What He Have Done

"Back in the time we were still in Afghanistan, way back years ago, I was one of the top Taliban's leaders that is on the US wanted list. We first met each other, although not directly, when Neil was assigned on a mission to assassinate me.

So one sunny day in the deserts, I was hiding at my small but heavily protected base while Neil was lying down on the sand somewhere miles away with his camouflage and sniper ready to blast my head off.

And you know, I knew my importance so I never stepped outside unless we had to move somewhere else. But on that day, my wife who was pregnant with my 6-month-old son was being transported to me by my subordinates out of an area that was occupied by the Americans.

So there she stood, between me and Neil's scope was my wife who is a little bit taller than me, I opened the door with excitement to see my wife and my son, and Neil saw the opportunity.

That was the only time in the whole month I showed my face in the open air, but my wife was the only one blocking him from me, Neil knew that it was the only chance he got to kill me, and he had to take it.

So after I hugged and kissed my wife, I took her hands and began pulling her inside and that's when he decided to ignore it all, and BANG!

The bullet did hit me in the abdomen, but only after it went straight through my wife's head, killing her and my son who hasn't even been born."

Listening to Gabriel's story leaves Chad completely stunned, extremely bewildered, and at a loss for words.

It's as if everything he knew about his teacher, the image and impression of a kind, helpful, and enthusiastic Neil has just collapsed.

"Is that true?" However, Chad still wants to verify the story, so he turns to Neil. He simply wants an opportunity to make sure that Gabriel could be lying-.

"Yes."

However, all his hopes disappeared when Neil responded with a calm and cold voice. Chad is now in a state of disbelief, unable to accept what he just heard, yet unable to reject it either.

"Do you really think you know my friend Neil?" Gabriel moved in close to Chad's face and kept talking.

"You don't. The man who is your teacher isn't someone nice; he is the man who is willing to sacrifice anything, even kill anyone, if it means the success of the mission.

And don't ask me; ask him. I believe you know a little more than I do, Mister President."

Gabriel then directs the conversation to President Mikael. After seeing the shocked face of Chad, the President was uncertain of whether it would be good to tell Chad the truth about Neil.

But he also understood that, given the circumstances, there was no reason to conceal this truth any longer. He believed it would be best if Chad knew as well, so he began to speak.

"Neil... wasn't just a normal soldier; he was one of the best we had. Every name we gave him, he delivered on it. Every task we assigned him, he completed excellently. And in every battle he fought, the enemy, and probably even his own squad, all ended up dead.

Because of this exceptional talent, we hand-picked him for many special operations, including the mission to assassinate the top leaders of the Taliban."

President Mikael says with a heavy sigh at the end.

"Thank you very much. Now, do you understand?"

When Gabriel asked Chad, he did nothing but stay silent, sinking into deep thought. He pondered what else Neil might hide from him and began to question whether the whole operation was a good idea in the first place.

"It seems like you got a big catch."

"Huh?"

A female voice emerged near the room's door, capturing Chad's and everyone else's attention. In response, they all turned their gaze towards the now-opened door.

"Ah, Vasilia, I thought I'd never see you!"

A woman with shoulder-length brown hair, a grey sleeveless shirt, a curve in her chest, and a generally attractive appearance is standing between the door frame. Her face looks a lot like a Russian.

But, unlike Chad and the President, who are still puzzling over the identity of this mysterious woman, Neil is completely shocked when he sees her.

"You, you are..."

"Wait... I know you, what a coincidence." Vasilia, the woman appears to also be aware of Neil.

"It's you, the woman at the bar! The one I met the night before!"

He eventually realized that the women were the one he had met the night before the terrorist attack, the one he had saved from a Russian douche, and the one who made him pay for before running away.

"I already told you to leave the city."

"Wait a minute, don't tell me you met him before?!" Gabriel is upset. "Aw come on! I thought I was the only one who knew him!"

"We only met two days ago. He helped me when one of our guys tried to flirt with me, and then he gave me a free drink."

"Who said I paid for you? You just hooked up with me for a beer and ran away!"

"But- but I thought American men would pay for their first date?"

"Who taught you that?"

"Youtube? Facebook?"

"Damn, what a story." Gabriel utters. Meanwhile, another person is currently shocked to learn about their relationship.

"Neil, why did you hook up with a Russian terrorist?" Mikael askes in disbelief. "I thought you were gay when you still didn't have a girlfriend till now, but this is worse than gay."

"How should I know? I just help when I see someone needs it?!"

"Enough! What are you here for?" Gabriel asked Vasilia.

"Do you remember the guy who got kidnapped that you told us to bring him here once we found him?"

Gabriel nods.

"Well, here he is."

Out of nowhere, a terrorist emerges from behind Vasilia, wearing nothing but his underwear. Neil and Chad immediately recognize him upon a quick glance; he's the same person they had kidnapped, interrogated, and stripped down in the basement of the Safe Bar.

However, with this realization comes the chilling fear that Jenny, Selena, and Mike might have also been discovered.

"Come here." Gabriel orders.

"I'm sorry, Sir! I'm really sorry, I promise I won't do it again! Please give me one more chance, Sir!" The terrorist quickly showed his fear of facing punishment, but he continued to walk inside.

