The Past Never Dies Quietly
By Didi
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and don't know anyone that does. This is purely for entertainment purposes and sometimes not even that.
Summary: Now the comes the hard part. Getting out of Russia.
Note: I know that I keep trying to finish this at a rate that would not drive people crazy, but I can't seem to do it. Again, I apology for taking so long to update. And thank you for those that have stuck with the story and am reading this.
Author's Note: Thank you to anyone that is still patient enough to be reading this story.
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Chapter Nine
Nikki looked up just as the door opened softly, letting in the soft shoed Johnny. He watched her for a moment before glancing over his shoulder. Shutting the door gently, he frowned at her. "What happened?"
It never ceased to surprise Nikki at how perceptive Johnny was sometimes. "Why do you."
"Nikki, I just went through a couple of room looking for signs that no one has been there, since that's the only way to find Tasha, I really don't have the patience to play games with you right now," he sighed tiredly and dropped into a chair. "Now what happened to put that look on your face?"
She frowned and nodded her head, her hand finally leaving the semi auto under the table. She's long learned that there was no talking to Johnny when he's in this kind of mood. There was always this no-nonsense stand about him that she admired. "I got a little visit from the locals while you and Quick were out. By the way, they were quite in distain of your bodyguard skills."
"Excuse me?" popping one eye open to look at her.
Crossing her arms, she smirked. "The Russian mob isn't without their resources even if they are wrong in their assumptions. They think that Don Franco's granddaughter is in Russia on 'Family' business."
Mildly surprised, Johnny smiled. "Well, what are they suppose to think when you arrive in your grandfather's jet, running around town with an apparent agenda. They're so use to looking for hidden motives that they're going to assume there is a hostile take over in the making." The irony of this whole thing was rather amusing. "So what else?"
"I'm invited for dinner at some guy's place, Nikolas something or other."
"You going?" he asked, one brow arched with curiosity.
Nikki frowned, not sure how to respond to that. "I was thinking."
"No," he replied. "Don't even think it."
"You haven't even heard what I had in mind."
Raising one brow, he crossed his arms. "You want to go there and 'subtly' question the Russian mob about Tasha and the Owl in hopes that they can tell us how to locate the pair."
She honestly hated it when he did that whole Zen-Buddha-read-your-mind crap.
Smiling at her, "Now try to get that idea pass Quick."
"Get what pass me?" Quick asked as he came through the door. He was exhausted and had a distinctively bad feeling about this whole situation. "I found Tasha's room."
"Really?" Nikki's face brightened considerably. "Is she." the look he gave her made it pretty obviously what he thought of that question. "Of course not. That would be too easy. And when have things ever been easy for the members of VIP?"
"So what was happening here?" Quick asked, shrugging his jacket off, revealing double sets of guns that were rather intimidating.
"Go on Nikki, tell him," Johnny encouraged mockingly as he sat back awaiting the fireworks.
Looking from Johnny's smug face to Quick's expectant face, Nikki sighed in defeat. "So how to you turn down an invitation to dinner with the mob?"
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"She said no?" Nikolas asked, his eyes dark and ugly.
"Yes sir," Mikat answered and took a quick swallow.
"And what reasons did she give," he grounded out between clinched teeth. No one said no to him when he wanted something. "What possible reasons could she have of refusing a perfectly civilized invitation?!?" slamming his fist against the table with enough force to crack the fine oak.
Mikat resisted the urge to squirm and cursed the slip of a girl for putting him in this uncomfortable position. "She conveys her apologies but she will be otherwise engaged with other business this evening."
"Business?"
"Yes."
Frowning at him, he looked to the grandfather clock that had been passed down to him since Czar Nicholas I's time. "Find out what business Ms. Franco has that would keep her from my company tonight. And remove the obstacle."
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"You are a lucky man," Father Jenson commented as he finish binding the free flowing wound on Peter's left side. "This should close nicely if you allow it to. And Tasha."
