#my opinion is that if you're gonna have a truck or a big car you shouldn't be afraid to use it for a little dirty work

[sirsparklepants]

I want Logan to be confronted with the fact that it's practically impossible to find a Work Truck these days and get incredibly mad about pavement princesses and dick-up trucks. I need this. For enrichment.

[snuggerudism]

nights like these, in the august heat | red dirt roads

If Calla had to list her top ten favorite things in this world, sunsets would be number six. Ever since she was a little girl, she’d been fascinated by the blends and varieties of colors they showed. They were different looking every day, and that’s what kept her watching them every night. As she waited outside the airport, she couldn’t help but stare at the one that lit up above the airport building. 

The piece of white cardboard her aunt had shoved into her hand is loosely gripped by her fingers. She protested the idea of her aunt making a sign with their names on it, but her aunt had gently pushed her out the door insisting it was the only way they would know it was her picking them up. In black sharpie, the names SNUGGERUD and CHESLEY are written in big, bold, uppercase letters. She felt silly holding it, and the stares she was receiving from various people didn’t help. 

She wishes she made Annie or Shay come with her. Their presence would calm her nerves, but Shay was studying for a test and Annie was at work. 

Meeting new people wasn’t something Calla was a fan of. Her sister would’ve been a better option to pick up the hockey players, but Cassie was no were to be found, as always. But she promised Aunt Ginny and Uncle Chris she would make them feel at home on the car ride back home, and she intended on keeping that promise. 

Two teenage boys walking toward her snapped her out of her thoughts. She took a moment to compose herself, smoothing out her tank top and adjusting her baseball cap. Aunt Ginny’s words from earlier pop into her mind, and she flashes a bright smile, in order to make the boys feel welcome. 

The two boys stare at the sign as they stand waiting to cross to the truck, and Calla clears her throat. “I’m assuming you're Ryan and Jimmy? Or, are you two random guys who need a ride and are gonna pretend you are?”

The USA hockey sweatshirts the two are wearing already confirmed the answer to her question, but cracking jokes was the way she removed any awkward silence from a conversion. It was her best quality, at least in her opinion. 

“Um,” One of them says, not meeting her eyes. “Is there a back seat? How will one of us sit?” He puts his bags in the tailgate while he waits for an answer from the blonde. 

She laughs for a moment, and the two boys look at her extremely confused. “It’s Uncle Charlie’s old truck. It has one row, but fits three people,” She taps the side of the truck, motioning them into the car. She shuts it, closing the tailgate before getting in the driver's seat. “Alright, if you wanna open the windows, you have to crank the handle down. I suggest doing so, because the AC of this car hasn’t worked since my brother was born. He's 18, so it hasn’t worked for 19 years.” 

The car ride to Northville is filled with Calla asking the boys questions, wanting to get to know them better. She learns the one with the shaggier hair is Jimmy, and the other one is Ryan. She doesn’t say it, but she can’t imagine how hard it is for them to leave their homes and their families.

She could never imagine leaving Michigan. This is where her family was, and would probably always be. 

“Can we play music?” Ryan interrupts her train of thought. She forgot to go through the process of finding the stations that worked before she started driving. Still focusing on the road, she begins pressing various buttons and dials before the sound of country music fills the car.  

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees their faces at the long dirt road ahead of them. There’s a house just down the road, and one directly diagonal from it. “Uncle Charlie said I’m in charge of showing you two the farm chores you’ll do when you’re not at hockey.”

“Farm chores? We’re living on a farm?” Ryan’s face pales.

“Dude,” Jimmy whacks his arm. “I told you we were. I think it’s sick.” Jimmy shoots Calla a smile. 

“My whole family lives on it. My grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. All in different houses by family.”

“That’s really cool.” Jimmy nods his head.

“We’re actually gonna drive to my Mimi and Pops house. Sunday night is family dinner night, and everyone gets together. You get to meet everyone!”

