12am Barnaul, Russia...

Later that night it rained. Thousands upon thousands of fattened water-drops repeatedly pummelled the rooftops of Barnaul as of seeking revenge for some unknown feud between them and the people who were nestled in the safety of their homes.

Bree sat up in bed and drew her knees to her chest. She didn't feel right. Then again, nothing felt right. Sleep had only been her friend for a little over an hour but as soon as midnight hit her "night sickness" kicked in. She glanced across at Yuri's sleeping form; with one hand resting protectively on his crotch and the other on the pillow above his head, looking like a teen boy all over again. Bree reached over to him and smoothed a hand over his hair and let it linger as he stirred contently in his sleep but didn't wake. Then again if she knew him well enough he was very much awake when she did that. Quietly she got off the bed and clutched her stomach as she felt the room spin around her then settled with an extra bad feeling.

Slowly she made her way to the door to the balcony and sat in one of the soft, white velvet armchairs and looked beyond the delicate, sheer curtains that barely shielded her from the occasional flash of natural light that pinched at her irises. She rested her head against the plush chair back and closed her eyes in deep thought as she listened to the steady drumming of the rain in an effort to remain calm. For a while it worked until her thoughts got the best of her.

John was pretty clear about what he wanted in that moment, which was to start a family. She knew he'd only hoped that that dream would become reality and she knew that she wanted it just as much as he did, so why she didn't have the guts to tell him that his wish really did come through. If it was out of anger she knew she would be a fool, if it were out of the fear of knowing he did what he did in the heat of the moment without out meaning it.

Either way she would just have to brave it and take the plunge. All this sitting around and wishing he was there was getting to her. She even tried her famous method of overcoming hurt i.e. baking; but this one...This one was too hard to get by.

The next thing she knew she was reaching for her phone on the nightstand and began punching his number into the keypad.

12:15am Hereford, England

John changed positions for the fiftieth time that night. The room was hot and the darkness made him feel like the walls had slowly shifted in around him. Beads of sweat rolled along his brow as he gripped his sheets in panic.

He was having one of those dreams again. The type of dream that immediately reverted his conscience to his early days in the regiment, almost making him feel like a child again. Those were the days when he was young and untamed; eager and loyal to a fault as he made his unrelenting transition from a rowdy teenager to a hardened soldier.

Then came the dark parts; the parts of his past he tried his best to forget but always seemed to follow him wherever he went. From the addiction that threatened to consume him to the day he decided to take his own life. Had it not been for Price, where the fuck would he have been today?

He ground his teeth together as he forced his eyes opened and stared at the ceiling. The jarring sound of his phone grinding against his nightstand edged his frayed nerves even further.

John snatched his phone off the stand and sat up on the edge of the bed in the semi-darkness of his on-base quarters. He squinted at the screen of his phone that damn near blinded him in the dark and held his head to tame oncoming headache that threatened his peace of mind.

"MacTavish…" he mumbled, still groggy from sleep. The response he got was pure silence. His initial thought was Annabelle, trying to get a hold of him again until he checked the number and realised where the call was coming from. Russia.

"Bree?" he said, gently softening his tone instinctively; a habit he had developed over the course of their intimate relationship.

"John..." she said quietly, not quite sure what to say. She didn't really expect him to answer but hearing his voice did things to her; things that made her feel as if her entire being was still connected to him in some way.

"Tell me what's wrong, Honey Bee..." he found himself saying; only becoming aware of it after it was said. He could have sworn heard her smile on the other end at the use if his private pet name for her. Hearing her down like this made him forget completely that they were no longer an item.

"I didn't mean to disturb you, really...It's just..." she said as she stumbled helplessly over her words then sighed.

"You could never." he replied. "Is everything okay?" his voice welling up with concern. For a split second he wondered if he could get to her then he remembered where she was and who she was with.

He was unconsciously ready to throw her safety out the window for his satisfaction.

"Come back to bed" he heard Yuri's sleepy voice say to her. Immediately, John felt his body tense, it seemed to him that she had moved on faster than he did.

"You're with him." John said, pointedly. All this time he wondered where she had been only to have the answer shoved into his face with no remorse but as agitated as it made him feel on the inside, he knew she was safer with Yuri around. The details of the threat were still fuzzy for the moment but he had a pretty good idea of who or what it might be, but he just was not ready for Bree to be exposed to the dark moments that existed in his past as a young soldier.

"I never wanted it to be this way." She said, before the call disconnected. Her last words interrupted his thoughts in the most unpleasant way that chucked him back into the reality that she was no longer his.

