#alex mason x bell

[iamcautiouslyoptimistic]

Helina "Bell" Soldatova x Alex Mason Ren Strider x Russell Adler

I tried so hard to make them look right so I hope y'all can recognize them lol✌🏻

AND YES THAT IS MY SELF INSERT CUZ I LOVE ADLER TOO MUCH TO SHIP HIM WITH ANYONE ELSE LMAO I DON'T CARE IF HE'S A MORALLY QUESTIONABLE CIA AGENT DON'T JUDGE🫵🏻 her name is based off of my IRL one but they're nowhere near the same lol

Thank you for tagging me @littlemissclandestine ❤️

No pressure tags: @mctvsh @welldonekhushi @walder-138 and literally anyone else who wants to do it!

[efingart]

Just What I Needed - Chapter 25

ao3 | tumblr: One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine | Ten | Eleven | Twelve | Thirteen | Fourteen | Fifteen | Sixteen | Seventeen | Eighteen | Nineteen | Twenty | Twenty-One | Twenty-Two| Twenty-Three |Twenty-Four|

Word Count: 5043

Frank Woods x CoD Bell

Frank and Mila go on something that looks a lot like a date, but it isn't a date.

The plastic groaned in protest as Mila pressed the speaker closer to her ear. The record store fell away as the synth beat took hold of her.  It was unlike any music she had ever heard. She could become lost in it. She was used to holding in her feelings, not giving away much that was on her mind. But the sound inexplicably made her want to move.

But how would anyone dance to this?

Mila’s eyes flicked up to the woman behind the counter. She was the one who had set up the tape player for her to listen. The counter was much higher than the floor, likely so she could quickly spot if anyone was pocketing one of the tiny cassette tapes. But for the most part, the woman looked bored. She flipped through some kind of booklet. Like a magazine, but there was a homemade quality to it—splotched black ink across its neon paper cover. The title hand written in black permanent marker. The woman tossed her head to get her pink-streaked bangs out of her eyes before ducking her head back down to read. The pink-streaked bangs fell back into her face.

Mila felt tension on one side of the headphones, drawing her gaze away from the woman. Frank tugged on one of the speakers, pulling it away and leaning into her, turning the speaker towards his own ear to listen.

“You like this?” He asked. His voice was loud as he tried to talk over the music thrumming in his ear. He listened for another moment before turning the speaker back around.

She pulled the headphones off and let them dangle from her neck.

“Yeah. You said I should pick something happier. Can’t get happier than that.”

Frank’s eyes traveled over her face, then he shrugged and turned to the woman behind the counter.

“This one, too,” He said. She didn’t respond, not even a nod. Still, she popped the tape out of the player, putting it back in its jewel case and adding it to the stack of music Mila had already accumulated.

“Anything else?” Frank asked Mila.

She shook her head and neatly placed the headphones on top of the tape player, then pushed the player towards the woman.

He dug into his back pocket for his wallet. Then, he shifted his attention to something behind the woman.

“One of those, too,” He said, pointing to a box on the wall behind her. In her bored way, she turned to the wall, picked up the box, and held it up to verify that it was what he wanted. He gave her a nod, and she began to ring up the items.

“Come with batteries?” He asked her as he studied the box. She shook her head. He sighed. “Course not.”

Mila watched this exchange with some curiosity. She couldn’t quite read the box, and the product name wasn’t giving anything away—something to do with walking. Frank counted out the bills and change, and the woman bagged their purchases.

“All right, come on,” He said, throwing an arm over her shoulder as he guided her out of the store. “Gotta make another stop.”

He pointed to a camera store across the street. In the wide front window, there was a large cardboard display. As they approached, Mila realized it resembled a camera. But not like one she had ever seen. There was a lens and a viewfinder, but the camera's base was long and flat. The design of it was so clunky she couldn’t understand why anyone would want to carry it around. Someone had cut a large slit across the base, and a flat sheet of cardboard with a photograph on it repeatedly slid in and out of the base.

Maybe it was advertising a new kind of development process?

But as she scanned the display she saw that the large camera was surrounded by boxes of the real thing.

She turned to ask Frank about them when she heard a click and a whirring sound. A man was standing in the shop doorway, one of the strange cameras in his hand.

“Just got the brand new model in today. Come in and take a look.”

Having a business owner so invested in speaking to them was odd. But the camera shop likely got its fair share of tourists, which may have motivated him to be friendlier. He handed her the paper that had come out of the camera.

She stared at it and turned it over—blank white on one side and black on the other. However, something was happening on the front of the paper. A splotch of brownish yellow was slowly developing.

“You’ve never seen an instant film camera before?”

She shook her head and tried to hand the paper back to the man, but he waved her off. “It’s yours, keep it.”

Frank interrupted their exchange and asked the man, “You got any batteries?”

The man led him into the small store. Mila stayed outside, watching the display continue its methodical movements.

After a moment, Frank stepped out again and dropped a pack of batteries into the paper bag.

“How’d it turn out?” He asked her, nodding towards the paper in her hand.

She looked down, and to her surprise, she was now holding a photo of her and Frank looking at the display.

“What-”

“Instant film, don’t ask me how it works. Em’s got one of those. She’s constantly taking pictures,” He said, shaking his head. “I’ve gotta have about a hundred of me holding David for the first time. I’ll show you.”

“Instant film,” She repeated and looked longingly at the display. She’d love to have a camera like that. She had enjoyed taking and developing pictures for the various missions the CIA had sent her on. And with her memory, it would be nice to have some kind of physical evidence of her life besides that old photo Frank had found. Feeling Frank’s eyes on her, she blinked and turned away from the display. The nice thing about Frank is that he never asked too many questions. He seemed to know that if she wanted to talk, she’d talk. He plucked the picture from her hands and tucked it into his front shirt pocket, giving the pocket a little pat.

“For safekeeping,” He said. Then he threw his arm back in a wave, gesturing her to keep it moving. “Come on, I’m hungry.”

“Burger Town?” She joked.

“You know I’ll never say no to that. One of these days, we gotta take you somewhere nice, I guess.”

“Not today,” She said.

He chuckled, “Not today.”

They sat at one of the outdoor tables in the sun. She couldn’t remember the last time she spent so much time in the sun. The bag of food was between them, and she watched him reach into it to pull out a burger. His knuckles were turning red, and a smattering of freckles had appeared on his hands. She hadn’t realized he freckled in the sun, but it made sense with his complexion. It gave her a warm feeling just to know something more about him. Something that wasn’t related to his job or military life.

Frank Woods freckles in the sun.

She cataloged the information away in her mind.

Mila reached into the bag for her burger and placed it on the table before her. Then she carefully peeled the wrapper away, smoothing it out on the table and creating a placemat for herself. She thought she heard Frank let out a soft chuckle, but when she glanced up, his soft gaze was focused behind her as he chewed his burger. Mila picked up her burger and was about to eat when a thought occurred to her.

“What’s that thing you bought? That needed batteries?” She asked, nodding towards the paper bag set next to him on the bench.

He held up a finger and reached for his drink as he chewed. Grasping the drink by the lid, two fingers on either side of the straw, he took a long sip.  Then, he set his burger and the drink down and wiped his hands off in his jeans before he opened the bag.

“I figured if you’re gonna have your own music, maybe you don’t want to be tied to the stereo in the living room,” He said. Then, while looking at her pointedly, he added, “You can use the stereo in the living room anytime you want, though.”

When he said that, her eyes moved from the bag next to him to his face. Frank seemed to notice everything. Or maybe he had recognized one of his own habits in her. He knew she was trying to leave the smallest footprint in their apartment. A strategy she employed in the hopes that if he never felt like she was in the way, then her place there was safe. She shifted in her seat, somewhat uncomfortable with the feeling of being so seen by someone else. There was something else, too: comfort.

She ignored it and instead turned her focus back to Frank, who was moving his burger aside so he could place the box in front of him. He pulled out a pocket knife to break open the thick tape, holding the box shut. Then he opened the flap and grabbed hold of what was inside while tipping the box so that gravity would help him ease its contents out.

Inside was a smaller black box surrounded by styrofoam packaging and a small pair of black over-ear headphones. Frank flipped the styrofoam over onto his hand. He tossed the packaging back in the paper bag and dusted off the smaller black box. She could see it was made of heavy plastic. There were buttons on the top. Frank reached back into the paper bag, feeling around momentarily, before producing the pack of batteries. He popped off a panel in the back and put in four batteries. Then he took out one of the cassette tapes, popped its case open, and slipped it into a slot in the front of the box.

He plugged the headphones into the box and handed them to her.

“You can listen anywhere now.”

She put the headphones on. The sound wasn’t as good as in the record store or at the apartment, but it was nice to be able to listen anywhere. She noted he had put in the tape he recommended, Pat Benatar.

You’ll like this one, he had said at the store.

And he was right. She took a bite of her hamburger as she listened. She knew she could definitely enjoy listening while in her room at night. And maybe even between sessions.

“Like it?”

She nodded.

“Thank you. You didn’t have to do that.”

He waved his hand, dismissing her comment.

“You might as well have some music wherever you want it.”

He stopped the tape.

“Thing drains batteries, though, I’ve got more for you, but just know that.”

She nodded again and removed the headphones. Frank gathered everything up and placed it in the bag.

“So what’s next?”

“I have an idea or two.”

Mila tilted her head curiously at him, but he didn’t elaborate.

Frank seemed to have his destination in mind, but occasionally, he would take them one way and have to backtrack. Then, he’d check the street name and head in the opposite direction. The place he was looking for must have been tucked away. Mila didn’t mind so much. It was good to be out and walking in the city. It had been some time since she had just walked around without purpose or hurry. She glanced around at the other people around them. This is what they did. She had yet to conjure up something more mundane from her adult or teenage years. Always running and fighting. Not being able to show her face in her home country meant long strolls in the park were risky. She had vague memories of spending time in what looked like East Berlin. But had the sense she was still traveling by night, working.

“There,” Frank said in a low voice.

He led her down a narrow side street. On the corner was a small building. Garage-style doors had been installed on either side and now, on this pretty day, they were flung up. She could clearly see the entire establishment from front to back.

She stopped.

“It looks like-”

“Yeah,” Frank said. Then he shrugged. “I kinda got the feeling you wanted to look around that place. And I know you like computers.”

He scratched the back of his head, suddenly seeming uncomfortable.

“Well, these are kind of like computers,” He added.

She nodded, and they walked into the arcade. Inside, the sounds, which were tinny and muted on the street, completely filled the space. The room itself was kept dim, lit by the sunlight outside and the glow of the screen on each machine. Every cabinet was painted with brightly colored characters. As she looked at the displays, she realized that these were what the players were supposed to imagine the tiny pixelated characters to be. Again, it was like nothing she had ever experienced before.

