The Unmistakable Fire

A Rocky IV/Creed II Fic

By Auburn Red

III. Viktor

Ivan smiled at his newborn son wrapped in his arms. Ludmilla was asleep. Because of the difficult delivery, they had pumped her so full of drugs that she was out cold. No matter she would wake up later. In the meantime, Ivan could enjoy this little miracle that he held by himself.

He was dark haired but Ivan had no doubt that this was his son. The dark hair and eyes were those of his father. The infant's grandfather.

The small red faced infant opened his eyes and looked about ready to cry. Ivan gently shushed him and held him close. He was so small so fragile. He barely covered one of his father's large hands. Ivan was almost afraid that he would carelessly break him. He kissed the top of his son's head. "I won't break you," he vowed.

He remembered his mother's words about how he had to find his own victory. "You are my victory," he whispered to the newborn as the boy gave a pleased sound. Viktor that would be his name. Viktor Ivanovich Drago. Ivan would do everything in his power to make the boy worthy of that name.

Ludmilla woke up from her drug induced slumber to see her husband whispering to the little one. It was almost hilarious to watch the intimidating giant who sent fear down his rival's spines with just a mere stare cooing to an infant. "Ivan," she said.

Ivan kissed his wife. "How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Terrible," she sighed. "Weak."

"You are wonderful," he said. "So is Viktor."

"Is that his name?" Ludmilla asked.

"It seems appropriate," Ivan suggested. "But if you would prefer something else."

"No that's fine," Ludmilla said. "It makes sense. He is the only victory you have had all year."

Ivan winced at his wife's sharp criticism. He really didn't need it now. "Hold him please," he asked.

"What for?" Ludmilla asked. Ivan shook his head slightly confused at his wife's lack of enthusiasm. It was on the tip of his tongue to say because you're his mother.

He handed Viktor back to his wife. "You aren't taking my picture now are you?" She asked just as Ivan took out a camera. "Ivan you can't. I look terrible."

"You never looked more beautiful," Ivan said.

Ludmilla shook her head and laughed but complied. Ivan was usually not one for sentiment but she supposed that parenthood melted the hardest of hearts. She held Viktor as Ivan snapped a photo of her and the infant.

Ivan then returned the camera back to his pocket and relieved the infant from his wife. They sat in silence so many harsh words once said now hovering in the air. Ivan hoped that this would be a new fresh start for the three of them. Ironically, Ludmilla wanted the same but by different means.

"Dr. Davidov told you didn't he?" Ludmilla asked.

Ivan nodded. "You must rest and not think about it."

"But now that my thyroid is a mess and not to be able to have any more," Ludmilla said. Her pregnancy and Viktor's delivery took a tremendous toll on her body. The doctor told her that more children were not possible.

"Then we have one and he is just fine," Ivan said. "It makes him even more special."

Ludmilla's eyes filled. "It's the drugs really," she insisted. She couldn't understand. Why did she have two completely different men in her life? One who had much promise and was now a proven failure but clearly loved that child. The other a political success who promised her a life of untold wealth but wanted nothing to do with the child. Why couldn't she have all that with one man? Why in the world couldn't Ivan deliver on his promise? That would make her life simpler. She would be married to a success and she could have fun on the side occasionally.

She remembered when the doctor told her that she was pregnant. At first she was in denial but then she accepted it. She hadn't used contraceptives the nights that she slept with Yevgeny or Ivan. The timing couldn't be worse. She slept with both so close to each other, one before the match against Apollo Creed and one after. She wasn't even sure who the father was.

She could have an abortion. She had one before when she was 16. But she decided to discuss it with the father first, whichever one he was.

She first decided to tell Ivan. She was concerned as she saw him running laps focusing preparing for his match against Rocky Balboa. KGB officials reported that Balboa was doing the same chopping wood, lifting hay bales, even running across mountain tops. The last report stated that Balboa's wife, Adrian (a frumpish American with no sense of style, Ludmilla thought) had arrived.

If Ivan was still nervous about his chances of beating Balboa he didn't say. He just trained and worked hard. Ludmilla was confident that he would win. The machines made his endurance even stronger and he was pumped with so many steroids that it was a wonder that he didn't overdose. There is no way he would lose. Might as well add one more bit of dessert to the celebratory meal. To let the future Heavyweight Champion of the World know that he was going to be a father.

