Frank Woods x Reader

Four

"Let's get started.", Adler called everyone to gather on front of a large white board, covered in pictures and other valuable information. "There's been a surge in Russian chatter in the last 48 hours. The CIA and the DoD are tapping their inside sources for anything substantial, but so far there's no leads on Perseus."

With a smirk, you leaned against a wall and watched with Mason from afar. Your eyes were glued to Bell's back, so that he wasn't able to see you, but your attention was still halfway occupied by Mason.

"Sounds like a nice ol' dig in the mud.", you joked.

Alex shrugged.

"It's our job to do the dirty work.", he said in a low voice.

You smirked.

"It's your job to do the dirty work. I do the brain damage."

"Manipulation."

"Basically the same."

"MI6 has come up empty handed as well.", Park said in a surprisingly strong voice, fitting for a leader.

"We'll have to start somewhere.", Adler walked up to the board to point at some pictures. "We're going back here... Vietnam, 1968."

With a soft groan, you let your head fall back and rolled your eyes.

"He just can't bury that corpse, can he?", you glanced at Mason.

A slim smirk appeared on his lips.

"His Vietnam is your Frank."

You frowned.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"You know. He's still stuck with you."

You sighed. Annoyed, you pulled your eyebrows together and looked back.

"Don't mention it. He's halfway buried in the back of my head. No need to dig him up again."

"Sure. Whatever you say.", he sighed.

At the front, Adler had turned to Lazar.

"Pull up everything we've got on the attack in Da Nang and run it past Park. She'll cross reference it with MI6."

Park opened a notebook.

"We're looking for codenames, encrypted transmissions. Russian activity with the NVA - anything that could be a lead.", she threw a glance over to you and Mason. "And you take care of the paperwork."

"Got it.", you nodded.

Your job wasn't paperwork. It was to have an eye on Bell. But doing the paperwork was a good gimmick to run around and ask many questions. It wouldn't be suspicious if you'd ask Bell for specific infos. After all, the CIA loved to collect everything on paper.

"Have fun with the new one.", Mason said and turned away to get his own shit done.

With a deep sigh, you shook your head and took a moment before walking over to the guy.

You grabbed a sheet of official documents and a pen, but stopped before getting Bell's attention.

Adler gestured for you to give him a minute.

"What's up?", you asked and let your hands rest on his desk to deepen the conversation.

It was a habit of yours to use psychological gestures to make others talk. Leaning in and looking comfortable gave the person you were talking to the assumption that this was a confident talk. Or that you were trustworthy.

Either way, it made people talk a lot more and a lot longer.

But Adler was a CIA man. He knew a lot of tricks.

"Don't pull that on me.", he said in a warning voice. "I'm not your target."

You smirked.

"Don't be mad at me, Russy. Just a habit."

Behind his tainted glasses, a disgusted expression appeared.

"Don't call me that again. Ever."

You shrugged, amused by how easy it was to mess with his usually cold, professional behaviour.

"Sure, Rusty. So, cut to the chase, I don't have forever.", you gestured towards Bell without making it obvious.

"I know. That's why I hired you. You read the documents I gave you?"

"Hell no, I'm not wasting my time with reading."

"Are you fucking with me?"

"Ugh, I beg you Russell. Of course I did. It's part of the job to know shit."

His lips moved, a clear sign of how little he liked your attitude.

And you weren't all too happy either. Russell was a good leader and one of the best men you've ever worked with. But personality wise, he wasn't your preferred kind of person.

"Good.", he took a deep breath and lit a cigarette. "You know what categories in the report are still classified, don't you?"

"Sure."

"They aren't classified, they are lacking. We don't know anything about them either. Find out what you can. And a few bonuses would be nice too."

You raised an eyebrow.

"Bonuses?", you asked with a smirk. "Like Perseus hideout?"

Now, he was visibly reacting.

"Can you do it?"

"Not in a second, but I can give it a shot.", you gifted him a broad smile. "But not for free."

He frowned.

"The CIA doesn't pay you?"

"They do. Lavishly so. But I haven't had a day off in...", you counted the days with your fingers. "Six? Eight years? Don't get me wrong, I love the job, but a bit of vacation time would be... heavenly."

His lips pressed into a thin line. He let out a low sound.

"When this mission is over, I see what I can do.", he agreed and passed you some more documents.

You winked at him.

"I can always count on you, Addy.", you smiled sweetly and took the documents. "Uh... that looks rough..."

As natural as humanly possible, you walked back to the middle of the room and past Bell, who was standing in front of the board and examined the pictures.

He noticed you passing him, looked to the side and nodded as you two locked eyes.

"You're looking for Waldo?", you asked as a joke.

He frowned, or at least it looked like it underneath the mask.

"Who?", he asked.

In that moment you remembered that he wasn't actually American. He probably didn't grow up with any of your common childhood things and didn't even know what Waldo was supposed to be.

Chuckling, you cleared your throat.

"Perseus.", you said. "I call him that."

"Why would you do that?"

You shrugged.

"I give everyone nicknames. Keeps the spirit up. Or ruins it, depending if the name is liked or not."

"Huh.", he turned back to the pictures.

In that moment you realised that this time wouldn't be an easy job. He was as open and approachable as a brick wall.