Ace and Lexi were in the living room on the first watch for the night. It had been a long, stressful day for the team, but there, among food, beer, cards and one another, they could forget about all of that. Mendoza, his wife and their oldest children were upstairs already asleep while the youngest two were still watching television.

Ace sat on the living room couch, focused more on the street outside than the TV show that Manuel and Ana were watching. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He looked down and was going to deny the call, but when he looked at the caller ID, it simply read "Unknown". For most people, that wouldn't mean much. But to Pavel, it was a huge red flag. He looked over to Lexi, who was playing a board game with Daniel as he got up from the couch.

"I uh...need to take this outside." He said.

"Is everything okay?" Lexi asked.

"Yes. I'm sure it's nothing. I'll be back." He said as he stepped onto the front porch and closed the door behind him before answering.

"Da?"

As he answered, there was a long pause on the other end of that line, almost as if there was no one there. After a moment, though, the voice on the other end was female and speaking Russian

[In Russian] "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." The voice broke the silence.

Evan after not hearing it in years, Ace knew exactly who the voice belonged to.

Ace wasn't afraid to get into a fight. He didn't take stupid, suicidal risks if he could help it, but he understood that dying was a real risk of his chosen profession. But hearing the voice of Yelena Zaharov, a former Russian intelligence operative who he was sure was dead, made his blood run colder than the deepest, darkest cave in Siberia.

"[In Russian] It's not everyday that two dead people get to speak to one another, it it?...Yelena." He said.

There was another fit of silence after he spoke her name. The pause was uncomfortably long as she weighed her options in silence.

"[In Russian] Say it." She said.

"[In Russian] What is there to say?" He replied

With a sigh and through gritted teeth, Ace said the counter-phrase that let her know that it was indeed him.

"[In Russian] It needn't be worn alone."

"[In Russian] You always were the first of us to give in, old friend." She said.

"[In Russian] Don't call me 'friend'. How did you get this number and what the hell do you want?" He asked.

"[In Russian] How do you think I got this number, Pavel? I learned from the best, remember?"

"[In Russian] If you don't tell me why you're calling, I swear that I'll find you and put a bullet in your head." Ace said, practically growling now.

There was a pause of silence on that other end. The anger in his voice stung Yelena, though she didn't let on.

"[In Russian] Such hostilities." She said before pausing for a moment. "I need you to get something for me."

"[In Russian] Amazing. I find it completely f**king amazing that after all this time, you think you can just come back from the dead and start asking favors of me. You must think I'm a gullible animal."

"[In Russian] No. I THINK that you are the only person who can get what I need. Let us not pretend that you couldn't have found me OR my grave if you really wanted to." She retorted.

This made him go silent. He took the phone away from his ear and put his free hand over his mouth. Whether it was to stop himself from shouting swears at the top of his lungs or not, He didn't know. But once he'd had his moment, he put the phone back to his ear and spoke again.

"Tell me what you want, Yelena." He said in a level tone.

"[In Russian] I need access to The Labyrinth." she said.

"[In Russian] Even if you killed my entire family in front of me, I'd NEVER give you The Labyrinth." He said.

"[In Russian] I'm not asking for The Labyrinth. I just need to use it. Thirty minutes, not a moment more. If I can't find what I'm looking for, then it won't matter."

"[In Russian] What are you after? Hmm? What do you think is so important you had to come back to life to try and get into The Labyrinth?"

"[In Russian] We've been at this crossroads before and we both know the paths DON'T cross, Pavel. Give me access. Watch my every move if it makes you feel better. Don't make this more complicated than it needs to be."

"[In Russian] You want The Labyrinth? I'll give you access to it on one condition." He said.

There was a sigh from that other end of the line before she was speaking up again.

"[In Russian] I don't have time for these games, Pavel."

"[In Russian] Then I guess you really DON'T want access to The Labyrinth." Ace said, his eye twitching slightly from hearing her use his first name.

There was silence from the other end of that phone's connection.

"[In Russian] I'm listening."

"[In Russian] If you put a loaded gun in your mouth and pull the trigger, MAYBE I'd grant you access to The Labyrinth." Ace said before hanging up the phone.

"[In Russian] The hard way it is." She said to no one in particular.

When Ace came back into the house from his phone call, he didn't say much for the rest of the night, but that didn't raise much suspicion in anyone or if it did, it didn't raise enough for anyone to speak on.

After a couple of hands of Texas Hold 'Em, Frankie won the imaginary "pot" the lot of them had been playing with.

After a couple more beers and a few more laughs, the majority of the team went to bed. Through the night, most of the team had been on watch. There was no sign of an enemy incursion, but everyone slept in their vests and had their weapons within arms reach, just in case.

What be-ith the haps, everyone. I'm terribly sorry that it took so long for me to post this chapter. Between my rough work schedule and the issues in my own head, this took FOREVER. Hopefully, since I have a bit of time off from work, I can pump out a couple chapters.

As always, I thank you for reading this chapter and please enjoy.