"Quantum stabilizer's red-lining!" Lucas yanked wires from his smoking equipment.
Sarah reached Kasper first, her touch on his neural port carrying three years of shared trust. Her basic med-shield expanded – nothing fancy, just quick thinking and war experience. But something in her eyes looked haunted as she contained the blast.
"Nice save," Maria called over the fading alarms. "Though maybe we should let Lucas learn from his mistakes?"
The morning sun painted Valparaíso's hills in amber and rose, street artists' quantum murals flowing like living poetry. Sarah's laugh carried genuine warmth as she patched up Lucas's singed eyebrows.
"You know I can't resist helping lost causes." Her fingers trembled slightly against the med-scanner. "It's how I ended up with this one." She bumped Kasper's shoulder playfully.
"Hey," he protested, but his enhanced senses hummed with the familiar comfort of her presence. "I seem to remember saving you from that quantum artillery strike."
"After I stabilized your neural ports." Her smile held memories of battlefield med-bays and quieter moments. "You were a terrible patient."
"Still is," Nailah cut in, Caribbean lilt teasing. "Remember last month's enhancement calibration?"
Sarah's hand found his, grip tightening for a heartbeat. "He's worth the trouble."
A warning klaxon interrupted the moment.
"Perimeter breach in sector seven," the academy's AI announced. "Training exercise in progress."
"Again?" Lucas looked up from his smoldering equipment. "That's the third—"
"Just increased security protocols," Sarah said quickly. Too quickly? "After everything that happened..."
She trailed off, but Kasper felt old combat codes in her touch – subtle patterns asking for trust.
"Team meeting," Valerian announced. "Sean's got updates on graduation postings."
"Go ahead." Sarah squeezed Kasper's hand. "I need to file incident reports for our resident chaos generator."
"Coffee after?" The words carried three years of shared mornings. "That place on Cerro Alegre you love?"
Real joy lit her face. "The one where you first asked me out?"
"And spilled quantum-roasted coffee all over yourself?"
Her laugh held pure happiness, but something darker flickered in her medical frequencies. Her fingers traced patterns on his neural port that felt like apology.
"Love you, soldier," she whispered.
The team headed out, leaving Sarah with her med-scanner and unspoken words.
Behind them, the morning sun caught tears in her eyes that she quickly brushed away.
But only Kasper noticed.