While Sage walked Jett and Yoru towards the direction of Brimstone's office, she was lost in thought about the conversation she had with Jett yesterday.

She wanted to pity Jett for what had gone through her head at the time, yet Sage found it selfish. How could she throw away everything she had? Sage knew she was hurting at the time but she was there. She was always there to support Jett when she needed it. Maybe Sage was naive and didn't understand feeling like that, but still...she just didn't understand why or how Jett began to think so low of herself.

As they walked down the long-familiar hallway, Jett had caught up beside Sage and gave a small grin.

"You walk too fast" She complained

Sage rolled her eyes and quickened her pace as if to tease Jett, "Maybe you're just slower than the average being"

"Are you serious?"

Sage laughed and continued walking forward, "I'm just kidding"

"I know you're kidding" Jett grumbled, running back up to Sage's side in no time.

Jett wasn't the only one grumbling. Yoru was behind stomping his foot and trying to speed-walk his way over to the two girls.

"I am too tired for this" Yoru yawned, eventually giving up on catching up to them and deciding to trail behind.

Sage felt herself smiling more and more each day. Maybe it was because she was starting to feel happier again. Then again, Jett was always the one who made her smile the most. And now that Jett was here, the obvious signs of warmth and happiness were coming back other. Sage just hopes it won't get snatched away again.

They all stopped at the front of Brimstone's office and Jett waited for Sage to knock on the door. Sage stared at Jett for a couple of seconds and brought an arm to her shoulder.

"He's probably going to ask you to join Valorant now that you've succeeded in battle with his team. Are you sure you're ready for that?"

"You act like he's never offered me a position"

"Well, that's true. But now he has a way better chance at convincing you to join now. I just- If you're not ready, then don't push yourself. Jumping straight into Valorant is a tough decision after all"

"Are you saying I should reconsider?"

"No- I never said that. It was just a warning"

Jett took a step forward with narrowed her eyes and leaned into Sage's ear, "Or is it because you don't want me here.."

Sage could feel her face heated and ears burn, "No-"

Jett jumped back with a shit-eating smirk, "Just kidding! Thanks for the advice, but we'll see once I actually get in there"

Before Sage could get a word out, Jett was already opening the door- clearly without knocking and bursting in.

Yoru walked up to Sage and patted her shoulder as if to offer support, "You got some big trouble in your hands"

Sage watched Yoru chuckle to himself and walk in, closing the door behind him. Leaving Sage's heart aflutter and red from head to toe.

Sage didn't know what to think at that moment. What Jett did..she's done that to her before but she's never reacted like that before. In fact, a lot of things Jett has been doing had a major effect on her. Specifically with her heart picking up speed.

Again, she asked herself, 'What is this feeling?'

~~

"Boom! Officially signed and approved document to be the new duelist at Valorant" Jett whistled as she shoved the paper into Sage's face.

Sage had been doing a bit of paperwork to pass time before she heard the doorknob to the Medical ward rattle then it busting open.

Getting up from her seat, she took the paper and scanned it over with her eyes. She smiled warmly and placed it carefully onto her table, "That's great, Jett. I'm very happy for you"

"Are you sureee?"

Sage tilted her head, "Why wouldn't I?"

"Mmm..nothing. Anyways, Brimstone said all agents have the day off!"

"Yes, it is Saturday after all. We don't have any missions to attend to on the weekends unless it's life-threatening"

"Sooo.."

Sage looked at Jett with suspicion, "So?"

"Wanna do something?"

"I-..Don't know. I have a lot of paperwork to do and-"

"Come on! This is me making up for lost time. I promise we will get back before midnight so that you have enough time to do your dumb paperwork"

"Always a party person aren't you?" Sage chuckled before continuing, "Okay..fine. But we actually have to be back before Midnight. Valorant has a curfew as well"

"Great, just when I thought I escaped the pain of curfews" Jett frowned but didn't let it dampen her spirits, "It's alright. We can walk around the city- ooh, I can show you this cool video game store I saw on the way. I know Phoenix is more into games than you, but I'm sure there's an arcade in there. And, I think there's this other cookie place I saw...."

