"I can't believe you did that." Hattie said in a huff as she plopped down next to Rena who had already torn her wig off and was violently shaking out her hair.
"Well I sure as shit can." Mirena muttered as Deck sat next to her, much to her dismay. She hated the middle seat.
"He was going to slow us down, you know that." He grumbled, trying to get comfortable.
"You know we can't get this done just the three of us. We all know it." Hattie babbled, nervously pulling at her pendant.
"It's bad enough I've got this thing in me that's going to kill me and everyone else but were you seriously going to break this mysterious machine out of some high-security death virus complex and get it to work? It's completely mental-"
"You're still wearing that thing? Didn't know you still had it. You haven't changed." Deck chuckled.
"Wish I could say the same about you.." She muttered out and Rena snagged Hattie's hand, giving it a small squeeze.
"We've been in worse scrapes, hmm? This is cake. We'll take care of it." She said, eliciting a smile from Hattie who kissed the back of Rena's hand.
"And what if we dont?, what if the only option is to-"
"Not happening." Deckard interrupted.
"Let's see here...F1...F2...FU." Rena chuckled, smiling as Luke took his seat and winked at her and Hattie.
"You are an asshole." Rena snorted to herself. She knew what Deck pulled back at TSA wasn't going to fly for long and it was only a matter of time before Luke came onto the plane.
"You were a lot quicker than I thought." Deck muttered.
"Yeah well I have a secret weapon..people actually like me." Mirena chuckled and leaned over to look at Luke, a smile on her face.
"Never doubted you for a second." She said, making Luke flash her a million dollar smile as she pulled the air magazine out from the back of the seat in front of her.
I...Know you...So well...I can tell by the sound of your voice if you're really in love with me...and you are...and you are..
"You alright, Rena?"
"Yes..? Why?" She chuckled, resting her head back on his shoulder as they swayed.
"You just keep sighing...it's freaking me out."
"I'm just happy, you ass." She laughed, pinching his shoulder she held onto lightly, making him smile.
You know I can't lie..If I say to you baby I love you, then baby, I love you...Oh and I do...Yes I do..
"You think life will ever feel this normal again? More normal than this moment right here?"
"To be honest, love, I never pictured anything like this for myself." He said honestly, gesturing around the garden with the hand that held hers as they danced. "Wedding, reception...family life in general...never was in the cards."
"Obviously not true." She smiled victoriously, taking note of his smiling mother and his two siblings who raised their glasses at the couple.
"Well sometimes life surprises you and a little number tries to blow you to pieces." He jested and Mirena laughed.
"A hot little number, mind you."
"How could I forget."
So, when I kiss you good-night...Just sleep tight with the thought that you`ll, Always be caught up in love with me...And you`ll dream that the stars up above have the answer of whether we`ll be...Or whether we won't be...In love...Well, we are, We are..
Mirena groaned, trying to adjust herself so sleeping on the plane would be comfortable. She did everything in her power to resist the urge to rest her head on Deckard's padded shoulder simply to continue proving her point but she felt she might cave sooner or later.
"..I couldn't give a damn about your comfort." She heard him whisper across the aisle and she peered with one eye open to see him engaged in conversation with his best friend. Mirena didn't care about their alpha dog fights, the two of them enjoyed one another's company whether they wanted to admit it or not.
"..Don't you dare tell me to relax, don't tell me to do anything..." Mirena closed her eyes again and readjusted, trying to tune out the sound of the men bickering next to her. She was almost back on the brink of sleep when their conversation made her tune back in.
"...and the next thing you know they're trying to impregnate your sister." Now, THAT was something worth listening to.
"Hold on what? Impregnate your sister?"
"You heard." Deckard wasn't completely wrong. The sexual tension between Hattie and Luke was obvious. It was a feeling that transported Mirena back in time to a simpler era of her life, back in Rio. She smiled at the memory of meeting and trying to kill her husband.
"You actually think I'm going through all this effort, this mission, to save the world for the fourth time, might I add. I'm going through all this just to do the horizontal hula sexy, sexy time with your sister?" Mirena had to hold back gagging. Idiots, the both of them.
"Exactly."
"Look here, Frodo, this ain't 1955 anymore, despite that woman being your sister, she is the most capable, toughest, baddest women I've encountered in my life, and I've gone toe to toe with your spit-fire...whatever she is right now, sleeping next to you..." Mirena smiled at Luke's nod in her direction.
"And if your sister, or shit, Mirena for that matter, chooses to look the way of this big brown, well-endowed, tattooed mountain of a man, then guess what, I'm going to let her climb this mountain of a man, again and again and again." Mirena wanted so bad to laugh but kept her composure due to fear of being detected.
"You stay away from my sister. You stay away from my wife. I see what you're doing, do you think I'm stupid?"
"Of course I think you're stupid. Look at her." Luke whispered loudly and Mirena felt Deck shift in his chair.
"She has been through hell for you more than once. She saw you die, upon multiple others and has stuck by your side through all of it. While a pain in the ass-"
"You don't know the half of it." Deckard interjected.
"She is one of the strongest, smartest women on the planet and if I'm being frank, If you don't stop fucking up, I'll change her god damn last name again myself." Deckard sighed the way he did when he was thinking through his words.
