[Alright, Kallista. Are you ready for the training simulation?}
Kallista gave a thumbs up to the viewing window above her and began to stretch. In addition to her Blackwatch tasks she still helped the Overwatch R&D department with their side projects. The project called the 'Helios System' had been on hiatus due to other projects but now the project moved quickly into the final stages.
Kallista was their test subject.
[How does it feel? The fit?]
"It is a little tight…but still moveable," Kallista replied.
[We can adjust the suit for you after the test. But…it does look really nice on you]
Kallista smirked and turned to the viewing window and shook her head. She began to bounce on the balls of her feet to prepare herself for the onslaught of physical tests they planned to simulate. The project neared the end and the data they would collect would be applied to the suit's schematics and finally a suit would be produced for Kallista.
[Careful Gideon...someone already has his eye on her]
[We are testing out a 900k suit I think everyone's attention is required for this…]
"Before we start, the small computer and generator on my back is called the Helios System, correct?" Kallista asked.
[Yes. But the finished product will be called NYX]
Sabina's voice had cut through the bickering that was about to happen between the members of the R&D Department for Overwatch.
"Any specific reason why?" Kallista questioned.
[I can explain it after the simulation…but let's just say it needed to be called something appropriate for the Queen of Blackwatch]
"That's enough out of you Gideon, you're surely going to distract me with your flirtations," Kallista gave a feminine laughter. "Sabina, everyone, I am ready when you are,"
[Wonderful. We will start with level six. We will increase the level as we complete each test. During this simulation we want you to push the suit to its limit. Paired with your enhanced strength and speed, your martial arts experience this should be easy…]
"Sounds good to me," Kallista replied as she gave a thumbs up and adjusted the simulation goggles.
[Standby…Infiltration simulation training mission beginning in 3...2...1…]
It was barely noon when Gabriel had been pulled aside for a private chat in the outdoor pavilion in the Overwatch Division. Mikael, a member of Blackwatch, a developer in the Overwatch's R&D Division, and a longtime friend.
"Mikael? What's up?" Gabriel asked as he sipped his coffee.
"Hey...Gabe, I need to talk to you about something...important," Mikael started. Gabriel arched an eyebrow at the man, for him to pull him aside so suddenly was normal but the man's nervous features is what caused Gabriel to wonder about what was bothering man this time.
"What did you break this time?" Gabriel asked jokingly to relax the man's nerves, Mikael laughed nervously and slicked his hair back in the process.
"Nothing...this time," Mikael replied.
"Then?" Gabriel asked.
There weren't many times where there was silence between the two men, Gabriel knew that whatever the man had to tell him, it was important. Mikael leaned against one of the pillars of the pavilion and sighed heavily, Gabriel silently sipped at his coffee.
"You know...sometimes I feel overwhelmed by all the missions that Overwatch and Blackwatch take on...like do you guys even get a vacation?" Mikael began. "When did we suddenly have so much responsibility placed in our hands? Granted I'm not on the field unless there's an emergency…but I feel like we're becoming the new NATO,"
Gabriel glanced at the man across from him as he took another sip of his coffee and continued to listen as the man voiced his concerns and opinions.
"That alone has gotten me thinking and wondering if I am doing the right thing. I always thought I would end up an archaeologist not a defense and weapon specialist at Overwatch even," Mikael said softly. "My grandmother would be proud,"
"All of this is for?" Gabriel questioned.
"...I...I've been thinking about it off and on...but it hit really hard when we rescued Kallista…" Mikael trailed off.
"You having a change of heart on me Spiros?" Gabriel questioned before he sipped at his coffee.
"When I first thought about it but now since Kallista and I talked about it...it's starting to sound like it doesn't it?" Mikael chuckled nervously.
"You spoke to her first?" Gabriel asked a bit surprised at their relationship.
"I did. We talk a lot actually," Mikael smiled to himself. "She's like a sibling I've never had,"
"That's surprising," Gabriel replied and took another sip of his coffee.
"I'm sure you know much more about her than I do...you know your late night talks and all," Mikael chuckled, Gabriel scoffed in response.
