Chapter Text
You rush back to your room. You cannot wait to open the link that Laswell sent you. You throw down your bag and jacket, change out of your pantsuit and into a flannel and tee-shirt, and most importantly pour yourself a glass of wine. You settle into your bed and click on the link.
***HIGHLY CLASSIFIED***
***This file will self-delete after 90 minutes***
As Laslow promised, it’s Ghost’s Military Personnel file. The first thing you notice is the square that would normally show a photo is blank. It just says: PHOTO NOT FOUND. “Well, so much for that” you tell yourself.
The second most notable stat is the name: Simon Riley.
The first page is basic physical stats. No surprises here. The man is large. His age, about ten years older than you.
The rest of the front page is basic uninteresting military stats, although his are exceptional by any standard.
The next page contains background information. This is where some of the pieces of the puzzle fall into place. According to the file when he was a child growing up: (Redacted)
The following pages are quite shocking to read, you were correct to assume he had a super-villain origin story, but you had no idea it would be anything like this. When he was a young man, he witnessed... (redacted)
So that’s why he wears the mask all the time. You are in shock. You can’t even tell Emily about what you just read.
Laswell was right. Reading his file should put to rest any developing feelings. Should....but didn’t. It only makes them more complicated. You make the conscious decision not to process what those feelings are, not now anyway. You finish your glass of wine, and instead of taking a nap, you go into your desk and take out all the reading materials you have regarding, Haasan, his motives, inner/outer circles, staff members, etc...
Your device alerts
You send the following message to Laswell:
Can you please send me the location of where tomorrow’s prisoner is located?
Laswell: I’ll let the staff know you’ll be stopping by.
**Secure location link***
🔗
You click the link. No surprise there, it’s behind the interrogation warehouse building. It’s a bit of a hike, and nobody’s coming to shuttle you there so you decide to go there now while it’s still light out. You throw on jeans and a zip up hoodie and head out the door.
You arrive at the chained in section of the facility, and present your ID to the guard, “Good afternoon, Agent_. They’re expecting you.”
“Where do I go to find Cell Block A?
“When you get to the warehouse, keep waking then take a left, it’s the cinder block building behind it.
You follow his instructions and enter the least inviting building you’ve yet to experience since arriving on property.
You’ve seen facilities like this in the movies. They’re always, stark, cold looking, bleak, and dirty. You don’t even have a plan in mind but you feel the need to at least see the woman you will be speaking with tomorrow. Her cell is at the end of the corridor. Since she is the only female in custody at the moment, the rest of the block is empty.
You reach the end of the corridor and peer into the cell. It’s a grim situation. There’s a metal cot, dirty walls, a toilet, small nightstand with a desk lamp and a book. A single lightbulb hangs from the ceiling. It’s musty, damp and cold. There is a female figure lying in a fetal position on the cot.
“Milena, may I have a word with you?” your voice echos.
The body stirs, and Milena sits up.”
“Milena, I’m here to help you.” You say in Arabic.
“Go away” She replies in English.
You notice that her gown and her sheets are bloody. You are appalled by the conditions she’s been living in.
“Listen, I’m not here to bring you any harm, I’m just here to gather information. I don’t expect you to trust me just yet, but will you just let me introduce myself, then then I’ll leave you alone."
You reach into your purse and pull out some maxi pads. “Will you just allow me to give these to you, and I’ll be on my way.”
Milena sits up in cot, pauses for a few seconds, then slowly approaches you. She is very apprehensive, but there’s a desperate look on her face.
You hand her the napkins along with a piece of chocolate. “I know that you have no reason to trust me, but if you can help us out tomorrow, I can guarantee you better living conditions and even though it’s not guaranteed, your release from this facility is not off the table depending on how things go.
You have no idea if what you’re doing right now is appropriate or even allowed. You skipped the whole black ops detainee training program, and have come to find out there really are no set rules or guidelines. If there were, your prisoner wouldn't be left to lie in her own blood.
“Please try to get some sleep, I look forward to speaking with you tomorrow.”
She doesn’t know quite what to make of you, but reluctantly takes the items from your hand and walks back to her cot.
Something about her face
your brain is telling you urging you to retain a mental picture of it.
On your way out of the facility you stop to speak with a guard.
“Excuse me” you show him your badge. “Can you please see it it that the prisoner in Cell Block A gets a fresh set of sheets, underwear and clothing?”
The guard looks you up and down with a look that screams “Who the hell does she think she is?”
He taps his handheld to your badge, pauses for a second or two “Absolutely, Ma’am, I’ll see right to it.”
That was easier than you thought it would be. You exit the facility, take the long walk back to your room and struggle to process what you just saw.
Well, this confirms that the rule of law absolutely does not apply at this facility. When those in charge keep assuring you the prisoner is most likely an innocent employee, and this is the conditions she’s kept in? You didn’t expect to find the Ritz Carlton, but denying clean clothes and sanitary supplies goes against everything you were brought up to believe about the United States and justice. You know what’ll be said if you complain: Rule of law doesn’t apply to suspected terrorists being held in facilities like these.
