A/N: This chapter got very long so I decided to post it in two parts to make it easy. I hope you enjoy!
"Jordan, how many times are you gonna run this? Each time you get worse not better."
Skylar shook her head as she watched him reload his pistol once again to do the course. She has to give him credit though, he wouldn't stop until he beat Pulse's time in the pit, and so far he's been at it for a good twenty minutes. Only his time gets worse, not better. And she would rather do something else than sit with the rest of the FBI watching him.
"Until I beat Jack's time, I'm almost there."
"You do realize Skylar has a better time than me right?"
Thermite looked over at him and let out an annoyed sigh. "Yes, I know, but I don't want her boyfriend coming after me because I beat her time."
"Dude he's not gonna murder you if you beat her time."
He rolled his eyes and glared at him, taking a quick glance at Skylar who was trying to stifle her laughs. "You sure about that? We've been back a few weeks and I swear he would probably hiss at someone for even coming close to her."
Skylar chuckled and rolled her eyes. It's been a few weeks since that much needed vacation came to an end and work took up most of their lives. In that time, the base found out about her and Alex's relationship, then again they didn't hide it to begin with. Training was going well, and her sparring sessions with Kapkan were going exceptionally well. A part of her week she loves doing. And Six made this close quarter combat arena for the CTUs to work with. She liked it and found it fun to watch some of the more competitive operators try to fight for the quickest time.
But her favorite part would be sharing a room with Alex. Waking up next to him every morning began her day on a very happy note, but coming back to their room after training was always a highlight of her day. To hear about how his training went and if anything funny happened as well. She just loved hearing about his day.
"Just run the damn pit Jordan." She shook her head and turned towards Ash. "How long left do we have?"
Ash looked at her watch before answering, "The GIGN should be here in fifteen minutes."
"Ugh." She slouched in her chair and groaned. She just wanted to be done and to spend a little bit of time with Alex before she needed to meet with Kapkan.
"I think you can survive another fifteen minutes before seeing your boyfriend." Ash rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.
"I know I can, I would just rather do anything else right now than watch Jordan do the pit for the twentieth time."
A gunshot rang throughout the room as Thermite started the pit once again. The start of training was good, everyone got a few turns in the pit, learning the ropes. It was calm, fun and something new to do than the normal. Unfortunately things came to a halt when Pulse got a faster time than Thermite and his competitiveness got the better of him. Now they were all in their seats watching him run the pit over and over and over again. And Skylar was now regretting not bringing her journal with her to sketch.
"Don't we all." said Castle from a few seats over.
Everyone let out a hum of agreement and nodded their heads as more gunshots echoed throughout the room. Skylar would be happy if Thermite got the exact same time as Pulse and was satisfied, knowing him he wouldn't be and she wouldn't be shocked if he was here late at night after everyone has gone to bed.
Thankfully the time went by roughly fast and the GIGN came into the room, meaning the FBI's time was done. She all just pretty much just jumped up from her seat and headed for the door.
xXx
She opened the door to her room to see Alex half dressed sitting on their bed. A small chuckle escaped her lips as she shut the door behind her and walked over to give him a quick kiss. "Are you trying to seduce me moi sladkiy?"
"Perhaps kotyonok!" He let out a laugh and pulled her in for a more passionate kiss. "No, I just haven't fully gotten dressed yet. How was the pit?"
Skylar let out an annoyed groan and sat down on the bed. "It started off good and then Jordan got competitive. So most of it was just watching him do it over and over and over again."
"Who's time was he trying to beat?"
"Jack's. How was your morning?"
Alex scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Was Jack's time the best time? Training was fine, Maxim and Timur got into a little quarrel. I wasn't sure if they were gonna punch each other or kiss."
"No, my time was the best time. He didn't want to beat my time because he was afraid you would beat him up." She laughed. "What was the quarrel about?"
"Beat him up because he beat my kotyonok's time? Perhaps." He let out one of his famous booming laughs and sat up a bit straighter. "They couldn't agree on a solution on how to make the team better. Some of their weaknesses are the others strengths, hopefully tomorrow will be different."
"Ah, well maybe they'll think about it tonight and I have to meet Maxim in an hour anyways. I might mention it while we're sparring."
