Breaker

Damn, it's a bit more difficult writing about family dynamics that are actually nice.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the plot- that includes all quotes from any song or poem or whatever.

Chapter 6

If only, if only, the woodpecker sighed, the bark on this tree was a little bit softer…

~Louis Sachar in the book Holes

Nigel groaned as he realized exactly what lengths he went to for his lady. And dear god, he could think of a million things that he'd rather do than go to the fucking base in the fucking Siberian arctic in fucking Russia in the god damn winter.

The things he did for Rachel….

"Numbuh 1, what're you doing here?" Pete asked. Nigel sighed and rolled his eyes. "Look, where's numbuh 60?"

"He's in his office…. I guess."

"Anyone with him in there?"

"No. He's alone."

"You make that sound like a rare occurrence…"

"Lately it's been commonplace." Peter muttered. "Which is a small miracle, honestly…"

"Dumped numbuh 14, though. Don't know why…" Pete said to his brother, and Nigel sighed. This was getting a bit annoying, honestly. He was here for one reason.

"Do either of you know what happened with numbuh 60 and number 86?" he asked, trying to break the debate with the brothers. Honestly, he was a patient guy… but this was getting ridiculous. He had other things to do, and numbuh 362 did control his sex life… as well as his rank.

"Yeah… uh sorry. We don't really know what happened- besides that fight that happened after the last time 14 came around. I can't tell you what it was about, because I don't know, all we heard was a bunch of screaming and yelling. Then, deathly silence for a few minutes, then more yelling." Pete returned.

"Seriously, we're just as curious as you are. So if you find out…"

"I am not here to gossip like a couple of old women, so I suggest you get back to your job before numbuh 60 finds out that you are." Came the crisp reply from the Brit.

The twins winced at the thought of what exactly would happen to them if their commander found out that they had been gossiping. Something told them that it wouldn't be anything as tame as mandatory re- certification training….

Nigel snorted as he turned to walk to Patton's office. Where Patton was at his desk. Writing. "That a report?"

"Figured I should get it done before my dear sweet friend who sits in the office sends the heinous witch of dubious and possible she-demon origins to my front door again, to rip my head off. That didn't go all that well the last time… and I'm really not all that keen on that happening again…."

"Yeah, about that…"

"Rachel wants you to ask me what happened." It wasn't a question, and frankly, Nigel noticed, the guy looked really, really tired. Like he hadn't gotten any sleep in days.

"Yeah. See she got Fran's story out of her. And red was pretty adamant that nothing happened- aside from a kiss. Which apparently ended with a knee to your family jewels, to which she left, and you went after her and apologized. Care to corroborate?"

"No, that's about it…. Besides her spitting something about man-whore at me…. Which I cannot deny." He drawled. "I think I let in a comment about her being a prudish bitch, too…"

"Which really makes the fact that you don't have a random girl in here all the more believeable. Jesus she did a number on you, didn't she?"

"She had a point, Nigel. That's the fuckin' problem. She was actually right about it." He paused. "And I'm pretty sure I did as much damage as I got. Possibly more. So please don't insult me by making it sound like I'm the victim."

"Yeah, so you're not gonna sleep with random girls in the TND anymore?"

"No." he sighed. "Damn it, it's hard to sleep with random girls when I just want one of 'em, and she's a volatile bitch who thinks- rightly so- that I sleep around… probably worse than your ex."

"Uh, I don't think anyone can sleep around more than Lizzie…"

"Five girls in two weeks, Nigel. And I can't really remember who they all are." He said dryly. "And that isn't even my record."

"Shit, Patton. Really, now?" Nigel snorted. "Not the monogamous one, are we."

"No. Never have been, really."

"Such a string of broken hearts." Nigel smirked.

"Uh…"

"D'you know that they have a list? They made a list on how many hearts you've broken…." Patton's eyebrow shot up.

"That is retarded."

"And no one ever said the girls you screwed were smart. In fact, Patton, it seems that you had a thing for the dumb ones…" Patton winced. "You have a point there."

"good luck making this one right…."