Gabriel sipped his coffee as silence fell between them again, normally conversations between them was easy but this conversation was difficult. As much as the conversation was difficult, Gabriel wanted his agents to think about how much was on the line as they went to complete their missions, he wanted them to think. He had seen several comrades and friends gunned down on the field, sacrifice themselves to complete the mission or to protect to protect civilians.
He had seen many agents resign from their positions and go on to live different lives, start a family, move on with their lives.
Like Mikael, there were many times where Gabriel had thought to put everything behind him, step down from Blackwatch and become a civilian. No matter how many times he wanted to give up, wanted to end everything by his own hand but he continued, he continued forward to fulfill his dream of starting a family.
It was a simple dream.
In the back of his mind, he knew this talk would come, not just from Mikael but from others. Mikael second guessed his reason for working in Overwatch and fully realized that life could end in a moment's notice. A part of Gabriel wanted to tell the man to go and start the life he wanted, and the other part of Gabriel knew that he wanted the man to stay.
The man was there with him when Blackwatch was officially established.
"So, what are you going to do?" Gabriel asked.
"I dunno yet. I've been with you for such a long time...doing anything different would be weird," Mikael sighed.
"I want you to do what's right for you and not what you think is good for Blackwatch," Gabriel commented, Mikael sighed heavily and mumbled a few words in Greek.
"I know...but at least it's good to know that you at least understand me," Mikael said as took off his glasses and wiped them clean with the edge of his shirt.
"Why wouldn't I be? I always said, as long as you're not doing anything stupid, like get yourself killed, I will support you. It doesn't matter what happens to Blackwatch if you leave, that's not your concern. Your future is," Gabriel began. "I don't have the right to tell you what you can and cannot do with your life,"
Gabriel was honored that the man wanted his feedback on his decision, he was his commanding officer, but he also didn't want that to hold him back from starting a life that Mikael wanted to have, outside of Overwatch, outside of Blackwatch and its horrors.
"Even so. I just wanted your opinion, it's important to me," Mikael replied. "Ok, this is too somber for me, so...tell me when are you two going to be official?" Mikael asked, changing the mood of the conversation.
"Hm?" Gabriel grunted as he took a long drink from his now cold coffee, he grimaced at the taste. Cold coffee was his least favorite.
"You and Kallista," Mikael smirked.
"What about her?" Gabriel asked
"Are you really gonna play stupid Gabe? When are you two going to be a thing instead of fuck buddies?" Mikael laughed a bit.
"Spiros," Gabriel gave the man a warning glance.
"Hey. I'm just asking a simple question. Better me than Malik," Mikael shrugged.
Gabriel took a moment before he responded to the man's question, is that what she thought they were? He thought that there was more...maybe he was wrong?
"Is that what she told you?" Gabriel asked.
"No. Just an assumption that you confirmed for me, I wouldn't be too surprised if the others thought the same though. Funny though, I never knew you were a biter Reyes," Mikael sneered.
"I trusted you and this is how you repay me?" Gabriel shook his head.
"Oh c'mon, you may be our fearless leader but there are times where you do let your guard down and now was one of those moments. I had to take it," Mikael laughed.
"You know that Blackwatch agents are sworn to secrecy and if you want to make it out of here alive I suggest you keep a tight lip about rumors like that, Gabriel started, a toothy grin spread across his lips as he looked at the man.
Mikael's hearty laugh quickly changed into nervous laughter, he knew the man would hold him to that oath and make sure he followed through with his threat.
"Whatever you decide to do Spiros. I'm going to support you,"
"That's good to hear...whatever I do I'm glad that you'll be on my side," Mikael said as he suddenly reached into his pants pocket to pull out his cell phone.
"Oh-! They're testing the suit," Mikael said as shoved his phone back into his pocket.
"Suit?" Gabriel asked.
"Kallista's special suit," Mikael chuckled as he finger gunned the man as he began walking back towards the main building.
"We'll make her into Blackwatch's trump card, we'll make her into your trump card," Mikael quipped as he continued backward.
"Spiros," Gabriel sighed as he shook his head.
"Don't worry we got you covered!" Mikael said before he disappeared into the main building leaving Gabriel to himself and thoughts.
