Chapter Text
Iselin exited the taxi and walked into the bar. She had just finished one of those long stressful weeks that left her needing to blow off some steam. She usually went there about once a month sometimes with friends and sometimes by herself. She walked up to the bar and grabbed a Jack and coke before sitting down in the corner. She pulled out her phone and started scrolling, sipping her drink at the same time. She enjoyed the music and decided she would stay for a couple hours until the place got too busy or someone interesting walked in.
About two drinks later two people walked in, on a tall muscular man with long ginger hair and a matching beard. Iselin’s heart skipped a beat when she saw the woman laughing next to him. She was about the same height as Iselin, but almost twice as broad, and Iselin was considered pretty muscular. Her flaming red hair was tied in a loose braid that laid on her shoulder. She was wearing a well fitted dark green t-shirt that hugged her body underneath a black unzipped leather jacket and dark jeans with a small silver ring in her left eyebrow. Her skin was tan and a few scars showed on her hands and one on her collarbone. She walked with confidence and ease.
She and her companion went up to the bar and ordered some beers, making themselves comfy on the barstools. They sat together talking and laughing. Every now and then Iselin could pick up a bit of her voice. It was smooth and had a thick accent, but she was obviously a native English speaker. After a few more songs the person who now had total control of her and didn’t even know it finally looked in her direction. Her green eyes quickly scanned the room, when she started to turn her attention back to her friend her gaze caught sight of the Norwiegen, she doubled back and they made eye contact from across the room.
Just then a man slid up next to her, tearing her gaze from the other woman’s. Ise knew the type, stupid, annoying, and unfortunately stubborn
“What are you doing here alone” he asked, obviously thinking he was smooth
“Sorry, I’m not interested” she responded, trying to end it early
“Woah I wasn’t even to that part yet” he chuckled “You don’t even know what I have to offer”
“Whatever it is, it’s definitely not worth my attention” she countered, trying to project the annoyance into her voice
“Well how do you know that?” He continued
“Because you are a man” she said, really hoping he would take the hint
He just gave her a very confused look
She sighed, “I’m into girls, so please stop wasting your time”
“Well trust me, you’ve never met anyone like me before”
She was starting to get uncomfortable. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the bearded man get up and start making his way over there.
Oh great now I have to deal with two of them she thought and started making an escape plan
“Come on, just give me a chance” he whined
“Is there a problem here” asked the ginger man in a deep rumbling voice
The annoying one jumped and turned around
“Uhhh n-n-no” he squeaked and practically scrambled away with a hilariously terrified look on his face
The big man rumbled a laugh
“You okay there” his voice became softer as he addressed the blonde woman
“Yeah I’m fine”
“Do you wanna come join me and my friend” he offered
Iselin’s brain short circuited, join him and her, the one who is way out of my league and totally isn’t interested, right? But the few seconds of eye contact kept replaying in her head.
Amidst her gay panic, the man stood and waited for a response.
“Why not” she finally answered
She got up and followed him across the room taking a seat next to the hot woman.
“Hi, I noticed that guy being a creep and I sent Eric over to help you out” she said matter of factly
“Yeah, thanks for that, he was far to stupid and determined”
The other lady let out a sharp bark of laughter, throwing her head back. Her eyes sparkled with brown flecks in the neon lights. It made Ise smile and laugh a little herself.
“M’ names Kirra by the way” she smiled
“My name is Iselin” she responded
Behind her, Eric checked his phone and got up.
“Whelp I gotta bounce, have fun you two” he winked
Kirra laughed and Iselin smiled and blushed
“Never mind him, he’s a practical jokester” she said
“But while I have your attention is there any chance I could buy you a drink?”
They talked for hours, far longer than Iselin had planned on staying. They laughed and smiled and drank. The bar was now busy and they were playing the best songs.
The D.J. came on over the speaker, “Hey folks, we’re gonna slow it down now”
Until I Found You by Stephen Sanchez started playing. Iselin enjoyed the song and a flash of a smile crossed her face. Kirra caught it and they made eye contact. The other woman stood up and offered her a hand.
