[A/n]'s eyes slowly opened. They felt heavy, begging her to stay close for one more minute. She noticed sun rays entering her room, making it harder to open her eyelids. She tried to turn around but her body was not responding as well. Grumbling, she tried to think back to what happened last night. She remembered the explosion and going back to her room, but after that it was blank. With all her might, she turned her head to glance at the alarm clock on the side of her bed. It was late morning already. When did she go to her room? It was still morning, right? She realized then she slept the whole day yesterday. She was taken aback - she had not had such a long night's sleep without any struggle in such a long time. Suddenly, she heard a knock on her door. Unable to move, she managed to say in a raspy voice: "Come in."

Expecting Sage or Phoenix, she was surprised to see her partner, Chamber. He had a cup of warm tea in hand and was smiling at her. "Glad to see you're still alive. I tried to come last night but you were not responding." [A/n] tried to stand up and the man at her doorstep quickly stop her. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

She quirked an eyebrow, confused. He mentioned with his eyes towards her chest therefore, she looked down and notice she was still in her bra. She blushed and nodded her head to thank him without glancing up. He smirked, amused by her reaction. He stepped inside, closed the door behind him, and put the cup on her nightstand.

"How are you feeling?"

"Since when do you care?" she asked, her voice softer than usual.

Chamber laughed nervously. "Please, drink this tea. It should help with your hoarse voice." She nodded and sat up, with difficulty, while holding the blanket close to her chest.

She took the cup in her hand, the sudden weight almost too much for her. The flowery smell filled her nostrils and brought peacefulness in her. The warmth coming from the cup reassured her it was the reality and not her mind playing tricks on her. She brought the cup to her lips, the sweetness of honey and the flowery taste of the hibiscus easing the pain inside her throat. A sigh escaped her lips as she finally relaxed. As the woman enjoyed her tea, Chamber took the liberty to look around. There were very few objects inside, dust was the only decoration he could see. He guessed she did not spend much time inside like him - for different reasons that were. The woman emptied her cup then put it aside to focus her attention on the man in her quarters.

"Thank you for that," she thanked him with a tired smile and mentioned him a desk chair. "Sit down if you want." He gladly took her offer and sat at her desk, turning the chair so it would face her. "So, you haven't answered my question."

"Tu perds pas le nord ma parole." Whenever he spoke French, she would always be lost as her vocabulary extended as far as swear words and some greetings. Curious as she was, she wanted to know what he said but was too tired to ask. "I was worried about my partner. Can't I?"

The woman felt a mixture of disgust and gratefulness. "That's so weird."

Chamber chuckled. He would never get tired of her unique reactions. "That and I need you to clean your mess."

She rolled her eyes, knowing he would not have just been kind. "I knew there was something else." She stretched her arms, her blanket threatening to slide down to reveal her almost naked chest. Politely, the agent looked away and busied his eyes with the dirt on her furniture. "Well, I'll be ready in five minutes." As she said, she was expecting Chamber to leave the room but saw him sitting still, his eyes wandering around. "You can leave now."

"If I may, I'm afraid you'll run away as soon as I leave this room."

Damn it, smartypants. "That's no reason to stay in a woman's room while she changes."

"Do not worry. I have seen multiple women naked in my life."

"That's not the point!" she shouted, embarrassed. "I don't care about your sex life! I have dignity, you see!"

He tried to prevent a smirk from appearing as he wanted to further tease the woman that was red from the disconcerting situation. "I understand. But remember, I won't help you on your project if you leave me alone to take care of this mess."

She felt stuck at a corner, unable to say no to this man she could not bear the sight of. She grumbled and promised him to be there. Chamber finally walked out of the room, satisfied by the influence he finally had on her. He waited outside her door, still unsure if she was going to run away. As he waited, he noticed Sage coming his way.

"Bonjour, mademoiselle," he greeted her.

"Hello, Chamber. Is she awake?" she asked, hiding her worries.

He nodded and went on to explain her actual state. "Her eye bags seemed to have lessened, she had quite the good night's sleep after all. And she seemed to be back on her feet."

"That's good to hear. Brimstone needs her help as soon as possible. Let her know once you have finished cleaning up."

"Very well."

The second-in-command left as soon as he agreed. She must have been busy lately, everyone is running left and right to ready for the next big mission in a few weeks' time. [A/n] walked out, fully dressed but she was not wearing her usual type of clothes as she forgot to do her laundry. She had a pair of jean shorts with a new colorful pair of sneakers. And, sadly for her, she only had shirts left in her wardrobe, so she grabbed her yellow shirt - that was a bit too transparent for her liking - and walked out of her room. Shirts were really not her cup of tea. She noticed Chamber's surprised gaze as he looked at her.

"What?" she asked, still embarrassed.

"I did not know you had decent clothing."

"Oh, shut up!" she shouted. "Don't you dare think my wardrobe is only composed of sweatpants and tank tops."

"I imagined it to be so. I never saw you wear something else."

