Chapter Text
A few hours later, the VLT/R touched down outside the VALORANT Protocol headquarters, and Skye wasted no time in rushing the injured blonde to the med bay. She had been able to stabilise with QuikClot and a heavy dose of sedatives, but her condition was still dire and required immediate attention.
The med bay was filled with the familiar buzzing sound of technology and the smell of sterilised medical equipment as Skye rushed the woman in as carefully as she could.
As she came through the double-doors, Sage was already waiting for her, and the woman was carefully transported to an unoccupied bed. Within seconds, her vitals were being monitored and her wounded arm was being examined by the senior medic.
A soft hiss of air came from the medical scanner that was hovering above the woman’s right arm and after a few moments, it deactivated with a beep, displaying an error on the screen.
Sage stared at the screen for a few seconds, her eyes widening as she read the output. Finally, she turned to Skye with a concerned look, „Skye, she doesn’t have a record…”
„She what?” Skye asked, confusion and concern filling her voice as she hurried over to look at the screen. After a few seconds, it finally dawned on her what Sage was saying.
The woman didn’t have a record, not only in the Protocol database but anywhere on Alpha or Omega Earth, period. She didn’t have an ID, no medical records, nothing; almost as if she’d been born off the grid or in a different galaxy.
„She’s a bloody ghost operative,” Skye breathed in disbelief, „She has no record anywhere, anywhere at all, she’s untraceable. How the bloody fu—„
Sage cut her off before she could utter another obscenity, „We have no way of tracing her or identifying her, the only thing we can do is keep her stabilised and try to get her to talk once she’s awake again.”
Skye looked at the woman’s unconscious state after Sage said that and her expression soured, „How the hell are we supposed to make her talk if she doesn’t trust us? She was terrified out of her damn mind when we found her; she hasn’t let anyone but me touch her, and even then she was clearly super uncomfortable. Even if she does wake up, there’s a good chance she’s just going to go straight back into fight or flight mode.”
„We’ll manage,” Sage said with a calm certainty that wasn’t typical for her, „We’ll use advanced interrogation tactics if—„
„No!” Skye cut Sage off, stepping between her and the mystery woman’s bed. „Absolutely not, Ling Ying. She’s already been through hell. We don’t need to add bloody torturing her on top of that.”
„Skye,” Sage continued to speak, unbothered by the Aussie’s interruption, „She’s not just another mystery woman, she is a mystery operative, and we know next to nothing about her.”
Her tone sharpened and she got up in Skye’s face, „Are you just going to let your feelings override good judgment here, Skye?”
„The only thing overriding good judgment is your stupid torture fetish. We are not Kingdom. You do not work for Kingdom anymore.” Skye took a step back toward the bed, setting a hand on the railing, „We don’t torture people. Under any circ*mstances.”
„This isn’t about Kingdom” Sage snapped back, stepping forward herself, „This is about the fact that there is a possibly hostile, extremely talented warrior running around without an ID and without anyone to keep them in check.”
Her voice grew, „And while she may just be an innocent civilian, we can’t afford to take that a bloody chance. Now get out of the way.”
Skye didn’t move. „Make me.”
There was a beat of silence between the two of them as they held eye contact, both stubbornly refusing to back down in what was quickly turning into a pissing contest.
Finally, Sage clenched her fist in frustration and let out a deep sigh, „Screw you,” she growled, pulling her radio out of her pocket and talking into it, „Viper, Skye is being a stubborn jackass about the mystery woman, get your ass in here now.”
Viper’s voice came through the radio immediately, her tone just as firm and sharp as always, „Copy. Sage, walk away. I’ll be there in a minute to mediate.”
Despite her frustration, Sage didn’t hesitate. She did exactly what Viper had ordered and stepped away from Skye and the bed with an exasperated look on her face, mumbling under her breath, „God damn it.”
A moment later, the door to the medical bay slid open and Viper entered, taking in the situation as soon as she crossed the threshold.
Sage turned to face her, her voice quiet as she gave a detailed account of what had happened and the conversation she’d just had with Skye, ending with, „She’s refusing to acknowledge the danger this woman might pose. She’s being a damned idiot, and I need you to slap some sense into her.”
Viper walked with a confident stride across the room as she responded, „I heard the whole conversation, Sage, and you did a piss poor job of reasoning with her, I’ll give you that.”
„But Skye’s right, we aren’t torturing a damn woman just because she’s a little traumatised. We’re better than that. We’re not Kingdom.”
