#'yeah sorry man i can't go on the recon mission'

[counterattacker]

Working on a custom-painted Lfrith Thorn! The V-fins turned out awesome!

[thegnomelord]

Sorry for blowing up your inbox, but you've really got my creative juices flowing. So I want to expand on 2 ideas.

No. 1

Shrike Harpy Reader w/ oblivious Graves (bc from my knowledge, he's usually a vampire or regular guy) or Ghost (bc he was human before)

In which Shrike reader is getting progressively more obvious with their advances bc Ghost/Graves don't understand. The particular idea I had was where they think it's some kind of threat or prank. So reader is getting more obvious, and they think that the threat/prank is getting more intense.

That would be hilarious! Obviously, they will either find out or be told about the advances eventually. But the idea that you are courting them and they miss the mark entirely is so funny to me. Especially if their teammates laugh and refuse to tell them the obvious truth.

No. 2

Going off of the spider's sexual dimorphism + a different version of monster au. Pairing spider hybrid reader w/ octopus (cthulhu?) König (if you do reqs for him), where spider reader looks at him and is like:

So you're telling me there's an eight-legged hybrid, approximately five times my size, that could snap my spine like a toothpick, just beyond enemy lines.... Do you need someone to volunteer for a solo recon mission any time soon?

Oh no! My recon mission turned into a hostage situation, how unfortunate. But while I'm here, I should interrogate him... yeah, interrogating is exactly what I'll be doing with this giant tied up man rn....

👑 anon

No, no, anon I'm always so happy reading all the stuff you guys send me! I know next to nothing about Konig except the stuff I've read about him that turns him into a really perverted disgusting degenerate and while I'm not comfortable writing that, I hope one of my mutes picks it up bc it is super cool! I got a dancing with Ghost ask I really wanna do so Graves it is lol

CW:SWF-ish turns suggestive at the end, Graves being oblivious

Graves hates being the butt of the joke.

For the last couple of months he's been getting 'gifts' in the form of chunks of meat stabbed through various knives. It had started a knife being stabbed through burgers and steaks(typical American food), which he couldn't eat, but slowly progressed to rarer and rarer pieces of meat until he wound up finding just raw and bloody chunks of meat; a leg of some large animal turned into a pincushion, a still beating heart stabbed through with a knife, livers shish kebabed on a bayoneted blade. . .

And he'd find them everywhere, in the communal fridge, in his office, in his room. And while he didn't mind the free meal, he was a little unnerved. He knew it was you doing it because he had screened the minds of all his shadow's, but he didn't know why you were doing it.

He can see the way his shadows smirk at you when he finds another bloody organ skewered on your favorited knife in the fridge, your feathers puffing up and a not so quiet chirp escaping your lips when he sneaks the meat away to feast on.

You also become more touchy with him when you notice him accepting your gifts, though he has no idea of it. He trusts you, which is why you're allowed to sneak up on him, your wings spreading out to wrap around him like a cloak as you chirp a "Hello commander."

It makes him jump out of his skin, and though he chastises you about it, it's never as harsh as he could make it, his shadows giving him a knowing look that he can't reciprocate.

That's the worst part. None of his shadows will tell him anything.

He doesn't know much about your species of harpy except for the generalized knowledge of extreme speed and craftiness, so he can't figure out if this is some kind of joke, or threat, or you just seeing him as part of the flock? Or maybe it means nothing? He's especially confused when you grow bolder and one day he walks into his office to see a Bison leg sitting on his desk, once again skewered. Where did you even get the bloody bison? Hell knows but certainly not him.

Eventually a shadow grows annoyed by your constant bloody gifts in the fridge and with a very annoyed huff drops a harpy encyclopedia on his desk.

He'll need to get them a gift basket after this; he spends the next few hours just reading about all kinds of harpies, ears progressively getting hotter as the book delves deep into every aspect of the harpies, each sub-race's specific courting and matting habit and making him feel like he's reading porn.

Then he finds a chapter about your type of harpy, eyes growing wide like dinnerplates as he reads about your quirks. He doesn't know whether to go search for a cross or tissues. He reads more and more, turning pages upon pages, his eyes scorching every anatomical picture into his brain and making him think of what you're packing, his pants growing tight as the minutes tick down.

Just his luck that you'd decided the moment when his face is the hottest to walk into his office without knocking, another skewered offering on a plate in your hands.

"Christ!" He yelps, slamming the book shut and looking at you like you're his parent and caught him looking at a playboy magazine.

You puff up in surprise, your wings spreading out a bit before flattening back to your back, a soothing chirp leaving your lips. It used to mean nothing to him, now he knows what it means, his cock getting a bit harder in his pants.

"You alright commander?" You ask, walking closer, the talons of your feet clicking against the ground.

"Yes, yep, perfectly fine." He grunts, desperately hoping his vampiric state will suppress the heat in his face, but to no avail. "You-" His eyes settle on the plate in your hands, his body practically conditioned to salivate when he sees a familiar knife sticking out of the food.

"I?" You ask, then you note the book on his desk, your head tilting in confusion. "Graves?"

He swallows, eyes darting from the food to you, and he doesn't know which one he's starved for more. "You've been wooing me like a dolly huh?" He asks.

"Yeah." You're unsure of what else to say, in your head, had he not wanted your advances he would have never taken your offerings. Then you realize. "Don't tell me you just noticed." You deadpan.

Graves gives that awkward chuckle you've grown to love, and you decide you need to be bolder. You place the plate on his desk and lean over it, a coo rumbling in your chest— deeper, rougher, seductive.

"How about I show you what I want?"

[vrystalius]

Bird Hashira anon again. Idk if I'm ever gonna post this story but I thought you might be interested in just some random fun tidbits I have about this character

Pre hashira

He is really good at hiding, like most of his kills involve demons who didn't even know he was there.

After a couple years in the corps OC basically just assigned himself the recon aspect of the hashiras roles. Just cause he was good at it

Kagaya noticed that he was pretty good at the whole information gathering aspect and just started officially sending him to do that shit. It really helped cut back on unnecessary deaths of lower ranked slayers.

Usually he just responds with a ‘yeah this one was p fucked. It's been dealt w ✌️’

Occasionally sends a ‘please send someone competent or I'm going to die 🙂’

This is how he has met a handful of present and future hashira.

When he met Giyuu, he realized that the man is as awkward as him (but in a different way) and declared him a friend. He does not care if Giyuu agrees to this.

Whilst both of them will just walk away from awkward/unwanted conversations the key difference is OC will just outright say ‘i don't like this conversation, goodbye!’

Giyuu is very stressed because OC likes to drop out of the sky like an actual bird except he can't actually fly???

Kagaya has given him a little cottage that attached to wherever unassigned (and Injured/sick crows) hang out. I call it the Avery.

He spends his free time hanging out and gossiping with the crows. He knows waaaaaay to much about the rest of the corps.

Post Hashira

He technically didn't kill the lower moon himself, the sunrise did. So there is some debate over whether or not that should count

It's a pretty even split on who is for and who is against.

Truly a bewildering moment to all present when Giyuu, Obanai and Sanemi were all on the no side of things. Those two have never agreed with Giyuu once in their life.

Later someone tells OC Giyuu voted no and he is like ‘lmao that's fair, our last joint mission was a complete disaster!’

Shinobu terrifies him but in like… a positive way. He thinks it's too bad that their fighting styles don't compliment each other very well.

By the time cannon starts he is the second shortest hashira (by like half an inch, it's truly devastating the day Muichiro surpasses him)

Also thinking about the Tanjiro incident and imagining Obanai and OC furiously competing for the one well placed tree. Because they can't both be in it??? ‘Im the BIRD Hashira! Go lie on a rock or something!!!’

He also has a tragic backstory ™ but like that's less fun than all of this tbh so I'll leave that be lmao

Oh I remember this! So sorry for not replying earlier, I overlooked somehow between all the other messages :,) apologies for the month-late reply

I love Giyu being friends with your OC except he wasn’t informed about it, basically he isn’t aware himself that he is his friend. I feel like the closest they have gotten to friendship activities is either silently eating soba noodles side by side and slaying demons together. Maybe it could be like a known thing that your OC sends a complaint every time they partner up with someone, but never sent one out about Giyu or Obanai (Obanai was the love interest, right? My memory is terrible XD)

Also, love the idea of Obanai and your OC arguing about who gets to sit in trees. Obanai would be very stubborn about giving his spot up and may need some persuasion, maybe trading good missions for a month for a month’s worth of tree-owning. Or the tree is treated like a child of a divorce, for one week, it’s in the OCs possession and in the other in Obanai’s. Although they don’t get to use those privileges often since it’s not every day that Kagaya gets the hashira together for a meeting.

Thank you for sharing this— I like reading about OCs people use! I’m not sure if this was a self-insert or just an OC, if you mentioned it before I probably forgot, but I like the idea of getting to know how people imagine themselves in their favourite media or work of fiction. I sometimes wonder what you all imagine when I write mine :P

[mysecretlittlelibrary]

Though It Ain't 1955

Pairing: Bucky x Black!Reader

Word Count: 1.7k

Warnings: none this is just a meetcute fic lol

Genre: fluff- straight fluff

Summary: Bucky meets the reader on a time travel recon mission and resigns to never seeing her again- until he does. (inspired by the song 1955 by The Cobb except I didn't want to make it angsty so consider it very loosely based)

***

Bucky cannot believe what's happening right now. I mean he's seen sci-fi movies, courtesy of the spider kid and Sam and their long list of pop culture recommendations, and he knows that time is not to be messed with. Not once has time travel ever gone well in the movies. It always causes some crazy problems because of the thing they call The Butterfly Effect and yet, here he is. Walking through a bar in 1955 tracking down a HYDRA agent who jumped through a wormhole to escape the Avengers with a hostage. Now he and Steve are doing recon in the past. But as absolutely absurd as this is Bucky can't help but take in the sights around him, marveling at this glimpse of part of the life he was supposed to live.

"So this is post-World War II America." Steve hums.

"Man I haven't worn suspenders in ages." Bucky says snapping the band of the black elastics.

"Yeah- I bet it would've been cool to live through the fifties, don't you think Buck?" He asks.

"It- sure is something. But this isn't our world anymore and we certainly didn't come here to lament about what we should've had. We gotta find this Hydra guy." Bucky says.

"Of course." Steve nods, eyes scanning the crowd.

"There he is." Bucky nods towards him.

"Alright, I'm going in. We have to be careful not to draw too much attention to ourselves or to him." Steve says.

"I'll be on standby." Bucky slaps his back and finds a wall to blend into. Bucky watches as Steve closes in on the target giving Bucky the chance to intercept the hostage as Steve managed to remove the agent from the building.

"Hello, I'm Bucky. It's alright, you're safe now." Bucky says to the shaken up man.

"T-thank you Bucky." The man says. Bucky nods as he ushers the man outside.

"Once Steve returns we'll get you back to our time and you can get checked out by some members of the Avengers medical team." Bucky explains.

"Okay." The man says. Steve returns shortly with the HYDRA agent restrained.

"Alright, there's a specific location we have to get to in order to go back, it's not far, a couple of blocks from here. Let's go." Steve drags the HYDRA agent down the street, the hostage follows and Bucky stays at the tail end of the group.

The sound of bubbling laughter causes Bucky to look around as the four of them enter a different neighborhood. Before he can spot the source of the sound he hears a soft 'oof' as he feels something collide with him. You were so busy talking to your friends as you walked out of the dive bar you didn't realize until it was too late and you were crashing into what you thought was a wall. Well until the wall's arms shoot out to steady you before you fall.

"Oh geez, I'm sorry!" You say stepping back and shaking your head a little. Bucky can't help but take in your appearance, brown eyes, dark curly hair and a red polka dot dress.

"You okay doll?" He asks you. Your face heats slightly at the sound of his voice.

"I-I'm alright, thank you. Sorry for bumping into you like that." You mutter.

"Don't worry about it," he trails off in a way that signals you to fill in with your name.

"Y/n. I'm y/n." You say.

"Y/n- pretty girl with a pretty name to match." He smiles at you.

"Thank you." You reply shyly.

"I'm, James, James Barnes." He says holding out a hand.

"It's- it's nice to meet you James." You say intending to shake his outstretched hand.

"The pleasure is all mine." He says turning your wrist to place a gentle kiss on the back of your hand. You let out a barely audible gasp.

"Y/N!! Come on!!" Your friends wave you over from further up the road.

