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Here, we've got some downtime, a little Fun-With-Fin, and the sudden setup to the Battle Royale. (No really really bad pun intended.) Just read it. Special thanks to britney268. (Oh, and after you read this, look up the plot of the 1938 version---or any version, for that matter---of Pygmalion. You'll get why I mentioned it. :-)

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"Hey. You coming?"

Yuri, the last one to leave, stopped at Dimitri's bunk before he joined the others for the movie, which was a Saturday privelege for those at the base.

Dimitri sat up, groggy from the simple act of doing nothing all morning. "What're they showing again?"

"Pygmalion, I think."

"Nah," Dimitri said, laying back down. It seemed like he'd seen that somewhere before. "I'll pass."

"Suit yourself," Yuri left, shutting the door behind him.

Rarely was there an opportunity to relax around here, and Dimitri was contented just to take it. He pulled the blanket over his head to shut out the sunlight, and enjoyed the total silence for once. I'll just lay here, he thought. I'll just lay here until the movie is over and my service is up and the war is over and Mikhail goes home and Fin learns how to tie his shoes....

Yet not twelve seconds later, there came a heavy knock on the door. His eyes sprang open.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me."

A voice raised on the other side of the door. "Anyone in?"

Dimitri hesitated to answer.

"Mail for the Twenty-First!"

Well, that was a horse of a different color. Dimitri couldn't get up fast enough. "Yeah, yeah, I'm here! Don't leave! I'm---" His ankle got caught in the blanket, and he tripped a few feet while managing not to hit the floor. "---coming! Just gimme a---" He pulled the door open, and accepted the stack of envelopes the attendant handed him before moving to the next barrack. "Second," he finished.

Dimitri shuffled through the stack of letters, tossing envelopes behind him, looking for an address he would recognize. This was the only mail stop scheduled during his enlistment, and he knew beyond all doubt that he'd find what he was looking for.

Last one in the stack. Go figure.

He tore the seal open and sat on the edge of his bunk, hanging on every word of the two handwritten pages.

He made one vital mistake, though. He didn't shut the door.

Dimitri was about halfway down the second page when a hand came from seemingly nowhere, snatching the letter from him. "What's this then?"

Dimitri stood up and grabbed for it, but Fin held it just out of his reach.

"I'ts a letter," Dimitri said, "One that I would like back in the next two seconds." He tried to grab it again, but Fin turned away.

"'Dimitri,'" Fin read. "What, no 'dear?'"

"The letter...now..."

Fin held it above his head, and Dimitri, even though he wasn't any shorter, had to jump for it. "Who's it from?"

"My wife, not that it's any business of yours..."

"'I don't even know how I should begin this letter.' Then why write one at all? Little indecisive, isn't she?"

"You want a sock in the nose?" The whole keep-away thing was getting old.

"'Little girl'...'misses her daddy'...aw, how precious," Fin mocked.

"Can you stop reading my property now?"

Fin held the pages behind him and made a childlike 'pouting' face. "But it's riveting, daddy."

"Letter! Now!"

"Fine, fine." Fin handed it over, and Dimitri put it back into the envelope, hiding it in his suitcase under the bed. That was a little too close.

"So," Fin asked, "is it a boy or a girl?"

"That would be my daughter. Your attention span's microscopic, isn't it?"

"She sounded cute, if that's any consolation." Fin flopped onto Peter's bunk across from him.

"Why are you back so early, anyway?"

"I cut out. Personally, I find films a little dull. I can't sit still that long! All though trust me, that Ms. Hiller would've been worth it. Hey, look who joined the club!"

Dimitri turned to see who Fin was talking about. Peter, Mikhail, Limey and Yuri walked into the room.

"Let me guess---all of you lost focus at the exact same time."

"Nah," Mikhail clarified. "Projector broke."

"And, uh, I'm guessing that's a good thing," Yuri said nervously.

"Why?"

"See for yourself," he said, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder.

Mikhail turned around, and instantly stood at attention, because a higher officer was within feet of them, and he didn't look happy.

"General Solodov. At ease." The commendant barked. "There's been a breach of our inner border. We're being invaded by German troops a thousand strong. Get you and your men out there, now. We're sending every soldier we've got."

No one could find anything to say. The commendant was white---actually white---in the face. "This," he said, swallowing hard, "is the big one, General. God be with us all."