Being in the arcade brought back memories of the fake American town, and she wondered if small towns in America really did look like that. Many small towns in the movies she watched looked similar as well. The cinema, Burger Town, and arcade all together around a tiny town square. She knew it would be unlikely she’d ever get to see a place like that. Unlikely, she’d ever leave West Berlin, unless they were shipping her off to some prison to lock her away forever.

Mila pushed the thoughts from her mind and approached a free cabinet. She watched the looping demo of what must have been a car racing along a track that never seemed to end. Several cars whizzed by the player's car until one crashed into it. A computerized grinding sound filled her ears. The screen went black.

“You ever play one of these?” Mila asked Frank.

He shook his head.

“Heard it rots your brain or something,” He joked. “Come on, let’s go get some tokens.”

As they waited in line, he pointed to a game that involved a sloped wooden track with numbered holes at the top.

“Now that’s more my speed. Skee-ball.” When he was met with her blank stare, he clarified, “It’s like bowling. You do know bowling, right?”

She shook her head.

“I’ll show ya.”

Then he turned his attention to the man behind the counter. Frank handed over a few bills to exchange for tokens.

He was spending so much money on her today. She felt uncomfortable unable to contribute. Of course, no one would give her money, nothing that she could potentially use to escape.

Not that she had anywhere to go. Beyond the walled city was a dangerous place for her. Outside the city was Soviet-controlled Germany. Even if she attempted to leave through the subway tunnels as she and Adler once had, she was an enemy of the state. Sure, they had thought she was dead, but likely that had been proven wrong when her face showed up all over the KGB cameras as soon as someone had reviewed the footage. And hey, why is a dead woman working with Russell Adler anyway?

If caught, the KGB would make sure she was dead this time, but not after grilling her for all the information she had about the CIA. Or if Perseus got hold of her again. The blonde- Ivanova went to great lengths to ensure she could hold her and torture her freely. She was sure the entire organization wanted her head for what she did in Solovestky.

“Hey,” Frank nudged her. The collection of dull coins jingled as he moved them from one hand to the other. “So, what do you want to play?”

She walked around studying each machine. The arcade wasn’t busy, so she could get a good look at the games.

One in particular caught her eye. It was one she recognized from the fake America town.

She approached the cabinet and watched the preview play before her of a small character dressed in green jumping over black blocks on the ground. She realized that the blocks were meant to be open spaces through which the player could fall. After watching the demo play, Frank handed her a coin, and she started up the game. He tucked his hand in his jeans pocket and deposited the remaining tokens.

“Got plenty of ‘em, so you can try all of the machines if you want,” He said, patting his pocket, causing the coins to jingle again.

She smiled at him and then directed her focus back to the machine. She bent down to deposit the token, and the music on the cabinet changed.

Frank leaned an arm over the cabinet and watched her play. It took her a moment to learn the controls. Her character died a few times, but it was easy to identify the gameplay patterns after that.

“Hey, you’re not bad at this,” Frank said.

She shrugged.

Then she made a silly mistake, and the timer ran out on the game. She managed to convince Frank to play a round himself. They spent much of the afternoon at the arcade. Occasionally, they’d find a game they could play together.  Boxing was entertaining because Frank would tell her about his brief experience as an amateur boxer as a teenager. Though with some of the stories, he’d end up distracting himself enough in the retelling that she could get several punches in at once.

After losing another round of boxing, Frank yawned and checked his watch.

“Getting late, we should head out. I wanted to get some things at the grocery store anyway,” Frank said. Then added, “Someone keeps complaining we don’t have any good food.”

“We don’t!” She said, following him out the door. He stopped short at a cabinet where a group of kids were gathered and rooted through his pockets for the remaining tokens. Then he dumped them into the hands of a girl standing on the outskirts of the group.

It was dark when they returned to the apartment, each holding one grocery bag.

She placed her bag on the counter and unpacked it, putting pantry items away as Frank stocked the fridge.

“Should I make us something?” She asked.

“Nah, I got an idea for us,” He said but didn’t elaborate. Mila wasn’t sure what to make of the smile that slowly crept across his face either.

“You, cooking?” She teased him.

“Hey, I can cook some things,” He said, feigning offense.

Mila chuckled. She wasn’t about to insult him if he was willing to make dinner for them. And she was a bit curious about what Frank would cook up. She leaned against the counter to watch him work.

“Let me know if you need me to do anything.”

“I got it. You gotta be tired after today anyway.”

He was right; she was exhausted, and she yawned as if on cue. She stretched her arms over her head and let out another long yawn. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that the message indicator on the answering machine was lit.

“Oh hey, Frank, you’ve got a message,” She said.

“Hit play for me, will ya?”

She depressed the button, and the tape on the machine whirred to life.

“Woods-”

Mila recognized the voice immediately.

“Is that Sims?”

“Shh-” Frank hushed her.

“- in town, and I’ve got some ideas for you. Well, for Bell. Come by tomorrow.”

The tape stopped, and the machine beeped. Frank continued his work without explanation. He had pulled out a fat tomato and was in the process of cutting it into slices. Mila watched him, waiting to see if he would elaborate.

When he didn’t, she asked him, “What was that about?”

Frank’s back straightened, and he cleared his throat before answering.

“Sims-” He paused, “He’s gonna help us.”

She bit the inside of her lip to keep herself from interrupting. She could tell Frank had more to say, but why was he taking so long to say it? He placed the knife on the cutting board but kept his other hand around the tomato as he turned his head to look at her.

“I’m not letting them drug you anymore, Mila,” He said firmly.

She hadn’t been expecting that.  In fact, she wasn’t sure she understood him clearly.

“What? What do you mean?”

“I told them. All of them. They need to figure something else out.”

Frank turned back to the tomato and finished slicing. He moved the slices to a plate.

“All of them,” She repeated, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Park, Hudson, and Adler. All of them,” He said as he opened the fridge and pulled out a pack of bacon wrapped in butcher paper. He placed it on the counter. Frank then sprinkled some water on the pan, and it sizzled.

“Nice and hot,” He said quietly.

It was surreal watching him work. The conversation and the actions were incongruent. Frank was just making her dinner and casually telling her her entire life was about to change. That he- Frank Woods- of all people had made a decision about her life without talking to her about it.

This couldn’t be happening. Frank couldn’t do this to her.

Mila rubbed her forehead.

“Is that why you-” She stopped. She didn’t want to think that Frank took her out today to soften the blow of what would happen tomorrow. Mila ripped her hand away from her forehead and slammed her fist on the countertop.

Frank had just been about to place a slice of bacon in the pan, but he stopped and stared at her.

“Frank, if they’re not drugging me-” Mila started. She shook her head. The kitchen was a blur. She couldn’t make eye contact with him. She didn’t want to face the reality of it.

“If I’m not useful to them-” She tried again.

No, no, don’t say it.

“We almost lost you-” Frank said, his voice surprisingly calm.

“Frank!” She interrupted, “This is my life. And you’re what, just making decisions for me?”

“What do you want me to do?” He said. He tossed the bacon back on the butcher paper. It made a wet slapping sound when it hit the paper.

“You were gone. You didn’t see you. Lost in your head. It’s the fucking drugs, Mila. You want me just to step aside and let them do that to you?”

“I told you that’s what I was good for,” She said.

“So you think you deserve this?”

She said nothing to him then. The answer was obvious to both of them. He stepped towards the sink and washed his hands. As he dried them, he turned back toward her.

“Sometimes I think you’d rather lose your mind,” Frank said sadly. He tossed the towel on the counter before reaching out for her, but she slapped his hand away.

“Mila-”

“Controlling my life. Just like Adler.”

“Hey!” He raised his voice then.

It wasn’t fair. She knew she wasn’t being fair. Frank wasn’t Adler. But the roaring in her head wouldn’t stop. She stepped away from him and swung around, heading to her room.

She didn’t want to see him. Didn’t want to hear his reasoning. He was probably right, but the prospect of it not working, of her being imprisoned forever. She’d rather be dead. Because it would be forever. Held in solitary confinement with no hope of ever leaving.

She changed into her t-shirt, leaving her day clothes on the floor.

On her bed was the bag from the music store. Frank must have put it in here for her. She placed her headphones over her ears and popped a tape in. Somber music did its best to drown out the sounds of Frank cooking in the kitchen.

And eventually, she fell asleep.

She had a dream of meeting a man in a bar. He was a stranger to her, but they sat and talked as if they were old friends. After exchanging pleasantries, she leaned closer to him.

“Please. Frank Woods. It must be him.”

“Why?”

“Because I believe he is a good man. I believe he will understand.”

Mila woke up hungry. She was no stranger to the feeling, but somehow, paradoxically, it was harder to ignore now that she was getting food regularly. Easier to let the feeling fade into the background and have sleep for dinner when there was never any dinner or breakfast to look forward to.

The bedside clock told her it was the middle of the night, and she wondered if Frank would still be awake. Her anger had died almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. She felt guilty for blowing up on him and knew she needed to apologize. And that he’d probably chew her out for it. Frank wasn’t manipulative. He wasn’t trying to control her. He’d likely be more angry that she’d even suggest that than anything else. But first, she needed to eat something.

Swinging her feet around, she carefully got up from the bed. She avoided a particularly creaky floorboard and made her way to the door. She placed her ear against it and listened, but with the exception of the usual sounds of the building, it was quiet.

Even still, she opened the door as quietly as she could. If Frank was in his room snoring away, he would never hear her, but she couldn’t be too careful. Mila made her way to the kitchen. She could assemble a sandwich quickly and bring it back to her room. Though she hated eating in her room. It made her feel like she was in a prison cell. She opened the fridge, and there on the top shelf was a plate with a sandwich wrapped in waxed paper.

Frank had made dinner for her after all. Of course, he had. She picked up the chilled plate and turned to bring it to her room. But that’s when Frank emerged from the bathroom. A fleck of toothpaste dotted his beard. They caught each other’s gaze before he walked past her and through the kitchen. He was just on the threshold of the living room when he stopped. He raised his arm and leaned against the doorframe.

“Should have talked to you about it, but I wanted you to have a couple of good days before we had to figure things out,” He said. His hand formed into a fist, which he tapped against the frame before turning around.

The guilt crept in again. He had just been thinking about her again. His insistence on her rehabilitation had changed his living situation, his job, and his life. How much time did he spend thinking about her?

Mila set the sandwich down on the counter and stepped toward him.

“I’m sorry, Frank,” She said. It felt weak. After everything.

To her surprise, he nodded. He leaned against the counter and folded his arms across his bare chest.

“Yeah, me too,” He said.

She waited, she didn’t have much to say, everything that came to mind just sounded like an excuse to her.

“I’m not like him,” Frank said.

“I know, Frank,” She said.

“I’m not trying to control your life. Not interested in that,” He said.

He took in a deep breath. She shifted her weight on her feet. It seemed like he had more to say.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you,” She said when he said nothing.

