"So, you really do not know anything?" she repeated again to make sure she understood him well.

He sighed, tired of having to repeat himself. "I told you, I was only able to find information about your name and the names of your parents. Whoever erased all traces of your life did a really great job."

It must have been Cypher, she thought. When she joined the protocol, she went to him and pleaded with him to erase any traces of her. After all, she had paid a fair price for it. "I'm kinda relieved," she admitted, playing with her screwdrivers.

Chamber was looking over some documents while walking around the arsenal. He did not want to pester her into giving any more information after learning what happened last time. He knew some people did not like him at first but now it was worst than ever. Apparently, she said nothing about what happened but anyone could do the addition and found out he was the culprit. No one was stupid enough around here. Suddenly, a loud bang echoed in the room. The two of them turned their heads to the sound and saw Phoenix on the ground with the weapons messed up around him. Chamber rolled his eyes, knowing he was going to be the one to have to reorganize all this. Ever since he came back, he had eyes on him all the time. Between the pesty gazes of her friends and the barely detectable ones of Cypher, it was difficult for him to breathe. He reaped what he sowed. However, [A/n] was talking to him normally and acted as if he did nothing wrong, which eased his mind a bit. He walked to Phoenix, looking down at him.

"If you're going to make a mess, you should leave. You're just disturbing us," he said harshly as he extended a hand to him.

Phoenix scoffed and stood up without his help. "There's no way I'm leaving you alone with my girl," he retorted, glaring at him.

They had a glaring context for a moment but [A/n], clearing her throat, brought them back to reality. They parted ways, and Phoenix walked closer to his friend. He leaned against her desk, staring at the gentleman picking everything he had knocked over. "Phoenix," she called him over, her arms crossed. He looked at her, seeing her unpleased look.

"What? I don't know how to organize it!"

She frowned. "So, you're gonna leave him clean up your mess?"

He looked away, looking like a child. She let out a heavy sigh and walked to help her coworker. The fire agent tried to stop her but she would not listen.

"Sorry about that, Chamber," she said with a faint smile.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, once you told me the story, I knew it would come to it. So, do not worry your pretty head." He winked, making her laugh.

"Stop flirting." She playfully rolled her eyes, pretending to be fed up with him. He smiled at her, finding her attitude very cute.

Phoenix stared at them from her desk in disgust. He started to wonder if he would be capable of keeping an eye out on him if they were just going to flirt with each other all the time. After finishing their work, they spent some time together designing weapons, trying to come up with ideas that they both would like. It was [A/n]'s favorite moment. She would often glance at him, observing his face from up close, looking at every detail, tracing down his golden 'tattoos' then back up. She wondered if it was legal for someone to look this good. At some point, he would catch up her wandering eyes and tease her about it, the color of her face close to a tomato's. Today, she was a bit more daring, bringing a hand to his face and touching his tattoos.

"You should keep your eyes off me sometimes, you know?" he teased, the corner of his lips rising.

She smiled, resting her head in the palm of her hand. "Then hide your face so I won't stare at it," she said back to him.

He looked back at her, forgetting totally about their environment. "You know I'm still here, right?" Phoenix said, interrupting their intimate moment.

"Yes, I am doing this on purpose so you would leave," Chamber answered honestly, bringing a hand under her chin.

A sudden ringing saved Phoenix the embarrassment of having to stop them from doing whatever they planned to. [A/n] apologized and left the room to answer the phone call. The two men were left alone in awfully awkward silence. Chamber continued to draw the design of the gun he was making with his partner on his drawing tablet while Phoenix busied his eyes somewhere else, feeling uncomfortable.

Not able to bear the silence anymore, Phoenix spoke up. "What are you planning to do?" he said harshly.

"Well, drawing this creation."

He clicked his tongue, annoyed. "I'm not talking about your work, man. I'm talking about her."

He chuckled, turning in his chair to face him. "Do you really want me to go into detail about what I want to do with her?" He smirked at him, playing with his mind.

His face showed his disgust and he made his way to the door, tired of him. "You know what? Forget it. I don't want to know anything."

Then, [A/n] opened the door before Phoenix could. She frowned and glanced from Phoenix's annoyed face to Chamber's smug face. She rolled her eyes knowing that look on the French man's face all too well. She focused back her attention on Phoenix, having important information to tell him.

"Phoenix, Brimstone is calling us for a meeting."

"Great timing," he said, relieved to not see Chamber's face anymore. "Lead the way, girl."

She nodded then glanced back at Chamber. "See you later! Looking forward to your drawings!"

He waved back at her and was left alone in the silent workshop. "Now," he started, talking to himself, "how should I proceed?"

Brimstone had asked all agents that were supposed to leave for the mission to come to the meeting room. In total, ten agents were present. They caught ears of the next attack from Mirror Earth but they could not confirm for sure which area they planned to attack. They were still able to pinpoint two possible places of action. The first team was composed of Brimstone, Viper, Yoru, Phoenix, and [A/n]. They were supposed to head to Rabat in Marocco. As for the second team, Sova, Breach, Sage, Jett, and Reyna were heading to Thimphu, Bhutan. The operation was going to be difficult as they would possibly encounter their doubles. The first part of the mission will be led by the scouts of the teams: [A/n] and Sova. They would be the ones giving information to each team - enemy location, spike, their numbers, you name it, they find it. The camouflage agent was a bit nervous about this. She had the responsibility for her team's survival and it scared her. She shook her head, trying her best to stay focused on the objective. No one wanted to repeat what happened in Venice. Brimstone and Sage continued to brief the teams, giving each member a position to defend the areas. The meeting had lasted for a long time. Phoenix felt washed up after it and so was [A/n].

"He could have shortened it, I swear."