Ivan wiped the sweat off his face at first still in the zone when she told him. It took a half second but when it did, the biggest smile spread across his face. She had literally never seen such joy on his face. "A father," he said. Then he did something else uncharacteristic: He picked Ludmilla up, swung her around, and laughed. "How many months are you?"

"One almost two," Ludmilla answered.

Ivan's face had a sense of wonder. "Really? That means he was conceived-"

"- while we were in America yes," Ludmilla replied.

"This is a second chance," Ivan said kissing his wife.

"I beg your pardon?" Ludmilla asked.

"Oh it's nothing," Ivan said. He could not tell her that he was still haunted by Apollo Creed's death. The shouting. The people running around. Rocky and Duke's desperate actions. Mary Anne's wail. The shaking body. The blood.

Now to find the child was conceived after Apollo Creed died? Ivan thought how fitting that timing was. Less than a day after ending one life, Ivan was responsible for creating another. In a way Ivan hoped that the baby's life would somehow make up for the loss of Apollo's.

"He will have a wonderful future ahead of him," Ivan promised.

"With a victorious father," Ludmilla said.

Ludmilla had less success when she told Yevgeny. Actually, she made one mistake: she told Ivan in front of Nikolai and Nikolai Koloff told the press. It wasn't big news in light of the upcoming match. (The doctors even said Ludmilla wouldn't be showing by then so it wouldn't be noticeable.) But it was still enough to get tongues wagging and to reach the ears of an ambitious young lawyer with sights set in the political arena.

"I wanted to tell you first," Ludmilla insisted.

"Well my brother saved you the trouble," Yevgeny said dryly as he handed Ludmilla a set of jewelry that he purchased for her. "What does Death from Above think of all this?"

"Don't ever call him that name in front of him," Ludmilla warned. "He hates it. It's just as bad as calling him Ivanushka-Durachok."

"Well he earned it didn't he?" Yevgeny retorted.

"Anyway he's overjoyed," Ludmilla said. "When he's not training, he is selecting furniture and other things for the infant. Right now his first priority is the match against Balboa. Second the child. Though I have a feeling the child will move ahead afterwards. Last me."

"What is the matter with that man?" Yevgeny said.

"Exactly," Ludmilla said missing his faint sarcasm.

"Lyuda, I have to ask are you certain that it is his?" Yevgeny asked.

"I don't know," Ludmilla said honestly. "If it were yours what would you do? Would you claim it?"

Yevgeny looked serious. "You know I can't claim it as mine while you are married to Drago. We are all public figures. The scandal would be too great. It would ruin all of us and if word gets around that I am sleeping with Ivan Drago's wife and is potentially the father of his wife's child well-" Ludmilla didn't miss the look of petrified terror on her lover's face.

"Coward," Ludmilla hissed. "Suppose I don't claim it as yours. Suppose it's Ivan's. If nothing else I claim it as his. Ivan wouldn't dare challenge that. He is too excited about the prospect. Suppose I divorce him then."

"You can't divorce him while you are pregnant," Yevgeny said. "It's still a scandal and you will receive nothing from it. All financial gains go to him."

"To him?" Ludmilla said angrily. "I earned that money just as much as he did! Speaking for him, promoting him, going from one press conference after another! I worked twice as hard as he did!"

Privately, Yevgeny thought that Ivan Drago would probably dispute that claim but he didn't want to anger his mistress. "I am afraid so."

"So I'm stuck with him," Ludmilla said. "That durachok?"

"I'm afraid so for at least nine months," Yevgeny said. Ludmilla looked crestfallen but he tilted his chin. "Remember there is still the big match against Balboa."

"How could I forget?" Ludmilla said. Once Ivan won, her affair with Yevgeny Koloff will fade into the background. True she would still be stuck married to Ivan but as famous and rich as they will be after the match, it won't matter. He would be too busy training, boxing, and probably caring for that unplanned interruption that just made Ludmilla's life more difficult. He wouldn't notice if Ludmilla worked late, missed appointments, and scheduled late night meetings with Yevgeny Koloff. If not him, then others.

