Chapter 3

Early November 1946, Budapest, Hungary.

"He's a despicable man, Roderich!" Elizabeta yelled, throwing her beret onto the nearby table. "At times I wanted to strangle him right then and there!" She continued to rage on.

"Come now Eliza. You've only met the man. He can't be that despicable." The Austrian tried to reason with her, it's only been a week since the two started working together. The Hungarian paced back and forth in the room, muttering comments about the major.

"Why are they even here?! We don't need their worthless support. They can just... fuck right off!" She slammed her fists on the table. The suddenness of her slam had given Roderick a fright, causing him to jump.

"Elizabeta sit down!" He yelled. He had heard enough of her ranting. "We have some matters to discuss, this is no time to rant and rave about the Soviets." Roderich cleared his throat and gained his composure. He fixed the cravat that hugged his neck and pushed his glasses back on his face. "Are you ready to listen?"

Elizabeta sighed and complied with Roderich's command. "Go ahead." She muttered and crossed her arms. Anger was still present on her face and tone of voice.

"Alright, good. Well there's an upcoming function. I assume it's a celebratory occasion about the Soviets being here in Hungary." Roderich started off, looking down at his papers.

"Why do they need a celebratory function? The war ended two years ago." She scowled, rolling her eyes. She was beginning to lose interest in what Roderich had to say. He cleared his throat in an uncomfortable manner.

"—And I think it would be a good idea if you and Ivan went together." Roderich followed up to his proposal. Elizabeta stood up in haste and slammed her hands on the table once again. Roderich followed in suit and stood up.

"Absolutely not, Roderich!" She basically screeched. "Is this some sick joke to you?!" She turned around and kicked her chair, quietly cussing when it actually hurt her. "This is ludicrous! I refuse! No!"

"Elizabeta! I will not say this again, sit down and shut up!" Roderich barked. She winced and turned around to face her superior. "Show some initiative and grow up! This whole situation is not easy on all of us. So, stop acting like a spoilt selfish child!" He sat down in his own chair and huffed. The Austrian rubbed his temple. This whole thing was giving him a painful headache. He looked up at Elizabeta as soon as he heard her starting to sniffle.

"Roderich..." She sniffled. "Please..." Her voice wavered before she started crying. Roderich sighed deeply before taking his glasses off. He slowly got off his chair and walked over to where his close friend was crying and embraced her.

He loved Elizabeta, he loved her a lot. After all, they had been through hell together. She was like a little sister to him and hated to see her cry and breakdown like that in front of him. He ran his fingers through her hair as she continued to weep, quietly shushing her.

"Roderich..." She croaked. "I... I— this is so frustrating. I hate him and I hate them." She vented.

"I know..." He sighed. "I know..."

Elizabeta stared down at the cracked road. She wiped her face from any dust or remaining tears. She couldn't believe she broke down like that in front of Roderich. She wasn't the type to cry in front of others.

She shook her head, trying to erase the moments of her breakdown and began to walk home. She didn't live too far from Roderich's temporary office. Which was good, she just wanted to get home and sleep. The sun was beginning to set, and she hated roaming the streets when it was dark. A force of habit on her end. It has only been a few minutes when had started her journey and she already heard footsteps behind her. She frowned. What did this leech want? Her hand snaked down to her holster and settled on her pistol.

"Continue to follow me and I'll shoot you like a dog." She growled, pulling out her gun and slowing her steps.

"I'm not following you." The voice declared, the voice that Elizabeta hated, she put her gun away. "You know other people live around here, Corporal. You're not the only one who lives in Budapest."

"Go eat dirt, Major." She spat. "Te geci..."

The footsteps behind her seemed to falter. He must have arrived at his place of stay.

"Oh Corporal." Ivan called out, Elizabeta stopped and slightly glanced at him, a notion for him to continue. "Me and a few members of my squad will be going to go practice shooting in the morning near the training grounds, if you care to join." He invited her. She frowned, how random. She gave a confused glance at him and continued on her path to her home. "I'll see you at 6:30am sharp!" He yelled out, the invitation sounding more like an order now.

God she couldn't believe she was actually doing this. She placed her beret on her head and straightened it before walking out of the place she called home. She froze as the cold air landed on her face. She inhaled and slowly exhaled before beginning to walk towards the place she needed to go. Elizabeta scowled, why in the hell was she doing this?