"Yeah right. You're laughing your ass off."

"You know I am." Nigel was now laughing outright. He sobered up quickly, though when he remembered something that the black haired teen had just said. "Are you serious about wanting 86."

"Have for a while."

"And every other girl was just…"

"Denial." Patton glared at nothing. "Which I'm still trying to stay in, because she fucking hates my guts right about now, and whose fault is that?"

"I'm going to have to say yours…. Since you kissed her right after you screwed around with 14." Nigel snorted. "Got yourself in a hell of a mess, my friend. Any idea how to get out?"

"Besides not sleeping around, you mean?"

"Well, that…. And how about a nice game of, 'Lets- Not- Piss- off- Francesca- Fulbright- Every- Time- You- See- Her'."

"Not fucking likely. I can't seem to stop myself from that particular thing. It's like a fucking high. And I can't get enough of it."

"Wow, oddly specific. You like pissing her off? Kind of self destructing, isn't it?"

Patton seemed to have nothing to say to that. He just looked the other teen in the eye and raised an eyebrow. "Tell me that there aren't times when you like seeing Rachel pissed off, Nigel."

"Yes, and usually at someone other than myself." He drawled back. "Honestly it's rather sexy when she's pissed off." Patton gave him a pointed look.

Nigel blinked and then started laughing. "right. That's the only reason."

"Don't you have something better to do than this?" the black haired commander snapped, grey eyes flashing.

"Yeah, I'm going to go kiss my girlfriend." Nigel snorted, walking out the office door.

"And she wonders why men don't talk about feelings…" he muttered, as he did so.

As he left Patton to his own thoughts, the nineteen-year-old sighed. Three months, twenty days. That was all. Then, he'd be off to boot camp. He wouldn't have to deal with… whatever this was.

But for now, he did.

And as long as he did, he'd stay away from Fanny.

Nigel returned to M- Base to utter mayhem. 86 was there, and yelling at a seemingly random girl- if he'd been a betting man, he'd say that this girl was one of the many that numbuh 60 had in his harem.

"What do ya mean you lost the report, 287? How do you lose something that is supposed to be, like, 100 pages long?!"

Numbuh 287? Wasn't that the number of the operative that had written a long steamy eh, letter, to numbuh 60? Nigel blinked. Oh, this was interesting. Especially since the girl looked close to crocodile tears while looking oddly smug…

"I'm sorry, 86, sir. I didn't mean to…."

"Bull shit, numbuh 287. I don't know what kind of game you're playing- oh, actually, I do. I'm not sending you to the arctic base for extra training, by the way. You will be serving your punishment here, at M- Base. Congratulations, you have just pissed me off." She stomped away.

Nigel had a hard time not laughing. He had to admit that that was entertaining. What was even funnier was that the girl – 287- was now standing in the middle of the M-Base hallway with her mouth hanging open, and she was stricken. The brunette shook his head, laughing under his breath as he went to go to Rachel's office.

Then, she turned her big, brown eyes on him. Nigel froze. Oh, shit this was going to be bad. "N-number 1…. Are you… did you hear that?" she was pouting and tears were running down her face. Well, time to turn on the cold British jerk stereotype thing….

"And that is your own fault, soldier." He said it loftily. "You really should know that she does have a brain." With that, he turned and hightailed it out of there – or, well, tried to. She started crying.

"Oh, dear god, what the hell, numbuh 287. You actually got caught in an attempt to get sent to the arctic base. Did you really think that she wouldn't catch on? Because I swear that she and R- numbuh 362 have the best 'bull shit' radars in the TND." He walked away after that, eager to get away from her.

Before she got him in trouble with Rachel, preferably.

Thankfully, he made it to Rachel's office without any other diversions of the female sort. He let out a breath as he stepped inside and was instantly ambushed with a hug by Rachel. "You're back…" she mumbled, snuggling into him. He felt his face turn red and he grinned sheepishly. "I'm back."

She instantly sobered as she looked at him. "Kay, tell." She said. "What did he say?"