"Oh- I um, excuse me I have to go. Bye James." You smile once more before running off to catch up with your friends.

"Y/n what the hell were you doing talking to that white boy?" Your friend asks looping her arm through yours.

"I accidentally bumped into him." You say looking over your shoulder as he catches up with Steve and their travel companions.

"Y/n remember what time we're in. It's the 50s! You have to be more careful talking to white folk around here. Next thing we know we find you hanging from a tree tarred and feathered or something and if that happens-"

"I know Mel! If something finite happens to me here I can't fix it when we go back to the present. It's alright! We're done here after tomorrow anyway." You tug her along to your next destination.

"Thank goodness we're leaving tomorrow. I'm tired of the 50s." Mel huffs.

"Well yeah, we're Black, America is segregated, remind me to never come back in time again. We should fuck around and go to the future next time."

"Y/n we're here for something specific. But you're right we're never coming back in time again." Mel nods.

~

"Yo Buck, you okay?" Sam waves his hand in front of his friend's face.

"He's been spacey all week." Nat shrugs.

"No I haven't." Bucky frowns.

"Yes you have." Nat says.

"Something happen on your recon mission?" Sam asks.

"Is this about that dame that ran into you Buck?" Steve asks.

"No." Bucky rolls his eyes. Yes.

"What dame?" Nat asks.

"Some girl- she bumped into Bucky while we were heading to our rendezvous point. They talked for a short while." Steve explains.

"You lovesick Buck?" Sam grins like the Cheshire cat.

"Don't be ridiculous. I don't even know the girl. And she's from the 50s." Bucky scoffs.

"Aw Bucky- never knew you were the love at first sight type." Nat says.

"Did you even hear what I said?" Bucky looks at her incredulously.

"Yeah but the look on your face tells a different story." Nat shrugs.

"It's not a bad thing to admit you have a crush." Steve frowns.

"I don't have a crush. I spoke to her for less than 5 minutes and she's from decades ago. She might not even be alive anymore." Bucky rolls his eyes.

"Morbid." Sam mutters.

"Don't be ridiculous she's probably alive, I would guess she's in her 70s or 80s, 90s at most." Steve hums.

"What did she look like?" Nat asks.

"She had dark curls that sat on top of her head and really pretty brown skin-"

"She's a sister?! Man- now ain't that something." Sam laughs.

"Her eyes were dark brown, like smokey quartz. I bet they look like honey in the sun." Bucky mumbles.

"Oh you got it bad!" Nat laughs.

"Fuck off Nat." Bucky rolls his eyes.

"Alright well you've been moping around like a kicked puppy for long enough. Let's go to that coffee shop you're always at. Get you out of the tower." Nat says dragging the super soldier out of his chair.

"Nat-" he groans.

"You boys too, come on." She gestures for Steve and Sam to follow. The four of them make the two block walk from the tower to a local coffee shop that Buck went to regularly.

"This shop is cute!" Nat says as the group walks up to the entrance.

"Yeah, it's a nice place. Plus the coffee is pretty good." Bucky says looking back at her as he opens the door. Before he can actually enter the shop he hears a soft 'oof' as he feels something collide with him. You were looking through your bag as you left the coffee shop to catch up with your friends. You didn't realize until it was too late and you were crashing into what you thought was a wall. Well until the wall's arms shoot out to steady you before you fall.

"Oh geez, I'm sorry!" You say stepping back and shaking your head a little.

"You okay doll?" He asks you, a vague sense of deja vu settling over him as he looks at you. You blink at him curiously, wondering why this feels so familiar.

"I-I'm alright, thank you. Sorry for bumping into you like that." You mutter.

"Y/n! You comin!?" Your friend Melissa yells to get your attention. Bucky's eyes snap to her before looking back to you. There's no way.

"Yeah!" You yell back.

"What did she just call you?" Bucky asks.

"Uh- my name- Y/n?" You frown, confused.

"Son of a bitch." He mutters.

"Excuse me?" You blink.

"Uh- excuse my language it's just-" Bucky pauses unsure, "I'm James- James Barnes." He says. Your eyes widen as it clicks.

"Holy shit." You whisper, "wait but- how is that possible? You were-"

"So were you! How did you-"

"Y/n! We're gonna be late!" Melissa yells again. You glance at her and huff before looking back at him.

"I- I'm sorry, I have to go." You frown. You dig through your bag for a moment, pulling out a pen and a sticky note, scribbling on it before handing it over to James. "Here- my phone number. If you want meet without me crashing into you." You smile."It was nice meeting you, James." You call before running off to catch up with your friends.

"By gods that was her." Steve says.

"Wait what?!" Nat looks at you.

"How is that possible?" Sam frowns.

"No idea, but I plan to find out." Bucky says.

"She was very pretty though." Nat says.

"Yeah." Bucky says looking over at you as you walk away with your friends.

"What was that about?" Melissa asks.

"You're not gonna believe this- but that's the guy from the 50s." You tell her.

"Sorry what?! That white boy you ran into outside the bar?" She frowns.

"Yes!" You nod.

"But how is that even-"

"I didn't realize it before but it's obvious seeing him with the others- he's an Avenger."

"Seriously??" She looks over her shoulder at the group.

"Yeah- he used to be the Winter Soldier from what I remember in the news. I can't believe I ran into him again."

"Seems like you two are tied to each other." She nudges you.

"Maybe. Only time will tell." You say with a small smile. Mel squeals with laughter as the two of you walk towards your next destination.

***

[alirhi]

This is oddly fun lol

Let's see how many of these I can churn out before I get distracted or need a break! (pff. like I need an excuse to watch the show again. Despite its flaws, I really, really love TFATWS, guys)

Without further ado, let's get down to it!

Episode 2: The Star-Spangled Man

I'm pretty sure I'm on record when it comes to my undying hate for John Walker, yes? So obviously, Bucky's grumpiness 100% stays 😂

I'm not really a fan of how much emphasis they put on the shield. I can see it as a catalyst for Bucky to go confront Sam, yes, but he wouldn't keep going "shield shield shield" like a broken record. Bucky has consistently been shown to be an empathetic man. I can't believe for a second that he'd be barking at Sam about having no right to give up the shield; he'd ask why. Sam's got shit to do, so he'd get impatient and not answer.

"Why'd you give up so easily? If you were overwhelmed, I could've helped you-" "You've been ignoring me. Like now, how you're ignoring me walking away from you." "Well, you weren't texting me about this." "You think I needed your permission?!" "No, but I was right there with Steve while he was learning what it meant to be Cap. I wouldn't mind helping you get used to-" "Then go teach him." A vague gesture toward the "Cap is back" posters. Bucky makes a face. "Steve passed the mantle to you. You fought with him. You earned it. That little shit didn't." "What do you want me to do about it?" "Just tell me why, Sam. I mean it. I just wanna understand." "Not now, Buck. I've got shit to do. You see me heading for a plane right now, right?" "This is important!" "So is this." Sam tells him about the Flag Smashers, we get our silly Big Three/Gandalf conversation.

I'm sorry, but that whole jumping from the plane scene is funny as hell, and I love all the nods they added in to jokes from the press tours that brought us this show in the first place (like ripping the sleeve off his jacket lol). I don't think I'd change a single thing from the Big Three convo to Bucky joining Sam in the warehouse.

"You're doing the staring thing again." "You're staring at your watch," Bucky points out. He knows it's linked to Redwing, he's just pointing out how dumb that line is in that situation. They're there for recon lol. They're meant to be looking around.

I don't...particularly care about the other common gripe here? Meaning, "Bucky's a civilian, so why is he allowed to randomly jump in on a military mission?" Bucky's also known in this universe as an Avenger, just like Sam, so I don't think anyone would really bat an eye at him joining. Also, I have my own agenda related to Bucky's apparent freedom to walk in and out of military/government things.

What does bug me (as funny as it is) is Bucky's animosity toward Redwing. Again... Bucky is a certified nerd. Always has been. If anything, he'd be fascinated by Redwing and Sam would constantly have to slap him away because he's leaning in too close trying to see the tiny watch monitor. "I don't trust Redwing" is just old man griping "I don't trust your newfangled technology" and that... that's not Bucky.

And that "we're not assassins" dig, and then laughing when Bucky gets upset? That's not Sam. Both of these men have shown a remarkable amount of empathy, and Sam has a background in helping traumatized vets. If he cared enough about Bucky to be texting him after Steve left, he'd care enough not to make callous jokes about his time as The Winter Soldier, whether he knows the full story or not.

The fight on top of moving trucks looks cool, but makes no logical sense. I keep trying to think of a way to explain this from a story perspective, rather than a lazy "it looks cool!" filmmaking one, and I'm coming up blank. Anyone with half a brain would have pulled over, had the fight, and then taken off. It was a fun sequence, though... Eh. I'll leave it.

When Karli breaks Redwing, Bucky doesn't say "I always wanted to do that." Again, it's funny - I love the jabs about that stupid robo bird XD - but not Bucky. In my version, he smirks and says "You're so gonna regret that."

"You were kinda getting your asses kicked before we got there." Is immediately followed by Bucky staring him down and asking, "And... how did that fight end for you?" Sam adds, "I don't see them in custody. Are-are they following in a van?" He looks around, sarcastically searching for another vehicle. Walker and Hoskins grimace at each other, grudgingly conceding that point.

credit to @dailycelebs

Seeing Walker, and having to listen to his stupid pro-government rhetoric, makes Bucky think about Steve. When we cut from the Flag Smashers back to Bucky and Sam and the closeup of Bucky's pensive face, we hear 1940s Steve angrily telling 1940s Bucky about how the higher ups in the army had already written off the POWs and were going to leave them to die. "I love our country, Buck," he laments, "but what do I do when I'm not too sure anymore about the people who run it?"

"What you always do," is young Bucky's answer, "stand for what's right, not who's in power."

Perfect lead-in to the conversation about handling things themselves.

When Sam meets Isaiah, and hears his story, not only is he horrified and heartsick for him, but he also begins to see Bucky in a new light. He's seeing Bucky's face, the way he tries to hide his emotions and not make this conversation about him, and he's putting things together. He's still upset at being out of the loop, but he's seeing more of the situation than just "omg black super soldier". When Bucky says "he'd already been through enough," Sam asks quietly, "like you?"

The racist cop comes back before Bucky can answer, to arrest him for missing his appointment with Raynor.

ngl guys, I was so moved by the difference in how that cop treated Sam (before knowing he's Important) vs how he treated Bucky (knowing that the government views him as a violent, if pardoned, criminal). He approaches Sam with his hand on his gun, eager to defend Bucky; "is this guy bothering you?" Just because they're having a heated conversation. Then, when he sees that there's a warrant for Bucky, he approaches timidly, apologizes, treats him gently and politely. By "moved," btw, I don't mean "it was so sweet." I mean "this is fucking sick, and very, very realistic." White cops see a white guy and treat him with respect regardless of his actual criminal record, while being openly hostile towards an innocent black man without even knowing who he is, just because he's black. Moments like this made me applaud Spellman.

"You, too, Sam - That wasn't a request" is Sam's first sign that there's something off about Raynor.

Look, again... The couples therapy banter is funny because Sebastian and Anthony are funny, but that scene, from a storytelling and a mental health standpoint, is atrocious. Without some underlying reason behind her actions, Raynor is just a pointlessly terrible therapist.

Rather than insulting Bucky from the outset, Sam is angry with Raynor for violating Bucky's privacy by not only introducing herself as his therapist, but forcing a "couples" session without her patient's consent. With his background pre-Avenging, he knows this shit shouldn't fly. He immediately points out how unprofessional she's being.

Raynor doesn't bother listening - the fuck does she care, really? She shrugs and casually admits it's "slightly unprofessional" but proceeds anyway.

"Whatever's eating at him?" Sam scoffs. "Did you really just say that to a WWII veteran and the world's longest-serving POW with complex PTSD? Did I hear that right? I've had, maybe, like five conversations with this man since we met, and even I know he's been through some shit and-" "Sam," Bucky tries to interrupt, looking uncomfortable. With his crushing guilt, he has an easier time dealing with insults than someone coming to his defense. "No," Sam snaps. "If the HIPAA Slayer over here wants to drag me into this, she's damn well gonna hear what I have to say!" He turns back to Raynor and demands, "Is this how you've been treating him this whole time? Downplaying what he's been through and making a grown-ass man sound like a sulking teenager?" Raynor keeps her cool, but barely. Visibly frustrated and annoyed, she ignores Sam's tirade and tries to force the conversation back onto the track she wants it on. Bucky's embarrassed and doesn't know how to react to any of this, so he still makes that little "he would talk less" jab. Sam, seeing that he's not going to get anywhere with him until they're away from this bitch, glowers and plays along. We get our silly/angry banter.