The day had come and gone just like that, paired with meetings, the long extended tests of the new suit and prep work for upcoming missions. Kallista sighed heavily as she stared at the large screen in the now-empty Intel department. It was just her and the message from Deadfoxhound.
"Deadfoxhound...it's been a while," Kallista said to herself as she pulled a smaller holographic screen to the front and pushed the larger screen back. Kallista knew that this person was connected to the Cheshire Cat events otherwise there was no other reason for Deadfoxhound to contact her. She had been in contact with her and a few others before her capture four years prior. There were days that she missed them but knew it was best if she didn't reach out to them.
They didn't need to know that she worked for the organization they were working to expose. Nor did she need to expose them to Blackwatch's watchful eye, even though she was the Intel Director, she knew that she was still under surveillance no matter if she was close with the Blackwatch Commander or not.
Currently, the Cheshire cat events started when several political and pharmaceutical corporations websites were hacked and displayed information about their shady deals. It started a wildfire within the media and of course, Overwatch had been on alert and now Blackwatch. Kallista and her team had already been assigned to watch the corporations that were attacked and now had the Cheshire cat to deal with.
On the other hand, Kallista and her team did a have a good laugh as they watched the PR for each of the politicians scramble, but Kallista did keep a close eye on the Cheshire cat in case the situation decided to escalate.
And it did.
The next set of Cheshire events didn't catch their eyes until the kidnapping of two prominent CEOs, more specifically CEOs that Blackwatch was already investigating before the events transpired. Overwatch, with the help of Blackwatch, rescued the two CEOs without issue and took down the kidnappers. After, Blackwatch was tasked with the capture of the one who called themselves the Cheshire cat.
Another investigation on her hands and for her teams.
Kallista sighed heavily as she plopped down in one of the desk chairs as she pulled up another mission that had been in the works for several weeks. It was Gabriel's mission to Italy, a mission to take down and or apprehend a high target within Talon ranks, a possible Talon operative code name Duchess, Elena Vescovi, a media mogul.
The woman had been seen all throughout Italy with an unknown dark-haired woman at her side. This woman was a public figure, she was well known and could easily be picked out in a crowd from her crimson red hair, she was wealthy, a wide range of connections to many people in power in Italy and in the neighboring countries.
She had connections to Talon and so did the woman at her side.
Kallista worked tirelessly to gather all of the information she could on the woman, patterns of where the woman would be seen, and even going as far as to gain access to the woman's bank account, and personal schedule at the woman's office.
He relied on her to give him all of the information he would need for his missions, he trusted enough that she was the only one assigned to handle the intel for his specific missions.
Kallista smiled at the thought and closed the file and noticed that the dossier had been accessed by someone other than herself and those who needed to see it.
"Athena. Give me a full list of those who have accessed Commander Reyes' mission dossier since creation," Kallista said as she straightened herself in her chair and began typing on the dark blue holographic keyboard.
{Access to this dossier has been granted to the following: Strike Commander Jack Morrison, Captain Ana Amari, Commander Gabriel Reyes, Lieutenant Lyudmila Dontsova, Director Kallista Kaines}
"The last person to access this file?" Kallista asked.
{The last individual to access this file...Captain Ana Amari}
"Were there any changes made to the dossier?" Kallista asked as she pulled up a list of those who had accessed the file since its creation. Indeed, Ana was the last one to access the dossier, but why?
"I don't see any changes made to this dossier, Athena, were there any changes made?" Kallista asked.
{There is no record of change}
"Athena...when did Captain Amari leave for her mission in Egypt?" Kallista asked.
{Captain Amari departed for her mission, 48 hours past}
The dossier had been accessed barely 24 hours ago.
"Athena. Allow access to this dossier for the following individuals, Strike Commander Jack Morrison, Commander Gabriel Reyes, First Lieutenant Lyudmila Dontsova and myself," Kallista stated.
{Understood. Director Kaines, please input your specialized override code}
Kallista pulled another holographic screen from the mission dossier and quickly typed in her override code, all while dread had its hands on her shoulders. As Kallista entered her code the thought of Captain Amari accessing this specific dossier reminded her of her original task, the reason why she was in Blackwatch.
