Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sage, as many called her, was a healer, a protector, a monk. She has been called a lot, mostly referring to her calm nature; an oasis, the eye of the storm (that is the war they’re in), a safe haven, and the list can go on for hours. And she doesn’t mind it, she loves that she can give others comfort, a home amidst a war. Still, she craves what she is. As much as the other agents confide in her, lean on her and accept her warmth, she had never truly felt like she could be like that with another agent. 

In the beginning, when she had just joined the protocol, she had tried to befriend Brimstone, but it quickly became clear that he was there for business only. That didn’t mean that he didn’t care, he just liked to keep people at a respectable distance. She tried befriending Sova, but his walls were too high, even for Sage who was quite used to walls, to break through. He was a soldier through and through, not someone who you would call a home. Jett and Phoenix weren’t really reliable either, they were nice but also seemed incapable of truly letting their guard down. And Viper? Breach? Yeah, she didn’t even have to try.

So Sage gave up trying to find her home , her safe haven . Instead she focused on her duty, which was more important anyway. People needed her and she had to be ready to help them in whatever way necessary.

And as usual her duty called for her when the team came back from another mission. A failed one it seemed, as almost everybody got carried in on stretchers. She watched the camera footage on the screens in Brimstone's office, of which the owner was welcoming the agents back. 

“What’s their status?” Sage asked, her voice already filled with worry.

Brimstone’s gruff voice came through the walkie-talkie in Sage’s hand, “Phoenix is out, Jett’s unconscious and has abdominal wounds, Cypher’s leg is,” there was a pause, “gone.” Brimstone had decided on, before continuing. “Viper’s unconscious but seems stable and Reyna is complaining about her shoulder.” 

Sage took in the information as she walked to the medbay, ready to receive the others. There was a bit of static silence before Brimstone continued to talk. “Reyna is fine, the shoulder only seems to be dis-” Another voice jumped in, a female one at that, “Tsk, it’s not, definitely broken.” Reyna said, her voice filled with annoyance. “Look at it, it’s all the wrong angle.” 

“That’s what a dislocated arm looks like.” Brimstone responded, probably not aware that he was still pressing the button of the walkie-talkie. “I can fix it for you-”

“No, it’s not dislocated,” Reyna bit back, “I need to see Sage, she needs to heal me.”

There was a short silence and a big sigh on the other end of the line. “Well, apparently Reyna’s arm is broken.” His voice sounded impassive, but Sage knew he was annoyed. “So she’ll be coming your way too. I can ask Skye to come in and assist you, if you want her to.” 

Sage considered it for a second but then nodded and then remembered that Brimstone couldn’t see it, so she spoke again, “That would be helpful, yes.” 

Two to three agents she could handle, but having to revive an agent, create a leg and god knows what else, would require some help. 

It wasn’t much later that the medbay was filled with agents. Brimstone gave her a quick recap of what had happened to them and then left just as Skye came in. 

“Oi mate, where do ya need me?” Skye said, looking expectantly at Sage. 

“Can you focus on Viper, Jett and Reyna? I’ll work on Phoenix and Cypher and will help you after.” Sage offered as she already made her way over to Phoenix’ body, which was missing its usual glow and warmth.

Skye just gave her a radiant smile, “You got it, boss.”

They both got to work quickly. Skye made small talk with Jett, who had regained consciousness, while Sage worked in silence, channelling her energy into reviving Phoenix. It was a process she used to hate, and in the moments that she had to revive someone, she found herself remembering why. 

She didn’t know where the souls came from that she used, just that they felt weird, uneasy and they were quick to escape. They slipped through her fingers like sand, so it was a relief when she had gathered one and managed to redirect it into Phoenix’ body. She felt the other’s eyes on her as her body surrounded itself with blue light particles and Phoenix’ body seemed to be encased in radiant crystals. Like a caterpillar in a cocoon. 

He slightly levitated before he dropped down again, the crystals breaking as Phoenix shot up. His eyes were wide, looking around the room as his body regained its former glow. “Ah for fuck sake’s.” Phoenix groaned, looking down at his body and then back at Sage. “I died again?” He complained and Sage slowly nodded, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder which was growing warmer with the second. 

“Shot to the head,” Jett raised her voice from the other side of the room where Skye was working on her. “Took it like a champ.” The white haired girl grinned as Phoenix rolled his eyes and jumped off the table.

“Oh, shut your mouth, it doesn’t look like you did great either.” Phoenix started to argue, challenging Jett, as they usually did. “And at least I saw the other side and lemme tell you, he looks just like me, handsome bloke.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Skye jumped in, “Tell your story walkin’” She grinned as she urged Jett and Phoenix out of the room.

Sage smiled fondly and focused back on Cypher, who had sat patiently waiting.

–

Just after Sage had released Viper, who had gained consciousness again, it was just Skye, Reyna and her left. She watched Viper’s silhouette disappear around the corner and turned to find Reyna and Skye talking, both with an annoyed look on their face.

“What’s wrong with me doing it?” Sage overheard Skye say.

At this Reyna only scoffed and turned her head to stare at the other side of the room, where Sage was now standing. She gave her a confused look which was only met with a small roll of dark purple eyes. 

“What is going on?” Sage asked as she got closer, eyeing the two of them.

Skye took a step back from Reyna and shrugged, “Reyna’s spitting the dummy.” Now both women turned to look at Skye in confusion. Sometimes it seemed like the woman threw around Australian slang just to confuse them. “She’s throwing a fit, acting like a child.” Skye translated at their confused faces and earned another scoff from Reyna. 

“I’m not, you are just rough.”

“And you’re just a whiny baby.” Skye shot back. “Have fun with the child, mumma Sage.” She was used to being called the mom of the group by now, still she couldn’t help but feel a bit uncomfortable about it. She was just a couple years older than the youngest agents and not even the oldest of the group by far. Still, she seemed to be the chosen mom of the group.

“Thanks for helping me out, Skye.” Sage thanked the redhead as she turned on her heels and walked out of the medbay with a small wave and goodbye.

“Whateva.”

As the doors closed behind Skye a silence fell over the two of them and it took Sage a couple of seconds to gain the courage to look at Reyna.

It was not really that Reyna was scary, no- she had seen Reyna in a christmas sweater (put on against her will) just yesterday, and knew just how sweet the woman could be. It had more to do with the fact that every time their eyes met Sage felt naked. The woman opposite of her seemed to see right through the barriers of her eyes and straight into her mind, knowing her every thought. She felt exposed.

It thrilled and scared her at the same time.

It happened again this time. For a couple of seconds they just looked and breathed, letting the silence envelop them. The troubled look from before slipped from Reyna’s face and made a spot for a softer one.

“My arm,” Reyna said softly, still staring into Sage’s eyes, and slowly tried to move it. 

“Oh, of course, yes.” Sage muttered and moved her attention to the arm. Just as Brimstone said, it looked dislocated. Still, she slowly reached out to touch the arm that was at a completely wrong angle. 

As the tips of her fingers touched Reyna’s skin, the woman let out a shaky breath that made Sage look up. “Everything alright?” She asked, worry clear on her face.

Reyna quickly nodded, “It’s fine.” 

“If you say so,” Sage mumbled under her breath and focused back on the arm, waiting a couple of seconds before starting to feel for any fractures. This time Reyna didn’t respond to it, but Sage could still feel her eyes burn into the back of her head.

“Can you try to lift your arm?” Sage asked and Reyna tried to follow her instruction. However, she quickly winced and dropped her arm back down, which made her wince again.

“Apparently not.” Reyna grumbled and looked to the wall again. Indeed looking like a little kid whose favourite toy had broken.

Still, Reyna seemed more cooperative now than she did with Skye. “Why didn’t you want Skye to do this?” She softly asked and wondered if she should just pop the shoulder back in, or heal it with her powers. She had enough energy left, however, she would probably feel drained tomorrow. 

“Because she is rough,” Reyna bluntly answered, “you are soft-” she nodded to Sage’s fingers on her arm, barely touching Reyna, but still touching her enough to feel the warmth of her skin, “you have a kind touch. It’s nicer.”

Sage smiled sweetly at her friend- colleague? She never knew where she stood with Reyna. It’s why she was surprised to find herself saying: “Oh but I can be rough too.” 

The silence following it felt so laden with awkwardness that Sage instantly wanted to apologise, but her face already did that for her, as the blood in her cheeks warmed and turned her bright red. 

Luckily, the silence was quickly broken by Reyna’s loud cackle, her laughter echoing against the walls. 

“Sorry, that was inappropriate.” Sage mumbled and removed her hand from Reyna’s arm to cover her face. 

“Ay, gentle Sage is not so gentle after all.” Reyna chuckled and Sage could just feel her smirk at her. 

“Let’s just,” she removed the hands from her face, “get your shoulder back in.” Sage moved her arms over Reyna’s arm, softly grabbing it again and ready to pop it back in its former place. 

“Don’t worry about being too rough, I can take it- Ah!” She groaned as Sage popped her shoulder back into place, her face contorted. 

However, the corners of Reyna’s lips slowly curled back up again. “Hmm, you really weren’t lying.” 

“Never said I was,” Sage shrugged and slowly moved her hands around Reyna’s shoulders, they gave off a soft blue glow as they started to heal. It wasn’t really necessary to heal Reyna, but it would help with a speedy recovery and Sage knew how much Reyna loved training, so she’d appreciate it.

Reyna looked her up and down as she healed her, “Hmm, good.” She let out a satisfied sigh as Sage continued to heal, “That’s nice.” 

“Alright, all done.” Sage nodded approvingly at her own work and took a step back so Reyna could stand up.

As she did, the roles reversed, now she had to slightly look up at the other woman. They didn’t differ much in height, but Reyna’s heels made the difference significant enough. It also didn’t help that they were standing very close, their chests’ almost touching. 

“Ay thank you, Sage.” The way her name rolled off Reyna's tongue almost made Sage buckle. However, she managed to stay upright. 

“Call me Ling, please.” Sage smiled sweetly at Reyna before taking a step back, already starting to clean up a bit. The distance was much needed; with every step she took away from Reyna her mind seemed to clear again. But somehow it didn’t feel like a good thing at all.

“Only if you call me Zyanya, Ling .” Reyna said which made Sage look up. Nobody had ever called Reyna Zyanya beside her little sister. Sage had only known of Reyna’s real name through her medical files, but her offering her name to Sage like this meant something more.

Reyna- Zyanya, noticed Sage’s surprise and just shrugged as she explained, “It’s only fair. But don’t call me that around the other agents.” 

Sage’s brows furrowed in confusion.

“They’ll be weird about it, I know it.” She elaborated.

“Alright then, Zyanya .” Sage said, the name feeling weird but also oddly satisfying on her tongue. However, the smirk that Reyna gave her erased all the uneasiness Sage may have had. She’d say it over and over again just to have Reyna smile at her like that again.

“Enjoy your day, Ling, I’ll see you at dinner.” 

“Yeah, see you then.” Sage managed and turned just in time to see Reyna disappearing around the corner. She could still hear the clacking of Reyna’s heels against the floor until the doors closed and the silence took over again.

Suddenly, the room felt cold, empty. She had never felt that way in the medbay as it was essentially her second home, still it seemed lonely now. 

However, the silence and solitude did give her time to think. 

What the hell had just happened? Was the first thing that shot through her mind. It still seemed weird that Reyna would want her care explicitly, while Skye was a proper healer too. And Reyna usually didn’t mind the pain, and had before accepted Skye’s healing. What had changed?

Besides that, why did Reyna look at her like that? Throughout the procedures she had felt Reyna’s eyes on her, burning into the back of her head. But everytime she looked back, Reyna was looking somewhere else. She figured it was just her imagination but when she had worked on Reyna herself, she still felt those eyes on her. However, this time, when she looked up Reyna’s eyes remained where they were and stared right back into Sage’s. 

That wasn’t the weird thing about it, though, she was used to people looking at her when she performed her healing. The weird thing was that Sage didn’t mind, that it made her feel warm, made the tips of her ears turn red. That never happened when Brimstone observed her works, or when Viper was following her every action with those intense eyes. If she didn’t have the training she had had, her hands would have trembled under Reyna’s gaze.

And that was new. Sage didn’t like new. She didn’t like her almost trembling hands, warm cheeks and fuzzy feelings. She liked the way her medbay felt comforting, not lonely. The way she could talk without slipping out something inappropriate for god knows what reason. She liked it when things stayed the same, but she also knew that something fundamental had changed in their relationship.

How it had happened in a small conversation that took fifteen minutes, tops? That she didn’t know the answer for. Was it something that had happened before? Had she just not noticed it back then? Or is she just imagining things now? 

She didn’t get the time to unravel her thoughts and feelings as the dinner bell rang through the building.

Sage straightened herself and looked around the empty- and now clean- medbay. The beds were made and pristine. The medication was back in their labelled drawers. The agent’s files were back into the cabinets and her tools were disinfected and put away where they belonged.

Everything was back in place, the same as usual, but everything was different now.

Very different.

Chapter Text

Just after dinner, where she was seated far away from Reyna, her rattled thoughts and confused feelings seemed to eb away again. Slowly she stopped glancing at Reyna every minute; it became two, then three and before she knew it she had left the table without one last glance back at her. It may have annoyed her a tad bit that not once had she caught Reyna looking back at her. However, it had also helped to calm her heart down a bit, no more sudden rushes or skipping beats. Even though her heart still seemed to beat out of her chest every time she saw or heard Reyna laugh, as the low timbre of it easily carried the sound over the table towards Sage.

Maybe it was for the better. Her feelings, or not feelings, confused her, mostly because her mind was diminishing the feelings to what they were, just feelings. They didn’t make sense, they could get weird and most of the time they didn’t even mean anything.

Take for example anger. It came easily to Sage, but she knew that most of the time when she felt it, it was unjust. Her mind always quickly countered the feeling with arguments like: ‘they didn’t mean it that way’ or ‘they don’t know better’ or ‘maybe they just had a bad day’ . And the anger would flow away with ease. Her mind always grounded her like an anchor keeping a boat in its place on an unruly sea. It was something that helped her keep her cool as a monk and now too on the battlefield.

It was easy for Sage to just set aside those feelings and focus on the rational - actually sane - part of her thoughts. It’s why it was all the more frustrating that even her mind didn’t have an explanation for the feelings or a way to counter them.

As the days passed, the feelings and thoughts were driven back to the back of Sage’s mind. She continued her work, healed some agents, trained, cooked dinner and went to meetings. All of them without a sight of Reyna. She wanted to say it was just a coincidence, but was something really a coincidence if one would turn around mid-walk just because one heard the other’s voice echoing around the corner. 

Still, her work helped relieve her mind of weird thoughts and unexplainable feelings. For how long however, that would be the question, but for now she decided just to accept the rest and focus on what was really important, her duty. 

“Sage?” A familiar voice greeted her. Her head shot up so fast that her ponytail smacked her right in her face.

“Cypher,” she stated, smiling warmly at him. Sage wondered how long he had been standing there, watching her stare into the nothingness, lost in her thoughts. She knew Cypher to be very observing and she’d rather not have him poke into her thoughts.

To her relief- and concern -she noticed the slowly growing patch of red on his shoulder and concluded that he probably had other things to worry about than whatever was going on in her brain.

“Are you okay? What happened?” She asked as she pushed herself from the stool, walking over to Cypher and placing him on one of the beds.

She could hear him chuckle at her worry, “Ah, it’s but a scratch.” He said before removing his hand so Sage could get a better look at it. When Sage softly touched his shoulder he sucked in his breath. 

“This is a bit more than a scratch,” Sage concluded with a frown, quite literally looking through the bullet hole in his shoulder. “Do you know if the bullet went out of your body?” 

“Yeah, Phoenix gave it to me and said to keep it, like a ‘trophy’.” Cypher softly shook his head but then continued to watch her cut open his jacket to get better access. “And something about being beat by a robot, which KAY/O didn’t like. I think they are still squabbling.” 

“He’s an idiot, a talented one, but still an idiot.” She sighed and started to work on his shoulder which earned her a relieved sigh. 

“Thank you, Sage.” He watched the process with interest. When the silence stretched on for a bit too long, Cypher spoke up again, “So, Sage, it appears you can bring people back from the dead, right?”

“I can, yes.” She already dreaded where this was going. Whenever people asked about her resurrection powers it was never just out of interest.

Cypher slowly nodded, “Anyone?” 

She tilted her head a bit and then nodded with a small shrug. “Since I’ve mastered the skill, I haven’t failed to bring anyone back, if that’s what you are asking.” She looked sideways at him, but couldn’t see his eyes behind his glasses. Sometimes she wondered what was going on in those eyes. 

“No constraints?” 

“Not as far as I know.”

Cypher turned his head to look at the wall in front of him. “Interesting…”

Sage peeked another glance at Cypher and tilted her head in confusion when she noticed that he wasn’t wearing his hat, or carrying it with him. “Where is your hat?” 

That made Cypher look up again, he touched the top of his head again, which looked naked without his usual headwear. “Ah yes, my hat. I lost it again.” He sighed, clearly disappointed in himself.

“I don’t even know why I enter the range with it anymore. I just keep losing it.” Cypher seemed to think deeply, or just stare in front of him, Sage couldn’t really tell with his mask on. “Last time I found it back on the top shelf at the library, which was terribly hard to get to by the way.” He shook his head, as if remembering the struggle again.

“So you lose it often?” 

“Yeah, it’s weird. When we are on missions I never lose it but in the range it has already happened three times in the last month.” Considering they were only two weeks into December, Sage frowned. It didn’t sound like Cypher to lose his hat, as she knew how much it meant to him.

“That’s indeed weird,” Sage mumbled and finished up his shoulder. “You are all done now. But I’ll keep an eye out for your hat, alright?”

It felt like Cypher was smiling at her when he nodded, “That would be great. Thank you, Sage.” He slid off the bed and touched his shoulder a couple of times to test if it really was fine now. Cypher seemed satisfied as he nodded and slowly made his way to the door.

 "تهلّى."

He gave her a small wave before turning the corner again. It took Sage a couple of seconds to translate the sentence before remembering it meant take care . 

She smiled to herself. Cypher was a sweetheart, it always surprised her that after everything he had been through he was still so nice . So now the question was: who would steal a hat from someone who is so nice? Because she knew for sure that Cypher wouldn’t just lose his hat like that, it was too dear to him. 

Her guess was with the duelists as they loved pranking each other and other agents. It probably wouldn’t be Raze, she was too busy trying to find a way to ask Killjoy out (Sage had heard her muttering to herself as she was tinkering away in her room). Neon liked Cypher too much and Reyna was too old for such childish pranks.

So that left the golden trio of Yoru, Phoenix and Jett. 

She decided to pay them a visit after lunch, determined to find Cypher’s hat. 

– 

“Jett,” Sage entered the girl’s room, she was casually sitting in her cocoon reading a comic. 

The cocoon hung high on the ceiling, too high for anyone normal to even be able to touch the bottom of it, only Jett would be able to reach it. For whatever reason Jett seemed to find it necessary to have it hung so high, she didn’t know. 

“Ah! Mama Sage!” Jett exclaimed happily, as if Sage hadn’t even interrupted her reading. “What do you need?” The white haired girl eyed her curiously. She knew that Sage only came into her room to either ask for her help in the kitchen or if something had happened with Yoru and/or Phoenix again.

“Just a quick question,” Sage said, her neck craning from having to look up at the little, comfortably looking cocoon. 

“Shoot away,” Jett smiled and put away her comic to show that Sage now held her full attention. 

She softly leaned in the door opening and folded her arms, “Do you know anything about the whereabouts of Cypher’s hat?”

“Hmm, no not really.” Jett was a skilled duelist but a terrible liar. She overdid her pondering face, even did the little chin rub. “Maybe something can jog my memory?” She wiggled her eyebrows at Sage. This was how most of the agents worked, nothing was ever given freely. Not that Sage minded it, they were all trying to keep it fun for themselves and get the best out of their situation. Still, in moments like this it annoyed her.

“What you get is healed when you get hurt, I think that’s more than enough isn’t it?” Sage raised her eyebrow at Jett who let herself slump against the back of the cocoon. 

“Ugh, it was worth a try, sorry.” Jett mumbled and straightened again before jumping off the cocoon, which started to move at the push. She landed softly, the air around her carrying her down. Sage tracked the movement with her eyes.

“I know that the last time Phoenix stole his hat and made me hide it on the high shelf in the library, so my guess is on Phoenix.” Jett says as she walks towards Sage. “By the way, I saw you have cooking duty tomorrow, would you be interested in swapping with me?” 

Phoenix, of course. “Alright, thank you.” Sage pushed herself from the wall but kept her eyebrow raised, “Depends, what would I get out of it?”

“A delicious meal,” Jett grins at her, “And bathroom duty.” 

“No thanks, but thank you for the information.” Sage smiled sweetly at Jett who just let out a groan. 

“See you at dinner, Jett.” Sage said before swiftly turning around and walking towards Phoenix’ room.

–

“Cypher’s hat? Uh,” the boy awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, “Why would you think I had anything to do with that?”

“Because you stole it the last time,” Sage simply countered, “and hid it with some help from Jett.”

“That snitch,” he sighed, his hand dropping dramatically to his side. “Fine, I did it last time, but this time I didn’t do it, swear.” He held up his hands in defence.

“How can I believe you?” Sage tilted her head, a loose strand that escaped her ponytail fell into her face. 

“Well, I know who did it.” Phoenix grinned, “But-”

“No but -s, Phoenix, I’m not going to do your chores for you.” 

“No fun.” Phoenix grumbled but relented. “You didn’t hear it from me, but-” 

–

Sage’s heart was hammering in her chest when she finally arrived at the door of the culprit. She sighed, trying to collect herself before knocking on the door.

“Ay, Sage.” 

“Reyna.” Sage greeted the woman who for once, was not dressed in her usual attire, which was either her uniform or her black training clothes. Her eyes quickly scanned Reyna’s body, noticing the knee length heeled boots, panty, black skirt and dark purple blouse to finish it off. Reyna looked fancy, she looked good, she look-

“To what do I owe this pleasure?” Her voice quickly shook Sage out of her staring contest with Reyna’s one too many open buttons. Her eyes quickly flicked up to meet Reyna’s.

She quickly had to regain her poise as she straightened her back and put on an easy smile. “I just need to ask you a question, and then I’ll be out of your hair.” 

Sage knew her thoughts should be with Cypher’s hat but she couldn’t help but wonder why Reyna was all dressed up. She had only seen Reyna in outfit’s like these when she either went out or there was a special occasion like a christmas dinner. Was she going out? And if so, where? With who? Did Brimstone know? She made a small note of it to ask Brimstone at dinner.

“Of course, come in.” She stepped aside, opening her arm as if to guide her in. Sage didn’t have the pleasure of being in Reyna’s room all that much as she was quite a secretive person, so she grasped this opportunity with both hands.

“What did you want to ask?” Reyna asked from behind her, a soft click sounded, indicating that the door was now closed.

“It’s about Cypher’s hat.” Sage started but her eyes were still focused on the room around her.

They all had the same size of bedrooms, they were quite large but cold. The walls were steel and so was the floor, and if you didn’t have a carpet every step would echo through the room. It’s why most of the agents decided to carpet the whole floor, but not Reyna. The hollowness of the steel felt weird under her feet, who were used to a soft feeling, and she wondered if that’s why Reyna always wore shoes, even inside her room.

“Ah, what about it?” Reyna said, walking around Sage to sit on the side of her bed. A bed made as if no one had slept in it. In contrast to the rest of the room, which was filled with dark colours, the bed looked quite comfortable. With a purple blanket that Omen had knitted for her and a black cat plushy that Neon had given her for christmas. Sage searched the room for her own christmas present and smiled when she noticed it standing on her desk, beside a picture of Reyna and her sister.

It was just a picture of the two of them, taken at Reyna’s birthday party (though no one but Sage and Brimstone had known it was thrown for her birthday). Cypher had taken the photo and later shown it to Sage. Back then she hadn’t thought about the way Reyna looked at her in the photo, with eyes that were warm and cheeks flushed (probably caused by the alcohol), nor had she noticed Reyna’s arm on her lower back. But even back then she had noticed her own wide smile as Reyna talked to her about something she couldn’t quite remember (probably the alcohol's fault too). It was so clear how easy and good they looked together in that picture, happy and without a care in the world. 

It was that little reminder that sparked her feelings right up again. The feelings without explanation, the thoughts that didn’t make sense and intruded her mind like a burglar who instead of stealing things, brought her thoughts she didn’t want.

She shook herself from her thoughts, “Phoenix stole it last time but this time he didn’t have it. However, he did mention you being in the range too when Cypher was shot. He suggested that you may have something to do with the disappearance of it?” Sage turned to eye her reaction curiously.

“Ay, I’m hurt that you think that I would ever do such a thing.” Reyna scoffed with a roll of the eye. “I’m not into those childish pranks.” 

“I didn’t imply that you stole it-” Sage was quick to defend herself, eyes wide and hands in front of her as if to calm Reyna down. The woman just shook her head and looked back at Sage with a slightly amused grin. “Just-” Sage sighed, “Just that maybe you had seen something?” She tried and Reyna furrowed her brows.

“Hmm, say I did see something,” Reyna pushed herself from the bed, straightening herself again which made Sage tilt her head to look up at her, “what would I get in return for this information?”

Sage rolled her eyes which earned her an amused laugh. 

“You know how this works by now don’t you?”

“I’m not switching chores with you for information or whatever.” Sage folded her arms, trying to look annoyed and intimidating. Not that it worked as Reyna was still grinning at her, eyes full of delight.

“I’m not talking about chores, Ling .” The name slip was so subtle that it took Sage a couple of seconds to realise that she was now using her name. “I’m talking about dinner, just the two of us.”

“Uh-” Sage’s act fell, just like her jaw which now stood slightly ajar in surprise, “Dinner?” She couldn’t hide the surprise in her voice.

“Yes, dinner, eating food together?” Reyna took a step closer. “I got you an even better deal: I will make sure Cypher will have his hat back before breakfast tomorrow and I will take you out to dinner, sounds like a win-win, right?”

Sage’s mind was reeling now. Was Reyna asking her out on a date? Or just dinner? What would be in it for Reyna? Was she playing Sage?

“What’s in it for you?” Sage asked slowly, quite suspicious.

Reyna just laughed at her, a loud but warm sound. “An actual good dinner, not whatever Skye is going to cook with her vegan stuff, with someone that doesn’t get on my nerves.” 

Okay, so no date, just an escape. Sage could deal with that. She released a breath she didn’t know she was holding and slowly nodded. “Alright, sounds like we have ourselves a deal.”

Reyna held out her hand, “Good.” 

Sage eyed her hand just before sliding her hand into it. The warmth from Reyna’s hand spread through her own body, lighting it up like a bonfire. “Deal.” The black haired woman said as she shook Reyna’s hand. 

The slightly taller woman just looked at her with a crooked grin. It was the same look that she had given Sage in the medbay. It was dark with something Sage couldn’t quite place just yet, and it took her breath away all the same.

That was until Reyna released her hand and walked her over to the door. “I’ll pick you up at six.” She said and opened the door for Sage.

“Sounds great, what should I wear?” Sage asked, she never knew what to wear to these kinds of outings.

Reyna shrugged, “Something nice.”

Something nice ? What the hell was something nice ? Sage thought as she walked through the door before quickly turning around on her heels.

“Wait- Dinner as friends, right?” She asked, the question finally leaving her mind through her mouth.

She earned another cackle from Reyna, “Ay, whatever you want it to be, Ling.” 

Sage just frowned, standing still as she looked at the door closing in her face.

Whatever she wanted it to be? But what did she want it to be? Did she want it to be friends?  Or more? And what would more even be? A date? Did she like Reyna? And did Reyna even like her? 

And what the hell was something nice?

–

Reyna was not known for being on time. Better yet, she was always late. Late to training, late to meetings, late to dinner and you can go on for hours. The only thing she was always on time for was visits to her sister. It’s why Sage was surprised to hear a knock on her door at exactly six. It was not like she was checking the time, but maybe she had been a little bit, even though she had been ready for over half an hour now. Because Sage was always on time, even when she trashed her whole room looking for an outfit that said ‘something nice’.

Sage jumped up from her bed when the dinner bell rang, which was the other reminder that it was exactly six o’clock. She opened the door with a soft ‘whoosh’ that moved the escaped locks of her ponytail from her face. 

“Hi.” She said, a nervous smile plastered on her face. Why was she nervous? It was just Reyna. The same Reyna that stared right into her soul. The Reyna that made her legs a bit wobbly and her head a bit fuzzy. The Reyna that was never on time but was on time now and looked nice .

“You look-” Reyna scanned her body shamelessly which made Sage feel just as naked as always. And once again she couldn’t help the way her body lighted up by simply being watched . 

“Nice?” Sage tried, when Reyna didn’t continue her sentence. She had tried to go for something nice , but it was harder than she had expected. In the end she had settled on black skinny jeans and a light blue halter top. It wasn’t too classy, but neither was it completely comfortable. She just hoped it didn’t show too much skin for whatever thing they were going to.

Reyna’s eyes locked onto hers again. “Good,” she finished her sentence which made Sage’s shoulder sag a bit. Reyna clearly noticed as she added an, “Very good, even.”

“Thanks,” Sage smiled at her, “You don’t look so bad yourself.” 

The woman in front of her looked down at her body as if she had not remembered what she was wearing. She was wearing the same outfit as before, but in this light the blouse looked silky. Silky enough that Sage had the sudden urge to touch it. 

“Thank you,” Reyna grinned back, “ready?” 

Sage nodded, “More than ready.” She hoped that Reyna didn’t catch on to the lie because Sage was anything but ready. Better yet, she was definitely not ready. She still had no idea what this meant, what the feelings meant and what it meant that she was two seconds away from trying to touch Reyna’s blouse just to feel if it was really silk.

Thankfully, Reyna didn’t give her the time to think about all that, instead she turned on her heels and walked away. After noticing that Sage was still rooted in her spot she looked over her shoulder, “Are you coming?”

“Uh, yes. Definitely, sorry.” Sage quickly mumbled and closed the door behind her before running to catch up with Reyna. “So where are we going?”

“You’ll see.” Reyna simply said and gave a small wave to Jett, Raze and Killjoy as they passed them in the hallways. The trio gave a small wave back before giving the two of them a second look. 

“Ah so what’d we miss?!” Raze called out from behind them, making the two of them halt and turn. 

“Yeah, what are you two so dressed up for? Do we have a fancy dinner we don’t know about?” Jett jumped in, eyeing the two of them curiously.

Killjoy adjusted their glasses, “Hmm, I don’t think they are having dinner with us…” 

Both Jett’s and Sage’s eyes widened, Jett’s probably out of surprise and Sage out of embarrassment. 

“You two are having dinner without me?! Ouch-” Raze put a dramatic hand over her heart and the other over her forehead. 

Jett folded her arms over each other, “Why are the two of you having dinner together?”

Sage had decided that she quickly needed to come up with something before Reyna would say something insidious that would raise suspi-

“We are going on a date.” 

Like that.

“A friendly date,” Sage quickly jumped in, “Reyna didn’t want to eat all vegan tonight so we’re going out for dinner.” 

The trio eyed each other, conversing through telepathy apparently as they all nodded and turned their heads back to them in sync.

“Alright…” Raze slowly nodded, “We’ll see you after then!” She grinned and turned around, “ Vamos, gente! ”

And just like that they dropped the subject and walked away. Just as they rounded the corner she noticed Jett sending her a thumbs up. Why did she do that? Did Jett know something Sage didn’t know? 

“They acted weird,” Sage thought out loud, “didn’t they?”

Reyna hummed and shrugged, “Nothing new to me.” 

“Oh,” she exclaimed as she looked at Reyna’s side profile, “weird…” Sage silently followed Reyna to the hovercraft. It was their only way out of the base as it was located in the middle of nowhere. 

Most of the time it was nice to know they were isolated from other people; they had their privacy and they could be as loud as possible. Still she sometimes missed contact with other humans, those who were not part of the protocol, who were almost oblivious to whatever was happening. 

Sure, they knew about the radianite and the first light, how couldn’t they, almost 3/4th of the earth was powered with it. That, and the fact that The Kingdom paraded it around like their prized jewel, which it truly was. They were, however, oblivious to the ongoing war with their mirrorearth; omega earth. Thus, when Reyna and Sage would land their hovercraft a couple of miles outside the city and would enter it, no one would bat an eye at them. No one would celebrate them, or judge them for what they did, no one knew them like that . 

It was refreshing, to just be able to forget about their duty for a couple of hours. To be human instead of a soldier. It’s one of the reason’s she agreed so quickly to you out to dinner with Reyna. 

“How did you manage to get approval from Brimstone?” She asked, the question bugging her for a while now.

Reyna just gave her a small side grin as she entered the hovercraft. “I didn’t.” 

“Wait- You know we can get in trouble for this, right?!” Sage’s eyes widened, the alarm bells in her brain instantly going off. Still, she followed Reyna into the ship.

The woman just laughed and took her place in one of the seats. “Come on, Sage, live a little.” 

Sage stood frozen for a couple of seconds. She watched as Reyna fired up the motor, put in the location and then turned her head to look at Sage. “Are you going to stand the whole way?”

It was wonderful how her body acted around Reyna. With anyone else, she would’ve just turned around and left the hovercraft to report the violation to Brimstone. Now, though, she felt a small thrill cursing through her veins at the idea of doing something she shouldn’t be doing and doing it with Reyna. Now, she quickly took her seat beside Reyna and smiled back at her, which earned her another dazzling smile. It was rare to see Reyna smile this much but Sage wouldn’t complain.

The spell quickly broke as Reyna overrode the system and started steering herself. 

“What are you doing?!” Sage’s eyes widened in panic.

“Living a little.” Reyna simply said before rushing away so quickly Sage got pressed into the back of her seat with a small yell. 

“Zyanya!” 

– 

After they’ve entered the city - a South American one by the looks of it - they blend in with ease. It’s a friday night so their outfits aren’t out of the ordinary. Besides, the streets are so crowded they disappear into it, so much that Reyna is now holding onto her hand so as not to lose track of her. It shouldn’t be such a big thing, hell, she has held multiple agent’s their hands. But this felt different; more intimate. Reyna, who absolutely hated being touched by others, was now touching her because she wanted to. It was probably just for efficient reasons, but still, Sage liked to think it meant something.

After about ten minutes of roaming the busy streets Reyna pulled her into a restaurant. She opened the door for her and by doing so, she let Sage’s hand go. It was weird how she had grown accustomed to liking the feeling of Reyna’s hand in hers in such a short time that she now felt disappointed not to hold it anymore. She decided not to think about it much and stepped into the restaurant with Reyna following close behind. 

When the door closed behind them the loud street noises got exchanged for a low but lively murmur of the crowd inside. Soft Mexican music played in the background and the whole ambience of the room felt home-y.

Sage was so occupied with studying the walls laden with pictures and murals that she didn’t notice Reyna already walking over to an empty table until she heard her name being called out.

“Ling!” Reyna said, some people turned to look at where the voice had come from and then to whom it was directed. Sage quickly walked up to Reyna and sat down opposite her.

“Sorry,” Sage smiled excitedly, “I was just admiring the place.” 

Reyna nodded, “Much better than the iron box we live in, that’s for sure.” 

A short laugh slipped out and she softly shook her head, “It isn’t that bad, I like to think we have made it quite cosy by now.” 

“Cosy enough for soldiers, yes, but it’s no place to live.” Sage wondered if that was the reason that Reyna had not wanted to have her little sister live there. Or maybe she just didn’t want Lucia living amongst soldiers, although one could argue it would be one of the safest places for her. But then again, living among soldiers may not be the best experience for a kid.

“That I can agree on, this place already seems much more like a home than our place and it’s a restaurant.” Sage admitted and once again looked around the room, admiring all the little details. “How do you know this place?”

“Raze showed it to me, back when I had just joined the program. I didn’t want to return to Mexico because well,” she hesitated but decided on, “ everything , so she took me here. It has the essence of home without the ‘trauma’.” She picked up one of the menus and gave it to Sage, “And because of the amazing food, of course.” 

“Ah,” Sage took the menu from Reyna and flipped it open. She didn’t know what everything meant, but she presumed it wasn’t something Reyna liked to talk about. 

Her eyes skim through the options but hesitates when she sees the red pepper icons behind the dishes. “How spicy is one pepper?” 

Reyna smiled at this, “Brimstone would have trouble eating it.” 

She nodded slowly, it wouldn’t be that spicy then seeing as Brimstone seasoned his chicken with only salt and pepper. “And two?”

“Harbor would order a glass of milk, probably.”

“And three?” 

This time Reyna had to think about it, “Hmm, I’d order it.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sage frowned.

“That I like things that are flaming hot,” she gave Sage a wink. What did that mean? 

“So… No, three peppers for me?” Sage tried again, though the vegetarian version of the cochinita pibil did sound very good.

Reyna shrugged again, “Ay, if you don’t dare to…” 

Sage wouldn’t necessarily say she was competitive- compared to the other agents, definitely not- still, everytime Reyna challenges her she wants to rise up to it. But for what? She didn’t even have something to prove to Reyna, so why did she always try so hard? 

She hummed with a small smile, “Alright, let’s see how spicy it can get then.” 

“Oh, don’t you worry, we Mexicans are very good at making things spicy.” Once again, Reyna looked at her with dark purple eyes.

Sage simply ducked her head and smiled, hiding her blush from the woman opposite her. Does Reyna have any idea what kind of effect she had on Sage? Is that why she was always so flirty with her? Or was she like this with everyone? 

A waiter came to their table, talking a language Sage didn’t understand but recognized. Reyna fluently responded in it, her voice had more cadence when she spoke her mother tongue, it showed more passion. Her laugh was softer and the way she pronounced the r’s and h’s were addicting to listen to. 

She was so distracted that only when they both turned their heads to her, she seemed to escape her trance. 

“Sorry, what?” 

“What’s your order?” Reyna said, clearly having to adjust her voice back to English. She immediately missed the warm sound of Reyna’s native speech.

Sage looked back down at the menu, as if she hadn’t already made the decision, but she had to make sure she would pronounce it right. “Chiqa-” She quickly corrected herself, “Cochinita pibil vegetariana, por favor.” The Spanish felt weird in her mouth, still she tried as it was one of the few Spanish words she knew.

It earned another low chuckle from Reyna, looking at her with glee. 

“Coming right up!” The waiter said in broken English but with a friendly smile. 

When it was the two of them again, Reyna looked at her with a hard stuck grin.

“What are you smiling at me for?” 

“Just thinking about how badly you pronounce ‘chilaquiles'.” When Reyna says it, it sounds completely different than what Sage had said. It didn’t even sound alike.

“Oh god, do you think he knew what I wanted to order?” The blush from before got fueled once again, this time by her own embarrassment. If anyone were to ask why she was blushing at all, she’d blame it on the warmth of the restaurant and lack of air conditioning.

“I’m sure he did, otherwise we’ll just send it back.” Reyna simply said, “Besides it was kind of cute the way you said it.” 

“The way I completely butchered it, you mean?” Sage quickly shook her head.

Reyna just laughed at her, “Ay, don’t worry about it. It’s good to know that you are not always perfect.” 

A scoff escaped her lips, “Well, first of all, maybe the reason that I’m not good at Spanish is because I have four other languages stored up here that all clash in pronunciation.” She said as she tapped her index finger to her temple, “And secondly, of course I’m not perfect, no one is.” 

“Four?!” Reyna exclaimed, for one of the first times she had seen the woman surprised but she quickly masked it with curiosity. “Which four?” She asked, simply glossing over her second point.

“Mandarin, English, French and a bit of arabic.” 

“Impressive.” Reyna nodded slowly, giving her that look again. That look consisted of dark eyes, a slightly tilted head and a small grin. It was as if she was trying to tell Sage something with just her eyes but Sage had suddenly grown deaf. She didn’t know why she couldn’t read Reyna the way she seemed to read her. Maybe it was her mind spiralling- or rather an upside down spiral, that starts small and ends wide- every small thing into something big, so big that the lines become blurry and she would toss the thought in the bin because of the craziness of it. Like that look, maybe there wasn’t even a look that she made with intention, maybe that was just Sage’s wishful thinking that whatever she felt for Reyna would be reciprocated in that look. 

That, once again, brought up the question again, what was it that she felt for Reyna? It was clearly more than friendly, because Skye never made her feel this way when she made a good natured joke, and neither did Brimstone when he complimented her skills. But did she like Reyna? It was something that she didn’t even feel like she was allowed to think . Spending the most part of her life as a monk had taught her to repress these feelings. 

In Buddhism there was no place for attachment, if you wanted to follow the path of enlightenment, one needed to rid themselves of things that could cause them pain. In a way, attaching oneself to someone, could cause this pain. Of course, monks weren’t completely derived from feelings. Monks could still feel love and fall in love, but they did follow brahmacharya, strict celibacy. And when Sage had finally been ordained, she had sworn this celibacy. With this she knew it was better not to ever fall in love with someone for it may cause effects on her body which she didn’t want. Or drag her down from the enlightenment she had tried so hard to reach.

Of course, everything shattered when she had joined the protocol. She had left the temple, left her family, to join the fight. Everything she had sworn, everything she had worked to slowly started to slip from her hands. The path that she had chosen as a teenager wasn’t her path anymore. The words she had sworn weren’t her life’s mission, but rather just words. The protocol turned the monk in her into a soldier. And everything that the temple had thought her had slowly slipped away. The armour of safety that it had built around her, came loose, and instead of feeling vulnerable, she felt light , a weight lifted from her. 

Still, she would always be a buddhist, in a way. She respected their beliefs and she believed them herself, but she wasn’t loyal to them anymore. She wasn’t a monk anymore. 

“Where do you go?” Reyna suddenly interrupted her train of thought.

“Excuse me, what?” Sage frowned, clearly confused.

“Where did you go just now? You sometimes seem to disappear,” Reyna leaned her chin on her hand, “in your thoughts.” 

“Sorry,” Sage laughed awkwardly, “my abbot always said I think too much.” 

That was an understatement. Sage’s abbot had accused her of being ‘inside her own head’ more times than she could count, as if that was a bad thing. He had told her that she was clinging on to the world inside her head instead of exploring the one that had been given to them. Still, her mind was her temple, safe space. It was sad how much the abbots words had affected her that she still thought of him years later. It was even sadder how profoundly anything, even criticism, could be missed when you were only left with memories.

She put the thoughts out of her mind, whatever her abbot had said about her was in the past now, she’d never have to hear it again. “I was just thinking about my life before all of this, you know.” 

The glint in Reyna’s eyes dimmed a little, “Ay.” She let a couple of seconds pass, “Good memories or bad ones?” 

Sage mulled the question over. It was a loaded question, one with many side tracks that were too heavy to discuss in a friendly conversation. Rather than taking one of the more dangerous side tracks, she chose the safe option as she answered, “Both. Some things have definitely improved, others however…” She let Reyna fill in her own answer.

“Like what? What has improved?” 

“The people, I think. Though I know we are just a bunch of scraped together radiants put in a container, I like it there because of the people. Nobody is the same. There are all these different languages, cultures, beliefs, it’s just refreshing to see so much diversity, I think. It makes it feel like a home for everyone.” Sage thought out loud with a little smile.

The group reminded her of a complicated and chaotic family. Not everybody liked each other, but that was okay, not everybody liked each other in a family either. It felt good having a sort of family, she had never had that. Not with her mom leaving her on the doorstep of a temple, because she couldn’t take care of her anymore. And neither the monks, who may have provided for her and raised her, but made sure she didn’t see them as a family, more as a community. Sure, a couple of scraped together soldiers (of who mostly weren’t even soldiers when all of this started), wouldn’t make a family but it was the closest Sage had ever gotten to getting a family. 

Reyna just scoffed at her words, clearly not noticing what the group meant to Sage. “They are just a group of soldiers that are out to achieve their own goals through the protocol. You may care about them, but they will put you aside as soon as they have what they came here for.” 

There was a bitterness in her voice when she said it. It reminded Sage of the way Reyna spoke to Viper, a coldness rung through her voice when she did, one that made Sage very aware just how dangerous Reyna could be. Her eyes scanned over Reyna’s face, but the woman was now conveniently admiring the walls. Reyna’s posture screamed annoyance, her back straight, chin tilted high and her breathing irregular but deep.

She wondered if Reyna thought the same about her; did she think Sage would put her aside as soon as the opportunity arose? Was this because of what Viper had done with Lucia? Or was it something deeper, like a sickness spreading from the roots up? And who or what had caused this sickness? 

“That’s not true,” Sage said, her voice shaking a little bit, “not everyone.” Her voice always betrayed her true feelings, with others it may be their eyes tearing up, or their body language but with Sage it was always her voice. It shook, it cracked and she would stumble over her words. Now it had happened again, and by the looks of it Reyna had noticed it too.

She turned her head back to face Sage again, her eyes widened in surprise by the sudden change in her voice. Just as her eyes had widened they narrowed again, searching Sage’s face for something. 

Apparently she had found what she was looking for, because her body relaxed. “Maybe not everyone,” she said softly, almost as if she was talking to herself. Reyna opened her mouth again to continue but a  sudden voice interrupted their conversation. It was a jovial voice, one that was not aware of the conversation they were having.

“Your food, señorita’s.” The waiter said as he put down their food and drinks with a smile before walking away. Instinctively, and out of respect, Sage looked up at the man with a smile, nodding her head as a thank you.

Curious as to what Reyna had wanted to say before the waiter had interrupted her, she turned back to her. “What did you want to say?” Sage asked. She didn’t know what Reyna was about to say but she felt like it had been important. 

Reyna clearly thought differently, her focus had drifted from Sage to her food. “Nevermind it. Let’s just eat.” Reyna said as she dug into her food.

“Alright,” she looked down at her plate. The cochinita didn’t look all too tasty, better yet, it seemed bland. It just looked like cut up aubergine with some BBQ sauce and tortilla’s to put it in. But she knew better than to judge a book by its cover. So she put some of the aubergine and sauce on the tortilla and took a bite. 

She chewed exactly two times before the heat exploded in her mouth. Her eyes widened in panic and she sought for something to extinguish the volcano that had just burst in her mouth. Her eyes caught on to the glass of milk on the table (when had she ordered milk?), and emptied it in one go. 

Even though the warmth in her mouth slowly started to subside, her throat still seemed to burn furiously causing her to cough, “Oh my god- You were not kidding, oh my god.” Sage was used to a bit of spice but this was a whole new level of it.

A loud laugh shook her out of her own suffering; Reyna’s laugh was bright and wide as she looked at Sage struggling to quench the spices with Reyna’s glass now. The sound of it stilled her heart, as if didn’t want to interrupt the sound of the other woman’s laughter. It was the kind of laugh that she hadn’t heard in a while, a genuine laugh. Not forced, not out of awkwardness or malice, just an honest laugh. 

Sadly, the laughter died down into a wide grin on Reyna’s part. “Ay, corazón .” She sighed before switching their plates. “Those habaneros are really treacherous, I tried to warn you.” 