Sage smiled at Jett voicing her whole plan. She forgot the feeling of how much she loved listening to Jett ramble on about anything. She found it cute how she would always stop to say something else and never finish what she was originally saying.

Sage gently cupped Jett's mouth, "How about less talking. More doing"

Jett's mouth curled into a smile, causing her lips to press against the palm of Sage's hand causing Sage to retract it quickly.

"Right! We're wasting time by saying and not doing!" Jett chuckled, "Okay, I'll go get changed, and uh- you can do whatever you need to. Meet me out front in 10 minutes, okay?"

Sage was still staring at the palm of her hand where Jett's lips used to be. She could see her hand shaking in the slightest, but she knew that Jett couldn't notice such a small detail because of how hyper she was right now.

Sage shook her hand dropped her hand to smile at Jett, "Okay. Try not to crash into the wall with your dash"

Jett clicked her tongue, "I'll have you know that my aim has gotten better"

"Mmm.." Sage hummed, clearly unconvinced.

"Oh, whatever. Just meet me outside" Jett whined before slamming Sage's door.

Sage wanted to yell after her but decided to keep to herself. She could feel her mouth getting sore for how much smiling she had been doing lately.

~~

Sage felt happy.

She felt happy being by Jett's side and watching her concentrate on the arcade machines and seeing her trying to contain her happiness when she saw basically anything that caught her eye in the bakeries.

Sage would be lying if she said she remembered the last time she felt like this. A large portion had to do with seeing Jett happy. Even if she didn't want to admit it, back at the Academy, Sage definitely had an obsession with keeping a smile on Jett's face. She would do anything to keep Jett near her and see her obnoxiously contagious grin.

"Okay, there's one last place I want to go. I think you're going to like this one" Jett informed, after throwing away her cup of ice cream.

Sage had been so lost in her mind that she didn't realize that her ice cream had melted onto her hand. She grimaced at seeing her hand sticky from dripped ice cream.

Jett didn't realize the mess until Sage was frowning and looking down at her arm, "Oh, here"

Jett was a little disappointed that she couldn't use any of her abilities outside of HQ and the battle arenas, but she had gotten used to it when she was in Kingdom. She put through a lot of harsher conditions when it came to physical activity at Kingdom. It was so bad that Jett was sore for weeks until her muscles finally got used to it.

She eventually came back with a bunch of napkins and dabbed a bunch of them over Sage's palms. She gently pried Sage's hands open to take the destroyed ice cream and throw it into the trash can. She opened the bottle cap with the tiny ounce of air she had and poured it over Sage's hands, repeating the process of wiping napkins over her hands.

"Thanks" Sage sighed from being relieved of the sticky situation.

Jett rubbed the back of her neck and smiled, "Yup!"

"Now..where were we? Oh yes, you were going to show me that place you wanted to right?" Sage asked.

Jett's eyes brightened and took Sage's hand into hers, "Mhm! Now, when we get close. I want you to cover your eyes"

"That seems a bit scary"

"You trust me right?"

Sage looked down at their joined hands then back at Jett.

"Of course"

~~

"Ow, you're stepping on my foot!" Jett whined, toeing away from Sage's foot.

"Well, you're fault for covering my eyes. It's not like I know where I'm going"

"Fair point. Anyways, we're here"

Sage knew a lot of places around HQ, but for some reason. Where she stood, she didn't recognize the smell or the feel of the place.

"Can I look now?" Sage mumbled, clearly growing curious at where the two were standing.

Jett hummed and pushed Sage a little bit forward, "Almost there...Okay, ready?"

Sage nodded and felt Jett slowly remove her fingertips from Sage's eyelids. The first thing she saw was the ground being almost 100ft away, causing her to stumble back. She thought she was going to fall back but her back was pressed up against a shoulder. She first looked up at Jett with a nervous expression then saw Jett's finger point forward.

