-Several weeks later-

"What do you mean I'll be on desk duty?" Kallista questioned.

"Why are you fighting me on this? You heard me," Gabriel sighed annoyed.

Kallista crossed her arms angrily as she watched the man leaned back onto his desk with his arms crossed. She stopped at the man's office to update him on her team's progression on deciphering the information they obtained from the Lithuania base and now their conversation had turned sour.

But in the back of her mind Kallista knew the man would restrict her from missions, but to completely take her off the field regardless if she recovered upset her. She knew that he knew that this was one of the few times he allowed her on the field and she was being pulled off again.

"What happened in Lithuania was out of my control, why should I have to suffer from something that was out of my control?" Kallista questioned, she bit her tongue in an attempt to keep cool and calm.

"Kallista…" Gabriel warned, unamused by her questioning.

"No. Every time I have the smallest injury or there's a complication you immediately pull me off the field. Why?" Kallista continued.

"You're in no position to demand answers let alone question me Kallista," Gabriel retorted.

"I want answers," Kallista placed a hand on her hip and bit down on her lower lip to mask the pain she felt from the simple gesture. Gabriel sighed and ran his hands down his face before he replied back to her.

"With your position, you shouldn't even be on the field, you should consider yourself fortunate that I even let you go," Gabriel replied.

"Oh! So you're granting me the special opportunity to be on the field..."Kallista trailed off mockingly.

"Cut the bullshit Kallista. You know what your job is. You know what you're here for," Gabriel countered sharply.

"I have several jobs that I do here. You and I both know this. Don't fucking use that stipulation on why I'm here as an excuse to pull me from the field," Kallista began. "You use that as an excuse when you know damn well that Malik is never in fit condition to be on the field and yet he's allowed to go. What will happen when he finally fucking breaks down? What will you do—"Kallista continued, her voice rising in anger as she spoke.

"Lower your fucking voice when you're talking to me. Malik's condition isn't your concern, he's mine. You follow my orders on and off the field. You are off the field until I say so. End of discussion," Gabriel growled

Malik and-" Kallista started.

"Enough. This conversation is over," Gabriel said firmly, his anger grew as the little quarrel dragged on.

Kallista glared daggers as she stood in front of his desk, he returned the hardened scowl unfazed by her anger.

"You're walking a fine line today Kallista," Gabriel warned the woman of her behavior.

"Am I? What are you going to do? Dismiss me?" Kallista questioned sharply.

She could feel his eyes attempt to burn through her, his gaze heavy, angry, disappointed. Kallista instantly recognized the man's hesitation when there options to put her on the field, she was always looked over for Malik, another Blackwatch agent or an agent in Overwatch and never her.

She didn't want his pity or protection.

She completed the training, she was a Blackwatch agent, and she was just as capable as everyone else.

"Stop trying to play fucking protector," Kallista growled.

"I can do whatever I fucking want, you better watch your mouth," Gabriel growled.

"You know damn well you can't protect everyone so come off your fucking high horse," Kallista spat back.

"Do not tell me what I can and cannot do. I could have fucking left you in that base, but I didn't because you're a part of the fucking team Kallista. Don't act all high and mighty because you're a hacker with skill. I can actually depend on Malik to pull the fucking trigger and not freeze since you want to talk about Malik so much. You're not special and you sure as hell don't get special treatment. You belong behind a screen not with a gun in your hand-"

SMACK!

Surprised and stunned at how quickly she had reached over the man's desk and slapped him, the warm stinging sensation spread through his cheek as he looked at frowning and still slightly bruised woman.

"You should have left me in that fucking warehouse to die if I am that expendable to you," Kallista replied her accent heavy with every word. She yanked off the gold cross pendant from her neck and threw it at him, she exited his office without another word.

Alone, Gabriel sighed as he took the pendant and placed it on his desk. The realization of what he had said and her response hit him. Pangs of regret tugged at him as the stinging pain of her slap subsided. With another heavy sigh, he dragged a hand down his face and grumbled in frustration.

Is this what he wanted?

Is this how he wanted things to be?

Anger and frustration clouded his mind as he rubbed his temples, he could feel the low throb of a headache becoming more prominent in the back of his head. He knew that she didn't have the type of hesitations he did nor did she have the experience. Nor did she know how he felt, how his mind raced for options to keep her off the field, to keep her from being a casualty.