Both Ivan and Ludmilla had plans for a brighter future after the match. Unfortunately what neither of them counted on was a determined feisty Italian-American boxer from Philadelphia. Neither of them counted on Rocky Balboa.

The fight against Balboa was awful. Ivan started out strong but the more Rocky continued the more his opponent began to weaken. He had to admire the American's perseverance and tenacity. He had seen his fights against Creed and Clubber Lang, even the exhibition match against Thunder Lips. That's what they all spoke about Rocky Balboa's relentlessness and refusal to surrender. Being at the opposite end, Ivan could believe it.

Of course admiration did not equal satisfaction with his loss. Ivan kept going over and over in his head what he could have done differently. Did he fake left instead of right? Should he have started strong not giving Balboa a chance to seize the advantage?

All of the what ifs came through his mind. It angered him that he could be so well trained and at the same time so unprepared.

Along with the anger came the hatred towards Rocky Balboa, another enemy. He humiliated him in his country. Ivan vowed if he saw him again he would repay that one thousand fold.

Not only did Ivan keep torturing himself with questions, doubt, and hatred towards his opponent but he received no support from his handlers, the Russian people or the press, even his own wife.

Pravda called the match an embarrassment and a shame brought to the Soviet Union even wondering if somehow Ivan Drago was secretly working for the Americans to make Russian athletes look bad. They also didn't take too kindly to that, "I fight to win for me!" declaration. How dare he set himself above the Russian people?, they asked.

Everywhere he went, people spat in his direction. He was restricted from competing in major events only participating in a few smaller matches but the crowds booed him. One incident after a match, Ivan exited the gym as a couple of other athletes, Lev and Pyotr followed him.

Ivan's head was swimming from the steroids and the tension. He barely listened as one said to the other loud enough for him hear, "Hey did you hear Ivan the Terrible was really Ivanushka-Durachok?" Lev said.

Pyotr smirked. "Da, when he tried to fuck his wife she told him 'I fuck to win for me!'" They laughed.

Ivan ignored them but they continued to wheedle him. "Maybe he could fuck Balboa then. He already did in the ring," Lev said.

Ivan turned around to face him. "Tishina," Ivan warned. Silence.

"Or what you'll kill me like you did Apollo Creed," Lev mocked. "If you could even strike like that again Death From Above."

Lev didn't get any farther when Ivan punched him. Lev retaliated by punching him back. The two tumbled to the ground as Ivan continued to pummel him. They only stopped when the police appeared.

Sergei Vobet arrived to drive his nephew by marriage home. Ludmilla was on vacation at a health spa with her aunt. "I won't tell my niece," Sergei said quietly.

"Thank you, Sergei," Ivan said.

"I didn't do it for you," Sergei snapped. "I did it for my niece, my family! She is going through a hard enough time as it is being married to such a failure!"

"I know," Ivan snapped.

"Just so you know, my wife and I have removed your name and pictures from the gymnasium," Sergei said. "We cannot afford to be stained with your reputation."

Ivan sighed. "I understand, I am sorry that I failed you and your family."

"You have failed all of us," Sergei snapped. "We relied on you, Ivan. We expected better from you! What happened? The crowd cheered for him! You denounced the Politburo right in front of them! That's how much you failed! You were supposed to be proof that our system works!"

"Then maybe I am proof that it doesn't," Ivan suggested slowly.

Sergei slammed on the brakes and glared at the young man, his face red. "It has always worked before! The system is not the problem! You are!"

Ivan glared. He wanted to toss him aside like he did Nikolai, but a few things stopped him namely he was his wife's uncle and that it wouldn't be very bright to inflict physical harm on the driver of a moving car.

"Tania and I advised our niece to divorce you. For now she wishes to remain in the marriage but you are dead to us!," Sergei declared. "Neither you nor your future offspring exist. My family will not be tainted with defeat!"

"It will be her offspring as well," Ivan argued.

"I assure you that will not be her problem," Sergei said as he dropped Ivan off at the apartment. He spat at Ivan's feet and drove away.

Ludmilla wasn't any help either. When she returned from the health spa, she glared at her husband. She said a few words in interviews that conveyed love and support but as soon as the reporters left, she withdrew her hand from his and snapped at him when he tried to kiss her. "You sleep over there," she insisted pointing to a room across from hers.

