Chapter 10

Author's Notes: Ta-dah! And here's Chapter 10 of Call of the Bluebird. Now, here's the warning for this chapter: There is a little bit of mature content (AKA: What you guys call LEMONS) but it doesn't go into detail if that makes you guys feel better about reading it. My story is after all only rated T. Other than that, I think Sergei and Anna fans are bound to love this chapter, so please tell me what you think and tell me where I could improve. Oh, and in the next few chapters, I'll be sure to get back into the action part of this story. Sorry FLUFF…

Upon entering the hotel, Sergei found that the entire lobby was in an uproar. All the patrons seemed to be in a panic and they talked among themselves in hushed whispers. As Sergei walked by, he caught a few words here and there. "What do you think he was looking for?" "…a soldier…" "…bullets fired…"

Summing up the words he heard, Sergei came to the simple conclusion that Aleksander had already tracked him down. At this moment, all he could hope for was that his plan worked. He rushed up to the hall where his room stood and smirked when he found a crowd of people causing a commotion around the room that read B6.

He casually joined the crowd and peeked in. The room was in total disarray and nothing was left unturned. Not only that, but feathers littered the floor after the mattress and pillows were shot out. Just by looking at the state of the room, Sergei already managed to narrow down the list of culprits to one person. Kliment.

He had met him when they were recruits, both of them training within the same regime. He had always lagged behind Sergei in each of their drills and it didn't take long for Sergei to surpass him. To add insult to injury, Kliment, who was once his equal, was put under Sergei's command after he had become a commander. After watching his performance, Dragunov soon realized how careless and reckless Kliment was. However, there was one thing Kliment was honorable for. He was a devoted husband to his wife, always keeping his promises to her.

As he studied the room before him, Sergei could just see "Kliment" written all about the upturned furniture and destroyed walls.

Stepping away from the chaos, Sergei slyly slipped away unnoticed down the hall to the room labeled B12. He examined the door for any signs of an intruder and smirked when he found not a single scratch on the wood. Satisfied knowing that no one had tried to sneak in, Sergei unlocked the door and entered to find Anna kneeling down beside the doorway.

The moment he saw that she was well and alive, he felt a wave of relief wash over him. His plan, although risky, had worked.

When Sergei had been assigned a room upon his arrival, the receptionist had originally written down B6, the room Kliment had raided. By the way she spoke and behaved, Sergei could tell she wasn't accustomed to her line of work and was rather on the ditzy side. When she had given him the keys belonging to his room, Sergei used her own clumsiness against her. Quite simply, he flicked her pen, causing it to roll to the floor and in the few moments she spent looking for it, Sergei reached over to the nearby key rack and plucked from it the keys belonging to room B12.

It was a risky move because depending on who Aleksander sent, they would either search the building up and down or as Kliment had done, simply investigate the room Sergei was assigned. No one knew how Sergei thought, but they considered him a level-headed man with enough common sense to leave a premise that he was recently spotted at which is why he thought it was best to remain here for the time being rather than start running amuck so quickly.

Upon his entry, Anna gave him one of her innocent smiles and pushed herself closer to him. "Welcome back," she greeted. She spotted the bags hanging from his hand and raised an eyebrow. "What do you have there?" Like a child excited upon seeing her parents arrive home with gift in hand, Anna, while still on her knees, heightened and peeked into one of them. What she saw made her bring her hand to her mouth as she gasped. She looked up at him and gave him a seductive smile. "Are these for me…?"

Walking away from the door, Sergei placed the bags by the bed while he closed the curtains. For all he knew Kliment might still around the area. As he turned away from the window, he found Anna sticking her nose into one of the bags and pulling from it handfuls of lingerie he had bought for her. She seemed overly ecstatic, in Sergei's mind, for a person receiving underwear. Nevertheless, the happy look on her beautiful face made him feel content and almost made him forget about the fact that he was now wanted by the SPETSNAZ Military.

As she continued to dig through the clothing, Anna felt Sergei's eyes glued onto her and glanced up at him. Without a doubt, her sixth sense was right. Gathering all the bags, she stood up and gave him a wink. "I'm going to go change. No peeking." With hips swaying, she walked into the bathroom tossing the jacket she was wearing at Sergei.

He caught it before it could collide with his face, but before he could take a look at her, she had already disappeared into the bathroom.

In the bathroom, Anna poured the contents of the bag out onto the floor and marveled at the dazzling and beautiful articles before her. Everything was overly priced from the lingerie to the extravagant evening gowns. These items were fit for a queen. As she continued to glance over the price tags, she suddenly felt something strange hit her: A pang of guilt.

