(Mature Section – near bottom)

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Song: Paradise by the Dashboard Light by Meatloaf

While Star was in the kitchen making them something to eat for lunch, he added more wood to both fireplaces. They had laid on the couch so long, that the fires had burned down enough so there was a slight chill in the air. He hated that he had let it get that cold since it had made Star put back on the long pants she had been wearing early this morning. But he did need to think about what was going to happen in three days.

Standing and vacantly looking out of the window, he needed to make sure that Star would be able to survive once he left. Leaving her here was not an option, the burning of the house was his extraction signal. His mission parameters were to stay at this location, but he would have to disobey that order.

Where could he take her? There was nobody that he trusted, or knew, that he would expect to help her, only a HYDRA safe house in case of an emergency. So, who would help her? Who would help a kidnapped American teenage girl that was trapped in the middle of Russia?

The American Embassy in Moscow.

That was the solution he needed. They were only a few hours away, plenty of time to drive her there in one of the cars available outside, and get back here before his extraction time. They had the capability of getting Star back to America, back to her family.

But the officials would ask questions, lots of questions.

She would have to give them as much of the truth as possible, so that it did not trip her up once it came to when she would need to lie...about him and their time here. That should not be a problem. Star did not seem to be one to get overly emotional while dealing with harsh topics, thinking about how she had not even flinched at him shooting the man staked to the ground.

But just because Star would be able to get home, it did not mean that she would be able to survive. She had been taken once, held prisoner, hurt and abused...and he did not like that. The thought of someone touching her, being able to do that to her again…it made him want to hit something.

He needed Star to know what to look out for when it came to someone else trying to hurt her. He would spend the next few days training her. It was not a lot of time, but he could give her what he considered the basics. And he also needed to work out the details of the story Star would need to tell everyone.

Star put the plates of food on the table, seeing Scary just standing while staring out of the window. His hair was falling across his face, so she could see nothing of his expression. His body was slightly tense, as if he were thinking heavily about something, maybe trying to solve a problem, but she couldn't even guess as to what it would be.

"Scary, the food's ready," she called out to him, but she didn't even see him so much as move, as if he had heard her.

Should she go over to him? He had brooded before, but this was not like those other times. Something new was weighing on him. Then she thought about it clearly. He was going to be leaving soon, in a matter of days, and he couldn't leave her here.

No matter what they had done today, he was still going to have to finish his mission.

Star felt her eyes starting to swell with tears, not sure if they were for her or for him, her face slightly aching, as she knew it started to show the painful emotion building up in her. After the enjoyment they had just shared, the guilt of what he was going to have to do to her would hurt him, which made her insides ache.

Swallowing, to try and get rid of the dry mouth she suddenly had, she turned to face away from where Scary was standing, hoping that his attention was not drawn to her right now. He may have had the impulsive act to save her from the other men, but there was no way that he could save her from himself. Scary should have just killed her this morning, not let her seduce him.

Turning her head slightly, she saw that he was still looking out the window. Slowly, she began to move, heading towards the bedroom door, hoping that the song which was playing would cover any sound that may get his attention, since she was not as sneaky as he was.

Making it inside of the room, she slowly swung the door on the hinges enough so that it was left open just a crack. She hesitated to close it for fear of it making too much noise. Walking around the bed, she stepped over his leather clothes that were still lying on the floor where she had discarded them earlier. Finally reaching the bathroom, she stepped inside and began the careful process of closing the door, slowly turning the handle while hoping it did not squeak.

Once the door was shut, she finally turned the light on over the sink. Looking into the mirror, she saw that her face was indeed red, and it made her appear to have been crying. Sitting down on the edge of the tub, facing the door, she picked up the towel that she had dropped on the floor after getting out of the tub earlier, pressing it onto her face. It was still slightly damp from using it to dry off, cooling her cheeks as it rested on them.

She knew that there was no point in crying over what was going to happen. She had known for days what Scary was going to have to do. Hell, she even knew what Kozlov had been planning to do to her. But now, there was something growing in her, after having spent such wonderful times with Scary today, which was causing her to fear it all ending.

Was it because he had admitted that he had been on the way back here to kill her? Maybe. Thinking that something was going to happen was a lot different than knowing when it was supposed to happen.

Standing up, she took the towel away while moving over to the mirror to see her face. The redness was now mostly gone, only a small flush left on her pale skin. Her eyes didn't seem as bad as when she had come in here. There was slight bruising from where Aleksey had slapped her, but she'd had worse from Kozlov. They would be gone in a day or so.

