After helping me up, Sigma let go of my hand immediately. He had no business holding on to me for any longer but a second more wouldn't have hurt.

I curled the hand he touched into myself protectively, focusing on the ghost of the sensation of our palms pressing together before it faded away.

It wasn’t windy, not remotely, yet I felt so cold. “S-Sigma,” I stuttered his name, absolutely in awe of his physical presence. I hadn’t showered since I arrived, and he could probably smell it too.

It would be an understatement to say I was embarrassed, I must have looked a mess in my creased up civilian clothing I switched into inside the jeep I rode out here in.

Sigma said nothing to me, he circled around me, inspecting me like I was his prey.

I took that moment to notice his features, he was built like a rock. Hardened by his years in the service. He didn’t look comfortable in his civilian clothing, this was a man that grew up in army fatigues, I could tell that much from a mile away.

He made this noise that I’ve been hearing for the past several weeks, this guttural rumble that came from the back of his throat. It signified his endless irritation towards ... me?

“You’re pretty young for an agent,” talk about disregarding all the formalities of introductions, Sigma knew how to cut the bullshit and aim straight for the facts. And I doubt that comment on my age was a compliment. “You’re not going to like this,” he then said more so to himself then to me, looking up to the night sky.

I took a step towards him, interlocking my fingers in front of my chest. “I-I came to help you extract the children, they don’t have to get hurt, we just need to stop them from what they’re doing,” that was my plan, the reason I rode all those miles out here. It wasn't much of a plan so to speak, it was a pipe dream I was hoping the legend could make come true.

“I know ... dear,” Sigma shook his head, crossing his arms. He started walking towards the large metal crates that were organised in columned stacks right beside the rive, ready for loading.

The piles they were placed in left narrow passageways for people to walk between. I figured Sigma just wanted more privacy, so I followed him into the maze without looking back.

Sigma started speaking, “You forget that they’re soldiers. It’s not as easy as giving those kids a time out, if something goes amiss in their operations it would get reported back to their base, and I don't like leaving loose ends,” he said over his shoulder to me.

“So what do you plan we do?” it was an honest question, I wasn’t goading Sigma into saying anything he didn’t want to say. But it might have seemed that way from his point of view.

He stopped in his path, turning around to throw me this narrow-eyed look. His eyes were so dark, and so tired. I knew what he was going to say, he knew what he was going to say, I just didn’t want to think a legend was capable of this.

Legends were good guys, right? Or was that just a pipe dream too.

“I’m not going to kill the kids, if that’s what you think.” Oh, “We’re going to trick them, now listen …” the plan was simple, he said ... real simple. A German informant was going to meet the child soldiers again that night, all we had to do was sabotage the German, take their place and pose as the informant. And guess who was going to be the candidate for that.

Yours truly: myself.

Somehow Sigma knew I was trained in mimicking accents, I wasn’t a professional, but I could do a good Texan drawl when the occasion called for it. German however was a stretch, unless you wanted a really good Hitler impression, I was your girl.

When we spotted the informant making their way over to the meeting point, it was all making sense to me like a solved puzzle.

The informant was a woman, we were about the same height, and we had the identical hair colour, blonde. Whether Sigma knew what I looked like or not was beyond me, (he probably did) this was probably the main reason why he called me out here in the first place.

Which meant that he needed me to help him neutralise the smuggling operation. He needed my help, mine. I felt relieved knowing that simply shooting the child soldiers to sort our problem wasn’t his plan (A). But that didn’t mean somebody wasn't dying tonight.

I turned a blind eye to the silencer Sigma was twisting onto his pistol he pulled out mare moments ago, knowing full well what he planned to do with it. We were positioned in a hidden space between the crates, waiting for the informant to take the route Sigma claimed she would pass.

The idea was to tail her, as quietly as possible, and then make sure she didn't reach the meeting point.

Now I won’t get too into the details of what we did with the informant’s body afterwards, but it’s safe to assume that she wouldn’t be bothering us anymore from the bottom of the Congo river.

I dressed up in the dead woman’s clothes shortly after, carried the gun she wore on her thigh, and stashed the money she was carrying in one of her jacket pockets. Then I made my way towards the meeting point with Sigma’s voice in my ear, giving me the directions.

Then it was all smooth sailing from there. The child soldiers knew no better when I told them 'we' were no longer in need of their services.

I was ashamed to say that I think my love for Sigma grew a little more after that. It was good to have the legend on our side, and I hoped that one day he would see me as an equal. That was a dream and a half to reach, a dream I'd put everything I had to make come true.