March 29, 1981

Ural Mountains

Perseus Base

"You two will be going on assignment back to Moscow. There has been an uprising within the Soviet Union, those who oppose everything we as an organization stand for. Once you reach base you will have two hours before you leave out. The rest of the details are in here." Perseus handed out a file in their direction. Anthony managed to get his hands on it before Stitch. As Perseus spoke Anthony saw Stitch giving a quick glance over in his direction. He matched stitch's expression of superiority. "I will remain here for the time being. Deal with them however you see fit comrades."

"In their final moments we'll see which among them are cowards and which are not." He said walking away to board the helicopter. Stitch followed as Perseus smiled.

The file gave many more details about where they were going. "A small band of rebels. I say small but their message has spread and has been growing. A recent encrypted message revealed that they are going to be receiving a supply transport. Of course it's an airstrip they decide to use. Keep those who lead the movement alive, we're killing the rest." He explained, closing the file.

"Let me see." Stitch said, seeming agitated as he snatched it from his hands.

After getting off the helicopter, they returned to the plane he and Perseus had originally arrived on.

"I'm assuming you and I never got along previously, have we?"

"That's one thing we can agree on." Stitch spat.

"If I knew Perseus wouldn't have me killed immediately, you would be dead where you stand Petrov." He said fiercely. "You killed Adler. His death was supposed to be by my hand! Not yours!"

"Don't be mad at me because I did something you were too late to accomplish! That's your failure, not mine." He said firmly, standing up in a defensive position.

"You haven't changed much at all. And Perseus tells me they made you into an entirely different person. They didn't do a good enough job on you Petrov." He said in disgust. "What did they call you again?" He could see his partner begin to form a sly smile under his mask. "Bell."

It made him tick. He left Stitch with a swift left hook before sitting back down in one of the leather seats on the plane. "I at least keep my rank and eye upon returning."

Stitch sneered in response towards his annoying partner. After sitting in silence for a bit his curiosity began to get the best of him again.

"How long have I known you?" He asked looking ahead to where Stitch was sitting.

He sighed not really wanting to talk. "One of your earliest ops if not the first was along my side. How Perseus let a child into the field I will never understand."

It began to come back to him. "An airport?"

"Yes, our task was to eliminate three CIA spies and their intel source."

"We eliminated them just before they left." Anthony said, recalling.

"Yes, and in doing so if you weren't Perseus prized possession then, you certainly were after that mission."

"Why do you say that?"

Stitch scoffed. "I'll let you remember that on your own."

Perhaps it would be something he would have to look back into later.


1965

"Quick and quiet sister." Anthony said as they went down the stairs.

"Where is Kirk?" She asked.

"He's going to meet us outside, come on!" He urged quietly.

Once they made it downstairs, they cracked open the front door, shutting it quietly behind them.

There was noise coming from behind a bush that startled the two.

"It's just me." Kirk said coming from behind the greenery. "You never told me where we were going."

"There's a field not far from here, the view of the stars from there is magnificent." Anthony said excitedly.

"Here we brought flashlights,'' she said, pulling one out of her small backpack handing one to Kirk.

"Have you ever been here?" Their friend asked.

"Only once before and that was during the day. Mama doesn't like us coming here. She said it's dangerous but Papa has come here many times before and he always returned safely."

"What makes it dangerous?" He asked skeptical.

"Nothing that I'm aware of. We're going to look at stars not fight aliens and wizards. We'll be fine." He assured his friend.

Upon arriving, the two young teens and the girl placed a blanket down on the ground for them all to lay on. The summer night held many beautiful orbs in its sky. The humid weather was matched with a nice cool breeze. The grass was somewhat tall, but they didn't really care, they came for the view.

"Perhaps one day we can be the first to visit them all." Anthont said, his gaze locked on the sky.

"All of what?" His sister asked.

"The stars and the planets."

"Do you think there's other life out there Anthony?" Kirk spoke up.

"I believe it's possible but who really knows."

Everyone was quiet for a moment as they observed the sky.

"What will happen when the day comes we will no longer be able to see each other as much…. when we all grow up I mean." Anthony could hear the concern in his friend's voice.

"You are like our brother Kirk. We will not ever leave you behind." He said looking into his friend's eyes.

"Perhaps you and I can fight the bad guys in the war once we're older." Kirk suggested.

"I don't believe they're all bad, the Americans that is." Anthony said.

"Maybe they feel like they don't have a choice." Elena suggested.

"Everyone has a choice Elena, it's just whether they remember that or not is what matters. I want to be able to serve our country out on the field but with father already gone ..." It wasn't something he or his family really wanted to think about. "I'm sure there's something else I can do for the Soviet Army while I watch Kirk fight."

"Are you going to leave me behind?" Elena asked them.

"If the war isn't over by then, we'll be back quicker than you can find a husband." Anthony teased. They all laughed.

"Father wrote to us recently, said he saw a Britt. He said the moment they saw him, the Britt ran scared." He said to his friend.

"When those Americans see me, they'll be ten times more afraid of me." Kirk said, trying to sound heroic. The thought of their friend being bad and tough made them laugh, even Kirk himself.