The woman laughed. "Probably, but he had to make sure everything and everyone were ready."

Phoenix eyed down his friend next to him, her usual cheerfulness was back to normal. "How are you feeling?" he kindly asked.

She frowned a bit, still smiling. "Well, other than I have the responsibility of the entire team's success and safety and the thought of it terrifies me, I'm doing great!" she said, ironically.

Phoenix chuckled next to her and pulled her closer to him, his arm around her shoulders. "Don't worry about that, we've got this! Just focus on the mission like usual and everything will be fine!"

[A/n] smiled and playfully elbowed him to make him release her. "You're right. But I'm scared your ass gonna get beaten because you rushed in."

"Naaah, that ain't me! I'll rush in and beat their ass."

The male agent continued to joke around, making sure she would feel calm and confident enough to not stress herself too much. Phoenix always knew how to ease her mind in the most stressful moment and she was very thankful for it. She could have not asked for better friends than him and Killjoy, being the lights that illuminated her path in her world of darkness. They stopped by the cafeteria to grab a drink and met with Omen, Killjoy, and Raze. Upon seeing them, Raze immediately waved at them so they would come. They sat down at the table after getting their hot beverages.

"How was the briefing?" Killjoy asked, a smile on her lips.

"Stressful," [A/n] answered honestly.

"Boring," Phoenix said at the same time.

The German woman shrugged her shoulders, not surprised by their answers. Raze spoke before she could. "They're giving you the hardest job, [A/n]," she said before biting down on her sandwich. "You'll be on the first line compared to anyone else."

A spoon in hand, she drew circles in her cup of coffee, contemplative. "Well, I'm not so scared about myself, I'm just worried about missing information that could put everyone in danger." She was not Sova, Skye, or Cypher, she was not as skillful in this scouting matter as any of them but she was the only agent available with Sova. Sure, she had to put her life on the frontline more than any of them in this matter, but she did not mind as long as she was useful to anyone.

"You should worry more about yourself," Omen suddenly said. His words came as a shock to her, not expecting him to say out loud what everyone thought so low.

She noticed the nods of the people around this round table. A weak smile formed on her face, her eyes darted down, facing her reflection inside her cup. 'You look so sad' she recalled Chamber's words while she stared right into her eyes. She admitted in her head that he was not wrong but she refused to make it as an excuse to be a coward and hide in a hole. She closed her eyes and gave the best smile she could manage to her group of friends. "I will," she said, ending this topic about herself.

Back in her workshop, she was alone. Chamber had long left, notifying her through a message. She went to her desk, letting her upper body fall onto it. Her eyes were looking at the emptiness in the room, lost in her thoughts. Ever since last time, she had to put a façade in front of everyone to not worry them. As a consequence of that, she felt more exhausted than usual. She played with a screwdriver, rolling it, the sound it made echoing in the empty room. Then, she felt her eyes closing, her eyelids becoming heavier and heavier. She fought against it, scared of what was hidden behind that darkness once her eyes were fully closed but it was stronger than her, and she fell asleep.

Chamber came back later on and saw lights in her favorite place to be. Rolling his eyes, he made his way there to drag her out so she would sleep. However, once he was in, he saw her sleeping form on her desk. He chuckled quietly and made his way to her. He leaned against the table to stare at her sleeping face. Her vulnerable state suddenly made him feel guilty. Lately, he had been wondering if it was still a good idea to stick to her but no one else could do the job. He crouched down next to her, placing an arm under her knees and another on her back. He stood up with her in his arms and walked down the halls to carry her to a more comfortable place to sleep. She did not wake up all the way to her room, which surprised the French man but it made his job easier. He struggled to open her door, careful to not wake her up as it finally opened. She placed her down on her desk chair and he turned to prepare her bed. As he turned around, he saw her numb body slowly slipping from the chair and rushed in to catch her on time. He sighed, happy to have been able to prevent her fall. He carried her again, placing her on her bed. He took off her shoes and her clothes so she could sleep comfortably in her underwear. She would probably hate him for undressing her without her knowledge but it was better than sleeping fully clothes. Once he was finished, he took a seat at her desk and contemplated her. His eyes were cold, hiding all emotions. He knew he had to forget all about his unwanted feelings. Because he knew that soon he would have to take action, make things go faster, but he needed a few things first.

He just received one, he needed the other in Rabat.

Chamber closed his eyes for a minute, thoughtful, then stood up to leave. He closed her door without looking back and was about to head out to his penthouse when he was stopped in his track. He snickered, readjusting his tie, and turned around. With a smile on his face, he greeted the person that stood before him.

"Cypher, I have not seen you in a while," he said, energetically. "Not that you can say the same for me."

The man in white chuckled, playing with a piece of a chess game in his hands. "I had been instructed to watch over you, not that I like it."

"You should appreciate seeing my face every day in your cameras. It is the nicest view you will get around here." He winked, leaning on one leg with his hand on his hips.

Cypher rolled his head, shrugging his shoulders. "Let's stop playing around. What is your purpose?"

"What do you mean?" he played innocent, his smile never leaving. "I'm an honest businessman."

The man in front of him grunted, slowly losing his patience. "Say that to someone else. Even then, no one would believe you."

The corner of Chamber's lips rose but his eyes lacked any playfulness now. "Everything has a price, Cypher. Is it not your saying?"

"You're a smart one, I'll give you that, but you should be careful to not lose something important to you along the way."

His smile dropped but his face stayed composed. "What do you mean?"

The man did not add anything else and walked back the way he came, singing along. Chamber suddenly had a bad feeling climbing to his chest, his heart beating louder. He shook his head, trying to get rid of any of this strange feeling, and hurried out of this place.