After the three men had enjoyed their made by Francis (not that a certain Englishman would admit it), the Frenchman stayed for only half an hour afterward, saying he needed his beauty rest. Once he was gone, Alfred and Arthur were left alone sitting on the sofa as before. Conversation was attempted, but the younger blonde was staring longingly at his various gaming consoles.
"I think I'll go read," Arthur said, getting up and stretching.
"Okay, bro," Alfred replied. His brother was impressed he waited until he was out of sight before he switched his video games on.
Arthur shuffled to his room, actually tired out from the day he had. Either that, or Francis had drugged him. He honestly wouldn't put it past him. Settling down in his armchair, he began reading one of the books he brought with him. It was an epic about a knight who risks life and limb to save a princess who is under a wicked spell cast upon her by an evil enchanter. The Briton didn't care how juvenile it was, he thoroughly enjoyed such stories. He was left in peace for about an hour until he heard heavy foot falls coming up the hallway.
"Arthur!" Alfred yelled, bursting through the door, "Guess what's on!"
His brother sighed, marking his place in his book and setting it down. "I don't know, what?"
"James Bond! C'mon, watch it with me!" The American bounded up to the other man, looking excited as a puppy. Arthur was positive if he had a tail, it would be wagging.
"Alright, I suppose." The older brother stood up, acting like he didn't want to watch the movie, but in all honesty, he thought 007 was really cool.
The movie was "From Russia with Love" with the best Bond there was: Sean Connery. The two men had agreed on this, the first thing they had in a while, and were quiet for the entire movie. When the credits rolled, they both stretched and yawned.
"Isn't James Bond awesome?" Alfred asked, his back popping as he stretched.
"Yes, he's quite the gentleman when he's not blowing things up." Arthur replied.
"Dude, his superpower's, like, being kick-ass!"
"You don't always need superpowers, you know."
"I think everyone has superpowers, yo. Some people just can't figure out what theirs are."
"Oh really? What's my superpower, then?" Arthur raised a brow skeptically.
"I don't know, but it's not cooking."
The older roller his eyes, yawning and getting up from the couch, ready to go to his room. As he walked by the phone, it rang. He looked at the clock and then at Alfred still sitting on the couch, confused. He was wearing the same expression. Who on God's green earth would be calling at well past eleven o'clock?
"Hello?" Alfred had picked up the phone, his puzzled expression deepening as he listened to the caller. "Hey, hey, slow down. Just take a deep breath, I'm sure it's-"
Arthur watched as his brother's face paled. He let out a shaky sigh before nodding. He chewed his lip before answering.
"Yeah, come over. We'll talk when you get here," he paused as the other person spoke again, "No, they better stay at home. See you in a few."
He hung up the phone and ran a hand through his hair. Arthur watched his brother for a moment before speaking.
"What's the matter? Who was that?"
The younger looked up at him, looking more serious than Arthur had ever remembered.
"That was Felicija," he replied slowly, "Tori didn't get home tonight."
Green eyes stared blankly forward, all hope that they had previously held now replaced by fear and despair. Viktorija had no idea what time it was, having given up sleeping. Every time she fell into an uneasy slumber, she would be jerked awake by even the slightest movement of the Russian lying next to her. She let out a shaky breath and moved into a sitting position on the edge of the bed, careful not to disturb Ivan. Watching him intently, she eased herself off the bed and ghosted into the living room.
She reached into her bag and pulled out her cell phone. The screen illuminated the brunette's fresh bruises and dried blood caked on her forehead and in her hair. The cut above her eyebrow stung as she knit her brow, bleeding anew while she scanned the thirty-seven messages on her phone from Felicija. As they became more recent, they became more desperate. She'd been in this situation before. She was about to turn off the phone and crawl back next to Ivan before he woke up and "punished" her some more, when the screen blink with a new message. It was Felicija: im going to alfreds.
Viktorija stared at the phone in her hands, dumbfounded and not knowing what to do next. She stayed like that for a long while, her brain slowly catching up to what was happening. She stood up, needing to hold the edge of a chair to stop her head from whirring, and took her bag to the door. As silently as she could manage, she pulled it open. The door creaked loudly in the darkness, making the woman wince and freeze immediately in her actions. When she was certain Ivan was still asleep, she slipped out of the apartment and into the hallway. As she pulled the door shut behind her, Viktorija let out a trembling breath before walking in the direction the elevator.
Ivan stood in the doorway of his bedroom, his silhouette tall and foreboding in the dim light from the street lamps outside the window. Having watched Viktorija-his Viktorija- steal away from his keep, the small smile had melted from his face.
Hey, hey, hey! Sorry I haven't been…active at all on here, but I made you guys a chapter to make up for it! This fic is over a year old, but I'm not gonna let it just fade into the archives of fan without at least being finished! I don't care how long it takes. I don't care if I'm just writing it more for myself now than anyone else because I'm a super slow updater and probably have lost my entire band of readers! I WILL NOT LET THIS THING DIE! FOR NARNIA!