Operation: Stunning sting

Truth revealed

Viktor's POV
I followed Ela into the hallway and saw her leaning against the wall looking unamused while her arms were crossed, I looked at her and asked "what can I do for you?" She hissed through clenched teeth "so when we're you gonna tell me you speak polish?" I gave her an odd look as my brows scrunched and I voiced my confusion "why would I? You haven't exactly shown much interest in learning who I am" she pinched the bridge of her nose before sighing "nevermind forget it" I shrugged before walking back to the door only to hear Ela ask another question "why didn't you get mad about me insulting you? Why just take it on the nose and ignore it?" I replied as I looked back over my shoulder "because I don't care what people think of me, I'm here to do a job and secure future contracts for the company. You can insult me the entire time I'm here but I will act professional, all I can do is hope you give me a chance and get to know me before you decide you hate me" she looked down, her eyes darted around on the floor as she contemplated my words before I walked into sim room and back to Sam to help him teach the operators.
Ela's POV
I slowly made my way to Harry's office, I had questions about my new roommate. I knocked on his office door and heard him moving to the door before it opened and I saw his shock "Hej(hey) Harry, I have some questions" he stepped to the side and motioned into the room before saying "sit, sit. What do you need?" He was excited that I'm here. I looked at him and spoke directly "I want to know about Viktor, tell me everything you can" he leaned back and replied "I'm not sure how much I'll be able to disclose, most of the information is hidden behind clearance" I spoke more sternly "to hell with clearance, tell me about him. I need to know" he sighed and asked "what do you wanna know?" I spoke "where he comes from, what he did, how does he know Sam. Everything" he swiveled to his right and pull out a file handing it to me "well he comes from Maine, a small city called Caribou. He joined the US marine corps at 18 and quickly started moving in the direction of special forces, I'm sure he's told you that he was a part of Force Recon, MARSOC, Delta and Ghost recon. He was in Benghazi on the night of September 11, 2012, he helped hold off the assaults. He's never failed a mission, far too stubborn to give up, far too crafty to let the enemies stop him. He's relied heavily on the older soldiers to allow him to progress so quickly, he's mentored the younger soldiers and he's been mentored."
      I asked again "how'd he meet Sam? How'd he meet Erik?" Harry replied with a small smile "he was in Erik's squad in delta, he saved Erik's life." I asked "how?" Harry replied while looking out the window as I traced his view and saw Viktor lifting and flipping a tractor tire "he has an almost inhuman ability to sense traps, he sensed the trap and took the lead from Erik. The terrorist they were after blew up the house in an attempt to cover his tracks, Viktor took the brunt of the overpressure. As to how he met Sam, I believe his team was on an operation in Japan  to destabilize the yakuza. Sam was there on different business but they decided to support each other, Ghost Recon assisted Sam's team while Sam assisted Ghost Recon."
      I asked "what about discipline? What type of soldier is he?" Harry replied with a glint of excitement "he's a brilliant solider, he gets the job done. He's never let a commander down, he runs a tight ship but the reports show it works" I mused "so he's a hardass" Harry stopped that train of thought "no, he's a rebel. His MARSOC commanders complained about his lack of respect for grooming standards, he's purposely disobeyed orders he thought were stupid or redundant. His constant adornment of necklaces, jewelry and sunglasses was just to show command they couldn't hold him." I asked Harry a question directly "so why request him specifically in the contract with GRS?" He replied knowingly "because even though he can cause trouble, he's one of the best soldiers the US has to offer Military or PMC. Sam and Erik both recommended him, he'll also help bring the team together." I nodded before looking at the file and wondering: what's in here? "Harry, can I borrow this file to read?" He nodded before joking "just make sure I get it back not colored on" I smirked and replied "no promises" as I stood "that's all I wanted"
Harry spoke once more in a tone that mixed an order and a request "get to know him. Who knows, he might be able to help you surpass your sister" I paused at the idea before looking back and saying "I don't need his help to be better than her, he can't be that good" Harry pointed out "he has a better combat record than anyone currently at rainbow, Zero included. Don't let your pride block progress" I huffed before walking back to my room. I plopped down and began reading through the file full of after action reports, kill counts, debriefs, recommendations and commanders descriptions, it all seemed too good to be true until I saw the personal notes added by both Harry and Viktor himself, they looked to be from the psych eval. "o mój(oh my), he's brutal on himself." I heard the door open and saw him walk in before slowly removing and methodically placing his uniform in predesignated spots before he turned and noticed me staring at him, he gave a small wave before asking "do you need the bathroom before I pop in to shower?" I shook my head side to side and replied "nie(no)" he nodded before grabbing a black tshirt, boxers and khaki cargo shorts and disappearing into the bathroom, a couple seconds I faintly heard hard rock through the walls and the water start running.
I paid it no mind and continued digging for whatever I was looking for, I still don't know what it is but i was determined to find it. 10 minutes later I heard the door open and glanced over seeing him walk out running his hand through his short brown hair, he looked at the file and asked "whatcha reading?" I replied "your file" he nodded and asked another simple question "anything good in it?" I shook my head no and replied "they're all pretty simple missions" he asked "what's the date?" I replied "2001" he replied chuckling softly "those were simpler days, as to why the missions are so simple it's because I had just joined the marine corps" I nodded before reading again he sat down and sketched some more as the day dragged on until we heard a knock at the door.