Sage didn’t know if that was supposed to be comforting or if it was another mocking response wrapped in a soft voice. Either way, she was glad that at least she wouldn’t have to ask the waiter for a different dish because she couldn’t take some pepper.

A new smell pricked her senses and she looked down at the bowl Reyna had given her. It was a sort of soup, it looked an awful lot like tomato soup but the smell was entirely different. 

“Is this one spicy too?” She asked hesitantly as she moved her spoon through the broth.

“No, I feared this would happen so I ordered a less spicy one.” Reyna said casually as if it wasn’t one of the most thoughtful things to do. 

It was those small kindnesses that drew her so much to Reyna. Those small acts of love or friendship, like draping a blanket over Neon’s sleeping body when she thought no one was looking. Or sitting beside a bed in the medbay because Astra had not yet awoken from her shortly medically induced coma after a heavy fight, but disappearing as soon as Astra did wake. Those kindnesses that Reyna tried so hard to hide, obscuring her caring nature with snarky comments and death glares, was what had piqued Sage’s interest in the woman in front of her.

“You-?” She frowned, “How’d you know this would happen?” 

Reyna grinned at her, “You are predictable.” When Sage gave her a disgruntled look she elaborated, “I say it’s very spicy, then you of course think, I can handle it. Just to prove yourself.”

And why wouldn’t she? Back when she lived in China she had eaten her fair share of spices, one hotter than the other. So why shouldn’t she think she could handle these spices too. It would only make sense. 

“What if I could have handled it?” Sage grumbled, annoyed that she had been defeated by some peppers.

“You couldn’t have.” Reyna said in that confident way of hers that made Sage roll her eyes. As if Reyna knew exactly what spices Sage could handle and which not. Reyna had no right to be this confident over something she couldn’t possibly know, still she was. 

“Just-” Sage huffed and looked down at her new meal, “shut up.” She muttered the last part and dipped her spoon in the soup and brought it to her mouth. 

The flavour and warmth quickly spread through her mouth. It still had the sting of pepper, but it was softer and more balanced out with the other spices. 

“Hmm, this is good.” She admitted, dipping her spoon back into the soup. 

“I know.” Reyna agreed and Sage looked up just to see her take a bite of the cochinita. She eyed Reyna for a reaction but the Mexican woman didn’t so much as twitch after she had swallowed her bite. 

This had to be some joke. How the same dish made her feel like the world was on fire and did nothing to Reyna, she couldn’t make sense of it. “H-how?” She murmured, her tone somewhere in between astonishment and annoyance.

“Told you I could handle some spice.” Some spice was definitely an understatement. She wondered just how much spice Reyna could take, what would California reapers do to her? Would she just take a bite and continue as if nothing happened? It certainly wouldn’t surprise Sage anymore.

“You are insane.” Sage simply said, baffled.

Reyna laughed heartily, “You’ve just now figured that out? Took you a while.” She sent Sage a wink as she said it and then turned back to continue to eat her dinner.

They ate in silence for a little while, Sage sometimes commenting on the food and Reyna mostly agreeing with her or just nodding along with a small smile. She wondered what was going on in Reyna’s mind as silence fell upon them again. 

Usually, Reyna was loud, not Raze loud, but she was very present. She liked teasing people, or boasting about her skills at dinner when they were back at base. But now she had barely talked after the cochinita incident, letting Sage do all the talking. And it wasn’t even as if she was lost in her thoughts, not the opposite even, she gave Sage her full and undivided attention. Her eyes were almost always locked onto her own and every time there was a silence she had expected Reyna to fill it up, but she didn’t. She stayed silent, listened and smiled. 

Sage would normally think something was off with Reyna, but with the constant smile plastered on her face it was impossible to think any different than that she was content. So she continued to talk about training, meetings, little things that bugged her, the insignificant stuff, really, but Reyna listened like she was telling her the answer to all the questions she’d ever had. And Sage loved it. 

She had never had people giving her the undivided attention with no ulterior motive. Reyna didn’t need healing, or chores to be swapped or anything else really. She just listened because she wanted to and that meant more to Sage than Reyna would possibly ever know. 

So Sage rambled on and Reyna listened, sometimes commented and smiled.

Once Reyna had finished her meal, she watched as Sage continued to eat hers. She had always been a slow eater, mostly because at the temple they never did anything in a rush, as patience was truly a virtue there. Her abbot used to talk about appreciating the gift of earth that was our food. That we shouldn’t rush through it to reach the end but instead enjoy what has been given to the fullest. Even when she had left the temple, she still respected that sentiment.

Sage stopped mid bite, her spoon still in the air with the food on it, “What is it?” 

“Nothing, I was just wondering…” Reyna said a mischievous glint now growing in her eyes. A glint that was far too familiar. She had seen it many times when Reyna was in the range.

“Wondering what…” Sage said cautiously, lowering her spoon back into the soup.

“Have you ever had a tequila shot?” The question didn’t make sense, they had just been talking about Killjoy’s inventions (Reyna making clear that she really didn’t like her tech), and somehow Reyna had made a bridge to tequila? Once again, Sage wondered what went on in Reyna’s brain. 

She slowly shook her head, “Not that I know of, why?” 

“Perfect.” Reyna grinned and stopped the waiter that just so happened to walk by, ordering them two shots.

“Oh no-” she quickly shook her head, “we can’t drink, we have a meeting tomorrow morning.” Brimstone would start another hour long speech about the importance of the meetings if they showed up hungover. Of course, they could just do one shot and leave it at that, but Sage had drank with Reyna before and Reyna didn’t just do one shot , ever.

“Ah, who cares.” Reyna looked at her with daring eyes, “We are here now, tomorrow is tomorrow’s problem.” It was a weak excuse, just like the ‘let’s just live’ excuse, but it worked. How couldn’t it? Sage couldn’t say no to Reyna, even if she wished to.

Two shots got placed on their table and with it two slices of lime and a salt shaker. 

“What’s the salt and lime for?” Sage asked with her brows furrowed together in confusion.

“You’ll find out-” Reyna’s grin grew, “By any chance, have you ever taken a bodyshot?”

“A what?” Sage furrowed her brows in confusion. She was sure Reyna was now just making things now.

Reyna chuckled softly, “Oh you’ll find out.”

Chapter Text

“Excuse me,” Sage said, “I’m going to the restroom real quick.” She pushed herself up as she stood, the alcohol seemed to hit her square in the face. They had done about four shots, but not yet the infamous bodyshot, but Sage had felt more intoxicated than usual when she went out drinking. The edges of her vision were a bit blurry and her mind was fuzzy. She placed one hand on the table to stabilise herself in the hopes that Reyna didn’t notice her weakness; tequila.

“Sure,” Reyna grinned at her, as per usual, “the shots and I will be waiting for you.” She leaned back in her chair. Her shoulders were slumped, her head cocked to the side and her hands played with an empty shot glass. Reyna looked relaxed and Sage wanted to think that her influence had something to do with that, though, it probably was the tequila’s effect rather than Sage’s presence.

“Alright,” Sage grinned back. As she turned around it didn’t escape her eyes that Reyna’s were following her movements. The way Reyna’s eyes had been tracking her every movement throughout the dinner hadn’t escaped Sage’s notice. Better yet, it made her stomach do that weird flutter thing that she still wasn’t used to. It was the same feeling that she had when she entered the range; excitement and nerves that settled in her stomach and caused her whole body to feel static. 

Sage turned and walked towards the restroom with slightly unsteady legs. The room didn’t spin, but it was a bit vague. The colours of the walls blurred together sometimes and she felt like the walk toward the restroom took ages. 

When she finally entered the restroom, she noticed that it was designed in the same way as the rest of the restaurant. Though the walls were plastered with photos, her attention was drawn to her reflection that was lit up by the light that hung above the mirror. 

Truth be told, she hadn’t even needed to use the restroom, it was more of an escape from Reyna’s stare. Though she loved this undivided attention, it had a terrible effect on her body. See, every time Reyna’s voice dropped lower it caused the hairs on her arms to stand upright and when she looked at her through her eyebrows with a dark and (what Sage hoped to be) a longing stare, Sage’s heart skipped more beats than it should.

And the alcohol didn’t help either. Usually, Sage held a tight grasp on her emotions and thoughts, but the tequila loosened her reins. Now they ran free, causing her heart to flutter at every touch and her lower stomach throb with desire with every dark look Reyna had given her.

It was as if there were no rational thoughts in her brain anymore. When Reyna asked her literally anything, instead of locking onto her eyes, Sage’s slid down to Reyna’s lips, watching as they moved and thinking about wanting them on her own. When Reyna laid her hand down on her own and Reyna’s slender fingers drew little circles on the back of her hand, she wondered what it was like to have them inside her and it drove her crazy. 

Sage sucked in a breath as she looked at herself in the mirror. She even looked like a mess, her ponytails had a few strands loose, her face was all flushed and her lipstick had been smudged. 

She opened the faucet and let the water cool her hands before pressing them on her cheeks. A relieved sigh escaped her lips as she cooled down, even if it was just by the slightest. 

Though the flush slowly disappeared from her cheeks, her whole body still felt on fire and her mind was still rattling on about what if’s . 

“Calm down,” she breathed in deeply, held it for a couple of seconds and let go before repeating the process. It’s the same process she used to get into a meditative state, or when she had to put herself to sleep on nights where it seemed to elude her. “It’s fine, nothing is going to happen, she didn’t notice anything.” She told herself, or rather lied to herself. Because whatever this was, it was definitely not fine. 

There wasn’t anything fine about blushing at every comment of your friend about your appearance, or getting fidgety around them everytime they ask you a personal question. Neither was there anything fine about thinking of wanting to have your friends’ lips on your own, to know how they taste, to feel them pressed against your own body, their hands on you-

“Fuck.” She hissed, hiding her face in her hands. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” 

Sage didn’t swear. That was one thing she was known for back at base. Better yet, she was the one person yelling “language!” at every one who dared to drop a swear word in her presence. Mostly, the other agents listened to her, but with agents like Breach, Jett and Raze it was impossible to keep yelling language every time they swore. Then she would never stop saying the word. If they would see her now, swearing like a drunken sailor, they would have a fit.

This wasn’t her, that was clear. Sage was used to always being in control, staying calm, being the eye of the storm. Now, however, she was the storm, it ravaged through her heart, raged through her veins and shook her mind. Every ounce of control that she ever may have held, had been ripped away from her by four shots of tequila and the presence of Reyna. Both of them had spiralled her out of control and she was left with- whatever the hell this mess was. 

It wasn’t even the liking part that was throwing her off her game, not even the fact that it was a woman she liked. It was the fact that this was a completely different feeling than what she used to feel for people she liked.

Usually her crushes were filled with pining stares, daydreaming and a little flutter in her stomach whenever they walked past. Now, however? 

Now it was shaking hands everytime Reyna was following her movements, it was a mind that made up scenarios in moments that were mostly improper (like when Reyna was cleaning her hands and Sage thought that she could do such a better job at that). Now she had a body on fire that breathed for and through Reyna. 

“Fuck who?” A husky voice sounded behind her.

Sage spun around instantaneously, her hands moving to cover her heart as if to keep it from beating out of her chest. She hadn’t even heard the door opening, too busy cursing herself, it had made it seem like the person behind her had just materialised out of thin air. Or had sneaked in, in a way that only soldiers can. 

“Reyna.” She breathed, her wide eyes focused on the woman in front of her.

“Oh,” Reyna smirked and raised her eyebrow, “Fuck me?” Her twinkling eyes looked Sage up and down and back up ‘till they had reached her face again. Of course, Reyna had taken advantage of the situation. “I wouldn’t be completely opposed to that.” 

“Wh-” What the fuck was happening?! She thought bewildered. Did Reyna just say that? Was it the tequila? Was she making this up? Sage awkwardly cleared her throat which had suddenly grown dry, “What are you doing here?” Her voice sounded meek and high pitched. 

“You took a while, so I went to see if you were okay.” She said casually and stepped right into Sage’s personal space. It was the closest that Reyna had ever been to her and Sage knew she was royally fucked. If she minded it, however? That was a whole different story. 

Sage swallowed; she had to come up with a response but her mind seemed to short circuit. It didn’t help either, when Reyna placed her hand tenderly on Sage’s cheek, for whatever reason, Sage couldn’t decipher. Surprisingly, the cool from before dissipated at the warmth of Reyna’s hand.

“Are you okay?” They were close enough that Reyna could whisper and Sage could still hear it clear as day. 

Sage’s eyes traitorously flicked from Reyna’s eyes to her lips and back. “Fine.” She squeaked. In that moment, she wished nothing more than for the ground to swallow her whole. She hated how not- fine her voice sounded, displaying her inner turmoil to Reyna through her voice.

“Hmm,” she hummed, searching Sage’s face for something. Her body had frozenstill as it waited for Reyna’s next move. It was like it knew that if she were to make one wrong move (like kissing Reyna until all the oxygen in her lungs depleted) , this could all be over. And though this situation made her feel all clammy and nervous, she couldn’t help but like the excitement that buzzed through her body. 

“You don’t look fine,” Reyna concluded from her examination of Sage’s face, “don’t worry, I got just the thing to fix you.” 

Sage wanted to answer but her lips were sealed with a soft press of the lips. Reyna’s lips. Reyna’s lips on her lips. Reyna’s soft, lipsticked lips on hers and her mind simply blanked in shock. 

She was pulling back before Sage could’ve even moved a muscle. The countertop pressed into Sage’s back and Reyna into her front and oh- Reyna was looking at her through her lashes again and she was biting her lip and Sage couldn’t handle it anymore.

A million thoughts flooded back into her brain but none of it mattered except one. Sage wasn’t somebody who said fuck it often (except in the last five minutes). Better yet, she was always the one yelling out ‘language!’ when one of the agents swore. Now however, the word was more than present in her thoughts as she looked at Reyna.

Fuck it .

She grabbed Reyna’s face with a bit more force than she intended to and pulled her lips to her own, catching her into another kiss. 

Reyna immediately responded to it, her lips moved against her own and Sage opened her mouth just enough so that Reyna could deepen the kiss. Instinctively, her hand slid down to the side of Reyna’s neck, feeling the pulse under her thumb which was thrumming surprisingly quick. 

In that moment the world seemed to fall away leaving just the two of them. The only thing she had to focus on was Reyna’s hand on her hip, burning through her jeans. Reyna had brought a flame to her match and now her whole body lit up like a forest fire. It surged with every breath and spread with every touch. 

Just when Sage wanted to deepen the kiss, Reyna’s teeth sunk into her bottom lip which caused an unseemly moan to escape her slightly parted lips. In response, Reyna squeezed her hip, purple nails digging into the denim. Her eyes opened slowly as Reyna moved back and she locked eyes with hungry purple ones. They were lighting up precisely like they did when Reyna took someone’s life and syphoned it from their body. It was chased by the same kind of satisfied sigh that usually followed the syphoning. 

“Reyna-” She huffed, her chest heaving up and down to get some oxygen back into her lungs. One would think she had better stamina seeing as she was a soldier yet it was as if Reyna had extracted all air from her lungs and left her with a fire that wasn’t fueled by oxygen but rather by the touch of Reyna’s lips on hers.

Reyna doesn’t let her continue her sentence instead she fuels the fire. Simultaneously, her hand is moving up from Sage’s hip to the side of her chest, her thumb just right under the underband of her bra. The other hand that had been on her cheek moves down to her thigh, giving it a small squeeze as Reyna presses her front against Sage’s which causes the edge of the countertop to dig into her back. It hurts a little, but Sage can’t help but like it.

Her body responds immediately; her fingers dig into Reyna’s thick hair and her hips buckle into Reyna’s. They deepen the kiss, their tongues dancing around each other and Sage only feels want . She wants more. She wants to deepen the kiss even more. She wants Reyna’s hands on her skin, under her clothes. She wants to feel Reyna everywhere. She wants the fire to consume her. She wants to burn and burn and burn .

“Sage.” A voice sounds and she hums against Reyna’s lips which seems to urge Reyna on as she moves the hand on her thigh up and inwards. 

“Sage.” The voice repeats and Sage wonders how Reyna is talking when her lips are literally sealed onto hers. 

Slowly her grip on Reyna loosens, Reyna seems to pull back but-

“Sage!” 

Sage shoots up with a gasp, the world around her suddenly so bright . So fucking bright. Her wide eyes are met with green ones instead of purple ones. Instead of a grin she finds a scowl and instead of tanned skin she finds a pale one.

Viper.

Her stomach drops heavily, the heat from before evaporating as if being doused in ice cold water. She quickly squeezes her eyes closed, the brightness of the room causing a headache to explode in the back of her mind. “Fuck.”

“Language.” Viper sounds vaguely amused and when Sage opens one eye to check if the woman is, she is met with a small grin, but not like the one she likes. 

Reality catches up with her and three things are made perfectly clear.

One, she just had an - almost - sex dream with Reyna, her colleague and her maybe-sort-of-probably friend. A dream from which she could still feel the tingle of Reyna’s lips on hers and the racing heart that was caused by the intimacy. 

Two, concluding from the headache that was now thudding about everywhere in her brain, they- or well at least she - had taken way too many shots. 

Three, something was definitely wrong because why else would Viper be in her room grinning at her. The only time Viper ever had grinned at her is when she had fucked up with some chemicals in her medbay and had to ask for Viper’s help. Or when she had almost knocked herself out with a new gun that had more recoil than she had expected. Viper only grinned with malicious intent, it seemed. So it definitely wasn’t a good sign that she was grinning at her now. 

These three things unified in one conclusion: Sage had totally, completely and royally fucked up.

“What uh-” Sage scratched her very dry throat, “What are you doing here?” She tried to sound as casual as possible, hoping that Viper wouldn’t notice anything off about her.

“Brimstone asked me - god knows why me - ,” she muttered to herself, “to go fetch you since you are now,” she looked down at her watch before looking back at Sage, “fifteen minutes late for the meeting.” 

Four, she was late for the meeting that Brimstone had said was extremely important.

Totally, completely, royally and utterly fucked up. 

“Ugh.” She groaned, hiding her face in her hands. This morning couldn’t get worse.

“Are you sick or something?” Viper asked, though from the haughty tone with which she said it, it was clear she already knew the answer.

“No.” Sage admitted with a grumble and removed her hands from her face to kick the sheets off of her when she noticed her ‘pyjama’ aka yesterday’s clothes. Great. Absolutely perfect.

The clothes didn’t escape Viper’s notice either as her gaze moved from Sage’s messed up ponytail to her wrinkled blue top. “Just a fun night out?” Viper asked, folding her arms in front of her chest. If it was supposed to be intimidating, it didn’t work on Sage now, seeing as she was too busy trying not to throw up.

Her stomach had started acting up as soon as she had moved. Clearly the Mexican food mixed with the tequila was not a good combination. Who could have guessed. And though her healing could grow limbs and heal the deepest wounds, it would do nothing for belly aches or headaches. She didn’t know why her healing wouldn’t fix that, as it too was something that should be curable, but apparently her powers drew the line at being a hangover cure.

“Hmm.” Sage felt close to snapping at Viper, but then again, her head was swimming - or rather drowning - in this continuous headache, so she wouldn't. Besides, it took all of her energy not to crawl back into her comfortable bed and continue the dream where it had left off. 

“With Reyna, perhaps?” 

This caused Sage’s head to snap up at Viper, causing a sharp pain in her skull right behind her eyes. “Whaaat?” She huffed, her voice a bit more high pitched than usual, “Why would you-”

Viper interrupted her mid sentence, “You talk in your sleep.” She elaborated, the same small grin still stuck on her face.

“Ah, well-” Sage mumbled, not really knowing how to defend her sleep talking self. She could only hope for the best (the best being that Viper didn’t suspect what exactly Reyna had been doing in her dreams). “Fuck.” She added, mostly because of the splitting headache.

“The woman has rubbed off on you with all the swearing. It’s not a nice look on you,” Viper observed, her voice dripping with distaste, “neither is this hangover look.” She continued, looking Sage up and down again. “Freshen up and come to B12, the rest is waiting on you.” 

Sage managed a small nod and a barely noticeable smile, “I will be there as soon as possible.” 

“Good.” Viper curtly replied with a nod and walked out of Sage’s room with the familiar sound of her clicking boots, which only contributed to the growing thudding inside her skull. She needed to either find Skye to help her with the headaches, or find some painstillers because she wouldn’t be able to sit through a whole meeting like this.

The steel door slid closed with a soft tsshk and Sage was finally alone again. Though that wouldn’t last for long, still she enjoyed the couple of seconds filled with nothing but silence and the soft electrical buzzing caused by the big screen that now acted as a window (it displayed the sunrise on a beach, covering the whole room in an orange haze).

When she decided it was time to take action, she pushed herself upwards. Though her legs felt undeniably more steady than yesterday, her stomach didn’t. Her stomach seemed to squeeze together and a wave of nausea washed over her. Sage almost ran to the bathroom, depositing her stomach’s contents in the toilet. 

Five, today was going to be hell.

- 

“Ah, Sage! Thank you for gracing us with your presence at last.” Brimstone greeted her, though it didn’t feel like a greeting, more like she was getting put in the pillory so that the rest of the agents could throw tomatoes at her for being late. Anyways- 

He looked at her with his usual furrowed brows, lips pressed together in a thin line and with his arms folded in front of him. It would look intimidating, better yet, it was intimidating, though from years of experience she knew that though he may look angry, it didn’t always mean that he was. His constant stoic look made it impossible to guess what he was thinking, as his expression always seemed stuck on this angry face. The only time Sage had seen him smile was in the pictures in his office.

Sage smiled awkwardly at him and greeted him with a little nod. “Yes,” she didn’t have the courage to confront the other agents by looking at them, though she felt their eyes burning in her skin. Besides, if she did look at them, she might find familiar ones she should definitely avoid. So she kept her gaze focused on Brimstone. “I’m sorry for being late but I-”

“I don’t need your excuses, just sit down.” Brimstone grumbled and shame crept up in Sage’s cheeks, reddening them. 

She followed his command and took a seat in the front, beside Sova and opposite to Viper. Both send her knowing looks and Sage leaned back into her seat. The black of her training outfit matched with the leather and she just wished she could melt into it, disappearing. Then no one would look at her with ‘knowing’ eyes and she wouldn’t be under the constant scrutiny of Brimstone (there was a reason that the only spot left was the one at the front of the table). 

As soon as Sage was seated, Brimstone continued the meeting with a grumpy voice. She could have paid attention, but something pulled at her that made her head turn and her gaze follow into the group of agents. It was against her better judgement, but before she could correct herself and return her gaze, it had already found Reyna, like a magnet to steel. 

Reyna was looking at Brimstone, apparently she was actually listening to what he had to say. Her make-up was flawless as ever, her hair flowing over the back of her shoulders and her earrings dangled in the harsh led light of the room. She looked good and very un-hangovery, unlike others. This flawless almost dreamlike look on her brought back memories of her dream. The one where instead of three metres, they were mere inches apart. The one with the kissing and touching- 

As if she knew that she was being watched, Reyna’s gaze shifted from Brimstone toward her. For a second they just looked at eachother, but then Sage duped herself by sliding her gaze down to Reyna’s lips. A knowing smirk was slowly spreading, causing Sage to quickly meet her eyes again. Reyna dipped her head at her in a nod of acknowledgement. 

Caught staring, Sage whipped her head back, her ponytail hitting Sova with a swoosh , which earned her a soft offended grunt.

Usually, she’d turn back to apologise to Sova, but she couldn’t risk locking eyes with Reyna again. Instead she opted for acting not to notice that she hit Sova and instead focused on what Brimstone had to say. 

For a solid fifteen minutes she tried her best to keep all the focus on Brimstone but everytime he let a silence fall- or someone asked a question - her thoughts drifted off to last night, before the dream. 

The first thing that came to mind were the easy conversations she had with Reyna. She went over everything she said, reflecting on every stupid or ridiculous thing she had talked about. If she remembered correctly, she had even brought up her shower thoughts like ‘can you cut Phoenix’ hair or does it just grow back, because he is a phoenix and all that?’ and ‘what and who would charge her phone quicker, radianite or Neon?”. She remembers how Reyna laughed at them, but not in a belittling way, she laughed with Sage and shared her own, coming up with her own theories about her own shower thoughts just as well as Sage’s. On the matter of Neon vs. Radianite: Sage was team Neon while Reyna was team radianite. 

Quickly those thoughts drifted towards the end of the night, with the shots but without the infamous body shot. She thought about the way Reyna had stopped her from taking the last shot because she thought it’d be too much for Sage. She remembered going to the bathroom, but no one following her, and then going back out. She recalled Reyna supporting her as they walked back to the hovercraft, admiring the streets and stars as they made their way back. And she remembered falling asleep on the hovercraft. 

Which would mean that she either had been woken up and walked to her room with the help of Reyna but was too sleepy to retain any memories of it or- Or she had never woken up and Reyna would have carried her to her room. For her own sake, she hoped it was the first because she wouldn’t be able to handle the embarrassment of being confronted by the second option.

She shook her head, trying to shake these what-if-thoughts out of her head and tried to focus back on the meeting. Though Brimstone was only repeating stuff he had already discussed with her in private yesterday morning. She probably wouldn’t even miss anything that important. As Brimstones’ voice droned on and her concentration seemed to abandon her again, she let her what-if’s run wild again, allowing them to think of what would have happened if Viper hadn’t woken her up, where would her dream have taken her then? 

Perhaps, she shouldn’t indulge in the thoughts, considering that Reyna may not even feel the same way about her and the fact that Reyna was not only her friend but also her colleague . It was wrong, it was unprofessional. Hell, she was sitting here in a very important meeting thinking about whether Reyna's lips really tasted the way they did in her dream. That wasn’t normal and it wasn’t okay.

Her stomach felt heavy again as a guilt slowly started to pick at her brain. What if Reyna just needed a friend and here she was thinking these perverse thoughts about her. What if this was a meeting of which she didn’t already know the contents and she would have just skipped over it and maybe in a later mission her lack of knowledge could blow the whole operation? Maybe hurting her fellow agents in the process too?

What she was doing wasn’t just bad for her own cortisol levels, neither was it for her performance nor the safety of her team, Reyna included. Whatever these feelings were, she needed to get rid of them; stuffed away and never to be felt again. She could not risk becoming a liability and danger to the group by something that she didn't even know was a crush or whatever- 

See! She didn’t even know what it was that she felt. Why would she act on it if she wasn’t even sure herself?

No, it became very clear.

This wildfire that Reyna had set ablaze - and Sage had fueled with hopeful thoughts, scenarios and dreams - had to be extinguished.

–

The agents got most of the afternoon off; there was no training scheduled and with Brimstone’s permission they were even allowed outside of the base. Most of them took advantage of the opportunity. She had seen Neon, Killjoy, Raze, Skye and Jett take off with the hovercraft. Phoenix, Breach and Yoru were playing pool in the relaxation room and others were scattered in either their bedrooms or the living room. The only space that was completely empty was the training area. 

Sage’s footsteps echoed against the iron walls as she walked to her locker. It was a good thing that she had taken the painkillers when she did otherwise the harsh sounds would have caused her another headache. In addition, a good breakfast and enough water to drown in, seemed to help dull her hangover too. She didn’t feel as sluggish anymore, her headache was almost gone and her stomach had settled.

The locker opened with a soft squeak and Sage grabbed her vest from it, which hung right beside her battle gear. She had shed her black sweater after the meeting and was now wearing her black training pants with a white short sleeved t-shirt. The protection vest slipped on with ease and she made her way over to the armoury. She walked over to the the wall that was adorned with many, many , guns and Sage couldn’t help the little grin that overcame her.

Sage wasn’t a violent person, that was clear, but she couldn’t wait to blow some steam off with the guns. Couldn’t wait to feel the recoil of the guns through her body as she shot down the robots with those intense red eyes. 

Her gaze drifted toward the massive gun at the right bottom of the wall: the odin. Though it would feel amazing to fire it right now, it was heavy and hard to control. She needed something that she could actually run around and aim accurately with.

She opted for the phantom, quite accurate, light and with a quick fire rate. Perfect for a swift training.

The panel lit up as Sage made her way over to it, she adjusted the settings from normal to hard, chose her map and the amount of bots. A thought popped up in her mind: maybe she should warm up first? Then again, she had done this level before, she should be able to finish it with ease even while suffering through a hangover. Maybe after this she could up the level to immortal and if she was really feeling it, radiant.

“Are you ready, Sage?” The robotic voice said through the intercom. Sage didn’t bother to respond and pressed on the button to open the doors. They slid open with a soft hiss.

When she walked in, she waited for a couple of seconds to watch her terrain being set up. Black blocks with orange linings rose up from the ground, some as tall as Sage herself and some thrice her size, some were arched, some thick, others thin and easy to shoot through. In the distance she noticed red lights flickering to light. The dummies came alive with the sound of reloading guns. 

The same robotic voice counted down from five to one while Sage checked her gun. She checked the locations of some of the dummies and when the counter hit zero she dashed forward.

It was almost cathartic; the sounds of bullets hitting the stones beside and behind her, the sound that her own gun made when they shot them, the recoil of said gun pushing through her arms and shoulder and most of all the sounds of the bullets hitting their target. She loved the way the red dots died down one by one as she hit headshot after headshot. 

Sage moved with an ease only a trained soldier could, she moved around bullets, hiding behind obstructions, ducked and sprinted around corners. Who cared about a warm up? She didn’t need it, as was made clear by the increasing amount of destroyed dummies on the floor.

As she moved further into the room the bots became more frequent and though it should, it did not cause her panic. She kept her head calm and slid behind another block, reloading her weapon. This was a moment where she could catch her breath but it also gave the thoughts she had pushed away the opportunity to push its way back to the front of her mind. 

She heard a clunk left from her and turned just in time to hit one of the dummies. Oil spat from its head as it was split open. A flash of Reyna’s hands on her hips intruded her mind just after the collision and Sage quickly shook her head to get rid of it.

Not now .

Sage turned the corner, aimed her gun again and fired, the track of her bullet and her opponents head aligned. They connected with a loud bang and another flash came to the surface. One with Reyna’s lips on hers.

A sound to the right, she aimed and shot. Another collision. Another flashback. Reyna’s teeth digging in her lower lip.

Another hit, another flash. Reyna’s front pressed up against her own.

Four became five and the flashes continued, never leaving her alone. Sage didn’t know if they fueled her or distracted her, though she did know that frustration started to bubble up in her. She just wanted to blow off steam, not gain even more. 

She was out in the open now, turning around quickly at every sound, keeping her eye on every robot appearing. Her aim was impeccable but even so, she was out in the open, she was exposed and thereby vulnerable. 

It was bound to happen one way or another still she let out a surprised gasp as she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder. Sage dived behind an obstruction as she cursed herself, “Shit, stupid- Fuck .” She groaned and moved one hand away from the gun to feel at the wound. 

Her red liquid was slowly spreading over her shoulder. She moved her hand a bit away from the wound and channelled her powers. A blue-ish light came from her palm and its particles surrounded her hand, tingling her skin and numbing the pain in her shoulder that had started to spike.

Around her she could still hear the bots moving around, their metal body’s clanking with every move they made. They were close. And though she would not be killed by them, she wasn’t looking forward to more bullet wounds penetrating her body. 

Her wound was almost finished healing by the time she heard a loud metallic noise on her left. Her head shot sideways but she didn’t see the bot. Better yet, the only thing she saw was a purple haze.

Bullets were fired but they sounded dull, muffled. However, she didn’t have time to let herself be doused in this lulling comfort with bullets that sounded far away and enemies that were not in sight and couldn’t see her. Though, she could still see the bullets flying around her, chipping off parts of the block at which she was leaned against. Turning the corner, one hand still on her healing shoulder, she rapidly fired in the direction of where the bullets had come from.

Just as the fire returned, she hid behind the block again with a soft huff. Her wound had almost healed, but it still hurt as she shot.

She looked back into the purple haze only to see a figure walking out from it. It wasn’t a surprise to see Reyna standing there, a smirk on her face and her gun held high. 

Sage didn’t know if she was grateful for the help, or fed up by it. She could have handled this herself but she didn’t have time to argue about it now, not when multiple bots were closing in on them.

So she gave Reyna a small nod and Reyna’s smirk fell into a straight line, her face suddenly turning very serious as she nodded back.

They didn’t waste long and started firing away, the haze was slowly lessening which made it easy to make out the red eyes of the enemies. And even if they were still out of sight, she only had to follow the line of the bullets that were fired at her to know where they were. 

Sage, with her now healed shoulder, pushed herself up to stand behind Reyna, covering her back. They were like a well-oiled machine, turning around each other to protect them from the bots that the other couldn’t see or hadn’t noticed yet. As they fired away the sound of steel bodies dropping became more frequent. And as the smoke disappeared completely, it ended with just the two of them, surrounded by the broken bodies of many, many dummies.

Just as Sage looked at Reyna, Reyna looked back, but not at Sage herself instead she was looking at her shoulder. Though the wound had healed, the blood was still there like a big wine stain on her white shirt. 

All of a sudden Sage noticed a movement behind Reyna and instinct took over. She grabbed her knife from her belt, flipped it open and turned away from Reyna, opening her body so she could lunge at the bot that was moving towards Reyna. Because of the momentum she barely had to use any force, still she yelled as the knife slashed through the robot's neck,

severing it from its body. Oil spat from its neck like an artery filled with blood, only black.

Now, with every bot eliminated, the intercom buzzed on again, congratulating her on completing the level. A small satisfied feeling settled in her as she looked at all the oil smeared on the floor and bodies that laid around her in pieces. It was somehow gratifying, seeing that still as a healer, she could wreak havoc upon anything if she wanted to. Though, taking out bots was different than taking out people, definitely when those people looked like her newfound family. 

“Are-” Reyna interrupted the silence, “Is your shoulder okay?”

Annoyance flared up as Reyna spoke, not necessarily directed at Reyna, but more at the feelings that spurred to life when she talked to Sage.

“It’s fine.” Sage bit back, straightening herself again. She cleaned her oil stained knife with her shirt - it was ruined anyways - and put it back into her belt. Not waiting for Reyna to continue the conversation she turned around and started walking back to the control panel where she would wait ‘til the maintenance robots had cleaned the room before entering again.

“A thank you would be nice, seeing as I just saved you.” Reyna commented from behind her, the heel of her boots clacking against the floor as she followed Sage back.

Sage just wanted to laugh but she knew better than to pick a fight with Reyna right now. “I didn’t need saving,” she said as a matter of fact, “I had it handled.”

“It didn’t look like you got it handled.” Reyna hinted at her shoulder. The door of the control room shut with a soft hiss again. 

She made a 180 degree turn to face Reyna. “I did, I was healing it and I was ready. I didn’t need your saving, Reyna. Better yet, I’ve been here longer than you have, I have more experience-”

“Do you? Do you really?” Reyna interrupted her. She had caught up on Sage’s annoyance and was clearly growing annoyed too. “You are a healer, Sage-” 

“No.” She quickly snapped at Reyna, “Don’t you dare start that bullshit. You know damn well I’m not ‘just some healer’. I am just as capable as any other agent here to kill my opponents and I can heal. It’s not just one of both, so don’t act like I can’t save myself just because I’m not always on the front lines in the battlefield.” 

“That’s not what I was going to say.” Reyna argued back, “I-” 

“No.” Sage repeated, “I don’t want to hear it.” Something inside her had burst, some anger seeping through which couldn’t be talked down. Maybe it was because she was tired or perhaps it was her own confusion that caused her to lash out this way but for once she didn’t want to hold it in or undermine her own feelings. Besides, it was because of Reyna that she felt like this.

“I didn’t need your saving,” she continued, “I never asked for it, so no, not thank you. I was handling it perfectly fine.” 

Reyna scoffed, folding her arms in front of her, “Still, I did save you, it’s not that hard to say thank you.”

“Is that why you came in there? To get a thank you?” Sage couldn’t believe Reyna right now. How could she not understand that she had acted out of line? It was an unspoken rule that one never enters the range when someone is practising without their permission. Reyna knew it, hell she had seen Reyna get angry at other agents for doing the same thing that she had done with Sage just now. 

“No,” she quickly came to defend herself, “I did it because I saw you were hurt.” Instead of looking back at Sage, she was avoiding her eyes now. They were focused on the wall with guns now. “But whatever.” She dropped her arms beside her, “Message clear.” By the set of her jawline, Sage could see that Reyna was agitated. It was something Reyna did whenever she had to subdue her own emotions, Sage had seen it many times in the battlefield and at gamenights. 

“Have fun with your training,” Reyna muttered through gritted teeth and moved towards the exit. Just before she walked into the locker room, she looked over her shoulder one last time. Something hard had slipped over Reyna’s eyes, the softness from yesterday gone. “You know, I really thought we were making progress, but I guess I was wrong.” 

“What-” Sage frowned but Reyna was already gone, her footsteps slowly fading away in the other room.

She let out a soft groan, turned around on her heels and covered her face with her hands. It was so stupid. They both were right in some way, Sage knew that, but her rationality seemed to escape her now. 

Why couldn’t Reyna see the hypocrisy of what she had done? Even if it was with the right intentions? There was no real danger in the training area anyways; she could get hurt, yes, but not lethally so. Besides, the whole healer argument was just plain insulting. She would have expected these kinds of comments from Breach or Yoru, but not Reyna and that is what hit her the hardest about this all. Sage was under the understanding that Reyna knew her, at least better than the other agents, but clearly she saw Sage the same way as most of the other agents.

And the most annoying part about it all, the part that made her hands curl into fists and clenched her jaw, was that still after their fight, she felt the same way about Reyna. Even with the hypocrisy and the snapping, she still wanted to kiss her, to make her dream come to life. 

The calm that she had felt in the training area was gone, replaced with an agitated feeling that laid somewhere in between frustration and aroused. She walked over to the control panel again, adjusting the settings. Now, instead of a phantom, she grabbed the ares. She needed something with a bit more firepower and the ares would be perfect for it. 

Once again, she entered the training field as she adjusted her vest. It was a new map, and there were less bots this time, but it would be harder to kill them. By the amount of red lights popping up in her field of vision, she knew the first bots were already moving towards her. 

With a deep breath and a last thought of Reyna, she started to fire.

Chapter Text

After her outburst, they hadn’t talked for at least two days. It had given Sage the time to recover from her hangover but her duty didn’t leave her much time to figure out what was going on with her feelings. She was either training, doing chores or taking care of the team, rarely alone. Though she had been surrounded by her colleagues almost constantly, she had barely seen Reyna. Except at dinner and sometimes when they passed each other in the hallways. They had locked eyes but they hadn’t spoken.

Now, that would change, seeing as Sage was being sent out on another mission with Killjoy, Raze, Omen and - of course - Reyna. 

Though none of them were anywhere to be seen at this moment. 

They had all scattered immediately, most of the team racing to B site, only leaving her and Reyna to defend A site. Though that was short-lived, as Reyna left to head to B site as soon as Killjoy relayed that the attack on B site had begun. Then she was all alone, or so she thought, seeing as Omega’s chambers decided to go rogue and try to overtake A site now that it was just Sage left standing. 

During the short shoot out, she accidentally bumped against a wall to avoid the bullets racing towards her and her comms had come loose. In her clumsy stupidity, she managed to step on it right after, immediately cutting off her contact with her teammates. Luckily, she did manage to take the opposing Chamber out.

After clearing the surroundings to make sure no more Omega agents were planning to outsmart them, she also made her way to B site. 

For just a couple of seconds, there was almost an eerie calm. The only sound that echoed against the warm orange walls was that of Sage’s steps and even those were barely audible. She could hear her breathing and the sound of her clothes brushing against each other. The cat buddy on her gun spun aimlessly in the air. 

Without hearing any of her teammates the calmness of it all agitated her even more. They could all be dead, hence the lack of gunshots echoing through the air but then she’d also would have been notified by her wristband if a spike had been planted. This would mean that either the enemy team had rotated or her team was playing quiet, trying to retake the site.

She rounded the corner. The courtyard looked relatively empty, but she never trusted just her senses. Eyes could deceive as could sound. It’s why she used her gut in here too, somehow her gut always seemed to know if something was lurking around the corners. Like now. But she couldn’t afford to wait, not without intel. She needed to meet up with someone on her team or flank up on the enemy, which one of those she was to do, Sage had not yet decided.

Sage crouched behind a container, waiting half a minute if someone would appear or if something would happen. These kinds of moments where nothing happened, didn’t occur often. Mostly people heard a gunshot and they’d all run towards it (instead of the usual away from it). But the enemy team seemed just as cautious as them. That or one of the teams was already lying in a ditch somewhere.

When thirty seconds had passed and still nothing had happened Sage decided to go for it, she didn’t have the time to wait. Her gun was fully reloaded, her orbs in place and her heal was ready, there was nothing to stall for anymore. She took a deep breath in and jumped down the platform, her boots hitting soft grass instead of stone or steel. It felt comfortable, soft ground, but she didn’t have time to enjoy the feeling. 

Quickly she shuffled forward, her gun high and never resting in the same position for long. It covered the opening to mid-bottom, mid-cubby, mid top and then back to mid-link again. That routine repeated itself around two more times before she reached the opening of mid bottom. She pressed her back against the wall, breathed in deeply and turned around the corner, her gun still elevated.

From what she could see mid-bottom, mid-pizza and the opening of mid-market was deserted. She exhaled softly and quickly moved on toward mid-link. 

Gunshots exploded in the distance, a full array of them. Sage automatically straightened like an alerted deer in a forest, her eyes widened as she looked in the direction it had come from. B site.

The gunshots had distracted her and when she turned to check her surroundings again, she was too slow. Reyna had snuck up to her with a grin, knife high. Not her Reyna. Oh, this was definitely not her Reyna. This grin wasn’t nice or playful, it was murderous.

Before Sage couldn’t react she was pushed against the wall, hard . Her head and back hit the back with an audible crack and a grunt escaped her lips. That too, was the last sound it made before her windpipe got closed off by Reyna’s hands. In panic she dropped her gun, the one thing that could have probably helped her most. Instead, her hands instinctively started to claw at Reyna’s, trying to remove them from her throat.

Hurriedly Sage went over everything she had seen. Reyna didn’t have a gun, only a knife, but she went for choking. Blood was smeared over the side of Reyna’s face and her eyes looked crazed. When Sage tried to swallow, which was clearly impossible in her current situation, she could feel the friction of Reyna’s hands against her own throat, tightening as she did so. Too, she felt a liquid between their skin. Blood, probably. 

Her head started to become foggy. Time to act. 

With her legs she started to kick, hitting air most of the time until her knee met muscle. With a low grunt, Reyna released her grip on her only slightly, but that was the exact window Sage needed. She gasped for air as she pulled Reyna’s hands apart. At the same time, she moved her own body away from the wall. 

Her eyes trained down on her gun at the same time as Reyna's did. Their eyes met but there was no recognition in it. They were just purple eyes. With a small yell, they both threw themselves on the rifle. 

Struggling for power the both of them clawed at the gun and each other. Reyna’s nails cut across Sage’s face and Sage managed to smash Reyna’s into the ground a couple of times until Reyna managed to pull the trigger. With the recoil of the gun, they both lost their grip on it as it scattered away from them, out of reach. 

“ Puta madre .” Reyna cursed, the sound just as familiar as her Reyna’s voice but still slightly off, wrong in a way.

“Your fault.” Sage rasped, her throat still burning fiercely. She didn’t waste her time racing for the gun again, instead, she rolled onto Reyna, throwing a punch.

In all fairness, she took it like a champ. The woman under her grunted and spit out blood on the ground beside her before snapping her head back, a furious look adorning the oh-so-familiar face. It was really, really hard for Sage not to let her feelings take over now. Because this is what her senses lied to her about. She looked like Reyna, she sounded like Reyna, hell she felt like Reyna. But in her gut she knew this wasn’t the same one. So the part of her that wanted to heal this Reyna's wounds, to let her go- to show her kindness, those were the parts that needed to be suppressed. Even this moment of hesitation was a show of weakness.

And if there was one thing both Reyna’s were good at, that was spotting weakness and knowing how to use it for personal gain. Reyna had somehow acquired her knife and was lunging toward Sage’s neck. In a reflex Sage shot backwards, the knife only nicked her skin but it was enough for a couple drops of blood to slide down her neck. She immediately scurried backwards, one hand on her throat and the other trying to get to the gun again.

Reyna laughed as she stood up. “Just as easily distracted as my Sage.” Sage didn't get the time to figure out what she meant by it as she felt a hand grab onto her ankle. The earth pulled on her clothing as Reyna dragged her backward.

Sage groaned, reaching out for the gun but barely scratching the back of it with her nails. Reyna rolled her onto her back with a soft disappointed ‘tut tut tut’. “I think not, Sage. We are doing this the old-fashioned way.” 

“Reyna, there are better ways to survive than your path!” Sage tried to convince the woman on top of her, kicking away with her legs but to no avail. So she opted for throwing punches with her hands. Well one of them anyway, the other went for the knife still tucked into her belt. But Reyna was prepared, while she caught one thrown punch with her hand she grabbed Sage’s knife with the other, throwing it a couple of metres away.

Reyna just rolled her eyes, “Oh I’m so ashamed. Pobre de mi, how will I live with myself?” She deadpans as she leans forward. 

“Now, Sage, I am curious.” Reyna grinned, pinning her hands down above her head. “Who will heal the healer?” 

“We have never had to find out, gratefully, and we never will.” Sage bit back, her brows furrowed together in anger as she struggled against Reyna’s grip. But even now that Reyna grabbed onto her wrists with one hand so the other could wield the knife, she was in no position to free herself.

“I guess your team will find out quick enough.” Reyna grinned, “I truly hope you have a way of reviving yourself, it would be a shame to have to miss this face on the battlefield.” 

“I will not die here.” Sage bit and lifted her head to try to spit in Reyna’s face, all niceties thrown out the window, who visibly recoiled, however, her grip didn’t move an inch. Reyna furrowed her brows as she removed the saliva with the back of her arm before bursting out in a manic laugh, the creepiness of it only increased by the never-ending echo of gunshots. 

“ Ay corazón ,” the nickname sounded familiar but she still didn’t know what it meant, “you are going to regret doing that.” Purple eyes hardened as she raised the knife to slash it down.

Sage braced herself for the impact, but it never came. Instead, there was a loud bang that rang through Sage’s ears. It caused Sage’s eyes to snap open only to find that the palm of Reyna’s hand, the one that had held the knife, looked bloodied and knifeless. 

Before she got to process what had happened, another gunshot sounded and a splash of blood splattered across Sage’s face. When her wide eyes moved from Reyna’s hand to Reyna’s head, she found herself staring straight into Reyna’s blank eyes. Black ones. The purple fading away from them.

With a small yelp, she started to throw Reyna’s body off of her own as she scrambled away from under her.

Sage had seen a lot of shit.

