Who is my father?

Chapter Thirty Seven

ALISA'S POV

This firefight is not the worst I have been in. It is not one of the best. First thing off, I'm stuck alone in a stairwell with what was about twenty men, though at least fifteen are dead, I can't count at the moment. I'm out of bullets at the mo and can't get to my spare cartridges, hidden in the heel of my boot. The five, wait four, men that are left are proving to be the best that I've fought in a while. As soon as I've snapped one neck, two more are on my case. Our time in Budapest had been going smoothly, some days had been normal, others almost fun. But today, the enemy has launched an attack, after months of careful planning.

I've decided I like Budapest.

Gavin's been amazing. His social skills are like no other I've ever seen. We stuck out like sore thumbs for a while, but he soon made friends, who then became friends with me. I only trust one woman, Aranka, and I think that the same goes for my 'husband'. The whole marriage thing was fun. To start with we were just joking around, but in recent months I've gotten used to it, and I kind of want it to be real. I don't really remember what it's like waking up without someone beside me. That someone being him.

Talking of him, where is he? He said he would meet me downstairs, why hasn't he come up to find me? Down to two now. If I plan my attack correctly, I could take them both out in one move. So I do just that. However, while I am sliding under the legs of the dying first guy, and my legs are spinning up to get the neck of the second, a gun suddenly appears in his hand and my shoulder has a hole in it. However, it doesn't hurt too much, and the adrenaline carries my legs forward to snap his neck.

"Lis, open up," Gavin says as he raps on the fire door. It's one of those stairwells. "Lis... You okay?" I'm not but it's not life threatening. I'll survive.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I reply opening the door. Swinging my hair to cover the hole, which is beginning to tinge with pain. We walk out for a few paces until he puts a kiss to the top of my head.

"Sorry, Alisa, I didn't mean to- Lis, why's there blood in your hair?" Aww sugar. I washed that this morning. And straightened it. Wait? He noticed the blood? What? Ouch. Note to self: Don't move the shoulder. "Alisa?" He moves my hair, and I look down. The blood is seeping right through, spreading around my shirt. "Alisa, talk to me?"

"Ouch. That hurts."

"Alisa! There's a bullet in your shoulder. I need to get it out and stitch it back up."

"Duly noted." He rolls his eyes and leads me back up to the apartment, the walls turning slightly more with every step. I think I must collapse at some point, because when I come to, I'm lying on the bed of our apartment.

"Hey, Lis, you okay?" Gavin asks, though I don't immediately see him. From what I can hear, his voice seems cracked, like he's been crying or something. My suspicions are only confirmed when his face comes into view, his eyes puffy and red, exactly what someone looks like after they've been spilling tears. "Alisa... You can't pull stunts like that. I thought I lost you, baby."

"Well I'm alive and I feel great, so there's no need to be worried." His eyeroll is enough to tell me he's ok.

That was the initial fight. A month later, we staged our attack. We won, though I did reopen most of my stitches. We had a brief chat with Ward the next day, who told us that they'd pick us up at 0800 hours the day after and to have the rest of the day off, seeing the city and generally having fun, so we've got one night off, in Budapest. And I'm determined to make it special. I think he is too. Budapest holds both fantastic and fearsome memories for both of us, and it would be nice to round off our stay here with something special.

"Come on, Lis, I'm taking you out, for dinner." He tells me. I smile at the use of my nickname, which I haven't been called in the time we've been here. Dinner? That's nice. I'm already suitably dressed, we, well I, haven't had the chance to do any washing in a few weeks, and this white dress was all I had left this morning. Standing up, I take his hand in mine and let him lead me to some restaurant in the middle of Budapest.

We are seated, make small talk, order food and eat it, but the small, or massive, talk we make between the main course and dessert eclipses all of that. "We should get married," I say, not thinking about my words, or what I have said. Then the realization dawns on me and I immediately begin to regret it, "Sorry, I didn't mean that, what-"

"I agree, Lis, we should. And today. This place is lovely. We just need a church somewhere that'll do it." My eyes widen. I can't believe he agrees. This is amazing. He's the guy of my dreams, marrying him? That's the ultimate dream. We immediately begin to make plans for the wedding, it'll be small, in a small church with one person there, a friend we have made here, serving as witness.

As soon as we finish we set out together to find a church. I remember running past one, a few weeks ago now, so we go to find that one, and when we do, it's hilarious to see Gavin begging the priest to do it. He's on his knees, until the priest grudging agrees. He says he'll do it, but in half an hour. Personally, I think that's good, because I need to persuade the witness and Gavin has to buy the rings.

It's lucky my mum made me learn Hungarian really. I've taught Gavin it, and we've needed it a lot these past two years. Here it is again, persuading Aranka, our friend, to witness our wedding. Of course, she thinks we're already married, so Gavin and I have some explaining to do. We meet Gavin outside the church, where Aranka demands answers. Well, she doesn't demand. She asks nicely.

"We're spies, my friend, we're sorry for not telling the truth but we needed our cover to remain in tact. My name is actually Gavin Hunt, this beautiful girl's Alisa." He says in Hungarian.

I give a half smile and add again in Hungarian, "We really do love each other, you believed we were married. We want to become this, please serve as witness and do not tell anyone of what you've seen." She falls and agrees. I believe I have the charm.

They enter the small church, though I stay outside, ready to walk down the aisle. Dad's going to kill me when I tell him. Not only because I got married, but also because he didn't have the chance to walk his little girl down the aisle. I quickly walk down when the priest signals, and join Gavin at the altar. The wedding goes quickly and soon enough it's time for us to say our vows and do the rings. I didn't prepare for these. However there's so many wonderful things to say about him that I needn't worry.

"Alisa Romanoff-Barton, you are and will always be the love of my life. You have my heart and yeah, I just love you. This is getting cheesy already so I'm going to cut to something else. I would choose my life over you but there's a reason for that... You ARE my life... I would die for you, Lis, honestly I would.

"I love you Lis, honestly and truly. I promise I'll protect you in all the good times and bad, when you're sick, when you're hurt, when you've had too much sugar or caffeine. I promise to love you until I die, which had better be before you because I couldn't live without you, though that better not be for a long time."

I would die for him, he's my life... And that's just part of it. Why did he go first? There's no way I can top that.

"Gavin Hunt, my rookie, my boyfriend and above all my companion in trouble making. I promise to love you forever more, no matter how much of an ass you are to get out of bed. I'll protect you, when you're hurt, sick, injured, healthy, lost, found, young, old, annoying, loving, distracted, focused, or anything and everything else.

"Yes, sometimes I may find you annoying, but that's all in good humor, you always know how to cheer me up, no matter how down I'm feeling. I know you would die for me, but I would die for you too, something that's a bit too close to reality. But I know you will love me until I'm gone, after I've gone and after you've gone, I just hope you know the same about me."

The words just slipped out. They're perfect, and I think that they sum up our messed up relationship perfectly.

Then we kiss. It's perfectly perfect. Passionate, loving, gentle, amazing. I really do love him. All of a sudden, it's ended, we're married. We can go home a married couple. I have a wedding ring. It's wonderful, platinum, with tiny studded diamonds around the edge. They look like stars under the moonlight. We go back to what we have called home for the last year and nine months for the last time and let's just say I'm glad I saved my virginity for my wedding night.