[ by way of an answer, emma nods. she and matthew had been an incredible team, and even after their romantic involvement, they hadn't seen a slip in their work or their results. both of them could turn unbending focus on their missions, and once it became clear they'd been equally successful after months of keeping things under wraps, there'd been an allowance made on the premise that if things changed, they could easily face reassignment.

with how seamlessly emma and matthew worked together, it hadn't been a problem.

of course, that had been before everything with bogue, and while she'd taken it particularly hard because matthew was her husband, the truth is that most agents don't take well to the loss of a partner — especially not in the field.

ah, and— there it is.

she needs to sit for this one, she realizes, and she finds a place to settle, her hands in her lap and her gaze not quite on faraday — more over his shoulder, if anything. ]

It was supposed to be simple surveillance on a stock of drugs Bogue was plannin' to move. Get in, tag it all with trackers, get out again.

[ she runs a nervous hand back through her hair, steadying herself. ]

The plan was just that I'd be hangin' back and monitoring over cam, keeping an eye on the area with a few other agents. Make sure there were no surprises, you know? But— somethin' — someone — tipped Bogue off. He was there in the warehouse, and we were just...completely outnumbered.

[ fingers curl on her knees, voice a little tight. ]

Wasn't time for backup, and none of us coulda made it in there to extract Matthew.

[ but lord, she'd wanted to. she'd wanted to throw herself into that warehouse and fight with every damn thing she had.

good thing they didn't let her. ]