Chapter 9

Several months after Petrova's trainer returned, the young woman was assigned her first practice mission. It was just an infiltrate and gather intel mission, from what she told Zima during one of the few times when they could both slip away for a quiet moment together.

He was a little depressed when she left, but knew it was required. He was also confused as to why she went on a training mission before he did when he'd been there longer. So, logically, he asked Trainer.

She gave him an odd look. "Junior Agent Petrova was here for two years when you met her. You've only been here two years total. Also, she is getting a different set of training than you are."

"Shouldn't I still have some kind of practice, though?"

"Not in missions yet."

He furrowed his brows a little, before giving up. Trainer watched him.

"So what am I doing now?"

"Continue to practice what you have learned, unless you wish to practice your aim or seduction, or to spar."

He shifted a little. "Could we do something new?"

Trainer's brow rose. "As in? Languages you know, tactics and the like we were just working on."

"I mean something new. Like…sparring, or something we don't do much of."

There was a silent 'ah' in her expression. "Anyone in particular you want to spar with?"

"Not really."

She nodded. "Attack then. You won't always have time to get into a fighting stance."

Zima blinked. "I'm sparring with you?"


"Yes."

Her trainee nodded a little, and then he charged at her with a strike that would have been well aimed if she hadn't dodged at the last minute. He ran into the wall, and jolted a little when she kicked the back of his knee, though not hard enough to buckle it. She wanted to draw this out.

Liron continued mostly blocking and dodging, taking quick shots every once in a while that didn't do much damage to him.

They sparred for a while, and then she let him take her down, landing on her back. Zima scrambled over her, her metal hand managing to grab her wrists and pull them over her head, his flesh arm pressing into her throat. Liron choked on reflex, squirming. But she didn't fight nearly as hard as she could to make him let her up.

Zima's knee wedged between her legs, and he pushed her down more with his hips. A little sound was 'forced' from her lips, and she kicked and kneed at his back, choking as his arm pressed harder against her throat.

She hoped he wasn't trying to crush her trachea…the edges of her sight were starting to go fuzzy…

"Do you yield?"

Liron's voice was quiet for lack of air. "What would you do if I did not? Would you kill me?"

…perhaps if he did it would prevent her from bringing further death to others, though she feared what would come after that moment.

Zima let up on the pressure a bit, confusion flashing over his face. "It's training."

Liron wheezed a little. "You're about to crush my windpipe, Zima."

"Sorry."

She gasped a little on instinct when a lot of the pressure disappeared, and cleared her throat. "Don't be. You're training for killing anyways."

And…his other hand had loosened its grip on her wrists… She turned her hands and yanked them free, then rolled them over so she was on top, putting a hand on his throat so her thumb was on one side and her fingers were the other, his windpipe nestling neatly in the web of her hand.

"This is a safer way to choke someone in training or if you do not necessarily want to kill them. As you know, it is called a blood choke."

Zima fought to get her off him, but she held him down for a little longer before releasing his neck, though she stayed sitting on him. He coughed a little before groaning softly.

Liron watched him, something deep in the pit of her belly spreading warmth to the rest of her at…some vague thought she couldn't identify.

They stared at each other for a while, silent. Zima cleared his throat.

"Why didn't you yield?"

"I wanted to see what you would do."

"Why?"

Liron sat back a little, incidentally putting a little more pressure on his hips. "Just a test."

Zima drew in a sharp breath, and Liron tilted her head. He groaned again.

"What's wrong?" She knew exactly where she was sitting, and she knew why that would make him groan, but it seemed awfully random…especially since she wasn't moving.

"Like you don't know."

She raised a brow. His hips snapped up a little to emphasise his point, and she held back a shudder.

"Ah. A little…distracted." She let her voice be a little flirty, almost playful. Why was this fun?


Zima blinked. Did Trainer just flirt at him? …there was a faint smile in her eyes. He raised a brow. A tiny smirk teased her lips.

"You've never smiled before?"

"Haven't I?"

He shook his head.

Trainer raised a brow and leaned forward a bit. "That's strange...I seem to remember your scent flaring with pride, or something similar, when I smiled at you in training because you'd done something well."

What? OH…he'd forgotten that. "I forgot…" Hang on, what? "My scent?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"What…What is my scent?"

"Leather, dark chocolate, and plums." Her tongue darted out to lick her lip, and in any other situation where they were like this, that would have distracted him to the sky and back, but…

"How can you smell it?"

"It is a gift of mine. Everyone has a scent. Some are...more appealing than others." And there was that smirk again.

Huh…interesting. "Can everyone smell it?"

She shook her head. Oh…but…

"Oh, so you're wearing perfume then?" He didn't think so, he'd never seen her put any on, but…

Trainer blinked. "I don't wear perfume."

