The safehouse door slammed shut behind them with a finality that echoed like a shot. The silence that followed wasn't peaceful—it was loaded, wired tight, and ready to blow.
Lilly adjusted the strap of her thigh holster, jaw clenched, her eyes locked on the blueprint Sam had laid across the table.
Top-secret location. Deep underground. A breaker panel with a name—the name—that Alyx had died for. The last breadcrumb in a trail soaked with blood.
Ava leaned against the far wall, arms crossed, smirk sharp enough to cut glass. "What's the plan, Commander?" she purred. "Or are we improvising like usual?"
Sam stepped between them like she'd been doing nonstop for the last forty-eight hours, eyes pinched from lack of sleep and infinite tension. "We need to stay focused. This place is buried beneath an old black site. Triple-reinforced entry. No cameras, no signals. If we're going to make it out, we go in, get the panel, and get out clean. No drama."
Lilly scoffed, voice low and loaded. "Then maybe leave her here."
Ava's head snapped toward her, that signature smirk already blooming like a bruise."I heard that."
"Good," Lilly shot back. "Maybe you'll hear the next punch too."
"Oh please," Ava sneered. "The last time you tried that, I barely felt it."
"Oh yeah?" Lilly growled, stepping forward. "Let's test your pain tolerance again, sweetheart."
Sam threw her hands up, exasperated. "Seriously? Right now?!"
But Ava was already stepping in, eyes sharp, grin dangerous. "You always were a hothead, Lil. Maybe if you spent less time trying to punch your problems, you'd still have your damn team—"
Lilly lunged. Ava didn't back down. Words flew like shrapnel.
"You think I wanted this war?! You started it the moment you left! "I left to protect you, you ungrateful brat!" "You left because you're a coward!"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP" Sam exploded, finally losing it. "BOTH OF YOU!"
Neither listened. Not even a pause. Just more yelling—overlapping, venomous, messy.
So, Sam pulled out her gun.
And fired straight into the air.
The echo was deafening. Dust trickled from the ceiling.
Lilly and Ava? Still yelling. Still circling like wolves.
Sam stared at them. Unblinking. Then stormed forward and shoved them—both—onto the cold concrete.
Flat on their asses.
They froze for maybe half a second.
Then:
"She started it," Lilly muttered.
"No, you did—" Ava snapped, pointing accusingly.
"Oh my God," Sam hissed through her teeth, rubbing her temples. "You two are five. Actual five-year-olds."
They kept squabbling. Sam fired another shot, this time into the wall near their heads.
Both of them flinched.
"Next time I shoot the both of you," she growled, deadly calm. "Now shut up, get up, and act like the operatives you're supposed to be before I knock your heads together so hard you forget your trauma."
Lilly and Ava sat in stunned silence… then slowly, grudgingly stood.
"…She started it," Ava whispered again.
"I will shoot you, Ava" Sam snapped.
A beat. Then, finally, silence.
Tense. Fragile. But silence.
For now.