A/N: Shlyukha apparently means 'whore' in Russian, but as I am not a native speaker of Russian, and I used Google Translate, I am not sure if it actually means that. If it doesn't, I apologise.
In Lieu Of Evil
Moscow, Russia, 6th December 2026
Mikhail Koralev stood, in front of an interactive map of the world. He tapped on it and it brought up visuals of London.
"Bring me Hadley Groves. That shlyukha needs to pay for her insolence. We need Valentin back too".
His right hand man, Serge nodded. "Sir, what about Jensen and Jackson?"
Mikhail laughed. "No need to hunt them down. Once Hadley is caught, they'll come after her. This needs to come to an end. Where is she now?"
Serge walked beside his comrade, and traced the agent's signal, before her blip disappeared. "She's in Kyoto, Japan. Too late Blaine".
His superior nodded. "They all know too much. Once MI5 is taken down, the F.B.I and governments all over the world will fall, and Mother Russia will finally have what it deserves. Power, superiority. The world will burn, and we will bear witness to a new era. Control must be exercised".
London, MI5 headquarters, 8th December 2026
Blaine strolled into his office, after being reinstated as chief technology adviser, for the bureau. James could not handle the job, and although the older man did feel a little sorry for him, he knew that he wasn't up to the job.
After making sure the safety protocols were above par, employing new guards, and having the latest security cameras installed in the building, Blaine felt much safer. Getting into the building would be much tougher now, and the security checks would be through, even more so if the person came across as suspicious, or if the system flagged them up.
A few minutes later, Edward came out of the elevator, with a haggard looking Hadley.
When the two got to the tech chief's doorway, Edward's face paled considerably, and he suddenly looked much older than he was.
"Blaine, Hadley was followed home, again. The men only stopped because Adam spotted them, and made sure she was safe and secure".
Blaine's eyes widened. "Why didn't you tell me Had?"
Hadley looked terrified, and she was shaking. He'd never seen her so afraid before. "You were getting back on your feet. I didn't want to bother you".
Blaine clicked his tongue and shook his head. "That's bull. I've known you long enough to know when you're lying. You could never bother me, really".
A ping in his ear made him jump, and Adam spoke to him. "Blaine, I think I know who followed Hadley. I sent images of the men to Frank, since I knew James couldn't deal with the gravity of the situation. Frank?"
Frank chimed in, but not before taking a heaving breath. "Miss Groves?"
Hadley interrupted him. "You can call me Hadley, you know".
Frank nodded, with an impatient Sarif standing in front of him, motioning for him to continue.
"Hadley. The men who followed you home. They work for Mikhail Koralev. He's a notorious sociopath and murderer from Russia. He's involved with Serge Rihanoff, a politician, and a very influential man in the Kremlin".
Everyone suddenly felt very uncomfortable, and they all shifted nervously. Hadley held her head. "How the hell is he out of jail?!"
Frank sighed. "He has connections. And no doubt the reason they want you, and likely Blaine is because they know he can hack MI5's system, the system he put in place, so he knows how it works. They'd use you as bait, if he doesn't do what they ask, then you die".
Blaine groaned. "They want an all out war. With the info we have here, I bet those bastards would use it as bargaining power, to corrupt and steal more extremely sensitive info from the FBI, Interpol, Government servers. Aw shit".
Edward nodded. "They'll want Valentin back too. He told us of a hideout, in Moscow. He didn't tell us any more than that though. I believe Mikhail and Serge are new to the fray. Adam, where are you now?"
"In Hadley's apartment, securing it". He looked down at the crumpled up, unconscious agents on the floor. "Already taken care of two of them. They'll be more though, I'm sure of it".
"Adam, I can't go back to my apartment, nor can I stay here. Both places would be far too obvious. Same for Blaine. We need a safe-house".
Their boss nodded, and pulled some files from a drawer. "I know, old fashioned, but we cannot keep safe-house locations on our system, that would give them away too easily. And since we have already been hacked once by this terrorist group, I wouldn't put it past them to try again. It'll be strictly paper only for the time being. Everyone, turn off your communication units".
Everyone did as he asked, and he opened up the first file. "This location is quite car from here, so getting you two there would be risky. But, it's secluded, has the latest technology, and plenty of escape routes". He then picked up the second file. "This one is much closer, but too close to Hadley's apartment. She cannot go anywhere near that location, so that one is out".