"Don't say it," Tasha warned as she ran her hand through her hair. Peter had given her a scare when he passed out in the car, two blocks from the church. "We didn't have much of a choice back there."
The good Father shook his head at her. "I was going to say, good job on finding this wayward husband of yours."
"Ex-husband," Tasha replied instinctively as she paced the chamber.
"All right then, ex-husband then." Taping the bandage together with medical tape. "And you have good friends to come all this way for you."
"What friends?" Peter and Tasha asked simultaneously and instantly, both going from steady calm to full soldier alert. "Father?"
Putting his supplies away, "The woman with the large guns that she made no effort to hide from me. The dark man with alert eyes and some training much like yours. And the Asian man that was calmer than he appeared to be. A very strange crowd of friends you have acquired, Tasha."
The Owl frowned, turning to Tasha who stared back at him. "I thought no one knew you were here?"
"No one did, but you seemed to have forgotten the fact that Johnny has contacts in the FBI and Nikki's family isn't without their own sources of information," Tasha sighed, running her hand through her hair once more. "What did you tell him, Father?"
"Not enough to satisfy them obviously," standing back to hear their plans. "What will you do?"
Tasha checked the windows once more, noting that the van she had been concerned about was now gone. "I have to get Peter out of Russia quickly, he is in too much danger here. With no one here that knows his face, we should get pass the boarder if we're lucky."
"Luck isn't going to do you much good if he begins to bleed," Jenson answered with a concern look for his old friend. "Peter lost too much blood already, his wounds need time to mend and you both look like you may need some sleep."
"We'll hit the hotel and hope for the best," Tasha replied, coming to help the Owl stand. "If I know Quick, he's likely to find me soon enough. Meeting up with them may give us more opinions."
Grunting, the Owl shut his eyes to the dizzying pain at his side. The painkillers he had been given have not begun to take effect yet. "It can also attract unnecessary attention. Your companions aren't known for their subtlety. In fact, if my recollection is correct, Ms. Franco's pass time involves blowing things up."
Wincing at the thought of half of Moscow up in flames, Tasha reframed from commenting as to what she thought of his opinions of her friends. "I don't suppose they told you what their plans are?"
Laughing, Father Jenson shook his head at her. "Of course not. But by their determination, I doubt you'll have much trouble finding them. The amount of attention your friends will attract from the ruling families will be felt soon enough."
"And with Nikki pulling strings with her family, which I have no doubt she had to do to find me, Nikolas will be straining at the bit to find out what is happening," frowning, Tasha glanced at Peter for a moment. "You think you can hold on until we get to the hotel?"
"Sure, why?" Peter asked, biting on his tongue to keep from yelling as he moved too sharply and pulled at the already straining wounds.
"Cause Nikki may be our key to getting you safely out of Russia and away from Nikolas Stoboisky's eyes and ears."
"All right," limping slightly as they made for the door together, with Tasha doing a lot of supporting to keep his side immobile. "And what about Natasha Stoboisky and Pietro Rumduska?"
"You think they're still around?" Tasha held the door of the car open and slowly lowered him into the passenger seat as Father Jenson help ease Peter's legs in. "I would have thought that after blowing you up, they would have hightailed it out of Russia. I hear that Nikolas and Natasha have a real love/hate sibling loyalty."
"Emphasis on the hate," Peter closed his eyes and leaned back into the seat. Taking a deep breath, he allowed Father Jenson to check his side again for any fresh bleeding. "And yes, one would assume that they would have left Moscow and Mother Russia by now. But then, one never knows. After all, I did take some very important docments from them."
"True," smiling as Father Jenson straightened. "Thank you, Father Jenson. For everything."
"Always happen to help," shaking her hand. "You be careful."
"I'll send you some M&M's when we get to the states," she said coming around the car.
"I could always use more of those," he waved them off. "God be with you both."
"God and a lot of luck," Tasha muttered under her breath as she pulled away from the old church. "Let's hope Natasha and her boyfriend blew you up out of principle and not out of some personal hatred."
