A/N: Well, THIS ended up longer than expected. Sheesh! I should have broke it into two, but I decided to keep it as one the way they linked together, and that the second part was a bit further than the first.

Of course there is more graphic lemon in this. I mean, it's part of the Sergei and Lili fic that I do. So, usual warning there-but if you're at this chapter I'm sure you already know. ;) There is also some more rather nasty violence in the second half, so if you're squeamish be aware there, it's a bit worse than the first chapter. I've been trying to stick to actual moves from the game, though I've taken liberties with a few(particularly two of Sergei's, but the others I tried to make somewhat close to the source material.)

I figured that after some months, Sergei may actually show a touch more affection. I don't think he's that out of character, though his affection I don't think will ever reach anything even remotely on the same planet as sappy. It's actually a bit tough to write Sergei in particular in these stories, he needs to have just enough of a quasi-soft side that someone can get a bit of attachment, but not enough to break his usually stoic character. While I see their relationship still as quite physical(I mean let's face it they're horny as all hell whenever they meet up), I like there to be an underlying definite bit of caring there on both sides. Just maybe in it's own way.

Lili arrived at the train station early; she wished to get set up in her room as soon as possible. It was blazing hot, and she felt like she had gone through a gallon of spring water even before she had gotten from the hotel to the station. It was only about eight o' clock in the morning as well, which meant this day promised to be brutal. She was thankful she wasn't fighting today.

Her train was there; one of the nicer ones, and she had of course gotten a first-class ticket on top of that. She got a night room-they weren't terribly large but they were nice, and she wasn't about to sit in a seat for two nights-the length of her trip. It was a more scenic train; she wanted to recuperate from her last battle, which was against Zafina. Lili had walked away with less bruises, which she was quite proud of; it made up for her what seemed to be constant drawing against Asuka which continued to annoy her.

Getting situated finally on the train after some dealing with ticketing, she immediately cranked the thermostat down. The room was moderate size; small for a hotel room but quite roomy for a train. It had a bed by the side of the wall, a bathroom, a desk, a small closet, a dresser, and it was even decorated quite nicely, being in first class. It even had a fridge. Lili set about to unpacking to spend some of the time.

When she was done, she grabbed one of the many magazines she had picked up for the ride and settled in to read on the bed. She'd probably nap now-having had a long night-and then order the room service they offered. She would have to see what they offered their first-class clientele.

After about an hour, she felt the train begin to depart after the announcement. The soft movement-these types of trains were not very rough at all-managed to lull her to sleep.

She dreamt of someone knocking on the door. Walking around in her dream, she went to go answer it, but there was no one there. The knocking continued, however. Eventually she half-realized that it was not in her dream, but real-so she slowly began to wake up, the magazine over her chest. Checking the clock, she had only been asleep about forty-five minutes.

Stumbling out of the bed slightly groggy, she figured it was one of the stewards wondering if she would like something to eat or not, though she found it odd they would go door to door. She had already had her ticket checked several times, as well.

Opening the door, she found herself seeing something she hadn't seen in a long time-a pale, scarred and muscular torso dressed in a tight olive green tank top. Looking up, the pale eyes she had not seen for months looked down at her, gleaming softly. His expression was neutral, however-as it typically was.

"Sergei..." she started, stepping inside to let him in, her stomach beginning to knot up. He shut and locked the door behind him. He was dressed in his more casual military gear-cargo trousers and heavy combat boots, though the heat made his gloves unnecessary.

"I believe you have something of mine," he said, standing there and looking around the room.

The medal, Lili thought. He came back for it.

She removed it from her pocket-she always kept it on her person when she could. She looked at it a moment before handing it to him. He examined it himself before simply placing it on the desk.

I should have known it wasn't the medal after all. In fact, I'm pretty sure I knew that from the start.

"You might forget it again there." She chuckled.

Sergei shrugged, though as usual his eyes held a glint of emotion when speaking with her. "It's not the only reason I came. I discovered some information that you might be interested in."

