CHAPTER 1
As the old saying goes; 'good things take time, but great things happen all at once'. For Julien Nizan, it's the kind of lesson that almost everybody can relate to, be it an amaeteur pianist learning the keys, or an immovable sniper, waiting for the perfect opportunity to pull the trigger. In his job, such a lesson is important. You can't rush and burst into a building without the right reconnaissance, training and the proper wit of a counter-terrorist operative. However, the best things in life have an odd way of appearing before you when you least expect them— and perhaps that's what made Julien such an unstoppable force. It was what he modeled his life after, and when he finally joined Team Rainbow, he had no intention of burying that lesson in his thoughts filled with battle tactics and dispositions of a soldier.
And that was why he made a decision.
"Then partner her up with me!" he exclaimed, and the Brit in front of him, Mike Baker, flashed a scrutinizing glare.
"What?" Mike said. He didn't know whether or not he was thinking straight, after all, it's late in the night again.
"Look, I know Ela is a pain in the neck for you," the Frenchman started, "but is that seriously the only reason why you're thinking about rotating her out of the roster?"
"You've read her bio, lad." Mike adjusted his glasses. "She's been like this since she served in Iraq."
"I know," Julien said, "but she's not a problem to solve, nor a problem to abandon. She's a person, and a valuable asset to Team Rainbow at that."
He heard the talk, and he saw the events that had unfolded the last three weeks. Elzbieta Bosak— fresh from Poland's famous special forces unit, and the daughter of a famous commander— started to get into the other operatives' nerves. Her first go at the simulated training ended up in an unforeseeable disaster, and that was because she abandoned her team to settle things with her own hands. Needless to say, nobody can defeat NATO's highly intelligent virtual terrorists, and she and her team ended up with a bullet on their heads.
The whole fiasco was reported to the Second Lieutenant all the way up to Six herself, and if the Polish woman had done what she did in a real-life operation— they could only imagine. First she'll be kicked out, and second, many lives will perish. Then again, it didn't happen in real-life. It was only a simulation; no one can predict the future. But to take an educated guess is always normal, especially for an international counter-terrorist unit.
"I have scolded her every fockin' time she decides to play one-man-army in simulated training, and maybe the next round she'll finally obey but the round after that? It's like nothing ever happened!"
Of course, every frustrated soldier Ela disobeys or distrusts finished up angry, and Mike was always angrier.
"Look, Mike, I can endure. I'll help her trust us, I've done it before! Just give it some time, you can't expect the thing you want to happen instantly." Julien smirked.
"And if it don't work? What then eh?" the Brit spoke.
"The only question that matters is if it does work, what then? Well, we'll have a skillful operator, a valuable asset to the team who trusts us and is good at killing terrorists! Don't you want another person like Cohen or Streicher?"
"Of course I do," Mike said, "but those two lot actually trusts their mates and doesn't act like a superhero in a group of untrained plonkers!"
"Like I said, maybe I can help her fit in. I'm Rook, remember? I've been here with you since the start; you know me."
Julien was right. He was Rook— the one to instill the trust needed in a team. He did that everywhere: from the barracks all the way to the loud battlefields. It was one of the things he took pride in, and given the fact he was one of the youngest in Rainbow, it was all the more impressive. Deep in his mind, however, what matters now was Ela, not him.
As Mike paused to think about Julien's proposal, he began to think that the Frenchman's idea was way more practical than kicking out a member of Team Rainbow.
"Okay, Julien, sure," he finally said. "If you want to be her partner, then I'll pair her up with you. It's something being taken out of my hands and I won't decline. But if she don't change— put it up with Six."
In his mind, Julien repeated the last sentence Mike had said. He didn't take the old Brit as a pessimist, but more of a realist. Now there was a question buzzing around in his mind, 'what if Mike is right?'. After all, Mike was older— much, much older than him.
Julien knows that the 'older the wiser' doesn't apply to everybody, but it sure did apply to Mike. It had been just a decade before he stepped foot in the Gendermarie, but Mike had been in the Special Air Service for more than thrice the amount of time— maybe even quadruple. If anyone knows the frame of mind of a soldier more than Julien, it was the old Brit.
However, no one can risk kicking out a skillful member of Team Rainbow, and Julien knew it. Ela didn't have to be evicted— it was a terrible idea— and to think that even the higher-ups considered doing it, it left a sour taste in his mouth. A person with authority issues being scolded about what to do was just as much of a bad idea as installing a magnified gun sight backwards.
"You can count on me," Julien said. He grinned. "Don't file in a complaint just yet, oui?"
"Yeah, yeah," Mike replied. "I still have to report to Six and Castellano about this partnership of yours. Don't know when you'll start, but I'm thinking next week, how's that sound, eh?"
The Frenchman flashed a toothy grin. "How about tomorrow?"
"Really, Julien, you wanna start tomorrow?"
"The sooner the better!"
"Alright, fine." Mike glanced at a calendar on the corner of his office. "I guess I'll talk to Six today. Thank you for giving the old man another thing to do, 'cause it's not like I'm fockin' busy or anything."
The pair can't help but laugh.
"Just do the job, alright?" Mike added.