After their argument with Walker, Sam finally confronts Bucky about what really happened to him.

"He meant HYDRA; HYDRA used to be my people." "Were they?" Sam asks, stopping him and looking him in the eye, not letting him look away or deflect. "Steve was under the impression that they were your captors. I was under the impression that the Wakandans spent two years deprogramming you so no one could use you the way HYDRA did ever again." "I-" Startled, not expecting that, Bucky stutters a little and admits, "Yeah, I... That's true, I guess." "You guess?" "Does it matter? Sam rolls his eyes. "I dunno, does it matter that you were a slave for most of the 20th century?" "I doubt it matters much to my victims." "HYDRA's victims," Sam corrects firmly. "Just like you." Bucky fidgets; he doesn't know what to do or say. No one since Steve has even so much as insinuated that Bucky wasn't 100% culpable for what he did while under HYDRA control. "Look," Sam sighs, "I don't particularly like you. I don't hate you, but I'm not your biggest fan." "...Thanks?" "I just need you to know where I stand-" "Yeah, got it-" "-So you know I'm not biased like Steve when I say you had no choice. I don't know your story, but I know no one flips on a dime from docile and plagued with guilt to an unstoppable killing machine and back without some serious psychological damage behind that. I'm not saying you're an innocent little bunny, but I don't think you're a monster." "Thanks," Bucky croaks, more sincerely this time, and a bit choked up. He clears his throat and looks distinctly uncomfortable as he grumbles, "but to catch these guys, we may need to talk to a monster." Sam cringes. "I was afraid you'd say that."

[echo-three-one]

Whatever It Takes : Reloaded

They're on a mission, chasing a lead in hopes of locating where The Shadow Company is situated.

Table of Contents

Previous Chapter : Vlad the Janitor

Chapter 20 to another story made by Ray (echo-three-one) Comments and Reviews appreciated! I hope you enjoy! Love you all ❤️

forgive the piccrew

Undying Admiration

Francine "France" Winters

Safe house 110197, Brazil

"Look at them two, you think we could do that too?" Soap asked France. They were both seated on Soap's side of the floor, the soft foam caught their asses as they crossed their legs while Soap spun around a water bottle.

"You and me? Sing and Dance? Never in a million years!" She denied looking at the poor guy's attempt to actually get her to like him. She thinks he already knew that she's already falling for him since day one. But she wanted to focus on other things at hand rather than distract herself with romance. Maybe if this was all over and he's still there, he'll finally get the answer he's looking for.

"Why not? I'm kinda okay with singing." He grinned. Francine giggled. Sure he is, his overconfidence was getting attractive for her. If they weren't soldiers in a war, they'd probably be making out again. What happened back at the Gulag was an impulse, she never saw it coming as she almost lost hope for his absence.

"Why don't you like… sing for me?" She dared her eyes stared intensely into Soap's eye-catching baby blue orbs. She made a mental note that staring for more than five seconds in those were already dangerous, so she always breaks it before the fifth.

"Why do you do that?" He asked, his voice was giving her ears a good time. Yes. She's falling for him. It felt like everything he does is attractive, but she shouldn't be too quick, life has taught her that the faster she falls in love, the faster they leave. So she had to test the guy's patience.

"Do what?" she asked as if she didn't know what he meant.

"Look me in the eyes then immediately break it as soon as I stare long enough…" His eyes squinted towards her as she evaded eye contact.

"I don't do that." She easily shrugged it off and got up.

"Well, good night. John. We have an early mission tomorrow." She got up as Soap trailed his eyes on her, the look of admiration was painted all across his face.

"Can you not look at me like that?!" She pleaded as her cheeks blushed. Her boyish appeal on the force always repelled attention and now this guy was admiring her for who she is and she felt happy.

"I won't do it if I get a good night's kiss." he pouted his wonderful lips. Lips she actually really wanted to taste again.

"Good Night John." She said as she closed the men's bedroom door and went to her bed.

~

When Price told her about a small recon mission, she never knew it was this small. The team only consisted of her and Ghost riding a rental truck to a village which was a few kilometers away from their safe house. The point person was an alleged nephew of a soldier that currently works for Shepherd. It was almost a dead lead but the intel being accessible enough was sort of worth it.

Rule of engagement is "Don't".

The village would most likely be unarmed, unprotected and peaceful. But Price advised to keep a side arm in case things go awry. It was a good call, and France noted to herself that she won't ever fire a shot for this mission as to not raise any sort of attention in addition to what Shepherd already gave them.

"Looks like it's time to go." Soap muttered as Ghost passed through them looking prepared.

Soap nodded goodbye to the man but he just continued walking.

"Maybe he had earphones on." he muttered as he pouted his lips. France softly reached for his cheek and shoved it sideways.

"In your dreams." She laughed as she waved goodbye.

"Every night." He winked as France made an almost disgusted face and followed Ghost. She was lucky enough that she quickly moved that Soap won't see her blushing cheeks.

France hoisted herself on the shotgun of the car and smiled at her partner, who looked serious. Without his mask, he was your average tough british soldier, and he looked like he wasn't in for some small talk while driving. France respected his privacy and trailed her eyes elsewhere, looking at the lush greenery and muddy tracks of tropical Brazil.

France wasn't a fan of quiet road trips, she tried humming to tunes from her playlist as the loud revving of the rental jeep overpowered her voice.

"Are you usually this quiet?" France asked, trying to break the silence between them.

"Yeah. You got a problem with that?" He replied, his eyes trailed on the road as it hit a bump. France actually felt shocked toward his reply and she started to worry about what she did wrong.

"You know you could always say no to Price's orders instead of regretting and wishing Roach would be here instead of me." She pouted, crossing her arms.

"Well that wasn't my case but now that you said it, maybe I should've asked for Roach instead!" He yelled. France couldn't help but shed a tear. She actually had no idea towards his hostility and the thought of not knowing any reason made her mad.

"Wow. Okay." she squirmed and unbuckled her seatbelt causing Ghost to slow down his driving.

"Where are you going? The village is still far from here!" he asked, France never bothered to talk to him as she simply walked away from the path.

Ghost immediately left the vehicle and followed her, catching her so she won't escape and run away.

"Why are you not replying?!" He asked, gripping her hands, restricting her movement. France used her strength to break free of his slightly weak grip and turned to him.

"You see now how it feels? To ignore someone without knowing why?!" She raised her voice. This seemed to make sense to Simon as he actually looked like he's sorry.

"I… " he sighed and looked at her, his eyes were lost and sad.

"I can't talk to you anymore… because I like you… but you've already set your eyes on someone else… so I just had to ignore you hoping that it'll make it less painful." he muttered. Complete silence filled the air.

France didn't know what to do. She didn't know what to say. It may be true that she already had eyes on a certain Scottish cutie, but telling him the truth all over again would leave such mental scars.

It took her long enough to say something that Ghost already invited her back to the car, and her silence may leave no meaning, but to Ghost it meant a lot, at least he knew that he no longer had a chance on her and would finally move on.

The village was like any other typical village, the elder's house would always be on the highest point and the two opted to ask the village elder first to gather clues.

One clue led to another as they visited each house looking for one Fabian Alvarez, a nephew of an alleged Shadow Company soldier. Only a few were able to speak fluent english and they decided to help, until such time that Fabian decided to show up.

He looked like a five year old kid, holding a rubber ball and he looked at France and Ghost awkwardly before hiding back into his house. Fabian was far too young to know about his uncle's whereabouts and the lead went cold once again.

The ride home was quiet. France didn't want to say anything as she can't. Her heart was like inside a washing machine, swirling around as she thought of how Ghost liked her while she's clearly liking someone else. It must've been hella awkward and painful to see on a daily basis. She felt that once, when her best friend got together with her high school crush and continued to stay together up to this day… She knew how he felt.

~

The moment they got back, she was actually greeted by Soap, who already had his hands wide open for a hug. As usual, France would ignore his gesture and it now felt that she was already helping out Ghost from the pain. But now, she's the one feeling restricted.

It pained her to not get near Soap and he's already starting to notice the indifference. She was actually surprised when he cornered her, just as soon as she stepped out of the shower.

Her cheeks flushed as the idea of her, only wrapped with a towel, stood in front of Soap. She felt really vulnerable in this position.

"What happened out there?" he looked angry but the tone of his voice sounded concerned.

"Nothing, it's just … A dead lead. A waste of time." She replied as she attempted to cross over him.

"And how does that warrant an indifferent approach toward me?" he quickly moved to block her again. She sighed at her actions. He was right. He didn't deserve this treatment, he needed to learn something about the truth.

"We had a little fight with your friend over there…" She muttered, her voice was low enough so he couldn't hear.

"Who, Ghost?" he inched his face closer and his face lit up like a curious bystander who overhears conversations on a daily basis.

"Yeah… It was an unpleasant exchange." She said vaguely.

"Well, it'll all be resolved soon. I guess you're too carried away that you didn't want to talk to me as well…" he chuckled and scratched the back of his head. That gesture always made France happy, he may not notice it but she loves the way his muscles twitch when he scratches his nape. She found it satisfying and hot.

"Yeah… I'll go change." She said, as she frowned as soon as they parted. She knew she had to tell him the specific reason and the events that occured today, but she felt that it would create a domino effect that would lead the team to be uncooperative.

During bedtime, Alex requested France to swap sleeping spaces, meaning that she had to lie down beside Soap. She couldn't find the courage to say no as it might ruin the reunion they both longed for after a very long time.

France swung the door open and found out that they were already asleep, except for Ghost who was once again missing. She used this opportunity to actually wake Soap up and let him be aware that she'll be sleeping beside him. She planned to make both men comfortable by spacing herself between them, by only showing affection to Soap while Ghost's not around, until such time that Ghost would accept the inevitable truth.

"John." She whispered, as Soap lazily opened his eyes and reached out for her, wrapping her in his arms.

"I really like you. A lot. I hope you'll be patient enough for me." She whispered again. She knew he wouldn't hear it but the idea of her actually expressing her thoughts to him, put her at ease, as she slowly closed her eyes and drifted to sleep, wrapped by the arms of the man whom she really admired.

Next Chapter : If I Remember Correctly

Notification Squad my Beloved

@ricinbach @whimsywispsblog @smokeywhalee @samatedeansbroccoli @enderio @beemybee

[castiel-barnes]

In Uniform.

Pairing: WW2 pilot Poe x fem! Reader.

Summary: After lots of trouble, Poe finally comes home to you. Set in World War 2.

Warnings: Hurt comfort. Mentions of blood. Swearing.

Wordcount: 1.8k

Tags: @mandosmimi @phoenixhalliwell

When Poe said he was going into the Air Force, you wanted to cry and slap him and tell him "no." But you also wanted to spend almost every waking moment with him and saying "I love you."

Whilst Poe was away, you spent every Monday and Friday with his father Kes. Kes was just as worried for Poe as you were. This was because Poe was his only family he had left. When Poe was young, his mother died in a flight accident. And since then Kes worried about Poe whenever he done one of his stupid stunts.

*************************

Dear sweetheart,

I honestly can't tell you how much I hate being away from you, and how much I am missing you. I wish that the two of us could be on that beach again with beebs from our last holiday. It's boring without you next to me darling. Just wish I could feel your touch again.

I'm going on a mission soon. I'm not sure how long I'll be in the air for, but it shouldn't be too long. The boys pick on me for having your picture amongst my stuff. It's in that book I said I got, to keep it nice and so it won't get creased.

Its a beautiful picture of you. I really like that summer dress on you.

I love you with all my heart.

Your pilot,

Poe xx

You smiled everytime you got a letter from Poe. Although sometimes you couldn't really read the pencil scribble, cause it was written in such haste. The two of you sent regular letters, sometimes you would add a photo and a small flower.

Darling Poe,

I think I miss you just as much as you miss me. I know that Beebs definitely misses you, he keeps sitting in your spot and whining.

I hope you are well my love. I wish you could be here holding me. Breena McKenna got a telegram the other day. Both Joseph and Richard died at Omaha Beach. Beebs and I went over there to comfort her. I wish you would've been here to help.

I hope that this war ends soon, so that I can be back in your arms again. Stay safe my pilot.

I love you so much.