"Hopefully, if not then I might have to figure something else out."
She looked over at him and gave him a small smile before leaning over to place a kiss upon his lips. "Hey don't worry, things will fall into place. You're a good leader Alex, don't forget that."
"Thanks kotyonok!" He leaned over and kissed her forehead, his lips lingering for a moment. "I don't know what I would do without you."
"Hmm probably crash and burn." She chuckled and a smile spread across her face. "I love you!"
"I love you too!"
She got up to go to the dresser, opening the drawer and picked out a black tank top and a pair of gray sweats for sparring with Kapkan. She tossed the clothes onto the bed and sat back down to take off her boots. One of the things she hates about training is wearing their CTU fatigues and not just normal workout gear. So for a few hours every morning she has to wear her FBI fatigues and then change into regular clothes for the rest of the day.
"I still need to bring the rest of my stuff in here." She placed her boots on the ground and stood up to change. "It's been weeks and I have yet to bring in everything."
Alex watched her, seeing her unbutton her shirt and toss it to the chair in the corner. The chair that seems to collect all their dirty clothes instead of the hamper. His eyes drifted down her body, lingering at the scar on her rib cage that's visible just below her bra line as she put on her tank top.
"There's no rush, we haven't even found our own place yet."
She hummed in reply and changed into her sweats. House, or apartment hunting wasn't going well, nothing was up to their taste and since it was still winter not many places were for sale. Maybe they'll just have to wait until spring to find a place, at least sharing a room will satisfy them until then.
She sat back down with a sigh and grabbed her phone, moving against the wall. "Maybe I'll bring some stuff over later. I do want to get my stuff out of there before Six decides to bring in someone new and they need a room."
"Hmm, good idea."
"Yeah, good thing I didn't bring much with me." She checked her phone to see what time it was and put it down. "So it shouldn't take me that long to bring things over."
"I can help if you want? Make it quicker."
"I'm fine with it, but it's up to you."
"Okay, then I'm helping you."
Skylar laughed, already knowing he would help her grab the last of her stuff from her previous room and bring it here. Of course she didn't mind and would love the help, like he said it would make it a lot quicker and she can just get it over with and figure out where to put it in their room.
Luckily they already figured out where their clothes would go. Skylar got most of the closet since Alex only kept his uniforms and more formal wear in there, which wasn't much so he got most of the dresser minus one drawer, which went to her sweats, and workout gear.
"Alright moi sladkiy!" She leaned over to give him another kiss. "I appreciate it!"
"Anything for my precious little kotyonok!"
A smile started to spread across her face and she laughed. "Oh my god, I'm gonna go meet Maxim, I'll see you in an hour or so."
xXx
The sound of wood hitting wood echoed through the room as Skylar countered Kapkan's attack. Sweat dripped down her temples as she pushed back, swinging her right arm clockwise hoping to get a good hit on him. But to no avail he easily countered her attack, and grabbed her arm and threw her on the ground.
"Damn it." Skylar groaned.
Kapkan placed both sparring sticks in one of his hands and offered her the other. With a sigh she obliged and he pulled her up to her feet. "You still have some stuff to learn Skylar, there's no need to put your speed at the top. Watch your opponent for weak points."
She went to grab her water bottle and take a drink, then tried to catch her breath. They've been at it for a good twenty minutes now and she's won one round. But she wasn't here to win, she was here to learn.
"I know, I know." She looked down at the water bottle and let out another sigh. "Like Timur I'm good with details, only when I'm stagnant. When I'm moving my brain doesn't seem to compute."
Kapkan set the sparring sticks down and went for his water bottle, taking a few chugs of it before twisting the cap back on. "You're like a predator stalking its prey, looking for their weak spots and deciding when to attack. Use what you know."
"How about after a small break?"
He chuckled and took another sip of his water. "That's fine, we've been at it for a good twenty minutes now, we both need a little break."
She took a seat on the bench and took another sip of her water before capping it. Her heart was beating a mile a minute and she needed to catch her breath, over all it's been a good sparring session.
"You like philosophy, why didn't you go to school for it?"