He gave her a sidelong glance, and then a characteristic smirk appeared at the corner of his mouth. He threw his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into him.

“I’ve had worse,” He said with a chuckle. Frank reached over with his other arm and grabbed her plate. For a brief moment, she found herself enveloped in his arms. Face pressed against his chest. The scent of his cologne and the toothpaste filled the air around her. And he was warm, as always.

“Come on,” He said and guided her towards the couch. “No reason to eat alone. Unless you want to?”

She shook her head. They both took a seat on the couch.

“Thanks for the sandwich,” She said as she did. She sat down somewhat close to him, bending her legs and letting her feet dangle off the couch. She balanced the plate on her thigh and unwrapped the sandwich. Then she took a bite.

“Want some?” She offered to him. He shook his head. She covered her mouth with her hand and nodded, “It’s really good.”

“I thought so. Better warm, though.”

She wolfed down half the sandwich. In part because she was very hungry, but also to avoid conversation. However, when she finished, instead of picking up the second half, she said, “I’m sorry, Frank.”

“You said that already.”

He reached out and put his hand on the back of her neck, pulling her into him. He had to grab the sandwich plate before it slipped onto the couch, and he set it next to him on the armrest.

From behind her, he pulled down a blanket and draped it over her. She felt a strong desire to tell him everything that was going on in her head. Her worries, her fears, and even her hopes, however small, for her future. Mila looked up at Frank. Her eyes traveled over his face, the way the hairs of his beard curved to the contour of his jawline. The deep wrinkles that lead up to his eyes, his eyes, bright blue, so much hidden behind them.

Frank thought about her enough. She didn’t need to dump her feelings on him.

He must have sensed her watching him because he glanced down. He made a soft questioning noise to match the look on his face.

Mila rose up, allowing the blanket to fall from her shoulders, and pressed a hand to Frank’s chest before kissing him.

[efingcod]

Just What I Needed Chapter List

Last Update 2/23/24

ao3

One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine | Ten | Eleven | Twelve | Thirteen | Fourteen | Fifteen | Sixteen | Seventeen | Eighteen | Nineteen | Twenty | Twenty-One | Twenty-Two | Twenty-Three|Twenty-Four| Twenty-Five

Deleted Scenes: #1

[monotoneclown]

I wanted to try to paint with acrylics for the first time and decided to draw Adler. He was very fun to draw, might try to draw him again in the future.

COD Black Ops Cold War’s storyline still has me effected. I would have liked to talk more about this but I’m kind of sleepy and have a stomach ache today so I doubt that I would make sense even if I tried.

There’s also a drawing of a goat, because why not, I like them.

Anyways, just know that I’ll draw him again.

Kisses to you all.

[cherwich]

Bell?...

[thefanfictioncorner-blog]

Read now! (14)

[flashbang-througthe-door]

How they'd dress Bell Tones

-----------------------------------------------

Mason - The dad look:

Woods - The Hot look:

Hudson - The classy one:

Lazar - The arty look:

Sims - The Dad pt 2:

Park - The comfort look:

Adler - The confused look:

[codstatic]

Part 4-Don't play with fire

They stand up quickly blushing, awhile woods and Mason stand there grinning widely. They come closer to Lily and Adler.

Woods puts his hand around Adler shoulder with a grin "I heard you and Hudson, had a fight" he says. Awhile Mason has his hand over lily's shoulder "and I also heard that you two love each other" Mason says.

Adler look at them both, with a cold stare "do you two have anything to do, instead of bothering us"

"Nope, we don't" they say at the time. Lily puts her hands onto her face blushing hard. Mason notices that she is blushing "so what were you guys discussing" Mason asks smiling "none you're business mason" Adler says with a angry tone.

"chill out adler, we be going now, we just want to tease you guys, but uh put a bandaid on you're nose its bleeding" Mason says as he grabs woods "come on frank, let's leave them alone" but woods sighs "fine" as he walks with mason to lily door and closes it behind them.

They leave, lily was still blushing hard but removed her hands off her face.

Adler goes to her and comforts her by patting her head softly "let's go outside of the safe house to have fresh air" he requests. Lily looks at him and nods.

When they starts walking to her door, lily stops Adler "what darling" the word darling made her face even redder "uhh can at least put something on that" she points to his wound on his nose. He nods and takes out a bandaid out his pocket "you telling me you got in a fight and get hurt, and you just have a bandaid in you're pocket" lily says.

Adler grins "you can say I'm a magician, I can make things appear and disappear" he says with a smug look. He puts the bandaid on.

"if you're a magician appear some red roses" she says with a smirk "ok I'm not a magician, but I can get you roses" Adler says as they walk out her room to the front door of the safehouse. Lily chuckles lightly.

they sit down on the grass, it was summer in Berlin and it was a less windy night. They watch the stars "what we gonna do Adler, Hudson knows that we have a love interest with each other" lily says worried. Adler just grins "he won't do nothing, I told him if he touch or yell at you I will kick his ass"

Lily blushed "oh thank you I guess" as she smiles. Adler was different man, then when he was back when he would brainwash her. But something was still bugging lily why her, he has a ex wife and middle age he would be not looking for a relationship so why, she was 36 years old woman, a firecracker, shy, with a trouble past, dealing with trust issues, but caring, sweet, loving so why did Adler love her, she loves him too but scared at the same time because her ex boyfriend will beat her, cheats on her, and leaving her with so emotion trauma and with trust issues.

So even time Adler or someone in the safehouse hug her or yell at her , lily would be get scared and try to get away from the person. But comforting her with hugs it feels nice but she doesn't know to approach it so she just hides. Adler notices that she is little bit away from him on the grass "what's wrong lily" she doesn't say anything, he puts his hand on hers "lily, tell me what's wrong please" she still not saying anything and not looking at him.

Adler softly grabs her chin to make her looks at her, she looks at him with fear and Adler notices this.

-flashback-

"LOOK AT ME WHEN IM TELLING YOU" as her ex grabbing her chin roughy, with tears steaming down her cheeks "please stop"she says. But he just slaps her knocking her on the ground. The sobs of lily made him grin widely "you know lily seeing you like this, makes me feel very happy" he says with a dark laugh.

She on the ground whimpering and crying. She crawls away but stop by a foot on he's back stopping her. He smirks "now where you going, I'm not done with you" he grabs her neck collar behind her head, pulling her aggressively, making her have hard time to breath. He bends down to her ear awhile grabbing a near by table to grab a knife, putting it on her neck "you will listen to me, if you don't I will slit you're throat, do you understand" he says lowly, she quickly nods "good" he says dropping her on the ground.

-end the flashback-

"lily please tell me what's wrong, you can tell me anything, please darling" Adler pleads. Lily goes into Adler chest crying. Adler hugs her tightly and starts rubbing her back calming her down "my ex.. would do things to me that damage me, he would beat me, call me names, cheat on me and h-" she was stop by a pair lips on hers, she flutters her eyes closed, melting from the touch. They open there eyes, their foreheads touch each other "I won't never do that to you, I love you lily, I care about you, what he did was disgusting and I hope his ass is in jail and never gets out, you're safe lily" he says kissing her forehead.

Adler wipes her tears "you're pretty, cute,caring,loving person lily" he says by removing his shades. Now his ocean blue eyes was looking at hers sapphire ones.

Lily smiles "I love you Russell" she says hugging him "and I love you lily" he hugs her back.

"it's getting late, let's go in" he stands up with lily in his hand grinning, she stands up with a smile and they start walking to the safehouse.

[ringinghellsbell]

I have a confession... I made a CoD character when I started playing the campaign a while ago and he is a DOLL!!

Name: Zain "Bell" Hopkins

Gender: He/Him

Family: Unknown (tba)

Place of Birth: Philadelphia, PA (assumed)

DoB: February 14th, 1932 (assumed)

Height: 5'8

Relationship Status: Taken; Frank Woods

Orientation: Pansexual

Affiliations: Requiem; The Archetypes; USAF Special Ops (formerly); CIA-SAC (gilded)

Rank: Captain

Weapons of choice: Krig 6 "Ice Drake"; Combat Knife; AK-74u, Ppsh

This is just a WIP. Also, his story will wrap around both the campaign and Zombies.

[iamcautiouslyoptimistic]

100-Word Challenge

Posting something for @deadbranch's 100-word challenge cuz I can't stop thinking about Black Ops Cold War and my Bell lol🫣 and I love my man Adler but he was definitely SUS during the Cold War campaign when it came to Bell🫢

~ ~ ~

Mason set his hands on Bell’s hips, causing her to tense beneath his palms. 

“Like this,” he corrected gently, angling her form to better mimic the stance he had demonstrated earlier. "Keep your limbs loose. You'll hurt yourself if you're too stiff."

In reality, Bell didn't need any guidance with this sort of thing. They both knew it and yet neither fought it. They both sensed that spark between them and were unable to resist its pull.

Adler's shades glinted in the shadows, smoke curling from his lips as he observed the pair in silence. He'd let them enjoy this little tryst of theirs... for now.

[efingcod]

Go All Night Chapter 3 (explicit version)

One | Two | Three* (sfw version)

Minors DNI

I never posted the explicit version of Chapter 3 here. I really don't remember why. But today I say fuck it. Also, I really do love this fic, it came out of a series of separate writing prompts the lovely @nanobyting sent to me. As well as a snippet of an idea about stockings and garters another friend put it my head.

Also, you do not need to know anything about Black Ops to read this. It is just a sexy cool fic that I wrote for funsies.

“All right,” Mason said as he handed her a beer and held up his own to cheers her. “Thanks for saving our asses.”

Bell tapped the neck of her bottle to his.

The room was packed, which was not surprising for a hotel bar on a Saturday night. She hadn’t planned on coming down here. In fact, she had been about to get ready for bed when Mason knocked on her door and practically dragged her out. He had been so damn insistent.

At least he let her redo her makeup before they went back downstairs. She’d get some looks with smeared lipstick and mascara running down her face, that’s for sure. Though she was still wearing the dress - with the straps adjusted to make them even. 

Luckily, she didn’t have to feel too overdressed, the hotel had hosted a wedding earlier, and from the looks of it some of the guests had made their way to the bar after the ballroom had closed.

Bell crossed her legs and took a sip of her beer. 

“God, those guys are having fun,” Mason said, beer in hand, pointed to a group of wedding guests who were very over-served dancing and singing to music that wasn’t even playing. 

Bell looked over her shoulder and, at that moment, caught the eye of one of the guests. She noticed that someone was looking at Mason as well.

“Shit!” She hissed and turned back, “Think we’re about to have company.”

“Yeah, me,” Woods said as he walked up to their table and set his beer down. 

“Good timing.” Mason nudged him in the ribs. “Bell was gonna have to beat them off with a stick.”

At that, Woods turned to Bell and rested his hand on the back of her chair.

“That so? Should we leave you to it, Bell?” 