He knew they were both caught up in the heat of the moment and said things that they didn't believe or want to happen, or so he thought. He made a mental note to apologize to her when they both cooled down.


Kallista furiously made her way to her bedroom, she was an agent just like everyone else why would she be treated differently.

"If I was expendable he should have just left me there. Fucking piece of shit," Kallista cursed as if it would make her feel better.

"He's such an asshole, why did I even bother," Kallista sighed.

She ran her hands through her hair, pulling slightly at her roots in frustration, but truthfully she was thankful that he came for her. She thought back on it, she was already four years into her service with Blackwatch, she had no loyalty before, and now she would have given her life to keep Blackwatch a secret.

She almost did.

She grimaced at the thought of dying and wondered when did she become so loyal to an organization that she and the other sought to expose, an organization that would put her behind bars if she did not have the information she presented them.

The mole inside of Overwatch…

Kallista stood silently in the middle of her room frustrated as she gingerly held her ribs, three weeks ago she was taken and interrogated by someone possibly from Talon or a new threat to the world. She was still sore but therapy paired with her increased healing, she recovered quickly. She had struggled with Dr. Ziegler at first but the woman relented because of her increased healing.

[Director Kaines, the Intelligence Department has tried to contact you several times. I recommend returning their call. ]

"Thank you, Athena…" Kallista sighed as she grabbed her cellphone on her desk, the simple motion sent pain shooting through her body. A sharp cry erupted from her lips as she buckled against her desk, barely catching herself.

Even though her recovery speed had increased, her body still felt the effects. There wasn't a single part of her body that wasn't sore, bruised or felt as if it was on fire, she had to bite her tongue to stop herself from showing pain. She knew that Gabriel would have her back in the med bay and or bed rest until she fully recovered.

She was stubborn and knew that he saw through her farce, even, so the words he said hurt just as bad as the pain that wreaked havoc over her body.

She was in pain and he saw it.

Heavily leaning on her desk she pushed herself up grasping her cell phone. She would deal with the pain after she did what she needed to do. Determined, she straightened her back and headed for the Intelligence department.


Kallista was greeted with soft electronica music, dimmed lights, the glow of the holographic screens of the terminals that lined the back wall and a large holographic screen with a message and a name that was familiar to her.

"Dead Bloodhound?" Linda said as she looked at the large holographic screen floating in front of everyone.

"What is this?" Kallista asked.

"We were sent this yesterday while you were recovering," Aleks replied.

"Is there a trace on this message?" Kallista asked.

"None," Aleks replied.

"I found where it slipped through and already sealed it. We don't have to worry about any malware attached to the message or in the system. Essentially it's like a piece of paper that's been slipped underneath a door," Aleks said.

"None of our systems have been compromised…" Linda added confirmation to the man's claim. Kallista placed a hand on her hip as she continued to stare at the message.

"Kallista...is this…" Magnus started.

"It's related to those incidents...aren't they?" Malik spoke up with a smirk.

Kallista's sharp blue eyes focused on Malik's black and golden speckled eyes before she turned away from the man. Gabriel's words still cut deep. Malik's noted the woman's icy stare and remained silent.

"There's a possibility," Kallista replied.

"The look in your eye makes me think that you recognize this or the name," Magnus spoke up. Kallista glanced at the dark-haired man and remained silent as she turned her attention back to the message on the screen.

"Oh? She's silent…" Magnus smirked. "I just think it's a bit convenient for this message to magically show up especially after your kidnapping,"

"Look, I'm not a fucking bloody wizard Magnus, I don't know if it's connected to those incidents," Kallista hissed as she turned in Magnus' direction.

"Or is that because you don't want to know?" Magnus questioned.

"It sounds like you're questioning my loyalty, Magnus," Kallista stated.

"You're withholding information-"

"From who?! And what information?!" Kallista cut the man off.

"Enough. Both of you. We're not going to get anywhere with this," Aleks cut into to break the tension that was steadily rose with each comment from both of them.

The tension between the two could be felt by the other silent agents in the office. Magnus sighed and leaned back in his chair as he looked at the woman.

"I'm just saying, silence speaks volumes," Magnus added.

"I know of this individual who sent this…why they are sending it to me or how they know that I am working for Overwatch is a larger question," Kallista replied.