Kapkan went quiet for a moment, leaning against the wall. "I never thought about it, I was always encouraged to join the ministry of internal affairs, never thought of much else."
"That makes sense, have you ever thought about it?"
"No, this has been my life since I was eighteen. I may not want to go to school for it, I can always learn about it when I'm not working." He set his water bottle aside and looked over at her. "Don't you have a chemistry degree? That tells me you weren't planning on staying in the military for long."
She let out a small laugh and shook her head. "I joined the Marines to pay for my tuition, but you already knew that. I was planning on becoming a synthetic chemist."
"What's that?"
"Synthetic chemists test and develop chemical compounds to create new material for a specific purpose. They typically work in a lab and can develop materials for nearly any industry including healthcare, manufacturing and food and beverage."
"Oh that's cool."
"Yeah." She chuckled. "I was working with the FBI while I was in school, got my degree and was going to leave once I found a job. Only Six called me before I could and now I'm here. I wouldn't change it for the world though."
"I can understand why." He gave her a smirk and a knowing look that made her laugh. "I don't think I've ever seen Alex this happy."
"I haven't been this happy in years."
"Then it seemed to have worked out."
Skylar went quiet for a moment, thinking back on the last six months of her life. How she went from a small studio apartment in Los Angeles working for the FBI and going to school to living in England working for a counter-terrorism group from all over the world. She's met and befriended some amazing people, grew as a person and soldier, and started a relationship she never intended in the beginning and now couldn't be happier.
"Yeah I think it has! Wanna get back to what we were doing?"
"Are you sure? We can take a small break Skylar I don't mind, and you still seem out of breath."
"Just a bit, I can still kick your ass."
He let out a laugh and rolled his eyes. "Sure thing Skylar."
She leaned back and crossed her arms, letting out a soft huff. She knew he was right, she hasn't been able to kick his ass yet and they've been sparring together for weeks now. But like the saying goes 'practice makes perfect'.
"Okay in about five minutes I'll kick your ass."
Kapkan scoffed and let out a laugh before taking another sip of his water and setting it back down. In the past few weeks he's gotten closer to Skylar, learning more about her and teaching her a thing or two here and there. She was a good protege, someone who doesn't complain a lot, or she'll joke about it instead. It made it easier to get along with her, not that she was hard to get along with in the first place.
xXx
Kapkan countered her attack, pushing back to swing his right arm counter clockwise. She ducked her head just in time for his arm to swing near her neck and grabbed his arm, twisting it and sending him to the floor. She let out an amused laugh as she caught her breath and let go of his hand.
"Holy crap I did it."
"Da, you did." He slowly got up rubbing his upper arm. "That kind of hurt."
"Sorry." She chuckled. "Truthfully, I didn't think I would be able to beat you."
"I knew you would eventually, never thought you might take my arm off."
Skylar glared over at him and shook her head, leaving him in the middle of the mat to go get a drink of water. She was beginning to feel parched and a bit hungry, maybe it was time for lunch. After a shower though, she was in a desperate need of one now.
"If I wanted to take your arm off I would do it from a distance."
He stretched his arm as he walked over to her, grabbing his water from the bench and sat down. "Good point. Timur could probably do the same thing."
She took a seat next to him, exhaling a breath and set her water down. "Yes, with more than one shot. Would be more painful too." The confusion etched onto his face made her laugh. "My sniper is a .50 cal, his isn't. I could take your arm off with one shot, Timur would need to use his whole clip if lucky."
"That's true, your sniper is a one hit kill weapon. Timur's sniper isn't."
"Yeah." She grabbed her water bottle and stood up. "I'm gonna go take a shower and then grab some lunch, I'm starving."
Kapkan stood up and stretched his arms above his head and then grabbed his water from the bench. "That sounds like a good idea, I need to work on my EDDs anyways."
"Okay, same time tomorrow?"
"Da."
xXx
Skylar walked into her room and set the water bottle on the desk. "Well I finally kicked Maxim's ass and do you wanna get some lunch after I shower?"
Alex set his phone down on the nightstand beside him and leaned forward with a smile on his face. "You finally beat him?"
"Yes, it took awhile but I finally did it." She sat down on the bed and let out a content sigh. "Felt nice to accomplish that."