“Great!” Ryan throws his head back, an annoyed groan slipping out of him. 

“It’ll be fun, Ry.” Jimmy pats his friend's shoulder. 

______________

The best word to describe what Calla pulls into is chaos. There's a number of children running around, clearly a variety of ages. She nearly runs over Willow’s soccer ball, braking just before she popped it. “Watch it Calla.” The 10 year old redhead glares at her as she opens the car door. 

“Sorry Willow. Next time, don’t kick it into the driveway please.”

“There is no driveway Calla. It’s dirt.” She rolls her eyes before stomping off into the backyard. 

Calla turns to the two boys who are amazed at the amount of people at the house. “You’ve never seen a big family before?” She laughs, leading them toward the porch. “The adults are on the back porch, I’ll introduce them fi-”

Before she can finish talking, a football comes flying toward the three of them. They duck, at Calla’s voice urging them too. The football is maybe an inch away from hitting Ryan in the head, but lands behind him. His eyes are wide as three boys stare guiltily at him. “Xander! What did Pop say about throwing the football?” The blonde yells, and the tallest looks visibly scared. 

“Watch where you’re throwing it before throwing it.” He doesn’t meet her eyes, looking at the patch of grass on the dirt road.”

“Right. You almost just gave Ryan a concussion. Now go, and remember the rule,” The three boys attempt to take off, but remember they need the football. “I’m sorry about them. When you’re at this house, always watch for flying balls. They could be anywhere.”

“Noted.” Jimmy shakes his head, stepping inside and looking around. 

“As I was saying, come meet the adults,” Calla opens the patio door, motioning them to come. “Jimmy, Ryan.​​ This is everyone. That’s Aunt Sheila and Uncle Mike, and over there is Auntie Ginny and Uncle Chris, the one’s you’ll be living with, as well as me. Right here is Aunt Sandy, and then at the end is Aunt Colette and Uncle Rick,” She points them out as she introduces them. Both are in shock at the number of aunts and uncles she has. “Aunt Melissa and Uncle Adam are on vacation. You’ll meet them soon.”

“Okay.” Ryan nods his head, soaking up the information. 

“I’ll introduce you guys to the kids next. All my cousins, and Connor, my brother,” She turns her attention to her Auntie Ginny. “Is Cassie here?”

“Nope. She’s at Spencer’s.”

Calla rolls her eyes. Her twin was almost never home anymore, spending every second she had of free time she had with her boyfriend. “That right there is Lucas. He’s 6 and you’ll see him everyday, because he’s Aunt Ginny and Uncle Chris’s. The blonde girl playing with dolls over there is Kendall, and she's four.” At the sound of her name, Kendall snaps her head to look at Calla, and runs toward her. 

“I’m Kendall,” She looks up at Jimmy, a pink cowgirl hat falling off her head. “You should come play with me.” She grabs Jimmy’s hand, trying to pull him with her. 

“Well, she likes you. That’s an accomplishment, because she doesn’t like many people,” Calla chuckles, picking up a baby from the blanket. “This cutie right here is Aubrey, and she's one.” The one year old squishes Calla’s cheeks, then bursts into a fit of giggles when Calla starts tickling her stomach. 

“Dinner’s ready,” Ryan assumes it's Calla’s pop who says that, by the gray hair the man has. “The guests of honor get to make their plates first,” He laughs at the horrified look on Ryan’s face for bringing the attention to him and Jimmy. “Don’t be scared, none of my family bites. Unless you take the last slice of pizza.” He laughs. 

They sit down, and everyone starts filling up their plates. “We’re excited to watch you boys play hockey. You’ll have a whole cheering section at all the games.”

“I’m excited for it too. You all are lovely people.” Ryan says what his mom told him too. He looks at Jimmy, who’s stuffing his face with homemade potato salad. He gives his shoulder a shove, and a ‘really’ look. 

