"So, any last words?"

"Are you not coming back?"

"Fine. Any last words before I disappear for weeks?"

"No."

"Wow…"

"Anything I have to say, you can hear when you get back."

"I guess that's one way to give motivation. Hey, why don't you tell me a joke instead? And save the punch line for when I get back?"

"Fine. Knock knock."

"No, wait. You're serious?"

"Knock knock."

"Who's there?"

"Ana."

"Ana who?"

"Ana. Stay safe, alright?"

"That's the lousiest joke I've ever heard."

"Do you know why that's the punch line?"

"Why."

"Because you staying safe is a joke."

"Good one. You almost hurt my feelings that time."

"Ana."

"Yeah?"

"Just come back to me in one piece."

"How about: in one piece, no new scars, and with flowers?"

"And wine."

"Talk about impossible expectations."

"I'm sure you'll find a way."

The elevator doors slid open, and their omnic guide made a short gesture to indicate they had arrived. Ana and Khalid followed Nilah down the well-lit hallway of the apartment building's 12th floor. Paint peeling at the walls' edges and the carpet's faded colours hinted at the building's age. But other than that, it seemed like a cozy and average place to live in. They stopped when the omnic halted at the door near the end, closest to the emergency exit, then followed her into the unit when she held the door open for them.

Ana swept her eyes over the apartment and decided that 'average' was indeed a fitting word for the whole building. Their rented unit was very modest in size – even the living room was only marginally bigger than Ana's room in the barracks. But it was more than enough for two people to live simply. Especially a 'married couple' without kids.

"You have your documents?" Nilah asked after closing the door.

"Yep."

"Good." Nilah handed the house's keycard to Ana, then beckoned them to follow her into the study. There were two laptops on the table in the middle of the room, already wired up and ready for use. Walking over to the bookshelves in the corner, Nilah opened a cabinet at the bottom and withdrew a black briefcase. She set it on the table, tapping in the lock code and lifting the lid, and revealed an assortment of listening and tracking devices that they had been taught to use back in base.

"This is the backup stash," Nilah explained, single blue bulb in her head swiveling to look at them. "Do not use them until our friends downstairs request for these."

"Understood," Khalid said.

"You've been instructed in their use, correct?"

"Yes."

"Good." Nilah shut the briefcase and placed it back. She gestured again at them to follow, and they went over into the bedroom, where there was a double bed and a small dressing table. She slid open the wardrobe's door and bent down towards the drawers. As with the briefcase, she keyed in a code to unlock one of them, and pulled it out to reveal the disassembled parts of a sniper rifle, submachine gun, and two pistols. She opened the drawer next to it, which contained the ammo stash. The drawer below held a spotter scope and field glass. "These, I assume you're already familiar with."

"Pretty safe assumption," Ana said, prompting the electric blue eye to turn towards her.

Nilah shut the drawers and stood. "The passcodes and mission brief are all in your computers. You know what to do from here." She strode back out to the living room with the snipers in tow. "We've asked the landlord to restrict access to the rooftop, so be discrete should you go up."

"We will."

"The ground team is in unit #11-10. Meet them when you need to, but don't attract any undue attention to yourselves."

"Understood," Ana replied.

"Good luck. I will be in contact." Nilah nodded and left the apartment with mechanical efficiency.

"So, babe," Khalid said as he put his backpack on the floor. "What should we do first? Unpack? Greet our neighbours? Get our groceries? Maybe buy some paintings to brighten up the place?"

"Dibs on the bed."

"Fuck."

"Khalid, why don't you ever remember to put the fucking toilet seat down after you use it?"

"Why don't you ever lift it up after you're done?"

"Because you're not the one who'll fall into the bowl when you go to piss at 3 in the morning!"

"Then maybe you should use your stupid eye for something useful for once, instead of ogling at your girlfriend's tits–" He winced when the roll of newspaper smacked onto his head.

"Fuck off." She glared at Khalid as he stood from the chair, and shoved the newspaper in his hands. "And take that back."

"No."

