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naorisvisits · 7 months ago

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A/N: Hello Wispies! Here's chapter 4!

This chapter was a little difficult to write and personally, I found it pretty dry. But I promise you, the next chapter will be a better read!

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3

"Holy shit! I overslept, damn it!" Rei whined, running towards the safehouse after almost getting into a collision accident with a car. Cheeks flushed from the chilly air, heavy unsteady breaths and beads of sweat on her forehead- she was a complete mess. Or so she thought. But just as she reached for the door of the safehouse, another figure walked out and there, the two of them collided. Rei fell on her butt with a small whine while the stranger hardly moved an inch.

"Woah there doll, you hurt?" The stranger extended an arm to the girl. Rei blinked a few times, trying to reorient herself after the unexpected fall. She looked up to see the ruggedly charming stranger with a friendly grin on his face. She studied his face for a second. I know him...

"Thank you and sorry abo-."

"Don't worry about it." Rei took his arm, while he pulled her up with ease and chuckled at her flustered state. Rei observed the man's rugged face. Despite his rough exterior, she could sense a certain emotional intensity and gentleness behind his aggressive facade.

"Name's Woods." Rei jerked lightly at his sudden boisterous introduction, as she was pulled out of her thoughts. Oh, he's Frank Woods! A playful smile danced on her lips as she extended her hand.

"I am Rei!" The girl shook his arm excitedly, making the other man chuckled.

"If you two are done giggling like high school idiots," Rei turned towards the source of the sound. It was none other than her beloved grumpy ice-cube mentor, Hudson. He definitely looks unimpressed. But he didn't even look at her, he was busy glaring at Woods. And Woods returned the glare with an equal intensity of hate and contempt. What's going on?

"Uhm... I think I'll go over Aach's evidence." The younger girl awkwardly danced on her tiptoes, squirming between the staring competition going on between the two men.

"Of course. Also tonight, you go with Adler." Hudson grumbled, glancing at Rei briefly. Oh bloody hell, not another grumpy-shades! Rei excused herself stomping into the safehouse. "Not again, not again ahahah." She kept muttering gibberish, unknowingly attracting a lot of attention from the others in the safehouse, including Adler's, at her sudden agitated entry.

"What's up with her? She was all smiles and cheery last couple of days." Sims chuckled.

"Probably needs her morning coffee." Baker snorted, bringing his attention back to his weapon. Adler sighed lightly, grabbing his cup of coffee and walked towards Rei's office.

"Keep it professional Adler." Park chimed, trying to stifle down her uncontrollable giggles.

"You're becoming brave, Park," Adler muttered exasperatedly. He barged open the door, startling the girl for the nth time.

"Knocking exists." Rei puffed her cheeks in irritation. Adler ignored the girl as he grabbed a nearby chair and sat down, placing his mug on her table. He took a moment to observe her workspace. It had a lot of pinks. He studied the girl carefully while she wasn't looking at him: Impeccable makeup, long dark hair with honey highlights tied up in a neat ponytail, comfortable yet elegant clothing. And everything had a pink element. 'So put together yet so chaotic. A peculiar one indeed.'

"If you're done trying to scrutinise me, Mr Adler," She finally put the file away, looking at him with an unreadable expression. "What are we doing tonight?" Her eyes widened slightly with curiosity or it was her method of trying to seem more awake and interested- Adler couldn't tell which. But with the tilt of her face towards the left, he assumed it was curiosity.

"Yes, I need a little bit of assistance. Nothing big actually, just go to a cafe and plant the hearing device. Get the intel and get out." Adler stopped briefly, inhaling his cigarette.

"That's it?" Rei asked, her eyes searching for answers in Adler's eyes covered by his shades.

"Yes. Sims will stay for back up if things go haywire," Rei looked down, her stomach churning as anxiety started consuming her mind. She unconsciously pressed her fingernails to her nailbed- an act not gone noticed by Adler. "As soon as I drop you at the cafe, go directly towards the man I point to and plant the device whenever you think is safe."

