| "Returning to Something" | ||
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Above Moscow June 11, 2008, 1432 hours The first thing he did after boarding the plane was to phone Elena. After three rings he heard her pick up. "Hey babe, how are you?" "Kolya! Where are you? I've missed you so much!" "I'm on my way home now," he told her. "I've missed you too. It gets annoying when I have to go so soon after getting back to you." "Hopefully we shall have longer this time." The hope in her voice made him tremble inside. Only she had the power to make him tremble with mere words. She had such control over him; such influence over his every thought, his every action. She had the control and yet she did not hold it over him, did not make bend to her every demand. They had a relationship built on trust and equality. "Yeah, I hope so too. So how are things? Any news?" "Not really. The baby's been kicking again; think it has your fighting instincts. Mum is fine, been worrying about you though. Keeps asking me why I couldn't find myself a nice boy who wasn't going to get shot at!" She laughed at that. "Like she did?" he asked with a laugh of his own. "I'll tell her that one, will give her something to giggle about!" "Yeah, you do that!" He laughed with her, wishing that the miles between them were only centimetres. He was too far away from her, and wishing the plane to go faster wasn't going to help. "I've got to go now hun. I'll be back soon though, I promise." "Ok. I'll be waiting for you." "I love you," he told her, his voice trembling ever so slightly as he said it, like it always did. "I love you too. Bye sweetie." The phone clicked as the connection was broken. "Awww� isn't he sweet," he heard Maksim say, and the others joined in with the mocking `awww' sounds. "Shut up you lot," he said, picking up a glove and throwing it at Maksim. It found his mark hitting him on the upper chest, causing him to fall off of his seat in mock pain. They all laughed at that. Kirill helped Maksim up, setting him back in his seat as the older man rubbed his arms, pretending that he was hurt. Nikolai sat next to him, punching him lightly on the arm as he did so. "Lena said that he/she is gonna be a fighter." The senior man smiled at that. "That is good news Kolya. Lets hope your baby grows up to be as strong and healthy as you." "It certainly will. Just gotta figure out names for it now. Lena's been talking about it recently; she has her favourites and expects me to just agree with her choices." A sly grin. "Not gonna happen." "Ah," Maksim said, "but does she know that?" "Oh yeah. She knows who wears the trousers." "Yeah, her!" "Shut up. I'm the man of the house," he replied with a broad grin. "Is that why you do as she tells you?" Maksim asked. "I gotta keep her happy, you know, make her think she is in control. Besides, when the baby arrives she will have a lot on her plate. Better that she gets her rest in now." Tarasov laughed at that. "Come on boss, you know you'll be changing nappies and feeding the thing. She is going to make sure that you get your fair share of parenthood. No more sleep for you!" Nikolai hung his head in recognition of that. "There must be some way out of it." "Nope," Maksim replied, then made the `under-the-thumb' gesture. "Ok, that's it. As soon as we get back I'm gonna kick your arse at footie." "Ok junior," was the chuckled reply. Maksim had skills for an old man. Nikolai got up and made his way over to where Nelli and Olesya were sitting. The two young ladies were discussing what clubs they would visit when their monthly downtime came up. Every month the teams would get seventy-two hours off from training to do whatever they liked, within reason of course. They had to be available for an immediate recall within a twelve hour timeframe, but apart from that they were free to go where they wanted. Of course the two teams had separate downtime times, seeing as one of the teams had to be combat-ready at all times. They worked on a two-week rota; for the first two weeks of the month Myech was the ready team, and for the last two weeks of the month Kinzhap had `go' status. There had been talk of assembling another two teams so that they could be rotated more effectively as well as increasing the available firepower. Sergei had told him that they were finding it difficult to find the right type of people for the teams, and so the idea was being put on the back burner for the moment. He hoped they would find the teams soon though; he looked forward to spending some time socially with the Kinzhap boys and girls. Apart from Morazov, he thought with a chuckle. "You going to come then?" Nelli asked him. "Sorry Nellya, I'm taking Yelena away for a couple of days." He saw the look in her eyes: gossip. "And don't you go telling her that. It is meant to be a surprise." "Where are you taking her?" Olesya asked him. "A little place that Sergei told me about. Apparently he took Anastasiya there in their courting days, and its also where�" He managed to stop himself. He couldn't tell them that it was were Yelena was conceived now, could he? No, that was a little something Sergei had shared with him to convince him that that was where he should take Yelena, and something that he should keep between him and his mentor. "Where�?" Nelli prompted. "�where I shall be taking Yelena," he finished, dodging quite well, or so he thought with a mental congratulation. "But we can't tell her?" "No. Like I said, it is a surprise. Now excuse me ladies, I have some work to do." He got up once more and this time made his way to the back of the plane. Located there was a fairly small soundproofed booth with all manner of electrical equipment arrayed around the interior. He slipped though the door and closed it behind him, sealing himself off from the rest of his team. The change in volume was immediately noticeable, and he smiled at it. He had come to appreciate solitude recently. No longer was it occupied by his Demon, and no longer did he fear it. He simply enjoyed it and its benefits. He would have done that now if there wasn't more pressing matters, such as his initial report of the mission. He also had to review the data gathered by the bugs he had placed in Petrenko's. In fact, they were still running since Trouble was yet to complete her mission. They would keep recording right up until the moment the dacha was cleared after the murder. Trouble. Once again she had invaded his life. He would definitely have to get things sorted out on that front. He'd have a talk with Sergei when they got back. After he had seen Yelena of course. Must get his priorities right. After all, she was the one thing he had to return to, and it was a rare enough thing in this line of work to have something to go home to. Beside, he enjoyed returning to something, especially seeing as that something was his fianc�. Return |
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