Chapter 8

Aleksander watched Sergei in the corner of his eye as he listened to Anna on the other end. Seeing him so attached to that woman disgusted him to no end. What happened to the cold-blooded soldier he had trained? As he turned away to avoid looking at him, he scarcely managed to hear Sergei speak. Out of all the years he had known the man, Aleksander never once heard a word escape his lips. He had gone and thought that he was mute altogether. Looking back over his shoulder, he realized that Sergei had already closed the phone and had already carelessly dropped it to the floor.

With an unseen anger in his eyes, Sergei began making his way out of Aleksander's office, walking right past his superior without even a second glance. Ever since Aleksander had told him about what he had tried to do to Anna, Sergei had been giving him the cold shoulder. Sure it was never in Sergei to act friendly, but there was a much different air surrounding him than normal. And it was all because of that woman.

Just as Sergei was pulling open the door leading out to the hallway, Aleksander ordered, "Sergei, I don't want you to join your troops on this mission. I need you to stay here and-"Having his words fall on deaf ears, Aleksander watched as Sergei walked out, closing the door behind him.

Dragunov made his way down the halls with uneven steps as he made his way down to his room to finish some final preparations before his departure. As he entered, he shut the door behind him and strolled over to his desk where a single object sat. It was the portrait of Anna Williams he had been given when he was first assigned the mission of subduing her. He picked it up and stared long and hard at her.

At first Sergei saw her as nothing more than what her picture told him: A female with brown hair, blue eyes, and pink lips. Yet upon meeting her, she became more than just a picture. She became real. She had feelings, emotions that turned her into a human being. Then, whether she had planned it out or not, she had won him over with that haughty, sexy attitude of hers. That was why he decided he wanted her back.

Tucking her photo into his breast pocket, Sergei selected his weaponry and began making his way to the hangar where his helicopter was waiting. When he arrived, he was greeted by ten of his soldiers, all of which prepared to follow any orders their superior was to give. As they simultaneously gave him a salute, the same pale-skinned lieutenant of his approached him carrying a strange black bundle in his arms. He gave him a salute while he presented the object to Sergei. "This is for you, sir," he spoke.

Sergei held the item up causing it to unroll and reveal itself as the black dress he had last seen Anna wearing. As he was still studying the object given to him, he heard the young man state stoically, "I found it in the shower room, sir. We thought it would be for the best if we give it to you."

A strange silence took the room as the soldiers watched Sergei study the dress in his hands. Finally he rolled it back up and began making his way to the helicopter, his lieutenant trailing not too far behind. Quietly the boy, Markov, whispered to his superior, "We'll save her, sir."

With all the soldiers in the helicopter, the helicopter took off, following the coordinates that would eventually take them to Dr. Abel's lab. From his office Aleksander watched as the helicopter flew off, an irritated look on his face. Who did Sergei think he was, disobeying him? Did he forget that it was because of him that he was where he was now? No…Aleksander couldn't blame Sergei for his behavior. It was all Anna William's fault.

XoooooX

"I'll be there…" The words still echoed in Anna's ears long after she had received the phone call. Although she hadn't heard Sergei's voice before, she had, through some unknown reason, known that it was him.

His words were a gift to her and they assured her that he was going to protect her. His words alone gave her some peace of mind as she lay in this strange, mysterious place. Despite the fact that she felt like jelly, Anna tried her best to stay strong because her need to see Sergei surpassed all of her other wants. However, the experiments ceased after SPETSNAZ had called them, but Anna still remained strapped to the steel table as well as blindfolded.

As long as she wasn't being bothered, Anna could wait for as long as she needed for her knight in shining armor to arrive…

Bryan stared down at Anna from Dr. Abel's office with a grin on his face. Ever since he returned from his assignment, he hadn't been given the chance to play with his reward. Dr. Abel had advised him not to go near her or remove her from her confines. Any change in her current position could result in something critical. For the time being it was best to leave her in her comfortable position until SPETSNAZ came and got her. Whatever happened afterwards was going to be their fault.

Bryan however wasn't one to listen to rules. Just like any other human being, Bryan had an undesirable need. However, his need was different from any other man's. What Bryan wanted was to see people suffer and who was a better person to have suffer than the lovely woman strapped down on the table before him?

Anna had heard him enter the room, but had no idea who he was nor did she know of their intentions. She heard his footsteps stop near her and listened to his heavy breathing. As she tried to keep still, Anna heard the man pull retrieve something from the silver tray that sat on the desk by her head. From the sounds of it, she was able to conclude it as a metallic item. Before she could decide what they were doing, she suddenly felt a cold object touch just below her navel.

Slowly, Bryan began dragging the knife he had come upon up her body, leaving slight cuts as he made his trail. Just as he had run the knife over her torso, he was interrupted by the sudden blaring of an alarm and gunshots. A smirk crossed his face as he heard the chaos begin to break out upstairs. He dropped the knife then made his way to the fight, leaving a fearful and whimpering Anna lying on the table.

