Chapter 14

Lars looked over the two in silence, trying to take in all that Sergei had told him. Anna, a cryogenically frozen subject who should be forty, and Sergei, who was formerly a superior in the renowned group SPETSNAZ, was now being hunted down after he chose love over duty…It seemed like some bizarre drama story meant for movies! Lars scratched the back of his head and muttered, "That sure is a lot to take in…" He looked back up at Sergei and added, "You're caught in quite a tight spot, aren't you?"

Sergei didn't respond, already tired of speaking for so long. He stared down at his hand, which he realized was still gripping Anna's.

Seeing the love between them, Lars rose to his feet and with a smile gracing his lips, he said, "But I guess, with her beside you, you don't seem so cornered, huh?"

Both Sergei and Anna turned to face one another, causing Anna to uncharacteristically blush. The Russian's features softened at seeing this "innocent" side of her in return he gave her what seemed to be almost a smile.

"You should start resting up now, Sergei," Lars spoke. "You don't need to worry about anyone attacking you while you're asleep. My soldiers are here to protect you." With that said, he walked out, closing the door behind him.

Making sure that Lars had gone, Anna waited a few seconds before pulling the covers off the soldier's body and laying herself on her side beside him. Instinctively, Sergei made room for the pushy woman and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking, snuggling with him in such an open place.

She rested her head on his shoulder and whispered sleepily, "Get some rest, sweetie…"

Soon realizing how tired he actually was, he obliged as he sank down to his pillow. Lars was right. There was no need to worry about SPETSNAZ just yet. His first concern should be about getting better so that he could later take down Aleksander, Mikhail, and anyone else who dared to stand in his path. He would do it himself if it was called for.

He shut his eyes, prepared to descend into the land of sleep until he heard Anna mumble, "I'm sorry…About everything…"

He quickly opened his eyes and peered down at her. She was asleep, pressed up to his side. Sergei smirked. She was much more honest in her sleep than when awake, that was for sure. His mind went back to the night they spent together at the inn. The night when he felt what it was like to live a normal life.

He stared up at the white ceiling above and pondered. What did he want to do with his life once Aleksander and SPETSNAZ were off his back? He thought of Alexandersson and the troops he led against the tyrannical Jin. Could Sergei be able to lead SPETSNAZ like that and perhaps atone for all the sins he has committed? Could he bring good to the people closest to him, to his Motherland, or to the extent Lars has taken it: the world? Once again he looked down at the lovely woman lying beside him. It wasn't a feat impossible because here was proof that he could save at least one life…

Lars came to meet his men after leaving Sergei and Anna and found them surrounding the little flat screen sitting on the counter. With them as silent as they were, Lars was able to decipher what they were watching as the news.

"Later this afternoon," he heard the newscaster speak, "the body of Aleksander Barclay, founder of SPETSNAZ, was found dead in his office. At first sight it appeared to be suicide however, with the bullet coming through his forehead, his beloved soldiers believed it had to be murder. His body, found by a lieutenant, was still 'fresh', concluding that the homicide had happened today. There seemed to be no sign of a struggle, leaving authorities to believe the murderer was someone Barclay had trusted. Talking with his son, Mikhail Barclay, he has spoken that only one man would have wanted to kill his father."

Looking over the heads of his soldiers, Lars watched as a picture of Sergei Dragunov appeared on the screen. "Our own beloved hero, Sergei Dragunov, had just about a month ago turned traitor. Up until now, SPETSNAZ had kept this from the public to avoid scaring them…"

As she continued to speak, Tougo, who seemed to know that Lars had joined them, spoke, "Lars…Isn't that the man we carried in…?"

Casually, Lars replied, "It is."

"What," a young lady with dark hair spoke, "So you're saying we're housing a traitor?"

Lars passed her a gentle smile. "Relax Jane. He told me all about his background and I trust him. He did it for good cause and besides," he glanced at the television, "that SPETSNAZ group seems a little suspicious to me." They kept Sergei's betrayal from the public to prevent them from being scared? If they were the responsible leaders of Russia who cared about their people, shouldn't it be their first duty to tell their civilians of such a dangerous man rather than let him run amongst them?

Although it was as plain as day that SPETSNAZ was hiding things from the public, so long as the civilians were caught in the flood, they would be blind to the truth as they were continually fed the lies their supposed heroes told them. Sergei, however, was the strong tree that stood alone in the current, unmoving as he saw all the deceit behind his nation…

Lars turned his attention back to the news. "With his father dead, all control over SPETSNAZ has been given to his son who is a well-trained soldier himself. He is now dedicating his time to finding his father's murderer and is sending SPETSNAZ soldiers to track him down." She finished up her story by showing Sergei's picture to the public once again. "It is our duty to help find Dragunov and bring justice to our late Aleksander Barclay."