While he had a smile on his face, there was an odd look in Woods’ eyes when he said it. Was he upset ? Had she taken things too far in the van? Bell meant what she said, but she wasn’t so sure she should have said it out loud.The adrenaline from their escape had still been coursing through her system, so she took a risk. And then Mason had interrupted them before Woods could respond. 

“One of them was checking you out, Mason,” Bell deflected.

“Don’t mention that. I even look in that direction, and Em’s gonna know.”

“You like to pretend you’re on such a tight leash.” Woods rolled his eyes. Then he explained to Bell, “Em used to be in the CIA with us. She knows how it is.” 

“Oh, how is it in the CIA, exactly ?” Bell asked with a faux innocent tone before taking a sip of her beer.

“How do you think she and Mason ended up together?” 

Bell pressed a hand to her chest, looking at Mason wide-eyed, pretending to be scandalized.

“ Mason. ”

Mason sighed. “Not you, too. Come on, Bell, I bought you a beer.”

“That’s true you did,” Bell said as she leaned forward and placed both hands on her beer. 

Woods was still resting his hand on the back of her chair. She caught a whiff of his cologne. Unlike her and Mason, he had taken the time to shower and change before heading downstairs. That surprised her. Bell thought he’d be quick to grab a beer, or even something harder, after the night they just had. He had also changed into jeans and a sweater. He looked good and was getting his share of glances from the wedding guests around them.

Mason checked his watch.

“Oh, I told Em I’d call her tonight,” His said, his tone was a little strange, “Guess I’ll go do that.”

Bell and Woods both watched him go.

“That was abrupt,” Bell observed.

“Yeah.” Woods took the seat across from her. He set his drink down close to hers. 

She began to feel nervous. He wouldn’t want to talk here, right? Or would that be better? Get it out in public, and she could hide in her room until morning.Bell cringed at the thought of talking about it at all. 

But instead, Woods gestured to the wedding guests. “They seem like a fun group.”

“Very different from the party this evening,” She agreed but did not turn to look. Accidentally catching the eye of a drunken wedding guest again would only add to the awkwardness she already felt.

“Oh yeah, so after all that, what did you think of that party?”

“It wasn’t so bad. I was able to skirt the ballroom pretty easily.” She played with the label on her beer as she spoke, “I don’t know what I was so worried about.”

Bell glanced up at him, he had been looking at her face as while she was talking, but his expression wasn’t revealing much. 

“I did manage to catch a waiter and try some hor d’eourves,” Bell went on, “I wish I could have gone back for more.”

Woods chuckled at this statement.

“Like you wouldn’t eat the food!” 

“Oh I definitely have. It’s just that Mason and I were joking about asking you to smuggle some food in for us.”

“In what?” She gestured to her dress, “This doesn’t exactly have pockets.”

His wide grin faded slightly as he looked her over. “Yeah, guess you’re right.”

“Though this dress is surprisingly versatile, isn’t it? Great for dancing, cocktail parties, late-night weddings, and shootouts at French arms dealer’s mansions,” Bell said with a smirk, “Would have been interesting to poke around that panic room, though.” 

Woods hummed in response. He had a strange look on his face.

“What?”  

He placed his hands around his beer as if studying the label intently. Then he took a swig, wiped his mouth, and cleared his throat before setting it down again. Bell looked at him expectantly.

“You shouldn’t have been in there.”

“Oh, come on, Woods-”

“You’re dressed like that because you were supposed to be a guest, so you could walk out with them when the shit hit the fan,” He said gruffly. His blue eyes flicked up to meet hers. 

He was serious. 

Bell couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Was he scolding her? Yeah, she had told them to stand down, but she had handled it, hadn’t she? She did her job. Adler certainly didn’t have a problem with it.

“Don’t tell me you were worried?” The side of her mouth turned up, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. When he didn’t respond, her smile faded.

“I thought you were impressed,” Bell said in disbelief and shaking her head. “Isn’t that what you said in the van?” 

Fuck she didn’t want to bring up the conversation from the van, but he wasn’t making sense to her.

“Yeah, Bell, you did great. I keep running it over in my head. It was a huge risk-”

She could feel her ears getting hot, she barely heard what he said.

“I’ve taken risks before,” Bell interrupted, “You didn’t think I could handle it? I saved you and Mason twice.”

“No, Bell-” Woods started to say as he put his hands up.

But she didn’t want to hear what he had to say. It was apparent to her that he hadn’t thought she could handle it. But why? They had gone on dangerous missions before. Hadn’t she proved herself? Maybe she didn’t have as much experience in the field as Woods and Mason- who did really? But she thought she had at least gained some of his trust and respect. 

“Is this because of what I said?” She didn’t wait for him to respond before continuing. “I felt insecure for a moment. I thought I was confiding in a- I thought you were someone I could trust with that.”

“Whoa, hang on,” Woods said as he pointed to himself, “After everything, you don’t think you can trust me ?”

I can trust you in the field. Sounds like that’s about it.” She wrapped her arms around herself and looked away from him.

Woods huffed and picked up his beer. He leaned back in his chair and looked anywhere but at her. 

A silence fell over them. Bell leaned back in her chair and pretended to scan the room as well. Conversation usually flowed easily between them, so the silence magnified the tension. She didn’t think he would judge her so harshly for telling him that she felt out of place. If anything, Bell had thought, based on everything she knew about him, he might understand. It sure seemed like he had. Well, that was a mistake. 

Bell stood up. “I’m tired. I should head upstairs.”

Woods looked surprised. “You haven’t finished your beer.”

Bell shrugged. 

“Fine. Guess I’ll see ya,” Woods said dismissively as he took a drink from his beer and appeared interested in something on the other side of the room.

Bell set her jaw and turned towards the exit. She strode out of the bar and headed for the elevator bay. While Bell waited for the elevator, she felt her anger quell. Maybe she had reacted too quickly. She hadn’t let him speak. But did she need to? 

She had to admit she was a bit disappointed. But she reminded herself that she didn’t know Woods that well. There must have just been this idea of him in her mind formed from hearing all the stories people told about him- and Mason. Bell had only met them, what, a month ago? Maybe less?

Well, that’s fine. No one else on the team was particularly warm with her, so why should he be any different? Once this mission was over, she’d probably be back behind a desk, anyway. So who cares what he thought of her personally? 

It was her fault anyway. She knew she couldn’t be vulnerable with these people. She should have known they would have judged her for it. The only reason why she thought Woods might be different is that she wanted him to be different. And that was stupid. 

Her heels dug into the soft rug under her feet. Bell sighed. It would be nice to get out of the dress and take a shower. 

Against her better judgment, she glanced back at the bar. Woods was still sitting at the table, but he wasn’t alone. Someone had taken the seat she had vacated. It looked like they were in conversation. As much as she’d like to tell herself she didn’t care, she still did. But that feeling would fade if she could just stop focusing on it. 

Bell turned her attention back to the elevator, which was still making its achingly slow descent to the lobby. Likely held up by wedding guests going back and forth between their rooms and the bar. 

Looking down the other side of the hallway, she saw Mason sitting in one of the private phone booths. Why didn’t he use the phone in his room? Maybe to give Woods some space, she realized. 

She shifted her feet, anxious to get upstairs. A melodic sound caught her ear. The elevator had finally arrived.

A crowd of drunken wedding guests flooded out of the elevator once the door opened. They parted to make room for her and immediately joined back together behind her. 

Bell stepped inside the elevator and leaned against the handrail, sighing. The doors were nearly closed when someone caught the bumper, triggering them to open again. 

It was a man in a suit. He had his arm around a woman in a cocktail dress. They staggered into the elevator and huddled in a corner. They were drunk. Thankfully, they kept their voices low, but occasionally the woman let out a soft sound.

Bell gritted her teeth and stared hard at the floor indicator panel, willing the elevator to move faster. 

The numbers lit up in turn as the ancient elevator slowly ascended.

When the elevator reached her floor with a ding, she felt relieved to finally be able to step out and head for her room.

“...should have asked her….” Bell could hear the woman say before she burst into giggles, and the door closed, muffling any other sound.

She turned her key and walked inside, letting the door shut before bolting it. Then she sighed and sat at the vanity. Unclipping her hair, she shook it out and picked an errant piece of glass out of it. Under the focused vanity light, even under her makeup, it was easy to make out the cuts and bruises on her face. 

“Ugh, aren’t you a mess,” Bell said grimacing at herself in the mirror. 

Looking down, she inspected the shoes. They seemed to be the only thing still in good shape, which was a surprise. Running in heels was challenging, but she thought she managed pretty well. Though she hoped she’d never have an assignment like that again. Turtleneck, boots, and armor were preferable to heels, makeup, and nothing between her and a bullet but some silky fabric. The scar on her chest peeked out from under the edge of the dress. She traced her finger over it. 

“Armor didn’t help you much then, now did it?”

She had gotten lucky, then. She had been lucky tonight, too. 

Every night any of them came back alive was at least partially due to luck, wasn’t it?

A knock on the adjoining door shook her from her thoughts. Rising from the vanity, she walked over and opened the door.

“Woods? I thought-” She stopped. 

What did she think? That he’d be spending more time at the bar? That he wouldn’t be going upstairs alone? Well, he wasn’t alone now was he?

“Place suddenly wasn’t so interesting,” He said with a grin, “Miss me?”

Bell studied his face impassively. She noted that he had removed his sweater and was only wearing his undershirt and jeans.

“Look-” He started but stopped mid-sentence. He was looking at something on the side of her head. Raising a hand, he touched- her hair? No, something was in her hair. When he pulled away, he showed her a tiny piece of glass in his palm.

“Oh, I thought I got all of those.” Bell frowned at the fragment in his hand. “Thanks.”

She raked her fingers through her hair to shake out more.

“Whoa, hang on,” Woods put his hands out to stop her, “You’re gonna cut yourself.” 

Woods stepped into her room and guided her to stand by her vanity. He placed the piece of glass on the countertop. 

“Lighting is better here,” He said as he raised his hands to her hair again. 

“I don’t need help.”

“Getting these out of short hair is impossible,” Woods shook his head, “I can only imagine what it’s like with long hair.”

“Yeah, well, normally I have my hair up and under a beanie, don’t I? It’s fine. I’ve got it.”

“Bell, not everything is criticism.” 

Tentatively he raised his hands to her hair again. When she didn’t push him away, he carefully combed through her hair with his fingers.

He still hadn’t said why he had knocked on her door. She should be annoyed. He was acting as if nothing had happened. Though she had to admit it was so much easier to pretend. 

Because she was still wearing the heels, her eye level was at his shoulders. Standing this close to him, she noticed that his white undershirt wasn’t hiding much. She could just make out his muscle movements under the fabric. Bell felt the urge to reach up and touch him, run her hands over the rough white cotton covering his chest, and feel his body heat on her skin. Slip her fingers under the hem of the shirt and pull it off him. 