"She's more than that. I know that and I fucked up...But so help me God, If you mention fucking my wife one more time I'm gonna do an Irish Jig on your ugly mug at 30,000 feet..." That's all she needed. She smiled, turning her head and resting it on his shoulder, slowly wrapping her arm around his own comfortable, still pretending she was asleep just as she felt Deckard squeeze her arm thoughtfully.
"Rena...Rena, we've landed, love." She heard Deckard say before he pressed a kiss to her head.
"Perfect. Matko Rosjo, kocham zimno." She exclaimed with a yawn, sitting up and undoing her seatbelt.
"How you two can fall asleep anywhere, I'll never know." Deckard said, standing in the aisle and grabbing his and Rena's bags from the compartment.
"It's a superpower," Hattie said, standing herself in the other aisle.
"A gift, really." Rena concurred, standing up and grabbing her things from Deck before hurrying off the plane to change. Her phone buzzed and a smile crept across her face at the message before her.
"Alright, We're meeting my contact at the Istasch Estate-"
"What a coincidence," Mirena interrupted, fastening her jacket together as she approached the clan that had regrouped. "My contact is also making camp at the Istasch Estate." Deckard groaned. He should have known better than Mirena to have given up on this fight so early into the mission.
"A visit from the Black Kaiser...bloody perfect." He muttered, snagging Mirena's hand forcefully, dragging her along while she smirked, satisfied with herself.
The home was as disgusting as she had remembered. The pastels made her want to vomit and the groundskeeping was subpar at best.
"Ah, so your friend is a Russian mobster..." Luke said, looking up unimpressed at the large estate.
"This girl steals from Russian mobsters." Deck said, slamming the car door.
"Actually, she steals from everyone. Nasty bitch." Mirena muttered, kicking her way through the gravel to the front door of the Estate, Deckard hot on her heels.
"Ah...a thief and a Russian assassin...lovely company you two keep." Hattie added with an elbow towards her sister-in-law. "Try not to rough her up too much, eh?" Hattie teased, relieving some of Mirena's tension she held in her body from just the thought of having to see that Russian bitch's face. Unfortunately for Mirena, there was no preparation as the glass doors to the home were wide open and who else was there with open arms to welcome Deckard but Marianna Romanoff.
"Deckard Shaw." She said and Mirena tensed, feeling no relief from Luke who snagged her wrist to stop her from doing anything rash.
"Marianna." Deckard said. They were almost nose to nose and before Mirena could intervene, that sneaky gash closed the gap. She watched in horror as her nightmares were being replayed in front of her and in real time. She reached for the pistol in her waistband but was stopped again by Luke who gave her a disappointed frown.
"Nah, let me do it."
"Trust me when I say, she's earned this one." Hattie interrupted, taking Luke's hand from Mirena's wrist as Deckard and Marianna pulled away from one another.
"Mirena..didn't see you there.." She smirked.
"You never seem to, huh?" Mirena muttered, shoving her hands in her jacket pockets, her eyes focused and sharp as she stared down the brunette in front of her who had just laid claim on her own husband in front of her.
"Mind telling me what the fuck the Black Kaiser is doing here, drinking my booze and running my own shit?" She inquired of Deckard who looked to Mirena. She smiled and opened her mouth when a voice called to her from the above bannister.
"It's about time, you know I don't like to be kept waiting." Mirena's face lit up at the sight of Duncan, adorned in his signature turtleneck. She watched as he flicked his cigarette down towards Marianna who brushed it off angrily, annoyed at his presence as he descended down the stairs towards Mirena.
"Oh now we both know that's not true." She smiled, pushing past Deckard and into the open arms of her mustached silver fox. Deckard took note of his hands lingering too low on Mirena's backside and too long for his liking. Duncan pulled back from the hug only to capture the back of Mirena's neck and bring her lips directly to his, welcoming her back to the country like it would be the last time he'd ever see her.
"What can I say, who doesn't love a tease?" He said with a chuckle to Deckard and Luke.
"See? Told you she'd handle it." Hattie said, bumping Luke with her hip who was still laughing at the scene unfolding before him but mostly at the dumbfounded look on Deckard's face.
"No one has given me any insight as to why the fucking Boogeyman is in my midst..." Marianna continued.
"Well when Deck said he had contacts in Russia for gear I couldn't help but cash in my own little favor." Mirena smiled, sauntering out of the foyer and down the hall to where she knew Duncan hid his armory the last time they were there.
"I wouldn't take any of the flat furniture in here by the way." Duncan said to Marianna, rubbing his chin and looking back on memories of hiding out in the Estate fondly.
"I take what I want, thanks, Duncan." She spewed out.
"Fine by me!" Mirena called, knocking one of the statues down on the piano which unlocked several bookcases that slid across the room, revealing the extensive collection she and Duncan had hid. "Just don't be surprised if this piano is a little wobbly...or that chair..."
"Or that dining room table." Duncan added with a devilish smile that made Rena blush as she filled up on ammo. She had almost forgotten Deckard was in the room at all.
