and Omen rendezvous with the ladies as Jett rolls her eyes, "Yeah, yeah. U/N, open up."

She opens her camera feed and shows a locked security door, one you're unfamiliar with. There are no accounts of the said door, not even from your intensive searching. However strange the door may be, a feeling of dread washes over you.

"Get out of there, now."

"What do you mean?"

"Get out of the door's way!"

The four dive to the other hallway that intersects with the door. A loud explosion can be heard from the earpiece as you wince at the consecutively loud sounds that boomed from each device. You scan your tablet to read their status, only to sigh in relief that none of them got hurt.

You decide to ask anyway, you can't always trust the device, "Are you guys okay? Please tell me you're okay. We can abandon the mission if you're—"

"We're alright, bear. No one is hurt. Thank you for saving us."

Sova's soft voice echoes in your mind, bear...

"Ew, get a room."

A smack can be heard from the other side, "Sorry 'bout that, U/N."

You giggle, "It's okay Reyna. But really though, are any of you hurt?"

A swarm of "No" can be heard, and you slump back on the trunk of the tree in relief. The weight of their lives rests on you, and you can't afford to have any one of them get hurt. You can't let them down, it's only your first mission. The trust they have on you is crucial.

"U/N? What's next?"

Snapping back to your situation, you swipe your tablet to check on the facility's thermal feed. You notice two people approaching them from where the explosion came from. Though you had no idea where this organisation kept their underground goods, you suspect it came from the explosion. This deduction came to be true when Jett's camera feed points at the now-blasted door.

"Two of their men are coming from the door that just exploded, but I can't get much of a reading there at the moment. One of you is going to have to sneak in there and connect your devices to the camera so I can control them from out here. Be careful, they're approaching you. Take them out quickly."

A series of approval can be heard from the other side of the line. The silence is deafening until you see a pop-up window from your laptop with a progress bar on it. After a few seconds, you get a clearer view of the unknown room.

"Thanks, Sova."

"No problem, bear."

You ignore the growing blush on your cheeks as you rotate one of the cameras to see more of the room, thankful the man isn't within your vicinity, "Fascinating..."

"So, what's up with this room? Are you sure the blueprints that Killjoy wanted are here?" Jett asks, walking around the room curiously.

"Yeah, this room isn't even in the records that I found while digging through the files."

"Interesting."

Your tablet beeps, and suddenly there is a group running down the hall, cornering the agents, "Guys, a group of them are running down in your 9 o'clock. Stay alert and eliminate them."

The squad gets into position, hiding in each of the filing cabinets in the room.

The group enters the room in a single file, and turns right to the first filing cabinet.

You whisper, "Reyna, get ready."

As if on cue, the first person from the line jumps to the spot where Reyna is hiding, but the latter is quick enough to eliminate the enemy. The rest of the group swarm Reyna as she slowly slashes them along with the other agents' help. Sova snipes an enemy that was about to pounce on her from behind, and Jett jumps down from the bannister to help Reyna.

Omen fires his gun, enemy after enemy, and after a couple more slashes from Reyna, the group is finally eliminated. You sigh in relief, showering them with praise as they gather the blueprints from an unsuspecting filing cabinet, through your instructions.

Sova and Omen jump down from the top of the filing cabinets that they have been hiding on. You are about to celebrate when an enemy enters the room and shoots the closest person to the door.

It is, unfortunately, aimed towards Omen.

"Omen!"

Sova is quick to notice the enemy and pushes Omen out of the way, jumping into the latter's way.

Good news: Omen is safe!
Bad news: Sova isn't.

"Sova!"

"U/N, calm down. We got the blueprints, did we not?"

You pace around the white and green room, the accents bubbling your stomach with anxiety, "I promised myself that I wouldn't let any of you get hurt, but here you are, laying on a hospital bed. All because I celebrated too early."

Sova laughs weakly from the bed as he watches you bite your thumb while walking back and forth, "Bear, I'm safe now, aren't I? I'm literally talking to you."

"Pinch me."

He sighs, "You've asked me to do that at least five times now. I'm still here, my shoulder got shot. It's okay."

