Alright guys. This was supposed to be a oneshot, but it got out-of-hand. REALLY out of hand. Chapter two is even longer.
I think that it will be really good, though. This chapter's going to be really angsty, and the next will be action. I'm already almost done with it; it should be posted sometime next week.
Note: "mi conejita" is "my bunny" in Spanish, as translated by my Spanish-speaking friend.
Enjoy!
The alarm rang loudly, but it only lasted a few seconds before it was abruptly shut off. Wide awake, Sombra grabbed the purple marker that was set next to the calendar and drew a large X.
5 days left.
Sombra turned to look at Hana's side of the bed, half-hoping that it wouldn't be empty. It was. She picked up the pink pillow and held it close, breathing in its scent, but the smell of bubblegum was fading. Her eyes downcast, she laid it back down neatly.
"I won't be gone long. It's only a month this time."
"A month is long enough to get yourself killed."
There was a sigh. "I know. But it doesn't matter what you or I want. My people need me."
Sombra grabbed her arm. "I watch your streams. Every single one. Do you know what happens, every time you lose your mech?"
Hana shook her head.
"Nothing. The feed goes to static. We don't know if you're OK. We don't know if you survived. Sometimes it takes hours to get it back online. I sit there, frozen, unable to do anything to help you. I tell myself you're alive; I know you can take care of yourself. I do. I've seen it so many times. But in those moments, I… I don't know if you're going to come back."
Hana gently pulled Sombra's head down to her level and pressed her lips against her forehead. "I will come back. I promise."
Sombra opened the refrigerator and grabbed a bowl of leftover oatmeal and a spoon. She walked back to her room and collapsed into her desk chair, spinning in circles as her thoughts wandered.
The computer whirred to life and she raised a couple of spoonfuls of the cold, flavorless mush to her mouth. She chewed it slowly and gulped it down, but it stuck in her throat. She reached for the bottle of water that had been sitting there for a few days and chugged it down, wiping her mouth off on the back of her wrist.
The bowl clattered to the ground, abandoned. Her stomach rumbled, but she ignored it. The computer's homepage popped up and she got to work.
MEKA tracked the locations of their soldiers in battle via GPS to keep them from getting lost or deserting. With the information Sombra got from Hana and her limited knowledge of the Korean language, Sombra was able to access the sattelite map. She glanced down at the clock in the bottom right corner of the screen. In a few minutes, Hana's troop should be heading out again. Sure enough, a pink dot flashed on the screen. Sombra smiled sadly and watched it move across the landscape.
The mission Hana was currently on was apparently too classified for her to steam. Sombra wasn't sure if this was a disappointment or a relief. At least Hana could send secret messages to Sombra through the streams, even though Sombra couldn't reply. It was a comfort.
"I will come back. I promise."
And here Sombra would stay for the rest of the day, at least until they went back for the night. She worked on her assignments for Talon and a few side projects, but the map screen stayed up in the background so that she could watch it and make sure Hana was safe.
The alarm rang. Sombra sat up and drew and X on the calendar.
4 days left.
She ate a packaged granola bar as the computer woke up, but as soon as the homepage loaded, a message popped up.
[EDGELORD]: We need to talk.
She huffed and minimized the page so she could hack into MEKA's database. She waited until Hana appeared on the screen before typing out a response.
[SOMBRA]: K
She chuckled to herself as she waited for her contact's answer.
[EDGELORD]: Do you take anything seriously?
"War is not a game, Hana. You must stop treating it like one."
Hana laughed. "You sound like that old man now."
"I'm being serious. You're going to die if you're not careful."
She crossed her arms. "Oh yeah, and what about you? You never take your missions seriously. You joke around the whole time; you've told me. You act like nothing matters to you."
Sombra's brows furrowed as she shook her head. "Do not confuse my playfulness with not taking it seriously. I have to appear completely in control."
"Well, how do you know I'm not doing the same thing?"
Sombra looked at the pink dot on the map for a full minute before writing back.
[SOMBRA]: What do you think?
She could almost feel his annoyance. She smiled in spite of herself.
[EDGELORD]: Are you sure this network is secure?
[SOMBRA]: We've been over this. Yes. I made it myself.
[EDGELORD]: We're launching an attack. Numbani. We're going for the gauntlet.
[EDGELORD]: Should be easy. In and out.
[SOMBRA]: K
[EDGELORD]: Do you want in or not?
Sombra started to type her answer, but she hesitated and stared at the map. The pink dot flashed across the screen, as if sending her a message. She reached out and traced her finger along its path.
"I will come back. I promise."
[SOMBRA]: I'm going to have to sit out on this one. Have fun ;)
She muted Reaper and closed out of the program. She leaned back on her chair and stared at the screen, her eyes watering.
The pink dot had just traveled across the map in a way to spell out the words "LUV U".
3 days left.
Sombra took her usual place at the computer. She hadn't done the laundry in ages, so she had to resort to wearing either Hana's clothes or her mission outfit. She chose the former. Maybe she should work on it tomorrow so that Hana wouldn't know what a mess she'd been living in.
Today was the last day of the actual fighting. Tomorrow and the day after would be for traveling back. She wouldn't be confined to this desk for much longer.
Suddenly, the pink dot raced across the screen at a fast pace. Too fast. It moved sporadically around the battlefield. Sombra sat up, alert. She set down her drink cup and scrambled for the keyboard. She slipped on her headphones. She hacked into the troop's comm line. She had refrained from doing so this whole time because she could be traced easily, but something was wrong.
"I will come back. I promise."
The line was nothing but static at first, but with some adjusting, she got a few messages to come through.
The first thing she heard was Hana shouting orders at the rest of her troop in Korean; Sombra hit the translate button.
"Everyone, in formation! Get ready to fire! We can take them!"
Sombra pulled the microphone closer to her face, making sure the voice scrambler was on. "Hana? What's going on?"
"Who are you? What do you want?"
She couldn't use her name, so she had to say something else, something only she and Hana would know.
"Forget me so soon, mi conejita?"
"I will come back. I promise."
Hana breathed a sigh of relief. "Are you sure this is safe?"
Sombra smiled. "Don't worry about me, worry about you. What's happening?"
"I will come back. I promise."
"The mission - " static. "Out of control. We - " static. "AI program. I don't think - " static. Sombra adjusted the dials again.
"I'm sorry… I love you." There was a high-pitched scream and the channel went to static The pink dot flickered on the screen and then faded out.
"I will come back. I promise."
Sombra tried to recover the signal, any signal. Nothing was coming through. "No, no, no no nononono!"
"I will come back. I promise."
She tried everything. Nothing happened.
"I will come back. I promise."
"I will come back. I promise."
"I will come back. I promise."
Sombra sat back and stared at the screen, the static from the comms creating white noise in the background.
After a few moments of thinking, Sombra stood up; there was purpose in her eyes. She stripped off Hana's sweatpants and donned her mission outfit. She picked up her gun and hoisted it up on her shoulder. She smiled a determined smile.
"I will come back. I promise."
She was going to have to help Hana keep her promise; she was going to have to rescue her herself.
Alright! I really enjoyed writing this one. I'm actually quite proud of myself. The next chapter is already almost done!
Please follow, favorite, or leave a comment if you enjoyed it and want to see more! Or come talk to me, I'm always happy to talk to someone nice!