Chapter 3:

Shadow's POV

After the long flight to Russia, we finally touched down. Prophet was looking slightly nervous as we passed immigration. I had done this a million times, with a different name, nationality and maniac to find, but I still had a little coil of tension within me. I handed my documents to the round, bald immigration officer and gave him a smile. He glanced at me, my passport and visa, and smiled back. "Spaseeba" (Thank you), he said, with a rich voice, surprising for an officer and I passed through. I waited on the other side for Prophet. Luckily, his immigration was pretty smooth too.

To make sure that our cover wasn't blown, I linked my arm through Prophet's, and leaned my head against his muscular shoulder. We walked arm in arm, and exited the airport. The easy bit was behind us. I hailed a cab, and gave him the address of the hotel where Ethan was last working. The driver nodded eagerly, and we got into the cab. The driver took off, at a breakneck speed.

We reached the hotel. It was a swanky five star. Prophet paid the driver, and we got out of the taxi, holding our handbags. Mactavish had given us 4 days, and it was going to be a rush to find Ethan. So, neither of us saw the need to pack heavy.

Outside the cab, the cold Russian air bit into my skin. Prophet picked up the bags, and we walked into the hotel. Immediately we were attended to, bellboys taking our bags to our rooms and the receptionist worked fast, handing the room key card to us in no time. We got into the elevator, decorated with mirrors, and a not so conspicuous camera. I pretended not to notice it, and subtly slipped my hand into Prophet's. We walked over the carpeted rug, and reached our room.

Once we were safely inside, we opened our handbags that had a couple of laptops and a GPS. I hoped that I could figure out a way to track Ethan. If I remembered right, his cover name was Yuri Abbrevati. The first thing I planned on doing was hacking into the hotel's employee list, and then figuring out if Ethan still worked here. I had just opened my laptop, when we heard a firm knocking on the door.

I immediately frowned, my years of spy training kicking into overdrive. There was water in our room, and all the bags had already been dropped off. There was no reason for the hotel to send anyone. That could only mean one thing.

I must've shown something on my face, because Prophet looked at me, with a concerned expression and asked "Ka… Alena, what's wrong?" I was glad that he remembered to stay in cover, and I replied "No one should be coming now. There's no reason." Prophet nodded, and opened the hidden flap in his bag, and pulled out two Glocks, and two clips of ammo. Tossing a gun and clip to me, he got ready to open the door. "Who is it?" Scott called. "Room service." a gruff voice called back.

"It's okay, we don't need anything." I called back, making my voice sound annoyed.

"Fine, I suppose you don't need extra sugar?" the voice called. I froze for a second, and then shut my eyes. "Open the door." I told Prophet, who hesitated, not knowing what I did, that "extra sugar" had been a code word Ethan and I'd used before, but he did what I asked.

On the other side of the door stood Ethan. And he was pissed. He shoved past Prophet and shut the door behind him. There were veins popping in his neck as he tried not to explode.

This mission had gone better than hoped. Ethan looked at me, and said, "What the hell are you doing here and what is he - " Ethan nodded his head in Scott's direction " - doing here with you?!" he hissed.

"Nice to see you too." I replied, smiling casually. "We're here because of him." I continued, nodding at Scott.

Scott. Who looked like he wasn't sure if what he was seeing before him was real. I could see the gears working in Ethan's head, unsure of how to react, or even to begin explaining everything, when Scott surprised us both by crossing the room and hugging Ethan tightly.

My eyes dropped to the ground, as I felt like I was intruding on something very private, and I tried to make myself scarce.

When they finally separated, both their eyes were glistening, which I pretended I didn't notice. Ethan came over and embraced me, ducking his head between my shoulder and neck, hugging me like he'd always. I realised how much I'd missed him in that moment.

"Thanks, Kate. Even though you blew my cover and will probably get your ass handed to you by the big bosses upstairs." Ethan said, pulling back.

"Well that's why they're not going to find out." I winked back, and both the boys laughed.

Ethan told us to meet him after his shift ended, at a bar not too far from the hotel. He promised Prophet that he would explain everything. After Ethan left, Prophet turned to me, and then hugged me tightly. I was surprised, but I hugged him back. Into my ear, Scott whispered, with a voice full of emotion. "Thank you Kate. Thank you." I hugged him back, and I smiled.

A few hours later, we went to meet Ethan. He was lounging against the bar, a glass of beer in his hand, and a cigarette in his mouth. Seeing us coming, he smirked, and pulled out a stool for both Prophet and I. We sat down, and the bartender waddled over. "Wat'll ya have." He asked. I looked at him, and said I'd be sticking to water. The bartender looked mildly disappointed but perked up when Prophet ordered some vodka. We got our drinks, and then Ethan took us to a booth. There he explained everything to Scott. Scott didn't say anything. He just drank his vodka. I was worried about how he'd react, but luckily he just sat through it, occasionally asking questions. After Ethan finished his recruitment story, he caught both me and Scott up on what he was doing in Moscow (infiltrating a human trafficking ring apparently).

"Listen, you two need to leave soon. I'm not sure, but I've got a feeling my op's gone tits up. If this thing blows, I'd really rather not drag the two of you into this too." Ethan said.

I nodded. I was a spy too, I understood. Scott didn't. "What do you mean, you've got a feeling? I'm not leaving if you're going to be in danger, Ethan - "

"Scott, please, I can handle it." Ethan frowned, trying to convince him.

"No! I'm not going to leave you! I won't - "

Whatever Scott was going to say was lost on both me and Ethan, for at that moment, a loud crack was heard, and the glass panel right next to our booth exploded into shards. The three of us hit the ground immediately, our training and muscle memory working.

"Wow Ethan -" I said, in between gunshots as we moved behind the counter for cover. " - you really do have everything under control."

Ethan glared daggers at me.

"What's the plan?" Scott yelled.

Ethan and I scanned the place. "There's a fire escape on the south side, if we move cover to cover, we can make it." I said, and Ethan nodded.

"What? We can fight! Get weapons from one of the shooters and fight back!" Scott rebutted.

Exasperated, with glass shards raining down on us, I turned to Scott and put my hand on his shoulder.

"Listen to me very carefully. You're a damn good soldier, but you are not a spy. I am. So this is my game, and I always play to win. You want to get out of here alive? Follow me, no questions asked." I said.

Scott frowned, and then turned to Ethan, who gave him a 'she's right' look. "Seriously?" He asked.

"Buddy, she isn't the CIA's top spy for nothing." Ethan supplied. I shrugged, a smile on my face.

Scott looked between the two of us, and then nodded. "Alright then, whatever you say, ma'am."

"Atta boy." I grinned.

A/N: Yes, I know it's been a long time, and I'm sorry. I have a ton of work from school, and it's driving me crazy. Consider this my late Christmas early new year's present to you guys. Progress is going to be slow, I'll tell you that, but I'm going to finish this story!

I wanna thank SMakarov again for reading this and giving me feedback, and everyone who reviews. You guys help me a ton.

Cheers.

King112