'Promises & a white tiger' : New chapter for "Always for the greater cause..." is out !
Chapter Summary: Promises are spoken about between some people as Bell & the team is leaving East-Berlin to see what's on the other side of the Iron Curtain...right into the US.
To read it on AO3, click here!
Taglist: @snowgoldwaylon , @clxudtea , @efingart
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24th February 1981
Bellamy Petrov, Perseus
Hotel room in the Palasthotel, East-Berlin
The awakening was a bit hard for me to endure when I opened my eyes and getting greeted by the blinding light of the sun, my brain still trying to process and remember what I did last night with Portnova and the first thing I could see was seeing myself drinking with her when we arrived here in that hotel room before making love on the bed. Nonetheless, I gasped from that, as I was almost looking shit as if Knight punched me in the face for real but it was just me, still feeling the drunkenness in my body...dammit...
I was only wearing a pair of boxers under the sheets, nothing covering my chest & my legs as my clothes were all gathered around on a pile near the side of my bed. Portnova, at her side, was sleeping well, looking away from me and I let her be, knowing that she was better like this & not wanting to disturb her...and get stabbed by surprise as she was the type of person that could do that. Better to leave her waking up on her own. With that in mind, I decided to take my clothes and dress up.
"You're already leaving?" I stopped myself while I was putting on my jeans as I heard Portnova's muffled voice behind me.
"Oh, no, not at all, love," I reassured her, resuming to put on the jeans, making some little noises with them.
"So, why are you dressing up?" She asked me, hearing her move from her side and when I slowly turned my head around after getting my jeans, she was sitting on the bed, using the sheets to cover her top, having crossed her legs and her eyes were narrowing at me. "Always been like you, right, Bellamy?" She added, slightly slide her head on the left.
"Come on, don't start," I mumbled, taking in my hands my black shirt.
"Always saying beautiful & flirty things, making love and then disappear in the morning, only leaving a little note for me," She said, refuting my suggestion to not speak about it, having launched a hot topic between us.
"Portnova, I'm not like that, you know that," I tried to protest, moving my head away from her to focus on getting my shirt on me.
"Oh, really? That wasn't something you did last time & many countless times?" She demanded, sending rightful shame in me, having in fact done this but regretting it fully.
"Hey, I'm sorry, okay?" I sniffed away, my eyes looking at the outside of the hotel room, the day raising, the city all alive. "I was stupid at that time...just that," I continued, putting on my shirt, and once done, I looked at the ground, my hands on my lap. "I'm sorry, okay?"
"No, I'm the one to be sorry here," She breathed, hearing her move a little on the bed, feeling her presence near me. "It's just that...I'm sometimes afraid about you," She admitted as her hands were getting on the top of my shoulders, her thumbs staying on the back of them.
"I know, it's our work that keeps us apart but I don't want you to be with me in the Collective because I don't want to harm you..." I started as she was rubbing my shoulder, going slowly, surely as a form of apology at me even if I needed to apologize too. "...and you know well that I will never leave my father's organization,"
"Never?" Portnova whispered.
"Never," I replied, my voice been all honest about it. "We're both tasked to defend their interests: me with my father, you with your loyalty to the Motherland," I snorted, tapping with my fingers on my lap as a means to destress a bit. "We can be together but it will take time until we can live each day like a normal day, our work is going to be successful," I affirmed, impossible for me to not be with her.
"To say that I've got the luck to be with the man that is almost the prodigy and maybe future leader of your father's Collective," She confessed to me, giving me a big smile on my face, happy because it was sure that my father was going to let me take control soon. "And you, were you lucky to meet one of the best KGB agents?" She demanded, putting her left hand below my chin and directing my head to look at her.
"Of course I am," I muttered, landing a kiss on her lips as her arms were moving around me as a sign of making me stay but it was something I wanted to, knowing that work was going to be something that I will do later in the day. "Tell me, did we drink a lot last night?" I asked her, curious.
"Yeah but we almost got the whole bottle finished...and making love fully drunken isn't so exciting if we don't remember everything," She responded with a laugh at me that I followed too, seeing myself as the one who was going to drink the whole bottle by myself. "You were looking like someone who didn't drink vodka for a long time," She stated, smirking.