But of course, she didn’t. Instead, she closed her eyes. The feeling of Woods’ hands in her hair was so soothing. She was surprised to be touched with such gentleness from this big man with whom she had escaped a shootout only hours ago. 

A shootout he thought she couldn’t handle. This guy doesn’t trust you. Remember? And here she was, allowing him to take care of her again. Did he think she was so incompetent she couldn’t even clean herself up?

“All right, Bell. You’re good.” 

She opened her eyes again to Woods giving her another unreadable look. Well, she supposed she couldn’t blame him. She probably looked like an idiot standing there with her eyes closed and mouth open.

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

He was still giving her that look. Then his hand went to her chin as he tilted her face up. Bell felt a thrill in the pit of her stomach. With their faces so close, she could smell mint on his breath. 

“Need help getting bandaged up?” 

Bell realized then he was examining the bruise there. 

“No,” She found herself saying as she brushed his hand away, “I’ve got it, thanks.”

She didn’t want any more of his help. Even if it meant feeling his hands on her again, it wouldn’t lead to anything except her wanting him more. And what she needed to do was to shake him from her brain.

But he didn’t leave, so she met his eye.

“What?” 

“Took me a while to learn,” Woods said as he stroked the hair of his mustache with his thumb and index finger. She could tell he was thinking things through, being careful with his next statement. 

“But you know it’s ok to accept help sometimes,” He finished.

“Well, when I need it, I’ll ask for it,” She said in a tone that was sharper than she had intended.

“All right,” He said softly, tapping her shoulder as he moved to leave.

“Woods-” 

“It’s ok,” He said held a hand up, “I was being pushy.”

Woods walked to the door and opened it. 

“You’re wrong about me, y’know.” He turned his head to look at her over his shoulder. “I’ll be honest, it pissed me off to hear you say it.  But I think I know why you did. You can trust me, Bell. I know you don’t believe me, but you really can.”

Bell kept her expression even. She’d like to believe it. It would be easier in the short term.

He let out a soft sigh and moved into his room, placing his hand on his door as if he were about to close it.

“Goodnight, Bell.”

“Goodnight, Woods.”

He gave her a little smile, before saying, “Frank. At least call me Frank.”

Something about his tone seemed a little sad. Disappointed. She could have stopped him, but her heels were rooted into the soft carpet of her hotel room.

“Goodnight, Frank.”

With a soft grin he closed the door. Once she heard the lock slide into place, she moved to close to the adjoining door on her side. Even after it was closed, Bell held her hands against it as if she was bracing for something to burst through it. But nothing would. And Woods wasn’t going to knock on her door again. 

Quietly cursing herself, she roughly unzipped her dress and dropped it to the floor. She kicked it in frustration. The silky fabric skidded across the carpet but stopped short. 

Very unsatisfying.

Sitting down at the vanity in a huff, Bell frowned disdainfully at her reflection. She needed to shower and go to bed. She shifted her body to stand up again when something on the vanity caught the light and drew her eye. 

It was the glass Woods had pulled from her hair. Bell turned it over in her fingers, examining it. A flash of light reflected in the mirror, and she looked at herself again. Setting the glass piece down, Bell placed her hand on the garter belt she was still wearing. 

With her thumb, she traced the stiff top edge of the fabric. She fought the urge to rip it off.

She remembered how it felt when Woods ran his hand over her stomach as he put it in place, how the corners of his mouth had turned up when she flinched at his touch. At the time, she assumed he just thought it was funny that he got a reaction from her.

It was easier to pretend he didn’t care. To think of him as just some asshole. To push him away at the slightest perceived infraction. But she was the one who decided that he had judged her. Her snap reaction to her letting her guard down. He had seen her nervous and uncomfortable. She had let him in for only the briefest moment, which was terrifying. 

That’s what it was about. Woods had helped her.  And he hadn’t deserved her shitty attitude. She should at least apologize.

Bell stood up. Not wanting to deal with the dress again, she picked up the button-down she had discarded earlier in the evening and threw it on. 

“Time to get this over with.”

She opened her door and stood behind it and raised her hand to knock. 

What was she going to say? Sorry for being a stubborn ass? Not the best opener, exactly. But Woods might like it. He might have a few adjectives of his own to add. 

“Fuck it,” Bell muttered to herself and rapped gently on his door. 

He didn’t say anything when he opened the door, and his expression was once again unreadable.

Bell opened her mouth to apologize. To say she misunderstood him. She was an idiot. But Woods spoke first. 

“I know you can handle yourself,” He said as he folded his arms and leaned against the doorframe, “It wasn’t about that.”

“Then what was it about?”

Woods ran his fingers through his hair. 

“Me, Bell.” He stepped past her and into her room. “My own stuff.”

She gave him a curious look.

He sighed, “I- when you were stuck in that room. You didn’t have armor. You had that little peashooter some people like to call a gun -”

To her surprise, Woods sat on her bed. Was he expecting a long conversation? 

“You were worried.” She took a step toward him.  

“I was worried,” He agreed, “But you were great. I just keep thinking, because you weren’t prepared, I could have made a better call that didn’t put you in more danger. That’s it.”

Bell put her hand to her forehead, exasperated with herself.

“And then I got pissed off-”

“You didn’t even let me explain!”

Bell sighed and sat on the bed next to him, staring at her shoes.  

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, it’s fine. I think I can sleep easy tonight,” Woods sighed, he sounded relieved, and he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. 

He followed her gaze to her feet.

“You’re still wearing those shoes. I thought you would have kicked them off by now.” 

“Me too, if I’m being honest-” Bell admitted and stretched her legs out in front of her admiring the way the shoes sparkled, “But I like them. And I’m surprised they’re in such good shape considering everything. Anyway, they’re… uh….”

She trailed off, dropped her legs, and crossed her feet. 

“They’re what?” Woods asked. 

Bell glanced up at him. He was looking at her over his shoulder.

She huffed and tucked a hair behind her ear before responding, “They’re pretty, ok?” 

Then she braced herself for the teasing.

“So, you are actually a girl.”

She playfully shoved his shoulder. “What was your first clue?”

“You did look pretty good in that dress.”

Reflexively, Bell tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, again.

“I seem to remember you telling me that- in a friendly way. ”

Woods looked away from her and rubbed the back of his head. The clean smell of the hotel shampoo wafted in the air around him. She remembered then that he had showered before joining her and Mason downstairs. That his breath smelled like mint. He had cleaned himself up. 

She had to wonder. 

“About that-” He said, turning his head to look at her again. Then he sighed as if he were rethinking what to say. A slight grin appeared on his face.

“I think I like this outfit better.”

“Oh, you do, do you? Well,” She braced her hands on the edge of the bed, pushing her shoulders down and tilting her head back before continuing, “That’s good because I’m probably stuck in it.”

Bell crossed her legs.

“Stuck in it?”

“Well, yeah. I couldn’t get them on- so obviously, I have no idea how to take them off. Maybe you could help me?”

She was joking.  Once she had seen him put the garters on, it was easy to figure out how to remove them. 

“Oh, yeah?” Woods said as he leaned closer to her, “I guess it’s a good thing we made up, huh?”

Then he kissed her.  

After all that build-up, it took every bit of Bell’s willpower to not just pull him down on the bed on top of her. It seemed like he was trying to do just that as he leaned into her, but that’s not what she wanted to happen. Not yet.

And it wasn’t what she had asked him to do anyway.

Bell let him touch her lips briefly before placing her fingers on his chin and pushing his face away. 

“You said I should ask for help,” She said matter-of-factly.

Woods smirked at her. “I did, didn’t I?”

Leaning back on her hands again, she looked at him expectantly. 

He slipped his fingers between her skin and one of the straps and traced it down to where the clasp met her stocking. 

When he moved to undo it, she stopped him. 

“No.” 

And when he looked at her questioningly, she placed one heeled foot on his shoulder, guiding him down.

“Like before. On your knees.”

Woods complied. She allowed her leg to slide over his shoulder while he kneeled. Her stockinged thigh rested next to his cheek. He reached up and ran his hand up the outside of her leg. Then he trailed his fingers along the inside of her thigh, bringing his hands to meet at that first strap. 

“No,” She said again as he was about to undo the strap. 

He stopped and looked at her, amused.

“First things first.”

Bell dropped her leg from his shoulder. Then gathered the bottom of her shirt and held it against her stomach.

Woods nodded and slipped two fingers under the waistband of her underwear. He looked to her for confirmation, but she just raised an eyebrow at him. She lifted her hips as he slipped them off of her. 

Bell let out a breath. 

Once again, Woods moved to undo the straps.

“I’ve changed my mind,” Bell said, “I think I’m going to leave them on.”

The side of his mouth curled up. 

This time she threw both legs over his shoulders and crossed them over his back, encouraging him to come closer. He gripped her thigh and pressed his lips to it. The bristly hair of his beard and mustache brushed against her sensitive skin, sending a tingle through her body. Dragging his lips over her skin, he left the occasional soft kiss there as he moved up her leg. He paused for a beat when he reached the top of her inner thigh. Her toes curled in her shoes as she awaited his mouth on her.

And then he moved along to her other thigh.

The bastard was teasing her. 

Bell wanted to kick him lightly but willed herself to keep her composure. 

After a few lingering kisses on her thigh, he stopped and turned back. Again she felt how close he was to her, and a thrill rose from the pit of her stomach.

Trying to stay cool, she ran a hand through her hair, tossing it to one side, and looked down at him.

“Need an invitation?” Bell braced the tip of her heel against his back. Mock-threatening.

Woods grinned and kept his eyes on hers as he gently pressed his lips against her. His tongue traced her slit. The sensation of his mouth finally on her elicited a pleased little sound from her.

Reaching his arms around her thighs, Woods held her there, locking them into place. He prodded her slit with his tongue as he pulled her apart with his thumbs. 

Here Woods paused again and looked up at her. His warm breath on her exposed flesh was driving her wild. She wanted him now.

Finally, he dragged his tongue over her folds, overwhelming her with the incredibly smooth and gentle sensation. A cry caught in her throat when he reached her throbbing clit and drew circles there.

She could have sworn she saw the edge of his mouth turn up. Moving his hands to her hips, he pulled her forward, closer to the edge of the bed. He seemed determined to take his time with her, slowly working her over. However, his steady movements were quickly building her up. With one hand, she clawed the bedcovers into her fist as heat began to rise in her face. With her other hand, she raked her fingers through his hair as she held him firmly to her and bucked her hips up into him.

He responded by sucking on her clit.

“Frank,” She let his name escape her lips in a moan. This only seemed to encourage him, and he ramped up the intensity. Her thighs began to shake, and Woods tightened his grip around them, holding them in place. Her head was fuzzy, and she thought she heard herself say his name again. 

He grasped at her hips, his fingers digging into her skin, pulling her even closer. He was relentless. An intense heat threatened to overwhelm her as sparks fired through her body. 