Kallista had to admit that the double agent within Overwatch hid well, there was no movement from the agent since she had become the Director of the Blackwatch Intel Department. In addition to the new title and position came a plethora of responsibilities and tasks the pulled her attention in several different ways. Despite the dread that trailed along her spine there was a spark of excitement in her gut, the thrill of search and destroy reminded her of her time in the God Brigade and how easily they could have pushed the world into chaos.
With a sigh, Kallista made a note to connect with the Captain when she returned to verify her access to the file but in the meantime, she needed to continue to work. She glanced over to the blue holographic numbers on the main screen, it read exactly 3 AM and yet sleep still evaded her.
How many days had she not slept?
Did she even eat today?
She couldn't remember but knew that she at least needed to sleep and soon she had a meeting to attend in five hours. She closed down all of the holographic screen around her and powered down her terminal. With the effects of SEP, insomnia and migraines plagued her constantly and sleep would not always come to her but she would try. She exited her office, her thoughts focused on food, coffee as she walked down the slightly dimmed hall. She was pulled from her thoughts as her ear picked up muffled groaning before her eyes locked onto the man heavily leaning on one of the hallway walls.
"Reyes?" Kallista asked as she quickly approached him, when she looked closer she could see blood trickled down the side of his face, blood from his ears.
"Reyes! Oh my god," Kallista gasped as she helped the man from the wall, bearing the brunt of his weight as they made their way to the Med Bay.
[Hayden: Yoooo wat happun to Nat? She gone!]
[Doubek: :3 ]
[Hayden: Wat dat mean?]
[Doubek: I'm sure she's with the Commander… ; ) ]
[Hayden: Oh?...oh! Morrison?!]
[Talli: She had Jesse give her a piggyback ride back to HQ. I heard them when they came back]
[Hayden: Tal! Why awake? It late]
[Talli: I haven't slept yet. These modifications]
[Linda/Truffles: You asshole!]
[Linda/Truffles: You know who I'm talking to!]
[Hayden: wat happun?! Linda!]
[Linda/Truffles: I'm charging every mofo for hurting my feelings! 30 credits per insult!]
[M: LMAO]
[Malik: Truffles~ 3]
[Linda/Truffles: Shut it, Ramos, you owe me 30 credits!]
[Poster Boy A: Guys. It's 3 in the fucking morning. Go to sleep.]
[Talli: Who pissed off Linda?]
[M: It's alright. She's fine and an angry drunkard]
[Hayden: Dude]
[Linda/Truffles: Magnus you ass! That's why no one wants to sleep with you and you!]
[Hayden: woah!]
[Talli: :o ]
[Malik:Buuuuurn]
[Doubek: DAYUM! SHE GOT BITE!]
[M: Wow Linda. I didn't know you cared about my sexual life.]
[Linda/Truffles: You ass]
[Poster Boy A: Alright. That's enough all of you. Shut the hell up and go the fuck to sleep. Reyes has a mission in 36 hours and you are all acting like shit heads!]
[Linda/Truffles: BITE ME!]
[Malik: She wild! LMAO!]
[Poster Boy A: Magnus. Take her phone and the rest of you go to the fuck to sleep]
"No rupture to the outer ear canal, no internal bleeding in the brain. I checked your files and there seem to be no pre-existing conditions and there were none but there were previous instances of this happening but with no precise cause," the female doctor said as she flipped her blush pink hair over her shoulder, her attention focused on the file in her hands.
"Not to mention I only have access to the bare minimum," she added bitterly.
"So then I'm clear," Gabriel said as he stood, the woman scoffed as she crossed her arms.
"No. Are you out of your mind? I need to run tests on you to make sure there's nothing else wrong with you," she replied.
"Look. I'm going to be fine. One of Ana's darts are just what I needed to deal with this. No other tests needed," Gabriel sighed.
"That dosage is enough to kill a normal man," the woman frowned.
"I am not just a normal man," Gabriel scoffed, annoyed at the woman's persistence.
Kallista sighed heavily as she ran a hand through her hair, the doctor, Seraphina Hasibuan was fairly new to the medical division of Overwatch. She didn't know their conditions, the effects of SEP, the pain or how to deal with their pain, she assumed it was just classified information.