But seeing Reyna like that. The same Reyna that she liked- Oh for fuck sake’s, she had surpassed like by now- The Reyna that looked and talked like the Reyna that she loved and had done for years, like that. It shook something in her. She had seen Reyna rendered dead many, many times but not this close. She had never seen the inside of Reyna’s skull or the way the life had drained from her eyes. She had never had Reyna’s blood splattered over her face. God-

“Hey- hey it’s okay.” A voice said. Two hands followed, pressing down on her shoulders. “Sage-” 

Sage hadn’t even been aware that she had been hyperventilating until now. Her chest was heaving up and down and it felt like her windpipe was being squeezed shut again. She tried to get as much air in, breathing irregularly and fast, just so that some oxygen would enter her body.

“Sage.” The voice shook her from her panic and finally made her look up from her own bloodied hands. 

Reyna.

Her Reyna.  

Oh, her Reyna.

“Reyna, you- She-” She tried to talk but only managed to heave out parts of words and sentences, never finishing one before continuing to the next one.

“You are panicking. Focus on me- slow that breathing down.” Her gaze flickered over Reyna’s body, looking for injuries but she seemed fine as far as Sage could ascertain in her panic. Still she heaved uncontrollably.

“Ling.” Her gaze shot back up to Reyna’s eyes. She could see the concern in them. Concern, care. Finally she could find some comfort in the warm purple eyes. She remembered how the corners of Reyna’s eyes got crow’s feet when she smiled, like truly smiling when she thought no one was looking at her. How they would light up with glee whenever she won a board game. Those eyes that carried so much emotion in them, emotion that Reyna herself tried her best to hide.

Sage then focused on Reyna’s lips, watching as she spoke to her and breathing along with Reyna’s breaths. She noticed that there was a small mole just above her purple lipsticked lips.

Then her attention drifted to Reyna’s hands on her shoulders, holding her steady and keeping her sitting upright. They radiated warmth and Sage just wanted to lean forward to feel more of this warmth, to hug Reyna and never let go.

She didn’t, not wanting to cross a line. Though slowly but surely her heavy breathing subsided and the calm returned. As much as it could with the sounds of gunfire in the background anyway.

“Welcome back.” Reyna grinned at her when she noticed Sage’s panic subside. “Now get your gun, we have a job to finish.” 

She swallowed and nodded, pushing herself upwards and moving toward her gun. The body of omega-earth Reyna still lay there, unmoving. It still freaked her out a bit to see Reyna’s döppelganger like that. It was clear that though her consciousness knew it wasn’t her Reyna, her heart still couldn’t make out the difference. Sage bent down to grab her gun and reloaded it. 

“How’s the rest of the team? I lost my earpiece.” She asked, still slightly out of breath.

“Omen’s out, Killjoy and Raze are injured but still defending the site.” Reyna updated her, “Or well, they were last I left them.” She corrected herself seeing as the gunfire had stopped. 

“Why’d you leave them?” Sage asked, confusion clear in her voice. 

Reyna just shrugged, “I wanted to see if anyone could be coming through the courtyard and I-” She shook her head, “Never mind.”

“Never mind what?” Sage asked, curiosity overtaking her. Reyna shook her head, as if dismissing the thought but eventually gave in. 

“I hadn’t heard from you in a while,” she said, seemingly awkward in her admittance, “so I thought maybe something had happened.” It wasn’t anything weird to do, Sage would have done the exact same thing, so it only made it weird that Reyna acted so strange about it. 

“Oh, yeah, fair-”

“And then I heard the gunshots and the rest is well-” She nodded towards her own döppelgangers body now lying face first to the ground, “history.”

Sage followed her gaze, “Yeah. Thanks for that, again.” She exhaled deeply, “Okay, let’s go and see why the firing has stopped.” 

“Good idea.” Reyna gave her a small smile and raised her gun again, holding it ready. She walked past Sage to mid-link without looking back, instead, she checked the surroundings in front of them.

Sage took that moment to recollect herself without Reyna’s intense gaze on her. The gun felt heavy in her hands, hands that were still shaking slightly. She did a last lookover at Omega Earth's Reyna’s body before focusing on her own Reyna and following her to the site.

After clearing every corner, they entered the site, only to find that the other party was retreating. There was no sign of their own team, the only movement in their periphery being Omega’s Breach and Sage disappearing around the corner, not even looking back. 

Sage stood behind Reyna, watching as the woman followed Omega Earth Sage with the gun. Knowing Reyna and her impeccable aim, the point of the gun would probably be trained on the other Sage’s head, ready to fire. And fire she should. They’d have to render one of  their opponents dead in order to get a look at Omega’s new communication system which they had apparently made some changes to in the past two weeks. 

Clearly, their enemies had picked up on the fact that they had found a way to listen along to their conversations through the mics, thanks to Killjoy and Cypher, and therefore knew almost always what their plans were to be. Now it seems they had noticed something was up in the losing streak they had had in the last couple of battles and decided to change it up, which meant they needed to get a close look at the communication system again but they couldn’t do that until all of them were either dead or unconscious.

But Reyna didn’t fire, not even when Sage whispered behind her, “Shoot her.” Watching Reyna shoot her copy obviously wasn’t something she wanted to see, but it was what was necessary at the moment. But instead, Reyna just followed Sage with the point of her gun until she disappeared behind the wall. 

There was the sound of a hovercraft quickly approaching, probably the enemy's hovercraft, it was quieter than their own. Seems like they’d won once more, though they didn’t succeed at their mission. Still, making sure that the spike hadn’t gone off counted as a win too. Though, Sage couldn’t feel the relief wash over her just yet. She frowned at Reyna.

“Why didn’t you shoot her?” She huffed, straightening herself and lowering her gun slightly with hands that still trembled slightly.

Reyna seemed to physically tense up, her shoulders squaring, before relaxing. Almost like she had forgotten that Sage was there. “There was no reason to shoot her, she was retreating.” The woman stated, rolling her shoulders backward to get rid of the tension that had held them tight.

It was a simple lie, one Sage could easily pinpoint. It was general knowledge that Reyna didn’t just let people go, not when she had to think of her sister. She needed her souls for her and not once had she seen Reyna pass up on an opportunity to collect a soul, not even if they were retreating. “You didn’t seem to have trouble with it that last time with Harbor, nor the time before with Yoru. Both of them were retreating too.” 

Sage didn’t know why her voice had such a bite to it, same as she didn’t know why she was still feeling so agitated even after the battle was over. It probably had something to do with her still shaken body, the one that still acted like it was in danger. 

Reyna seemed to notice her tone too and raised her eyebrow at her. Of all the things that Sage had expected to say to her, it surely wasn’t: “Because I didn’t want to.” An answer so simple that it should have left Sage satisfied, but the only thing it did was bring up more questions.

However, when she opened her mouth to ask said questions, a cheery voice sounded from behind them. 

“There you are!” The Germanic accent made it clear that Killjoy had entered the market. “The hovercraft is coming in, so let’s go and leave this place. Maybe we can make it back in time for dinner!” Killjoy waved them over, smiling excitedly at them even though her yellow jacket was now stained red and her beanie sat skewed on her head. 

When Sage looked back at Reyna, she found purple eyes staring back at her. Silently they seemed to converse.

Are you ready? Reyna seemed to say with a tilt of her head.

I guess so. Sage shrugged.

You okay? A wrinkle appeared between Reyna’s brows.

Sage diverted her eyes shortly at Killjoy who seemed to eye them suspiciously before turning her gaze back to Reyna. Yeah. She nodded slightly and Reyna returned the gesture.

The three of them walked back to the hovercraft, Killjoy excitedly talking about their success. As if on automatic pilot, Sage nodded and smiled at Killjoy at just the right moments even though her mind was somewhere else entirely. And when Killjoy was distracted by Raze, waving excitedly at her friend, Sage couldn’t help but look down at her hands.

They still trembled, albeit less than before, but that didn't bother her at all. It was rather the red that still rimmed her nails and the blood that glistened on her ring. When she turned her hand over she found more remnants of blood, slightly dried in the lines of her palm. It wasn’t a new sight per se, better yet, she was quite used to her hands being covered in blood by now. She would notice it, wipe it away and move on.

Now, however, she couldn’t help but think about the fact that this was Reyna’s blood, omega Reyna that is. She remembers blood splattering over her face and her hands as Reyna’s skull was penetrated by a bullet right above her. 

It had been ages that she had been so shaken by a death, an enemy one at that. Perhaps it was the fact that the enemy looked like Reyna or maybe it was the fact that she hadn’t felt that defenceless in ages. What she did know was that she should get a hold of herself. Though the fight may be over, her duty was not.

She was strongly reminded of that when she boarded the ship and saw Omen’s lifeless body. A sigh escaped her lips, knowing that reviving Omen was always a little bit different. It reminded her of the first time she tried to revive him; the time that she turned him into what he would call himself, a monster. Sometimes she wondered if Omen would find more peace in death than he did in life. Sage knew of Omen’s constant pain, his shadow body always on the verge of falling apart, the only thing holding him together being Sage’s powers and the hurt that it brought him. 

So she wondered if death maybe gave him an escape from this pain, she never dared to ask, knowing that death was always a risky subject with Omen. Still, she could never give him the comfort of death, even if he begged for it, knowing that Viper would have her head if she ever dared to leave him lifeless.

Sage walked over to Omen, resting her hand on his chest plate and performed her duty best she could. 

–

When they reached the base, the sun had already disappeared under the horizon, leaving the sky dark. Sage unbuckled herself with hands that had finally stopped trembling but were still covered in remnants of blood and stood to join the others by the door. It opened with a soft hiss and as they walked off the platform they were welcomed back by a small group of other agents. 

Skye stood in front of the group, arms folded as she scanned their team for any injuries that Sage had not healed yet. Her eyes fell on Killjoy and Raze, the latter leaning on the first for support. From what Sage had deduced Raze’s ankle was probably broken but when Sage wanted to heal it Raze had declined, asking her to heal Killjoy’s shoulder instead. 

The redhead came to support Raze’s other side and so the three of them disappeared into the building, the other agents making way for them. 

As she watched them go, her eyes met green ones. Viper’s brow was furrowed as she quickly let her gaze slip past Sage in search of Omen. When she didn’t find his figure the angry eyes were back on Sage. With a tired nod, she silently confirmed Viper’s assumptions. The other woman didn’t waste another second and briskly moved past Reyna and her into the ship, toward a now breathing but still sleeping Omen.

The other three people waiting were Neon, Jett and Phoenix. Surprisingly, Brimstone wasn’t there to welcome them back, which he usually did. 

“Welcome back, fam!” Phoenix said, grinning wildly as he opened his arms in a welcoming gesture. 

“The victors have arrived!” Neon joined in and excitedly walked towards them, holding out her fist for a bump.

“Gracias, gracias.” Reyna grinned from beside Sage, giving Neon a fistbump. Sage just followed Reyna’s example and mustered a smile.

She wanted to share the same excitement of their achievement or at least some form of release, but it hadn’t come just yet. Her thoughts were still muddled and she kept glancing back at Reyna every two seconds, as if to check that she was still there, alive and all.

The trio led them inside while asking questions about the trip, of which Reyna answered the most. It was endearing to see the way the other duelists looked at Reyna as she described her kills and the tactics behind them. The admiration and respect were something that had been earned over time but Reyna had deserved it by far now. 

“When I followed the sound of gunfire it led me to the courtyard where I saw that the other Reyna was trying to take Sage out. Of course, I made a quick end of that too.” Reyna said, grinning proudly at her achievement and when she turned to look at Sage, Sage couldn’t help but smile back.

“My saviour.” Sage put a hand on her heart as she said it theatrically. Which earned her amused chuckles from the other duelists.

“For you always, darling.” The pet name didn’t catch her off guard, Reyna had called her darling more than enough times now. The wink, however, is what did. It caused her ears to heat up and for the first time, she felt something other than the stress tensing up her body. It was a little warm, fluttery feeling that left her a bit flustered.

She quickly averted her gaze which caused her to notice the shared looks between the younger duelists just in time before they straightened their faces again. 

The five of them entered the dining area and Sage was already walking toward the kitchen when Jett tapped her shoulder.

“We already prepared dinner for you guys, we have already eaten but there was a lot left.” She nodded toward the two plates that were set on opposite sides of the table. Steam was still coming off of the food, which looked like some kind of pasta. There was even a bottle of red wine placed beside two glasses. 

Reyna moved to pick up the wine, reading the label and nodding approvingly as she tried to pronounce the French name. It sounded expensive and Sage couldn’t help but wonder how they had acquired such a bottle. The protocol had a lot of funds, but they all went to new tech, weapons and other supplies, but definitely not wine supplies. And even if the other agents had managed to use their money to buy a bottle of wine, she wondered how they knew what wine to choose. The only wine she had seen them drink was the cheap kind that got you drunk fast and tasted absolutely terrible.

“Chamber recommended the wine.” Phoenix offered after a confused look from Sage. Her gaze fell back on the dining table, which looked slightly… romantic? 

They had placed a little flower in the middle of the table, beside a- candle? It was an elaborate set up for a fairly normal dinner, which confused Sage even more.

“What-”

“We thought you guys deserve something nice after today’s mission, seeing as it’s the last mission before the holidays and you two have worked towards it for the last couple of weeks. So this is just a little thank you for your efforts.” Jett filled her in now, looking at her with a proud smile. She would have expected those words from Brimstone and with some stupid thank you chocolate or whatever but not from the three duelists who had never seemed to go out of their way to show their appreciation this way. Usually, they just high-fived and moved on.

“That’s nice,” Reyna nodded gratefully but when Sage met her eyes, she could see that Reyna was just as confused by the sudden niceness of the duelists as she, “but we were with five today, so why are there only two plates?”

The trio looked at each other, conversing with their eyes before looking back at Reyna and Sage. Neon spoke up first, “Well, we heard that Raze and Killjoy were quite hurt so we presumed that they wouldn’t join-”

“And Omen died,” Phoenix joined in, “again.” The last part earned him a soft jab to the ribs from Jett.

“Not anymore, thanks to you, Sage.” Jett smiled (suspiciously) sweetly, and the other two nodded along in agreement. “Anyways that left the two of you, so we thought we’d make it nice.”

Reyna and Sage looked at each other and she saw her own confusion reflected right back at her in Reyna’s eyes. When they both turned back to look at the three of them, who all stood waiting with big expectant eyes, she nodded slowly.

“Well, thank you,” Sage said sincerely. Even though this was all a bit odd, she did appreciate the gesture. “I’m sure we’ll enjoy it.”

Phoenix's sweet smile broke into a grin as he nodded, “We’d assumed so and you are very welcome.” 

They looked at each other with sweet smiles for a couple of seconds before it grew awkward and they were now just staring at each other. Sage had expected them to leave but they seemed to wait for something. Whatever it was, she never got to know as Reyna nonchalantly waved a hand at them. 

“Okay then, dismissed.” Reyna said. The wave did its the job as the three of them scattered away and into the hall, whispering to each other. 

Sage watched them go with furrowed brows and shook her head slightly. “That was weird, right? Don’t tell me that that wasn’t weird.” She asked as she turned to walk over to her seat and sat down.

“Oh yeah, that was definitely weird.”

After they were both seated Reyna didn’t waste any time before digging into her food. The mission had clearly left her hungry and the food just smelled too good, that even Sage noticed. She wondered who made it, seeing as the usual cooks like Jett, Harbor and Cypher weren’t all too fond of pasta. It didn’t really matter anyway.

Reyna started to fill up their glasses with the deep red liquid. They both raised their glasses, toasting yet another victory before taking a big swing. The wine tasted too delicious to be thrown back so quickly, Sage knew that, still she didn’t waste any time emptying the cup. 

Of course, that earned her two raised eyebrows from Reyna.

“It’s good then, I presume?” She laughed airily and shook her head, following Sage’s example. After she had swallowed Reyna nodded approvingly, “Oh, it definitely is.” 

Sage gave her a small smile as Reyna continued to fill her glass up again. “Oh by the way, did you see Neon’s training yesterday?” She looked expectantly at her.

When Sage nodded she continued, “We have been practising the backward slide for a couple of weeks now and yesterday was the first time that it worked. I swear, that girl is going places. Definitely with her-” 

Reyna continued talking about the performances of her unofficial mentee which allowed Sage to just sit back and listen. It was a stark contrast between their last shared dinner where Sage had been the one doing all the talking. Still, she was grateful for Reyna taking the lead now knowing that she didn’t have the energy to muster up an exciting conversation right now.

Long missions like this usually caused her to feel a bit depleted of her energy and she wondered how Reyna always seemed so okay after. Why didn't the weight of killing wear her down? Was she used to it? Or had she figured out a way of being okay with it? Sage presumed it had something to do with the fact that with every soul she gathered her sister would live longer. Perhaps fighting for someone and knowing that the death you caused gave life in return somehow made it easier. 

If Reyna had noticed that Sage had stopped listening, she didn’t mention it. She just kept on talking, commenting on the delicious food of which Sage had not yet mustered the energy to take a bite of and instead had just been playing with. Pushing it around as more memories of the mission infiltrated her mind. They should be happy memories, they had won, and it was a good thing. But then why did she feel like this mission was an absolute disaster? 

The answer came in the form of Reyna’s face with a bullet hole protruding her forehead. 

Her eyes flicked up towards her own Reyna who, thankfully, looked very much alive. 

It was Omega Earth Reyna. She had seen many of her friend’s and friend’s döppelganger bodies taken out. Surprisingly, it had never shaken her quite like this. 

“Ling.” Reyna’s voice shook her out of her thoughts. Her eyes seemed worried and expectant at the same time as if this wasn’t the first time that she had said her name. 

Her eyes were too intense and so Sage quickly looked back down at her plate. “Hmm?” 

“You haven’t taken a single bite.” Reyna shoved her own, empty, plate forwards as to show what Sage’s plate should look like. “What is going on with you?”

“What do you mean?” She asked innocently even though she knew that Reyna could see right through her façade without trying. 

Reyna sighed, shaking her head and muttering something to herself that sounded like Spanish. “You know what I mean, Sage. You’ve been quiet ever since the mission.” 

She slowly took a bite from her food, hopefully convincing Reyna of her following statement. “I’m just tired.” It wasn’t a complete lie either; the mission had exhausted her. 

“Just tired…” Reyna repeated, shaking her head. “Does this still have to do something with our little argument? I’m sorry, okay? I don’t know why you’d be so upset about me helping you out but I should not have entered without asking first.” 

Sage’s brows furrowed for a second, her brain taking a couple of seconds to catch up with Reyna’s words. “Oh no, it’s not that. It’s fine, you did what you thought was right, I was just tired.” 

“Well, you are tired again, so…” The silence left them awkward until she couldn't bear it anymore.

“It’s the other Reyna.” She admitted, taking a big swing from the wine again, “I can’t get the image of her empty eyes out of my head.” 

“Do you have that problem often?” Reyna frowned at her, seemingly genuine concern in her purple eyes.

“No, that’s what makes it all so confusing.” Sage stabbed her food softly with her fork. “I’ve never had this problem. Perhaps it’s just the near-death experience that has shaken me up a bit.” 

“Could be. But we have near-death experiences on the daily, I haven’t seen you like this before.” Reyna argued, “Do I make it worse?”

She huffed, “How would you make it worse?”

“Well, I do carry the same face.” Sage’s gaze automatically scanned Reyna’s face. Her strong eyebrows, high cheekbones, impeccable lipstick (that somehow survived battle) and purple eyes, (albeit unnaturally) glowing with life.

For a couple of seconds, she hesitated to answer, not entirely sure of her answer until she opened her mouth and found that apparently her mind had already made one up. “No. No, you don’t make it worse. You actually make it better.” She nods. “Your face reminds me that everything is okay. That-” Sage grabs her glass of wine, keeping it to her lips as she murmurs the end of the sentence into it, “You are okay.” The wine tastes sweet as she takes a sip.

“That’s…” Reyna frowned, trying to find a way to respond, “Good.” 

It was good, it was a good thing that Reyna was here to assure Sage that everything was fine. What Sage was more concerned about was when she would lose this small bit of comfort that kept her from spiralling all too far down. She knows that the moment she steps into her own room, she will find no escape, no comfort, from the images and thoughts that will infiltrate her mind.

Sage was an overthinker, she knew that, but usually she manages to snap out of it. However, something told her that this time would be different. 

“Yeah.” Sage sighed and shook her head slightly, plastering a small smile back on her face. “Sorry, I didn't mean to turn this nice dinner into this depressing conversation. What were you saying before?” 

The woman in front of her just laughed and placed a hand on Sage’s, sending a small spike of energy to surge through her body. “It’s okay, Ling .” Her name came out surprisingly soft. “I know everybody here tends to pretend that it’s fine, killing their own copies. But eventually, it takes a toll. Even I know that.” 

“What do you mean?” Sage asked. It didn’t seem like Reyna was bothered by killing their opponents at all, better yet, she seemed to relish in it.

Reyna shook her head slightly and pulled her hand back. “When your enemies have the same face as your friends and family, the people you…” for the first time tonight Reyna seemed to intentionally avert her gaze, “like, you could say, it gets harder to shoot them. Even though your brain tells you they are not the same person, it feels wrong, still. Though I have a reason to keep shooting, I think for a gentler soul like yours, it can be hard to find a reason to keep firing.” 

It was certainly surprising to hear Reyna talk about it like this. Sage had always presumed she simply didn’t care about who she killed, as long as she kept collecting the souls her sister so desperately needed. Hell, sometimes it even seemed that Reyna liked killing them. But this put a whole new perspective on everything, on her.

“Thank you, Reyna-” she paused for a second, “Zyanya.” Sage corrected herself. “And don’t cut yourself short, you have a gentle soul too.” 

Reyna laughed at that, an empty laugh. “That’s sweet of you, Sage. But then it shows you don't know me quite well enough.” She pushed her chair back and rose to her feet before Sage could say anything. “I am going to train, if you need me you know where to find me.” 

“Oh.” Sage said, taken aback by the abruptness of the other woman after such, what seemed like, a genuine conversation. “Good luck. I’ll see you around.” 

“Enjoy your dinner, Sage.” Reyna left without looking back at Sage, who now wondered if it would always be like this. Everything always seemed to go right until Sage makes one wrong comment and then everything turns awry. 

–

Three hours, half a bottle of wine and a bit of the meal the others had prepared, later, she found herself checking her notifications one last time before going to bed. Besides a text from Brimstone reminding her of the meeting tomorrow, she was surprised to find a text from Reyna.

It was a picture of her, post-training, not that it was noticeable in her appearance seeing as she looked impeccable as ever. The only traces that led Sage to believe it was post-practice were the few oil splatters that decorated Reyna’s neck, probably from the bots. Under the picture, there was a text saying:

Still alive. X

Sage didn’t know if it was just to taunt her for her comment at dinner or if Reyna was actually trying to be thoughtful, either way, it brought a small smile to her face and a warm feeling to her chest.

After a couple of seconds of shamelessly staring at Reyna’s picture she started thinking about her response. Perhaps for lack of better judgement or just because she was tired of overthinking everything, she decided to be a little bit bold. 

I will need more proof, your status could have changed in the past twenty minutes. 

Within a minute of sending the text, the ‘seen’ status popped up but the response never came.

Perhaps she had been too bold? Sage thought as she placed her phone on the nightstand and laid back down on the bed. She stared at the ceiling as she thought about everything that had transpired that day. From almost dying to seeing Omega Earth's Reyna to talking with Reyna and always ending up at her own stupid response to Reyna’s picture. As she moved to grab her phone to delete the message, a knock on the door stilled her movement.

“Who is it?” Sage asked cautiously, slowly sitting up. 

Without announcing herself, Reyna slid open her door and stepped inside. The first thing Sage noticed was that she was wearing her comfortable clothing; a black short-sleeved t-shirt and comfortable dark grey pants. The glow of her crystal still emanated from under the shirt, brightening and softening every so often, like a heartbeat.

“Reyna?” The confusion was clear in her voice as she straightened herself, readying herself to get out of bed. “Everything okay?” 

“Sage.” Reyna greeted her and sat down in one of Sage’s soft plush chairs, crossing her legs as she did. “Everything is fine. I had some ideas to bring up at tomorrow's meeting and I wanted to run them by you before tomorrow.” 

Sage’s frown only deepened more. Reyna that actually wanted to participate in a meeting? Reyna wanted to run it by Sage of all people? And why so late? Wasn’t Reyna exhausted after today? Sage kicked off her blanket, feeling like this was not the conversation that should be held with her in bed. Sage would also need a coffee, to keep her awake, if they were going to do this.

“Stay.” Reyna stilled Sage’s movement with one word that sounded an awful lot like a command. Seeing the surprised look on Sage’s face, she elaborated, “Stay, there’s no need to get out of bed. Better yet, go lay down.”

“Why would I lay-” 

“Just do it.” Reyna ordered again, her voice growing slightly annoyed. 

“You are being weird, Reyna…” Sage commented but did lay down in the bed. “Can’t you just present your ideas tomorrow and see how the rest will respond to them? Why do you need to run them by me?”

“Because I’m-” There is a short silence, “insecure or whatever, anyways, will you listen or not?” The lie is clear as day and Sage had to restrain herself from letting out a chuckle. 

“I’m not sure what you are trying to do, but okay.” Sage closed her eyes for a second, preparing herself for what’s to come, “Let me hear it.” 

This seemed to satisfy Reyna. “Good, okay so don’t respond ‘till I’m fully finished, ¿ entiendes ?” 

“I thought you wanted my opinion?” Sage opened her eyes to look at Reyna.

“Just shut up and lay down.” Reyna sighed and waited till Sage’s eyes were back on the ceiling.

Sage did not have a clue what Reyna was trying to do but decided to go along with it, being too tired to fight it. After a couple of seconds, Reyna began to talk. 

At first, she suggested that she should be sent out on more missions. The arguments she used are actually reasonable; that she could take the workload, that she needed the soul for her sister and that she was versatile. But then she started adding arguments that did not make sense at all. Like that she was a good team player and that she could show the others how it is done properly, trying out the leader position even. Sage decided not to comment on them and just let her talk, respecting Reyna’s earlier wishes.

But the woman did not seem to stop talking. At a certain point, Sage was losing the point of her arguments as they grew more confusing and suddenly she was arguing for better food when they were out on scouting missions and new designs for the guns. Still, Sage decided to stay quiet and let Reyna talk, mostly because she didn’t really know what to say to it all anyway.

Perhaps, she should have realised it sooner, Reyna’s plan. It wasn’t until her eyes drooped closed and she couldn't make out the words that Reyna was saying that she finally recognized what Reyna was trying to do.

By being here, constantly talking, constantly present, there was not a moment that Sage got the time to think about today. She was simply not given the chance to spiral, with Reyna there, making her sure that she was okay. 

For a moment she tried to fight her sleep, feeling slightly awkward about falling asleep with Reyna right there, but sleep enveloped her before she could rouse herself. 

And so Sage let the melodic timbre of Reyna’s voice warm her chest and lull her to sleep. Feeling comfortable knowing that Reyna was safe, close to her and ever talking. 

It was no surprise that she dreamt of Reyna that night. Reyna with her in the bed, talking softly as she lay on Reyna’s chest. Reyna’s fingers were deftly braiding her hair as she kept repeating the same mantra over and over again.

I’m safe.

I’m safe.

Safe.

That night, despite everything that had happened that day, Sage slept better than she had in years.

Chapter Text

A couple days had passed since Sage had fallen asleep to Reyna’s voice and woken alone the next morning. There would have been no proof of Reyna being there at all if it wasn’t for the lingering smell of her perfume (or maybe it was her shampoo?) that still lingered around the chair that she had sat in. Sage had almost convinced herself she had imagined it, something her brain had made up to keep her from spiralling, but the familiar scent kept reassuring her that Reyna had in fact been there to… well, Sage presumed, comfort her. 

Still, Sage was too scared to actually assume anything, her mind kept wandering back to the what if ’s of the situation. What if Reyna had just wanted to talk about the meeting and Sage had rudely fallen asleep? What if Reyna didn’t care for Sage in the way Sage wanted Reyna to care for her? What if Sage had created this idea of sweet and comforting Reyna in her head and was now being delusional, searching for meaning behind every action? 

Sage knew it was generally a good quality for an agent to thoroughly go through every option, reason and outcome of a situation. It was important to know people’s intentions, what they would do to reach their goals and what that would mean for her. However, this mindset of constantly observing and overthinking every action was starting to affect her outside of the battle setting too. She couldn’t even let a (possibly?) sweet gesture be what it is, just a gesture. Her brain seemed to need a reason behind it, an intention, a goal.

Even though she tried to silence her thoughts, with Reyna bumping into her in the hallways, sharing looks during meetings and dinner and joining her in the training simulation, it wasn’t an easy job.

Thankfully, the preparations to the holiday season kept her mind mostly off it. The others seemingly had chosen her to organise it all unanimously, not that she ever signed up for it or it was spoken out loud. Every agent always seemed to turn back to her to ask her what a good present would be for other agents (even though they tried to be secretive about it, in the end they all revealed their secret santa to her) and if there would be any fun games. For most of them she had an answer, for others (like the games) she decided that they could decide on that themselves. Of course, Phoenix and Neon took it upon themselves to think of a good twist to this year's holidays, however, halfway through Brimstone noticed that the ideas were getting quite out of hand and stepped in. Now the festivities had to be approved by him first. 

Last year they had decided to hold a small tournament. The agents had been randomly divided into teams of five and they had to do small challenges to earn points. The team with the most points at the end of the week would earn a small weekend getaway to a warmer location. 

Raze’s team had won, consisting of Phoenix, Killjoy, Neon, Yoru and of course, Raze. If Sage remembered correctly, they had gone to Salvador. 

However, quickly after the team had returned Brimstone announced that this would not be repeated again, seeing as the competitiveness had gotten very out of hand. The tensions between all the other teams (and even the agents within the teams) after the games still disturbed team dynamics and therefore the missions months later. 

And so this year, there were no games, to Sage’s relief. Though she had liked the games, it was far from a break which these days were supposed to be. Not that she got much rest now, with agents basically trailing her constantly, asking questions about the festivities. But it was still a time of general rest. Sage didn’t know why exactly they had this week off, maybe Omega Earth had the same traditions? Maybe they needed a break too? 

Still, they couldn't be too laid-back this week. They had made sure that non Valorant Protocol agents were stationed at the usual sites, alarming them if a surprise attack would come through. Though, in the last three years, none of that had happened. Didn’t mean that it couldn’t happen this year, so Brimstone did urge the agents to keep training. 

But even with training, it meant a relatively chill week for them. Only busying themselves with the feast, new years preparations and now secret santa too. There had been a lot of protest from the other agents, not really seeing what the fun of secret santa was. Neither Phoenix nor Neon seemed excited with the idea themselves, but of course, Brimstone seemed to think it was an excellent idea. He even added the fact that the present had to be self made instead of bought (Sage swore that he had been looking at Chamber as he had said that). 

Of course, out of all the agents, she managed to get Reyna as her secret santa. She would have blamed the universe for conspiring against her if she hadn’t noticed the look between Phoenix and Neon as she had grabbed Reyna’s name from the bowl of folded papers with names. Maybe, it wasn’t much of a coincidence after all. Though she was conflicted with her pick for a little while, she quickly realised the duelists had done her a favour, she could have had Breach or Chamber, and she would have had no idea what to make for them.

Still, this didn’t make it necessarily easy. Sage knew a lot about Reyna, or well, she hoped she did. She knew Reyna loved her sister and thereby killing, Mexican food, training, good tequila and fashion. There were smaller things too, she loved thriller movies, jewellery and winning at board games (not board games alone, only winning at them). But she also knew Reyna was picky, she either (mostly) hated, (sometimes) tolerated and (rarely) loved something. And that was not necessarily a bad thing, it meant that Reyna knew her interests, and she would definitely call somebody out on their present if it was a shit one. And well, the last thing that Sage wanted to do is give Reyna a present she hated or just tolerated. Sage wouldn’t be able to bear the look in Reyna’s eyes if she did, knowing it would either carry disappointment or indifference. 

So it had to be something… special. Something with meaning, something subtle too and something that can’t be easily forgotten or discarded. And above all, self made. And Sage had many skills, but none were really made for the creation of gifts. Her skills were made for a battlefield or med-bay; she couldn’t just give Reyna a voucher that said: ‘I’ll trail you and heal you at every chance I get’. That was stupid, right?   

But in the end she had nothing else to use than her own hands and her powers. After observing Reyna during dinners, the only thing that really stood out to Sage is that Reyna always wore some kind of jewellery, always gold. Making some kind of jewellery was probably Sage’s best shot at a secret santa present that Reyna would also approve of. Though it would be hard, seeing as Sage had never worked with metals much. Slowly an idea formed in her mind. It would take some time, but it was not impossible. 

However, Sage wasn’t really giving a lot of time with the festivities growing closer. Even though Sage didn’t really celebrate christmas, yule, or even new years eve (at this time in the year then), she was pulled right into all the excitement for them. 

Luckily, Sage found herself enjoying the constant conversations with the other agents. Mostly because for once the conversations weren’t all about the missions and meetings but instead filled with genuine questions, like what her favourite colour was, if she was vegetarian or vegan and even the usually introverted Fade asked her if she wanted to cook with her later that day. 

She had spent a night with Omen and some of the other agents watching a horror movie. All of them were terrified, except for Omen, who seemed to enjoy the movie a lot. She learned how to make manz ı, sarma and dolma from Fade, so she would be able to help her when the preparations for the big feast would start. 

One day, Skye and Yoru even joined her for a meditation session, Skye being ultimately better at it than Yoru who struggled to empty his mind, constantly huffing and puffing. Apparently, some of the other agents (mostly the other duelists like Jett, Phoenix, Raze and Neon but also Killjoy and Gekko) had seen that Skye and Yoru had joined the meditation and were intrigued. Or well, that’s what they told her. Later she overheard that they were trying to see who would last longest at staying quiet.

Before she knew it she had unintentionally organised a meditation session for all the agents, everyone (even KAYO and the new recruit Deadlock joining in) gathering in one of the sparring rooms. Though the session started with a bit of chaos, agents whispering to each other during long silent moments and others in return shushing them, after half an hour or so, all of the agents quieted down. 

In the end, most of them fell asleep, a couple were still awake, opening their eyes every so often to check how the others were faring, and a few managed to actually find some peace of mind in their meditation. And even though her attention should have been equally divided over all of the agents, her gaze fell on Reyna more often than not. She noticed that the corners of Reyna’s mouth raised slightly every time Sage spoke calmly, guiding the others through the meditation, and every so often she opened one of her eyes. They seemed to immediately find Sage’s, catching her looking right back. Neither acknowledged the fact that Reyna should have her eyes closed nor the fact that everytime Reyna did open them, Sage was always there, looking right back at her. 

After the session she had offered that anybody was welcome to join her whenever. Surprisingly, some of the agents actually did, Reyna being one of them, though she didn’t seem to ever fully reach a meditative state. Sage didn’t mind, though she did find that it was harder to quiet her own mind whenever Reyna joined her sessions. 

As the big dinner grew closer, she managed to get even less alone time than before. Even when she was in her room, there were constantly people knocking on her door, asking her to join training sessions, games or simply coming in for a quick chat. One evening Astra, Deadlock, Harbor and Gekko had gathered into her chamber, surprisingly leisurely chatting about their usual traditions back home. In those moments, the agents felt less like colleagues and more like a big weird family. But it also came to light how little she actually knew about everybody, she may have had everybodies file’s, knew all their medical data, she didn’t actually know them as well as she thought she did. Breaks like these were a nice way to get to know them better.

But even though she got to know a lot of agents better the closer they got to the festivities, and saw them more often than usual, Reyna was less present than before. Usually, Reyna was very present on the base, Sage bumped into her in the hallways, trained with her and spent dinners together. But now she was away more often than not, presumably to visit her sister.

And in some weird way, Sage missed her. Well, it wasn’t necessarily weird that she missed her, it was more so that even though she was constantly surrounded by other agents, she felt lonely. Lonely in a way that she couldn’t place, like something was lost, something felt out of place and she missed it like a child misses their favourite stuffed animal when it is lost. Being able to sleep without, but not feeling totally comfortable in doing so. Not that she wanted to sleep with Reyna, well, she did, but not like a child- 

She just missed Reyna. 

It had just been two days and she missed Reyna. Sage missed her at training sessions, dinners and meditation sessions. She missed their small talks, looks and smiles. Though others would not easily find comfort in Reyna’s intimidating presence, Sage missed the comfort that Reyna gave her. Reyna felt like an anchor to her, keeping her from drifting away all too much. And with her not being there, her mind was not really as present as it should be. 

So Sage was stuck in the middle, not given a lot of time on her own to think about Reyna all too much but also not really being present when having to think about anything that was not related to Reyna. This… loving Reyna thing was getting out of hand. 

After the holidays she would find a way to get rid of the feelings. This was not the place for romance, if there was even a possibility of it happening. And this definitely wasn’t the place for heartbreak, which it would probably end up in. So, she would let herself enjoy the fluttering feeling in her stomach every time she saw Reyna, the swelling of her chest every time Reyna smiled at her and allow her mind to drift away in dream scenarios where Reyna reciprocated her feelings, for now, until the ‘new year’ had come.

It seemed like a good plan. Until she stumbled on Reyna again the day before the big dinner. The sight of Reyna wearing her normal clothes, consisting of a white crop top, black jacket and skin tight jeans, made her stomach drop right down, causing an exciting feeling in her lower belly. It took her a total of three seconds to be able to get her body to move again, three seconds too long because the pause in her step was noticed by not only Reyna but also some other agents who gave her a confused look. The looks caused her cheeks to flare up, so she quickly averted her gaze from Reyna.

Getting rid of her feelings after the holidays seemed like a hilarious joke right now. How could she ever get rid of them when Reyna not only possessed her thoughts but also her body, causing it to respond to Reyna like she was puppeteering Sage’s every movement and feeling.

She took a deep breath as she came to stand beside Reyna, keeping her gaze forward and trying not to lean into the warmth that Reyna was radiating, all too much. “Welcome back, Reyna.” She managed to keep her voice somewhat steady. Why did she feel so out of breath all of the sudden? 

“Always a pleasure to be back, though you seemed surprised.” Reyna was looking at her, Sage could feel her gaze burning into the side of her ever warming face.

“Yeah,” Sage starts and turns her head to look back at Reyna, “I thought you would arrive tomorrow, before the dinner.” It’s hard to maintain eye contact with Reyna, her nerves urging her to look away, scared that Reyna would be able to look right through Sage. But she didn’t join the protocol because she was scared of a bit of eye contact. So she stared into the purple eyes which seemed to get more and less vibrant, constantly shifting, the unnatural energy moving in them.

“And miss another meditation session? I wouldn’t dare.” Reyna joked, her grin infectious as Sage felt the corners of her own lips curl upward.

The smile faded quickly however when she noticed that the grin never reached Reyna’s eyes. “Didn’t you want to spend more time with…” 

“Lucia.” Reyna confirms the goal of her time away, of which Sage had only presumed was the reason behind it, “Yes, I did. Viper wanted to go back a day early.” The frustration was clear on Reyna’s face as she continued, “Something about other projects she had to get back to, que es simplemente una tontería.” Reyna slips into Spanish with ease, probably having spoken it lots the last couple of days with her sister. “Y- And here we are now.” 

“I’m sorry, Zyanya.” Sage sighed as she placed her hand on Reyna’s shoulder. She may not have any blood family left she truly cared about, that didn’t mean she never had or had forgotten how to miss them. “You deserve more time with her.” 

Reyna’s expressions change, flowing over in one another. Annoyance, confusion, sadness and gratefulness even. The changes are small, a small frown, eyes narrowing, relaxing and the corners of her lips moving with each expression. Another person would not have been able to pinpoint the exact emotions on Reyna’s face that flew by, but Sage had spent enough time observing them over the last couple years to immediately place them. In the end, however, they all disappeared under a grin as Reyna masked her emotions again. “It’s fine. Like I said, now I won’t be missing any more fun holiday activities.” 

As Reyna turned her face away, so did Sage. “Yeah.” She sighed, failing yet another attempt to get Reyna to open up with her more. Clearly, not a lot had changed since the night Reyna lulled her to sleep. “I’m curious as to why Phoenix and Neon called us to gather here.”  

“That makes two of us.” Reyna mumbled, folding her arms in front of her chest as she did. 

“Make that three.” Fade chimed in, the disinterest seeping through every pore of her. Sometimes Fade reminded Sage of a teenager stuck in their emo phase, and with sometimes she meant most of the time. Though, she’d suppose Fade’s power and past had had a big effect on her, so Sage couldn’t really judge either way. Still, it was amusing to see the similarities. “I just hope it’s not another one of their competitions.” 

“I don’t think Brimstone would allow that, not after last year.” Sage pointed out. “No, this is something different.” 

“Hello! Is everybody here?” Neon called out, climbing on a chair to see if all the agents had gathered. 

“Yes, we have been here for the past fifteen minutes!” Breach yelled back, his annoyance not held at bay.

Neon shot a slightly annoyed look in the direction of Breach’ voice. “Okay, good then we can start! Phoenix, take it away!” 

“Alright fam! So you all wanna know why I gathered you all here. Well it’s a quick announcement about tomorrow's dinner!” Phoenix’ voice easily reaches everybody in the room, his theatre training helping him out. “Last year everybody had their duties, some were on cookin’ duty, others cleaning etcetera. Not this year, this year everybody is going to present something special. We got a big kitchen for a reason.” He grinned as he walked around, his confidence never faltering even as questioning murmurs began to rise. “We are a family with a lot of different backgrounds and cultures, and I would like a good taste of that. So, as some of you already know, this year we will make a feast of at least one dish from everybody, preferably from their own culture.” 

“Does tequila count as a dish?” Reyna leaned toward Sage as she mumbled her comment, causing Sage to have to cover her mouth to stop a small laugh from escaping. 

“I mean, you could always suggest it.” Sage smiled at Reyna, the woman giving a small smile in return. For a moment, the room fell silent, there was only the sound of her own rapid heartbeat echoing through her ears as she looked at Reyna. It’s the moments like these that made her realise how heavily Reyna affected her, how she could silence a whole room with a simple smile and a bad joke. And then Reyna blinked and looked away and the spell was gone, Sage left to suck the escaped air back into her lungs. 

“Okay, second announcement.” Phoenix continued, Sage totally having missed everything he had said before. “We thought it would be fun to spice this dinner up a bit, as we do every year. Last year we all had to get dressed as Brimstone-” small chuckles went through the room as everybody remembered last year's outfits. 

“Yeah, yeah real funny.” Brimstone’s gruff voice only caused the other agents to chuckle more.

“And this year we are going to do something like that but not quite the same.” Phoenix managed to speak over the chuckles, quieting them down a bit by raising the anticipation.

“I sure hope we won’t all have to go as Sabine this year.” Gekko said from across the room, clearly a bit louder than he had expected himself as the rest of the room broke out in chuckles again. Sage couldn’t see Viper from her point of view but could imagine her eyes rolling. 

“No, no, we won’t all have to go as Sabine this year. Only one.” Phoenix’ grin widened as he watched everybody go quiet in confusion. “This year we are doing a clothing swap!”

“ Que? ” Chamber’s voice spoke up, “That is ridiculous!” 

“Hear me out, hear me out!” Phoenix quickly held his hands up, “The choices are randomly assigned but we have considered clothing sizes. Besides if somebody is truly uncomfortable with their swap they can always come to us. It’s a nice way to.. You know… walk in another man’s shoes if ya know what I mean.” He truly tried his best to convince the other agents but they didn’t seem all too convinced.

Sage was hesitant to support it, they didn’t necessarily have to dress up for the dinner. But then again, she also remembered how much fun it was last year and knew that this year could be just as fun. It mostly depended on who she had to swap clothes with.

“Okay, we will send everybody a message with who they have to swap with, if there is any trouble just come to me or Neon and we will figure something out!”

The other agents were quick to raise their voice, asking questions or complaining about the idea. A couple of them swarmed the two duelists while others walked off in quite an annoyed manner. Only a few agents, mostly the younger ones, seemed to enjoy the idea of it, already speculating who they thought they would swap clothes with. 

When Sage looked to her right, Reyna was already leaving with a shake of her head. Sage quickly followed her, having to up her speed to keep pace. “What are you storming off to?” 

“Training.” Reyna slowed her pace a bit when she noticed that Sage had joined her. “To try to forget this ridiculous idea.” 

“You think it’s ridiculous?” Sage knew very well that it was ridiculous, but it could be fun.

Reyna scoffed, as if it was obvious that it was, “I don’t know what they are thinking, but nobody else can pull off this .” She motioned to her clothes, only then realising she was not wearing her usual wear. “This and my clothes better than me. So yes, it is ridiculous to think that they would think I’d lend my clothes to anyone. Además , the other agents’ outfit choices are…” She stopped for a second, trying to find the right word, ”questionable, to say the least. They are stupid to think I’d wear any of their stupid clothes.” Sage tried to not be all too offended, as she fell under the ‘other agents’ category.

Sage laughed as she shook her head, “Ah Reyna, of course nobody can pull off your clothes like you.” This earned her an approving hum. “But I think that is the fun of it. And remember last year, with Brimstone, you despised the idea of wearing his beret, but in the end you pulled it off better than Brimstone himself.” 

Reyna rolled her eyes but Sage noticed the small smile breaking through. “Ah Sage, you are sweet, but you are also a liar. I will never wear a beret again.” 

“Hmm, a shame.” Sage just smiled at the other woman. She noticed that she smiled an awful lot around the other woman. “Well, in your case I hope you get paired with somebody who, well, has the least questionable taste.” 

They came to a stop in front of the training rooms, turning to each other simultaneously. There wasn’t much of a height difference between them, but still Reyna felt so much taller, her presence intimidating. Maybe it was just because of Sage’s feelings at the moment or the fact that Reyna seemed to still be annoyed at the dinner plans. 

“Hm, well, we’ll see.” 

“We’ll see.” Sage confirmed, her voice smaller than it was before. 

What was it with Reyna that one moment Sage was just fine talking to her and the next she felt like those stereotypical high school girls unable to form a normal sentence near their crush. Or well, this had long surpassed a crush. It seemed as long as Reyna wasn’t directly looking at her, she seemed to do fine, but every time she did…

It was hard to avert her eyes from Reyna’s. Her purple eyes swimming with energy, locking Sage’s onto hers. Reyna should have left by now, the conversation was over, they were at their destination, she should have walked into the training room and left Sage behind. But she was still here, looking at Sage and not saying a word. Just locking her in place.

Sage felt her heart speed up again, like she was entering the battlefield for the first time again. She would never call herself a nervous person, better yet, Sage was probably one of the calmest agents here. Yet, Reyna managed to get her all jittery. Not necessarily in a bad way, but in a noticeable way, in a way that Reyna’s eyebrows lifted slightly as Sage’s gaze dropped from Reyna’s eyes to her lips and back up.

And while Sage was this nervous sea, always moving in some way, Reyna seemed to be like a statue, still, barely moving. Exactly opposites of their usual states. With Sage being as unmoving as a mountain and Reyna always shifting like energy that had no place to rest. 

Voices echoed through the halls, shaking them out of their staring competition.

Reyna was the first to speak. “Ah, I will see you tomorrow then.”

“Yeah, yep.” Sage smiled awkwardly and took a step back. “Good luck with your training.” 