“The food is amazing.” Jimmy says after he swallows his food. Everyone laughs, before digging into their own plates. 

[crazedmetalhead]

Eddie Head cannons/ character analysis

Is this gonna be me projecting onto a fictional character; yes, yes it is. This is just my opinion of what I think Eddie would be like as someone who grew up in a trailer park, with a lot of the conditions that the fandom assumes Eddie went through in his childhood. For context, there will be dark themes, don't like, don't read. THIS IS MY OPPINION (sorry if it makes no sense)

Okay so there has been some discourse in the community about whether Eddie would be a softie or a hard-ass, and I raise a middle ground. I feel like Eddie would seem like a hard-ass, hell, he'd act rough and shit around his friends, and he's loud, he wears leather and chains, I can see where you're coming from, and I also see where people get that he's a softie, from his interactions with Chrissy. I think you're both right, let me explain. "Eddie's always amped up," to me, this means that he's always on guard, he's been hurt before, this man grew up between truck stops and tin cans. The way I see it is he was always, poor, never knew any luxury. He probably grew up in a trailer with his sick mom and abusive dad, he was probably moved around a lot after his mom died, maybe his dad was a part of organized crime or something, which is why he knows how to hotwire a car. He's terrified of getting hurt again, yet expects it so he puts up a tough guy act, but deep down he wants to be good, he wants to protect those he loves. There's also the discourse about Lucas and as a Dungeon Master, I can tell you, if one of my party members last minute cancelled on us, the day of the session, especially a big one, to hang out with people who are known bullies.... I'd also be pissed off, I'd think, "Fuck he's really fraternizing with the enemy," and I would also get a substitute player. Campaigns take months to plan, that session for cult of Vecna alone probably took at least two weeks of planning and Eddie had to buy everything for it, D&D figures are not cheap either so if he planned it down to the player, which many of us do, that'd be infuriating. I think that all the supplies for that game today would run at over $120.00 which for a super senior living in his uncle's trailer and dealing drugs to get by, is a hell of a lot of money. Also, every single other person in the party agreed that that day was okay, and so did Lucas at the time, postponing would screw everyone over, it's literally how every D&D group runs, at the end of the session you all work out the next time you can meet. It's a really high-pressure hobby to be a Dungeon Master because it's not just making the game and improv, it's also managing everyone else's schedules. It can be stressful as hell. Especially with a party of that size. I feel his reaction was pretty valid as someone who has had that happen.

With Chrissy he was soft, yes, that's because he saw how scared she was, Eddie isn't the sort to kick somebody when they're down and wouldn't try and freak her out when she's already practically shaking with anxiety, and sure, he may have had a little crush on her- he has eyes. I think when she says she thought he'd be mean and scary it's not only because he's loud and wears mean looking clothes, I think there is valid reasons, as some of you say, but I think he has his reasons to act that way. He probably got into a lot of fist fights, that's just how the highschool hierarchy works, but I don't think he'd have started it. I believe Eddie is a firm believer of, "I don't start shit, but I will finish it," as well as, "Fuck around and find out," and I feel like a lot of people fucked around and had their asses handed to them. Also, being called the freak all your life is eventually grating on you and eventually you put yourself in that box before other people can, which usually includes wild hair, loud rants, hissing at people you don't like and a mean case of resting bitch face. Also, I raise to you, when I went to a new school, before I even dressed alt, people thought I'd be mean and scary simply because of my resting bitch face, so even without fist fights people would find Eddie intimidating. That being said, I feel like Eddie Munson is an onion of many layers, and if you break through those walls, he is a major softy, malleable butter in your hands. He'd at first be confused by the love you give him, suspicious that it's a prank, but when he trusts you, he trusts you with his life and it's hard to get it back if you shatter it. He definitely holds the doors for strangers, especially girls, he opens the car door and walks on the outside of the sidewalk, Wayne taught him how to treat a lady and he follows those rules. That's all, this is just my oppinion.