He watches you slump down on the seat beside his bed, head falling straight down onto him, "It was still my responsibility to get you out alive. My one job, I failed to do properly—"

"Hey, it's okay. We work in a dangerous line of field. We get hurt. It's a part of our job. I would be more surprised if none of us got hurt," Sova chuckles, "Bear, I understand it's your first mission with us, but don't burden yourself over a little thing, okay?"

"Your life is no 'little thing,' Sova."

He smiles, "Y/N, look at me."

Your breath hitches as your real name escapes from his mouth, looking up at him. Suddenly, your stomach becomes a garden, with the amount of butterflies flying in it.

Sova holds your chin, making you stare at his eyes, his oh-so-mesmerising eyes. One of them had unfortunately gone missing from a previous mission, but it doesn't make him any less handsome.

The man studies your features deeply, from the crevices of your visage, to the glow of the sun that radiated on you, taking his breath away. You were simply too beautiful for him.

"For someone's first mission in this line of work, you did an extremely good job. Usually, they would already have called up Killjoy within the first couple minutes of the mission, but you stayed with us until the end. You're still here, are you not?"

You smile as he continues, "We got what we came for, so don't be sad, yeah? Smile for me, bear. You did a great job."

You wipe your teary eyes as you thank the man for his kind words, "I should be the one comforting you..."

"You being here is comforting enough."

From outside the room, Omen stands against the door, arms crossed. He can hear your conversation from where he is, lazily looking down on his feet.

"What's it to you?"

He looks up to see a fellow agent and long-time friend, Viper, questioning the man, "None of your business."

He pushes himself against the wall and stalks off, "Talk to her. Don't chicken out."

To that, Viper leaves Omen alone with his thoughts.

Chapter Text

Omen doesn’t know what to think of you.

He knows you as the new recruit that swept Killjoy and Brimstone’s feet off the floor, earning their respect for you even before you were introduced into the organisation. He knows you arrived here holding onto your polar bear stuffed toy along with the large equipment, presumably your computer set-up. The bewildered look on your face, slowly soaking in every inch of the dormitory while Sova was assigned to show you around. He knows the look on Sova’s face that melted the ice walls in his heart, with you earning his trust as easily as Omen himself can knit.

But he doesn’t know if you do the same to him.

He knows how you treat him, notably different from the rest of the agents. Only giving him a curt nod, or a flash of eye contact before scurrying away. He doesn’t know what to do or what he did, but he wishes to make it up to you. Somewhere in his mind, however, nags him over and over again to not form new connections, to not get attached, as it could only end in misery. The cycle continues.

A couple of weeks after your first mission, he (with a bit of a… beating… from Viper) talks himself into giving you the strawberry-styled beret that he had secretly been knitting for a while now. It was supposed to be his welcome gift to you, though not knowing how to approach you. He is known to be a stoic man—anything flashy or vibrant is immediately turned down as it doesn’t fit his aesthetic, but if he at least gets to make up whatever he was responsible for, it doesn’t hurt to try, right?

He carefully seals the beret in a tiny paper bag he discreetly bought from the arts and crafts store nearby. The bag had small designs of strawberries, pairing up with the gift he knitted especially for you. He opens his door and looks around, making sure that no one is in the hallway, so as to not blow up his cover. Once double checking, he bee-lines straight to your door which is, unfortunately, at the other side of the long corridor.

Halfway through the walk, a hand grabs him from behind and pulls his collar, dragging him into the empty storage room. As he was about to punch the perpetrator, he suddenly freezes, seeing Viper’s irritated but amused face staring right at him.

“Is that—”

“Yes, now let me go before anyone else sees me.” Omen whispers, annoyance tinging his voice.

“Best you let me do it. I know for a fact you’re already embarrassed holding a cute pink paper bag.”

Viper laughs at Omen’s expression as he avoids her taunting gaze, holding up the gift in front of her, “Wait here. I’ll give this to her.”

Omen watches his friend leave the storage room, walking quietly to the new recruit’s dorm. She knocks onto your door, following a small, “Coming!” and the door opens widely for Viper.

The man leans towards the door, his left ear pressed against the cool steel. He can hear your conversation with Viper from where he’s hiding. Thank the heavens for the thin door.