“May I have this dance?” She asked
Iselin rolled her eyes but took her hand anyway. It was larger than Ise’s, and calloused and tough, but still gentle. They took their spot on the dance floor among lots of other couples. Ise set her hands on the larger woman’s shoulder’s, only her shirt separating her hands from the rippling muscles underneath, her coat left on the bar stool. Kirra’s hands settled on the curve of her waist. They danced slowly, hardly breaking eye contact and slowly drawing closer. When the song ended, their bodies were pressed together. Their faces slowly drifted towards each other. She caught Kirra’s eyes flicking down to her lips.
“Can I?” Kirra asked for consent
Iselin quickly closed the gap. The kiss was short, but she could tell that Kirra was down for her. After they broke apart they stayed close for a few seconds.
“Do you want to come home with me?” Iselin whispered
“There’s nothing I want more” Kirra responded
With that they both settled their tabs and called a cab.
Kirra’s eyes slowly fluttered open. She looked down at the blonde in her arms. She was sleeping peacefully with her head on Kirra’s chest and one hand on the other’s abs. She took some time to admire the sleeping woman and savor her touch. She checked the clock and decided she better get going if she was going to make it to the VLT/R. Breach and the rest of the team were undoubtably wondering where she had disappeared to. She didn’t want to go though. She felt like there was something deeper between them than just a quick hook up. There were definitely a few thin strings attached, but life in the Valorant Protocol didn’t leave much time for dating or relationships. She Made her way out of bed and picked up her clothes, trying to not wake Iselin. After she was dressed she found a pen and a notebook on the desk in the corner. She flipped to a blank page and wrote down
Thank you for last night. I don’t really stay in
one place, but if you want here’s my number.
888-447-5594
She left the note book open on the night stand. She stopped in the doorway of the bedroom, savoring one last look at the Norwegian before forcing herself to walk away.
When she showed up the entire team all raised eyebrows and laughed.
“You almost missed your ride hot shot” Breach joked, giving her a knowing smile “Wait what’s that?” He stopped her as she started to board the ship pulled her collar back to reveal a hickey
“Ooooooo” he teased
Everybody laughed including Skye, turning a bright shade of red.
Most of the flight home all she could think about was Iselin. Her voice, her laugh, her smile, her taste. As much as she loved the VP she sometimes just wished to lead a normal life.
“Hey, you okay? You seem distant.” Sage asked sliding into the seat next to her
“Huh? Oh, yeah I’m good.” She said slurring her words together
Sage raised an eyebrow, obviously not buying it.
Skye sighed, “It’s just that the person I, um, y’know, with last night, it just felt different.”
“Different how” the healer pressed
“I don’t know, it just felt like more than just one little fling. It felt deeper, more meaningful, but I just” she cut herself off with another sigh
“You want to be with them, but you don’t know if you can make it work?”
“Exactly, also we never explicitly stated anything so I don’t know if it is the same for her or not”
“I wouldn’t really know about having relationships outside the protocol, but its likely that if you felt something she also did too”
“Thanks Sage”
The other woman, though not much older, alway had a way of knowing exactly how to help.
About two years later the pair were still in contact. They had a conversation just about every other day. Though it had been years since they had seen each other in real life, Skye kept that image of the last few moments they had been together crystal clear in her memory. The soft morning light on her hair, the fully relaxed look on her face, the four dot tattoos on her cheek contrasting with the pale skin around them. Not a day went by where she didn’t regret missing her chance to tell Ise how she felt. And not a minute went by where she didn’t think of her. She would trade her entire life to get one more minute with her.
