Chapter Text
Lynn’s lungs scream as a network of electric pain shoots through her chest but she muscles her way forward, a hand already heavily planted on the nearest grimy wall to keep her steady and moving. There is something trickling down the side of her head, and whether it be blood or sweat, Lynn is determined to ignore it, mulling over the amount of blood she has lost so far will do her no good.
Right now, her sole objective is to return to headquarters, the second she topples through the glass doors and onto the cool, pristine lobby floor of the headquarters, she’ll be able to relax and let the enticing pull of unconsciousness take her.
But if she doesn’t make it to headquarters…Well, she’ll face a fate worse than death. At least, that’s what her fellow agents like to say.
None of that matters now. Lynn channels all of her rapidly depleting energy into placing one foot in front of the other, hissing when what must be the pain of a fracture seems to spear her right leg with each step.
Through her slightly hazy vision, she spots the grey-green glow of the headquarter signboard, and feels warm relief spread through her heart. Before she knows it, she is throwing her weight against the cold, hard doors of the building and tumbles through, receiving shrieks and gasps of shock as her cheek is pressed against the smooth linoleum of the ground.
As people flutter around her, shadowy figures blocking out the light above, Lynn internally pats herself on the back and succumbs to the desperate desire for sleep.
—
Lynn woke up to a sterile white room. The scent of jasmine lingered in the room, a smell she always found comforting. That also suggested that her things were with her, since she tended to perfume them with that very floral fragrance.
Through her peripheral vision, she could spot the silhouette of someone standing by her bedside, though it takes a while for her eyes to readjust to the bright lighting before she could recognise the figure.
“How do you feel?” Suhyeon asked gently, arms tightly across over the clean white coat she always wore, demarcating her as a medic, while she watched Lynn peel her eyelids open fully, finally completely awake.
Lynn sat up in a slow but smooth motion, blinking as she considered the pain (or lack of) in all the various parts of her body. Her chest no longer felt like someone was electrocuting her and her leg could be moved without punching out a pained grunt from her.
“I’m all good now,” Lynn broke out into a grin, just so Suhyeon would stop surveying her with those worried eyes, “You always do a good job.”
Suhyeon breathed out a sigh of relief, mirroring Lynn’s smile, “Well, it’s what I do. Good to hear you feel no pain. Your memory drive has already been analysed by your supervisor so you don’t need to report to her, she’s already acknowledged your success in completing your mission. I negotiated one day of rest for you, so I can watch that leg of yours, but you have to receive your next mission tomorrow.” Suhyeon seemed apologetic, as though it wasn’t already incredible that any of the higher-ups would even consider giving her a single hour of rest once she regained consciousness.
“Thank you very much, doc,” Lynn joked, accepting Suhyeon’s offered hand gratefully as she hopped out of the bed, not forgetting to grab her bag all nicely cleaned and packed, presumably by Suhyeon or Chaewon.
Once Suhyeon forced her to do a few movements to ascertain that her leg was fully functional and free of pain, she was released with a soft pat on the back.
—
Back at her dorm room, as expected, only one other person was present in the room for four. It was a small room, barely big enough to fit four desks with bunks above them and a wardrobe that was bursting with the clothes of four grown adults. The tiny size was understandable of course, seeing as the agents didn’t need much rest. They weren’t constrained by the fragility of a human body that required seven hours of sleep and plenty of mental stimulation, not when they were merely a concept with human consciousness, like a wraith.
Perched on her bed was Nakyoung, sitting with her legs criss-crossed gracefully, while she perused a book. Nakyoung had recently returned from a mission with an eye punctured out, so her ever-proficient assigned medic Yooyeon had demanded for a weeks worth of rest so she could recuperate and get used to her “new” eye, though they all knew Nakyoung felt no pain from her eye except when it was stabbed out, not since her form has basically been reset.
Nakyoung lowered her book a fraction to smile at Lynn as a welcome back. “You certainly made an entrance last night,” Nakyoung teased, rummaging around her bed for a bookmark and carefully marking her page and setting it aside, “I heard you fell through the doors and bled out onto the ground like a fucking pond. Yooyeon said you upstaged me by far.”
“Haha,” Lynn dryly replied, then said in a more serious tone, “It was a stroke of luck to have made it back in time.”
“You’re right,” Nakyoung mused, “If you didn’t, I would have gotten an extra bed.”
Rolling her eyes, Lynn then remarked, “Don’t you have to pick up a mission soon? Like, in two days?”
Nakyoung wryly scoffed, “My my, you’ve really been gone longer than usual. I have to go in an hour, actually. You’ve been gone six whole days, sweetie.”
Lynn paused, realising she hadn’t been keeping track, and when she snapped herself out of her thoughts, she was met with Nakyoung’s sympathetic gaze. “Be more careful next time, okay?” Nakyoung urged, with the warmth of a mother, “You don’t want to end up spending too much time on small missions. You need to watch yourself.”
