The entire building turned into the pits of hell from one second to another.

Deep black markings were already cornering the walls and ceiling while the marble floor was cracked as if a tank had run it over.

Adler got another C4 ready to throw.

You backed him up, aiming over his head to shoot the package he was about to throw.

Dozens of soldiers fell before they managed to push through with backup.

The bullets came raining down like hell fire.

The smell of fire was in the air while the shrill sounds of the alarm rang out in a constant pace.

"We need to go!", you said and pushed the lines.

Adler kicked the door towards the courtyard open.

More soldiers came running. They were trying their best to keep the intruders back, but they had missed a small but important detail.

Bell was a fucking good shot.

Almost every bullet he send on its way hit, sometimes legs, sometimes knees but criminally often heads or at least faces.

Truth be told, you were impressed. He was probably a better shot than you'd ever be.

Not that you were bad either. You just preferred to stay back and play Adler's eyes and ears where he couldn't do it himself.

Adler gave Bell a sign to walk on. Together, they disappeared to make way for you to follow.

You took care of Belikov.

"I know you.", he suddenly said as you wanted to help him move faster.

You froze.

"No.", you replied in an ice cold voice. "You don't."

He frowned.

"But I do. They talk about you. Perseus talks about you."

You swallowed hard.

Steps sounded behind you two.

More soldiers came running.

"You really know me?", you asked and switched the empty machine gun with a handgun. "Are you sure?"

He nodded.

"Of course. Everyone knows...", all of a sudden, his eyes widened. "You're not working for the Americans..."

In that moment you knew he couldn't come with you.

He had to go.

A dark smile appeared on your face.

"You're right.", with one swift movement, you wrapped your arm around his neck, spun him around and used the man as a human shield. "But you will never tell..."

As soon as a shadow came into sight, you opened fire to make the Soviets feel threatened.

One of them turned around the corner, gun raised and started shooting.

The first row of bullets pierced Belikov's stomach, making him look like Swiss cheese.

Blood splattered everywhere, over your face and hands, down to your feet.

As he was done for, you dropped him and started retreating.

While doing so, a bullet hit your left shoulder.

Struck by the pain, you had to gasp and stumbled.

"Angel!", Adler's voice echoed from around the corner.

Without thinking, you threw the handgun away, turned on your heel and ran.

It was a foolish thing to do.

One single shot and you could have been paralysed or dead.

But you were lucky.

Breathing heavily, you managed to stumble into the courtyard while blood poured from the wound in your shoulder.

Lazar was already there, waiting impatiently with one foot on the gas.

Adler was waiting in the backseat, holding the door open for you.

"Go! Go!", he gestured.

With unstopped force, you jumped into the car and slammed into him.

Lazar started driving.

Tries squeaked. The smell of burned rubber filled your nose.

"Where the fuck is Belikov?", Adler asked.

With uneven breathing, you swallowed hard and pressed a hand to the wound.

All of the pain crashed down on you all at once.

"He... he didn't make it...", you looked at the blood that covered your fingers. "They shot him..!"

Adler didn't respond. He just stared at you.

"Are you serious?!", Lazar asked, almost angry.

"I'm sorry..."

"No.", Adler suddenly said. "You tried to get him."

You pulled a face and hissed.

The pain started to bite into the flesh. The bullet was still inside. With every movement the metal scratched over the bone. Thankfully, it wasn't broken. At least it didn't feel like it.

"I could have saved him...", you gasped, playing the shocked one.

"You're injured, angel. Let me see that.", gently Adler got rid of the gear and cut his way to the wound.

It looked almost as bad as it felt like.

Besides the blood that covered everything, you could see burned and torn flesh that gave a good insight in your shoulder. A bit of the bone was visible too.

"That will be a nice scar.", you joked, sweating.

"You'll survive."

"I'm not sure... Feels like I'm already dead."

He hummed.

"Lazar, inform Park we got the list.", he said towards the front seat. "And tell Hudson we need medical treatment."

A laugh escaped you. It was a loud, almost insane laugh.

But you had just been shot and were bleeding heavily. Strange behaviour was nothing unusual in that scenario.

"You forget I was a medic in Nam, shades.", you chuckled and let your head fall on his shoulder. "I'll pull it out and slap some bandages on it."

He let you rest on him.

"This wouldn't have happened if-!"

"If what? We'd be partners? No, Russell. It would have happened. Because sometimes, we don't see the obvious danger...", with a soft smile, you pulled out the glasses he had handed to you and put them on his nose.

But for a moment, you waited and just looked at him.

He really did have nice eyes.

You'd probably never forget them.

Maybe you didn't even want to.

"Angel?", he grabbed your face to give it some gentle claps.

It was a common technique in the military to keep those with blood loss or concussions awake long enough until medical attention was available.

You just smiled and pushed the shades up his nose with two fingers.

"We had a good story, didn't we, Russell Adler?", you hummed and leaned further against him to take in this familiar smell of cigarette smoke and whisky. "It was... good enough..."