AN: Sorry for how long it took me to get this pathetically short chapter out. This is about it for the set-up, though, things will start picking up with the next chapter, and it'll start getting quite dark soon enough. Also, I apologize for the broken English speech. This is the only chapter that will have such a headache to it. I felt it necessary though.

Rishtalak: This is actually a prequel to the series, detailing Sousuke's days in Nozh, before going to the Mujahideen. Sousuke's never going to get older than 8 in this fic, so he won't have met Kaname yet. ^_^

Enjoy!

Welcome to Nozh - Vrach

"Welcome to Nozh."

The deep voice echoed in his ears as he blinked, waking up with a funny feeling, one as though someone had pulled sheer black fabric over his eyes. Everything was hazy, and he had to stare for a long time to focus in on even the ceiling. His body felt heavy, and he lay completely still as he took stock of his situation. He must have been drugged, that would explain why he felt strange. He had been injured before, never had the opportunity to use pain killers of any sort before though, and the feeling was foreign to him. Foreign and stifling. He did not like it.

"You're awake. Good," the voice was both hard and kind at the same time, reminding him of the Master Sergeant a year back on the submarine. He could not let himself relax just because of that, though, and he shifted his exhausted gaze to the speaker, sizing him up. Tall, thin, scrawny even, no muscle to speak of, glasses, a lab coat, beak-like nose, sallow cheeks, short-cropped light brown hair with lots of silver streaked through, softened and intelligent green eyes, thin lips turned up in a gentle smile. Likely not a threat, but no sense coming this far to lose to as sorry a looking man as he was.

Narrowing his eyes, Sousuke opened his mouth to speak, frowning when no sound came out. "Ah, you must be thirsty. It's the pain killers, they give you cotton mouth," the man laughed softly as he bustled about, the sound of water running through plumbing filling his ears, then the man came back with a paper cup filled with water. "Here you are, I'll help you sit up and drink this. No? Or do you not understand me?"

Forcing himself into a sitting position, he reached out his hand for the water, draining the cup, spilling no small amount down onto his chest as he gulped greedily. Wiping his mouth, he handed over the cup and spoke in broken Russian, "No. I understand. Mostly."

"Do you understand English?"

"No. Japanese. Russian. That it," he frowned and coughed, wincing as the wound in his side throbbed from the harsh motion.

The doctor placed a gentle hand on his shoulder to steady him, sighing when that hand was swatted away. "I'm not going to hurt you, you know. I'm a doctor. I'm here to help you. You can trust me."

Sousuke shook his head, looking at him suspiciously. "No. I no one trust."

"I see," the man sounded almost sad, definitely tired. He mumbled something that Sousuke barely caught, "What are they doing to these children?" Shaking his head, he smiled again, a tinge of sorrow in the expression, "Well. I hope one day you may trust me. Until then, I hope you will at least allow me to help with your injuries. How did you get these, anyways?"

Frowning, he watched the man carefully, wondering if he was some kind of spy. When had he stopped trusting people? He could remember the days when he trusted everyone. He felt foolish for those times... Shaking his head, he shrugged, glancing away defiantly. "Fight. Nothing more. Who me here bring? When?"

"Ah, a KGB officer. You know the KGB?"

"Kah-gei-bei?" he blinked, frowning at his obvious Japanese pronunciation. He desperately needed to improve his Russian. He had not been given many opportunities to speak to anyone though. No, in truth, this was his first real conversation since he had been handed over to this KGB of theirs.

"The Komityet Gosudarstvjennoj Biezopasnosti." Blinking, Sousuke nodded, the 'Committee for Government Security' then. So it was an official organization, which was why kind Andrei had seen fit to give him over to them. He doubted that man had expected this to happen to him. This doctor must be similar to Andrei, believing in his nation and his government.

Foolish, then.

"It's unusual that they would bring you here, I don't understand why they wouldn't bring you to a municipal hospital, find your family… You and these other boys," he sighed and shook his head, speaking under his breath. While he had been addressing Sousuke, it was obvious he wasn't actually speaking to him, just of him.