Lili looked puzzled. She knew that he was involved in his own military investigations of the Mishima Zaibatsu, though she wondered why he'd track her down for that of all things. Though she also guessed that wasn't the only reason he was here.

Or perhaps, she hoped that wasn't the only reason that he was here.

"Hang on a minute. Let me wake up first," she said, stopping by the bathroom to splash some water on her face. Lili then went over to check the room's thermostat; she could have sworn it had gotten a bit warmer. She was often thankful for having a rather rich family; due to this, she tended to enjoy a lot of comforts. Summers in central Europe were hot, and the room had air conditioning, decent amenities for what it was, and most importantly-privacy. She wasn't about to spend two days on a train without her own room to sleep in, first class or no.

She walked back over to Sergei, who looked down at her with his arms folded.

"So you...found out something?"

"I did. I found someone who had some information. You should tell your father to stop dealing with one of the corporations that he is. He should look into the one he's funneling heavier funds to at the moment."

Lili wasn't sure exactly all of them he dealt with-she knew it was a lot. "Why...is this?"

"It's making the Mishima Zaibatsu very unhappy, and possibly putting him in danger faster than he already is."

Lili gulped. "How...did you find this out?"

"As I said, I found someone who knew, and coerced them to speak."

Lili wondered offhand if the coerced person could still feed himself. "I'll warn him. Thank you." She paused. "So much. Anything I can do to help him, I do."

Sergei nodded, walking over to her. He lifted his hands and placed them on the sides of her face. She looked up.

"Why did you go so far? Surely your orders didn't involve this. You don't need to get involved in this anymore than you have to."

He stroked her face. "I chose to. That is all. Besides, I'm already involved with the Mishima family. This won't make a difference."

Lili leaned into his touch. His hands were battle-roughened, but never unpleasant. She had not felt them in months-since the dead of winter, at the hotel. Too long, she felt.

But it was so easy for her to forget these were the same hands that she watched practically break a man into pieces, or that the same light touch came from the man whom she right after watched crush a man's head nearly to a pulp under one of his massive combat boots...and he showed little emotion while doing either.

He probably killed a dozen people since the last time I saw him. Maybe more.

She looked up to meet his gaze again, and soon forgot again his more brutal side. She scowled slightly.

"You know, for being able to track me down and sneak off, you really can't figure out how to contact me to at least maybe say hello?"

Sergei traced a thumb over her mouth, silent for a few moments.

"I find it easier to not miss something that I'm distant from."

Lili had to smile at that. "So you tracked me down to somewhere where I'd be for two days."

Sergei said nothing, but his eyes seemed to glint for a moment. Lili turned her head to kiss one of his hands.

He knelt down to finally kiss her proper. Lili fell into it, realizing with two nights on the train they could catch up on some...things. After he pulled away, only to lean down to nip at her neck a moment, he then stood to walk over to the bed, sitting on the edge and removing his shirt. He seemed to have more scars, which she noticed as he walked over. She knew he favored fighting hand to hand, and thus put himself in the line of danger more often.

She traced a hand over his pale skin and then through his thick, black hair. He reached over, running a hand first down her leg and then up to her waist, and then smirked ever so slightly. "It is nice to see you again."

Lili chuckled. "Don't show too much emotion. You might get tired out before we even start."

He gave her what might have been a joking look-for him-and began to fumble with her shorts. She stepped away for a moment to tease him.

"Don't rush too fast, now."

Sergei said nothing. He simply seemed to examine a few things in the room.

Realizing that to tease him back she would have to go a bit further, Lili slipped off her shorts and underwear and walked over to him, figuring being that close would get to him a bit more. Sitting on the bed, he was close to her midsection. He leaned down to kiss her stomach several times as he trailed downward to her waist, kissing slowly the entire way. Lili shivered. She noticed that this time he seemed to be going right for the 'heavier' foreplay. Not that she minded...it had been long enough.

