Hello all! I'm back!

So much has happened since the last time we met, like:

*Depression medication that is actually worse than the depression itself!

*My husband getting surgery!

*And I took a cool online class about collaborating with schools, so there's that.

This is just a wee amuse-bouche to tide you over until until the next real chapter, which I hope to upload next week.

Interlude - November 5, 1944 - Western Poland

All Raisa wanted when she returned to camp was a hot bath, a drink, and twenty minutes with Captain Rodgers' pretty sergeant. One out of three wasn't bad. She had just poured herself mug number four - or maybe five? - when Captain Rodgers pulled her out of the mess tent by her elbow.

"Have you told anyone?" The tall woman was nearly bent double to talk into Raisa's ear. "About what happened in the mountains?"

"You mean the magnetic cannon that destroyed those planes?" Raisa replied, taking a swig and wincing. Impossible to get good vodka on the front, but this tasted like it had been made in someone's boot. "Such a pity Dr. Ritter overloaded it when he escaped."

Rodgers' whole body seemed to unclench with relief.

"Thank you," she breathed.

"Don't mention it," Raisa replied. The Captain had saved her life, after all. This was the least she could do. "And what will you do with our young comrades, Captain?"

"They'll be going to England. We have a safehouse there. We'll send them back home when the war is over."

If their homes still exist when the war is over, Raisa thought.

Still, despite her pessimism, she felt relieved. Not pawns, not weapons - the children would be free and clear if the Captain was as dedicated to their welfare as she seemed. Raisa loved Mother Russia, but there was a limit to how much she was willing to sacrifice for her. Not her life - her honor. Her integrity.

I'm giving up enough of that, already.

Polkovnik Yakunin was at his desk when she came in the next morning, paging through a thick file. No matter that Raisa had woken up feeling like her skull was two sizes too small, she snapped smartly to attention.

"Sir!"

"Lieutenant." He closed the file and looked up. "Please sit."

Raisa perched uneasily on the edge of a flimsy camp chair and tried to ignore the headache pulsing behind her eyes. There was a strange woman in the corner of the room, slim and blonde, with striking features and a dancer's posture. Black uniform, no insignia.

Secret police? Special forces?

The woman turned her blue gaze on Raisa, and she felt a prickle between her shoulder blades, like she was in the cross hairs of an unseen gun.

"So," Yakunin said. "The objective. You have it?"

Raisa looked from him to the blonde, who quirked an eyebrow at her, the slightest smile turning up one corner of her cupid's bow lips. Suddenly, Raisa's mouth was even dryer than before.

"You may trust Captain Belova as you would me."

"Of course," Raisa said. "Sorry, sir."

With exaggerated care, she took off her right boot and turned it over, sliding open the hidden chamber in the heel. When she pulled out the slender vial, Belova stepped closer, lifting one hand as if to touch it.

"This is the specimen?" She said, eyes glinting avidly. "How did you get it?"

"This is Captain Rodgers' blood, yes," Raisa said. I took it while she was unconscious, after she saved my life. The guilt had bit at her, even as she did it.

Rodgers won't miss it. I have to think of my country. I have to think of myself.

Captain Belova didn't seem to notice Raisa's awkward silence, as she took the vial with deft fingers and slotted it into a small silver case. Raisa noticed it was stamped "Top Secret: Project Black W -". Then the woman tucked it back into her coat and swept out without another word. Yakunin did not even watch her leave.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," The Polkovnik said. "You will be rewarded. You may go."

He returned to his file, as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

Raisa stood to leave, then stopped. Turned back.

"Forgive me, sir…"

He looked up at her with those colorless, emotionless eyes.

"Yes?"

What will you do with it?

"Nothing. Thank you, sir."

Can you guess what Belova is taking the blood for? Bet you can, you smart cookies, you.

Next time - Christmas under fire, and Stucky fluff. Because I love you guys.