Okay, so then why… "Then how do you always smell like roses?"

Now she was outright staring at him. "What?"

He didn't answer, not really having an answer, and stared back, more confused that he could remember being for some time.

"Sit up."

Zima obeyed without question, and she shifted back so he had room to. They were so close…

"Are you sure I smell like roses?"

He nodded. There was no way he could not be sure, not with how close they were. "That and two other smells I don't know what to call."

She bit her lip. Was something wrong? He was so confused.

"Can I smell scents too then?"

"It seems so." Those pretty eyes filled with an emotion he'd never seen before…honestly she almost looked half-dazed…and she started to nose at him at little. "Which brings me to wonder, because…" Her eyes locked on his. "As far as anyone knows, I am the only one who can."

Zima shivered. This was so strange…she'd turned him away when he'd approached her, but now she was flirting and teasing and nuzzling him. He felt lost. "S-so?"

Trainer sat up again, and her hand brushed ever-so-gently against the side of his head. "So there may be something even more special about you than I had thought."

His mouth went dry, and he swallowed hard. "Why are you acting like this? I thought you didn't like me?"

"I said it was dangerous for you to like me and that I don't know how to like people."

"But you like me now…?" It seemed today was the day for the most confusion he had ever experienced.

"Something about you calls to me."

"Like?"

"I'm not certain." Her nose brushed his lightly.

Suddenly the door opened, and Trainer jumped a little.

The three agents in the doorway backpedalled quickly. "Oh, we're so sorry! We didn't know anyone was in here..."

Trainer stood smoothly, her usual mask forming. "No harm done. We are done anyways." She looked at him. "Zima, let's go."

Zima followed her dutifully to the room, and sat on his bed when she closed the door.

"Am I the only one who's scent you can smell?" She sat down across from him.

Uh… "Dunno. I never noticed it before."

She crossed her legs. "Think about it. It will be a useful thing to add to your training."

Zima thought hard, trying to remember. "Um…I remember something about Agent Romanova's…something warm and spicy?"

Trainer nodded a little. "Cinnamon, nail polish, and static is Natalia."

Oh, okay. He listened when she listed a few more scents, connecting them with names of agents, and when he thought back to when he had last seen those agents – of the ones he had seen – he could remember smells like she was talking about…if he knew what the smell-name actually smelled like…hanging around the person like an extremely faint perfume.

"I hadn't noticed those, but now that I know I'll keep an eye out for them."

Trainer smiled a bit, and a familiar warmth in the core of his chest flared up a little. "Good. Identifying people and emotions by scent can help greatly in having control of a situation."

He tilted his head. "How?"

"Knowing how to identity people by scent is the reason why it's extremely hard for anyone to sneak up on me. Even if I can't hear them, nine times out of ten I can smell them."

"Oh, okay." Well that explained that.

A few long moments of silence passed, before Zima couldn't hold back an important question, switching to English.

"Why did you change your feelings toward me?"

Trainer looked back at him, suddenly seeming hesitant. "…Sir told me to act on them."

His brows furrowed. "…What did you tell him?"

"Everything."


Zima's scent flared up sharp with fear, the emotion mirrored in his eyes.

Liron leaned back against her headboard. "Madame will not be told, to my knowledge. And Sir seems to think there is an opportunity for...something."

Irritation joined the fear. "You told me you wouldn't tell."

"I told you I wouldn't tell Madame. I have orders to tell Sir about this situation almost since I met you."

"Why?"

"Because he gave them to me."

Zima stood, the irritation taking over, with a hint of anger by its side. "Why?! What did you say?!"

Liron stood as well, keeping herself impassive. "I told him everything."

He started to pace, gripping his hair. "Was it really necessary?!"

"Yes…why wouldn't it be?" Liron frowned. "I follow my orders. And I trust Sir."

He spun to face her. "Why did Sir even ask you?"

Why was she revealing all of this to him? "I approached him."

"Why?"

Her frown deepened. "Why does this matter so much?"

"Because I have to know!" He advanced a little, but if he was trying to intimidate her, it wasn't working.

Liron crossed her arms, switching to English as well, even if it didn't flow as well with her thoughts. "I had something I was not trained to deal with, and I wanted to know what to do about it. That is all."

"And what was that?"

"I already told you, Zima."

"Tell me again."

She squared her shoulders. She shouldn't be telling him all of this. She was the Ice Queen, trained to be emotionless unless the emotion was useful. This was not useful…even if the warmth was nice. Although…Sir seemed to think there was use in it. What kind of use, she could only guess, and she didn't really want to. She shouldn't need to.

Zima advanced again. "I have a right to know."

"Do you?"

"Yes."

….Fine. She supposed there wasn't harm in telling him since she'd already told him. "Something about you calls to me." And she had a guess now as to what that something was, considering he could smell identity scents.