“Oh? Is this from you?”

You can hear shuffling from the opposite direction of your dorm. Sage probably got up from her nap, “No, but a friend of mine wanted to give it to you. A welcome gift, if you will.”

He hears a giggle from you. His palms are sweaty, “Tell your friend I said thank you! I’ll see what I can get them back.”

“Of course.”

A faint click can be heard from your dorm. Viper knocks on the steel door that blocks her from Omen’s flushed face as he opens the door for her, letting her in.

“So…”

The woman rolls her eyes, “Yes, she loved it. You should’ve seen the sparkles in her eyes. Knowing you though, you’ll probably throw an insult by accident.”

Omen grunts, pushing Viper out of his way as he retreats to his dorm, “You never know, though. I wasn’t there to personally give her the gift.”

It has been a few days since Omen, no, Viper, had given you the gift. Back from a mission, yet another one led by you (though this time, no casualties), he’s now in the gym, doing his daily workout. He’s using the rowing machine when he feels a soft tap on the shoulder. Startled, he removes an earbud and looks up to see who disturbed his peace.

“Um, Omen?”

Your eyes scan his form, being midway through a sit-up, “You gave me the beret, right?”

The man in question freezes momentarily before nodding, “Yes, why?”

You light up at his confirmation and kneel, getting down at his level, “I got you a gift as a thank you for the gift!”

Omen sits up fully, alarmed, “But you don’t have to return me anythi—”

“Here you go! I’ll just leave it here for you,” You plop his gift on the ground and stand up, dusting your knees, “Gotta go. Thanks again!”

He watches your retreating figure humming an unfamiliar melody, skipping out of the gym happily. He huffs and takes the parcel, gingerly shaking it in hopes of revealing (or at least hinting) the gift in question. He goes through his workout routine, albeit in a hurry to see the gift you got him.

Drying off his hair with the towel slung around his neck, he places the package down on his desk, scurrying to find a pair of scissors to open the box with. He separates the blades and slices through the tape, the flaps opening. Taking a peek inside, he gasps (again, something he doesn’t do often) at the gift he received.

An expensive, custom-made knitting kit and tons, and tons, of yarns.

He wonders how you brought such a large item into the facility without suspicion, but then again, you might have your own ways.

His heart pumps wildly at the new knitting set, admiring the etched initials as he caresses it. The balls of yarn feel soft in his touch, admiring the smoothness of it. His heart thumps faster at the fact that you went out of your way to give him such a prized gift.

Walking down the hallway, he hastily makes his way down to your dorm, eager to thank you for your much, much nicer gift.

He knocks on the door and waits for your reply patiently. Muffled clicks can be heard from your side as you open the door for him, inviting him to enter your room.

“I won’t stay for long but I just wanted to personally thank you for such a… marvelous… gift.”

You shake your hands, “No, thank you for the wonderful gift. You knit very well, and I noticed your needles were getting a bit rough.”

He shrugs at your observation and you chuckle, “Well, I’m sure those needles will last you longer than the cheap ones.”

You and Omen spend a few minutes chatting before getting called up by Killjoy to help her with a few things from her lab. Waving apologetically at the man, you leave the room in a hurry, only nodding in understanding as Omen hears Killjoy rambling on your phone, clearly distressed by her robots.

As you two part ways for the day, Omen starts walking back to his dorm, he sees Viper leaving the gym. She looks up from her phone and sees her friend, to which she raises her eyebrow.

“U/N’s room?”

He nods, “Thanked her for her gift.”

Viper looks at her friend, deep in thought, “Would I want to know?”

Omen shakes his head and huffs, retreating to his room as Viper watches her friend leave. She wonders what kind of gift it must have been for him to be so… reserved.

Chapter Text

To say that Killjoy — Klara — is mildly interested in you and your abilities is the understatement of the century.

She is absolutely enamoured, and the German inventor could not resist her growing curiosity. After all, it is not everyday that she finds someone as talented as her in a dangerous field of work such as being an agent. She knows how valuable you have become in the agency, and she intends to find out more about you for the sake of her curiosity.

