Lieutenant-Colonel Song took a lighter from his pocket and lit Eve's action report on fire before thoroughly dousing it in water, mopping the ashy mess from his desk with a paper towel.
Inside the briefing room was everyone in alpha team. "Again, no word of what happened in the operation should leave this room."
Eve questioned this decision. They have some capability of amnestic treatment, she thought. Why not just wipe our memories and call it a day? During the debriefing, Eve had kept quiet about Isa and Elise. She knew she could get in deep trouble if she was found out to be keeping information- but, of course, that was if she was found out.
The Lieutenant-Colonel waved his hand to dismiss them.
Eve felt heavy as she left the room, sighing deeply. She then noticed Isa, who'd sidled up to her. Isa had returned to her regular, cold, and frankly unsettling self, and Eve couldn't see any remnants of Isa's alternate commanding, fierce self that she'd displayed in their flight from the facility.
Isa's voice was calm and low as usual. "We never got a chance to talk. Can I get your phone number? I'll call you to arrange something once we both get back to Einstein."
Eve blinked. "Sorry… what?"
"Your phone number, if that's okay."
A glint in Isa's frosted lavender and amethyst eyes seemed to suggest something along the lines of even if you don't give me your phone number, I swear to god I'll still track you down.
Eve stared at her for a beat longer than necessary. She didn't hand out personal contact info as a personal rule, but also as martial law from her profession as a special operations operator. Loose ends got people killed, and placed her as well as her direct contacts in danger.
Isa was… not exactly an open file. Private military contractor, no fixed allegiance. Not someone Eve would normally let in past the surface.
But then again, Eve had seen Isa in action, not to mention she might be the key for Eve to find out what happened to Elise and what was between them. That counted for something.
Oh, and also: curiosity. Stupid, persistent curiosity.
Eve pulled out her phone from her pocket, already thumbing in her passcode. "I must be out of my mind," she muttered, half to herself.
Isa arched an eyebrow. "Is that a yes?"
"It's a tentative yes."
She hesitated for a second more, then tapped in the number and handed it over. Isa returned the favour. Eve tried to ignore Isa as she brushed stray strands of her hair back under her cap.
"What did you mean by Einstein?"
Isa looked up from saving her number in Eve's phone. She glanced at Eve with the most drastic side eye that Eve had ever taken. "Seriously? What kind of spec-ops are you if you haven't heard yet?"
"Huh?" Eve just stared at Isa, baffled.
Isa chuckled. "See you then~ We have tons we need to talk about."
Eve lost herself in thought, staring at Isa's back as she sauntered off, the rest of the Seaward Wolf PMCs forming up behind her.
A voice interrupted her thoughts. "Sergeant."
Eve whirled around and was met by the glasses and high ponytail of Lieutenant Nia. She snapped to attention. "Ma'am."
"We'll be leaving for Einstein shortly. Command wants our squad to have a break. Frankly, a well deserved one, from what I could tell. We leave tomorrow. Be at the helipad by 10 00 hours. Oh- and be sure to check back in the rifle and gear MOB 7 lent us."
"Yes, ma'am." Eve checked her phone as Lieutenant Nia walked away with the other officers- then nearly dropped it.
Isa had saved herself as "Isa (˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶) .ᐟ.ᐟ 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅"
"…What," Eve muttered under her breath.
She stared at the contact name for a long moment, thumb hovering uncertainly over the screen. It was ridiculous. Ridiculous and completely not Isa. Not the Isa she knew, anyway.
But then again- this wasn't just Isa anymore, was it? Eve ran a hand down her face. "Right. Isa and Elise." The name felt weird in her mouth.
Memories of Elise's smile- from their fleeting reunion at the facility, as well as in the past, if that time really did exist- sweeter, brighter- flashed through her mind, overlaying Isa's calm, glacial, dominating stare. It didn't match. Nothing did.
She sighed, switched the phone off, and shoved it back into her pocket. Guess that's what she meant by going back to Einstein…
And maybe, Eve thought, she needed to start updating her mental protocols for dealing with one (two?) extremely unpredictable, possibly literal, anomalies in a single body.
- - -
Eve lay in her bed in her old apartment. After they'd arrived at Einstein International Airport (which remained open from some miracle, bar flights from Asphodel and their allies, of course) she'd hailed a cab and headed directly back.
Even though she'd been drafted, throughout the years she'd dropped by when she could, and the landlady there graciously cleaned her room- Eve had gotten a great deal. In return for fighting for their country against the foreign invaders, her landlady kept her room, cleaned, and waived rental fees. Since she didn't live in her room except for those spare nights she did, she didn't have to pay for appliances either.
