Thank you RavenDimitriAnastasia! You made my day! And of course hiveluver and isobeljones! Sorry, I have NEVER taken more than a month to update before. I will try to improve! School is just really busy!
"Gavriil." the man walked up to him cautiously "All the men are accounted for, we all got out safely."
Gavriil glanced at him "And the girl? Where is she?"
"She is being settled in her new room." the man replied "But sir…"
Gavriil turned all the way to face him "What?"
"Colonel David has not shown up yet." the man said, sounding nervous. Gavriil looked at the window ahead of him.
"Of course he hasn't. And he's not dead, believe me." he said "Come on, we have work to do."
"Work? Do you wish to find him?"
Gavriil's eyes narrowed "No. He's clearly far too loyal to the Furans. No, we won't find him, but we'll make him sorry. I may not know everything, but I know that man loves his mother."
Iliana walked out of her room, one hand on her swollen stomach as she took a deep breath through her mouth. Her hair was messy from being asleep all night. Nathaniel sat in one of the chairs, with a book in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. He smiled at her.
"Good morning. Feeling okay?"
Iliana rubbed a hand over her eyes and yawned "As good as usual." then she sighed "Were you ever shot, Nathaniel? How long until the pain of this thing goes away."
"A while." Nathaniel responded sympathetically "You took quite a blow, one that I've been lucky enough to avoid. I've had skims here and there, but that's all."
Iliana scratched the back of her neck "Do you think they'll get back today?"
Nathaniel's face became serious "I hope so. Max called me before they went in, but I haven't heard anything yet."
Iliana nodded wearily and he beckoned her.
"Come sit. Turn on something to get your mind off it. I'll get you some coffee." he offered.
"Make that hot chocolate." Iliana replied with a faint smile. Nathaniel nodded, face amused. He helped her sit down before walking over to the kitchen. Iliana leaned over to see the book he was reading. Then, taking his advice, she grabbed the remote and clicked on the projector.
Around ten minutes later, Nathaniel came out, holding a steaming cup. Iliana took it with a quiet 'thanks.'
"So you're a Charles Dickens fan?" she asked, nodding at the book.
"Yes, I am." Nathaniel said, looking at the book cover "My wife first gave me one of his books. I read them to Max quite frequently."
"Yes, he strikes me as the reading type." Iliana replied.
"Not always." Nathaniel said, sounding amused "He was quite concerned with his reputation as a teenager. He got into a lot of trouble that his mother was able to bail him out of luckily. His young life was eventful to say the least."
"Were you and the Furans friends?" Iliana asked "I know him and Elena were."
"Indeed." Nathaniel said, raising an eyebrow "Elena and Anastasia for a while, but it became clear it was him and Elena. She was a very incredible young lady."
"I only knew her on a name basis." Iliana said, gazing at the T.V. screen behind him "Now, I wish I'd gotten to know her."
Nathaniel sighed "Her life was cut far too short. It hurt a lot of people."
Iliana nodded, taking a drink from her cup and he gave himself a shake "But no need to dwell on it."
"I feel like I should call or something." Iliana said, looking worried "They wouldn't stay this long if something hadn't happened."
"They might." Nathaniel replied "But if you're so worried, go and check with the officer. They've probably checked in with him and are on their way back."
Iliana looked like she might do just that, but sighed "I'll give them a bit longer. Do you think I'm worrying for nothing?"
"I think you're causing yourself unnecessary stress, yes. But it's natural." Nathaniel replied "However, I will tell you that it won't do you any good."
"I don't want to relax in case something horrible has happened." Iliana said.
"Just trust them." Nathaniel responded, then changed the subject "You need to eat something. What would you like?"
Iliana raised an eyebrow "You're almost as bad as Pietor. When I want something to eat, I'll ask for it or get it myself."
"Now there's no need to be stubborn." Nathaniel replied and Iliana scowled at him.
"I'm not." she glanced back toward the door "I'm going to go wait in there. Then I can ask whoever's in charge to try and contact Pietor."
"I'll come with you." Nathaniel said, standing up "Not because you need help." he added as she shot him a look "I would like to know their whereabouts as well."
