Prompt: Lost / Forgotten
Title: Recon Gone Wrong
Fandom: VALORANT
Warnings: N/A
Word Count: 2,753
Notes: Takes place before the SHATTERED cinematic. --> A/N = Your Agent Name
Synopsis: A/N, a recon specialist for the VALORANT Protocol is sent alongside a Team to scope out what their Mirror counterparts have been up to, stealing their Earth's supply of Radianite. But when their enemy is already there and the Team gets separated, what will happen next? Will the two Agents lost in an unknown, underwater part of Omega Earth get back to where they belong in one piece?
----
Recon Gone Wrong
It should've been a simple mission.
It was recon.
Your specialty.
But as you practically slide behind a pile of Radianite crates, the concrete of wherever the hell you somehow ended up at biting at your skin through your combat pants, you sigh shakily, clutching the only weapon you'd been able to bring along with whitening knuckles.
A suppressed handgun - more commonly known to your fellow Agents as a Ghost. The best weapon of choice for Missions like these.
Or at least it would've been if this Mission hadn't already gone off the rails!
How did we manage to get separated?! This place isn't even that big!
It was true.
Direct from Brimstone - he'd sent a team to Omega Earth.
Or Mirror Earth as you like to call it.
The home of your doubles, of which, encounters with them seem to be occurring more frequently these days...
And you can only pray that now that you're on their turf, their version of the VALORANT Protocol won't come after you.
But right now, panic is beginning to settle in.
You'd already tried your Comm.
Blocked or jammed - either way, no one was there.
And you'd seen Reyna usher Killjoy's bright yellow jacketed form back through the portal, returning fire to whatever odd looking uniformed force decided to open fire upon the four of you the minute you'd all stepped through the portal.
Which leaves you and... Chamber of all people, stuck on Omega Earth with no way of getting back home.
Or at least, not from this way.
It had been Brimstone who had somehow convinced the French sharpshooter to join up on this Mission.
How he did it, you have no idea.
Chamber isn't usually one too keen on joining Missions unless absolutely necessary.
But, as bullets once more ricochet off of the crates you're hiding behind, your enemies having caught up with you once more, you're beginning to think that maybe your leader shouldn't have put so much faith in the marksman with uncertain motives.
Heck, for all I know, he managed to follow through after Reyna and I'm stuck here completely alone.
Either way, you're alone until you find your teammate - if he's even still here, that is.
So, you allow your panicked actions to get the best of you as you run towards what appears to be an exit, the rows of what appear to be computers and other technological equipment passing you by in a blur, your gaze solely focused on the sliver of light at the far end of this darkened server room.
You can hear your pursuers in tow, their rapid, heavy, booted footfalls and shouts for you to likely stop, echoing in the expanse.
But you pay no mind, panting, clutching your handgun so tight, it almost feels as if it might break.
The light is getting closer now, a small, single metal door is slightly ajar, almost if someone has been through it already...
Again, you pay no mind, dashing through the door and slamming it shut, pressing your back up against it with a sigh.
And as you stand there, panting, your eyes go wide upon surveying your surroundings.
What appears to be a dome, stretches up high above your head, water on every side, the rays of the setting sun filtering through the depths causing you to wince, your eyes instinctively squinting at the sudden harsh light.
Though your momentary blindness costs you.
In a flash, you feel a set of arms restraining you and pulling you away from the door, your back no longer up against the cool metal, instead, the warmth of what appears to be another person.
Your panic choruses through you once more, even more so this time, as you fight against your apparent attacker's grip, the hand holding your Ghost effectively pinned into you, unable to move.
Though you finally manage to free yourself enough to elbow the person holding you captive, sending them staggering back slightly, their grip faltering...
And you step forward, shaking yourself free, whirling around, taking your mark, your finger sliding towards the trigger...
"Chamber?!" You practically gasp in sheer disbelief, the well-dressed sharpshooter clutching his side, a rather displeased expression on his features.
At this, he merely chuckles, shaking off the momentary pain you'd dealt him before offering a smirk.
"Indeed," Your teammate replies, his tone staying surprisingly calm considering the situation the pair of you are now stuck together in.
"What the hell was that for?!"
Your entire body is trembling with an anger and adrenaline as you stalk towards his larger figure, jamming a finger against his chest.
"You scared me half to death and I nearly shot you, you idiot!"
"I had faith that you wouldn't."
"Faith?! Are you insane?"
"Does anyone actually answer that question, mademoiselle?"
Fuming, you step away from the sniper, though he almost instantly grabs your arm and pulls you back towards him, tone low.