“ Gracias .” The duelist nodded and pushed the door open, leaving Sage behind to watch Reyna disappear behind a slowly closing door.

A part of her wanted to join her, to train with her. But the other part knew it wasn’t smart, she could barely control herself outside of a battle situation, how would that be in training. She would possibly hurt herself in training. Though… She could just heal herself. It wouldn’t be such a bad idea to train with Reyna, work out some good combinations with their powers. Maybe combining Reyna’s eye with her slow orb? Besides she had missed Reyna the last couple of days, it wouldn’t hurt to… But then would she be imposing on her? What if she did the exact same thing Reyna had done with her? That would be, to say the least, hypocritical. But then again-

A ping from her device tore her out of her thoughts, realising she had been staring at a closed door for a little while now. Sage sighed, grabbing her phone and opening her messages. It was a text from Phoenix, announcing her swap.

Her heart dropped as she read the name, pinching the bridge of her nose, she sighed. Sage wasn’t a fan of foul language, in any way, but-

“Fuck.” 

—

To say Sage felt uncomfortable was an understatement. The clothes were… something, for sure. It showed twice as much skin as her own and it was skintight, making her feel as though she was exposed in many different ways. The boots were uncomfortable and made a soft clink sound every time she walked. It seemed as though this outfit was meant to be for show instead of functional and she wondered how anybody could fight in this. 

Her own clothes were comfortable, her boots soft, knee pads for when she had to stay down for a long time, pants with enough moving space and the top still made it stylish and hers. This outfit was just… well, something. 

Sage sighed as she looked in the mirror, checking the straps on her leg and the small gap of skin that showed on her upper thigh. It was weird to see herself like this, in not her own colour scheme, but it wasn’t necessarily a bad look either. Just very, very different.

A ping sounded from across the room, where her phone lay. Another con of the clothes, no pockets. None at all. The boots clinked softly against the steel floor as she avoided walking on the carpet with her boots. She grabbed her phone and read the message displayed on the screen.

Reyna 17:02

Come to my room, now.

Sage raised an eyebrow and quickly shot a text back that she was on her way. She quickly glanced at the mirror. Perhaps she should take something with her to cover herself up a bit… Ah well, all the agents would see it soon anyways. With one last look over she left her room to find Reyna’s. 

Thankfully, she didn’t come across any of the other agents as she walked over to Reyna’s room. With the way her boots clank on the floor, she probably wouldn’t even need to knock on Reyna’s door for her to know that she has arrived. How does anyone sneak in these boots? Still, she knocked as she arrived. 

“Reyna?” 

“Enter.”

Sage slid the door open cautiously and stepped inside, the door automatically sliding closed behind her. 

“Finally, you need to,” Reyna sighed, almost reluctant to say the next words, “help me.” 

“Help yo- Oh.” Sage looked at a clearly dishevelled Reyna. Her hair, usually down, was now worn up and the top semblenced to look like a ru was folded in such ways that Sage wondered how anyone could fold it that way. The waistbands used to close it were loose around Reyna’s waist. She was not yet wearing her boots and her hair was put up in a messy ponytail. 

“Oh, Zyanya.” Her name rolled off her tongue, almost like an endearment. Reyna was, what felt for the first time ever, adorable. She looked lost, though she tried to hide it behind frustration, Sage could see the cry for help in her eyes.

When a small smile dared to form on Sage’s lips, Reyna’s hand quickly shot forward, holding up a finger. “No. Don’t you dare smile or say anything. Just-” Reyna dropped the finger to instead pinch the bridge of her nose. “Just fix this.” 

“Yes, ma’am.” Sage saluted her, dropping the smile in an instant, only for it to peek through anyways. Thankfully, Reyna had her eyes closed anyways. 

However, they immediately shot open as Sage undid the waistband. Probably surprised by the sudden close proximity. 

“I don’t know how you do it.” Reyna sighed, giving into the help. “It doesn’t look that complicated.” 

“That’s because it isn’t.” If Reyna noticed that Sage was moving particularly slow, then she didn’t say anything about it. However, she did roll her eyes at the comment. “At least my outfit is practical, yours is-” She tried to find the words as she opened the ru up again. She realised her mistake the moment the skintight black top was revealed and a purple glow managed to push through the black. It was hard not to stare. Impossible, even. But staring at the purple glow meant staring at Reyna’s breasts and that meant her face lighting up like a torch set on fire.

“Something wrong, Ling ?” There was a teasing tone to Reyna’s voice, who clearly caught her staring.

Shaken from her trance, Sage quickly closed the ru again, correctly this time. She awkwardly scraped her throat, “No, it’s- I’m- Everything is fine.” Sage avoided eye contact with Reyna. 

“What were you saying about my clothes?” Reyna asked curiously, the earlier embarrassment gone and seemingly replaced by amusement of Sage’s. 

Sage thought on what would be the best way to describe the impracticality of Reyna’s clothes without offending the other woman, which was surprisingly hard. While she searched for the words, she tied the waistband correctly around Reyna’s waist before following with the blue cloth. “Just that-” her mind shut off as she leaned closer into Reyna’s personal space so she could make sure the cloth wasn’t twisted on her backside. No words came to mind as she slid her hands forward, struggling to tie the belt close as she felt Reyna’s soft exhales brush against the top of her head. 

It was only when she stepped back that she managed to breathe again and her mind cleared up a bit. “They seem a bit,” she uttered the next word very carefully, “impractical.” While grabbing the shoulderpads, Sage missed the expression flashing across Reyna’s face.

“Impractical. Interesting. Why would you say that?” She asked as she watched Sage put on the shoulder pads. “Ah, those go there…” 

Sage chuckled softly, “Yes, do you ever pay attention to my outfit? And it’s mostly the boots, they clank with every step, how do you ever sneak with them? Also the skin at your upper thigh, it leaves your artery exposed. And why do you have a sleeve on one arm and not on the other? It all seems… unnecessary?” 

“Then you lack the finesse to wear these shoes, I can sneak with them, that is what matters. And I can’t cover up my gorgeous tattoo, that would be ridiculous. And for the leg, well, you don’t seem to mind it.” Clearly, her small (mostly) accidental looks at Reyna’s thigh had been noticed. Everytime it surprises Sage how warm her cheeks can become in Reyna’s presence and worse when Reyna seems to catch her apparently not so sneaky glances. “And, no, I do pay attention to your clothes. Just not that part of it.” 

Was Reyna flirting with her? It sounded a hell of a lot like she was, right? Or did she just mean that she never noticed the shoulder pads? Or- Sage quickly shook her head before she could spiral again, instead focussing on the shoes. She grabbed them from the bedside and knelt down, holding them ready for Reyna to step into them. 

“I can put on my own boots, Ling.” Reyna sighed but did allow for Sage to help her, stepping into one boot and letting Sage zip it close. Neither did she make her own move to put the other boot on herself, and so Sage did it for her.

“I’m sure you can, Zyanya.” Sage rose to her feet again. “I presume that you can also fix your own ponytail then?” 

There was a small moment of hesitation before Reyna redid her ponytail with the help of her mirror. It gave Sage a little bit of time to admire Reyna. Watching how the muscles in her neck moved in the parts that were not covered in the black high neck collar. She watched her hands with long nails, gathering all the strands of hair to pull it back into a ponytail. The colour gradient in her hair was interesting and Sage watched the strands of colour shift and dance around each other as Reyna moved her head to tie her hair. Between her eyebrows was a small frown, a focused one. It was endearing. 

“What do you think?” Reyna asked as she looked at Sage through the reflection of the mirror. Caught once again. 

“Hm,” Sage gave Reyna a look over once more like she didn’t have the image of Reyna in her own clothes seared into her mind forever, “it looks good on you, really good.” 

“Really good huh?” Reyna’s frown disappeared and her lips formed a grin. “Hm, gracias cariño .”

There the word was again. “What does that mean?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Reyna turned to face Sage, her gaze moving over Sage’s body. It was hard not to feel self-conscious when she was aware of how skin tight the outfit was. Still she tried not to let it show as she raised her chin a bit. A relieved sigh almost escaped her when Reyna nodded. “You don’t look all too bad yourself. Apparently some people can pull it off.”  

Sage couldn’t help the smile that appeared on her face. “You think so?” She looked down at her clothes. I mean, she knew it didn’t look that bad… but she definitely didn’t wear it with the same confidence that Reyna did.

“Yeah, but something is off.” Reyna narrowed her eyes at Sage and then stepped closer, inspecting her. “I see.” She took another step, right into Sage’s personal space, their faces a couple inches apart. Like a reflex, Sage’s eyes dropped down to Reyna’s lips and then back up. Reyna noticed, she could not have missed it, but the growing grin confirmed it. Sage forced her eyes back up to Reyna, regretting her decision immediately. Up close, Reyna’s eyes had a specific hold on her, one that pulled her in. Thankfully there was a tug at her hair that pulled her back before she could lean in like her stupid body was about to do.

A small gasp escaped her lips as she felt her hair tie being pulled out. Her thicker hair, being used to always be in a ponytail, dropped slightly but stayed in a weird position until she felt Reyna’s fingers move through her hair, her nails sometimes scratching her head. It was oddly comforting to have Reyna adjust her hair, moving it into place. “That’s better.” Reyna mumbled and took a step back.

Sage tried to subtly suck some air back inside her lungs and forced herself to smile. “Ah, thanks. Although, I’m not sure if it will stay in place.” 

“It won’t, but you look better this way.” Reyna nodded slowly as she scanned Sage’s outfit again. “Yeah, you look good.” The purple eyed woman moved to walk past Sage, not before lifting her chin up slightly. “Keep your chin up, these clothes are meant to be worn with confidence.” 

Confidence. Sage could do confidence, Sage was confident. She always has been, but she was always confident in her comfort zone. In the battle field, her own clothes, the training room or when she was helping and healing others. But now, wearing Reyna’s clothes, it felt like confidence was something she had to force herself to be. Or maybe it was Reyna that had this effect on her, causing her to overthink the way she looked, the words she spoke and the way she behaved. 

“Are you coming, Ling?” 

Sage looked over her shoulder to see Reyna waiting for her in the door opening. “I still need to grab something from my room, I’ll meet you there, okay?”  

“Yeah, sure, see you there. Don’t forget, chin up. You look hot, you should act like it.” And then Reyna was gone. Leaving a blushing Sage to stumble to find a correct way at how to react to that. 

–

The dinner was … something. Though the food was delicious and everybody seemed to be on their best behaviour, Sage had been calling people by the wrong name multiple times. She could barely look Chamber in the eyes without spraying her drink, though she did not seem to be the only one having that problem. Honestly, what else was she supposed to do when he was dressed like that? And with that, she meant in Vipers suit. Honestly, how they got Chamber to actually wear a skintight, what looks like spandex, suit is above Sage, but she respects whoever did it all the more now.

Viper on the other hand, looked quite handsome in Chambers outfit, the tie and glasses suiting her quite well. So does Phoenix, somehow being able to pull off Raze's tank top. Raze had been teasing Phoenix by ‘almost’ spilling her drink on his jacket every couple minutes. Every time he almost burned Raze's hat. Sage had a feeling that the hat would not see the end of the evening in one unburned piece. 

Even Omen and KAY/O managed to swap clothes. Though Omen was just wrapped in tin foil and changed his eyes (which he apparently could do) to form KAY/O’s square face. KAY/O simply wore a purple hoodie and had lowered his voice even more. 

Another switch that really took Sage off guard was Neon and Fade. The usually dark clothed Fade was suddenly wearing bright colours, a part of her hair was up in two sort of space buns which resembled Neon’s pigtails. And the ever bright and bubbly Neon was now wearing more dark clothes than Sage had ever seen her wear. Her vibrant hair stood out with the rest of the outfit.

The other pairs were interesting, to say the least. Cypher and Brimstone was not one she had not expected. Neither was Killjoy and Jett. Sova and Deadlock, however, pulled off the others' outfits quite well. 

But Reyna and Sage’s swap was definitely not gone unnoticed either. The moment that Sage had walked into the room, as one of the last seeing as she still had to grab her present, she felt as if the whole room had turned their heads to her. There was a full five seconds of silence before everybody began commenting through one another, Neon and Phoenix walking to her, complementing the outfit, while she was sure she heard Jett whistle at her. Thankfully, the comments helped with keeping her head up, each supportive word feeding to her confidence. The glass of wine that was immediately put into her hand by an utmost ridiculously looking Chamber, also did wonders for her confidence. 

But she also overheard some agents complimenting Reyna, mostly about her wearing a ponytail, which was indeed a rare sight. Sage noticed that white was a pretty good colour on Reyna, it made the purple pop out more than she had expected. Though the light blue was slightly in contrast with the purple. It made Sage think about her present for Reyna, scared that she wouldn’t like the colours of it.

However, throughout the dinner her worries were discarded in exchange for good food and the company of her family. The food was immaculate, Fade’s dolma just as good as the ones they had made together, Jett made her most famous sotteok (even making some vegetarian friendly ones) and Neon made adobo. Sage herself had made dumplings, knowing that everybody would certainly love it. Breach made vanilla hearts (or vaniljhjärta as Breach called them), apparently he was quite the pastry chef, even helping with Deadlock’s cinnamon.

Safe to say there was plenty of good food. Eventually they all moved to the lounging place, where the gift exchange took place. There was an order in the beginning, but it soon came to fall as agents talked through each other and started gifting their secret santa’s their presents before the one before them had opened them up. Though Sage could have quieted it down again, she didn’t. Not minding that there was nobody paying attention to her when she walked over to Reyna.

“Hey, what are you doing over here?” Sage asked, finding Reyna in the kitchen pouring herself a glass of wine. 

“Ah, Sage. I’m escaping the others, they talk too much.” Reyna looked up at her, a small smile painting her lips. “But to what do I owe this pleasure?”

“Sorry, you’ll have to bear a little bit more talking.” Sage smiled and put the present on the counter in between them. 

Reyna raised her eyebrows at the small package, “Oh, so you are my secret santa. Interesting.” She grabbed the present, inspecting it a little bit before working on the wrapping. “I don’t see the point of it being called secret santa, when in the end it’s not much of a secret.” 

“To be honest, I don’t know much of the whole tradition, but I’m pretty sure this is not the way it’s supposed to go.” Sage laughed softly, leaning on her elbows as she watched Reyna unwrapping the gift.

“Jewellery.” Reyna guesses before even opening the small box. 

Sage’s mouth falls open in disbelief, spluttering for a response. “You are not supposed to guess before you open it!” She pushes herself off the counter, folding her arms in front of her.

In return, Reyna just laughs. “Am I right or am I right?” 

With a huff, Sage waves her hand. “Whatever, just open it.” 

And open Reyna did, her grin widening at the sight of the jewellery. However, to Sage’s surprise it immediately softened after. “I was right.” She mumbled, grabbing the necklace from its container. “I thought Brimstone said you had to make the present yourself, did you-” At closer inspection to the pulsating blue gem in the middle of the golden swirl, Reyna’s eyes widened slightly. “You made this yourself?” 

Sage had not seen Reyna off guard a lot, but it was nice to see the surprise on her face. Her mouth slightly agape, her eyes widened and her eyebrows raised. “Yes, I did. It was harder than I thought but apparently Fade makes her own jewellery so she helped out. Chamber helped too, with the gold. Do you like it?”

“It’s,” Reyna held the necklace higher, watching it in a different light, “ hermoso .” 

“I hope that is a yes?” 

“Yes.” Reyna confirms, “Put it on me.” She held the necklace out to Sage, who grabbed it carefully. This was not the moment to break something she worked so hard on. She moved around the counter to stand behind Reyna, the slight heels on Reyna’s boots made it easy to wrap the necklace around her neck. Reyna moved her ponytail aside as Sage cursed her trembling hands as she fumbled with the lock. Eventually she managed to put the necklace on Reyna and step away from her after, which was significantly harder as she smelled Reyna’s rich perfume. 

This feelings thing was truly getting out of hand.

“There you go.” Sage moved back, looking at the necklace on Reyna. It was a bit longer than Sage had anticipated, falling right over Reyna’s heart. Though it was not a simple design to make, it looked that way. It was a blue oval gem with sharper edges, surrounded by a gold swirl. Almost like how Sage’s powers surrounded her when she was about to revive somebody. To Sage’s surprise, she started to notice that the glowing of the gem slowly synced up with the purple glow (which still showed even through the layers of clothing) of Reyna’s chest. Like two hearts, beating as one. 

“Even though it feels light, I’m not sure I can wear it all the time, definitely not in battle.” Reyna looked down at the necklace. 

“You don’t have to but you could wear it under your clothes, I tried it and it doesn’t obstruct you in any way. Well, in my clothes anyways.” Sage suggested, “And I made it to be quite sturdy. The gem will not break, well for as long as I’m alive and can perform my powers.” 

Reyna stayed silent for a couple of seconds, moving the necklace under the shirt and then pulling it out again, observing it. “Thank you, Ling, it is beautiful.” The earnest tone in her voice takes Sage off guard a bit. 

“Of course, I’m glad you like it.” Sage nodded. 

Reyna gave her a warm smile before putting the necklace back under her clothes, patting it softly and then grabbing her glass. “Let’s go and get back to the party.” 

Sage nodded, “Who did you get?” She asked as she followed her out of the kitchen.

“Oh, Jett. I got her knives. She was happy. Sometimes it’s too easy.” Reyna shrugged as she looked sideways at Sage. She wondered how Reyna had made knives, but a part of her didn’t want to know. 

“Hm, lucky.” Sage laughed softly, “You are a difficult person to give presents to.” 

Reyna just shrugged and opened her mouth, ready to respond before a gust of wind blew both of their hairs back. Where they first were alone, now in a flash of blue energy Neon stood before them. “Hello.” 

“Hello?” Sage answered, confused at Neon’s sudden appearance.

“Look up.” Neon grinned, pointing up above them.

In synchronised movement, Sage and Reyna looked up to find Jett floating in the air, holding up a piece of greenery.

“What’s this?” Sage frowned, confused as to what the other two duelists were up to now.

Reyna, beside her, just sighed dramatically. “It’s a mistletoe. Una estúpida tradición .”

With the subtlety that she thought only Breach had, Neon said: “Kiss. It means you have to kiss.”

“Oh.” Sage looked at Reyna and quickly turned back to Neon before she could notice the quick glance at Reyna’s lips. “No.” She laughed, “Are you doing this with everybody?” 

Neon grinned widely, as she nodded she summed up her victims, “Phoenix and Yoru, Killjoy and Raze, and Astra and Skye.” 

“And all of them willingly complied?” Sage raised her eyebrow, slightly confused as to why anyone would agree with it. 

Neon shrugged, “It’s the way of the mistletoe, you have to do it.”

“Tsk, I don’t have to do anything.” Reyna folded her arms in front of her, eyebrows furrowed in an annoyed matter. “It’s a stupid piece of greenery, place it above Gekko’s head or something, I’m sure he’d love it.” 

“Oh, come on, Reyna! It’s just a lil kiss!” Jett’s voice came from above.

“No, I’m not going to do it. It’s ridiculous.” Reyna scoffed, glaring at both Neon and Jett. “You can’t just make people kiss.” 

“We are not making people kiss-” Jett started.

“The mistletoe is.” Neon finished, innocently looking up at Reyna.

Reyna rolled her eyes, her annoyance flaring up. “You are placing the mistletoe, you are partial in it!” Neon quickly took a step back, seeing how Reyna was really getting annoyed. 

“Reyna.” Sage sighed, softly putting a hand on her shoulder. She didn’t agree with the whole tradition, but the quicker they got it over with the better. Remembering the hopeful look in Neon’s eyes, she just couldn’t hurt the kid. And it was just a small kiss, who cared. Right? Right. 

She leaned forward to place a small kiss on Reyna’s cheek. Sage could feel Reyna tease up under her touch. When she pulled back there was a sound of shattering glass, causing Sage to look down in surprise to find that Reyna’s glass of wine had slipped from her hands. The wine slowly spread over the ground. 

“Oh, I’ll grab a towel.” Sage murmured and quickly hurried away to the kitchen, not even looking at the others, in the hopes that they wouldn’t see the growing blush on Sage’s cheeks. It was a kiss on the cheek for god’s sake! Why was her body reacting to it like she had full on made out with Reyna.

Well, great now she was thinking of making out with Reyna.

She leaned against the fridge door, covering her face and trying not to absolutely go crazy. Although she loved Neon and Jett dearly, she really wished they hadn’t done this. If it was anyone else, it would have been fine. God, she would even kiss Breach’ cheek if it was necessary. But Reyna? No, she couldn’t handle Reyna. But how could Neon and Jett have known that, to them it was just fun and games for them. While to Sage it meant almost combusting of this weird combined feeling of embarrassment, butterflies and nerves. 

“Sage?” A gruff voice shook her from her spiral.

She quickly uncovered her face and pushed herself from the fridge. “Oh hey, Omen.” Sage plastered a smile on her face, hoping that he wouldn’t notice the redness creeping from her neck to her cheeks.

“Are you okay?” He asked, his concern slipping through in his low voice.

Yes. She is fine. Right? Why can’t she say she is fine? Just say it. She is a-o-k. Totally and completely fine.

“It’s okay.” Omen puts a hand on her shoulder. Exactly this is why Sage loves Omen. He doesn’t expect her to talk about anything that she doesn’t want to. And he has this comforting presence around him that even now, makes Sage calmer, clear headed. However, it also makes it all the harder to lie to him. “I just came here to give you this.”

He held out a poorly wrapped package in Sage’s direction. “Oh! You are-” Sage took it, this time her smile genuine as she looked at it. “Thank you.”

“You don’t know what is in it yet.” Omen’s face switches back to his usual three stripes. 

“I know, but I’m sure I’m going to love it.” Though the package was not wrapped in the most neat way, it was definitely secure. It took more effort than Sage wanted to admit to open it. Revealing a purple scarf. “Oh, Omen.” Sage sighed, feeling the soft fabric under her fingers.

“I crochet it myself.” Omen said, and if he could look proud, he would. “I hope you like it.” 

“I love it.” Sage smiled at him, wrapping the scarf around her neck. “It’s comfortable and beautiful.” 

Omen nodded, his eyes narrowing and then relaxing them again. “It looks good on you. Purple looks good on you.” 

Involuntarily, her eyes searched to find Reyna, and they did. She was standing on the other side of the room and sometimes an agent crossed in front of her, but otherwise Sage had a clear view. She had acquired a new glass of wine somewhere and was talking to Gekko. She laughed, her head thrown back. Beautiful. She was beautiful. Her purple strands of hair, her purple eyes, lipstick and glow in her chest.

“I hope so.” Sage whispers just as Reyna’s purple eyes find hers from across the room.

Chapter Text

New years celebrations were certainly something ; indicating from the party still going on inside Sage’s head. The constant pounding against her skull, increasing with every little thought and memory that filtered into her mind.

How much did she drink? A lot, seeing as the memories that seep in become fussier with the increasing amount of drinks had.

She pushed herself slightly upward, rubbing the sleep away from her eyes as she tried to get the happenings of yesterday night in chronological order. 

It started with the shared dinner. The whole dinner table was filled with Jett’s specialties and Chambers wine. Oh, the wine, it definitely started with the wine. Everybody was dressed to the nines, finally being able to pull out the expensive clothes that they had bought on their trips. 

After Omen’s comment at the christmas party, Sage had finally grown the courage to wear the purple dress that had been stuck in her closet for years now. It was a silk, dark purple dress that hugged her tight around certain areas. Sage had bought it in a spurt of the moment decision, liking the design of the dress. However, she had never worn it out, either feeling like it was too much or simply not having the courage to do so. 

And maybe the compliments of the other agents about Reyna’s outfit on her had gotten to her head a little bit. Or maybe it was simply because Omen’s comment had sparked the idea of wearing it. Whatever the cause had been, she had worn the dress, despite the constant voices in the back of her mind telling her that it was too excessive. 

And well, it had definitely gotten some attention. Jett, as usual, wasn’t shy to tell her how good she looked, jokingly asking who she had dressed up for. Of course, her body had betrayed her by immediately trying to find Reyna along the long table. It hadn’t taken long to find her, seeing as she stood out wearing a white suit, a black high neck top underneath. Reyna was looking at her too, well, not her, the dress mostly. Her eyes were definitely not meeting Sage’s. 

She could swear that Reyna licked her lips before looking back at her empty plate, her eyes now clearly avoiding Sage’s. It caused a surge of confidence to burst through her body. It had come to her attention that Reyna’s eyes found her more often than they had before the christmas party, like something had shifted. Though it also felt like wishful thinking, sometimes everything about her situation with Reyna felt like wishful thinking. Was that look a look of interest or did she just look at everybody that entered the room? Was that one time she brushed her hand against Sage’s in the elevator intentional or just an accident? Did Reyna actually show interest in her, or was it just wishful thinking? 

She wished she knew so she could stop obsessing over it. But knowing meant asking and, well, no. That was simply not an option. So wishful thinking, and then crushing them with some logic, was her best solution right now.

So Sage focused back on Jett, smiling and lifting her head slightly. “Thank you, Jett. Your food smells as amazing as usual, what did you make for us tonight?” As Jett told her all about the delicacies that she, with the help of Neon, Fade and Yoru, had managed to create, Sage tried to not let her eyes wander towards Reyna. Her mind however, had free rein.

Thankfully, she was sitting at the other end of the table, near Brimstone and Viper, far away from Reyna. It gave her some time to breathe, even though Brimstone kept on bringing up work issues, it was a much needed change of conversation. It kept her mind focused on her duty. Still, sometimes Reyna’s laugh caught her ears and it took everything in her not to turn and look at the other woman. 

And for not the first time, she wondered however she was going to get rid of these feelings. How she was going to cut this string that seemed to connect her heart to Reyna, that seemed to tighten around it as she laughed, that tugged on it every time their eyes met. Tomorrow, she would figure it out. Tomorrow. But as for tonight… She had no choice but to let the string pull her closer and closer to Reyna. 

Brimstone, however, managed to make sure that her attention could never be diverted all too much. He and Viper went over the new years plans with her, talking about upcoming missions. Somehow, all the work talk made the dinner fly by. And soon the party was in full motion. 

Neon speedily cleared the table while Breach and Deadlock put the tables back into place and the others gathered by Chamber and his beverage bar, containing various wines, champagnes and cocktails. Gekko stood behind the bar with them, enjoying the recently acquired cocktail mixer, his companions helping him out with the tricks.

Most of the evening flew by, she talked with Omen for most of the evening, talking about bonsai trees a lot, a hobby he had recently picked up. She did move around a bit, joining a group that had gathered around Skye, who was talking about her work out routine. Breach was joining in, talking about his own exercises and Deadlock seemed more than interested in the conversation. Surprisingly, Fade also joined the group, standing beside Deadlock. She did not chime in, but just like Sage she did admire the efforts that the others had put in their bodies. However, Fade’s eyes were a bit more glued on Deadlock than Sage’s, when Deadlock took off her blazer to show her muscles. She talked about her old work out routine at her former job and Fade kept nodding approvingly. Sage had to hide a smile and instead commented on her admiration for their discipline and the will to push their physical boundaries for their own pleasure. Though Sage liked yoga and pilates, the heavy weight lifting wasn’t really her thing. 

Sage continued to mingle with the small groups that had formed throughout the room, only avoiding the duelists corner where the shots were flowing heavily . 

After asking for another flute of champagne from Chamber, her eyes searched for Reyna again. They had been circling the room many times throughout the evening, always gravitating towards Reyna, watching her from the corner of her eye. But now she was nowhere to be seen. 

“Ah, I see you looking.” Chamber sighed as he put two flutes on the bar. “She is outside.” 

Sage didn’t have to ask who he had referred to or who the second flute was for. It was clear, the tone in his voice and the look of understanding in his eyes. It was a weirdly comforting look, one she had never really shared with him. Chamber never meddled in anyone’s business, he kept to himself, liking no company better than his own. He had made that very clear the moment he joined the protocol. Now, however, it seemed that he was more aware of the on goings than Sage would have thought. She didn't even have to say anything, he just knew . Was he observant or was she just that obvious? 

“Thank you, Vincent.” Sage took the champagne and gave him a small nod before walking to the balcony doors. 

And indeed, Reyna was there, leaning on the balustrade. The wind blew on Reyna’s hair, the purple ends making it seem like the movements were brushstrokes. The fabric of her suit folded in a way that was almost too perfect, no weird wrinkles. Behind her the stars painted the night sky. Real stars, not the one displayed on the monitors in their room. Stars- suns, a million light years away, lighting worlds just like theirs did. 

Astra had once explained to her that most stars were suns that had already died. That we were looking at a past state of the stars. Something about time relativity and the light of speed and with which it reached earth. Still, they shone so brightly right now, decorating the sky better than any fireworks could. Astra had also told her about what happened when a star died. How it would eject gas into the cosmos, containing carbon, nitrogen and many other atoms, and that those elements were the same basis of our DNA, our oxygen, our lifes. How every atom of us, of our world, was made- created inside a star, a star that had died, in return creating life. 

As she looked at Reyna, she thought of her star, the glowing light source in her chest. How it seemed so alive and how Sage would do anything to make sure that that star would burn forever, no matter how many souls it would consume. No matter how many other stars would be lost, just to keep this one alive.

It was a terrifying- dangerous -thing; loving someone so much to the point of sacrificing the world for them. Sage never thought she was capable of it. She loved her world, she fought for it, she lived for it, she would die for it. But if it was a choice between Reyna or the world? Well, she wasn’t so sure what to answer anymore.

It’s why it had to go, the feeling, the love, everything. It was dangerous, it was a threat to the well being of everyone around her. Still, as she looked at Reyna, peacefully staring into the distance, Sage wondered if she could ever get rid of this feeling. If she even wanted to.

“It’s been more than a minute, Ling.” Reyna’s voice was soft, the wind carrying it to Sage. “Are you joining me or are you going back inside?”

Sage stiffened, straightening herself as she tried to not break the glasses with the death grip that she had on them. “Sorry.” She mumbled as she walked to join Reyna, handing her one of the glasses. 

“Don’t be, I didn’t mind it, I was just wondering if you were just going to be staring at me any longer.” Reyna gave her a wink, taking the flute and taking a sip. “Hmm, Chamber knows his champagne at least.” She sighed approvingly before setting it aside, she straightened herself. Even though Sage was wearing her heels, Reyna still surpassed her by a couple of inches. 

“Don’t flatter yourself.” Sage mumbled into the glass before taking a sip, “I was looking at the stars, not at you.” If anyone had watched Sage staring at Reyna, they would have immediately caught the lie, she just hoped that Reyna wouldn’t. 

Reyna hummed, changing her gaze from the stars to Sage. “Why did you come out here then? To look at the stars? With two glasses of champagne?” Caught once again.

“I hadn’t seen you for a while, so I thought I’d come and check on you.” Sage looked back at Reyna, trying not to falter as her eyes seemed to burn brighter than usual. 

“Oh, I didn’t know you were keeping an eye on me, should I be worried?” Reyna joked.

In return Sage just rolled her eyes, turning away from Reyna again to lean on the balustrade. “No, I keep an eye out for everyone.” Though it wasn’t a complete lie, it did feel like she was being untrue, knowing damn well that she wouldn’t care half as much if Cypher or Skye would withdraw from the party. 

“ Eso es lindo .” The Spanish rolled off her tongue. If Sage had the courage, she would have asked Reyna to speak it more often, to keep talking in Spanish. Even though she didn’t understand it, the language was addicting to listen to- melodic almost. Or maybe it wasn’t even the language, maybe it was just Reyna talking Spanish that made her stomach flip.

Reyna joined her by leaning back down on the balustrade, leaving some space between them still. They stayed beside each other in silence for a couple of minutes, the only sound coming from the muffled talking inside and the rushing of the wind. 

The more time that passed, the calmer that Sage became, Reyna’s silence having a calming effect on her, contrasting the usual feeling that Reyna would give her. However, with the calmth also came the cold, causing the hair on her skin to start to rise and a shiver to run down her spine.

Without speaking a word, Reyna removed her jacket, placing it on Sage’s shoulders. It was still warm and the fabric was soft, causing a sigh to escape Sage’s lips. She turned to look at Reyna, now wearing just the black high neck crop top, the familiar glow in her chest protruding the fabric. She just now noticed that Reyna was wearing the necklace, the blue glow of it matching her purple energy. 

Sage wanted to protest that she wasn’t that cold but Reyna stopped the words that had threatened to spill from her lips with a simple shake of the head. So instead she just smiled gratefully, letting herself be enveloped by Reyna’s jacket that smelled so much like her that Sage physically had to restrain herself from sniffing it. 

They were quiet for another minute; a minute filled with them both leaning over de balustrade, their bodies close enough for their shoulders to touch and their hands to lay so close to each other. It was almost too easy for Sage to just inch her pinky finger towards Reyna’s and hook it there. The constant urge to touch Reyna was something new, well, not necessarily new in the way that it was with Reyna, but for Sage to be a touchy person. Sage was a true believer and supporter of personal space, she liked her own and she respected another’s. But with Reyna? With Reyna it didn’t feel like there was a personal space, there was no line that Reyna could cross that would upset Sage. Better yet, the closer the better. 

Maybe it was the warmth too, the warmth that Reyna radiated like a walking furnace. Maybe it was an instinctual reaction, craving her warmth. Or maybe it was simply her attraction. Whatever it was, it happened again as she noticed that her hand had automatically moved closer to Reyna’s, they were almost touching. Still, she lacked the courage to actually touch Reyna, still not knowing if the woman felt the same about her. What if she did actually mind Sage being in her personal space?

Thankfully, Reyna broke the silence before Sage could spiral down further in the ‘to touch or not to touch’ matter.

“Doesn’t it get tiring?” She asked.

It was an awfully vague question, so Sage frowned and responded with another question, “What?” 

Reyna sighed, hanging her head down as she pulled her hand away to clasps them together in front of her, and so she pulled away Sage’s chance to touch her. Not that she would have touched it if it had stayed there, still… It felt like a missed chance.

“Mothering everyone?”

Her brows furrowed together as her frown deepened, “Excuse me? Mothering? What do you mean?” 

Reyna laughed softly, lifting her head back up to look at Sage. “Watching out for everybody in this damn protocol. Keeping track of them, healing them, organising missions, giving advice, caring for them and all that while doing your job as a protocol agent. It seems-”

“Honourable?” Sage tried to joke, but only got half a smile from Reyna.

“Exhausting.” Reyna finished her sentence. And to her surprise, Reyna actually looked concerned.

Sage shook her head, looking forward again, avoiding the serious eyes. “It isn’t, really. It all doesn’t seem like something I’m doing beside my duties as a protocol agent, it is my duty. Taking care of the others, it’s my duty. And no, I’m not just a healer, I know that-” 

“You are not.” Reyna reassured her.  

“Thank you, but really, I don’t mind. This is my family now and I take care of it, it gives me energy. So no, it doesn’t exhaust me.” It was the simple truth. She liked giving advice, healing the others, and organising missions. 

“This is not your family, Ling.” Reyna sighed in a tone that seemed like she felt bad for having to say it. “They are your colleagues.” 

Sage shook her head firmly. “You are wrong. They are.” The other woman shook her head too but before she could speak, Sage continued. “To me they are. You might have your sister, your blood. You might have known your parents, your aunts and uncles. You might have known what a real family is like. I didn’t.”  Thinking back of her past, all that she had learned about families was from watching others, watching movies, reading books. The monks resembled a family. But they weren’t really. “These people, they are the closest thing that I have to a family, Reyna. And maybe you don’t see them that way, that’s okay. But don’t tell me that it isn’t a family to me, because if this isn’t it then I don’t know if I’ll ever really find one.” The confession rolled off her tongue with ease, like she had been thinking about it for a while now. Which she had, ever since their dinner in the Mexican restaurant.

Reyna seemed confused, bothered even, but she didn’t retort. Instead she looked forward and asked: “So you see me as family?”  

It was a tricky question, knowing damn well she didn’t see Reyna as some sort of sisterly figure. “I-“ She wanted to opt for the safe route, saying yes, but she would be lying. Reyna had always been different hadn’t she? What was she going to do? Lie and say that she felt exactly the same towards Reyna as to let’s say, Fade?

Sage took a sip from her drink before shaking her head, not that Reyna could see. “No.” She said softly. Her answer earned her a scoff from Reyna.

“Ah I see, so they are all family and I’m what? A colleague?” The annoyance is clear in the woman’s voice.

“Isn’t that what you want me to view you as?” She can’t help the bite in her voice as she stares intently at Reyna’s side profile. The corners of her lipsticked lips are turned downward in a disapproving scowl. Sage can see the gears in her mind turning, revealed by the conflict in her eyes. “But no, I don’t see you as a colleague. You are,” my friend? My crush- Gods that sounds childish. The one that I love? My weakness? It all sounds so stupid. It’s why she opts for: “something else.”

A sarcastic laugh escaped Reyna’s lips. “Thanks for clarifying that.” The purple eyes disappeared as Reyna closed her eyes and shook her head.

“Not in a bad way.” Sage quickly added, before Reyna got the wrong idea. 

This got Reyna’s attention, now finally turning to look at Sage. Her lips parted like she was about to say something but the only sound that beat the silence was the chatter coming from inside and the gentle gush of breeze moving some of the vegetation down below.

Reyna pried into Sage’s eyes, as if the meaning of ‘something else’ was written in her dark eyes. A part of Sage wanted Reyna to find the truth there. The adoration, the love that Sage felt for her. Though a part of her is more tentative; she has no clue how Reyna feels about this all, not really. This could backfire, and it wouldn’t matter anyways, tomorrow she would bottle it all up and send the bottle into the sea. Still, a part of her seems to hope that Reyna reciprocates her feelings, recognizes them in Sage’s eyes just so that she doesn’t have to say the words out loud.

But when Reyna stayed silent and kept searching, Sage softly placed her hand on Reyna’s. It’s a thoughtless motion that sent a tingle up her arm. “Not in a bad way.” She repeated, reassuring.

It must have been something in her voice that caused Reyna to find what she was looking for as she straightens herself with a soft, “Oh.” 

Sage quickly removed her hands and turned her gaze to the stars, still scared that Reyna would pry too far. She could not let Reyna know, not on ‘new years eve’. “So,” she swallowed, hoping it would remove the unsure timbre from her voice, “I’m just a colleague to you huh?”

A soft chuckle seemed to escape Reyna’s lips as she leaned over the balustrade, side by side again. “Don’t be ridiculous, Sage.” She said but didn't elaborate. 

She wanted to pry, but a yell came from inside, interrupting her. Sage turned in time to see a blast of fire and then laughter. Jett and Phoenix high fived each other as Yoru scowled while trying to put out a fire on his jacket. Sage could vaguely hear Brimstone’s voice and Breach's laughter.

She sighed softly, “Sorry, I’ll have to check on the children, see if they are all in one part.” Sage began to turn but Reyna quickly grabbed onto her arm. 

“It’s not always your mess to clean up, Ling.” Reyna sighed, firmly holding Sage in place. Turning back to the earlier conversation.

“I know, I know. But I need to check if Yoru is okay, maybe he needs healing.” Sage looked back at Reyna for a second, surprised to find a concerned face. 

“Skye can heal him, it doesn’t always have to be you.” This is a new side to Reyna and Sage is unsure whether to fight her on this or to give in.

Sage turned her gaze back to the whole debacle happening inside, a couple of agents were now rushing towards the group while the others continued like nothing happened. “Aren’t you sick of giving all the time? Giving up your own time, powers, everything, to everybody all the fucking time?” Her gaze fell upon Skye, rushing towards Yoru while getting out her flowers. It’s only then that Sage relaxed in Reyna’s grip and turned back to her. 

“You still don’t get it, do you?” Sage shook her head and as she did Reyna’s grip loosened from her wrist but didn't fully let go. “This is my duty.”

“Fuck your duty, I don’t give a shit about your duty. What about you? What about your life?” She stepped closer to Sage. Her face is filled with emotion. Usually, they aren’t hard to decipher, but now they were a mix of multiple emotions at once. 

Sage was unsure what to say, so she said what she has been saying her whole radiant life, “This is my life-“

“Cut the bullshit, Ling. This is not your life, at least it shouldn’t be. Stop acting like a saint, like you are nothing more than your duty. You say you are not just a healer, then start acting like it. You can’t always keep giving. Don’t you want to take sometimes?” The words seemed to cut straight into Sage and she involuntarily took a step back.

Don’t you want to take sometimes?

Images of Reyna kissing her in a Mexican themed bathroom slipped into her mind. Reyna’s hands on her hips, her back, her stomach, in between her legs. Gods, her voice in Sage’s ear. 

“I-“

Reyna sighed, now fully letting go of Sage. “I can not keep on watching you put your duty before yourself.” 

I do want to take. Is what Sage would say. I want to take you all for myself. I want to kiss you, like you did me in my dream. Yes, I dreamt of you. Yes, I did because I am madly in love with you. 

Instead she stood there, unmoving, staring at Reyna. And Reyna looked right back, expecting a response and getting nothing. But she did not carry the patience that Sage did, so she moved after a minute of nothing, turning away from Sage.

She was going to walk away and Sage was going to let her. Because that’s what Sage did right? She let the opportunities come and pass by, too afraid to take it, too afraid of the outcome if it all goes awry. She would watch Reyna walk back into the room and then she’d stay outside, catch her breath and then head inside too. And then the clock would strike twelve and it would be the start of eradicating her feelings for Reyna. And that would be it.

That’s what she would do. Isn’t it? 

Don’t you want to take sometimes?

Her hand reached out to clasp around Reyna’s wrist almost instinctively. “Wait-“ Reyna did not fight her grip, instead she eased into it, turning to face Sage. “You are right.” 

Reyna’s eyebrows raise ever so slightly, “About which part?” 

“All of them, well, most of them.” She stepped closer to Reyna, having to slightly look up at her now. The move seemed to surprise Reyna, but she didn't step back. It gave Sage the opportunity to have a closer look at her face. Rogue strands of her hair moved with the soft evening breeze, giving Sage the urge to move them out of her face. Her makeup was impeccable as ever, even after a whole night of wearing it. Her thicker eyebrows were furrowed together in confusion. And her eyes- Ah, it’s always the eyes, isn’t it?

Don’t you want to take sometimes?

Her gaze slid down to Reyna’s lips. “I do.” She swallowed, “I do want to take sometimes.” When her gaze moved back up to Reyna’s eyes, they were no longer filled with confusion. It was replaced by an understanding, the meaning behind Sage’s words dawning on her.

It was almost unnoticeable, the way Reyna leaned forward. If Sage did not have her eyes trained on Reyna, on her face, her body, she would not have noticed it. But she did, she leaned forward and so did Sage. Millimetre by unsure millimetre, they inched closer together. Giving each other a way out but neither taking it. Sage’s brain worked overtime, all her emotions and rushing thoughts coming together to command her heart to beat out of her chest, her blood to rush through her veins and a lump of nerves to form in her throat. But she did not pull back.

Neither did Reyna.

It would have been so perfect. It would have been, if not for the universe to interfere. 

A loud bang caused them to jump back and when tracing the sound, they found an excited Phoenix standing in the door opening. “It’s almost time! Get ins-“ His intoxication showed through his speech.

“Phoenix!” Neon called out, using her speed to rush towards him and tugging on his arm. “Leave them be-“

“But they gotta join! Also Reyna, Gekko threw up like four times now-“

“I told you not to tell her that!” Another voice popped in from behind Phoenix, sounding slightly embarrassed. 

Sage swallowed, ignoring the rest of the conversation as slowly but surely Phoenix got pulled inside. Her gaze turned back to look at Reyna only to find that she was already looking at her. 

“I-“ Sage started, but what could she say? The moment had passed.

Reyna nodded slowly, “We’ll talk. I have to check up on Gekko.” She sighed.

Sage quickly averted her gaze to her feet, nodding, the feeling of disappointment setting heavy in her chest. “I understand.”

A soft kiss was placed on her cheek, mirroring the one from the ‘christmas’ party. “Don’t sulk, we’ll talk.” 

And then she was gone, disappearing into the room and its crowd.

–

Sage rubbed her temples and shook her head. Yesterday was a mess and she already regretted trying to regain her memories of it. She needed some food and water , to clear up her head. 

She readied herself to go out, which in her hungover state meant that she wrapped a bathrobe around her and put on her slippers. Slowly but surely, she made her way towards the kitchen where she was met with the sight of some of the agents in their hungover state.

Breach and deadlock were sitting side by side, drinking coffee in silence, both looked absolutely destroyed. Neon and Killjoy were actively talking in the kitchen, even though both of them looked tired. And Skye, chipper as always, was cleaning some of yesterday's mess with the help of a slumping Gekko, who mostly let his little helpers do the work. 

She nodded to the first pair, which returned it with a slow nod, and then joined the younger agents in the kitchen. “Goodmorning,” Sage greeted them as she turned on the water cooker.

“Sage!” Killjoy’s voice was higher than usual and when Sage looked at her over her shoulder. 

“She said surprised?” She asked, looking at a Neon who was looking very closely at her. She seemed to be inspecting Sage’s outfit. 

The German girl quickly shook her head, “No, no. We are just uh, surprised, so I guess yes, but uh. You look-”

Sage raised her eyebrow, now fully turning around to the two. She knew she did not look like the epitome of beauty at the moment, but neither did the others. 

“We are just surprised you are still standing.” Neon popped in, her voice a bit hoarse.

Flashes of shots protrude her mind. After the almost kiss, Sage had gone inside and got offered a shot for the countdown. And from there on out the alcohol had kept flowing. Sage shook the thoughts from her head and turned back around to pour her tea. “I can handle my alcohol.” She lied, and grabbed her cup, turning to the others again.

“Ja…” Killjoy shared a look with Neon, “We’ve noticed.” 

Sage shrugged, smiling slightly. “You two are not the ones to talk. How’s your head, Neon?” She remembered the young duelist claiming that she can run through the wall and then painfully disproving her point. 

“It’s okay.” Neon awkwardly rubbed her forehead, there would be a bump had Sage not been there to heal the wound. “You are right, we are not ones to judge, it’s just that you have seen us like that many times and you well, never get that drunk.” 

“Oh you all should have seen her at Breach’ party years ago when Reyna had just joined the program!” Raze’s voice pops in, walking up to the little group. Her voice was loud as ever, causing a sharp pain in her head. 

Sage turned to face Raze, quickly shaking her head at the girl, “They do not need to know, and that was not my fault.” 

The others looked confused at the duo, having missed the whole spectacle, “What.. happened?” 

Raze grinned widely, putting her arm around Sage’s shoulder. “Well, Breach had wished for a good party which meant alcohol, however Jett made it so sweet that our healer here did not know there was any in it.” Sage shook her head, thinking back of the night. The agents had known each other for less than 6 months by then and Sage had made a complete fool out of herself. Who’s idea was it to bring a karaoke machine anyways? 

Neon and Killjoy looked expectantly at Raze, but the duelist just grinned at Sage and then shrugged, removing her arm from Sage’s shoulder. “But a woman does not drink and tell.” She said to Sage’s relief.