"That what Fanny said was true. Also, he said that he was working on his report before you sent - and I have to quote this because it was that amazing- 'the heinous witch of dubious and posible she-demon origins' to come get it. Also, some mention of 86 calling him a man- whore and him returning by calling her a prudish bitch. So, yeah."

"And…?" Rachel asked, eyebrow raised, knowing full well that there was more to the story. Nigel sighed.

"He said that he wants her. And that he's done sleeping around. Also, he has this insane addiction to pissing her off…"

"Wait, what?" this surprised Rachel. Not the addiction to pissing Fran off, no, that she'd known- or guessed- for a while. "He wants her?"

"Honestly, I think he's in love with her." The brit returned.

"And this just got way more complicated." The blond glared at nothing in particular as she thought long and hard about what to do.

"How much more complicated are we talking?"
"She's just as in love with him… though I think it's more lust than love for the both of them… anyway, she's like, two weeks from turning 18. So… the question is how long will they last before they jump each other?"

"Two weeks, tops."

"They've been at it this long…. Besides, she thinks he's a man- whore. And he called her a prudish little bitch." Rachel pointed out, raising a blond brow at her boyfriend.

"Okay, three weeks. Sometime before he goes off to Basic Training." Nigel returned. "But I'm not going to put a bet on it. They're notoriously stubborn people."

"She's thinking about becoming a cop." Rachel said quietly. "And so am I."

Nigel sighed and held her closer. "Well, I am as well… but seriously, we're only thinking about these types of jobs because they're close to what we're used to. Close to what we've been doing since day one."

"Are we going to be okay? Are they?"

"I don't know, Rachel."

Patton finally got home after yet another hellish day… okay, not hellish. More annoying than hellish. He made a face. The 44 twins were starting to really piss him off. His thoughts continued to turn darker and darker as he walked into the kitchen.

His mother stood at the sink, peeling potatoes, and he couldn't help but grin.

Nadia Drilovski, a native of Ukraine was more of a drill instructor herself than she was a housewife. As a military wife, and as a mother of three active children, she still looked younger than most, the only real signs of aging were the silver strands in her long, wavy, black as soot hair, and lines of worry and laughter around her eyes.

Her small, slim build was a throwback to the ballerina that she had been. The woman who'd fallen in love with a half Polish, half Russian American soldier while on a work visa that allowed her to dance in New York.

She could- and did- speak fluently in all four languages. Her temper was as hot as the fires of hell when riled. And not a day went by when her family were not the center of her life.

"Pryvit, mamochka(1)." He spoke in Ukrainian. She turned, and a smile lit her face. She stopped what she was doing and danced across the kitchen to her second eldest.

"Laskavo prosymo nazad, miy malenʹkyy khlopchyk(2)." She murmured as she hugged her son. Though he dwarfed her by a good one foot, two inches, they all knew who was the boss.

"where's dad?" Patton asked.

Nadia rolled her golden brown eyes at her son. "He's in his shop, dear." She grinned. "Making me a bookshelf."

"Didn't he do that a month ago?" Patton asked, an identical grin on his face.

"I need a new one. Go help. I have not enough shelves for my books."

"Yes, mom." He trudged outside to go help his father. In more snow. The little outbuilding where his father played with wood was an original part of the property, which was Victorian styled, over 100 years old, and very renovated. By Dimitri, Leon, and Patton- with a little help from the youngest of the crew, Maria.

"Hey, dad." He called.

Dimitri Drilovski came out. At twenty- five years Patton's senior, he looked only like a more distinguished (and that is really the only word that comes to mind) version of Patton and Leon. From the grey eyes, the now silver- shot black hair and large, muscled build. He grinned as he saw his son.

"Pat, there you are. I was wondering." He drawled. "Come help."

"Mom already told me to do that."

"You look like you could use the work."

"And so I could." Patton drawled.

"Girl trouble, again, my son?"

"Again would imply that I'd worked it out once before. Which I haven't. Not by a long damn shot." Patton grumbled, taking up a chisel and a hammer, ands starting on the scrollwork that his mother was partial to.