Bell cried out just as she thought she couldn’t take it anymore, and suddenly, everything went white-hot. Her grip on his hair tightened for a moment as he continued to work her through the orgasm. And she was hit with light-headed relief.

Bell fell back into the bed and placed her hands on her forehead.

“God, Frank-” She worked to catch her breath.

After a moment, she felt him gently lift her legs off of his shoulders. He crawled onto the bed next to her and pulled her into him. Then he kissed her again—the faint taste of her on his lips- how their body chemistry mingled together- was intoxicating. Gripping the collar of his shirt and wrapping her legs around his waist, she pulled his body into her and kissed him deeply. Guiding him onto his back, she climbed on top of him. Her hair curtained around them as she bent down to kiss him again.

Woods ran his hands up her thighs and hips, then cupped her breasts over her shirt. With his thumbs, he traced her nipples through the fabric. She trembled at his touch, still feeling sensitive, and pushed him away. 

“Can’t I at least see you?” Woods asked as he played with the hem of her shirt. 

Bell sighed and sat back, purposefully pressing her hips down into him, causing him to gasp. She began working at the buttons of her shirt. Woods’ eyes softened, and his lips parted slightly as he watched her. With his hands, he traced anxious circles around her hips. 

When her shirt was completely unbuttoned he tried to touch her skin underneath it, but she slapped him away and smirked at him. 

“Patience,” Bell mock-scolded.

He chuckled. 

Holding the front of the shirt against her chest, she allowed it to slowly drop down from her shoulders before removing it and tossing it to the floor. Bell did not miss the sharp intake of breath nor the way his cock twitched beneath her. She was pleased to have that effect on him. 

Bending down, she kissed him again, but this time he slipped his fingers down her sides and firmly grabbed her ass pressing her into him. 

She made a surprised sound, but she had to admit she liked the rough feeling of his clothes against her naked body. The way his jeans felt against her when he pushed his hips into her. Leaving one hand firmly on her ass, Woods reached up with his other and combed his fingers through her hair as he kissed her. He moaned softly into her mouth as she playfully bit his lip. Bell moved away from his lips, down his body, kissing him over his shirt. She traced a hand over his chest until she reached the hem of his shirt and slipped her fingers underneath. His abs flexed at her touch. His skin was warm against her cool hands. As she pulled his shirt up, she kissed his exposed skin.

When Bell had pushed the shirt up to his chest, she sat up again and yanked on it playfully. “Little help?”

Woods looked down and then sat up, making her back up. He brought his face close to hers as he pulled the shirt over his head. Throwing it somewhere, he then kissed her.

“Anything else?”

“Yes.” She nodded very seriously. Her hands went to the waistband of his pants.

“Pants, underwear, socks, I want all of it off.”

Bell moved off of him and lay on her side with one hand propped under her head as she watched him get undressed. She bit her index finger and tried to keep her expression even, but even still, she allowed the slightest whine past her lips as he removed his boxers. He winked at her. 

She pressed her legs together, feeling the ache for him return. 

She wasn’t sure she ever wanted anyone more, but she was still determined to play it cool. Getting up on her knees, with one hand she pulled him towards her and ran her manicured nails through the hair on the back of his neck. Brushing his cock with just the tips of her fingers, she elicited a soft gasp from him. Then she wrapped her hand around him. Woods placed his hands on either side of her face and crashed his mouth down on her. He wanted it too. 

“Let me fuck you,” He groaned into her mouth, still holding her face, his lips brushing against her as he said it. 

Goddamn, it almost sounded like begging. 

Bell wanted to fuck him, too, but she knew to enjoy the thrill of anticipation. That ramping him up would be more fun for both of them. She bit her lip and looked him in the eye.

“Not yet,” She whispered, shaking her head. 

Seeing how his face fell, she tightened her grip around him, pumping her hand up and down his length.

He let out a soft sigh, kissed her lips, then her cheek, and rested his parted lips on her ear. She enjoyed hearing the soft little sounds he made as she touched him. 

Turning her head towards him, she kissed him again, slipping her tongue just inside his mouth. His tongue met hers, giving her a taste of their intermingling chemistry again and sending a thrill through her body. She deepened the kiss, pressing her body into him. Then she moved down, dragging her lips over the dip between his collarbones. Raking her fingers over his chest, she continued down his sternum, allowing herself to linger there, appreciating the slight flex of his chest muscles. Her hands dropped down so she could brush her fingers along his sides. She looked up at him with a grin when he twitched at her touch. 

Bell gently pushed his hips, and he moved back so she could sit on the edge of the bed in front of him. 

Lazily she stroked the inside of his thighs with the backs of her fingers before once again gripping his cock. She ran the point of her tongue from the base up to the tip, taking in the taste of the salt of his skin, listening to his soft gasps become moans. Woods’ hands combed through her hair again, and then finally, she placed her mouth around him. His breath hitched in his throat, and she looked up at him then. 

“Oh fuck,” He groaned when they made eye contact. 

If Bell could have grinned, then she would have. Instead, she moaned on to him, knowing the vibrations would bring him closer to the edge. 

God, the noises he made were intoxicating, and when he tried to suppress them, they only served to sound needier, more desperate. 

He fucking wanted this. He wanted it as much as she did. Hell, maybe even more. 

Bell rolled her tongue over the tip of his cock before giving the underside a few long and slow licks. Then she wrapped her hand around the base, steadily pumping as she continued to work him over with her mouth. She took in as much of him as possible, letting her hand handle the rest. 

It wasn’t long before she felt him stiffen in her mouth. His hand gripped her hair. He was close. She stopped. 

Woods made a confused sound and looked down at her. Bell placed her knees back on the bed and rose up to stroke his collarbone with her finger, noting how he reacted to her touch before kissing him again. 

“I mean, you still want to fuck, right?” She said into his mouth. She could feel the corners of his mouth turn up as he kissed her back. His fingers combed through her hair as he held her to him.

“Oh fuck yeah,” He said when he came up for air.

She smiled at him, looking over his face. A fading soft pink flush contrasted nicely with his blue eyes and dark hair. 

He looked so fucking good to her like this. She moved back, allowing her fingers to linger over his skin before completely letting go and laying back on the bed. Without hesitation, Woods joined her on the bed caging his arms around her head. He lifted his hand to brush a hair out of her face. 

He had a surprisingly soft way of looking at her. She was sure it was just the way he expressed lust or desire, but the way that look made her feel- she couldn’t take it, she looked away. 

This was just sex. 

Just a good time. 

“Everything ok?” Woods asked, drawing her gaze back to him. The look was gone, replaced with one of concern.

“Yeah, of course.” 

She stroked his beard, studying the little white hairs that stood out against the black.  

“You’re so handsome it hurts to look at you sometimes.”

“Oh, you gotta be kidding me,” He slipped arms around her back and buried his face in her neck, “What a cheesy line, Bell. I’d expect better from a smart gal like you.”

Bell laughed partly because of his reaction and because his beard tickled her neck. 

“What you are!” She said in protest, pushing her hands against his chest. 

He laughed and pulled away. She placed the tip of her index finger between her lips and grinned at him again. Despite everything she had just done to distract him, she wanted him to look at her like that again. 

That lingering look. The way his blue eyes shone as he studied her face. It made her feel a bit like an idiot to want it. 

But he wasn’t looking at her face now, he was leaning on one arm. His eyes were traveling down her body, and his fingers too. Bell bent one leg as his thumb found her clit, and he pushed a finger inside her. 

Woods breathed something she couldn’t quite make out and pushed another finger inside her. 

She trailed her hand along his abdomen, and he made a little pained noise as she touched his cock again. 

“Frank,” Bell said, trying to sound commanding even though her voice shook as he pleasured her. 

“God, you’re wet,” He said.

“You may have had something to do with that,” She chuckled but cut it off with a sharp breath.

Woods suppressed a grin as he looked up at her. 

“You look good like this.”

She made a sound of confirmation and then found her commanding voice again, “Frank, I need you inside me, now.”

Bell spread her legs as he moved between them. He wrapped a hand around her hip as he eased himself into her. 

“Oh,” She breathed and tilted her head back, closing her eyes. 

Every nerve in her seemed to react to him finally slipping inside her. 

“You ok?” he asked, giving her hip a little squeeze.

“Yeah,” She sighed, opening her eyes, “Feels good.”

Holding soft eye contact with her, he thrust with gentle and steady movements first, allowing her to adjust to him before picking up the pace. 

Of course, he had to look so goddamn sexy when he fucked her.

Her breath caught in her throat as he resumed stroking over her clit with his thumb. 

The initial sensations were overwhelming. It had been a while since she felt this good. She wanted to hold on to it. The hand still holding onto her hip dug into her flesh. 

She ran her fingers through her hair, enjoying every feeling. His hands on her hips, the way his thumb circled her clit. Her breasts swayed with the rhythm of his thrusts. She let herself go limp, allowing his movements to take over. Pleasure coursed through her. Bell whined as a particularly well-timed thrust set her nerves alight. Her cheeks began to warm as a soft tingling spread over the surface of her face. 

“Oh fuck,” Her voice was a whining gasp as she grabbed his wrist. Her thighs were aching. For a moment, it felt like she was caught, held tight, and couldn’t breathe. Heat rushed up her body. Bell raked her free hand over the pillow behind her head. She felt like she would be stuck here forever, her grip tightened on his wrist, then finally letting out a sob she was pushed over the edge. 

He let her catch her breath, entwined his fingers with hers, and kissed the back of her hand. 

“Frank,” Bell reached for him, and he smiled at her before bending down to kiss her. He pressed her hand into the bed and squeezed it as he moved down to kiss her neck.

“You ok?” 

“Mmm-hmm,” She managed.

“Can I keep going?”

Bell nodded.

He lifted himself onto his arms, his face hovering just above hers. She looked away. It felt almost too intimate to look him in the eye right now. 

You’ve got it bad. 

Woods sat up and guided himself back into her. Her muscles tensed as her overstimulated flesh reacted to him entering her again.  But she bit her lip against it. She didn’t want it to end yet.

Starting slow again, he began to find a rhythm. Then he placed his hands on either side of her as he bent over her. His arms slipped under her, one hand resting under her lower back and the other under her shoulders. Woods pressed his face into her neck, his hot breath hitting her skin, holding her close to him as he began fucking her again. Bell wrapped her legs around his waist, taking a moment to get used to the new angle. To enjoy the intense way the sensations in her body changed. 

His body rubbed against her overworked clit as he thrust into her. She grabbed his shoulders tightly, bit back a whine, and jerked her hips into him. He groaned into her neck. 

Encouraged, Bell scraped her fingers down his back and ass, holding him there and pressing him into her. 

Woods sucked in a breath, “Damn, Bell.”

She heard his muffled voice say, baby, as his fingers wrapped around her upper arms.

His beard tickled her neck as he moved his mouth by her ear, breathing soft grunts next to it. 

