Chapter Text
Sova tried his best to suppress a cringe after seeing the contents of the brief for his mission the next day. His captain, who was still standing in front of him, handed the file to him personally.
He took a deep breath and re-read the file again. Hoping that he misread (he knew he didn't) the information.
SITE:
Haven, July 22, 9:00 AM
AGENTS ASSIGNED:
Sova
Killjoy
Neon
Omen
Cypher
And there it is.
Cypher.
Fucking Cypher.
The hunter didn't even feel bad about the non-verbal swear. He felt that a certain spying sentinel deserved the hate.
"Any problems with the brief, Sova?" Brim asked.
Sova was sure that a throbbing vein was visible on his forehead from how hard he was clenching his jaw.
Brimstone knew damn well what the problem was.
It was no secret how much Sova hates Cypher and his creeping methods. Everyone knew it to the point that it became a Thing.
Before the "parents," AKA Brimstone and Sage, interfered, Sova skipped on missions where Cypher was present.
Skye was nice enough to take Sova's role every time Cypher was a part of a mission. Sometimes, Fade, who for some reason likes the spying Moroccan, also takes the hunter's place.
But only if she's feeling nice. Which was rare.
To be honest, Sova thinks she agrees to take his place not because she likes doing things for him, but because she likes Cypher's company.
He was always vocal about his displeasure against Cypher's ways. But his hatred was spurred on when he overheard a conversation between the sentinel and their resident wraith, Omen.
It was late at night, about 2:00 AM, and Sova's drone was acting up. He went to Killjoy first because he didn't want Cypher's help until he exhausted his other options.
Unfortunately, the young engineer was busy. Her door was locked and loud German techno music was playing from room.
Sova got the hint.
So, he went to Cypher's office. He was immediately spotted by a spycam hanging at the corridor leading to the room.
When he arrived, the door was open and he heard the sentinel's voice.
"I do have the information you need, my lovely yet terrifying friend. Unfortunately, you still haven't paid the price for it," Cypher told Omen with a slight tilt in his voice.
Sova, his footsteps quiet, walked into the office. Omen's back was facing him, but he knew from the way the wraith's shoulders dropped slightly that the quiet controller was sad about what Cypher said.
Sova clenched his hands into fists. Why can't the sentinel just help his "lovely yet terrifying friend" for free and do the favor without anything in return?
"Sova! What brings you here in my office at this hour?" the sentinel said as he turned his attention to the hunter.
Omen turned to look at him, gave him a quick nod, then walked past him to leave the office. He closed the door on his way out.
Instead of responding to the question, Sova inquired back, "Can't you do something for anyone without asking for anything in return?"
The sentinel blinked once and didn't immediately reply. The room was quiet for a couple of painfully awkward seconds before the Moroccan chuckled and said, "It maybe hard for you to believe but, yes. I can do things for others without asking for anything in return. In fact, I can fix your drone in 20 minutes and I'll do it for free, too."
The masked sentinel even nodded towards the owl-shaped drone on Sova's left arm as he voiced out his offer.
Sova stared at his drone for three seconds before he huffed and shook his head slightly.
"Nevermind. I'll ask Killjoy first thing tomorrow. Thank you for the offer, though," the blond said before he turned and left the sentinel's office.
After that night, he started to go on missions only if Cypher wasn't with the group.
To Sova's displeasure, the Moroccan was never bothered by his actions. The first time the Russian opted out of a mission because of the sentinel, the hunter hoped that it made Cypher rethink his methods.
Sova hoped that the sentinel would feel bad and would stop trying to take other people's precious secrets for his own selfish advantage.
He wanted to show that he was serious and he will not put up with someone who manipulates people for information.
But, his strategy didn't work. The sentinel stayed amicable and only lightly laughed, albeit not mockingly, everytime Sova voiced out his displeasure at his actions. Although he never actively sought out Sova's company, the sentinel didn't exactly avoid him either.
"My dear hunter, I know that your genuineness and candor will never let you understand my methods. I've made my peace with it," Cypher replied when Sova confronted him, his voice melodic and, as always, accompanied with a light laugh.
After that conversation, Sova realized that since Cypher will keep being an asshole regardless of what he does, he's come to an impasse.
He managed to avoid going on missions with Cypher for three weeks. Unfortunately for Sova, Brim had enough of his disappearing act and put a new policy in place: The captain chooses the agents and their missions, and no one can opt out of them.