Gabriel gets to his feet, grabs the terrorist's shoulder, and points outside the window as he approaches.

"Tell me, what do you see outside?"

Following the order, the terrorists walk towards the window as directed and begin looking outside, carefully studying the surroundings, while the others watch with curiosity.

"Black smokes? It could be our bombs going off..."

"That is a sign of our men doing good on their jobs, everyone here is a professional in what they are doing. And how about you? All you did is to fool and play around and get captured by these amateurs. Dozens of our men have died just because you were careless and stupid."

"Sir, please give me another chance! I promise this won't happen again!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, sir! I promise with my own life!"

"Fine, I'll give you a chance."

"Thank you, Sir!"

"To be a role model."

"What?"

Gabriel kicks the terrorist towards the window he was standing next to, shattering the glass, and causing him to fall outside.

"AAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!"

A thrilling scream occurred as the terrorist began falling from thousands of feet (hundreds of meters) before splashing into the ground in a pool of blood and bones.

"It won't happen ever again."

"You fucking monster." Chad yelled in a criticizing tone.

"Sometimes, you need discipline and rules; otherwise, your entire organization will be torn apart. Oh, and Vasilia?"

"Hm?"

"Can you ask Kosho to check nearby buildings for any other worms trying to sneak in?"

"On it."

As they heard this, Chad and Neil looked at each other as if they remembered something.

"Nick..."

The one man Gabriel hasn't mentioned since they first met, a person perhaps known only to both Chad and Neil seemed to resurface in their thoughts, a man forgotten even by the "traitors."

Right now, Nick is the only person who can get them out of this place; if he is caught, then it's really over.

They already knew Saiko, Brent, and Ben were traitors because these three revealed themselves just an hour after Neil surrendered and Chad passed out.

But not a single neuron of Neil thinks that Nick is a traitor, since they both served in Afghanistan, have worked together, have mutual trust, and have risked their own lives for the other.

Neil knows that Nick is a passionate bartender and that he has no reason nor motivation to work with the Russian/Afghan terrorists, but nor does he know what is happening to Nick right now.

"Oh, I almost forgot something."

Gabriel speaks as he takes out a Walkie Talkie.

"L, can you get up here?"

"L?"

Gabriel remained silent despite the question. Just a few minutes later, the individual presumed to be "L" entered the room.

The moment "L" opened the door, Neil and Chad immediately recognized him as the enigmatic terrorist who had worn full-body clothing when he joined them in the elevator for a quick ride.

Gabriel then wraps his arm around L's neck.

"Let me introduce to you, this is the latest product from the Soviet Union Army, they call it the Прототип солдата с полным контролем разума, or the FMCPS, fully mind-controlled prototype soldier!"

. . .

"What's with the long name?"

"The scientists came up with the name."

"Ahhh. Understandable." Three of them exclaimed.

"This man here is a super soldier, as capable as a Navy SEAL and as battle-hardened as a veteran."

"Yeah, so what? The Soviets just inject this dude with their Super Serum invention like Captain America?" Neil insults.

"Ah, that's what you get wrong. You see, this guy's combat experience comes from real battles with the Talis."

"Wait, what do you mean?"

"He was a US soldier. After being captured by the Taliban a couple of months ago, he was transported to the Soviet laboratory to test out their new drugs.

And ever since he was injected with that... 'mind-control' drug, he now becomes unconditionally loyal to the Soviet Union, he doesn't speak unless he is ordered to, he doesn't sleep unless ordered to, and even doesn't shit, unless ordered to.

He focuses on killing and only killing the given targets. A perfect war machine. It's crazy, right? Now we even have the ability to make the enemy's soldiers into ours and make them fight for us. Science is really wonderful isn't it?"

"Who is he? What's his name?" The President is restless.

"Ah, for that, I can't tell you, there's a reason why his entire body is covered in this suit, it's a policy to protect the identity of the products. But, we call him L, because when we have him, we can tell our opponents go Ligma-"

"Ok, ok! We get it."

"Yeah, this really interesting, but so what? He's still a human, I can just put a bullet in his head, and done, he's dead."

"Oh, and if you think that turning our troops into yours will make a difference?" President Mikael added.

"How about I just stop using human troops instead? Well, I think Boston Dynamics has something good to give us, why don't I just take one of their dog robots and place a machine gun on it?

Oh and how about this, after I get out of this place, I am going to approve the Drone Army Project that my advisors have been urging me to?"

In contrast to the fearful and menacing atmosphere created by Neil and the President, Gabriel appeared to be quite excited and taken aback by the reactions.

"I didn't expect that kind of aggressive reaction from both of you, but don't worry, what you say, is not my problem. It's the politics and war kinds of stuff, I don't care about it."

He then let go off L and returned to his seat, leaning forward and directing his gaze at Neil.

"What I wanted to say is, if we can turn a loyal US soldier into a loyal Soviet soldier, then I can also turn you to my side. After we finish this whole operation, I will take you to the Soviet Union, and let those scientists inject you with the drugs.

So that not only you will become a part of the Soviet Army, but we will be also fighting side by side, as comrades. My goal was never the President nor to earn power, but to revenge on the United States and Neil Phildom. And I will make you kill the people of the nation that you vowed to protect, and I can't wait to see that."