XoooooX

Sergei and his troops had successfully made their way into the lab, and with guns aimed, it didn't take much for the scientists and assistants to comply with their orders. As Sergei ruthlessly shoved a man face-first up against a wall, Lieutenant Markov asked the unfortunate man, "Where are you keeping Anna Williams?"

"She's being kept in the lab underground," the man replied hastily before Sergei gave his body one final shove. As he crumpled to the floor, Sergei began heading deeper into the lab as his soldiers finished business behind him.

XoooooX

It would take a deaf man not to be able to hear the chaos breaking out in the lobby. Dr. Abel locked himself up his office as soon as he heard the sirens go off and was now hiding behind his desk, hoping with all his might that the SPETSNAZ soldiers would overlook this room during their destruction. He could only wonder what anger they would be in once they found the state Anna was in. He knew he should've escaped when he had the chance.

As Dr. Abel was regretting his actions for multiple things, the doorknob suddenly began rotating back and forth as someone tried to make their way in. Gulping, Dr. Abel watched as the knob was broken off and the door was pushed open.

At the sight of Bryan Fury standing in the doorway, the elderly doctor was immediately relieved of half his stress. He would've hugged the man if not for the fact that he was gripping a nice machine gun in his arms. "Bryan, thank goodness." Dr. Abel rose to his feet and went over to the former protocol officer. "Aleksander's soldiers, they've come! You have to get rid of them!"

Bryan let out his maniacal laugh as he stared at the man's pitiful face then pushed him aside to grab the magazine hidden in the scientist's desk drawer. After reloading his gun, he left the room with his goal set.

XoooooX

After having gone through multiple halls, destroying any rooms and bounding any people who got in their way, the SPETSNAZ soldiers had at last come upon the last door that would preferably lead them down to the basement. Sergei opened the door and was greeted by two different stairwells: One that went up and one that led down. Silently he motioned his troops to move upstairs while he began heading downstairs on his own. Although reluctant, the men made their way to the top as they watched their sergeant disappear down into the lab.

Sergei found himself standing in a white room whose walls were lined with shelves of jars of chemicals and other unknown things. The sight was all too familiar with him as he had remembered a similar room back in Aleksander's headquarters. As he looked over his surroundings, he spotted a door located in the far back of the room which possibly led to Anna. Before he could take a step towards it, it opened up on its own and soon Sergei found himself standing in front of a scarred man…Bryan Fury.

Upon seeing the weapons the man held, Sergei quickly pulled his pistol and shot a few rounds before he would have the chance to do the same to him. He hit spot on, striking the man in his chest, shoulder and side. He watched as Bryan fell onto his back before completely putting his pistol down. Having no time to waste, Sergei began to make his way past the corpse until he suddenly felt something latch onto his ankle. Glancing down, Sergei found that the man was still alive and the bullets he had shot into him were being forced out as his body began to recover.

Bryan let out a laugh as Sergei pulled free and stumbled back a few steps. He rose back onto his feet then retrieved his machine gun from the floor only to once again feel bullets run through his body. Bryan didn't know what Dr. Abel had done to his body, but he wasn't one to complain when his body had the ability to mend itself. With his gun in his arms, he took aim at the Russian and began to carelessly unload a whole round of bullets in his direction.

Quickly Sergei dived behind a metallic cart, suffering only a few wounds to his right arm as they were caught in the crossfire. The cart took the bullets well, letting only a few through, which fortunately for Sergei, whizzed right past him. Once the machine gun stopped firing, Sergei quickly looked over his shield and shot the remainder of his ammunition into the man's chest and forehead.

It was no good. The man simply rejuvenated. Realizing now that guns wouldn't work on him, Sergei tossed aside his pistol and decided on his next option. He would break this man with his own bare hands. He knew that his machine gun had already been carelessly used up which would give Sergei the chance to approach him.

Kicking the dented cart across the floor to him, Sergei followed right after it to strike Bryan straight in the face. He fell onto his back giving the soldier an opening. Quickly following up on his attack, Sergei hovered over him and landed blow after blow to his face. Struggling, Bryan, with all his effort, kicked the man of and sent him crashing into a shelf full of chemicals. As they fell off the shelf, one of the chemicals splashed onto Sergei's shirt, causing the spot it had touched to disintegrate. Dragunov seemed to take notice then grabbed the half-opened bottle before he dodged the oncoming man.

Liquid splashed everywhere as Bryan collided into the shelf, leaving a mess of shattered glass along the floor. He ignored it however as he continued to charge at the soldier. When he was just a foot from him, Sergei dodged the punch aimed for his head then tossed the chemical onto Bryan's chest. Almost instantly, the chemical began eating away at his skin and no matter how much his body tried to rejuvenate itself, the chemical ate away at a much faster rate than it took his body to mend. Bryan let out a groan as he tried to wipe at the chemical that was literally eating him.