Sage was visibly infuriated by this, her eyes narrowing, „This isn’t about Kingdom, this is about the security of VALORANT Protocol, Viper. You don’t think it’s the least bit suspicious that she doesn’t have any records at all? That there’s nothing of her anywhere in any database? We have no way of knowing if she’s innocent or not!”
„The Protocol is perfectly safe, Sage,” Viper turned to the senior medic, crossing her arms, „She’s a neutral party, she’s no danger to us.”
„And how the hell do you know that, Viper?” her tone rose higher and higher in frustration, „She is an unknown factor, there is no way for us to say for sure she isn’t hostile, we could have a damn sleeper agent in our hands!”
„I know who she is because I have a higher clearance. She has records, they’re just not visible to you. If she wants to tell you who she is when she wakes up, that’s fine, but you don’t get to find out unless the words come from her mouth uncoerced.”
It was evident from the look on her face that Sage had never felt so humiliated in her entire life as she stared at Viper with her mouth hanging open. It took her a full ten seconds before she could utter a single word, „You’re sh*tting me.”
„Language, Wei,” Viper replied, taking a step closer to the senior medic, her expression hard as she continued, „You need to leave the room now. Not because I’m siding with Skye, but because you can’t seem to grasp the simple fact that torturing someone is not only unethical, but counterproductive. And for that, you’re a liability. In fact, effective immediately, Skye is in charge of this woman’s case.”
Sage could barely believe what she was hearing as she stared at Viper, a dark expression on her face as she slowly backed across the room, her voice growing softer and softer as she realised the reality of her situation, „You can’t be serious.”
„I am fully serious, Wei Ling Ying. You are relieved for the day.”
Sage clenched her fists, but she knew she didn’t have any grounds to object. In fact, her own behaviour had given Viper the right to do more than just kick her off the woman’s case, and the only choice she had was to swallow her pride and accept it.
„Fine,” she ground out with her teeth clenched, „But when this ends up blowing up in our faces, I don’t come crying to me.” With that, Sage stormed out of the room, leaving only Skye, Viper and the mystery woman in the med bay.
Skye and Viper silently watched the senior medic storm out of the med bay as the door slid closed behind her. After a few moments, the Aussie turned to the mysterious woman and let out a heavy breath, „I swear that woman’s going to give me a bloody aneurysm one of these days.”
Viper laughed quietly, „You said it, not me. But, in all seriousness, are you okay? That whole little altercation couldn’t have been easy on you, Skye, even if you did handle it as well as you could have under the circ*mstances.”
„I’ll live,” Skye sighed, leaning against the railing beside the woman’s bed, „But it is definitely reassuring that we’re not going to start using medieval interrogation techniques on innocent women. She really shouldn’t have taken it that far, though.”
„Sage takes her job very seriously,” Viper said with a small shrug, „She’s always worried about worst-case scenarios. She forgets that the most likely outcome is usually much more boring.”
Skye nodded in understanding, „I get that, I mean we should all be mindful of the worst-case scenario, but she’s taken it too far, she’s completely obsessed with it to the point where she’s willing to set aside her own morality in order to prevent an unlikely nightmare from coming true. That’s not healthy, Viper,” she said with a hint of genuine concern.
There was a beat of silence as Viper took a moment to take what Skye said in.
„I think she’s just scarred from her time in Kingdom,” she finally said, „She’s got a whole mess of trust issues and she’s not likely to get over them anytime soon, but I agree, this can’t keep going on. I’ll have a talk with her later. Let’s get back to the mystery woman in front of us, who I’m going to bet is probably waking up any minute now, if her stirring is any indicator.”
And, as if on cue, the woman let out a soft moan and her eyes fluttered open, slowly focusing on her surroundings. It took her a few seconds before she was fully awake and she immediately froze when she saw the two women standing next to her bed.
„G’mornin’, love.” Skye said, calmly stepping toward the bed and keeping her voice soft as she tried to put the woman at ease, „You’re in the medical wing of the VALORANT Protocol headquarters, you’ve been here a few hours. Everything is okay, you’re safe.”
The woman blinked in confusion as she looked at Skye, her eyes flicking to the side as she slowly sat up on the bed. Her breathing was rapid as she processed her surroundings and tried to recall what had just happened, until finally, she tried to speak, but all that came out was a pained moan.
„Easy, easy,” Skye said, gently putting a hand on the woman’s midriff, „Just take deep breaths and try not to move too quickly, you might be a bit woozy from the sedatives.”
The woman nodded and tried to take a deep breath, but found herself gasping and wincing from the pain in her left arm instead. Skye’s hand was still on her midriff, now gently rubbing her side in small circles as she tried to get her to relax.
