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Walking down the hallway slowly but confidently, Pirogov slowly turned a pen over in his hand. His expression was absolute deadpan, and he actually appeared somewhat calm. Given the fact that in the past forty-eight hours Pirogov had learned that one of their bases that had been almost completely constructed had been blasted to splinters, there were dozens dead, and Yezhov herself was now in the hospital getting injuries tended to.
The hospital was small but efficient, and Pirogov recognized Sabitov from a little ways down the hallway. Sabitov was standing outside a hospital room that the door was cracked open slightly. From inside the room, Pirogov could hear a doctor muttering something as he worked. Sabitov looked up and saw Pirogov and quickly saluted. Pirogov nodded and Sabitov relaxed, then peeked inside the hospital room before looking back to Pirogov.
"How is she?" Pirogov asked, still slowly turning the pen over in his hand.
"Battered and bruised, but nothing life threatening," Sabitov answered, shrugging slightly. "The worst is that her nose was almost broken and her jaw was dislocated. Whoever hit her hit her hard."
"How was she ambushed and beaten so badly?" Pirogov asked slowly.
Hesitating slightly at the sound of venom starting to seep into Pirogov's voice, Sabitov cleared his throat nervously and glanced inside the room once again. It was mostly so he didn't have to make eye contact with Pirogov. While Sabitov was known for being dangerous for his hair trigger temper that would make him go from complacent to murderously infuriated in less than a second, the rumor was that nobody had ever seen Pirogov lose his temper.
Sabitov was one of the few unlucky enough to know that rumor was not true.
"Yezhov didn't say much when she was brought in, according to the doctors," Sabitov replied. "And in all honesty, I only got here about fifteen minutes before you did. The engine froze on the truck I used to get here halfway over here."
"I'm assuming you didn't walk the rest of the way," Pirogov chuckled dourly.
"Not hardly. I called for another truck."
"Smart man." For a few moments, Pirogov appeared deep in thought. Then he glanced up at the cracked open hospital door. "One base destroyed, dozens of men dead, and a beaten up Yezhov. I believe this is a traditional Monday..."
Sabitov chuckled nervously, but said nothing else for the time being. He had been infuriated at the loss of life and the base, but Pirogov was handling this with his same, seemingly endless calm and patience. Sabitov didn't know how Pirogov did it. The loss of the base had set the entire operation back by months. Sabitov started to say something in response, but was interrupted by a dull cracking noise and Yezhov's screech of pain.
"I'm guessing they just popped something back into place," Pirogov murmured.
"Let's hope so," Sabitov agreed. "Otherwise we may need to reconsider what hospitals we use."
Out of nowhere Pirogov burst into a fit of laughter. It was so uncharacteristic of him that Sabitov actually jumped slightly, taken aback by the sound. Fortunately Pirogov did not notice and continued to laugh loudly while Sabitov stood there with a puzzled look on his face and a weak grin.
After a few minutes, Pirogov regained his composure and coughed slightly before grinning at Sabitov.
"I needed the laugh," Pirogov explained with a short chuckle.
Nodding and grinning a bit wider, Sabitov stayed quiet. A small part of him had thought that Pirogov had finally gone completely cuckoo.
"There's something else," Sabitov finally said. Pirogov looked at him, his deadpan expression having returned. "There was a report from one of the soldiers who survived that there was somebody else on the base when it was attacked."
"Somebody other than the enemy soldiers?"
"Yes. From the description is sounds like it was a mercenary," Sabitov said quietly. "An extremely well trained mercenary, but a mercenary nonetheless."
"And what was a mercenary doing on base?"
"You didn't know? Two families had wandered too close and were taken hostage."
"What?" Pirogov asked crisply. The volume of his voice never rose, but he question was curt and sharp. "Why were they taken hostage?"
"According to the soldiers, it was either take them hostage or kill them. Supposedly they had seen too much." While he was not happy in the least that they had taken hostages, Sabitov also tried to see it from the bigger picture. Security risks could not be tolerated at this point, no matter how unfortunate they were.
"I see...," Pirogov answered slowly. "So now we are taking our fellow man hostage when they're the very one we're trying to keep free?"
Sabitov had already started to answer Pirogov, but as the dark haired man finished his sentence, Sabitov snapped his mouth shut so hard his teeth felt a twinge of pain.
"Was it Yezhov that gave the order to take them hostage?" Pirogov continued. His voice had a slight tremor in it now, much like a tea kettle that was reaching its boiling point. "Or was it you?"
"You know as well as I do that we cannot afford any security risks at this point," Sabitov hissed, indignant anger starting to give him courage. No matter how deadly Pirogov may have been, Sabitov was in charge, and he would be damned if he let anybody interrogate him. "It was a tragic circumstance that those people discovered the base, but it happened and it had to be dealt with."
"Butchery of a few farmers is more than just tragic, Sabitov," Pirogov snapped back lowly, his voice creaking with the first few slivers of stress.
"What's with this sudden sentimental shit?" Sabitov snarled. "You would be the first one to dissect anybody that stood in our way, and don't think I don't know what you have planned for that American woman if, God help her, you manage to get your filthy hands on her. But now you're whimpering and mewling like an infant at the idea of having to shed a little more blood."
There was a stretch of silence as the two men exchanged narrowed stares. While there was no doubt that Sabitov feared Pirogov far more than Pirogov feared Sabitov, ultimately it was Sabitov that held the reins of the entire operation. And he could make Pirogov disappear if he so chose to. That is, so long as Pirogov didn't get to him first.
