A/N: Thanks again for the reviews and follows, I hope you enjoy this next part!
Chapter Seven
"Linka!" Mischka leant forward and hugged his little sister before stepping aside for her to enter his home. He held his hand out to shake Wheeler's before ushering him into the house as well. "Is this all your luggage?"
The American nodded, putting down the two holdalls just inside the door. "We travel light these days, besides I think Linka still has some things here."
Her brother agreed but was interrupted by his Grandmother who wanted to hug 'her new grandson'.
Linka beamed at them, all troubles with her brother forgotten in the pleasure of seeing Wheeler being welcomed into her family, but her mood wasn't meant to last. A very attractive dark eyed woman with long deep brown hair and what could only be described as a voluptuous figure, entered the room from the kitchen. She was wearing trousers and a jumper, both of which had the sort of snug fit that left little to the imagination.
"Svetlana." Mischka smiled at his fiancée and put his arm around her as he made the introductions. "Do you remember my little sister Linka? And this is her boyfriend Wheeler."
The older woman gave her prospective relative a smile that Linka found completely insincere but when she would have given her a hug, the Planeteer stiffened and moved out of reach. "I do not hug."
Svetlana looked amused, and cast a quick glance in Wheeler's direction. "Really? That must make things… interesting."
"She means she doesn't hug strangers." The American put in, knowing it wouldn't take much for Linka to be rude and hoping to head off a fight. He offered his hand to shake.
The brunette pouted, "Don't tell me you don't hug strangers either."
Mischka laughed, "'Lana hugs everyone, Linka will get used to it."
I bet she does. Wheeler and Linka both thought together, though they didn't know it.
The American hadn't missed the way he'd been sized up, nor did he misunderstand the way Svetlana squeezed his muscles when he gave her the necessary and, on his part, perfunctory hug.
"Why don't I show you where to put your things while Linka and her family get reacquainted?" She suggested to Wheeler, annoying his girlfriend even further.
"That is not necessary." Linka said quickly, moving to his side, "I will show him."
Grandmuska then re-entered the conversation by agreeing with her, and adding, "We will have tea ready when you are settled in."
Wheeler followed Linka to her bedroom and once more deposited the bags. He could see that she was seething so he closed the door and stopped her from pacing by pulling her into his arms.
"Did you like her?" She demanded almost at once.
"Nope." The red head lowered his lips to her neck making her eyes open wide.
"What are you doing?" She demanded. "And do not state the obvious."
Wheeler grinned against her neck, "I'm trying to distract you."
"From the train wreck my brother is making of his life?" She asked, beginning to feel the effects of his affection in spite of herself. "Jason… stop it."
"Not until I'm sure you're not going to go back out there and stab her with your teaspoon." He began to work on a particularly sensitive spot and she shivered and relaxed as her anger drained away.
Resting her head on his shoulder, Linka complained, "That is really not fair of you, she is a….a…"
"A predator." He supplied, finally bringing his head up to kiss her forehead, holding her comfortably against him. "She makes my blood run cold. But, Babe, we promised we'd try to find out what it is that Mischka sees in her before we say anything, right? Let's give it a couple of days."
"I like that 'We'" She told him, "But I am pretty sure that I know what he sees in her, it was practically on display."
Wheeler chuckled, "Yeah… Ouch." He rubbed his side where Linka had poked him. "No fair, like you said, what she's got is hard to miss, it doesn't mean I want it."
The Russian sighed. "We should go back out."
"Yeah… wait. If I'm sleeping in here, where are you sleeping?"
Amusement danced in Linka's eyes as she raised them to his, "You are not turning prudish on me are you?"
His eyes opened a little wider, "We're sharing?"
"Unless you do not trust me?" Wheeler's grin widened and he squeezed her tighter, "It was Grandmuska's idea, she thought it would be easier with Svetlana staying here. She did offer to let me share with her if it was not ok though."
"Thank you for trusting me." Her boyfriend said sincerely, sealing his words with a kiss.
Linka reached up and stroked his hair away from his face. "Of course I trust you." Her saucy look returned, "And you can trust me too because my grandmother is on one side and my big brother is on the other and the walls are quite thin."