If you are reading this...you know already know why I have contacted you. There is a war upon us, a war that is a long time coming. The gods have been asleep for far too long. It is time to wake up and wreak havoc among those who ravage the weak. You know this. I know this. We never forgive, we never forget.

It is time that our goddess rises again

Malik watched with silent amusement as Kallista read the message, it was rare for the woman to lose her cool and get angry at her colleagues. Malik always saw the woman as cool, calm, collected and sarcastic.

But the icy stare that she gave them just moments ago piqued their curiosity.

"It sounds like someone is telling you to wake up Kallista," Malik commented. He noted the woman's silence at his comment and her refusal to acknowledge him.

"We have to let Commander Reyes know," Linda was the first to speak up.

"No," Kallista replied.

"No? What do you mean No?" Magnus asked.

"Director Kaines we have to let-"

"I said no. It's not worth it. He has other things to be bothered with instead of some hacker sending a message out of the blue," Kallista said firmly as she looked at her team.

"Director Kaines please reconsider-" Aleks began.

"I will not repeat myself again," Kallista glared at the man. Aleks quickly studied the woman before deciding to hold his tongue.

"Fine," Aleks replied as he focused onto his monitor.

"Get that message off the screen. What's the status on the info from the Talon base?" Kallista asked as she gingerly touched her ribs.

"We have names of agents and leads on where funds are funneling in from…" Linda started.

"We already sent in what mission's information to Reyes," Magnus added bitterly.

"Were we able to determine it Lithuania was a Talon base or?" Kallista asked.

"Undetermined. It could just be a place they decided to sleep for a bit but nothing substantial," Aleks replied.

"Null Sector?"

"Undetermined," Aleks replied, Kallista sighed.

"And the other missions?" Kallista asked.

"Delayed, but they are starting up again. Some of the agents that were on your rescue mission were called in to assist on the raid…" Malik added.

Kallista bit down on her bottom lip to keep herself from sane, everything seemed to continued downhill since her rescue. She clicked her tongue and ran a hand through her hair, in the back of her mind the argument she had with Gabriel 20 minutes earlier still bothered her and now this message that was clearly directed towards her.

"Eh, no te preocupes por eso Kalli...Gabi estaba preocupado por ti," Malik said as they studied her.

"no significa nada, Malik," Kallista replied bitterly as she crossed her arms.

"I didn't think you were that dense Kallista," Malik laughed.

"I am not dense. It's not important. None of that is important," Kallista retorted.

"You know that's a lie. Why are you in denial about this?" Malik replied as they slouched in their chair smugly.

"Because I don't mean a damn thing apparently. Like I said none of this is beneficial to the situation at hand. I am just a lowly desk jockey that doesn't need a gun and a fancy title," Kallista started. Malik sat up in their chair surprised as they looked at the woman.

"Y'all need to calm down. I could here y'all in the hallway,"

Everyone in the room turned their attention to the petite woman at the doorway of the office. Kallista and Malik turned their attention to the woman entering the room. Magnus leaned back in his chair as he watched Natalie stand next to their director.

"Natalie," Kallista stated as she continued to look ahead at the large holographic screen with information flowing across it.

"Sup' Natalie?" Magnus asked.

"I wanted to see where you guys were with the information that the recon team gathered. I heard through the grapevine I'll be in charge of those specific missions to follow," Natalie replied.

"Ooh...look at you. Fance pants," Magnus sneered.

"Got new big girl pants," Natalie smirked.

"We will have info for you in a few hours…," Linda trailed off.

Natalie noticed the heavy silence in the room, she could feel the tension that laced the office as the group silently tacked away on their keyboards, attempting to remain calm and cool.

"Ok, something is off- Hey Kallista…?" Natalie started as she noticed that the woman had already exited from the room.

"Hey-!" Natalie said as she went after the woman.

There was silence between the four left in the room, they silently glanced at one another as if in a silent conversation. Linda was the first to break the silence among them.

"...The Director...is really...stressed…frustrated almost," Linda commented.

"She's angry..." Aleks commented.

"And she has every right to be. I mean she almost died, the fact that people had to stop their missions to go save her may have set things back a bit, but withholding information like this from Reyes that's inexcusable," Magnus started.

"I don't think she's necessarily holding information back, Reyes is a busy man she siphons information for him so he doesn't have to," Aleks commented.

"Still, I think he would like to at least know about it," Magnus added.

"She'll tell him…" Aleks trailed off.

