Sacrifices for the Greater Good
Recovery IV
Crossing the border between the USA and Mexico was surprisingly less difficult that Illya had expected. Although he soon realised that most of the effort was concentrated on stopping people from Mexico entering the country, and little was focussed on those actively trying to get to Mexico. Once out of the USA, they could breathe a little more freely but he still refused to allow them to become complacent. They continued their pattern of stealing cars and ditching them, but at a less frequent pace. This time allowing days to pass in the same vehicle.
His Spanish was good enough to let him understand others and to communicate his own desires back to them. They stopped by several shops along their journey to Argentina, picking up fresh clothes and resources, and paying probably more than the actual worth of the items.
"Who's your friend?" Gaby asked when they were starting to near their destination. "Can he be trusted?"
"She." Illya corrected. "And yes. She's ex-KGB, but low-level so they allowed her to leave after she was injured enough to no longer be useful in the field. She has no love for them, or for Russia. She'll keep our secret." He didn't tell her that he also had enough dirt on Natasha to make the woman think twice about giving him up, he could make things very difficult for her if he was captured based on information she gave them.
"Just a friend?" Gaby asked sceptically, and Illya became aware of a slight redness creeping up his neck.
"We were together for a year." He admitted. "It ended amicably." It was the truth, he had lost interest and Natasha had never had any in the first place.
"So we're going to visit your ex-girlfriend in the hope that she is still fond enough of you to provide us with brand new identities and not tell anyone we stopped by?" Her voice was tinged with doubt.
"You'll understand when you meet her." He said simply.
It took them longer than strictly necessary to reach Argentina, not that Illya was about to complain. Once they were certain that no one could possibly have followed them the entire distance, exhaustion had struck Gaby with a vengeance. They could no longer travel as much each day, and at time they had to spend days in one place so she could recover. Her morning sickness continued, and seemed to get worse if anything else. New symptoms also started to appear along with the more obvious ones, she complained often of achiness and started to snap at him without little reason or provocation. It reminded him of her attitude towards him in that first week they had known each other, only worse.
Eventually they did arrive, and once Illya had found them a new car they immediately set off for Natasha's home. He hoped she had not moved recently, the address he had procured was a little over a year old. He had to ask directions a few times, but they soon found themselves at the house with the address he had memorised. There was no answer at the first knock, so with some worry he tried again. The woman who answered was not Natasha, she looked like a local so with a friendly smile he had asked after Natasha in Spanish. The reply was a short, suspicious nod quickly followed by the door slamming in their faces.
"That wasn't very friendly." Gaby noted drily.
"That was not Natasha." He pointed out. He raised a hand to knock again, but before he could the door swung open again, revealing a beautiful blonde woman. "Natasha." He greeted cordially.
"Illya, what the fuck are you doing here?" She rattled off quickly in Russian, glaring behind him in suspicion at Gaby.
"Requesting help." He replied in the same language. "I'm dead and my woman is pregnant." Natasha rolled her eyes at his melodrama and opened the door wider to let them both in.
"You finally left the KGB? I assume from what you said that you faked your death, I hope you did a decent job of it." She continued in Russian as she led them to a brightly decorated sitting room, indicating the couch for them to sit on.
"There was a large explosion and two bodies." He said. "I think they'll be convinced." He looked beside him to see Gaby giving him a pointed look. "Can we speak in English? Gaby doesn't understand Russian."
"Of course." Natasha switched languages easily, and looked at Gaby with slightly more interest than previously. "My apologies, I hadn't realised Illya had expanded his horizons enough to befriend a non-Russian." She said to Gaby.
"No offence taken." Gaby replied. "Illya said you would help us?"
"Within reason. After three years of being together I owe him as much." A frown crossed Gaby's face, and she turned to Illya.
"Three years? You said one." She said accusingly.
"Both are technically correct." Natasha interrupted, accepting the grateful smile Illya sent in her direction. "I suppose he didn't tell you about my preferences? You saw Martina at the door didn't you? She's my partner." Gaby's expression was almost comical, and without caring about the scandalous revelation, Natasha ploughed on. "Illya and I were properly together for a year before he found out, he took the news surprisingly well, and we pretended to be together for a further two more years until I was able to leave the KGB."
"It was a good arrangement." Illya added. "Natasha had a suitable excuse if anyone started to become suspicious of her, and I could work in peace without being pestered by other female agents."
"Mostly without being pestered." Natasha said with a grin. "You remember Eva?"
"How could I forget?" He said drily. "You punched her and she never came near me again, even after you left." Natasha laughed loudly in response, and even Gaby found herself smiling at the exchange she could easily imagine.
"What do you need?" Natasha asked once the moment had passed, Illya returned to business.
"New identities, good ones. We'll be moving somewhere, hopefully to stay permanently."
"So you need something that will pass all tests." She replied thoughtfully. "Any ideas where you'll be going?" Illya glanced over at Gaby cautiously.
"We've not discussed it yet."
"Get discussing then. You can stay with us for a while. I'll set up a spare room." Natasha promptly disappeared, only for Martina to return to the room with a shy smile, and bearing two plates of food. They both thanked her in Spanish, and were soon left alone again.
"Do you have any ideas where we should go?" Gaby asked him.
"I do. I have another accent which could prove useful."
"What accent?"
"An English one." At her look of alarm he explained further. "I was learning it in case it became useful, I've not actually had to use it on a mission yet. But it's pretty good."
"We can't go to England though," she reasoned, "there's too big a chance we'll be recognised." He agreed.
"There are other English-speaking countries where it might be handy. Ireland, Wales, Scotland. There are some quiet and fairly isolated towns in northern Scotland that would be good for our purposes. I think it's a given that we stay away from big cities."