As he arrived at her midsection, he managed to give it a single kiss before there was a knock at the door. Sergei gave the door what may have been a glare so furious whoever was on the other side possibly could have dropped dead from it.

Lili groaned. "I need to get dressed..." She sighed. "They already checked my ticket. The first class has to a few times before we even get into our rooms."

Sergei stopped her. "I'll handle this." He stood and walked over, throwing open the door after Lili stepped out of sight, and glared downward. It was one of the ticket inspectors-having forgotten that she had been checked the requisite number of times. When he looked up and saw the large man's silent expression, he backed up...deciding that maybe it wasn't so important after all.

He slammed the door shut, clicking the lock behind it-before going back to the bed. He said nothing; Lili walked back over as he continued to kiss her stomach and thighs; obviously intending to tease her to the point of madness.

Her legs were shaking; she decided to step apart a bit, opening herself up more. She knew that despite the fact he was teasing her to no end, he enjoyed this very much as well; and thought that maybe the fact she was making herself more available would push him over the edge and force him to make a move.

He glanced up at her, his eyes gleaming again for a moment as he nuzzled lower, and when she finally felt his warm tongue begin to probe between her legs she knew he had either decided she had enough or that he couldn't resist anymore, given how wet she now was. She moaned softly at the sensation, hoping she would be able to stay on her feet long enough. He felt her quiver and moved her to the bed as he fumbled his boots off and climbed up to kneel beside her; he then leaned over toward her waist, continuing where he left off.

Lili squirmed; without his head to hold onto normally he was controlling just how much she could get at any one time, and this drove her a bit mad...though he was not exactly holding back. She managed to reach forward to undo his trousers; she then tried to guide him over to her. Realizing what she wanted to do, he laid on the bed to let her be on top.

She thought that maybe being on top would allow her to control things more, but he was in a better position to drive her crazy now. Even after several months he seemed to remember what she liked. He felt her taking him deep into her own mouth and moaned low in his throat as he began to thrust his tongue deeper to answer her. He smiled a bit when he heard her squeal out as he roughened his ministrations and began to concentrate on her clit to bring her to orgasm. He hoped he could hold off for awhile, but when she would take him deep it got more and more difficult.

Lili felt herself go first; she felt him drinking her in as she shivered. She felt she almost had him herself, though; she teased the head with her tongue before taking him deep one more time; she felt his body stiffen as he let go himself soon after. She did not break off, but took him until he was finished.

She slid off him after a moment, panting. He smirked at her.

"We need to wait for awhile now."

"We have two nights here, you know."

Sergei's eyes gleamed as he rolled over to crawl forward to reach her again. She squealed, but took advantage of her situation. She knew it would probably arouse him faster anyway to continue with his fun. She tangled her hands in his hair as she always liked to do, hoping that the walls of this place were fairly soundproof. The trains these days rode quietly on the tracks, unlike the trains of old; so there wouldn't be much to dampen the sound of her squeals, which did start to come a bit more often and louder.

Holding her legs firmly, he licked faster and faster, knowing that soon he would be ready enough again to enter her. While he would have usually taken his time, he had been a bit...wanting, so to speak, and thus wanted to sort of get into things a bit faster this time. He figured he could take his time later. He reached one hand up and began to fondle a breast as he reached the other down to slide two fingers inside of her, concentrating on her clit with his tongue. He looked up for a moment, seeing Lili's head leaning back against the wall, moaning loudly.

He removed his fingers when he felt her begin to climax so he could finish her off completely with his tongue. Lili was considerably louder this time, enough that she brought one of her hands from his head up to her mouth to stifle it. After she released, she looked down at him, stroking his hair. He looked up as he was roughly tugging at his trousers to let himself loose as he wiped his mouth off; his want for her was such he didn't even bother taking them off all the way. He pulled himself up to kneel on either side of her as he slid in; his previous work had left her so wet there was no issue.