"Boy scout is right. She does have the liberty to filter information that is important and what's not important. She is judging the level of action she needs to take for this message before she goes to Reyes," Malik stated.

"Boy Scout?" Aleks balked at the nickname given to him

"That is part of her position," Malik added.

"If you notice the last line, 'It's time for our Goddess to rise again,' Someone from the God Brigade or Anonon…" Malik trailed off as he realized he was saying a word incorrectly, he cleared his throat and tried again.

"The God Brigade or Anonymous is trying to contact her,"

"From Anonymous?" Linda asked.

"Have you ever heard of research Linda?" Magnus asked.

"I know not to pry into personal business unlike someone we know," Linda spat.

"She has bite!" Magnus chuckled.

"Listen this is important," Malik said and snapped his fingers to catch everyone's attention.

"Whoever this DeadFoxhound person is from Anonymous contacted Kallista for a reason, it could be connected to the Cheshire Cat Incident or something else. That's for Kallista to determine and decide what we do. Everyone wanted her to be the Director so let her do her job," Malik said.

"Morals and ethics, though," Magnus commented.

"You forget who she was Magnus," Malik commented.

"One of the most wanted hackers in the world…" Linda commented.

"Exactly," Malik replied.

"She knows what she's doing. I trust her," Malik said casually and stood.

"I guess," Magnus commented.

"I trust she'll do the right thing…" Aleks added.

"Me too," Linda added.

"She is one of our fearless leaders…" Magnus sighed.


Natalie quickly looked down the hall to follow after the woman who had suddenly disappeared from the office, she needed to talk to her about the upcoming missions and now something else.

"Kallista. Wait up," Natalie called after her as she jogged to catch up with her. She clicked her tongue as she realized that Kallista was ignoring her and continued at her hurried pace.

"Kallista-!"

"What do you want?"

Kallista suddenly turned around to face the woman that followed after her, Natalie's soft chocolate-colored eyes met with Kallista's icy blue stare. Natalie stopped a few inches from her, surprised at the sudden tone of the woman's voice and the cold stare. She knew it wasn't like her friend.

"Ok, so you ignored me which is rude. What's with you? What's going on?" Natalie asked worriedly, it wasn't like the woman to act like this.

"I'm frustrated and have a lot of catch up on. Is there something you need?" Kallista replied.

The expression that Natalie gave clearly told her that she was angry and vented on the people around her. Kallista glanced at Natalie before looking away from her, she couldn't even look at the woman, her friend who cared about her well-being.

"I said it's nothing. Just drop it," Kallista murmured.

"If it's nothing you should probably not vent it out on those around you know full well they are worried about you. You can't do that and then push them away, that's selfish and inconsiderate of you. Get your shit together Kallista," Natalie said as she walked past Kallista and down the hall leaving Kallista alone.


Ana was headed out of her office when she nearly bumped into a Malik outside her office

"Malik?" Ana questioned.

"Uh...Ummi…can we talk for a few minutes...if you have time?" Malik whispered. Ana looked up at the timid Malik as they adjusted their glasses. Ana knew that they would come to her when something bothered them, needed advice or reassurance about something.

"Of course, I was on my way to grab some coffee and check on Gabriel. Let's talk on the way," Ana suggested as she moved out of the doorway letting the door slide closed.

"Ok…" Malik trailed off.

Ana placed a reassuring hand on their shoulder before slowly starting down the hallway with them. She quickly glanced at them and noticed that they leaned heavily on their cane.

"It's been a while, Malik, how are you feeling?" Ana asked.

"In pain as usual," Malik chuckled.

"You have been taking your meds and doing physical therapy right?" Ana questioned.

She knew that they were stubborn when it came to their own health and even wondered how Gabriel was able to handle their stubbornness on top of his own and keep them from being killed on the field. She questioned it every time she saw Malik with a new injury or in a wheelchair, whatever Gabriel did, it worked.

"Yeah…" Malik trailed off.

"It doesn't sound like you have been Malik," Ana commented.

"I have...it's just hard to do so...but Mikael has been helping me," Malik replied.

"You can't always rely on him to help you. You need to be able to do things on your own," Ana replied.

"I know...I know…" Malik sighed again.

"Stop being stubborn about it and go. From my understanding, Dr. Mikami is the only one who knows the most about you. Also, I'm pretty sure that Mikael is not a certified medic, "Ana added.