[guigz1-coldwar]

'Troubles at the Pines' : New chapter for "Redemption in a Spirit in a Cold War" is out !

"Troubles at the Pines"

Chapter Summary : Yirina, along with Park & Adler, is going to face Stitch at Mall of the Pines.....

To read it on AO3, click here !

Words : +4300

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Seeing Hudson face after all these times and seeing him acting like Adler did in my first days back in the safehouse, I can say that everything was starting all over again....with me, trying to make sure that I'm no longer seen as an terrorist, as an Perseus agent. Of course, with that coming back, my anger was with it too, letting myself a little bit overreacting when Adler taunted me about sarcasm and to be honest, I really think that sarcasm was something helping me to not let my rage get in control of me......and that's happening a lot of time with Adler & Hudson.

We needed a bigger plan than just 'broke in and kill Stitch for good' like Adler explained to us but even if he finally agreed to planify our moves inside the mall.....it wasn't still a bigger plan we had : we just added 'separate in teams' to the original plan and Adler been Adler, he refused to lose time and we quickly had to prepare ourselves for the mission as Stitch wanted his plans to occur, according to Adler, in the night of the same day.

Weirdly, Adler wouldn't agree to let Mason, Woods & Sims to participe in the operation and frankly, I wonder why that and even if they were trying to protest along with us, he didn't want to hear it. Instead, me & Park was obliged to go with Adler, Zeyna & Bulldozer as part of their own team and it wasn't the time to argue with that. Once we were ready, we got into a military truck and we were on our way to 'Mall at the Pines' as it was called. Part of my equipment were given to me by either Park or Adler himself.

"So....Grigoriev, right ?" Zeyna called me out while I was checking the Krig 6 I was given as we were in the truck, our seats facing each other with Park at my side and Zeyna having Jones & Adler next to her. I nodded to her, putting the gun on my lap. "Where are you from ?" She asked me.

"I'm from Ukraine." I replied as I was wondering what questions she wanted to give me, given to her curious look.

"Really ? Even if the name is Ukrainian, you're sounding very british." She muttered.....I can thanks Park for that accent I still got.....

"I've been working for the MI6 for years now and....." I started to say before looking at Park " I was very influenced by them." I added, grinning. It was just like when I told Wolf of my 'story' but this time, Adler was there to assist the conversation and when I looked at him, I could see on his face that hell will be on that truck if the truth was on the air, he needed himself to cover that.

"Grigoriev helped us by a lot." Adler exclaimed, lying him too, he was in his element to be honest. "She worked with me as we stopped Greenlight along with Park." He added, having a neutral face on me & Park.

"After that, she joined me to work inside the MI6." Park intervened at my side and I looked at her with an smile. On her face, I could see that it was hurting her again to lie about the long 3 years I wasn't really there.

"You didn't stay to work with us ?" Bulldozer scoffed, his voice muffled as he was now wearing his riot helmet on him. "Are there something you didn't like ?"

"Let's just say that the CIA wasn't so good with me in some ways." I joked, giving to Adler a look that could be described as an warning to him, knowing that at any moment, I can change my mind and finish the job with him.

"Oh, that's why Hudson were like pissed off when he saw you ?" Zeyna asked and I nodded again.

"Hudson isn't the type of person that will put his trust on people that aren't americans." Park said, looking at Adler too. "I can talk about this by a lot." She whispered likely to herself.

"Never like the guy anyways." Bulldozer snorted, everyone must be hating Hudson on something and all for a good reason. "Still forced to work with him however."

"We had to, Hudson authority can't be contested at all." Adler told him, having heard his statement.

"Even if he has to stay the dick I met 3 years ago ?" I questioned him.

"Yes." Everyone except me replied in unison to me.

"Anyway, I didn't asked but is anyone of you ever met Stitch before except for Adler ?" Zeyna wondered, looking at everyone before I slowly raised my hand.