"If only I were that lucky."
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and don't know anyone that does. This is purely for entertainment purposes and sometimes not even that.
Summary: Now the comes the hard part. Getting out of Russia.
Note: I know that I keep trying to finish this at a rate that would not drive people crazy, but I can't seem to do it. Again, I apology for taking so long to update. And thank you for those that have stuck with the story and am reading this.
Author's Note: Thank you to anyone that is still patient enough to be reading this story.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter Nine
Nikki looked up just as the door opened softly, letting in the soft shoed Johnny. He watched her for a moment before glancing over his shoulder. Shutting the door gently, he frowned at her. "What happened?"
It never ceased to surprise Nikki at how perceptive Johnny was sometimes. "Why do you."
"Nikki, I just went through a couple of room looking for signs that no one has been there, since that's the only way to find Tasha, I really don't have the patience to play games with you right now," he sighed tiredly and dropped into a chair. "Now what happened to put that look on your face?"
She frowned and nodded her head, her hand finally leaving the semi auto under the table. She's long learned that there was no talking to Johnny when he's in this kind of mood. There was always this no-nonsense stand about him that she admired. "I got a little visit from the locals while you and Quick were out. By the way, they were quite in distain of your bodyguard skills."
"Excuse me?" popping one eye open to look at her.
Crossing her arms, she smirked. "The Russian mob isn't without their resources even if they are wrong in their assumptions. They think that Don Franco's granddaughter is in Russia on 'Family' business."
Mildly surprised, Johnny smiled. "Well, what are they suppose to think when you arrive in your grandfather's jet, running around town with an apparent agenda. They're so use to looking for hidden motives that they're going to assume there is a hostile take over in the making." The irony of this whole thing was rather amusing. "So what else?"
"I'm invited for dinner at some guy's place, Nikolas something or other."
"You going?" he asked, one brow arched with curiosity.
Nikki frowned, not sure how to respond to that. "I was thinking."
"No," he replied. "Don't even think it."
"You haven't even heard what I had in mind."
Raising one brow, he crossed his arms. "You want to go there and 'subtly' question the Russian mob about Tasha and the Owl in hopes that they can tell us how to locate the pair."
She honestly hated it when he did that whole Zen-Buddha-read-your-mind crap.
Smiling at her, "Now try to get that idea pass Quick."
"Get what pass me?" Quick asked as he came through the door. He was exhausted and had a distinctively bad feeling about this whole situation. "I found Tasha's room."
"Really?" Nikki's face brightened considerably. "Is she." the look he gave her made it pretty obviously what he thought of that question. "Of course not. That would be too easy. And when have things ever been easy for the members of VIP?"
"So what was happening here?" Quick asked, shrugging his jacket off, revealing double sets of guns that were rather intimidating.
"Go on Nikki, tell him," Johnny encouraged mockingly as he sat back awaiting the fireworks.
Looking from Johnny's smug face to Quick's expectant face, Nikki sighed in defeat. "So how to you turn down an invitation to dinner with the mob?"
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"She said no?" Nikolas asked, his eyes dark and ugly.
"Yes sir," Mikat answered and took a quick swallow.
"And what reasons did she give," he grounded out between clinched teeth. No one said no to him when he wanted something. "What possible reasons could she have of refusing a perfectly civilized invitation?!?" slamming his fist against the table with enough force to crack the fine oak.
Mikat resisted the urge to squirm and cursed the slip of a girl for putting him in this uncomfortable position. "She conveys her apologies but she will be otherwise engaged with other business this evening."
"Business?"
"Yes."
Frowning at him, he looked to the grandfather clock that had been passed down to him since Czar Nicholas I's time. "Find out what business Ms. Franco has that would keep her from my company tonight. And remove the obstacle."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You are a lucky man," Father Jenson commented as he finish binding the free flowing wound on Peter's left side. "This should close nicely if you allow it to. And Tasha."