Sousuke glanced around, making a face at his still-dry mouth. Eyeing the man carefully, he decided to ask, taking in everything about the doctor's body language, hoping he would give himself away somehow. He did not like not knowing a person's position. The past year everything was black and white. No one was a friend. This felt… strange. "Another cup water?"

Stiffening with shock and staring openly, then relaxing and nodding excitedly, the doctor smiled widely, "Yes, yes, of course. You only have to ask." He filled up the cup while Sousuke shifted on the cot, throwing his legs off the side and peeking around. The doctor frowned slightly at his new position, handing him the water carefully, "You really shouldn't sit up like this, you might rip your stitches, you should still lie down."

Shaking his head and draining the water again, he sighed, closing his eyes for a few moments. A wave of dizziness crashed over him and he winced, doubling over. The doctor put a pair of steadying hands on his shoulders, and while he wanted to fight them off he just couldn't. Resting his head against the man's stomach he took in deep and pained breaths. After several moments he pulled away, swatting away the kind man's hands weakly. He did not seem to take offense to this action, backing off but staying nearby while Sousuke gripped his head and winced, fighting off nausea.

It was a losing battle though, and he was reluctantly grateful for the bucket he was presented with. He could feel his stitches tear as he heaved violently, bringing up another bout and more pain. Coughing, sputtering, he pulled back with a groan, lifting his hand to wipe his mouth. The doctor beat him to it, swiping with a damp cloth and turning to fill the cup with water again. Rinsing out his mouth and gulping down a fourth cup, he moaned and laid back on the cot, pressing a hand to his side.

It was the doctor's turn to swat his hand away, pulling open the thin hospital smock to examine the injury. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to put you out again and restitch this."

Sousuke shot his hand out, gripping his wrist tightly and shaking his head. "Pain I handle can. Vulnerability not. Just do it."

Tensing, shaking his head, the man objected, "No. I won't torture some kid. I need to administer pain medication." Reaching out for the boy's arm and bringing a freshly filled needle up, he gasped in surprise when he was suddenly spun around, the needle falling to the ground, his arm twisted painfully behind his back.

"No. Sedatives. If you problem have, to me needle and thread give, I self stitch," the menacing growl did not belong in a five year old's voice. In a way, it was more terrifying from such a young boy than if it was coming from a large and heavily muscled man.

"Okay, okay. No sedatives. But I just can't let you do it yourself," Sousuke could not help but grin at the fear in this man's voice. That he could bring an adult to this level made him feel proud. No! He shook his head roughly, letting the doctor go and putting on a neutral expression.

Nodding in concession, he lay on the table again, looking warily up at the man, "Okay, you do."

Bustling about nervously, gathering up his equipment, he looked down at the boy that was watching him suspiciously through pain clouded steel eyes. Bringing up a brave smile as he held an ice pack to the injury, he spoke calmly, "If you don't mind my asking, what's your name?" Several moments passed and his smile faltered for a moment before he sighed and forced it back, "Okay, I'll go first. I'm Doctor Afanasiy Chesnokov."

Taking the ice pack away and sanitizing the injury, cleaning up the torn stitches, eliciting several pained groans from the boy, he thought he would never get his answer. "I… Sousuke, I think. Sousuke… Sagara."

"You think? …Ah, sorry, this is going to hurt," he pushed the needle through, skillfully threading through the flesh to close up the wound.

Staring blankly up at the ceiling, grimacing as whimpers passed his lips, he tried to push the pain out of his mind, "Yes. What I were called remember not. Just that name in clothes I wore written. To name it closest thing I have."

"Don't you know what your parents called you?" he spoke softly, coolly, his voice changing tone and putting Sousuke at an odd ease.

"No. No father. Mother last year died. Just what she told me remember. An-ojisan Sousuke-kun called me. So, that name might be," he grunted in pain, his own voice coming out rough and strained.

