Chapter Text
A mission to Icebox. Of course, they had to drag the fire guy to a cold place. Not that he could blame Brimstone for it. He was one of the few that were available at the moment. The rest were either out on missions or had just returned from one themselves and needed a break. Anyway, if he remembered correctly, their mission was to prevent their radianite from being stolen by the Omegas. Should be easy enough since this wasn't the first time they had to fight with their counterparts. He could beat them easily.
Phoenix would smirk to himself at that thought as he sat in the airship, making himself comfortable before they were sent to battle. Speaking of 'them', he went on to take a glance at his team, wondering what they were doing.
Astra was at the other side with Skye, talking about stars or something, not like he could hear. He could only guess that's what they were talking about since Astra was showing Skye the stars with her hands and Skye was observing with interest. Honestly, he found it interesting as well. Besides that, there was Raze to his left, jamming to whatever music that was playing in her headphones. It was quite loud, he could hear it despite not being that close to her. Lastly, there was Chamber sitting alone in a corner and cleaning his gun.
He isn't a big fan of the guy. It's not that he hates him to a large extent but, he just didn't like the man. That guy is just way too pompous, arrogant and there was just something that tells him that Chamber is not a trustable guy. Not only that, whenever Chamber was invited to join them for any fun activities,he would either decline their offer or just look at them with a fake smile and then leave. Just remembering that scenario made Phoenix want to punch that man’s face.
Phoenix understands that sometimes some people want to be alone, but whenever Chamber did it, it just irritates him. He didn't know why.
“Hey, if you’re gon’ keep staring at him for so long, people are going to get the wrong idea.” Raze commented as she was side glancing at Phoenix, smirking as she did so.
Phoenix was offended by this before scoffing and said,”Like I’ll ever fall for him. That guy is practically unlikeable.”
Chamber must have heard him, because he was looking at their way. The man had a poker expression before simply going back to cleaning up his gun. Phoenix did feel a bit guilty for saying that out loud but he simply shook his head and focused somewhere else.
Afterall, they have a mission to focus on instead of something like that.
~~~~
Once they were released from the airship, all of them went to the location they were assigned to. Raze and Astra had A site covered while Skye and Phoenix took care of B site. Chamber had to protect mid and kitchen. A solid plan Phoenix thought.
Phoenix decided to go through B kitchen to get to B site, but was surprised to see Chamber there. Right, he had forgotten that Chamber was supposed to keep watch of B kitchen and mid. He watched as Chamber was kneeling down and setting up his trademark. He couldn't help but observe the golden tattoos on Chamber's arm as it trails right up to the man's neck. Damn, he wouldn't mind having a gun just made for himself as well, it would be so cool. Phoenix didn't realise he was staring for so long until he heard Chamber calling him out.
"It's better to take a picture my friend, It should last longer."
Chamber was teasing him, trying to get a reaction out of the man and it was working. Phoenix just rolled his eyes at the comment and moved closer to Chamber.
"I'm not your friend. However, what if you could make me my own custom guns yeah, like yours? Hook me up? I'm sure it will make it even more efficient in battle. " Phoenix said with a grin on his face as he bend forward to get to Chamber's height.
Chamber would look up at the man, with a polite smile. Both of their faces were inches away from each other, but none of them moved away. Chamber decided to be the first as he stood up and walked away.
"Like I said many times before, you cannot afford me~." Chamber commented as he chuckled to himself, a amused grin on his face.
Phoenix watched with a frown. ‘Cocky bastard’, the firebird thought before beaming up at an idea and said,”What if I pay you back in another way?”
This seems to have caught Chamber’s attention as he stopped midway and turned to Phoenix with a raised eyebrow. He was waiting for the man to continue. Phoenix could feel a smirk forming and gladly continued:
“What if I, by myself, kill all five of them? Think of it as an Ace reward.”
Chamber was thinking about it before snickering as he replied,”An ace reward? Ridiculous.”
Phoenix was offended by this, he was serious but obviously Chamber declined the offer. Phoenix would let out a ‘tch’ but he was not going to give up that easily.
“What’s wrong? Afraid that I might actually do it?” Phoenix taunted
He had a mischievous grin. Chamber would never fall for this kind of trick, but Phoenix knew that deep down the Frenchman would never reject a challenge. He was right, Chamber was convinced and nodded his head to the firebird, “Alright, if you get an Ace, I will make a custom gun just for you. However, if you don’t get an ace, you’re going to have to wear the outfit of my choice. Sounds fair?”
Phoenix’s grin immediately fell as it was replaced with slight horror. That actually made him hesitant but of course, he wasn’t going to admit or even back down now. So he chuckled and said,”Fine, it’s a deal.”
Chamber chuckled softly before teleporting away. He must have gone back to his post. Phoenix yelped a bit when the man teleported but immediately recovered as he let out a sigh. He hoped that this won’t bite him in the ass later.
~~~~
The battle had started and everyone was at their assigned spots. Phoenix was behind the crates at the back of B yellow, waiting patiently as he listened to any footsteps. Skye was on top of B site, watching to see if anyone had gone through mid while being backup for Phoenix.
“Anyone at A site?” Skye asked through comms
“Nope, none at all. Could it be a slow push?” Raze asked, there was a hint of uncertainty in her tone.
