Lion sat on his bunk listening to music* and loading bullets in his magazines. He had dreaded going on the last mission due to his mind being constantly clouded with thoughts. He had performed better than he had been due to his emotions, but he still wasn't doing as well as he could. "Lion," came the voice of Twitch from his room's doorway. He looked up and gave her a quick smile as he worked back on filling his mags. Twitch stepped in and took a seat on the bed opposite Lion's. "You did good today, you know." Lion packed the last bullet in the mag and placed it to the side. "Thank you. I've been learning to quiet the storm in my mind when we go on missions. I'm just happy Six believed in me enough to send me on another one." Twitch crossed her legs and leaned forward resting her chin in one of her hands. Lion looked up and froze in his place. She was posed the same way Claire was the night that he...

Lion shook his head and stood to retrieve his vest from one of his dresser drawers. "I may or may not have had something to do with that," Twitch teased. Lion turned to sit back down on his bed, and he flashed Twitch an awry half smile. Twitch's smile widened as she giggled. "Let me guess- part of that knowing things you shouldn't know?" Twitch's giggle became a soft laugh. Lion nodded, shaking his head at her passive acts of deviance. "My, my, Twitch. You're becoming quite the little know-it-all, aren't you?" Twitch looked away and shrugged before looking back at Lion. Her eyes and smile beaming brightly as she spoke, "Maybe, maybe not. Who knows after all?" She stood and placed a hand on top of Lion's head and bent over now face-to-face with him. "It's good to see you coming back, Olivier," she said more sincere than ever. She stood straight up and turned to leave waving a hand as she disappeared past the door frame.

Lion hung on that last sentence she said. It's good to see you coming back, Olivier... Lion's eyes began to water. His throat burned as that hard lump that came with bursting emotions manifested itself. She really did care about him. She had been letting him vent to her about how he felt, and she had been listening. That last sentence confirmed it. He had told her he felt lost, trying to find his way back to himself- and to hear that he was coming back made him hopeful that he was close to finding the answer he had been looking for in himself. Maybe, just maybe, he could finally make up his mind as to what he wanted to do; but right now, being active in Rainbow had to come first he reasoned. Lion hummed along to the song that played over his speaker as he slipped the mags in their sleeves on his vest. It would be fine. Everything is fine.

Twitch, IQ, Echo, and Jager all laughed between themselves as they laughed at Blitz. He had insisted he was a real engineer due to his idea of incorporating flash bangs on his shield. "I'll give you props for the idea, but it takes much more to being an engineer than coming up with an idea. You have to actually do it," Twitch said holding on to her stomach and taking a deep breath. Blitz shrugged, "That's more than someone who didn't go to school for it has done." IQ nodded her head leaning on Twitch still giggling. "I'll give you that too," Twitch said clearing her throat. She looked to her right to see Lion walking to the table that Montagne inhabited with Doc. "Zut (dammit)! Looks like I have to go be referee. I'll see you all later," Twitch said blowing a kiss and waving to everyone at the table. She made her way to the table her fellow Frenchman were at, and took the spot directly beside Lion.

Rook grunted in sadness behind her as soon as her bottom met with the seat. Twitch looked over her shoulder at the poor boy who looked at her with a frown. "Je suis desole (I'm sorry), " she said with a slight cringe. "You can have the seat- and stop speaking French at me when you know I can't understand," Rook grumbled. "I'm sorry," Twitch snapped back as he sat on the end between Montagne and Lion. Lion looked at her raising an eyebrow. "Qu'est que?(What is it?)" Twitch asked. "I thought I was the asshole at the table," Lion joked. Twitch crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "Bite me, Olivier." The two laughed amongst themselves earning curious looks from Rook and Montagne, but furious eyes from Doc. Twitch glanced over at Doc and took notice of his fiery gaze. She cleared her throat and sat forward in her seat. "Tres desole, mon chere (Very sorry, my dear)," Twitch said smiling at Doc.

She knew Doc couldn't stand the fact she was growing closer in friendship with Lion day-by-day. He was polar opposites with Lion, and he thought he had the support of Twitch in their disagreement. Not to mention the feelings he shared with her, or even the tensions they couldn't relieve due to professionalism in the field. "Yeah, Doc, chill out. We're not doing anything wrong," Lion stated without malice. He normally would have took this as an advantage to egg Doc on, but his talks with Twitch had mellowed him out some. "You don't get to tell me what's right or wrong," Doc spat. He never took anything Lion said as valid, even if Lion was right. It would take Twitch, Montagne, or Rook to say it for him to listen. Childish as it may have seemed, Doc was standing up for what he believed at any measure. "Okay then, whatever you say," Lion calmly retorted. "Allez, allez, allez! (alright, alright, alright!)**" Twitch said waving a hand between the two.