“I got it,” Lynn waved off her concern, trying to remain aloof just so she could hide the mild panic building up in her, “I’ll be fine.”
Nakyoung sent her another worried, motherly look, before sighing and tossing her head gracefully, before she descended from the bed effortlessly and announced, “Well, then, I’ll be on my way. I promised Yooyeon I’d stop by before I go to Seoyeon.”
Giving her only a nod in return, Lynn scaled her bedside ladder and collapsed on the sheets, noting it had been made neatly rather than still crumpled in the way she had left it a week ago. No wonder Suhyeon had looked so worried inspite of what she was capable of, Lynn had been gone for six days. Suhyeon had truly saved her from the verge of death.
It was nice to not be able to die, to have usually permanent injuries or losses recovered overnight, but that didn’t come without drawbacks. In return for keeping them eternal, their company required them to work relentlessly for them, to benefit their cause, in an effort to win the time war.
Even if it entailed sending their dwindling number of agents on mission after mission, it was alright, after all, the agents weren’t human any longer, they didn’t need the rest and recuperation a human would.
And even though their agents were equipped with the fantastical ability to move through time, the agents couldn’t relish the gift at all. The longer they spend away from the company, the more evident their fragile mortality becomes.
If she wanted to climb the ranks, Lynn really needed to be more careful.
A wave of exhaustion passed over her, as though all the strenuous activity and injuries from the past few days had finally caught on. So, since she had the day off, Lynn decided to close her eyes and rest.
—
The next day, as ordered, she went to her supervisor to receive her next mission. From what she heard from other agents, Seoyeon was by far the kindest and most considerate supervisor in their company, who treated the agents under her like sisters and always took the time to tailor missions to suit each individual agent.
And Lynn did agree with that, as she slipped into Seoyeon’s office with five minutes to spare, her supervisor’s head jerked up swiftly and when she recognised Lynn walking up to her, her lips pressed together in a tense line melted into a warm smile. “Lynn! Good to have you back,” Seoyeon greeted her casually, but in her eyes lingered a tired worry, and Lynn knew it was because she had been gone for too long. “I’ll be quick this time,” Lynn assured her, “I promise. And I’ll be back for the next mission before you know it.”
“I know you will, silly,” Seoyeon laughed lightly, before turning her attention to the stack of folders on her desk. She fished out one folder and handed it to her. “A small task, this time,” Seoyeon said, “For you to get back on your feet.”
“Thank you,” Lynn said gratefully, though she knew she was already perfectly fine and very much on her feet.
“All the best, Lynn,” Seoyeon wished her with a small smile and Lynn marched out of her office. Usually, she preferred to wait until she was back in the privacy of her own room but since this was labelled a small task, Lynn reckoned she could get it done within the amount of time it took her to even walk back to her room.
As usual, the folder enclosed papers stating their mission, some could be a stack of papers stapled together (like the one she had just returned from) laden with heavy text or a single sheet with simple typewritten sentences, like the one she currently grasped.
The paper wrote no niceties, merely a specific date in time and their mission. The year was 1970, in a small neighbourhood Lynn had never heard of. Her only task was to intercept a scholarship offer letter and insure that the rightful recipient of the letter does not ever lay his hands on it.
Lynn has never considered if what she did was wrong or cruel, their organisation and its mission was, as she understood, necessary. Even if they achieved their goals in an unusual and violent manner, it was all entirely necessary.
She made her way up to the rooftop of their headquarters, passing by many familiar faces and greeting those she was close to, like Kotone who looked a little winded but still mustered the energy to wink and wave or Xinyu who stalked down the hallway like a model, blowing Lynn a cheeky kiss before continuing on her way.
And finally, she opened the slightly creaky door to the rooftop that was probably falling apart due to working overtime from the heavy usage whenever an agent needed to carry out a mission.
To step into the time they were aiming to reach, they needed a high location, like the rooftop of a multi-story building.
If Lynn focused, she’d reach the exact destination she had in mind. If she was distracted, perhaps due to pain, she may end up quite a distance away from the target location, which was precisely what happened during her near-death encounter.
Today, she was determined to concentrate and get her job done properly and quickly.
Also on the dark roof was Hayeon, an agent only slightly younger than her but lacked significantly in experience compared to Lynn. She looked nervous, as most would when peering down the edge of a tall building, so to offer some encouragement, Lynn decided she’d go first.
“Just concentrate and you’ll be okay,” Lynn suggested simply, echoing what was repeating in her head again and again. Hayeon nodded but stood still and watched Lynn go first.
Different agents time travelled differently. Most chose to fall backwards, like Lynn does, since it’s less frightening than watching the ground come closer as you hurtle down. Some daredevils (like Nakyoung and Xinyu) choose to fall face first, while more adventurous agents like Chaewon throw in a somersault. Lynn does it the plain, normal way. Lining her heels to the edge of the roof, she took in a sharp breath and leaned back.
