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After the Invitational final, and the shocking way it all ended, Rainbow was kicked into a hurricane of activity. Operators trained like possessed men, staff had meetings and more meetings, Harry kept staring at his board and adding sticky notes to the collage, and everyone was encouraged to reach out to whatever contacts they had. Still, no amount of activity and keeping themselves busy could make anyone forget the empty spaces where old teammates should have been.
Ash had been restless since Harry brought Nighthaven into Rainbow, and her unease only grew and expanded, same as other people’s. This recent disaster seemed like the breaking point, the ugly release of all that tension, followed by an uneasy and brooding quiet. To her, it only felt like the calm before the storm. Something was bound to happen soon, she could feel it in her gut. And she wasn't the only one who thought that.
If Ash threw herself into training and making plans with a grim fervor, Mira did it in the most obsessive way possible. She seemed to live in her workshop, and barely wandered outside. She wasn't even in the strike teams Harry had drafted, claiming she had too much work to do as head of R&D. And although Ash knew the Spaniard was capable of taking care of herself, she still worried for her rival turned friend. She knew how single minded Mira could be, and Ash felt the need to check on her.
She waited all day for a chance to speak with her, yet Ash's schedule was incredibly busy too, and it wasn't until dinner time that she had some free time. Seeing as Mira didn't grace the cafeteria with her presence, Ash grabbed a sandwich, some fruit and water, and made her way to the workshop. At these hours it was empty, since everyone was dining, yet there were still sounds of someone working on metal coming from the testing grounds on the back. As she got closer, Ash could have sworn she heard a familiar voice say “Mierda! Joder!”
Despite not knowing Spanish, she’d been around Mira enough time to know when the other woman was cursing. Judging from what she heard, Ash would venture whatever Mira was working on, didn’t turn out as she wanted. True to her prediction, she found Mira sitting on the floor with a defeated expression while checking what appeared to be some sort of mecha suit. Ash would have expected that kind of gear from Nighthaven, it was so very different from the stuff Mira usually created.
“Haven’t seen you in days,” Ash said, her voice making Mira turn her head towards her. “Have you been living in the workshop?”
“Living, working, same thing.” Mira sighed and nudged the discarded suit plate, and Ash saw it looked burnt and as if it had broken from a bigger piece. She called out to Mira and tossed her the wrapped sandwich, yet the Spaniard put it on the floor next to her. “I’m not hungry.”
“Elena, you need to take a break.”
“I’m so close to getting the right composition for the new armor suit, so close!” Mira had a wild look, the one she always got when a project was being particularly difficult. Except those times she was enthused as well as exasperated, and right now she seemed exhausted, with bags under her eyes and way too pale skin. “I need to get it right, what if you have to face off against Nighthaven grade equipment in one of the missions? I can’t let people walk into a fight feeling underequipped, no way.”
“Working yourself into a breakdown won’t help anyone,” Ash pointed out, handing her the bottle of water. Who knew when was the last time she drank some, probably hours ago. "Besides, if you end up in the infirmary for neglecting yourself, it will take you longer to get out of Doc's sight than just take a few breaks every now and then."
"I hate it when you're right," Mira said, the corner of her lips lifting slightly in a tenuous smile.
She also took the bottle and greedily drank half of it, which made Ash think she was right in her assumption. When the Spaniard got up, she stumbled and would have fallen down if Ash didn't catch. She clutched Mira close, taking in her eyes and the heat radiating from her body. With uncommon gentleness, she brought the back of her hand to touch Mira's cheek.
On another occasion, Ash might have realised how strangely intimate the situation was, and that Mira was faintly blushing, but right now she was worried. "You're burning up."
"Oh." Mira took a step back, swaying a little in the process. "That's from all the welding and testing explosives and fire."
Ash didn't believe that for a second. "And you being unsteady on your feet? Is that from welding too?"
"That might be a slight dehydration."
Suppressing a groan, Ash fixed her with a stern look. "You're going to bed. And god help you if I see you working before tomorrow morning after breakfast."
"Are you going to sleep with me then?”
It was an innocent question, Ash knew that, yet for a moment her mind interpreted differently and she blinked in surprise. Shoving that idea into the back of her mind, she replied. “I don’t know, is your bed big enough?”
Mira shrugged. “I think we’ll make do. Unless you kick in your sleep, I don’t want to wake up on the floor.”
“Just because you call me Miss kick-in-the-door doesn’t mean I go around kicking everything in sight.”
The defender’s laugh was bright and lovely, she looked less tired when she did so. And the way she was regarding Ash fondly didn’t hurt either. “Perfect, it will be like a sleepover. We can gossip about which team is holding up better than others and be salty about Nighthaven together.”
Despite the somber topics Mira brought up, Ash laughed at the idea. They were a little old for sleepovers, but she couldn’t deny the idea sounded good to her. Maybe they just needed to unburden, have a loyal and sympathetic shoulder to lean on and listen to them. And they could be that for each other. Ash didn’t question why she’d rather confide in Mira than in any of her other friends, or why the Spaniard thought the same apparently. It just felt natural. And when Mira looped an arm around hers while walking to her dorm, neither of them questioned it.