"I knew you could do it kotyonok! I'm proud of you!"
"Thank you!" She leaned over to give him a more passionate kiss and set her clothes aside. "Now you didn't answer my question."
"Oh, right. Sorry!" He chuckled. "Da. I'm getting hungry anyways."
Skylar laughed and gave him one last kiss before getting up and heading into the bathroom.
She turned the shower on and let it run as she took out her ponytail, setting the hair tie on the sink counter and grabbed her brush. She ran the purple brush through her chestnut brown hair, getting out any snarls she had from sparring. Once she was done she placed her brush back and stripped out of her clothes and got into the shower.
The warm water beats down on the back of her head and neck, loosing up the stiff muscles on her back. As the water continued to beat down on her, she reached for the shampoo bottle, but before she could open the top a familiar hand took it.
"I got it."
"I knew you would come in." She laughed.
She could hear the loud pop of the cap being opened and then his hands started massaging the shampoo into her hair. This part was always her favorite, it felt so nice and relaxing feeling his fingers massaging her scalp as he lathered the shampoo after an hour long sparring session with Kapkan.
"Of course." He continued lathering her hair with the shampoo until every inch of it was covered. "I always jump at the chance to help you. You can wash the shampoo out."
She let out a laugh and turned around to wash the shampoo out of her hair. "More like you jump at the chance to see your kotyonok naked." He grabbed the bottle of conditioner and crossed his arms, acting like he was offended which only made her laugh even more. "You knew I was joking, you know I don't care if you join me or not."
"Well...da." He opened the conditioner bottle and squirted a decent amount into his hand. "Can you blame me kotyonok?"
He began running the conditioner through her hair, making sure to get every inch of it like he always does.
"Hmm….no. Can't say I can."
"See."
She laughed as he continued to lather her hair in conditioner, maybe more so than her hair needed but she wasn't going to complain. It did make her hair feel extra soft after-all.
Alex removed his hands from her hair and washed off the excess conditioner that was still on them. Skylar on the other hand moved to the side, leaning against the shower wall to let the conditioner set in her hair for the next three to five minutes.
"Maxim got all philosophical on me today. So I asked him why he never decided to get his degree in it." She crossed her arms and sighed. "He said he never thought about it. I can understand why, he was encouraged by his parents and others to join the Ministry of Internal Affairs first of all. School probably never even crossed his mind."
"Half the time I don't understand what he means, I never understood philosophical stuff."
"Can't blame you, some of it is just plain confusing." She let her arms fall to her side, feeling the water on her hand. "If you had the chance to go back to school, what would you go back for moi sladkiy?"
He crossed his arms and leaned against the shower wall as he thought about what she asked. That was the one thing he never got, a choice to do anything other than join the Red Army at the age of eighteen. He never really thought about what he would go to school for.
"Maybe history or something along those lines."
"I can see that, you do have a knack for that kind of stuff. Oh or maybe a businessman, you already restore old Soviet weaponry, you could totally do that as a living."
As she went to wash the conditioner out of her hair he thought about what she said. A businessman could be a thing for him if he ever decided to retire, he knows a pretty good amount on how to repair old weaponry. Then again, how many people actually own old weaponry? Probably a lot, now that he thinks of it.
"Da, I could if I ever decided to retire."
She continued washing the conditioner out and chuckled. "I don't think I could ever picture you retiring. At least not anytime soon."
"I don't plan on it."
Skylar began to wash her body, noticing she was almost out of her body wash which was a little skeptical since Alex had his own. And she couldn't fully prove he's been using it since her body wash doesn't have a scent like her shampoo does. Then again he was the only person she shares a bathroom with now.
"I see you've been using my body wash." She chuckled. "Not that I mind, but we're gonna have to get some more soon."
His eyes went wide briefly, only for a split second. "Maybe."
"Maybe?" She rang the loofah bath sponge under the water to get out the excess body wash before hanging it on the hook. "Hmm that's interesting, I wonder why mine is almost gone and yours is pretty much full?"
"That is interesting, I have no clue, kotyonok."