"You are my wife," Ivan insisted.

"In name only," Ludmilla said and pointed at her abdomen. She was still angry that she was stuck married to the proven failure for life and had no way out. Well she was not going to be happy about it. "I play the devoted wife until this comes out of me! After that we go our separate ways."

"Lyuda please," Ivan begged knowing that she was threatening to leave him. "I cannot lose you too. I love you."

Ludmilla gave a hard brittle laugh. "Oh Ivanushka," his diminutive name sounded more like a curse word, a sneer rather than a term of endearment. "I do not love you. I cannot love a man that I do not respect."

That fight was the beginning of more fights or rather fights that Ludmilla had towards Ivan. She railed and yelled at him for things he did and didn't do. She didn't use fists but she cut him down to size with her words.

One particular fight occurred after another argument about money. She returned home sporting a pair of large diamond hoop earrings.

"Isn't that a bit too extravagant," Ivan asked.

Ludmilla admired her reflection in the mirror. She still looked good and fit. Ivan was as well but the stress of the past few months was starting to wear on him. He was beginning to be lined around the eyes and his posture sagged. He went from God to mortal in a matter of months. "They didn't cost that much." She said.

"It is wasteful when we are about to become parents," Ivan said. "We must watch our money."

Ludmilla turned around. "Really Ivan? Whose fault is that? You know we may have had more money if you had won!"

" I know it's my fault," Ivan said. "I failed! I failed Russia, your family, and my wife! I admit it! I regret it! I would give anything to take back that night and stop Balboa from winning! I would give anything to keep Creed from dy- uh keep others from using Creed's death as propaganda! I would dearly love to continue boxing, face another opponent, and never have to hear about that night and to never have to hear the name Rocky Balboa again! If everyone will allow me to forget it, I could continue! What more can you possibly want from me?"

"No one will ever let you forget that!" Ludmilla shouted "You aren't the only one who wishes they could take something back! What a fool I was to marry such a weakling of a man! If my dear Dyadya Sergei knew what a failure you would turn out to be, he would have left you in the Army, no put you back in Kapotnya, where you belong!"

Like in the fights with his father, Ivan just accepted it never speaking never letting her know how hurt and angry she made him. He just stared which made Ludmilla laugh. "Ivan, your stare may intimidate others but it does nothing to me!"

She also started on their unborn child. "This had better succeed! If I find that it is anything like it's weak and foolish father, I would drown it in the Moskva!"

Ivan flashed at that. He clenched a fist and held it in the air. Ludmilla stepped back terrified realizing that she had gone too far.

He wanted to punch her but then he remembered how his father hurt his mother. How his punch caused her to miscarry and broke her heart and spirit. He also remembered Apollo's shaking body.

He lowered his hand knowing that he would not could not be responsible for taking another life especially that of his unborn child and his mother.

"I will never hurt you, Lyuda." He said as he pulled his wife closer. Ludmilla accepted but did not return the embrace.

Ivan would love his child and continue to love its mother.

"I want to divorce him," Ludmilla argued with her lover. "You are a lawyer think of something!"

"I told you if you divorce him now it will only create a scandal and you would suffer the consequences and you would end up with nothing!," Yevgeny explained.

"Then I will divorce him after the baby is born," Ludmilla said. "I will take the baby and his earnings. He will be left with nothing. It is what he deserves after he humiliated me!" Me, Yevgeny mentally noted. Ivan humiliated Ludmilla not Russia.

"You will be left without any money," Yevgeny said. "Divorce laws would never permit you to receive money earned by your husband."

Ludmilla growled in frustration. "So I leave him I get nothing!"

Yevgeny nodded. "It seems that way. The only way you can get his money is to steal it."

"What was that?" She asked.

"Well you are in charge of your husband's finances," Yevgeny said. "If you could put him up to giving it to you and you transfer it elsewhere well technically, it becomes the holdings of that party namely you."

Ludmilla considered. "I have done a few things here and there in the past. Nothing serious but in private I skimmed a little, withheld some by telling Ivan he made less than he did."

"He never checks," Yevgeny inquired.