Phoenix was just about to answer before his eyes widened when he saw Sova’s shock dart landing right beside him. He cussed under his breath and immediately rolled away, barely shocking him. He was quick to recover as he got up on his feet and took cover on site.
“They’re attacking B site! We need some help here!” Skye yelled into the mic as the Omegas started shooting at both Phoenix and Skye’s direction.
“On the way!” Astra yelled over, judging by her voice, she was running to B site along with Raze while Chamber stayed at mid to take care of any flank.
Phoenix would groan softly at this as he decided to take a peek. The other team had Sova, Sage, Phoenix and Breach. ‘Four? Where was the last one?’ Phoenix thought but was interrupted when a bullet grazed past his cheek. He winced a bit at this and hid again, he felt a slight sting but the stinging immediately went numb. He looked up at the kitchen door leading to B site, Skye had taken cover and was healing Phoenix. “Thanks Skye!”
Skye would nod at Phoenix before flinching at the bullets hitting her direction and she moved deeper inside Kitchen, looks like she is planning to move to Snowman with Astra. Phoenix saw that Raze had gone through mid and down B orange. He nodded at her before perking up when he heard the spike being planted, Raze heard it too as she went to take out her Paint shells and threw it in that direction. Sova was planting the spike on default but stopped thanks to the paint shells. Phoenix took this opportunity and aimed his vandal at where he suspected Sova’s head would be. Luckily, he had the right speculation and got a headshot on Sova. They had the spike now.
“Ahah! Scout down!” Phoenix commented before yelping and taking cover again when the others were now targeting him and Raze since he had revealed their location. Phoenix saw that Astra was just about to shoot the Sage and in panic, stopped her from doing so. He immediately explained to her how he needs to get an ace because he made a deal with Chamber. The three girls were uncertain about this but Raze was the first to support Phoenix before Astra. Skye was still uncertain but gave in like the rest
“We’ll back you up, Phoenix!” Raze said with a toothy grin as she took out her boombot, giving it a light knock before tossing it to where the enemies were. The boom bot would be alarmed and immediately went to where Phoenix was, the man wasn’t fast to react and it exploded right at the man. Phoenix was startled by this and yelled out for a heal from Sage but phoenix was faster and got his counterpart with a body shot. Phoenix’s body dropped to the snow-covered floor.
“Aha! There could only be one Phoenix! And it’s the best one!” Phoenix said with a laugh, now he just had to kill three people before getting an ace.
A slow orb was thrown at him and the ground immediately turned to a sticky jade green substance. Phoenix was trying to run but was alarmed when Breach's fault line had dazed him. He groaned in pain at this, his head was aching pretty badly, his vision a slight blur. He turned over and thought he was done for when he saw Breach peeking out of the yellow crate and was going to shoot the firebird. Phoenix was at a tight spot but thanks to Astra’s smokes which covered Phoenix and Skye’s Tasmanian tiger which stunned both Sage and Breach. Phoenix was able to recover and he quickly threw a fireball underneath him to heal up
He came out of the smoke and shot both Breach and Sage, still scoped in as he waited for any more attacks. There wasn’t any and he felt relief. Raze,Astra and Skye rushed over to Phoenix. Raze wrapped her arm around Phoenix’s shoulder as she said cheerfully,”Nice 4k Phoenix! You showed them! Hah, bet Chamber was too scared to watch because he lost the bet. Now, go ahead and find the last guy, we’ll keep watch of the spike.”
Phoenix would laugh at this before smiling at the three of them and said, "Well, it's thanks to you three. You all saved my butt back there! I will be right back, after that we can celebrate! Treats on me."
Immediately he set off to find the last person. The women's cheers and voices were getting distant.
As the three of them watched Phoenix leave, Skye commented half jokingly," Ya know, I wouldn't mind seeing what Chamber picked for Phoenix to wear. "
~~~~
He wasn’t being cautious as he went, he felt confident and slightly greedy as he reached A site, looking around for the last man. Unfortunately, he didn’t sense that there was someone behind.
“Look out! ” A familiar french accent shouted before pushing Phoenix to the side.
Phoenix would fall onto the floor, a small grumble escaped his mouth. He turned to where the enemy was and took the last shot right through their skull. He wasn’t able to see who was the last enemy as they fall off Heaven but that wasn’t the main problem now. He heard Chamber's whimpers and saw that the man was all curled up and holding his left side, blood could be seen soaking through Chamber’s vest and suit as it painted his palm red. Phoenix started panicking and cussed under his breath as he went to Chamber.
"Fuck bruv, okay. Wait, let me help you get to Skye, aight? J-just try and stay awake
" Phoenix stammered as he went to support Chamber, putting one of the man's arms over his shoulder while he supported Chamber's body. Chamber was silent the entire time, the man was fighting to stay awake while he tried his best to stop the blood from pouring out more.
Shit, Chamber was losing too much blood.
"Just stay with me… We're almost there. Please don't die on me." Phoenix muttered as he held onto Chamber close. He was desperate, it was his fault that Chamber got shot. Why didn't he pay attention?
The Frenchman didn't say anything and just let most of his weight drop onto Phoenix, strangely finding warmth and comfort in the man as they went. With a blurry vision, he would look at Phoenix. A small smile appeared on his face, at least he wasn't dying alone.
"M-merci… Mon soleil…"
Everything went dark.