#**that ape knew she was dead if she didn't comply**

[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

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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..."

[thebig-chillqueen]

“Robotboy! Save the kids!”