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senfena · 2 years

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Cold War: Remedy, Chapter 4

A/N: I'm really glad that I managed to get the word count to just shy of 3,000 on this chapter! This is probably my favorite one so far! (Side note: I finally learned how to use italics on the tumblr app. 4 chapters in :p)

March 20, 1981

Your eyes flickered open, shut, open again. Your vision came to focus, staring at the ceiling. No nightmare this time, thankfully. You had the same one almost every night for the last 4 days. Always the same vicious stares, always the same painful ending. Every single time you woke up screaming, and every single time it brought Park worriedly running, and Woods along with her on one night. You were fucking tired of it. You still hadn't told her what the nightmare was, and now you weren't sure if it was better or worse to keep hiding it from her.

You slid your legs off of the bed. It was time to start moving again, you were done with laying in bed all day. Per Parks orders, you'd only gotten out of it to walk to the restroom and back. It was nice that she kept bringing you meals, and stuff to read so you didn't die of boredom, but you needed to regain some sense of agency. That injury had to have mostly healed by now. You slid the blanket off of your lap and stood up, and while you felt a little slowed in your movement, it didn't hurt anymore.

You started ambling towards the bedroom door, holding your abdomen. As you opened the door, you saw none other than Park, in a posture like she was just about to open the door on the other side. "Ah, Bell!" She smiled. "I was just coming to check on you." You shifted your weight, still holding the door handle. "I figured it's been long enough. I can't stay in here forever." She nodded "I think so too. It's a good time for all of us to discuss what happens now. We didn't want to have the conversation without you." Oh. Right. What happens now. With your luck as of late, life imprisonment in a secret facility was the best scenario you could come up with on the spot. "Sure, lead the way." You tried to keep your face and voice neutral, but from the empathetic look Park gave you, she could tell you were dreading this.

You followed her into the main room. Woods, Sims, Hudson, and Adler were already there, but the room was nearly unrecognizable. Every document and artifact taped to the evidence board had been taken down, as was Park's radio equipment, all of the clothes and weapons on the shelves next to the caged wall, and there were boxes scattered everywhere. You did at least see Adler's radio on the central table. It made you happy to see it, for some reason. Sims was carrying a box across the room when he saw you and Park enter. "Shiiiit, look what the cat dragged in." He cracked a smile, you smiled back and gave a little wave at him. Woods moseyed over to you and gave you a gentle hug. "Glad you're alright, Bell." He grinned. You embraced him back tightly, staying there for what must've been half a minute before letting go.

Park announced to everyone "Alright, now that Bell's here, we should talk about what comes next." Everybody gathered around the central table. As you all converged, you made eye contact with Adler. You felt refilled with raw anger, begging to be let out. You could've gone over and actually smashed his face in now that you didn't have a fresh wound, but, no, he wasn't worth the energy. Plus, as much as you hated to admit it, a mutual agreement to not beat the shit out of each other was needed here in order to get anything done. That didn't stop you from standing as far away as you could from him on the opposite side of the table, though.

Wait, someone was missing. You counted heads: Park, Woods, Adler, Sims, Hudson…"Where's Mason?" You asked, looking at everyone else. Hudson spoke up "He went back to Alaska a couple days ago. He's got a family to look out for, after all." You'd almost forgotten that. He'd mentioned his wife and son a couple times, but all you'd really learned was that his son's name was David. "Oh...shit, right." You mumbled out. You never got to say goodbye to him. Woods pushed your arm with his elbow. "He said he'll miss you, and he wishes you best of luck." He interjected. You smiled to yourself. "If you see him again, tell him I said thanks, and I'll miss him too." Woods gave a quick nod.

"Well, Bell, I think we should start this off with what you want." Park encouraged you. What you wanted? What did you want? You'd had 4 days to think about it but you never bothered, you figured you just weren't going to get a choice in the matter. Everyone was looking at you expectantly. "Well...I guess I just wanna try to live...normally. Have a house and a job, just...normal person stuff." You looked down at the table as you tried to figure out your words. "Mostly...I just wanna put all this behind me."

Hudson grimaced. "I don't know, Bell. My superiors still aren't keen on letting a foreign operative-" You tilted your head and cocked your eyebrow in annoyance. "-I'm sorry, but that is what you are-" "Not anymore, I'm not!" You interrupted. "He saw to that!" You pointed at Adler. "Technically, Bell," Adler declared "It wasn't just me. Park, Sims, and Lazar all did too." You retorted "And what a shame it is that Park and Sims also tried to kill me after exploiting me, erasing my identity, and putting me through hell." You paused for effect, sarcasm practically dripping from your mouth. "Oh, wait." You shot flatly.