"Are you just going to stand here and yell at me or should we actually determine our next course of action?"
Once more, you huff in reply, a humored yet stern glimmer in his gaze, almost amplified by his glasses.
"Let's get on with it then. You got a plan?"
"As much as you would love to think otherwise, I actually do."
Wordlessly, your teammate links his arm through yours and begins towards the inner city sprawling out in front of the pair of you, dragging your rather shocked form along with him.
"And what exactly would that be?" You mutter lowly, your strides faltering slightly as you scramble to catch up with him.
"We get to Tango site," Chamber states matter-of-factly, chuckling as a teasing falls into his tone. "That is our only other option out of here. Were you not paying attention to Brimstone's briefing?"
You just sigh heavily, pinching the bridge of your nose in frustration.
"You're right. It'll give us a chance to gather some intel on our way, as well..." You trail off, coming to a halt as you both near the entrance to the Main Street. "It's just how we figure out how to get there is the problem."
Your Partner just shrugs, continuing on, once more dragging you with him.
If we don't die before getting to Tango site, this'll be a miracle.
****
"Do you see any signs of movement?" You mumble from beside where your teammate is laying, peering down the scope of his sniper.
The pair of you had somehow managed to scale one of the nearby buildings overlooking the much less well put together portal on the site.
A site that had taken the pair of you who knows how long to actually find.
You'd nearly wound up on the opposite side of the city at one point, having come to a halt in a rather dingy alleyway, bickering once more.
But, you'd both settled your differences and set them aside for the time being.
"There doesn't appear to be anyone currently down there, though there are cameras," Chamber hums, seeming to ponder something for a moment, panning his weapon towards the entrance of the large open area.
"No guards on watch either."
You huff, mentally cursing yourself for not bringing a rifle - anything with a scope would be better than your handgun.
And in the low lighting now settled over the underwater city, it's going to be ten-times more difficult to hit even a close shot with the weapon in your grasp.
"So we go for it."
"No," The man at your side muses, his accent slightly thicker, almost with a sort of concern? "You go. I will cover you."
You resist the urge to cause a fuss yet again - his logic is sound - he can see everything from up here.
But the emotional side of you disagrees.
"I have a Ghost," You state plainly, gesturing with the firearm in your hands. "What am I supposed to do against rifles?!"
At this, Chamber sets aside his sniper, turning to face you with a seemingly genuine grin of assurance.
"I've seen what you are capable of," He explains, motioning to the handgun. "And I believe you'll do just fine."
"You know I literally have no reason to trust your judgement or... you, for that much."
"I know," The French Agent frowns, a momentary shift of expression dancing across his features. "But at the moment, this is our only option. Would you not agree?"
You huff a heavy sigh, merely nodding in reply.
"Alright," You mutter, raising a finger to the Comm in your ear, switching it back on, mere static still on the opposite end where Brimstone's voice should be. "I guess trusting you it is then."
And with one last nod of confirmation, you begin to clamber down from the rooftop perch, a momentary feeling of relief flooding you as your feet land on the concrete with a thud.
The city streets are empty now, only the odd assortment of streetlights and illuminated displays from shop windows lighting your path towards your target.
Your footsteps are quiet, the soles of your combat boots biting into the rough surface beneath them.
Risking a glance up from where you'd just come from, you somehow manage an inward grin, the French sniper's figure barely visible from where he lies.
You better watch my back, Frenchie...
Muttering various things beneath your breath that don't even make sense to you, you round the corner towards the site, the large expanse littered with covered crates of items... and Radianite, by the looks of it.
And on the far end sits a triangular portal, almost identical to the one that you'd come through hours earlier.
This one, however, seems to still be in the works, it's siding missing in some parts, bits of loose wiring evident.
"This thing better work," You grumble to no one in particular, beginning your approach towards the terminal, sitting off to the side, barely visible from beneath the drop cloth that hangs over top of it.
Using the assorted boxes as cover as you sweep each section with your handgun before continuing closer, you gradually continue forward, a feeling of unease rising within you.
"Are you seeing anything?" You mumble into your Comm channel directly to Chamber, a momentary static plaguing your hearing before his accented tone filters through.
"You're still clear from what I can see."
Sucking in a breath, you sigh heavily, mentally the idea of your next actions.
But, you do it anyway, leaping out from behind the last crate and sprinting towards the terminal, throwing off the cover and hastily beginning to search for a power switch.
Come on, come on, come on!
"Gotcha!"
With a click of a button on the underside of the medium sized touchscreen, the display comes to life, though as the system boots, you can't help but frown.
"It's in German. Are you kidding me?!"