"Neither did I." he said into the darkness then sat still, glaring at his phone's lit screen, too riled up to sleep.

10am Barnaul, Russia...

At sunrise Bree was out of the house and heading for the town to do some shopping before she left. Today she had a full schedule; Take Yana to her grandparents, Do some shopping, hang out with Sergei for a bit, Do some more shopping, hang out with Sergei's wife at their home then head back to Yuri's house to pack up her loot and head back to England.

"I'm going to miss these days…" Yuri murmured mostly to himself as he eased the spanking brand new Bugatti Veyron, he bought for himself a mere five days ago, through the building morning traffic of the city of Barnaul.

Bree stared out the window of the passenger side at the passers-by. She gaped for a moment at a mother struggling to get her toddler son up off of the pavement but the boy refused to budge and opted to lie down instead.

She then made a face as she witnessed the boy put a bite on his mother's arm. Now she knew where she came from that meant a sweet spanking if she ever tried to pull that one on her parents. Shaking her head at the thought she turned her attention back to Yuri.

"You know I'd never hesitate to come visit." She said, and then smiled at him.

Yuri glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and gave her a half-cocked grin. "Don't make promises you can't keep."

Bree scoffed then playfully swatted him on his arm. "I am a woman of my word. Plus Yana would never forgive me if I dared to keep her away from you."

"I hear you, honey." He said.

"So what do you have planned for her while she's here with you?" Bree asked with genuine interest. When he first suggested that Yana stay with him for a bit longer she did find it hard to let go because she knew she would miss her little chocolate lump but thought better of it.

Yuri was a great father and the title suited him perfectly and the last thing she wanted to do was to get between this man and his child. It would be great for the development of their father-daughter relationship and a way for Yana to have the most normal(ish) childhood as possible.

"Well, she would be ready for school soon… So I'd get her a little something to get her brain all pumped up for when she actually starts." He said with pride. Yana was his pride and joy all rolled up in one and he only wanted the best for her.

"Ohhh, I like. Keep that up and we would have a baby genius on our hands." Bree said with content.

"You can never start too early." Yuri said pointedly. "A young, fresh mind like this one should never go to waste."

"I'm sure she would be as brilliant as her father." She reassured him.

"And as beautiful, loving, kind and sweet as her mother." He replied as they came to a stop at a light.

"I can't thank you enough, Yuri." Bree said in all seriousness.

He turned his head and stared at her for a couple seconds; a warm smile tugged at her full lips and made his heart speed up as he swallowed hard in an attempt to not say or do anything that would ruin the moment. Instead he just nodded and returned his attention to the road.

Their light hearted conversation had left him feeling calm and happy on the inside but not complete for he knew the only thing missing from his perfect picture was her. They sat in silence as they continued their slow journey through the remnants of the early morning rush hour, each wrapped up in their own thoughts.

Bree continued to stare out of the window at the life that went on beyond it. Store owners powered through their daily hustle, various birds of the city pecked their way along the sidewalk with the hope of finding something good for a snack and young lovers strolled either hand in hand or wedged against outer shop walls locked in passionate kisses as if they didn't have a care in the world.

Yuri stole a glance at his rear-view mirror that turned into a gaze. His sight got locked on a beat up old Datsun three cars back. If he remembered correctly that car had been behind them at least six blocks back; When he looked over at Bree; from her expression he knew she saw it too and it was official. They were being followed.

Immediately their inner instinct kicked in and both soldiers stared at each other for a second then nodded in silent agreement as they passed the secret information between each other. Yuri observed in silence as Bree's right hand instinctively rested upon Bob on her thigh and her left hand went protectively to her stomach.

Yuri gazed at the mirror on the passenger side at the rapid flow of oncoming traffic, mentally calculating an escape route for them.

"Where do these crazies come from?" Bree said with disgust as Yuri took a hard left at the next intersection, trying his best to not draw too much public attention.

"Tell me about it…" Yuri replied with a tone to match as he swiftly wove through the traffic and as he sped up, so did the Datsun.

Bree cocked an eyebrow and shook her head then settled back into her seat; all senses still on high alert. "What you think? Bad blood?" she asked.

"Doubt it. Makarov's people are long gone and even if they were still trying to find us for revenge it's not like we're hiding."

Now two cars back the diver of the Datsun voiced his frustration as he banged his fist against the peeling steering wheel and half slouched, half squinted at the target dead ahead.