Klara is happy to find out that you have been getting along with your new environment. As homesick as she rarely feels, she could not help but feel a tinge of sympathy over your small moments of longing for your apartment (a dainty one, might she add). She would catch you spacing out sometimes, only for you to shrug it off and say, “There’s not really anyone for me to go home to, so it doesn’t matter.” For whatever reason, that declaration unknowingly pulled some of her heart strings, and she hated it. Why was she feeling this way?

Killjoy decides that she will make it her own personal mission to distract you from homesickness. Nothing more, nothing less. Right?

“You’re going to what?”

Her eyes unfix themselves from her screen and look up at Brimstone, who is leaning against the wall.

“Ja? I-I’m making it my personal mission to distract our n-newest cadet from feeling homesick.”

Brimstone squints his eyes skeptically at his protégé, who’s blushing under his gaze. Truth be told, this is his first time seeing Killjoy — no, at this moment, this is Klara — so interested in something… or rather, someone else other than her bots. It is certainly a change of scenery, that he is sure of. He does not know how Klara acts in situations like… these… but he knows it would entertain him. Even better with the fact that the Killjoy, his protégé, stuttered. He would most likely tease her for this in the future.

He chuckles at the thought and pats her back, “You do you, kid.”

With that, he leaves his post, waving to Killjoy as he exits the room. Unknowing of her reaction, Klara shivers a bit from her seat, exhaling her breath that she subconsciously held while her mentor was in the room. The thought of U/N… making her giddy like this…

“What is going on?” She asks no one in particular.

A question is left unanswered in the air as Klara returns her attention to her bots, shaking her head from the thoughts that you once occupied.

You secure your hair into a knot as you approach Killjoy’s lab, who had unknowingly cut your chat with Omen. Not that you minded, but it was certainly a progress that Omen had let himself warm up, even if a tiny bit.

You skip towards her lab, humming a jovial tune under your breath. For some reason you had remembered the way to her lab, even though you had not been told. You surprise yourself as you stand by her door, waiting for her to grant you access.

“In here!”

You excuse yourself as you welcome yourself in her lab. You look at your surroundings, and are surprised to see that her lab is mostly neat from clutter, save her workspace which is conveniently placed in the middle of the room being an optimal space for her robots.

“What’s up?”

Killjoy tinkers on a robot for a second before placing her tools down, pushing up her glasses, “Ja, to think you would come in first call — no one’s actually done that besides Commander. I would have to pester them first before they all reluctantly come. Save for the few that don’t like me, obviously.”

Your eyebrow raises at her confession, “Why not? You’ve got really cool stuff here, and it would be awesome to see you do your thing firsthand. It’s honestly very cool that you’re able to build scraps of metal like these to become menaces in the battlefield.”

Killjoy watches you gush over her work as you explore her lab, noticing each little detail on her blueprints that are plastered against the wall. She watches you pause at a specific blueprint, and you could not help but do a double take. Have you seen it before?

“That’s Brimstone’s bracer.”

She whispers in a tone that you could not pinpoint. You freeze, suddenly hyperconscious of the close proximity between you two. You can almost feel her breath fan over your cheek as your face starts feeling hot, making you gulp. Bracing yourself, you shift to look towards her. It helps that you are nearly the same height as her. Something in her eyes is dangerous, and you dare play with the fire.

“That was you?”

She smiles alluringly, “Mhm. If you look over here,” She takes your hand in hers, making you gasp inwardly at how well your hands fit perfectly well in hers, and guiding your hand to what you assume is the prototype of the bracer next the blueprint, “This is the first bracer I made for the Commander. But over time I had to make him new ones to prevent them from malfunctioning. It’s cool, ja?”

“You’re awesome,” You breathe out, your hand remaining wrapped under Killjoy’s. For some reason, you don’t mind.

“I’m glad you like it.”

Your brain haywires at her tone — it sounded so… sultry. She sounded like a vixen and it made your head spin. It was hot.

In all honesty, Klara does not understand what force made her do what she did and is about to do, but all logic falls deaf in her ears as she brings her other hand up to brush a strand away from your face and tuck it in behind your ear. It was so delicate, like glass that is about to slip out of her grasp and break. For a minute you two pause, unspoken words linger in the air as you stare at each other. Conflict runs in both minds, but the… tension… is so thick you could cut it with a knife. You lick your lips, her eyes flickering down as if mesmerized by such a simple action, however provocative it had become.

