A/N

So, really sorry about how long it takes between updates. It is actually mostly all written, life just gets in the way and I'm also super forgetful. But one day all of the story will be here and you can enjoy it in it's entirety, until then, you'll be kept in some suspense. Otherwise, I hope you're enjoying it. Thanks for those who have favourited or subscribed. It means a lot. (Also feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think). Until next time, hope you enjoy the chapter.

Translations
Lisichka - Little Fox

Govno - Shit

Chert Poberi - Damn it

Growling, I readjusted myself, pushing my cheek back against the weapon. It was him or me. Curling my finger around the trigger, I found him on the scope again. His torso lined up in the centre of the cross hairs. He laughed and bumped shoulders with Tom. All I needed was to tighten my finger. A bullet would spit out and sink into his chest, right where his heart was. Then, just to be sure, a second bullet would follow, this time, to the head. All I had to do was tighten my finger then he would be no more. The person, the boy, who almost cost me my father would cease to exist. All that had to happen was a twitch of my muscle.

But my finger wasn't moving.

The muscles wouldn't cooperate. It wouldn't tighten. It wouldn't squeeze the trigger.

I wished I had never found Yassen's journal. I wished I had never read it. Because now I knew.

Now I knew what this boy meant to Yassen. Why he was important. I knew why Yassen refused to kill him. And because of that, my finger wouldn't move. It couldn't.

"Chert poberi." I swore, pulling the rifle from the ledge and slumping against the wall. "Govno!" I thumped the ground next to me. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. I'd never failed before. Sure, things hadn't always gone to plan, they'd gone wrong but the task had always been completed and at the end, even though sometimes it took a while, I'd always been safe.

Rougher with my rifle than I should have been, I dismantled it and put it back away in the pack. With one last glance out the window, I left.

Yassen was at the table with his laptop when I entered the open plan kitchen dining room. The rifle was safely stored away again. He looked up as I sat down with a water and croissant. It was the most attention he'd paid to me since Monday night.

"Did you do it?" He asked evenly, already knowing the answer.

"The gun jammed." I lied easily, hiding my surprise that he was talking to me.

"You should take better care of your weapons, though, it's just as well." He commented and my head shot up in surprise. That wasn't what I was expecting. I thought I was going to get a full lecture on maintenance and checking my equipment. He turned the laptop around for me to see. "This came today."

My eyebrows twitched in surprise. A change in orders. That never happened. The only reason I could think of was that our original orders, that came from Kroll, weren't approved by the board and they'd rectified that. Then I actually registered what it said. My eyes widened and I looked at Yassen. His face was more emotionless than normal, he was too guarded. He didn't like this any more than I did.

"They're mad. They've gone absolutely crazy." I exclaimed. How on earth Scorpia thought we could infiltrate MI6 was beyond me. Then the plan clicked in my head and I said more quietly, "This is on me, isn't it? I'll be the one doing this."

He nodded slowly. His face giving nothing away. He was keeping his emotions carefully guarded. Sometimes I wished I could read him in moments like this. I wanted to know what he was thinking, what was going through his mind.

"I'll have to tell Alex who I work for." It came out as little more than a breath. If Yassen noticed I called Alex by his name he didn't react. I barely noticed I'd done it. My fingers ran through my hair. "This is a going to be a bloody mess."

"It will work out."

Sometimes I hated how calm he always was. He could walk through an exploding minefield and come out the other side looking like he planned all of it. There was also a good chance he had, but that was besides the point. I stared at my croissant, filled with almond paste and topped with icing sugar. It was still uneaten, sitting in front of me, but suddenly, I wasn't so hungry.

Pushing the plate away I looked back at Yassen. "You should have told me." I stated blandly, changing the topic a little.

"Told you what?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"About Hunter and Alex."

"I see." He turned the laptop back around and closed it. "Would it have made a difference?"

"Well it obviously did considering I couldn't pull the god damn trigger." That in itself was making me angry. Never before had I been stuck on the trigger.

"And that's all that bothered you?" He kept that same calm expression on his face but he was fishing, waiting to see if I'd take the bait. Normally I wouldn't but this was something I'd been sitting on since before he almost died on Air Force One. So, if he wanted to have this conversation now, we were going to have it.

"You almost died because of him! And I had no idea why. Hell, I wanted to remove him just because of that. Then you go and take this job, knowing full well you wouldn't be completing it which puts both of us at risk. And you still wouldn't tell me why! It's no wonder I went to find out for myself is it?" There was much, much more I wanted to say to him but for now, that would do. If I said any more I'd lose complete control.

"So are you scared for me? Or for yourself?"

Both. Most definitely both. He knew that. I didn't understand why he was asking. He knew the answer so what did he really want to know? The silence filled the room, it was heavy and uncomfortable. I fought the urge to start fidgeting. Eventually I decided to just be honest.

"Both. I'm scared for both. I haven't fought this long to have my head put on the chopping block now. And, I... you..." I sighed, "I don't ever want to see you like that again, like you were after... after you got shot." The image of his pale, still body, hooked up to machines with a tube down his throat still haunted me. "I thought I'd lost you..."

