20 Years: Part 2: Russian

September 26, 2018-Central Africa-Late Evening

“Shhhhh, Doctor there is no need to shout. I don’t think we need to alert the terrorists to our exact position. Let’s make them work for it. ”

An unfamiliar voice made Hayden jump a little. Wait, not an unfamiliar voice. A familiar voice but in a language he was unfamiliar hearing it speak.

He slowly turned to meet laughing blue eyes. As a surgical doctor, he didn’t know a ton about arson, but he was certain that no accelerant on Earth burned hotter than the fire building in his soul at the sight of those eyes.

“You.Speak.English.”

Rage boiled.

“Why….Why…the hell have you been pretending to only speak Russian?…I ALMOST DIED because of you….are you fucking kidding me???”

Silence. The only thing Hayden could see was that little smirk lit up by twinkly blue eyes. A slight buzzing began in his ears. The rest of the room, the world was fuzzy.

Laughter and snorts broke out behind him. He had no control over his eyes, a moth to a flame. His heart tried to grow at the sight of Charlotte silently laughing as tears pooled at her hazel eyes. The rage in his chest did not allow it grow too much.

“Shhhhh..,” Charlotte wheezed, “She doesn’t speak…..Russian.” Charlotte barely got the word Russian out before she slid to the ground laughing. Curled into a standing ball, literally holding herself up with one hand, slapping the ground with the other. Dirt blew up from the dirty red rug.

“But…, “ Hayden whipped around to the other laughing faces. Skittles was pursing their lips closed trying not to smile. Milky Way was smiling so brightly his eyes had become slits.

Only Nerds had the consideration of looking slightly sheepish and embarrassed with a slight frown and pink cheeks, though the corner of his eyes crinkled a little.

“What the hell language have you been speaking?”

He tried to keep his voice calm and cool, but he could definitely hear his internal toddler beginning to throw a fit. He focused on the rug at his feet. At the little tear in the edge, strings fraying the seams. Focused on the feeling of the sun through the window. At the sound of Charlottes laughter. The anger dimmed at that most perfect of sounds.

“She’s been….” Charlotte attempted to answer, but the silent giggles stole her breath.

“She’s been speaking Russian..” Nerds mumbled, shuffling his feet. The man was over 6 feet, covered in gear with wide brick shoulders and he was standing at though a first grader before his teacher. Unable to stop himself from tattling because rules were being broken.

“What?” Hayden snapped his eyes up in surprise. Nerds blush was almost as red as the fraying rug under his feet. His feet shuffled again.

“She’s been….,” Charlotte tried again. Her breathless voice sputtered and was difficult to hear. “She’s been reciting…..lines from Heated Rivalry…the….the gay hockey show.” A fresh wave of tears started to stream as she lowered her head onto her knees and lost her composure again.

“Wh…what, why?” All of his brain power was going towards keeping his feet glued to the ground so he wouldn’t throw those laughing blue eyes out the window she was currently leaning next too. The second story fall probably wound’t kill her…depending on the softness of whatever she landed on. He was certain Charlotte’s laughter would permanently stop if he murdered her second, even if it was justified. Even in a blind rage he still knew that he couldn’t risk the already limited laughter he had left to hear.

A wisp of a memory tried to sneak through, tried to tug on his brain.

Heather wrapped in the couch with her blanket crying at a man on the phone speaking Russian in tunnel with piano playing in the background.

He pushed it down before it could become solid. Slammed the mental door. Not now…

“Cause she’s obsessed with the show,” Milky Way shrugged in amusement when it was clear Charlotte couldn’t answer. A Dad charmed and amused by his adorable little children. A zookeeper watching the silly otters.

Hayden’s head whipped back between Gobstopper, Charlotte and the reminder of the team aka the naughty schoolchildren in charge of saving his life.

“Are you telling me.., “ he took a breath to keep his voice calm. “Are you telling me you only speak English and you’ve been talking to me in gay hockey show quotes during a HOSTAGE....” The river of rage began to roar once again.

Another forceable swallow and a deep breath out his nose with clenched teeth.

“…during a deadly hostage rescue in the jungle.”

Gobstopper’s smile split her face as she pushed up from the wall and stalked towards him. The smile of a jaguar approaching the prey ensnared in her trap. She stopped within inches of him. He grabbed his pockets to keep his hands in place. His nails pushed through the threadbare fabric and stung his palms. Dulling the roar in his head.

“I’m on a black ops team that rescues dumbass hero wanna-be doctors who get themselves taken hostage in a deadly jungle, I speak 3 languages. Russian just doesn’t happen to be one of them.”

She leaned in close, just a couple inches from his ear. Her whisper tickled and burned at the same time.

“Ya ni khrena etim lyudyam ne mogu dat'. Ya im vsyo otdal. A sam chuvstvuyu sebya pustym!”

Another batch of wheezing laughter erupted from behind him.

20 Hours Earlier

The smell of blood burned his noise. No, the smell of blood he was used too. Countless surgeries had made him immune to the scent. Honestly, maybe it was morbid but that scent was the closet he had felt to home in week.

It was the burning smell of gunpowder and flash grenades mixed with the smell of death and fear. His fear, as well as the other 3 doctors, was palpable. Sticky in the air.

A solider stepped in front of Hayden, blocking his view of Charlotte. He resisted the impulse to veer his gaze around the giant of man.

Charlotte was here….Charlotte Hayden had just killed a man to save his life.

She was here. 20 years later, she was here.

The world spun.

A clear smooth voice struck through the haze of shock. The kind of voice that soothed the nervous system and made you a little horny. Epitome of honey for a sore throat. Yes, good honey does have the ability to make people horny. Think of warm honey water on a sore throat. That relief, that ecstasy. Literally hot.