Your sweetheart,

Y/n. Xx

You started to worry though. Poe's letters hadn't been arriving, and you thought that maybe he was busy. But it dragged on, and the pit of worry started to form in your stomach.

You and Breena were out on your porch, when two men dressed in military uniform came up to you. Breena looked at you, worry starting to show on her face.

"Mrs Dameron?" One asked,

"That's me." You replied feeling Breena's hand touch yours gently. The other guy gave you a telegram, and you felt your heart stutter for a moment. Opening the telegram, you saw 4 words written neatly on the paper.

'Lieutenant Poe Dameron. MIA.'

You felt tears threatening to spill onto your cheek.

"E-excuse me, what does MIA mean?" You ask to double check you knew what it meant,

"Missing in action. I'm sorry Ma'am." The first man replied. As the men left, you felt your breathing pick up.

"Y/n come inside." Breena stated quietly. But you didn't get inside, you fell to the ground and started to sob.

"H-he promised Breena. He promised me he'd come home." You whimpered as Breena held you.

****************************

Somewhere in France:

Poe's plane had been shot down by a Messerschmitt 109. Now he was floating down to the ground.

"Shit... shit." Poe said as the parachute drifted towards some trees. He managed to miss the trees and land safely on the ground.

The only things Poe had on him was a knife and his side arms. He looked around and found that he was completely alone. It was quiet and everything around Poe seemed to be completely still. That was until he heard a twig snap.

"Flash" a voice came,

"Thunder." Poe replied. Out of the woods came a platoon of airborne troopers. Easy company.

"What's your name trooper?" A sergeant asked,

"Lieutenant Poe Dameron 2nd squadron." Poe replied looking at the small platoon of airborne troopers.

"Sergeant Lypton sir. What's an air force officer doing in the middle of the woods sir?" Lypton asked,

"Plane got shot down. Just a simple recon mission." Poe stated.

"We'll get you back to our section sir and you can talk to Captain Winters." Lypton said. The platoon formed in to staggered form, with Poe walking next to Lypton.

All of the sudden bullets started to fly through the air. Everyone dropped to the ground and started to fire back. The tree near Poe exploded and wood fragments went into his leg and partially into his side. Lypton heard Poe scream in pain and instantly went to help him.

"Sir!! It's alright you're gonna be alright. Poe come on stay with me." Lypton shouted applying pressure to Poes wounds. Lyptons hands were covered in blood. In Poe's blood.

Poe could feel his body getting lifted up and carried. But other than that Poe's senses had gone and he was on the verge of passing out.

When Poe came round, he found himself in a tent amongst other men. He tried to move but as he did he felt the pain yet dulled down go through his side and down his leg.

"Try not to move sir." A voice from next to him said,

Poe looked to his side and saw Sergeant Lypton. Poe smiled a little and laid his head back down.

"Is it bad?" Poe asked, his voice slightly croaky,

"If I'm honest sir. Your leg is in quite bad shape sir, but you still have it. You're getting transferred nearer to where your base is." Lypton explained.

"Okay, thank you Lypton. Thanks for helping me." Poe responded,

"It's my pleasure sir, stay safe." Lypton stated standing up and saluting. Poe slauted back and rested for the rest of the day.

Later that day, Poe had managed to get transferred to an aid station right near his base. His best friend Snap came into the tent and found him.

"Shit Poe, we thought you died." Snap stated hugging Poe,

"I thought I did for a moment. I- I need to call Y/n she'll be worried as hell and so would dad." Poe groaned.

"Alright, here." Snap pulled up a wheel chair and helped Poe into it. "Careful Poe, I've got you." Snap continued,

Snap wheeled Poe of the Aid tent, and found a spare phone that wasn't in use. Snap left Poe for a bit, so he could talk to you and his father in private.

Your phone rang and your head snapped up from where it was reading the newspaper. You quickly went over to it and picked it up.

"Hello?" You stated,

"Y/n? It's Poe... darling it's me." Poe responded. Your heart stopped.

"Poe? It's you, are you alright? What happened? Oh I can hear you." You said sobbing over the phone,

"I'm alright apart from my leg and my side but don't worry. Baby listen to me, I'm gonna see you very soon I promise." Poe said closing his eyes, tears coming to his.

"You're coming home?" You asked,

"Yeah baby, im coming home." Poe replied. "I'll be home soon Y/n, I love you so much." He continued.

"I love you too, be careful Poe." You responded finally smiling after days. As soon as Poe hung up, you ran over to Breena's.

"Breena!! He's alive!!" You exclaimed,

"What?" She asked.

"Poe! He's alive." You said. She smiled and hugged you. Breena really didn't want you to go through what she did with her brothers.

Snap took him back to the tent, and helped him back onto the bed.

"We're gonna miss the hell out of Poe." Snap stated,

"I know you will, we'll go for drinks once this shit is over yeah?" Poe replied, snap smiled and agreed.

**************************

A few days later:

Poe was finally on his way back to you. He had all of his belongings, especially the book he had with your picture inside of it. He was in full uniform, but he was also on crutches so his leg could continue to heal properly.

You heard a knock at your door, and you quickly brushed yourself down before answering it. As you answered it, your jaw dropped to see your pilot. You smiled and hugged him and felt one of his hands come to your back.

"Hey baby." Poe whispered,

"Hi." You replied holding back a sob.

"I'm home." Poe said kissing you on the forehead. You smiled tearfully and felt him wipe the tears away. Helping Poe into the house, you looked over him fully. There he was wearing uniform, but on crutches at the same time.

"What?" Poe asked, noticing you looking at him,

"You look handsome in uniform." You responded smiling and smoothing down the lapel of his jacket. Poe blushed, and it wasn't often you could get Poe to blush.

"Thank you honey." He smiled back kissing you gently. All of a sudden you heard the quick patter and sliding of nails on hard wood floor. Beebs, your and Poe's yellow labrador came barrowling through the house and practically jumped at Poe. Poe landed with a soft grunt and a groan which quickly turned into laughter.

"Hey buddy I missed you too." Poe stated smiling "you been doing your job beebs?" He continued playing with Beebs. Poe played with Beebs a little longer and then Beebs went off to have dinner.

"Do you want help honey?" You asked Poe who was still sitting on the floor,

"Yes please darling." Poe replied, you helped him up and gave him back his crutches.

"I'm going to get out of this uniform." He continued,

"Okay sweet." You replied and watch him go off into your shared bedroom. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Breena walking up your walk. She smiled at you.

"Is he okay?" She asked,

"He's on crutches but at least he's in one piece." You replied smiling back. And speaking of the devil, Poe came back dressed in normal clothing for the first time in over a year.

"Hey Breena." Poe smiled,

"Hi Poe, how are you?" Breena asked.

"As best as i can be in these." Poe gestured to the crutches, "I'm sorry to hear about your brothers." He continued,

"It's alright, we all knew it could happen. You're a lucky man to have this lady here Poe, she has the kindest heart out of everyone I know." Breena replied smiling. You smiled and blushed a little. Breena said goodbye and left the two of you be, for the rest of the day. The two of you sat together cuddled up on the sofa, sharing soft glances and sweet kisses.

"Does it hurt?" You asked quietly,

"Only a little, but not as bad as it did when it happened." Poe replied kissing the top of your head.

You were so glad to have Poe home. Although he was still recovering from his injuries, he was there.

You had your little family back.

[guigz1-coldwar]

'Convincing' : New chapter for "Redemption in a Spirit in a Cold War" is out !

"Convincing"

"I don't know what I will do when we will get Adler back and I ain't going to be too friendly."

Chapter Summary : After discovering that the whole mission against Naga was an trap organized by Stitch, Yirina and the team are going back to base after this long day.....

To read it on AO3, click here !

Words : +3200

------------------------------------------------------------------

This mission was only an big trap widely destined for all of us. Stitch has used the perfect bait for that : saying that Adler was there before relocating to an safer location out of our sight and on top of that, he decided to use his old work before realizing that all of this Nova-6 threat in the region was fake, nothing in here was real, it was just an ambush but we somehow managed to get over it, trying to find intels about where could possibly Stitch has taken Adler...I can't believe all of this that happened and our mission was an failure....we lost precious people....for nothing....

Of course, me & Park directly go to see the others that was still there, saying that the Nova-6 threat was nothing and faked and for that, we had to check every blue barrels that we could find in the camp and for all of them, it was the same thing : nothing in them, not even some fake smoke....nothing. Everyone went pretty angry about seeing all of this as the man that they interrogated didn't tell too much before Wolf terminated him, knowing that we will have no more answers from him.

We took almost half an day to finish to secure the site to find anything else but like always, it was either nothing or something that was useless for us. After the night start to fall, we all decided to go back to base while others CIA agent will watch over the sector to make sure that Naga's remaining men doesn't try anything to take back the camp. During all the flight back, I didn't even pronounce an word and even Park didn't say something, both in our thoughts until the helicopter we used landed back to the base, Woods flying this thing.

"Okay, everyone out." Woods ordered after he landed the helicopter to the ground, turning his head to look at everyone.

"Sounds good for me." Wolf scoffed, still sounding angry as he got out of the helicopter while me, I was awaiting for everyone to get out before following them behind.

"I don't know how Hudson will take the news." Rivas expressed.

"Well, we'll see about that." Woods told her, taking his XM4 out of the chopper as I got out with Park at my side, still not opening our mouths at any seconds, walking with the group to meet with Hudson, awaiting for us as he was going out of the hangar

"How's the rest of the checkup happened ?" Hudson asked, the group arriving near him, smoking one of his cigarettes.

"It didn't went good to say." Woods started, his left hand behind his head to scratch it. "Not only Adler wasn't there but the Nova-6, it was faked."

"Faked ?" Hudson sighed, his eyes narrowed through his glasses.

"Yeah, the barrels, they were empty." Wolf continued at Woods's place to talk about it. "All of them, it was Grigoriev & Park who found out about it." He added, his eyes on both of us...slighty embarassed to be the center of it.

"And to add more, no survivors helped us to know more, we're in the dark." Rivas spoke up, crossing his arms towards Hudson.

"Damnit." Hudson breathed, his hands on his waist. "That's meaning that Naga is our only lead for the moment." He sighed again and I couldn't believe that Naga was the only person that could help us to actually find Adler....if only he will talk....

"The cleaning crew will check up if we missed anything but it's not certain that we will find anything else useful." Woods exclaimed, sounding an bit defeated in his words.

"Good." Hudson whispered, looking inside the hangar and I could see Song...sitting at Garrett's workplace....

"Is she..." I started, breaking the silence I put to myself before stopping myself.

"No, she's not fine if you want to know." Hudson replied harshly to me. "She came back with the few remaining members of Rivas recon team but she didn't speak an word since." He looked at her, with some sort of desesperation in his eyes. "Leave her be for now." He gestured, meaning that he wouldn't want anyone to actually speak to her.

"Where's Naga ?" Sims demanded.

"In the interrogation room in the back." Hudson pointed at the supposed room direction with his hands. "Guy was really beaten up...and his left hand got cut off, might need some time to know what we want." He added, mentioning what I did against Naga but I wasn't proud of it...because I didn't do it...I didn't pull the trigger.

"Everyone needs some rest, we will talk later about it, dismissed." Woods ordered, gesturing to the group to split up and everyone complied, going back inside the hangar but not me & Park who stayed outside in hidden sight.

"I don't think I can't talk to her, Park." I affirmed, thinking that Song is maybe dead angry against me before sitting down on the ground, my back against the hangar's wall.

"I don't know." She said in an broken voice, joining me at my side. "Garrett was like everything for Song and losing him...." She confirmed before stopping herself in her sentence, looking at her with tears in my eyes

"I know that you both counted on me to kill Naga, I know that you're not angry but Song...it's different." I admitted in an low voice, looking down at my feets. "Looking at her, sitting at his office, no, I can't do this."

"I don't want to force you, Yirina." Park stated, putting her arm behind my neck, sounding sad. "But even me, I can't talk with her about it." She continued.

"I can't do this but I'm sure I will have to do this at one moment." I told her as I was thinking to talk with Song but not tonight, I couldn't do it. "This..." I started, taking my ballistic knife off my jacket, the one given to me by Garrett. "He believed in me and me too but....here we are." I put the ballistic knife gently on the ground before looking in the horizon. "This fight is going to kill me before I can finish it."

"No, it will not kill you." Park protested in an normal voice, putting his left hand on my shoulder.