"Don't say it," Tasha warned as she ran her hand through her hair. Peter had given her a scare when he passed out in the car, two blocks from the church. "We didn't have much of a choice back there."
The good Father shook his head at her. "I was going to say, good job on finding this wayward husband of yours."
"Ex-husband," Tasha replied instinctively as she paced the chamber.
"All right then, ex-husband then." Taping the bandage together with medical tape. "And you have good friends to come all this way for you."
"What friends?" Peter and Tasha asked simultaneously and instantly, both going from steady calm to full soldier alert. "Father?"
Putting his supplies away, "The woman with the large guns that she made no effort to hide from me. The dark man with alert eyes and some training much like yours. And the Asian man that was calmer than he appeared to be. A very strange crowd of friends you have acquired, Tasha."
The Owl frowned, turning to Tasha who stared back at him. "I thought no one knew you were here?"
"No one did, but you seemed to have forgotten the fact that Johnny has contacts in the FBI and Nikki's family isn't without their own sources of information," Tasha sighed, running her hand through her hair once more. "What did you tell him, Father?"
"Not enough to satisfy them obviously," standing back to hear their plans. "What will you do?"
Tasha checked the windows once more, noting that the van she had been concerned about was now gone. "I have to get Peter out of Russia quickly, he is in too much danger here. With no one here that knows his face, we should get pass the boarder if we're lucky."
"Luck isn't going to do you much good if he begins to bleed," Jenson answered with a concern look for his old friend. "Peter lost too much blood already, his wounds need time to mend and you both look like you may need some sleep."
"We'll hit the hotel and hope for the best," Tasha replied, coming to help the Owl stand. "If I know Quick, he's likely to find me soon enough. Meeting up with them may give us more opinions."
Grunting, the Owl shut his eyes to the dizzying pain at his side. The painkillers he had been given have not begun to take effect yet. "It can also attract unnecessary attention. Your companions aren't known for their subtlety. In fact, if my recollection is correct, Ms. Franco's pass time involves blowing things up."
Wincing at the thought of half of Moscow up in flames, Tasha reframed from commenting as to what she thought of his opinions of her friends. "I don't suppose they told you what their plans are?"
Laughing, Father Jenson shook his head at her. "Of course not. But by their determination, I doubt you'll have much trouble finding them. The amount of attention your friends will attract from the ruling families will be felt soon enough."
"And with Nikki pulling strings with her family, which I have no doubt she had to do to find me, Nikolas will be straining at the bit to find out what is happening," frowning, Tasha glanced at Peter for a moment. "You think you can hold on until we get to the hotel?"
"Sure, why?" Peter asked, biting on his tongue to keep from yelling as he moved too sharply and pulled at the already straining wounds.
"Cause Nikki may be our key to getting you safely out of Russia and away from Nikolas Stoboisky's eyes and ears."
"All right," limping slightly as they made for the door together, with Tasha doing a lot of supporting to keep his side immobile. "And what about Natasha Stoboisky and Pietro Rumduska?"
"You think they're still around?" Tasha held the door of the car open and slowly lowered him into the passenger seat as Father Jenson help ease Peter's legs in. "I would have thought that after blowing you up, they would have hightailed it out of Russia. I hear that Nikolas and Natasha have a real love/hate sibling loyalty."
"Emphasis on the hate," Peter closed his eyes and leaned back into the seat. Taking a deep breath, he allowed Father Jenson to check his side again for any fresh bleeding. "And yes, one would assume that they would have left Moscow and Mother Russia by now. But then, one never knows. After all, I did take some very important docments from them."
"True," smiling as Father Jenson straightened. "Thank you, Father Jenson. For everything."
"Always happen to help," shaking her hand. "You be careful."
"I'll send you some M&M's when we get to the states," she said coming around the car.
"I could always use more of those," he waved them off. "God be with you both."
"God and a lot of luck," Tasha muttered under her breath as she pulled away from the old church. "Let's hope Natasha and her boyfriend blew you up out of principle and not out of some personal hatred."
"If only I were that lucky."