Skylar let out a laugh and shut off the shower before getting out, wrapping herself in a towel. She then grabbed another one to wrap her hair in, making sure it was secure and waited for him to get out. "I'm sure you don't."
He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist, running his fingers through his damp hair. "It makes my skin feel smooth and soft."
A smile started to spread across and she took a few steps until she was right in front of him. Her palm rested on his chest as she went on her tiptoes to give him a quick kiss. "I don't mind if you use it, we might need to buy two bottle now instead of one."
They both walked out into their bedroom and sat down on the bed, Alex letting out a content sigh and grabbed his phone from the nightstand. Skylar grabbed hers from the bed and saw she had a message from her mom that said to call her when she got the chance. She set it back down and got up to get dressed, wondering what she needed to talk about.
She tossed the towel aside, leaving the one on her head and pulled on a new pair of panties and a bra. As she reached for the pair of sweats she picked out Alex got up to get dressed too, watching him toss the towel and grab the fresh pair of boxers on the bed. She may have lingered her eyes too long considering he had a smirk on his face.
"It's not very polite to stare kotyonok."
"Oh shush." She went to put on her sweats followed by a plain navy blue shirt and sat back down. "My mom said to call her when I had the chance, I wonder what's up."
Alex finished getting dressed and sat down next to her. "Call her and find out."
All she did was glare at him before speed dialing her mom's number. It rang a few times she picked up. "Hey what'd you wanna talk about?"
"Someone stopped by the house looking for you yesterday."
"Oh? Who was it?"
"Your ex."
Skylar's ears perked up, not expecting for Wyatt to show up at her parents' home. "Wyatt? I wasn't expecting that."
"Neither was I, he was back in town visiting his parents and stopped by to see you. I told him you lived in England and that you were here a few weeks earlier."
"Dang it would've been nice to see him." She would be lying if she said she didn't miss Wyatt, they've been through a lot and would've loved to catch up with him.
"He was pretty upset that he missed you. I did tell him you might be back for your birthday next month, he might be able to come then."
"Did he leave you his number?"
"No, I didn't even think to ask him."
"It's okay, there's always next time." She let out a small sigh, it would've been nice to call him but oh well, there's always next time.
"I'm sure you'll run into each other at some point."
"Only time will tell." She looked over at Alex to see him on his phone and chuckled. "Mom I'm gonna have to let you go, I'm actually starving and lunch sounds good right now."
Her mom let out a laugh that Alex could hear through the phone and chuckled himself. Then he set down his own phone and got up to stretch.
"Okay, call me when you can."
"I will."
"I love you and tell Alex I say hi."
"I love you too and I will!" She hung up after that and turned to him. "My mom says hi."
"Tell her I say hi when you talk to her next."
She got up from the bed and stretched, then took the towel off her head and went for her brush in the bathroom.
The mirror was still a bit fogged up from the shower they had about fifteen minutes ago so she wiped it clean with her hand and began to brush her hair. In the next room she heard paper shuffling around, thinking he might be looking for something on the desk that was littered in it. Definitely need to organize better.
Once she was done with her hair she left the bathroom again and sat down on the bed. "Did you find what you were looking for moi sladkiy?"
"Da, it was an old work form I haven't filled out yet."
"How old?"
"A few weeks."
"Ah." She chuckled and got up to grab her vans. "Do you want to get lunch here or somewhere else?"
As she put on her shoes she waited for him to answer, they've mostly had lunch and dinner on base, only going out once since work started back up. She guessed it was a good thing, not spending too much going out all the time and it gave them time throughout the day to catch up with friends.
"What do you want to do kotyonok?"
"It doesn't matter to me, that's why I asked you."
Alex let out a sigh and grabbed his shoes before sitting down on the bed next to her. "Why don't we go out if you're alright with that?"
"Yeah that's fine." She got up to get her jacket from the closet, tossing it onto the bed while he put on his shoes and went to go dig her purse out from underneath all the clothes that resided on the chair. "We haven't gone out in a while and it'll be nice to get away for a bit." She finally managed to find her purse from underneath the mountain of clothing just as soon as he finished tying up his shoes. "We should also put our dirty clothes in the hamper more often."
