Who: Nikolai Mironov & Bear Flintly When: December 29, evening Where: Utah, ski lodge What: Nikolai gets home from the rescue mission and goes to pick up his daughter. Status/Rating: Complete; PG-13? (mentions of their, er, exuberant sexual encounter from earlier)
Nikolai was tired. Exhausted. A weariness that he thought might be bone-deep plagued him after this mission. The worry and fear that haunted him ever since early Sunday morning refused to leave, not even after they found Raisa and he was able to get her home. Not all of the students had been located and that left him with a sick feeling in his stomach. Javier’s daughter, Rory, was missing still; Nikolai hadn’t spoken to him, didn’t know what to say and didn’t know if he would, but he could only guess at the terror the other man felt. He knew he would feel nothing short of terror if his little girl had been taken. His stomach plummeted at even the thought of it. Was it selfish to be happy his family was home, all accounted for? There it was again, guilt for feeling glad that Alexandra was safe and sound. Guilt, Nikolai wondered sometimes if he would ever stop feeling guilty: about Konstantin’s death, about Raisa’s capture, about everything, apparently.
But he was back. Not home, but back and he resolved to put that behind him, lock it away with other thoughts he couldn’t (didn’t want to) sort through. Sitting next to Raisa, he tapped out a text to Bear.
Hey kid. I just made it back. You and my little monster okay?
What he wanted to do was get up and run to find them. After seeing Raisa, his capable little sister, injured, filled him with fear, fear wanted to ignore. If he didn’t have enough anger about these assholes before he did now. Nikolai had enjoyed the Organization for what it had allowed him to do, what it had helped sculpt him into, but wasn’t the sort to buy into their bullshit uncritically. Nikolai didn’t trust easily. Where those fighting the Organization might have had a lukewarm reception, they now had a fiercely angry (and resourceful) big brother. He wondered briefly if he should’ve taken Alexandra away from all this years ago, gone on to lead a normal life, instead of coming back to Olympus. The situation wasn’t proving to be as safe as he hoped.
He shook his head to clear his thoughts and got up from the chair. A return text hadn’t arrived yet but Niko thought he’d get a head start anyway, adrenaline still coursing through his system and making him restless. Despite his usual indifferent demeanor, he reached down, grabbed Raisa’s hand, and pressed a kiss to the back of it, telling her he’d be back to check on her later, strained smile on his lips. With that, he was on his way, looking forward to seeing his daughter again. And Bear, oddly enough.