Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

(Located on the map "Ascent" in A main)

"Get out of there, kid!" I hear an old man's voice called in my direction but I didn't bother looking. The sound was drowned out by my heart pounding in my ears.
I hadn't fully registered what I saw.. It was me.. They looked exactly like me, they had the exact same powers, same voice, everything. Only difference was, they were holding a rifle, cocked in my direction and ready to fire.
I needed to run, to just get out of the crossfire. Guns fired behind me but i swiftly dodged most of the bullets that ended up in the wall in front of me, one barely missing my face. I took a sharp turn to the left, almost slipping on the sand beneath my brown leather boots. I look up to see 4 people, one of them a slender woman in a green bodysuit and a gas mask on her face, extending a hand towards me. Without a second thought I took it and she pulled me behind her, pulling out her own gun to shoot at the people chasing me. I took a moment to steady my breathing, clutching at the side stitch that had formed.
"Link's clear." The same old man from before declared as he stepped out of a small room to my left. He looked quite fit despite his age. He wore dark blue cargo pants, black combat boots and a mechanical glove was slid over his right arm. His blue eyes darted towards me, likely evaluating me back.
A young girl with long black hair and a bright yellow jacket was fixated on holding some sort of device to another device that was placed on the ground and a boy roughly the same age as her, wearing a cool white jacket and black jeans and sneakers, was rushing over to help the woman in green.
"What the fuck is going on?!" I finally spoke up. The older man took a deep breath, running his gloved hand over his brown-grey beard. "Those were some pretty cool powers you used back there." He said awkwardly, gesturing towards the passage where I came from, referring to my earth bending powers i used to manipulate the floor beneath me to my advantage. "Answer my question." I replied in a slightly firmer tone. His eyes narrowed. "What the hell are you doing here?" He crossed his arms as if he was scolding me. "Just tell us the home address we need to take you back to and forget all about this." His voice grew stern, carrying a sort of aura to it. I kept my mouth shut. I didn't exactly have a home, I took a small step backward and narrowed my green eyes back at him, and he seemed to catch on. He sighed deeply. "what's your name, kid?"
"Rosario." I replied hesitantly.
The man nodded. "I'll tell you what, Rosario. How about you come with us, and i'll explain everything on the way." As if on queue, a large, drone shaped aircraft landed a few meters away. The four people were surrounding me, silently awaiting my answer. Ultimately I obliged and got onto the aircraft with them. On it, the old man who introduced himself as "Brimstone" explained the concept of "Alpha" and "Omega" earth, and Omega earth's plan to steal our radianite and how they stop them. And thus, I was recruited as a secret agent for what he called the "VALORANT protocol" under the pseudo "Sisma". *

Once we landed we walked into the Headquarters, Brimstone led me to my
locker and gave me a short tour of the building, introducing me to a few of the other agents on the way. He then led me to a long hallway full of white automated doors, much like all the others we walked through, only these ones were fully opaque. He told me which room i'd stay in and informed me of some training i'd have to do tomorrow. And with that, he left me alone.
The room was quite spacious, a luxury in comparison to what i'm used to. I took a look around; to my right was a king- sized bed with white sheets. I took a seat on it and to my surprise it was quite comfortable. I plopped myself down, kicking off my boots to put my feet up. I instantly felt my tense muscles relaxing as my head sunk into the soft pillow beneath it. I exhaled deeply through my mouth. Other than the bed my room was equipped with a white desk, my ID lying on top and a small dresser beside my bed. There were large windows opposite of the door, beautifully letting in the natural light.
I closed my eyes and before i knew it, I drifted off to sleep.
A few hours later I woke up, my eyes slowly fluttering open and being immediately blinded by the bright light i fell asleep in. I slowly sat up and rubbed my eyes, deciding to stand up to grab something to eat. I didn't bother slipping back into my boots and I was too lazy to unpack my things so I simply went to look for the kitchen in my socks. Although brimstone had already given me a tour I honestly wasn't listening for half of it, so I had some trouble actually finding the kitchen. On my way, I stumbled into the locker room and found the boy with the white jacket from earlier, who later introduced himself as "Phoenix", chatting with the protocol's information broker, who called himself "Cypher" at a small table. After closer inspection it looked like he was analyzing a chess board.
Upon spotting me, Phoenix's bored expression turned into a cheerful one, waving at me with a grin. "Yoo! If it isn't our newest stone wielding badass!" He exclaimed cheerfully. He walked over to me and extended a hand for me to dab. "What's up, Sisma?" I still needed to get used to that name.. I had already become good friends with phoenix on the aircraft, so i took his hand with a grin of my own. "What's good!", I replied with a chuckle. "I was actually looking for the kitchen.." Phoenix burst into laughter. "Well it's not here, silly! Here," He gestured towards the door i just walked through with his head and a clicking of his tongue "I'll show you where it is" I let out a chuckle before following him out the door, making sure to greet Cypher in the form of nodding my head with a smile, to which he lowered his hat. "Thanks, man. I appreciate you" I told phoenix as he led me to the kitchen.