"Or you can put your purse on the table." He gave her a cheeky grin that only made her scoff and put her jacket on. "Where do you want to go kotyonok?"
"I've been craving Cafe Miro lately."
"Craving?" He arched a brow as he went to grab his jacket from the chair by the desk and put it on. "Is there something you need to tell me kotyonok?"
She crossed her arms after slinging her purse over her shoulder and rolled her eyes. But she still managed to have a laugh escape from her lips. "Yes moi sladkiy, I'm pregnant. You should know by now I crave things."
"Just a bit."
She let out a laugh and grabbed his arm, pulling him out of their bedroom. It was that time of the month last week and she was doing a lot of craving, mostly chocolate and pizza and he was a saint. After work he went out and surprised her with a few of her favorite candy bars and some pizza from a local restaurant. Not after she complained for a good chunk of the morning though. Nonetheless she was grateful.
xXx
They were seated at a table sipping their drinks as they waited for their food to arrive. The cafe wasn't as packed as they both expected it to be, only a few people were in it and the atmosphere was nice for a change. Way better than it was on base. They've only been back to work for a few weeks and people were already getting into arguments.
"Did I ever tell you the time I got mad at my parents at my aunt and uncle's farm and ran off?"
"No you haven't."
Excitement showed on her face as she leaned forward, it made him a bit more interested than he already was.
"I don't remember what the fight was actually about, I was ten at the time. Anyways, I ran out and got on Midnight and went into the nearby woods. I was pretty far in and it was getting dark, then Midnight started to panic." She took a deep breath, collecting her nerves before continuing. It was a story she didn't like to tell all too often. "I knew animals can catch wind of danger way before us humans can. It wasn't until she turned a bit that I could see what she saw. It was a Lynx in a tree, the first time I ever saw one and fear settled in."
"Was that how you got those scars on your calf?"
He's seen those scars a million times already, though mostly faded but if you look close enough you could definitely tell they were claw marks of some kind. He would be lying if he said he didn't want to know where she got them, but knew it wasn't his place to ask. She's been through enough and he didn't want to bring up old memories that she doesn't want.
"Yes." She looked down at her cup and sighed. "Midnight ended up throwing me off the saddle and ran away. I remember being on the ground, scared. I wanted to run, but knew running was a bad idea, so I slowly stood up just as the Lynx jumped down from the tree." She finally looked over at him, seeing him listening to her with his full attention. It seemed like no one else was in the room with them. "It didn't attack, it just walked over to me, sniffed me. Then I felt a paw on my leg and the claws came shortly afterwards and slowly went down my calf. My parents along with my aunt and uncle were there moments later."
"Did they scare it away?"
"Yeah. The whole thing was just weird, looking back on it, it seems like the Lynx wanted to play. Or maybe it didn't see too many humans and was checking me out" She chuckled. "Later my dad told me it looked like a juvenile."
"You were lucky, it could've been a lot worse."
"I know, got a cool scar though and on the way back to the house we saw a moose. They're huge." They're food arrived a moment later, halting their conversation only momentarily. "Do you have any wildlife stories moi sladkiy?"
"Two. I have more, but they're not as exciting as these ones."
The waiter showed up a second later with their food and Skylar's mouth started to water, it smelled so good and she couldn't wait to dig in. After they said their thanks and the waiter left she looked back over to him.
"I'd love to hear about them." She took a bit of her mushroom burger and hummed in satisfaction. "Being a pescatarian has made me more appreciative on how delicious vegetables can be."
Alex chuckled before he took a bite of his burger, a few things going through his mind as he thought back on those wildlife encounters. "Alright, it's been years so some of the details are hazy."
She nodded her head and took another bite of her food, waiting for him to continue on. It was always a treat to learn more of him the longer they're together, he has so much life experience she feels like a little kid sitting cross legged on the floor listening with such awe.
"This was a few months after I was drafted, I was in the middle of the Siberian wilderness with my platoon. Training." He rolled his eyes and shook his head, but she could tell there was more to it than that. "It was the middle of the night, I'm sleeping or trying to sleep in the freezing temperatures and I heard rustling outside. Didn't think twice, thought someone left the tent to go to the bathroom. A moment later I heard a low roar, but didn't quite register in my brain so I decided to go back to sleep."