To the heavens above, you would not have known what would happen if it stayed that way, but you were saved if it were not for a cough from the door of the lab.

“Uh, am I intruding? Max Bot broke again.”

You two suddenly jump and part ways, Killjoy running up to Raze as fast as she could and ushers her out of the lab to talk about the broken bot, while you stayed and processed what had happened. Her touch still electrifies your hand as you hold it against your chest, a small smile creeping up your lips.

Some part of Killjoy detests Raze for breaking the tension between you and her, but at the same time she is thankful: God forbid what she would have done afterwards.

“Was that the new recruit?”

Killjoy blushes a deep crimson and murmurs a yes, making Raze raise her eyebrow in confusion and amusement. Never in her life would she have seen Killjoy out of her composure — she would have to check this new recruit out some other time. For now, however, Max Bot needs some attending to, and she shifts her focus away from Killjoy’s personal life to the machine as she debriefs Killjoy.

Later that night, the events earlier in her lab stir in Klara’s mind. She turns to her side, a pillow at hand and blanket tangled between her legs, as she looks at her workspace. The memory of your blushing face and her quickening pulse as she admires every little bit of the slopes and crevices of your face etched in her mind. She buries her face in her pillow, silently screaming when she brushes a stray strand of hair from your face to further study you. The moonlight shines down from her window, perfectly aimed at her hand. She studies it, and remembers the feeling of your soft hand engulfed in hers. Her hand is not any bigger than hers, but it sure did fit quite snuggly.

She may not have completed her mission, but if anything, that means spending more time with you.

Something in Killjoy’s heart makes her uncomfortable — in a good way. She smiles, welcoming this newfound feeling.

Chapter Text

You sling your messenger bag across your body, still unsure whether or not you have everything you need. Brimstone had just assigned a task to you and Reyna — to meet up with a new agent, codenamed Gekko. The older woman informs you that he is a young man around your age, who also happened to live near the same area as you did growing up, which eases your nerves. You’ll be returning to the same old city, street, neighbourhood. Reyna would have gone alone, she says, but since you know that area like the back of your hand, Brimstone thought it would be a good idea to bring you along. You silently send the Commander a word of gratitude.

Once you have finished fretting over your bag, you make your way over to the two, still engaged in a calm conversation. Noticing your arrival, Reyna sends Brimstone a nod, affirming that you two are ready to leave. The car, where you’ll spend a duration of your travelling in, hisses open. You two make your way inside, with Reyna automatically assuming the driver position. She quickly wears her seatbelt and starts revving the engine up.

The trip to your hometown went without flaw. You have been tasked to find a place to settle the car down while Reyna sends Gekko a message, letting you switch places. You decided to park next to an abandoned building, a block near the nearest train station. This was also used as a basketball court, though you find it a little odd that the site is empty. You usually find a small group hanging out here around this time of day.

Reyna ponders at the little screen in her hands and turns to you, “Where is a good place to meet up around here, without being seen?”

You finally finish by turning off the engine, “Tell him to wait near the mural.”

She relays the message to Gekko, who sends Reyna a thumbs up. The woman turns her phone off and looks around, “My my, chica, este es un buen lugar (1) to hide this car in.”

“I hope that’s a compliment, my lack of Spanish vocabulary isn’t helping me.”

Reyna chuckles as the two of you head for said mural, “It is, chica. This is a good spot to stay hidden.”

You thank the woman, “By the way, what else do we know about the new agent? All I was briefed on was that his code name is ‘Gekko’.”

You two duck underneath the chain that leads you to the end of the abandoned building, facing a small alleyway. You specifically chose to meet up in this area because, well, it’s the cleanest alleyway you know around town — though on a more selfish note, this is where you grew up and you wanted to see how things had changed over the years, “You’ll see, chiquitita (2). I’ll leave the introductions to him.”

A little cryptic, but who am I to say something? You ponder.

The walk to the mural was short and silent, a comfortable silence. You’ve been contemplating about this Gekko guy. Did VALORANT usually recruit people from this area? That couldn’t be, maybe this was just a coincidence. Take Killjoy, for example.

