Frostbite and Fire

"You shouldn't stay here Feliks," Lovina warned, "I think he's catching on," she said, letting out a side only endangered friends of the beautiful brunette saw. A softer side of worry. Feliks simply smiled. He then gave her a reassuring phrase he was so sure at the time was true. Begrudgingly, she believed him before being escorted out of the building.

"Don't worry, I'll be alright," as well as, "I can take care of myself, you know that,"

If only those words still rang true to his situation.

He had packed a bag with his essentials for leaving under the bed, it was carefully stowed away. He made sure that he was going to leave anything they could use to track him in his room. His bag had only his passport, ID, cash, and a few important memorabilia from home he had always kept near.

Having finished just enough chores for his absence to be ignored for a few hours, the blond calmly walked down the hall to his room. Except he was anything but calm. Calm was an illusion he was working very hard to display only so he wouldn't attract any suspicion. With a sense of determination that drowned out fear he carried on down the hallway, fingertips brushing his long maid uniform.

Originally, it was something Ivan had chosen for his uniform to be degrading, after all Feliks had to request to be accepted into the Russian mafia. Unluckily for Ivan, Feliks was fond of women's clothing. Being rivals for so long, Ivan used the change to keep Feliks under his thumb. It was an easy accomplishment, as his sole reason for joining was for his "family," the Baltic nations. Despite being a selfish person, he was also protective. He was content just to make sure the ones he grew up with were safe.

Or so he had been.

Feliks rushed to his room, praying that he wouldn't be caught before leaving. His footsteps hastened as he walked down the hall. Please be in like, your office or something... he mentally wished, suddenly it was as if what had been a minute's walk was now tortuously slow. As hope lit his eyes, his room at the end of the long hall finally within his grasp fear filled him, for suddenly his arm was within another's grasp. The blond turned to meet another pair of green eyes; however they were much softer than his own.

"What is it Toris?" he asked, quickly adapting a tone of surprise and boredom. It was a necessary skill for his situation after all.

"You seem a bit off, Feliks, you okay?" the light brunet asked in a worried tone. Right. Toris was a friend that could read him well. Feliks held to a bored expression carefully and nodded.

"Of course I'm totally fine Liet, what's up?" he swiftly changed the subject. A light crossed the other's eyes as he remembered his purpose.

"They need a servant to bring drinks to Mr. Ivan's meeting, I'm not allowed to since I'm not really one..." he responded. Panic flashed through the strong willed jade eyes.

"Can you like, ask Cynd to do it or someone else? I left something in my room but I'm in the middle of chores and stuff." Toris easily accepted the answer, even apologizing for getting in the way. Feliks laughed it off calling his friend a dork before sending him off.

Taking a deep breath, he walked into his room, shutting and locking the door behind him. It was only a quick wardrobe change into a pair of black pants, a soft pink shirt, and a pair of converse, quickly sliding his bag of necessities over his shoulder.

Now, it was time for the real hard part.

Proud of his flexibility, he slid through the window and outside of the building. It was a room Ivan had given to him as a cruel joke, trying to rub lack of freedom into his face. It was funny how things changed. Next he just had to get past the wall that surrounded the building. It was too smooth and much too tall to climb however; he made his way over to the one place he could escape, the sunflower garden.

Swiftly he hid in the flowers, navigating his way to the back wall. Never had Felix had such hatred for a type of flower. He had nothing against the flower itself; however, it was whom they reminded him of. Suddenly freedom was within sight, he gave into his whim as he ran full speed before jumping, catching the ledge of the lower wall. It was the lowest part of the wall, necessary for Ivan's flowers to get sunlight. The small hands tightly grasped the ledge and pulled himself up.

Despite anything most seemed to believe, he knew he was strong. It took someone strong to keep coming back no matter how many times he was beaten down. He quickly slid and jumped off the wall and made a run for it.

His dangerous freedom was just within grasp. That's when he stopped in his tracks. Remembering exactly what he was doing, he glanced back to the wall.

He could get Liet killed for this! But, it was already too late for him to turn back. He knew he wouldn't be so lucky as to not get caught on his way back. There he stood, frozen in thought.

Dangerous.

The phrase rang true in his mind. Before he was only thinking of himself, last night when he saw Ivan he knew there was a punishment coming for him today. Ivan found out something and was livid; most that hadn't lived and worked for him so long wouldn't be able to tell though. Ivan had a special type of anger. He didn't lash out. No, it was much worse. He thought through how he would torture who he was angry with before taking them and breaking them. Maybe to some, he was a nice guy.

Not here.

Here he was a dictator who ruled with an iron fist that killed anything that argued.

Feliks clenched his fists; reminding himself that he would be the one Ivan would seek out before running. He had arranged for someone to pick him up as of last night, the night he knew he needed to escape. Luckily for him, the one who helped him become a spy was more than willing to take him away from Ivan.

"Oi~ Pinky," A voice called out, capturing the pole's attention. Quickly his head whipped around to find a familiar face with a smirk plastered across. Feliks' eyes widened in surprise. The man walked towards the blond, amused by his reaction. Chuckling, he spoke again, "What? You look like you weren't expecting me," he said teasingly.

"Shut up," the green eyed man replied, letting out a sigh. "I just wasn't like expecting you to be here yet," he said as the tall man approached him, his red eyes glimmered.

