𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭︱raven reyes, book 2

xx. 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚.

He thinks June's smart enough to do this without a chip. It's almost a compliment but it's enough to make June's lips twitch into a vague smile. His mood was like a temperature - hot with anger, cold with calmness when it came to her presence - but it was a start. "Thanks, Jasper," she said quietly.

"Something like that," Raven agreed. She stopped tapping the keys so she could look over her shoulder at him. "You okay?"

"Are you?" Jasper retorted without answering. June considers maybe her presence affected him from replying to her question. "You've been through more than anyone."

June peeled her eyes off the screens of mixing codes to look at Raven only to see she was smiling back at her with a glimmer in her own eyes. Then she shakes her head and gave Jasper a small shrug. "There's nothing like a little pain to remind you you're alive," she declared. They share a nod before Raven rose. "You got this, June?" June joined them in giving her a nod so she could limp away to Monty, dragging her bum leg behind her.

Jasper's eyes study the monitors again. June can see his lower lip trembling through the black parts of the screens as he tries to fight back tears. "Wish I'd got an upgrade," he mumbled. More guilt washes over June. She was one of the few that caused his pain and she still wanted forgiveness in a place she didn't deserve to have it.

"Okay, everyone out!" Raven decided. She waved her hands dismissively. "Go on, take the music with you. I need quiet to fix the radio, and June has to code." June half-expected Raven to order her to leave too because she knew the mechanic didn't like distractions when she was working, but she must not have thought of June as a burn. The thought made her smile again.

"Oh, come on," Harper groaned. "Why does June get to stay? You'd think she'd be your biggest distraction," she hinted. June didn't swivel around in her chair out of fear they'd notice her cheeks warming. Her rooted love for Raven wasn't very subtle.

"Hey," Raven warned easily with a harsh point of her finger in Harper's direction. She held her hands up in surrender. "June and I can easily be left alone and still get work done. Unlike you rabbits." She gestured to Harper and Monty.

It's time for Monty's cheeks to flush. He tried to shake it off and look at Raven uncertainly. "You sure?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Go on, celebrate. Please, enjoy yourselves," Raven says although it sounds more like an order for them to have fun while they work.

Harper shrugged and gave Monty a pat on the hand to distract him from the radio. "I'm starving," she announced. "Come help me raid the kitchen." They leave together with a bright glimmer in their eyes before Jasper followed, carrying an extra skip in his step. He suddenly seems giddy, happy, even. June is too glad to see him happier to question it so she lets them exit the control room without a question.

The mechanic fiddled with the knobs of the radio for only a second before June hears a loud wince of pain. She pulls her hands away from the keyboard so she can turn around this time and see the one she loved crouching over a stool with her brace stretched in front of her, tightening her fingers above her knee. Raven's in pain again. "Raven?" June spoke up in concern and stood. "Are you - "

"I'm perfect," Raven responded through clenched teeth without letting June finish her worrisome question. She's frustrated. She's annoyed, and June will only get in her way and prevent her from her work if she dwells her anxiety about her too loudly or hovers. She has no choice but to back down as she returns to fiddling with the radio. "Bellamy, are you there? Polis, this is Arkadia. Come in, Polis," she urged before mumbling away from the speaker. "Come on, where are you?"