"I didn't tell you what happened after the crash...and before the attack on the camp." I told her, something I didn't really talk about for the day.

"Tell me." She whispered, looking at me worried.

"Adler...I've got an vision of him, thinking at first it was really him before realizing that it was just something to torture me." I started, joining my hands together, seeing them cleaned from all of the blood I had hours ago. "Then, I saw....Lazar." I snorted, passing my hand through my face to clean any tears falling in case. "And two memories." I added.

"Shit." Park breathed, an bit disturbed by what she just heard from me.

"An memory of me, having an discussion with Perseus himself in my old apartment and seeing that I wasn't well in those days and....the other, it was me getting beaten up by Adler." I continued to tell her what she wanted to know, looking at her with crying eyes. "Tell me, do you know why I wasn't talking ?" I asked her.

"No, I don't know why." She shook her head sadly to me. "Adler was always evasive about that and he even refused me access to some files the CIA made about you between the day you got captured and the day I joined his team." She added, making me curious about those files. "But you have to ask Sims for that." She suggested to me, biting her lips

"Do you know why he did this ?" I questioned but her response was an shaking from her head. "So, Sims is the only one who can tell...." I sighed.

"Don't worry, if you want, I can be there for you like I'm always saying." She proposed, making me grin but an very little.

"Yeah, like you always saying...thanks." I whispered, moving to make an little kiss on her cheek for one second. "Listen, I think you need to go get some rest." I suggested.

"And you ?" She demanded.

"I want to make an call and if possible, talk to Sims." I responded, slowly getting up and helping her too to get up. "Don't worry, I'll be fine." I affirmed, making an little kiss again on her forehead before I let her go back inside.

It took me actually 5 minutes to get myself back inside the hangar, getting my equipment back at its place on the desk me & Park used but keeping my M1911 with me and during all of that, I was trying to not make eyes contacts with Song, not wanting to provoke her or to talk to her right now. She was so sad and crying in silence that I wanted to keep my eyes away from her, not wanting myself to cry again, she was in pain...and I can understand that.

Once I was done of getting rid of my equipment, I walked slowly to get to the room where the secured lines were located to make the call I mentioned to Park. I wanted to talk with Zasha, keeping them updated about the situation and it would make me better to hear their voice after 2 days of not having an discussion betwenn us but with what happened, I couldn't be so sure about been better.

"Zasha Smirnov." I heard their voice through the phone only after one ringing from it. Guess that they were not very busy at the moment.

"It's...Yirina." I whispered in an low voice, trying to sound good.

"Oh hey, it's good to hear your voice to say." They affirmed in an pleased voice.

"Yeah, me too." I said but my voice was betraying my real state and I knew that I couldn't keep it to be honest. "Zed, things didn't go as planned."

"What ? What are you saying ?" They asked, hearing them getting redressed in their chair maybe.

"Today, we had an mission in the jungle to stop Naga, save that Adler & neutralize the Nova-6 threat." I started, sounding mostly bad to talk about it. "I...we lost Garrett."

"No." One simple word but I could hear the shock in their voice. "He...no, you can't say that." They told me, sounding sad too before realizing that I was saying the truth to them.

"He saved me by sacrificing himself, Zed." I said, snorting.

"Shit, I'm...I'm sorry." They apologized even if they weren't aware of it. "I...he was an good guy, Yirina." They affirmed, their voice almost cracking. "Uhm, you maybe want to talk about something else ?"

"Uhm...yeah." I breathed, not even sure of my words.

"Well, Portnova's new job is very nice to say." They started, trying to sound positive even with the news I brought them "She has some good students with her and her colleagues greeted her well." They added, making me grin to hear that.

"That's good to hear." I expressed. "And what about you, Zasha ?" I questioned them, wanting to know more about their job at the MI6.

"Like I told you 2 days earlier, it's fine." They admitted, taking an deep breath. "Is there something you want to say ?" They asked after some few seconds of silence between us.

"Yeah, I want to know something about me, only if you know." I exclaimed, redressing myself to look if anyone wasn't near the door like Hudson did 2 days. "Do you know why I was sick in the end of December 1980 ?"

"Why you were sick ?" They repeated an bit confused. "Wait, let me think." They added, hearing some scratching. "As I remember, you weren't willing to talk about this." They finally replied, making me breath in defeat. "Even with me & Portnova, you never said why you were like that."

"Not even an idea ?" I suggested.

"Not even an idea." They repeated again my words.

"Shit, I would have like to know." I expressed an bit deceived to not learn anything new about this particular situation. "It's okay if you don't know, I will surely find it one day." I affirmed, scratching the back of my head, seeing no one entering the room. "There got to be an reason for that." I thought to myself in an silent voice.

"I can't help you with that but is there anything else I can maybe help ?" They demanded, curious.

"No, we had nothing to help us : the mission was an trap for us, the Nova-6 threat was faked and Adler was already taken away." I replied, almost angry and urging to punch an wall but that wasn't going to help me. "Naga is now our only lead."

"Damnit, Naga isn't the type of guy that will talk easily, it will take time for that." They said as they know him well, thinking about the memory where me & Zasha met him.

"I know but we'll find an way, I hope." I chuckled, raising my shoulders. "Listen, I have to make some things and take an big rest, I had an long day."

"Yeah, what you said....shit, it's very hard to hear about, I'm sorry again, Yirina." They apologized again, sounding bad again. "You call me back when you have something or maybe if you want to talk about things." They added.

"Don't worry, I'll call you." I grinned a little about it. "Say hello to Portnova for me & Park."

"Like always, say my hello to Park too." They told me in an half-pleasant voice. "Bye."

"Bye." I whispered before I hang up the phone, leaving me alone in that room and to say, that call didn't really make me feel better at all.

With that call ended, I wasn't sure if I was really going to leave that room, fearing to dump on Song but I got some courage in me and I left the room, wanting now to have an talk with Sims if it was possible, it was better for me to talk to him now instead of waiting too long for that, it was an perfect occasion. Luckily, he was one of the few remaining persons inside the big hangar, the others has already left to get to the dorm.

"Sims !" I called him out as he was sit at his desk alone, checking up an old picture of him & Adler as I could see it, arriving at his desk.

"Yes ?" He slowly turned his head around to look at me, curious.

"Can we have an word ?" I demanded and he nodded.

"Is this about earlier this day ?" He asked me, referring to that moment before I got to Naga or that moment when he asked to lower my gun & spare Naga's life...couldn't tell... "You know, I would have shot the bastard too but if he can help us by having Adler back..."

"Naga is an warlord, Sims." I exclaimed, crossing my arms as I leaned against his office. "It's going to take days to get him talk and even, if he's going to talk." I added, sure that Naga will not crack easily.

"I know." He breathed, looking back at the old picture he had in hands : him & Adler at the 'old times'.

"About Adler, I want to know some things." I started, finally getting into the subject with him. "There's things that it's disturbing me."

"I guess so." Sims whispered, putting down the picture on his desk. "What kind of things ?" He demanded.

"Well, do you know why I wasn't talking at all 3 years ago ?" I directly asked.

"Uhm...you want to talk about this ?" He said, looking an bit disturbed as there were some few peoples around us. "We should get outside for that." He proposed, getting up from his chair as I follow him outside, it was true that the subject was not something to be an common topic to talk about. "Yirina, I...."

"Just tell me why !" I cut him gently in his words, seeing his hesitation.

"I'm sorry but I don't know." He told me, making me roll my eyes.

"You...you don't know ?" I raised an eyebrow to him, not believing him at first. "You were with Adler and as I heard from Park, the CIA has made some files about me between the day I was captured and the day that Park arrived in Adler's team, files that she wasn't allowed to access." I continued, clear in my voice.

"And me too." He affirmed, making my eyes go wide.

"What ?" I breathed, sounding an bit shocked.

"The files you're talking about, they were all made by Adler and only him could have access them, not even me." He admitted, pointing at himself and looking away in the horizon. "Unfortunately, after Solovetsky, Adler told me he destroyed every files about you except the ones Park saved at the old safehouse."

"So, there's no way for me to know why I wasn't talking ?" He sadly shook his head to my question.

"You could still ask him, you know." He suggested but as we all know, it's hard these times. "I don't know what he did to you to be honest." He added to his statement, taking an deep breath.

"And also....how the CIA wasn't able to find out that Adler lied to them about having me in an coma ?" I questioned Sims about this, awaiting for an answer.

"Adler is the guy whose words are meaning an lot, so when he told the bosses that you were dead, everyone believed him." He replied, sounding an bit disturbed to tell this at my face. "Adler is convincing, to say."

"Yeah, pretty convincing !" I repeated those particulars words, meaning an lot from me. "Like he pretended to make me feel secure & safe by working with him, right ?" I expressed, remembering his words, trying to convince of his 'goods' intentions towards me. "Sims, were you aware of my state ?"

"No." He shook his head, closing his eyes. "Like everyone else, I thought someone else killed you but not him."

"You know the man for almost 15 years, Sims." I stated, looking at the picture he took with him in his hands. "Do you ever think that he lied to you at one moment ?" I asked him honestly, almost knowing the response in advance but I wanted to know what Sims was thinking of it.

"Maybe, doc' is always hiding something from everyone, Yirina." He answered, passing his hand through his head before looking at me with good eyes. "I never asked but how's memories ?" He demanded, curious.

"Fine, they're recovering but I still need answers." I responded, a bit embarassed to talk about it to him. "It could be memories from my time in the safehouse 3 years ago or memories of my past life ?"

"You don't remember some moments inside the safehouse ?" Sims was sounding confused to hear me saying that as I nodded. "Shit."

"Must be the bullet Adler shot me that did provoke that." I pointed at my scar on the side of my head rapidly. "I don't know what I will do when we will get Adler back and I ain't going to be too friendly." I said to Sims to be honest before deciding to slowly walk away from Sims, wanting to get some rest. "Thank you for talking with Sims."

"You know that I'm willing to help too in case, Yirina." He affirmed to me before removing himself from the wal he was leaned against. "Remember that you're not alone, we're here to help." He added, causing me to stop in my walk to look at him with an little smile.....

"I know, Park is always there for me but also you're an friend to me, Sims..."

[echo-three-one]

Chapter 27

Who's still reading this? Have fun!

CW : character death (This spoils a lot I'm sorry but I have to put it.)

THE ROAD SO FAR

Previous Chapter : What's behind door number two?

Staying in Shape

John Price

MacTavish Residence, Glasgow, Scotland

It has been almost three days since the culmination of the New York Attack and most of his contacts regarding Nero and Shepherd's movements were quiet. He was getting anxious to step back into the fight, but without sufficient intel, or even better weapons, they couldn't do anything.

Price scanned the room, everyone else started to pair up with each other, a dynamic he expected to happen anytime soon. With all the challenges they've been through, finding love within each other was inevitable. And Price was fine by that. Heck, when he was younger, he had his fair share of romance during missions.

With the thought of Nero and Shepherd resurfacing any moment soon, Price devised a plan, to keep his crew in shape and always prepared to deploy as soon as sufficient intel is presented.

With the help of Jack, they created a training and endurance exercise schedule, where the soldiers, including Price himself, would follow to still continue to stay in shape and prepared for battle. They asked permission from Soap who was more than willing to help, an excited grin all over his face.

"I'll help you set up." he said, gaining a nod from the old man.

"France will train at the basement gym." He added and Soap nodded.

From that moment, the team started training, improving their physical abilities and endurance. Weapons training wasn't possible at the moment as they left it all in Brazil.

Jack overlooked the team from afar, Samantha and Maxine were at the gym helping out France's version of the training. They did the regular set of training from standard 141 protocol, using everyday materials in exchange for some of the equipment Soap didn't own. Price also instructed a specific dietary plan for the soldiers instead of just eating whatever they liked.

While on break, the two girls, Samantha and Maxine approached Price with an excited look in their eyes. Priced raised an eyebrow and asked what they were up to.

"Everyone's doing their best and We both wanted to offer our help." Samantha explained as Maxine inserted.

"We'd like to apply as the team's dietician and health consultant. My resumé is that I have vast knowledge in cooking along with their nutritional information." She grinned.

"And Samantha here has little background on tending to physical wounds and pain. You could see how fast Alex's face healed!" Maxine added. Price was more than happy to accept their offer, it goes to show that they were willing to give whatever it takes for the people and cause they cared about.

"Alright. Guess you're both hired." he chuckled as the two cheered and made their way to their respective 'partners', probably out to share the good news.