“But a man does.” Breach spoke up from the table, seemingly done with his coffee. “Sage-” 

“Don’t you dare,” Sage turned to the man, pointing her free finger at him, “I was not the only drunk one that night.” 

He seemed to hesitate at that, narrowing his eyes at Sage but then slowly leaning back in his chair and nodding. “Okay, okay. Maybe another time.” 

Sage, relieved to have diffused the situation before any harmful information could have been spread, sighed. “Good, now I am going, any of you need anything?” She asked, already taking a couple steps backwards. 

“Well-” Neon started but Sage quickly shook her head, knowing exactly what she was going to ask. 

“No, I do not cure hangovers.” She smiled pitifully at them. Truly, she wished her powers worked to that extent. “You know this, Neon.”

The younger agent nodded with slumped shoulders, “I know.” 

“But hey, maybe Skye has some protein smoothie to help you out-”

Right on cue, Skye popped up beside Sage, “Did somebody say protein smoothie?”

Neon, rightfully, looked terrified at Sage, quickly shaking her head. They all knew about Skye’s hangover cure, and though it seemed to work, the taste of it was so terrible that one would rather suffer a three day hangover than the taste of it. Sage, feeling a little bit mean today, just winked at Neon and then turned to Skye. “I heard Neon has a terrible headache, maybe you can help.” 

Skye didn’t hesitate to prepare her cure, walking over to the fridge while talking to Neon about the ingredients in her cure. Before Neon could retort and pull her into the conversation, Sage managed to slip out.

The others had been a nice distraction, but now that she was left alone again her thoughts immediately reverted back to a certain purple eyed agent. Reyna had said that they would talk later. What would talking later mean? Would it be in a bit, tonight, tomorrow? And what was Sage supposed to do with her feelings? She had promised herself that she would get rid of them today, but after yesterday… should she? 

As she entered her room her eyes fell on the white jacket hanging over the corner of the divider. Reyna’s jacket. Sage walked over to it, softly touching the fabric with her free hand. Even from this distance she could smell Reyna’s perfume, drawing her back into another memory. 

–

Everybody was still busy partying, but Sage had had enough alcohol for a lifetime and she had the feeling that it would not be the end of it if she kept close to the duelists. She knew they were younger, still some part of her wanted to show them that she could take it too. Which she could not, which she should have known since she was a lightweight, however, after everything with Reyna, alcohol seemed like a nice escape. Though, at the moment it did feel anything but nice.

When everybody seemed too busy watching Yoru take a shot while standing on his hands, Sage had managed to find her opening and slip away. She smiled as she looked back at the agents, laughing and having fun, celebrating their new year. The sight of it distracted her enough that she did not notice the figure in front of her and bumped into them.

“Ay.” The familiar voice exclaimed, while lifting her drink up so it would not spill. 

“Ah sorry, Reyna!” Sage quickly apologised, her cheeks immediately flaring red, whether it was because of her guilt for bumping into her or the awkwardness from before, she did not know. She took a step back, looking at the other woman. Reyna definitely looked less intoxicated than her.

The purple haired woman just shrugged, “Where are you rushing off to?” Reyna put the glass on the high table beside her. 

“Just to my room, I think the celebrations have lasted for long enough.” Sage noticed that even though she tried to form proper sentences, her words slurred ever so slightly. She was not the only one to notice.

“Yeah, and you sure have celebrated.” Reyna grinned, “Let me walk with you.” She motioned her hand towards the hallway and Sage followed the direction.

“Such a gentleman.” Sage smiled, instinctively putting her hand on Reyna’s shoulder and pulling it back as they started walking.

As soon as they had left the busy room, Sage had expected Reyna to start talking, but she did not. Instead she, and therefore they, stayed quiet until they reached Sage’s room. She scanned her hand on the pad outside the door and turned around to face Reyna as it slid open behind her. “Do you want to come in?” 

Surprisingly, Reyna seemed to hesitate but eventually nodded, following Sage into her room. She looked around in it like it was her first time entering the space. There was this urge to ask Reyna about the almost kiss, the need to know if she wanted what Sage wanted. But Reyna was seemingly purposely avoiding Sage’s gaze, so she just grabbed her more comfortable clothes and moved behind the divider in her room. 

She pulled off Reyna’s jacket, swinging it over the corner of the divider. A bit clumsily she undid the clasps of her heels, kicking them off and sighing in relief as her feet hit her carpeted floor. While she tried to undo her zipper, Reyna stayed silent, almost silent enough that Sage wondered if Reyna had left, was it not for the shadow moving behind the divider. Sage managed to undo the first part of the zipper but it was an awkward angle. If she tried, she could have managed to undo the zipper herself but Reyna was right there. Blame the alcohol or blame her utter lack of self control, which might have coincided, to cause her to walk out from behind the divider. 

“Could you maybe…” she didn’t finish her sentence, instead she just turned her back towards Reyna. She removed her hair from her back so Reyna had a clear view and waited impatiently.

“Of course.” Reyna breathed, her voice soft as she walked over to Sage. It was welcoming, Reyna’s soft and warm fingers trailing the skin above the zipper. Every inch touched caused a tingle to rush through her body, making her heart speed up bit by bit. She hoped that Reyna would lean in, kiss her shoulder, her neck or her jaw. Turn her around and lean in again. But Reyna did not. Reyna did exactly what Sage asked, though she was more gentle with it than Sage expected. 

The tightness of the dress was released as Reyna slid the zipper down. Though she did not step back after she finished, instead she seemed to hesitate. Sage could feel her hand hovering above Sage’s exposed shoulder. But eventually she retracted her hand and took a step back. “All done.” 

“Thank you.” Sage mumbled slightly disappointed and moved back behind the divider, undressing further. They had seemed so close just a couple of hours ago and now it already felt like it had not happened. But it had. Right? She had not imagined anything? No, she noticed it. Reyna leaned in, she leaned in and they almost kissed. They were only mere inches apart. It was so clear yet her mind did not stop racing over the possibilities. Could it ever even stop? She just needed things to be cleared up. She could not wait for Reyna to ask her, she had to be the one to initiate it. 

“So about the talk-” Sage had gathered the courage to ask as she walked out from behind the divider. She expected Reyna to still be standing there, but she wasn’t. Her room was empty, no trace of Reyna except for her perfume that assured Sage that she had not imagined everything.

Stunned, Sage stood in the middle of the room, looking at the door where Reyna had left. She had not even heard it open nor close. 

A sadness washed over Sage; her heart felt heavy in her chest and she felt her shoulders slump. This constant hopefulness, these signals, her own thoughts, they were driving her crazy. Was she delusional? Was it all in her head? And if it was not, why did Reyna keep avoiding her? Why did she leave? 

With a heavy feeling, Sage retired to bed, but she did not sleep immediately. Her mind did not let her rest, making up excuses for Reyna and then reprimanding herself for excusing her actions. Did she really have to give up on her feelings now that they had come so close? Reyna was interested, right? She leaned in. But then she also left. She made no move of her own. 

She just needed everything to be clear, obvious, something that her mind could not dismiss, delude or whatever. But even that seemed harder than she thought. Tomorrow she would try again. But she did not know how much longer she could do this for. Her feelings were drowning her rational thoughts out, she could not have that. Not in this line of work.

Eventually sleep had taken her, but the heavy feeling stayed.

–

Even now, standing before the jacket, touching the sleeves of it, the feeling was still there. She would talk today. Sage just had to freshen up and find Reyna and talk. Because she had been over her feelings a thousand times now, she knew how she felt, now she just needed to know Reyna’s side.

And so she did; she freshened up, readied herself and went to Reyna’s room. There she knocked on her door, but no one answered. Then she went to the training area, but only found Omen and Sova there, talking. When she asked about Reyna, they both shrugged, not having seen her today. Then she went to the other training spaces, the sparring mats and the weaponry room, the tech lab, the med bay even, but there was no trace of her. Eventually she reached the living area again, where Cypher was sitting on the couch, watching something on his tablet. If one person would know where Reyna was, Cypher would be the one to.

“Cypher,” she said, moving to stand in front of him, “can I ask you something?” 

“Of course,” Cypher said without looking up, tapping away on his device, “who do you need to find?” 

Straight to the point as always. Sage hesitated, maybe Reyna didn’t want to be found, or maybe Sage should just wait for Reyna to come to her- No. She needed to talk now, as soon as possible so she knew whether to get rid of these feelings or keep harbouring her hope. “Reyna, do you know where she is?” 

“Ah, Reyna.” Cypher nodded, seemingly not surprised by Sage’s request. “She left about an hour ago.” 

Sage frowned, “Where to?” 

“Well, that is classified information.” Cypher now did look up, somehow even behind his mask she could see a pitiful expression. He probably noticed Sage’s confusion, disbelief. He seemed to hesitate a bit, “Though you are very close to her... I’m sure she would not mind me telling you. Well, she would if she knew that I knew that she was gone, but she would not mind it being you, I think? And you are pretty high up in ranks… It should be fine, right?” 

“Just tell me, Cypher.” Sage crossed her arms. 

“Alright alright,” he leaned forward a bit, “she is visiting her sister.” 

“Emergency?” Sage quickly asked.

“No, not that I know of. Viper wasn’t even with her, she just went.” 

Sage knew that she sometimes visited her sister, though it was not often and mostly whenever it was an emergency. She knew that though visiting her sister was important, gathering souls for her to live on was more necessary. But this was the second time this month that Reyna would visit her sister. Maybe it was an escape? From her? The talk? No, Reyna wouldn’t just visit her sister as an escape. Right? Not everything in Reyna’s life was about Sage, even though her own currently seemed to do nothing else but revolve around Reyna’s.

She needed to get her mind out of the gutter. The talk was not going to happen. They would keep dancing around each other and nothing would happen, yesterday doesn’t change that. They can get as close as they want but it will never turn into something real. They are soldiers, nothing else and she should stop thinking that there was any space for romance, for selfish need, in this line of work. 

It’s there that Sage decided: she was going to do as she had told herself before. She would rid herself of these feelings and not look back, starting from today on. 

“Thank you, Cypher.” She said, not feeling grateful in the least.

Chapter Text

Sage’s first step to rid herself of all romantic feelings toward her fellow agent, was to avoid her. Less exposure meant less occasions to think about her, dream about her or spark feelings that shouldn’t be alight in the first place. The second step, building on the first one, was to busy herself with her duty; she took up extra missions, spent most of her day in the medbay reorganising the agents files and taking up some chores from other agents that were injured and/or sick. After this, everything should slowly die down. Time would heal, right?

However, step one: avoiding Reyna, seemed harder than Sage would have guessed. Reyna was suddenly in every room that Sage walked into and every single time their eyes seemed to lock in an instant. It took everything in Sage to look away, to steer her mind to other things instead of how close they had gotten on new years.

After Reyna had gotten back from her trip to her sister, everything had been as it always had been. With Reyna seemingly eager to strike up a conversation with Sage, acting like nothing had happened. She still flirted, still said things with too much insinuation and still touched her way too often. And every time Sage had to strengthen her resolve and shrug off Reyna’s hand from her shoulder, cut off conversations and come up with excuses to leave. She could not fall for all of this again.

Even in missions she made sure to keep her distance. When Reyna and another agent were low in health, Sage chose to heal the other agent. Whenever she did, Reyna looked at her with a raised eyebrow, almost offended that she did not get the heal. In return Sage just suggested she healed herself. 

These were extreme measures, but they were necessary. Eventually, Reyna seemed to understand what had happened and she took her distance again. In a span of a week they were back to just being colleagues, just like Reyna had wanted. And though Sage tried her hardest to be relieved, it mostly felt like her heart was slowly tearing apart, fibre by fibre. Whenever she looked at Reyna, she did no longer feel the exciting fluttering feeling in her stomach but instead a heavy heartache. It was like they had broken up, even though they had never even been together in the first place.

After two weeks, everything had died down. It was as it was years ago. Except that Sage felt like she was drowning and with every breath she swallowed more water, only further burying herself under the surface. This was not at all how it was supposed to be. But maybe this wound needed more time to heal than Sage had accounted for. But eventually it should, she just had to keep her resolve strong.

Sage and Reyna hadn’t talked in three days when Reyna walked into the medbay, her arm in a weird angle and a scowl on her face. Without a greeting, Reyna sat down on the bed, turning herself so that Sage had access to her arm. And there step one and two collided with one another, creating a loophole for Reyna to slip through. 

Both reluctance and worry fought for their place in Sage’s body, but duty won the fight as she made it over to Reyna. “That looks painful,” Sage observed, softly touching Reyna’s arm as she inspected it, “what happened?” She did not wait to use her powers. Even if she tried to avoid Reyna, seeing her in pain caused Sage’s heart to ache. As did the almost familiar feeling of the warm skin under her fingers, which as usual caused a soft tingle up her arm. 

“Ay, the stupid enemy Raze blew her pack near me, slammed me right into a wall.” Reyna sighed, not watching the healing process but instead keeping her eyes focused on Sage. With a soft sigh, Sage shook her head, making sure not to look Reyna in the eyes. It was harder than initially thought since Reyna seemed determined to catch Sage’s gaze in return.  

“They are tricky things. I sometimes think that our Raze isn’t always in control of them either.” 

“Oh this was no accident, that I am sure of.” 

Sage softly tried to move Reyna’s arm up and down softly. Now she did have to look at Reyna just to see if the arm still hurt, the smallest wince could mean that it was not completely healed. But Reyna didn’t wince, she just stared right into Sage’s eyes. And as always, it took her off guard. Within a second her heart started to speed up, her hands suddenly felt clammy and she could feel her cheeks heat up. Just as quick, she tore her eyes away, “Did you at least win?”

Reyna scoffed, probably offended that she even had dared to ask the question. “Of course we did, don’t be ridiculous. I was there.” Sage wanted to argue that there were many times that they had lost with Reyna there, but decided that it would be better not to damage her ego. Instead she just gave her a light smile and a soft hum. It was annoying how easily Reyna could make Sage smile, even after having promised herself for weeks that she would not fall for her tricks again. There was this natural charismatic energy around Reyna that pulled Sage right in. Distancing herself was harder when Reyna was near.

Thinking about distancing she looked at her hands still resting on Reyna’s arm. Quickly she retracted her arm, hoping that Reyna had not noticed. But as she looked back and down at Reyna, she found that Reyna’s gaze was still lingering on the place where her hands had been just seconds before. So, she had been aware of it. Fuck. Sage took a soft breath and then a step back. Distancing, that was the goal, she needed to stop losing sight of that.  

“That’s good.” With one last glance at Reyna’s arm she turned to walk towards the cabinet. “You are done. If something feels weird later let me know, or Skye.” She added an emphasis on the other agent, hoping that Reyna would get the hint. 

Without seeing Reyna, Sage could hear the confusion in her voice as she said: “Uh, okay. Thank you, Ling.” Her name stung her like a needle pinpointed directly into her heart. She had shared her name, allowed her to use it, and got Reyna’s in return. That meant something, at least to Sage. 

“Just performing my duty.” Sage swallowed down her feelings, trying to shove them down into the deep dark pit, which was pretty much overflowing with repressed feelings by now. 

Thankfully, Reyna seemed to understand as she heard the med-bay bed creek and the sound of her boots against the floor. The sound echoed through the room, gradually getting softer until they stopped. The door slid open with a soft puff of air but the boots did not move. Sage urged herself not to look back but instead focus on the documents in front of her. But even the documents couldn’t distract her from Reyna’s gaze which burned into her back. Eventually, the footsteps continued, echoing down the hallway until the med-bay door closed with a huff once again.

Only then could Sage let her wall down, she leaned forward on the table and exhaled deeply. Calm down, calm down, calm down. This was the mantra that she kept repeating to herself for the past couple of days. But whatever she told herself, she couldn’t follow her own instructions. She hadn’t been able to meditate for weeks now, hell, she couldn't find any calmth, not even at night. Her body and mind were as much a mess as before, only she managed to hide it better by avoiding Reyna. But who even was she hiding it from? Herself? Reyna? It didn’t matter, even now with Reyna right there, everything bubbled up to the surface again. All her effort undone with a single interaction.  

“Get it together.” Sage muttered to herself, pushing herself up from the desk while sliding the front locks of her hair back. Breathing deeply, she tried to still her mind like the monks had taught her. It took more effort than she would have liked to admit, but she had spent years with the monks learning how to still her mind. That training would be useful now. Surely, she would manage to push everything into the overflowing dark pit of repressed emotions again.

One interaction and almost two weeks of work went down the drain like it was nothing. This was ridiculous, impossible almost. But she had to keep trying. Eventually it would stop, right? She just needed to take more extreme measures. 

Thus, Sage asked Skye to take over the med-bay for a little while while she sorted out a problem with the filing system (which was actually something she had been meaning to do a couple of months ago but never got to). Consequently, everytime that Reyna walked into the med-bay Skye was the one to treat her. This gave Sage a chance to escape before Reyna could strike up a conversation. It worked for a little while, but Skye couldn’t always be there and Reyna seemed to get hurt all of the time.

It took exactly four days before Reyna was back and Skye was out on a mission. This time Reyna’s leg was bleeding. She walked stiffly, trying not to bend her leg too much. It’s funny how even now, when she tried so hard to be as emotionally unattached to Reyna as she could be, seeing Reyna in pain immediately pulled on her heartstrings. Worry overtook her within seconds, moving her legs towards Reyna before she could even consider doing anything else. “What happened?” Even her voice couldn’t hide her concern. She was really bad at this distancing thing.

The worry seemed to surprise Reyna too as she raised her eyebrows, “Skye is not in today?” She deflected her question and sat down on one of the beds, “I can wait for her if I need to, it’s just a small cut.” Seeing the way the blood was dripping down Reyna’s leg and onto the ground, it looked like anything but a small cut. Though Reyna was known for downplaying her injuries (except for the times she told her old battle stories to the younger agents, then she would often overstate the severity of the wound), it seemed that this time there was more of a jab to it. It wasn’t hard to recognize that Reyna was annoyed. Sage knew Reyna wasn’t stupid; Reyna knew that Sage was avoiding her, the duelist just didn’t know why. At that moment everything seemed so superficial, so stupid. Why was she doing this in the first place? But then they locked gazes and Sage’s body froze, her heart speeding up. She remembered her reason. Reyna affected her too much to the point that she was a distraction to Sage and besides, if something were to happen, it couldn’t. There was this whole no fraternisation rule and Sage was not known for going rogue, and thus she abided by it. 

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Sage sighed and bent forward to inspect the cut. She made sure there wasn’t any dirt or clothing in the wound before she healed it, not wanting anything to get stuck inside. Though it would not infect, her powers made sure of that, encapsulating a piece of clothing while the wound healed was never a nice experience. “I’m here to help you.” 

“Wow, so generous of you.” Reyna leaned back but did not remove her gaze from Sage. “Just heal it, don’t pretend to…” She halted her sentence when Sage looked back up at her, “care.” There was a hurt undertone to her voice and Sage wanted to throw it all aside in that one moment. She had never wanted to hurt Reyna, but even she had known that it would. It had only seemed fair; Reyna had hurt her too. This was the only way to ensure that in the end it wouldn’t surpass hurt and ended up in heart break, for both of their sakes. Though she wondered if Reyna’s heart was in it at all. Maybe to Reyna this was indeed a small fling. Or not. If they would have talked, Sage wouldn’t have to overthink this all the time.

“Who says I’m pretending?” Sage muttered under her breath, soft enough for Reyna not to pick up on it and looked back at the wound, now fully healed under her hands. “You are done.” She took a step back, “You’ve been in the med-bay an awful lot as of late, any reason?” 

The bed creaked slightly as Reyna stood up from it, testing her leg. “Training harder, that’s all.” 

“Well, it is still training. You are not supposed to get hurt this often with just practice. So please try to take it easier.” Sage had the urge to cup Reyna’s face in her hands, to turn it towards her own and look deep into her eyes. She wanted to tell her to be careful, to show that she did care, that there was no pretence, even if she wished there was. But all she could do was watch as Reyna nodded and then left the room. 

– 

Of course, it took only a day before Reyna was in the med-bay again, this time after having returned from a mission. She was not the only one, Jett and Yoru were also injured, though less severely. Jett’s injuries were merely superficial and could be easily healed, which thankfully Skye took upon herself so Sage could focus on Reyna. She should have Skye handle Reyna’s injuries, after all she was trying to distance herself from the duelist. However, the instinct to take care of her had taken over as Reyna limped into the med-bay, blood covering her body. She had spoken up about taking Reyna before she had even thought of it and now here she was standing in front of the duelist. 

“What happened?” It was a sentence that she felt herself repeating over and over the last couple of weeks. She inspected the bloodied arm with concern filling her heart, the tattoo was almost entirely erased under the red.

“Opponents had Odin’s, and only Odin’s. A lot of stray bullets.” Reyna said, not even making a snarky comment about Sage’s care this time. 

A scoff sounded from behind Sage, causing Reyna to raise an eyebrow. “Do you have anything to add, Yoru?”

Sage checked the bullet wound for any traces of the bullet and/or its shards and when she found none she healed it, the blue glow warming her hands. 

“Just that we could have avoided the stray bullets if we had just played it slow, but you had to rush in.” He sounded slightly annoyed, huffing softly as Skye healed him, also increasing the speed of Sage’s healing in addition. 

“I am a duelist, I’m supposed to enter.” Reyna responded, rolling her eyes. It was a good thing that Sage was standing in front of Reyna to hide the latter’s annoyance. If Yoru, who was also a master of eye rolls and snarky comments, had seen it, they for sure would have more bullets flying around again. Not literally, of course, well, probably. Though her body didn’t cover the annoyance seeping through in her voice.

If an eye roll could be verbalised, it would have sounded exactly like Yoru’s voice which dripped with irritation. “A good duelist knows when to enter, you just rushed in. We followed you, thinking that all your experience at least made you more ready to take on whatever this would be, but you just led us into a death trap. If it wasn’t for Jett’s smoke and my flash, all of our bodies would have had to be retrieved again.” 

Sage frowned, looking down at Reyna who was avoiding her eyes. It wasn’t like Reyna at all to rush in. Sure, she would often take lead and enter, but it was something that was done with care and calculation. It barely led to an immediate loss. Though Reyna often had the tendency to take selfish actions, she knew the crew would follow her. Something she kept in mind, which is why she usually would make sure to enter alone, but clearly it had either slipped her mind to notify the others or she had been just reckless. Selfish would describe Reyna, but reckless, no, that is more something for Raze to do.

Reyna stayed quiet, another unusual thing for Reyna to do. 

“Thought so.” Yoru grumbled.

“Are you done?” For a moment Sage thought the comment was directed at Yoru, but instead she found that Reyna was looking at her. 

“Uh, I just need to clean it and then you are done.” She moved to grab some wipes.

“I’ll do it myself.” Reyna’s words were curt as she grabbed the wipes from Sage’s hands and left the room in big paces.

The others were left to share looks with one another, frowning at Reyna’s sudden exit. “Damn, I needed those wipes.” Skye sighed and then shook her head, shifting her focus from Yoru’s head to Sage. “What’s going on with Reyna as of late?” 

“What do you mean?” She knew damn well what Skye was referring to, but she tried not to let it show.

Skye shrugged as she tried to find the right words, “She acts a bit like… hm, crazy?” 

Yoru scoffed, shaking his head and then immediately regretting the decision as he winced, “Not that that's new.” 

It earned Yoru a light swat on the shoulder from Skye, but she nodded in agreement to Yoru’s statement. “That’s right, she is always a bit,” it’s clear that Skye was watching her words around Sage, “intense, but she is acting weirder as of late. Did anything happen that you know of? You two are close right?” 

Sage tried not to cringe, knowing damn well that close wasn’t really what she’d describe them as now. They were close, that part was true, but now? Well, she was trying not to be because she is in love with her and they almost kissed and then the day after Reyna disappeared even though she had promised that they would talk. And so now she is trying to distance herself before she gets her heart broken more then it already is. But she can’t really tell Skye that, can she now? “Hmm, I don’t know what’s going on.” 

“Weird. I thought maybe with her being in the med-bay this much you would at least know what is going on?” 

Sage didn’t have an answer to that, thankfully Yoru seems to have one for her. “What is going on is that she is trying to outbest all of us, for whatever reason.” Yoru grumbled, “She tries to play it all solo but she can’t and that’s why she is ending up here.” 

“What do you mean by outbesting everybody?” Sage tilted her head slightly, looking questioningly at Yoru.

Now Yoru shifted his gaze from his hands to Sage, “You should see it for yourself. Just go to the training area at your usual meditation time.” He looked at her like it was almost a challenge. Not backing down from it, Sage nodded though she was unsure what she was going to find.

“Alright?” Sage continued nodding slowly, “Do you need any more help, Skye?” 

“No, no, I’ll be fine, you take your afternoon off.” Skye smiled at her, a compassionate look in her eyes though Sage did not know as to what she had deserved it for. 

“Alright, uh, let me know if you need me anyways, okay?” Skye hummed in response and so Sage left the med-bay. A part of her wanted to visit Reyna to confront her on her behaviour; risking her own health is one thing, but that of the team? This is exactly what Sage wanted to avoid; that their feelings, if it was even a mutual thing, would not mess with the goals of their mission. Though, maybe this wasn’t about Sage, maybe something else was going on with Reyna that she had no idea of. Either way, it seemed that they were going to have to talk anyway. Hopefully she would have more answers after tomorrow’s practice.

–

The next day she followed Yoru’s instructions and instead of meditating, which would have been a disaster anyways, she headed to the practice area. She found that she was not the only one, a couple of the other agents were waiting in front of the glass windows. They all carried guns and their usual protection vests. They seemed to cheer on somebody behind the glass and Sage was afraid to confirm her suspections. Still she moved to the side of the small crowd and looked at the range.

Unsurprisingly, she found Reyna there. The rapid firing of her gun, and that of the bots, could be seen. Small flickers of light rushing through the air, though none seemed to hit Reyna. It was almost like watching a dance. Her feet placement was quick and calculated, turning to take new aim and then moving on. She never stood still for long, instead she danced with an invisible partner, surrounded by bullets rushing past her. The purple of her hair swirled through the air and for a moment Sage couldn’t do anything but stare in amazement. Of course, she knew that Reyna was skilled but she had never seen her move like this. 

From the distance she could only imagine Reyna’s serious face, her dark eyebrows furrowed, her purple eyes constantly moving to find new targets and her dark lipsticked lips curled into a smirk as her shots caught their mark. It was almost too easy to imagine. 

“Upping them now, Reyna.” A voice came from Sage’s right, shifting her focus from Reyna to the agent behind the controls. Killjoy’s hand skillfully moved across the keypads, increasing the levels. Sage’s brows furrowed together in confusion as she watched how Killjoy overrode the system to adjust the robots to surpass radiant level, increasing their speed and accuracy to an almost inhuman-like pace.

“Why are you doing that?” Sage asked. Killjoy only now seemed to realise that Sage was there, almost jumping from her chair to greet her with a small nod.

“Oh hi Sage, uhm, yes well, you see,” the girl adjusted her glasses and Sage wondered what she had done to make Killjoy so uncomfortable, “she asked me to do this.” 

“Why would she? Isn't the radiant level high enough for her?” Sage moved her gaze from Killjoy to Reyna, who seemed to have trouble keeping up with the many bullets. 

“She said it doesn’t really challenge her nor prepare her for the real battle.” She elaborated as if it was the most normal thing to do. Which it definitely wasn’t. Nobody was supposed to go higher than radiant because radiant should be the max of what one can bear. She was going to get herself killed by damn bots at this pace. 

“The real battle?” Sage wondered out loud, “Like our missions? No opponent can move like this.” She had known Reyna to be ambitious, but this seemed like pushing it.

It was Yoru who spoke up this time from beside Sage, almost appearing out of thin air. “You’ll see. It is what I asked you to come here for then you’ll see with your own eyes what she is trying to do.” After a confused look from Sage his way, he gave a small nod in return, “Just wait.” 

So wait is what she did. She watched as Reyna fought for just a bit longer, still somehow, managing to dodge the bullets. It was just a small minute later that she used her blind. It was the same moment that Killjoy seemed to receive something in her comm, and turned off the simulation.

“Alright guys, let’s get it started!” Killjoy said, giving the others a thumbs up after which they entered the range.

“Oh, so you are doing a team versus team thing?” Sage asked. It was quite surprising to see them doing team against team, usually it was a team against a bot but this was something new.

“Just watch.” Yoru sighed and patted Sage’s shoulder before entering the range himself.

It was a minute of pure scepticism as to what was about to occur, but eventually all the agents seemed to disappear from view. Sage was only able to pinpoint their locations through some of the other cameras that viewed the range. Some teammates stood close together, while others decided to play it solo. Reyna herself was still somewhat in the middle, though she had taken a spot closer to one of the obstacles to hide behind.

“Alright, everybody ready?” Killjoy asked from beside Sage after which a short silence followed, presumably gathering everybody’s ok. “Okay, let’s get this going.” The lights in the arena dimmed three times before returning to full brightness again, signalling the start.

Some agents stayed in place, waiting, while others immediately rushed out. Sage switched her focus to Reyna, observing as the woman watched her surroundings closely, her gun raised. 

Phoenix was the first to appear, sending out a blind after which he immediately turned the corner. Within seconds, Reyna was gone but she was just a tad bit too slow as Phoenix had seen the direction she went in. He followed her without a second thought, walking right into her trap. It took less than 15 seconds into the game and Phoenix was out. But instead of aiming for the head, Reyna had aimed for the chest, causing him to fall to the ground. The bullet protective vest would save him from having to be revived, though the bullet still had enough force to hurt him. This was going to be a not so pretty bruise. 

Reyna didn’t have a lot of time to relish in her first win, as two other agents turned the corner. With her eyes glued to the screen, Sage watched as Harbor and Jett teamed up to corner Reyna. They seemingly tried to confuse her with Harbor’s walls and the smokes of Jett, but it seemed to no avail. Reyna’s eyes seemed to spot their silhouettes as they tried to close in, firing rapidly. 

Sage swore that she could have seen blood spread across Harbor’s shoulder as Reyna shot him. But that couldn’t be the case because that would mean that they were using real bullets instead of the rubber ones used for practice. The ones that are used so you don’t actually hurt one another. 

“Are they…?” Sage could barely believe her eyes.

A soft hum came from behind her. The heavy footfalls of KAY/O sounded behind her ‘till they stopped beside her. “Are they what?”

“They are using real bullets.” Sage watched the cameras with narrowed eyes, as if somehow the screen would get more clear. Skye showed up on one of the cameras, now with an escaped Harbor near her, started healing her colleague. The fact that Skye was in on this too was just too ridiculous. Sage didn’t know whether to be happy or mad, the fact that they were smart enough to have a healer in their midst or that they were stupid enough to use real bullets. “Why the fuck are they using real bullets?” Sage felt her hands itch, needing to stop this before someone got seriously hurt. 

There was no sound from either of the agents on her side, not even when she had cursed. When she turned to look, Killjoy was ineffectively trying to disappear into her seat, probably not allowing herself to leave the chair to keep an eye on the others but also trying to avoid Sage’s anger. Thankfully, when Sage turned to look at KAY/O, he responded: “Because they think it ups their game. They think this scenario will make it more real and therefore better practice.” 

“This is not practice!” It was impossible not to raise her voice as she pointed at the camera, now focusing on Gekko trying to sneak up to Reyna from behind with mosh in his hands. Reyna herself was hiding behind a wall, avoiding the rain of bullets from Raze. “This is suicide!” The coordinated movements of all the agents, them all advancing on just Reyna, Yoru telling her that Reyna was trying to outbest everyone, it all dawned upon her. “There aren’t even teams, it’s everyone against Reyna this is- this- What is this?” 

Surprisingly, it was Killjoy who spoke up. “Reyna asked us to do this.” Sage would have looked at Killjoy with a befuddled look on her face if her eyes were not trained on the screen, watching Reyna’s movements intensely. Sage had dropped her hand, only to raise it again.

“What? What even is this?” Sage motioned to the cameras in front of her again, trying to get a more comprehendible answer out of the two of them. 

KAY/O simply responded, “This is Reyna wanting to be the best.” Sage had known that KAY/O and Reyna weren’t on the best terms, she had known why too, but there was such contempt in KAY/O’s voice that Sage turned to look at him. “This is Reyna thinking she can take on a whole radiant army. Cocky enough to use real bullets, knowing that it will be fine. They have been doing this for a couple of weeks now. Thrice a week, and she is getting – better.” There was a small pause in which KAY/O’s tone seemed to shift from contempt to something different, something solemn. “I’ve tried to stop it, but even if the other agents listen, Reyna won’t.” 

“What about Brimstone? And Viper?” Sage shook her head in disbelief, looking back at the camera’s. “They must know of this.” 

The movement beside her didn’t manage to tear Sage’s attention away from the screen. “Viper doesn’t care, Brimstone ok’d it as long as no one dies or gets gravely injured.” 

Sage scoffed as she remembered the amount of times Reyna has visited the medbay with severe injuries. “Reyna is in my med-bay almost every day! She gets hurt.” 

“She doesn’t seem to mind.” Killjoy mutters from beside Sage.

Her voice is louder when she speaks again, “What do you mean she doesn’t seem to mind? What if she dies and I’m not here to help her? What if I can’t do anything- What if-” Her thoughts left her tongue the moment they appeared in her mind, the clear panic and confusion reaching their toll causing her to sound crazed. She watched with wide eyes as one of Jett’s knives cut Reyna’s arm just as Neon received a shot in the leg (which gets healed almost instantly by Skye). Then Reyna almost got cornered by the agents, blinded by one of Yoru’s flashes. Thankfully, she decided to run, managing to escape the storm of bullets. Though the wound on her shoulder was still bleeding.

“This stops now.” Sage decided, tearing her gaze away from the screen and instead moving towards the lockers, grabbing a vandal and quickly putting on a training vest. In contrast to the others, she did grab the rubber bullets.

“You think joining them is going to help?” KAY/O piped up, if he could raise an eyebrow he would have. 

“No, I’m not joining them, I’m joining her. Reyna might be the instigator, but that doesn’t mean that the others aren’t just as much at fault in participating. I just need to protect her long enough to drag her out of the arena.” Sage said as a matter of fact, waiting in front of the door, waiting for Killjoy to open it. When nothing seemed to happen, Sage looked sideways at Killjoy, raising an impatient eyebrow. The girl seemed hesitant but then nodded and opened the door. 

It wasn’t hard to spot Reyna and the others as Reyna dared to cross the open space in the middle, rushing over to the other side of the arena.. She quickly followed the direction in which Reyna had gone, raising her gun just in case. It wasn’t hard to locate Reyna, having seen her last location on the cameras just short of a minute before. Of course, she had moved but it was enough for Sage to find Reyna stuck in one of Cypher’s traps. As she was running the adrenaline started to pump through her chest just as the realisation of what she was doing hit her. 

“Grenade!” The familiar sound of Raze’s voice echoed through the arena as she jumped up, throwing her paint shells towards Reyna. Through the coincidence of bad timing, Cypher’s trap reaches its end and breaks, allowing Reyna to jump away, trying to get as far away from the grenade as possible. She rushed in the direction of Sage, and Sage could only watch as the grenade exploded behind her, propelling Reyna forward and onto her stomach with a grunt. 

With a spike of worry Sage rushed over to her, kneeling beside her to get a closer look. 

“Fuck.” Reyna grunted, not yet having noticed Sage. 

“Language.” Sage responded absentmindedly, more focused on Reyna’s possible injuries. 

Reyna startled at Sage’s comment and rapidly turned on her back, her gun aiming right up into Sage’s face. In that moment Sage realised her fault: everyone in the arena was Reyna’s enemy, including her. Somehow, it hadn’t occurred to her that maybe Reyna would be so alerted she would let her reflexes lead, shooting before thinking, and thereby killing Sage, with no one to bring her back. Automatically, Sage rose to her feet. However, her gun stayed aimed at the ground, not taking a defensive stance.

They looked at each other for a second before Sage shook her head faintly, “Don’t be stupid, Reyna.” She sighed as she reached her hand out for Reyna to take. 

Reyna seemed to do the maths herself, quickly deciding that Sage was not the enemy but that there were still many surrounding her. So she took Sage’s hand, allowing her to help her up, but always keeping her gun close, ready to use if the moment arose. “What are you doing here?” Just as Reyna questioned Sage’s actions, the familiar sound of a blastpack sounded nearby.

Without having to tell Reyna what to do, they both quickly rounded a corner. They pressed themselves with their backs against the walls, their guns raised but trying to stay hidden. It took a couple of seconds but eventually the sounds of footsteps and voices trailed away from them. Apparently Raze had a couple of agents trailing her, who all stupidly, did not decide to check this area and instead followed Raze’s path.

“Sage.” Reyna whispered.

“Reyna.” Sage responded, still looking out at the range to ensure that nobody would sneak up on them.

“What are you doing here?” Reyna repeated her question from earlier.

This time Sage did turn her head to look at Reyna, just shortly before looking back at the range. “Putting an end to this- this-” She tried to find the right word but instead just shook her head in defeat when she couldn’t find one to describe this idiocracy. 

“What?” 

“What, what?” Sage turned her head again, now keeping her eyes on Reyna. Though she tried to avoid her eyes as much as she could. 

“Why would you do that? We are just practising.” Reyna reasoned.

“This,” Sage motioned with her gun to the range, “is not practice. Practice is done with rubber bullets and some fucking purpose. You are just doing this for god knows what reason-” She quickly caught herself as she noticed her own voice starting to rise and lowered it again to a whisper. “Yoru said you are trying to outbest the others? KAY/O is thinking that you are some crazed person that wants everybody to know that you can take out an entire radiant army. What is going on? Do you care so little for your team that you would risk them getting hurt by real bullets, just because you want to show that you are the best? That you can take them on? What is it? And not to even begin about all the times that you have visited the med-bay because of this all. Do you care so little for yourself too?” Sage felt the familiar warmth rush to her cheeks but this time because of the frustration that had built within her.

Reyna stayed quiet for a second, taking in Sage’s words before raising her gun. “Let’s talk about this when I’m done alright?” 

Sage’s eyebrows must have reached her hairline through sheer fucking surprise at the audacity that Reyna had to just shove her whole point aside. “No- There is no when you are done.” Sage stepped closer to Reyna, now turning her back to the range, “You and I are going to the exit right now.” 

This time Reyna did seem to be somewhat affected by her words, or at least her actions. She took a small step back as she looked into Sage’s eyes, switching her gaze from her right to left eye and back, almost searching for something. “Fine.” She resigned, “but me finishing this might be the only way out.” 

“What do you mean?” Sage frowned.

The answer came in the sounds of bullets firing. It wasn’t either of them but it was dangerously close to them. “Jeez, Gekko don’t just stand there like that you fucking scared me!” Neon’s voice sounded closeby. Her comment earned her a couple of shushes from nearby agents. 

“Once we start, we can’t just stop.” Reyna’s voice was lowered now as she raised her gun. “Just follow me and stay quiet, I’ll try to not hurt too many others.” 

“I can help you know? It will be easier-” 

“I don’t need your help, I’ve done this before on my own and I was fine.” Reyna shrugged her off as she turned around, getting ready to move.

It took everything in Sage not to roll her eyes, “You are getting it anyway.” At that Reyna started to sneak away and Sage followed, her gun raised. Funnily enough, this reminded her of the last time they were in the range, when Reyna wanted to help out and Sage not so kindly denied the help. Oh how the tables had turned.

– 

It was impressive really, how long they had walked without encountering any of the other remaining agents. Apparently the duelist did know how to sneak around and actually avoid agents, unlike her usual performances where she would try to encounter as many enemies as she could. It also helped that Reyna’s hand signals were clear and thus easy to follow, allowing them to move swiftly through the obstacles to the exit.

After reaching the halfway point Reyna held up her hand, signalling for Sage to stop. Around the corner Deadlock had placed her a sensor, blocking their way towards the exit swiftly and instead forcing them to take a detour. Even though they could pass by it through sneaking, the chances of Deadlock being near was too big. She liked to watch her traps.  

“You know, it is not about outbesting everybody.” Reyna’s whisper broke the silence, causing Sage to halt for a second, looking confused at Reyna’s back. The duelist didn’t turn around nor did she stop walking, causing Sage to speed up a bit to keep close. “Though I definitely could.” Reyna added in a murmur, almost inaudible. Sage waited for her to elaborate, but no explanation came. Instead they continued sneaking, enabling Sage’s mind to think of an explanation herself. If not trying to outbest everybody, then why? Why would one endanger themselves and their colleagues? 

“Then what is it about?” Sage asked quietly, which was probably a better idea than trying to come to her own conclusions.

Reyna halted for a second, but then continued while answering in a whisper. It may have been their clothes rustling against one another or Sage’s breathing which blocked her ears from hearing the answer. “Sorry, what?” Sage tried again. Even though she couldn’t see Reyna’s face, she could notice her body language as she sighed, almost sounding hesitant when she repeated herself again. It was a single word answer, but Sage still couldn’t make it out.

“What?” 

With a huff Reyna turned around and answered in a slightly louder voice, “You.” 

Before Sage could respond, let alone process Reyna's answer, a sound came from their right. Apparently, Deadlock had done more than just place one of her sensors as another sonic sensor exploded near them. It caused a sharp pain in her head, as if being hit with something heavy or one smashing your head into a wall. 

“Fuck.” Reyna cussed, not minding her volume anymore. It didn’t matter anymore. The sensor had made enough of a sound to alert the other agents of their location. 

Even after the concussion, Sage didn’t waste a second and moved past Reyna, tapping her shoulder and thereby informing her that now Reyna had to follow her. Without protest, Reyna tried to follow Sage as well as she could while being concussed. Their feet moved sluggishly and their movements were slow. However, after a couple of seconds the effect seemed to fade, allowing them to speed up. 

They were running now, throwing their stealth aside and trying to make their way to the exit as soon as possible. Sage wondered for a second if maybe she could alert the others that the practice was over, that no fighting had to ensue. That thought was thrown out of the window as the second three agents lined up in front of them, blocking their way with raised guns. Sage could see the split second change of emotions on their faces as they saw that it wasn’t just Reyna but also Sage. They looked confused– shocked even – causing them to hesitate in their attack, but it soon shifted to determination as Reyna ran up behind her. Reyna not attacking Sage probably caused them to realise that Sage was on Reyna’s side instead of on theirs. 

Sage slowed her run. “We don’t have to do this.” She argued but before she continued Sova cocked his head and raised his gun.

“You chose the wrong side.” At those words both Neon and Deadlock raised their guns too.

Sage, stunned, was too late to place her wall, raise her own gun or do really anything. This seemed to be more than just a fun practice to them. 

Their bullets fired into the air as Sage was pulled out of her stupor by Reyna pulling on her arm, dragging her to the side. There was a small opening, about one person wide. Sage looked behind her and found that Neon stood ready to fire. There was just a moment that Sage thought that Neon would really shoot her. But in the end, Neon was still Neon and she was still Sage, and they had never had any bad blood. So Neon lowered her gun with a small smile, giving her a nod. It was a small kindness in an arena where everybody seemed to be out for Reyna, and thereby Sage too. Sage hoped that more of them would hesitate firing when they saw that Sage was with Reyna.

Sage didn’t get the time to look at Neon for long as Reyna pulled her to the right. It pulled Sage back into her adrenaline rush. “You weren’t kidding.” Sage huffed as she followed Reyna, her arm now loose. 

“I never was.” Reyna looked back, though she didn’t seem as thrown off as Sage was. Instead she looked determined and somehow even a bit excited. 

They turned right again, almost running back to where they came from. “Why are we going right? The exit is to the left?”  

“Cypher traps.” Reyna simply explained. “Just a bit more then there is a pocket in which we can hide for a second.” 

And thus they ran again, their weapons in front of their chest as the adrenaline pumped through their radianite fueled veins. In the corner of her eye Sage noticed something appearing up high. Before she realised what it was, it had already fired its dart. Sage didn’t waste a second and destroyed Cypher’s spycam. She had been too late as Reyna cursed, trying to pull the dart out of her shoulder. Sage pulled her to the side, it wasn’t the most safe spot like the pocket that Reyna had suggested, but they had to get the dart out. 

“Let me.” Sage offered and Reyna relented, instead keeping an eye out for their surroundings. She wrapped her hands around the dart. “What did you mean by that it was me you did this for?” She asked as she pulled out the dart, earning a small hiss from Reyna.

“Really, now?” The duelist sighed and turned her head to look at Sage.

“Well, you decided to drop that in the middle of sneaking too?” Sage muttered, suddenly realising how close they were. 

The realisation and whatever thoughts would have followed, were short lived as footsteps were nearing closer. The tracking dart had done its job. 

“We have to move.” Reyna pushed herself from the wall, thereby pushing Sage back a bit too. Even though Sage wanted to get her answer, she did not pry, knowing that getting out was their top priority now. Though this came a very close second.

The footsteps rounded the corner just as Reyna and Sage disappeared behind theirs. The impending sound of Fade’s haunt whistled through the air until it landed on a box right to them. It caught them both as their attention was immediately drawn to it, Sage’s eyes drawn to the red of the haunts. 

It didn’t take long for the growl of the prowler to sound behind them, trailing them. Almost simultaneously they turned around, aiming their weapons and shooting the prowlers. However, as they turned, Fade’s seize had trapped them. A dark string of shadows wrapped around their ankles which kept them from moving outside of a two metre radius. Reyna cursed, still trying to move away but being pulled back constantly. 

“They’re coming.” Sage redirected her attention to the corners from which the agents could appear. The seize seemed to drain their energy as Sage felt it getting harder to breathe or to struggle against the shadows. Still she raised her gun as shadows appeared on the ground, betraying the other agent's presence.

Just as the other agents appeared around the corner, Sage hesitated a second too long. This time, the others didn’t seem to do the same. Both Deadlock and Fade swung the corner, firing rapidly. The sound of bullets firing shook Sage out of her hesitation as she started to fire back.

“We’re free.” Reyna exclaimed as she walked backwards, also firing at the agents. “We gotta run.” Reyna moved from the right to the left, making it harder for the other agents to hit her. Fade disappeared around a corner after saying something in Turkish which sounded an awful lot like cursing. This distracted Deadlock for a moment who looked over to where Fade had disappeared. “Now!”  

With that both of them turned their backs to the other agents and made a run for it. Deadlock tried to stop them by throwing her net but it missed them by a hair, causing them to create more distance between her and them as they couldn’t cross the area now either. A couple of shots were fired before Sage and Reyna turned the corner. In quick succession they ran through a maze of boxes until Reyna stopped at a little pocket in the walls. 

They both breathed heavily as they crouched down, trying to regain their breath. Sage looked over at Reyna, who seemed to breathe more heavily than normal. “Reyna?” There wasn’t a response, Reyna kept peeking her head around the corner, trying to see if they had been followed. “Hey?” Sage tried again and then touched her shoulder, “Zyanya.” This broke through and Reyna whipped her head around to look at Sage.

“Are you okay?” Sage asked, noticing that Reyna’s posture was less composed than usual. 

“Just a scratch.” Reyna sighed as she removed her hand from her side, which was covered in blood, as was her hand now, the tattoos hiding behind a maroon colour. 