"Asshole." Ana yanked the headphones over her head, taking her shift at the desk once more. Several cam feeds were open on one laptop, overlooking the street where the indoor shooting range was located – the suspected hideout. Half the windows onscreen were still black – the ground team had not set up the rest of the hidden cameras yet. The second laptop's feed was still dark – their audio would have to be set up by today.

"What are they doing now?"

"Putting up one more cam, then wiretapping. Khairah's setting up sniffers downstairs."

"Mm." Ana settled in position, starting her third straight day stuck in front of a desk instead of being mobile like the rest of the team. Part of her was already getting restless – though the apartment was much more comfortable than a sniper's nest, and their job was similar to that in the battlefield, the computers made it feel like a desk job more than anything. Hell, it was a literal desk job. What she would not give to hold her rifle at least once.

She sat in place, attention on the video feeds and the occasional radio chatter between the ground team. And despite their progress, Ana was still stuck in one place. Watching. Waiting. Wishing her phone was with her. Tapping once on the comms device beside the laptop, each time the green light blinked to confirm that the hidden cam and taps were working. She kept her eyes moving from feed to feed, staying in motion so her mind would not wander. Her stomach growled when the smell of food wafted under her nostrils.

A takeout container smacked into her shoulder, causing her to grumble out a word of thanks and take the box. Khalid sat heavily in the chair beside hers, already digging into his own omelette.

"This is boring," Khalid griped. He tried to put his feet up on the table, but had them slapped down by Ana before he could do so.

"Worse than a nest."

"Yeah. Living with you fucking sucks."

"Try living with yourself, you pig." Ana reached out to tap on the comms – their visuals were in place. They had a 360° view of the target building and its surrounding cluster. More cams might be set up in the future if necessary, but for now what they had would suffice.

"I want a divorce."

"I want a hitman."

Khalid cocked his head in thought. "Technically, aren't we hitmen?"

"No, hitmen are illegal."

"Right… Everything's illegal until you're hired by the–" His mouth fell shut when Ana shushed him, accepting a transmission from the team below.

"Yes."

"Ana, do me a favour. Accept the feed I'm sending you."

"What is it?" Another tap on the keyboard, and a new window popped up over the cam feeds.

"Do you see anything?"

"No. It's dark."

"Pity," Khairah sighed.

"What are you doing? Aren't you working on the sniffers?"

"I'm done with them, darling. Now I'm trying to get eyes on the inside."

"Are you sure that's safe?"

"I'm quiet when I have to be, don't worry." The window disappeared from Ana's screen. "Alright then, I'll keep working on it. Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"And call me when you need a chat. It's kind of lonely down here."

The line was cut before Ana could squeeze in a smart reply – which she was glad for, to be perfectly honest.

"Khairah?" Khalid asked.

"Yeah. She's trying to get access into the building's security cams." Ana scooped a mouthful of food, watching their team pass by several cams to reach their next destination. "Kinda flirty, that one."

"Huh. Haven't noticed."

"I'm sure you will."

They had identified their targets within the first week, and taken note of their schedules in the second. The only problem was, the hierarchy within this cell remained unclear to them, and watching from the outside would get them no further. Khairah's cameras merely showed them exactly which room in the shooting range's basement they used for their meetings, but was unable to eavesdrop due to the lack of surveillance equipment inside. That was why one of their team had signed up as a member to gain access to their shooting range.

The third week had them more on edge. Direct communication with Umar whenever he was in the range was kept to a minimum, and limited to a recently procured cell phone. He spent regular 'after-work' hours in the range, and made sure to keep his aim much lousier than it actually was. A hidden body cam recorded everything he saw in the building – including a close-up of their targets when Umar had bumped into them on accident. But that was the extent of his contact with them. They were still getting nowhere, which meant they had to go deeper.

"The bug will transmit everything on an encrypted sub-frequency, it should be alright," Khairah reassured them over the radio.

"What if they can pick up this frequency?" Adnan asked, barely raising his voice above the background noise of passers-by shuffling past him.

"I would ask you to trust us, Captain," Nilah broke in. "And might I remind you, time is running short. Two teams have reported in and I expect the rest would soon follow suit. We cannot afford to delay the entire operation."