She wasn't doing this for Ivan, she was doing this for herself. She hadn't trained with her gun for a while, so this was a good opportunity. She nodded, that was her reason if anyone asked. Elizabeta sighed when she got to the training grounds, she saw Ivan and his crew setting up some dummies for the training.

"Good morning." She grumbled as she reached the group. Ivan turned around and locked eyes with the smaller woman.

"Dobroye utro." He nodded, acknowledging her. "You made it on time." Ivan said, almost impressed with how obedient she actually was.

"Are you almost done setting up?" She asked, ignoring his remark. She pulled out her beloved gun from the holster on her waist and did a quick check over it, making sure nothing was out of the ordinary and that it was looking it's best. Elizabeta holstered her gun before pulling out a small piece of cloth. She used the soft cloth to tie her long brunette hair into a high ponytail.

"It's all set up." Ivan's deep accented voice announced, walking up next to the smaller woman. Elizabeta glanced at him, her stare holding a fierce amount of malice. The Russian was taken back from her spiteful staring.

"Alright." She grumbled, tugging on the cloth to make sure it was holding her ponytail securely. She walked over to the area where the dummies were set up, in the while pulling her gun out of her holster. The Hungarian rolled her neck, loosening any tenseness she had. She pulled the gun up, aiming at the first target.

Elizabeta sucked in a deep breath, closing her left eye, trying to pinpoint her aim in the spot she wanted to shoot. Her finger pressed down on the trigger and the gun began to cry out, letting its bullets fly. She released five rounds of lead into the dummy. Four bullets had gotten the middle of the dummy's face and the other one had been planted into the dummy's forehead. Elizabeta smirked, proud that she hadn't lost her gunmanship. Her ears twitched as the men behind her seem to let out a few whistles and claps. They were surprised to see that the small woman in front of them was capable of being a good shot. Elizabeta holstered her gun once again and turned around, she still had her grin on her face when she saw Ivan standing there with a stunned look on his face.

"Well? Are you going to shoot next or not, Major?" Elizabeta continued to slyly smile, as she stood next to the tall Russian. Ivan continued to stare at the Hungarian, still in shock. Her piercing green eyes were full of judgement and disdain, he almost felt intimidated as if he did the wrong thing, she would slain him with those captivating eyes. Ivan turned his head away from her gaze. Her captivating eyes? What the hell was he thinking?

Ivan rolled his shoulders and stepped up to the designated spot to shoot the targets. He took off his dark coat and tossed it to the side in which one of his men quickly picked it up and dusted it off. He unbuttoned the top two buttons on his white and rolled his sleeves up. He could feel Elizabeta's eyes burning into his back. Ivan pulled his handgun from the holster that was tucked under his arm. He aimed his gun at the dummy in front of him. The Russian exhaled and let his gun come alive, spraying 5 rounds. He clenched his jaw.

Damn.

His shooting had gone to shit.

Only two bullet holes were present on the dummy, one in the shoulder and one that was just clipping the neck. Ivan holstered his gun. He wasn't a guns type of person anyway.

"Guess I need to do some more practicing again. My accuracy seemed to have had disappeared." He awkwardly rubbed his neck. She was judging him so hard. Elizabeta smirked. She was glad to have beaten Ivan in something so simple. Ivan stood next to Elizabeta, occasionally glancing out of the corner of his eye. "I'm impressed, Corporal Héderváry." He finally spoke up, placing his hands behind his back, watching his men begin their turns.

"I don't do tutoring, but if you're willingly to pay I might think about it." Elizabeta said with a smug tone. Ivan furrowed his thick brows, feeling insulted.

"I would never take lessons from a woman, especially gun lessons." He grumbled, putting his coat back on. Elizabeta clenched her fists. If Ivan's men weren't here, she would've taken him down. He cleared his throat. "As you probably know. There is a celebratory function happening this coming month. And..." Ivan faltered off. Elizabeta looked up at him, surprised he dare ask about it just after their little quarrel. "Would you consider going with me? As my date for the night?" He met with her intense gaze.

"If I wasn't being forced into this, I would've said no and spat in your face, but I have no choice in this matter." She whipped her face away and crossed her arms. "Fine."