Dimitri looked at his son pityingly. He knew well what was going on between his son and the, quote, 'vicious redheaded viper' that he- once upon a time- called his best friend.

"There is only one of two things to do with a girl like that, Patton."

"And what's that, dad?"

"Marry her, or get the hell away from her. I suggest the first, because you'll never meet a girl like her again."

"Dad, I'm almost twenty. She's almost 18. And I don't know if I can put up with her for long enough to actually get on 'good' terms with her. Whatever that means with a girl like her."

Dimitri laughed. Loudly. "I know. It's been like that since you two were ten." He snorted.

Patton felt his face heat up a bit. "Shut up, dad…" he muttered, no longer willing to talk about his problems. There were so many other things he could be doing other than listening to his father laughing at his problems.

"Patton…" Dimitri sighed, shaking his head at his son. "You should know how to handle women…"

"Every single one, it seems, but her."

"So it seems, kid."

They lapsed into silence as they continued working on the bookshelf.

Four hours later, they stopped for the night, and headed back to the house. Patton trudged to the shower at his mother's insistence- because apparently, he smelled like the wrong side of a cow. He stood under the spray, deep in thought.

He'd noticed that it was only around his family that he had complete control over his temper- was completely comfortable… and well, content with everything. At the TND, he was a hard ass, and his temper was lousy. At school, he was just trying to graduate so he could get the hell out. As it was, there was one month of school left, and he was passing all of his classes. At his job, he was stressed out most of the time- but that was mostly because his co-workers were complete idiots for the most part.

And with Fanny…. He was a complete and total bastard. He couldn't seem to get himself to stop. Patton snorted as he dried himself off and pulled on his pajama pants. It was, he figured, going to be another long, sleepless night.

Well, he'd try and go to sleep after dinner. Maybe he'd get more sleep if he actually tried to sleep…

Yeah, no. He lay awake, at 1:00 am, glaring at the ceiling, unable to get back to sleep, unable to do anything but sit there, in the dark, in silence that seemed to be closing in on him, until he grabbed his phone from his bedside table, and put on his music. He sighed as he settled back in, rock music blaring through the headphones.

He finally fell asleep for good about an hour later. Back into restless, reckless, and impossible dreams.

She stood in front of him, a rare smile curving her lips. "Ye're back, are ye, then, Patton?" she whispered. She patted the ground beside her in invitation. She looked at him expecting him to sit. He stood. She huffed, and yanked on his arm. "Sit, Patton, there's no use for ye to be standing up."

He let himself be yanked down, and stared at the figment of his own imagination. "You're back. I've never left." He said it quietly.

"I've never left." She gave an oddly bitter smile. "I've been right here, waiting for you. As I always have been." She looked out over the building where they were sitting. He realized that they were at M-Base, then, in the hangar, feet hanging over the side of a staircase.

"You've left a few times, Fan-Fan. More than I have." He replied

"And who started the walking, Patton? Do ye even remember?" She snapped, green eyes narrowing at him. "Because the last time I checked, that was you, boyo…"

"Did you really just call me boyo? What the hell, Fanny?"

She raised an eyebrow. "After that whole conversation, the thing that gets yer goat is the fact that I called ye 'boyo'. Wow, Patton, just wow."

He snorted and rolled his eyes. "Can you really blame me for that, Fanny. I'm a guy. I have pride."

"Aye, that, I know, and a bunch of it, as well. So much of it that ye threw away your friend because yer pride was hurt. I was hurt more, you know." She said it coolly. He winced. She was right about that, too. But at the same time, "You walked away as well, Fan-Fan. I wasn't the only one."

"Aye, I did, only after you did, and look where this has gotten us, Patton. Ye attacked me- and don't say you didn't, because yes, you did- in yer office out of frustration."

"And that was because I lost what semblance of control I had- which was caused by your insistent screaming in my fucking ear. I think I'm partially deaf because of you."

"No, ye aren't. Yer overreacting, ye are…" she sighed suddenly. "and here we go again, starting to argue, and it's no' even real…. Are we seriously doing this? Now?"

"We could kiss and make up…" Patton drawled, sarcasm dripping from his tone.