"Have you used drugs, excess alcohol, engaged in sexual- Hey!" Seraphina stopped when she saw that the man disregarded her and her questions as he made his way towards the exit.
"Commander Reyes! Get back here you are my patient- Commander!" Seraphina called after the man as she watched him leave. "I heard stories about him but I didn't think he was that much of an ass. Director Kaines, please make sure you bring him back tomorrow...or at least get seen by Dr. Ziegler,"
"Yeah. I'll try," Kallista agreed as she was suddenly hit with a wave of tiredness. She looked at her hand, her crystal blue eyes focusing on the dried blood on her hands, oblivious to the woman's chocolate brown eyes on her.
"Here," Seraphina said as she moved to get her a wipe for her hands.
"Thanks," Kallista said as she took the wipe and began to wipe her hands.
"You're not sleeping much are you?" Seraphina asked as she looked over Kallista.
"I guess it's that noticeable,"Kallista quipped.
"I'm surprised you didn't notice you looked like shit," Seraphina replied bluntly.
"Oh thanks for your medical assessment Dr. Hasibuan. Have you looked in a mirror lately?" Kallista questioned as she tossed the soiled wipe into the trash.
"Birds of a feather and you're welcome," Seraphina said as she took a seat at her desk.
"Seraphina is fine and I'm just doing my job," Seraphina sighed as she turned her attention back to the terminal screen.
"I suppose you're filling in for Angela right?" Kallista asked.
"Something like that. I'm waiting for my clearance to be approved before I start on what I was recruited for," Seraphina replied.
"Ah...Angie's little project," Kallista said. Seraphina spun around in her chair to face Kallista, her warm brown eyes studied Kallista. Unfazed by the woman's judgemental stare, she crossed her arms and returned the look.
"If you know about it, you're either from Overwatch or high in the chain of command," Seraphina stated.
"Blackwatch Intel Director," Kallista corrected.
"Oh? Kallista Kaines, correct?" Seraphina questioned.
"You're correct," Kallista replied.
"I'll keep that in mind," Seraphina replied as she crossed a leg over the other. "Tell me how much do you know?"
"Depends," Kallista replied
"You must know all the secrets about everyone here," Seraphina began.
"I might. I cannot confirm or deny it anything," Kallista replied.
"You do...I can see it in your face," Seraphina replied and grinned. "I supposed this is what I should expect from the Blackwatch Division?"
"Probably...not? Well maybe, there are some agents that are a bit reckless" Kallista replied.
"One more headache," Seraphina sighed.
"I won't give you too much of a hassle," Kallista replied.
"Good. You're not too bad Kallista," Seraphina said as she turned around to the terminal again.
"Likewise Seraphina. I'm going to try to sleep, don't stay up too late. It's not good for your skin," Kallista said as she made her way to the exit.
"Trust me, I know,"
The next morning Kallista didn't see much of Gabriel as he didn't see much of her either. He had a mission to prepare for and the last thing she needed was to be in his way, not to mention that she didn't sleep and only managed to fit in a quick nap after the daily intel meeting.
"She dozed off again…" Magnus whispered
"She must have been up late again," Aleks replied
"Banging Gabi of course," Malik sneered.
"I can hear you, you know," Kallista said as she opened her eyes and yawned.
"That got your attention," Magnus chuckled.
"Did you not sleep yesterday Director Kaines?" Linda asked.
"No. I haven't slept in two days? I ran into some issues yesterday night while attempting to sleep," Kallista replied as she rubbed her eyes.
"Issues huh?" Malik smirked.
"Oh come off of it," Kallista yawned.
She had a new lead on the double agent and was eager to look more into it, Gabriel's sudden and mysterious ailment to the sudden Cheshire events and everything else that piled on top of all of that, it drained her. She was worried, fatigued and near exhaustion but continued to push herself.
"Have you thought about taking a day to recover Director?" Aleks asked.
"Eventually but I probably would have been able to sleep during the time you numb nuts were texting at 3 AM," Kallista glared at the four in the room.
"Someone got drunk and told us how they really feel," Malik commented.
"Ok so that is not entirely true," Linda spoke up.