Meet Damien Vaskelovo, the man with an agenda. Being a former police officer / Something close to a Spetsnaz Agent / Slick sales man, he managed to scoop up enough skills to land him a job like this. When he first came to Russia it was his intention to start fresh and give back to the community, but that dream was long gone.

Now he knew at this point of his life he was at the bottom of the food chain but it didn't matter to him as long as he could pay the bills and eat to live he was fine with that.

He'd spent nights upon nights spying on this woman for some unknown reason. His contact had not been exactly thorough on what he was looking for but he was just told to keep tabs on the girl while they kept eyes on him. Everything was progressing as it should until he got this bright idea to tail them in downtown Barnaul.

He was sure to follow all the rules of following someone in a car but these two were good enough to notice him some three cars back which made him think about a major detail his contact forgot to mention; these two were trained.

After a good few moments of being lost in his thought he realised that he was thinking too much and the pair had given him the slip. He sucked his teeth and continued along his route with the hope of coming across them again. Angrily he slammed on his brakes as an unsuspecting pedestrian sauntered across the street without even glancing in his direction.

"мудак!" he shouted and offered them a middle finger salute only to receive one in return.

As he sped along his way with a slew of curses in tow he spotted the Bugatti he was tailing just as it slipped into a nearby alley. With his remaining luck they might have the idea that they lost him but no one gives Damien Vaskelovo the slip and survives.

He rounded the corner with such vigour the back of his car did a little fishtail thing before coming to a screeching halt exactly six feet behind the target. Damien bolted out of the car and stalked towards the driver's side of the white Bugatti what he found made him curse to hard small pellets of spittle sprinkled the semi-tinted windows. The car was empty.

"Impossible. They were just here!" he mumbled to himself. He was certain that they were in this vehicle and had turned down this alley; how on earth did they bail out so quickly?

Frustrated beyond reason he rubbed his chin as he continued to peer at the interior of the car. Just as he began to wonder by how much he was in over his head, all his questions were answered as he felt a solid crack against his skull that sent him careening over the hood of the car and onto the ground like a sack of potatoes.

"Looking for us?" Yuri shouted as he delivered another well placed punch to the side of Damien's face.

Damien was laid out on his back and completely defenceless against this obvious maniac. Running into the said maniac was not part of the plan since he was only sent after the woman, which was why he decided heavy weaponry was not necessary but it was a bit too late to think about that…

Just then, the woman he was went for stepped out from an unseen corner in the alley with her slender fingers wrapped around a gleaming black desert eagle that looked anything but empty.

Yuri's form loomed over him like a bad hangover as he bent over to grab him by the lapels and pressed him hard onto the hood of the car. Bree glared at him as she tapped the tip of the barrel against her temple and chewed her bottom lip in mock thought.

"You should know one thing…We hate being followed." She said finally as she leaned towards him and pressed Bob to his abdomen. "Especially my friend here, it makes him cranky." Damien heard himself whimper as she shoved the barrel of the gun hard under his rib cage for emphasis.

"So, be smart and play nice and he might just not shoot you… today." She said then glanced at Yuri.

"Who sent you?" Yuri shook him hard.

"Please, I'm just a normal guy trying to get by…. I'll tell you everything I know." Damien sputtered and stared at Yuri all wide eyed as if he was about to shit himself. He was a coward and he knew it plus dying was so not part of the plan.

Bree cocked her head to the side as she noted his accent. "You're American? What the hell are you even doing here?" she demanded as she glared at him in disgust, awaiting an answer and a reason to not shoot him.

"I…" he began then gagged as if someone had slugged him in the throat.

Yuri released him and stared along with Bree in confusion as he slumped to the ground on all fours and the veins on his neck rose up and began to pulse angrily underneath his skin.

"Hey!" Yuri said after a beat and grabbed him by the hair. "Stay with us…Shit!" he said as Damien's eyes began to roll back and foam emerged from his mouth and his last breath of life left his body.

"What the hell was that!?" Bree asked, clearly bordering along the lines of panic.

Yuri dropped the now dead man and looked at Bree. "Someone does not want us to know what he knows." He said then stooped to pat the lifeless body down.

"What's that supposed to mean? There is no one else here… He wasn't even shot." She said as the stepped around Damien's body and inched her way towards the other side of the car. "And he was following us… for what!?"

Yuri stood and walked to her then touched her arm in an effort to soothe her. "Bree, I don't know what this is about but we need to get you the fuck out of here…"

NOTE: Sorry for the wait.. But I am back!