The dark-haired soldier, Jane, seemed to be contemplating something when it finally hit her. "Sergei couldn't have done it, could he?" Lars looked down at his soldier and smiled. "Since this morning, he's been with us. And I doubt he could travel from SPETSNAZ headquarters to that blockade without any of the soldiers noticing him, especially since he's wanted."

"But," Tougo interrupted, "he's still a traitor, isn't he? There's still a reason as to why they want him even if he didn't commit a murder."

Lars chuckled. "You're getting swept up in the current, Tougo." His statement caused his crew to look at him, perturbed. Lars ignored their looks and continued to speak. "The only reason why Sergei is deemed a traitor is because he's the strong tree that, although stands alone, remains unmoving despite the oncoming water. Simply put, Sergei Dragunov is thinking beyond the boundaries he's been given…"

Jane and Lars turned to Tougo who still seemed a little perplexed by Lars' poetic speech. The two passed each other a smile. "What Lars is trying to say," Jane insisted, "is that Sergei knows too much."

The crew clicked off the TV and they assembled around the table, considering what to do next. "We can't possibly leave him to fend off all those soldiers, but at the same time we can't go protecting him either." One of the rebels spoke.

"We could let him join us," another offered, "I mean we can use his skills."

"Yes, but we don't want all of Russia hating us when we have the entire Mishima Zaibatsu to worry about."

As they argued back and forth, Lars rose from his seat and told his two subordinates, Tougo and Jane, "I'm going to pass the news onto Sergei. You guys try to handle this."

He headed back down the hall towards the Russian's room and when he peeked in, he found that he was asleep with his lover beside him. Lars let out a sigh before silently shutting the door again. There was no reason to tell him the news just yet. It wasn't as if SPETSNAZ would ever find them now.

Peace may have reigned at Yggdrasil's headquarters, but at SPETSNAZ's base, chaos reigned. The soldiers were in a frenzy over what had happened to their leader. Lower class soldiers were enraged over the traitor Sergei while middle class soldiers disputed over the controversy that this crime held in secrecy. As for the upper class, Lieutenant Markov looked at them in disgust. They knew all about the crime from who the murderer was to why the murder was even committed.

Mikhail, that power-hungry beast, finally had a formidable opponent that could outsmart an entire army and match his level of combat skills. It wasn't enough to just beat him in battle. No, he had to prove his superiority by not only defeating him, but by doing so after he had been broken down. He didn't want an ounce of pride, honor, or confidence left in Sergei when he killed him.

That was how this plan to take over SPETSNAZ came into play. Once Mikhail took over his father's position, he would be in complete control of not only his soldiers, but of Russia and her people. He would turn all those people against Sergei and weaken his spirits through them. His own battalion backed him up in his plan as they were promised good pay while middle class soldiers were forced to turn a blind eye in fear of the devastating man.

Despite Dragunov leaving them, the small remnants of his battalion still looked up to him and refused to accept that he was a traitor. Markov especially idolized the man, but despised Mikhail even more. It was one thing to control people with money and power, but another to control people through their emotions. The citizens looked up to SPETSNAZ to protect them, yet here was Mikhail using that trust he gains from them for his own selfish reasons.

"He's a maniac…" Markov had whispered to an ally as they sat in what was once Sergei's office.

The man he spoke to nodded. "What can we do though? We're only ten people against an entire army."

Markov stared at the empty desk where Sergei once sat. "That never stopped our commander…"

There seemed to be a glint in the young lieutenant's eyes which the other man seemed to notice. He smirked. "What are you thinking?"

Markov, appearing more child-like with his eyes widening, smiled. "We can turn this around, Anton…"

As the two plotted, Mikhail was busily observing security cameras taken from that section of the city Sergei had last been in. After watching the attack SPETSNAZ had made on Sergei and later the attack Jin had made, he finally got to the part he wanted. It was the moment Lars had made his appearance.

"Ah...So you're with the Red Rebel Leader, eh Dragunov? You're making this interesting…"

The next morning, Sergei was greeted with the news of Aleksander's passing away. Lars had gone off that morning with Tougo and a few members of his crew which left only Jane to deliver the news. She was brief and relayed only the necessities. When she had finished, Sergei continued to stare at her with cold, empty eyes, unbelieving the current events. Intimidated by his heartless expression, Jane stepped back from him and turned her eyes to the floor.