"Oh woe is me...Linda thinks I can't get laid," Magnus feigned hurt.
"Look I apologized! I was drunk," Linda replied.
"Ok...look I don't care about your sexual lives just make sure you're safe about it," Kallista waved off the conversation as she stood and moved towards the front of the room.
"We got a special request from Caix in the Overwatch division,"
"Caix? This must be good," Malik commented
"Who does he want us to find now?" Magnus sighed.
Officer Caix was a headhunter for the Overwatch division and occasionally called on Blackwatch to recruit a member or in simple terms, go get them for him.
"We...or should I say he was in contact with someone from the Frost Network," Kallista continued
"The Frost Network from Crimson Castle….ooohhhhh!" Magnus smirked.
"The group of spies based in a strip club. They do good work, we used to work with them when the intel department was recovering," Malik added.
"I heard. There is a particular person that Caix wants us to bring back,"
"When do we start and can I go?" Magnus asked
"No," Kallista replied.
"Aw c'mon," Magnus whined
"No. Caix, Lyuda, and Reyes will decide on who goes we just have to make sure everything is setup properly as usual and provide support," Kallista waved off the man.
"Kallista," Magnus started.
"Oh boy…," Aleks sighed.
"Here we go," Malik sighed.
"Have I ever told you how smashing you look?" Magnus tried to imitate a British accent and failed.
"Put a sock in it. I have a migraine and I don't need your whining," Kallista waved off the man again.
"You tried and failed Maggs. Where is your game? I could probably do a better job," Malik sneered.
"Linda I want you to work with Caix on this, Aleks I'm going to-" Kallista began, ignoring the two men.
"Aw, por qué tan gruñón? Qué está mal? Gabí no dejó sus marcas en ti anoche? De nuevo, dejame escuchar tu voz...gatita," Malik imitated the Reyes' voice the best he could, emphasizing the deep growly tone.
"Straight for the weakness," Magnus commented
"...S-Shut up," Kallista stammered.
"See?" Malik grinned ear to ear. Magnus and Malik both chuckled.
"You guys aren't going. It's not my choice," Kallista said and cleared her throat.
"Aw c'mon lil gatita," Magnus smirked.
"Knock it off Bondevik," Kallista frowned.
"Malik I want you to do some research for me relating to the previous Cheshire Cat like events," Kallista began.
"Aww c'mon gatita," Malik purred.
"If you don't want me to break your legs and or cane so you can walk to Mikael's room tonight. I suggest you quit while you're ahead," Kallista said as she stared blankly at the man a few feet from her.
"Ok. You got me there," Malik laughed.
"You tried," Magnus commented, Kallista snapped her fingers to catch everyone's the two men's attention.
"Magnus there are recon missions going on in the Americas with McCree and a few others. I need you to provide support for those missions," Kallista ordered.
"Sounds good," Magnus nodded.
"Kalli, what do you need me to research? Because you know I just love sitting on my fat ass and doing research all day," Malik started, bitter sarcasm in every word.
"It'll keep you busy and out of Reyes' hair," Kallista said as she went over to the man
"Eso es aburrido," Malik whined.
"If you have time to whine you have time to research. Here's what I need you to gather...once you see it I'm sure you'll come to your own conclusions and see where I am going with this," Kallista said
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Malik sighed as he prepared himself to find what she needed.
It was two hours later when Kallista returned to her room, it was barely the afternoon and yet Kallista was ready to faint from exhaustion. Kallista massaged her temples as she continued to pace around the room, another spell of insomnia that plagued her along with a dull throb from a migraine.
No concentration, no focus, and no sleep.
She couldn't remember the last time she had a decent amount of sleep, it was affecting her work and her sanity. She gave herself a pat on the back on delegating work to her team while she took time to recover from the sleepless nights and exhaustion.
A long hot shower with herbs and oils to help relax her mind and body, aromatherapy with additional relaxing oils and yet there were no signs of change.
Almost at her wit's end, she considered several times going to Lyudmila to have the woman knock her unconscious and deal with the pain of recovering instead of lack of sleep, but she knew that the woman wouldn't even dare to hit her.
