Chapter 18, Similarities
Giving a yawn, Ivana looked at the clock on the wall across from them.
"As much as I am enjoying this heart to heart, I actually do have to sleep now." She said. Both of them stood, wincing at their stiff bodies. Alex in particular grimaced when he felt the bruises and cuts resulting from the earlier fight.
"I think we'll both be feeling tonight first thing tomorrow morning." He said, running his fingers over his already scabbed cheek. Glancing at the four parallel lines running across the right side of Alex's face, Ivana grimaced.
"Sorry about that by the way."
Alex shrugged and followed Ivana down the hallway.
"It's fine, they've stopped bleeding now. What about you, a couple of your stitches broke didn't they?"
Idly fingering the gash in question, Ivana shook her head.
"I'm fine; I'll see Dupont in the morning. I bandaged the area, so I should be fine. Or at least, I think so. Yassen and Dupont are the ones with all the medical knowledge." She said with a slight smile. Stopping in front of a door, Ivana pointed down the hallway.
"My room's here. There should be a room for you further down there, you can't get lost in this part of the house." She said. Alex looked at her askance. "What makes you so sure of that, I might be pretty bad with directions?"
Ivana gestured around them. "This is a memorable part of the manor." She was right; the hallway was just off a massive 2nd storey landing with two equally huge staircases leading down on either side. The roof above their heads was glass, the night sky visible through it.
"All the glass in the house is bullet-proof." Ivana shrugged. Alex blinked a little. That was a lot of glass. Stretching, Ivana turned to her bedroom door. Alex caught a glance of a clean and modern room.
"I'll see you tomorrow; I will most likely be awake before you." She started to yawn, but stopped halfway. Just as she turned, Alex spoke.
"You don't sleep much do you?"
Ivana slowly faced him again.
"No I don't, why does that interest you?" she asked curiously.
"Neither does Yassen." Alex said bluntly. Something was on his mind, Ivana could tell that much. Amused, she asked,
"Do you normally notice people's oddities like that? Or am I just an exception?"
Alex shook his head.
"No, I just think that Yassen has a strong influence on people. It's funny…" he trailed off suddenly looking a little thoughtful. Ivana felt a bit awkward with his interest being on her, so she prodded him.
"What's funny?" she asked curiously. Alex looked up at her.
"You even look a little about him." He finished, biting his lip. Suddenly feeling nervous, Ivana thumped him jokingly to distract him from his musings.
"I didn't insult your face when you got scratched. No need to tease me."
Alex started to protest, but then he laughed. "Fine, but I must deliver a warning, you don't know me. I could be ready to snap at any jest."
Ivana's grin suddenly dropped and her eyes were distant.
"When I stole all those files, yours were amongst them. You had the chance to kill Yassen once, didn't you?"
Alex nodded slowly, as long as he lived, he'd never forget the night on the yacht staring at Yassen with a gun in his hand.
"Yes I did, in Marseilles. I couldn't pull the trigger though. I think he knew I couldn't, Yassen barely even reacted to finding me there with a gun pointed at his head. I really do wonder what goes through his mind sometimes."
Looking at him, Ivana said something very true.
"No one really understands that man except himself. It's best to leave it at that and not ask questions sometimes."
Alex shrugged.
"Maybe you're right. Tell me, what else did my file say?"
Ivana looked awkward suddenly, not meeting Alex's eye.
"Tell me, I'm not going to bite." Alex laughed. Ivana gave him a crooked smile.
"Yeah…well, I read that for about 6 months after your last mission, you underwent therapy with the MI6 psychologist. I would have hated that; I can't stand people trying to tell me what I'm thinking." She shook her head pityingly. Alex sighed and remembered the sessions with the psychologist, Ms. Po. Jack had insisted on the therapy.
"It wasn't that bad. I did it more to appease Jack then to better my 'mental health'. I don't think Blunt or Jones ever knew what I was saying either."
Ivana nodded encouragingly.
"I don't think so either; there was no mention of what actually went on during therapy. It only said they'd appointed you a psychologist."
She turned back to her bedroom door.
"Goodnight Alex." She quietly closed the door behind her. Alex stared at the spot for a moment before answering.
"Goodnight Ivana." He whispered, and then he walked down the hall into a bedroom. Alex was asleep seconds after laying on the bed.