Please review! Sorry it took me so long to update!
Anastasia slowly walked down the stairs the next morning. No one else was down there yet and there was silence besides her footsteps across the floor. She began walking to the medical room when she noticed Pietor's door to his room was open. She went over and into the room, faintly surprised to find that he wasn't in there. His bed wasn't even unmade.
Anastasia backed out and continued to the medical bay. She opened the door slowly to the scene she had been expecting.
Pietor was asleep beside his wife's bed, head resting on a palm that leaned against the side table. Iliana still hadn't moved from her position yesterday. The breathing tube rather up to her face and she was hooked to an I.V. line. Anastasia walked over to her brother and touched his shoulder. Pietor's eyes blinked open and she sighed.
"You said you would get some sleep."
Pietor slowly stood up and she stepped back to give him space.
"I'm fine." he replied, looking back at Iliana.
"No you're not. I want you to go lay down." Anastasia said "I can stay with her."
Pietor didn't say anything for a moment but he nodded.
"How many weeks?" Anastasia asked, glancing back at Iliana "The doctor told me, but how long?"
"Fifteen weeks." Pietor replied. His sister scowled and shook her head.
"There's no way she didn't know." she said.
"I know." Pietor replied "I don't know why she keeps it a secret for so long."
"She doesn't want to be under house arrest." Anastasia said.
"You know how sick she got last time." Pietor said "She wants to avoid all the injections."
"I know." Anastasia said, shaking her head "You need to get some rest."
Pietor turned with her to walk out of the room and she waited until he went into his room before reaching to close his door.
"Tell me if anything happens." Pietor said and she nodded as she pulled it shut.
Nero stepped off the last step as she turned around. Equal to his height, Anastasia simply met his gaze coldly. He ignored it coolly and spoke instead.
"How is Iliana doing this morning?"
"How charming of you to ask." Anastasia replied, eyes narrowing ever so slightly. She paused for a moment as if contemplating her words.
"The doctor has not informed us of any change." she said.
"Is she still unconscious?" Nero inquired.
"Yes." Anastasia replied shortly.
"And Pietor?"
"I wasn't aware that he was unconscious." Anastasia said, turning around. She walked to the medical room as she had promised to Pietor. Nero watched her for a moment, eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
Darkdoom and Nathaniel were walking down the stairs together, chatting as per usual. Nero turned to face them, neutralizing his face.
"Good morning, Maximilian." Nathaniel said plaintively.
"Has there been any change?" Darkdoom asked, jerking his head in the direction of the medical bay.
"Nothing. She hasn't woken up either." Nero said.
"It isn't worse. Don't be so dreary." Nathaniel scolded, although he sounded rather bleak. "If anything we should be happy she's fighting so hard."
"It's so strange." Darkdoom said after a moment of silence between them "How could we not have noticed she was pregnant? At fifteen weeks they usually begin to show enough to tell."
Nero sighed "I'm guessing she thought we had enough to worry about."
"But if we'd known, we could have kept her safe." Darkdoom said "If she's loses this child, I feel like she might be tipped over the edge."
###
Several hours later, after Pietor had gotten back up, there was a loud knock at the door. Nero waited a moment to see if either of the Furans would come out to get it, then he looked at Darkdoom and Nathaniel. Darkdoom shrugged and Nero got up to go over. He opened the door and backed up as a man and woman came in quickly. The woman had short brown hair and looked older. The man was tall and well built, but his age was also showing in his face.
"Where's Iliana?" the woman asked, pulling off her coat. Darkdoom stood up, looking at the man in surprise.
Nero didn't seem to know how to respond and the woman spoke again.
"I'm her mother. Pietor called me." she explained "Where are they keeping her?"
Nero's eyebrows went up "In here." he said, gesturing for them to follow him "Pietor and Anastasia are in with her right now."
She went after him, but the man stayed for a few seconds, returning Darkdoom's look.
"Are you well, Diabolus?" he asked "Alexis told me you were here."
"Doing alright." Darkdoom responded with a slow nod and the man nodded, turning to hurry after his wife.
###
Iliana's mother stood next to her daughter's bed, gently running a hand through her daughter's hair. Anastasia was in the chair on the opposite side and Pietor stood by her. The oxygen machine slowly pumped air into the wounded woman's body and beeped every few minutes.
"I told you she wasn't cut out for this kind of life." her mother growled "She's too fragile."
Her husband put a hand on her back calmingly and Pietor mostly scowled at her. She narrowed her eyes right back. But it was clear neither of them wanted to fight over the subject.
"And I know it wasn't really her choice in the first place." she said "With her being involved in the Convit and everything, but this is ridiculous."