"Athena apply blackout shade 75 percent," Kallista sighed as she begrudgingly she crawled into bed and underneath her plush sheets, letting darkness wash over her.
Her head felt as if it was being constantly bashed in, dull sharp throbbing traveling from the back of her right eye and down her neck, even with the small ear plugs the noises were still loud in her head.
It was too much for her to sleep.
Click
A soft noise came from the back of Kallista's throat as she heard the door open and close. She didn't need to move to see who entered, she only gave the code to one person if they needed it. It was a refuge from everything and everyone, a quiet refuge for just two.
"Still awake?" the man's voice was low, with signs of exhaustion.
"When was the last time you slept?"
"Two days ago? Coming to say goodbye? " Kallista asked. She heard a soft grunt come from the man and a soft thud of a duffle bag.
"You know I don't say goodbye," Gabriel replied as he yawned.
He was dressed in a pair of sweatpants and just a basic white t-shirt and his signature beanie missing, the duffle bag she assumed was his gear for his mission in the upcoming hours, it was rare.
"You look just as bad as I do," Kallista commented.
"Oh thanks," Gabriel said sarcastically.
She wasn't going to tell him that she was happy that he came to see her before he left, she was already worried about the man from the night before but didn't want to seem overly attached to him, that would be too much for the both of them.
That's not what they silently agreed upon, that's not what they needed.
"Aleks told me that you haven't slept for two days...so you already know what I'm going to say," Gabriel chided her. A noise that resembled a whine came from the woman as she rolled on to her side, facing away from him.
"Kallista you need rest otherwise your productivity will fall. I'm your commander it's my job to make sure that you are taking care of yourself," Kallista imitated the man. A soft chuckle came from behind her as she felt her bed dip from the weight of the man getting into her bed with her.
"You really are the 'Dad' in Blackwatch," Kallista murmured.
"I'm offended," Gabriel huffed, Kallista laughed slightly.
Even with the joke, Kallista couldn't deny the fact that there was something comforting about him that she didn't want to acknowledge.
She knew it was one sided.
She was just a quickie for him nothing more, nothing less...but yet...he was here.
"Come here…" Gabriel said softly pulling her into his arms. Kallista complied as she turned over and scooted into his embrace, resting her head gently on his shoulder. Hints of cigarette smoke, gunmetal, amber, an indescribable spice paired with his own masculine scent wrapped itself around Kallista as she soaked up the man's warmth.
His warmth relaxed her, his arms around her calmed her, and yet none of this was 'quickie' mentality.
"Gabriel…" Kallista murmured as she buried her face into his chest. A soft grumble came from the back of the man's throat as he carded a hand through her hair, another brushing her lower back.
"Sleep Kallista...you need it…" Gabriel said softly.
"So do you," Kallista murmured.
"We both do," the man's voice was barely above a whisper. A soft silence setting between the two as she laid in his arms.
She listened to his steady breaths, the soft thumping of his heart, enjoying the consistent languid soft circles on her lower back.
Kallista sighed softly and moved closer to the man, slinging her leg over the man's waist, he grumbled softly as he gently rubbed his hand along her thigh and sighed contently. She never knew what it was about the man that helped her drift off to sleep, nor did she know how they've gotten so close. But yet in the back of her mind, she constantly reminded herself not to expect anything from this.
She had to remind herself not to get greedy.
She had to remind herself not to ask for more.
She had to remind herself not to fall for him.
She had to remind herself to keep her mouth shut.
This whole affair started off as a fling, to cope with the stresses of the job and nothing more and yet here they were, sleeping together in each other's rooms, in the man's office. Comforting each other when they needed it, no questions asked. The intimacy they shared was similar to that of a couple, those knowing looks in public, then gentle touches and kisses before they indulged in each other distracting themselves.
Kallista sighed softly, and relished in the man's heat as she felt herself slipping into much-needed sleep, she would worry about what they were becoming some other time.
Rough Translations:
Aw, por qué tan gruñón? Qué está mal? Gabí no dejó sus marcas en ti anoche? De nuevo, dejame escuchar tu voz...gatita - aw, so grouchy? What's wrong? Gabi didn't get to leave his marks on you last night?
Eso es aburrido - That's Boring