"Who is the man?" Adler stubbed his cigarette and pushed a file towards her. Rei took the file carefully and started going through its contents.

"How good is your Russian?"

"Decent," Rei replied not looking up from the file.

"German?"

"Rusty, but not bad." She finally looked up at Adler. He nodded, getting up from his chair.

"A colleague of mine, Grigori Weaver will be there." Adler pushed a tattered file of Weaver towards the girl. Rei admired the picture of the one-eyed enigmatic looking operative. "He will stay till you plant the device after which he will leave to help me out if needed." Rei gave out a soft 'uhum', her eyes glued to Weaver's file. "5 hours to prepare."

"Thank you." Rei smiled sweetly at the waitress as she placed her coffee in front of her. I am glad my German doesn't sound too off. Rei looked across the café towards Weaver who had his intent gaze on the girl the entire time. She had planted the device as soon as she entered the Café and luckily no one noticed except for Weaver. She slowly set up the device in front of her, bending a little forward towards it, while covering it with a humongous book that she had bought on the way. The device was as small as a matchbox, easy to hide. Finally, time to use my fancy toys!

"Adler, the girl has finished setting up." Rei gave out a small sigh of relief while Weaver updated Adler and walked out of the Café, giving her a small nod.

"Alright. Rei, if you suspect anything dangerous or suspicious, get out."

"Understood," Rei whispered, listening to her device. She quickly jotted down whatever she could make out from the conversation on the book she had brought, writing down everything in riddles. 'Perseus has got someone in the CIA. Stitch will get them. She was a clever one- she got another ignorant one to take the bullet for her...Not careful who they hire' Rei looked tense for a moment. Stitch, bloody Stitch! Who the hell is he?! And who is the ignorant girl?

"Adler, he's leaving," Rei whispered.

"Get out whenever you're done. Meet me near the bar. I'll be there." Rei started packing up her belongings and paid the waitress with a generous tip. The anxiety started to bubble within Rei as she bit the soft skin of her inner lip, unconsciously drawing blood. Clever girl? Took the bullet? As she walked towards the park, the girl kept overanalysing and repeating whatever happened at the meeting. He knows something. Suddenly, the girl tripped over her foot, but the fall never came. Instead, two strong arms held her waist.

"You should be careful." Rei looked up to her saviour. Weaver. A small wry smile formed on her lips.

"Yea...Thank you." Weaver nodded, walking towards his car. Adler dumped a loaded body bag, closing the door. The two men exchanged words, parting with a nod and Weaver left the duo on the street.

"Get in, let's go." Adler walked towards his car, while Rei walked soullessly towards it.

"You are too careless and distracted." Rei glanced at Adler.

"I need water." Adler nodded, grabbing a bottle from the side. Rei muttered a thank you, taking the bottle and chugging it down hastily. And then she choked on it, earning an amused, yet judgemental look from Adler.

"Who chokes on water." He chuckled lightly, intent on irritating the girl.

"People die from choking." Rei tried to speak between the coughs. She looked up for some time and breathed in deeply, trying to calm her epiglottis reflexes down. Once she had gotten rid of the coughs, she glared at Adler. "And you ran over that speed bump when I was drinking."

"Then you should have looked ahead, kid." This man...

"I am not a kid, I'm bloody 30." Rei huffed and puffed her cheeks again, crossing her arms over her chest.

"But you act like one," Adler smirked lightly, knowing that the girl was clearly irritated with him.

"Well, I'm not the one who strutted in and accused someone of a traitor."

"I never called you a traitor, kid." Adler was calm, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"But you did imply with the little interrogation."

"That's my privilege."

"Privilege to be rude, cynical and apathetic towards me?" Adler looked at the girl with an unreadable expression. She could see his eyes through the shades- not clearly, but he was definitely looking deep into hers. It wasn't intimidating, it was just a serious expression.

"No. I am cautious. Unlike your 'empathetic heart', I prefer to stick to realism and rationality." Rei raised an eyebrow. Adler turned back to the road, letting the girl process his words.