"Oh? But yet you came, funny," he teased, grabbing the pole's wrist, roughly pulling him into a helicopter. "As much as I enjoy taking something from the communist bastard, I do have a schedule," he finished, already starting the helicopter.

"Of course Al," he replied to the leader of the American mafia. "Just...thanks..." he said softly, taking a seat as the brunet began to fly the contraption. It was plainly colored, much to the pole's distaste, but that was after all how they usually made the insides of helicopters. Black, gray, with a little bit of white. The black seats were however luxuriously comfortable.

"What good would I be if I didn't keep my old lackeys safe?" he responded simply. "There is a safe place you're going to be, it's with a person ruski won't expect because, well you don't have any connections or even know him." That meant...

Shit

Feliks was going to live with a stranger

A STRANGER

Something he was absolutely horrible at, was speaking to strangers. In all honesty, they freaked him out. How was he going to possibly cope to living with a stranger?

"Nonononono," he rushed the first phrase, "Al I thought you said I could hang at your headquarters," he pleaded, Sure, the red eyed American was an asshole extraordinaire, but an asshole was still better than a stranger in Feliks' book any day.

"I said I would find a safe place for you, I did, I know you hate strangers but you can deal with this one. He's not exactly, nice, but he isn't fond of making enemies either, give him a chance," Al encouraged. Knowing there was no way out, he simply nodded. "You know, you never really explained what happened," Al began, "All you told me was that you needed out fast, care to explain?" The blond paused, standing up to sit in the seat next to him.

"I can explain," he replied, "But I'm not like, sure where to start," Feliks stated.

"Doesn't matter, just, start with what made you know last night that you had to get out, you can go wherever the hell you want from there okay?" he offered. The pole nodded and paused to explain.

"Last night Ivan smiled, not his usual just whatever smile, it was his I'm getting revenge smile," he said, "He gave me that 'you're in deep shit' look before telling me to sleep well,"

"So?" Al replied, still not seeing the point. "What happened to making his capital Warsaw?"

"Are you like stupid or something?" The blond bristled, defiant and annoyed green eyes attacked, "I could totally kick Braginski's butt, the thing is, I'd be fighting him and like a bunch of his lackeys, plus toris could get in trouble, Just, get me like somewhere safe okay?" he said, trying to keep from becoming too irritated.

The rest of the helicopter ride to only Al knew where, Feliks was silent. The brunet tried several attempts to start up a conversation, however Feliks just wasn't interested. He was worried, had they noticed he was gone yet? Did everyone know that Liet had nothing to do with it?

These were the thoughts that clouded his mind until a strong hand shook his shoulder and he looked up. "We're here," Al answered, handing him some keys. "He isn't home right now, but you can take the chance to make yourself at home in his guest room. You'll be staying with Matt Williams, my brother,"

"Okay," he replied before nodding, relieved that he wouldn't have to be stuck with a stranger right away. He at least would have a bit of a chance to adjust... Standing up, he took the keys and his small bag. "Thanks Al," he said before exiting the helicopter and wandering into the house.

Feliks glanced around the house, it wasn't particularly small; for one person to live in it was actually quite large, maybe even a bit big for two or three. There was the kitchen with a table, the living room, two bedrooms, a large bathroom and an office, none of the rooms were lacking in size either. It wasn't hard for Feliks to decipher which was going to be the room he was staying in. The other already had a filled closet and the look of an inhabited room. It wasn't particularly messy, but it wasn't completely clean.

Feliks didn't go through the room though; instead he went into the guest room and put down his bag. He didn't really have any clothes he could change into or things like that to put up. He simply set down his bag, flopping down onto the red comforter and shut his eyes. Something told him this "safe place" wouldn't be an easy place to be at first.

Calm and quiet, not even the house made noises as it settled into the ground. It seemed to be a fairly new house so it came as a surprise. Was it possibly an older home? It didn't seem to be... it seemed to be modern, well put together. Feliks didn't even notice chipped paint on the outside of the house. It felt strangely...empty. Did Al's brother have guests over often? Or was he usually alone in the house? Thinking about it, Feliks wouldn't like living here alone.

Sure. Strangers were...terrifying, to say the least. But he had become used to living among others, spending the day with a friend or just working. No matter what though, there was always someone else within ten feet of him since he had joined the Russian mafia. This would be something else he had to adjust to.

Suddenly the blond was pulled from his thoughts, hearing what he assumed to be the arrival of his host... Here is where most would leave the guest room to greet whomever it was housing them. Unless your name was Feliks Lukasiewicz and you were deathly afraid of strangers. Then, like the green eyed man, you would most likely try to stay inside of the room. He stood up from the bed slowly and moved towards the wooden doorway, the door to the guest room was still open. He used it to listen.

Matt was it? Williams I think, he thought to himself, trying to remember what Al had told him before. Guessing by the sound by his footsteps, he was probably tall. Did he maybe look like Al? He wondered. Whomever it was, turned on the television to what sounded like a sports channel. Feliks decided to peek out, he apparently took a step too loud because a voice called out.

To be continued…

Mun: Hey~ This is a story based off of an Rp I have going with a good friend of mine, (if anyone is interested in this) don't worry! You won't have to wait until after we rp to get an update, I'm very very behind from what is going on currently. I'm sorry if either feels out of character, DX I'm still learning about Matt and Feliks' characters.

F: Leave like a review please, it will motivate her to keep writing and update often!

I will give you cookies if you review~