A/N: There you have it, my first venture into Tekken Fanfiction. Not my best work, and more of an experimental piece then most of my other stories.... Hope it's still enjoyable.

Sergei almost never smiled.

I'm sorry, that's probably not the best introduction for me, starting about someone else. My name's Ivan. I'm a soldier in the Russian army, and most people think I'm insane. Why? Well, it's a mixture of my constant positive attitude and my friendship with Sergei.

Heh, friendship. I'm not stupid, I know it's a one-sided deal. He tolerates my presence.... barely, but that's it. But I like being around him. I can't explain it, his presence just..... comforts me. Even if he planted a fist in my face more often then not. I usually had it coming, talking like mad.

Sergei himself barely talked, and if he did, they were small quips and biting commentary on the chain of command. Yeah, he didn't really like being a soldier, at least not the whole 'Fight for your country and obey your superior'-part of the deal. The fighting, now that was another story. Sergei liked, no loved to fight. With guns, explosives, or just his bare hands, if Sergei was destroying something, he looked a thousand times more happy, a thousand times more..... alive. All of the others were disturbed by him. I liked it. It was the only time I saw him smile. And believe me, I tried.

"C'mon, Sergei. Smile." I'd ask him time and time again, when we were leaning against the wall of wherever we were stationed, smoking some cigarettes. "It never hurt anyone."

"You're an idiot, Ivan." He would say to me, before returning to smoking, or ranting about the next commander that pissed him off. He often said that to me. Probably why we were known as 'Ren and Stimpy' by most soldiers. Guess who was who. But they soon learned they shouldn't use that joke when Sergei was in earshot, unless they wanted to spit blood.

That was about our daily routine. Getting up, training, pissing people off, people pissing Sergei off, food, more training, more pissing people off, more people pissing Sergei of.....and off to bed.

Well.... until that day.

At first, it was like any other day; people pissing Sergei off in the mess hall. I can't even remember what happened. A silly joke about me being awfully close? Looking at each other the wrong way? I have no idea. But after that, it was the same as always; Sergei shouting 'I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!' and launching himself at the guy.

Problem was, he kept his promise this time around.

The phrase 'Deafening silence' never made much sense to me, but it was the exact description of that moment when Sergei got up, spat at the man for good measure, and another private knelt down the still man whose face was literally bashed into a bloody pulp, checking for a pulse.

"He's..... he's dead....." He stated, before standing up and turning to Sergei, furious. "You killed him, you fucking psycho!"

"Asshole had it coming." Sergei stated, hands in his pockets as he turned around and prepared to leave. The guy would have nothing of it, as he took one of the knifes from the table and charged at Sergei in rage. Something kicked in (Friendship? Probably) as I took the guy's arm, twisted it around so he was close against me, and used my free hand to twist his neck around, snapping it.

Again with the silence. It was even more stunned then before. They expected Sergei to kill someone sooner or later, if the not-so-funny-now betting pools were any indication, but me.... I was the pussy, the one that they all wondered did in the army because he was so mellow. Of all people, it was Sergei to break it.
"You're an idiot, Ivan." He said, as he always did. And after that... he smiled.

He smiled!

Well, it was more of a smirk then a smile, but it was there, and he was pleased with what I did for him. It was the first sign of affection I ever got from him.

Figures it had to be his last.....

As would be expected, we got arrested for murder and carted off. However... something was off with the prison we were going to. It was completely deserted and looked more like a lab then anything else. When I asked for it, they would say it was a new, experimental correction facility for violent people like Sergei and me. After that, we got separated and.... well.... all hell broke loose.

I don't even remember all the physical, psychological and emotional abuse they put me, and most likely Sergei, trough. All to break our minds. To change us in these.... machines to use in war. No mind, no will, just cold and cruel proficiency. But I wouldn't have nothing off it, because I knew Sergei wouldn't stand for it, either. He wouldn't break, I wouldn't break and we'd get out of here. We'd become renegades, roaming the country alone, running from the evil scientists that did this to us. Yeah, it was ridiculously naive to think like that, but it kept me going. I admit I couldn't hold my promise completely... they did break several parts of my psyche. But I kept my head high.... I kept strong. For Sergei, for his smile. For us.....

Months, maybe years passed, as they finally were finished with me. Giving me a Spetznaz uniform, they said they were done, and it was time to unite me with Sergei again. I was so excited. We'd finally be reunited, plan our escape and get out of this....!

The moment I saw Sergei again, that plan was crushed.

Dear Lord.... what had they done to him? They.... they broke him. Sure, he still looked the same, marching up to us, but.... his eyes were just so empty. They were supposed to be filled with a burning fire! Sure, a bit of a maddening fire from time to time, but even that was better then these..... empty pools. And the way he saluted.... Sergei's salute is supposed to be one that's mocking, but not enough so that the commander wouldn't be able to punish him for it. The way he saluted now.... no mockery at all, just pure obedience.

"I see your specimen was a complete success." Some scientist or other said, probably talking about Sergei. "Mine's.... well, not. But perhaps if we place them together in a unit, he still can be of some use." Together? Well, it was about damn time for something to go right.

"But in that case they should acclimate to each other." The other scientist said. "They knew each other before, but with their conditioning, that might have been lost." Yes.... spending time was good. Maybe I could make him remember.... maybe I could make him smile again....

I was in luck, they let us out of the building for this. Not out of the compound, but out of the building at least. They also gave us some weapons, something about testing whether or not we should abuse them to escape..... yeah, they were at least smart enough to just give us some simple knifes.

So there we are, walking across the compound. It was snowing and we both wore thick coats. Mine was white, while Sergei's was brown and a bit more decorated. He was so quiet.... sure, he was never a big talker, but these kind of separations from command was where he usually let loose about commanders that pissed him off. It was almost as if nothing was there.... probably not to far from the truth. Well, I could do enough talking for the both of us, as I always did. And it soon boiled down to that one question again.

"C'mon, Sergei. Smile at me." I tried. "Y'know... like you did before all of this. I know you can do it.... even after this time...." I kept trying and trying..... nothing. Nothing at all. No smile, no scowl, no annoyed sighs..... not even me being called an idiot. This.... this thing wasn't Sergei. Not anymore. But I wouldn't give up. I would make Sergei smile. No matter how.....

I glanced down at the knife I had.

No matter what it took....

The first slash was more to take him down then anything else, as it hit him across the bridge of his nose, splattering bright red across the barren snow. He looked at me with some hint of surprise in his eyes, as I quickly tackled him to the ground and held him there by the throat.

"Like it or not, I'm gonna make you smile." I said semi-innocently and completely mad, as I slashed at the corner of his lips. His hand shot up and prevented the desired result, but left a deep gash across the left side of his mouth. Slowly but surely, he managed to force my hands away, and I could see a glimmer of fire returning in his eyes. This hint at the old Sergei left me overjoyed, but also distracted, as he took my hand and forced it, knife and all, against my chest, making me stab myself lethally. As I laid there, vision swimming, I could see him get up and dusting himself off. Almost.... there was fire there, so the real Sergei was still in there, right? Right?
"C'mon....." I barely managed. "Smile....." But as I uttered them, I knew those were my last words, as I could feel myself descending into that eternal darkness.

Sergei carefully stood up, as he held a gloved hand against his gashes and looked down at the corpse he created. And despite everything, he smiled, for perhaps the last time in his life.

"You're an idiot, Ivan....." He muttered, but that was lost to ears that would never hear again.