"A roar?"
He held his finger up as he finished chewing his food and continued on. "A few minutes later the whole tent wakes up in a start because someone is freaking out outside. Everyone throws the covers off themselves and runs outside into the snow. That's when we saw what he was yelling about, a few Siberian tigers wandered into the camp. They weren't attacking, just curious. We eventually got them to run off back into the woods."
He looked over to see Skylar staring at him in such wonder, and a little bit of shock. It made him laugh.
"Damn, I would love to see a Siberian tiger though."
"They're beautiful animals!"
Skylar hummed and took another bite of her burger, looking around the cafe glancing at everyone there. It just felt nice to be away from base for the moment, new scenery and some fresh air always did her some good.
"I don't doubt it. The closest I've ever come to a wild cat was seeing some lions at the zoo." She laughed. "Safer I suppose."
"You suppose?"
"Oh shush, you know what I mean." She chuckled. "You know...I'm gonna change the subject for a moment. I used to put up a facade about being happy, now I don't have too and it feels so good. It was so draining before, acting like I was truly happy and now I don't need that facade anymore."
Alex reached over the table to grab her hand, holding it in his. The military has put him through the ringer a few times, as it has with her, but he'll never understand how it felt to be abused in every aspect. The horrors she had to endure at the hands of her ex and how much that messed her up emotionally and physically. No one should have to go through that and even though she's been healing at a snail's pace since she was finally free of him, now she can start to heal better. He knows she'll never be the woman she was before all that and he's more than okay with that. He didn't fall in love with past Skylar, he fell in love with the present one.
"That makes me happy, you've been through hell kotyonok and it's good that you can finally find some true happiness!"
Tears started to well in her eyes and she gave him a soft smile. "Thank you moi sladkiy, and I have you to thank for it!"
"I just gave you that push you needed, it's you who found what truly makes you happy!"
She wiped the tears away from her eyes and let out a shaky breath. "Yeah I suppose you're right. You did nudge me in the right direction, then again it was me who decided to join Rainbow to begin with. Maybe it was just fate."
Fate, something she always kinda believed in, but wasn't so sure. To Skylar things always happened for a reason. And if the reason for her to go through that year of torture only to end up in the arms of a man who treats her like a queen and loves her, then she's okay with that. She's okay with living her life as a new version of herself, people change and that's the wonderful part of life.
"I like to think it was! In a sense we both had reasons to not be here, together today. I could've died last year and you could've said no to joining Rainbow. We never would have met, and I don't like thinking about that. You've changed my life kotyonok, for the better and I can't imagine my life without you."
"Okay are you trying to make me cry in public moi sladkiy?" She laughed and wiped the tears from her eyes. "You've changed my life for the better too, and I don't want to picture my life without you any time soon!"
"And you won't have too!"
She leaned over the table and gave him a quick kiss before both of them went back to their meal.
They spent the rest of lunch just talking about how training went for the both of them. How Alex decided to change things up a bit to make the team work better as a team, little did he know it would end up with Kapkan and Glaz arguing like school children. In his defense it was entertaining. But he knew his comrades and knew they would be over it by tomorrow morning.
Skylar talked about how fun training was in the beginning, the pit being a new way to help her improve her skills and how she was surprised she got the quickest time after a few rounds. Followed by Pulse and Ash. Then it turned boring when Thermite couldn't stand having a slower time than Pulse and she had to wait until the GIGN came in for theirs. However the first few times were entertaining, especially when he swore like a sailor when something didn't go right.
After lunch they decided to take a nice long stroll in a nearby park before heading back to the base. The air was a bit cold, pretty normal for the winter weather but no less refreshing. The stale air at base can be a bit of a nuance from time to time.
Skylar linked her arm with Alex's and softly sighed as she watched a bird fly by. "I think this has been a wonderful afternoon. What do you think moi sladkiy?"
He looked around him, seeing the bare trees with some snow still on the branches and hummed. "I think it's been a wonderful afternoon too, kotyonok. Didn't have to worry about work or anything, just you!"
"Hopefully it was a good kind of worry?" She chuckled and walked over to a bench to sit down on.