"Go on, then!" she exclaimed angrily at him. "Make fun of me, you're free to!" She knew it did not fit her well, that was the reason why she did not enjoy wearing shirts. She only kept a few for formal parties or meetings.

"I wasn't planning to. It suits you well."

She was taken aback. Did he just compliment her? Or was it a scheme to further make fun of her? Maybe a little bit of both. She felt her face turn as red as a tomato and she quickly turned around to prevent him from getting a glimpse at the effect he had on her. Unfortunately for her, he noticed her reddening cheeks and ears but chose to ignore it for now.

When they entered the workshop for the first time since yesterday, they saw how messy and smelly it had become. [A/n] quickly hurried to open wide all the windows to ventilate the room. She took a good look at her desk and saw the mess she had caused. How stupid was she? Then, she glanced at Chamber who was still holding his nose in the far back of the room, staring at the arsenal. Most of the weapons were on the ground and unorganized. A headache came by just standing there and looking at the chaos her partner caused.

"Well," she exclaimed, rolling up her sleeves. "Let's get started."

Chamber took a piece of clean cloth from a drawer and washed away the dirt and soot on a chair before sitting down, still holding his nose. [A/n] stared at him in disbelief. "What? You didn't think I was going to help clean up your mess, did you?"

"Traitor," she mumbled annoyed as she went on with the cleaning.

It had lasted three hours. Two hours of getting rid of the soot and one more to reorganize everything. Luckily, nothing major broke, just a few things to repair that she would do when needed. Chamber sat there the entire time, looking at his tablet and papers, glancing away from whatever he was doing to criticize her work and press her to hurry. If she did not hate him before, she had more reason to do so now. Obviously, it was her fault all this happened and she could not ask him to help, but his attitude was getting on her nerves. Yet, she could not get mad at him, all this situation was her fault, not his.

"I am so tired!" she said as she fell on the floor. Out of nowhere, her stomach started to growl making her realize she had not eaten anything for an entire day. She heard footsteps getting closer to her and saw a pair of fancy shoes stopping right in front of her. She looked up to meet the eyes of the fancy-looking man who was carrying a cup of coffee and a plate with scrambled eggs and bacon with slices of bread. Her eyes glowed to her savior as she quickly stood up. "Thank you, Chamber! You're the best!"

"That, I know," he simply said with his pure confidence. [A/n] did not pay attention to what he said and grabbed everything he had in his hands and hurried to her desk to eat. "When you're finished, Brimstone is asking for you." She nodded but continued to eat in delight.

"Did you make it?"

"I sure did. Where else would I get it from?" 

She was more than impressed. She was clearly not expecting him to cook. He did not look like someone who took and had time for such things to begin with. "I did not know you could cook. I thought you had a personal chef to prepare all your meals!"

He slightly rolled his eyes. "I do have a personal chef but even I sometimes cook for myself."

"Then, I feel honored to have you prepare such a delightful meal for me, a common human," she said sarcastically, imitating his tone and accent.

He seemed surprised as he rose an eyebrow. He had not seen her being playful around him since he had encountered her. "Well, I hope you will quite enjoy it. I need to go now."

"You're out for the day?" she wondered. He nodded to answer her and she almost looked disappointed. Lately, they had been getting along much better and she was getting more curious about him. She wanted to know his whereabouts and where he was staying most of the time. She did her best to not get too close as she was still wary of him.  This man was very shady, always hiding his true intentions. It was another reason why she wanted to get closer to him. To understand what was going on inside his head. To know him better

[F/n] walked to Brimstone's office and knocked twice before coming in. She stood at attention, waiting for his order. His office was very clean or organized (unlike hers). He had piles of paperwork here and there but his office was well decorated with some dry plants to make it look nicer. Some pictures of the crew were hanging close to him as well which always made [A/n] smile. Brimstone looked away from his screen and hid his relief to see her well.

"Good to see you back on your feet, agent."

"Yes, sir."

"I have a scouting mission for you." She stared at him, surprised. It was usually Sova's job to scout around, sometimes followed with Skye. She did not mind doing it, but she was not expecting it. "I sent Skye and Sova to scout someplace else and I need you on this one. Your abilities will be more than needed."

"Yes, sir."

"Good. I will send you to this location with Chamber. He will watch your back as you move forward." He displayed her on the blank screen behind him pictures of a location in France. 'Marseille' was the name she saw but she had no idea how to pronounce it. "There has been some abnormal activity out in this area. Chamber will be able to both be your guide and help you if you need it. If you see a spike..."

"I examine my chances, call for backup if needed, and make sure I disable it with the defuser. Was that it?" Brim nodded. 

"Chamber already knows about the mission. You are to leave tonight so you can investigate when most eyes would not be on you." She nodded, assimilating all the information he had given her. It was going to be her first mission with Chamber, she hoped it will go well. "Good luck out there, agent."

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"Tu ne perds pas le nord" = it's an expression in French and I think the equivalent in English is "You have your head screwed on right", it basically means that she did not lose track of what was happening

"ma parole" = it's like saying, "don't you?", "aren't you?" and so on