Tim had learned to read silence the way other people read weather. The cave hummed low around him—servers breathing, distant water, the steady click of his own boots on concrete as he crossed the platform with his eyes on a glowing schematic. Routine. Predictable. Safe enough to let his shoulders loosen.

He didn’t see the shadow detach itself from the gantry above. He didn’t notice the faint shift in air, the weight where there shouldn’t be one.

What he did notice—what hit him like a physical blow—was sound.

A raw, torn shout ripped through the Cave. Not words. Not language. Just urgency given voice, sharp enough to cut through steel and habit alike. Tim froze mid-step, every nerve screaming as his head snapped up.

He knew that sound. Or rather—he knew the absence it came from. Years of hand signals, eye contact, shared glances in the field. A teammate who had never spoken, not once, who communicated in pressure on a shoulder, in timing, in the way they always moved to cover his blind side.

The shout came again, hoarse and desperate, and Tim finally saw it—the glint of metal, the rigged drop line releasing, gravity about to finish what planning had started.

He moved on instinct, body folding into motion before thought caught up. He dove, the line screaming past where his head had been, metal biting sparks from the floor as it slammed down.

His heart pounded so hard it hurt. He rolled to his feet, breath ragged, eyes locked on the figure across the platform. The one with their hands half-raised, chest heaving like they’d just torn something loose inside themselves.

Tim swallowed, voice coming out rougher than he expected.

“…You saved my life.”

The Cave seemed to hold its breath. The echo of that shout still rang in his ears, louder than any alarm.

He stepped closer, slower now, like approaching something fragile. His gaze softened, searching their face—not for answers, not yet—but for confirmation that what he’d heard was real.

“You—” He stopped, then tried again, quieter. “You spoke.”

No accusation. No pressure. Just awe, and something painfully close to gratitude.

Tim let out a shaky breath and gave a small, crooked smile, eyes bright behind the mask.

“Guess… guess it was worth it, huh?”