"If this fails, then it's on your head, computer." The channel went dead.

"What a dick," Khalid chimed in over their own private channel. He was stationed on the rooftop and watching over the area with the sniper rifle. A prototype cloaking device helped him blend into his surroundings and kept him out of sight. He had snatched the lookout duty from Ana, eager to test out this new device first. It was a vastly improved version of what the army currently had – this one minimised light refraction to the point that only a trained eye could detect them, even while they were moving. Put simply, it made its wearer perfectly invisible.

Ana would kick his ass for snatching the fun away from her – later.

"Just ignore him, Nilah." Ana kept her eyes on the screen, watching as the team got into position around the range – sitting in a café, reading a newspaper on a bench, pretending to wait for a friend running late. Once they were all in place, she sent a text to Umar: [You left your journal in the office.] – his signal to start moving.

"I have been, Ana. Thank you."

"Welcome."

Umar made his way into the range as usual, greeting the staff like the natural actor he was. He spent 45 minutes at the range – making Ana's fingers itch in frustration when he met the bull's eye only six times. Then he made his way to the washrooms, located in the hallway.

"Nilah," Ana said unnecessarily.

"Working on it." Nilah went silent as she put the cameras on a playback loop. "Done."

[Making dinner tonight :)]

Almost immediately, Umar exited the washroom and made for the staircase. The man walked down the quiet hallway as casually as if it were his home and, with a quick scan of his surroundings, pulled out the discrete lock-picking device from his pocket. A mere 8 seconds pressed against the keyhole later, the meeting room's door was unlocked. Ana made a note to ask Nilah where she acquired it, even though she suspected no answer would be given.

Her body tensed when Umar walked into the room and out of sight, closing the door behind him.

"Ana," Adnan's voice crackled through her earpiece.

"He just got in."

She felt her heart thud in her chest, each minute crawling by as if it were an hour. One beep finally came from her laptop, then another. The bugs were in place, and Ana could hear even the shuffle of Umar's shoes against the ground, despite his attempts to walk quietly. He quickly left the meeting room and locked the door behind him, returning to the stairs with a smile on his face. That was when Ana noticed movement towards the stairs on the ground floor.

Umar pulled out the phone vibrating silently in his pocket and answered the call without a word.

"Get under the stairs! Tangos coming down!"

The group of three had cleared one flight of stairs when Umar managed to hide under the lowest flight, staying deep in the shadows, presumably close to the wall. Ana kept absolutely silent – her call was still on. She watched the trio walk through the stairs' exit without a second glance backwards, then down the hallway and into the meeting room. After making sure the coast was clear on both floors, she said, "No alarm. Go."

Umar peeked out, then hustled back up the stairs and into the washroom. After a green light from Nilah, who had relinquished control of the cams, he strode back out to pack his things and left.

Ana leaned back in her seat with a huge sigh as Umar met up with Adnan.

"Good work. Let's regroup."

"Oh, Nilah," Ana asked. "You did account for the three's arrival, right?"

"Of course."

"Come on, Ana. Have more faith."

"Just checking."

"Oh? Why don't you check on me too?"

"Pass."

"Ouch."

"You're right," Khalid said on a personal channel when Khairah's device clicked off. "She does flirt a lot."

"Told you."

"What if she moves on you?"

Ana laughed. "Then she's lucky Milah's not here to break her nose."

If only Milah was here to break her nose, was the general gist of Ana's idle thoughts when left to rest. The fourth week wore on into the fifth, then blended into the sixth. By the seventh week, Ana had come up with a list of things to do that would make Kamilah airdrop from a speeding jet without a parachute, just to build enough velocity to punch Ana into a crater upon landing. Jumping from one rooftop to another for fun. Looking into the rifle's muzzle while it's loaded and had its safety off. Drinking hot sauce from the bottle. Hijacking a car for a joyride. And, of course, actually giving into the advances she had been receiving. All actions that would probably land her in a world of pain.

And that was the fun part.