Iselin still replayed the moment in her head over and over. When she had woken up cold and alone with a note on the nightstand and no Kirra with it. She hated her for it, but she could never hate the Aussie, she hated what she did, but not her, never her. They still texted often, both of their lives had moved ahead, but there was still that thread between them, holding them together no matter what. Iselin had found a girlfriend in the Stallyagger, but she still thought of Kirra. Frøya never really liked the red head much, even though they had never met, just talked over the phone during one of the rare calls when both of their time zones lined up and it wasn’t ridiculous hours of the night for one. Iselin loved Frøya, but she still thought about Kirra far too much. After this final mission her, Frøya, and her sister would be free to live a normal domestic life, just one more mission. Unfortunately that one mission was when their luck ran out, and right before she passed our from blood loss, the last thing that passed through her head was Kirra.
“Skye report to the med bay immediately! I repeat Skye to the med bay immediately!” Sage said urgently over the intercom.
Skye shot up from the bench after racking her weights. Sage had caught her at the start of her work out.
“Oh Skye, what did you do now” Breach, who was spotting her, teased.
She just rolled her eyes as she ran out the door. She had to go about halfway across base, she heard one of the VLT/Rs landing overhead as she speed jogged through the corridors. She pushed in through the med bay doors to find Sage with her back turned, preparing some medicine.
“Go grab some scrubs” she directed without turning around
Skye did as she was directed and began preparing for surgery. Once they were ready, they just waited for their patient to arrive.
“So what happened?” She asked, genuinely curious what the hustle was about “Did Phoenix get shot again because if I have to pull another bullet out of his chest I swear I-“
Just then she was shut off by the doors opening. Ka/yo ran in carrying a bloody figure in his arms. He set them down on the operating table and stood by.
“How long has it been, how much blood has she lost, and where was she?” Sage questioned
Skye just stood and stared in shock while the two discussed the incident and the monk set about her work. This wasn’t possible. This wasn’t happening. There was no possible way it could be. But she knew, the unconscious woman lying on the table before her was, without a doubt, Iselin.
“C’mon Skye, we don’t have any time to waste, its a miracle she’s still alive as it is.”
The aussie snapped back to reality and set to about her work.
Over the two days that Iselin had been unconscious, Skye had taken care of her. She was in stable condition and expected to wake up at any minute. When she was at her desk in the med bay filing out paper work, she heard a small noise behind her. She turned around and went to check on Ise, it was about time for another IV anyway. As she approached the bed she saw that her head had moved and her body had shifted a bit. She started the process of getting a new IV ready when she heard a groan from the Norwegian. She turned around and saw that her eyes were open the slightest bit. She slowly went up to the bedside as not to startle her. She saw her blue eyes track her every move, even though she had just woken up.
“Hey Iselin, nice to see you awake”
Her eyes were slowly adjusting to the sharp lights and she was beginning to come back to consciousness. Skye sat next to her and slowly moved her hand closer to the others. After no signs of disinterest, she hooked their pinkies together. After about fifteen minutes Iselin was fully awake and functioning to the best of her ability.
“Take it easy, let me go get you some water.”
She stood up and grabbed a paper cup by one of the sinks. She helped Iselin drink it carefully.
“There ya go. Feel better mate?”
“Kirra” she croaked
“Yeah, it’s me”
The blonde smiled weakly and started quietly crying happy tears. Skye sat down next to her once again and brushed away a tear with her thumb. She wrapped her arms around the other’s shoulders. She felt Ise’s hand on her waist and they just sat there holding each other, happy to be together after so much time apart.
“Hey Ise, I have somethin’ to tell you that I should have a long time ago.” She said pulling back a little
They looked into each other’s eyes.
“I-I love you” she said, all of her hard earned confidence turning into mush
“Love you” Iselin responded quietly
The Norwegian grabbed the fabric of Skye’s t-shirt and weakly pulled their bodies together. The ginger slowly moved her face closer until they were less than an inch apart. Iselin brought their lips together. After missing each other for so long they spent the rest of the day together, Skye hardly leaving Iselin’s side unless absolutely necessary. After wasting so much time, they both intended to spend as much as they could together, for as long as they could.