"You're lying…" Sergei whispered coldly.

"No sir," she replied calmly. "It was breaking news throughout all of yesterday."

He stared at her, blood boiling. He couldn't believe it. He was the one who was supposed to kill Aleksander…He was supposed to be the one to do it…For Kliment. Sergei clenched his fists until his knuckles paled. "Kliment's death was worth more than that…" He muttered to himself.

He began heading for the door leading to the outside until Jane stepped in his path. "I know what you must be thinking, but you must stop. I know it goes against every fiber of your being but you must not think of killing anyone just yet."

Despite her words, Sergei still insisted on getting past her until a teasing voice said, "She's right, Sergei." Turning around, he found Anna standing behind him, finger waving as she patronized him. "You're in no condition to fight. You'll only get killed."

Her words froze him in his tracks. She walked up to him and put him into an embrace. "Don't let your emotions get in the way," she whispered. "You have to think."

Think…Slowly, Sergei began wrapping his arms around her. She was right. Now wasn't time to be so rash, although it was odd for him to behave so to begin with.

Seeing that his mind was back in the area of sanity, Jane let out a sigh and stepped away from the door, moments before it swung open. All eyes turned to the door where they came upon Lars and Tougo. Both men appeared out of breath, as if they had just run a mile, and Lars seemed abnormally worried.

"Lars, what's wrong?" Jane asked nervously.

Ignoring her, he walked straight towards Sergei and said, "We have some guests of yours coming for us." Taking note of his bandaged body, he grimaced then added, "Will you be able to fight?"

Whether he could or not, Sergei nodded, desperate to put his hands on his opponents and hopefully Mikhail.

Lars nodded in return and said solemnly, "You're not alone in this. All of us have your back."

Despite being mere words, they warmed the Russian's heart. He took a look at the faces belonging to Lars, Tougo, and Jane and saw warmth in their eyes as they smiled back at him. Then he turned to the young woman who had stood beside him through all of this. A tiny smile appeared on his lips, albeit for a mere second before choppers belonging to helicopters could be heard outside.

At the sound, Lars began spouting orders. "Gather the others, Jane. Tougo, get the guns." They nodded and rushed off to fulfill their commands.

While they were off, Anna slipped Kliment's pistol into Sergei's hand and whispered, "You might need this."

He slipped the pistol into the holster on the back of his pants just as a rain of bullets began assaulting the metallic roof of the base. "We know you're in there, Sergei Dragunov," a voice spoke through a megaphone. "Come out, you traitor!"

Tougo returned with a set of rifles and machine guns and handed one to each of the two. He looked at Anna oddly and asked, "Are you…?"

Jane, who had just gathered the troops and prepared them for battle, exited the lounge and answered for her. "No. She'll be coming with me." In her hand she carried a sniper, an obvious sign of what she was planning to do. "Are you content with that, Miss," she added innocently.

Anna scoffed. "You don't really give me much of a choice now, do you?" She looked back at Sergei and passed him a wink. "Good luck out there, soldier boy. Don't die."

Sergei nodded and watched as she and the female soldier headed off into another direction. Once they were gone, all the remaining men were led out of the building by Lars, the hero, and Sergei, he who aspired to be one.

Once outside, Sergei took a look up at the sky to see who Mikhail had sent after him. It was only two helicopters and from what he could see, the soldiers were mere middle class fighters. Some even lower than that. He narrowed his eyes as he thought of what Mikhail was trying to prove to him by sending such opponents.

He watched as Lars took aim at one of the soldiers looking out of the helicopter and widened his eyes as he heard Mikhail's voice echo in his head. "You're just a machine, a cold-blooded, heartless creature that has never looked at another person and felt any true feelings towards them. You're a murderer." Realization hit him shortly after that.

"Stop!" He called out to Lars.

The call startled Lars so that he fired the bullet only to have it strike the exterior of the helicopter rather than the man. The missed bullet captured the attention of the other SPETSNAZ soldiers and they began firing at Lars. Fortunately, with the unsteadiness of the helicopter and their poor shooting abilities, the rebel leader was able to evade them just before taking cover behind the building.

"What's the matter," Lars asked as Sergei joined him, "A friend of yours?"

Looking down at his pale hand, Sergei whispered, "We can't kill them…" He knew Mikhail was only using these men as expendables so that he could prove to Sergei that he still hasn't changed. That he was still only a killing machine. The thought almost sickened him to think that men who had families were simply thrown into a slaughter by someone they trusted.