The woman’s breathing evened out after a few moments as she finally seemed to recognize that the Aussie wasn’t a threat, but she continued to stare at Viper with a look of fear on her face, her entire body tense as if waiting for the woman to strike.
A few seconds passed, until the woman finally looked back at Skye. Though she still seemed uneasy, she seemed to be more alert and aware of her presence if not her intent. Still, she was keeping an eye on Viper, who was standing motionless in the far corner of the room.
After a few more beats of tense silence, the senior agent spoke, „I’ll leave you two alone,”
„Probably a good idea.” Skye replied, giving Viper a small nod, „I’ll keep you updated on how she’s doing.”
Viper nodded back and stepped out, closing the door behind her and leaving Skye and the mystery woman alone.
As soon as the door slid closed, Skye leaned closer to the woman, lowering her voice to a whisper. „It’s just us now, love. Can you please tell me who you are?”
The woman stared at Skye for a couple of seconds as her eyes scanned her from head to toe before she finally spoke, her voice barely above a whisper, „Can’t trust you.”
Skye was caught off guard by just how blunt the woman was being, she’d never had someone so resistant to her before. Though there wasn’t much she could do at this point to convince her of her innocence, Skye kept her tone soft as she continued, „That’s understandable. What can I do for you to trust me, then?”
The woman seemed to mull over her words carefully while Skye waited, but after several long seconds, the woman finally spoke again. „Prove you’re not Kingdom.”
It took a lot of effort to not roll her eyes at such a ridiculous request, but Skye still managed to keep her composure.
„What makes you think I’m with Kingdom?”
„Voice. Body language. Clothes. You seem like… professional.” the woman replied quickly, „If you’re not Kingdom, you’re a mercenary.”
Skye couldn’t help but hold back a snicker at the woman’s confidence and bluntness, „Well, you’re half right, at least. I’m not with Kingdom, but I definitely am a professional, and I guess you could call me a mercenary as well. But, I’m also not here to hurt you. I’m a member of the VALORANT Protocol, a special ops agency dedicated to preserving peace across the world. Our direct enemy is Kingdom.”
The woman looked Skye up and down, still scanning her as she tried to get a better understanding of the Aussie’s intentions, before finally settling on a response, „How am I to believe what you tell me? Kingdom will lie to anyone if it suits them.”
Skye smirked slightly as she met the woman’s gaze, „You don’t have to believe anything I’m telling you, but if I were a Kingdom operative, would I be here trying this hard to make you feel safe?”
The woman was quiet for another moment before she spoke, „Fair points. But what if you’re lying about your intentions? For all I know, you could be trying to build up some kind of rapport with me before you turn me over to Kingdom.”
„Why would I do that?” Skye asked, crossing her arms as she leaned against the bed railing, „I have no intentions of sending you anywhere. Once you’re ready to talk, I actually have some very important questions for you. Kingdom has been the main focus of the Protocol for a very long time, and you could be our first opportunity to get some real intel on them. If you’re open to it, that is.”
The woman seemed to consider Skye’s words, but she still seemed sceptical, „If I say no?”
Skye had to hide the smile that wanted to slip out, „Then I’ll respect your decision and leave you alone. I can’t force you to talk to me, and I wouldn’t even if I could. It’s your right to refuse, but you’d still have my protection here at Protocol. The same goes for all agents. I’m not a bully or a monster, I’m not going to force you into saying something you don’t want to say.”
The woman thought about it for a few seconds, her gaze flicking back to the floor before she finally spoke, „Okay. But only because you said the magic words. If you’d threatened me, I would have refused outright. That’s what Kingdom does, they threaten and intimidate and bully. I have one condition of my own.”
„Which is?” Skye prompted, a small smile creeping back onto her face. She was beginning to like the fire and attitude of this woman, even if she was a tad stubborn.
„Only you. I don’t talk to anyone from Protocol except you.” the woman said calmly, „If anyone else comes in here, I’ll just tell them to piss off. And if you try to lie or hide things from me, I’ll leave here, no matter what condition I’m in. Until I can trust the others, I’ll only talk to you, got it?”
Skye was honestly taken aback by how assertive the woman was being, but she couldn’t help feeling impressed as well. Though her curiosity was slightly piqued by the woman’s seemingly specific distrust of the other agents, Skye had no intention of letting it get in her way.
„Got it,” Skye agreed, „And don’t worry, I won’t hide anything from you. You only have my word on that, but for now, could you tell me your name?”
The woman remained silent for a moment, seemingly considering Skye’s request before she finally spoke, „The name I was born with was Iselin,”
