no title (Bell x Adler)

Chapter 1: Prologue

Bell gasped, waking up in a brightly lit room. Her first instinct was to look around and find out her location. She glanced around the room and groaned, looking down she realized she was in a gown. A hospital gown. By the looks of the room it had to of been a hospital somewhere in the USA. Bell carefully lifted the gown to see stitches on her stomach area. Ah, that was right, She'd been shot. On the cliff where he, Adler, told her it; quote, "Wasn't personal." She groaned and stood up, ripping the IVs from her arm and walking out the door. "I'll have to sneak out.." She said to herself quietly, silently crouching down the wall, being sure to stay quiet. Long story short, she made it out of the hospital without being noticed.

Bell had escaped, taking the next few months to recover and find out what happened to her, how did she get to that hospital? She knew she didn't crawl all the way to the US by herself, someone had to of taken her there, maybe it was a random civilian, but why would a civilian take her to the US? With that, she crossed out a civilian taking her there out of her mind, figuring it HAD to be someone on the team, likely someone who didn't want her to die or just felt bad. Park did say she felt like she owed Bell so.. Chances of it being Park were higher than the rest. 

Bell had hidden herself for awhile until the police had stopped looking for her after her escape. When they gave up, she got herself a job to last until she was ready to head to the safehouse where the rest of the team hopefully still remained. So if she wanted to find them, she'd have to get there within the next week or so, and with that came intense training with both weapons and close combat. Oh she felt like such a fool, to trust Adler, to believe the things he put in her head, the memories, he made her, and that fact could never escape her mind, she obeyed him like a dog for over a year. She shook her head, trying to clear her mind. 

Days went by slowly, but surely the time came where Bell was ready to face the team and head the the safehouse. She grabbed her things and made the drive to the Berlin safehouse, unarmed. Damn, the memories that simple building brought back made her heart ache with rage. Slowly she walked to the main door, gently knocking on it with her fist. Fuck she regretted it almost instantly, hiding beside one of the garbage cans she waited for the door to be opened, not knowing what to do or say. A moment passed before it was opened and she heard footsteps. A low, raspy voice filled the nights silence along with the sound of a lighter flicking. "Hello? Tss... Must've been a ding dong ditch." Spoke none other than Russell Adler himself. He took a drag of his cigarette and breathed out the smoke, sighing. Bell cleared her throat which Adler raised an eyebrow to. "...Or not." He put the cigarette between his lips and grabbed the pistol that rested safely on his side. He only rested his hand on the grip, figuring maybe it was just a stupid kid. Before he could even go around the trash cans, Bell jumped out and held her hands up. "Dont shoot." She said sternly, staring at him with a harsh glare. With that, Russell let go of the gun. "How on Earth are you alive?" He growled out, his glare not visible through his shades. Bell frowned. "You.. Didn't know I was alive? Then who took me there? Park? Mason?" The questions swarmed her mind as she balled her hands into fists. She gritted her teeth and swung at Russell, Who grabbed her arm and held it with a tight grip. "No. The hell are you talking about?" Bell tried to swing again only to have him grab her other arm as well. She shook her head. "The hospital, someone took me to a hospital. I didn't know what was happening." She heaved, the thought that he might just shoot her again and end it clouding her thoughts. He shook his head and groaned, breathing out another puff of smoke from his cigarette before throwing it down. "I've got no idea what you're talking about. Go inside. It's cold." He opened the door for her, to which she glanced at him before cautiously walking into the building. She was in a hell of a lot of trouble, especially with Hudson since she knew he hated her.

Bell sat down on a cold metal chair in front of the evidence board, it seemed as though everyone else was at their homes, Russell was the only one there. She didn't notice when Russell came back inside, staring off into space. Russell cleared his throat, getting her attention. Bell looked at him as he walked closer. "You need a place to stay, Bell?" He asked her, kneeling down in front of her. She sighed and glanced away. "I do. You'll probably shoot me though if I go with you." He chuckled, shaking his head. "No, I won't shoot you. Look, come with me, I'll rent you a hotel room to stay in and I'll let everyone know to come to the safehouse tomorrow. I guess you and them have got a lot of explaining to do." She nodded. "I guess..." She mumbled, rubbing her arm. Silence filled the room for a brief moment, then Adler spoke up. "Where were you the last year?" Bell bit her lip, sighing. The US. I didn't do anything really, just recovered from the shot you put in me, got a job then.. well... came here. I wanted to.. get revenge on you, not by killing you, I just... Needed to see you hurt." Russell hummed at that. "Well then, take your best shot. Go ahead, punch me as hard as you can." Bell sighed. "That's not how it works, Adler." He chuckled softly. "If you say so. I'll call everyone and have them come here tomorrow morning. You still want that hotel room or you wanna stay somewhere else? Not sure if you plan on staying for long." Bell thought for a moment. "I plan on staying as long as I need to. So I'd recommend you rent me an apartment, something simple." Russell nodded. "Done. I'll rent the apartment tomorrow. For now you can stay with me. Guess we can say it's a way to earn trust." Bell bit her lip nervously and nodded. "Sure..."