It was the prettiest sunset she ever saw. Sage had seen a lot of sunsets from the tower at HQ, but the scenery around it made it much more beautiful to look at. It looked like they were on some sort of cliff that captured the sunset at the most perfect angle ever.

Sage felt giddy when the rays of sun showered her face. She let out a content sigh and could feel herself relaxing into Jett's shoulder unconsciously.

Jett didn't mind Sage resting against her. She was glad that she was able to get Sage to relax. She knew that these past few days had been hard on her, so seeing her so content made her calm as well.

Sage eventually realized that she'd been leaning on Jett for far too long. She quickly stood up and turned to Jett with a tint of pink on her cheeks, "I'm sorry, I completely spaced out"

Jett shook her head softly, "It's alright, don't worry about it. Let's lay down for a little until it gets dark. I want you to see the stars from up here"

Sage went to protest about curfew, but when she saw Jett lay down, she knew that there was no stopping her from leaving until she was satisfied.

Jett made herself comfortable on the soft plush of grass and stared at Sage, "Come on. I promise the grass is like a pillow"

Sage gulped, there was nothing wrong with laying on the grass. The idea of being so close to Jett while laying down made her a nervous wreck. It took her a couple of seconds for her to snap out of it before slowly getting on her knees and crawling over to Jett.

"Lay down, it's more comfortable"

Sage did so and she almost regretted it. When she turned her head, Jett's face was right up to hers. Their noses were practically touching and Sage thought that her heart might jump out of her chest. They hadn't been so close since the time she was locking Jett and Yoru to their cells.

Except while Sage was internally freaking out, Jett was smiling and brushing the locks that fell onto Sage's shocked expression.

"Why do you look like you just saw the scariest thing in your life"

"Because I just did," Sage said.

"Did you just-" Jett growled playfully, dragging her fingers up Sage's sides like a creepy spider.

Sage yelped and tried to roll away but she was gripped tightly in Jett's hands, unable to escape from the torture of tickling.

Jett eventually stopped and Sage wore a sad pout, "You know I don't like it when someone tickles me"

"That's what makes it even better"

"You're so mean!"

"As if you aren't! Don't make me do it again" Jett said with a deep voice and began to wiggle her fingers in Sage's direction.

Sage shook her head and began to shuffle away, "Don't you dare!"

"Hmpf, fine. Anyways, I hope you liked the surprise. I kinda assumed you would like it..not really asked if it was okay to go here. I know I kinda gave you a scare for putting you too close to the edge, my bad.."

Sage could tell Jett was going to go on another ramble so she stopped her by grabbing a handful of grass and watching it sprinkle onto Jett's cheek.

"Shush, I loved the surprise. I'm genuinely surprised that I don't know this place and you do. I've been almost everywhere around town and somehow you take me to the one place I've never been to. It..makes me happy that you did this"

Jett's chest flushed with pride at Sage's words. She felt proud that she was able to take Sage somewhere that made her happy.

Jett took the time to collect the right words to say as a response but failed, "W-Well..that makes me happy too.."

Sage smiled to herself and decided to leave the conversation off there to observe the sky. Time had seemed to fly when talking with Jett because one moment she was looking at a beautiful sky, now she was looking at the night that was lit by millions of stars.

"The stars look incredible," Sage said with astonishment.

Jett laid onto her back and rested her hands behind her head, "This is why I wanted to stay here until night"

"You have really outdone yourself for one little hangout with me" Sage mumbled, her eyes zoning in onto the many stars that filled the sky.

"What can I say? I've learned to impress over the past years" Jett teased, bumping Sage's shoulder with hers.

"I bet you use that punch line all the time"

"Don't expose me like that"

The two shared a soft laugh that echoed through the night. Nothing more could Sage and Jett wish for at this moment. Just the two of them, exchanging soft whispers and laughs that felt neverending.