"I did." I answered in a low voice, getting Adler attention on me.

"Wait, really ?" He was sounding very surprised by that even if he know of my status.

"Yeah." I breathed at him, looking sure of me. "I had a run-in with him in Ukraine back in my days in the KGB....a few days before I defected in January 1981." I added, mentioning the memory I had before I woke up in that base. "I broke his left arm."

"You....you broke Stitch left arm ?" Adler was again stunned by that, guess he isn't the only one who had history with Stitch. Everyone else was also like him, Park realizing that it was the memory I had in the car.

"Succeeded to corner him but I didn't have the chances to finish him before he was saved by one of Perseus." I continued, looking a little bit out of myself.

"So, Adler make him lose an eye and you broke his arm....kinda brutal !" Bulldozer admitted, having his look either on me or Adler. "You two have quite a grudge against that guy." We both nodded to him.

"If he's in the US, something big is gonna happen." Adler muttered. "Even if what we are going to do is without a plan, we need to take the risk." He affirmed his opinion on the mission before he looked outside the truck to see that we were near our destination. "Okay, get yourself ready, we arrived." We checked our guns for the last time before the truck stopped completely on the mall's parking.

I was the first one to have my feet back on the ground, soon followed by the others pretty quickly before Adler moved to adress the team that were going to support us from behind as Mason, Woods & Sims has their team taking the other side of the mall for them. Once Adler was finished, he gestured us to follow him at the entrance of the place who was blocked by numerous wooden planks.

"Bulldozer, use your hammer on that !" Adler ordered to him as Bulldozer took the hammer that was on his back.

"On it !" He complied as he moved to get to the entrance and then, he start to use his hammer to smash the planks covering the entrance. He wasn't going easy on his moves as the planks were falling one by one but the loud noises from him removed the element of surprise from us....guess there weren't any of it at all. "Finished." He said after the entrance was clear for us and to be surprised, we weren't greeted by bullets once it was done.

"Let's move inside, the support team will enter when I'll order it." Adler stepped inside the mall as we start to follow him. I rolled my eyes at it because we were literally going into the lion's den but can't back down as we were already there. "Support team, get your team ready on my signal !" He said to his radio and I could hear the chief of the other team agreeing to it from mine.

The first thing we started to do once we got in was to have our guns pointed in all the directions, wondering why nobody was there to attack us like that after we did a lot of noises. The first part of the mall was pretty silent and that wasn't normal if Stitch got his base planted here, he couldn't be silent like that, something in here was very off. In my head, I was thinking about what will Stitch will say when he will saw my face as I have nothing to cover it : the last time I saw him....I broke his left arm.....was it really the last time I saw him before Turkey ?

Park, on her side was trying to keep her cool as we were slowly advancing inside the mall, checking every corner, potentials cover and traps in case Stitch left any for us. Each step I was taking, each time I was thinking that we were going to walk straight into a hidden mine somewhere but nothing like that happened, it was more like walking straight into a damn trap and Adler know it well, we all know it well now. If we die, we all have someone to blame for that and of course, it would be Adler.

"Nothing here." Park whispered to me as we were advancing together, checking quickly a sports store as Zeyna & Bulldozer were covering from their side, a electronics store while Adler was taking the lead.

"We all going to get jumped on and we act like we don't know it." I exclaimed to her silently, keeping our voices down as Adler ordered to us. "If you lied to us, I will kill you myself, Adler." I affirmed to him, serious in my voice.

"I know that, Yirina." He said, focused on watching in front of him with his gun before we start to arrive in what was looking the center of the mall : a sort of fountain.....and in it, there were light blue barrels connected to each other with something marked in red on it until we all discovered what was those things. "Shit, he's started reproducing Nova-6." Adler lowered his gun for a second, looking at those barrels with his gun flashlight until.....