Alex took a seat a second later,placing an arm around her shoulders. "Of course!"
"Good!" She snuggled up to him and looked around the park, spotting a few people sitting on a bench nearby, a man jogging with a baby stroller and a few people walking their dogs. "I can't wait for the day where we can do this all the time. Like Spring."
"Well, then you won't have to wait long kotyonok!"
He let out a small laugh and she couldn't help but laugh as well. "That's true, Spring is right around the corner. It'll be nice to see all the flowers and have some nice warm weather for a change."
Alex hummed in agreement, the warm weather would be a nice change and very welcomed. "It will be a nice change and much needed."
"It'll also get us off the base more." She looked over at him and softly smiled at him. "I think it'll be nice to go for daily walks, get away from everyone and have some more privacy."
He mirrored her soft smile and got lost into her hazel eyes, moving forward to place a more passionate kiss upon her lips. Skylar was about to straddle him, only to catch herself in the midst of it. She laughed and pulled away.
"What?" He laughed.
"Not out in public Alexsandr!"
"Kotyonok, you were the one who was going to straddle me. Not my fault."
Skylar could feel her cheeks become warm, no doubt turning red like a tomato and then lightly shoved at his arm. "Oh shush. It's not my fault, it's yours for turning me on in public."
"We can go back to the car if you want?"
A smile started to spread across her face as she watched his mouth twist into a smirk and she shook her head in disbelief. "Oh yeah that'd be a great idea in the middle of the afternoon, where people can see us."
"What can I say kotyonok, I like living on the edge."
"Oh my god." She laughed and moved away from him, making him whine in reply. And that only forced a snort from her. "Clearly, but do you really want people seeing us? Or perhaps me slightly naked?"
His face faltered for a second and he sat up a bit straighter, leaning closer to her. "Now that you mention it, no I don't."
"I thought so." She scooted closer to him, resting her hand on his knee. "And I'm pretty sure we would be arrested."
This time he let out one of his booming laughs, slightly startling Skylar. He began to picture them in his car having sex and getting arrested for public indecency and more. It was a funny thought, but he knows his kotyonok and knew she wouldn't do such a thing, at least not in the daylight hours. Night time was another thing.
"That would be a story to tell kotyonok."
"My parents' and sisters' would flip out. And I could see Valary yelling at me for it."
"I can see her doing that."
Skylar snorted again and then stood up, offering her hand. "Let's finish our walk!"
He obliged and stood up, intertwining her hand with his as they made their way down the path. The weather was unfortunately getting colder, and the clouds indicated a storm was on its way which put a damper on their nonexistent plans. So they headed back to the car.
"Looks like we might have a storm coming."
She groaned and shut the door, fiddling with the seat-belt before putting it on. "I wish we could stay out more. Now I really wish we had our own place to go back too."
Alex finished putting his seat-belt on and the keys in the ignition and looked over at her. She's been her usual happy self, but something seemed off. Like deep down she had something on her mind that wouldn't fully leave her, he wondered if it had to do with Wyatt or maybe this morning while training with the rest of her CTU.
"Are you okay kotyonok? You seem to have something on your mind."
She buckled her seat-belt and looked over to him with a soft sigh leaving her lips. "A little bit, it has to do with Wyatt."
He reached his hand over to her, caressing it with his thumb. It was such a simple gesture, but to her it was more than that. "Do you want to talk about it?"
She nodded her head. "I always thought we would get back together after I graduated college, then Henry happened and I'm no longer the girl he knew when we parted ways. I guess I'm more afraid of him looking at me differently because of what happened to me."
He leaned over to kiss her forehead and pulled back to look her in the eyes. "If he cares about you as much as you say he does, I don't think he'll look at you differently. On the other hand he might be a bit shocked on who you ended up with."
"Oh he'll never expect us." She laughed and leaned over to give him a small peck on the lips. "Not in a bad way. I hope so, I hate when someone you know so well just all of a sudden looks at you differently. It kinda hurts."
"If it's any consolation I'll never look at you differently!"
"That makes me happy!"
"Good!" He leaned over to give her one more kiss before turning on the car. "Let's head home."