Speaking of Killjoy, the images from your last encounter with her from a few weeks ago still linger in your mind. You stare at your hand that she had teased you with, leaving you slightly red at the thought. You can still feel her breath against your—

Your body halts suddenly, with Reyna tugging the rim of your hoodie. She stares at you, slight concern on her features, “Chica, watch where you’re going.”

You follow her line of sight, only to realise you were about to hit a lamp post face first, “Oh, thanks for the save.”

“¿Estás bien? (3) If you want, you can stay back at the pod.”

You shake your head, “When we’re here, I’m your travel guide. I’m okay, thanks for your concern.”

She lets go of your hoodie, a worried look still on her face, but she lets it be. You two continue the walk in silence, occasionally speaking up whenever you spot something interesting along the way.

It doesn’t take long until you reach the mural. Well, mural is a pretty rich word — this is more of a graffiti wall, but it’s the only graffiti wall in the entire city. It’s memorable enough that everyone regards it as a mural.

“Let’s wait back here. I’m sure he’ll arrive soon.”

You nod to Reyna’s suggestion. Knowing her, she would rather stay safe and hide in the shadows, lurking and waiting like a hunter for its prey. You also stay back, opting to simply lean against the wall.

“I once had a friend here. His name is Mateo.”

The silhouette next to you raises her eyebrow, urging you to continue your story, “We grew up together. When I lost my parents, he was the one who had been there for me. I considered his mom like my aunt.”

The silhouette hums, as if asking you what happened after. You look down at your shoes, “Well, I had to move for college. I didn’t tell them — I literally upped and left. I still feel so guilty about not leaving them a note, or any sort of way to tell them where I was. Oddly enough,” you hold your head up, stare straight into the mural, “this used to be our hangout place. We used to run away here, whenever we decided to be little shits and have fun.”

You wait for a bit, looking at the soles of your shoes. You should totally go buy new sneakers, you were starting to outgrow them.

Just as you were about to stretch, you heard a soft squeak of small wheels with some… barking? It stops for a moment, and you hear a man chuckle, “Ay, don’t get too excited now, Wingman. They should be here any time soon. I’ll send them a quick message.”

Wingman? That’s —

At the mention of you and Reyna, you can feel the latter start to reappear from the shadows, the click of her heels alarming the man. He whips around, and in surprise, summons his little crew. He and his little buddies form a defensive stance against your colleague.

“El caos puede ser… ” She stares at him with a glint in her eyes, “hermoso (4).”

Gekko breathes a sigh of relief and addresses his buddies, “We’re chill. No need to be defensive.”

Gekko is…

“Mateo?”

At the sound of his name, Gekko turns to look at the source of the voice. You rush out from the shadows next to Reyna and give the guy a hug.

Gekko stands shocked, too stunned to say anything. His eyes are still glued to your figure, disbelief all over his face as he slowly returns your hug. His voice echoes his visage as he calls out your name, a slight quiver accompanying it, “Querida (5), I can’t believe it’s you. Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you?"

He holds your arms out and stares at your figure, drinking it up in his mind as if you were a memory that was soon fading away, "You look so different, you look so grown up, but you're still my same old gorgeous querida."

You giggle, "And you definitely grew! Remember when you and I were the same height? You're a whole head taller than me! Did you dye your hair? It's so green! I love it!"

Gekko laughs at your comments, "Slow down. Before we catch up, however, you're not allowed to leave me ever again. Not in this lifetime, nor in other lifetimes, nuh-uh. Mama was so worried — she still is!”

You laugh, eyes slowly watering, “I know, I’m so sorry, but I had to leave. Tell Tía (6) that I miss her.”

Gekko — Mateo — gives you a squeeze, “You should tell her that yourself, give her another heart attack.”

You giggle, untangling yourself from him. You turn to Reyna, who’s now walking up to you and Gekko, “Is that a code to confirm each other’s identities?”

She nods, mentioning that she had talked to Gekko about him in their messages.

Dizzy flies over to you and nuzzles into your arm, “And my favourite robot is here! How are you?”

