Ana sat in the briefing room, as she had many times before. In front of her in a neat file her written repot waited for her superiors. She had completed her mission, not making the fatal mistake from before her supposed “death” and once the detained had been picked up for transport Ana had headed directly for debriefing. The mission had been a success, but Ana couldn’t help feeling like she had failed some sort of test.

She had included all the details of the strange event with Haris in as much detail as she could remember which was both thorough and very accurate, as were all of her mission reports. Ana didn’t like that the details of the event revealed so much about her personally to essentially the whole world, but she put it all in there anyway, any detail could prove vital. Ana was quite sure that the events that happened were real, but in the back of her mind there was a lingering doubt… the kind of work she did had cracked harder shells than hers before, after all. Was it a hallucination? A dream?

((If youwant to know what happedned it's here.))

Vdova tapped her fingers lightly against the wall. She was not quite prepared to enter the room just yet. There was enough confusion practically radiating from the room that she wished to be certain first. She wished to be certain of Turvish's physical state before progressing. The mental state would come later; if she had found herself physically impaired, that much could be divined from the distance, and it was more prudent to do so. Finally, she slipped into the room, her demeanour entirely impassive. The only thing that betrayed any light within Anastasiya was that which shone within her eyes; and that too, remained relatively dim.

She closed the door quietly behind her, allowing steady, even strides to carry her to the table at which Turvish cast. "River, Skyfire and the Doctor remain otherwise occupied at this point in time. The both of them are immersed in a protocol assignment of their own," Vdova said without yet looking Ana's way, her tone flat enough that it seemed more a statement of fact rather than an explanation. She eased into the seat before Turvish and looked to the other woman, finding her embrace in silence's arms once more as she waited for Turvish to begin.

Ana listened as Anastasia spoke. She wasn’t surprised, from what she knew, much was happening at the moment and she was privy to little of it. That was as it had always been.

“The mission went well,” Ana said, “three injured, no fatalities, only one of them go away, and they weren’t a high priority target.” Ana spoke in a calm even tone that did not belie any of the confusion, frustration, or irritation at the other events that had accrued.
“However there was an event,” Ana said her tone still measured and relaxed, “I believe you read my report already, yes?”

Ana didn’t wait for an answer before continuing, “It is my belief that the event with Haris occurred. I cannot explain in however, and according to what I can gather I was not gone for a measurable amount of time.

“I would like to submit myself to a full physical work up to make sure I was not compromised in some way.” It made Ana uncomfortable even just asking for a work up, it spoke of weakness. Even if she hadn’t said the words it was admitting that she could be compromised. She was one of the best at what she did, but in her line of work she had always found that there was always someone better… and in this day and age, there were people and things with a far greater skill set than even the extraordinary normal human could posses.

Anastasiya gave a dismissive wave of her hand, the singular motion about as encompassing as any that she was liable to afford the request. "I scanned you before entering the room. I'm certain of your sound physical state," she said. Vdova glanced down to the file that she brought in with her, setting it on the table. "Indication from your report stands that if the incident with Haris occurred, it returned you to a point in time prior to that from which you were taken," she said, sliding the report back to Turvish. The woman leaned back slightly, resting the tips of her fingers against the table in front of her. "Can you tell me anything about the incident with Haris that isn't in the report?"

It was a relief to Ana that she had been cleared physically at least. Of course, that didn’t rule out some malfunction of her brain like a vivid hallucination or psychotic episode.

“It felt like a test,” Ana answered, she wasn’t quite sure how to explain that, it seemed like the goal was more than just to gather information about her, “but I don’t know what his goal was.

“When I asked him what he wanted with me he said: ‘To run the course of this learning experience,’ but you already know that. Everything he said, asked, and the things I saw were all based around one central theme: did I believe I should go to heaven or hell and witch did I actually deserve. I don’t know what he actually wanted to learn from me, but it felt like he was testing the waters… like he wanted to find out how I would react for some future purpose and I got the distinct feeling that he was quite amused by me.”