Lili sighed in pleasure as he began to thrust; he was not particularly gentle, but nor was he too violent. Lili found she liked when he was a bit on the rough side. His low grunts of pleasure came more often as he continued on, thrusting deeper inside of her.

It had been far too long, he felt, but it unfortunately could not be helped.

Lili tilted his head down to kiss him; he returned it in a rather fierce manner. He wondered how long he could hold on this time again; he suspected not long, but he would make it up to her later. She kept up with his thrusts, running her hands and nails down his back; he seemed to enjoy this sensation judging by his reactions. She pressed her forehead to his, catching what she felt was a look of affection in his eyes before he kissed her again.

His thrusts got faster until he felt her release once again with a loud cry; he was glad, since he wasn't able to hold on any longer. Sliding out, he quickly finished, Lili feeling the warm jet hit her stomach as he growled low in his throat, panting.

He looked at her when he was done, his face that of relief. She caught that small smile he would get when they were together. Kissing her one more time, he ran a big hand through her hair and down her face. She smiled back.

"Maybe you shouldn't wait so long."

He only nodded, sliding backward on the bed. Lili chuckled. "I think I need a shower."

Sergei only smiled, folding his arms behind his head as he fumbled a cigarette out of his pocket.

–

The train had come to a stop. The two of them were lying awake in bed, under the covers. They had thoroughly enjoyed their first day together, but found they could not sleep yet. Sergei sat up, his expression slightly changed to that of...alertness?

"What do you think it is?" Lili scratched her head.

"I'm not sure," Sergei replied. There was no report on the loudspeaker. Checking something on a small computer that had been in the pocket of his cargos, he blinked when he saw the map; the device seemed to be a sort of military computer for mapping.

"We're in the middle of nowhere. It is late, as well."

"Maybe the train needs to stop for the tracks?"

He checked a few other things. "No other trains are due at this time on the timetable."

She blinked. "Maybe we should get dressed in case the conductor or something comes."

He nodded, proceeding to pull his clothing and boots on surprisingly quickly. She also got dressed, waiting for something to happen. She noticed when he was dealing more with business, his demeanor could change to that of a professional soldier in seconds.

Ten minutes later, and there was still no announcement, or anything for that matter. Sergei started to look like something was amiss. Seeing him with that look in his eyes made her a bit nervous, as well.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Lili started to get up to open it, but Sergei held her back.

"Let me answer it."

"How come?"

"Why hasn't there been an announcement, but the power is still on?"

Lili blinked, nodding. There would be no reason to go room to room, and it was doubtful that the train would stop AND the loudspeaker would go off at the same time...but nothing else.

Sergei walked over and opened the door...

...and suddenly lashed out, grabbing a man's arm which held a pistol before he broke it. He then span the man around and snapped his neck, throwing him to the floor.

Lili leapt up from her seat. "Wha..." She stared down at the fresh body, which had been alive about three seconds ago.

Sergei knelt over the body, examining it for some sort of identification. He then noticed something he wore.

"These are Zaibatsu assassins. Did...you tell anyone where you were going?"

"Well, many knew. I had fought Zafina, and naturally the match was watched by many. The next fight was close to Amsterdam, so that was where I was headed."

Sergei stepped outside for a moment, noticing shadows in other cars. He looked at her. "I don't think they were here for you. I think they were here for someone else, and discovered you were here on top of it and decided to kill...or perhaps kidnap...two birds with one stone. Trains moving from one fight to the next are likely to attract other enemies of the Mishimas, after all."

"Okay...one, this is insane...even though they probably know exactly who I am. Two...can you show me that move where you disarm someone with a gun? I never did get to teach myself that one."

Sergei's eyes glinted. "I will, yes."

"I don't need the...ahh, neck break part."

Sergei chuckled once. He was fighting now, she knew...and he was happy doing that.

