Midnight Treasons

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Bell pulled her car into the parking lot, the lot being full of just purely a million specks of dust. She silently prepared herself, just sitting there quietly in the driver's seat. It was profusely ironic, her stepping right back into a lifestyle that she promised herself she'd never go back into again.

She just wanted to forget everything about her past. It was taxing to even think of the kind of work that she was put through, travelling from country to country and even continent to continent. Bell also even wanted to completely forget about what Adler had willingly did, despite the connection they withheld and how hard it would be to forget.

The hardest part about this would be having to reconnect with her "boss," or the leader of the team, after everything they had went through. She felt secretly that she could never forgive him, but that softness for Adler still lies in her heart so quietly. The way he ran his fingers through her hair whenever she'd been stressed out from a mission. Or even when he would do the most simplest things, such as giving her face small kisses or holding her hand or squeezing her thigh. It made her feel safe and sound, and she kept thinking and thinking and thinking of all of these things that used to be and weren't anymore and she just couldn't stop thinking, it all kept going so quick, like several hundreds of miles an hour...

Bell finally snapped out of it. Her surroundings were slowly blurring back into vision and everything soon switched back to full focus. She must've gotten stuck in her head, because 20 minutes have now passed.

She also remembered how strict Adler was about being perfectly on time.

"Shit." Bell spat out as she exited the car, and grabbed her bags, heading straight for the safe house. Her shoes pattered quickly down against the ground, trying to get inside as fast as she could.

Opening the door nervously, she stepped inside and started rambling. "I'm genuinely so sorry. I got lost and I couldn't find my way here an-"

A British accent quickly interrupted Bell's, almost as if it was for pure consolation. "Welcome back, Bell. It's good to see you here on the team again." She stood up from her working space, then walked over to pat Bell's shoulder, giving her a warm smile.

Park. God, what a lovely sight to see.

Helen Park was one of Bell's favorites on the team. (other than no need to clarify) She always helped Bell with several different issues, like money, the missions they were assigned, relationship issues— this in which Bell never emphasized who she were having the problems with, even though Park could obviously tell— and practically advised Bell through absolutely everything she had problems with. Sort of like a mother.

Bell let out a deep sigh. "Appreciate it, thank you." Looking around, she couldn't find Russell anywhere. Raising an eyebrow, she turned to Park. "Where's Adler?"

Park put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes. "The man is so prompt about being on time and getting to places identically when needed, when yet he can't even show up to the party himself." The woman let out a deep sigh and turned to Bell. "Don't worry, Bell. He should be here soon. For now, unpack your things and settle in. There's a room for you to ease up in upstairs."

Bell nodded and walked up to the room, trudging her bags along her side. The room was very much old. It smelled like musty old carpet, becoming increasingly intense as she entered the room. The paint on the wall was cracking and the floor looked like it could be torn to pieces if anyone tried. She could see flying specks of dust in the rays of sunlight. The imagery was sort of nostalgic, bittersweet in a way she couldn't place her finger on. Bell really just stood there and carefully placed her bag on the floor, and let her mind wander a bit. She wondered what this room was specifically used for, and it got her excited to think about what may have happened in there. Secret meetings, maybe even a family resided in here during World War II. Maybe even just a normal family lived here— a mother, a father, several children to take care of. Bell wondered deeply how they were taken care of in such a used-to-be-magnificent-home, and also imagined how beautiful the place probably was before it was transformed into an absolute shit-hole. The ideas really just kept spinning in her head like a threading machine, repeatedly like they did in the car.