The kitchen was fairly large, with a minimum of two of each appliance. The only person who occupied it was a tall man I hadn't seen yet. He wore a luxurious dark blue vest, paired with a tie and shiny gold accessories. Glancing at Phoenix and me over his shoulder, I could make out black glasses that framed his face and coiffed brown hair, the shaved side of his head decorated with gold tattoos that disappeared behind his white button down he wore beneath the vest. He radiated poise, dignity and mystery. You couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated by his aura.

*Sisma: earthquake

Chapter Text

"Yoo Chamber!" Phoenix greets the luxurious man, "This is Sisma, our newest recruit! Sisma, this is Chamber." He introduces us and Chamber extends a hand towards me. His skin was fair, his nails well taken care of. He wore leather gloves and a gold watch that made my breath get stuck in my throat for a split second. I took his hand and he gave it a firm shake. As opposed to his hand, mine was tanned and callused. The black nail polish i had applied was already chipping - polar opposite vibes already.
"Did brimstone already tell you about them?" Phoenix asked.
"He told me we'd be getting a new recruit but he didn't tell me anything about them. Much less that they would be so..." He paused. Sternly looking me up and down through his glasses, not letting go of my hand. I could feel a bead of sweat form on the side of my head as he evaluated me.
"confident." He finished. I rose an eyebrow, unsure of what he meant by it. "The fuck's that supposed to mean?!" I rose my voice and my grip on his hand subconsciously became firmer and i felt it twitch in mine. Phoenix's instincts took over him and he quickly separated our hands. "Woah there, how about we chill, alright? There's no need for this negativity between you two already." Chamber glanced at Phoenix, then letting his stern glare dart back to me. I returned it with my own glare, gritting my teeth as i stared into his eyes, it was almost like a staring contest for a good few seconds.
Phoenix's voice tore us from our thoughts. "Guys!!" I let out a huff and pulled my hand from his. For some reason that comment really got to my head. My mind clouded by my anger turned around and stormed towards the door. "C'mon, Phoenix. I gotta go prepare for my training tomorrow." Phoenix tried to call me back but it was soon made clear to him that I didn't want to speak to that man at the moment. He let out a sigh and followed me, giving Chamber an apologetic look over his shoulder. "That's not the way to the training room!" Phoenix's voice echoed through the halls as he stood in front of the door to the kitchen, Chamber was trying his best to be unbothered by the entire situation, leaning back against the counter as he slowly sipped his cup of tea.

"He's not a bad guy, Sisma I promise!" Phoenix shouted across the large training room as he threw me a magazine to replace my empty one with.
"I don't care! He had no reason to say that shit to me!" I exclaimed through gritted teeth. My shots at the bots' heads becoming more and more imprecise. "I still don't understand what he said to offend you. He called you confident that's a good thing, isn't it?" He asked, and for some reason his ignorance infuriated me even more, which caused my shots to worsen even more. God how I hated fighting with guns.. "You don't understand, Phoenix! He was making fun of my appearance!" Phoenix rose an eyebrow, silently walking over to me to fix my posture and how I held the gun. "Your appearance? I'm sure he didn't mean it that way, you look great."
"The way he looked at me and his tone when he spoke to me. I don't care what you think i don't like this guy!" In the heat of my frustration I threw the already empty magazine phoenix had just tossed me at a bot, knocking it down as I shouted with a louder voice than I had intended.
Suddenly the metal door slid open and Sage peeked her head through. "Could you keep it down you two." She asked annoyed, her tone stern almost like a mother scolding her children.
"Sorry Sage!" Phoenix apologized. Sage then gestured her head to me. "Sisma. What are you still doing up? You have a big day tomorrow go to sleep." I rose an eyebrow and looked up at the clock above the exit. It showed 11:48 PM. I sighed and nodded. I still needed to unpack my things after all.