By now, Scary had to have noticed that she was no longer in the den. There was no point in hiding in here. She needed to go out and face him, without thinking about dying.

Opening the bathroom door, Star didn't even make it past the threshold, due to the large assassin blocking the doorway. Scary was standing there with his arms crossed, staring at her with determination on his face. Talk about facing your fears…

"Do you know how to drive a car?" he simply asked looking down at her.

"What?"

"When you were taken, you had snuck out and rode with a friend in their car. Is this because you do not know how to drive?" he asked not moving from the spot.

"Kind of. We only owned one car, and my dad was worried I might wreck it. He showed me the basics, but I never actually drove it more than a few times," she said wondering why he would even ask such a question.

But, he had remembered when she had told him what happened to her?

"Then let's eat and afterwards, we will get dressed. I will be teaching you how to drive," he dropped his arms, letting his left fall to the side, but offering her his right hand. Not understanding what was going on, Star placed her hand in his, letting him lead her back to the den.

Sitting down at the table, Scary took his seat and began to eat, not giving any more of an explanation. Of course, she was a bit shocked and didn't bother to question him on the strange topic. Why would she need to know how to drive if she was about to die? There was no way for her to even ask since she was sure it would cause her to start crying, and she could not show Scary any weakness.

After lunch, they headed into the bedroom, both of them choosing warm, normal clothing for the task. Star double her socks to help take up the spare room in the boots, hoping they were a bit dryer. Scary picked up his leather outfit, lying it onto the top of the dresser, placing the face mask and gun belt on top of the pile.

Without a word, Scary led her outside by the front door, walking to where the now three vehicles were parked. The van, Kozlov's nice car, and the invader's junk car, which looked like it wanted to fall apart.

"Do you remember the basics of how to change gears?" he asked as they stood next to the vehicles.

"I think so," she answered but still not understanding the point of this.

"Good because we will need to use Aleksey's car. Get into the driver's seat," he said, handing her a set of keys from his pocket. Walking over to the small car, she found the door unlocked, but hesitated to get inside, instead standing between the open door and the car to look at him.

"What?" Scary asked from the passenger side of the car as he opened his own door.

"Why do I need to learn to drive?" she decided to bluntly ask, making direct eye contact with him, and willing the tears to stay away.

"Because you lack some of the basic necessary skills to survive and to be able to protect yourself. I intend to change that," he said staring over the roof of the car at her.

"Survive?" she rhetorically asked, still not understanding even with his explanation. "Isn't that a bit pointless?"

"No, it is not. Now get into the car," Scary said, bending down to sit in the passenger seat, slamming the door shut behind him.

Star let out a huff as she dropped her shoulders, irritate a bit at the bland answer. She then sat down in the driver's seat, closing her own door, but much more gently than Scary had his. Fiddling with the keys, she found the one that looked correct for the ignition and slipped it inside.

"Why isn't it pointless then?" she decided to try again, checking the gear shift to make sure it was in neutral. Turning the key, she went ahead and cranked the car on so that she could get the heater going. Flipping the lever all the way to red, she hoped that it would warm up quickly in here.

"Because in three days, I am taking you to the American Embassy in Moscow. Once I leave you with them, you need to be able to protect yourself, so that nothing like what has already happened to you will ever happen again," Scary firmly stated, while sitting ridged in the seat as he spoke.

American Embassy?

How could he when…

"But what about your mission?" she asked a bit shocked at his answer.

"I am not…" he started to say, but then drifted off.

She could see a pained emotion cross his face. Watching him, she began to wonder about something.

"Scary," she said quietly, "I didn't have sex with you to try to keep you from killing me. I did it because I wanted to. You don't owe me anything."

"I know that you didn't. This is my choice, just like that was yours. I am doing this because I want to," he said giving her a genuine smile. After a few moments, he finished with, "We will discuss this later. Now, put the car into first gear and circle the house."

Star could only look at him with her mouth slightly open.

If he really was planning on taking her to the Embassy, then that meant…she was going to go home! That she would see her family and friends again!

Turning to look out of the front window in shock, Star could feel the muscles in her face already starting to hurt from the wide smile that she had. Her hands started to shake and tap the steering wheel, as the rest of her body slowly started to join in.

Not being able to contain it any longer, Star launched herself across the arm rest to impact against Scary as she assaulted him with the biggest hug she had ever given anyone.