"She's stronger than you're making her out to be." Anastasia said, sounding irritated.
"She's my daughter, trust me, I know she's strong." her mother replied. She sighed suddenly "What has the doctor said?"
"She's doing as well as she could at this point." Pietor said. He hadn't told her about the baby yet. She was worried enough about her child let alone her grandchild.
"Thanks for calling me." Iliana's mother said after a moment "Is there anything I can do to help?"
Pietor shook his head "It'll just take time."
"How long? How long does this take to heal?" she demanded.
"It's not short." Pietor replied "It'll be months before she's really alright."
"It won't take months for her to wake up though will it?" the mother asked.
"No." Pietor said "It will take a few days to weeks for that."
"I want to know the instant that she does." she said.
###
A little while later…
"It came more at a flat trajectory." Raven said "As if they were on the ground. But the sniper would have been excellently trained to be so accurate. It takes steady hands and someone who's been doing it a long time."
Nero rubbed his chin and breathed deeply out of his nose "Do we know the type of bullet it was?"
Raven shook her head "We never saw it, it went straight though."
"But from where she was standing and got hit, it could have hit the concrete on the building behind them." Darkdoom said, glancing back toward the medical room.
"Do you think it's possible it's still there?" Nero asked.
"I suppose the remains could possibly help us determine kind of gun. Where it was made" Raven said "But it's a low chance."
"But it is one and besides, the person could be waiting there." Darkdoom said.
"So we go and get shot as well?" Raven asked, sounding annoyed.
"No." Darkdoom replied "Let's take a group of men and clear it out."
"We don't know where they shot from." Raven growled "They could have been waiting in a car for all we know. That place isn't very well protected. It's next to a public park."
"Then we just go and take the chance." Darkdoom said "It's better than waiting here for another attack."
Nero was going to say something when the door opened and the mother came out. The three of them sat in silence waiting until they passed, but the woman walked over, looking uncertain.
"Natalya?"
Raven turned and looked at her, slightly surprised.
"Yes?"
"Thank you." she said "For saving Iliana."
Raven blinked "I didn't-"
"Pietor told me you saved her." she said "And after she was shot and being taken to the hospital."
Raven blinked again and didn't seem to know what to say. Iliana's mother frowned slightly but she simply nodded.
"Thank you. You have no idea how much it means to me."
With that she turned and her husband followed silently. Raven didn't turn back to Nero and Darkdoom until they were out the door. Nero watched her for a moment before going on with what he was originally going to say.
"So you want to return to Samara?"
Darkdoom nodded "Not for long."
Nero paused thoughtfully for several seconds. Then nodded "I can tell the Furans."
###
Pietor looked down at Iliana in silence, wondering how she had kept her being pregnant from him for so long again. She hadn't been showing any of her usual symptoms. Unless she didn't know, but Pietor found that hard to believe.
Her oxygen machine beeped steadily, showing that her undamaged lung seemed to be alright. Her I.V. line dripped slowly and Pietor found the calmness of it all, irritating. Her chest was wrapped tightly in white bandages.
The doctor came over from his desk where he looked at the pictures of the injury. He grabbed a box from the shelf above the counter and pulled out the tools for taking blood. Pietor moved over a little bit for him as the doctor straightened out her arm. He stretched the band around the upper make of her arm and continued with taking blood.
Anastasia looked up from her spot reading a paper and got up to stand next to Pietor. They were quiet for the seconds it took the doctor to draw enough blood, then Pietor spoke.
"I know who shot her." he said, almost in a whisper, face hard.
Anastasia turned and looked at him for several seconds "How can you be sure?"
"I know by the way he shot her."
"We can't be certain it was him." Anastasia said "We won't ever be able to-"
Nero opened the door suddenly and they both broke off.
Pietor looked away and Anastasia turned farther to face him.
"Yes?" she asked, testily.
"Excuse me." Nero said steadily "But Diabolus and I have had an idea that I think you'll want to hear."
###
Later that night…
Anastasia scowled down into the fire that crackled in her room. It was well past time the lot of them should have returned. It was rather dark outside now and they wouldn't be able to find anything in Samara at this point. She hoped Pietor was driving them home by now. The students were asleep; at least she believed them to be. She honestly didn't care.
Drake was lying down outside her door, head on his paws. He didn't seem to want to leave her side while everyone was gone.
Anastasia looked around her room for a moment at the pictures of Pietor and Elena. The reflection of the flame flickered on them, bringing her eyes back to it. She held up the note to read it again. The one they found in Juliana's room was one that never left her hand.
She walked over to her balcony doors and pulled them open to the cold air. There was a quarter moon that night.