He laughed and kissed her again, delaying their return to her family another few minutes.
The Planeteers returned to the living room to find Linka's grandmother sitting uncomfortably in her armchair.
"Is there something wrong Grandmuska?" the blond asked immediately but when the older woman shook her head, seated herself beside Wheeler within the circle of his arm.
"Come on Gram," he said cheeringly, "You can tell us."
She waved a hand dismissively, "Just an old woman's fancy. Svetlana likes to help, she leaves me nothing to do."
"Maybe you should enjoy the rest while you can? The novelty is bound to wear off soon." The American suggested encouragingly.
"That is what Mischka says." The old woman said with a sad smile, she clearly wasn't convinced but as they were interrupted by the other's return the conversation could go no further.
Her grandson was carrying a tray with several mugs, milk and sugar on it and he placed it on the coffee table around which the chairs were arranged.
"I thought it best to do this in here," His fiancée said, kneeling by the drinks, but letting Mischka hand one to Grandmuska and take his own. "I don't know how you like yours yet."
Wheeler answered for both of them, knowing that Linka was irritated on behalf of her relative and worried that she might make some cutting remark. It almost made him laugh because it was usually him and not her that said inappropriate things but when his Russian team mate was in a temper there was no saying what she might come out with.
"How did you get to know my brother?" Linka asked, making it sound a little like an accusation and the Fire Planeteer cast a quick glance at Mischka but he seemed not to notice her hostility.
Wheeler blew on the hot drink he'd just been given and tightened his arm about his girlfriend a fraction.
"We were at university together." Svetlana replied, smiling back at her partner. She offered Linka her beverage, nodding at her thanks and took her own before going to sit on Mischka's lap in the armchair across from their grandmother. "I was dating his friend for a while but we were still moving in the same circles when we broke up and we just found we liked spending time together."
She shrugged but it was the way Mischka laughed at her mention of a previous relationship that made Linka stiffen. How he could find amusement in something that seemed to Linka to prove that she went from one man to another, she didn't understand. Wheeler began to rub his thumb against her leg, both to offer comfort and as a distraction.
"Da," Mischka agreed, "We had never really spoken before that but 'Lana asked for my help with her Economics course and then we ran into each other at the student bar a few times. I never realised until then how much we had in common."
"Really?" Linka asked, "Like what?"
Wheeler looked at Gram hoping she could intervene but the older woman gave him a pained expression and a small shrug. She too knew what her granddaughter could be like when she had a bee in her bonnet… and perhaps they were enough alike that a part of her was pleased that Linka was asking the questions she didn't feel able to ask herself.
What wasn't helping was the fact that the American had caught Svetlana's expression when Mischka had begun to expound on their relationship and he had the distinct impression she wasn't happy about what he'd said. Though he had no intention of openly questioning their relationship he had begun to draw his own conclusions.
The Russian man was frowning, his sister's tone having been a little too obvious. "Many things. Linka I am sure this must seem like it is happening rather fast to you, in retrospect I wish I had told you about our relationship earlier, but please do not doubt how well Svetlana and I know each other. In fact in comparison, you and I are practically strangers."
Seeing the way she paled, his expression softened, "I did not mean that quite how it sounded. I am sure Wheeler knows you better than I do, and I am sorry for it, but it is simply a fact. Our lives are quite different now."
Linka swallowed back the tears that threatened to betray her more than her face already had. Wheeler's arm had slipped all the way around her and she was glad of it. "I suppose I never believed that you could change so much that you would…"
"That I would what?" his voice remained steady but there was an underlying challenge.
"That you would start hanging out with… certain types of people." She replied defiantly.
Her grandmother protested weakly and Wheeler murmured a soft, "Babe, don't.", but it was Svetlana that stopped Mischka from responding, though the anger in his eyes told its own tale. "Nyet, SOlnyshko moy. I know why she does not like me and I do not blame her."
Moisture accumulated becomingly around the older girl's eye lashes and she gave Linka a soulful look. "I am sorry Linka, I am sure you remember the reputation I had at school, I can see why you do not think I am good enough for your brother but…" she paused and then blurted out, "It was not true!"