"Hands up !" We heard a man voice coming from behind a cover on top of some escalators with an assault rifle in his hand and then, it was more than just a guy as a lot of black-dressed soldiers come out of their cover in front of us and behind us....we walked right into a trap !....Thanks you, Adler !....We looked all around us, our guns still up and facing those guys.

"Is this all you got ?" Adler shouted to these guys, taunting them and worsening our own case until we heard the noise of a elevator going down just at a few steps from us.

"You had to ask !" Park told him, almost angry in her voice as she was behind me, I was aiming to those guys we first spotted with Zeyna as Park was with Bulldozer, aiming at where we came in. The elevator's door opened to reveal....Stitch himself in the same clothes in that memory with some modifications on them. He was holding a sort of shotgun in his left hand.

"Adler !" He started as Adler looked at him with deadly eyes. "You are very stupid to have fallen into my trap."

"It was the risk, I really wanted to make you lose your other eye." Adler replied, joking around with him as it wasn't the time for that, we are trapped !

"Is this what you think ?" Stitch almost laughed until he got his both hands on his gun, looking at these mens around us. "Kill the others, Adler.....is mine !" He was ready until I made a little eye contact with him just for one second and I could see on his face that he recognized me. "You....Yirina Grigoriev." He said my whole name and now....I was kinda mixed by having my name mentioned by him....I had....to play....'Bell'.

"Who is Yirina ?" I asked him, fainting to not knowing him at all, getting Zeyna incomprehesion in the process by saying that.

"On my signal, you run to hide." Adler started, whispering it to ourselves before we start to hear some gunshots inside the mall, meaning that the support team did came to our rescue a bit late. "Run !" Adler shouted as he throw two smokes grenade he was secretly holding in his hands around us and we immediately complied.

I think that I have never sprinted fast in my entire life as the bullets started to be heard in our area against us. Of course, we were all separated from that, away from Park, finding myself to run with Zeyna at my side to hide somewhere in the mall and we quickly find a cover in a store that was just a few meters from our original position before the fight started. Once we were both into that store, we moved away from the windows looking at the center of the mall to get behind in cover behind the counter of the store.

"Putain !" Zeyna cursed in french, realizing the situation we got ourselves too, checking the drum mag of her MP5. "Those bastards were awaiting for us."

"Of course, they were going to trap us." I exclaimed, trying to have a look above the counter before getting myself down back behind the counter, avoiding the bullets coming towards us. The mall really became a warzone now. "Adler knew the risk of it and now, look at where we are."

"Shit, where are the others ?" She asked before putting her hand on her radio. "Bulldozer, what's your status ? I'm with Grigoriev in a clothes store."

"I'm with Park in the electronics store just next to yours but Stitch's goons are going to overwhelm our position." He responded, firying at the same time with his gun.

"What about Adler ?" I questioned him.

"Don't know, he took another direction from us." He said before his radio got shut down like if someone attacked him and when that happened, we looked each other with Zeyna.

"Merde, we need to go join them before they got into bigger troubles." She exclaimed and for that, I couldn't agree more to it.

"I second that but...." I peaked my head a little to check at the store's state we were : filled with bullets holes and in bad shape. "We might need another exit for that."

"There !" She pointed to a side door that was maybe leading to a reserve. "We can join them by there." She added before she started to fire in the front entrance direction to kill a guy that tried to get to us.

"I'll go first, cover me !" I ordered before I start to run to get to that door.

I fired a few shots from my Krig 6 to help Zeyna before I opened the door and get myself inside the reserve of the store....to be greeted by an Perseus agent in front of me once I was inside. I tried to react quickly but he was more faster, putting his hand on my gun as I was trying to shoot him with it, getting myself into a struggle for my own gun. Unfortunately, he was more stronger than me and he managed to throw my gun away before he grabbed me by the collar and smashed me against the wall behind him.