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. And I think I know what it is now."

"What is it?"

"You're like me."

That was the only explanation she could think of for him being able to smell identity scents, not to mention that tang in his scent that she'd only ever smelled in her own. And that…spark, almost, in his mind.

"How am I like you?"

Liron tapped the side of her nose. "You just learned about it."

Zima blinked.

She moved toward the door. "And now that I know that reason, I need to obey my orders and report to Sir."

He sighed softly. "Is that the only reason you were flirting with me?"

Liron paused. "…Is what the only reason?"

"Because of Sir."

"No." She left the room, teleporting to just outside of Sir's office door.

She knocked and entered when bid, closing the door behind her.

"Zima can smell scents like I can."

Sir stopped what he was doing and looked up, surprise blatant on his face and in his scent. "Is that so?"

Liron nodded. "And I have reason to believe that there are...other similarities."

"Such as?"

"More wolf qualities than just the scents...he growls sometimes, and it's not a human growl, though I didn't realise it wasn't until today. And there is a…tang in his scent that I have only ever encountered in my own."

Sir was silent for a long time, and Liron sat down in the chair across from him to wait.

"…What kind of 'tang'?"

Liron bit her lip slightly. "It's…hard to explain. There isn't really a physical scent that I can compare it to."

He nodded. "Keep it up."

"Yes Sir."

Sir dismissed her, and she returned to the room. Zima was still sitting on his bed, and looked up when she closed the door.

"What did he say?"


Trainer imitated Sir's voice almost perfectly. "Keep it up."

Zima's brows furrowed…well that was weird. He watched as Trainer pulled a box out from under her bed and remove a book. Briefly, he caught a glimpse of what looked like a sword and a set of armour before the lid closed. What the-?

Trainer sat on her bed, drawing her knees up to her chest and opening the book…there was a very faded cross on the front. After a moment though, she blinked – seeming surprised – and got up to put it back in the box.

"You have a bible?"

"Huh?" She looked up. "Oh, this?" The book lifted in the air on a faint tendril of blue light before landing back in her hand. "…how do you know what it's called?"

"I…I…don't know…" Zima's face scrunched in thought and confusion. "Some things I can remember…but not much. Other than that…" He shook his head.

Trainer nodded a little. "I am…actually pleased that you remember anything at all."

"Why?"

She switched to English. "Because that confirms that Zola's methods are not nearly as effective as mine."

Zima looked at her. "Yours?"

Trainer nodded again. "I have had to wipe a few memories in my past. I…" She paused and got an odd look on her face, checking to see if the door was closed before continuing to do it. "I do not enjoy doing it at all."

He shifted. The thought of her doing that…made him uneasy in more ways than one…but why? "Then why do you do it?"

"Because I am ordered to, or…for the safety of the one I am doing it to."

"Why? I mean, what good is it?"

Something flashed in her pretty eyes. "Would you want a child who's father was assassinated to remember that loss? Would you want his wife to be forced to mourn his death?" She should her head. "Better they forget and avoid being targets themselves."

Oh…Zima nodded sadly, understanding somehow.

Trainer sighed a bit, then shook her head as if to clear it and went back to looking for whatever she was looking for. After a while she sighed again and came back up, leaning her elbows on her bed for a moment.

Suddenly Zima remembered something Petrova had said a while ago… "How come you and Agent Romanova don't have any personal things?"

She looked at him again. "Say again?"

"How come you and Agent Romanova don't have any personal things?"

"We have personal things…not very many, but we have them…" Her scent fluttered with what Zima guess to be confusion, judging by her tone and expression.

"Where?" He glanced under her bed.

"In the box I got my bible from."

"Oh, okay."

"…I'm assuming you want to see?"

He shrugged. Not really; he didn't care all that much, he'd just been curious.

"Very well. You will find out eventually anyways." She sat on her bed again.

Zima waited. "…change your mind?"

"Hm?"

"About showing me?"

Trainer shook her head, and Zima nodded a little.


Three weeks passed. Petrova returned from her mission, and she and Zima started spending time together again…when Liron gave him time off. When she didn't, she herself continued flirting with him on and off, testing the waters a little and trying to hold to her training while still obeying Sir's orders to act on her feelings.

Honestly, Zima seemed happy around Petrova, and flirted back and forth with her in a way he seemed much too cautious to with Liron.

There were times she thought about just leaving them be…she could close off her emotions if she wanted…but why did she care? She wasn't supposed to care about other people…but of course Natalia, Alexi, and Nikolas, and even Sir proved that to be impossible.

One day, Liron had let Zima go off and be with Petrova, feeling a little overwhelmed, when Natalia walked in – probably fresh from working out with Alexi, judging by his scent hanging around her.

"Hi. How was training?"