Malik was silent at the woman's advice, they knew that he had to go, it was just a little more difficult than she knew and that they were willing to give her. They couldn't think of the right words or how to explain the way they felt about Dr. Mikami and just opted to not tell her anything.

"Yeah. I'll try," Malik replied as they walked into the empty cafe. Ana made her way over to the coffee machines as Malik went towards the closest table and sat down.

"You're drinking coffee?" Malik asked as their rubbed his achy knees.

"I have a long drive ahead of me," Ana replied.

"A mission?" Malik asked.

"You could say that," Ana replied as the coffee machine behind her beeped, letting her know that her coffee was finished. Carefully she took the mug she made her way over to Malik already seated at one of the tables.

"How long will you be gone?" Malik asked as they watched her sit down across from them.

"That's to be determined. Now, I know you came to me for something...what's bothering you?" Ana questioned as she blew on the steaming coffee in her cup.

"Right…" Malik trailed off as he turned slightly away from the woman. The two sat in silence before they spoke again.

"I...I'm glad that Kallista is back...but...I don't know if she is the same person...does that make sense?" Malik started.

"What do you mean?" Ana questioned.

"She's...angry, frustrated, and stressed. I know it's been a couple of weeks but…i'm wondering if this isn't the right choice for her," Malik continued.

"What are you trying to say, Malik?" Ana questioned.

"Can she handle being the director and on the field. She's cracking under pressure," Malik stated bluntly.

"Do you think you would be better for the position?" Ana asked bluntly.

"I'm technically her senior so…" Malik trailed off.

"If they...if Gabriel thought you were best for the position you would have it. We talked about this Malik. It's already done and over with," Ana sighed.

Malik leaned back in their chair and sighed heavily, truthfully they still weren't over Kallista being picked for the Director position, even if they did encourage the others to recommend her.

As they thought back on it they knew that they wouldn't have been able to handle the workload or be able to deal with all of the people that Kallista had to communicate with, nor would they would have been as professional like she could.

They felt that she was better than them for this position, better than them in many ways.

"Besides, Kallista isn't supposed to be working, she hasn't even been cleared, nor has she fully recovered," Ana replied. Malik was silent for a few moments before they spoke.

"Yeah...how do I tell her to take a break? I don't want to see her in pain," Malik sighed.

"And it seems like the only way to get her to do anything is to tell her commanding officer," Ana started before she took another sip of her coffee.

"I guess you're talking about Gabi, right?" Malik questioned.

"Exactly," Ana smirked.

"Although...I don't see her going on for much longer. From what I've heard her body went through a lot of stress...she's gonna pass out soon," Ana hummed and took another sip of her coffee.

"Yeah...it looks like she's going to...but...the way she looked at me...though," Malik trailed off.

"I'm not too surprised at that...there's a bit of a lover's quarrel," Ana started.

"A lover's quarrel?" Malik asked

"What's that?"

"Oh? You didn't know? Gabriel and Kallista had an argument...they're upset at each other," Ana chuckled. At that moment, Kallista's mood and reactions from earlier finally clicked, Malik laughed themselves to tears.

"What's so funny?" Ana asked confused.

"I can't…believe that's why…that's why she was acting like that," Malik said as they calmed themselves down from their laughter.


"You know you should be healing instead of attempting to spar with me," Lyudmila commented as she easily sidestepped Kallista's punch. Kallista grunted as she barely caught herself from the roundhouse kick she attempted to catch the taller woman with.

"Kallista," Lyudmila started as Kallista continued her pathetic onslaught in this training session.

It was only 30 minutes into the impromptu training session and Lyudmila could clearly see the woman was struggling heavily.

"You're wasting your breath," Kallista growled as she charged the woman.

Lyudmila continued to dodge the woman's sluggish attacks, just to humor her. She knew that she shouldn't have been even training with her from the beginning, in a way Kallista forced her hand. Lyudmila had already been training with the newer Blackwatch agents that were recruited and was lucky that Kallista had waited till they were gone.

Lyudmila was thankful that the training session was over, they didn't need to see this.

"Kallista-" Lyudmila started again.

"Stop-!" Kallista shouted. Lyudmila clicked her tongue as she switched stances to attack, she was surprised that the woman was able to avoid her punches in her state, but knew that each side step, dodge, and duck sucked more and more her stamina.