"The location of their Shroud indicates that their heading this way now." the Furan's lead officer informed her. He pointed at the screen in front of them "They should be returning any moment."
Iliana let out a breath of relief "Have you heard anything from them at all?"
The man shook his head "No, Mr. Furan never checked in, but I doubt that means trouble. It happens often."
The hangar was buzzing with activity that morning. The guards seemed to be preparing for a battle. A group of them was getting weapons ready and another was training with drills.
Nathaniel stood watching them, looking mildly interested.
"They'll be here soon." Iliana said, walking up to him. She looked at all of the men with a disgusted look on her face "Hopefully all of them."
"Don't worry; I'm sure they're fine." Nathaniel replied, placing a hand on her back.
"They're here." the man called, looking back at her "Landing now."
Iliana sent up a quick prayer as they waited. She was worried Pietor would come barging in here with Raven limp in his arms again. Or any of the others. Inwardly shuddering, Iliana tried to shake away what Gavriil could have done to them if he caught them again.
She was also worried it would be bad news again. They'd failed last time to get Juliana. Nathaniel didn't look any more secure than she did, but at least he tried to console her.
"I don't think it was smart to take the kids." she muttered.
"I agree. They are a brilliant group of kids, but this is a bit too dangerous for them." Nathaniel said "It is partly my fault. I insisted Max bring them."
"I'm glad they're here." Iliana replied "But not fighting Gavriil."
"Yes, I'm also surprised Max had Raven go again. I suppose he just knows her strengths better than me."
"She wouldn't have stayed." Iliana said "Are you kidding? That would be like Anastasia telling Pietor to stay here, neither of them would really follow orders."
"True."
She looked over at the hangar door as the sound of the Shroud's blades beating slowed to a stop. Several seconds later, it opened and Raven walked in. She didn't appear to be injured besides a few cuts. In fact, as the others came in Iliana noticed they all had similar injuries.
"What happened?" Iliana demanded "Is everyone okay?" she walked forward as Pietor came in though.
"Why are you all hurt?" she asked.
"There were a few glass shards that went flying." Pietor replied, sounding a bit agitated "But we're all fine."
"So? What happened?" Iliana asked, leaning past him to see.
"Gavriil's gone." Pietor said flatly "But we did manage to pick up one stray."
Iliana's eyes widened as David appeared in the doorway. He smiled at her, though he looked worried. He was dressed very neatly in a dark colored uniform and his hair was shaved back very precisely.
"Hi." he said, seeming to search her eyes for any sign of welcome.
Pietor glanced at him, then back at Iliana, who swayed on her feet for a second before falling back.
###
Iliana woke up to the sound of beeping and blinked opened her eyes carefully. She didn't move for a moment, confused about where she was, but she looked around. Eyes flicking, she realized she was back in the medical room. She groaned inwardly as she spotted the I.V. in her arm.
Pietor looked up, then stood up and Iliana jumped when she saw him.
"Feeling better?" he asked.
"I wasn't feeling sick." Iliana croaked, then winced at the sound of her voice. She scowled at Pietor as he suppressed a smile of amusement.
"Why do you guys have to put me on this stupid thing?" she asked, looking pointedly at the I.V. tube in her arm.
"Well you are pregnant and you did faint just an hour ago." Pietor replied "And a little while ago you suffered a pretty bad injury to the chest."
"Well why did I faint?" Iliana asked irritably, running a hand over her face.
Pietor raised an eyebrow "I'll be right back."
"Wait, you need to tell me what happened. And why you're all hurt" Iliana said, apparently having no memory of the events before her fainting episode.
"I will." Pietor replied "But there's something you should see first."
Iliana scowled and was about to call after him, but decided against it. The hair on the back of her neck was prickling nervously, making her itch. She moved her neck uncomfortably, reaching up to scratch it. She heard voices outside the door and was about to let them know, but the door opened.
Pietor stepped in again and Iliana stared at the man standing beside him. David smiled and she had a faint recollection of seeing him right before she blacked out.
"What the hell man." she said, looking at him with a mixture of curiosity, anger, and excitement in her brown eyes "Come here."
David walked over and she reached up to grip him in a tight hug. Iliana winced and sucked in a pained breath through her teeth.