"You do not have to explain yourself." Mischka growled.
"I want to." His fiancée told him, "I want Linka to understand, she is your sister, I want her to be mine too." When he didn't protest any further she looked back at the Planeteer for encouragement. She didn't receive any, except for Linka's silence but she took that as a reason to continue anyway. "I dated Evgeny for a long time, or it seemed like a long time to me, I was very young and naïve… I slept with him." She lowered her eyes, "It was a mistake and when we broke up he started making up lies about me and his friends. Of course they played along and I knew that if I denied it no one would believe me but going along with it… well it gave me a little power over them and I used it to my advantage. My reputation was already in ruins, the most I could do was humiliate some of them. I was very bitter and the sort of friends I attracted, well they were not really friends but I did not care. I behaved very badly."
She looked up at Wheeler through shinning eyes as if asking for his intervention with his girlfriend, "Please try to understand. University was my chance to start again, and I did. I did not think I would ever come back here but once I found Mischka… have you never done anything you regret?"
"All of that is in the past." Her fiancé stated, "Everyone deserves a second chance and Linka has too kind a heart not to give you one."
Linka forced a smile and nodded, feeling that there was nothing else she could do without appearing to be unreasonable.
Mischka and Svetlana beamed at her.
Grandmuska rose intending to take her mug out to the kitchen but her future granddaughter was at her side immediately, "Now Babushka there is no reason for you to get up. I will take that, you just sit there."
The old woman sighed and sat down again and Linka couldn't say anything because her brother was already telling her about some mutual friends of theirs, having decided to steer the conversation away from his relationship to give everyone a chance to calm down.
Linka had forgotten what it was like to share one bathroom amongst so many people. She had followed her Grandmother in getting ready for bed and was already settled beneath the covers, quietly reading, when Wheeler joined her some time later.
She looked up and smiled, admiring his bare chest and the way his sweat pants rode low on his hips, but said "Are you not cold?"
"Nah." He dumped his clothes on her chair and waited for her to make room for him beside her in the single bed, although there wasn't far for her to go. "This is gonna be cosy."
"Will you turn the light off please?"
"Yeah," He did as she asked and then joined her, pulling the covers up around them, letting her settle in his arms. "Your brother was telling me about your local soccer team, he seems quite keen to get me involved… they're having a practice session tomorrow."
Linka chuckled, "Mischka has always been quite active. I take it this means you would like to go with him?"
"I wouldn't mind… I mean I should probably get to know my girlfriend's family a bit better, right?"
Their eyes met in the moonlight spilling in through the window, "You are fooling no one Yankee moy, if you boys want to go and play with your balls, do not let me stop you."
Wheeler laughed out loud and she hushed him, "I know you know what you said, you did it on purpose. Seriously though, I won't leave you if you want me here."
"Nyet, it is good. I will have a chance to see what Svetlana is like when Mischka is not around." She tilted her head up so that she could kiss him softly, "Spasiba… for offering to stay I mean."
He shrugged, "I came to support you." Returning her brief kiss he added, "Besides, I kinda like that I'm here as 'just the boyfriend', it feels normal, no big deal, you know? Even though we've never done this before they're taking it for granted that I'm one of the family now… does that sound weird?"
Linka's cheeks were a little pinker than normal but he couldn't see that in the almost monochrome light. The smile she gave him was shyer than normal however, "Nyet… I like it too."
Neither of them looked away and after a moment or two, the American leant down to bring their lips together, deepening the kiss as her supple frame curled around his in welcome.
"What was that?" Linka pulled away and sat up, unable to place the noise she had heard.
"Nothing." Wheeler rubbed her back reassuringly, hoping that the moment hadn't been lost and that she would return to his embrace. "You're just not used to the local night sounds anymore."
The Russian hesitated but would have let him coax her into forgetting about it if it hadn't occurred again a moment later, followed by another sound that she couldn't identify. Linka frowned, "Maybe an animal has got in? I should go and check…"
Wheeler swore and surprised her by pulling her back down against him. "Forget it, it's next door."