With widened eyes Sage opened her hand, laying it on top of the wound which in turn caused Reyna to flinch ever so slightly. “This is not a scratch.” Sage hissed, “This could have killed you if you had let it bleed.” 

“Well, good thing that you are here now, since I can not heal myself without killing my fellow colleagues.” Reyna grinned, her breathing returning to normal as the wound healed under Sage’s hand. “Thank you,” she looked at her, meeting her eyes and Sage felt her breathing halt as Reyna’s purple eyes looked right into her own, “Ling.” 

It shouldn’t hit her as hard as it did, but hearing Reyna still use her name made everything in the past weeks just fall away. She was right back where she started, full of adoration and love for Reyna. The feeling was so intense it almost felt like it had never been away in the first place. Just because you pray, wish or push something away that doesn't mean it’s gone. 

“What did you mean with me being the reason for all of this?” Sage repeated, her voice soft. Something in Reyna’s eyes softened, as if they weren’t in the middle of an arena being hunted by their colleagues. 

“I just wanted to,” Reyna’s voice is more unsure than Sage had ever heard it, “I just wanted to talk to you, but you kept avoiding me. I don’t know what I did, but you seemed mad at me-” Reyna looked away now, “Or upset or something. I didn’t know what to do, because after that night I knew we had to talk, hell, you agreed to it.” Reyna sighed, shaking her head. “So I started this bullshit.” Reyna motioned to the rest of the arena. “And it was-” 

“Blasting!” A voice boomed near them and both of their faces turned to face the wall they were leaning against, which now was turning a dangerous yellow. 

They didn’t hesitate before jumping aside, each moving a different way to avoid getting blasted away by Breach’s aftershock. Sage was unable to see Reyna, but could see Sova’s drone turning the corner. Sage quickly aimed at it, shooting it down before it could do any damage, like send another tracking dart her way. However, the drone only seemed to be a decoy as Gekko’s dizzy appeared into the air. She was too late to crouch to avoid the blind but she did manage to throw one of her slow orbs towards the area where the agents could appear. When she heard the familiar cracking of the crystal, she ducked back around the corner. Her eyes drew to Reyna as she wiped away the blue blind from her face, she was currently blinded by one of Skye’s flashes. 

“We gotta go, Reyna!” Sage called out but Reyna didn’t respond, instead firing blindly into the air. 

They couldn’t go left nor right, seeing as both ways were blocked by more agents than they could handle. 

Sage rose to her full height again and readied her wall. As she placed it, both her and Reyna rose into the air. Thankfully, Skye’s blind on Reyna had dissipated, meaning that she could see Sage’s hand motion, urging her to run.

Instead of running in between the boxes, they were now running on top of them, jumping over the gaps in between and climbing up to get a higher viewpoint. It was more dangerous up here, since they were fully exposing themselves to the other agents but they didn’t have another option. 

Thus it was no surprise when Chamber used his rendezvous to appear right in front of them, adjusting his collar and then raising his headhunter. “Bonjour!” He grinned, but his grin fell as he noticed that neither of them were stopping.

“Not now!” Reyna snapped, looking angry as she rushed towards him. In a seeming panic, he fired off a couple of bullets, but they missed as Reyna moved in a zigzag motion toward him. Just as Reyna reached him, he cursed in his mother tongue. With a rough push she pushed him off the boxes. “Au revoir!” Reyna called after him with a laugh as she continued to run.

Sage followed with a surprised look and she too could barely hide a smile. Thankfully, the fall had not been terribly high. Chamber was already sitting up as Sage looked down the wall. Sage hoped that Skye would reach him soon. They continued their run, until a dark smoke was placed in front of their pathway. 

From it, Omen emerged with his gun raised. “This is over, Reyna.” His voice was low and threatening, but his tone changed when he saw Sage. “Oh hi, Sage.” 

Sage gave a small wave to him but Reyna didn’t lend him the same cordiality as she jumped off the boxes, disappearing into the darkness below. It surprised both Omen and Sage as they were now left to stare at one another. “Well.” Sage said slowly but Omen had already lowered his gun, not planning to shoot at Sage. “Bye.” Sage smiled faintly, happy that Omen too had not expected Sage to be on Reyna’s team. She got the pleasure of watching Omen’s face look even more surprised when Sage jumped down too, following Reyna.

It wasn’t hard to catch up to Reyna since she was hiding just around the corner. “You are slow.” Reyna mumbled at her before continuing her move.

Sage just shook her head with a huff, “Just lead the way.” She followed Reyna quietly, checking her magazine and then scanning the surroundings again. Now that they got the time to breathe and thereby think, Sage thought back on what Reyna had said. “I still don’t get how I’m connected to all of this?” Sage said softly, continuing their conversation as if nothing had interrupted it in the first place.

Without looking back, whether to hide her face and thereby her feelings, or because she was focused on the task ahead, Reyna answered: “I did this to-” Reyna chuckled softly, shaking her head, “I did this to get your attention. I needed to talk to you and the only way I could reach you was through your duty. So what if I broke an arm or got hurt a little bit, if I could talk to you it would have been worth it.” Reyna stopped, waiting as footsteps passed a couple of metres away from them. Once the coast was clear, she continued. “That was until you sent Skye to me. After that I got the message loud and clear, it seemed you had already made up your mind. And thus this became more of a, I don’t know-” Reyna’s hands shifted on her gun, almost fidgeting with it, but she quickly stilled her hands. “Release of frustrations.” 

“You didn’t have to put yourself in harm's way to talk to me.” The shock was apparent in Sage’s voice and even more so on her face.

Reyna let out a short chuckle and then quieted herself again, realising where she was again. “You are hilarious sometimes, Ling.” 

“I’m not joking.” Sage muttered, following behind Reyna as she moved on again. 

“Another one! You are cracking me up.” Reyna deadpanned as she put up her hand again for Sage to stop walking again.

“I’m serious.” She lowered her voice trying to get her seriousness across this time. The woman in front of her turned around and faced her.

“Sage, I didn’t talk to you for over a week. We literally sat across one another at dinner and you started a conversation with Breach who was sitting three chairs further.” Sage couldn’t help but look away at that. “Demonios, Sage, you didn’t even respond to my com on a mission. I was at my wits end.”

Sage couldn’t say anything to that. As much as it pained her to admit, Reyna was right. She hadn’t given her a chance to talk to her either. She had closed up and avoided Reyna like the plague, to the point she had to use extreme measures to come in contact with her. As much as Sage wanted to pretend that she had no fault in this, she had to face that she was its biggest contributor. 

“I’m sorry.” What else could she say except for that. “I should have given you the chance to talk, I was just-” The familiar sound of the shock dart scanning its surroundings alerted near them.

Without having to say a word they started moving in tandem. Sage knew she should probably shut up and continue the conversation later when they were not surrounded by their colleagues who tried to hunt them down. But she also felt that if she wouldn’t say it now then she would never say it. “I thought you didn’t want to talk, seeing as you disappeared the next day.” 

“And then why would I try to talk to you all the other days after.” Reyna countered. “I needed to see my sister.” She added as an explanation.

“What for?” Sage asked more hesitantly. Lucia was very important to Reyna and something that was very personal to her. Usually she would not answer any question about her, rather keeping all details of Lucia to herself. The only one who even knew what Lucia looked like was Viper, and of course, Reyna herself. 

As expected, Reyna didn’t answer. Instead she continued sneaking, until a rush of blue energy erupted in front of them, blocking off their way onward. They could push through Neon’s fast lane, but the chances that Neon was rushing through it were too high. So instead they turned around, ducking into another sideway. 

“I wanted to wish her a happy new year.” Reyna continued to Sage’s surprise, looking back at her and then looking forward again, “And I needed some advice.” 

Advice on what? What would Reyna need advice on from a child? Before Sage could ask the questions, Reyna turned back around again. “We need to make a run for it, the exit is over there.” 

Sage nodded, keeping her mouth shut this time and waiting for Reyna’s signal. She kept her gun ready, checked her magazine and checked her healing orb. They might need it. The last bit was an open field and it had seemed that the agents had picked up on their location, seeing as walls and smokes seemed to be placed. 

She tried not to think about Reyna’s words, their meaning and her own confusion. They needed to get out of there, that was their goal. Still, an uncertain feeling bubbled up in Sage, distracting her from what lay ahead. Had she really messed everything up by avoiding Reyna? Should she have waited that extra day and then everything would have been fine? Had it all been for nothing? As she looked at Reyna her eyes trailed the dark hair ending in purple that cascaded down her back. She noticed the slightest movements in it as Reyna switched from one foot to another, or when she took a deeper breath than normal. Her hands tingled with the urge to touch it, to run her fingers through the soft looking hair. 

Of course it had all been for nothing. She realised when she felt a blush creep up her cheeks. She had caught herself wanting to touch the other agent. This had not been something she ever could have pushed down or away. She was in love with Reyna, simple and complicated as that. There was no cure, no avoidance that could make it less true. And she had ruined her own chance at possible happiness by denying her true feelings, by trying to push everything down only ‘till it became bubbling up later.

Reyna had wanted to talk and Sage had done everything in her power to avoid that, even though she had not known that that was Reyna’s intention. Still, she was now reaping what she sowed. 

“Did you still want to talk?” Sage asked, the question escaping her before she could bite her tongue. 

Instead of responding Reyna gave the sign for them to move, which probably was an answer in itself. And so Sage followed, keeping her gun high as she ran. 

It was easy for a second; they dashed through the windy smokes, not losing an ounce of speed. But then Harbor’s wall met them and slowed them down, leaving their hair damp and their clothes heavy with water as they tried to run on through. As they slowed, Cypher’s cage appeared in front of them. As swiftly as possible they moved around it. As they did, they were greeted by a pool of acid, a present from Gekko. 

Sage noticed an opening which they might be able to escape through, and so she moved towards it, trusting that Reyna would follow her. It seemed that no one had seen them just yet, as there were no bullets firing. But the amount of well placed walls and smokes betrayed the presence of their colleagues near them. Behind her, Sage could very well hear Reyna's familiar clinking of boots. Just as they reached the opening, a flash of white appeared around the corner. Though Sage was too slow to respond, Reyna had already fired her shots. But it was too late. A wall unfurled itself in front of the opening, blocking them from leaving the arena. If only Sage had not placed her wall before, then they could have moved past it.

As she looked back at Reyna, to see if perhaps she had an idea, she instead noticed a purple shadow moving their way. Without hesitation she moved Reyna out of its path. This, however, left herself vulnerable to Omen’s blind. Her vision clouded with a purple haze and her senses turned muffled. Luckily, she could still feel Reyna’s hand wrapping around her own and dragging her in a direction. All that Sage could do was keep her weapon high and trust Reyna (and try not to think about how nicely their hands fit into one another).

They seemed to move back to where they came from. But just as Sage had found her footing again, Reyna stopped and let go of her. This probably meant she was firing her gun. And so Sage rejoined her hand with her weapon and raised it properly, one finger on the trigger. She wouldn’t fire. Firing blindly at her own people would be stupid. So she waited. 

As the haze began to fade, Reyna’s voice came to her from behind. “We have to fight until the deadlock wall breaks, can you do that?” The question was more of a command, so Sage agreed as she saw Sova’s recon bolt stick into the wall beside her. Without hesitation she shot it. The agents were all here, Reyna was right. All they could do was fight. And so Sage threw one of her slow orbs towards their blind spot. It would announce if people would enter it, so they could not be surprised by a sneak attack.

Without having to look behind her, she knew Reyna’s back was to hers, moving just as she did. Together, they moved closer to the middle of the area. They might be in the open, but this also made it harder for other agents to sneak up on them. 

“Just to be clear,” Reyna started, “I do still want to talk.” She moved her gun and shot a couple of times before scanning the surroundings again. With the same calmth in her voice she continued, “Why wouldn’t I?” 

“I don’t know.” The familiar sound of a satchel being activated sounded behind the Harbor’s wall and soon after Raze appeared through it on top of one of the boxes. Knowing that Sage had rubber bullets and they had protective vests, Sage fired at Raze’s chest. The force of her bullets pushing her off the box again with a small disgruntled yell. “I thought you-” 

“Left side,” Reyna interrupted and they both turned their guns in the direction, simultaneously firing at the poor agent who just turned the corner. It seemed to have been Phoenix who now activated his wall, probably healing himself. “Thought I what?”

The flapping of wings sounded through the sky. Against every instinct in her body that told her to look, Sage focused her gaze away from the sound. The shriek of a flash echoed through the arena and even though she had looked away, her eyes still had to adjust to the brightness of the flash. “I thought you didn’t care.” Sage now aimed her gun in the direction the bird had come from. Skye shot at them and Sage shot right back. It seemed that scared Skye back into hiding, the red hair disappearing around the corner. “Anymore.” She added.

A short laugh erupted behind her, cut off by the firing of bullets. “What makes you think I don’t care, Sage? I wasn’t the one that avoided you for the past weeks, am I now? The question is, do you even care?” 

It was ironic that that was the moment that Reyna got shot. Phoenix excited “Got ya!” sounded, soon followed by an “Ah fuck!” as Reyna’s response hit him. Sage lowered her gun and put her hands on Reyna’s side, healing the wound. “I care. Of course, I care!” Sage tried to convince the other woman. It helped that she now could look into Reyna’s eyes, speak to her face to face even if it was just for a second while she healed her. “The whole reason why I avoided you was because I care too much.” 

Sage could see Reyna’s brows furrow together in confusion. But of course, this was not the place where one had the time to think and process what the other had said. Reyna’s attention was soon whisked away by the appearance of more agents. Sage took this as a sign to focus back on the game again. She reluctantly let go of Reyna’s side and grabbed onto her gun again. As she turned around with her gun raised she got to use it immediately as not one but two agents appeared. Jett had flown over the wall and Sage fired at her. However, it was a bit harder to land a good hit on her; she was too quick. And it didn’t help that Sage had her eye on a blue figure to her right too. 

Though something seemed off about this figure as it walked straight towards Jett.

“I don’t get it.” Reyna piped up from behind her. “You avoided me because you care?”

Recognizing the figure as Yoru’s clone, Sage instead focused her aim on the little spot of blue peaking around the corner. Yoru’s jacket had always been a bit too bright, just like Killjoy’s yellow one. Sage shot a couple of times, managing to scare off Yoru so she could focus back on Jett. But Jett seemed to have found her new focus on Reyna now that her back cover, aka Sage, was distracted. Without thinking Sage immediately stepped back behind Reyna, protecting her as she shot back at Jett. It seemed that one of her bullets had hit Jett’s shoulder as the weapon dropped slightly before she dashed out of sight. 

“Yes! I avoided you because I couldn’t stop caring. I was thinking of you every second of the day, I was distracted during meetings and missions and what else not- I couldn’t even meditate-” Sage could just hear Reyna laughing, “Don’t laugh.” She said quickly and a soft chuckle fell back to silence and then back into the sound of guns firing. The crystals to the left of them sounded again and Sage turned to shoot in its direction. Her bullets found their way towards Harbor. “I cared that even after trying not to for over a fucking month, I am still here! Here trying to get you out of this mess because I can not see you get any more hurt because it pains me to see you as anything but happy and healthy.” She was firing left and right now, the agents pouring in as she was pouring her heart out. “You are a liability to me, Reyna, you are my weak spot- my- fuck.” Sage growled as a bullet tore through her clothes and scraped the skin of her leg. 

Before Sage could continue, Reyna pulled her aside, dodging one of Neon’s relay bolts. She did not stop pulling her ‘till they were truly in the middle of the open space. Only then did Reyna let go. But they didn’t get the time to check up on one another. Flashes were thrown into the air like it was new years eve and Sage tried her best to avoid being blinded all too much. She tried to keep moving in an area around Reyna so they would be harder to hit if the agents did decide to peek. 

A small ding sounded between them and before Sage could place the sound, Astra’s voice called out, “Pulling them in!” And just like that gravity seemed to shift, her legs were unable to move forward. Unable to see and move, Sage felt the panic rise to her throat. She almost dropped her gun, thankfully not all of her common sense decided to leave her as she tried to retain her balance with one hand while clutching onto the gun with another. 

Just as her sight returned, she collided with another body in the middle. Sage’s hand landed on Reyna’s chest and she felt Reyna’s arm slide around her waist, trying to stabilise both of them. 

Her gaze moved up to meet Reyna’s. 

It was funny how with bullets flying past them, agents yelling out around them, the whole world fell quiet as Sage’s dark brown eyes met Reyna’s purple ones. They narrowed slightly as a small smile curled the corners of her lips. It was not a cocky smile, not a smirk, not mean or ingenuine. It was soft, sweet, kind, and honest. 

It was no surprise then that Sage’s voice came out shakily as she repeated herself, “I care, Zyanya.” It was truthful.

Sage could hear a weapon drop, but she didn’t have to look down to see that it was Reyna’s as her now free hand reached up to release her leer.

“As do I, Ling.” Reyna whispered. Because a whisper was all that they needed now as Reyna closed the distance between them.

As the world around her faded away into a blissful purple haze, Reyna was more clear than ever. When Reyna’s purple lipsticked lips caught her own in a kiss, Sage was overwhelmed by the one thing that the monks had tried to teach her for years: enlightenment. 

And so she returned the kiss with the devotion that had no place to go anymore but to Reyna, finally tasting the divine. 

Chapter Text

Their exit was quick. Where throughout the whole arena it had seemed almost impossible to stay out of the grasp of fifteen or so agents, it seemed as if they had given them a free pass to slip out after it . Not that they had seen it , they could not have seen it because of the leer, right? Even if they did, it didn’t matter. What mattered was that Reyna kissed her. Reyna cared as Sage did. They had kissed.

Everything was a daze, almost as if the purple cloud of the leer was still numbing Sage’s senses and slowed her continuously racing thoughts. All she knew with certainty was that Reyna was holding her hand and dragging her out of the arena, away from the rain of bullets. It could have been disastrous, the rogue bullets, but she trusted Reyna to get her to safety. It seemed that the trust was not misplaced since they had entered the control room unscathed.

Immediately, KAY/O and Killjoy’s faces turned to them with questioning looks. Sage could imagine the absurdness of it all; first seeing a very determined and angry version of Sage walk into the arena only to come back out in a dazed state unable to answer their confusion. Thankfully, Reyna picked up Sage’s slack and spoke up. Though the exact words had slipped Sage’s mind, only remembering the beautiful melody of Reyna’s voice.

The moment passed in a blur and within a blink of the eye they were walking through a new kind of maze. The walls and floor were made of cold gray steel which caused their steps echoed through the hallways. Reyna looked back every so often, checking in on Sage, and Sage looked back at her with wide eyes and a generally stunted expression. She had seen people die, been brought back to life, she had seen people lose everything they had, cities sunk to the bottoms of the oceans and all other crazy stuff that should be impossible but none seemed to leave her as stunned as she was now. It was as if she was floating in the inbetween, her body moving but her mind somewhere stuck behind, kissing Reyna still. 

Everytime Reyna looked at her, the duelist smiled. Softly and sincerely. She would squeeze her hand and pull her closer and Sage felt the urge to giggle every time. It didn’t matter that she was a grown woman nor that she was a soldier. It was as if her body was made of butterflies and dopamine, leaving her feeling giddy and giggly. 

Eventually they stopped in front of Sage’s door. Subconsciously, she placed her hand on the scanner. The door opened with a soft huff and Reyna pulled her into the room. Her right hand had not known freedom in quite some time now but Sage found that she did not mind it at all. Not when it was Reyna’s hand holding it captive.

And then they just stood there, in the middle of the room that seemed too quiet, too devoid of anyone else’s presence. They were alone. As Sage looked at Reyna she slowly felt her mind shift back to her body. All her senses came back except for the tingle that Reyna’s lips had left behind on Sage’s lips, that had never left. Reyna’s gaze examined Sage’s face and Sage allowed herself to do the same.

She observed as Reyna’s dark eyebrows furrowed together until the crinkle between her eyebrows appeared. The dark painted lips parted themselves slightly, almost as if an action was set into motion and then stopped halfway through. The small, tiny – gods so tiny – freckles that sprayed Reyna’s face were interrupted by small cuts and scrapes and covered by a thin layer of foundation. There was a small scar near Reyna’s eyebrow that was almost hidden in the shadow of it, Sage wondered how she could have ever missed that. There were small uneven spots on Reyna’s face, wounds from her early life that had never healed. There were the faintest of crows feet forming at the corners of Reyna’s eyes. The bridge of her nose was a bit wider than the rest of it, almost as if it had been broken once before in her life and not healed properly. There were small moles, one near her lip, one at her cheekbone and two near her hairline, almost invisible. 

The truth lay before her, time and time again, and she had turned her head away so many times. But she wouldn’t anymore, she refused to push it down again, to rid herself of it to do anything but give in. 

Reyna was beautiful and Sage was in love with her.

“Are you okay?” Reyna whispered. Her voice was so soft it was almost inaudible. 

Sage simply cupped Reyna’s cheek in response and let her warmth seep into that of Reyna’s, healing the small scrapes on Reyna’s face. And then she kissed her again.

Of course, they should talk. They should go over everything that had happened in the last months. To the first too-intimate-to-just-be-friendly dinner they had had, to Sage ignoring Reyna for the last weeks. But quite frankly, Sage was sick of talking everything out. Sick of playing safe, of drawing inside the lines. 

So Sage kissed Reyna and Reyna kissed her back. It was patient, soft, with a calm that was not allowed in the arena. Sage could feel Reyna holding back, her hand hovering just near her waist, her movements slow as if she had to restrain herself from taking over. 

It was nice but it was not enough. Sage didn’t want Reyna to hold back. She needed the Reyna in the arena, the Reyna in the battlefield. The one who didn’t hesitate, didn’t hold back and went for what she wanted no matter the consequences.

But Reyna was being kind and careful, as if Sage was a scared animal that with one wrong move would scurry off again. She wanted to do things right and after the last couple of weeks, Sage could not blame her. The hesitation was even on Reyna’s lips, Sage could feel the way she moved them; parting them every so often almost allowing the kiss to deepen just to close them again. 

Sage freed her hand from Reyna’s and placed it on her hip instead, pulling the taller woman closer to her. Their bodies met in the middle and instantly Reyna’s hand was on Sage’s hip, whether to stabilise her or to just hold her, it didn’t matter, it was where Sage wanted them to be. For just a second, Sage pulled back to look into Reyna’s eyes. She hoped that Reyna could see the hunger in them, the need .

Seconds passed as they breathed in the same rhythm as their hearts until finally, Reyna understood. 

Reyna’s lips were on Sage’s in a second. Hungry, quick and unremorseful. They parted their lips and their tongues met in a dance, deepening the kiss. The small, needy breaths escaped them as they quickened the pace. There was no calm anymore, no careful or kind, it was just pure want and it was everything that Sage had needed for over the past year if not longer. 

The hands on Sage’s hips guided her backwards while still entangled; they walked backwards, not letting their lips part for just one second. Not even when Sage’s back bumped into her desk or when they stumbled over a pair of ill-placed shoes. Only when Sage’s back hit the cold steel wall did she gasp. Without a second to adjust, Reyna’s heated hands - hotter than ever it seemed - warmed the skin under her shirt. The only space that was allowed between them was for Reyna’s hands to warm her hips and stomach. 

She relished in Reyna’s touch, pushing herself against Reyna’s front. In return Reyna pushed back with her hips until Sage’s back was fully pressed against the wall. The cold didn’t seem that bad anymore as Sage’s body burned at their closeness. The kiss seemed to deepen even more while soft hums of approval and delight escaped their lips. When Reyna pulled back ever so slightly, Sage followed desperately, not wanting any distance between them.

Sage watched through her lashes as Reyna’s mouth curled into a smirk. Only then did she open them fully, looking up at Reyna. Where there first was amusement, a cockiness, it all melted away into something soft when their gazes met. Reyna’s free hand left Sage’s hip and moved to her face instead, brushing her cheek with the back of it. 

They both wanted to speak, it was clear in the way their mouths opened and closed, but together they decided that for now, this did not need an explanation. The hand on Sage’s moved lower, cupping her jaw and turning it sideways. She could see the way Reyna licked her lips before leaning in. And then she just closed her eyes, letting all the other senses take over.

The heat of Reyna’s hand on her hip was still there, keeping her in place; pushed against the cold wall behind her. Her breath tickled against Sage’s neck, causing chills to run down her spine till the hairs on her skin stood upright. It was a pleasant kind of chill reflecting the excitement coursing through her veins. She swore she could feel her heartbeat in her ears, beating so rapidly she feared it could stop at any moment. But the rush that the anticipation brought didn’t compare to the moment when Reyna’s lips actually came in contact with her neck, kissing right under her jaw. Reyna’s warm tongue sometimes kissed her skin too, causing her body to soften and turn into mush under the attack on her neck. Sage could swear she had never felt a high like this.

A sigh escaped her as she closed her eyes, relishing in the feelings of Reyna’s lips on her. Her free hand moved to cup the back of Reyna’s head. Sage’s fingers tangled with the hairs and she gave a soft pull as she felt Reyna starting to suck ever so lightly on her neck. “Hm,” Sage finally managed to breathe now that Reyna’s lips were detached from her own, “Not there.”

Reyna’s nails softly dragged along her cheek before softly grabbing her chin and pulling it down softly. “Where then?” Sage’s hand dropped from Reyna’s head as she moved backwards, positioning her lips in front of Sage’s again. There was no instigation of closing the gap and so Sage waited. When it took too long (every second felt like an hour) she leaned forward blindly, Reyna pulled back more, causing Sage to chase after her. “Where?” Reyna whispered again. 

Only now did Sage open her eyes, swallowing at the sight. Reyna’s eyes were on fire, swirling with more activity than Sage had seen in a while. It would only get this ferocity on the battlefield, with adrenaline running high and the risk rushing their hearts to their limits. It was mesmerising.

They really should talk.

“Anywhere else.” Sage whispered in return. Her gaze diverted from the purple eyes down to her lips, she licked her own and reached forward to kiss them again. 

Reyna’s lips were forming a grin and opened to say: “So-” But the sentence got cut off my Sage’s lips. She wrapped her arms around Reyna, pulling her closer to her again. A small hum vibrated against Sage’s lip and she opened her mouth slightly, allowing Reyna’s tongue to slip in. But it did not. Instead their breath became one as Reyna finished her sentence, “-eager.” Just as she spoke, Reyna pushed her firmly back against the wall again and kissed her thoroughly. Sage felt her stomach drop and tingle even more than it already had.

But nothing good could ever last forever.

A knock, first soft but then louder, interrupted them. With all her might she willed herself loose from Reyna’s lips and turned her head towards the door. “Who is it?” She hated how breathy her voice was.

“Uh, it’s me,” a familiar voice called out through the door, “Killjoy.”

“What is it?” Sage tried to move but Reyna still had her pushed against the wall. It only took one small glimpse at the duelist to see that she was thinking of doing something inappropriate. Sage gave her a stern look.

“Just wanted to check in. Reyna and you were out so quickly but we hadn’t really seen what had happened because of the lure, so yeah.” Killjoy clearly sounded confused, probably because she was still talking to a door. Usually Sage would have already opened it by now as not to be rude.

“We are oh-” Sage had to stop herself from talking, scared of the noises that would come out as Reyna placed a soft kiss on her neck again. “We are okay.” She regained her composure a bit as she softly tried to push Reyna off. Not that she did not like the feeling just that it felt a bit inappropriate with the other agents right behind her door. “Just talking some stuff out.” 

“Talking huh?” Sage could hear Reyna’s grin as she whispered near her ear.

“Oh.” There was a small silence, “Are you both in there?” Killjoy asked but seemed to change her mind as she moved on, “Brimstone called an emergency meeting in 10 minutes.” 

This made them both look up in surprise, first at the door and then at each other. Reyna raised an eyebrow and Sage shrugged in response, not having a clue what this could be about. Well, it might be about the fighting, but an emergency meeting? That seemed a bit extreme.

“We’ll be there.” Reyna responded, her voice much steadier than Sage’s. 

The curtness of Reyna’s response caused Killjoy to stammer slightly. “Good, uh. Yeah. Bye.” 

Sage and Reyna turned their heads towards one another in one synchronized motion. Reyna mirrored Sage’s confusion, until Reyna’s gaze dropped down to her lips again. Confusion quickly made place for lust and Reyna leaned in again. Normally, Sage would protest. Actually, Sage should protest; they had just been called for an emergency meeting. This was not something to take lightly. But in the seconds that Reyna allowed her to think, to stop this, Sage could not find it in herself to make any haste to go.

Their lips met again and Sage’s chest filled with a warmth that was unbeknownst to her. If just a kiss could even make her feel this way, what would- Sage almost shook her head to prevent her thoughts from going there. Instead she tried to grab onto Reyna’s shirt to pull her closer to her, deepening the kiss. Reyna smiled into the kiss and Sage tried her hardest to kiss that smug grin off of her face. 

Surprisingly, it was Reyna that pulled back. “We should go, probably.” She proposed, her voice a whisper. It was hard not to feel disappointed as Sage felt Reyna physically distance herself from her. 

“We have ten minutes.” She mumbled her counter argument. Even in her current state she knew that the moment they left this room, the moment they’d stop, this would be over. The simplicity of this, that is. The moment she left the room, the world and all its concerns would come rushing back. She would have to think of what this meant, of all the things they needed to talk about and the fact that it had been fifteen minutes and all dedication to her duty seemed to be thrown into the wind after just a – admittedly, intense – kiss. 

“Hmm, I know.” Reyna grinned at her, folding her arms in front of her chest with a smugness that Sage all too badly wanted to wipe off her face. With her lips. “But I think you’ll need the time to… readjust.” She used one hand to slightly motion in the direction of her neck and face.

With a small frown, Sage looked past Reyna to look into her mirror. Her neck was covered in smudged purple lipstick just as her lips and the surrounding areas. “Oh shit.” 

“Language.” Reyna almost sang as she leaned forward to press just one more kiss on her lips. “You got four minutes.” 

Sage rushed over to one of her drawers and pulled out make-up remover wipes. She dapped away at her neck as she moved to the mirror to remove all the stains. It seemed that Reyna’s brand was a bit too good for her liking seeing as it refused to come off. She could hear a soft chuckle behind her and her gaze shifted from her neck to Reyna who was walking towards her. 

“Shall I help you?” Reyna almost wanted to take the wipe from Sage’s hand but Sage swats it away with her free hand.

“You have done enough damage.” Sage mumbled, but she couldn’t help the smile that formed on her lips as she moved to remove the stains from them. After executing some force, it did come off. However, the pressure left her lips red and annoyed.

Luckily, she managed to remove all the smudged lipstick in under four minutes. Though, as she turned around to grin proudly at Reyna, she was instead met with her lips on her once more. Surprised, Sage went along with it, sinking into the kiss. The realization hit her too late and she softly pushed Reyna away. “How dare you.” Sage gasped and then turned around again to remove the new stains, her ponytail swatting Reyna in her face in the process. Behind her, Reyna lets out a disgruntled ‘Ay!’.

It took them in total more than ten minutes to reach the conference room which earned them enough odd looks to make Sage blush. Thankfully, Brimstone didn’t call them out, he only sent a stern look Sage’s way. Reyna had been late often enough for Brimstone not to care, but this really wasn’t something Sage often did. 

“Thus, we are sending teams out on stake-out missions as it is unsure where they will attack next. We have to be prepared all the time so we need to be alert- active and keep our heads clear and focused.” Once more a look was thrown in Sage’s direction. “The teams are as follows. Icebox: Sova, Sage, Deadlock, Fade and Reyna. Bind-” Sage’s concentration was gone the moment Sage’s and Reyna’s names were summed up in the same location. The both of them shared a look. Though that of Sage was more of a surprised one while Reyna seemed more smug about it. 

She shouldn’t think of the possibilities, about the fact that her heart almost beat out of her chest from excitement. Her only focus should be on the mission, to ensure no casualties would fall. Gods, this was the whole reason why she was scared to start anything with Reyna in the first place. Besides it being a stake out, Sage didn’t even know what the mission was because Reyna had caused them to be late.

As she looked away she shook her head slightly. It was fine. It was going to be totally fine. She would get a report of the goal and circumstances of the mission, she would have capable team members and it would be fine. The cold might do her some good, perhaps sharpen her mind even.

Though as she looked back at Reyna to see her actively conversing with Fade, she felt her focus already drift off.

–

Icebox was cold. While other agents were allowed to enjoy the sunny but dirtied beaches of Breeze or the warm Moroccan air of Bind, Sage’s team was sent to catch hypothermia in Icebox. Okay, that might have been a little bit overdramatic, but at this point Sage had already lost most of her feelings in her toes and she had the feeling that it would only get worse. 

Thankfully, they had found shelter in one of the ships. Though the steel did not keep them all too warm. It was too risky to light a fire too, so they had to trust their heated clothing. But eventually those could run out of power too, thus Sage and the others had put them on the lowest setting at least while they were inside and shielded from the cold wind outside. Therefore they did not freeze to their demise but it did not allow them to feel comfortable either. It might be a good thing, seeing as the cold kept them alert and sharp.

Sage had made herself comfortable as one could be in the ship, knowing that she would need the rest before her watch would begin. This could take a couple of hours to a couple of days and she wasn’t planning on doing that cold and exhausted. She trusted Sova and Deadlock to ensure their safety and to alarm them if something came up, they were both capable enough. 

Fade sat opposite of her and covered in her unzipped sleeping bag. She was holding her cup of noodles like it was her life source and waited until they were ready to eat. Her hands were gloved and she still wore her beanie, trying desperately to keep herself warm. Sage could only relate as she filled Reyna’s and her cup with hot water too. 

“You doing okay there, Fade?”

 “Besides the fact that I am freezing my butt off? Sure.” Fade grumbled and took a small sip of the bouillon of the noodles. 

It was almost automatic, the way Sage sat down next to Reyna. Their shoulders were almost touching and the closeness caused a thrill over her body. They had been closer just hours before. Bodies pressed together with barely any gaps between, only their clothes separating them. Sage ached to feel Reyna close again like that again. 

Reyna didn’t seem to notice, but Sage could see her hand let go of the cup, moving it slightly towards her and then replacing it back on the bottom of the cup. Almost as if she had to stop herself from reaching out to Sage too. 

They had not talked yet, but Sage was not worried. Better yet, she had been on a blissful little cloud of denial. Why would they need to talk? They kissed . That seemed way more important than talking. And this stake out mission would be fine, even if Sage didn’t have her head fully in the game. Surely she could let go for five seconds to just replay their make out session on a loop. 

“Sage? Hello?” Fade’s voice shot through her blissful daze and Sage blinked. 

“Sorry.” She apologized, though she did not know exactly what she apologized for. “Did you say something?” 

“I asked if it was okay for me to take the second watch with Deadlock or if you would prefer to take it?” Fade had narrowed her eyes at her and Sage did not blame her. Of all the people in their team, Sage was always the one most at edge, definitely on stake out missions like this. Whether it was because she felt the responsibility for it to go smoothly or the long waiting times increased her fear of getting distracted, she did not know. So for Sage to not pay attention to Fade, well… That was an odd occurrence for sure.

Usually, Sage preferred the second watch. It was perfect, get some sleep in beforehand so you won’t be too tired during the watch and then sleep more after, so you won’t be tired during the mission. She had to restrain herself from looking over at Reyna, who was just eating her noodles. 

“It is okay, I can take the third watch this time.” Sage had to act like she was actually opposed to it. If it had not been for Fade, Sage would probably have suggested taking the third watch herself, but now Fade had offered her a way out of questionings as to why. 

Without having to look at Reyna, Sage knew she was smiling, if not on the outside then on the inside. 

Fade nodded and then continued to eat her noodles as they complained about the cold. The only two who were actually used to it and enjoyed it, were sitting outside right now. 

Time passed rather easily and soon they made themselves ready for bed. All too gladly, Sage slipped under the covers of her sleeping bag and if she perhaps had decided to place her sleeping bag next to Reyna, well… 

“Sage.” A voice whispered close to her. She turned around in her sleeping bag, trying not to rustle too loudly since she had already heard Fade’s steadied breathing. But in Fade’s case, that didn’t mean much. Usually the agent managed to fall asleep but never really slept deeply. 

She found Reyna looking at her with furrowed brows. Her softly glowing eyes looked concerned and Sage returned it at the sight of Reyna’s expression. “What is it?” She whispered.

“Ssh.” Reyna moved her finger in front of her mouth and shot a glance at Fade not lying all too far away. She then moved her finger and curled it towards her, beckoning Sage closer to her.

With a quick glance at Fade and then at Reyna’s concerned face, she relented. She sighed softly as she scooted closer. She didn’t say anything but she did raise her brow as a way of saying: “What’s going on?” 

And then when Reyna’s concerned façade dropped and a grin appeared, Sage knew exactly what was going on. But it was too late because Reyna was already leaning in and Sage did not have any power to do anything else but await her fate. And what a terrible fate it was.

Reyna pressed a soft kiss on her lips. The warmth that unfurled in her stomach beat the cold away better than the cup of noodles ever had. A smile unfurled on her face and Sage had to contain a chuckle. She felt like a little teenager, kissing secretly at a sleepover and trying to be quiet so nobody would catch them. She had never experienced that herself, but the giddiness felt similar to what she imagined she would feel in those moments. 

Before Sage could say anything in response, Reyna’s lips were on hers again. This time in a more passionate matter. They didn’t leave her this time. This time they kissed, as quietly as possible. It was harder than she expected, definitely when Reyna’s teeth softly bit into her bottom lip and her throat betrayed her with a downright sinful whimper. 

Maybe, just maybe, Sage had a thing for sneaking around and kissing pretty women. And more specifically, kissing Reyna.

At the sound, Reyna pulled back slightly, her mouth slightly agape in surprise and her eyes glowing with newfound energy. Her shock turned into amusement as the corners of her mouth curled into a grin. Sage blushed furiously and slid deeper into her sleeping bag with only her eyes peeking over the edge of it. 

It caused Reyna to laugh silently, her hand covering her mouth as she ducked her head forward. The irregular wheezes of Reyna caused giggles to erupt from Sage and she quickly muffled herself with her mouth. 

Like giggly school girls in the back of the class they tried to stifle their laughter but it was to no avail as they laughed into their pillows. Every time they managed to regain their breath, it took only one look at each other to erupt into laughter again. Even Fade moving around in her sleeping back couldn’t stop them. It was only after their stomachs ached from laughing too much that they calmed down. And this was only because Sage had to turn her back to Reyna, otherwise this madness would never stop.

It was Reyna who was bold enough to place her arm over Sage’s waist. She had hoped Reyna would pull her towards her. Hold her close and keep her warm in the cold box that they found themselves in. But even Reyna knew they had to be careful. Sage expected for Reyna to pull away her arm after a couple of minutes but instead it stayed. Even when Reyna’s breathing evened out, the arm stayed. With a small smile still curling her lips, Sage too fell asleep.

It was a deep dreamless sleep before they were awoken by their names being called out softly. It’s one of the things that Sage always liked about Fade; she was always soft with waking people from their sleeps. With her abilities so focused on nightmares and inflicting them, she knew how important it was for others to get good sleep in. She did wonder if Fade knew if when she was having nightmares, how far did her powers reach?

She wasn’t allowed to ponder that question for long as they had to get out of the beds. Reyna was quicker than she was and was already putting on her gear. Sage readied herself and took the operator from Fade. Surely, she made her way outside of the box. A shiver ran down her spine as she was met with a wall of cold air. It immediately stung at her face. There was no other option but to bury herself deeper into her purple scarf. 

Reyna was already sitting on the edge of the platform, her feet dangling off it. She looked peaceful, from what she could see. Her hair was up in a ponytail, matching Sage’s and she was wearing a black band that covered her ears, keeping them warm. Her jacket was thick, but not as thick as Sage’s was. Reyna was more resistant to the cold, her own core providing her enough warmth to keep her relatively comfortable even in places like these.

It was late into the night. The moon was already descending but since there was barely any light pollution in this area, it still lit up their surroundings with ease. The night was filled with a thousand stars but Sage couldn’t look anywhere but at Reyna. She was careful as she walked over, ensuring that her steps didn’t echo on the steel ground. 

“Hey.” Sage whispered as she sat down and laid the operator on her lap. Its barrel crossed Reyna’s as well. 

Reyna gave her a small smile and an even smaller nod. Her eyes were still kind of small, the sleep still having an effect on Reyna. The duelist was known for her moody behaviour in the morning and it was custom protocol to leave her alone for at least five minutes after she had woken up. On missions, she usually took less time to prepare herself but it seemed that Sage being with her gave her the assurance that at least one of them was paying attention. However, the howling and freezing winds would probably speed along the wake-up process. 

Sage checked her comm device, ensuring that their teammates would not hear them. She wasn’t necessarily planning anything, but neither was she going to take the risk. In the corner of her eye she could see Reyna following her example.

They stayed in silence for a good ten minutes in which Sage scanned their surroundings. She used her goggles to look for any movements in the distance but her gut told her that if the other team had wanted to strike this spot, they would have done it earlier in the night. Still, she performed her duty best she could with the distraction of Reyna’s hand on Sage’s thigh. She wasn’t even rubbing her thumb over it, or doing anything, but the warmth of her hand burned through the fabric of her pants and into her skin. Instinctively she leaned closer to Reyna. 

It was Reyna who broke the silence “How did you sleep?” Her voice croaked slightly, still warming up the vocal cords.

“I slept well,” Sage looked sideways at Reyna, “what about you?” She hoped that Reyna had enjoyed their closeness as much as she had.

Reyna nodded, a smile tugging at her lips. The conversation, if you could call that, died down again. It wasn’t uncomfortable. The opposite even. It was just the knowledge that whatever would happen in these three hours, there was no rush behind it. They had the time, and they knew it. So they enjoyed each other’s presence. Choosing to communicate through soft touches and occasional glances instead of words. 

This time, Sage spoke up. “Were you going to kiss me at new years? If Phoenix hadn’t interrupted that is.” 

This made Reyna perk up. “I think you know the answer already, it was pretty obvious.” The woman grinned at her, warming Sage’s chest.

“Did you plan to? Or did it just feel right? Why did you want to kiss me? Had you wanted to kiss me before then?” The questions rolled off her tongue with ease. Her thoughts that she had mulled over so many times finally found their source and there was no stopping the rain of questions that hammered down on Reyna.

Reyna’s eyebrows raised in synchrony before they lowered again and Reyna chuckled. “You had those bottled up, huh?” Reyna looked at her, amusement and curiosity played in her eyes. “Wouldn’t you like to know.” 

“Yes, I would. Hence why I am asking, don’t be an ass about this.” Sage narrowed her eyes at the duelist.

“Ah, and here I thought you liked my ass.”

“You- I swear to- You-” Sage sputtered out her response and swatted Reyna on the shoulder. “Shut up.” 

Reyna’s smile widened into a toothy grin, a victorious one. She had gotten Sage exactly where she had wanted her. “Make me.” 

It was tempting, surely. But Sage would not fall for these cheesy tricks. Instead, she pointed her finger towards Reyna. “No. Just answer my questions or yesterday afternoon will have been the first and last time.” It was a blatant lie, obviously. Now that she had had a taste, well, she was addicted. Hell, she had been addicted even before having a taste. 

Reyna knew this and Reyna would not bite, Sage knew this. That made it all the more surprising when Reyna rushed towards her and caught her lips. Taken by surprise, Sage’s whole body tensed but the moment that Reyna’s hand came to cup her cheek, she softened into her. Her lips found Reyna’s warm ones and she kissed back with the same fire that Reyna had kissed her with. 

Icebox melted away as her body warmed with a source from within. Suddenly her hands were frantically pulling at Reyna, wanting her closer, wanting more. In return, Reyna’s hands wandered everywhere. The thick layers prevented Sage from feeling everything and she was very close to just tearing off her clothes just to be able to feel Reyna’s soft hands on her skin. Eventually, Reyna’s hand did find Sage’s cheek again, holding it. With all the feelings that washed over her, it felt as if all her senses were heightened. She could feel everything but the cold. But what she felt most was this insatiable want that had burned on for months now, never being allowed to fully erupt but never dying down either. 

Suddenly, Reyna broke away and the cold came rushing in like a slap in her face. Wide eyed, Sage stared at Reyna, her chest still moving up and down with deep breaths. “Wh-” 

“Yes I wanted to kiss you before. I have wanted to kiss you many times before.” Reyna answered Sage’s question, smiling calmly as she stared towards the starry night again. The relaxed posture and carelessness with which Reyna acted almost made Sage want to scream. It almost seemed like the kiss had not affected her at all while Sage was over here breathing like she ran a damned marathon. But even she could see the blush that had brightened Reyna’s cheeks. Perhaps, she wasn’t as nonchalant as she would have liked Sage to believe. 

“But no, I did not plan it. It just felt,” Reyna sighed, a small cloud forming at her lips, “right.” 

Sage could relate to that. In that moment it had felt as if they were separate from the entire world, from everything and everyone. There had been no new years party. Everything had made sense. They had struggled but eventually came to the same conclusion. Everything felt like puzzle pieces falling into place.

“Where did you go?” Sage asked tentatively, finally having regained her breath. “You know, after.” She knew the answer, but she just wanted to hear it from Reyna.

“My sister.” 

“Was it an emergency?” 

Her eyebrows furrowed as a troubled look shot across Reyna’s face before it was smoothened out again. “No.” She admitted. “It wasn’t. She was okay.” 

“Then why did you go? Why did you just leave without saying anything?” 

Sage could feel the shift in the air as it turned tense. She didn’t know exactly what she wanted to hear, but she hoped for something. Reyna, in turn, seemed to work up her courage, unsure whether it was worth telling.

Sage didn’t push and Reyna mulled over her thoughts. 

Finally, she opened her mouth to say something. “I was scared.” It came out shakily, like an exhale. 

Without further elaboration, the confusion rose in Sage. “Of what?”

“Rejection?” Reyna looked at Sage with an openness she had not seen before. Having this talk while on a mission might not be their best move, they should stay focused. But if not now, how long will they keep dancing before it comes up again? The other woman seemed to notice Sage’s unsureness of the timing and her shoulders slumped. “Like that. I knew you liked me back-”

“H-how?” Sage looked befuddled.

Reyna chuckled softly, “Oh, come on, Sage. Nobody looks at me the way that you look at me. Nobody puts up with constantly healing me, checking in on me, or would even rush into danger like you did for me. I knew you liked me, because I recognized the looks you gave me; they mirrored mine.” 

Then there would be nothing to be scared of, right? “But then… why?” 

“Because I was afraid that you would put your duty above yourself again. That whatever we had, or could be, was not enough for you to risk your job.” Reyna sighed, looking almost defeated as if she was imagining the other outcome. “You know, I really love the way you care for others. It’s one of the things that made me fall in love with you. But I also knew that if push came to shove, you would put others before yourself, including your own feelings. Which would mean that us , what we could have, would never be able to form.” 

“So I went to my sister. My duty. I talked to her and realized that if I could love you all the while caring for my duty as much then perhaps there was hope. Perhaps, if you did feel the same, you could too.” 

