A Fall for You - Chapter X
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Valorant Agents don't have vacations
{Excerpt from Valorant’s cafeteria recordings, Cypher’s file - CLASSIFIED}
[00:23:59] >----|--------------------------<
Sova: What I wouldn’t do for some rest? I need a full hibernation.
Sage: I dream about sleeping sometimes… It sounds so nice.
Skye: Guess that’s not really an option in our line of work.
Entupir de Brabuletas - Scatolove
Everything went wrong.
Reyna boldly advanced down the hallway and even managed to kill an attacker. However, she was subsequently shot in the forehead. Viper was displeased that she hadn't been the one to take out the Mexican agent.
This wouldn't have been a big deal if Skye hadn't blinded Chamber mid-stride. The sniper, unable to see the advancing enemies, was shot in the right shoulder. Skye was knocked down, and at point A, so was Sage.
Viper was at point B, exchanging fire with two attackers who were gaining too much space.
- Chamber, I need backup. - She called over the comms, reloading her weapon.
The French agent teleported to point B, where he had previously left one of his portals. He groaned, leaning against a wall and clutching the wound in his shoulder.
-Je te déteste, Skye… - He grumbled, taking a deep breath and raising the Headhunter, scanning for the enemies. They retreated momentarily to reload. Chamber took the moment to approach Viper.
- Eyes in the middle, I'll take care of the corridor. - She said, with both of them already aiming in opposite directions.
Chamber saw a Raze advance through the middle entrance and took aim, shooting her between the eyes. However, she threw the grenade she was holding. It would explode right above them.
- Viper! - Chamber turned and threw himself at her.
They both fell to the ground as the grenade exploded above them, destroying the nearby wall. The other grenades from the larger one fell around them, as did the rubble. Chamber managed to move them both away from the destruction, but some rocks from the wall and shrapnel from the grenade hit him in the back.
Viper gasped, quickly pulling Chamber off of her.
- My gun! - She ran to the Vandal she had dropped when she fell, picking it up and hiding behind a wall.
- Mes lunettes! - Chamber gasped, groping on the floor. - Où sont mes lunettes!?! - He whimpered. With his sudden movement, coupled with the explosion, his glasses fell from his face.
- Chamber! Get up! - Viper shouted, peering behind the wall and shooting at a figure that quickly passed by.
- I need my glasses! - The French agent crawled on the ground, grabbing rocks and throwing them away, looking for his glasses.
Viper fired again, and her gun jammed. She pulled the trigger a few more times, then checked her ammo. She was out.
- Out of ammo! Shit! - She cursed, throwing the Vandal away. She equipped her poison and fired in the direction she'd seen the attacker. - And I need you now!
- I can't see without my glasses! - Chamber said angrily, turning to Viper. Or where he thought she was. The world was a blur.
The American agent stopped, looking at him. She heard someone arming the spike.
- Seriously?
- No, damn it, I use that for style! Merde! - He went back to feeling the floor, desperate for his glasses.
Viper was silent for a second. The spike had just been armed.
And the American laughs.
Her voice was distorted by the mask, but the amusement was unmistakable. She has a melodious laugh, smooth as silk. A delightful sound, floating through the air as if the world had an obligation to stop and pay attention.
If Chamber hadn't been so upset about losing his glasses, he would have melted.
- I can't believe it. - She said, slipping down the wall. She sat on the floor, her chest rising and falling as she continued to laugh. - I'm stuck with a blind man in a shootout!
- Viper! - Chamber turned to her, ready to force her to control herself. But he stopped. - My trap has been sprung. Someone is coming from our base.
Viper held her breath, trying to control her laughter, looking in the indicated direction. She ran her hand over her holsters, groaning.
- I lost my primary weapon.
- Oh non... - Chamber knelt and activated the Headhunter. - It has five bullets. - He held the gun out to her, wincing in pain. Probably from having to let someone else touch one of his precious weapons.