A giant of a man stepped forward, after handing his gun to another solider. His hands out in the calming gesture you use on a junkyard dog who hasn’t received affection from a human in its’ life.

“We are here to help you. You are safe..for now. You can call me Milky Way . That over there is Skittles and Nerds,” he pointed to the soldiers with their backs at each edge of doorway, eyes peeled out into the hallway. Both gave a quick nod.

He gave a slight jerk sideways at the hidden Charlotte, “Peanut Butter.”

“And that delightful peach is Gobstopper.” He nodded to a women resting against the back wall. Slim figure with blond braids, legs and elbows crossed. A smile with ice blue eyes. As though she was silently observing a dinner party and not fresh off a bloody rescue assault. She gave Hayden the chills, and she smiled as if she knew it and loved every minute of the fear she induced.

Anna whispered up the behind Hayden. “What’s with the candy names?” Disbelief and shock tinged her voice. The screaming would probably start soon.

“It’s safer for you if you don’t know our real names.’

Well, that was another bone chilling thought to add to the heap overwhelming Hayden’s brain. What kind of rescue team couldn’t reveal their names? Another question he shoved down.

“Why Gobstopper?” James asked. Hayden would bet his significant doctor paycheck that James was giving that blonde solider his “eye” move. Even after 2 weeks being held hostage in the jungle James couldn’t stop himself from hitting on an age appropriate attractive slightly terrifying female. Never mind the gun tucked against her chest, never mind the fact the she could probably kill him with little to no effort, and had taken multiple lives in front of of his very sex addled bro eyes. Fool was a sucker for a blonde.

A slow mischievous smile spread across her face.

“Ya nikogda bol'she syuda ne vernus”

Silence.

“She said,” a confusing lightness had come into Milky Way’s previous serious expression “She said ‘It’s cause I’m really good at choking people’. Oh don’t worry, she won’t choke you. Just don’t touch her.”

Jamie’s gulp echoed through the small room.

Milky Way waved his giant hand as if the murderous impulsivity of his partner was the least of their worries.

“Okay, I know you have been through hell, but it’s not over yet. When this team, “ he gestured to the dead bodies on the floor, “doesn’t check in, reinforcements won’t be far behind. We have them checking in about 30 minutes ago, with a 6 hour check in. That’s means we have less than 5 and half hours to trek through the jungle to the safe house. We roll out in 10 minutes, use the restroom and search rooms for any long sleeve clothing. Bugs are a bitch out here.”

"Ya zdes' vsyo nenavizhu. I vse menya nenavidyat,” blue eyes smiled.

The Next 20 Minutes

Milky Way oversaw the prep of the hostages, searching the house for clothes, water, applying bug spray. It was clear he was in charge of them, the other members of the team checking gear and raiding the house; stealing hard drives and destroying remaining tech. Scanning for cameras. Searching mattresses and checking for hidey-holes in the walls and floors. It was as if the hostages were invisible to them.

Jamie had to take the boots off a dead man.

Faded gray, resting a little above his ankles with frayed laces, and a little splatter of blood on the right heel.

Jamie took off his threadbare shoes and shoved his feet inside. They fit perfectly, he did a little bounce in them to make sure.

Then he proceeded to throw up in the corner.

Hayden was following directions, though it was as if he was driving in the fog. He was going in the general direction of what he thought he should be doing but his mind was fully focused on Charlotte.

What in the hell was she doing here?

Was she going to acknowledge his existence? Did she remember him?

His eyes darted for her each time her voice caught his ears. He was straining them so bad he was getting a headache. Or it was the come down from the adrenaline high of being rescued, probably a little bit of both.

Milky Way gave a 5 minute warning and instructed them to go to the bathroom one last time before they put on their packs. This man’s voice was as smooth as well….fuck. Hayden couldn’t help but be comforted.

“I’ve had to piss myself twice while hiding in brush, most uncomfortable feeling ever and I’ve been stabbed. Twice.”

Well that wasn't a very comforting statement.

Pack on his back, loaded with clothes and shoes stripped or stolen from dead men, water bottles, and protein bars. Hayden started to sweat. Charlotte who hadn’t been out of his earshot or eyesight since the moment he saw her was whispering with Gobstopper in the corner. He couldn’t hear the hushed whispers but he could see the feral smile on the Russian’s face. Please, dear god, let him not have to get anywhere near that woman. Something about her, the way she looked at him maybe, unnerved him.

“Doc, you are with Gobstopper. " Damn.

"Ma’am, your with Skittles, and Pretty Boy your with me.

Stay on our 5’s at all times, not directly behind me but a little bit to the right. We don’t stop moving unless you see one of our hands raised like this.” He rose his fist in a 90 degree angle. “No talking as soon as we exit this door. Understood?”

Everyone nodded, and the line formed. Charlotte at the front, James with Milky Way, Skittles and Anna, Hayden and Gobstopper, ending with Nerds.

Charlotte quickly walked down the line, tapping heads with each of the soldiers. Her eyes glazed right over him, she retuned to the front of the line, gun up, a deep breath and she took a step out the door

Hayden’s stomach clenched, a strange desire to stay washed over him. Stay in the house that had been his prison for the last 2 weeks, the place he was certain where would die. Now he was running into the unknown, no idea of what would happen next. Heather, I love you.

He took his eyes off Charlotte for the first time.

Gobstopper, probably basking in the smell of his fear turned her head slightly to bore those ice blue eyes into him, like shards of glass to his nerves.

“Smotryat na menya i vidyat libo bankomat, libo vraga. Ili… ya ne znayu, kogo.”

Then she winked before stepping out the door into the jungle.