"I hate when you do this. Can't my boys just get along?" All movement, except for all heads turning to her, stopped. Twitch's eyes grew wide and fearful as she looked around. "Repetez, sil vous plait (Say that again, please)" Doc said glaring a hole through Twitch's head. "I said, 'can't my boys just get along?' Why?" Doc let go of his utensil and it bounced off the table on to the floor with a clang. "Your boys?" Twitch shrugged. "We're French, and here with Rainbow. I'm the only female out of our unit, and I see you all as my boys," Twitch explained. "He is not part of our unit," Doc remarked. "But he's still a Frenchman, and he's here with us," Twitch tried to reason. Doc shook his head and stood gathering his tray. "He is CBRN, not GIGN- I don't care what his uniform says, and I don't care if he's French! He has no regard for human life. He wanted his own son aborted, for Christ's sake!" Doc shouted slamming his tray down.

The whole cafeteria stood still as all eyes were on Doc. Lion stared up at him with a tight jaw, and clenched fists. "Gustave, apologize to Olivier, right now." Doc looked around at everyone watching him. He looked down at Twitch, but pointed at Lion. "I will never apologize to someone so evil," he said before walking away from the table and leaving the cafeteria. Twitch's eyes were shiny with tears. She was upset that Doc could find it in himself to say something so cruel, but more upset that he could find it in himself to speak to her in such a way. She looked over at Lion who stared straight ahead of him completely unaware of everything around him. "Olivier," Twitch said placing a gentle hand on his upper arm. He snatched it away from her as he stood up. He turned and walked away from the table towards the exit. She watched him as he left, and could hear him sniffling over the low buzz of the voices chattering at other tables. His whole body was rigid, and even trembling. She turned back to Rook and Montagne who were now face down, poking at the scraps in their trays. "Au revoir (goodbye)," she said barely above a whisper, and pushed herself away from the table to make her own exit.

It was cold tonight. Lion sat on a bench just beside the running track. He shivered as the cold pierced through the fabric of his hoodie. He had come here straight from the cafeteria, and spent the rest of the day just sitting there. Thinking. He didn't hear Twitch come up from behind him as she took a seat on the opposite end of the bench. "I thought I'd find you here," she said with a huff. There was a long silence between them before she spoke again. "You know it's two o'clock?" she asked looking straight ahead like he was. Lion sighed a long and heavy sigh. "When did I leave the cafeteria?" he asked. "About 5:40." Lion sighed again. He had been sitting there for almost nine hours. Lion sniffled as a few tears fell from his eyes. "Doc is right about me," Lion said, his voice riddled with despair. "Tais toi, (shut your mouth)" Twitch snapped turning her attention to him. "He is wrong about you. He is acting on his humanitarian side, which is slowly becoming his worst side." Lion turned his head slightly towards her. His eyes were swollen and red from hours upon hours of crying. Twitch slid down the bench closer to him.

She ran a hand through his hair and softly squeezed his chin warranting a smile. "Just when you were doing so well," Twitch said frowning. Lion gave her a half-hearted laugh as his head fell in defeat. Twitch wrapped an arm around Lion and hugged him tight. "Olivier, look at me," Twitch breathed. Lion looked up at her with the saddest eyes she'd ever seen. "You are better than you were back then. You are better than you were yesterday. Tomorrow, you will be better than you are today," Twitch said with a weak but hopeful smile. Lion returned the smile, and Twitch pulled him down to her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, squeezing him tightly. He wrapped his shaky arms around her, pulling her tight. "It will be okay, mon amour. It will be okay."

*The music/song I was listening to at the time was Sincerely by Tsutchie. I felt like it was perfect to capture the mood of the scene, and I also felt like it would be something that my vision of Lion would listen to. Give it a listen, it's very chill and beautiful c:

**When I took French in school, I was told 'Allez' used in the way Twitch did was more of an attention-getter. In this instance, she was using it to break up the dispute. c:

I hope the story is going great so far. I hope I'm not taking away from anything with all the tears. I'm still working on embodying the "tortured character" feel lol. Also, I'm sorry for making Doc seem like a meany, but he has that feud with Lion soooooo... :p Let me know something~! Enjoyyyy ^^