"It will be strange." Gaby admitted with a small smile. "I've always stayed in cities."
"It will be quite different." He acknowledged.
"Waverly always spoke well of Scotland." She said thoughtfully. "Mostly Edinburgh, I think he said he had family there."
"We wouldn't be able to stay in Edinburgh." Illya reminded her.
"I know, but the rest of the country sounds nice too. We have to pick somewhere, why not there?"
With their destination chosen, Natasha set to work building their new identities for them. They had decided to pretend to be an English couple that moved north after a fallout with their families. Illya had figured that if they stayed somewhere far from the border and quite isolated, few would question their story or imperfect accents. He had already begun giving Gaby lessons in how to change the way she spoke English so she would blend in slightly better, and they had prepared an excuse if someone did notice anything foreign about her.
By the time Natasha had set up everything for them, and they had arranged flights to get themselves to Scotland, Gaby's morning sickness had finally faded and much to Illya's wonderment there was now a small bump visible on her abdomen. They had both already been subjected to a hair colour change, Natasha insisting that it would at least help them hide a little better and avoid recognition while they passed through the big airports. They would have to stop briefly in London to wait for a flight to Edinburgh Airport, and if they were going to be recognised it would be then. Thus Illya had gained dark hair and Gaby had turned blonde.
They still had plenty left from George and Rose's savings, mostly because Natasha had refused any form of payment for their stay or for her help. And as a result they had more left over than Illya had budgeted for, and there should have been about enough for them to live on for a few months once they arrived at their destination. They had both bid a warm farewell to Martina and Natasha, the latter embracing each of them and wishing them the best of luck and all the happiness in the world.
Armed with their new identities, Illya and Gaby began the first of many flights they would take to eventually land at the airport in Edinburgh. Boarding the first flight from Buenos Aires was slightly nerve wracking as it was the first test of whether their new passports, both of which stated they were citizens of the United Kingdom, passed scrutiny. To their relief they faced no problems, and neither did they at any of the following airports. In London they had waited impatiently for their final flight, trying to avoid appearing jumpy or nervous.
As quickly as they were able, they took a train from Edinburgh and headed deeper into the country. It might have been easier to follow their usual method and steal a car, but they each agreed to try to avoid attracting suspicion and travel more legally. Once they had escaped most of the major cities, they felt themselves relax as they enjoyed watching the country scenery go by.
"We will have to stop somewhere soon." Illya noted, already practicing his new accent.
"We should probably find some work before we decide to settle anywhere." She said, resting her head against his shoulder. "No point finding somewhere to live if we can't get any income. We can stop by villages looking for garages and seeing if I can get anything, you're a little more versatile than I am."
"If that's what you want to do we will do it." He said solemnly.
"I want to work." She told him. "Obviously I'll have to stop when I'm a little further along." Her hand dropped to her belly. "But I would like to work until then."
"You could work again after the baby is born." He said, one of his hands moving on top of hers. "If you wanted."
"You wouldn't mind?" She asked.
"Would you care if I did?" His wide smile revealed that he was joking, and she hit him lightly.
"It would." She said defensively, even as he raised a sceptical eyebrow. "Don't look at me like that, I value your opinion."
"Seriously," he said, voice free of mirth, "all I want is for you to be happy. If you are happy stuck underneath a car all day, I won't stop you."
They followed Gaby's suggestion, and stopped by each village along their journey searching for a garage that needed another mechanic. They were rebuffed at each one, mostly because there were no vacancies but Illya suspected a few of them refused out of disbelief that Gaby would be competent at the job because of her gender. They were close to losing hope when they stopped by another village, Illya waited outside as Gaby went into yet another garage to make enquiries. He half-expected to see the same dejected look on her face when she returned but instead she flung herself at him in excitement.
"New vacancy." She said between kisses. "The owner will let me work there for a trial period until I can prove my worth."
"We should find a guesthouse then." He suggested. "We can look for somewhere more permanent once they realise you're an excellent mechanic."
They stayed at the guesthouse for about of week, Illya exploring the local area and assessing it for safety and other similar concerns while Gaby spent her days at the garage, getting her hands dirty and impressing her new boss with her extensive knowledge. From what she told him, she seemed to get on very well with the owner of the garage, it was a small business but after his son had moved further south he had lost his only aid. Gaby's offer had come at just the right time, and as such he had been willing to overlook her lack of references.
"You both still looking for somewhere permanent to stay?" Mr Dunn had asked when he had come to meet Gaby at the garage once her shift had ended.
"Yes." Illya replied.
"John Young is looking for someone to rent a cottage he owns, would you like me to put in a good word for you?"
"That would be fantastic, thank you." Gaby had said enthusiastically.
A week later they moved into the cottage. It was small, but the rent was very reasonable and it was big enough for both of them and with enough space for a cot. Illya had been given the task of filling the house, and went about his new job efficiently, eventually resulting in a very pleasant place for them to live in. Now that they were settled permanently, he went about trying to find work for himself. His extensive knowledge of languages landed him a position at the local school.
Illya's job as a languages instructor had come with some unforeseen benefits. He had always been deeply fond of books, in particular those from his home country, and when he realised that it would not be out of place for him to won a copy of 'War and Peace' in its original language, he slowly began assembling a small library of English and foreign language books. Hidden among Shakespeare and Victor Hugo and Dante Alighieri he slipped a few texts in German, more for her benefit than his.
Author's Note: So Illya and Gaby have now reached Scotland, next chapter Gaby has her baby. Hope you guys enjoyed!