"It is not our neighbours, it is in this house!" she replied, a little annoyed. "Yankee, let me up, I am serious."
"So am I," he told her, still refusing to release her. "I meant next door as in the next room. That's Svetlana."
Still frowning Linka lifted her head to listen again and then flushed red as a louder, more masculine groan joined the first noise. "Bozhe'moy!"
The American laughed and pulled the covers over their heads in an effort to block out the other couple's activities. "You were right, the walls are thin."
"It is not funny." She whispered, "They have no thought for anyone but themselves…. And I dread to think what he might catch."
"Babe, you're giving her a second chance, remember?"
Linka pursed her lips, "You believed her then?" The American sighed and she relented a little. "It is ok if you did… I am not even sure that I did not, but I cannot like her. Am I just being prejudiced? I promise not to get annoyed if you say I am."
There was silence between them and she began to think he wasn't going to answer but at last he said. "I don't know. Really. I think, yeah I think I believed her, but I know I don't trust her. Maybe she's just learned bad habits, she certainly doesn't give a good first impression. I don't think I'm prejudiced, I don't know what it was."
"You do not?" his girlfriend asked, a tinge of sarcasm in her voice, "Perhaps it was the way she undressed you with her eyes while standing next to the man she is supposed to love… or perhaps it was the way her hands were squeezing you during her 'friendly hug'…."
"She offered to hug you too." He put in with some amusement.
"Are you saying that I imagined it?" The lovely blond asked indignantly.
Wheeler laughed, "No, she was totally sizing me up and copping a feel, and no, before you ask, I didn't enjoy it."
"I was not going to ask, you already told me that you do not like her that way. I was just establishing whether our first impressions of her were the same."
"DA!" Svetlana shrieked, making the Planeteers jump. "OHHH MIIIIISCHAAA…"
It was followed by some other words in Russian that Wheeler didn't know. "Hopefully they'll be done soon."
"I do not think so." Linka told him in a very quiet, embarrassed sort of way. "What she is saying… I wish I could not hear."
As the noises grew louder however they couldn't help listening, neither able to sleep nor distract themselves.
"She's faking it." The American commented after a while.
"How can you tell?" Linka replied, trying to adopt the same disinterested conversational tone he had used.
He shrugged, "I just can. Some girls overdo it because they think it's what their partners expect."
Svetlana screamed and yelled out some demands that were too much for the Wind Planeteer.
"I cannot stand this!" She scrambled frantically out of bed and ran from the room. Wheeler was right behind her but didn't catch up until they reached the kitchen, literally the furthest point in the house from her brother's room. It was fortunately quiet there.
Linka was trembling, tears tumbling down her cheeks as Wheeler pulled her back into his arms. "I am sorry. I know I am being stupid, he is a grown man and what he does in his own room is none of my business."
"Don't be sorry. They kind of made it our business Babe, I didn't want to hear it any more than you did, believe me. Besides, I have a feeling Svetlana meant for you to hear, it seems like the sort of thing she'd get a kick out of."
His girlfriend shivered and snuggled into his arms.
Pulling out a chair from the table, Wheeler sat and guided Linka into his lap, still holding her close.
After a while Linka broke the silence. "Jason… what do you expect?"
"Huh?"
"You said some girls do what they think is expected of them and overdo it and that you can tell when it is fake…" She licked her lips nervously. "So I just wondered, when we… I mean, at some point… in the future… I should know what you do expect."
A part of Wheeler was shocked that she wanted to have that conversation with him, but mostly he was thrilled that she considered it a matter of 'when' and not 'if'. Things had been going really well but he hadn't dared let himself believe that she saw their relationship exactly as he did.
"Honesty." He said simply. "I don't expect or want any more than for you to react honestly."
Linka thought that over for a minute and then said, "That is good, because I do not think I am capable of faking it, if tonight is anything to go by."
They laughed together, gradually relaxing again.
When Linka fell asleep with her head on his shoulder, her adoring American lifted her carefully and carried her back to bed, relieved to find their room peaceful once more.
To be continued…