You could swear you just hear your teammate chuckle.
And then, it all happens so fast.
Suddenly, the once dormant portal sitting in front of you roars to life, the familiar blue hue flickering a few times before finally settling in it's confines, a low hum emitting from the device.
"Alright! We're a go! Let's get out of here!" You cheer through your Comm, your Partner merely giving a simply reply.
"A/N, if you can hear me, meet us at Tango site. We'll send someone through to get you guys home!" Brimstone's slightly static commanding tone sounds in your earpiece, a relief washing through you.
Thank goodness.
"I copy, Brim! We're ready when you are!" You reply, an excitement in your tone you barely comprehend.
Nothing.
"Brim? Brimstone?"
Silence and static once more.
"Damn it!" You curse aloud, urgent footfalls meeting your ears from behind you as you turn to face the source of the noise.
Chamber is nearing your side now, his own handgun out and at the ready, gaze on a swivel.
"What's our problem?" He muses as he comes to halt at your side, the pair of you staring down the blue void before turning your backs to it and surveying the dimly lit site.
The activation of the portal must've been enough to get your earlier pursuers on your trail once more, because the squealing of tires and frantic shouts are a certain tell-tale sign of that fact.
"Lost comms again. Brim said he's sending someone over to come and get us."
"Any indication of when he said that might be happening?"
"Hopefully sooner rather than later!"
The darkly uniformed and masked figures from earlier are swarming the site now, their weapons outdrawn and at the ready, effectively boxing you and the man at your side, in.
With nowhere to go.
"Anytime now, Brim..." You mutter, your gaze scanning the ever growing row of armed figures, still filing into position.
The minute they're all here and accounted for, we're dead.
The figures all stop shuffling.
They're in position.
Weapons trained heavily on you and your teammate.
You can hear all of the safeties unclick almost as if the dome the city is under causes the sound to echo.
The crunch of their boots against the loose gravel
And then, you're pulled backwards.
So sudden that you're surprised you don't scream, the disorienting feeling of teleporting between worlds consuming you, though the hands around your waist don't loosen.
Not until you find yourself standing back at the familiar surroundings of VALORANT Protocol HQ, a sigh of relief sounding from behind you.
"Glad we got to you guys when we did," Neon chuckles, though her tone carries a genuine contentment as she lets go of your waist, shifting her smaller frame to carry some of your own weight, your mind and body still reeling from the last few seconds.
Your gaze is blurry, your mouth dry, head pounding with the onset of a headache.
But as you stand there, with your blue and yellow haired teammate supporting you, you simply watch from the sidelines as Chamber and Reyna make their ways back through the blue portal, almost appearing to just be chatting casually about all that had transpired over the course of this Mission.
A Mission of which, even though it went off the rails, you'd argue was still worthy of being deemed a success.
"You and me both, Neon. You and me both..." You trail off as the hazy figure of Brimstone enters the room, his heavier, crisp sounding footfalls against the smoothened concrete floors a dead giveaway.
"Well, how's Killjoy's masterpiece work for ya?" The older commander jokes, earning a raspy chuckle from you.
"It's something. But Brim, about your recon..."
"It's fine, kid. You did all you could do. I'm just glad we're all still in once piece."
"No, no. You misunderstand."
Opening the flap of the pocket on your leg, you grab the rather crumpled piece of paper you'd grabbed while wondering around the city streets, evidently lost.
Until, you'd found the map.
"It's a map of the whole city," You explain, a tired grin tugging at your lips. "But if we're going back there again, we have to go armed and ready for a fight. Because they certainly wanted it."
At this, Brimstone frowns.
And even in your weary state you can tell that he's already drumming up a future game-plan.
"Good to know. We can talk more whenever you're back on your feet. You did good, A/N."
"Thank you, but it wasn't just me."
You sigh, motioning to where the well-dressed sharpshooter is standing off to the side, still chatting with Reyna.
"I still don't trust him completely, but after tonight's fiasco, it's definitely worth noting that he did indeed have my back."
The older commander simply nods in thought, his gaze switching from Chamber and then back to the map in his hands.
"Go get some rest."
And so, you take his advice.
With Neon's help, you manage to hobble your way through HQ and back to your Quarters, saying farewell to your teammate with a exhausted "good night."
And when the door closes behind you, bathing your room in darkness, all you have the energy to do is flop down onto your bed, almost instantly falling asleep, adrenaline finally ebbing away.
With only a drifting thought to accompany you.
I guess now that we have a map, no one else should be getting lost.
But, you know the fight is far from over.
In fact, after what you'd witnessed tonight.
You'd argue that it's just begun.