Wiping his sweaty forehead with a towel, he looked around the main room where everybody was. Jack was by the office, looking up something on the laptop or probably just playing solitaire. Soap and France were at the gazebo, he could barely see them by the angle he's at but he couldn't miss that flashy mohawk.

To his left, he saw Samantha sitting on Alex's lap as she carefully cleaned Alex's bruise, Roach sat on the other end of the sofa, chugging a bottle of Gatorade while Maxine stood behind him, he could barely hear it, but it looked like the newly hired dietician was already lecturing him about the benefits of said drink, saying the word 'electrolytes' somewhere in the sentence.

He felt proud that this team stood by him ever since he made that choice. He was very grateful that he had someone whom he shared common goals with.

"Price. It's for you." Jack called from the office, causing him to immediately get up and answer the call.

"Aye, this is Price. Got anything for me?" he muttered.

"John. Looks like your friend is on the move." Kate Laswell spoke on the other end of the line, her voice was authoritative as always.

"Which one?" he chuckled, it was about time he received some news.

"Shadow Company. Looks like they're brave using the same car again. Same plate and all." she informed, giving Price the last route they went before going cold once again. It led them to an empty warehouse just by the docks.

"Just what are these bastards up to…" he muttered.

"I have no idea. Think you'll do recon? It doesn't strike as a threat to warrant an official team, this leads really calling your name, John."

Laswell hinted. Despite him being out of the force and one of Fbi's most wanted, Kate insisted to use such perk for further trapping the suspicious Shepherd.

"I worked hard forming the 141 and he easily disbands it like it's nothing…" she added, her voice sounded very bitter.

"Now now, Kate. Take it easy. We'll get him. He's bound to fuck up anytime soon. Keep in touch, mkay?" he said as they both said their goodbyes and ended the call.

"A little recon mission won't hurt, right?" he nudged to Jack who grinned proudly at the solitaire victory screen, cards bounced all around the edges of the screen.

John Price found himself unable to sleep. It was either he's actually excited to do some missions or he's too worried about what they're about to discover, what would Shadow Company be up to and what is the quiet Nero planning behind the scenes? His thoughts raced to a dozen possibilities, all calling for drastic measures and sacrifices. He knew he had allies by his side, allies that are always ready to do whatever it takes to fix this mess.

He lazily dragged his feet to get a glass of water in the kitchen, despite being huge, the house was awfully quiet. Too quiet that he could hear every soft rustling from the halls.

He wasn't one to eavesdrop but he couldn't help but hear soft murmuring near MacTavish's bedroom.

"So.. um.. same time tomorrow?" said a low Scottish voice a chuckle followed. It was obviously Soap and Price thought only enemies were doing something behind the scenes.

"You wish.." a female voice giggled.

"But seriously… Thanks for tonight John." she added.

"No problem, Francine. So.. what's stopping you from staying overnight?" he chuckled. Price knew this was wrong but his glass of water was still half full.

"You know that I'd love to… but Maxine also needs me right now. Especially that she's slowly recovering bits and pieces of the past." she reasoned and Price knew it was time to head back to his room quietly.

Maxine Winters

MacTavish Residence, Glasgow, Scotland

It felt real. She looked around and felt that this was more than just an ordinary dream. The vision was too dark with a small ray of light peeking from the slightly ajar door.

She knew where this was. She liked hiding here, her parent's closet.

She was waiting for Francine to find her, Francine always knew where she hid. But in this certain memory, she wasn't there.

She giggled quietly and hushed herself as soon as the door opened, France was going to find her. But instead, what she heard was her Dad saying words of assurance followed by heavy breathing. She was curious enough to peek through the small opening.

Her dad carried her Mom to the bed, his hands held hers tight, wiping the sweat off her forehead as her chest rose and fell quickly, her breath was labored and her eyes looked tired.

"Hang in there, love. The doctor's on the way." his father assured, making his wife comfortable as they wait for help to arrive.

"I don't think I can make it anymore…" She whispered.

"No no no. Don't do this to me Coraline, don't you want to see our angels grow up?" he sobbed, tears fell on her hands as he kissed it. Maxine remained still, she wanted to cry but she just sat inside the closet, peeking, frozen in a mix of fear and worry.

"I do , Love … but it looks like my body can't make it to that day… I'm sorry…"

"Don't! Please Coraline, stay strong, for me… for the kids…"

"I am… and I know that you know it." she exhaled, panting heavily after the last sentence. Her Dad hugged her until her breathing stabilized, while Coraline weakly raised her hand and hugged him back.

"Promise me you'll see the kids grow up…

Promise me to tell them how much I love them every single day…

And promise me that you'll never forget how much I loved you… Francis Maximus Winters." tears fell from her tired eyes. Her dad held her cheek and wiped it off, sobbing as she slowly closed them.

"I'm not sure if I could keep all of those promises… but I will try… I love you Coraline Winters, I always have and I always will, until the time we'll meet again." he muttered. Maxine witnessed it all, the way her father's face frowned when he realized he just lost his wife. It was one of her saddest memories.

~

Maxine gasped and opened her eyes, touching her face as soon as they opened. Tears. She was crying while asleep. She flicked the lamp and looked around her, France wasn't around. Just as she pulled the sheets so she could leave the bed, the door knob slowly turned and a soft creak was heard. It was Francine.

"France!" Maxine gasped and immediately ran to her side, hugging her tight as she began crying. France smelled different, almost masculine, but she didn't mind.

"Max! What happened? Are you okay?" France quickly hugged her, rubbing her back as she quietly bawled out her emotions.

"I saw… " She panted.

"I saw… Mom…"

"Mom died…" She exhaled as Francine escorted her downstairs to the kitchen, grabbing a glass of water to calm her heart.

"You were in the closet. We were supposed to be playing hide and seek." France muttered as Maxine turned to her.

"Francis… Maximus Winters." she recalled.

"That's dad's name. It's quite long, right? Mom actually liked him because of it." France enlightened, trying to make Max calm down.

"Yeah… is he ?" Max asked.

"Yeah… but he's kinda forgot about us now. Every time we visit he just looks for Coraline."

"Mom."

"Yes."

"He kept his promise." Max said.

"Huh?" France tilted her head.

"Mom's last words. Promise me you'll see the kids grow up…

Promise me to tell them how much I love them every single day…

And promise me that you'll never forget how much I loved you…" Max recalled from her dream and as more words were added, France's sobs were louder.

"He… he did them all…" France cried as they both hugged each other. And it was the moment that Maxine remembered what France looked like when they first met, her smile… It was the smile of someone who was finally reunited with her only family, and it was painful how the only ones she could cling to couldn't remember her.

"What's that smell?" Maxine asked as she killed the mood of the sisterly hug. France's face turned red, even in the dimly lit room, Max could tell that she was blushing.

"N-Nothing… I don't smell anything." She laughed nervously.

"I swear I passed by that scent somewhere…" she looked at her suspiciously and laughed, shrugging it off which actually made France relax her shoulders.

"Let's go back to sleep." Maxine invited her sister and they both got back to their room.

Next Chapter : Docked and Loaded

Notification Squad my Beloved

@beemybee @enderio @smokeywhalee @samatedeansbroccoli @whimsywispsblog @ricinbach

[guigz1-coldwar]

'Ride of the Valkyries' : New chapter for "Redemption in a Spirit in a Cold War" is out !

'Ride of the Valkyries'

"I'm going to get through an lot of things before I can fullfill my goals in life but I already know that I'm not alone to do them ! "

Chapter Summary : It's the first day back on the mission to save Adler for Yirina & Park and both are going to have an unexpected ride to do with the others......

To read it on AO3, click here !

Words : +3300

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That talk I had with Hudson was for me, very strange to do because of the last time we did have one, he wasn't really friendly towards me and even if here, he was more acting like an creepy man, we did have this talk between us and surprisely, I managed to not get myself angry against him or him to behave like if I was still nothing or just an terrorist from the East. Despite the goods words that happened between us, I prefer to keep my distances with him and avoid to talk to him too much, still staying suspicious against him.

After that, I could finally walk to get to sleep for good...in the dorm. Like in the old days in the safehouse, back to go to sleep with people around and hearing the others sleep either loudly or silently, why it has to be an dorm ? Sleeping in an car is maybe better than an dorm but I can say that I have enough to sleep on backseats and I ain't going to sleep in the helicopters. All night, I didn't dream so much but most part of my sleep was me, having an flash coming from my fake memories of Vietnam, short but very troubling to relive, it must be my presence here that are making me relive them.

Anyway, I did succeed to have some sleep in here, waking up in the morning, even if the bed I used wasn't very comfortable and some peoples were making some noises while sleeping....better to not know who did this. Then, I go took an shower and dress myself in my military outfit as Woods suggested, he said that it was better for us to be ready at any occasions and to not lose time to change our clothes, gear up and then leave. Once I was dressed up, it was time for me to go join my workplace that I shared with Park, not forgetting to take an coffee before.

"How was sleeping ?" Park asked me as I was arriving at our workplace, an cup of coffee in hands, she was also dressed in military clothes and already awake.

"Terrible." I replied in an low voice before taking an sip of the cup and looking around to see that there weren't an lot of people inside the hangar, only Garrett & Wolf were there at their respectives desk. "With the not comfortable bed and some people sneering all night, I wasn't able to have an better sleep." I added, sitting up on my chair.

"Same." She breathed, her left hand tapping on the desk.

"Good to see that we had the same night." I whispered with an smile as our beds were next to each other without been totally together. My words make her laugh,

"I had to cover my ears at one moment." She stated, looking outside the hangar, trying to find someone. "It's probably Woods who did this." She suggested to me.

"I don't know, you should be asking." I proposed but she rolled her eyes around to me in an lovely way.

"And having me getting into deep troubles ? You can dream, Yiri." She added to her rolling eyes, making me grin, drinking my coffee at the same time. "I ain't going to get myself in trouble with Woods because I thought that he was making the one sleeping not very silently."

"Yeah, you're right." I said in an funny tone, thinking that Woods could really kill us about it.

"Damn, I knew that my military clothes were going to fit well in you." She exclaimed, seeing me dressed up. It's true that even after 2 months, I'm still using Park's clothes that she is giving me and her equipment.

"Thanks but I think that one day, I will have to use my own clothes." I told her but her clothes on me wasn't disturbing me at all to be honest, as long as I'm in some clothes, I'm good. "In fact, yeah, I love your clothes." I continued pointing at me & her.

"It doesn't bother me at all." She proclaimed, taking my right hand in her hands after I put my cup down. "You know well of it."

"Yes, I know." I admitted in an low voice, getting my head down to look at our hands. "By the way, I didn't have anything during the night, except the fake memories." I bit my lips, redressing myself on the chair, our hands still together. "Guess that been here is making me think of them."

"I know that it's all fake but....what did you see in those memories ?" She demanded, her voice sounding pretty curious.

"Well..." I started, trying in my head, to think of them as it was mainly & only flashes. "They were pretty short and only flashes, you know ?" I explained and she nodded. "I just had this image of me....piloting an helicopter by my own."

"Seriously ?" Park questioned, sounding normal and I nodded. "Do you think you can actually fly an helicopter ?"

"I don't know to be honest." I replied, raising my shoulders to her, taking an look outside to check the multiples Huey on their helipads. "Maybe yes, maybe no, I can't tell."

"Maybe you can know about this later in case." She proposed to me, gesturing the helicopters with her head.

"We'll see." I sniffed before we removed our hands from each other, mine back on the cup of coffee and hers, on her lap. "Before going to sleep, I called Zasha."

"Oh !" She smiled at hearing me talk about Zasha. "How are they ?"

"Great !" I said, proud of it as I checked my cup before finishing the rest of coffee inside. "They're saying hello to you from Portnova & them too and they said hello to Portnova for us !" I added, wanting to tell her about this.

"Nice, I think that they're doing great in Century House." She thought and for that, I nodded again.

"They're doing really great, they told me that they defeated the others of their team in an game called 'Bullshit' !" I told her and she laughed about it, she is maybe knowing about the game.

"Well, I can say that Zasha is already the best : beating the other in 'Bullshit' is an big exploit to do." She stated, sounding amazed to hear that.

"Also, we're invited the 4h of June, them & Portnova want to celebrate their wedding in private with us." I continued of telling her the call I did to Zasha and she grinned.

"Cool, I will put my best dress then." She exclaimed, giving me an lovely glare to me. "I'm sure that we will be going at their party, we have to." She added, making me smile that Park is considering the two as big friends, it's very nice. As I was thinking about seeing me in an dress, I looked around to see Garrett that was looking worried.

