Chapter 9

Little cabin

They had arrived at their getaway plan, a plane, an hour after the agreed time, to which Sombra declared that it was because they had feared to be followed. They had climbed into the aircraft, and it had instantly taken off. Hana had a backpack with her, full of Sombra's stuff, and they were both dressed for a cold weather, although Hana's outfit was slightly too big for her. As they sat down and silently waited to arrive, the brunette quickly noticed that Sombra's friend was a rather influent person, since this was a Volskaya ship they were being transported into. Even the military personnel inside had the logo on their jackets.

The journey was short compared to the one Hana had made from Gibraltar to Dorado, but neither of them dared to speak. Only, Sombra's hand found Hana's and held her almost reassuringly. Hana trusted Sombra, she knew what she was doing, but still, traveling blindly like this wasn't Hana's cup of tea.

They arrived in Russia. Hana knew not because of the icy fields and snowy forests around the plane when it landed, but because of the Volskaya factory appearing on the horizon, and the fact that as soon as the trap to the cargo plane opened they were face to face with Katya Volskaya herself, who Hana distinctively remembered Sombra had tried and failed to assassinate when she was working for Talon.

They walked up to her, Hana keeping close to Sombra because she felt out of place, only anchored there by the hacker. Both women glared at each other before the Russian woman looked over at Hana, who held her gaze nonetheless. She wasn't going to let herself be impressed. The woman turned back to Sombra after having detailed Hana long enough to recognize her.

"You should have told me you were traveling with someone." declared Volskaya.

"It was not important. Did you find everything I asked?"

"It wasn't easy, but I did. It's all in the cabin already. Someone will show you to it."

She looked over to Hana again, wondering how much the girl knew, before asking:

"Will I ever hear from you again?"

Sombra shook her head.

"No, as long as you keep your end of the deal, you will not."

"Good."

Without another look, she walked back to her jeep and drove away. The cargo plane left as well, leaving the two girls stranded in the middle of nowhere, with only two other Volskaya soldiers and two snow motorbikes. One of the two grabbed one and asked:

"You know how to drive one?"

Before Sombra could answer, Hana intervened with a smirk:

"I sure can."

The drive to the cabin was a real pleasure for both women. Hana hadn't driven a snow motorbike in a long time, but it came back to her rather quickly, and she had no problem following the men who showed them the way. Sombra enjoyed the ride, her hands around Hana's stomach. She decided that she really wanted to learn how to drive one, just to have a race with Hana. They drove through the forest at full speed, ignoring the trees around them and the snow in their hair. Sombra had put on a woolen hat to make sure the cables on her head wouldn't be damaged by the cold, and it held fast, never even sleeping off once during the route.

Finally, they came to a stop, and when the deafening sound of the motorbikes was off, they heard the forest like never before. Birds' cheeps, no matter how distant, echoed through the forest and to their ears. The snow around the road was clear and puffy, untouched by even the footprint of an animal. The sky above them was a clear light blue, without a single cloud coming towards them. In front of them, just at the outskirt of the forest, was the cabin. A small but luxurious looking cabin made of dark wood, with three steps leading to the door and a stone chimney piercing through the roof.

"Will that be all?" asked one of the men as he took the bike left by the two women.

Sombra nodded.

"I'll call if we need anything."

Both men left on the motorbikes, leaving them completely stranded. They waited until the sound of the vehicles became only a faint echo, and turned back to the cabin.

"Come on, let's get inside, I'm freezing here!" declared Sombra before taking Hana's hand and leading her inside.

They stopped by the door and found the key in an envelope on the doormat, and Sombra opened the door.

"You asked Katya Volskaya, the most powerful woman in Russia, to give you a cabin?"

"It's a bit more complicated than that."

As they walked in, the light turned itself on, and they entered a small living room, with a soft looking couch in front of the stone fireplace, and two desks on which rested two set of computers, one of which Hana recognized as hers from her room in the MEKA facility. She almost jumped of joy.

"Is that what you asked her to get for you, my computer?"

Sombra shrugged with her unwounded shoulder.

"I figured it would be better for you since we don't know how much time we're going to spend here."

Hana turned back to Sombra with a bright smile.

"Thank you. Really. I can't even imagine how you convinced her to do it!"

"Blackmailing, my friend, always work when you know which strings need a little pull."

They explored the rest of cabin rather quickly. The kitchen was a small room opposite the living-room. The bathroom was beside the kitchen, across a pseudo-corridor leading to the only bedroom of the cabin. This, Hana decided, was her favorite room of the house. It was the just as big as the living-room, with a big bed against the wall and a wardrobe. Nothing too exciting, if not for the fact that the room had a large set of French windows, leading to a balcony which was overlooking a frozen lake. In fact, if the lake hadn't been frozen, the support for the balcony would have been licked by the water. Far in the distance, they could discern snowy mountains and glaciers, and the rest of the forest expending over the line of the horizon. There was not a single sign of civilization for miles on end. In this cabin, it was just the two of them.

"Had you plan that I would be with you?" asked Hana as they were contemplating the view.

"Absolutely not. But I'm glad to have some company, I'll probably turn crazy if I was on my own here."

Hana turned back to Sombra and stood on her toes to place a soft kiss on her lips. Now that they were standing, she noticed how hard it was for her to kiss the other girl since their height difference was considerable.

"Can I leave you here on your own? I have some things to do outside."

Sombra's question was legitimate but surprised Hana nonetheless. What could the other girl had to do outside that was so secretive? Hana nodded. If there was something to learn quickly with Sombra, it was that she never did something useless.

"Sure, go ahead. I'll start a fire. You sure you don't want me to check your shoulder first?"

"Nah, it's fine."

They went back inside, and when Sombra opened the door to the wardrobe they found a tone of electronic equipment, among which Hana recognized some cameras. So this was what she wanted to do.

"I could help you, you know. Just to make sure your shoulder doesn't start to bleed again."

Sombra stopped picking up the stuff she needed. She seemed to ponder the question. Then she turned around to face Hana, and nodded.

"Sure, I could use a hand."

A/N: Hi guys! So yesterday we ended the Dorado shenanigans and today we started the Russians shenanigans! So, what do you think will happen? I wanted to thank Omri12 for the review. It doesn't matter if you think you're bad at leaving reviews, most of us are, me included. But just the fact that you took the time to write something is already enough, so thank you! I'll see you on monday guys, have a good week-end!