Blaine stepped forward, and stood up straight. "Sir, the third one is close to my home, not too close, but that wouldn't be a good place. The first?" He lent over his boss' desk, and picked up the first file. "Hmm, it's forty five miles from here. Taking a squad would be obvious, it'd draw attention. The group will have men, scattered throughout London, but, if we can create a few diversions, we should be able to get past".
Hadley walked next to her colleague and nodded. "As in, perhaps having a few security cars go through the backstreets, main streets would spark too much interest from pedestrians. We'd have to be conspicuous though, we cannot assume that we are dealing with fools. Do we have files on Koralev and Rihanoff?"
Edward stood up, and opened a second, alphabetized drawer, until he reached the letter R. "We do on Rihanoff, but not Koralev. Intelligence teams have been massacred when trying to get any information on him. The Kremlin is hiding his background, and they won't be will to play ball, just for us, and our cause. They'd rather kill us all then negotiate".
The female agent looked considerably paler than she had earlier that evening. "Or, they'd negotiate, make it look like they'll assist us, and then kill us. Oh joy. I know I've had almost twenty years dealing with, pardon this Sir but absolute, utter twats, that I'd be used to threats and men looking for me by now". She sighed. "I'm not. You never get used to it. Should you even?"
Blaine put his hand on her shoulder, and shook his head. "No, fear is what keeps us on out toes, gets us out of insane situations. It gives us that boost of adrenaline that can save our lives. If you ever stop being scared, you stop being human. We cannot let ourselves become mindless androids, we just can't. The first safe-house, we'll go there. Since we cannot use our comms, or any form of communication device, we need to hand everything over, and we need a car without electronic devices, they can be hacked".
Hadley took out the SIM card and battery from her phone. She bent the SIM card in half, and threw everything into the bin, outside of Finch's office. She then took out her comm, dropped it, and stood on it, breaking it in two, in the process. Blaine then did exactly the same as her, before rejoining her.
"Adam, get back here, if you can. I can't keep in contact with you after Blaine and Hadley leave. Mr Pritchard, you can deal with any inquires Adam has, can you not?"
Frank grunted at the use of formalities, which he was not used too, but agreed. "I can Sir".
Edward thanked him, and took out his own comm unit. He, too destroyed his, and stood up. "Listen, you two". He walked in front of his two befuddled agents. "Whatever happens, stay together. I know, its awkward. But at some point, you need to talk things through. You may not have the time to wait much longer, with the men currently hunting you. Just, stay safe, don't go out without a fight". He smirked, prompting his agents to do the same. "Give them hell".
Hadley and Blaine both nodded, before leaving the office.
"Oh Sir! I know what to do with Valentin". Hadley walked back to her boss, and started whispering in his ear. Edward listened, laughed, and then nodded.
The pair picked up some food, and spare clothing from their lockers, before heading to the elevator.
Upon getting into the elevator, Blaine snaked his arm around Hadley's waist. She cuddled against his chest, and realised just how safe she felt with him, and how that had grown, over the years she had known him.
When she moved her head up, and whispered the same words she did to Edward, Blaine, too laughed, and so did she. When he stopped, she smiled. "See? That's another reason why I love you. You're so unorthodox, free thinking".
Hadley pointed to herself, and nodded. "I know, I'm amazing. So, the underground car park is how we'll get out of here? The roads are too risky, but the underground tunnels are another story. I'm glad they were not sealed up when MI5 was built".
Blaine nodded, and the pair stepped out, onto the underground car park floor. "Yeah. Now, we need an old car, something inconspicuous. Preferably not Edward's or he'd kill us himself".
Hadley spotted a 1970 dark purple Volkswagen Beetle and grinned at it. "Now that is totally Finch's. As long as we don't crash it, we'll be fine. That means...".
He cut her off. "That means that I'm the one doing the driving, right?"
His friend nodded, and found the car doors already open. She sat in the passenger seat and motioned for him to get in. "Yes, Captain Sensible. Now, hurry up, I want to get to the safe-house, before we end up dead, on the side of the road, or worse, kidnapped by the maniacs, okay?"
Blaine mock saluted and got in the car.
Two hours later
"Well, this place looks nice. I could totally live here...if I didn't hate the fluctuating temperature and constant raining here". She looked at the clock on the dashboard. "Midnight".
The pair got out of the car, and Blaine took out the house keys. They entered the house, and turned on the lights.