"Why Garrett is like that ?" I demanded, seeing him tapping his feets on the ground, an sign of big stress.

"The recon team aren't making any radio signals since an hour and he's fearing the worst as Song is in it." Park responded, feeling bad in her voice.

"Damn, is that the recon team helicopter ?" Wolf spoke up in the hangar and by that, we all looked outside to see an helicopter arriving rapidly on the base. We quickly got up from our seats to get outside, watching the helicopter landing not even on his helipad.

"Seems that they're back." Woods was also there, he was already outside the hangar, out of range from our sight as we decide to get ourselves next to the helicopter, discovering some wounded people inside. "What happened ?" Woods asked nervous to the pilot.

"The recon team....they have been ambushed...those behind were an part of it." The pilot replied as he was having his hand towards his shoulder, he was wounded and his co-pilot was dead. The helicopter was in bad shape.

"Where's the others ? Where's Song ?" Garrett questioned him, almost angry after he checked everyone in the transport and not seeing Song here as they were transported away by other personals.

"They stayed behind....to cover our escape....fuck, my shoulder." The pilot breathed before Woods decide to get him out gently from the cockpit.

"Fuck, do you remember where are they ?" Woods demanded as the pilot was starting to get taken back by medical personal.

"Yes...check the maps in the cockpit, it's their current location...be quick." The pilot finished before he was brought away. Then Woods got inside the cockpit to take the maps like the pilot told him before going out.

"Okay, okay." He whispered, checking the maps in his hands. "Everyone, gear up, we're going to save the others !" He ordered and in an second, we run straight towards the hangar to put our equipment up.

Thanks to Woods's idea to always be dressed in military clothes, we took less time to put on ourselves, the numerous pieces of equipment : vest for my mags of my MP5 and an holstler at my knee, holding my precious M1911. Once we were done, we quickly joined Woods back to another helicopter as the another one that came back was riddled with bullets and too dangerous to fly with.

"Good but before flying up.....I need an co-pilot !" Woods exclaimed to us, already having his equipment ready and we all looked at each other.

"You're going to take the commands ?" Wolf asked him, an bit confused.

"I know how to fly that : I didn't do the Vietnam War for nothing !" Woods responded honestly, pointing at the helicopter behind. "So, I'm asking again : who is talented enough to fly that with me ?" He repeated his questions and suddenly, Park's eyes fell on me.

"Yirina knows." She told him, looking him back and my eyes went wide.

"Wait...."

"Nice, so get yourselves inside and be ready !" Woods cut me straight as I was going to protest about having Park tell him that I know how to fly an Huey even if it was fake.

"I'm sorry." Park whispered to me, sounding very bad before she installed herself behind in the transport bay with Garrett & Wolf as for me, I have no choices to install myself in the co-pilot seat with Woods at our pilot.

"You're sure that you're okay to fly that with me ?" He demanded to me as he was starting up the engine of the helicopter.

"Yes but...Bell knows how to do it, not me." I told him straight, raising my shoulders to him and with that, he realized that he was with someone that was knowing only an little about flying that thing.

"Well, you'll learn from an expert !" He bragged, sounding enthusiastic as the blades start to turn and the engine to go hot. "Everyone, be ready, we're going high !" He added as the helicopter was going up with me as an pilot and me as an co-pilot....damnit, why did you do this, Park ? At least, I will learn from Woods.

We started to fly away from the base to get to the last location that the recon team including Song, Sims & Mason were and to be honest, the co-pilot part was pretty easy to understand as I was assisting Woods on telling him where to go and to make sure that the things in the helicopter was working well for him. Behind, the others were silent, not even talking even through the headsets we need to use to speak because of the rotors noises.

"We shouldn't be too far now." I told Woods, checking the maps in my hands after some long minutes of flying over the jungle.

"Thanks." He said, trying to see from afar if there were anything unusual around here.

"I hope that Rivas is making an hell of an show on the ground." Wolf exclaimed through the headset, breaking the silence that was behind for minutes.

"Who's Rivas ?" I questioned him, looking around to look at him.

"Guerilla expert that's part of the recon team, coming from Nicaraguan Autodefensas." Woods was the one to reply to my question instead of Wolf. "She's very helpful and like Wolf said, she's kinda the best on making the work done."

"She's THE best, man." Wolf called him out, insisting well on that.

"I know, Wolf, I know." Woods said, staying focused on flying that Huey with me as his co-pilot. "Anyone is not having an air sickness ?" He asked to everyone.

"All good !" Park responded as I looked towards her as Garrett only nodded to me, he was probably thinking about Song's state right now and I understand him. "You both doing great." She added, making me smile until we heard an big explosion.

"Shit, that's surely them !" Woods expressed and when I looked back in front of me, I could see an explosion coming from an specific place in the jungle. "Yirina, try to contact them." He pointed at me the radio of the helicopter that I took in hands. Woods gave me, during the flight, the frequency that the recon team is using.

"Recon team, can you hear us ?" I started, speaking through the radio, awaiting for an answer but nothing came. "Recon team, are you receiving this message ?" I repeated again.

"Yirina, is that you ?" I heard through the radio and it was Mason himself that was speaking.

"Mason, are you okay ?" I asked, worried. "Is everyone okay on the ground ?" I added, seeing Garrett peaking his head between me & Woods.

"We're fine but we will not last any longer so be quick." He ordered in an concerned voice. "We are at where the red flares are !" He continued as I looked around to see multiples red flares on the ground.

"There !" I pointed to Woods the location.

"I got this !" He told me, getting the helicopter in that direction as I was trying to communicate more with Mason but the radio went off as the gunshots on the ground was getting closer. "Shit, those fuckers are firying at us !"

"What are we doing ?" Garrett demanded.

"We land with the engine still going on and once everyone got in, we're flying away." Woods replied as he was getting close to the landing zone. "Yirina, you're taking the commands, I will help the other." He continued as he was landing the helicopter

"What, no !" I protested over that, meaning that I will have to fly that thing by myself back to the base and that Woods just landed it.

"Trust me, you will do this !" He proclaimed as he was starting to take his XM4 in hands behind his seat. "The others, with me outside !" He ordered, getting outside with Park, Garrett & Wolf to provide some firepower to the remainder of the recon team.

"For fuck sake." I thought to myself as I was starting to move myself from my seat to get on the pilot seat.

Honestly, I will have everyone's lives in hand at the moment I will have to take off and once I got myself settled in the pilot's seat, I already wanted to get back to my former seat...until I touched the commands and in my head, I could see the same flash I had this night....seeing me fly by myself an Huey with Sims & Adler, firying from the helicopter and now, it was looking like that...I was able to fly an helicopter, that Huey, like if I always did this.

I looked outside for an second to see Woods helping Mason to get inside, he wasn't wounded but he was helping nonetheless, Garrett was helping Song as Park, Wolf were with Sims  & an woman that I presume to be Rivas to provide some suppressing fire to cover their retreat back inside the helicopter. Then, it was time for everyone to get away back into the chopper.

"Yirina ?" Sims called me out, seeing me at the pilot's seat as Woods was installing himself on the co-pilot seat...at my place. "Are you not forgetting the old times ?" He scoffed, seemingly forgetting our last time we talk to each other.

"No time for jokes, get us fly away !" Woods ordered as he was right, not time for fun right now before I start to take off.

"Is everyone well attached ?" I asked everyone, wanting to know in case I have to make some dangerous manouvers....in case.

"All set !" Garrett answered as I was staying focused on flying that Huey away from the combat zone.

"Shit, they've got aerial support !" Rivas shouted, discovering her voice and I quickly looked behind us, discovering....

"An Hind ?" I exclaimed, surprised to see that here.

"Damnit, Perseus is seriously not joking !" Wolf told us.

"Try to hit it with that mounted M60, Wolf !" Woods ordered, looking behind him. "Park, take the other one." He added before he got back to look in front of him. "You're okay, Yirina ?"

"Why I shoud be ?" I raised my voice to him. "We've got an Hind pursuing us and you think that I'm okay ?" I told him like that as I was trying to save everyone with me, having the commands on an american Huey.

"Well, I've got something for you." He whispered to me before he activate something on the controls panel with his hand and then, I could hear some loud classical music coming from some hidden speakers.

"What....what's that ?" I demanded, confused.

"That's Richard Wegner....Ride of the Valkyries !" Sims was the one to respond to me. "Believe me, like in the old times !" He added, joking again as the music was going in. "Still having the Vietnam's spirit, show that Hind who we are !" He exclaimed to me as I was trembling until I got myself back well & determined.

"Let's do this !" I said in an determined voice, starting to fly low just above the tree as an mean to avoid the multiples bullets that the Hind was shooting at us and Wolf & Park trying to shoot it down while the music were going loud in the helicopter, I'm already imagining the other's faces about it. "This bastard ain't going to go down." I breathed, seeing the Hind still behind us after some minutes.

"We have to shoot it down before we can go back to base." Woods explained, we couldn't let this Hind getting away, we have to destroy it and we're in an Huey who has only two mounted M60 against an helicopter armed with an minigun and rockets.

"You didn't bring your minigun, Wolf ?" Rivas spoke up.

"My....oh, my 'Death Machine', yes !" Wolf expressed. "Grigoriev, try to not move the helicopter too much, I'll try to shoot that chopper down." He ordered to me as I was evading the missiles that the Hind was sending us.  "Good, now, try to put the Huey in line so I can fire !" He added, making me move the Huey in position, allowing him to get prepared and I quickly looked at him, holding an minigun in hands as everyone was sit down, letting him get some space. "Surprise, fuckers !" He shouted before he start firying with his minigun towards the Hind who received the multiples bullets from the 'Death Machine'.

"Yeah ! Got it !" Mason expressed his joice when the Hind bursted into flames and starting to go down. "Nice job, Wolf and nice fly, Yirina." He added as I took an deep breath, finally free to not make too much zig-zag around the Laotian jungle.

"Thanks." I said in an low voice before I took back the commands and slowly getting away from the sector back to the base.

"We got saved and we got what we need for." Song told us.

"Nice job from everyone !" Park affirmed, making me smile after what we just did to be honest, with me flying an helicopter as I didn't know about it earlier, I can thanks Woods for that.....

"Guess that we will have to celebrate that with an drink !"

[guigz1-coldwar]

'Next move' : New chapter for "Redemption in a Spirit in a Cold War" is out !

'Next move'

"I can say that....you're an very lucky girl, Yirina Grigoriev !"

Chapter Summary : After the unexpected rescue mission of the recon team, Yirina and the team could finally have some rest before starting to planify the next moves against Naga.....

To read it on AO3, click here !

Words : +3200

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In all the odds of the world, no one was going to tell me that the first day I will spent in Laos was going to be me and the others having to rescue an recon team constitued of Song, Mason, Sims & an woman called Rivas in emergency and literally no one thought that I will have to be the co-pilot of an Huey and then, its pilot on the way back. I don't know how I was able to know in an few seconds how to fly an helicopter in my life, maybe my fake memories did help me....or I've got an uncovered real memory about it, I can't tell.

I can say that my skills on piloting an helicopter did surprise Woods & also Park as I talked about her of my flashs of my 'old times in Vietnam' and to be honest, I think that she wasn't believing at first that I was really going to take the commands of an american helicopter, trying to evade an Perseus-affiliated Hind above the Laotian jungle. Thanksfully, Wolf managed to destroy the Hind with his so-called 'Death Machine', an minigun and thanks to that move, we were finally in safety and good to go to return to base.

On the way back, I wasn't speaking so much in the entire group that was chatting about what they did while Woods were giving indications of where to go and to check the controls for me like I did on the first flight. Park was also silent in the group, also in her thoughts and then after minutes of flying, we finally arrived back at base where I could land the Huey without too much damaging it, thinking that I would mess that up but none of it happened when the helicopter skids got on the ground.

"Well done, Yirina." Woods congratulated me once the helicopter's engine was shut down, stopping the loud noises we've been hearing since we got away from here. We did also cut off the music before arriving here too. "Didn't know that you got flying in your blood."

"Me neither." I breathed, removing my headset off my head, amazed by myself to be honest. "it was good but I don't think I will do this again for an long time."

"As you wish." Woods told me as he make some friendly tap on my shoulders before he looked behind him, his eyes on everyone. "Okay, we're going to patch you up, you're taking some rest and then, we'll make an briefing." He suggested and everyone nodded.