Worry over Kamilah's well-being only made for longer hours and restless sleep. Was she eating and sleeping well? Was she having any trouble with her new role after Deyab left? Was she setting high expectations then beating herself up when they were not met? How was she feeling? Did she have anyone to talk to? Did she miss Ana as much as Ana missed her?

No, ridiculous question. Of course she did.

"Stop moping around."

"I'm not doing anything."

"Right." Khalid glanced away from the screens, as if to double check that Ana was still slumped in the chair beside him. "Moping."

"Shut up."

"It's your break. Why don't you go mope somewhere else and stop bringing me down."

"Misery loves company."

"Too bad I'm not the company it wants," Khalid said drily before turning back to the video feeds. Ana gave a drawn-out groan as her head fell back to lean on her chair's backrest. "Come on, we're already halfway there. Only one more team needs to report in and then we can move."

"I'm gonna kill them," Ana muttered, resting her eyes for the first time in 15 hours. Day by day, she found herself wanting to sit at the desk more, to the point where she had stolen Khalid's shifts twice in a row, and stayed on the job for 48 straight hours. More time working meant less time to wonder, to think. But after Khalid's intervention and threat of knocking her out, she had to settle for hugging a pillow close to her chest. A very poor substitute for her lover's warmth, but it was all she had whenever she wrestled with sleep.

"Why don't you take the roof then? Beats the hell out of moping here."

Her head buzzed when she moved – an obvious signal that she should probably take a rest, but it was one she had learnt to ignore like the rest of her colleagues. Ana heaved herself out of the chair, taking a deep breath before moving over to their equipment stash, and took out the spotter's scope. The rifle was unnecessary – they were not making contact with the enemy any time soon.

"I'm calling you back in 3 hours," Khalid told her as she picked up the stealth kit as well.

Ana merely grunted and walked out of the study.

Two more weeks passed, and Ana's mind took a different tack. When not spying on their enemies' activities, she put pen to the pieces of paper torn from a notebook she had found in the study. Instead of wallowing in the 'what if's, Ana found it more productive to think of what will – as in, what will she do when she returned to Cairo. She had clean forgotten about Valentine's and in three more weeks, she would have spent one year with Kamilah. A little celebration was in order, except she was undecided on what to do. Having a long list of ideas scribbled down on paper and piecing them together made for a good off-duty hobby.

That was, until she wondered what Kamilah would want to do. Maybe bungee jumping or wind surfing was not really her thing. Maybe she wanted to slow down and smell the roses. Or was she up for a one-on-one quad bike race all over the dunes? But that was something they had already done before. What if she wanted to do something new and special?

"Why don't you just ask her?" Khalid said, after another bout of pen scratching furiously over paper, as Ana eliminated more items from her list.

A wave of déjà vu crashed over her head, and she paused. "Then it wouldn't be a surprise anymore."

"Why does it have to be a surprise?"

Huh.

"Besides, you're going back after weeks. Don't think she'd be surprised if you pulled something special out of your–" Khalid stopped abruptly, accepting a call from Nilah downstairs. He listened with a hand on the headphones, then pulled them off when the transmission ended.

"What is it?" Ana asked, recognising the gleam in his eye.

"Adnan called for a meeting downstairs. Command just sent orders."

Ana sat by the edge of the roof with Khalid; her rifle's bipod rested on the low parapet, its butt against her shoulder. Her fingers held the grip and trigger guard almost casually as she scanned the building, the alleys, and along the street again. A war song hummed deep within her bones, lulling her into a tranquil, near-meditative state; eyes ready to snap to target, finger ready to hook and squeeze. Adnan had advised them though, that sniper fire would only be used on command, and as a last resort.

Discretion was the key to keeping this operation under wraps, and hopefully they would keep any action confined within the range's building itself. The Jordanian forces had arrived just days ago and, after a thorough briefing by the recon team, were ready to put their plan into motion. Priority one was the cell's leader – third in line for the head of new insurgency. Priority two was the kingpin of the local arms dealers. Their orders were shoot-to-kill; but for these two, 'alive' was preferable to 'dead'.