The two walked out of the room, noticing shadows more to the right. This area was the area with the private rooms; the people were likely locked inside. There weren't a terrible amount of first-class passengers, anyway.

As they approached the door, without warning a man crashed through with a knife in his hand which he immediately plunged into Sergei's right shoulder. He snarled, though his expression did not seem to change from more than mild anger...which meant he was furious. Sergei quickly kicked the man once in the head, then a second time; only this time he kept his leg up, locking his boot around the man's neck to bring him to the ground. With both arms and legs he snapped several of the man's leg bones, leaving him yelling in pain. Sergei rolled off of him, noticing a third man coming behind Lili.

His eyes gave her the signal, and she managed to turn to strike him with a side-hand in the side of the neck, following with a few quick strikes to the chest to knock the wind out of him. He stumbled backward, knocking his head on the floor as he fell, not moving afterward. Lili's stomach sank, when she knelt to check his pulse...he was still alive, though with quite a nasty knock on the head and probably a few cracked ribs; while Lili was not exceptionally strong she was fast and knew where to strike.

Thank heavens. I will defend myself and greatly enjoy fighting in tournaments. I do not want to be a killer.

Sergei was different, however; he nodded to her, his eyes seemingly gleaming with a bit of a fierce pride as he watched her fight off the one fellow. The other man with the leg was seemingly trying to escape by crawling; Sergei glared down as he reached the stairs. Not about to let him get away, he smashed his head against the stairs with his boot-heel; the sound of the man's teeth hitting the floor and more bones crunching made Lili wince.

"That was three," she said, forcing herself to look away. "I wonder how many more there are."

"I don't know. Go to the front of first class and see if the conductor, or one of the workers is there. I will check this way." He could speak significantly more when dealing with a combat situation, she noticed.

Lili nodded; she was still confused, but she took a bit of pride herself that someone as insanely deadly as Sergei suggested she go alone.

She walked back, and all seemed quiet; however she heard a scuffle in the other car and turned to watch. Sergei caught a man's arm, snapping it before driving him to the ground. She could only catch a glimpse of his upper body as he sat on the man; she watched him bring his fists down again and again. By the third time, blood started to fly significantly and his fists were decidedly bloodier; by the fifth, even more flew and she heard rather nasty sounds. She decided she didn't want to know what actually happened. Four down. I wouldn't be surprised if he kills the one I knocked out.

She turned to move back, and found nothing in the car. The workers probably went into hiding; they were not trained to deal with things like this. As she looked, she also wondered who they were really after, before discovering she was on the train...and how.

They have passenger lists. They were probably making sure their target was here and found you on top of it.

She then heard a sound behind her. She turned quickly.

She saw a guy about to escape; somehow, rather than let him go, she managed to swing her hand out in a low attack such a way it struck a nerve somewhere in his leg, causing him to stumble for a few moments before toppling over...right in front of Sergei, whom had just walked into the car, a bit more bloody than he was when he left. Wasting no time, he shoved his heel onto the man's throat and jaw, twisting his leg in such a violent way it not only broke his neck with a loud and sickening sound, but also snapped his jaw in two. Blood poured from his mouth and began to flow toward Lili due to the ever so slight angle of the train.

Lili blinked. While she did not land the killing blow, she knew that her action prevented the man from leaving; and it had also notified Sergei of his existence since he was not aware of the man before hand. He would have escaped, but now he was dead.

Did I cause this man's death?

Even her families enemies she'd have been happy getting roughed up and locked away for a very long time instead of dying, but somehow she felt just as responsible for this man's death. She looked up at Sergei, who looked down at the dead man with cold eyes. The man, on the other hand, seemed to stare at Lili accusingly. I was surrendering, he seemed to say. I would have escaped if you hadn't hit me.

Sergei walked over to her, blood running from the wound on his shoulder as well as a few others here and there. He did not seem to mind.

"Why did you kill him?" she asked.

"He would have come back, most likely. Do you want these people after you constantly?"

