It was the middle of the night.
In his small post near the Rochefort Mansion, Dragunov sat huddled over a small table.
Mechanically, he disassembled a .45 colt pistol, cleaned, and reassembled it. While he personally had a distaste for the firearm, he never failed to have at least one on his person at all times.
In his opinion, nothing could ever come close to the precision of a sniper rifle, or the feeling of breaking bones with his own hands.
Snapping in a fresh clip, he clicked on the safety and slipped the gun under his vest.
Grabbing a 9 mm from the shelf, he was about to open it up when his radio let out a burst of static, followed by a faint whisper.
"....Sergei?"
It was Lili.
"Sergei? Are you asleep? Answer me!"
He grabbed the radio from where it hung and clicked the PTT button.
"Hmm.." He replied.
"I need you in here.. NOW."
Lili's voice sounded urgent.
Was she in trouble? Did someone slip past the security network?
"The dining room.. hurry! I think there's someone here!"
Kidnappers? Assassins? Maybe they were after her father?
Dragunov double tapped the radio signaling a yes.
Quickly shuffling out of the room wearing only a T-Shirt and his usual brown pants, he charged across the lawn and moved up against the door, listening for sounds in the front room.
His heightened hearing, honed by a decade of combat and special ops missions detected no one.
He brought out his pistol and released the safety, slowly opening the door.
Clearing the room, he silently stormed the hallway leading to the large dining room.
Once again leaning against the door, he listened carefully. There was a lot of breathing, and few shuffled footsteps that were poorly concealed.
Going in slowly would be a risk. There could be hostage.
Lili could be a hostage.
Strangely, his heart sped up ever so slightly as fear and anger built up at the thought.
Professionally suppressing his (surprising) burst of emotion, he decided the best course of action would be to break down the door, take out any immediate threats to himself and the Rochefort family, and find cover after analyzing the situation. Looking down at the bottom of the door, he realized that there was no lights on. The dining room had no windows. It was pitch black.
Dragunov cursed himself for not bringing his night vision goggles, but had no time to go back for them.
She was in danger.
He took in a deep breath and spun on his left heel, bringing the full force of his right foot through the door.
No less than a second after he did that, someone tackled him, arms around his waist.
Dragunov's immediate reaction was to flip the person over and break there neck, but a very familiar strawberry shampoo scent stopped him.
The lights flickered on.
Lili straddled Dragunov, ignorant (or uncaring) of the gun in his hand, and leaned down and kissed his cheek. "Happy Birthday Sergei!"
Birthday?
His eyes darted around the room and took in the sights.
Lili's friend/rival Asuka Kazama, Sebastien, her father, Ling Xiaoyu, and a few of the staff all stood nonplussed as to why he'd break in with a weapon. Above, a huge banner saying happy birthday hung. A large cake sat on the table with a small Russian flag featured prominently on the top.
Was it his birthday? Really?
He didn't know whether to be enraged that Lili bated him with a false report of a threat, or flattered that for the first time in his life, someone actually thought of doing something like this for him.
These thoughts were pushed out of his mind as he looked up at the smiling girl sitting more or less in his lap.
Luckily for him, she was wearing pants today instead of her usual mini-dress. If she wasn't... well..
Lets just say that no training can prevent him from having a man's reaction in such a situation.
Lili reluctantly got off him and offered him a hand. He glanced at it warily, but grabbed it, nodding his appreciation at the help.
He turned back to the small crowd, taking in the whole thing again.
He opened his mouth, and shocked the crowd.
"This... is for me?" He asked in a heavily accented voice.
Xiaoyu fainted.
Lili suppressed her excitement. "Yup! I've been planning it for weeks now!"
His usual frown almost completely disappeared.
She linked arms with him, still wearing a bright smile.
"And that's not even the best part! Servants?"
Two butlers walked in carrying a huge flat screen TV, and placed it on the table in front.
"You got for me a TV?" He spoke again.
"Of course not silly!" She turned it on bringing up security camera footage of his small post/home just outside the mansion.
Lili pulled out a remote and hit a big red button.
The post burst in an extravagant explosion, showering the surrounding area in wood and fire.
Dragunov looked confused. Everything he owned was in that post.
"My things... Why?" He inquired.
"Don't worry! This is part of your present! From now on, you'll have your own room here, in the mansion. Even better! It's right next to mine! I can go visit you whenever I want, and you'll be close enough to protect me better. See? Everyone wins!" Lili cheered.
"Oh.. and don't worry.. We sent someone to save some of your clothes before we destroyed that shack you called a home."
Panda walked in holding a briefcase in both paws.
Dragunov was offended, but relieved. He was quite fond of that shack actually..
Still. She had a point. Living here would make things much easier. He brought his two fingers to his chin in his trademark thought pose.
"And you know what that means tonight Sergei?"
Lili, arms still linked, dragged him down so she could whisper in his ear.
"A sleep over."