It was heartwarming for both of them.

~~

Sage didn't know she fell asleep until her eyes awoke to the sound of rustling. She was still half-asleep and was convinced that she was back at HQ in her bed. But when the sound of grunts filled her ears, her eyes flew open.

Jett was no longer by her side, and nothing but the wind pushed against her face. She scrambled to her feet and looked around hastily. Nothing but still silence was around her, and the rise of panic began to seep in.

"Jett!" Sage yelled.

Sage called her name several times and there was nothing. The last thing she heard before waking up was rustling which meant whatever happened occurred a couple of seconds ago.

Her eyes scanned the bushes around them and her eyes darted to a shake in the bush. Within a second, she dashed at the bush and pretty much tackled it. Her bones ached at the sudden impact but she was on her feet when she saw two dark figures with an unconscious Jett on one of their shoulders, running in the opposite direction.

"Let her go!" Sage screamed, going to throw a slow orb but realized she couldn't.

The two were getting away and Sage could do nothing to prevent it.

Sage was going to lose Jett again.

~~

"We need to get to Kingdom," Sage said sternly.

She was almost out of breath while speaking to Brimstone who had a look of relief on his face when she came through the door.

"Oh, Sage! I am so glad you're safe. Everyone was worried when you didn't show up at today's meeting-"

"Brimstone!"

The call of his name made Brimstone freeze. He had never heard Sage call his name in such a desperate tone.

"We need to get to Kingdom" Sage repeated, more with pleading rather than stern.

Brimstone narrowed his eyes, "Why?"

"Because! T-They took Jett! We were near that small town we went to after the win on Ascent. A-And, I think we fell asleep and when I woke up Jett was being taken away by two people"

"And you're certain its Kingdom?"

"Yes! Who else would take her?"

"Anyone could have. I say we wait for a little-"

Sage slammed her palms onto the table in desperation, "I won't stand by and watch Jett be taken away. Not if I have the ability to do something about it. Whether or not you give me the command, I'm going. I won't lose Jett again..not after..."

Sage couldn't finish the sentence and could feel herself breaking into sobs. How could today have gone so wrong? The last thing she fell asleep to was the sound of Jett's euphoric laughter and now it was being taken away by some awful kidnappers.

Brimstone cleared his throat and looked at Sage, "I know how you feel, but we need to act rationally"

"And is saving Jett, not a rational decision?"

"Of course it is, but we need to think of a plan to save her. Not go rushing into one of the most dangerous territories"

Sage knew Brimstone was right but her pride wouldn't let him tower over her, "But- What if Kingdom does something to her? What if she dies?!"

"They won't kill her. She's too important to them"

"But what if-"

"Sage. I promise we will go and get her. Right now, you need to calm down before you go anywhere. You won't think correctly if you're mind is grinding gears"

Sage finally felt herself calm down at that, slowly taking in deep and slow breaths.

"I-I'm sorry. I just can't go through the pain of losing her again" She whimpered pathetically.

Brimstone walked over to Sage and brought a hand to her shoulder, "Don't worry. We will get her back. I'm just as angry as you that Jett was kidnapped"

"You are?"

"Of course I am. Jett shouldn't fall into the hands of Kingdom anymore. She is nothing but Kingdom's pawn.." Brimstone said with gritted teeth.

"Well..then let's get her back before anything happens"

~~

"Hench"

"Have you got her?"

"Right in my arms. She put up quite the fight before we had to inject the anesthesia to get her to pass out"

"And she isn't harmed?"

"Yep, but we may have company"

"What are you talking about? I told you do make sure that no one sees!"

"Not our fault! Jett was sleeping next to someone that ended up chasing us. It's probably not from Valorant though. Valorant wouldn't accept or ally with someone like her anyways"

"I hope you're right, because if Valorant intends to come here. They'd better prepare themselves for whatever comes at them and you too as well"