Kallista stumbled backward but quickly caught herself and moved to charge again. A gush of wind and a gloved fist a mere inches from her face stopped her where she stood.

"Get control of yourself. This is not you. Go talk to him," Lyudmila said firmly as she looked at Kallista. She could see her gaze was fierce but knew that she was defeated and the training session was over.

"You're not going to give up are you?" Kallista asked breathlessly.

"No. Not until you go talk to him," Lyudmila replied.

"Why should I?" Kallista said as she shoved the woman's gloved fist from her face.

"You two clearly had a fight and need to get over it because it's affecting both of you," Lyudmila sighed. Kallista opened her mouth but crumbled to her knees in pain, a choked cry escaped her lips.

Lyudmila sighed as she watched the woman crumble to her knees, she was already annoyed at the fact that Kallista was moving around when she should have been resting. Who knows what additional damage she was causing to her body even if she was a super-agent.

The taller woman sighed again as she slicked back a piece of errant hair that slipped from her ponytail before helping Kallista to her feet.

"I was hoping that I wouldn't have to do this with you. I already do it enough for Malik," Lyudmila commented.

Within a few minutes, Kallista found herself in the med bay and being looked over by an assistant.

"Kallista...I trust you to stay, I'll know if you don't," Lyudmila said as she moved towards the door.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Kallista sighed as she looked away from her.

"You have to talk to him," Lyudmila huffed.

"I'm not going to talk to him," Kallista replied firmly.

"Stop being a stubborn ass Kallista," Lyudmila said as she crossed her arms.

"Why don't you tell that to him," Kallista spat back.

"Look. You're arguing just because you're heated. Cooldown and take a step back from everything, Right now your stupidity is showing," Lyudmila added before she exited the room.

"My stupidity huh," Kallista scoffed.

"Where is your pain mostly Director Kaines?" the assistant asked.

"Ribs," Kallista replied.

"Yesterday you did have a lot bruising...please take off your shirt. We can put more nanospray and wrap your ribs and whatever else you need me to," the assistant said.

"Ok…" Kallista murmured as she moved, slowly, to take off her tank top.


Weeks passed and Kallista made a full recovery, there were no signs of the trauma that was inflicted on her. All signs pointed to her increased healing capability. In the meantime, Kallista buried herself in work to avoid any type of interaction, to ignore the pain and to hide the guilt she felt about her rescue. It was several weeks ago that Aleks had mentioned home some agents postponed their missions to assist in the raid and rescue mission, it bothered her even though the delayed missions were successful she still felt pangs of guilt.

Kallista sighed heavily at the thought, but with the sudden rush of successful missions came missions reports, siphoning information to present to the appropriate official, mission briefs, her original task as well as everything else that rose. She worked as quickly and efficiently as she could to keep up with the demands and tasks.

"At least these reports are done," she sighed heavily and leaned back in her chair. She had so many things turning in her head, but there was one thing that still bothered her.

Weeks with minimal contact, minimal words exchanged, two stubborn people, agitated with one another. She refused to apologize and from his actions, she assumed that he would not apologize either. She was confident that she had nothing to apologize for.

"...I need coffee," Kallista murmured to herself as she stood. She lost count of how many cups she had and knew that Angela would chew her out if she found out, but it was a distraction a much-needed distraction.

She needed a distraction to keep her awake and her mind focused on work, her main reason for being forcibly recruited to Blackwatch. She had seen some abnormal instances and attempts on accessing some files that she knew were classified. On her list of things to investigate, that was the first thing on her list to look into.

Kallista stretched as she made her way to the door, in mid-stretch the door opened with a soft hiss to reveal Gabriel on the other side, their eyes met briefly before Kallista averted her eyes somewhere else.

"Kallista," Gabriel began as he stood in front of her and blocked the door.

"Reyes," Kallista replied as she crossed her arms.

There was a pause between the two before Kallista attempted to leave her office, he didn't move.

"I should have known this is where you've been hiding," Gabriel commented as he quickly scanned her office taking note of the blanket hanging over her chair, the empty energy drink cans, instant noodles piled on a cabinet next to a water kettle.

"I was working, you know doing my job," Kallista replied bluntly. Gabriel rolled his eyes as he looked down at the smaller woman, she continued to avoid him

"Can I help you with something?" Kallista questioned.

"You know why I'm here," Gabriel replied crossing his arms, still unmoving from the doorway.