"Wha- I am not an idiot!" The girl growled lightly, but her face could hardly daunt the man. Adler looked at her widened doe-eyes and pouted lips and puffed cheeks with an amused but a hint of endearment at the girl's attempt to overpower him.

"Is that what you took from it, Rei?" This man's cockiness...

"No, I just want you to know that just because I am empathetic, doesn't mean that I am an idiot. Nor am I controlled by my emotions." Rei stated calmly, a little bit of anger still lingering in her tone. Adler glanced for a second at the girl. His eyes caught the upper lobe and conch piercing that gleamed under the traffic lights. A small smile danced on his lips, one that was hard to observe.

"You're naive, kid."

"I am not naive and don't kid me." With that, the two of them continued the ride in silence. Except for occasional deep sighs and breaths, Adler's lighter and the gear bring shifted, the ride was a comfortably silent one. Rei rested her head against the window, the cold air lulling her eyes to sleep and the scent of smoke from Adler giving her a sense of safety. Adler turned to look at a fast asleep Rei. He could hear a soft snore escaping from her mouth. With extreme caution and gentleness, he slowly took the big book from Rei that was hanging at the edge of her lap, ready to fall onto her feet. The girl shifted a little, curling her body a little towards the side, while Adler threw the book in the backseat and continued the ride.

Rei groggily woke up to a soft tap on her arm. She stretched and yawned a little, reminding Adler of his cat back home. He suppressed a smile and got out of the car first, grabbing the book from the back. Rei got out a few seconds later, sleep spell still in her eyes.

"Give the intel to Hudson, I will join you in a bit." Adler handed the book to Rei. The girl nodded, walking into the safehouse.

"'Not careful who they hire'. That's what he kept repeating, according to the girl and the intel." Adler nodded, listening to Weaver.

He looked around the safehouse. Everyone except Rei was present. He looked outside and she wasn't there too. He concluded that she must be inside her room, analysing the rest of the evidence.

"Rei seems to fit in all the checkboxes. But the girl isn't even aware- or she's good at acting."

"Adler, no matter how good a person is at acting naive, there will be a moment of wavering. And that moment cannot go unnoticed, especially from the two of us."

Adler had to agree with Weaver. She was too consistent- almost inhumanely possible to keep the facade on even during both their breaking points.

"True."

"Hudson's not going to be happy if we suspect Rei." Adler stubbed his cigarette in the ashtray, leaving the Russian.

"It's none of his business."

In her room, Rei held her necklace- a broken one. Tears started stinging her eyes as she stared at the broken piece of the remnant that her Dada had left for her. I should have stopped pulling it. Fuck. Maybe someone out there can help me fix this.

She started to walk out when she smashed her face against a hard body and dropped her necklace and the pendant. "Fuck! Dada!" The girl bent down, frantically looking for the broken necklace and the red-star pendant. She ignored the person who stood by the door, studying the scene in front of him.

"Here." Rei looked up, a hand reached out to her. The pendant. with a sigh of relief and happiness, Rei grabbed the pendant and clutched it tightly, looking up to thank the person. And it was none other than Grigori Weaver.

"Thank you." The girl smiled with a respectful nod, standing up and dusting herself.

"Dada? That belonged to your father?" Rei froze. Shit, he must have heard it.

"That's what the woman at the orphanage told me. I always kept it close." Please please don't ask me any more questions.

"Mhm...You knew him?" The girl shook her head, a sad expression on her face. Weaver gave a small sympathetic smile. The girl's eyes started tearing up and Weaver had caught it.

"I wish I did." She replied with a sad smile. With that, she walked out of her room.

Rei hadn't noticed that she had kept one of her Gulag papers open. Once she was far, Weaver walked towards her table, going through the papers.

'Names of Gulags' 'Possibility of Survival' 'Ask Mason'

But nothing had anything relating to Stitch or Perseus or the Union. "She's looking for her father," Weaver whispered. He immediately walked out of the room, looking for Adler.

A/N: Also, I didn't give the name of the person they were supposed to spy on because... I couldn't come up with one and they weren't really important- just a tool to convey a certain piece of info.

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