Deep down, Julien didn't like the way Mike called it a job, because it wasn't.
"The only question is: do you trust me?" he asked.
"Psh." Mike looked down on his table, and inside a folder, a picture of a young man accompanied by three GIGN operatives, along with a wall of text, met his gaze. "Everyone does."
And with that, Julien stood up, arranging the chair he once sat on. The bleached smell of Hereford's hallway was the only things he met when he opened the door outside of Mike's office, and though silence enveloped the building, his mind was quite the opposite. His thoughts were buzzing around. He wondered what he had gotten himself into.
When Julien woke up, he had almost forgotten about Ela. The only thing that made him remember was Mike's assuring stare when he stepped outside the dormitories.
The distorted sound of military jargon and teamspeak fell non-existent, and he was glad that it has been two months since his ears stopped ringing as a result of gunshots and M84's. The atmosphere was filled with the ambience of banter, the clinks of spoons and plates, and the occasional sound of British helicopters passing by above the rooftops. It was a sweet sight for Julien. Knowing that every member was in the headquarters just training, talking, and killing time. There were no news reporters blaring about an attack somewhere around the opposite corner of the world, and the risk of losing a dear friend was slim to none.
His stomach was already satisfied with the standard breakfast— a small sliver of stake, potatoes, and bread. The Frenchman had finished quite early than usual, as he had something— or someone— in mind.
It was oddly hard to find the Polish woman, considering that her hair was as green as grass, and the canteen's palette was among the colors of grey and pure dullness. Maybe she was sleeping or maybe she was in Hangar 3, where the large swimming pool was situated.
"Hey." Just then, someone spoke beside him. "You're my partner, am I correct?"
There was a thick Eastern European accent in the midst of the slightly monotone voice. Quickly, Julien whirled his head around and settled when he met the sharp gaze of the Polish operative he was thinking about. She was a tad bit taller than him.
"Yes!" Julien beamed. "yes I am."
"I'm Elzbieta Galczynski Bosak," she started, "and I'm from Poland's special forces unit, Grupa Reagowania Operacyjno-Manewrowego. You can call me Ela."
That was a mouthful.
"I'm Julien Nizan... from the GIGN." He gulped, but he quickly regained his composure. "But you can call me Julien, or Jules, or whatever you wish! So did Mike tell you...?"
"That you're my new babysitter?" she stated instantly. Her thick accent was only an additional intimidation factor to her somewhat alto voice.
"Well if you put it that way, then no." Julien smiled. "We're partners! We get to share tactics, we get to help each other in our sit-ups, and we get paired together in training."
Ela sighed. "Okay, Julien Nizan. Sure."
"Have you ate breakfast yet?"
"Yes—"
"Great!" Julien beamed once again. "Because we're gonna do some trust exercises."
Wasting no time, the Frenchman made his way through the crowd, and he walked through the canteen's double doors. The pair was soon met by the auspicious rays of sunlight. Ela followed suit as she rubbed her temples, groaning like a kid forced to do household chores. She wished it wasn't going to be a long day.
As the sound of chatter came to silence, and they walked to the empty clearings just beside the track and field, Julien couldn't help but glance at his new partner. Her mood wasn't ideal, and her eyebrows were furrowed to its extent. Even Kesikbayev didn't radiate such coldness, especially on a hot spring day. As funny as it sounded in his mind, he thought it was that time of her month again. But she was trained to handle it, right? He didn't know.
Ela did the same too, but she was eyeing Julien like an angered hawk, or like the eagle plastered on her emblem. Her comrades at GROM were a stark contrast to the Frenchman. He was smiling, and for some reason she knew that his mind wasn't currently assessing her every move. Somehow, he and her former partner, Meghan, had the same hearty aura. He wasn't groaning like Mike Baker, nor was he silent as Mark Chandar. He even executed some successful small talks along their walk.
"Did Cap tell you how he lost his eye?" Julien asked.
"Cap?"
"Souza. You know, the one with eyepatch? Anyway, the story was unbelievable, but Taina Pereira said it was all true. Do you wanna hear it?"
"Let's do the trust exercise first, przyjaciel," she sternly replied.
The fact that she emphasized that Polish word somewhat sarcastically made Julien curious, but he didn't ask.
Soon enough, they approached a small area with a portable table amidst the grass. A rectangular bag sat on top, and Ela wondered what was inside. Oddly enough, it was accompanied by a lone revolver and a box of .357 magnum rounds. Just on the sides of their field of view, the famous track and field and the classic kill house was in sight. If they turned around, they'll see the view of one of the buildings of Hereford, where they recently came from.
"Let's get started!" Julien said. "Let's do a trust fall first. You catch me, okay?"
Ela scowled at him, but quickly, her expression came to a deadpan one.
"Sure," she spoke. "Let's do this so we can stop doing this."
Julien rolled his eyes; Ela sure was something. Yet, he still believed that Mike was wrong— that Ela wasn't a brash over-confident showboat— she was something more. He needed to find a way to let the old Brit know, but it might take time, and also a lot of things to do on his part.