After a minute, she felt Scary give the top of her head a kiss, taking her from the reverie of thinking of all the things that she had dreamed of being able to do for the past four years, since being brought to Russia. Crawling back into the driver's seat, she could see that Scary was not upset with her for taking a few moments to thank him, the only way she could right now. She wiped away the tears of happiness that had been steadily falling.

Scary only smiled at her, even though she knew she probably looked horrible right now.

Taking a hold of the gear shift, she pressed the clutch and began to try to maneuver the stick into place. The first few minutes were a lot of jerky movements, with Scary's eyes going wide and lots of cursing from both of them. Figuring out the maneuver, the two of them drove around the yard and up and down the long driveway.

Luckily, it was long enough so that she was able to hit multiple gears traveling it. Scary was hesitant about having her go out onto the paved road, not knowing what locals, or officials, they may run into.

When he then told her that she needed to know a bit of offensive driving, she had no idea what he meant. After describing what he wanted her to do, she got a wide grin on her face.

"Just call me Bandit," she smiled, putting the car into first gear. Scary just stared at her.

"Kowalski?" but that also got her nothing.

"The Driver?" she said exasperatedly, which Scary finally perked up to.

"Yes, you are the driver, now drive," he said pointing at the road before them.

"You really need to watch some movies, dude," she said stepping hard onto the gas pedal as Scary grabbed the door handle tightly.

After she had made numerous fast laps and circles, he had her learning how to do j-turn to change direction fast. He then positioned the kennel she had been brought here in off to the side of the road. Instructing her on what to do, Star then kicked the back of the car out so that it impacted the kennel, sending it flying into the woods. He pointed out that it was a good maneuver to use to take out standing targets. Star just looked at him and nodded, not really knowing how to respond to that, but at least she now could do a cool move.

He then pointed out that if someone was chasing her, to slam on the brakes, go in reverse and hit them as hard as possible. This would damage the engine of their car, possibly disabling it, where as hers would keep going. Star started to wonder how often Scary had used these moves if he considered this the 'basics of survival'.

Scary then instructed her to put the car into reverse and make the same trips around the house and on the road, as when she had been moving forward. This was much harder, as well as much slower, and she ended up taking out a couple of the smaller trees along the edge of the tree line, but Scary kept pushing her to do better.

After she had been driving backwards for so long that her neck was tired from looking behind her and also trying to use the mirror, he finally relented saying that she had done well for the day. Pulling back into the same parking spot the car had been earlier, Star turned it off and sat there, another smile on her face.

"That was actually kind of fun," Star said looking over at him.

"That was actually kind of scary," Scary said seeming to let out a held breath. She gave his left arm a smack.

"This was your idea. You have no one else to blame," she said letting the car continue to run the heater. "But I do kind of feel like one of Charlie's Angels, being a girl and all," but she saw that Scary had no idea about the reference. "Never mind."

"At least you didn't take out the house," he responded with a grin. "Alright, now out of the car, open the trunk and let's see what's back there."

Star opened her door and followed him to the back of the car. Using the key, she lifted the trunk's lid, revealing mostly junk inside. Scary then began to scatter the items around before pulling out a cloth bag which looked heavy. He opened it up and seemed satisfied with what was inside. Closing down the trunk, he took her hand and led her over to the side of the car.

"Here," he said holding out the bag for her to take, which she did. It was indeed heavy, with metal clicking together. "You are going to remove the back tire and the replace it, all by yourself."

"What? Why?" she asked opening the bag to look inside. She had seen her father used tools like then when he changed out a flat tire, a jack and a lug nut wrench.

"Because the easiest way to disable a vehicle is to puncture the tire. It will immobilize the target at a location of your choosing, not theirs. You need to know how to be able to change a tire in case someone tries it with you," he said pointing at the rear tire. She didn't want to argue with him about this. If learning a couple of necessary life skills was what he considered payment for letting her live, then she would do them, so she needed to stop asking questions. "Have you seen it done before or do you know how?"

"Remove the nuts with bar, but I'm not sure of how to use the jack," she said placing the item onto the ground.

Scary then took the time to explain placement of the jack, as well as going into what a cut brake line looks like as the two of them lay on their backs looking under the vehicle, before talking about different ways to disable a car. Star figured that sometimes when you wanted a target taken out, and not raise suspicions, a car accident would work so Scary needed to know more than only how to use a gun.

When she had put the tire back on for the third time, Scary said he was satisfied with her work. The sun was already behind the trees, barely giving enough light for her to finish the job. Placing the jack and iron back into the trunk, he closed it down, looking over at her. Leaning against the back door of the car, smiling at him, she motioned with her finger for him to come towards her, which he did.