Sage looked at Reyna wide-eyed. Not because of the explanation but rather because of the confession. The way she had said it so plainly, so confidently without a pause before or after the word love . For Reyna there was no doubt that she loved Sage. It was something that baffled Sage. Yes, they had just made out but kissing didn’t equal love, not for Reyna at least. Sage knew this because she knew Reyna and she knew that Reyna did not have any issue with initiating intimate contact. She had been seen flirting with many other agents, it was almost second nature to her. So for her to tease and flirt with Sage was nothing new, it could mean she was bored or had taken a liking to her but to call it love, that was wishful thinking. And now, when Reyna says it so calmly like there is no difference between the word love and potato, it confused Sage. 

“You love me?” Is all that Sage could ask. She needed an elaboration, to understand as to why and how.

It earned her a soft laugh, “Ay, corazón.” There it is again, that damned word. “You pay so much attention to those around you, how are you still so blind?” 

They were on a mission. Sage should’ve kept the gun in her hands instead of putting it aside the moment that Reyna’s hand reached to cup her face. She should’ve focused on their surroundings instead of Reyna’s eyes as they came closer to hers. Her mind should have stayed sharp, focused on the mission, instead of hyperfocusing on the way that Reyna’s lips parted, inches away from her own. And she should have never allowed herself to close her eyes the moment that Reyna kissed her. They could have been attacked a thousand times over and Sage would not have noticed. They were an easy target, sitting on the edge of the cold platform, unaware of anything. 

But who could blame her for losing her focus when Reyna was kissing her like this would be their last kiss? When Reyna kissed her with a purpose, with a message. She kissed her to say Yes, I love you . When Reyna filled her with a warmth that shut all the cold out. That made her senses dull and her mind go into this dreamlike state of blissful ignorance. All the while aware of everything that Reyna did; from her thumb softly caressing her cheek to her lips parting to deepen the kiss. 

In return, Sage kissed her without duty weighing down on her. Just for this moment it was not about their line of work, about the risks and dangers of work entanglements. In this moment, Sage kissed her back like nothing else mattered but them. Because that was the truth, that was the danger of it all, nothing else mattered. And so Sage kissed to say I love you too .

And they kissed until their lips were swollen. Until the first rays of sun kissed the frozen lakes and the reflection sparkled in the snow that lay atop it. ‘Till their I love you’s never had to be spoken aloud ever again. ‘Till they lost their breaths and their bodies could never grow cold again.

It was only when movement could be heard from inside that they pulled apart. They looked at each other with a surprised expression. The both of them were befuddled that any time had passed in the first place. Sage laughed softly, still out of breath.

It was only half an hour later that they received an update about the attack which had happened in Bind. Even though Sage did not regret anything, she did feel a slight wave of relief wash over her. 

–

After the stake-out, and more importantly the talk– which was surprisingly short but cleared up more than enough – everything seemingly returned to normal. Well, normal but better than normal. Though the no fraternization rule was still there, it did not stop them from spending most of their time together. The only thing that the rule stopped them from doing was to announce it to the rest of the agents, which they didn’t have any plan of doing anyways.

So even though they had not spoken about their label, it didn’t stop them from doing anything that would define a relationship. They sneaked kisses during practice, cooked together and went on dates. All under the cover that Sage was teaching Reyna about the leadership ways, ever since she mentioned it once to Sage they had actually put the offer in with Brimstone who seemed open to it. This also gave them an excuse to spend more time together. 

She wasn’t sure if the other agents bought it, definitely not the younger duelists who had almost caught them on the balcony at new years, but nobody mentioned it. Sure, there were looks when in meetings Sage announced that she would not be in the med-bay the next day, but generally everything they did went unnoticed.

That did not mean there were no close calls.

Like the one time where they went back to the restaurant where they had their first unofficial date and now their first official one. They had asked Brimstone for the dropship and he had happily lended it to them. Definitely since it had been calm after the attack on bind (which was never a good sign but Sage ignored it for the sake of their date). They had gotten dressed up with a slight delay since both Sage and Reyna had to redo parts of their make-up after seeing each other. Their lipstick had been smudged and moved to places where lipstick should not be placed. Causing them to stand next to one another in Sage’s bathroom reapplying their lipsticks all the while giving each other eyes in the mirror. Their eyes being: Reyna who looked at her mischievously after Sage had just finished reapplying her red lipstick and Sage giving her looks that said: don’t you dare .

In the end, Reyna did dare and Sage did not mind it all too much. However, their delay cost them. They had made sure to leave before dinner time this time to avoid curious agents so that their ‘just a friend date’ experience would not occur again (definitely since they were even more dressed up right now and Sage would not be able to say friend date with a straight face this time). 

Just as they had been ready to leave the doors to the dropship opened again. With their heels rooted to the ground, they both whipped their heads around to greet, apparently, Brimstone. The both of them were dressed to the nines and the both of them were very aware of that as Brimstone opened his mouth, looked them up and down and then stayed silent. Sage could practically see the gears turning in his mind before he shook his head. “Where are you ladies off to?”

“Dinner.” Sage confessed before Reyna could say anything, “We were going to discuss some stuff for the next mission over dinner.” 

Brimstone raised an eyebrow but smiled at them, “You know you can take a night off, right? Dinners are not meant for business. Well, not always.” 

Sage looked down at her heeled feet, shrugging slightly. “I know, it just- well.” 

“I got sick of the stuffy meeting room so we are going to move our meeting elsewhere.” Reyna stepped in, “And we haven’t had good food in a while so we thought why not a restaurant.” It was not a lie, Phoenix had been put on the cooking shift and since most of the proper cooks had been on a mission, he had full culinary freedom. Which meant burned chicken, barely any vegetables and more fries than should be healthy for an agent. It was all he knew how to cook and after two days of that, it had been Skye’s turn to cook. She, in her defense, was a good cook, but only cooked vegan meals. Of course, Sage did not mind, Reyna however… 

Brimstone just laughed and nodded in understanding. “Alright, I see, I see. I do have to admit I am escaping the building too for a somewhat better dinner. I saw that you were aiming to go to Mexico?” 

Sage looked back at the navigational tool, which indeed was already displaying their destination. She knew what Brimstone would ask and she knew that there was no way they could lie their way out of it. “Yes.” 

 “Good, could you two drop me off somewhere on the way?” Brimstone asked as he already walked over to one of the chairs to strap himself down.

Sage and Reyna shared a glance. The duelist looked more than annoyed with Brimstone’s presence but one look of Sage’s was enough for Reyna to drop it and walk over to the navigational tool. “Sure, where do you need to be dropped off?” 

Brimstone gave them the coordinates of a place in Colombia which earned a small eyebrow raise from Reyna. 

The rest of the flight passed slowly as Reyna kept silent and Brimstone and Sage talked business. Apparently Brimstone had been on his way to meet an old friend of his. It was interesting, but Sage would have much preferred to have this time with Reyna, alone. 

The second time was in the dropship too. They had quickly found out that it was one of the few quiet places of their facility. The training areas, as well as the gyms, common rooms and the outside areas were almost always occupied by at least one agent. Their rooms were useless too, only late at night they had some time for themselves but during the day there were constant interruptions. When they were in Sage’s room every half an hour somebody would knock on her door to ask her about chores, missions or healing. Before, Sage had never really noticed how often agents had come to her room but now it seemed as if they flocked to her more often than not. Partially she felt proud of it, happy that everyone had felt comfortable enough to reach out to her but it was less enjoyable when she couldn’t even watch a movie with Reyna without being interrupted four times throughout the movie. It was even less enjoyable when Reyna’s hand was riding up her skirt and she begrudgingly had to push it away when somebody knocked at the door for the third time that hour. 

Reyna’s room was not much better. Sage had never known that Reyna trained so much nor that she was such a wanted sparring partner until they had moved over to her room. It seemed that people loved to train with her, knocking on her door almost as much as they did on Sage’s. Furthermore, both Neon and Gekko seemed to have the habit of just walking in unprompted. This, apparently, was something normal that Reyna did not seem to mind too much. Well, that was before Sage was in her room pinned under her and Gekko tried to get in, sounding very surprised to find Reyna’s door locked. Sage had quickly hidden in the closet as Reyna had talked to Gekko in Spanish in, what sounded like, a very annoyed tone. Sage had felt silly, standing behind the doors, out of breath and with disheveled hair and even more disheveled clothing, all the while Gekko just casually walked in and sat down on the bed. Reyna, thankfully, had kept it short and Gekko was out before Sage betrayed herself.

Thus, they had to find a new place. Most areas were either too busy or just too weird (they were not going to make out in the meeting room), and some places it would be too weird if they ever were caught (like the maintenance room). So they had to find a place which was desolate enough but not too weird to be caught together, or well, in company of one another.

Thus, the dropship was their best option. They avoided it during maintenance hours and when agents were soon to leave for or return from their missions but otherwise it was their perfect hideout. 

Everytime Sage had to leave for a mission she couldn’t help but glance at the places where Reyna had pinned her against the cold walls. Or the chairs in which Reyna had sat with Sage on her lap. Or even one of the tactical desks (which they could use to plan attacks while flying on) where they had made out ‘till Sage’s back had screamed for some proper support. 

That day had been no different. This time Reyna was lying down on the table with Sage on top of her, knees on either side of her hips. They had donned their jackets already and Sage’s ponytail had gotten loose when Reyna had pulled on her hair as Sage had almost placed a hickey above the neckline. Somewhere along the way, Reyna’s hand had found Sage’s ass and had not left it ever since, neither did Sage’s hand leave Reyna’s chest. 

It was messy, it usually was with them, their make out sessions always started small, sweet- That was a lie. They usually started with Sage basically slamming Reyna against the wall and Reyna returning the favor with the same fire. It was always the same routine, Reyna would insinuate something during breakfast, training session or meeting and Sage would get wound up. Her thoughts would be clouded with the thoughts of kissing Reyna senseless, causing her frustrations to rise. The build-up would usually hit Sage’s toll after dinner, when Reyna had shot her way too many suggestive glances. And then Sage would always step into the same trap that Reyna had set for her early in the morning. The duelist would act all surprised, as if she had no idea what she was doing to Sage, but the façade would usually drop the moment that their lips connected again. Reyna loved to drive Sage crazy and Sage, well, was very easily affected.

It didn’t help that even after two weeks of sneaking around, nothing major had happened yet. It had always been touches over the clothes, sometimes a hand would dare slip under a shirt, but it would never reach the point which Sage had wanted to reach. Causing every make out session to leave her more frustrated than she had been before. Usually, she would leave the dropship with a warmth in her lower belly that wouldn’t be satiated until later that night.

It was not that neither of them wanted to, it was just that the opportunity had not arisen yet. Frustrating them to no end. It came to the point that Sage had now dragged Reyna to the dropship even before dinner, which broke their usual pattern. 

“Fuck, Zyanya.” Sage cursed under her breath as Reyna sucked just below her collarbone. No low cut shirts for the next couple of days it seemed. The thought was quickly fading as Reyna’s lips made a trail of kisses back up Sage’s jaw. Her strong hands had held Sage’s jaw in such an angle that Reyna had more surface to kiss and aimed Sage’s gaze towards the door. Through half lidded eyes she barely noticed the blinking of the door. Meaning that the code was being typed into the keypad.

Not for the first time, Sage was glad for her quick reflexes as she pulled back off of Reyna. The duelist let go of her quick enough, knowing that if Sage jumped off, there was a good reason for it. Her purple eyes shot from Sage, to the door and then to their jackets. They only had a couple of seconds. It all happened in a rush. Sage activated the tactical desk, the machine humming to life quickly as if Reyna hadn’t just been lying on it. During this she tried to tie her hair quickly, only realizing that her hair tie had snapped when Reyna had pulled on it. Sage barely ever wore her hair down, for the others to see her like that would be a dead give away and they simply could not risk it. Definitely not if it was Brimstone or Viper behind that door. Thus, Sage grabbed her hair, trying to tie it together as quickly as she could and sealed it with her gems. 

In the meantime Reyna had put on her own jacket and put that of Sage over one of the chairs. Trying to make it seem as casual as possible. Just as Reyna had made it back to the table, leaning on it and pretending to look at the battle map from a couple of weeks ago, the door slid open.

“And then I will-” Raze’s voice echoed through the steel ship. Instead of its usual booming volume it was quieter now. “Oh-” 

Sage turned her head around, looking back at Killjoy and Raze standing stock still in the opening of the ship. If Sage had not been as fueled with adrenaline, she might have noticed Killjoy’s blush and their intertwined hands, but as it was Sage just nodded at them. She tried to act calm and collected but she knew that she must look somewhat dishevelled. “Oh, hi.” 

“Hello.” Killjoy said, taking a step away from Raze. “We- uh, I didn’t know this place was occupied. I just uh-” Her eyes shot around the ship, “Wanted to show Raze one of the new navigation systems I installed.” She talked quick, hurried almost. “But we can do that later if you guys,” her eyes shot from Sage to Reyna and then back, “need the ship?” 

Sage frowned, not remembering Killjoy proposing the idea of implanting new navigation systems. She usually talked it through with Brimstone, Cypher and her. Perhaps Brimstone had okayed it without her, but it was usually something they discussed together. 

Before Sage could ask about it, Reyna was already walking around the table and towards the door. “No, it’s fine, go ahead. We are done planning anyway.” Reyna acted casual as she talked, her voice in the same slow hum as always. To everybody else, she would seem normal. But Sage noticed her fingers playing with one of her rings and the uneven breaths in between her sentences. Reyna was thrown off balance. Sage had to refrain from smiling.

“Yes.” Sage said as she followed, “Brimstone was still occupying the meeting room when we wanted to so we thought we’d try the dropship.” Perhaps she was over-explaining, but she couldn’t take the risk.

Killjoy and Raze nodded as if they cared and stepped aside as Reyna tried to exit. “Okay, cool. Uh, see you tonight at dinner?” Raze said, sounding almost awkward. That was not good. Had they figured them out? 

Reyna waited for her by the door as Sage rushed to grab her jacket from the chair and put it on. “Yes, I was just on my way to help Jett out. But you should definitely show me the navigation system sometime soon.” 

Killjoy nodded quickly, smiling at her a bit too brightly. “Yeah, I would love to. I’ll show you-” She paused for a second and then continued, “Tomorrow?” 

“Perfect.” Sage said, giving her a quick smile and walking over to the exit. “See you soon.” 

The two agents gave them a small wave as they exited the dropship. Without saying anything Reyna and Sage exchanged glances but as soon as they rounded the corner, Reyna broke out in silent laughter. Sage, who was less than amused, gave her a hard smack on the shoulder. 

“Next time we are locking that door.” Sage muttered as she took off towards her room, leaving a still laughing Reyna trailing behind her.

The third time was in the common room. She usually would have preferred not to do anything in a room that literally is the one place for all agents to come together, but this time it had felt safe to do. It had been late at night, around one A.M., just after they had returned from one of their dinners. They had dressed down a bit and Sage was thoroughly enjoying her fluffy socks after the constant ache of her heels. Reyna too had switched from a skirt that was dangerously short to comfortable joggers. Sage had come to find that no matter what Reyna wore, it didn’t diminish her attraction to her. Because even now as she watched Reyna pour two glasses of wine for them on the kitchen island, she still felt the urge to drag her towards her and make out. 

She fought against it, knowing that if they’d start that they wouldn’t stop and they had an early meeting in the morning. The quicker that they went to sleep, the better. Though, as Reyna handed her one of the glasses she knew that their fate was sealed. 

Reyna stood in front of her, close enough that Sage had no choice but to press her back against the counter, otherwise she would be stepping on her toes. Reyna smiled at her, leaning forward and placing a kiss on her cheek. Reyna hadn’t yet washed off her make-up and Sage knew that a perfect lipstick stained print was stuck on her cheek, but she didn’t move to wipe it off. 

“Cheers.” Reyna said softly, her voice low and laden with something else . This something else Sage had now identified as lust. 

Sage leaned back while she nursed her wine. “Cheers to what?” 

“Us, of course.” Reyna grinned, only seeing the distance that Sage had created as a challenge. Her free hand slid around Sage’s back and pulled her flush against herself. 

Us . The question had been plaguing her. Were they an us already? Was there anything that needed to happen for it to be official? Sage presumed that Reyna wouldn’t ask her to be her girlfriend, they weren’t children anymore. Still, she wished that Reyna would show some signs of them being in a relationship. If they even were? To Sage it was pretty clear, this wasn’t just some fling. And well, Reyna had confessed to loving her too, so… Is that official enough? Perhaps Sage should ask Reyna. 

Sage cupped her face softly. Reyna’s cheek fit perfectly in Sage’s hand, like they were molded just for her to hold. She would ask. Just not now. 

“To us.” Sage mumbled as she leaned in to kiss Reyna.

They collided in the same passion as was now usual. Reyna pushing her back against the counter again with her own hips and Sage’s hands everywhere on the duelist’s body. Kissing Reyna felt like an out of body experience even though she was hyper aware of everything that was happening to her body. The moment their lips touched, Sage craved even more. There was this constant urge for more, this ache that caused Sage to deepen the kiss, to dig her fingers into Reyna’s skin and to try and feel all the warmth that Reyna had to offer. 

Reyna moved her hands to her hips and Sage was just quick enough to set aside the glass of wine before Reyna lifted her on the counter. Her fingers spread Sage’s legs with an ease that almost made her feel embarrassed, almost . Reyna stepped in between them and without thinking Sage locked her there with her legs behind Reyna’s back. The purple eyed woman lowered her gaze to Sage’s neck and her lips moved to latch onto their target. With a gasp Sage grabbed onto Reyna’s neck and dug her fingers into the lower strands of her hair. The sharp sting of a poorly placed hickey caused Sage to automatically try and pull Reyna’s head back. It worked, somewhat, as Reyna let go of Sage’s neck. Her victory was short as Reyna let out a soft moan, barely audible, but since her mouth was right next to Sage’s ear, the sound reverberated through Sage’s body, leaving a trail of chills in their wake. 

“Careful, corazón.” Reyna whispered against Sage’s skin, right under her jaw. “If you start now, I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop.” A kiss was pressed softly against her neck.

“Who says I want you to?” Sage whispered back, her voice way higher than she had meant it to be. 

Now, this had the intended effect. Reyna stopped pressing kisses and pulled back again to look at Sage with a surprised but amused grin. “Are you sure?” 

“Yes.” The answer was lightning quick, surprising herself even. 

Reyna laughed and it filled Sage with a warmth that could warm a thousand earths. It was beautiful and Sage needed to interrupt it. And so she did. She pulled Reyna forward by her jacket and kissed her. To her credit, Reyna adapted quickly, her arm wrapping around Sage’s waist, pulling them even closer together and the other cupping Sage’s cheek. Her sharp nails grazed her cheekbones and Sage wondered if she should’ve cut her own. She probably should’ve. But she hadn’t wanted to assume and it seemed that Reyna had done the same.

With a sudden jolt, Reyna pulled back. “Someone is coming.” The alarm in her eyes matched Sage’s. They removed their hands in a hurry and Sage freed Reyna from her legs. 

“Who?” Sage asked in a hushed voice, trying to listen for footsteps. They were heavy and slow and so far very distant. Sage doesn’t know whether she should be surprised or hurt that Reyna had heard them. Had she been focused on her surroundings or was it something else that tipped her off.

“How would I know?” Reyna mumbled, grabbing her glass of wine and trying to fix her smudged lipstick. 

It reminded Sage to wipe her cheek, neck and her own lips in a desperate act to remove the dark purple stains on her skin. Out of experience, Sage knew how hard it was to wipe Reyna’s lipstick off of her skin so she rubbed ferociously at her cheek. 

Reyna saw the effort that Sage put into cleaning up and with a small shake of her head, Sage knew her efforts were failing. Seeing as the footsteps never halted, Sage simply ducked down behind the counter in the hopes that the agent interrupting them wasn’t thirsty for a glass of water. 

It was just in time since the footsteps didn’t sound hollow on the metallic floor anymore but were now softened by the carpets in the common room. 

“Ah, Deadlock.” Reyna greeted the no longer mystery agent. “What are you doing up?” Sage watched as Reyna leaned casually on the counter, nursing her glass of wine like she didn’t just get caught mid make out session. 

“I could ask you the same.” Deadlock grumbled back. Sleep was heavy in her voice and Sage wondered if they had woken her up. Had they been loud? That wouldn’t even make sense, Deadlock’s quarters were close to Jett’s, close to the training area. Perhaps something else?

“Oh, I’m just enjoying some good wine.” Reyna took a small sip from it as an example. 

“In a dress? At-” There was a short pause, “One thirty two?” It had been half an hour.

“What? A girl can’t have fun? I just came back from a dinner with an old friend, just thought I’d try the wine she’d given to me.” Sage had to give it to Reyna, the way she stayed calm and casual at Deadlock’s sharp questions impressed her. Sage would have already slipped up three times in one sentence. 

“Two glasses of them?” Sage could basically hear the eyebrow being raised. 

Reyna just shrugged, “If you don’t tell, I won’t.” 

“Sage is going to kick your ass if you show up hungover at yoga tomorrow, you know that right?” Deadlock said, walking closer to the counter. Sage could see the shadow on the floor. Thankfully she stopped opposite of Reyna. 

Reyna herself was laughing softly, “I’d like to see her try.” Sage almost scoffed at that, but instead she chose to quietly slap against Reyna’s leg.. “What were you here for again?”

“Fade texted me to come to the living room, for some reason.” Both Reyna and Sage perked up at that. “But it seems like she isn’t here.” 

“Huh, interesting.” Sage could see Reyna’s gaze wander throughout the living room. “Perhaps she has gone back to bed?” 

“Yeah, could be. You haven’t seen her here right?” Deadlock tried and Reyna just shook her head. “Well, I’ll keep looking then.” Deadlock yawned and pushed herself off the counter. “Enjoy your night.” And with that she was gone. 

Sage pulled Reyna down behind the counter with her by the bottom part of her jogging pants. “Reyna.” She hissed.

“Sage.” Reyna grinned back, kneeling before Sage. Her hand was on Sage’s leg to stabilise herself. 

Sage wanted to berate Reyna, she wasn’t sure for what, but something. Perhaps it was the way Reyna had lied so stupidly about the two glasses, or the fact that she made a joke about Sage not being able to kick Reyna’s butt. And just maybe she was just fed up by being interrupted again. 

The duelist immediately clocked the frustration growing within Sage, only causing her grin to increase even more. “What? Cat got your tongue?” She leaned forward again to try and catch Sage in a kiss.

Instead Reyna’s lips met with Sage’s finger as she kept the other woman at bay. “She is right, I will kick your ass if you show up hungover at yoga tomorrow.” Sage narrowed her eyes at the other woman.

Reyna recovered from her fumble with a raised eyebrow. “I have barely taken a sip, you’ve literally watched me take less than a sip.” She argued. “Besides, I could do those yoga exercises drunk, hungover and injured. They are easy.” 

“Well, of course they are easy when you only give it your 20% percent. Your reverse warrior looks like you just strained your back.” Sage bit back, she already felt a small smile pulling on her lips but she tried to feign her annoyance.

Reyna just laughed, the sound reverberating through Sage’s heart as it sped up. “Hmm, who says I’m there to learn silly poses.” Reyna leaned forward again and this time Sage didn't stop her.

“They are not silly.” Sage muttered when Reyna’s lips almost touched her own, “Why else would you be there if not to learn?” 

Reyna answered by kissing her. She softly pushed Sage’s  back on the ground and Sage was just quick enough to keep herself propped up by her elbows. Reyna climbed over her in controlled and fluid moments, never breaking the kiss. Instead, she deepened it. Everything in Sage was on fire and all her frustration was gone the moment that their lips had connected. It felt as if Reyna could just make her forget anything whenever she wanted. 

Eventually, Reyna pulled back only to watch Sage with amused eyes. Sage felt slightly lightheaded from kissing, even her lips felt swollen. “I come to your yoga lessons ‘cuz your ass looks divine in those leggings.” 

There were very few things that could ruin the mood for Sage, but Reyna had just found one of the few. With a scoff, Sage scooted from under Reyna and made a move to stand up. “That is-” 

Reyna kept on grinning at her, not at all surprised at her reaction. “That’s what, Ling?” 

“You are-” Sage rose to her feet and looked down at Reyna. It took everything in her not to be affected by the view of Reyna on her knees in front of her. 

“I am?” Reyna came up to stand in front of Sage again, towering over her again.

Sage pointed her finger at Reyna, trying to find the right word. “You are hopeless.” Sage decided on, narrowing her eyes at Reyna. She took a step back, towards the door. “Goodnight, Zyanya.” She bid her goodnight and turned on her heels.

“Oh come on, Ling! It was a joke!” Reyna laughed behind her, clearly not caring that it was the middle of the night.

“Enjoy your wine.” Sage said over her shoulder with a wave, leaving the room more frustrated than she entered it.

And if she by any chance had worn her best leggings the next day, well, then Reyna would fully be to blame.

All the encounters concluded into one simple truth. Sage had been cockblocked too many times. The thing was that Sage wanted more . These frustrations, ideas, dreams, had been building up for over a year now and Reyna was teasing her and not giving her any of the relief. But clearly they did not get any time to themselves. This building was too full of people, and Sage knew it was only a matter of time before it grew even fuller with all the trips Brimstone had been on in the last two weeks. Neither could they escape the base for more than an evening, definitely not with all the upcoming meetings. 

Surprisingly, it seemed that she wasn’t the only one who grew frustrated with all the upcoming projects, meetings and all that. More often than not the training area was occupied but at the same time there was a constant down mood hanging in the common room. Dinners were eaten more separately. Small groups would gather to eat their food quickly before continuing to work on their paperwork, missions or training. Even Sage had to cancel a couple of her yoga lessons, to Skye’s and Reyna’s annoyance, to help with recruiting another Chinese agent. Her experience with the culture and language were necessary, at least that is what Brimstone had said. He had even suggested she would stay at base when the new recruit would arrive to have a sort of familiar face around. Even though she was a complete stranger to this recruit, Sage understood Brimstone’s sentiment. It was important for new recruits to feel at home and Sage was the closest thing to this boy’s home in a way.

However, did this mean that next week she would barely have time for Reyna. Of course, she could wait a week, but Reyna was currently too big of a distraction and Sage worried that she might neglect the recruit in favour of spending time with Reyna. She had already sneaked out from under a couple of training sessions to make out with Reyna in the dropship. It was as if she had left all common sense behind and her body was making all the decisions for her. And after weeks of letting her grip on her duty slip in favor of Reyna, it might be time to focus back on her actual work. One way to do that was to get some time alone.

Okay, well. That was the absolute weakest and most insane excuse Sage had thought of to find a way to get time alone with Reyna in weeks. She just wanted Reyna’s hands on her, in her, any way Reyna wanted her. She was desperate and it killed her not to be with her.

So what if she (ab)used her power a little bit to do so. If it helped the other agents too, what was the harm in it? Her grand plan was to give everybody a break. It was either now that they could catch a break or in three to four months when all the missions, stake outs and new recruits were done and settled. And Sage was not planning on waiting another four months before she could have Reyna’s body on top of hers.

So she had first buttered up Brimstone with the help of Skye, who was also itching to take a small break. Sage made Brimstone some Chinese food, Skye offered to take over some paperwork and they made sure the younger agents kept in line. Or well, at least whatever ruckus they made wouldn’t end up on Brimstone’s desk. On top of that, they included the excuse of the constant stream of injured agents to ask for some time off. 

It was only a day later that Sage was all too happy to send out the mail to the agents that they could ask for time off with assurance of immediate approval. The requests came rushing in. Jett wanted to bring her little group on a trip to her hometown, or well, closeby to it. Chamber was already gone to France before Sage had even approved his request. And one by one the agents left for some time off. It was clear that Sage wasn’t the only one that needed some time off. 

Something that she had not expected, but definitely didn't mind is that Brimstone also left for a couple of days. It was just two days, but it was enough for Sage to punch a hole into the air. Brimstone left Sage in charge for those two days.

And suddenly she was watching Brimstone’s dropship leave on a random Thursday, leaving her alone in the steel fortress. Well, almost alone. 

It wasn’t long before Sage got a text from Reyna. She looked down at her phone with a grin as she walked back inside. 

Reyna 12:34

And? Is he finally gone?

You 12:34

Yes. Are you done training?

As always, when Sage asked about training, Reyna sent her a picture of proof. This time she didn’t disappoint either. Her hair was slicked back, not a hair out of place, as usual. There was almost no evidence that she had been training except for the fact that there was a light sheen on her skin that reflected the harsh lightning overhead. Reyna was the only person that could take a picture under overhead lightning and still look gorgeous. She had not only blessed Reyna with a picture of her face, but also sent a second one. She posed, flexing her bicep and Sage stopped walking to admire the picture. 

There was no need to hide the grin that spread across her face. A warmth spread across her cheeks again as she ogled the picture, zooming in on it. It took her embarrassingly long to notice that Reyna was in the med-bay. Sage smile fell slightly. 

You 12:37

Why are you in the med-bay? 

As far as she could see on the pictures, Reyna was in no need of healing. Still, she quickened her steps towards the med-bay. The fact that Reyna was just sending her pictures didn’t tell her nothing of her well being. Reyna could be dying on the battlefield but if her hair looked, as the younger duelists now called it fire , Reyna would take the time to take a picture of it. She wondered if she always did that just to worry Sage. If it was, Reyna had often succeeded

Sage reached the doors of the med-bay before Reyna had responded. They slid open to reveal Reyna lounging on one of the beds, she was reading through a file. “Zyanya.” 

“Oh, there you are!” Reyna said, making no effort to put the file away, instead just smiling at her. “You never told me you have high blood pressure.” 

Of course Reyna was looking through her files. It surprised her that she didn’t even feel any annoyance at the breach of privacy. She knew Reyna and she trusted Reyna to treat it with respect. And the most that Reyna would do with it is make little jabs at her, like this. “Hm, yeah, it’s what you get having to manage a bunch of rogue unmannered young agents.” Sage walked over to Reyna, scanning her for any injuries at the same time. 

It was only when she got closer that she noticed the small cut on Reyna’s otherwise flawless skin. Some shrapnel must have hit her, perhaps some flying debris from one of the stone blocks that was shot. It seemed to have stopped bleeding, meaning that it had been caused a while ago.

“Hm, and here I thought I was raising your blood pressure.” Now Reyna did put away the file and sat upright, her feet dangling over the edge of the bed. With one hand she grabbed Sage’s belt and pulled her closer to her. 

Sage was thrown slightly off kilter, not even because of Reyna moving her, but the ease with which she had done it. “Hm, you were included in the list.” Her voice didn’t betray her surprise. 

Reyna raised an eyebrow. “You think I’m young?” She grinned, ignoring the rest of the adjectives. “I mean, I did just read in the file that you are one year older than me. Go you, cougar.” Her eyes were mischievous as Reyna let her gaze wander over Sage’s face.

Sage just rolled her eyes ignoring the small blush creeping at her cheeks. “You are insufferable.” She muttered, resting her arms on Reyna’s shoulders just as Reyna placed her hands on her waist.

“You like it that way.” The duelist gave her a small peck on her lips. 

“Hi.” Sage greeted instead of denying it, smiling widely at her after the kiss.

“Hi.” Reyna responded and mirrored her smile. It was mesmerizing to watch. To see the lightest of dimples appear in Reyna’s cheeks. They never showed when her smile was small and fake, but when she was smiling like she was now, unencumbered and genuine, they made an appearance. Sage decided to kiss them.

Her eyes fell again on the small cut on Reyna’s cheek and she moved her hand to cover her cheek. With her thumb she softly brushed over the cut. A small blue glow radiated from under her thumb as she did so, effectively healing the cut. Reyna’s eyes fluttered closed and Sage felt the heavy weight of Reyna leaning into her hand. 

“Does it feel good?” Sage asked, softly pressing a kiss on Reyna’s forehead. They didn’t have many of these moments. Most of their time together was spent frantically making out or quick hugs when they did find a moment to actually spend time together. Now, without the rush of their everyday life, Sage let herself sink into the softness.

Reyna’s eyes opened again, looking up at Sage with a warmth that was almost new to Sage. She had given her this look a couple of times before (usually across the meeting room or dinner table), but never held it this long. “You are soft.” Reyna’s hand now covered Sage’s so that she couldn’t pull it away.

Sage almost had a deja-vu as she remembered the last time they had been in the med-bay and Reyna had called her soft, or well, her touch soft. She smiled at Reyna and leaned forward to catch her lips in a soft kiss. Reyna responded slowly, her lips moving gently against Sage’s. They kissed without a hurry, without pressure or goal. They kissed to kiss and nothing else and Sage felt blissful.

But even in their softness, when Reyna’s hand slid down to Sage’s waist, the familiar feeling in her lower belly returned. It was less urgent this time, but not any less exciting. Gently, she pulled back, resting her forehead against Reyna’s. They breathed in unison and Sage could basically feel Reyna’s warmth radiate off of her. Her hand slowly slid off of her cheek and she leaned towards the side of Reyna’s head. 

“Oh, but I can be rough too.” Sage repeated her statement from weeks before. The warmth on her cheeks was still there, like last time. However, this time Reyna didn’t laugh. Instead, it seemed to awaken something inside of her. 

Immediately, Reyna’s hand on her hip tightens its grip, her fingers digging into the fabric of Sage’s clothes. “Is that so?” Reyna hums, placing a kiss on her neck. The shift in the air was almost palpable. It seemed as if with the placement of Reyna’s lips on her skin that the air turned heavy and hot, making it harder to breathe. Sage sucked in a sharp breath as Reyna’s teeth grazed her skin. 

Her hand raised to grab onto Reyna’s hair, her fingers tangling in the black to purple ombre hair. She could feel her short nails digging slightly into Reyna’s scalp. The action immediately seemed to take effect as Reyna grinned against Sage’s skin. This could be the moment, she realized. This could be the moment. There were no agents that could barge through the doors, nobody to call them in for an emergency, nothing and nobody but them. Still, her body was tense, almost expecting for something else to ruin this moment that she had been living to ever since Reyna had kissed her for the first time– and before that even. 

Almost as if Reyna noticed Sage’s tenseness, she pulled back from her neck and instead caught her lips in a kiss. The moment their lips met, Sage’s brain turned off. Who cared who walked in? Who cared if something did happen? She was kissing Reyna and it felt as if Reyna’s warmth and power flowed into Sage’s body and she was untouchable. Reyna kissed with such passion that Sage could lose herself in it. Her movements were no longer her own when she pushed Reyna down on the medical bed and climbed on top of her. The bed was just wide enough to allow Sage to put her hand beside Reyna’s head, but not wide enough to place both her knees next to Reyna’s hips. Instead she placed her leg in between Reyna’s and the other beside it. 

Reyna grinned against her lips and pulled Sage closer to her by her collar. Sage could feel Reyna’s body under her, she could feel Reyna’s hips moving up and now pressing against Sage’s leg. Her lack of experience didn’t seem to bother Reyna as she took control into her own hands, using Sage’s body to get exactly what she wanted. It allowed Sage’s hand to wander, and with her eyes closed she moved her hand from Reyna’s shoulder down to her chest. She almost immediately pulled her hand away again, scared that she was moving too fast, before Reyna’s hand grabbed onto her wrist and put it back on her breast. 

Sage wanted to pull away, ask if this was okay, if everything she did was okay but then Reyna’s knee moved up and pressed in between Sage’s leg. Her arms almost gave out as a rush of electricity shot through her body. Her moan was muffled by Reyna’s lips moving against her own. Her body was fired up, bursting with energy at the seams and she didn’t know where to place it, all she knew was that she needed an outlet. Slowly, she started moving her hips, trying to reach that feeling again. It was hard to focus on both kissing and grinding her legs and every time she hit that spot, Sage gasped, pulling away slightly. It wasn’t until Reyna placed her hand on her hip, guiding Sage in the movement, that Sage had to pull back. 

Her breathing was heavy and labored and she could now feel the heat radiating off herself. “Fuck-” Sage huffed, the puff of air blowing some strands of her hair out of the way. She still had her eyes closed, relishing in the feeling of the pressure of Reyna’s leg indirectly against her clit. She could already feel the tension building up in her lower belly, the constant movements seeming to get her closer and closer to the edge. It was almost embarrassing how quickly and actively her body responded to Reyna’s touch. The duelist's hand was on her hip, digging into her soft skin and pushing her forward, upping the tempo to sync with Sage’s quick breathing. 

“Look at me.” Reyna commanded. It wasn’t harsh, the opposite really, her tone was so soft that it immediately made Sage’s eyes shoot open and zero in on Reyna’s. Her purple eyes were dark with lust, sending a shiver through Sage’s body. Reyna’s knee felt good – so good – but the look in her eyes? That was what drove Sage truly crazy. 

With newfound energy she increased her pace. More strands of her hair loosened as she moved, interrupting Sage’s view of Reyna. Clumsily she lifted one of her hands to tuck her strands behind her ear, her body felt harder and harder to control. When she finally could see Reyna again it was short lived, her hair once more blocking her view to the point that it started to frustrate Sage.

Sage almost didn’t notice when Reyna’s hands stopped moving her hips and instead tried to stop Sage’s movements. With a strength and smoothness that only a radiant could utilize Reyna flipped their positions. The sudden shift in movement caused Sage to exhale in a chuckle. She knew Reyna was strong, but she had not assumed that she could be moved around so easily. The show of strength made her stomach flutter. There was a small relief as the pressure against her clit was now gone, though it was more of a bodily relief, her mind couldn’t think of anything else but wanting more.

And of course, Reyna didn’t fail her. As soon as the pressure was gone, it was back again. Reyna’s muscled leg tensed and Sage’s hips automatically moved against it to hit that same spot again that drove her crazy before. “Better?” Reyna asked, her expression amused as Sage nodded shakily. “Good.” It didn’t take long for that pressure to build up again, to send tingles all over her body which got her chasing for more. It didn't help that Reyna had now lowered herself to kiss Sage’s neck, the feather light touches in contrast with her own rougher movements drove Sage insane.

Frantically she tried to reach that high. Soft whimpers escaped her throat and she tried to quiet herself by pressing her lips together. It wasn’t long before Reyna noticed and pulled back from the attack on Sage’s neck. “Don’t hold back.” She said, her accent was heavier than usual and Sage could notice the flush on her cheeks. “There is no one to be quiet for, mi corazón.” 

“What does it mean?” Sage didn’t slow down as she asked, her voice came out strained. 

Reyna’s beautiful thick eyebrows furrowed into confusion for a second, “What?” 

“Corazón,” Sage butchered the pronunciation, her head too fuzzy to even care, “what does it mean?” 

Reyna’s laugh was warm and Sage could feel her chest move against her own as she did, almost causing Sage to laugh along with her. “Heart, my heart.” Reyna explained and Sage’s eyes widened in surprise. Had she been calling her that all this time? And Sage had been too stupid not to look it up? Gods, almost all the overthinking could have been avoided if Sage had picked up a Spanish dictionary. Instead of letting the frustration consume her, Sage pulled Reyna down by the back of her neck. The movement was uncoordinated and their lips crashed together, but Sage didn’t mind the roughness. Instead she relished in the small amount of pain which immediately got compensated for by Reyna’s taste on her lips again.

The kiss didn’t last long as Reyna moved her leg, creating a new angle which caused Sage to gasp in surprise. Reyna didn’t pull back and only watched her up close. “Zyanya-” Sage muttered, her hips almost failing her as she got closer to the edge. Thankfully, Reyna compensated, moving her leg slightly and pushing Sage closer to her high. Without having Reyna’s lips on her own, the soft moans escaped her lips. Her eyes fluttered close as she felt herself getting closer, but a small kiss on her lips brought Sage back to reality. Her brown eyes locked onto Reyna’s purple ones and all Sage needed was Reyna grinning at her to put her over the edge.

Her vision blurred for a second as she came. A million neurons seemed to fire at once as she felt a rush of energy wash over her body. Her back arched as she pushed her shoulders into the hard and uncomfortable bed. She couldn’t even control the sounds that came out of her mouth, all she knew was that they were loud . Her fingers dug into the back of Reyna’s neck and the other one into the arm that held Reyna up, leaving half moon indents of her nails as she relaxed again. 

Her whole body felt heavy as she came down from her high. Reyna reappeared in her vision, looking at her like she had just seen something magnificent. Her eyes were wide and her lips formed a small ‘o’. She was still slowly moving her leg against Sage’s clit, letting the after waves of pleasure wash over her. Her body felt hypersensitive and every small movement against her clit caused Sage to suck in air and hit her head hard against the bed. “Fuck, Reyna, I’m-” She gasped again as Reyna put down more pressure, grinning down at her with an amused grin. Reyna knew she was overstimulated and was teasing her. 

“You are cruel.” Sage sighed in relief when Reyna removed her knee. Victory was short lived as Reyna’s hand slid down and now pressed against it, causing Sage to drop her head back and curse loudly. 

“Hmm, I didn’t know you could be so foul-mouthed.” Reyna grinned, slowly removing her hand again to undo Sage’s belt. 

“I didn’t know you could be so-” She huffed, trying to find the right word and staring up at Reyna.

“Hot? Sexy? Skilled?” Reyna filled in the gaps for her while looking at her with a smug smile. She didn’t even need to tease Sage, just looking at her like this was enough to relight the fire in her belly. But she wouldn’t lay down so easily. It was plain embarrassing how quickly she had come and even more so that it while fully dressed still. Though it seemed Reyna was already fixing the latter issue.

Sage pushed herself to sit upright, using her hand placed on Reyna’s chest to push her away with it. “Annoying.” She had decided on and undid her belt. Reyna watched her with a smug grin plastered on her face. 

“And you are beautiful.” She placed a kiss on her cheek. Even though Reyna had just made her come, the compliment made Sage blush. With a soft thud the rope and the belt came off and slid off of the bed. This happened just as Reyna placed another kiss on her other cheek. “So beautiful.” She repeated. 

“You are a flirt.” Sage sighed, narrowing her eyes at Reyna though there was no bite in her words. 

Reyna leaned forward again, her hands moving to slide the white beizi off of her shoulders. “And you love me for it.” Sage had just regained some of her breath just as Reyna stole it again in a swift kiss. It was short enough for Sage to be aware of Reyna unbuttoning her pants further but deep enough that her body softened under it. 

When Sage pulled back, Reyna’s hand was resting on her lower stomach. Her hand radiated heat, matching that which was raging inside of Sage. “Shouldn’t we find a more comfortable space?” Sage suggested before Reyna’s hand could slip down and Sage would lose all common sense again. The bed was uncomfortably hard under her and if Reyna was going to ravage her again like this she needed to at least be able to walk away from this without bruises all over her body. 

Without saying a word, Reyna slipped off of the bed and grabbed Sage by her hips. But instead of being pulled down, she was lifted up and over Reyna’s shoulder. With a yelp Sage clutched onto Reyna’s back, trying to find some grip. “Zyanya?!” She yelled out.

Reyna placed a strong hand over her butt and started to stride out the door with Sage on her shoulder. “As you wish, my lady.” Her voice was melodic and Sage huffed in response, having lost her dignity. At least her view from here wasn’t too bad either. A small grin spread across Sage’s lips as she raised her hand to smack down on an absolutely delicious target.

“If you do that I’ll make sure you will regret it.” Her voice was low and threatening but instead of striking fear in Sage, it caused her stomach to flutter. With a loud smack, Sage’s hand came down on Reyna’s butt, the sound echoing in the hallway. 

Reyna stopped dead in her tracks and lifted Sage off of her shoulders again until her feet were planted on the ground. The dark look in Reyna’s eyes mirrored Sage’s and she looked back with challenge in her eyes. 

In a swift movement she was pressed against the wall again, her back hitting it hard. The pain surged through her body in a rush and Sage found that she didn’t mind the roughness. Rather, the alertness of her body made her all the more aware of Reyna’s soft skinned hands that slid down the front of her underwear. 

Sage tried to straighten herself up, trying to pretend that she wasn’t as undone by Reyna’s accents as she was. Her hand immediately shot to catch Reyna’s wrist, trying to stop it. However, when her hand touched Reyna’s, she couldn’t find the willpower to actually prevent Reyna from sliding her hand down further. Excitement shifted into nerves and the fire in her belly cooled slightly at the unsureness of everything. Was this the best place to do it? Was Reyna okay with this? Should Sage not first relieve Reyna of her tension? 

Instead of pushing on, Reyna leaned forward, kissing Sage right below her ear. “Let go.” It was a demand but said in such a soft whisper that it could be mistaken for a suggestion. Sage sighed shakily, the warm breath on her neck causing her to turn to mush, and removed from Reyna’s wrist. Still, the duelist didn’t press on.

“Let go.” She repeated, placing another kiss but this time on her reddened cheeks. Only now Sage understood what Reyna had meant. Not just letting go of her wrist but of everything. Giving over the control and just letting Reyna take the reins. Sage eyes widened at the mere idea of it. She hadn’t let go in, well, forever. There was always something that she needed to oversee or control but now. 

Reyna pulled back slightly, locking eyes with her. And then she smiled, softly but comforting. The tenseness ebbed away as quickly as it had come and the fire returned as she gave in with a nod. With one hand, Reyna cupped her cheek and kissed her so softly that Sage wondered how a human being could feel so soft. Sage melted into the kiss, placing her hands on Reyna’s hips now.

Her fingers pressed into the muscle as she felt Reyna’s hand slide down her front and deeper in her underwear. Even Sage could feel the wetness that Reyna’s fingers immediately encountered. Reyna smiled into the kiss as she pressed her palm against Sage’s clit, which still felt swollen and sensitive. She gasped, sucking in Reyna’s breath as the other woman laughed softly.

“You’ll regret slapping my ass.” Reyna grinned and Sage felt a thrill of anticipation run through her body.

“Hmm,” Sage whispered, trying her best to sound relatively okay as Reyna’s finger slid between her folds, the tip of her finger making contact with her entrance, “will I now?” 

She baited Reyna, and Reyna bit the hook like it had been the most delicious thing ever offered to her. The duelist pressed forward, her lips reconnecting with Sage’s and catching her in a fiery kiss. Their lips danced as Reyna’s finger’s played with Sage. Her middle finger had moved back to Sage’s clit and circled around it but every so often she would let her finger move over it and put slight pressure on it. It sent shocks through Sage’s body, leaving her gasping and digging her nails into Reyna’s hips. 

This only seemed to spur Reyna on. Playing with her clit until Sage had trouble thinking straight. Every touch, no matter how soft, sent a wave of pleasure through her body, weakening her knees. She leaned forward, one arm drawn over Reyna’s shoulder now, trying to hold onto her. To Reyna’s credit, she remained unmoved, holding up Sage’s weight with ease.

“Reyna-” Sage whispered in a plea for Reyna to stop teasing her and to just fuck her properly. She guessed that this was what Reyna meant with her regretting it. She could feel the pressure leaving her clit and instead Reyna’s fingers sliding through the embarrassingly wet folds again to Sage’s entrance and Sage felt a heat swell in her chest that could keep her warm for hours. She wondered if Reyna had understood what she needed just by hearing Sage say her name. It seemed like it.