"I hope you have a good reason for your mutinous streak the past couple of weeks," the captain told him the fourth time he opted out of a mission with Cypher.
Sova took a calming breath before he replied, "Brimstone. You know I cannot stand him. Not after what he said to Omen."
"I don't care what your beef is with Cypher. You want the kids to see you ditching missions because you don't want to work with a colleague and think, 'Hey, Since the Golden Boy of the protocol is doing it, I will ditch my missions when I feel like it, too!'"
"That's," Sova started but he closed his eyes in embarassment when he realized that that was probably what it looked like for the younger agents.
"I didn't avoid him because of a trivial matter, Brimstone," he replied, his voice soft.
"I know," Brim said. "But what you're doing can affect the team. I've had enough of it," the older of the two stated, his voice full of authority.
"Yes, Captain," the Russian replied respectfully.
That conversation was seven days ago. At present, the blond breathed a calming sigh before he looked up from the folder he was holding.
"There's no problems with the brief, Brimstone. I'll report early for the mission tomorrow," he said, his voice clear.
"That's what I like to hear," Brimstone replied with a satisfied nod.
...
To teach Sova a lesson after his short mutinous streak, Brim made sure to pair up the initiator with the Moroccan sentinel for a whole month-worth of missions.
Sova, feeling reprimanded, accepted and saw the lesson for what it was: a punishment.
He remained professional and he didn't complain even once as he worked closely with Cypher for five consecutive missions.
Sage assured Sova that the spy didn't know of the punishment. But Cypher, the bastard, seemed to be enjoying the blond's suffering too much for someone who wasn't informed of the whole thing.
"My, oh my. It's you and me again," the sentinel croons with glee every single time Sova arrives at the hangar to co-pilot the protocol's plane with the sentinel.
Instead of acknowledging the barb, Sova simply greets back, "Good morning, Cypher." The greeting makes the sentinel chuckle.
And that's how most of their missions begin.
And that was Sova's life for a whole month.
Fortunately for him, Cypher did nothing to make the initiator hate him more.
During missions, the Moroccan was smart and funny, without losing his competence. He was always mindful of where everyone was. Especially if they're doing the mission with more hot-headed duelists.
So all in all, Sova's punishment... wasn't really that bad. Yes, he wasn't friends with Cypher (and he's not planning to become friends with him anytime in the future) but his perspective of the sentinel didn't worsen even with the prolonged exposure.
That said, he was glad when Brim deemed that he had learned his lesson and finally assigned a new mission for the spy but with Fade as the team's initiator.
The new mission was only a couple of miles out from their HQ. With the team's hypersonic plane, it took the team a couple of seconds to arrive at the scend.
On the same day of the mission, Sova had a day off.
So he went to the headquarters and accompanied Sage, who was monitoring the mission from the base.
When he arrived, Sage looked up from the monitors.
"Sova, you know that you should be resting on your days off, right?" the healer asked.
"You know that nobody really takes a day off when there's an ongoing mission," he replied.
Sage gave him a smile as the door to the room opened, revealing a rumpled-looking Yoru in his pajamas.
"How's the mission going?" the Japanese duelist asked.
"See?" Sova told the sentinel who just rolled her eyes and ignored him to answer Yoru's query.
"They're almost done. They need to defend the sites for a couple of minutes more and they can go home."
"Nice," the short brunet replied with a satisfied nod before strutting out of the room.
Sova, who was also satisfied with Sage's update, moved to leave the room, too.
"I'll get you more tea, Sage. Just to help keep the calm atmosphere," the blonde said.
Sage giggled primly and replied, "Why thank you, Sova."
So the hunter sauntered to the kitchen to boil water and prepare the sentinel's favorite teapot.
He was pouring the tea in a mug when the peace was shattered by Killjoy, who quietly walked into the room, past Sova, and sat down on one of the stools in the kitchen island.
Sova stared as the sentinel wordlessly dropped her phantom on the counter and unfastened her sidearm, dropping the sheriff on the table, too.
Her eyes behind her thick-rimmed glasses were unseeing.
Sova smelled the blood even before he saw the sentinel raise her blood-covered hands.
She stared at her fingers for a couple of seconds, then finally, she stared at Sova.
It took a while before recognition dawned in her eyes. When it did, she held his gaze, smiled an empty smile, then raised her hands to her face as she began to cry.