My back was now hurting me a little from the impact and I could thanks my bulletproof vest to have protect me from the biggest part of the pain. I thought he was going to continue until he was suddenly grabbed by behind by Zeyna, having a big stick getting planted into his left feet, making him fall as Zeyna removed her stick to strike him right into the head, killing the guy and saving me from him.

"Wrong time, wrong place." She taunted to the dead man, getting her stick on her back before she moved to get to my gun. "Must be to you, je pense !" She took the gun and throw it at me gently.

"Merci." I said in french as I grabbed the gun in my hands, changing the empty mag of it before I could her, looking at me curiously.

"Didn't know you could speak french, Grigoriev." She told me, taking her MP5 in hand.

"Got myself some good skills, I can say." I didn't want to brag about myself, considering the situation we're in. "Let's go join Park & Bulldozer." I affirmed, getting ready again.

"They must be behind that door, Jones said that they were just next to us." She took the lead as we moved to get to the other door of the reserve that was certainly leading to the store they were.

When we arrived near the door, we could hear some gunshots in it and we couldn't stay here so we forced open the door, our guns ready to shoot in case. Park was fighting hand-to-hand with two Stitch's guys, getting one of them under her right arm who she broke his neck like that before she pull out a gun from her holstler, to kill the other guy with it. She was an damn expert in it and I saw it happen ! But then, a third guy that was already on the ground tried to shoot her and I was the one to react quickly, killing him in a second and making Park aware of our presence.

"Thank god, you're here." She exclaimed at us, relieved before we could see Bulldozer fighting with another goon before he took his hammer in hand, hitting the guy with the back of it right behind his head....before literally striking the guy in the jaw with the hammer, making some teeth and blood to fly away.

"Everything looks like a nail !" He said to the dead guy before he got quickly back to cover as bullets came into our direction, taking his M16 in the process. We mimicked him too, getting behind the counter with Park.

"You're alright ?" I asked her, worried as I could see a little bit of blood on her face.

"I'm okay, Yirina." She replied, getting her hand through her face to clean it from the blood she had. "Just the blood of these douchebags." She added, taking the gun she had in hands.

"Have you seen Adler ?" Zeyna asked.

"I saw him running right into the arcade but then, no more radio signals from him." She responded before she got out of cover to get next to Bulldozer who were covered just next to the store entrance.

"Our guys are slowly advancing to get here." Bulldozer explained, looking outside the store to see that the support team were near the center of the mall. "Perseus's boys are either shooting at us or them."

"And to say that Adler is alone in the arcade...."  I whispered, finding out that the arcade was just at a few meters from us....having just to face bullets from Perseus soldiers. "I think I should go trying to save Adler's ass before something wrong happened to him." I suggested....was it a bad idea ?.....

"Maybe, we can cover you with our guns as you try to enter that area." Zeyna wasn't sure of it before she looked outside, in the arcade direction. "You could do it. Bulldozer, Park, be ready !" She ordered as she prepare herself to get ready to cover me.

"Be careful, Yiri." Park said silently at me, knowing the risk I'm taking now as she got herself next to Zeyna.

"I will." I replied discreetly too before I took a deep breath and squeezed my eyes, trying to think straight....finally ready.

"Go !" Zeyna got out of cover to fire, starting my run to get to the arcade.

The three opened fire at the same time as I was out of the store I was hiding with them. I started to run as fast as I can to get to the arcade, exchanging some bullets with the few guys that I was in my way until I arrived near the entrance, getting my gun reloaded, not wanting to make any mistakes in case it wasn't going to be Adler to greet me inside. I breathed and then I moved inside.

"You will soon experiment the hell on earth, Adler !" I could hear Stitch talk to Adler himself and when I fully arrived in the room, Adler was holded by two Perseus soldiers, each one by his arm as Stitch was facing him, looking sure of himself.

"Fuck you, Stitch." Adler said before he was knocked out by the guys behind him and I moved to react quickly to save Adler.