She felt his body begin to tense. His muscles tightened as he deepened his movements. She stroked the back of his sweaty and surprisingly soft hair. 

He came deep inside her, breathing heavily into her skin. He moved his hand from between her shoulders to the back of her neck, stroking her hair there. They lay there like that catching their breath.

Woods shifted and pressed his forehead into her chest.

“That was good,” He said.

“Yeah,” Bell agreed.

A contented silence fell over them. Bell could feel herself fading, but she needed to get up, get this lingerie off of her. Finally take a shower?

“Frank?”

“Mmm?”

“I need to get up.”

He groaned and playfully squeezed her, like he wasn’t planning on letting her go, then rolled off. 

Sitting up on the edge of the bed, she turned back to him. 

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I really need to shower. I didn’t before-”

“What you don’t like smelling like a battlefield? Smoke, grease, sweat-” He grinned at her as he settled into the pillows. V

She gave him a horrified look and sniffed at a lock of her hair. 

“Oh god.” She scrunched her nose up. She did smell like smoke. And after he had cleaned himself up too. 

“Bell, if those smells bothered me, I’d be in the wrong business.”

She gave him a tired smile and moved to stand up. Then realized was still wearing the heels from earlier. She wanted to kick them off.

“Wow,” Woods said behind her. 

Bell turned to look at him.

“Your ass is amazing,” He offered by way of explanation. 

“Oh.” She sat back down on the bed, her calves were aching, “It’s the heels.”

He drew himself up and sat next to her on the bed, slipping her shoes off before she had the chance.

“Nah, I think you’ve just got a great ass,” He said, setting the shoes down on the ground, “Now come on, I said I was going to help you with this.”

“You know I don’t actually-”

He put a finger over her lips to stop her. Then he detached the garters from the stockings in turn. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he removed the belt and tossed it on a chair. Then he carefully slipped the stockings off her, tossing them next to the belt.

He looked her over. His fingers traced where the lingerie had made indentations in her skin.

“Shit, did I make it too tight?”

Bell looked down to see what he was referring to and shrugged, “Oh no, that’s just how it is. Binding. Gotta keep everything in.”

Woods frowned at the indentations again.

“They’ll go away,” Bell assured him as she stood up. 

“For the record, I’m good with everything out.” Then he grabbed her hips and turned her around, “Yeah, perfect ass. No torture devices needed for that.”

She looked over her shoulder at him and chuckled, “Can I take a shower now?”

Woods slapped her ass, “Now you can.”

“Hey!” Bell turned and placed her hands on his shoulders, pushing him back down on the bed.

“Oh, change your mind? Looking for a round two?”

She sighed, shook her head, and climbed off of him.

Bell walked to the bathroom, turned on the shower, and waited as it heated up. Then she stepped in and let the warm water run over her aching body. She was so tired she felt like she would fall asleep standing up. Picking up the tiny hotel shampoo bottle, she stared at it, willing herself to wash her hair, but she couldn’t. Bell leaned against the cool tile and closed her eyes. 

“Hey,” Woods said from the other side of the shower curtain, “Room in there for one more?”

“Of course, but I thought you showered already.”

He carefully peeled back the curtain and stepped in.

“Some gal got me dirty since then.”

“Some gal?” She chuckled and turned to him.

“You ok?” He held her shoulders and tried to look at her face, “Oh wow, you are tired. Don’t fall asleep in here.” 

She made a non-committal sound in response.

“Guess you still need my help,” Woods chuckled. He took the shampoo bottle from her and pulled her into his chest. Then he started washing her hair.

“This is ok, right?”

“Yeah,” She sighed and wrapped her arms around him. He helped her clean up, and when they were done, he wrapped a robe around her.

“Ok all clean.”

“Great, want to get dirty again?” She asked halfheartedly.

“Don’t tempt me, baby” He turned her around and guided her to the bed, “You need to sleep.”

“Baby?”

“Yeah, what you don’t like it?” 

Bell considered this as she walked to the bed. She tossed her robe over a chair and pulled the covers aside. Then slipped between the sheets and settled in. 

“Maybe I could get used to it,“ Bell covered her mouth, “I mean- I didn’t-”

She started to speak when he got into bed and placed his arms on either side of her head. He looked into her eyes as he stroked her hair.

“Don’t tell me this was a one-time-only kind of thing.”

“Just didn’t want to assume anything.”

“Yeah, I get that. But we gotta do this again,” He rolled over and pulled the covers over himself, settling in bed next to her, “This ok?”

She nodded, “Yeah, I want you to stay.”

She wrapped one arm around him and placed her head on his chest.

“I think-” She paused. Then Bell lifted herself on her hands and looked him in the eye. Her long hair pooled on his chest. 

“I think I might like you, Frank,” She finished. 

“You think?” He stroked her cheek with the back of his index finger. “I like you too, Bell.”

[littlemissclandestine]

Why I think Russell Adler is going to make a comeback in COD 2024

WARNING⚠️: Contains spoilers for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

Disclaimer: This is all just speculation on my behalf of course. I've just tried piecing stuff together for fun because Russ is one of my fave BO characters even though he's a bitch but i need more Adler content stat. <33

Let's get into it peeps. HEAR ME OUT.

Buckle up. Gonna be one hell of a ride folks 🤪

We'll start off with some random/background info.

Russ was born on February 12th 1937 so that would make him 53/54 in the Gulf War era. This actually isn't that old because if you think about it, Woods was about to turn 51 in 1981 during the Cold War campaign. What's a few more years?

We last saw Adler in action post-campaign in Warzone 1.0 cinematics but we've been kept in the dark about Adler's whereabouts post-1984 (after being brainwashed and killing Stitch LOL).

This meanie in a beanie wasn't forgotten about, oh no. He appears in the new cinematic intros on startup for both MWII (2022) and MWIII (2023). See below:

He was also featured twice in the 20 year anniversary video for Call of Duty whereas COD Ghosts didn't even get an appearance (ouch): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL_w5HmxsPI

I personally believe Adler was a great addition to the Black Ops roster and is essentially the new Black Ops 'cover boy' now. Would be such a shame and a missed opportunity not to include a character like him in the upcoming COD. One who is morally grey, does whatever he deems necessary to get the job done - a bit like Cpt. Price in MW. Got the COD fans riled up about him brainwashing and pulling the trigger on Bell too - he's already got the spotlight in both a good and bad way.

Now, let's explore my main reasoning as to why I think Mr Shades 2.0 is most likely coming back in late 2024...

🎖️First up: Gulf War mission list 🔫

Here are some of the campaign missions that will be featured in Black Ops Gulf War. Obviously, this is subject to change, however, going off what we have, look closely...

Credit: @MWIIINTEL on Twitter/X

Safehouse guys...SAFEHOUSE. Takes you right back to Cold War, doesn't it? Ugh the potential.

🕵️ Next up: The campaign for COD 2024 will dive into the CIA's role/the Black Ops timeline 🕘

I took the following snippet from this official article.

From this, we know there will be a huge focus on the CIA and who's a CIA clandestine special officer? Mhm, you guessed it - Russell Adler.

Now, according to the events of BO2, it's evident which characters have the possibility of returning out of our original BO trio - Jason Hudson, Frank Woods and Alex Mason.

💫 Alex is presumed dead after Frank shot him so he's out the picture in '90/91 until 2025 when they canonically meet again.

🪵 Woods would be in his 60s during this time too so I'll let you decide whether that's too old for him to be in GW.

Edit: Woods got SPAS-12'd in the kneecaps on Dec 20th 1989 by Raul Menendez so uh...yeah

🧊 Hudson died on Dec 20th 1989 at the hands of Raul Menendez.

Feel free to check out this website (Call of Duty Wiki) for an outline of the events after CW to remind yourself. Here's a link to the Black Ops timeline from there.

➡️ Gulf War being a direct sequel to Cold War and what that could mean 💉

That brings me onto the rest of the safehouse crew. Since GW is a direct sequel to CW, it would make sense for some characters to carry over if possible:

We, as the player/Bell, get to choose whether Park or Lazar die (or both lovebirds) in 'End of the Line'. It's highly unlikely they'll return unless the devs make one decision canon maybe.

There could be a chance we see Sims again given his bond with Adler (Da Nang etc.), his age (late 40s in GW) and his status (alive).

That leaves the man himself, Russ. Everything from his age to the fact he's CIA and was the deuteragonist in COD 2020's campaign just makes sense for him to have at least a lil cameo or even a larger role, don't you think?

📱Finally: Hints from official posts 🔎

This post from Call of duty's official Instagram account kind of sealed the deal for me.

Oh lookie - they dropped syringe-lover's famous line in a zombies post. Why would COD just drop it so casually like that without a reason and years after since CW came out? They could've said absolutely anything else but no, this was purposeful.

And that's all for this episode guys and gals!

Thank you for reading!! 🫂

Do what you will with all this information but I have concluded in my silly little brain that scarface is coming back.

How he's only in one game is beyond me. Won't get a character like him ever again. Seems like a cliché war dude at first glance but dig a little deeper into the details of the CW campaign, peel back the layers and get into his psychology and WOWZERS.

Am I delusional? Most definitely.

But the possibility he might be returning...that little bit of hope is enough for me and i won't shut up about it.

This will age horribly if he isn't in GW. Forgive me for feeding your delusions too in that case. Please?

What are your thoughts? Feel free to share them! 😊

[writer-of-various]

I'm in an angsty mood, so if you have any angsty or downright heartbreaking requests, I would like to write them.

[codstatic]

Part 3-Don't play with fire

when they got to the safehouse,lily went into her room trying to process what just happen at the restaurant "why would he help me twice,then show me I side,I didn't seen before" she thought. Then she just realized something "maybe he trying to control me again,but why would he blushed at me then,he hiding something for sure, I still don't trust him"she thought. Lily heard her named outside of her room, she walks out her room to see Hudson waiting for her "I need to discuss something with you, please come with me to my office bell" Hudson says with a stern tone with a hint of anger. Lily nods and walks with him into his office.

(Adler pov)

He actually walk to the safehouse, it's a long walk but enough to clean his mind,but he couldn't get you out he's head.

I got inside, and i heard screaming coming from hudson office, I walk to sims at his desk as i looks at the Hudson's door

"who is he screaming at sims"I asks. Sims looks up at me "I know hudson told lily to come with him in there", when i heard her name, my face was getting twitchy,and getting pissed "but it's sounds like to getting worse doc". I starts storming to Hudson door "doc, you ok" but I ignored him and angrily walks to Hudson door, open his door.