Now, he braced himself to be caught by Ela's arms. He spun around, and knowing that Ela was just a small distance behind him, he quickly let go of his balance and started to catch some air on his back. Before he knew it, Ela had already caught him. He smiled, and there was no sense of relief nor a breath that signified alleviation. He knew he trusted her.
"Are you going to stand up or what?"
Julien snapped out of his thoughts as her voice proclaimed through the air. He quickly stood up.
"It's your turn now," he said.
"Are you going to catch me?" she asked. An eyebrow was raised from the female portion of the pair.
"Oui. Yes. Tak," he replied sternly. "If I'm correct, Tak is Polish for yes, right?"
"Right."
Ela took a 180 degree turn and took a deep breath— Julien noticed it.
After a few seconds, she let herself fall on her back. The Frenchman quickly caught her, and she was dangling by her shoulders. A sigh of relief immediately escaped her lips; Julien noticed it as well. Wasting no time at all, Ela stood up and dusted off her jacket.
They met gazes again, and their eyes were quite the polar opposite. The Frenchman's were sparkling, but the Pole's were giving off a hint of fierceness.
"Is that it? Are we done now, Julien?" she asked.
"Yes we are!" Julien said, "but now we're gonna do my trust exercise. It's very effective, James Porter likes this the best."
Ela didn't know who James Porter is. She doesn't even know a whole lot of Team Rainbow, though she was familiarized by a handful. Meghan Castellano was her bestfriend, of sorts. There were Elias, Dominic, Jordan, Tina, and a few others she was comfortable to speak with. Needless to say, she knew Mike, but she wasn't exactly in the mood to start a conversation that didn't involve shouting. Then there was Julien Nizan. She didn't know much about him, and she certainly didn't know if the good-boy personality he was showing was just a facade.
Suddenly, Julien stopped what he was doing— which was putting on a Kevlar vest— and smiled sheepily at Ela. It took her a moment to realize she was glaring.
"Alright, I'm done suiting up, now let's—"
"Wait, what are you doing again?" she questioned.
Julien picked up the revolver and quickly spun the cylinder, scrutinizing its bullets. Then she handed the gun to her, with the barrel pointing to the Frenchman and the grip pointing to the Pole.
"I want you," he started, "to shoot me."
Ela snorted. "I wanted to shoot you since we first talked."
Julien let out a soft chuckle, and quickly pointed at the trauma plate on his armor. "This will stop a .357 magnum round and nothing more. Aim at this, and shoot. You're a good shot right?"
"Wait, wait," Ela said, "are you serious?"
"Yep," Rook answered. "I'm gonna stand over there. No countdowns, just shoot whenever you feel like it."
"No, you can't be serious." Ela didn't budge.
But Julien was already several meters away from Ela, and his hands were hidden behind his back. He nodded at her.
"Okay, okay," she whispered to herself.
First, she spun the revolver's cylinder to check the bullets, then with a hint of reluctance, she aimed at Julien's trauma plate. There were no doubts in her mind that she'll miss, and just like that, she pulled the trigger. The bullet hit right in the center, and Julien exhaled— but only because it felt like a horse had bucked him off.
Julien jogged to Ela's direction, and he quickly fumbled around to take off the vest.
"I feel very honored to shoot you, Frenchman," she joked.
Julien didn't reply, he grabbed another vest from the bag.
"Okay, wear this," he said.
"Wait."
Julien raised an eyebrow.
"What are you doing?" she continued.
"It's your turn." Julien beamed. "...and it's my turn to shoot you."
Shoot her? Ela's mood immediately became livelier that before.
"HEY!" Ela flashed the most terrifying glare yet. "No. No you're not, I'm not gonna let you—"
"Okay," he said almost instantly. "Now that we're done, I think Cap's gonna want us at the firing range. I believe breakfast is about done."
Ela blinked. She did not expect Julien to comply so easily, let alone change the topic that fast.
"Is... that all?" she asked.
"Yes. Unless you want me to continue the exercise, that is."
"No I don't, but," Ela said, "I thought you were gonna persuade me into doing it."
Julien could only chuckle. "And you were wrong. Now come on, partner."
The Polish woman sighed. If this was what the following weeks would be like, then she wouldn't know what to think. What was next was a mystery to her, and she hoped that Julien's trust tests weren't in the mix.
Ela wasn't afraid of being shot. She was shot all the time. The scars on the sides of her body and the wounds on her shoulders were a testament to how much she got hurt in the battlefields, and how much she could endure all of it. She didn't know how this trust exercise felt different, and she didn't know what to make of it. Of course, she knew that Julien would never shoot her in the forehead, but it was just like Mike Baker had told her over and over again. About trust.
She shook her head. To her, Mike was wrong. Besides, Julien seemed fine with it all.
The two were walking side-by-side, but the distance between them was fairly large. Ela, trying to be discrete, took a gander at Julien once again. She tried to find the cracks that showed dishonesty; that he was just Mike's cannon fodder pretending to be her friend.
So far, she found none.
Author's Note:
This is my first fanfiction for Rainbow Six: Siege! Of course, constructive criticism is encouraged.
The story will span a few chapters. but it won't stretch out for more than 15. Thanks for reading!