"Are you alright?" he asked, backing off in alarm.
"I'm fine." Iliana replied, getting her breath back "My chest just hurts occasionally."
"She was on the wrong end of a sniper rifle." Pietor growled
David's eyes widened and Iliana nodded wearily.
"Who?" he asked.
"It was Valerian." Pietor growled and David blinked in shock.
"That must have been Gavriil's doing." he muttered.
"Well?" Iliana asked, sounding annoyed "Are you going to explain?"
David sighed and seemed about to say something when Pietor interrupted.
"You need to rest. We can talk later." he said.
"He didn't try to hurt you, did he?" Darkdoom asked, walking with Nigel to the couches. He had one hand on his son's back.
"No, I didn't even see that man. Not until you guys came." Nigel said. He sounded nervous to be the center of attention "They didn't really speak to me at all actually."
"How did they capture you?" Darkdoom asked. Nero walked behind them with Raven and took a seat nearby to listen as well. Nathaniel was already seat, but he sat up as they came over.
"Well after I was on my way back to H.I.V.E., I heard some arguing from the pilots, but nothing happened. I guess I didn't think much of it…But they landed and two men I had never seen before grabbed me and…and I think they drugged me."
"Did they land at H.I.V.E.?" Nero asked.
"I don't know." Nigel replied "I just woke up in a room and a few hours later, you guys came."
Nero and Darkdoom exchanged glance. Nero was about to ask another question when the door swung open and Anastasia walked in, pulling the collar of Keesha. The tan dog followed her, looking the same way she always did. Her head was down and her tail stayed still.
Nathaniel was the first to look back at the others "How do you know this man? The one we brought home?"
"As far as we knew, he was dead three years ago." Nero replied "I'll explain the details later."
Nathaniel didn't look satisfied by any means, but he didn't ask any more questions. Nero turned his attention back to Nigel.
"Did anyone say anything to you?"
"Not really. I don't really remember very much." Nigel said.
"Which is understandable if they drugged him." Raven said under her breath and Nero nodded. Darkdoom put a hand on Nigel's shoulder, who stared at his feet.
As Pietor and David came out of the medical room, Nero debated on whether or not to ask David these questions. He needed to know whether these men were G.L.O.V.E. traitors or already working for Gavriil.
He didn't have the chance, however, because the tan dog at Anastasia's side rushed forward at David, her stub of a tail wiggling furiously. He leaned back at first as she leaped up at his face, but after a second he appeared just as happy as the dog.
Darkdoom shot Raven a sly smile, which she missed for staring at the man.
"Trust me, I haven't seen her like that in three years." Pietor said, walking past. David looked up from where he was petting her and smiled. Keesha was pressing against his legs so hard she might of well have been glued to him.
"I'm glad you guys took her. I was afraid my mother had." David replied. His face changed for a moment, losing some of the contentment.
It was silent in the room for a few seconds as the others exchanged glances.
Later that night, Iliana walked into her room with a white blanket around her shoulders. She kicked the door closed behind her.
"What are you doing out here?" came her husband's voice from their bathroom. The door swung open and Pietor walked over to her, one eyebrow raised.
"I can rest just as well in here as I can in there." Iliana said "Besides I don't like sleeping in there all alone."
"I did have a guard posted outside." Pietor replied.
"Well it's not just that." Iliana said "I still don't know exactly what happened to David." she walked over to the bed and sat down on her side. After finding a comfortable enough position, she looked back at him expectantly "You did stop him from telling me earlier."
Pietor sniffed, partly in amusement and partly because he was annoyed. He walked to the edge of the bed.
"Well, as you know he's been working for Gavriil." he said.
"Against us." Iliana replied "I know that, but why?"
"David said that they have his mother." he said "They've had her hostage for almost the full three years now."
Iliana almost spoke, but closed her mouth, eyes wide. Silently cursing herself, she wondered why she hadn't noticed her disappearance.
"Why didn't he come to us for help?" she murmured.
"Gavriil watched him at every second. I'm guessing that's why he was so scared when he met us that one night."
"Has he said anything about Juliana?" Iliana asked, sounding hopeful. Pietor shook his head.
"I think he's afraid any information he gives to us, Gavriil will hurt her."