"Aye, this is a dream after all…." She muttered. "It's no' like it counts."

"This whole fight wouldn't count then." He returned.

"Argument. The last fight we had is something that I'd like to forget."

"Why, because I kissed you?"

"After you finished screwing numbuh 14. You kissed me right after you'd finished…" she didn't finish that sentence. She didn't have to. He gave an odd, almost crazed laugh. "That's what pissed you off? Not the fact that I kissed you, but that I did it after I'd finished screwing 14…"

"And that is reason enough. Ye made me feel like a cheap floozy. It's not funny." She snapped.

"It's funny because I wanted you as soon as you walked through the door…" self-deprecating laughter came out, and he couldn't really control it. Dear god, admitting that to himself was easy. At least in dreamland.

"What?" Her eyes went wide; her hands went limp. Her face went even whiter than usual- lending her the appearance of a fey ghost.

"you heard me, Fanny."

"You'd just…"

"Doesn't seem to matter. As soon as you walk through the door…. It doesn't seem to matter how many girls I fuck. I still end up wanting you. As soon as I see you."

She was silent for a few minutes. "Then what's the point of screwing every girl in sight?" she whispered.

"Denial."

"Heh, no' just a river in Egypt." She was unsteady, he noticed. He said nothing, refusing to say another word. Just then, anyway… she lapsed into silence as well, not knowing, apparently what to say.

They sat in silence for a while.

"I've stopped." He said, after a while.

"What?"

He sighed. "I stopped doing it. I figure… I'm not exactly going to be here for much longer. I figure I should grow up a little- in that aspect…"

"Really."

"No use going after someone I don't want."

The last thing that he heard from her was a snort of laughter.

Patton yawned as he woke up for the second time. This time, though, it was light out- or, well, as light as it can get in January, in the Rocky Mountains… on the outskirts of Denver. He yawned, as his mother called him downstairs.

By the time he got downstairs, though all that he had time to eat was a piece of toast on his way out to the truck. Maria slipped in the passenger seat beside him.

"Dzień dobry(3), Patton." She yawned, like all of the Drilovski clan, the Polish fell naturally out of her mouth.

"Tak(4)." He muttered.

"dostałeś spać w nocy(5)?"

"Actually, yeah. I did. Speak in English. I'm tired still."

"no fun." Maria pouted.

"My tired speak is Russian, you know that. YA tozhe odin za rulem, tak chto imet' delo s nim(6)." He yawned.

"szarpnięcie(7)." She muttered.

"Don't call me a jerk, otrod'ye(8)."

"Don't call me a brat."

"You started this, mladshaya sestra(9)."

"Bite me, Patton."

He laughed as he dropped her off at her middle school, and as he drove himself to his own school. Where he spent the rest of the day in an 'educational' haze of teachers and idiots that he had to share the fucking world with.

Okay, so, I have a bit of a rant to get off my chest here. It started with a comment that I got on one of my other stories a while ago- that I just caught wind of a few days ago- simply because it's an older story of mine and I haven't checked them in a while…. So I'm sorry to all of you nicer people because this particular flame that I got really pissed me off. To all parents who catch their underage kids on the internet: First of all, I posed a fucking rating for a god damned reason. It's there, I warned you about it. Multiple times, in fact. If you are one of these parents- especially the ones who like to wine about this- then put parental controls on the computer, because I am not Hollywood, and I don't give a fuck. I am not to blame for your bad parenting.

Again, this is not pointed at most of you, it just really pisses me off. So, I'm sorry for anyone I've pissed off with this… As always, Read and Review, tell me what you think. Peace Out.

anyway, so this is the translation (And what languages they're in)

(1)Hi, Mom- Ukrainian

(2)welcome home, my little boy- Ukrainian-[or something like that... google's not good at un-translating translated sentances]

(3) Good morning- Polish

(4) yeah- Russian and Ukrainian

(5)did you get any sleep- Polish

(6)something about the fact that he's driving her to school. Sorry, google translate is stupid.

(7)jerk- polish

(8)brat- Russian

(9) little sister- Russian