"Be that as it may," Hudson tried to reign things back in "the higher ups don't even like that you're here at the safehouse. They're the ones wanting to decide what to do with you. They recommended me to have you put in a holding cell somewhere safe unti-" "Fuck you, holding cell!" You chided. "And I told them I wasn't going to do that." Hudson continued through your disruption. "Against my better judgment, I don't think that that's the right call. But neither is letting a former Perseus agent have free reign over what happens to her life now." "Whoever that girl was that you pulled off the tarmac, that's not me! And if I wanted to do something to you, I could've easily done it by now!

"The CIA is not going to take the risk of you, a foreign brainwashing victim, being let loose on your own! That is just not happening, Bell." Hudson commanded. "Is that all I am? A risk?" You scoffed. "To them, yes. What we did to you was incredibly dangerous and illegal, and they will choose their reputation over your life in a heartbeat." "'Oh, boo hoo, I erased someone's identity and now I'm having to suffer the consequences!' You derided his attempts to reason with you. "All I am is a girl, and I just want to get on with my life! What the hell can't you understand about that?" "It doesn't matter what you are now or say you are now, Bell! All they see is someone who can cause a massive amount of damage to them."

You paused for a moment. "You're right. I am someone who can do alot of damage to them. I can blackmail the CIA into oblivion." Hudson's face went stiff. "I appreciate your guts, kid." Adler spoke up, raising his cigarette in respect. "But I think that's more likely to get you killed even quicker than anything else." You couldn't look him in the eye, you just looked down and shook your head. "The fuck do you care?" You growled at him. "Besides, I'd love to see them try it. Again."

"For a moment," Hudson spoke again "let's focus on the actual issue here. You have no records, history, or tangible assets, Bell. Where would you even go? Live? Work? The world doesn't know that you exist." Shit. That was actually a good point. "Well-" You tried to think of a decent answer but your mind was coming up blank. "Work, brain, damn it!" You thought to yourself. It felt like you were about to fry your entire mind trying to come up with any answer, but thankfully, "She can come with me." Park chimed in. You turned your head in a daze to look at her. "I'm going back to London in a few days, I can get her set up with a job there, and she can take the spare room in my flat. That way she's technically not alone." "Well there's that covered," Hudson acquiesced "but what about documentation?" "We can forge them." She offered. "Just to last for a few years, until you've had some more time to think about your future." She addressed you directly now, looking into your eyes cheerfully.

This felt almost too good to be true. Now she was offering you a place to live, with her? You felt tears welling up again, you had to force them to keep from coming out. "Of course, if that's alright with you, Bell?" She inquired. "Yeah, it's perfect." You said in joyful shock, voice trembling. Hudson gave an audible exhale. "Alright, I'll get Washington on the line, try to coax them into it." He walked off to an empty corner and pulled out his cellular phone. "Park, I...I don't even know how to say thank you." The tears were coming, slowly but surely. "You don't need to." She reassured you. "You've earned the right to a normal life." She patted your shoulder a couple times, then left to start gathering up more boxes, Sims tagging along with her. You sniffled and wiped your eyes, forcing the tears to stay in.

"London, huh?" Woods asked you, leaning on the table. "Yeah...it feels right, at least for the moment." You confided. "Well, Park is right: you've earned a normal life." He beamed at you. You chuffed with a grin. "Thanks, Woods." He gave you a two-finger salute as he went to find more stuff to put up, leaving you with…

"You sure that's what you want, Bell?" Adler questioned you. "A normal life?" You snarled back "If it gets me away from you, then absolutely." "You're not normal, Bell." He pressed. "You never have been, you never will be. You're special." "Oh, here comes an avalanche of bullshit." You rebuked as you pushed off the table and got in his personal space. "You threaten me, then you commend me. You try to kill me, then I'm God's gift to the Earth. Make up your fucking mind about me, Russell." He gave you no response. You both just stood there, studying each others' faces. You backed away, still feeling like this was unresolved. You felt the question gnawing at the back of your throat, but you couldn't ask him. You didn't want to give him a single inch. Instead, you just went to Park to see if there was anything she needed help with. You could hear him taking a drag behind you as you walked away.

___________

The truck slowed to a halt. "You sure you're not forgetting something, Bell?" Adler asked you. Shit. Looks like you were back here again. You stepped out of the truck, rifle in hand. You weren't sure if you could stop this, but you were certainly going to try. You all regrouped near the gate. "There's nothing here." Mason spoke, bewildered. "This can't be the right place." "We didn't see anything on our side either." Adler wondered. Suddenly, Woods quickly strided towards you. "It's her!" He berated you, taking an aggressive posture "She fucking lied to us!" Even after having gone through this 4 times before, every embittered look, every irate phrase pointed at you, still hurt like a thousand needles poking into your heart. "That true, Bell? You pull us out to the middle of nowhere Russia so Perseus can detonate those nukes?" Adler demanded. "Not this time." You thought to yourself. You were not going to let this end the same way. But before you could think of something to say or do to try to break this, "you" responded; "Sorry, Adler. I have a job to do." Wait, that wasn't your line. What was happening?