She caught the softest gasp from Hayeon and then the wind was whistling past her ears, before Lynn felt the smooth texture of the ghost-like silk wrapping around her body and she shut her eyes.
When she felt solid ground beneath her, she blinked quickly to adapt to the new surroundings, much brighter than the nightscape at the rooftop. As she readied herself, she could still feel and hear the shifting sounds of the silk as it unfurled from around her body and vanished into thin air.
Rummaging around her jacket for the mission paper, she double-checked the exact residential apartment she was to visit and got to work.
Getting to the apartment block was no big deal and finding the correct letterbox marked with the correct apartment number was just as easy.
Sticking out of the letterbox was a letter. Lynn shook her head at the careless state the mailman had left such an important letter in, but then again, the letterbox was overflowing with mail and this made her job significantly easier. She extracted the letter with a good tug and stuffed it into the pocket of her jacket, before making her way up to the rooftop.
Despite the chilly breeze, the world around her was bustling with activity, bathed in gold from the setting sun as people were milling about in the streets, buying last minute meals or hurrying home for the evening.
She took a few seconds to breathe in fresh air, slightly warmed by the sunlight, before getting ready to return.
“Hello there.”
Lynn nearly jumped out of her skin in fright at the sound of another person’s voice, but she steeled herself to remain impassive as she calmly turned to look at the source of the voice.
Standing slightly behind her was a woman, with a bright, girlish smile that somehow didn’t quite reach her eyes, as though she was concealing a dark secret. She looked young, though, Lynn reckoned she couldn’t possibly be much older than Nakyoung.
But what was worrying was that this woman seemed to know exactly what she was doing here. The woman cocked her head, brilliant beam unflinching. “Well? Aren’t you going to say hello as well, Miss stranger? Ah, perhaps it’s because you don’t know my name. I’m Nien Tsu, and I’d love to be acquainted with you.”
As embarrassing as it was, upon that interaction, every training session Lynn had gone through seemed to evaporate from her mind, forgetting that first, she shouldn’t be interacting with people uninvolved in the mission and second, she should not, under any circumstance, let anyone who noticed her presence leave alive. Which is why Lynn neither fled nor engaged physically with the woman.
“You serve the Witch, don’t you?”
Lynn froze, and her lack of response only confirmed Nien Tsu’s suspicions. Nien Tsu clapped her hands together, thrilled. Not wanting her to be the only triumphant one, Lynn quickly pieced everything together and retorted, “And you must serve the Sandman.”
Unlike how Nien Tsu’s deduction had made Lynn flustered, Nien Tsu had no apparent response to Lynn correctly pin-pointing who she worked for, only then slightly tilting her chin in the direction of Lynn’s jacket, asking, “So? What did you do?”
Lynn regarded the person before her coldly, before saying, “I took a letter.” Since Nien Tsu seemingly didn’t intend to leave her, Lynn withdrew from the pocket of her jacket the stiff envelope, which now was crumpled with all her movement.
Nien Tsu darted forward to pluck the letter from Lynn’s fingers to give it a read, but the letter was swiftly jerked out of reach. “You don’t need to read it. No one does,” Lynn said simply.
Coyly, Nien Tsu smiled, “It’s a scholarship offer, isn’t it?”
The other didn’t speak but her eyes flashed slightly, partly surprised that Nien Tsu was aware of the letter’s content. Nien Tsu just sighed airily, “That was someone’s dream, you know.” She twisted to look at Lynn with a smirk, “I wonder how that will play out for your side.”
Lynn returned a simpering smile, “It doesn’t matter what your side does with this information. This letter is just another cog in the system, and you can’t change it.” Nien Tsu just hummed.
They looked down on the street from the rooftop, their hair fluttering in their wind, Nien Tsu’s significantly longer hair styled nicely was impressively still intact. As two people walked the street, getting closer to one another, Lynn let her focus drift to Nien Tsu, whose eyes gleamed with satisfaction when the two bumped into each other, making groceries spill across the pavement and a bumble of stuttered apologies lifted up all the way to their ears.
“Well,” Nien Tsu cooed, having finished what she had to do, sharply turning on her heel and walking away from the edge of the rooftop to look back at Lynn, “It was such a beautiful coincidence to have bumped into you here. What were the chances that we’d happen to be carrying out missions in the same place at the same time. I will look forward to our next meeting, strangers' names who I do not know.”
With a flourish (and a handful of glittery sand), Nien Tsu vanished swiftly, leaving Lynn gaping stunned in her wake.
—
When she returned to the headquarters to submit the letter as proof of her success, she didn’t tell a single soul that she had encountered an agent of the Sandman. That would be an immediate death sentence, for she would have been interrogated and upon realising she had not killed off the enemy agent, they would kill her instead. Or, as the other agents liked to call that process, something worse than just plain death.
Instead, as Seoyeon praised her for her quick work and handed her another folder, Lynn thought about those pretty features belonging to the girl whose image was stamped on the back of her eyelids.