"With work, we ain't got the time to do what we want," I stated as she finally let me look away from her as she decided to get sit next to me, holding my right hand in her left one. "Stitch always saying that we couldn't let the 'fun' get in our way, him seeing only his hatred for Adler...and of course, the thing we're doing,"
"With that Bell, right?" I nodded at her question.
"It doesn't please me to play the 'best friends with her but what Stitch & Wraith did to her, it's really fucked up," I exclaimed, giving my thoughts to her on that situation, a little knot in the chest just by thinking of the last part I talked. "I'm like...shocked and thinking that there were no choices about it,"
"Doing that isn't human but..." Portnova wanted to continue in her words, looking by her but she stopped herself, closing her mouth and not saying anything as if she couldn't give an opinion on it. "No, I can't really give my opinion on it, I'm not well placed for that," She told me clearly as I thought.
"We're still trying to find out who is she and guess who got the job to do it? Me," I sighed, something that I didn't want to and it has to be Wraith doing it at me.
"Oh, at least, you're not..." The sound of a little device inside my jeans left pocket interrupted her sentence as I rolled my eyes in annoyance, moving my left hand to take out the little pager that each member of the team was given to communicate instead of using the phone.
"For fuck sake..." I cursed, seeing the message that was sent to me on the pager, the long sentence crossing. "Stitch is asking me to come to the airport in one hour, we're leaving," I resumed even if Portnova's eyes were looking at it too. "I'm sorry, love but it's important, I need to go," The pain of not enjoying a simple morning with her was coming in my voice and body as I got up from the bed.
"As always but...no, it ain't your fault, Bellamy," She said, acknowledged that it wasn't really my fault if Stitch can't fucking decide himself on when I was needed, having said to me last night that he wasn't going to disturb me when I talked about seeing Portnova again. "It's okay, Bellamy, you can call me at any time, you know that I'm free," She reassured me, taking my hands before I leaned towards her for a little kiss.
"Up to next time then...bye Yiri," I snorted, a bit sad in me as I started to walk away from the bed, leaving Portnova alone.
"Good luck & stay safe, Bellamy," She waved at me when I opened the door of the hotel room, returning the favor before stepping out in a big hallway, and then closing the door of the room, not having tears or pain at all, just angry about things and Stitch...
To say, that asshole is good in keeping people away...
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24th February 1981
Yirina 'Bell' Grigoriev, Ex-KGB, Perseus
On a cargo plane above the United States airspace
We didn't take too long after I woke up with a start before Stitch decided to make us go into the US earlier than thought and after getting my stuff ready with the others and also Bellamy who came a bit late, we took the direction of the same secret runway that I & Stitch came in where a big military cargo plane labeled as a fake American plane was waiting for us before installing ourselves in it in the cargo hold, and then, taking off for a long flight to the USA, also having taken with us, Smirnov, still in interrogation.
As the flight was going to be very long, half a day and knowing that I didn't want to arrive in Denver, our destination in the US, completely exhausted and having stayed awake for 12 hours, I decided that it was better for me to take asleep, leaving the others in their talks & thoughts as I laid myself down on the bench on the left side of the plane, the others keeping a safe distance within each other, and then, I closed my eyes, trying to sleep with the engines of the plane making the biggest noises.
However, I was scared to actually sleep after what happened last night when I passed out, and as I thought, my worst fears came back but this time, it was more different than before...everything looking so strange...so real, like in that weird dream. The usual pictures were coming but there were briefer and faster in my head before I was then ejected in another dream as I did...and it was strange...so strange...
I was in a sort of a queue behind some people as...the woman who was with me in that last dream was here too, holding my right hand but still impossible to see her face and anything that could really help to know who she was as my surroundings were also not helpful as if someone was forcing me to not make me look at everything around me but there was a little detail that was not hidden from me...
It was...the picture of a white tiger on the wall in front of me, behind a sort of reception desk and that was the only thing I could see: a white tiger, his front paws in the airs...but it was so quick for me that in a second, my eyes were forcibly closed by something that couldn't be me and I struggled, giving every fiber of my bones to get them open...until I heard a noise, feeling myself move and finding myself back into that bench in the cargo bay of the plane, enlightened by red lights.
"Always been a big drunk, right, Bellamy?" That was Knight's voice that I could hear when I opened my eyes, seeing him in front of me at the other side of the plane along with Bellamy & Stitch as Wraith was on my side.