"He's a fool and he trusts me so no," Ludmilla said. "It will be good. I get his money and the child and I leave him."

Yevgeny started. "This is the second time you mentioned taking the child."

"Of course I will take it," she said. "I am its mother."

"Lyuda, I love you. I want to give you everything and when you are free to wed, I look forward to becoming your husband. There is a lot more here than what you could ever get from Drago. I almost live like a Westerner as wealthy as I am.

But nothing has changed in one respect. I cannot claim that child as my own," Yevgeny said as Ludmilla was about to speak he interrupted. "Nor will I raise another man's child if it is his."

"So what are you saying?" Ludmilla asked. "I keep you but I lose my child?"

"And if you keep your child then you lose me and everything I could offer you," Yevgeny said.

Ludmilla thought torn between the two options. When she was growing up, she read Anna Karenina several times. She had seen various film versions even the Hollywood versions. It never occurred to her that she would live that story in reality. Well she was not going to throw herself in front of a train for this. She would have to think and consider.

At first Ivan didn't think that his handlers had any issues. True, they reduced his time at the gym often leading him to workout at a regular gym. When he did work out there, Rimsky and Koloff ignored him often speaking to the younger boxers.

He didn't realize the implications until one day, several months later, when he appeared ready to suit up and Rimsky told him that it wouldn't be necessary. Koloff wasn't there. He was the sort of man who preferred weddings to funerals. " I am still allowed to train am I not?" he asked.

"No Drago you are not permitted to train here," Rimsky replied. "These facilities are closed to you as is the Soviet Athletics Program for now. You are officially suspended."

"For how long?" Ivan asked.

"Until we see fit to reinstate you," Rimsky said in a tone that seemed to suggest " maybe never."

Ivan gave a mirthless laugh. "That's ridiculous." He was about to move forward but a pair of the younger boxers stopped him.

Ivan looked around. The gym seemed smaller somehow what could it be? Then he realized what it was.

The injections, drugs, even the table in which Dr. Popov administered the steroids were gone and so was Dr. Popov.

"Where is Dr. Popov?" Ivan said. "I need my injection. You are still going to give me that at least?" He still received his daily injection. Sometimes that was the only positive release he had all day.

Rimsky pretended to look confused. "Who is Dr. Popov? What injections? We don't give those to you."

Ivan couldn't believe it. Was he going insane? "Of course you do! You give them to me once a day now where are they and where is the doctor?"

Rimsky glared and pushed himself forward gripping onto Ivan's arm. Not for nothing did Igor Sergei Rimsky train boxers. He himself had been an Olympic medalist back in the day.

"I suggest you not mention those injections or anything of that nature ever again, not if you wish to keep boxing," he commanded. "You are no longer welcome here, now leave before I have you thrown out!"

Ivan's eyes flared. Igor Sergei Rimsky may have been a heavyweight boxing champion once but he was still a former heavyweight boxing champion and no match for a younger stronger athlete. Ivan glared giving Rimsky the same glare he gave Koloff in the ring. He said nothing instead he just threw his former trainer to the ground and walked away.

Ivan kicked his steroid addiction that night alone. He returned home feeling the sweat cover him. Already the shakes were beginning.

Ludmilla was dressed like she was on her way out. "Ivan you look awful " she said.

"I am suspended from boxing," Ivan said dully. His mouth felt dry. "They….won't give me my injection."

"What injection?" Ludmilla said. "Ivan, have you been taking illegal drugs?"

Ivan's eyes widened. "You know I have! You told me that you took them yourself!"

"I don't know what you are talking about," Ludmilla said.

Ivan felt sick. The confusion made him feel worse. Was he going insane? He was certain Ludmilla knew about the steroids. She had taken them.

"You're lying to me," Ivan said feeling his body shake. "Lyuda please help me! I need them! I need you!"

He held his wife's arms as she pulled away. "If you got yourself into something on your own then that is not my problem!'

Ivan watched in dismay as his wife opened the door. "Where are you going?"

"Out," Ludmilla said. "Don't wait up for me!" She slammed the door amidst her husband's cries of her name.

For the next two days, Ivan suffered the agonizing withdrawals of quitting cold turkey. Ludmilla wasn't around. He writhed in bed, sweating, vomiting, and craving the steroids more than anything else.