Ana didn’t really know what else she could tell her, aside from her personal reactions, a thing she was loath to share, but at this point she just wanted to know what the hell had happened to her.

“He made me angry, furious,” Ana conceded thought her tone and body language had never changed the entire time, “and it felt like he was doing it on purpose.”

"It is certainly possible," Vdova remarked as she leafed through the pages of the report that Turvish had handed in. It seemed that the more power you handed those beings that sought to play chess with the world - the lives of the more common folk that littered the chess board of the world serving as the damned and befouled pieces of the wretched game - the more readily that they saw fit to test the poor wretches who were drawn into the forefront of the game. Test them by their own rules; and serving themselves as the judge of the test - then the jury and executioner, if any further evaluation was deemed necessary. If it was, what alternative did this life ever offer than the executioner's grace? None, lest it write the letter of the fortunate within your book; and so few it seemed received such blessings.

She glanced up from the report, looking once more to Turvish; another brief, evaluative glance before returning her attentions to the report itself. The words upon the papers told her just as much about the incident's effect upon Turvish as every word that slipped past the agent's lips now; one serving just as valuable as the other, the faces and impact of the incident spread across both facets of Turvish's expression. "The name Haris," Vdova began, "the name Haris is an alternative representation of the Judeo-Christian faith's Azazel. That would suggest that the circumstances, as you intimate, could all very well be possible. Even your return to this plane to a point in time before you were taken." She closed the file, brushing her fingers slowly over the surface of the manilla papering that sealed the file. "And much of your reaction understandable."

Ana’s expression didn’t falter and she remained in silent contemplation for a long moment. Ana hadn’t read the bible or thought on religion at all sense she was a child – her faith had died with her mother… not until she had been temporarily abducted by Haris had she thought about it at all. Haris – Azazel, it took her a moment to recall the story surrounding him.

“If they are one in the same, it can’t mean anything good,” Ana said somberly, “though I have not the faintest inkling what he was playing at.

“Realistically, I’m unimportant in the grand scheme of things. If I were gone you would find someone else to do my work. I don’t understand why he would care about me.”

Ana looked calm and unmoved on the outside, but underneath she was rolling. She had already been furious by his self entitled judgment over her, besides the fact that he had taken her in a manner which she could not fight into a place which she had absolutely no control. In truth Ana was still pissed.

"It's unlikely," Anastasiya responded. "Intelligence suggests that Azazel is a captive of Dream; the lord of the Dream Realm. Of course, Raphael Varano isn't always right, but track records indicate that it typically proves unwise to make assumptions in opposition to his advice." Vdvova slid her seat back as she eased out of it, rising to her feet. "But in light of your report, there are likely significant ties; which also can't mean anything good. I do not imagine that this was a matter of who you are in regard to importance. As far as souls and representations go - which one would surmise has some relevance considering his possible identity - anyone can give some degree of insight as long as they have a soul. As you said, it was likely a test."

She slid her seat under the table. "I also do not imagine that, given the circumstances, you are approaching this situation as calmly as you appear to be. It wouldn't be particularly natural to. You had your control rest from you. Left helpless," she stated slowly, her fingers curling around the doorknob. "I do not have the authority to order you to take the rest of the day off, but I strongly advise it, and will be passing the same recommendation on to Mr. Jurgensen and Mr. Varano. Approach this again tomorrow, with fresh eyes and a cooler heart." Vdova stepped out of the room, closing the door after her.

Ana would have frowned slightly if she didn’t have her guard up so high, she didn’t like other people being able to read her – or even really to guess at what she was feeling. She sat there quietly, listening to everything Anastasia said. She had a valid point and regardless Ana intended to do something other than work for the rest of the day. She felt out of control of herself still, and that was never a good thing in the field. Ana nodded in agreement before the other woman stepped out the door.