As the mysterious substance tormented Fury, Sergei took advantage as he landed a kick to his head, causing him to fall back to the glass-covered floor. Spotting how much damage the chemical had caused, Sergei decided that now was the perfect time to finish the job. With Bryan's muscle eaten away, Sergei pulled out his second pistol and took aim. He shot a single bullet into his heart, silencing the former protocol officer for the second time.

Once he was sure Bryan was dead, Sergei patched up his own wounds before heading into the room beyond the door. Just like the last one it was the sanitary white, but this one was much bigger and had higher walls. Following the walls up, Sergei spotted windows in which someone could look down from, and he quickly skimmed over them, making sure no one was watching him. The room was also abnormally vacant save for a single table with a woman strapped down onto it.

XoooooX

Anna's heart was racing as she listened to the sound of footsteps approaching her. Just a few minutes ago she was listening to bullets ring out as a fight had ensued, but for some reason, the sound of footsteps put her on the edge. The footsteps got closer and closer until at last they had reached her. She felt them hover over her, but they didn't do anything.

The sight of Anna in such a weak state enraged Sergei as he looked down at her. She had been stripped nude, strapped down, and blindfolded. The ideas that ran through his mind at the sight of her enraged him and he clenched his fists to hold in his anger. From the way her body appeared she was starved and as Sergei looked down at her stomach, he found a faint cut running along it. With a gloved finger, he gently traced it, watching as Anna cringed and gasped at the feel of him.

The feel of his finger sent a chill down her spine and she felt as the mysterious man above her continued his way up to her chest, her neck, and eventually reaching her cheek. With both hands he delicately cupped her face with his hands then before Anna could wonder what was going to come next, she felt a pair of lips land on hers.

The kiss was gentle and tender, quickly dismissing the idea Anna had in her mind about biting him. Rather she took the time to feel his lips with her own. They were cold and with her sensitive skin, she was able to make out a scar on his upper lip. Only one person she knew would have such a scar…

After pulling away just slightly, Sergei slipped his finger underneath her blindfold to pull it free from her eyes. Two pairs of blue eyes met after that and immediate joy reached Anna's heart at the sight of him. "Sergei…It took you long enough…" Even after all she had gone through, Sergei was amazed that she had the time to tease him like that.

Taking the key off the table by her, Sergei began to unlock the metal clasps holding her down. He started with her feet first before moving up to her hands. The moment he set her hands free, they were immediately thrown around his neck and he was pulled down to once again enjoy another kiss with her.

After they reluctantly broke apart, Sergei covered her in his jacket then scooped her up in his arms. It was time to leave now. As he entered the room where he had his fight with Bryan Fury, he met up with his lieutenant who had good news to report. With a salute the stoic young man said, "Sir, we've subdued Dr. Abel and our helicopter is ready to depart. Is there anything else you want before we leave?"

Sergei looked down at Anna who had already drifted to sleep and narrowed his eyes. He had decided something while on the helicopter ride here. He wasn't sure at the idea at first, but now with Anna here in his arms, he knew it was what he wanted. Glancing back up at Markov, he nodded then began to whisper his directions.

When he was finished, Markov stared at him with a look of pure shock. "Are you sure about this, Sir?" He asked with a worried tone in his voice. Sergei nodded causing the lieutenant to gulp. However, with the serious look set on his commander's face, he had to trust him and follow his orders. Reluctantly he turned on his heel and whispered, "I'll go tell the others."

XoooooX

Three days after, Aleksander watched as Sergei's helicopter returned. At the sight of it he made his way to the helipad to welcome back his soldiers.

One by one the soldiers exited the helicopter, Aleksander keeping an eye on all of them until at last the pilot himself left. Aleksander looked over the troops gathered to his right and realized someone was missing. Sergei Dragunov… With fists clenched at his sides, the man asked, "Where's your commander, lieutenant?"

Looking down at the floor, Lieutenant Markov unprofessionally responded back in a weak tone, "Sergei Dragunov has turned his back on SPETSNAZ and has thus gone AWOL…" Balling up his fists he turned his face upwards to stare straight into Aleksander's eyes. With as much courage and strength he could muster, the young man willed himself to speak the following words. "In other words, Sergei Dragunov has made himself an enemy of SPETSNAZ."

Author's Notes: And that's the end of Chapter 8, I hope you enjoyed! Something I have to say about this chapter is about Anna's eyes. For the first few chapters when I wrote about her appearance, I kept stating that her eyes were brown. After looking at some Blood Vengeance pictures of her, I noticed that they were in fact blue so I changed them so it was accurate. And I hate to mention this so many times, but I'm real sorry if Sergei seems out-of-character. It's so hard to make him behave romantically…! Well thanks a ton for reading and I'll see you in the next chapter!