His face softened a little. "Adrienne..." He knew better than to tell me I wouldn't lose him. In this line of work, it was an all too real possibility. "You're right. I should have told you."

It was as close as he would get to apologizing and I accepted it with a nod. It meant more than he might have realized. "Answer some things for me now then?"

He raised an eyebrow before gesturing for me to go ahead. "How many times have you run into him?"

"Three." He answered simply.

"Three." I repeated. The third was with Cray at his facility, I knew that one. I was there. I was also sure there had been none since then. "What were the first two? Was one of them when you ignored Scorpia's orders?"

There was the barest grimace at my tone and the accusation in it. "Adrienne..."

"I want to know." My voice was a little strained. As soon as he said he'd run into him before, I knew the answer. I didn't want to but I knew. There would have been no other reason he would have failed a job.

"The second time was when Cray sent me after Edward Pleasure. The first time, that was when they had told me to kill him." It was all said rather matter of factly. His face had closed off again though. He didn't like this conversation. He didn't like what I was saying.

"But you didn't." Just like he hadn't on Air Force One. He'd refused and someone had paid the price. "Was that the only time you ignored Scorpia?"

"You know the answer to that, Lisichka." His voice was quiet.

I gave a jerky nod. My eyes flicked down to my hands where my nails had only recently finished growing back. Scorpia had pulled me in to report in person after an assignment. I knew something was wrong as soon as I entered the room and came face to face with the entire board. But their people had managed to over power me and I was sent to Malagosto as a training exercise for the recruits under DR Three's guidance. My hands clenched and relaxed repeatedly as I made myself look back up at him, pushing the memories back into the box they were normally locked in.

"So why accept this job?" I asked, just managing to control the shake that tried to enter my voice. Why did Kroll offer it to him? He could have asked anyone else, asked someone who could complete it. But I suspected I knew the answer to that as well. It was a test. A test to see who Yassen was loyal to, who I would be loyal to.

"It doesn't matter now. The orders have changed. Now we move forward."

Sometimes, I didn't want to just move forward as Yassen always seemed to. Sometimes, I wanted answers, answers about the past. Sometimes, I wanted to dwell on how things used to be. Sometimes, I still wanted to be with mama. Did he ever think about her? Did he remember her, and the times we spent as a family?

I sighed. There were still a couple more questions on my mind before I wanted to move forward. "Why didn't you kill him? Because of Hunter?"

"Mostly. He seemed very much like his father."

So Hunter wasn't the only reason. There was something else. He hadn't elaborated though; he wasn't going to tell me. "Did you ever meet his uncle?"

"No. Hunter never spoke about his brother either."

"Do you know who killed him?" I don't know why I asked it. It was merely a niggle in my mind that told me I had to.

"No. I only found out he'd been removed after I arrived in Cornwell."

Ah yes, the trip in the submarine. I had been quite jealous for a while after hearing he got to ride in a submarine. It was one of the very few modes of transport I hadn't used. Suddenly another question popped into my mind. "Does Alex know who killed him?"

Yassen looked away from me for the briefest of moments. "No. He believes I did."

"He... he thinks you did?" Was he kidding me? He almost died to save a kid who probably hates him because he thinks Yassen killed his uncle. It was madness. "Explain. Now."

"Adrienne..." He started, about to refuse.

I cut him off. "I deserve to know."

For a long moment, not a word was said. Our steely eyes locked in a silent battle to see who would concede first. Eventually he broke away, taking a slow drink before explaining the meeting on the rooftop and his conversation with Alex.

There was another extended silence afterwards as I mulled over what he'd just told me. All I could ask was, "Why?"

"I had hoped he wouldn't become a part of this world. Just like I did with you." He gazed out the window, his mind going to a different place, a different time.

"And look how that turned out... " I muttered bitterly, staring at my glass.

"Perhaps you should have stayed at the orphanage." His sharp gaze turned back to me, steel slowly returning to his voice.

"Perhaps you shouldn't have left me there." I growled in return. If he never left me there, I would never have run away. I wouldn't have been found by the Mafia or taken by Julia to Venice and in turn Malagosto. "Or perhaps you shouldn't have come back. Perhaps you should have left when you were better, not hung around-"

"Enough!"

His tone was sharp and instantly my mouth snapped shut. That was too far and I knew it. I also hadn't meant it. The angry words had just tumbled out, meaning to hurt, not be truthful. I ran a hand through my hair, inwardly blaming spending too much time with teenagers while also fully being aware that it could be the cognitive and hormonal changes within me that was making my control weaken. It was scary and definitely not okay, not if this was the outcome.

"That is enough, Adrienne." He repeatedly again quietly.

I had pushed him to his limit. It didn't happen often, though seemed to be happening more frequently. Anyone else would have been shut down at the first question. Perhaps I should be grateful he told me as much as he did.

Taking a breath, I calmed myself. Malagosto had given me plenty of tools to use. I just had to concentrate for a moment. It took longer than I would have liked as I glared at my drink vaguely aware of Yassen rising and pouring himself another vodka. I bit my tongue to avoid commenting how it was twice the amount his glass normally contained. He returned to his seat and I looked back up at him, a hint of determination in my eyes again. It was time to get back to business. "So then, how are we going to do this?"