Frank Woods x Reader

Thirty-Two

With a grim gaze, you sat behind Adler, who was sitting in the drivers seat and stared at Woods from the corner of your eyes.

He looked calm, with his usual, grim expression. His fingers twitched every now and then.

You could tell that he was about to let hell loose.

Next to you, Mason didn't seem to be more satisfied than the others.

Adler drove the car down a rocky road, right towards a farm house in the middle of nowhere. The wheels came to a stand.

Not a second later, Woods bursted out the door.

Mason exchanged a glance with you before following him.

Adler, as calm and unbothered as he was, took a deep drag from his cigarette. He glanced at you through the rear view mirror. His eyebrows rose in a silent command.

Annoyed, you rolled your eyes and got out.

"Shut it, Ads.", you hissed and slammed the door shut.

He took his time before also exiting.

Woods was already on Hudson. With his teeth clenched, he reached out and hit him straight in the face before he even had the chance to open his mouth.

Struck by the force, his head snapped back.

An unpleasant tension filled the silence.

Blood dripped from Hudson's nose and covered his lips.

You exchanged a glance with Mason.

He just shook his head. He knew how bad Woods' temper could get. And he wouldn't interfere. Not even if it would safe all of humanity.

Angered, Woods pushed Hudson up the wall.

"You knew the nuke was from Greenlight and didn't tell us!", he growled, his fist raised as a threat. "What else are you hiding? Maybe I can knock the truth out of you."

With a silent scream of his eyes, Mason pressured you to interfere.

You sighed.

"Old man.", you called out for him. "Keep it cool."

But he wouldn't have been him if one word was enough.

Again, he hit him in the face.

But this time, Hudson was fed up. He pulled a gun and pressed it to his chest.

"You might want to rethink that, Woods.", he said.

The sight made your knees go weak. All of a sudden, you felt pressured.

But Woods wasn't impressed.

He let out a deep growl and wanted to strike a third time.

"Woods.", you said, hoping it would be enough. "Calm down."

And he did.

For the breath of a second, he hesitated.

"Everybody, stand down.", Adler closed the door of the car and walked over, but stopped next to you. "This little pissing match isn't gonna help us find Perseus."

Hesitant, but not having a death wish, Woods pulled back and brought some distance between him and Hudson. His eyes jumped over his shoulder to you.

Mad, you shook your head and crossed your arms in front of your chest.

But now it was Mason who couldn't control his displeasure for the situation. With his finger raised, he walked around Hudson.

"Why didn't you tell us it was an American nuke?", he asked, frowning.

Woods let out a bitter huff.

"He needed us to clean up his mess. The bastard's been lying to us all along."

Hudson wasn't willing to let his credibility get crushed without defending himself.

"It's not a lie.", he wiped the blood off his face. "It's an omission of facts."

Mason bared his teeth. It was rare to see him this way. Usually, he was the one to watch from the side and only jumped in when things started to get ugly.

"That's what you do best, isn't it, Hudson?", he snarled and pulled a face. "Manipulate people... tell them your own version of the truth."

"There is no truth. Only who you choose to believe. Adler knows all about that. Don't you, Russ?", Hudson turned to Adler.

Interrupted in his smoking, Adler looked up, the lit cigarette still between his two fingers.

You let out an amused huff.

"Sure he does...", you shook your head but stood back.

As a manipulator, you didn't fight wars. You just won them.

Adler threw the cigarette away.

"Operation Greenlight. What is it? Tell us everything.", he demanded.

Surprised, you curled your lips and nodded slightly. You didn't expect him to side with the angry bunch.

A surprise, but a welcome one.

Hudson shook the blood off his hand.

"Back in '58 the arms race was in full swing.", he started. "Eisenhower was convinced that if the Reds moved on Europe, we couldn't respond quick enough. So he authorised operation Greenlight, that placed nuklear bombs in every major European city. In '74 the bombs were upgraded to high yield neutron bombs, capable of terminating personnel without damaging infrastructure."

Woods pulled a face.

"Thousands dying in a flash.", he raised his finger. "And you're talking about fucking infrastructure."

Grinning sarcastically, Mason slapped his shoulder.

"How's that for civilised?", he asked. "We kill the people but preserve the buildings."

Angered, Hudson met his gaze.

"We're trying to preserve our way of life!", he insisted.

Adler just shook his head.

"How long have you been know about the missing nuke?", he asked.

"One of the Greenlight nukes went offline eight weeks ago. We suspected it was Perseus but couldn't confirm it until we saw the photos you brought back from East Berlin."

Adler frowned.

"So... there's an American made nuke in the wild and once Perseus detonates it... the United States become global enemy number one."

Shaking his head, Woods cracked his knuckles.

You could tell he was getting ready to wipe Hudson from the face of earth. You had to prevent this, somehow.

But it would be hard to make him listen to you.

Unless...

"We wouldn't have this problem if you'd have done your job and killed Perseus in Vietnam.", Hudson accused him.

Woods moved. Anger burned inside his eyes.

"Woods!", you called for him.

He hesitated, but took a step anyways. His fist rose again.
You took a sharp breath in.

"Frank!", you called out for him.

He froze.

For a long, insanely long moment, he remained motionless.

Then, slowly, he turned around and walked up to you. His fingers wrapped around your collar.

"I'm not your fucking dog.", he hissed, his eyes full of hate.

You withstood his gaze and smiled softly.

"But my idiot.", you breathed, so that nobody else could hear.