"If I did, I wouldn't have asked. So again, can I help you with something?" Kallista asked. She looked up at the man and saw his eyes narrow, his jaw tense as he looked down at her.

"You're still so stubborn," Gabriel sighed.

"You're one to talk," Kallista retorted as she crossed her arms. Gabriel glanced over his shoulder to see if a passerby got too curious, the hall was empty.

"How long are you going to keep this up? You're acting like a child," He sighed.

"A child?! Listen, you come to my office and offend-"Kallista started.

"You're being dense even though you know what I'm doing here," Gabriel cut her off.

"Excuse me?" Kallista started when suddenly he stepped forward, pushing her back into the office. With a quick press of buttons on the keypad, he sealed the door. Kallista moved towards the other door about to open it when-

"Athena lock all doors in Director Kaines' office," Gabriel sighed.

{Understood}

"You are being-" Kallista started as she glared at the man.

"You're acting like a child," Gabriel cut her off.

"Excuse me? You come into my office, without telling me what you actually need and then you accuse me of being a child! You have some nerve!" Kallista exclaimed as she glared at the man.

"Kallista you're making this more difficult than what it needs to be," Gabriel sighed annoyed.

"What do you want?" Kallista huffed.

"I came to apologize…" He began. "I'm sorry," Gabriel said as he looked down at her, his gaze was firm and unwavering.

Kallista's glare held firm as she looked at Gabriel across from her, she placed a hand on her hip and waited for him to continue.

"What I said was out of line and I didn't mean it," he finished. Kallista pursed her lips together as she continued to look silently at the man.

"It sounds like you're sincere about this," Kallista began as her glare softened.

"I am," Gabriel replied.

"Who put you up to this?" Kallista questioned.

"No one made me do this Kallista," Gabriel huffed as he took off his beanie.3

"It was Natalie, wasn't it? Ana? Lyudmila? Morrison?" Kallista listed off names, Gabriel gave an exaggerated sigh at her persistent claim that he did not apologize to her willingly.

"Listen. You are just as important as everyone here. I wasn't going to leave you to die, I couldn't let that happen," Gabriel started. "I told you I was going to protect you in whatever shape or form but I need you to trust me,"

Kallista looked over the man from head to toe before she sighed. She saw the details of mission report, she heard how he was chewed out by Petras and Morrison, and she knew that there was truth behind the man's words no matter how much she wanted to be stubborn about the situation.

"Fine. I accept your apology," Kallista started. Gabriel waited for the woman to continue as he slipped his beanie back on.

"But, if you think I'll forget about this you are mistaken," Kallista replied.

"Kallista," Gabriel sighed.

"I am being honest. I was hurt…and that doesn't happen very often. I will apologize as well…I forced your hand a bit," Kallista sighed

"You did. But I didn't handle the situation very professionally," Gabriel replied.

"Clearly. I suppose the Great Commander Reyes has a cracking point," Kallista commented with a smirk.

"Only when it comes to certain people that will remain unnamed," Gabriel replied.

"You don't need to, I can figure that out myself," Kallista commented.

"...I know it's going to take you time to recover...but hopefully, this tense air fades," Gabriel started.

"The feeling is mutual…" Kallista trailed off.

"Good. Athena, unlock all doors in Director Kaines office, "Gabriel nodded as he moved away from the door.

{Understood}

"Now...about that coffee. Did you want to grab a cup of coffee with me?" Kallista asked. Gabriel looked at his cellphone and at the time.

"Kallista, it's 1 AM, you should be sleeping," Gabriel suggested.

"I have work to do and besides...my new leads on my project since you've been keeping tabs on my recovery," Kallista replied as she moved towards the door. The door slid open with a soft hiss.

"It's true, nothing gets by you without you noticing," He replied as he followed her out of her office.

"You wouldn't believe the things I've seen Reyes...it's just a matter of asking," Kallista sneered as she stepped into the hallway.

"You mean bribing," Gabriel replied as he followed her

"Whichever comes first," Kallista replied nonchalantly as she walked down the hall.

"You're the worst," Gabriel chuckled.

"Also…" Kallista began.

"Hm?" Gabriel scratched his beard as he looked down at her.

"Thank you…"


Eh, no te preocupes por eso Kalli...Gabi estaba preocupado por ti - Don't worry about it Kalli... Gabi was worried about you

...no significa nada - ...Doesn't mean anything