"Hey, big guy, my private life isn't concerning you," Bellamy called him out and to say, I think that Stitch got a good idea by putting himself between Bellamy & Knight even if his face was regretting it. "If I want to see my girlfriend, I'll go,"
"Pfft, we all know that it's just for having an insider in the KGB," Knight spoke up, crossing his arms and looking away from him...to me. "Hey, seems that Bell is waking up," He told everyone as I was getting myself redressed on the bench, everyone's eyes on me.
"Slept well, Bell?" Wraith asked me in a curious voice.
"Yeah, just a bit strange, seeing things but I'm good," I replied, my right hand holding my head and scratching my forehead, looking at her before the others. "What's the deal?" I demanded, speaking to Knight directly, sort of stepping in their conversation.
"Bellamy mentioned his 'girlfriend' to us minutes ago," Knight responded, even gesturing with his fingers to me, seeing Bellamy roll his eyes around.
"I love her, Knight, knock yourself out if you can't find anyone else," Bellamy scoffed and surprisingly, Knight only responded by a laugh to him, Bellamy didn't react at this, not even clenching his fists in anger or annoyance. "She's not our insider, she's my lover, understood?" He clarified, his eyes crossing towards everyone in the cargo bay.
"Bell," Stitch's voice spoke up, surprising me as he was staying silent. "You said that you saw things, what things?" He asked me, referring to my words a few seconds ago, having get his attention on that.
"I don't think that it's really interesting," I thought clearly as this moment was not very important to talk about.
"Tell us, it can be good to know," Stitch insisted, even leaning towards me on his seat, a hand on his left knee, the other around his waist.
"Yeah, what did you see?" Wraith joined in as Knight & Bellamy...everyone in the team was having their eyes on me, everyone looking interesting to know what I saw.
"You're all very insistent, aren't you?" I questioned them all and everyone nodded at me without any shame, making me take a deep breath, already feeling the shame of what I will say. "It was weird but I was in a sort of reception room...and the only thing I could see perfectly...was a white tiger," I said, putting my eyes on the ground once I was done.
"A white tiger?" Bellamy repeated, sounding a bit confused. "You were in a zoo or something?" He joked...the only one to do this.
"Why did you see a white tiger, Bell?" Knight demanded, also leaning towards me. "Just by curiosity, not to pressure you," He added, meaning it by the tone of his voice.
"I don't know, to be honest, it's just all weird," I responded, my hands a bit trembling under my gloves and I clenched them, trying to hide that from the others. "As I told you, it wasn't this interesting at all," I exclaimed, seeing on everyone's face that the thing I see wasn't that big.
"As you thought, I'm joining you, it shouldn't be too important for you," Stitch claimed, a smile on his face to reassure me that I shouldn't worry about it before exchanging a glare with Wraith, "What do you think, Wraith?"
"Oh, I'm like you," Wraith affirmed, having crossed her legs on the bench before looking at me, also with a little smile...and another hidden wink, making me blush. "I hope that the American air will maybe change your thoughts," She supposed in a joking tone.
"We'll see about that, last time I was here wasn't so nice for me...and our beloved Irish," Bellamy stated, breaking a laugh towards Knight, hands on the bench.
"Again? Let me say this to you: it was YOUR fault if that British agent got away if you weren't joking around with her during the beating you were trying to give her," Knight rolled her eyes while sniffing away, pointing with his finger Bellamy, avoiding to do this to Stitch.
"A British agent?" I stepped inside their arguments, "What's her name?"
"You don't need to know about this, Bell," Wraith joined in too, having taken out a knife that she was inspecting closely. "And besides, the two also forgot her name, so don't hope on the two," She added, shrugging at the two.
"Everyone." A loud voice interrupted our discussion, coming from the cargo hold speakers. "We'll be landing in Denver in a few minutes," It was surely the pilot announcing this to us before the speakers went off.
"Naga & Jackal are already waiting for us at the temporary safe house in Colorado Springs, they were sent in before as the two were assigned with Aldrich," Stitch spoke up in the cargo hold, resuming the conversation and his look was mostly focused on me. "We don't know how much time we'll be staying in the US but we'll have to stay focused and not attracting any big attention on us," He added, gesturing at everyone & me who nodded.
"Don't worry, Stitch, we ain't amateurs," Bellamy claimed, crossing his arms before looking in the direction of the big bay door as the plane was slowly descending in the skies, meaning that we were going to land soon at Denver...
"Let's see again how is the American Dream from up close,"
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