Safehouse 1, June 17, 2008
Bella wandered through the corridors of the Safe House, nose in a book, she had just been to see the doc so that dressing could be changed and her shoulder could be just generally checked out. She wore a long denim skirt that was split to mid thigh level on both sides; black lace-up knee high boots, so that when she walked only a small portion of thigh could be seen. Her white peasant style top sat off one shoulder, the other covering her injury and the decorative stitching around the neck of the top spread to just above her breasts, and unlike other tops of the same style hers depicted vines and leaves, not flowers. The outfit was capped off with a denim coloured peaked beret stylishly placed on her head, her hair plaited out of the way fell to her mid lower back. She was so engrossed in the book she didn't notice the figure walking the other way down her corridor until they were almost upon each other. She stopped and looked up. His face was familiar, she closed her book and stopped walking looking at the stranger closely for a few seconds as she remember where she had seen him before.

~FLASHBACK~
He grabbed a rope from his person and approached her, she tensed ready to fight him if she had to, but that was just her bodies normal reaction, her mind said, `no. He's not going to shoot you if you don't make him.'

~cut to~
Ruzhyo: "They call me Ruzhyo. To you that would be Rifle."

Ruzhyo: "I'll sort this out with Trouble when I talk to her."

"Trouble?" Bella enquired.

"Your leader. The blonde one. I only know her as Trouble."

She smiled, yes Paige, that was an apt description,

~cut to~
Bella: "So what exactly do you do?"

Ruzhyo: "I look after the Russian people and protect them and the country from harm." Well that sounded practised. "Mainly it is dealing with terrorists operating within Russian borders, or those of our allies, along with those who either threaten Russian interests abroad or who are funded by Russians. Also we deal with the Russian Mafia, Intelligence information, weapons sales, computer hacking… all the usual stuff. My team is the sharp end; we do all the shooting."

~cut to~
He approached her with a syringe. He seemed to be saying something, apologising? Explaining? She didn't care. Looking in the opposite direction from him she closed her eyes almost against her will, but there was nothing to be done for it, not now. She slept, peacefully.

~cut to~
He approached speaking as he did. "Lets go," he cut her legs free.

Bella: "Are we there yet?" Her voice was child-esque, quite deliberately.

Ruzhyo: "Yes, we are here. You ok?" he asked. He seemed concerned and she smiled a little

~END FLASHBACK~

She remembered now and for just a split second she was unsure how to react to his presence. He had stopped and was looking at her now, she had to do something. "Well I see you made it to American shores. Welcome to…their country." She spoke in a friendly way, accompanying her words with a smile, whether she meant it or not she wasn't sure yet.

"How are you Bella," he said with a genuine smile.

She could tell by the inflection of his voice that he was unsure if that was her name. "It's really Bella," she assured him.

"You look well."

"Thanks, you do, too."

"I'd like to formally apologize for…"

"No bother," she waved it off, "I know all about following orders." He smiled gratefully with a nod of his head. "So, what exactly are you doing here?"

"Well," he grinned, "hanging and banging with Paige. I'm not quite sure what that is but I'm guessing it's fun."

Bella nodded her head, "most things with Paige are fun, not all of them, but most."

"I'm beginning to understand that."

"Uh huh," Bella smiled at him, "and why are you really here?"

"Oh, that," he gave her a broad smile, "we got caught in some dreary as all hell meetings, work, boring really." He rolled his eyes, "we, being Paige and I, which is why we're off to hang and bang."

Bella styled a laugh.

"That didn't come out right," he said quickly. "I meant…"

"Yeah, I know. And where is Paige now?"

He shrugged, "locker rooms, wherever they are. She had to get something…or something."

"Well, it was good seeing you again, Rhuyzo, but I have a meeting of my own to attend to." She flashed him an easy smile and barely waited for him to reply before heading off.

She would have to drive like a maniac…like her usual self in order to get to her destination anywhere near when she was meant to be there. It wasn't a huge problem being late, her meeting was with her language teacher, they had lunch, talked, socialised, all very civil, but it was all done in Russian, not a word of English spoken from the time she got there to the time she left.