A/N: Ok, so I try to squeeze in as many chapters as I can since I'll be leaving for some time where there is no internet connection and I cannot update. Also pardon me if you don't like these filler chapters; I try to skip as much time as I can but I believe that some things need some context. Anyway, hope you enjoy this and happy reading :)

The first place Nathalie visited when she was freely driving the car that her father left to her was Nikolai's safe house. She knew that if she wanted to leave the country Nikolai was the only person that could have helped her especially because he was already planning her leave. Nikolai could have taken her somewhere safe at any moment given; there were people who had transport, fake documents, ID's, bank accounts and other stuff needed for sudden disappear. But back then when she asked him for help the situation with Makarov was quite different.

Nathalie stopped in the driveway and shut down the engine. As she exited her new car she saw Nikolai walk out of the house with a bunch of armed men. He didn't look happy about the uninvited guest until he saw that it was Nathalie.

"Darling, what a surprise!" He said walking closer to her.

"Hey there." She said and hugged him. "How are you?"

"Now that you are here everything's way better." He said hugging back. "So, what is the reason of your visit?"

"I am ready to leave Russia and you said you'd help. But there is a slight change in plans."

"What is it?" Asked Nikolai as he let her go and took her bags out of the car.

"He let me go freely. I don't really believe he let me go that easily but if he gave me a chance to leave I am obviously taking it." Nathalie explained while they were walking towards the house. "He gave me all documents needed to change nationality and credit card with as he said enough money to buy a fortune."

"Well, we have to get you out of here as soon as possible. In case he changes his mind."

They walked inside the house and Nikolai set the bags in the corridor leading her further inside. They walked over to the room where some younger soldiers were working with the computers. Nikolai walked closer to Viktor, he looked no older than Nathalie herself and he probably was younger.

"I thought I was the only one in Nikolai's adoption centre." She joked walking closer to them.

Viktor looked up to her from his monitor but didn't dare to say anything. Her face was familiar to him and it frightened him. Not exactly she was the one who frightened him but her father and since they had few same facial features Nathalie reminded Viktor of Makarov. It was a man who left him without home and without family. He was the man who brutally murdered his parents in front of him and left him to live with pain and hatred. And she despite being really sweet and smiling still brought back those awful memories.

"You have grown now and I need another youngster to take care of. If I wasn't fighting ultranationalists I'd be adopting all of the kids and bringing them up. Ok, back to the business. This is Viktor, your new assistant while you're here. If you need anything, ask him." Nikolai smiled and patted Viktor on the shoulder. He couldn't stop staring at her but nodded anyway and Nikolai left the room.

Viktor definitely was younger than her. He looked about the same age as Nathalie was when she first met Nikolai. As she walked closer to Viktor he noticed that his hands were shaking so he put them on his hips that she wouldn't notice but she did.

"Now, you don't have to worry. I won't do anything to you." She said and opened her handbag. Nathalie took out a credit card and handed it to Viktor. "Can you transfer money from this bank account to a different one?"

He carefully took the card and looked at the numbers on it before he started typing codes into his computer. She took out another card that he had to transfer the money to.

"You know I'll just leave everything that should be done here, alright?" She pulled out her camera and took out memory card out of it. "I will need you to make an order in photo studio preferably in Moscow to make two copies of each picture that is in here and to find all of the flights from Moscow to Britain for the following week or two."

She set the memory card on the table and Viktor nodded. He couldn't say a thing and felt like his mouth was sealed shut. He kept staring at her kind of like asking if there was anything else that she needed. Nathalie just smiled and walked out of the room looking for Nikolai. There was a matter that Viktor couldn't solve and it was her transfer to Britain as a soldier. She couldn't just change nationalities and freely go serve in army like before so she needed Nikolai to pull a few strings and make her a part of British forces. It wasn't an easy task but Nikolai promised her his help. After a long discussion and sarcastic jokes Nikolai promised that he will get her transferred to active duty in Hereford.

Once Nathalie had everything settled she decided to finally have a rest from all the trouble that has been chasing her all the time. She walked to the living room and settled on a sofa taking her mother's diary and opening the first page. This time she read everything closely without skipping a single sentence. Nathalie's thoughts were just as messy and out of order as her mother's and she was struggling with her identity like her mother.

...I don't know what I'm doing, this is insane. From the very beginning all of my actions were questionable. I decided to join army. A female among men. Many joked that I was aiming to find a man that way, others couldn't stop thinking they could play with me and how many of them I knocked out to make them understand my intentions were only to become a soldier. Now I do another insane thing. Our team got captured and now our superiors are trading us but I don't want to leave. I talked with Vladimir and told him I'm staying. He said that I am crazy but I knew that he was happy I was staying. We love one another but look at this what I am doing. I'm putting my personal happiness and betraying my country. What kind of example our kids will have? A terrorist and a deserter? Hopefully they won't register it as deserting the service, maybe I'll be MIA or KIA. This decision is killing me what do I do? Or I guess I already did and now I have to cope with the consequences...

Despite the fact that it was very interesting Nathalie was very tired and quickly drifted to sleep. A couple of hours she was rudely awakened by someone shaking her by the shoulder. As an instinct she grabbed the person's hand and as her eyes shot up open she aimed to pull the person down and punch him but she calmed herself when she saw Victor shaking with horror in his eyes. She felt bad that she scared the boy so much though he scared her too.

"I'm sorry. Didn't want to scare you like that." Nathalie said carefully letting go of his hand. "What did you want?"

"N-n-nik..." he struggled with his words still shocked with her awakening.

"Nikolai wants to talk with me?" She asked and he nodded. Nathalie smiled at him and picked up her mother's diary that has fallen out of her hands from the ground. She put it back in her handbag and stood up from the couch that gave her a nice nap. "Do you know where Nikolai is?"

Viktor nodded again but stayed silent. Then he walked closer to her and handed few folded pages.

"What's this?" She asked taking the papers. Once she unfolded them saw a long list of flights to Britain for the following weeks. "Oh, thanks. Can you take me to Nikolai now?"

Viktor nodded and walked out of the room and Nathalie followed him. They went to the second floor and Viktor opened the door for her but didn't walk inside with her. Nikolai was waiting for her with a small smile on his face.

"I called a few people and by the end of this week or in the middle of next week you should have all documents needed for your transfer to Hereford..." Nikolai made a little pause to mock Nathalie. "Or whichever base you prefer to serve."

Nathalie just shook her head at Nikolai's mocking and just thanked for his work.

"Tell me, what made you change everything so fast?" He asked.

"The fact that my father gave me a chance to." She explained.

"I believe you had a different motive. And that motive's name is John." Laughed Nikolai.

"That motive gave me a direction but that doesn't change much. I would have still left this country behind." She said and smiled.

"Let me give you one advice, Nathalie. Tell him everything about yourself; the longer you wait the worse it will be."

"I'm not sure if I'm ready to do so." Nathalie sighed. "Far too many people left me because of my past. I don't want to lose another one."

"That's why you have to tell him. If he finds out himself it'll hurt him that you weren't honest."

"I will tell him when the time's ready, Nikolai."

Over a week at Nikolai's safe house Nathalie managed to get everything for her moving to Britain. She had plane tickets and already had a few options for a living place. In Moscow she did a few final touches for John's package and went to British embassy for her new ID card which they made over two days since Nathalie paid for priority. In almost no time she was at the airport ready to start a new life. Without hesitation Nathalie said goodbye to Nikolai and gave him the package that he had to deliver to John. In exchange Nikolai gave her the documents about her transfer to British army.