You clenched your fist and heard yelling behind you, and as you turned around you saw someone climb onto a rock, holding an RPG. "No, WAIT-" You tried to scream out, but too late, they had already pulled the trigger, sending the rocket barreling right at you. It flew past, and hit the ground a few meters from you, sending you flying the opposite direction, knocking you unconscious.

When you came to, you were surrounded by gunfire. It couldn't have been more than a few seconds. Your ear peice was still on, you could hear the rest of the team yelling. "I'm hit! Taking fire!" Adler bellowed. "Get inside, Adler! We'll cover you!" Park called out in response. A tall figure in a heavy coat wearing a gas mask approached you, offering you a hand up. "On your feet, comrade!" He exclaimed. As he lifted you up, he handed you a rifle. "Ready for a little retribution?" He asked as you cocked your rifle and aimed it towards...your friends. No no no, this wasn't right, this was the exact opposite of what was supposed to happen this time. You charged towards a wall to the right, taking cover behind it. "Bell, you're making a mistake!" Park berated you over the comms. You tried desperately to move of your own will, to try to break free from this, gain any sense of self control, but all you could do was watch this unfold through your eyes, your body being controlled by some greater force.

You stood up from your cover and aimed down the sights at your first target: Mason. "No! PLEASE, NO!!" You wailed out to yourself, with no effect. You pulled the trigger and watched as the bullet whizzed past the battlefield, finding it's place in Mason's skull, sending him tumbling backwards onto the ground, dropping his weapon as he fell. You began to weep as tears streamed down your face. "No...God, no, stop this…" You whimpered to yourself, as you mantled over the wall, dashing across the street to take cover behind the wall on the opposite side.

"NO! MASON! You could hear Woods cry out as you ran. You'd given up trying to resist this, you were completely broken. "YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD, BELL!" Woods threatened you, with the most furious voice you'd ever heard him in. "I don't think so." "You" muttered to yourself, popping out of cover to line up your next target. "Oh God, NO NO, PLEASE!…" You bawled as your finger pulled the trigger once more, catching sight of the bullet flying away from you, lodging itself in Woods throat, causing him to clutch his throat with both hands as he plummeted to the ground. Your shriek that followed blocked out every other sound until you ran out of breath and couldn't scream anymore.

"WOODS!" Park shouted out, audibly worried. "Keep fighting!" Adler called back to her. Most of the CIA's supporting forces were dead. You vaulted the wall and made a beeline towards where you saw her last. You were hoping that she'd peek out of cover and kill you, at least this would be over. But she never did. "You don't need to do this, Bell!" She tried to appeal to you one more time. You kept running full speed ahead. As you reached the place she was taking cover, she stood and tried to aim at you. "No, PARK!" You yelped. However, you pushed her gun off to the side with your left hand and ducked down, striking her in the side of the abdomen. As she kneeled, you took out your shoulder knife with your left hand, forcing it through the bottom of her chin, into her skull. "NOOOO!" You wailed in agony, keeping her in that position for a few moments before sliding your knife out, dropping her to the ground.

"I'm sorry...I'm so, so sorry…" you mewled over Park's body, voice hoarse from screaming. "Over here, comrade!" The tall figure in the coat called you over to the entrance of the main building. You had no choice but to hurry over to him. He signaled for you to follow him. "Your friend went through here. He is not far." He imparted as you both prowled through the halls. "No...please...stop this…" You mumbled, dejected. It was no use. You found a blood trail leading down a hallway, with an ajar door at the end. "The cat becomes the mouse." The masked figure taunted as you reached the end of the hallway. You pushed the door open with one hand, hoping Adler somehow wasn't here. No such luck. He lay collapsed against a metal case, holding an unlit cigarette. "Please...I don't want this, I don't want this, I don't want this…" You echoed to yourself. "Glad to see you still care." He mocked, raising his cigarette. "Mind giving me a light?" You scoffed. "Not a chance." He lowered his cigarette and shrugged his shoulders. "I want you to know…" You sneered at him as you raised your gun. "No… please, don't!" You attempted to call out to yourself one last time. "...this was always personal." You wept to yourself as you squeezed the trigger, pulling it back until…

Bang.

__________

You woke up screaming, jolting up with tears in your eyes. "NO! No…." You stopped yourself, putting a hand on your chest and slowing your breath. That was so much worse than the other nights, where the hell did it come from? You started to wipe the tears from your eyes when you heard rapid footsteps approaching from the hall outside. "Oh, fuck." You thought to yourself. "Here we go again."

#call of duty #russell adler #black ops cold war #frank woods #alex mason #helen park #jason hudson #lawrence sims #lazar azoulay #bo:cw #bocw #cold war #cod

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