I called "it's open!" As the door opened and Erik walked in looking unsure until he saw Viktor, his face shifted from unease to a broad smile which looked extremely odd to me since he's always looked so moody "hey brother" Viktor put down his sketchbook and stood before giving Erik a short hug "how've you been man? It's been what? 7 years?" He nodded before replying "I pulled a you and dropped off the radar doing undercover work" Viktor laughed before shaking his head "what did I say when I left delta? Don't do anything I wouldn't do, or anything I would do" Erik replied with a cheeky smile "yeah well it worked right? I heard you were running with Fury?" He nodded before laughing "yeah she kicked my ass, apparently she was upset that I dyed my hair so we boxed and she destroyed me" I listened with interest as Erik replied "she always was one bad bitch, I haven't heard from her since we worked with them" Viktor nodded before replying while sniffling "she was pretty torn up about me retiring" Erik doubled over laughing before straightening and speaking "don't bullshit me" Viktor smiled before replying "she was actually kinda sad about it, I've ran with her and her team since I joined Ghost Recon"
      I asked looking up from the file "so who's fury?" Viktor looked over and replied "only the greatest CQC expert Ghost Recon has, she trained me and helped me get to the level I'm at. I'll have to send her a message and catch up" I asked another question "how much do you rely on your teammates? I always hear you talk about 'this person trained me' and 'that person helped me'" he replied with a small laugh "I'm pretty self sufficient now but I used to rely on my teammates completely. I was a young kid playing in the big leagues, I had a lot to learn. I still do, that's why I talk to the older operators so much" I nodded as Erik asked "still using an AK?" Viktor nodded with a smile "why? Wanna see if you've gotten better than me shooting?" Erik nodded with a challenging glint in his eye as the two scrambled to get out of the room and down to the armory, despite the ice I've been serving to Viktor I chuckled at the brotherly rivalry.
Viktor's POV
       I chased Erik through the hallways to the armory before I passed him, I looked back and laughed out "you're too slow delta!" to which he yelled back "kiss my ass!" As I arrived at the door I spun and teased him again "you need to work on your speed" he laughed and replied "I'm as fast as Ash" I nodded before shooting back "then she has to get faster too, fury would've smoked both of us" he nodded before walking into the armory I spun and followed him in heading to my locker and pulling out my Ak before heading to the counter "hey Jessie, I decided to say hi again" she laughed before asking "what can I get you?" I smiled as I leaned on the counter "5.45x39mm and some 5.56x45" she nodded before asking "doing some shooting?" I replied with a small head shake "catching up with an old friend over some gun fire" she replied with a sigh of contentment "the best way to do it" I nodded as I voiced my agreement and Erik replied "gotta have some friendly competition too, maybe I'll be better than him at shooting for once"
I spun towards him and smiled sinisterly before lowly speaking "cold day in hell" he chuckled before I heard Jessie behind me "here ya go, have fun" I picked up the ammo and walked out with Erik heading to the armory. We caught up and shot for hours until I heard Ela at the door "hej głupku(hey dumbass), you're gonna miss dinner" I called back as she left "dzięki(thanks), come on Erik. Let's put our toys away and grab some food" Erik replied, his mouth watering slightly "god I'm starving" I laughed and walked back to the armory putting my Ak back in its locker before walking over to Erik's and leaning against the wall "you done caressing your rifle lovingly so we can go eat?" He chuckled before closing his door and nodding "let's eat" we walked to the cafeteria, I got my food and sat down with Erik talking until a couple other operators sat down. Erik said hello before realizing "Viktor you haven't met them have you?" I shook my head no and replied "I've only met Ela, Caveira, Jäger, doc, echo and Vigil although I didn't catch the last 5s names" Erik motioned to each person as he spoke "meet Yumiko "Hibana" Imagawa from the Japanese S.A.T., Adriano "maestro" Martello from the Italian G.I.S., Sebastien "Buck" Côté from the Canadian JTF2 and finally Jordan "thermite" Trace from the US FBI Swat, he's marines too" I shook each of their hands and replied "I'm Viktor "Agony" Cross, Currently GRS previously too much shit to go over" I heard Jordan "Erik said you were a marine?" I nodded to which Yumiko asked "so how do you know each other? The Marines are differnt from the army right?" I nodded before saying "I was in the US Army's Delta force for a while" I looked at Erik before asking "did you know they took applicants from other branches?" He shook his head and pointed out "not until you joined us" Adriano asked "so what units were you apart of? And why haven't I heard of GRS?" I listed "the marines, Force Recon, MARSOC, delta, Ghost Recons and as to why you haven't heard of GRS, it's a PMC. We provide security for the CIA" he asked exasperated "another PMC?" I asked naively "does Rainbow not like PMCs? We work closely with militaries all over the world" to which Erik explained "The PMC Harry hired before GRS has left a.... bad taste in most operators mouth. They're arrogant and closed off, it's hard to work with them" I nodded before Sebastien asked "so why are you in a PMC, you can't too old to be in the military" I replied explaining "in Ghost Recon we got the toughest mission with the least amount of a window for error, it stresses you out plus I hadn't had anything go wrong and I didn't want to push my luck. A year later and I missed it so I joined GRS and started doing contracting for the CIA" he nodded as I started getting to know about the operators at the table and we traded stories, the friendships formed quickly after.