"His mother?"
"If he hadn't helped Gavriil they would have killed her." Pietor reminded "And they still have her."
"Why is he here then?" Iliana half exclaimed. Before he could answer she let out a deep breath "Not that I'm unhappy he's here, but…what are we going to do? Gavriil seems to have thought of everything."
"We don't know." Pietor said "So far Gavriil doesn't seem to have noticed his disappearance, but that doesn't mean he hasn't. In fact I'm pretty sure he has."
There were a few moments of silence in which Iliana scowled at her husband's pessimistic attitude.
"But…how did he come back?" she asked "What happened?"
"We asked him. He won't say anything about it." Pietor replied.
"Well the heck with that, he's been gone for three years." Iliana said. Then she sighed "Do you think he's alright?"
"I don't know. All I know is that he got really uncomfortable when we asked him about it."
Iliana pressed one of her blankets to her face thoughtfully. After a few minutes, she spoke again.
"I'll go talk to him."
"It's late." Pietor said "I think you'd better wait until morning."
"No." Iliana replied "I think he needs to talk before he feels more at home again. I don't want him to say it in front of everyone. If he's awake, I'll tell you what he says tomorrow."
Iliana quietly knocked twice on the door leading to the bedroom. The door had been open so she took that as a good sign. There was a dim light coming from the lamp by the bed.
David was sitting in an arm chair, very much awake and reading. He glanced up and smiled.
"Hey."
"What's up?" Iliana asked, walking over and leaning against the bed to face him.
David shrugged slightly and didn't say anything. Iliana paused for a moment uncertainly.
"Guess what?"
"What?" David asked.
"I'm pregnant." Iliana said, waiting until his eyes lit up before adding "With twins."
"That's awesome." David replied, looking genuinely pleased "What does Pietor think? I can imagine his face when you told him."
"Oh he was surprised." Iliana said, shocking herself at how relieved she felt talking to David about it "They're both girls."
"It suits him." David responded.
"It does." Iliana said. She let out a deep breath, then looked right at him "So will you tell me what happened?"
"Did Pietor not? Gavriil has my mother." David said "I'm sorry, I haven't been able to talk to you at all these years, but he threatened her life." he blinked slowly, eyes ending up looking down "He still has her. I don't know what to do…"
"He told me that." Iliana replied, looking sympathetic "I'm so sorry. But Pietor will make sure Gavriil pays."
To her surprise, David didn't look even the tiniest bit reassured.
"He is just a young man. He lost his father…"
"You mean you feel bad for him?" Iliana asked in surprise. Her mouth curved up a tiny bit "I guess it's the same old David. Soft at heart, won't hurt a fly."
David seemed to force a small laugh, but he didn't look happy.
"But anyway…that wasn't what I was talking about. I mean, what happened? You died. The president shot you."
Immediately, he looked away and Iliana's determination grew.
"What happened? Were you plotting against us then?"
"No." David replied instantly, looking back at her "I promise you I wasn't. It's…" he sighed "Look, it's hard to…" he faded off again.
"Just tell me what happened." Iliana said, scowling slightly in concern.
"I don't know." David replied quietly.
"How can you not know?" Iliana asked.
"I died. The doctor told me that. I was dead." David said.
"What doctor? And how is that possible?" Iliana pressed, growing more and more confused.
"Iliana, I don't know. I promise if I did, I would tell you." he said, softly "I just woke up at the Convit building with Gavriil there. The doctor ran all sorts of tests and Gavriil…he threatened her. He told me if I didn't work for him, you were all dead. He already had my mother, what could I have done?"
Iliana blinked several times in shock. From the looked on David's face, she could see that this had haunted him for some time.
"I'm sorry." she murmured "You really have no idea?"
"None." he said "I'm sorry, I wish I knew. I just…"
"It's okay, don't feel bad." Iliana replied "But tell me one thing. Is Juliana okay?"
David smiled sadly "Juliana's fine. Gavriil doesn't have any plans to hurt her. I spent most my time around her."
"Oh good." Iliana breathed.
"And we're going to get her back too." David promised.
Alright, I'm so sorry it took so long. Please please review! I will really try, sorry!