"They weren't even after me, though...they just found me by circumstance."

"Still. You did not object to the others."

"No," Lili started. "They were all direct threats-like those men when I was on your base. That's different. He was surrendering". She pointed down, stepping aside to not have to stand in the blood that was on the floor. It was strange; she had even watched him kill the rest of the men, and knew that he probably killed the one man whom she had knocked out, but this was still different.

You know how dangerous he is.

You also know that he didn't do this for himself. He did this to protect you. He knows that you can fight, but he also knows that trained assassins that kill people in their sleep can pose a threat to anyone, even skilled fighters.

Sergei stepped away from the corpse and walked over to Lili. There were a total of six men that he killed-if he indeed killed the one she had knocked out-and he looked like a man who had just killed six people with his bare hands. It was not like the movies at all, she knew-men who died in fights in movies only bled a bit. Sergei's torso, arms, lower legs and boots were spattered with blood. Even his face had a bit.

After a moment, the loudspeaker on the train clicked on, telling everyone to keep to their seats and rooms while authorities showed up. Lili looked up at Sergei.

"I suppose we should leave."

"I should. You do not have to."

Lili shook her head. She did not want to be left behind with the dead. "No. I want to."

Sergei nodded, going over to the door to force it open. It did not seem too difficult, but Sergei was an immensely strong man. Lili ran to her room-very close, or else she would not have-to collect a few things before joining him outside.

They had stopped in a field-seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Luckily, Sergei had a GPS on his watch, telling them where the closest city was, where they could catch another train to the remainder of their destination. They were still more than a full day away from the final destination, but the city on the horizon was maybe an hour and a half's walk away...though it was still hot, even at night.

They began to walk, doing so for about an hour in silence before Lili-having been deep in thought-stopped. Sergei turned.

"We should move on," he said, his expression not changing. The lights could be seen from the far distance, though they were still in the middle of nowhere.

Lili narrowed her eyes. "Can't you show emotion at anything? The deaths inside, everything we do. I mean...I see maybe a bit. But...are you really this detached? This...empty?"

Sergei, his features visible under the moon but still shadowed, walked over to her to kneel in front of her. She examined his face, but could not see what his expression was-though she thought she saw his eyes changed.

"An empty man would not have gone after several people who would have otherwise killed you and your father these past months."

Lili blinked. "How...long?"

"I have been watching over you since you left the base. After I had found out your situation, and we...bonded."

Lili shook her head. Most people have pets who bring them an occasional dead animal as a token of affection. You have a man who presents the broken bodies of your family's enemies.

How many people can say they 'have' someone like this?

"You've been watching me that whole time. What about your own orders?"

"I have been completing my own missions as well. But I could not bear to see you killed in your sleep or shot. Or see you after hearing the news of your father's death."

Lili touched his face, her fingers tracing over his scars, which she still did not know how he ended up with. Some people are said to have guardian angels.

I suppose angels of death count.

Sergei continued. "I'm sorry. I do things as I know how."

By apparently saving both my and my father's life from a sniper's bullet or car bomb who knows how many times over the months. Some people simply talk a lot about what they'll do. I've probably gotten so used to that, that when someone comes along who is far more action than words I don't know how to take it.

Looking into his face as he knelt, it continued to have his usual calm expression, though his eyes looked at her with longing. She realized, for him, that was immense. She looked around, the field empty. Suddenly no longer wanting to hurry, she settled back to sit on the grass, taking one of his hands. He realized what she wanted and knelt with a leg on either side of her, supporting himself. He traced both hands down her sides before leaning down to kiss her roughly, though not in an unpleasant manner at all.

She knew Sergei was not the overemotional, sappy man that many girls seemed to dream of, and she was fine with this. He only showed what he needed to, to whom he needed to, and in the way that he knew how.