She sends a noise that sounds similar to content. Mateo sighs, “She’s been looking for you for ages. The poor bebe was inconsolable when you had gone MIA.”

You could only offer pats on the droid as guilt washes over you, “I’m sorry Dizzy, I’ll make it up to you.”

At the sound of that, she gives you a happy squeal, snuggling on your cheek. Mateo looks behind you, “Ay, ¿por qué eres así de tenebrosa? (7)”

Reyna chuckles, “One must be defensive. It was good you were prepared to fight,” and when Gekko’s buddies were circling her, she sighs, “Calm down mi hijos, soy yo (8).”

Mateo looks at the two of you, “Well, how about you debrief me on this?”

You clasp your hands, “Let’s walk and talk!”

“So that’s how you got into VALORANT?”

You nod at Mateo, who was busy trying to shoot a basketball into the hoop, “Y’know me, being bored gets me places. Either trouble or an even deeper trouble.”

He chuckles, “Seriously though, querida, you should’ve at least let us know that you were gonna be gone. I miss our sleepovers. Do you still have the plushie I gave you?”

“It’s in her room, safe and sound,” Reyna quips from the bench. You shoot her a feigned look of hurt, “Reyna!”

“Real talk though,” you turn to Mateo, who gives Dizzy a fist bump before she shoots a small beam of plasma for aid, “Have you told Tía about this yet?”

“I did, but,” he trails, “I wasn't sure how much I should tell her about this. I know this is supposed to be a tight-lipped gig, but…”

You sigh, turning to Reyna as she speaks up, “We understand, pero (9) you should at least tell her that you’re going away for business purposes, and that you two finally met up.”

At that thought, Mateo finally shoots the ball into the hoop, “How about we talk to her? I’m sure hearing querida,” he gives you his big, shit-eating grin, the grin that you missed so much, “would ease her nerves.”

“¿Hola? Mama, guess what?”

“Mateo? Hijo (10), what’s happening? Are you okay?”

You can feel Mateo vibrating in happiness next to you, “Y’know that gig I was telling you about? I just want to let you know that I got it, and that they want me working in, uh,” he covers the mic on his phone and turns to look at you and Reyna, “when do I start?”

“As soon as possible.” Reyna replies.

Mateo uncovers the mic and echoes your senior’s answer. His mom sighs, “Alright. I know I can’t stop you once you’ve made up your mind, but do know that I love and support you all the way.”

He smiles softly at his mom, “Thanks Mama. Oh, and before I hang up, I have a surprise for you.”

You scoot close to Mateo, hoping that your Tía could hear you, “Hey Tía!”

“Is that my little hermosa (11)? Ay, hija (12), if I was there right now I would’ve sent you a million kisses! I missed you so much! Mateo, boy, how did you two meet up? ¡Sabía que estaba predestinado! (13) ¡Estáis hechos el uno para el otro! (14)"

Mateo blushes from his mom’s comment, “Ma, it’s not just me in here!”

“Oh, hush, child. You can’t deny that you were basically heartbroken when your querida was missing.”

You turn to the tomato red Mateo, his one hand covering his face. You’re going to tease him about that statement, and he knows it, “I’ll be working with him, so you don’t need to be a worrywart for our dear Mateo here.”

The woman on the other side laughs, “Really? Oh, that’s so good to hear. I’ll leave him in your more capable and responsible hands, then!”

Mateo grunts as you snicker at his reaction, “I am so capable and responsible too, Ma.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just send me updates. Don’t go MIA on us again, chica.”

You smile and look at Mateo, “I won’t do that again, Tía. I swear.”

You and Mateo send the woman your goodbyes, ending the conversation. You look at him and hug him again, “I missed you so much. I’ll treat you to a very long-awaited sleepover in my room.”

He ruffles your hair, “With snacks?”

“With snacks.”

“And the plushie?”

You laugh, “Like Reyna said, my plushie is safe and sound.”

Mateo nods in approval, “Good. Let’s get going then!”

He takes your hand and leads you away from the basketball court, catching up with stories from your lost time apart.

Reyna takes her phone from her jacket's pocket and sends Brimstone a text, confirming that retrieving Gekko was successful.

"Oh, and one more thing," she types, "You were right."