Alexei sat in the front, alongside Lancer-Sergeant Newark, looking out upon the irradiated remains of the USA. They were flying in a refitted Vertibird, One fitted for long distance flying as it didn't have the luxury of being docked aboard the Prydwen. She then looked behind her, at the two soldiers placed in her command. They were chatting away like old friends and all that Alexei could think of was of Shaun and Danse, all stuck behind in the Commonwealth. She would welcome Danse's tight embrace, not caring about the repercussions of her actions. It wasn't wrong to miss the people you loved, in fact most people would see that as being normal, showing emotions to show that you were human, and not some re-purposed Brotherhood murder machine. She was pulled out of her trance when Jess called her name.
"Something the matter Ma'am? You were looking so far into space, it was as though you were trying to contact the Zetans." She said, laughing at her own joke. Mullins face palmed himself, due to having to witness the shear lack of decorum that Jess would show around the Acting Elder of the Brotherhood.
"Seriously Jess, one of these days you're going to be brought up on charges of improper conduct. You're lucky that Sentinel Coles here is so willing to put up with your bullshit. God knows that if it was Paladin Danse, if he wasn't some Institute robo-slave that is, that he'd have you cleaning the latrines." Mullins said.
It hurt Alexei that they could possibly talk of Danse in such a manner but she wouldn't let it show. Otherwise his cover could be blown and Alexei would sooner kill herself than let Danse be harmed just because of a small insult. Again she was pulled from her daydreams by Knight Reddington, again inquiring about the mind set of her idol.
"I'm fine Reddington. Just thinking about family back home in Boston." She said. Suddenly Jess seemed completely uninterested in the conversation she was having with Mullins and swung her legs around, now giving Alexei her complete undivided attention.
"Whose waiting at home for you ma'am, or do you mind me asking?" Jess asked, hoping to get an honest reply.
"Well... I've a ten year old son, named Shaun. He was named after my brother who fought alongside my husband, Nate in the war. They might have been Brothers-in-law, but they were brothers-in-arms before I even knew him. And I have a partner as well." She said. Jess looked as though she was cataloguing it all inside her head. Making hasty notes and questions she was eager to ask later.
"Isn't it true that the director of the Institute was your son? How is that possible if you have one at home as well?" She finally asked.
"While it's true that the director of the Institute was my biological son, he wasn't really him. He was turned into a monster by the Institute bastards that stole him from my husbands still defrosting arms. They raised him and they taught him that there was no middle ground. That there was no line that shouldn't be crossed. They tainted and destroyed him. That's how it was so easy for me to execute him. Because I knew that the man in front of me, while claiming to be my son, wasn't really him. Only a monster posing as him." She replied, her eyes still showing slight signs of a mothers broken heart. Thinking back to the short conversation she had with the real Shaun, as he lay on his deathbed, it had hurt her as he denounced her as his mother on the spot. She was happy that him and Nate would finally have a chance to meet though, so she supposed that every cloud have a silver lining.
Suddenly Newark announced that they were about 30 minutes from their destination, Searchlight Airport. Just a few miles south from Hoover. It was now about 11:30pm, so they had the cover of night as an advantage but they had to try and be back at Searchlight for exfiltration in 24 hours.
Alexei steeled her nerves as the Vertibird landed softly on the ground. Donning hazmat suits to combat the intense radiation, they were about to disembark before Newark handed Alexei a small unique Pulse Beacon and told her to activate it when they returned. Nodding her acknowledgement, she hopped off the Vertibird and turned to her team. As the engines rumbled to life and began to pull the heavy chunk of metal into the air, Alexei filled in Icarus on why they were here in the first place. Since it was Black List, the mission brief was strictly on a need-to-know basis especially as it involved the Elder's safety, but Alexei trusted Icarus and thought that they deserved to know what they were risking their life for. Both soldiers saluted, showing their respect for their commander. Taking point, Alexei led them off into the dark expanse of the Mojave Desert.
"Let's go find our Family! Let's go Icarus!"