"Well, that was an experience...", you muttered and let yourself gently fall into the chair next to Adler.

He hummed.

"Right, you've never met the president before.", he noted while his attention was firmly fixed onto the unconscious person on the other side of the mirrored window.

You knew the man, not his name but the face. He was quite a rockstar among the Soviets, mostly knowing as a top notch spy and soldier. But he wore a title that even you envied him for.

He was Perseus right hand man, second in command.

After the crash at Trabzone Airfield, Adler had found him in the truck in which Arash had arrived.

Arash had betrayed him, most likely wanting to take his position of power.

It had been a lucky coincidence for the Americans to find him, since he possessed a good amount of confident information about the Soviets and Perseus master plan. Chances were high that he also was one of the very few people who knew about you and what your actual role was.

He would have never talked on his own, luckily, so Adler had decided to try out some brainwashing to make him believe he was one of them. It would make him cooperate easier.

You couldn't prevent anything from happening, but you knew as good as any other that this Russian in particular could never fall into the hands of the Americans.

Ultimately, you had two options. Either you'd kill him or try and bring him back to the motherland.

The first wasn't really an option, not at all. But the latter seemed about as possible as finding a unicorn.

You needed to contact Perseus first. But even that small of a task would have been suicide in a CIA building.

"Shit...", you hissed out of reflex.

Adler's attention jumped to you.

"Still in pain?", he asked and offered you half of his cigarette.

Sighing, you shook your head and took a drag, but passed it right back again.

"I'm high on painkillers.", you huffed and flinched as a throbbing pain chased through your shoulder. "But it feels weird anyways..."

"The doctors report says you're still able to serve. But if you don't feel like it I'll ask Hudson to give you a pass."

"No.", you said so quickly that it seemed weird for you.

He raised an eyebrow.

"You're really in on this, aren't you?", he turned the chair so he was able to face you directly. "Why?"

Letting out a deep breath, you leaned forward and sighed.

"I... I've spent years doing nothing, Adler...", you mumbled, trying to tell him how you felt without giving away the truth. "I know that things are difficult. Shit, my whole life has been difficult so far! But I'd rather have it be difficult than a waste of time. I feel... useless doing nothing. I feel like I've lost sight of the task I once was dying for. I'm not... well, never mind. I know you're not good with comfort."

You gifted him a teasing yet soft smirk.

His lips twitched and a slim smile appeared. He put out the last bit of the cigarette before sitting closer to you.

His shoulder brushed yours. It didn't hurt, but send a shiver down your spine that made it feel like your skin was about to tear apart.

Letting out a deep breath, he nodded. The masses of hair bounced on his head.

Without thinking, your fingers twitched. You reached out to let them slide through the thick strands.

His hair felt soft despite the unholy amount of hair care products he used to get everything into shape. The light brown looked a tad red in the bright golden light of the lamps.

He still smelled the same, like cigarette smoke with a thick undertone of spicy cologne, like a good, old bourbon.

Strangely, he reacted to the touch a lot different than expected. Behind the tinted glasses of his shades, his blue eyes fell shut.

A long and deep breath made his broad chest quiver as he leaned into the touch.

You had to smile at the sight.

"Someone is getting soft.", you teased.

He hummed.

"Not really.", Adler said. "But a divorce does things to you."

Understanding, you hummed.

"Didn't get laid in a while, huh?"

"I'll never tell you."

"You just did."

Now he was the one who couldn't hide a slim smile.

It was nice to see him this way, to know that even after such a long time he still valued you in some kind of way. He was vulnerable in this moment.

Somehow, this made you feel proud.

"I always wondered.", he said after a while and opened his eyes again to glance at you. "Now that I know how things with her turned out I wonder what could have been."

With a heavier, you turned your head and let it fall on his shoulder.

"We will never know...", you said, remembering that day. "It's better this way. Trust me."

He shifted, lowering his shoulder a little so that you could lean on it more comfortable.

"It was a good marriage.", he hummed.

"Ten years are a long time."

"More than ten. Twelve, I think. But there were days when I wondered and thought about what would have happened if you would have said yes to my offer in Vietnam."

You had to swallow hard.

"Don't remind me.", you huffed, trying to play it cool.

But the truth was that his words made you shiver. He still managed to strike you like he had back in the war.

You hated it. You hated how easy it was for him to make you react.

It made you realise that he wasn't the only one who was made a fool.

"You said no. And I respected that.", his head fell against yours, putting a little pressure on it. "Even after marrying her, I thought about you. Many times. Maybe a few times too many."

"Are you loosing yourself too, Russell?"

He swallowed. His lips pressed into a thin line.

"No.", he finally said. "But that day I had the chance to get something way better. I let the chance go."

Mocking, you had to huff and roll your eyes.

"I guess that makes us an odd pair then."

He hummed.

"Always."