Anatoly was dropped unceremoniously, in a messy heap on a coffee table in front of his brother Vladimir, who had been having a quiet vodka on the couch to pass the time. Looking up in outrage, ready to throttle the person responsible for dropping his brother in such a state, he flinched back in fear upon seeing the crimson coloured English woman. His glass shattered when it dropped from his slackened grip, as he fell to his knees beside his brother and was surprised to find Anatoly still conscious. The two brothers looked to the woman respectfully, staying quiet and not moving an inch in case they incited her ire further.
"Saying that I am not happy is similar to saying that the arctic is chilly in winter," she began in a low even tone, though her glare was anything but. "It's an obvious understatement that most people don't make the mistake of speaking aloud for fear of sounding like a drooling Class-A dunce of an idiot."
The brothers winced. They hadn't needed the comparison; her current blood drenched colouring, a stark contrast to how she usually looked, told the world exactly how she felt at this current time. The words 'demonic rage' sailed ominously through their minds. Unfortunately, Anatoly's wince turned into a hissing groan when he jerked at his injuries without thinking. Narrowed red eyes positively glowed at the action and suddenly Anatoly was letting out a pained shout of surprise when his nose forcefully righted itself. Vladimir jolted in alarm at his brother's yelp and upon seeing his newly bleeding but righted nose he turned a worried look the woman focused on his brother's form; "Dolli…"
"Shut up. I'm not finished."
The sharp reprimand, crisp English lilt making it all the more strict, was the only thing said for a long time as Anatoly gasped, shouted and grunted in pain as he was healed of his breaks, bone by agonising bone. With no pain relief and the blood flowing freely, it was a miracle the man was still conscious by the end of it. Each and every snap and tortured sound that came from his brother, chipped at Vladimir's cold and blackened heart because there was nothing that he could do to make this better. He didn't dare ask the woman to stop for fear she might undo all her work and leave him to pick up the pieces of his broken brother. She had so clearly changed since they had last met, that Vladimir wasn't sure what she would do if he asked.
Once she was finished, Anatoly was moved, gently and with the same force that held his attacking employer in place, to rest beside his brother on the couch. Anatoly's glazed eyes could hardly see anything but a red blur in front of him, which was why Vladimir was the only one to tense when the woman reached into black combat jacket. He relaxed when she only brought out two vials of liquid, rather than the weapon he'd been conditioned to expect. He fed them to his brother one at a time upon her instruction. With Anatoly's eyes gaining more focus and his face, more colour, the bloodthirsty red seemed to drain from the woman, leaving behind a pale figure in black with dark hair and emerald eyes. The brothers gazed up at her from solemn faces and she met their eyes with an equally blank stare. When she finally spoke, it was in a soft voice that sounded extremely tired.
"When we escaped that prison, you told me you wanted a new life; a new chance to build an empire of power. I agreed to that. I didn't like it but I agreed to it; with the provision that you two would stay safe to the best of your ability in your chosen profession, if you could even call it that," she raised a hand when Vladimir opened his mouth to argue, while Anatoly seemed to find her boots far more interesting than the empty feeling in his gut. "Please don't interrupt. This discussion is long overdue and we both know it."
There was a pause before she continued with a little more feeling; "What possessed you to think that working for Fisk was a good idea? A wise man once told me you don't trust things when you can't see where they keep their brains and that applies here too, I think. If you can't find, speak of or talk to the head of an organisation, generally the reason for that is never a good one. And if you had any sense, any sense at all, you would've known not to get involved. If you had listened to anything I tried to tell you in the past, you would've known better."
There was silence. Even Vladimir was looking down as shamefaced as was physically possible for him because she was right. She had warned them in the past about these things and they had forgotten all of her warnings. Anatoly looked up into her tired face;
"What now, kukolka?"
"Now, I have a week to kill off Vladimir and Anatoly Ranskahov. At the end of the week, I bring whatever gory proof I desire to the right hand man, Wesley" she explained matter-of-factly, watching as the brothers expressions shifted into accepting determination. She leaned down to pick up Vladimir's, thankfully closed, vodka bottle from where it had fallen when she dropped Anatoly. "But right now, Anatoly? Right now, we are going to sit and drink and rest."
She smiled as Vladimir raised an eyebrow at her while Anatoly lightened a little at the idea; "The real work can start tomorrow."
She took two steps towards the couch with the bottle and a third step straight into the welcoming arms of the brothers. She dropped the Vodka on the couch so she could rest a hand on each fair haired head that pressed into her stomach. She stood with their arms wrapped around her waist, faces pressed into her abdomen and her arms resting on their shoulders for a long time.
So. Another chapter. Didn't really want to start another story, but it's basically a load of interconnecting drabbles that nearly wrote themselves because they were so short. Let me know if you have any questions or see anything wrong.
To the wonderful Guest who left their review, I hope you like this and yes, there will be more. I will update next Friday.
25/11/19 Update: Sending love to Nikys for the Russian correction! I really, really appreciate it! I know it took 3 years to correct but finally happened!
Hope you enjoyed it!