Viper looked from Chamber to the gun and then back to him again. She didn't wait any longer, grabbing it and jumping to her feet. She saw the attacker, a Reyna, stepping out of the area of influence of Chamber's trap. Viper smiled, firing three shots at Reyna until she felled. She had finally managed to kill her that day. It was a feeling of freedom.
- Viper.. - Chamber groaned, leaning against one of the walls. He pressed his hand to the wound in his shoulder, trying to contain the blood that was gushing from it. - One shot, one kill, s'il vous plaît.
- Stop being a cheapskate… - The American agent grumbled, looking toward the tower in the middle of the deployment point. - Can you disarm the spike, blind man?
- I'm not blind, just nearsighted. - Chamber said sourly, looking around. He recognized some shapes, albeit blurry.
Viper chuckled at his words, composing herself more quickly this time.
- Yes or no? - Viper touched his forearm, setting up her venom wall.
- Merde. Of course I can. I'm not...
- Come on. - Viper grabbed Chamber's wrist, pulling him with her, circling the spike deployment area. - I'll raise my wall and put you in the middle tower. They planted the spike over there. Just go around until you feel it.
- Oui... - Chamber muttered, taking a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. It was terrible being blind in a gunfight.
Viper nodded and activated her wall, blocking the view of those on the attacking side. She climbed a few radianite crates with Chamber, hopping over the wall separating them from the deployment point. She pushed him against the tower in the middle of the deployment point, shielding them from the fire. The bullets passed through her poison wall toward the spike, facing the attacking side.
Viper followed the direction of the shots and spent her last two bullets there, trying to hit someone blindly.
- It's over! Ah! - She pulled Chamber with her as a Killjoy grenade activated, pulling them away from the explosion.
- Viper! - Chamber growled, snatching the Headhunter back with a flick of his hand. - Take aim, then fire. Let's not complicate it.
Viper shrugged, smirking, amused by his frustration. She thought about the remaining attackers. By her count, there were two left. One Killjoy, apparently, and the other she didn't know. The spike's whistle increased, indicating they had little time to disarm it.
- Toxins failing. - She warned, looking in the direction she thought one of the attackers would be.
Chamber shook his head, muttering in French. He activated the Tour de Force and held it out to Viper. Before the agent could take the sniper weapon, he pulled her protectively to him.
- Take aim, then fire. - He spoke slowly, then handed it to her.
Viper nodded and picked up the Tour de Force. The weapon was light and comfortable to hold. As Chamber advanced toward the spike, one hand on the tower wall for guidance, Viper aimed in the direction of the attacker. She let her toxin wall lower and saw the enemy Killjoy arming her confinement device.
- Goodbye. - Viper hissed, shooting at Killjoy.
The Tour de Force was an admirable weapon. Its shot had remarkable power. The recoil it sent against her shoulder hurt more than when she used an Operator, indicating its impact power. And the sound it produced when firing was imposing, pleasurable, and addictive. Viper understood why Chamber was so obsessed with the weapon.
- Wow... - She murmured, watching Tour de Force reload itself, in an elegant mechanical movement.
- Yeah. I know. - Chamber grumbled, bending down to disarm the spike.
Viper smiled, aiming at Killjoy's confinement device and firing until it was destroyed, enjoying the use of the formidable weapon. Chamber took a deep breath, listening to his bullets being expended indiscriminately.
- C'est bien… Tout est bien...
- This is too fun! - Viper commented, turning to Chamber. - I love this gun.
Chamber pressed his lips together, suppressing a smile at the joy in Viper's voice.
- We still need... AH! - A black blur snatched Chamber away, and this time he couldn't see anything anymore. He threw himself back, stopping the spike's disarm in mid-stride. - Non! Non! Pas enconre! - He whimpered and gasped, feeling a shot hit him. - AH!
Viper turned to the middle entrance, seeing a Fade intent on shooting Chamber. The American agent raised the gun, aimed, and shot Fade before she could hit another bullet. She didn't even savor the well-placed shot. The spike was about to explode.
- Oh, shit... Shit! - Viper threw Chamber's gun somewhere and bent down, grabbing the device to disarm the spike. She was able to do it faster because Chamber had disarmed the superweapon halfway. - Come on!