He had gone through so much for her from the day they first met and she had yet to return the favors. Letting out a sigh, she slumped down against the door and said just loud enough so Sergei could hear on the other end, "Hey, Sergei…?"

Her voice, although a little muffled through the door, caught the soldier's attention and he looked towards her direction.

Somehow, despite the awkward silence she always received when speaking with him, she knew she had gotten him to listen. With a voice he was unfamiliar to hearing her with, Anna began to speak. "I hadn't wondered this at first when I was sick, but now I have to ask: Why are we here?"

That was right. Anna still had no idea why they were here and was probably oblivious to the fact that Sergei had betrayed all of SPETSNAZ. Not only that, but she also didn't know that he had no idea what was going to happen next.

"You saved me from that scientist, but then shouldn't I be with Aleksander?" She fiddled with her hair as she thought about other weird happenings. "Then there was that commotion that broke out just down the hall…"

Commotion, Sergei thought. She must have been talking about Kliment.

"Was he looking for you, Sergei?" Her voice sounded almost worried as she asked that final question. As she sat in silence, wondering if he would speak to her, she suddenly felt his presence standing right outside the door. She could imagine his eyes looking down on her, telling her almost telepathically that she mustn't worry. A little smile formed on her lips as she smiled. "You sure do like to keep secrets from me, don't you? Well, if you're going to do that, at least let me repay you for all you've done." With a finger to her lips, she looked at all the clothes lying around and smirked when her eye caught sight of a pair of jade green undergarments.

As she was slipping on her outfit, Sergei sat down on the edge of the bed to ponder his next move. In order to decide on that move, he had to go inside of Aleksander's head which since his teenage years, he knew inside out.

First off, although he was sure Sergei would leave the premise, he would double-check and send undercover soldiers to study the area so as not to panic the city. Sergei knew how these undercover operatives worked however, knowing that they would only come in a group of three or two to avoid suspicion. Also they were only used to double-check, not necessarily fight. They wouldn't prove to be too much of a problem. Once the area was secured of the traitor then…

For a split second, Sergei 's mind, for a split second stopped working as he caught sight of Anna walking out of the bathroom dressed in a sexy lingerie that flaunted her curves. She made her way towards him with a playful smile on her lips and Sergei, although he had seen her nude before, found her absolutely breathtaking and found it difficult to take in all this beauty at once.

While he was still stunned, Anna settled down onto his lap and ran a finger under his chin. "Judging by your face, I can say that you like it?" She asked him in a whisper.

Sergei, who was very aware of what was going on, watched as she repositioned herself on him, straddling him now as both her knees were on either side of him. She placed her hands onto his shoulders and was gently pushing him down, but realized that Sergei wasn't planning on budging anytime soon. He had wrapped his hands around her wrists to resist her.

Anna, upon seeing this, let out a pout and dropped her hands to his sides. "Sergei…? What's wrong sweetie?" She leaned her lips into his and he connected them. It was a little peck and when Anna pulled away she whispered, "I can read you like a book and I know what's going on in your head."

What was going on his head? At the moment there was a lot running through his mind from SPETSNAZ to the nearly bare body pressing up against him. He struggled against her only to avoid adding more to his mind. Or so he thought.

Placing her hands on his cheeks, she whispered, "You're caught in a battle between desire and duty, aren't you?" She placed her head on his shoulder and continued speaking. "I know you. You're a good soldier, always following orders. Just look at these badges." She ran a delicate finger over the medals on his jacket. "But you have to think, Sergei…When was the last time you did something you wanted to?"

Her words captured his attention. When he thought about the answer to that, he could only recall one time: When he defied Aleksander. That choice ended him in his current position, but looking at the beautiful woman in his arms, he had to think, was that really a bad thing? For once, he could say that he was…happy.

He looked at Anna, who was still waiting for an answer, then, grabbing both her hands in his, he leaned back onto the bed, taking her with him. She landed on top and Sergei could spot the lovely smile on her lips as she looked down at him.

Slowly, Anna reached her hands up his shirt and began peeling the item away. Once she had removed it from his body she stared dreamily at his well-toned torso and blushed. Tracing each of his abs, she slowly worked her way down to the belt of his pants where she began to fiddle with the buckle.