Pulling away for a second, he looked down at her, the expression in his eyes changed to that of what may have been the closest thing to genuine affection she had ever seen. Coupled with the tiny smile tugging at the corner of his scarred lip, she realized for him that was probably one of his biggest admittances of affection ever. She found it amusing that they were in a field, though it was nothing like the lovely fields of romance that you see in the movies. It was dark, stiflingly hot, the only thing around was somewhat dry grass and her lover was spattered with the blood of several men whom he had just killed without a second thought.

There was a time that I dreamt of the same things that many girls do. I never would have thought this would have been where I'd end up.

–

Lili got out of the shower at the hotel they had located. The hotel was quite fancy, to her pleasure. After spending the night in the field, the shower was welcome. She had taken a few of her things, quickly grabbed a few more at the most expensive store she could find, and planned on restocking everything from one of the nice stores in Amsterdam when she arrived.

They had decided that it might be in her best interest to stay over in this hotel for two or three nights, and continue to Amsterdam after that. She would not be missing any important fights, and while she enjoyed fighting in the tournament, she did not relish the idea of having to deal with assassins coming to cut her throat in her sleep; there would likely not be any more at the moment, at least. Apparently my father's enemies are now mine. They probably found out I was trying to hunt for information.

Sergei sat in the chair in the big room, smoking a cigarette and staring out the window. The room was nice and cool compared to the outside, where a storm was brewing due to the extreme humidity. She realized this was the first time he wasn't sneaking around; she guessed it was due to the fact he was on a small break in between missions and was not particularly being tracked or anything. She knew sadly though he would likely have to split off from her again when she left later in the week, and she did not look forward to this.

He turned toward her, folding his arms. He glanced upward, an eyebrow raising and the tiny smirk appearing as she walked in wrapped in a towel. He was dressed in only his cargo trousers; she always found him extremely attractive when he was like that. It made him look somewhat more relaxed.

"You're trying to coerce me again," he said with wry amusement.

He showed emotion about three times there. I think that's a record for him. "Looks like I already have." He had showered as well, the blood of the men now washed off. His arm was freshly bandaged.

"We have some more time. It may be awhile again, though. You know that."

Lili nodded. She loved to hear him talk the times that he did; his resonant baritone and accent were pleasant to listen to. She took a peek out of one of the windows from the corner of the drawn curtain as he finished his cigarette and snuffed it out in the tray. She felt his hands close around her waist to pull her over to his lap. His cargos were still somewhat bloodstained, though she didn't much care at this point.

It was the blood of her enemies, anyway. She may not want to kill, but she found she didn't seem to mind letting someone who enjoyed it do the work. She also wondered why at times she was so okay with the fact that she was pretty much fully involved with a man like that, but she didn't think about it too hard.

She felt him kiss between her shoulders a few times before resting his chin on one. She raised a hand to run it through his hair, which had been freshly washed.

"Lili..." he began. She blinked, turning her head toward him halfway.

"You...you've never said my name before."

Sergei chuckled once. "I suppose I haven't." It was true; all this time, he never directly said her name to her.

She counted this as another rather large landmark for him. While she never expected to bring him out of his shell of silence-that was who he was, after all-small things were rather big for her. She turned a bit so she could see his face better.

"How long will you be gone this time?"

"As usual...I can't say. Maybe two weeks. Maybe two months. Possibly more." He turned her to face him. "You can give this up if you want. You honestly...could have more. I would not pursue."

Lili quickly shook her head; she didn't even need to think about it. "No."

He nodded. "I will find you again, then. Hopefully sooner than later."

Lili laughed. "If you were anyone else, I'd be trying to lose a person who said that to me very quickly."

Sergei gave her that ever so slight smirk. He took her hand, interlocking his fingers with hers.

"Will you stay here these next two or three days?"

He nodded.

Silent as ever, she thought with a chuckle. She shivered as he brought a hand up to her mouth, tracing a finger over it lightly. The look in his eyes seemed to tell her that it would be a shame to waste these limited days.

She tended to agree.