One of their patrols walked along the fence border, rifles slung over their shoulders. They were silent even in the cold air. She noticed that as soon as she appeared above them they seemed to straighten up, walk more attentively.
Anastasia looked down at her hands until light caught her eyes. A car was entering through the gate where she assumed Pietor stopped to talk to the guards for a few seconds. Then they proceeded forward.
Anastasia turned around and walked out of her room. She slowly walked down the stairs and waited at the bottom until the door opened.
Nero came in with Darkdoom and the others right behind him. She straightened up as Nero looked over at her.
"Well?" she asked.
Nero shook his head "There was nothing there. The area seemed like it'd been swept already."
Anastasia cursed under her breath and shook her head slightly "It doesn't matter. We can do it without that."
Nero didn't say anything as the he walked past and Anastasia frowned as the Colonel shut the door.
"Where's Pietor?"
Nero turned rather sharply as they all looked at her.
"He's not here?" he asked.
"No, he said he was going with you." Anastasia replied intently.
Nero stared at her "Anastasia, I haven't seen him since we left."
The woman's eyes narrowed and she clenched her jaw angrily, muttering "Damn it."
She walked into her brother's room and Nero went after her. Darkdoom and Nathaniel exchanged a look before doing the same with Raven and the Colonel.
Anastasia walked over to his dresser and opened the top drawer. She moved the clothes in it for a moment before slamming it shut.
"It's gone." she said, sounding furious. She pulled out her phone and quickly typed her brother's number into it.
Nero waited, watching her silently as the woman repeated "Pick up. Pick up." under her breath.
"Furan here."
"Pietor where the hell are you?" Anastasia asked, her voice tense.
"I'm in Samara with Nero and Darkdoom-"
"Don't lie to me Pietor, Nero is here and your passport is gone. Now what the hell do you think you're doing?" she growled.
There was a moment of silence on the phone before Pietor responded.
"I'm getting my daughter back."
###
The next day…in Ufa, Russia…evening time…
The man walked down the dark and quiet street, hands in the pockets of his long coat. It was raining rather heavily and he was getting annoyed with the rain that trickled down his neck. He just finished a long terrible day of work. At least his boss was somewhat kind to him, although his boss's boss despised him and that made it incredibly difficult to do anything.
The man jumped about two feet in the air as a lone leave skittered across the concrete sidewalk. He had never been a very calm man, but he assumed that was from his abusive childhood. In fact he knew it originated from that.
He quickened his pace to hurry home. It was dark and cold and he was looking forward to going to sleep for the night. He wasn't, however, looking forward to going back tomorrow. The things they had made him do already were sure to get him killed and he knew it, but if he ever left them, he knew his employers would hunt him down and shoot him without a single question being asked.
The man walked up the stairs of his apartment home and went over to his door. He went to punch in the code, but the door was already cracked up a bit. He frowned, and then clenched his jaw angrily. If the landlord was in there inspecting again, he was really going to get it.
The man shoved the door open and simply blinked in shock. There was no one there. But the apartment was a mess. His papers were scattered everywhere, the furniture was tipped over, the lamp was broken.
He walked in slowly, not noticing the door closing silently behind him. He looked all around, feeling anxiety building inside him. Everything was ruined absolutely ruined. He went over to the phone quickly and began dialing.
"I wouldn't try that." a low voice said from behind him.
The man whipped around, dropping the disconnected phone.
"Furan!" he choked out in horror.
"Hello, Valerian." Pietor said, withdrawing himself from the dimmer part of the room. Valerian stumbled back, staring at the hulking form of his trainer.
"W-what are you doing here? How did you find me?" he stammered.
"Oh I think we both know the answer to that." Pietor said. He stepped forward and slammed the man to the wall. Valerian's already damaged windpipe prevented him from screaming as Pietor leaned forward.
"Now I want you to tell me why you tried to kill Iliana and after that, where my daughter is." he said, his face cold and his voice deadly "If you do, I might kill you just a little bit quicker than I'm going to if you don't start talking."
"Please." Valerian begged "They told me too. I was only following orders."
"Who's orders?" Pietor growled, pressing his throat harder.
"I can't tell you." Valerian whined, eyes wide with terror.
"You're going to wish you would've." Pietor said "I'm sure Anastasia will be able to come up with something just a little bit more creative than me so how about we pay her a visit?"
"No!" Valerian cried "You can't take me back to the Glasshouse."
Desperately he kicked out at Pietor, willing to fight him to get free.
Pietor sniffed contemptuously "Bad choice."
He kneed the man in the stomach before twisting to elbow him across the face. Valerian pushed himself up to meet the knockout blow. He fell to the ground, unconscious.