One squad was split in two – each half guarding the alleys beside the range to prevent any escape attempts. Two men were stationed outside to usher civilians away should the fighting spill out onto the streets. The snipers would aid as necessary. The main team would enter the building after the meeting had started – which was about twenty minutes ago, as Nilah reported from her station at the surveillance cameras.

Ana tensed a little when the team – dressed in civilian clothing with a bulletproof vest underneath – crossed the road towards the shooting range. Other than the bulky outline of their jackets, they appeared like any other person heading about their own business.

She watched the windows as the team disappeared through the doors, listening to Adnan talk to the first guards they encountered. It was hostile from the get-go: the range was closed and they had obviously forced their way in. A round of muffled shots from the team's silenced pistols, then she heard the sound of bodies dropping to the floor. They had not given the tangos a chance to even pull out their weapons.

More footsteps, more silenced gunshots, then shouting burst through the comms, followed by furious rattling of the insurgents' firearms. A door burst open in the background, even more shots, then shouts to take cover as something hard thudded against a solid surface. Ana heard a flashbang go off, followed by a smatter of gunfire amid the rapid thudding of shoes past Adnan's mic, and his furious barks at his squad to chase after the fleeing targets.

This is not going well.

Ana readied her rifle and Khalid pressed his eye back to his scope. Their two colleagues had sprung into action, clearing the street outside by telling hurried stories of a gas leak and potential explosion. The sidewalk and road emptied just in time for the windows to shatter under a brief spray of bullets, followed by bodies jumping over the ledges. The main entrance doors burst open to reveal their insurgent target, who managed to take only three running steps before Adnan pounced on him from behind. The soldier grabbed hold of the man's jacket and shoved him roughly onto the ground, causing the signature black hat to fall from the target's bald head. That was when Ana noticed–

It's not him.

She was about to zoom in with her cybernetic eye, but noticed a flurry of movement in the alley, where the side entrance was located. Instead of running farther into the alley, a group of three sprinted out onto the street and away from the commotion caused by the impostor. The bodyguard fell under the well-aimed shot of their crowd-usher, who was then shot by the arms dealer as he ran alongside the insurgent leader.

"Amari!" Adnan shouted, prompting Ana to look back through her scope. He was involved in a tussle with two other men while the rest of the squad had to contend with their own foes as well, pulled into unexpected physical brawls. "It's a decoy–"

"I know!" Ana yelled back, scrambling onto her feet and telling Khalid to stay down. Keeping her eye on their fleeing targets, Ana glanced back and spotted a tango rising to his feet behind Adnan, lifting a pistol towards his back. Oddly, there was no hesitation at all. Ana followed her feet – already in motion – and leapt towards the next rooftop. A gunshot and wet gurgle crackled through her earpiece, and her mind shut out the sound of Adnan falling to the ground. She slid to a stop on her knees towards the roof's edge, and set her rifle down on the parapet again.

She spotted the targets running towards a car parked by the sidewalk. Ana squeezed the trigger, landing an incapacitating shot in the arms dealer's chest. The man jerked as he fell to the floor, and was abandoned by his partner who slid into cover behind the car. During a lull in which Ana waited for her target to reappear, the deafening blast of a grenade screeched through her earpiece, causing her to wince and glance back at the range – but she could not spot the telltale signs of an explosion.

Realising her mistake, Ana quickly snapped back to the target at hand. With a stroke of luck, she had just caught him trying to run away from the car and farther up the street, where pedestrian traffic was denser. But panic took the reins and Ana fired a shot without thinking – it was by sheer luck that the bullet safely found its mark in her target's lower back, lodging into his flesh and making him fall to his knees. No confused civilians wandered into her line of shot. Although, there were terrified ones backtracking from the man, watching him with wide eyes as he slumped to the floor, before running away.

"Ana," Khalid's voice came through the comms. "Sitrep."

"Targets down. Emergency transport needed."

"Understood."

"I heard a grenade."

"Khairah threw it back in the building. It hurt no one." A brief pause. "But we have 3 casualties."

"Who?"

"Umar and Jemal are wounded. Adnan's gone."

