SCENARIO TWO

THE MAJOR, THE RUSSIAN, AND THE NEO NAZI

THE RUSSIAN

"Would you like some coffee while you wait?" a young man asked.

"No," came the terse reply. "Piss off."

Ivan saw Eroica give him a disapproving look and was ready to give him a sharp retort if he said anything. Fortunately, the thief had the sense to keep his mouth shut.

After only a few minutes, the office door opened and they were waved inside. Eroica stopped dead in his tracks almost as soon as he walked through the door. Ivan followed his gaze and could not help smiling at the sight of the Major in body chains and lashed to a chair. Finally, someone's put Iron Klaus in his place.

"I thought you said Major Eberbach was unharmed," he said calmly—in Russian. He saw the Major stiffened visibly and another smile came to his face. Yes, you know who I am now, don't you?

"Don't worry, Ivan, he didn't suffer any permanent damage," Hans replied. "He tried to put up a fight."

Ivan saw the smug look come to the man's face and wondered if his own face mirrored that expression. How he hated the Kraut son-of-a-bitch. Moscow will be delighted to finally get their hands on Iron Klaus.

"I don't believe I know your associate," Hans went on, a distinct edge coming to his voice.

Ivan decided to switch to German, since his only reason for speaking Russian to let the Major know he was being handed over to the KGB. "This is Mr. Johnson. He's not one of my associates, he's one of yours."

"Yeah, right."

"You don't think he's Aryan enough?" Ivan said mildly, turning to the thief. Tall, blond hair, blue eyes, perfect features—and a homosexual. Bloody ironic, really.

"He looks like a fag."

Ivan heard Eroica give a low growl and was impressed that he kept his tongue. If nothing else, the thief was a pro. They had agreed ahead of time that Ivan would do all the talking, and the thief was obviously going to adhere to this.

"He's supposed to," Ivan said with a laugh. "He's infiltrating the Gay Pride Parade next week."

"You're the mole?" Hans said in surprise.

Ivan saw a smile come to Eroica's face and wondered what was going though his mind as he gave a nod.

"I never would've known you were one of us," Hans went on to say. "You have my sympathies, having to pretend to be one of those degenerates. I hope you blow them all to Kingdom come."

Ivan noticed the Major's reaction to this and wondered what he was thinking.

"Do you have the money?" Hans asked suddenly.

It's always about the money with you bloody capitalist, isn't it? "As agreed," Ivan replied, placing the case in his hand on the desk and holding out a hand, inviting the other man to open it. Hans did, giving a satisfied grunt before giving his men a curt nod.

Ivan took this as his as his cue and turned toward the Major. "If you would untie him from the chair," he said mildly. "And the key to the cuffs would be nice, too."

"You're not thinking of letting him go," the man who had admitted them to the office said with a gasp.

"What kind of a fool do you take me for?" the Russian snapped impatiently.

The man who had been standing guard beside the Major looked over at Hans, receiving a nod. He nodded back before removing the ropes securing the officer to the chair.

Suddenly the door burst open and a panicked voice called, "Hans! The building's being surrounded by NATO!"

Dammit! Ivan thought angrily. Why couldn't they have waited another ten minutes?

"What?" Hans gasped. He jumped to his feet and turned to the window, his men joining him.

Ivan turned to Eroica and nodded before pulling a piece of cloth from inside his collar, covering his mouth and nose. The thief did the same, pulled out his can of knockout gas and waited for Ivan's signal.

"You morons!" the Russian snarled. "I thought you were supposed to be professionals!"

The instant the men turned back from the windows, Ivan and Eroica sprayed them with the gas. In a few seconds, the men were unconscious on the floor.

"Get the safe open," Ivan ordered as he went to the desk.

"Consider it done," Eroica replied.

Ivan began rifling through all the papers on the desk. Nothing.

"What am I looking for?" Eroica asked from behind him.

"No time." Not with NATO just outside. "Take everything."

"Done," Eroica announced as he got to his feet. "Let's get the hell out of here." He crossed to the Major and reached over to remove the gag from his mouth.

"Don't!" Ivan snapped.

"What?"

"You take that out of his mouth, he'll be shouting his head off." And I like him better this way.

"Fine, have it your way," Eroica said tersely. "I'm taking these things off his ankles, though."

"Don't complain to me if he kicks you in the teeth," the Russian growled. Then he heard the thief catch his breath. "What's the matter now?" he snapped impatiently.

"His ankle's swollen."

Like I give a shit. Then Ivan saw Eroica reaching for the gag again. "Don't take that gag out of his mouth!" To his annoyance, Eroica ignored him.

"Major, can you stand?" the thief asked gently.

"Standing isn't a problem," the Major replied quietly. "It's walking I don't know about."

"I'll help you."

"No wonder the West is in decay," Ivan snorted. "You're all soft."

Klaus gritted his teeth, a groan escaping him as Eroica helped him to his feet. "What's your code name?" he asked through clenched teeth.

"Ivan the Terrible." Ivan smiled when he saw the Major stiffen visibly. Yes, you know that name, don't you?

"You bloody idiot thief! You sold me out to the KGB!" the Major snapped angrily.

"Not exactly," Eroica replied mildly. "I agreed to help steal some information in exchange for you."

"And you trust this KGB bastard will keep his promises?"

"Probably as much as you trust me, Major."

Ivan scowled upon hearing this. The Major was quite right. He had no intention of letting Iron Klaus or Eroica go, and with the added bonus of the information from inside the Neo Nazis' safe, he was sure to be given a medal when he arrived in Moscow.

The Major seemed to fall into a stunned silence, allowing Eroica to help him from the room and out into a corridor.

Just as the lift arrived, Eroica turned to the Russian. "You're not going to keep your side of the bargain, are you, Comrade?" he said mildly.

Ivan gave him a smug look. You think I'm going to honor an agreement made with a thief? Eroica smiled back at him and suddenly gave the Major a shove that sent him to the floor inside the lift with a cry of pain. He then sprayed the knockout gas into the astonished Russian's face. "Thing is, Comrade, I wasn't going to keep my side either."

Ivan gave an angry gurgle before dropping to the ground. The last thing he saw before passing out was Eroica jumping between the lift doors just as they were closing.