Viper let out a breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding as the spike closed, stopping the detonation process. She ran her hands over her face for a moment, her nerves on edge.
- I hate my job. - She grumbled, running her hands through her hair and resting them on her shoulders.
She turned back to Chamber and blinked a few times, surprised. The French agent had his eyes closed, breathing rapidly through his nose, his lips trembling. His left hand was clutching the wound on his right shoulder, and the other was around his waist, as if he were hugging himself. He had drawn his legs up to his chest, curled up.
Fade had done a lot of damage in just a few seconds. Viper wished she could go back in time and shoot her with more delight.
- Chamber… - Viper said, removing her mask and approaching him. He didn't seem to be listening. - Chamber… - She knelt beside him, observing his condition. He was sweaty, his hair disheveled, pale as paper. There was a fresh scratch on his cheek. Perhaps a bullet had grazed him. - Vincent… - Viper touched his knee, speaking as sweetly as she could. The French agent shivered and made to pull away, but Viper squeezed him in a way she thought was comforting. - It's me.
With that, Chamber opened his eyes, squinting as he tried to see. Viper reminded herself that he was nearsighted. He could only see up close. She leaned closer, bringing their faces inches apart.
- Sabine. - She spoke softly, without taking her eyes off him.
His pupils focused on her, slowly recognizing her. Chamber calmed his breathing, his chest rising and falling more calmly.
- Sabine… - He repeated, swallowing hard and looking around. - The spike...
- I disarmed it. - She stated, her gaze dropping to the spike. She noticed the pool of blood forming beneath them. She followed its source. Chamber had taken another shot to the waist, which was why he was clutching it. Viper looked up at him again. - You're losing a lot of blood... Would you rather... Ahw... Die and I take you all to base?
The proposal was strange. Viper preferred to think of it as comforting. Dying was never exactly pleasant. However, he was certain he would be resurrected later. It was a mandatory clause in their contract. He seemed to be in a lot of pain. Dying might be a relief under the circumstances. Damn Sage and Skye, who were killed in stupid ways and weren't there to heal him, putting him out of his misery.
Chamber smirked, shaking his head. He focused his gaze on her, the only thing he could see.
- I wouldn't like to die today. Merci.
Viper nodded, still close to him. His eyes were almond-shaped. In the daylight, they had a light honey hue.
Vincent had beautiful eyes.
- Can you move?
- Oui… - Chamber licked his lips, leaving them parted to breathe. He had thin, well-defined lips. The left corner of his upper lip was slightly larger than the other. - Go get the others. I can reach the jet. - And his lower lip was fuller than his upper one.
It was a tempting mouth.
- You're bleeding profusely. - Viper forced herself to look away from his lips. It didn't help to find his eyes focused on her. - I can help you.
And then he smiled.
Chamber's smiles weren't rare. He smiled at her every day he saw her. It was almost irritating how his face always pulled back to reveal his teeth.
However, close to him like that, she noticed how his eyes sparkled and, by heavens, he had a dimple on one side of his face.
Vincent had a damn adorable smile.
- You're worried about me, mademoiselle? - He stretched his legs, and Viper pushed her hand away. She massaged her wrist, missing his touch on her palm. - I'm honored.
The American took a deep breath, standing up.
- If you're in the mood for flirting, you can handle it. - She commented, her voice hardening. - I'll meet you at the jet.
Chamber let out a breath, as if laughing, resting his head against the tower.
- Ah, mademoiselle Callas… - He called, and she looked at him, raising an eyebrow. - You need to relax. - Chamber blinked in the direction he thought she was, identifying her blurry silhouette. - I can help you with that when we get to the base. Or here... There's still time to go to my beach house too.
Viper rolled her eyes, letting out an "argh."
Even with his suddenly beautiful eyes and mouth, Chamber was still Chamber. A filthy, annoying, lying bastard.
- Spare me, Fabrón.
Viper pulled away from him, hearing his light chuckle and feeling her heart pounding in her chest. Her rational side convinced her that her racing pulse was due to the remnants of adrenaline from the mission.
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