⧗ CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX ⧗


"It's time to go, Danny,"

Dmitri didn't want to. He liked West Virginia. He wanted to stay here, with Yelena, forever.

Yelena tugged on his hand, but Dmitri refused to move from his bed. Hugged his brontosaurus close to his chest. He wouldn't go. "No."

Yelena sighed. "This isn't a game, Danny. We can't stay here. People are already getting suspicious. You know it's not safe."

"No." Dmitri didn't care. He didn't care if his emotions weren't logical, if her words made sense. He didn't want to leave. He didn't want to go back.

Yelena tugged on him, but Dmitri curled up even tighter, refusing to move. Become like the turtle. Become the rock. Yelena was probably strong enough to carry him anyways, but Dmitri would make it as difficult as possible.

"Danny, come on!" She whined, stomping her foot in a moment of uncharacteristic petulance. "I know it's not fair! Life isn't fair! We still have to go back anyways."

"No!"

"Dmitri, please," Yelena said, her voice dropping to an undertone as she knelt by his bed. Her eyes bored into his, even as Dmitri tried to tuck his head beneath the covers. "You don't want to make Yuri come get you instead. I'm trying to be nice here. Please? I promise, it won't be so bad."

Dmitri peered out from beneath the covers. The thought of getting Yuri instead of Yelena was scary. Yuri was very big and could haul Dmitri out of his bed very easily, and not very nicely either. It would hurt, and that scared him. And Yelena was nice, nice enough that Dmitri wasn't scared to say no to her.

"We'll get to see Nat again," Yelena added, smiling hopefully, giving him a little shake over the covers. "All your sisters. Don't you miss them? Sabina and Oksana are your best friends, remember? You told me all about them. They'll be so sad if you don't come back."

Now that didn't make Dmitri feel very good. He didn't want his sisters to be sad. They wouldn't know why he didn't want to come back. "They can't come here, too?"

Yelena shook her head sadly. "No, Dmitri. They can only leave when they go on special missions. Like this one we're on. It was never real, Dmitri."

"It wasn't?" Dmitri's voice squeaked, tears threatening to spill, and perhaps Yelena realized that was the wrong thing to say.

"I mean, our lives, our names here, they aren't real!" She quickly rectified. "But I'll always be your big sister. Everything we did together, all the fun we had — that was definitely real. Nothing can change that."

Dmitri hugged his dinosaur even tighter. "Can Mr. Longneck come with us?"

Yelena's expression collapsed a little, and she shook her head again. Her voice rasped slightly, "N-no, Dmitri, Mr. Longneck has to stay here. The Red Room is too cold for him."

"But who will take care of him?" Dmitri asked, not wanting to let him go. "He'll be all alone here!"

"I know, I know," Yelena pet his hair. "But not for long. I'll make sure Mr. Longneck finds a nice family to stay with, until… until we come back someday. Make sure he stays safe, with plenty to eat."

Dmitri didn't want to leave Mr. Longneck behind, but he knew Yelena was right, that Siberia was too cold for his species. Not enough tall trees for him to eat from. It was better he stay here. "…Do you promise? That we'll come back?"

Yelena smiled a broken smile. "Of course I promise. Someday, you'll see."

"And you'll still be there? In the Red Room?"

"I'm not going anywhere. We're family, Dmitri. We stick together."

And perhaps that was what Dmitri needed to hear. Yelena coaxed him out of bed, and then coaxed Mr. Longneck from his arms. One last hug before they tucked him into bed. He's just gonna go to sleep now, and he'll wake up when they come back. It'll be like they were never gone at all.

And then Yelena took Dmitri's hand, and they left that old bungalow together one last time.

Never to see it again.