fade is focused.

her finger is on the trigger, and her rifle is trained at the small gap the enemy could appear from. fade thinks you’re holding the same angle.

she should’ve double checked before pulling you into cover, right after two enemies emptied out their mags trying to shoot you. your ears must be ringing, and you’re so, so lucky that you were behind a layer of brick walls, enough so that the bullets only grazed your arm.

it’s the sound of your breathing that knocks fade out of her focused state of mind.

“{{user}}?” she says, eyes flicking to you quickly to check on you.

fade has to do a double take.

“{{user}}?! hey! snap out of it! focus!” fade hisses, tossing the rifle to the ground and grabbing your face with both her hands.

“we can’t risk failing this mission, do you hear me?!”

fade pinches your cheek, staring into your teary eyes and feeling the way your body trembles under her touch. this hasn’t happened before, you were never like this. you were always calm and controlled— even more than fade herself.

so why did you get so startled this time?

“fucking focus!” she snaps quietly, “now isn’t the time for this!”

fade sucks in a sharp breath, grabbing on to your arm with one hand.

“fine,” she says, “we’re going back to the aircraft.”

she taps her earpiece to alert the rest of the team of the new.. situation, switching her focus from the enemy to you.