After Phoenix guided me back to my room I started to unpack a few things to get ready for bed. I brushed my teeth and took off my clothes to take what was intended to be a quick shower. The way the warm water fell on my tense shoulders and cascaded down my back, and the way the shampoo felt on my head was enough to keep me in the shower for an hour. Once I got out the shower was steamy and all of the reflective surfaces have fogged up. After i put on some comfortable clothes I made myself comfortable in my bed. I couldn't help but think about what Chamber said, maybe I overreacted but there was something about this good-looking and evidently very wealthy man making a snarky remark about my "confidence" as someone who grew up having to steal from other people just to afford actual shoes to wear. I tried to drown the thought out as i slowly drifted off to sleep.

I woke up to the sign of my phone ringing, after rubbing my eyes and hazily taking it i found that the ringing wasn't my alarm, it was a call from Phoenix. I answered it and held the phone to my ear. "Yeah?" I asked in an exhausted voice. Phoenix's voice through the phone was too loud for my still half asleep ears. "You finally picked up! Where the hell are you?"
"Huh?" I was still a bit distorted. Only when I slowly sat up and rubbed my eyes the realization hit me that I was late for the training Brimstone wanted me to do. "Oh yeah! I'm on my way!" I spoke into the phone and hung up before Phoenix could answer.

(no chamber here so ima try to keep this part short)
After being scolded for being late by sage, she ran a small battle simulation test on me to see what my strengths and weaknesses were. I wasn't used to handling anything more than a small pistol, and even handling those weren't exactly one of my strengths so i ended up heavily relying on my abilities. It worked out fairly well since i already had gotten used to using them but Sage insisted on training my aim after the battle simulation. Phoenix was watching the whole time, cheering me on and giving me small tips here and there.

"You were epic! Are you sure we didn't accidentally take Sisma from omega earth?" Phoenix almost spilled the drink he was holding, rocking the chair he was sitting in back and forth with a hyped expression.
"Nah, I'm the og! They could never even compete with me!!" I laughed, flashing my sharp teeth as I confidently leaned back. I took a sip of my own drink when a familiar voice spoke up behind me. "They could. They're you." Before turning around to check who it was, I caught a glimpse of Phoenix's uneasy expression, and then I saw him. Chamber, standing in the doorway of the kitchen. "If anything I'd say currently Omega earth's Sisma is on a higher overall skill level, since they actually know how to hold a gun." He finished his explanation in a tone so unbothered it was infuriating. He wasn't even looking in my direction. I stood up and faced him. "The hell is your deal?!"
"H- how about we stop this before it starts?" Phoenix stood himself between us, facing me with his hands extended towards me in a calming manner, silently telling me to stop. I didn't want to though, my blood was boiling, my muscles were tense and twitchy. All I wanted was to punch the glasses off that guy's face. I gritted my teeth and let out a sound similar to a growl, before huffing and
walking out the door. Phoenix sighed and followed me again. This time, Chambers sly chuckle quietly echoed through the hallway. Before I could get far from the kitchen though I almost bumped into Viper, the lady in green who took my hand yesterday, who was holding a small notebook. My abrupt stop causing Phoenix to startle slightly.
"Sisma. Glad I caught you here. Have you seen chamber?" You'd think she'd get at least a little less scary without her gas mask on but her stern voice and intimidating glare never failed to send shivers down everyone spines.
"In the kitchen." I replied, gesturing behind me.
"Okay great." She handed me two identical sheets of paper and instructed me to hand one to chamber before walking away, and a strong, overwhelming feeling of dread filled my gut.
"What's it say?" Phoenix peered over my shoulder. I shrugged and looked down at the paper, lightly scanning over it.

MISSION DETAILS

Location: Capri, Italy
Mission team: Agent 18 - Chamber, Agent 28 - Sisma

Chapter Text

I couldn't believe what I saw. I was furious. Reading over the mission details some
more we were instructed to escort a group of scientists through the cold and unforgiving alps, which meant I had to spend more time with Chamber than I would actually like. After handing Chamber the paper hesitantly, I stormed out the kitchen before I could see his reaction. Phoenix noticed my efforts to contain my frustration and suggested we'd go play some Table Football.
"When do you leave for this mission?" Phoenix asked as we walked through the hallways. "
It says the flight is tomorrow evening, we're flying about twelve hours.." I replied,
my voice was calm, yet softer than I had intended. Phoenix simply nodded.