Her partner blinked, then the lightbulb clicked on. "You smell him on me, don't you?" She smiled a little and sat beside her. "It went well. You okay?"

Liron shook her head. "Overwhelmed."

"What's wrong?"

Natalia draped an arm around Liron's shoulders, and she leaned into it.

"Sir's orders…Zima seems happy with Petrova...I still don't know how to deal with my own feelings to be able to follow Sir's orders even if I ignore Zima and Petrova...It's too much."

Natalia's scent flared with concern, and she frowned. "Do you like Zima?"

"He…I think he has a wolf, Natalia. I should have told you as soon as I found out, but...he can smell scents, and he growls, and..."

Surprise and a faint bit of disbelief joined the concern, but the latter stayed the strongest. "Liron, do you like Zima."

"I…I think so." There was very little doubt in it now. He was like her…even if only a little.

"Then go for it. It'll only make you obey Sir's orders easier if you do get involved with him. That's basically what Sir wants right? He's getting you two together to see how you react."

Liron shook her head. "Zima does not want me anymore. I do not want to force him."

"Then show him you want him. And I mean, really want him."

She nodded a little. It would take a bit, but if Natalia and Alexi could grow to…love – that seemed to be the right word by what she'd observed – each other, Liron could figure out how to properly show Zima she wanted him without resorting to outright seduction.

She leaned closer to Natalia. "Hold me for a little?"

Natalia's smile was soft, and she opened her arms, shifting back on the bed a little so Liron could climb onto her lap. Their arms wrapped securely around each other, and Liron buried her face in Natalia's neck, taking comfort in her scent and letting it calm her.

Suddenly the door opened, and Zima's scent floated through the doorway as his footsteps stopped short.


Zima stopped walking…Trainer and Agent Romanova were cuddling…like that. A certain suspicion rose back up in his mind. Also, roses and cinnamon made for an interesting combination.

Trainer untucked her face from Agent Romanova's neck and looked at him. "How was Petrova?"

"Uh…she's fine."

"Good." She untangled herself from Agent Romanova and stood, helping the other woman to her feet, when then disappeared into the bathroom as Trainer spoke. "Unless you have something you want to work on, you are welcome to take the next…three hours or so off as long as you return here before those three hours are up."

He frowned a little. "…okay."

Zima left, closing the door behind him again. He started to go back to Petrova, but what he'd just seen drove him to find Alexi instead. He needed to tell him.

Alexi was in the gun range, cleaning a pistol. Judging by the powder burns on his fingers, he'd just finished shooting. After a moment, he looked up.

"Any particular reason for watching me?"

"I need to talk to you about something."

"Okay?"

"It can wait until you're done."

The redhead finished cleaning the gun and put it away. "What is it?"

"It's about Trainer and Agent Romanova."

Alexi gave him a curious look. "What about them?"

"Well…lately they've been... really close. I... i think they might be together. And i thought i should tell you."

He crossed his arms over his chest. "Together as in what? You think Natalia is cheating on me with Liron?"

Zima nodded. "Yes."

Alexi looked at him for a long moment, then started laughing. People turned to look, then proceeded to ignore them. Zima's brows furrowed. What was so funny?

The other man calmed quickly. "If anyone was cheating in this situation, Natalia would be cheating on Liron with me. But they're not together like that, so it doesn't matter either way."

"But…I saw them."

"Doing what?"

"Being close, snuggling, hugging…"

Alexi nodded a little. "Natalia is the only person that Liron will do that with at all. I don't exactly know what their relationship is, but it's not the kind where they could be considered cheating."

"Really?" That was…confusing. "But one would be taking a shower and the other would sometimes just go in there…"

Alexi snorted. "That's just normal for the Red Room. Partners, especially ones who've trained together as long as they have, do that all the time."

"Oh…" Okay then…well he was worried about nothing, wasn't he?

Alexi nodded.

"Sorry…I thought she was cheating."

"No harm done." He reached over and clapped Zima on the shoulder.

Zima smiled a little, and Alexi smiled back.

"I should head back."

"You sure you don't want to shoot with me?"

Zima thought for a moment…he didn't really want to go back the room yet, and Petrova probably had to train… "I can if you want me to."

"How much time do you have off?"

"Two and a half hours now."

Alexi nodded. "If you want to shoot with me, you're welcome to."

Zima thought for another moment, then went and grabbed a gun, joined Alexi – who had gotten a different one than the one he'd just put away – at the booths.

When Zima and Alexi were done at the range, Agent Romanova showed up, so Zima thought it would be fine to go ahead and go back to the room.

Trainer was sitting on her bed reading, and he watched her as he sat on his bed. After a while she looked up.

"What?"

"Nothing." He looked away.

"…okay."

After a few long, tense-on-Zima's-part moments, he looked back at her, hesitant. She looked up again.

"Do you genuinely like me?"