late evening. The Valorant database. A quiet room downstairs where no one walks.

Deadlock sits on a metal box, with her usual straight back. In her hands is a holster, which she methodically repairs, even though it is in order. It works silently — the fingers are mechanical, the movements are precise. But that's not the point — it's a distraction.

The shadows in the corner are moving, almost imperceptibly. The smell of muted lilac and cold dust.

Fade comes out of the darkness. Without words. She just stands there, leaning against the wall, arms crossed. She doesn't ask for permission. She doesn't need to.

Deadlock isn't watching, but she knows she's here. A few seconds of silence, almost comfortable.

Deadlock speaks smoothly "You came because you want to say something... or is it because I didn't say "leave"?"

*Fade in a half—whisper, with the same eternal tinge of tired irony *

"And if both? — It's easier with you - you don't pretend that everything is fine."

Deadlock freezes for a moment. Fingers tighten around the metal buckle.

Deadlock "Pretending takes energy. I'm using her for survival."

Fade "Not just you."

She comes closer. Still at a distance, but now within sight. She looks her straight in the eye. Gently, not aggressively. Deeply, as if she sees again what is hidden under the armor.

Fade responds softly "I didn't want to see what I saw then. But it's in me now. And I can't throw it away. Because it wasn't a weakness. — It was... loss. Real. —I understand."

Deadlock looks away. Not out of shame, but out of overwork. From the fact that she seemed to be understood, without asking, without protection.

Deadlock is tougher, almost defensively "Don't look for the poetry of pain in me. I'm not interesting as a tragedy. I'm what's left when everything else is gone."

Fade " And that makes you real. Not a legend. Not a hero. But alive."

Pause.

Deadlock turns to her. There's something barely perceptible in his eyes. Not tears, not weakness. The pulse of an emotion she hasn't shown in years. Only Fade saw her. And she didn't turn away.

Deadlock for the first time — quieter, almost humanly "You stayed after what you saw. This... more than most people do."