Suddenly their time was cut short when they saw headlights shine on the grass. Peeping above the grass some, they saw two white vans park in the middle of the field, close to where they were.

"Elena, pack up the blanket quickly!" Anthony said. "Get low and stay quiet."

As they watched they saw masked men get out of one of the vans. They opened the back doors and pulled out a person. They looked unconscious but their face was unrecognizable with the bag over it. While the next van opened its doors, this time there was a man that wasn't masked. He wore a light brown leather jacket and khakis and was accompanied by his own men.

"Come on, let's see what's behind door number two." Anthony said curious to know what was going on. They continued to watch as the brown haired man pulled a giant case."

"You better have my prize Volkov." The masked man said.

"I came all this way from East Berlin, I'm the one who should be making sure you have what we agreed on." Volkov said, pushing over the giant metal case to the other man's direction.

Volkov lifted the bag up some to make sure he had what he was promised.

"Anthony!" Elena said, trying to get his attention quietly.

"Shhhh!" He said to her over his shoulder.

"Anthony I have to" he cut her off.

"Be quiet are you trying to get us caught! We need to start making our way back. I've seen enough of this to know why we never should have come here."

Before he could say anything else his sister sneezed. Being the close distance they were it alerted all the men.

"Get down on your bellies!" Anthony said quietly.

"Search the perimeter. You said this was a safe location!" Volkov said to the other man.

His heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest. He had to think quickly if they were going to make it out of here.

"When I run, you two go hide underneath that van and stay there."

"Anthony but what if they catch you!" Elena tried to protest.

"Elena, trust me. Kirk you don't let her out of your sight. Hide there until they leave." Kirk shook his head.

Anthony began to crawl away, giving them some distance. Suddenly he stood up and made a sound on purpose.

"A kid!" One of Volkov's men said. "After him!" The other soldier said.

Once attention was drawn away from the two they crawled behind the van and put themselves underneath it.

He heard footsteps charging after him. But years of roaming these woods with Kirk and his sister gave him an advantage. He ran until he found the right spot. He wedged himself in a hole in the bottom of a tree he found and covered it with leaves. This was his favorite spot to hide in when they would all play hide and seek. Through the cracks of the leaves he saw flashlights appear.

"Check up in the trees, you know how kids can be." One of them said.

"You think he's alone?" The other asked.

"I don't know but we need to find him before he goes off telling his friends what he just saw."

After minutes of searching one of the men poked their foot into the hole that Anthony covered up. He got down on his stomach and put his flashlight to the hole.

Anthony held his breath as he hugged the round corner of the inside of the tree. From the outside the man could see that nobody was in there.

"Come on let's get going. It's just a kid. He's probably too scared to even tell anyone." The man said.

"Tell that to Volkov." He heard the other say. He waited a few moments as he heard their footsteps become fainter and fainter. Crawling out of the hole he found his way back to the field, watching as the two vans left. Once the vehicles were completely out of sight he saw Elena and Kirk lying on the grass completely still.

He rushed over to them, embracing his younger sister who was in tears.

"I thought they caught you." She sobbed.

"I'm so sorry Elena. I promise, I will never take us somewhere like this again." He himself was shaky and frightened. "But we must never speak of this night ever again." He said to his friends.

"Agreed." Kirk said.

He held onto his sister for a while longer until she calmed down.

"I won't tell Mama about this, I don't want you in trouble." She said to her brother.

"I am sorry." He apologized again, feeling terrible.

"It's ok, you didn't know. None of us could have guessed something like this would have happened."

As they began to walk back he walked beside Kirk for a moment while his sister took the lead.

"Thanks for keeping her with you. Truly, thank you." He said to his friend, grateful to still have his sister.

"She is like my own sister, I would have even if you wouldn't have asked me to. And thank you for saving us. I don't think I could have been that confident in myself." Kirk said.

"When you join the army, you'll be ten times braver than me, right?" He teased. The two of them laughed.

Once they saw Kirk make his own way home, the siblings were able to successfully sneak back into their own rooms.

He was staring up at the ceiling when his sister quietly opened his door.

"Can't sleep?" He asked. He himself was having a hard time shutting his eyes. He couldn't get the sight of his sister upset out of his mind. His guilt along with his fears kept him up.

He saw her shake her head through the dark. He motioned towards the small twin sized bed beside his for her to take.

He still couldn't stop feeling guilty. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to keep apologizing. It wasn't myself I was worried about, more so about you. I didn't know what I was supposed to tell Mama if they ever caught you.. I" he could tell she might begin a nervous ramble about all the what ifs.

"Hey, you don't need to worry about them catching me. I'm too fast! They can't touch me. I promise I'll never let them."

She laughed quietly.

"Thanks." She said.

"Your welcome." He said, before they both quickly fell asleep.

Authors Note: I recently uploaded the first alternate chapter for this story. Go check out how different this story was originally supposed to be and leave your feedback if you'd like. its on and Wattpad. Thanks to those who keep reading these chapters, I think thats really cool.