Surveying their surroundings, they both liked what they saw. A spiral staircase took up the left side on the room, and the right had two doors. One led to the living room, and the other, to the kitchen.
Hadley went into the living room, and opened her backpack. She took out a small bottle of vodka, and two cans of coke. "Blaine? Could you get some glasses please, and boil some water please?"
Blaine came into the room, with two glasses in hand. "Here". He smirked, and feigned annoyance. "Don't ask for much, do ya? Sheesh".
Hadley too the glasses, placed them in the table, and swatted at his arm, laughing. "Nope. You wouldn't have it any other way though".
"Oh, I would".
Hadley blushed, and gulped. She quickly poured some of the vodka into both of the glasses, and looked away from him. She bit her lip, but his words had another, more surprising effect on her.
His words made her feel a tinge of lust, they aroused her.
And honestly? She couldn't help but feel embarrassed. Blaine was just her friend, right? She shouldn't feel like that about a friend.
And she was acting like a love struck teenager, in awe of her first crush.
Instead of freaking out, she reached into her bag again, and pulled out two Pot Noodle pots, and put them behind her, without even looking at her 'friend'.
Blaine knew his words had struck a chord, but he wasn't sure which one.
So, he simply took the pots from Hadley's hands, and went back into the kitchen.
A while later, Blaine yawned, and Hadley caught him. "Aw, someone's tired. Go to sleep, I'll take the first watch".
Blaine stretched, but shook his head. "I saw you yawning earlier too missy. Never mind that".
His friend shrugged. "You're right, I am tired. Right, I'm going to get a shower, then I'm going to bed. Night".
The agent walked around the back of the sofa, and lent down. She put her arms around his neck and hugged him. He put his hands on top of her arms, looked up, and nuzzled her. She panicked a little and the pink of her cheeks darkened a shade. "Don't. I don't know what I'd do. And besides, we need all of our strength, in case we need to suddenly flee from here".
Blaine wouldn't let go of her. Instead, he tightened his hold and smiled. "So that's what you were thinking, huh? You're not the only one".
Hadley wriggled free, and yawned. "Oh yeah, it's been ages, hasn't it?"
Her friend groaned. "Don't remind me".
Hadley snickered, and walked halfway up the stairs. "Go and sort it out then".
Blaine shot up, and growled. "Yeah, cause that wouldn't be awkward in the slightest, would it?"
Hadley walked back down, and covered her mouth. "Want me to then?"
The make agent put a hand over his eyes and his mouth formed an 'O'. "That's even MORE AWKWARD. Just...just, go to bed Had. Please. Torturing me is isn't fair".
His begging did make the agent feel quite bad, and she shook her head in apology. "I'm sorry honey. I know, the time just isn't right. I just want you to know though". She walked to him, and took his other hand. "I do care. It may not seem like it at times, but I do. More than I admit too. Feelings like this are new to me, but, they make me feel happy. I don't feel like cynical bitch me, with you".
She moved away, took her backpack and went back up the stairs, to a bedroom. She unpacked some clothes to wear as pajamas, some shower gel, and a towel. She then slipped into the shower.
Downstairs, Blaine was completely out of it. He'd calmed down considerably, thank god. If he got any more worked up, he may well have had to sort out the pressing, uncomfortable 'issue' down below.
He decided to take a different bedroom than Hadley, he didn't want her to think he was even more of a pervert than she already thought.
Then again, she was a pervert too, even worse than him at times. Would she really mind sharing a room? A bed?
They had previously, just to sleep, nothing more. But then, it wasn't like it was now. Danger didn't hound them, chase them. They could rest easily.
Tonight? For every second they slept, their enemy could be getting closer. Knowing that, would they even rest?
Hadley stepped out of the shower, dried herself and slipped on her spare clothes. She got under the plush, thick cream coloured duvet, and instantly felt her weary eyelids start to close. She nestled her head into the pillow, and closed her eyes. A knock on the door made her reopen them.
She knew who it was, and pulled up the spare side of the duvet for him.
Blaine slipped in beside her, and pulled her close to him. She turned to face him, and moved even closer. She placed a hand on his jaw, and planted her lips on his softly. He returned the kiss, and put both of his hands in her hair. She relaxed into him, and lay her head on his chest.
He felt a wave of tiredness hit him, and he really didn't want to fight it, so he closed his eyes, and breathed in the sleeping woman's next to him's scent. That helped him drift off, hopefully, into a dreamless sleep.