The doctor shook his head and finished up the work with a soft sigh. "I see. It's a shame, really. You should be with your family, not here like this, but," he was interrupted by the door swinging open and the entrance of several rather imposing men in uniform.

"Well, doctor? You've sure been taking your sweet time about getting the boy fit," the man at the forefront growled out the words with a menacing grin plastered on his face. From his prone position on the cot, Sousuke observed the men, deciding their leader could do with a healthy dose of sanity from the wild look in his eye.

Afanasiy had stiffened at their entrance, and gave off the vibes of a panicked deer, stunned into staying in place and hardly able to react to the predators before him. It took a prodding with the butt of a rifle to get him to speak, stammering so badly that Sousuke could hardly make out what he said, "I-I-I'm s-so-rry, I just, I w-was just, th-at is, I wanted t-to make sure he w-was all-ll ri-iiiight," he trailed off as the soldier before him lifted the gun to press against his throat as their commander seemed quite displeased with the response.

"You don't get paid to make sure they're 'all right,' Afanasiy. You get paid to make sure they're functional. Now, tell me, can the boy move about?" gripping the short hair at the nape of Chesnokov's neck, the commander stuck his face up close, and while he was of shorter stature than the doctor, sheer force of personality and the bulk his muscles added made him seem so much larger. That, and with his hold he had pulled the terrified doctor's head back so that he could look down at the man.

Closing his eyes against the sight of the dangerous man being so close, and against the rank breath blown in his face, Afanasiy shook his head carefully. "N-No sir, his stitches, and the pain, he's n-not ready."

"I don't like that answer, Afanasiy. Not at all," in response to his words, one of the soldiers cycled the bolt on his AK-74, the clicking noise instilling yet more fear and anxiety in the doctor.

With a faint sigh, Sousuke forced himself upright in spite of his pain. As a result of forcing his words through gritted teeth, he sounded even more angry and dangerous than he'd intended, much to the commander's amusement. "I fine. Just few stitches, pain. Nothing I handle not. Now, what want?"

"Oh? What's this? You lying to us Afanasiy? Boy says he's just fine."

"He lie not. I injuries bad have. But, I work through can. He this know not," why he was taking the effort to protect the doctor he didn't know. The man was definitely no threat to him if that was how he acted in the face of a few guns, but his safety shouldn't matter. For some reason, though, it did. And if all it took was a few words to spare the man, then what did it really matter to Sousuke? Save for the fact that his Russian really was quite atrocious and it took him no small amount of thought to form his words.

Finally releasing Afanasiy, the commander laid a heavy hand on Sousuke's shoulder and gripped tightly, painfully tightly. He could help the wince, but he was able to drive it away and glare up at the man defiantly. Suddenly, the commander burst out in laughter, clapping the boy's shoulder repeatedly. "Good boy, good boy. Glad you made it through the initial step. Now," he took an abrupt change, quieting significantly and looking down at Sousuke with a dangerous gleam in his eye. "Are you ready to really learn how to kill people?"

Afanasiy gasped in shock while Sousuke narrowed his eyes calculatingly, looking the large men over once again. "I already kill people know how."

"Of course you do boy, that's why you're still alive. But everything you know, you know from your wit, and if you're going to survive in the work we'll put you to, then you'll need some… 'official,' training." Releasing Sousuke's shoulder, he shrugged and glanced away before shooting a mocking glance back at the boy, "We'll also teach you how to speak Russian properly, boy, 'cause your speech is just atrocious. Trying to figure out what you're saying… humph! Russian and English, you'll need to learn those."

"Fine," it wasn't as though he had a choice. He could tell that if he refused then he would just be killed. The doctor looked at him in concern, but the poor man was obviously too terrified to stand up for the child, despite his strong objections. That was, of course, why the KGB had chosen him to be the doctor for the children. Afanasiy was kind enough to see to it they got truly proper care, but too afraid to stand up for his beliefs and try and stop them from going out and getting injured in the first place. "Teach me," he allowed a smirk to cross his lips, looking at the commander with a challenge shining in his eyes, "One day, with knowledge you give, I you kill."