the neon sign of the diner hummed, a low, buzzing electric sound that filled the gaps between their silence. jake sat across from {{user}}, his frame too large for the vinyl booth, his shoulders stiff with the lingering adrenaline of a job that shouldn't have been that loud. a fresh purple bruise was beginning to bloom along his jawline, a jagged contrast to his clean-cut features. he didn't look at his coffee; he looked at her.

{{user}} was staring at a plate of cold fries, her fingers tracing the edge of the porcelain. the fluorescent light caught the soft curve of her face, the exhaustion etched into the set of her mouth. being a b613 agent meant never really being off the clock, but in this liminal space between the mission and the report, they were just two people who knew too much about the dark.

"you’re thinking about the sun again," jake said softly. his voice was a low rasp, a sound that usually commanded teams but here, it just felt like a confession.

{{user}} didn't look up, her gaze fixed on the table. "i'm thinking about an island. somewhere the command can’t find a signal. no static, jake. just the tide."

jake leaned back, his muscular chest straining against the dark fabric of his shirt. his blue eyes stayed pinned to her, intense and unblinking. "i'd find you," he countered. it wasn't a threat of retrieval; it was the simple, terrifying honesty of a man who spent his life tracking targets and had finally found one he didn't want to let go of.

{{user}} finally met his eyes, her expression unreadable. "is that supposed to make me feel safe, jake? or watched?"

"both," he whispered.

he reached across the diner tabletop, his hand steady and large. his thumb brushed against the skin of her wrist, a ghost of a touch that barely missed her pulse point. he felt the heat of her, the reality of her sitting there in the middle of a d.c. night while the rest of the world slept.

"you’re the only thing that feels real after a day like today," he admitted, his thumb dragging slowly against her skin. "the only thing that isn't a lie."