Phoenix and I were having a blast at Table Football and I tried to enjoy the rest of my evening the best I could. I met Yoru, a "buddy" of Phoenix - although he didn't seem too fond of the title, and Reyna. I've heard a lot of fascinating and, frankly terrifying stories about her, and she definitely looked the part...
After a rather fun evening I retreated to my room and packed a bag to bring. Sage stopped by my room to give me some more information about this mission.
"I know this is sudden Sisma, especially since you have just been recruited but Viper and Brimstone both think you are crucial to the completion of this mission." She explained in that same motherly tone. Soft, yet it carried this firmness to it, like I couldn't refuse or argue without her starting to scold me. With a pout on my face and my arms crossed I simply nodded. We were to escort the scientists across Italy, and as the only member of the protocol who actually knew how to speak Italian, I could somewhat understand why it was so important that I tagged along, but why did Chamber of all people have to be my parter?
"I guess I get that part, but why couldn't I go with Phoenix or Yoru or something? Why Chamber of all people?" I asked, my tone almost desperate. Maybe if I said please often enough Viper would change it last second.
"I believe you and Chamber would make a perfect duo." Sage started, but I stopped her before she could say anything else. "What?!" I exclaimed louder than I should have, which earned me a stern look from Sage. "I don't mean to question Doc's pairing skills or whatever but that guy and me are polar opposites. Put the two of us on a mission like that and our worst opponents are gonna be ourselves." I argued but to no avail. Sage somehow still found reason in this whole thing.
"Chamber has been a member of our protocol for a bit over 3 years now, and as a weapon designer, he excels in the areas you lack in, which means he is to coach you in said areas." Sage caught onto my frustration and placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. "None of us know all too much about him but I can assure you, you will be in good hands."
I grumbled but I had no choice but to agree. And with that, Sage walked out of my room.

...

After saying goodbye to phoenix, I walked out of the building and towards the parking lot where I saw the glossy black car parked. A man took my bag and loaded it into the the trunk of the what I found out to be a Porsche. With fascination in my facial expression, I climbed through the door, to find chamber already inside, wearing his usual vest and tie, one leg crossed over the other. His elbow was leaned against the car door beside him casually, and his slender fingers elegantly held up his chin. He glanced at me, evaluated me, then went back to looking out the window.
"You're late. What on earth took you so long." The way his tone reeked of poise and power never failed to infuriate me. I sat down and shot him a glare. "I was saying goodbye to my friends. Not that you'd know what it's like Mr. Snooty." I crossed my arms and sat sluggishly. Admittedly, the insult I shot him was fairly childish but my mind was too clouded for me to care. Chamber simply scoffed before giving the driver the okay.
His foot hit the pedal and the car started driving with the engine making a powerful sound. I honestly felt very out of place. Everyone in the car with me was so elegant and well-dressed for this simple airport trip, even the car was fancy, the interior was decked out in high quality leather.. and then there was me. Wearing the same old black ripped jeans and brown crop top, the only thing somewhat valuable on me was my necklace I wore ever since i can remember..

(this is going so slow so imma skip right to where they arrive at where they need to be)

Exhausted and worn out, we finally arrived at our destination, deep into the alps of Italy. It was dark and freezing. Chamber had his elegant black peacoat and wore lots of layers of clothing, so he was minimally bothered by the weather. Me, on the other hand, I didn't own many clothes and especially none that were suitable for this type of environment. I was violently shivering. I had my thin leather jacket zipped up all the way so half my face was covered by the thin fabric in a feeble attempt to warm my self up. My exposed knees were blue and shaking as we walked to the small hut. Once there, Chamber pulled out the key provided to us.
"Who wears ripped jeans and a crop top to the alps, anyway?" Chamber asked, his tone dripping with judgement. I was too cold to answer. My jaw was shivering too violently for me to speak anyway. Chamber sighed at my silence. "There should be a heater inside." He reassured as he pushed the door open. I pushed him aside and practically ran inside, lunging onto the couch in the middle of the room. I threw my bags on the floor and huddled into the couch. Chamber looked over me with.. concern. He closed the door behind him, the sound of the relentless wind finally quieting down. He went to turn on the electricity and a dim light illuminated the small apartment. The couch I was lying on belonged to a small yet comfy living area and behind it a small kitchen. The only two doors probably led to a beer and a bathroom.
Chamber slid off his gloves and placed them on the counter. He took both our bags and went disappeared behind a door, probably the bedroom door. After a good 5 seconds the door flew open again and there was a look of disbelief on his face. I slowly sat up and rubbed my eyes, my body still freezing. "What? You look like you saw a dead body in there..." I mumbled as i rubbed my eyes.
"Not a dead body.. but there's only one bed.."

