𝔾𝕌ℕ𝕊 𝔸ℕ𝔻 ℝ𝕆𝕊𝔼𝕊

Chapter Five

They were now in the desert.

It was hot and dry, Aria having discarded her vest. She was now in her cargo pants and a black tank top, her boots making contact with the sand beneath her feet as she walked out of the vehicle. Soap and Alejandro forced Hassan out of the vehicle, him having a bag over his head. "On your knees." Soap commanded, pushing the terrorist onto his knees on the ground. Graves set up a laptop, a video call coming through. Kate Laswell and General Shepard were on the call, overlooking the interrogation. "We are live, folks." Graves spoke, walking towards Hassan. Aria stood a just three feet back from the terrorist, who looked up at Graves with a neutral expression. "Do you speak Arabic?" He asked. When given a no from Graves, he scoffed. "Farsi?" He asked, Aria glancing over at Ghost who held Hassan's phone. "No." Graves answered again, not looking bothered in the slightest. 

"Of course not. Then I will speak your bastardized Medieval English. Because you are all uneducated street dogs." Hassan insulted, Aria rolling her eyes. Can't even insult us properly, can he? Doesn't even realize he has a perfectly capable linguist standing behind him cause he assumed I wouldn't know anything. His mistake. "Now, we're getting off to a bad start here, Hassan." Graves shook his head, his tone almost mocking. "You are talking to a Quds Force Major. So insolent. You will learn to respect me when your nation sees fire." Aria walked up next to Alejandro, who was holding Hassan by his shoulder to keep him in place. She glared down at the terrorist, her patience wearing down by his words. 

"You're in bed with the Cartel. You disappear, and no one would know where to look for the fucking stain." Graves glared at Hassan. The terrorist chuckled. "I have no doubt you'll take pleasure in torturing me." Aria's hand twitched, almost unnoticeable. "Who did you get American missiles from?" Soap demanded. "I don't care where they're from. I wanna know where they're going!" General Shepard spoke over the call. That tweaked Aria's interest for a moment, her curiosity growing. Why wouldn't he want to know who gave missiles to a terrorist? Coyotes barked and howled from nearby, and Aria was brought back to the conversation at the sound. "Look around Hassan. You can either become part of the food chain, or you can start talking." Graves threatened. "I'm a hostage here. I have broken no laws. These men and their commanders are the lawbreakers." Hassan defended, his tone almost sounding indignant. Soap took a step forward as he spoke. "You and your beloved General Ghorbani broke every-"

"DO NOT SPEAK HIS NAME!" Hassan shouted, becoming much angrier then before. "You executed him and you will pay for your crimes! الله وحده قادر على مساعدتك الآن!" (Only God can save you now!) He tried to struggle in Alejandro's grasp, but Aria stepped forward, hitting him in the chest with the brunt end of her hunting knife. He gasped and choked as he lost air, and she gripped the collar of his shirt. "إن جنرالك يحترق في الجحيم، وسوف تنضم إليه قريبًا، أيها الوغد!" (Your general is burning in hell, and you'll be joining him soon, you bastard!) She growled, letting him drop from her grip as she glared. She ignored the conversation going on between Graves and the higher ups, looking down at the coughing and heaving terrorist. Alejandro brought him up to his knees once more, and Hassan glared up at Aria. "سوف تموت على يدي، أيتها العاهرة." (You're going to die at my hands, you bitch.) She scoffed, wanting to hit him again, but held herself back. "I'd like to see you try." She growls, walking away and towards the vehicle.

"Did we get anything from his phone?" Ghost was asking, looking down at the phone in his hand. Laswell confirmed that the got a hit from his phone. "Good. Now take him back, and let him go." Shepard commanded. I don't like this... but we can't do anything just yet. She watched as Alejandro put the bag on Hassan's head, yanking him up to stand and walk him back to the vehicle. Ghost slipped the phone back into Hassan's pocket as the terrorist passed him, and Aria sighed. Soap closed the laptop, a grim expression on his face.