Chapter 2

Late October 1946, Budapest, Hungary.

"And, that's the last of my men." Elizabeta drawled out, motioning over to a small squadron of military police just a few metres away. The Russian Major order the rest of his men to meet up with the military police idly standing around. The two different soldiers seemed to get along with each other, but that couldn't be said for the commanders of the two different squads.

"So, What do you do, Miss commander?" She heard the Russian chuckled. Elizabeta glared up at the tall Russian, his mockery not amusing to her.

"I patrol around the city, thank you very much." Elizabeta frowned, crossing her arms in front of her chest. The two walked side by side.

"Is that all?" Ivan asked, genuinely wondering if that was her job. Elizabeta slowly nodded.

"I suppose so...? There's nothing much we can do. The war just ended, we're trying to fix our cities that got destroyed and fix our failing economy. Hell, every country that fought in the war is trying to fix the inflation that's happening to their economy..." She babbled on. Ivan examined his surroundings as the Hungarian went on a little tangent about the failing economy.

The town's remains were in a dump, everything was crumbled down. Only a few buildings and houses made it through the spitfire of the war. He was glad that the war didn't fully come into his country, although it was quite a scare when the Germans wound up in Stalingrad. He shuddered when he replayed the horrors of the war.

"Hey, are you seriously cold?" Elizabeta asked, noticing the male shiver. "You seem to be nice and toasty in that coat and scarf of yours..." She gave a quick up-down glance of the man's uniform. He definitely looked like he was nice and warm in that. Whereas she was freezing, her green uniform was a terrible material not fit for the colder seasons. Though her leather gloves kept her hands somewhat warm.

Elizabeta sighed to herself when the other didn't answer her. The two certainly did not get off on the right foot.

It had been only a couple of minutes of the two aimlessly walking around the Hungarian capital. Though it felt like hours to them.

Elizabeta wanted to strike a conversation but was a bit anxious. Instead, she fidgeted.

"How do you know Sergeant Major Edelstein?" Ivan asked, getting annoyed at the extreme awkwardness between the two.

"Roderich? Oh, he's a family friend. I grew up with him." She replied. Why on earth would Ivan be interested in Roderich?

"Hm... I see." He muttered. Elizabeta looked up at the Russian he seemed to be contemplating something.

"So how old are you?" Elizabeta asked, trying to keep a conversation going.

"I'll be turning 25 in a few months." He answered. "How about yourself?" Ivan turned to face Elizabeta.

"I turned 24 at the beginning of the year," Elizabeta responded. "Wow, you were only 17 when you joined the army then?"

"Yes, I was. But you were quite young yourself, no? You were only 16? How were you even able to join the army?" Ivan seemed to have a surprised look on his face.

"Yep, I was 16. It wasn't really that hard to enlist..." She nodded. "My parents knew a lot of people and the majority of those people joined the army. They covered for me when I enlisted, I'm grateful for that." Elizabeta smiled softly, thinking back to the early years of her joining the army.

After the small spurt of conversing, the two were left to walk in silence once again. Ivan had spotted a bench not too far away.

"Mind if we take a seat?" He asked politely, motioning over to the bench. They both headed over to it when Elizabeta complied.

"Your job... being a military police commander. Is this all you do? Station your men and then patrol for the rest of the day?" The Russian asked.

"Well... yes, basically. Though it may seem boring it really isn't." She replied, almost offended that Ivan had implied her job was boring. "Sometimes I get reports that I have to file and some important paperwork that I fill out. I have to train recruits and newbies, though we haven't gotten many after the war had ended. And sometimes I have to help some civilians. But it's great getting to know your squad and fellow citizens." Elizabeta informed the other. Ivan nearly chortled at the lecture that she was giving him.

"kak skuchno..." He muttered under his breath. Though he couldn't complain, being on the frontlines was frightening and he wouldn't want to experience something like that again.

"What do you do as a Major then?" Elizabeta asked, ignoring the small comment.

"I'm not too sure myself. I was only given the title recently. Before that, I was just a private." He looked out wistfully.

"Holy hell. You climbed the ranking ladder pretty far..." She murmured.

"Well... I was the only one in my squad to survive the battle of Stalingrad." He replied with a soft tone of voice. Elizabeta stayed quiet.

"Oh. I'm... I'm sorry to hear that." She said quietly whilst twiddling her thumbs, not knowing what to say

"Thanks, I guess, but I didn't take this job to get your sympathy," Ivan said with a stern tone of voice.

"Look I was offering my sympathy! You can take it or leave!" She frowned, raising her voice. She was trying to be nice towards him to try and rekindle their already broken relationship.

"Yeah okay, whatever." He rolled his eyes. Elizabeta clenched her fist, trying to restrain herself from punching him.