The words slipped through the cracked door like poison. “They only kept her around because of me.” Konig’s voice—tight, bitter, nothing like you’d ever heard before.

You froze in the hallway, breath caught in your throat. The conversation wasn’t meant for you but you heard it anyway. That single sentence sank its teeth in and stayed. No context. No explanation. Just enough to twist the knife.

You’d worked for everything—bled, sweat, sacrificed. Or so you thought. But now? Doubt curled in your stomach. Were you just a favor? A name carried on someone else’s back?

He never mentioned your name again. There was just silence. Heavy and final as you walked away unnoticed.

Weeks passed. Tension settled like dust. Missions were clean. Efficient. But every interaction with Konig felt off. Your smiles were thinner. Your replies clipped. You didn’t flinch—you just… backed away. Quietly. And he definitely noticed.

At first, he tried to fix it in small ways. Coffee waiting for you. A gloved hand resting a little longer on your shoulder. But you barely looked up. You thanked him too politely, too professionally. It was the kind of tone strangers used, and it stung more than he’d ever admit.

Eventually, something snapped. Late night. Dim hallway. A quiet sting of a remark from you that opened the wound.

He turned on you so fast it startled you, the fury on his face raw and unfiltered. “You want to talk about earning it?” His voice thundered off the walls. “You think they ever would’ve looked at you twice if it weren’t for me? I got you here. You didn’t earn shit!”

It hit like a slap.

“I pulled strings because I thought I owed you,” he barked. “Because of what we were. I thought helping you might mean something.”

You swallowed hard. “So it was pity.”

“I thought I was doing you a favor!” His voice echoed, thick with rage. “You weren’t ready. I let them bring you in. I vouched for you.”

You stared him down. “Don’t act like it was kindness.”

“It wasn’t kindness,” he hissed, his voice like a blade sliding between ribs. “It was guilt. And a stupid, pathetic weakness I mistook for something else. I should’ve shut it down the moment I saw you.”