Seeing that Sergei was serious about not killing the men, he didn't ask any questions. He simply phoned his sniper and said, "Jane, don't kill any of them."

"What? Why?" She replied, shifting the crosshairs of her gun to her target's leg.

"It's what Sergei wants and this is his battle after all. Let's do as he says."

There was no arguing with Lars' orders so simply complied. As she scanned the Yggdrasil soldiers below, she replied, "You better get telling Tougo and the others too. It looks like they're planning on taking down the helicopters soon."

"Right. I'll talk to you later." With that said he hung up and looked to Sergei. "I'll get the others to stop. After that, I'm leaving them in your hands. You give them the orders." He left the safety of the building and seconds later Sergei could hear him calling out to his soldiers to stop their attacks. Now it was his turn.

With all the troops gathered behind the building which was currently being pelted by bullets, Sergei explained that he needed to infiltrate the helicopter in order to bring it down safely. What he wanted from the rebels was for them to injure and disarm the soldiers from below. Once that was accomplished, he would be able to enter the helicopter with the use of a grappling hook which some Yggdrasil soldiers kept by their sides.

Without even a single argument, Lars' men nodded and headed off. One by one, they maimed and disarmed the SPETSNAZ recruits from below until only mere people sat in the helicopters. Seeing as how there were two helicopters to infiltrate, Lars placed a hand on Sergei's shoulder and said, "I can't promise you I know how to fly one, but I'll help."

With each man throwing a grappling hook onto the legs of a helicopter, they began their ascension to reach the pilot. Jane, who was watching through her scope raised an eyebrow and whispered, "What's going on…?"

Anna looked at the young lady lying on her stomach and sighed. She could clearly see what was going on with her bare eyes. "Our boys our working together," she told her.

Both Sergei and Lars climbed up the rope until they eventually made it in. At the first sight of Sergei, the soldiers gasped and stuttered. "S-Sergei…" Looking at him now, they almost couldn't believe it was him. His eyes shone with the sunlight and his whole being was almost godly. They were so busy marveling him in all his splendor that they barely noticed as he roughly pushed the pilot aside to land the helicopter.

"Wh-what are you doing you…" The soldier wanted to say 'traitor' to finish his sentence yet the word couldn't form. The word wouldn't suit the heroic man that stood before them.

Without anyone fighting him, Sergei maneuvered the helicopter to the ground as his former soldiers watched him, gripping their wounded legs and arms. They landed safely as if a professional had been piloting.

With both helicopters on the ground, albeit one not in one piece, the soldiers within Sergei's helicopter began looking him up and down as if he were a stranger. "Why Sergei…?" One had the courage to ask.

Sergei turned around to look at them in return and slowly replied, "I'm not the one you want…"

"As if we should believe you!" Another soldier, who tried to sound angry, yelled back unconvincingly. "Why not just kill us like you did to Aleksander?"

Stepping out of the jumbo jet, Sergei passed the crew one final glance and said. "I did not kill Aleksander. You can keep an eye on me all you want, but I will advise you that the one you should be watching, sits on the high throne of SPETSNAZ."

He stepped out of the helicopter and was greeted by the Red Rebel Soldiers who were smiling and laughing. He followed their eyes to the other helicopter and found that Lars' attempt at landing the plane was much different from his own. After having to knock the soldiers unconscious as they tried to push him out the door, Lars had to wrestle the pilot away from the controls, and once that was done, he made a crash land.

"Geez Lars," one of his comrades joked as he watched the sandy blonde step out from the would-be helicopter, "what were you thinking trying to pilot this thing?"

Sergei heard giggling and found both Jane and Tougo trying to hold in their laughter. On that part, Jane was being very unsuccessful.

Anna found him and held his chin in her palm. "Well look at this," she smirked, "Who knew that my gloomy soldier boy knew how to smile."

It was true. For the first time in what seemed like ages, a true smile graced Sergei's lips as he found himself surrounded by friends.

Author's Notes: And I give to you Chapter 14! I have to admit that I loved writing the ending to this chapter. So cheesy! But I had to set up a happy condition for Sergei so that I could make him smile. Uh, yeah, I'm not too big of a fan of Lars and Alisa (it's not like I hate her, but I personally think she belongs with Shin from the movie) so I made Jane. You guys can decide whether they're a couple or not, but I sort of just made her to add another girl to the story since I would think Lars had more friends than just Tougo. Anyways, thanks for reading!