The mission was a success – both targets were taken in alive, and the ruckus was passed off as a turf war between the local gangs. The recon team's mood, however, stayed subdued as they spent the day packing their equipment. Watching Adnan get sealed in a body bag for transport was not the greatest of mood lifters. And Ana found herself replaying the mission in her head, from that instant when she had risen to her feet and chose to turn her eyes away. It was so…fast. In all honesty, her memories were nearly a blur – which meant the mind was free to build scenario upon possible scenario of alternate actions she could have taken. But as she had done throughout the insurgency, she tucked the issue away and set her mind on something else.

Kamilah. She would be a good focus.

The team was flown back to Central Command, given a debriefing where the operation was declared an overall success, and dismissed long after the sun had set. Ana had made a beeline for the barracks, stripped down to her t-shirt and shorts, and grabbed her phone only to have her heart sink like a stone.

Mesi: [Hey. Mind talking to Kamilah when you have the time? She's been on edge for the past week. Also, hope the mission's going well?]

Mesi: [Idk if you're reading these, but talk to her when you can. Platoon kinda fucked up today and she lost her temper at her squad]

Mesi: [Haven't been able to get hold of her, so you know. Do your thing]

These were from more than a month ago.

Mesi: [Kamilah's in the hospital. Biking accident. Concussion. That's all she texted back anyway]

Mesi: [Ok she's back. Looks fine. Taking leave for the next few days. Still kinda under the weather though. Idk if you already know, but just a heads up. Give her a call when you can, alright?]

These were from last week.

Ana flew back to her spot at the edge of the barracks compound and quickly pressed for a video call. The longer it rang, the faster her pacing became. But she slowed down when Kamilah answered – without video.

She pressed the phone to her ear. "Milah?"

"Ana."

Despite the circumstances, the sound of her voice made a smile spread across her lips. Kamilah sounded fine, at least. Even if a little flat. "Feels like years since I've heard your voice."

"Same here."

"Kinda wanted to see you too, though."

"I…don't look that great right now."

"Nonsense. You always look great." She waited for a response of some sort, but got nothing. "So, how are you doing?"

"I'm okay. Had an accident on my bike last week. But I'm fine now."

"Are you hurt?"

"Abrasions. Mild concussion. Nothing much."

"That's good."

"What about you?"

"Not a scratch. How's that for a joke, hm?"

A short, weak laugh. Then nothing.

"Are you feeling alright?" Ana asked gently. "You sound…off."

"I'm fine. Just tired. That's all."

"How long?"

Kamilah paused. "I'm fine, Ana."

"Heard you had it rough recently."

"…Kind of."

"Wanna talk about it?" Ana waited, taking a seat on the kerb. But when no answer was forthcoming, she tried to fill the gap. "It's alright, Milah. Everyone has bad days. Even you. It's okay. You'll feel better eventually, but it's alright if you just want to lie down for a while. Then you can do whatever makes you feel better, when you want to."

She stopped, wondering if her words were just empty babble. But separated as they were and with the growing hollowness in her chest, it seemed empty babble was all she had. "Would a serenade help?"

The amused huff lightened the gloom in her chest. "I miss you."

"I miss you too," Ana replied softly, the undercurrent of longing rising to the surface. "When I get back, I'm going to hold you for days."

"Think I'd–" A stifled yawn. "I'd like that."

"Are you tired?" Ana chuckled.

"A little."

"Then get some rest. I'll call you tomorrow."

"Mm." Kamilah sniffed, and Ana heard shuffling in the background. "I love you."

"I love you more."

"Please don't start that now."

"Fine." Ana pouted, then remembered Kamilah could not see her. "Good night, albi."

"Good night."

Ana held the phone to her ear until its screen went dark, then fell back onto the concrete pavement behind her. She rested the phone on her chest and heaved a sigh. Closing her eyes, Ana felt her muscles turn mellow for the first time in days. She replayed Kamilah's words in her head, recounting each affectionate lilt in her voice that brought a smile to her lips. Her worry for Kamilah still lingered, mixing with the weight she still carried from the mission. But she found it easier to lay them aside, even if just for tonight.