But Sage was mistaken because Sage wasn’t in control and Reyna was not merciful.

Without warning, Reyna’s long ring finger slid into Sage, causing her to hold onto Reyna with all her might. Her nails dug into Reyna’s bare shoulders as she leaned forward, her head hiding in the crook of Reyna’s neck. The new sensation of it, Reyna’s finger hitting a spot that her own fingers never could, made her whole body tingle with excitement. Slowly, Reyna started to move her finger, drawing out soft moans and whimpers from Sage’s throat.

It was almost instinctual, the way Sage’s hips moved along with the movement of Reyna’s finger. But she needed more, she always needed more of Reyna. “More- fuck-” Sage gasped as without warning, another finger was added. Reyna’s long fingers moving inside of her with almost practiced movement. With every upwards movement her palm pressed against Sage’s clit again, causing her body to twitch deliciously. Every touch, every movement brought her closer to the edge of insanity.  

And it was not only Sage who seemed to be affected by the fact that these weeks of build up had finally come to fruition. Reyna was grinning against her neck, her teeth scraping across her collarbone as she dipped her head down to kiss it after. Her soft breathes were no longer controlled but also strained, her fingers upping the tempo as she warmed Sage’s neck, and therefore body, with kisses. They were no longer nice and soft but they stung as Reyna sucked on her pale skin, leaving behind a trail of dark spots that were finally allowed to be seen above the neckline of her clothing. And Reyna seemed to throw all caution– all earlier established rules – in the wind as she finally took what they have both been longing for.

“ Zyanya -” The name slipped out like a prayer more than a moan, her voice hushed and filled with devotion. Nothing of her former religion had ever filled her as fully and wholly as Reyna’s touch now did, as Reyna’s fingers inside her had. They were skilled and quick and knew how to hit that exact spot every time, driving Sage crazy, her whimpers increasing in volume and frequency. And her moans only seem to urge Reyna on, fucking her in earnest as she unraveled her kiss by kiss, thrust by thrust.

The always echoing halls filled with sounds of pleasure and Sage could swear that she could hear her own moans and her own wetness echoing back to her, the sound travelling throughout the walls and bouncing back off of it.  

“Fuck you feel good.” Reyna pulled back to look into Sage’s eyes and the hunger, the excitement and the pleasure reflecting in them caused her clit to throb once more. It immediately got satisfied as Reyna’s palm pressed against it, sending another shock through Sage’s system. Her head shot back, hitting the wall hard . But she didn’t care, she couldn’t, not when her whole body was overtaken with such pleasure. 

Reyna didn’t hesitate one second and immediately explored the presented skin. Her kisses were only interrupted with the low hum of her voice against Sage’s throat. “You are so hot and so-” another kiss, “fucking wet.” 

And if Sage thought Reyna’s fingers felt good, then she was dead wrong as her words, the crudeness of them caused a desire to pool in her belly that she had never experienced before. She dug her fingers into Reyna’s back, her nails leaving imprints in the exposed skin. And of course, Reyna noticed. Her predator-like eyes never missed  anything. “I’ve been wanting to fuck you the day I met you.” She pushed on, her voice low and teasing. “With your better than thou attitude- Everything so pristine and perfect. So clean and organized. I just knew I needed to see you undone-” 

Sage whined wordlessly, pushing her hips into Reyna’s hand, begging for more. Reyna answered by slowing down her pace. “See you all messy, needy and wet.” Reyna kissed her deeply in between her words, not allowing Sage to protest at the sudden change in pace. “Wrecked and properly fucked, like this.” She kissed her again and Sage’s knee buckled the moment Reyna thrusted into her hard. Her moans got muffled by Reyna’s lips and they kissed– messy, needy and wet. 

Reyna stopped her movements completely and Sage chased after it with her hips, pulling back when Reyna didn't seem to move again. “Zyanya.” She huffed, her voice embarrassingly high. 

“Hmm?” Reyna watched her with a grin that spoke a thousand words. “Is there something you want?” She teased her.

Sage didn’t even care about her own dignity at this point, she just needed Reyna to make her come so hard she’d forget her own name. “You know what I want.” Sage whimpered, the sound taking effect on Reyna.

But Reyna’s resolution was stronger than hers at this point, refusing to move her hand no matter how much Sage moaned for it. “Tell me what you need.” Reyna said again, her lips closing in on Sage’s again.

“I need you-” Sage sighed as she felt Reyna’s fingers shift inside her again, the small movement affecting her entire body, “I need you to fuck me.” Sage repeated Reyna’s crude words, only feeling a thrill as she did so. “I need you to fuck me so hard I forget my own name. I need you to fuck me ‘till I cant carry my own weight anymore. I need you to-” 

In one swift motion Reyna thrusted her fingers into her again, her palm pressing hard against Sage’s clit and she almost came in an instant. She sucked in air, the feeling of it made her feel slightly light headed. Reyna never allowed her to exhale as she kissed her, effectively muffling her pathetic sounds. And Reyna finally fucked her deeply and fully.

The pace was unlike the one before, it was unlike anything a human being should even be possible to achieve. But that was the whole thing about them wasn’t it? They weren’t quite human. Reyna’s muscles didn’t tire as easy, instead they seemed to only strengthen the more she fucked Sage, drawing power from her whimpers inbetween the kisses. Sage couldn’t even stand on her own two feet anymore, she couldn’t move her hips, all she could do was clutch onto Reyna. She fully leaned on the duelist, holding onto her like she was all that stood between her and the floor, which was quite frankly the truth.

The familiar feeling of her body climbing to its climax appeared rapidly. She felt lightheaded and her senses started to dull except for that growing in her lower belly. No thoughts crossed her mind but how good Reyna felt inside of her. Her body tingled as Reyna kept thrusting into her, hitting the perfect combination of that spot and her clit with her palm, sending shocks of pleasure through her. 

Her quick breath mirrored Reyna’s pace until it was cut short as she cried out. Her eyes fluttered close as her head snapped back when she came. Waves of pleasure rocked through her until slowly, one by one her senses came back. The first was that of Reyna’s voice, talking to her in soft tones. “I got you, mí corazon, I have you.” She whispered near her ear. The second was her sense of feeling. Reyna’s fingers were still inside of her, fucking her slowly, letting her ride out the waves. She could feel Reyna’s other hand on the back of her head, protecting it from the wall behind her, which Sage would have hit again , had the hand not been there. The third was her sight, as her eyes opened again, watching Reyna with a slightly blurry vision. She smiled at her with such a warmth that Sage felt her entire body turn into mush for more reasons than the fact that she just came hard . 

Surely, she felt Reyna’s rhythm slow down until it stilled completely, pulling her hand back from Sage’s pants. “Are you okay?” Reyna asked, kissing Sage on her cheek. All that Sage could do was respond with a weak nod and a small smile, the dazed feeling rendering her unable to speak.

“Good.” Reyna nodded, kissing her other cheek. “Let’s find a more comfortable spot now.” Instead of creating the distance to allow Sage to walk, Reyna lifted her up by her hips. Automatically, Sage’s legs wrapped around Reyna’s, though they shook slightly as she did so. 

She drew her arms around Reyna’s neck as she allowed herself to be carried to Reyna’s room. It was admirable, the strength that Reyna still had after fucking her so quickly. She could even feel Reyna squeezing her ass every so often, sending tiny sparks through Sage’s body that were still dulled by Sage’s post-orgasm bliss.

When they arrived, Reyna laid Sage down on her bed and then laid down beside her. They watched each other side by side with goofy smiles. Eventually, Sage felt like she had regained at least some strength, allowing her to push herself upright and move onto Reyna to straddle her hips. The duelist raised her eyebrow in surprise, her hands moving to support her hips. “What are you doing?” Reyna asked. 

Sage did not answer immediately. Instead she undid her ponytail, which had been containing less and less strands of hair, and redid it again, tying it tighter this time. Reyna’s watchful eyes followed every movement, an understanding dawning on her. 

“Ling?” Reyna tried again, searching for confirmation.

Still, Sage didn’t answer. She placed her fingers on Reyna’s stomach, a light touch. It was enough pressure for Reyna to feel it when Sage moved her fingers up her stomach. They walked in between the valleys of Reyna’s breast, straight to the glowing diamond in her chest. It felt hot under her touch. Hot like a cup of tea in Icebox, warming not only her fingers but her whole body by extension. She spread her hand there, pressing down softly. The glow peeked through the gaps of her fingers, matching that of Reyna’s lust filled eyes.

“My turn.”

Chapter Text

They stared at one another for just long enough that Reyna grew impatient in anticipation. The duelist hunger both excited and scared Sage. She wanted to please Reyna, she wanted to make her cry out in pleasure like she had done her. But she didn’t know how to. Yes, she might have mentioned that it was her turn, but her turn to do exactly what? She knew in theory what she would do. Though Sage wasn’t one to avidly read or watch mature content, she had a vague idea of what to do. But would it be enough to please Reyna? From the way she had touched Sage before, it was clear that she was experienced. At least more experienced than Sage. Which wasn’t necessarily hard seeing as Sage had literally no experience to go off on.

This meant improvisation. Sage could do that. Though she loved planning every step of their missions out to the second, she knew when they had to change a plan and improvise, usually by rotating to other sites or faking a rotation. But this wasn’t a mission, Reyna wasn’t a spike she had to defuse- well, the metaphor sort of fit but it wasn’t the same. She had to be careful with this. Or perhaps not be too careful. What did Reyna even like? 

“Ling.” Reyna broke through the train of thought and softly touched her cheek. Sage moved her gaze from Reyna’s glowing chest to her face. Her hunger had softened into something warm and comforting. “You don’t have to do this.” 

Great. She had messed it all up by taking too long. 

“No, I want to do this.” Sage quickly said, perhaps a bit too quick because Reyna’s gaze softened even more. “I just-” It felt stupid to even say so instead she just shook her head.

“Come here.” Reyna mumbled and pulled her closer to her face and into a kiss. At least this was something Sage was familiar with. She let herself soften into Reyna, resting her hand on her cheek and caressing the smooth skin underneath. Her legs still straddled Reyna’s waist and she used her other arm to keep herself from fully crushing Reyna. The duelist allowed her to find her calm again, kissing her just for the sake of kissing her. 

But even now, Sage could feel this need for more. She wanted to please Reyna, she wanted to show that she cared , that she could do this. Subconsciously, Sage deepened the kiss, her lips moving against Reyna’s with newfound motivation. Their tongues danced a dangerous dance. One of Reyna’s arms, which was resting on Sage’s hips, moved away. Her other hand moved up to her waist and held it as Reyna sat up while never breaking contact with her lips. Sage barely noticed what was happening, a calming bliss had taken over her nervous heart. 

Sage wrapped her arms around Reyna’s neck and smiled into the kiss before digging her teeth into Reyna’s lower lip. The duelist smiled right back and pulled her head slightly back, causing her bottom lip to slip free between Sage’s teeth. The hunger in Reyna’s eyes had returned, darkening her purple iris’. The small distance that separated their lips felt like a ravine and Sage couldn’t wait to jump and close the distance between them once more. But as she leaned in, Reyna pulled her head back again, causing Sage to chase after her. “So eager.” 

“So annoying.” Sage retorted and was ready to try and catch Reyna’s lips again. Her movements halted when Reyna removed her hands from Sage’s hips and instead moved to pull on the hem of Reyna’s own shirt. Sage watched with hungry eyes as Reyna pulled off her shirt, revealing a soft stomach and a sports bra that quite frankly, didn’t seem to give much support to Reyna’s breasts. The purple gem that had glowed through the shirt was now accompanied by a blue pendant, softly glowing alongside the rhythm of the purple glow. Sage reached out to touch it. “Do you ever take it off?” 

“No.” Reyna’s answer was simple as she smiled at Sage, watching her as she watched the glow. However, it could only hold her attention for a short while. The glow reflected on the curve of Reyna’s full breasts and Sage focused on them. Her fingers let go of the pendant and instead moved down, softly cupping one of Reyna’s breasts. Sage’s fingers were long and slender, she knew that, but they almost felt too small as she could not cover the whole of it. 

“You can take it off.” Reyna whispered as she kissed just below Sage’s jaw. The kiss poured gasoline on an already raging fire and Sage’s eyes shot up at Reyna before they dropped down at her breasts again. Carefully, as if Reyna would stop her if she did it too quickly, Sage wrapped her fingers under the elastic band of the bra before pulling it upwards. It wasn’t smooth, the opposite really, but all trouble was forgotten the moment Reyna’s breasts came free. And then Sage wasn’t patient anymore. She rapidly pulled Reyna’s bra off above her head and threw it to the other side of the room. For a second she just watched them. Her eyes glued on the dark perked nipples and the soft curve of her breasts.

Sage had never truly been romantically interested in anyone. Most young monks had trouble with the whole celibacy thing, but not Sage, never Sage. Not one person in her life had she actually felt attraction too, often making herself wonder if there had been something wrong with her. But now, with Reyna sitting right in front of her, vulnerable, open and hungry , she knew everything was just perfectly fine. 

At first, she reached out with her hands before changing her mind and instead diving forward with her mouth. Her lips latched onto Reyna’s nipple, softly kissing it. At the contact, Reyna shivered under her. Without a second thought Sage cupped Reyna’s breast again as she started playing with the nipple. Her tongue darted out, flicking and sucking on the nipple, drawing out the most beautiful hitched breaths out of Reyna. And with every disruption in Reyna’s casual and cool demeanour, Sage got more greedy. She let go of the nipple as she looked up at her lover. Reyna’s pupils were dilated, looking down at her in a combination of awe, hunger and surprise. Sage only returned her expression with a grin before she pushed Reyna down on the bed again.

She watched with wide eyes as Reyna’s breasts bounced at the impact. “Holy shit.” Sage muttered and didn’t even allow Reyna to comment anything on her use of language before leaning over her again and caressing her breasts. It didn’t take long for Sage to learn which parts were more sensitive than others, what movements she liked and what was too much. It turned out that Reyna was sensitive, almost as sensitive as Sage had been, if not more. There was one instant where Sage looked up from under her lashes as she softly let her tongue swirl around the hardened nipple when Reyna literally squirmed under her. And Sage, oh Sage loved it. She relished in the power she had over Reyna, the way the strong independent and stubborn duelist was now rendered to a soft squirming mess under her touch. Of course, Reyna still grinned at her, still tugged on her ponytail and managed to comment some supportive words, but that only drove Sage to do better.

Sage moved her trail of kisses to the middle of her breasts, kissing the gem in between, which hummed warmly under her lips, before she moved downwards. Reyna watched her every move like a hunter stalking its prey. When Sage reached the end of Reyna’s stomach, she allowed her hands to caress the hard muscle underneath the soft skin for a while longer until they moved to grab onto Reyna’s pants. Sage pulled them down and they- they got stuck. Sage pulled a bit harder, moving her gaze from Reyna down to the pants and trying to get them off of Reyna’s legs. She had known Reyna had full thighs but she never thought they would be getting in her way like this. 

Reyna laughed above her like this wasn’t an absolute disaster and just watched Sage struggle. “Stop laughing.” Sage hissed, frowning as she wiggled the pants down. “Lift your ass.” 

“Yes, ma’am.” Reyna grinned and did as she was told. “You are cute when you get frustrated.” 

“I am not-” Sage bit out the words before she realized that this was exactly the response Reyna wanted. Instead she focused on pulling Reyna’s pants off and tossing them away. What she had not realized while pulling off Reyna’s pants, was that she had also pulled off her underwear. And so when Sage looked up at Reyna, her attention diverted to the trimmed black hairs between Reyna’s legs. Instead of immediately focusing on her mark, Sage focused on the soft, less scary, skin of Reyna’s thighs. She first pressed a soft kiss near her knee and then another one upwards until she left a trail of wet kisses along Reyna’s inner thigh. When she felt coarse hair brush her cheek, Reyna’s fingers tangled in her hair. The ponytail had somehow loosened enough for Reyna to find enough grip to pull on her hair. 

Sage’s gaze moved to meet Reyna as she allowed Reyna’s hand to control the movement of her head. “Are you sure, Ling?” Her voice is soft and open, allowing Sage to back out without any fear of consequence or disappointment. Sage just smiled at her as desire pooled in her lower stomach. She was as certain as anything that this was what she wanted. Her mouth watered at the thought of pleasuring Reyna, of seeing her come undone under her. 

Instead of answering, Sage pressed forward and Reyna’s grip on her hair tightened though it did not restrict her from moving. She doesn’t know how to do it, what to do in the first place, but she knows she can’t back out now, she doesn’t want to. Reyna was wet– no, soaked, and Sage lost her mind. The taste of Reyna on her tongue overwhelms her, she hadn’t expected it to taste like anything but it did and it tasted addictive. Her tongue moved up and down, not with much focus, but it seemed to be enough for Reyna, who squirmed under her. She could vaguely hear Reyna curse and mutter words of encouragement, but most of it was drowned out by the sheer concentration that Sage practiced. When Sage’s tongue shot out a bit too high, Reyna’s thighs locked around Sage’s head, drowning out any sound around her. It was just for a second and then Reyna relaxed again, but when Sage moved her tongue there again, this time clearly feeling Reyna’s swollen clit, her thighs closed in on her again.

It was exhilarating. The way Reyna responded to her tongue, the way she tasted and Sage wanted to capture it forever, this feeling. She wanted Reyna to not just mutter but instead be loud, to yell out Sage’s name until her voice was hoarse. Reyna’s hips started to move to meet Sage’s tongue and surely they found their rhythm. As if her wish came true, Reyna did become more vocal. Not only that, she also urged Sage on, either vocally or by guiding her head with her hand to wherever she wanted Sage’s tongue to be.

“Fuck, corazón.” Reyna’s voice was low and breathy and Sage moaned into Reyna’s center. She hadn’t known she had kept her eyes closed until she opened them to watch Reyna. It was a sight to behold, the way her breasts moved as she arched her back or moved her hips. The hungry purple of Reyna’s eyes as she looked at her and the gem in her chest glowed with the same passion. Even her tattoo’s were humming with light and Sage almost forgot to move her tongue as she stared at them. But then she was reminded again when Reyna’s hips bucked into her mouth and she let herself get lost in Reyna.

Her gaze, however, didn’t leave Reyna’s and it seemed to edge Reyna on even further. Her moans got louder and all of Sage’s hesitation was gone like snow under the sun. She let her instinct take over and watched as Reyna responded to her every move. She slowed down, noticed the frustration on Reyna's face and sped up again. She tried soft touches and hard pressure and found that Reyna liked hard even pressure the most. She took in everything and learns.

Reyna’s muscles tensed, a beautiful sight, and she managed to push out a single word. “Fingers.” Sage didn’t need more incentive than that and slid her fingers in between Reyna’s warm folds while her tongue worked Reyna’s clit. The feeling of Reyna around her fingers overwhelmed Sage, but she didn’t allow herself to freeze again and instead softly slid her finger in deeper and deeper. 

“More. Quicker.” She didn’t know whether Reyna was commanding or begging her but Sage wouldn’t have minded either. Sage followed her instructions and added another finger. With how wet Reyna was from her own wetness and Sage’s, her fingers met no obstruction as she pumped them into Reyna. It was messy, but Reyna didn’t seem to mind it one bit. The opposite actually.

“Sage- Ling, there, right there that’s– fuck!” Reyna cursed in Spanish as she moved her hips shakily. Reyna was close, tension spreading through her body like a coiled spring, ready to jump.

Even when Sage’s jaw started to strain, she didn’t slow her pace. She pushed Reyna on and on until the duelist’s nails dug into Sage’s scalp. The sharp sting only edged Sage on while watching Reyna under her lashes. When Reyna came, she did so silently. It was the most beautiful thing Sage had ever witnessed in her life. 

Reyna’s back arched and Sage had to push Reyna’s hips down to stop her from bucking them into her face. Her mouth was agape and her eyes, the gem and even tattoos glowed bright purple as her whole body tensed. The hand that wasn’t holding onto Sage was gripping onto the pillow beside Reyna with a force that turned her knuckles white. 

When she came down from her orgasm, she did so with a soft whimper. It was something Sage hasn’t heard before and her whole body seems to react to the beautiful sound. Sage was determined to hear it more often but for now she allowed Reyna to rest and she pulled back slowly.

Sage wiped the wetness from her mouth and moved up to meet Reyna’s face. “Hi.” Her own voice is high and strained and Reyna chuckled softly at it. 

“Hi.” She sighed and leaned in to kiss her. It was a short and soft kiss but enough for Sage to feel warm all over and even more out of breath than she had already been. She allowed herself to soften into Reyna’s warm body and laid her head down on Reyna’s bare chest. The contact of bare skin on bare skin was something that Sage wasn’t used to but now never wanted to go without. She could die happy here, naked in Reyna’s arms. 

They stayed in comfortable silence and Sage allowed herself to rest. They had the whole weekend to do everything they wanted and the prospect of it sent a giddy feeling through her body. 

—

Everything they wanted, as it turned out, was to have sex. Everywhere, at any moment, with barely any breaks. It was as if Reyna had opened the door and broken the lock and once Sage was inside, she didn’t just not want to leave, she wanted to break the house down. Not that Reyna was any better. The both of them were like horny teenagers who had the house to themselves. The first day, most of the fucking occurred in Reyna’s room. Though quickly the shower was added onto the list.

Then they had dinner and it seemed that apparently food didn’t satisfy their appetite. Their impatience was too big for them to even think about moving to a different room. And when Reyna’s hand had moved towards Sage’s inner thigh, all carefulness was thrown into the wind. They fucked on the dinner table, against the kitchen counter, on the kitchen counter, on the couch (both of them), against the door even. And then they moved to the other rooms. The yoga room, a meeting room (not the main one, that one felt a bit too weird), the loading dock, the storage room, the maintenance room and even the practice area. 

They didn’t even plan on fucking there, it just so happened that Sage found it insanely attractive when Reyna shot the bots. The way her eyes were focused and her aim true as she hit five headshots in a row. Not even waiting until the practice was over, Sage had pulled Reyna behind a box and had unbuttoned her pants. Reyna, high on adrenaline, had stared at her with widened eyes but had never protested, Reyna never did. She had, however, hit her head quite hard against one of the boxes when she came.

Their weekend alone was like a small bubble of time in which they could do whatever they wanted. They danced to Sage’s favourite music, showered and made foam beards and hairdos (Apparently Reyna could pull off a mohawk), they cooked their favourite foods and didn’t clean the kitchen until the next morning. It was like a small bit of heaven in between all the chaos and stress they had experienced before.

But even heaven seemed to have to come to an end as the agents returned from their respective trips. Killjoy returned with a red face, a consequence of a small trip to the sun. Jett had suffered the same fate, her fashionable glasses had left a white imprint on her skin and Neon hadn't stopped teasing her about it. Viper actually looked like she had actually managed to catch some hours of sleep. Skye, Harbor and Astra also seemed refreshed from their trip to Ghana. Astra who, after Lotus, had been in a bit of a slump, had seemingly found her energy in her home country again, returning with grand stories of their trips and a thicker accent than before. Deadlock, Fade and Breach had visited the Scandinavian countries, though Fade never seemed to like the cold much; she had only complained about it once upon their arrival at the base. 

Altogether, most agents returned with smiles on their faces and a jump in their step. All the while Sage and Reyna were slugging through the hallways. Perhaps staying up for their last night alone together might not have been their smartest move. It would have been fine if they had been, well, 10 years younger, but it had become very adamant how they needed their sleep now. However, where their bodies felt drained, their spirits were higher than ever. A constant smile painted Sage’s face, distracting the other agents from the bags under her eyes. 

With the return of the other agents, Brimstone returned alongside a new recruit. Sage had received some emails about it in their weekend alone and had purposely ignored them as they were not marked important. Only in the morning of the others' arrival did she try to read them. With an emphasis on tried to as it had been very hard to concentrate while Reyna was in between her legs and determined to stretch her climax out for as long as possible. Safe to say, she didn’t get further than the “Hello Sage, I am hoping-” that opened the first email. 

Now as she welcomed Brimstone, she regretted never finishing to read the email as a stranger appeared behind him. A boy. He couldn't be much older than Phoenix or Yoru. He hid the lower part of his face in his hoodie and most of the upper part behind his bangs. Sage vaguely recalled Brimstone’s mentioning a new recruit, a Chinese one and that Sage was supposed to take him under her care, to make him more comfortable. As if Sage didn’t do that for every agent that came walking in here. Though it seemed that this recruit was in need of some extra comfort. 

“Sage.” Brimstone greeted her with his usual gruff. “This is Iso, our new recruit.” Iso, the new recruit, looked up from the ground up to Sage. Sage noticed his unnatural purple eyes which reminded her of the ones she had fallen so in love with. However, his purple was a colder one, not comforting and warm like Reyna’s were. 

She stretched out her hand to shake Iso’s. The young agent seemed hesitant at first but then shook it. “Welcome, Iso.” Sage spoke in her native tongue, trying to keep her own dialect at bay and speaking as clearly as possible. “My name is Sage, if you have any questions or are in need of any help you can come to me.” She added in English, seeing the puzzled look on Brimstone’s face. 

“Sage is our main healer and second in command. When I am not there, she is in charge.” Brimstone added on. Sage gaze shot towards Brimstone with slightly widened eyes. He had never introduced her as such, neither had it ever been discussed between the two of them. What had changed? She had always felt like she was rivalling Viper for the second in command. Perhaps she had missed something in the emails Brimstone had sent her. She made a mental reminder to check them once she was alone. For now she quickly hid her perplexed expression and instead smiled at Iso. 

After the introductions, Iso followed her like a lost puppy as she gave him the tour of the base. Unlike many of the other new recruits turned agents who rained questions down on her about the VALORANT team, Iso stayed quiet. He took in his surroundings in silence and hummed every so often when Sage would make a small joke. It was quite frankly nice, with all the other duelists and their explosive personalities, Iso seemed to bring a bit more calm vibe to the table. It did make her worry that he might have a harder time fitting into the group of young duelists. 

Sage finished the introduction as she always did, at his room. He looked at the bare steel walls, the unmade bed and the very out of place welcome basket that seemed very small in the empty room. When he stayed quiet and didn’t take initiative to move inside, Sage spoke up. “I know it isn’t much but it is yours and you can do with it whatever you please.”

“Thank you, 前辈 ( senior ).” His voice was so earnest that Sage turned to look at the shy duelist. Instead of finding disapproval of the room, Iso seemed to look at it with large and slightly glassy eyes. 

Just like many other agents, Iso had probably gone through some terrible things after finding out his radianite capabilities. Sage wondered what had troubled the younger duelist. Perhaps she should read through his files to get to know more about him. “Of course, I’ll leave you to it. Dinner is at 1800 sharp.” It was a lie, dinner was never ready at six sharp but she knew that many gathered beforehand to socialize and it might’ve been nice for Iso to get to know the other agents without the distraction of food which usually silenced even the most talkative of agents.

After she received a small nod from Iso and he went to unpack his bags, she walked to her own room. As she rounded the corner Sage got thrown off her feet by a heavy force bumping into her and then pushing her backwards against one of the steel walls. A small gasp escaped Sage which quickly got silenced by two familiar lips pressing against her own. The sudden rush of everything left Sage breathless and frozen but the warmth and familiarity of Reyna softened her. She let herself sink into the wall, her hands finding their familiar spot on Reyna’s neck and cheek while the taller woman locked Sage between the wall and Reyna’s hips. 

Reyna’s heat spread through her body like a wildfire, burning away all rational thoughts as she fully succumbed to her lover. Her fingers left a burning trail where they moved from her cheek down her breasts and down to her hips. Sharp nails dug into her sides and Sage cursed her many layers that separated their skins. A soft moan escaped Sage’s lips as Reyna bit down on her lower lip. 

For this brief moment of release her mind cleared slightly though it still felt fuzzy from the sudden attack. “Zyanya-” She hummed and before she could continue her sentence, Reyna’s lips were on hers again. Sage felt her knees grow weak and dug her fingers into Reyna’s neck for support. She could feel the duelist grin into the kiss. There was some release at the building tension in her lower belly as Reyna moved her hips back, allowing Sage’s to move more freely. Though she soon came to find that it wasn’t a kindness that Reyna had lent her. Reyna’s sharp nails trailed from her hip down to the waistband of her pants, toying dangerously with the fabric.

Sage willed herself to pull back, though it proved harder than she thought. “We gotta be- fuck,” Sage started but was rudely interrupted by Reyna’s lips on her neck. “We gotta be careful.” It was hard to be careful herself as she felt Reyna’s press soft and wet kisses against her neck, trailing dangerously lower and lower. 

For a second they were separated as Reyna spoke against her skin, “I am careful.” Another kiss. “Everybody is in their rooms unpacking.” 

“Hm, that might be but,” Sage exhaled shakily as Reyna’s lips removed themselves from Sage’s neck, “that doesn’t mean we can just kiss out in the open. What if Iso walks out of his room?” Sage hated that she even had to argue this when her whole body ached for Reyna’s touch again and she wanted nothing more than to give in. 

While Sage was talking, Reyna had leaned in to catch Sage’s lips once more but stopped just short of them. Reyna’s gaze shifted from Sage’s lips to Sage’s eyes and Sage saw confusion staring back at her. “Who?” 

“Iso, the new recruit?” Sage expected that might be enough convincing for Reyna to back off, but she wasn’t more wrong. 

Instead, as if to prove a point, Reyna rushed forward to kiss Sage. She pressed her warm body against Sage’s, her fingers digging into her ass and hips. The kiss was deep and rough and left no room for any hesitation that Sage had thought there would be. It was the complete opposite, as if this was something Reyna didn’t mind, or worse, liked. And well, who was Sage to protest. She couldn’t quite deny the way her knees turned into jelly nor hide the soft gasps and muffled moans that escaped her throat.

It was only when Sage responded by tangling her fingers in Reyna’s purple locks that Reyna pulled back. Sage could feel Reyna’s breath against her lips as she spoke, “Hm, I guess we’ll then just have to find a more secluded area.” Reyna grinned mischievously and without a warning – or perhaps that should have been the warning – Sage was lifted from her feet. A yelp escaped her as she clutched onto Reyna, wrapping her arms around her neck and hiding her flushed face in Reyna’s neck. 

As Reyna carried Sage away in a hurry, Sage could vaguely hear a door sliding open in the far distance, close to Iso’s room. A small wave of relief washed over her but it quickly got replaced by the exciting feeling in her lower belly that erupts as Reyna continues placing kisses in her exposed neck. 

—

Reyna’s head rested on Sage’s bare legs, seemingly dozing off after some… strenuous activities. Sage watched her with awe. All the mischief, hunger and passion had dropped off her face and left behind the soft comfort of Zyanya’s vulnerable side. She tucked away a lock of hair that had fallen over her cheek and caressed the newly exposed skin. It was ever so soft and Sage had to restrain herself from kissing it, knowing the movement might stir her lover. Instead she just watched, she watched without shame or knowledge of time passing. Reyna’s breaths were slow and steady, escaping through the small gap between her lips. Her not purple stained lips, this time. Though her other make-up was still applied, her lipstick had worn away quite quickly through their endeavours. Without a thought, Sage’s thumb touched Reyna’s lower lip. The sleeping agent did not respond and thus Sage risked planting a kiss on the same lips. 

Immediately, she froze as she felt Reyna stir under her. Her dark brows furrowed slightly before they smoothened out again and a small smile appeared on her lips. Sage had feared she had woken the women, however, her eyes stayed closed and her breathing resumed its slow pattern. False alarm , Sage thought in relief but did not dare to press another kiss on Reyna. Instead she just let her heart swell in her chest as she watched Reyna for a little while longer. 

Eventually, she decided to use her time practically, though it was harder than she thought to tear her gaze away from the sleeping woman on her legs. Sage managed to grab her tablet without too much of a hassle and without waking Reyna. It was time to return to her duty, after having neglected it for the last weekend.

She read through Iso’s files. They were interesting, but so was every patient's files. None of them had really lived a regular life. Although it did not happen often that agents from opposite parties joined their protocol. The files even displayed some health information, though there wasn’t much on Iso. No allergies, no other physical ailments, past injuries or anything. And there was very little information on his background. A small family, still alive, from Chongqing. Sage opened her search engine and looked up the local dishes from the area. It was her turn to cook tonight anyways, she might as well make something that Iso would like. Besides, most of the suggested dishes she had either made before or were a variation of dishes she already knew. 

It was only fifteen minutes later when she looked up from her tablet to look at Reyna. To her surprise, she found familiar purple eyes staring back at her. However, there wasn’t a lot of warmth behind them. Sage supposed she did not like waking up from her nap. “Hi darling.” Sage greeted her with a soft kiss on the lips and Reyna’s eyes seemed to soften momentarily.

“What were you doing?” Reyna pushed herself up so she was face to face with Sage. 

She closed her tablet and put it back on the night stand.“Just looking at Iso’s files and thinking of what to make tonight.” 

“It’s taco Tuesday today, we eat taco’s.” Reyna grumbled, narrowing her eyes even further at Sage. Okay, perhaps it was not just her being groggy from waking up.

Sage sighed, “I thought we might do something different since everybody is back and together again. I found some dishes you’ll certainly like. And we can always make tacos tomorrow.” 

“There is no such thing as taco Wednesday. It doesn’t even sound right.” Sage could almost hear the pout that Reyna was trying to hide. It caused a soft chuckle to escape her lips, much to Reyna’s dismay. 

“You will survive one week without taco’s, my love.” Convincing Reyna that skipping on Mexican food was not the end of the world was one thing, but it meaning that she would have to eat vegetarian food was certainly impossible. 

“Hmpf.” The bed shifted as Reyna moved to the side. “You better hope I do.” Reyna argued, turning away from Sage.

“Darling.” Sage reached out to catch Reyna’s hand. It was an attempt to stop her from leaving and it seemed to work, momentarily. “I will make you the best Mexican food on my next cooking shift, okay?” 

Sage couldn’t see Reyna’s expressions from the back, but thankfully her face was perfectly reflected in the mirror at the end of her room. Which was something Reyna was clearly not aware of. Sage watched a small victorious grin appear on the other woman’s face before it disappeared into a, now clearly seen, fake frown. Reyna looked over her shoulder at Sage, “Okay. I hope Iso enjoys his special cooked meal.” Was she jealous? Was that it? I mean, Reyna is the jealous type but Sage didn’t think cooking a meal for a new recruit was a terrible thing. Still, it was cute that Reyna acted all stubborn and moody towards Sage just to get her way. Sage would play the fool if it made Reyna happy. 

“I’ll see you at dinner, I’m going to practice.” And with that Reyna stood and Sage willingly let go of Reyna’s hand. At least the duelist did have the decency to lean forward and give her a kiss before she moved out of the door with a sway of her hips that was supposed to make Sage look. And look she did but not before remarking: “Don’t hit your head again.” 

It earned her a small scoff before Reyna opened the door and closed it behind her as she left. Once alone, Sage laughed to herself before focusing back on preparing her meal for tonight. 

–

The dinner was a success and so was the integration of Iso in the VALORANT protocol. Quickly things returned to normal, well, relatively normal. Sage and Reyna still had trouble finding time alone together, but when they did find it there was no sweat-inducing anticipation anymore, only the one that caused Sage’s brain to short circuit. That, and Reyna didn’t shy away from physical touch in public spaces anymore. Much to Sage’s dismay, though, she couldn’t shake the confidence that washed over whenever Reyna couldn’t keep her hands to herself. The touches were subtle, surely, just a hand on her leg under the table, leaning on her shoulder, flipping Sage’s ponytail, her hand touching her waist or back when she walked by. Still, the touches lit up Sage’s entire body, Reyna’s closeness always seemed to do that.

It didn’t help that Reyna had decided to never leave Sage’s side anymore. Sitting either next to or opposite from her at the dinner and meeting table, on the hovercraft or literally everywhere. Even the med-bay has gained an additional inhabitant, which Skye didn’t mind all too much. Except for the moments Reyna snickered when Skye’s accent got a little bit too thick for both Sage and Reyna to understand. But in return Skye gains an additional gym buddy for her little fitness group wherein she can take her revenge on Reyna (it has resulted in many complaints of sore muscles on Reyna’s part). 

Overall, it was a nice change and Sage wished she could join Reyna as much as she joined Sage but Brimstone did not leave her be. Apparently her subtle promotion also came with more responsibilities, who would’ve guessed. After the small break he assumed everybody had rested enough to be put into work at full force. Sage was still in charge of introducing Iso to their schedules, protocols, rules and restrictions. And soon also accompanying him on his first mission. Sadly, Reyna didn’t join her on the mission, but it might’ve been for the better as Reyna had proven to be a bit distracting sometimes.

Of course, it wasn’t a surprise that Iso and Sage got closer. It was nice to speak her own language sometimes and have another understand it. The syllables almost felt foreign to her at first but the more she spoke the more the ease of speaking it came back to her. She occasionally slipped up during conversations with other agents too whenever she couldn’t find the word. Once she was talking to Reyna in the kitchen and she couldn’t find the right word in English. Iso had been walking by and was quick to help her translate. It was an issue she hadn’t had in years, since she first started the protocol, but she found that she didn’t mind. Reyna, however, had glared at Iso with a ferocity that was usually meant for her enemies. To Iso’s credit, he seemingly ignored Reyna’s glares even when they became almost constant whenever Sage was talking to Iso, talking about Iso or even near Iso.

It didn’t strain their relationship in the slightest and Sage found it kind of hot that Reyna was jealous of this younger duelist. She even managed to learn some Mandarin, just to impress Sage. It wasn’t even as if Sage tried to make her jealous, most interactions were very casual or even professional. Though there was one occasion where the interpretations got mixed up enough to send Reyna over the tipping point. 

They were out on a mission and were just wrapping up. They had managed to not have any fallen agents, well, that Sage hadn’t revived yet and so they were boarding the hovercraft with elevated spirits. Reyna was walking in front of Sage, talking to Gekko and Neon with a victorious grin on her lips and Sage watched her with a small smile of her own. Iso was walking next to her when he spoke up, “"Hey Sage, 火锅 ( hotpot) after this, right? I'll buy.”. 

Sage turned her attention to Iso and smiled, her ponytail bobbing along as she nodded, “Oh, certainly, I haven’t had a hotpot in ages.” At the thought of the food, Sage could just feel her mouth watering. And she certainly didn’t mind that he would pay, not that she didn’t have enough funds to pay for herself, but free food always tasted better.

It wasn’t until Iso didn’t respond and just looked forward with a frown that Sage noticed that Reyna had stopped walking and was now looking over her shoulder at Iso, glaring daggers. Neon and Gekko were both looking at one another, then at Reyna, and then at Iso while shaking their heads. Iso, more than confused, just frowned at the three of them. “Do you guys… also want… hotpot?” He tried, he probably thought that Reyna was offended by not being invited to dinner too.

“No, it is fine, Iso.” Sage stepped in between and gave Reyna a sharp look in return. The tall duelist noticed it and she scoffed softly before turning back around. 

“You two go have fun on your date .” It was interesting that whenever Reyna was upset or in this case, annoyed, her accent thickened. 

When Reyna stomped inside the hovercraft Neon and Gekko followed with faces that were torn between shock and excitement. Sage waited for a bit and then started moving to enter the hovercraft too but stopped as Iso spoke up. 

“Why doesn’t Reyna like me?” He asked, walking up to stand beside Sage. She could detect a tinge of hurt in his voice, even though he tried his best to sound stoic. 

“She doesn’t dislike you.” Sage tried to comfort him but she can’t really tell them it was because she was jealous. That it was simply because the dinner in question had sounded like a date to Reyna’s ears even though Sage knew it wasn’t the case.

“That may be, but she doesn’t like me either. Did I do something wrong?” He looked at Sage with those pale purple eyes again, devoid of the warmth that Reyna’s offered. 

“You didn’t do anything wrong, I assure you.” She softly put her hand on his shoulder and gave it a small squeeze. “It just takes a little while for her to warm up to new agents. She will warm up to you.”

Sage could see that Iso wasn’t convinced but a bit of his unease was lifted as his shoulders relaxed slightly. “Now, let’s get on the hovercraft before they leave without us.”

Iso looked up at her with widened eyes before they relaxed as he noticed Sage had been joking. He then nodded and entered the hovercraft alongside Sage.

Inside, Sage strapped herself into the chair next to Reyna who wasn’t looking at her. It took about fifteen minutes for the hovercraft to stop ascending and for Sage to be able to unbuckle herself. She stood and unbuckled Reyna too while looking at her. This time Reyna does have the decency to look her in the eyes. There is protest written on Reyna’s face but Sage shook her head curtly before straightening herself to her full height. She turned to face the others who all are looking in a different direction, a bit too randomly. Sage rolled her eyes, thankfully they are better agents than actors.

“Reyna and I have something to discuss in the planning room. Don’t crash the hovercraft.” At the sound of her voice they all turned to look at her again which earned them a sharp look. She knew that the hovercraft had an auto pilot but she knew how rowdy the younger duelists could get, definitely after a victorious match. 

Sage left them and walked over to the planning area with the familiar display table. She could hear the heels of Reyna’s boots clack behind her as she followed her. Sage closed the door between the seating area and the planning area and waited for it to close with a hiss.

In the meantime she turned to Reyna and folded her arms. She couldn’t make herself taller than Reyna but she was very well versed in stern looks. It seemed to work once more as she noticed Reyna’s nonchalance shift into something more rigid. As the door closed, Reyna and Sage were left staring at each other.

“So-” Sage started when they had been quiet for a bit too long but Reyna didn’t let her continue and instead rushed forward to silence her with a kiss. Their teeth clash and Sage stumbled backwards, her arms unfolding to quickly grasp onto Reyna to stay upright. If it wasn’t for Reyna’s arm wrapping around her waist and holding her upright, she would have certainly fallen flat on her behind since her hands can’t find any grip on Reyna’s suit. Her hands were locked in front of her, resting on Reyna’s chest. Without a second of thought, Sage kissed back. She pushed back with her lips first, then her tongue and then she pushed Reyna slightly backwards. Sage immediately followed when Reyna stepped backwards, surprised by the sudden change in Sage’s attitude. Their lips never parted, not for one second, not even to draw in breath. They didn’t need air. Not when they were kissing like this. 

Still, it was Sage who broke the kiss, pulling backwards with a frown. The kiss had almost made her forget, almost . “What is up with you?” Sage whispered against Reyna’s lips. She knew exactly what was up with Reyna, but she wanted to hear it from her.

The shit-eating grin that was first painted on Reyna’s lips quickly dropped as she rolled her eyes. “Well, it seems like you got yourself a new boyfriend.” Even though her annoyance shone clear, Reyna didn’t distance herself from Sage. “He is taking up too much of your time, you’ve barely got time to spend with me.”

Sage raised an eyebrow and cocked her head slightly, a sign for Reyna to continue her elaboration. “Iso is clearly flirting with you. Asking you to go for dinner, paying for it even! And before this he made your favourite food and he can talk in Mandarin to you and he is constantly talking about you even when you are not there, it’s downright offensive.” Reyna managed to keep her voice somewhat level, but there was more and more frustration seeping into it.

“So, what I’m hearing…” Sage started, softly pressing a kiss on Reyna’s lips, “Is that someone is jealous, hmm?” She pressed another kiss on the duelist’s lips. 

In return, Reyna just rolled her eyes. “Well, yeah. I thought that was clear. He needs to back off, you are mine.” 

This earned her another eyebrow raise. “I’m yours?” Sage had already considered herself Reyna’s, but to hear Reyna say it like that was… Well, it caused Sage’s heart to swell with pride and her stomach to do all sorts of things that it really shouldn’t while they were on the ship.

It wasn’t really hesitation that stopped Reyna from responding, but there was a latency in it as she just stared at Sage, her eyes slightly wide and her gaze searching Sage’s face. Usually, Sage would smile to comfort Reyna, to show that what she had said, Sage supported. However, this time she kept her eyebrow raised and her face impassive, as well as she could. Not because she wanted to make Reyna feel unsure, but rather because she didn’t want Reyna to just give the approved answer. She wanted Reyna to take this step without knowing it was safe, fully trusting that Sage felt the same.

“Yes, you’re mine.” Reyna decided in an exhale with a small hopeful smile tugging on the edges of her lips. In return, Sage grinned widely until her cheeks hurt and just kissed her. In between the kisses, Reyna continued. “You’re mine to hold.” Kiss. “You’re mine to lay beside at night.” Kiss. “You are mine to kiss.” Kiss. “You are mine to love.” Kiss. “You are mine to fuck .” Kiss- Reyna’s hand suddenly appeared at her waistband, pulling on it.

If they weren’t in the hovercraft and the other agents were just separated from them by one measly door, she might have allowed Reyna to fuck her right there and then. But as it was now, Sage pulled back slightly. “Hmm, not that I don’t want to-” Reyna pressed a soft kiss on her jaw and her hand easily slipped into Sage’s pants. “Zyanya.” Sage hissed, grabbing onto Reyna’s arm to stop her. “The others are still here.” 

As if Reyna had forgotten that they were in the hovercraft, she blinked, looked over to the still closed door and then back at Sage with a, once more, annoyed look. “Right.” 

“Right. Let’s save this for tonight.” Sage pecked her lips. “After hotpot.” 

Now it was Reyna’s turn to raise her eyebrow. “You are still going?” 

“Yeah, of course. Iso is my friend , and I will never skip out on free hotpot.” Sage said matter of factly, smiling sweetly at her partner.

At that Reyna huffed, removed her hand from Sage’s pants and stepped back. “Okay then, have fun.” 

“You should join.” Sage pushed herself from the edge of the table, she hadn’t even noticed that her back had hit it. “It will be fun.” 

Reyna seemed to hesitate but then after one look at Sage, who may or may not have pouted ever so slightly, she gave in. “Okay, but if he flirts with you one time, I will not hesitate to-” 

“He won’t. Firstly, I am not interested at all. He is like what, ten years younger and clearly not my type.” There was a slight mumble on Reyna’s side about purple eyes but Sage purposely ignored it. “Secondly, he is not interested in me. From what I’ve heard, his type is more hispanic.” She lowered her voice slightly.

A deep frown appeared on Reyna’s face before she pointed a sharp finger toward herself. “Me?! Dios, apóyame ( God, support me ), no.” 

A small laugh erupted from Sage as she shook her head. “Oh no, not you.” She laughed slightly before quieting her voice, “Gekko.” She elaborated and a significant relief washed over Reyna while she shook her head. Sage had seen the way the new duelist had immediately grown to like Gekko, though it was hard to dislike him in the first place. Even Deadlock had eventually given into his charm, even if she was still wary of his creatures. But when Iso had asked about the relationship status of all of the agents right after he had spoken with Gekko. After that, it wasn’t hard to put 1 and 1 together.

“Oh, thank god.” Reyna mumbles under her breath before she shook her head and walked over to the door. “That’s Gekko’s mess to figure out.” Sage just laughed softly before moving to stand beside Reyna. She gave her a quick look over and was very grateful that Reyna had put on her good lipstick today. There were barely any smudges. With a relieved, and admittedly, lighter heart, Sage opened the door to the others.