"So, we've practiced driving the car and changing out the tire. Are we going to practice some backseat bingo?" Star asked while opening the rear door of the car and sitting down on the edge of the seat. Scary moved closer to the left side where she was now scooting further into the car.

"I do not know that term," he said putting his arms on the top of the car and looking inside at her.

"Then I'll have to teach you something," she was patting the empty seat area next to her. Scary then got a smile on his face as if he suspected what was about to happen.

Sitting down and pulling his legs in, he shut the door behind him. Star then turned so that she was facing him, lifting both of her legs over his so that she was almost sitting in Scary's lap. He turned just enough so that he had a better angle to get to her, his lips quickly finding hers. His arms wrapped around her waist, while hers went around his neck, holding the two of them together.

For the next few minutes, the two of them let their hands explore the other. As she rubbed her hands over his chest, she could feel the raised skin where his arm connected, the smooth metal slightly cold. Scary was touching her with the metal arm, but she noticed that it was always a much gentler touch than his right hand. Earlier, she had not noticed a difference, but he may have been caught up in the moment and not able to think about it.

Moving her legs, Star slid them so that she was now straddling him, while he sat back on the seat.

"You don't have to worry about hurting me, Scary," she said, pulling back from their kisses and taking his left hand into hers so that he understood. "I'll let you know if it's too much."

With that, he began to touch her once again, but this time, his touches were firmer, while her arms went around his neck. Reaching up under her shirt, he took her breast in his left hand, squeezing with just enough force to make her cry out. There was no mistaking that it was from pleasure and not pain.

Throwing her head back, Scary's lips then began to move across her neck as he continued to knead her, his thumb flicking her nipple every so often. She then felt his right hand rub over her belly, slowly moving downward towards her pants. Without stopping, Scary slipped his hand inside, his fingers finding her folds already moist.

"Lean back and hold on to the seats behind you, Star," he instructed her, giving one of her lips a soft pinch to get her attention. She could only nod as she reached back and wrapped her arms around the headrest of the front seats, using them to hold her away from him, with her shoulders resting on each side of the seats.

Scary then used both hands to pull her pants down as far as he was able before grabbing her left leg, and removing her boot, then duplicating the act with her other leg. Sliding her pants off of her leg, she knelt over him with her legs opened. Scary then reached down and began to pull at his own pants, letting them fall around his ankles on the floor. Guiding her body by grabbing her hips with his hands, he slid her down his legs onto his waiting, hard shaft.

Reaching up, he took hold of her shirt, lifting it up and over her head, but stopping there so that it was not fully removed and resting behind her head. Now, her breasts were exposed right in front of him. Leaning forward, he grabbed one with his left hand and planted his mouth onto the other. Star began to moan at how turned on she found herself right now.

Scary's right hand then went under her butt cheeks, lifting and lowering her on him, while she used her legs to help with the action as the minutes began to pass. All the while, she held onto the headrest for support, knowing that in doing so, it displayed her fixed body for Scary to use.

As she continued to grind down on him, moaning out at the sensation it was causing through her body, Scary's right hand moved back between her legs. Rubbing hard over her swollen lips, she couldn't stop the build-up that he was causing.

"Scream for me Star. Scream my name," he rumbled out while pinching down hard in just the right spot. That was all that she could take.

"Scary!" she yelled loudly in the car as felt her body spasm while she continued to straddle him, his own pumping taking over when her legs were too weak to continue.

It was only a few thrusts later when she felt his own body tighten, his hands gripping hard on her hips to hold her in place. Letting go of the headrests, Star allowed her body to lean forward, coming to rest against Scary's chest, still impaled on him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

All she could do was sit there while holding on Scary's neck as she tried to catch her breath. She could feel the rise of his chest as he wrapped his arms around her back, holding her tight to him, neither one of them seeming to want the moment over.

Opening her eyes, she looked out of the foggy back window of the car and realized that the sun had gone done, the entire exterior of the car was black. How long had they been in the back seat?

Looking over towards the house, she noticed that it was also dark. They had been outside since lunch and hadn't been back inside to turn on any lights.

"We should go inside," he whispered into her ear as he began to nuzzle his face against her neck.

"Alright. Something to eat would be nice," she said giving the side of his face a gentle kiss.

"Isn't that supposed to be what I say?" Scary chuckled as the two of them began to untangle their bodies and straighten their clothes.

Author's Note: FYI – the three driving movie references from the 1970's that Star uses are as follows: Smokey and the Bandit, Vanishing Point, and The Driver