With a little help from Sergei, his pants and boots were removed, leaving only his briefs for Anna to deal with. Just as she was prepared to strip Sergei of his last piece of clothing, Sergei gripped both of her wrists once again and flipped them so that they were now in opposite positions. Now that he was on top, he took advantage and gently held her face between his hands before he began to roughly kiss her, stealing the breath from her lungs.

When he stopped he closed any gaps in between them and pulled the covers over their bodies to hide their lovemaking from the moon and stars that looked on. It was then decided, that on this night, Sergei completely broke free from his past to become his own person…

As the night rode on, the SPETSNAZ Headquarters was still alive as Aleksander continued his search for Sergei. On normal occasions he wouldn't be so persistent in trying to find targets, but Sergei was different in the fact that he had specifically wronged him in multiple ways. Not only did he have the nerve to turn his back on them, he had taken his subject, Anna, with him.

As he continued to think about him, Aleksander lost his temper and slammed his fist into his desk, scattering papers for what seemed to be the fifth time today. This sudden outburst had become so common that the soldiers that stood around him in silence didn't even flinch in surprise.

The doors to his office opened and in walked a casual Mikhail. He ignored everyone around him as he strolled to the sofa set in the center of Aleksander's office and plopped down. "Hey Aleksander," he greeted sloppily. "You needed me?"

Aleksander narrowed his eyes at the man and whispered fiercely, "Get up Mikhail. I'm not in the mood. Tell me what you know."

Just the same as Aleksander had done, Mikhail glared at him and replied, "Do I have to remind you who the more superior one is, Boss?"

Unable to continue to stare at the empty eyes of Mikhail, aleksander turned away and mumbled, "Just tell me if Kliment has reported in yet."

Mikhail smirked, satisfied that he got his way, and replied, "He couldn't find Dragunov anywhere, as expected."

Aleksander propped his chin on his interlocked fingers as he thought on. Sergei was smart, that was for sure, which was what made him such a difficult person to track down. In the small portion of time from when he was last spotted at that area to the time Kliment arrived, where could he have gone?

As if reading his mind, Mikhail whispered, "Dragunov's still there."

All eyes turned to the soldier as he stared out into the empty space before him. "He knows you expect him to leave so he's waiting until you move on before he makes his move…Who knows? He might still be at that little hotel, making love to his little lady at this very moment." He added the last part with a raise of the eyebrows.

Aleksander widened his eyes at the realization and quickly turned to Markov who stood on his left. "Contact Kliment and tell him to look over the hotel once again."

Sergei's former lieutenant looked to the floor but nonetheless reluctantly nodded before he headed off. However, before he could leave the room, Mikhail gripped his shoulder and said, "Hold up boy. I have some personal instructions I want to tell Kliment myself."

Aleksander watched the two men walk off, unconcerned about what Mikhail wanted to tell the rash soldier. All he was concerned of at the moment was getting Sergei back. He was too valuable to lose. Not only for his superior fighting skills either. He had inside intelligence on what has transpired within these walls. If anything were to leak out to the public, it would take only a matter of time before rumors begin to spread around the world, putting Russia as a target for suspicion. SPETSNAZ, in order to continue their underground work, didn't need that kind of attention. He sighed and looked out the frosted window. As soon as Sergei was returned, Aleksander was going to make sure that he creates a way to completely erase a man of his emotions. More specifically, the feeling of love.

As Kliment walked the streets of Russia, the snow began to pile on his back and he began to pull his overcoat tighter around himself. He wasn't prepared to head back to headquarters and face Aleksander. In all honesty he detested the man, but he had promised him that he would bring Sergei back. He wasn't one to break promises.

He hadn't left the premise of the hotel in the hopes that maybe Sergei had forgotten something and would return. However, there have been no signs of him whatsoever. Perhaps he had no choice but to return empty-handed. Just as he thought this, his cellphone rang and as he answered, he heard a gruff voice on the other end greet him.

"Kliment, are you there?"

Kliment had known that mocking voice for far too long and immediately flinched. When Mikhail was put in charge of contacting you, signs of good things to happen vanished completely. "What do you want?" He responded, an irritated tone in his voice.

He heard laughter break out on the other end before the man continued to speak. "What's the matter with you?" Kliment tried to ignore him as he continued to laugh. "I guess I'd be mad too, if I lost the subject when he was right under your nose."

"What are you talking about?"

There was a slight pause before Markov's gentle voice came on. His voice held hesitancy as he gave the orders. "We believe Sergei is still in the hotel. Aleksader wants you to examine every room and if you should find him…"

"Shoot the girl, but make sure Dragunov remains untouched." It was Mikhail who finished off the commands.