Does treating humans this way encourage them to tell you the truth? To open up to you? You very much doubt that, but there’s little to nothing you can do to change that right now, so you decide to focus on how to proceed with tomorrow’s interrogation.
Your device alerts Laswell: Interrogation of Prisoner 3787939034 will begin at 0800 tomorrow. Translation not required but will be facilitated by Agent_.
You start going through your notes and materials regarding Haasan’s inner circle. Something about that woman’s face is somewhat familiar.
”Knock knock”
“Ready to go eat?
”I don’t know, I’ve had an emotionally taxing day, let’s order in.” you reply. “My turn” you insist while ordering pizza on your handheld.
“So what’s it like being back in the surveillance room?”
“Kinda the same, but the topic of the conversations have changed some. I can’t wait to ask Laswell about it.”
Your Device alerts.
Emily’s device alerts.
Laswell: Ladies is it possible to meet me at the following location ASAP?
🔗
You: We just ordered pizza, can we push it back one hour?
Laswell: I’ll just come to you. I’m on my way. “OH MY GOD!! Help me straighten up!” you say to Emily in a panicked voice. You and Emily scramble to pick up clothes, random items, containers.
”What could she possibly want from us right now?”
”No idea, I’m nervous, I’m glad at least she wants to see both of us.”
::Knock Knock::
“Jeez that was fast!” You say while getting up to open the door.
“Agent Laswell, come in!”
Laswell is holding a pizza in her hands. “Looks like I timed that just right, where should I put this”
“The desk is good; do you want some?”
“No thank you, I just ate, and I only have a few minutes, wanted to touch base before I have to leave, might have to head back to DC very shortly. Emily how was your first day back on surveillance?
“Lots of talk about sports as usual but this time, instead of soccer, the topic was mostly centered around boxing.”
Laswell nods. “Code for shipping containers.”
Your eyes go wide.
“Think about how large a missile to take out a city like New York. There’s been movement and that is very concerning to us."
So I understand you went to the holding facility today; Agent_.”
“I did, it was disturbing to say the least. Something about her seemed familiar to me. I’m just now remembering what that was.” You say as you go into your desk drawer for some papers. You find one with a blurry photograph.
”This is the only photo I could find of his cartel leaders. Look at this woman, I definitely notice a resemblance.”
“Hmm, the hair is different, and our detainee has a birthmark on her face. I’ll see if i can find a better photo, however, if it ends up being her, that doesn’t necessarily mean she has the information that we need. My advice for you going into tomorrow’s interrogation is to question her as if you already know, approach with confidence, but also treat her like a human.”
“Shouldn’t we be treating her like a human regarding living conditions. What I saw today was barbaric.”
“It’s above me, Agent_, one of the harsh realities of being in this line of work. However, with the current changes going on at the very top, we may be able to come to a compromise on the issue. Speaking of, I have to attend a video conference with the VEEP, Secretary of State, and General Duckworth in 20 minutes, so I must get going. The next time I speak with you will most likely be remote from the Pentagon. Thanks for letting me stop by on such short notice. “
You and Emily thank her for stopping by and she gets up to walk out the door. As she reaches for the doorknob her head does a doubletake. Her eyes are locked on the bottle of whisky you left out on the desk. She steps over to it and picks it up.
“I didn’t take you for a whisky drinker, Agent_. Where did you get this?”
“That, oh..um.. It was a while ago I think I got it from the Target liquor store.”
“Oh? How much was it?”
“Umm, it was pretty expensive, like..um around $50 or $60.
“Cut the crap right now; Agent_. By now you should know your boss is a human lie detector. How many times has he been in your room?”
You are overcome with shame and embarrassment. This is even worse than when Price called you out because Laswell has just caught you lying to her face.
You deeply exhale and start nervously looking around the room. Emily is visibly uncomfortable. Lying to her again would not be the right thing to do.
“Agent_ that is a rare bottle of vintage that you can’t buy in the United States, it’s worth well over $300 and it’s only available in the UK.
You sigh “Honestly, two...two times...um at least twice that…that I know of.” You want to crawl under your bed, or better yet spontaneously combust.
“Did you read his personnel file; Agent_?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“I think you should read it again. I will resend it to you. Good night, ladies.” Laswell says sternly as she exits your room.
You don’t want to make eye contact with Emily but it’s unavoidable. She has that look of a younger sibling watching their rival sibling get a stern talking to by mom and dad, and enjoying every second of it.
“I’m too embarrassed to talk about that, can we postpone that discussion until tomorrow; please?”
“Okay, but only because it’s late and to put it lightly, we have important jobs to do tomorrow. Let’s meet for breakfast at 0700.”
“Sounds good.”
Your device alerts
You look at your device.
“OH MY GOD!!”
You show the message to Emily.
💀 You up?
“Girl, don't ask me what I'd do in your shoes right now. I gotta get to bed; goodnight."
“Good night, Emily, see you tomorrow.”
You stare at the text conflicted on how to respond. It’s not about how you want to respond, this isn’t freshman year of college answering the bootie call of the hot upperclassman. “This is the type of misbehavior that literally puts reputations and lives at risk.” screams the rational part of your brain.