A/N: the third definition for "mechanic" reads thus: "Slang . a person skilled in the dishonest handling of cards, dice, or other objects used in games of chance." I shall use this definition.

Captain

The positions that Theodore Dolokhov managed to acquire in the army were always given to him for either exemplary conduct and a status of "due for promotion" or for great valor in battle. He would rise and fall from the title of Captain not once or even twice throughout his career but he hardly ever regretted the reasons for his demotions. As long as he could rise back to an officer's rank, he saw a need to stifle himself too greatly merely to avoid demotion. And he'd hardly be granted a rank of real importance. Society's favor was beyond him.

Pilot

The Generals were still demanding that they join with the main forces. Of course, that wasn't happening. Both Dolokhov and Denisov had no desire to be put back under the yoke of Headquarters which was often slow if not incompetent. Out in the woods with their Cossacks they were quite free to do as they pleased. And harassing the retreating French column was what they pleased. Here, Dolokhov got the full command he was never able to attain in the main army and he clung to it. Every mission was his. His plan, his people, his victory. Solely his lead.

Mechanic

Theodore was surprised how easily being a cardsharp came to him. He learned a lot of the tricks in his adolescence. By the time he was seventeen, he hardly ever lost a game of cards he chose to play. If there had been any guilt initially it was swept away by the thought that his family – his mother and sister – needed him, needed the money he brought in after his nights of gambling. Dishonorable? Perhaps. But was it really more honorable to sit by and watch as two endlessly dear women in his life suffered in economic deficiency and humiliation?

Mercenary

It was true that many, if not most, of Theodore's motives were mercenary. Money was of high interest and importance to him, had been since his father was killed in a duel when he was thirteen. But how could it not be for a poor but very proud boy of the gentry who saw that, despite all his brilliance and natural talents, other people always got the bigger, better piece of the pie simply because they had money and the connections that come with money and power. Money became an ambition, a goal, a cause and a reason.

Serenity

There was something almost magical about the countryside in the autumn. The leaves that drifted down to carpet the ground in bright colors and float on the tranquil waters of the lake, the stillness of the air – no longer populated by insects – and the steady drizzle of the first rains. The only disturbance to nature's serenity might be a galloping troika, bearing with it an equipage and kicking up dust and mud off the country road. Theodore liked to take walks arm-in-arm with his sister at these times. She allowed him the emotional peace he rarely felt with anyone else.