"Let's get out of that helicopter." Wolf exclaimed as he was helping Sims to get out while the others were also moving from the chopper but me, I stayed in the cockpit, the headset in my hands and looking at the group, leaving the helipad.

"Yiri." I was surprised when I heard that Park was still in the Huey with me in the transport bay. "How do you feel ?" She asked me, seeing me happy but confused at the same time.

"To start, I'm surprised that I managed to fly that thing and I wonder how I did this." I expressed, still looking away until I feel her hand on my shoulder, causing me to look at her.

"You were great !" She affirmed again to me, moving to get closer to my seat. "It's seems that you're an woman with many talents." She added, getting her both hands on my shoulders.

"Well, I can say that." I said, not wanting to brag myself about that talent I just discovered about me. "It's not everyday that I'm piloting an Huey above the jungle." I sniffed, looking away for an few seconds. "I guess that 'Bell' is maybe proud about it." I continued, trying to laugh about it but I couldn't.

"I'm proud of you." She moved her arms around my shoulders, getting her head on it. "I'm still sorry to have obliged you to be Woods's co-pilot." She apologized again for that but now, it was okay.

"It's fine." I whispered, putting away the headset to get my hands on her arms. "Next time, you're the one flying that thing !" I scoffed as I thought about it during the way back as an little lovely revenge and the only thing she did was to kiss me on the cheek.

"You didn't see me fly then." She stated, making me look at her eyes, thinking at first that she was lying. "What ? We learned how to fly too in the MI6." She exclaimed to me, realizing that she wasn't lying at all to me.

"I'm curious to see that." I mumbled before I decide to kiss her, this time, on the lips. "What's the biggest helicopter you used to fly with ? Tell me !" I demanded, holding her hands in mine, feeling her touch on my skin.

"I flied an Hind !" She replied and my eyes went wide again. "We had an mission in 1980 in Afghanistan with Garrett, Greta....and also Stone & Megan." She added, taking an breath. "To say that I flied it with Stone as the man who controlled the guns..." She thought.

"I would have been very curious to see that." I offered an grin, knowing that talking Stone was not an good idea even if he was now lying dead somewhere in the world. "Well, to see you fly an Hind." I corrected myself to that and that put an smile on her face.

"If someday, we had no choices but to use one, I'm the one taking the commands." She proposed and I know that she would be great so I nodded.

"Excuse me ?" We were both surprised when we heard Woods knocking loudly at the pilot's door and also coughing in purpose to get our attention.

"What do you want ?" I asked him in an semi-serious voice.

"Well, I preferred to see you back at your desk instead of staying in that helicopter." He responded, putting his hands on his waist.

"Come on, Woods, we're just having an discussion." Park protested, sounding in an flirty voice that wasn't appropriated right now with Woods.

"Yeah but I don't want to have you start to do your things in that." He told her back, finally opening my door by itself. "Don't forget my warning though."

"You maybe need to....chill out, Woods." I suggested to him and his only moves was to narrow his eyes to me, looking almost deadly and wanting to put his hands on my neck. "You know, we were in an discreet place, away from the others." I gestured at him as me & Park finally decide to get out.

"I know but an Huey isn't very discreet while it's in the middle of an CIA base." He admitted, making us take an look around. "So, get yourselves back in the hangar to have some rest before someone like Hudson found you two in an akward position." He scoffed at the end of his words,  laughing a little while me & Park rolled our eyes around.

"As you wish, Woods." I expressed, using his same words that he used moments earlier before we walk away towards the hangar.

We came back to our desk inside, stripping ourselves from the equipment that we used....well, I didn't use my pistol or even my MP5 in combat because I had to fly an helicopter in an combat zone, meaning that I was the only one who didn't fire an single bullet. To be honest, that allowed me to keep my equipment in perfect shape and still having enough mags without asking Park for others and now, we were awaiting.

We had to wait for the other to get healed up as apparently, they were out of the base for two days straight for an big recon mission that Hudson ordered and hopefully, Song, Mason, Sims & Rivas weren't wounded too badly, having only some scratches on their arms or faces but nothing too badly for them. However, that wasn't the same thing for the other part of the recon team, having reported an lot of wounded and killed in action, including the pilot and the co-pilot of their team.

From their mission, they managed to get their hands on some intels about Naga but Woods preferred that everyone was up and good to be back on action to make an proper briefing and for that, we had to wait at the beginning of the evening, that's meaning the whole day until everyone were finally able to assist the briefing, fully operational.

"Everyone." Woods called everyone near an dashboard, meaning the beginning of the awaited briefing, we all took an seat on chairs that was put there. "Rivas, you might want to make the topo on the intels you found." He demanded to her, that wasn't seated.

"Good." She nodded to him as she was moving next to him. "For 2 days, we managed to discover some outpost Naga is using for his activities."

"And what is he doing ?" Garrett asked her.

"Naga is the supervisor of Nova-6 supply lines around the Golden Triangle." Mason replied to him, getting up to join Rivas & Woods as he was also there. "These outposts are used by Naga to make sure the supply lines are still there." He added.

"So, Stitch is still in producing his nerve gas." I spoke up as I didn't heard about it since last month....since that disaster in that mall in New Jersey. "If he's asking Naga to supervise his supply lines here, that means he's preparing something big." I suggested.

"And with Adler in his hands, it's sure that this 'something big' is really big." Sims stated, taking back my words on the subject. "We don't know what's Stitch planning with Adler but it's sure that he's really bad for us."

"Do you think he could kill him ?" Song questioned Sims about it.

"The two is having an hatred for each other but Stitch is maybe willing to make Adler suffer like he did to him years ago." Sims answered to her question, crossing his arms. "But we can finally advance now." He gestured to Mason.

"We finally found where's Naga main HQ is in the jungle." Mason said, pointing his hand towards an map that they got during their mission.

"I guess it isn't going to be easy." Park stated, looking at the map.

"You're right." Rivas nodded to her.

"We found intels that Naga's HQ is surrounded by AA guns, meaning that any incursions in chopper are impossible." Song stepped in to get next to Mason & Rivas, watched by Garrett with an smile. "The thing is the camp is very far from here and we had to use an chopper."

"So, we took an Huey and we land on an safe place to continue our travelling by walk." Park guessed right about it as Mason nodded.

"We can do that but we don't have any intels about what we could find on our way." Rivas told to us, looking at the map that was incomplete at some parts.

"May I propose something ?" Garrett raised his hand towards her. "As we have some Hueys that are from the Laotian Air Force, maybe two people with an pilot can make an recon in the skies without getting too close of Naga's HQ." He proposed and everyone start to think about his idea.

"That could work, who volunteers ?" Woods questioned everyone and no one was volunteering.

"Well, since it's my idea, I have to do this." Garrett breathed before I suddenly raise my hand.

"I'm with him." I told everyone with Park's surprised reaction on me before she nodded in approval even if she know that the two of us will be separated for an while.

"Good, I also thinking that I could go with an team in advance to try to secure the landing zone." Rivas suggested and to say, it was also an good idea : having two people in the skies, securing the way for the team on the ground while she took an team to make an advanced recon before we arrive.

"And when you will be leaving ?" Wolf demanded.

"As the place is far by walk, I will be leaving tonight." She answered to him, hands on her waist before she look at Woods who agreed.

"Take the men that aren't wounded with you." He ordered to her as he took an deep breath. "Well, I think that we will do this tomorrow, everyone can have an break." He added as we could finally got up from our respectives seats.

"Woods ! Mason !" An loud voice came inside the hangar, revealing Hudson himself, arriving with an satellite phone in hand.

"What do you want ?" Woods asked in an lazy voice.

"We have to talk....it's personal." Hudson replied to him and by the tone of his voice, it was really personal. "Got an call from home." He added as Mason & Woods look at each other in confusion.

"We're following you." Mason whispered before the two move away from the dashboard, following Hudson to an isolated place away from everyone who still got our eyes on the three.

"Shit, if Hudson talk like that, it's...strange to say." Sims said, an bit confused about the situation. "Anyway, I think that's not our business."

"Don't we have an drink to celebrate ?" Garrett recalled about the words from Park after the end of the rescue mission.

"Oh yes !" Wolf exclaimed as he moved to get to his desk, getting in his hands an bottle. "Who wants some Bourbon ?" He questioned but we didn't have to speak that we moved to his desk, ready to have an little celebration.

I should have thought that Wolf has bring some of his Bourbon in Laos with him and seeing that bottle in his hands showed that he was really loving it. He prepared some glasses for everyone and we all cheered to that little rescue mission we did today and our next move for tomorrow. Of course, we all took only one drink as we wouldn't want to be totally drunk on the field and after taking an sip of that drink that I missed for an month, we make an little talk about ourselves and like always, I let the others talk.

Even if some people around knows of my state and what happened to me, no one wanted to bring the subject on the table, thinking that it was an bad idea to talk about it. Instead, they talked about their lifes, how Garrett met Song on an mission in 1983 in Seoul, how Wolf got enlisted in the Delta Force for his 18th birthday and how Sims actually met Russell Adler during the Vietnam War.

Rivas also told us about her backstory, fighting against the Menendez Cartel in Nicaragua for an large part of her life and I was really impressed by it, discovering more the woman that I just met hour earlier, that story....it was nice but also sad to learn about. We did spent an good time, listening to each others story.

"Yirina, Park !" Woods finally arrived one hour after we began our little celebration party but he was sounding low and...kinda troubled, not exactly in the same mood of everyone.

"Yes ?" We both said in unison with Park.

"We...well, we need to talk...in private." He responded, still sounding troubled, there were something wrong in his voice. "Not here, outside."

"Something's wrong ?" Park asked.

"Just...follow me, okay ?" Woods told us as he start to leave and in an second, we slowly got up from our chairs to follow him outside the hangar, wondering what he would say to us. We then stopped in an hidden place, out of sight from everyone.

"Woods, what's the problem ?" I finally demanded, worried about him.

"I know that it's maybe not your business but Mason wanted me to tell you about this." He said in an low voice, his hands on his wait and looking sad. "Mason received bad news from home."

"Bad news ?" Park whispered and we start to fear the worst.

"We just learned that....his wife died." He said, his voice cracking by the emotions to talk about this. "She had an brain tumor and it was incurable." He added to us, making us shocked to hear that from him and feeling so sad about learning about it.

"An brain tumor ?" I repeated, my voice sounding very low.

"Yeah, she's been fighting it for months with Alex's help but...him been forced to leave to get back on the fight, it didn't help at all." He stated, passing his hands through his face. "Now, his son, David is alone."

"What will happen now ?" Park questioned him.

"Hudson is sending him home, Mason already packed up his things discreetly...it was better for him." Woods was like on the verge of not crying and he was struggling to not cry in front of us. "He wanted you both to know about it even if it was not your problem, David need his dad while his uncle is leading an group to save an CIA agent." He said, revealing that he was the uncle of Mason's kid.

"I....I...I think it was an good choice from him." I thought as Park slowly nodded, approving my words.

"It's better for him to get back to his son." Park added to my words, taking an deep breath.

"Yes, it's the only thing to do for him, Hudson wasn't going to let him here." Woods admitted to us. "Shit...to say that's my fault to have him come back." He continued.

"Woods..." I started, putting my hand on his shoulder. "You're not the one to blame, he thought that it was an good choice because he's your friend." I told him, not even sure of my words to recomfort him. "No one is to blame here." I added.

"I want to think of it but what's done is done." He whispered, joining his hands together. "Listen, this discussion is staying between us, if the other ask, don't tell anything about it." We nodded to his order, it was very important and we couldn't talk freely about it.

"Don't worry, Woods, we will not tell anything." Park affirmed to him as she made an very little grin to him.

"Good, I'm might need to take some rest before tomorrow." He snorted before taking an breath. "Take some rest too." He added before he start to walk away slowly from us to get back inside the hangar while me & Park were completely frozed in place.

"Damnit, I never thought...." I started to say before I stop myself, losing my words and then, I sit on the ground, crossing my legs. "Fuck...."

"You couldn't know, Yirina." Park said in an low voice, sitting in the same position as me in front of me. "I'm like you right now : shocked and sad about it." She breathed, meaning her words by seeing her look and voice. "Mason wants to live an normal life, away from what happened to him and I'm sure that you want too."

"I just want to able to live free and away from all of this and for that, I need you !" I told her, looking at her with eyes that was slowly filled with tears before Park slowly moved her hand towards my cheek.....

"And I know well that you're always there for me !"