"If you're all done then." Deckard cleared his throat. "Did you get my list?" Marianna nodded and gestured to the table in the same room that had the weapons lined up ready for the taking. Not very tactical if you asked Mirena.
"Christ Deckard.." Marianna muttered, pulling up the base they were trying to get into. Duncan scoffed as he guided himself behind Mirena towards the screen.
"Eteon? I'm impressed, kotyonok." Deckard rolled his eyes at the term of endearment thrown at his wife from her former flame.
"We need to find the c-17 viral extraction machine." He said, his eyes darting around the map.
"Could be anywhere." Rena said, her eyes scanning the large complex.
"That facility is three square miles of research labs." Hattie added. Mirena could tell by the tone that she was trying to hide how frightened she actually was.
"Not to mention it's a powder keg packed with munitions." Luke said in all seriousness and Mirena snorted out a laugh.
"Lively bunch." She teased all of their pessimism.
"We got to pull a Mick Jagger." Hattie said, her tone changing to slightly excited towards Deck who groaned.
"We aren't getting you on the inside. No."
"Well how else are we supposed to get her to the machine, Decks?" Rena interrupted.
"Besides," She said with a shrug, "If anyone can get her in, I can get her in."
"Anyone want to explain to me what a Mick Jagger is?" Luke asked incredulously.
"When we were little, Deck and I used to come up with all these little grifts." Hattie smiled. "A Mick Jagger is a job that required one person to showboat, to draw the eyes while the others made the music. Typical inside job." Deckard tensed, his jaw clenched at the idea of his sister being thrown to the wolves once more.
"She's right. They'll take her right to the machine." Rena said, a catlike grin creeping across her face as the wheels in her head began to turn. "And I know just how to get her in there." She said, snagging the burner from Duncan's pocket and dialing a number she prayed was still accurate.
"She loves to fucking do that. Jet off with no reason for it or explanation." Deck said with a sigh.
"Well if memories serves correct-" Hattie started only to be silenced by her brother.
"Shut it." He warned with a glare as Mirena returned, a smile on her face.
"Pack your bags, lovelies. We have a plane and the best damn pilot this side of Moscow." She smiled, avoiding Marianna and Duncan's looks as her and Deckard had an intense staring contest. She was angry. He was angry. There was no way this wasn't going to blow up into pieces once they took the lid off.
"Let's uh...let's get outfitted for the trip." Luke said, ushering Hattie towards the weapons that were left out. She furrowed her brow as he pushed her towards the tables.
"I- But I already have-" She protested only to earn a series of shushes from the government agent.
"M! You gotta come see this!" One of Marianna's bitches yelled. Mirena saw the woman struggle with leaving the room, only being moved once her team yelled at her once more, much to her dismay. Duncan cleared his throat and pointed back towards the foyer.
"I think I stowed away a few cigars upstairs...I'm going to go look for them.." He trailed off, heading out of the room and leaving the couple to stare at one another from across the long table. One of them had to break first.
"Rena,"
It was Deckard.
"Unless the next words out of your mouth aren't 'I'm so sorry for being such an ass, love, what I did was completely uncalled for and you are the only one for me, my goddess divine.' I don't really want to hear it." She scoffed, crossing her arms, the look of disgust still plastered on her face from the moment she walked in.
"That's really rich coming from you and your fucking Black Kaiser mouth." He yelled, stalking towards her. Mirena scoffed and pointed at herself.
"Me!? Are you fucking on drugs? I know you aren't trying to say I started this shit. You started it when you decided it'd be a good idea to call that nasty bitch for help when you knew how much it hurt me!" She yelled back, pushing him backward forcefully.
"And what did you do? You went ahead and called that old Russian flame of yours. I'm surprised dust doesn't come out of him when he talks."
"Just as surprised as I am that you or I haven't contracted anything from that prima ballerina in there!" Deck was about to retort when he saw two leering eyes on them near the patio.
"How about you two just take a front seat, you'll hear better!" He addressed his sister and the large man next to her. Hattie wrapped her hand around Luke's forearm and pulled him away from the scene. Mirena rolled her eyes and left the conversation to grab the kevlar jacket she tossed on the back of one of the chairs.
"Rena, stop." He commanded, pulling her to him by her wrist, making her drop the jacket.
"Get off me." She struggled against him but he held her wrist too tightly against his chest. "Deck I'm serious, let go!" She yelled, trying to get her arm back but was unsuccessful. She huffed, seeing his satisfied smirk and reeled back her other hand, smacking him across the face quickly.
"You done?" He asked with a frown and she stopped struggling prompting him to loosen the grip around her wrist. She nodded, annoyance plastered on her face.
"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't really think all of this through once I did it and when I wanted to take it back I couldn't...I don't-" Mirena put her hand over his mouth.
"Your sister is dying. We're all in a weird state of mind right now. I get it." She conceded and Deck pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Mirena smiled sweetly before smacking him across the face again and gripping his face with one hand.
"Do anything that stupid again and I will drag your balls across broken glass. Understood?" He rolled his eyes and Mirena pressed a small kiss to his lips before releasing his face.
"Perfect. Wheels up in ten." She smiled, patting his chest with her palm.