Walls Coming Down

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Things from there were a blur. The helicopter ride had taken them to the nearby outpost, and from there they'd entered the usual teleporter. That took them back to the main HQ, where Brimstone would doubtless be waiting. He would've already received the report — Sage had put it together on the flight in record time. Like always.

Jett, meanwhile, had to tell her everything that had happened. Sage always wanted every detail... yet when Jett had seen the odd report written by her, some of those details were missing. Maybe Sage just liked having the extra information. Either way, Jett didn't argue. The whole process was arduous enough as it was.

"Go relax," Sage had told her, as soon as they'd arrived on base. Killjoy, despite being there when they'd warped in, didn't ask. She never did. She would simply read the report later — she, too, was privy to that information. Jett thought that it made sense, but she didn't like it.

All of those factors meant that Jett couldn't relax. It'd been her failure, and hers alone, so she didn't like that Sage was just... pushing her aside like that. She could take care of herself. She had for years.

The incident in Seoul, and then Venice. Following that, Jett had gone into hiding for... who knew how long, really. Even before that, she'd been on the run for years. She had to learn to be self-sufficient. She had to learn to survive, as well as deal with her new powers — powers that she hadn't even asked for. She had to learn to fight too.

And she had to learn to ignore her loved ones, asking how she was doing, or asking how she could do such a thing. She had to learn to push them away.

Jett groaned as she entered her room, only just stopping herself from collapsing onto the bed. No, a shower first. All that sand being whipped around by the wind she'd summoned herself... she was surprised that her skin hadn't been rubbed raw already. But it was surely in her hair, and trapped in her clothes... she hated Rabat. And now she hated it even more.

She stared at the large, polygonal screen on her wall. At the moment it was set to mimic a view out a window, showcasing a view of Seoul from a penthouse suite. Despite having set it herself, it didn't bring much comfort. It was fake, of course — he'd set it herself. It wasn't her city, really.

The walls, however, were a different story. By her desk was a mural, bursting with vibrant colour. It wasn't so much a mural as it was graffiti, but it was her own work. At least she could be proud of that, if she couldn't be proud of her performance that day. The room had been so dull when she'd moved in, and at first she hadn't been allowed to alter it much. But once Raze joined the team, things changed pretty quickly. That woman just wouldn't be contained.

Even after a shower, Jett didn't feel much better. Now dressed in an oversized shirt and the shorts she'd worn to sleep the night before, she exited her room and entered the blank hall. Grey, functional, utilitarian. Boring. Boring if not for a certain Brazilian woman, and the sound of aerosol paint being applied to a very particular surface.

"You're really gonna get it, y'know," Jett said, walking over.

"It was only a matter of time," Raze grinned, shaking a different can. "Brim knows that too."

"Maybe," Jett replied, nodding. "Looks good."

"How was your mission?"

"Uh..."

"Ooh, sorry. You'll get 'em next time."

"It was just a Cypher... I mean, no offence to Cypher. But I thought I could take him."

"He's all sneaky-sneaky. It doesn't matter."

"Yeah..."

"But Brim? He didn't want to talk to you?"

"...Sage is doing that. She insisted."

"Damn. Wish she did that for me."

That was surprising. "She doesn't?"

Raze scoffed, putting down the can, and picking a different colour instead. "No. It's all, 'Raze, remember the plan' for me. 'Raze, you need more patience'. Tch."

"I'm sure she'd cover for you if you asked," Jett mumbled, shrugging it off. "It's her duty to care, after all."

"Oh, duty, duty. I wish she'd actually hang out with us, for once."

That was... certainly an opinion, Jett thought. Most of the time, 'girls' night' was just her, Raze, and Neon. Reyna and Viper certainly weren't going to be involved. Skye liked going back to her farm; she was barely on base at all. Fade was... Fade. If they were lucky, Killjoy and Astra would be free, but they weren't great at karaoke.

But Sage was entirely different. Jett realised that she'd never actually tried asking her; she'd just assumed that the answer would be no. It was making her feel a little guilty now...

Oh, shoot. Lunch.

"Hey, I gotta go," Jett said, reaching up to tie her hair, and suddenly realising that she hadn't blown it dry enough. Maybe she would just leave it. It was just lunch, at the same old featureless cafeteria. Not even a potted plant.

"Alright," Raze replied, not taking her eyes off her work. "But if you find Brim, you didn't see me."

"I think he'll be too busy with me. But okay."

"Free to party later?"

"...honestly, I'm not feeling it today. Sorry."

"No worries. Go, go."

Jett exited the hall, entering the lift instead. She wasn't tired — she'd been through much worse — but she felt heavier. It was all in her head; she knew that, of course. Just her being hard on herself again. So many other spikes had gone off. It wasn't that big a deal.

Something about this morning had been somehow different, and she wasn't sure what it was. Jett replayed the whole incident in her head, combing it for details. It was making her feel worse, but she wouldn't find out what was bugging her if she didn't investigate. But maybe it was all her hunger talking, so she'd put it aside for now. She'd been promised lunch. That didn't happen often.

Sage was already waiting in the cafeteria. She was sitting idly at one of the tables, the top of which was still empty. Of course it was. She wasn't the type to start eating before people arrived, even when it was a whole team of five. Jett kinda liked that, but that was because of her upbringing. She didn't care that much, really.

"I thought you might be here," Sage told her, standing as Jett approached.

"Yeah... what did Brim say?" she asked, nervously brushing hair behind her ear.

"He is... displeased. But it cannot be helped."

Phew. "I hope you weren't waiting long..."

"Not at all. Are you ready to go?"

Jett raised an eyebrow. "Go? You said we were having lunch."

"I said I would buy you lunch," Sage clarified. "We're going out. Unless you would like to stay here..."

Oh. Right... she had said that. In the moment, Jett hadn't really been paying attention.

"We can go out..." Jett replied. "But my hair isn't fully dry..."

"No matter," Sage said coolly. "It looks good."

"Maybe you should let your hair down too then."

Another of those infuriating coy smiles. "Perhaps one day. Come, I know a good place."