He longed to put the needle once more in his arm and feel that rush, that power or at least to die in the attempt.

What the hell? He had nothing now. The Russian public mocked him. His handlers washed their hands of him and were now going through the process of pretending like he didn't exist. His in laws disowned him. He was married in name only now, what did he have left to live for?

He tumbled out of bed and panted feeling his whole body shake. Was this what it felt like to die? Was this how his father felt? Apollo Creed? To be at the end of your life and to feel you have accomplished nothing?

He then remembered: he had something or would have something. He had a child. That baby growing inside his wife deserved to have his father alive and there to greet him.

He would not could not die or be a burden on his child the way that his father was to him with his alcohol addiction. He had to survive and he had to kick. For his child, he had to fight his addiction and he was going to. In a way, he felt that child's spirit encouraging him and giving him strength to fight and succeed.

Ludmilla went into labor in her eighth month. She had one of her regular shouting matches with her husband then fell over in pain. Ivan took her hand but she refused at first.

For a brief second, Ivan had a flashback of his mother's miscarriage, but it passed. He sprang into action and called for a doctor. Then he carried his wife out of the apartment and took her to the hospital.

It was a difficult labor and Ivan sat in the waiting room in despair afraid that he would lose his wife, the baby or both. Finally the doctor appeared and told him that his wife gave birth to a baby boy who while underweight was extremely healthy. His mother however was still very weak and because of the thyroid damage this child would end up being her only child.

Viktor and Ludmilla were sent home within a few days. There were a lot of adjustments in getting used to having a newborn in the house. Ivan tumbled out of bed almost as soon as he heard Viktor crying. Since Ludmilla still needed rest from the delivery, Ivan opted to let Viktor sleep in his room. Ivan rubbed his eyes and picked up his son.

He carried Viktor into the kitchenette and opened the refrigerator to take out a bottle. Ludmilla didn't want to breastfeed their son, so she and Ivan practiced weaning him towards the bottled formula. Ivan then put the bottle in his son's mouth. Viktor sucked hungrily as his father rocked him back and forth then carried back to his room.

Ludmilla listened as Ivan took their son to his room. She then sneaked into the sitting room. She made her decision after Viktor was born. When Viktor came out, she held her newborn son in her arms and felt…. nothing. No affection. No maternal bonding. No attachment. Nothing except relief that he was out. It was nothing at all like the obvious love her husband felt.

The lack of feeling for her child was the final decision. She waited until Ivan and Viktor were quiet. Silent. Just the two of them in a world that did not need her. Ludmilla picked up the phone and dialed Yevgeny's number. "Yevgeny," she said. " I made my decision about what we talked about. I can do it. I want you and your life."

As he fed his son, Ivan marveled at what a second chance Viktor had given him. His life wasn't over yet.

He could still box maybe not in luxury as the pride of the Soviet Union with that fine technological equipment designed to make a superman.

Instead there were many small villages and bars that held prize fights. It was a step down and technically wasn't entirely legal but it would bring money and food to the table.

Ivan would not surrender and would not allow Viktor to do so either. He smiled as the little one looked up at his father and gave a newborn equivalent of a happy grin. Ivan warmly kissed his son.

No Ivan Drago did not cry holding his infant son as the little one fell asleep. But he had never been happier.

Author's Note:

In the establishment shot of the Drago's apartment in Creed II, the camera pans to two photographs. One of Ludmilla holding baby Viktor and the other of Viktor when he was about two or three. The photo that Ivan takes of Ludmilla holding Viktor in my story is meant to be that picture. I will also find a way to put the other photo in my fic too mostly because it is so adorable to see the Big Guy when he was a Little Guy and he's smiling. It shows that Viktor's childhood wasn't all being forced into boxing and raised on hate. He was once a genuinely happy kid and his father encouraged that.

Of course I couldn't resist a play on Ivan's famous "I must break you" catchphrase. Now changed to "I won't break you" to his newborn son.

Also I don't know how old Viktor actually is. I thought I heard 28 in the movie but I like the symbolism of him being conceived right after the fight with Apollo so I moved his birth up a little so he can be directly involved in those events sort of.