Chapter Text

I couldn't help but giggle at the horror Chamber displayed. "What's the big deal? You take the bed, I'll sleep on the couch." I replied, laying my head back down on the soft armrest. I figured since this man is so used to wealth and luxury and whatever, I could just let him have the bed. The trip had really worn me out, I was too tired to even change so my eyes kind of just fell shut. "But i'm not going to sleep just yet I still have some paperwork to-" And he was cut off by the realization that i had likely already fallen into a light sleep. He grumbled in a mix of frustration and defeat. He unpacked his small suitcase and set up a few things, he then pulled out his phone to report back to brimstone but he kept getting distracted by my sleeping form. He also didn't want to wake me by making the phone call. With a sigh he set down his phone and walked over to the couch I was on. He carefully slid one arm under my knees and the other just on my shoulders to gently lift me up. He slowly walked to the bedroom and placed me on the bed, draping a thick blanket over me. He then went back to the kitchen and turned off the bedroom light on his way out. He picked his phone back up and dialed the number, then held it to his ear.
"Chamber here, It's currently 3:24AM in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy and it's 19°F (-7°C) We have arrived at the hut and will be starting our journey tomorrow. With that he sets down the phone. He puts his trenchcoat and gloves back on to go out to find the nearest gas station to find some supplies. He returns about a half hour later with some canned food and water.

I wake up to the sound of a kettle brewing and slow, french music playing. A love song, chamber was humming to in the kitchen. I slowly sat up and rubbed my eyes, unsure of how the hell i ended up in the bedroom. I slowly got out of bed, it was still freezing cold, despite the heater blasting. I push open the door to find chamber in a tank top and sweat pants in the kitchen, brewing some tea and singing along to a love song in french. The tank top and pants were both awfully tight on him, I could see his nipples from the side of the top, and the tight pants frames his ass like a second skin. He must've felt my gaze on his back, because he glanced over his shoulder "You're finally awake"
"Two things." I started after a sigh. He raised a brow awaiting whatever i was about to scold him with.
"Firstly, how the fuck did i end up in the bed? I thought I-" Before I could even finish my sentence, he opened his mouth to cut me off. "I've done these types of missions tons and tons of times before, Why would I purposefully make this any rougher for you than it already is?" I was kind of surprised at how kind he was being all of a sudden. Is it just because he's stuck with me for this mission? Whatever the case may be I quickly hid my surprise with a monotone expression. "That doesn't exactly answer my question but.. alright. And uh- second of all- where the shit are your clothes?! Aren't you cold?" I instinctively avert my gaze ever so slightly. He turns to face me fully and just snickers. He rolls his eyes with a cheeky smirk. "Oh no! A male body" With a hand resting idly on his hip, and the other holding a spatula, he chuckled at his own joke. I simply rolled my eyes, deciding to switch the subject. "Well, whatever. What's our mission anyway?" I still can't bring myself to fully look at him.
"We're meant to escort a group of Italian scientists through the alps." He turns back around to continue his cooking, "It's a fairly simple mission, i've done these countless times there's really no need to worry." He reassures me, as he plates the bacon and eggs onto two plates, then hands me one. I was unsure if I should thank him or not, nor was I sure if this caring behavior was genuine or simply an act to avoid awkwardness. I hesitantly take the plate and a fork and begin eating.
"Where will we be meeting these scientists?" I ask to break the silence. "No talking with your mouth full." He scolds, a stern expression on his face to which i just roll my eyes, not feeling like arguing at the moment. "They should be in town." He replies, looking me over again. "Do you have appropriate clothing for the weather?" He asks, slightly concerned. I got annoyed at the ignorance of his question again, my brows furrowing and the food suddenly distasteful on my tongue. I sigh and reluctantly shake my head, poking at the food with my fork.
"How about we go get you some?" Chamber offers. I glance up at him, then shake my head "I didn't bring any money" My voice grew soft, I hated talking about these things, and Chamber's sigh only fed the tension. "I did. He says, earning him
a confused expression from me.