"Stitch !" I yelled at him to get his attention off Adler, ready to shot him dead....until I got myself grabbed by someone who was hidden, getting above the counter of the arcade with the same person.

"Let's get out of here, we're done here." I was able to hear Stitch starting to walk away as I was on the ground behind the counter as the person who attacked get on me, trying to control me and then, they got their knife out ready to stab me and I quickly reacted by putting my hand on their arms. I looked the masked person in the eyes and then.....Freya ?.....It was her, behind that mask.

"Yirina ?" She just realized that it was me she was going to kill....More than 1 week after the events of the Tempelhof Airport, I saw her again and inside of me, I couldn't believe myself....After all what happened, she was there with Stitch but again....I don't know but I was still forced to play 'Bell'....something that it's breaking me in the inside but I can't do something against it. She slowly removed her knife from me, allowing me to push here back with my feets before I managed to take my M1911 in hands.

"Stop calling me like that." I ordered her, aiming her but not bringing myself to shoot as she removed the hood she had on her head.

"Please, Yiri, come back with me." She pleaded, offering her hands towards me, still scared about been targeted by me.

"I don't know you for fuck sake." I exclaimed at her, angry and inside of me, starting to get more broken even if I wasn't shooting her like 'Bell' would have done. Then, she moved her hands slowly towards on her pocket "What's this ?" I asked before I could see....a ring....in her right hand.

"This...this was your mother ring, Yirina." She replied, making me look at the ring, keeping my gun in hand. "You proposed to me in September 1980 before you took back the ring in January 1981....I was able to take it back." She added....making me realize that this was the same ring I took from her in that memory....my mother ring....how ?

"How...." I was in a loss of words, thinking as 'Bell'....acting as Yirina. "I....I don't believe you." I started to breath more loudly, thinking that I was going to pass out from all of this and I was keeping my control up. "You're lying." I said in a low voice, nearly cracking.

"Please, we can go home." She slowly tried to move towards me.

"Stay back....don't....don't move, I'm not Yirina." I told her, having my gun still on her, still acting as 'Bell'

"Freya !" Someone entered the arcade as I could hear from behind the counter that I couldn't see because I was leaned against it, sit. "Freya, we need to get the hell out of here." That voice....it was that Sonya.

"Go...." I whispered to Freya, not wanting to harm even if I know more about her and what she has done to me, I couldn't do hurt her....I still feel that sister link inside of me.

"Yirina...." She breathed, still offering her hand.

"Go !" I repeated myself silently to her as she realized that she couldn't bring me back 'home' with her and that she was thinking that I wasn't 'Yirina Grigoriev' but 'Bell'. She slowly put the ring back in her pocket, holding back her own tears as I could see on her face.

"I will bring you home, Yiri. That's a promise !" She told me before she got up, putting back her hood on and then, she left without telling Sonya or anyone else that I was here, maybe going to say that she killed me to them.

When she was out of my sight, I was holding back my tears like her. I was close to crack down and to tell her everything about me when she showed my ring....the ring of my own mother that I can't even remember because I don't have any memories of my childhood. After a few seconds after Freya's departure on the ground, getting back in control, I moved to get up to see the arcade, realizing that Adler wasn't there anymore.....taken away by Stitch. I moved to get next to the outside entrance of the arcade, discovering an helicopter where Stitch and his men were bringing Adler inside of it before taking off.....I couldn't do a thing as they were too many for me to handle at all and it would have been too risky for me.

I was slowly shocked as I was getting back to the entrance I first take to enter the arcade before been greeted by Park herself who has came to see if everything was okay for me. Apparently, the fight inside the mall was finished a

"Oh my god, Yirina, you're okay ?" She first said, getting her hands on my arms and to be frankly, I couldn't nod after what happened, I wasn't okay at all so I shook my head, closing my eyes, trying to not cry and breaking down.....but I couldn't resist anymore and I fall in her arms, crying at my best....

"They took Adler away.....and Freya was there."