The stand-off was interrupted when the doctor came out of the room, adjust his glasses slightly. When he looked up and saw the two men scowling at each other, he froze, clutching his clipboard tightly. Both Sabitov and Pirogov turned and looked at the doctor, each forcing a smile. The doctor paled and stared at the two with a mute, horrified gaze before snapping out of their stupor.
"She should be fine," the doctor said slowly. "Though I will admit I have not seen such fierce damage in a while. I guess only a woman knows how to be truly vicious, huh?" The doctor forced a nervous laugh.
Sabitov and Pirogov exchanged a quick, slightly puzzled glance before looking back to the doctor.
"I beg your pardon?" Sabitov asked slowly.
"It was some damn bitch that did this to me!" Yezhov suddenly shrieked from her hospital room.
The doctor almost jumped out of his shoes, but neither Sabitov or Pirogov batted an eye. By this point, both of the men were used to Yezhov's outbursts and tantrums. Pirogov made a move to go into the room, but Sabitov's arm shot out, stopping the taller man. Pirogov favored Sabitov with a furious glare, which Sabitov ignored before walking into the hospital room. Hissing a curse under his breath, Pirogov followed Sabitov, both hands clenched into fists.
Yezhov was already standing up, pulling her jacket on as gingerly as she could. Her left arm was tightly bandaged and was proving awkward to try and maneuver into the sleeve of her jacket. Sabitov watched her with disdain, but Pirogov had a slightly odd expression that he was working on masking.
"You were beat up by a woman?" Sabitov sneered.
"Shall I give you a demonstration on what she did?" Yezhov snapped back, wincing as she finally slid her left arm into her jacket sleeve.
"No, I don't want you to hurt yourself any further," Sabitov hissed derogatorily.
Fury taking over her common sense, Yezhov took a step towards Sabitov challengingly, but Pirogov set a hand firmly on her shoulder. Yezhov started slightly and looked up at Pirogov, who gave her a steady stare and slightly shook his head. Sabitov simply chuckled shortly.
"At least two of us in this room have some common sense," Sabitov commented, smirking at Yezhov.
Taking a deep, shaky breath, Yezhov glared at Sabitov, but said nothing. She glanced up questioningly at Pirogov, who had kept a deadpan expression throughout Sabitov's barbs. Pirogov again said nothing, but gave Yezhov an expression that was a mix of chiding and, oddly enough, pity. Fortunately, Sabitov missed the expression and turned to the doctor, who was hovering outside the doorway.
"We're leaving shortly," Sabitov said sternly to the doctor. "If she had any possessions with her, gather them and have them at the front desk." Sabitov looked over at Pirogov and Yezhov. "Be ready to leave in fifteen minutes. We're meeting up with Bortsov to see how much we can recover from the lost base and this unfortunate failure."
With that, Sabitov briskly walked out of the hospital room and down the hallway, his boots tapping on the glossy linoleum floor. After a few minutes, Yezhov realized that Pirogov's hand was still on her shoulder. Frowning in confusion, she lightly set her hand on Pirogov's. The dark-haired man blinked slightly and looked down at Yezhov, his blue eyes narrowing.
"You should be far more careful with who you challenge," Pirogov warned, his voice low.
"Why do you care?" Yezhov asked angrily, though more humiliated than angry at this point.
"Sabitov is not as patient as I am."
"Are you saying I should be grateful for the fact that you keep pawing at me?" Yezhov hissed.
Pirogov removed his hand from Yezhov's shoulder slowly, watching her closely.
"While I hardly think I'm 'pawing' at you...do you want me to stop?" Pirogov asked the question slowly, letting the words sink in.
Yezhov pursed her lips and started to snap back with a retort, but considered the question for a few minutes. If Pirogov insisted on pursuing her, would it be so bad to have him on her side? Especially if Sabitov was already angry with her...
Taking a slow breath, Yezhov forced a faint smile at Pirogov.
"No, I suppose not."
"No?" Pirogov asked, sounding faintly surprised. "And what's with the sudden change of heart?"
"My better judgment spoke up."
"Yezhov, my dear, you really do need to remember who you are talking to," Pirogov purred, hooking a finger under Yezhov's chin, mindful of her injured jaw. "Of all the men on this world, I am one of the last ones you would want to try and lie to. If you are going to be fond of me, at least do so honestly."
"Well, if it's honesty we're going for," Yezhov started slowly. "Do I really get a choice in how fond of you I am? You have a reputation that precedes you quite a bit, Pirogov. I am not looking to make my daughter an orphan."
"Oh...come now," Pirogov said, snorting slightly. "Do you honestly think I would kill you?"
"If I made you mad enough, yes."
"You would have to truly try to get on my last nerve," Pirogov replied with a rare chuckle.
"But then that begs the question, how frayed is that last nerve?" Yezhov inquired, taking a cautious step towards Pirogov, lightly tapping on his chest.
Pirogov made a muffled grunt when Yezhov tapped on his chest, but stayed still. He grasped Yezhov's hand slowly, feeling her tense, but only slightly.
"For you...? I could probably hold on to that last nerve for quite a bit," Pirogov murmured.
This time, Yezhov looked truly curious, and she stood up on her tip-toes, looking at Pirogov a little closer.
"What are you expecting of me, Pirogov?" she whispered. "Truly?"
"Truly?" Pirogov stepped close to Yezhov, lightly tracing the outline of one of the bandages across her cheek. "Show me even half the patience that I have shown you...and we will let it go from there."