Eve thought that this offer was too sweet, but her landlady waved this off- doing her part in supporting a hard working soldier who fought to keep their sovereignty- or something like that.
Eve had been given a week's worth of leave off base, but frankly, even all that time wouldn't let her wrap her mind around what had happened. She was doom scrolling videos before a message popped up on her screen.
[Isa (˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶) .ᐟ.ᐟ 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅: What r u up to?]
Isa's profile picture was that of a black cat lounging on a couch. Eve smiled. It suits her, she decided. Eve texted back.
[Me: Doomscrolling… Wbu? And when r we going to talk? :curious_rabbit:]
She waited for a couple seconds as she saw "Isa (˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶) .ᐟ.ᐟ 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅ is typing…" pop up and hover at the bottom.
[Isa (˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶) .ᐟ.ᐟ 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅: Soon. R u free tmrw?]
[Me: Mhmn.]
[Isa (˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶) .ᐟ.ᐟ 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅: Do you hang out at the mall w/ me? We can talk there. Any time is good.]
Eve paused in the middle of tapping out a reply. Is she asking me out on a date?
For some reason, Eve wasn't… averse to the idea. For the moment, she simply forgot that Isa was a PMC she just met and in her mind simply saw her as Elise… However, her heart still beat against her chest like a caged animal.
She stared at her phone screen, before deciding that they were simply going to walk and talk as friends, and debrief among themselves about what had happened… they wouldn't go into details, and be vague, of course. They'd be among civilians, after all.
Eve mustered up the courage to tap out a reply.
[Me: Mhmn. :nodding_cat:]
[Isa (˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶) .ᐟ.ᐟ 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅: Alr. I'll get back 2 u tmrw morning w/ details. Tired. :yawning_cat: Eepy now. Looking forward to it :purple_heart:]
Eve fell flipped onto her side, tossing her phone onto the nightstand and burying her face into a pillow that she grasped tightly. She could feel the blood rushing to her face. We're just going to talk. We're just going to talk. We're just going to talk. Though I suppose Elise and I never really would've had time to go out- She shook her head furiously.
What the fuck is wrong with me…
As Eve slid under the sheets, she still couldn't stop herself from thinking about tomorrow. Even if we're just going to talk… What am I going to wear tomorrow?
- - -
Eve yawned as she stretched her hands above her head. She blinked awake. Every time she came back to her apartment, she never got used to her bed, but it was comforting nevertheless.
Slanted sticks of sunlight slid through her shutters as she stood. Already wiping the sleep from her eyes, Eve walked to her kitchen and checked her pantry. It was empty. What did I even expect? Eve thought as she shaked her head. It's been a while since I've been back… guess I'll have to skip breakfast… or I could go out for something. Eve's thoughts wandered to her wallet, still on the nightstand.
I guess I could get dressed and head out first… then just go over to Isa when she texts me. Eve hesitated, then headed back to her bedroom. As she opened her closet, she realized with creeping dread that she hadn't bought civilian clothes in a while- and all of her remaining wardrobe was made up of her old depressing university and college girl clothes. Eve silently cursed herself and resigned herself to digging through her closet to put together something somewhat presentable.
After a short while rummaging through her tiny wardrobe and process by elimination, Eve pulled together an outfit- and thank god that everything still fit. While it was slightly tighter around her arms and chest given her putting on more muscle at her time in TRACE training, it now fit her more or less perfectly.
She ended up with an oversized white tee… the same one, in fact, that she had worn the exact day that she'd been drafted. Though it had been with her for nearly three years now, she took care of it with love- washing it thoroughly, ironing out the wrinkles- through some miracle, it sparkled like it was new off the shelf. The only indication of its age was the small amounts of wear and tear at the bottom seam, but even then Eve kept it trimmed and neat.
Eve pulled on a pair of black tights before military-tucking her t-shirt into a pair of grey cotton linen shorts. She stared at herself in the mirror, fiddling with her shirt this way or that before pulling out an inch or so of the shirt to hang over her shorts like a blouse.
Overtop she laid a casual black blazer which she kept unbuttoned. She ended up with something along the lines of casual-office-worker-but-lazy.
Eve twirled around in front of the mirror, pulling back some of the embarrassing poses she struck back in high school. Laughing at herself, Eve grabbed her beige fanny pack, clipped on two silver stud earrings, and, after hesitating a bit, she pulled over a plain blue baseball cap.
Snatching her phone and wallet from the nightstand, Eve headed out, locking the door behind her. Waving goodbye to the landlady making coffee in the foyer, she left, humming, in good spirits.