The man nodded. "I assure you, Agent Killjoy, the children are in safe hands." 
"Good. I hopefully won't be long now." 
Giving a nod and a half-hearted salute, Killjoy soon turned away and left for the meeting. On her way to the meeting room, her mind began to wander about what could possibly be the main subject of the gathering, especially since Brimstone called for the meet in such a short notice. But, then again, it didn't take long for her to figure it out. 
It was highly likely that the entire discussion would involve Reynaʼs supposedly dead but was now alive sister. To make things more complicated, there might be more secrets that needed to be unveiled earlier than predicted by those who kept them in the first place. It seems that nothing was certain anymore. 
The thought of Brimstone sporting injuries similar to Viper's fleeted in Killjoyʼs mind, causing her worry to spike up. Yet, when she arrived at her destination and saw her father-figure looking absolutely unharmed, his muttered complaint about an aching back being the only thing that served as proof that he went through Reynaʼs wrath as well, her concern somewhat subsided. At least he wasn't sporting visible cuts and bruises like Viper. 
Killjoy ever so subtly slid towards the space right between Viper and Omen, flashing the mysterious agent a little smile before lightly nudging him to take the neighboring seat rather than the free one beside the scientist. 
One by one, the rest of the agents came filing in, taking their own seats. For someone nearly on the rank level as Brimstone, most of them anticipated Sage to be one of the first ones in attendance. When she finally arrived, her first instinct brought her to sit at the other end of the table. But, as she grabbed the chair and was about to settle on it, her eyes darted to Reyna. 
The duelist was gazing at the healer with a forlorn look. Though Reynaʼs expression seemed indifferent, her eyes were like Viper's from the latter's interaction with the techie. The vulnerability in those amethyst eyes reflected clearly and despite the way their conversation ended last time, Sage made a choice. 
A choice that prompted her to offer the seat she was supposed to occupy to Raze before walking around and heading towards the vacant place beside the Mexican woman. She clutched the backrest of the seat, pulling it back enough for her to slip in and sit down. 
For those unaware, they missed the way Reyna shifted on her seat, glancing at Sageʼs direction before looking away and choosing to look at the hand she draped on the armrest of her chair. Her left hand twitched on her knee, denying it the yearning to reach out to the sentinel right beside her for the sake of finding comfort. 
Sage readjusted herself on her seat, swallowing the lump that came to be in her throat before she sighed soundlessly. Without uttering a single word, Sage moved her right hand until it found Reynaʼs left. The moment she managed to intertwine their fingers together, away from anyone's eyes, Sage immediately felt the way Reyna loosen out of her tense state. 
"Mi corazón..." 
"Just... Just don't say anything." Sage whispered, voice nearly trembling as she spoke. 
Reyna gazed at her lover, a melancholic gleam in her eyes. She eventually nodded, squeezed Sageʼs hand for one tight moment before exhaling through her nose. Things were not fixed yet, but for now, they needed each other, for they could not turn to anyone else for what they could both offer to one another. 
"Ayo, Viper, what happened to your face?" Phoenix was the first person that asked the question most of the members of the Protocol seemed curious into having answered. 
"Did you just... get into a fight?" Jett added, wearing the same inquisitive yet concerned look on the others' faces. 
"Ahem!" Brimstone cleared his throat, silencing both Raze and Yoru before the two could even voice out their own queries. He spared one glance towards each agent, his lips curling into a relatively guilty frown when he looked at Reyna. He tried offering an apologetic look, yet said woman didn't seem to have any interest in meeting his gaze.