I saw lily sitting there, crying in the chair awhile Hudson yelling at her. I was pissed, i gritted my teeth and a vine was showing on the side my head "Don't you fucking yelled at her,she did nothing wrong!" I yelled as i grab lily by the hand and pull her to my side, i put my other hand on her waist . I leaned into her ear "you go to you're room bell, I checked on you when I'm done with this asshole ok" i said lowly into her ear. Lily nods and i let her hand go, she leaves

Now As i and Hudson looked at each other, with heavy tension in the room. They looked at each other with angry stares, till I spoke "You don't have to a right to yelled at her when she even didn't do nothing" Hudson stares at him with a glare "now Russell you know Im you're higher up, so don't get into my business and don't get into them" i got very mad at that "that's is my business, I can't see bell upset by a man being a asshole to her"

"why you care about her so much russ, do you have a love interest in her"Hudson says he drinks his coffee "because if you do I will much sure you both will go through hell". He says with a smirk. I had enough, yes i loved lily but i didn't have the guts to tell her, so when i heard what Hudson said next made him punch him in the face "so I'm telling you russ, do you're fucking job, this isn't a place for people fall in love with each other, this is my and yours job to do serious stuff and not for lovey dovey shit"

Next hudson knew he saw stars, he went onto the ground. He wakes up and touch his face to see blood on his hand, Hudson looks up to a very pissed off Adler towering over him "Don't fucking tell me how to do my job,and people do have feelings Hudson so don't tell me, people in here can't be in love in here, because I seen it" as i gritted my teeth "so I'm telling you now, you even lay a finger on bell, I won't fucking hesitate to kick you're ass" Hudson rolls his eyes and laughs at Adler. That made the room into a battle ground because they started to fight each other.

(lily pov)

She in her room, she sits on the wall crying into her hands. Till her room door open and a black eyed, bleeding nose Adler come in. Lily look at him with tears, Adler limp towards her and sit down next to her. Adler put his hand over her shoulder and pull her in his side "so if I was mad at him more, but you tell me what he said to you" lily shakes her head "I'm not telling you what he said to me, because I don't want to get hurt" as she pleads him, but Adler not letting it go "tell me please, I make sure you are safe" but lily still saying no to him, being scared what he would do if she told him, and the info she was told was very very bad.

Adler sighs "fine, but if you ready to tell me, please tell me bell"

"why should I tell you anyway, you shot me and you think I will forget what you did, I know you're plan you making me believe you change" she says with angry sniffs. Adler wide his eyes in disbelief "bell if I did not change, why would I save you from Hudson's yelling, huh you think I'm trying to fake this well I'm not"

"I don't believe you" lily says "and if you did you will know my real name and show me care and love" as she wipes her tears angrily. Till her chin turned toward him and felt lips on hers. Her eyes flutter closed, she feels his hand on her waist pulling her on his lap.

They split and a trail of drool left there mouths, lily opens her eyes to see she into his lap and being hugged "you are lily and I do love you, and I do care about you " Adler says. Lily blushed as a red tomato till she felt lips on her cheek "I....i love you too" as she says into his chest.

Adler kissed her forehead "you know you're cute, when you get flustered like that" he got bonked the top his head "oww, I just told you, that you are cute"

"don't not play with fire Mr,you might get burned" lily says with a funny tone. Adler chuckles "ok my little firecracker~" he says into her ear. Once again he gets bonked on top his head "you didn't ask me to be you're girlfriend"

"as you don't want to be my girlfriend" as he smirks "dumbass of course, I want to be yours". They were still on the floor up against the wall. Till lily realized woods and Mason in doorway of her room grinning. Adler looked at the doorway to see she looking at woods and mason and they got off the floor quickly blushing.

[betterskatethannever]

2022 best of

best parts

Nick Matthews - Venture x Uprise / Nike x HUF

Mason Coletti - RIGHT HERE FOR PABLO . Deep Fried Pescado

Eddie Cernicky - Deep Fried Pescado . RIGHT HERE FOR PABLO

Tiago Lemos - Primitive DEFINE.

Gustav Tønnesen - SOUR SOLUTION III

Leonardo Bodelazzi - Leozinho

Juan Virues - Hotel Blue pro ‘penthouse suite’

Cyrus & Max - Limosine Promaster . “Toes Down” . i just took a bite of dirt

Diego Todd - Hockey X

Braden Hoban - emerica Emerge

Tristan Funkhouser - Baker 420 . Deep Fried x Baker

Nyjah Huston - Need That . Shine On . “DISRUPTION”

Tyshawn Jones - “Play Dead” . KINGDOM COME . ‘The General’

Carlos Ribeiro - Primitive DEFINE.

Gilbert Crockett - DENIM CAR

Grant Taylor - Fantastic Voyage

Will Marshall - Alltimers You Deserve It

Lucien Clarke - LAUST IN TRANSLATION

Shaun Paul - DC ‘NorthUnda’

Noah Nayef - April

Elijah Odom - Alltimers You Deserve It . Andrew RASCAL

Brian Reid - Brian, Brandon & Will . DGK Zeitgeist

Shin Sanbongi - adidas

Jordan Trahan - Ace ‘Fais Low Low’

Bobby de Keyzer - Bobby

Brian Delatorre - Live & Direct

Vincent Milou - SOLO: You Changed

Jaakko Ojanen - Manana . E.S.P. vol. 2

Ryan Lay - DR in Color . Sci-Fi Fantasy

Myles Willard - Bones Bearings . ”Myles and The Machine”

Will Mazzari - Brian, Brandon & Will . DGK Zeitgeist

Marcello Campanello - Maxallure pro

Heitor da Silva - Vice Versa Love

Jake Wooten - Big Sky

Felipe Gustavo - CODE

Ishod Wair - REAL

Ish Cepeda - AD ASTRA

Louie Lopez - As You Wish . “Honor Roll” . FA, Again & Again

Danny Renaud - Brass Tacks

Silas Baxter-Neal - Portland Public Skating 3 . Burrow

Brian Delatorre - Habitat Live & Direct

Keiran Zimmerman - Jenny x Emerica

best full-lengths

Polar - Sounds Like You Guys Are Crushing It

Antihero - Fantastic Voyage

GX1000 - RIGHT HERE FOR PABLO

The Sour Solution III

Primitive - DEFINE.

Hockey X

Supreme - “Play Dead”

Alltimers - You Deserve It

Shake Junt - Shrimp Blunt

Bronze TV Channel 56

Element - E.S.P. vol. 2

Deep Fried - Pescado

Cafe - TENOR

Rassvet - “I Missed You”

Homies - Fun Raiser

DGK - Zeitgeist

Plan B - CODE

Emerica - EMPOWER

Bleach USA - “SPIKE”

Foundation - Splendor

best breakout parts

Vince Guzaldo - Bleach USA “SPIKE” . Immortality Research

Davide Holzknecht - Baglady. Pack Light . Hélas

Arthur Ribeiro - Vento Bravo

Blake Norris - FULLER HOUSE

Alan Bell - be honest

Johnny Cumaoglu - Mind How You Go

Joe Campos - Hockey X

Brian O’Dwyer - She’s Cheating

Shane Farber - CONS One-Star Pro x RIDING A HORSE NAKED

Jake Yanko - “MOSQUITO”

Christoph Friedmann - LOBBY DREAMS

Donovan Wildfong - Glue ‘wick & spit’

Marley Humphrey - “DIME BAG”

Jason Nam - carousel

Sam Fairweather - Indy Raw Ams

Shogo Zama - MAGENTAPES

best women’s parts

Breana Geering - Spitifre

Nelly Morville - Limosine Promaster . “Toes Down” . i just took a bite of dirt

Mariah Duran - Thunder

Adrianne Sloboh - Krux

Mami Tezuka - Blood Wizard “Destiny”

Nicole Hause - REAL

Reese Nelson - Birdhouse welcome

best independents

Tim Savage - Brian, Brandon & Will

Fritte Söderström - Jante 5:33 x Jante 11:00

Tor Ström - Is This The Place?

Gray Area: Push Button to Destroy the World

Mettz Quest 2 (nyc)

Eryk Burton - THE TALE OF A TOXIC KING (nyc)

Harry Bergenfield - She’s Cheating (Philly)

Nicolas Marti - be honest (nyc)

Neema Joorabchi - limp x okay then (nyc)

Jeff Cecere - Mind How You Go (nyc)

Felix Soto - “ANGEL” (LA)

Calvin Millar - THE SQUAD (Austin)

Emilio Dufour - MAL CIUDADANO (Uruguay)

My Favorite Things - 31 (Helsinki)

Andrew Meyer - flinch (Philly VX)

Widdip - RIDING A HORSE NAKED (ATL)

Viktor Kretsis - Down Low (Manchester)

gang international - WITH ALL DUE (DC)

Chris Mulhern - [untitled] 006 (Philly)

Leando Chocho - HANDYCAPS_2

Tyler Bamdas - V3

Alex Doyle - CLUB BANGERS 3 (Vancouver)

Portland Public Skating 3

DUPLEX 3 (West Palm Beach FL)

HITTIT 3 (Kopenhagen)

Tristan Warren - MONEY TIME (LA)

Zach Fuller - FULLER HOUSE (SF)

Get Lesta - Darling (UK)

James Morley - GOD BLESS (Toronto)

andres garcia - MILO (LA)

James Cruikshank - SENSIBLES (Paris)

Brian Hunter - SLANG (Long Beach)

Daniel Dent - faith in bro (LA)

best promo / medium-length / squad

Limosine - Promaster . “Toes Down” . i just took a bite of dirt

Free x Vans - Full Circle

The Union Square Video

Game On - Mark Suciu SOTY Trip

Chocolate - Upper Cruster

Primitive x Independent

Austin Bristow - LAUST IN TRANSLATION

eS Terminal 002

Bronze x DC What If God Said

Pangea Jeans - POCKET DIAL

adidas - The Sky Ain’t Falling

Pass~Port Nike

Internet Birthday ep.1

Thunder: Pleather Jacket

SCREWLOOSE - EXILE

Last Resort AB - Alv’s Angels

Thrasher Germany Vacation

RACKZ Gallery - Pandora

adidas Australia - Light Years

Sunday Hardware - LUV YA LOTS x x

Baglady - Pack Light

HUF x Thrasher Brazil

Sk8land Skateshop - Veinte

Cowtown - TWENTY FIVE

Am Scramble 2021

Girl - ‘Desesh Mode’ Euro Tour

CPH OPEN 2021

Poolroom - RUNNER UP

Brick & Mortar - Autumn

Maxallure “INT CIRCLE” . “Beautiful Thoughts”

Dime comp vol 7 - Alexis Lacroix

SLP - KARI

Vans - Scandis

Kadence - DAIS

WKND - BOTTLE NECK SEWAGE . Street Fighters 2 . Alan Gelfand High

WORBLE III: Rough & Tough

Tree skateshop x Delivxry Buenos Aires - TREENIDAD

THE VIOLET PROMO

Stussy - Car Pool

Frog x Thunder

another massive year in skateboarding. hope things are good in your world. tell your friends you love em & let’s persevere to make 2023 even better

extended youtube playlist here