The silence between them was soaked in tension—thick, humming, electric.
The subway safehouse groaned with age—pipes rattling overhead, the faint hum of fluorescent lights flickering like ghosts trying to warn them.
Lilly stood, barely stitched together, blood seeping through gauze and pain buzzing through every limb—but she couldn't sit still. Not while the past was clawing its way back to the surface like it had teeth.
She reached for a bottle of whiskey stashed in the emergency cache and uncapped it with a shaky hand.
Snatch.
The bottle was ripped from her grip before she could even take a sip.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW?" Sam's voice was sharp but laced with worry. "Alcohol will make your wound bleed even more."
Lilly blinked at her. "Sam—"
"No."Sam set the bottle on the table with a clunk, then turned back to her, eyes burning. "YOU DON'T GET TO SELF-DESTRUCT WHILE IM STILL BREATHING!"
Without another word, she grabbed the first aid kit from the shelf, pulled Lilly down onto the cot, and opened the zipper with the kind of urgency that made Lilly's heart twist.
Sam's fingers were gentler than her voice—removing bloodied gauze, inspecting the tear where Lilly had moved too quickly, then threading a needle with surgical focus.
"This is gonna sting," Sam warned, voice low. "But you've had worse."
"I've had better nurses," Lilly muttered through gritted teeth.
Sam arched a brow. "You also had worse girlfriends."
Lilly coughed a laugh—but winced when the stitch bit in. She clutched the edge of the mattress, knuckles white.
Sam worked in silence, save for the soft snips of gauze and the steady sound of her breath.
"You're lucky I know how to sew up reckless spies," Sam murmured. "Thanks to a summer internship in literal hell."
Lilly's lips twitched. "Was it hell before or after the explosives training?"
"Before. The explosives were the fun part."
Sam tied off the last stitch and sat back, inspecting her work. "You're patched. For now. But you tear this open again, and I'm stapling you to the floor."
Lilly looked at her, something fragile blooming behind her eyes.
"You're really staying," Lilly whispered.
Sam's voice softened. "Always."
And there it was.
The softest lie they both wanted to believe.