Chapter Text
Nikolai was one step ahead of them.
He was on the balcony of a restaurant the opposite side of the street, looking through his binoculars and through the windows of a well-known cafe. It was easy to spot his contact—or his alleged contact. She stood out among the rest of the people in the shop, the long waves of raven hair were hard to miss, and the way her dark eyes roamed the room didn’t go unnoticed by him. At least she looked like a civilian hiding among the crowd.
But Nikolai knew otherwise.
Their informant had told them in the last minute that the Russians knew about the handoff between the CIA contact and him. The documents contained the names of Russian moles in the American government, and if it were really true, the chaos would be unimaginable. The KGB had sent someone to pose as his contact, and Nikolai sent a silent prayer of respect to whatever fate his actual contact had gotten.
Apparently the bad news didn’t stop there. The Russians also knew about Nikolai, his past, reputation, and identity. Basically what they needed to catch him. But a good informant was all it took to be one step ahead. Perhaps he should treat Brekker a drink after he got out of this damned mission.
The raven-haired woman checked her watch, her fingers tapping impatiently on the table. The geek side in him tried to think that she was secretly tapping out a message in Morse code, but he knew he was being ridiculous. His triumph over outsmarting the KGB was bringing too much amusement to him.
With one final look over the woman, Nikolai turned to leave. It would be tricky to find the actual documents without the contact now. But he would find a way.
There was no ‘impossible’. Only improbable.
That night he sent a transmission to the contact , asking for a reschedule for the drop off due to a ‘nefarious interference’. He’d had a good laugh over it, as he wasn’t planning to show up to the rescheduled date. The KGB could go wait for another whole day and waste their time trying to plan how to ambush him or just give up trying to corner him. Either way, he didn’t care.
For now, he had some searching to do.
The information came on the day of the third attempt of the dropoff. Nikolai was following some leads he was able to connect to the actual CIA contact when his pager gave a resounding tone.
“The woman who posed as your contact has the documents hidden somewhere in her place. One of my spies had followed her back to her place and overheard her arguing about it on the phone.”
There were no other messages aside from that, and Nikolai grit his teeth in frustration. He had no plans to make an appearance over the same crowded cafe where he had been leading the contact on. The odds had definitely shifted his way, but now he had to make actual contact with the woman.
Perhaps he could have at least a bit of fun trying to charm the stern-faced woman.
“All right,” he muttered to himself as he left his current location. “Let’s see if your charm has limits, Lantsov.”
Evening came, and at the same time it was the time of the dropoff. Nikolai made sure to go an hour later than the set time as he assumed that by now, the woman would have had much less patience waiting on nothing for the last three meetups.
He arrived at the corner of the street the cafe was in, risking a glance to the cafe’s interior. To his relief, the raven-haired woman was still there on the same table he had seen her during the first dropoff. She still looked regal as ever, and for some reason, Nikolai felt drawn to her dark, observing eyes.
No, he scolded himself. You’re here to get the documents, not to get distracted by her.
Nikolai adjusted the glasses on his nose, careful not to dishivel his dark-colored hair. The shoe polish felt sticky and wet on his hair, but he braved through it. It was the only thing that would hide his true identity besides the lenses that made his eye color muddy green.
There was movement at the corner of his eye, and he turned to look just in time to see the woman emerge from the cafe’s front door. For a moment, their eyes met, and Nikolai swore he had never seen another woman that gorgeous.
He sucked in a breath as if he had been punched in the gut. Her eyes were stormy blue.
Focus, you idiot.
Automatically, a smile appeared on his face, the act already beginning. And yet, he couldn’t stop staring at her.
“Good evening,” Nikolai said, mustering all the suave he had in him. If he was going to act around her, he might as well give it his best. “What’s a beautiful woman like you doing here alone?”
He had expected her to ignore him and walk away, and he’d have to think of another plan to approach her. But much to his surprise, the raven-haired woman said, “My supposed date stood me up.” She shook her head. “For the third time.”
Nikolai bit back his tongue to keep himself from laughing. It’s going to be fun, indeed. “Oh? Only a fool wouldn’t show up to meet a gorgeous woman like you,” he said. He bowed his head a little, regarding her with respect. “May I be the one to make up for his loss tonight? I would like to buy you a drink.”
The woman eyed him for a moment, and Nikolai wondered why he was feeling nervous all of a sudden. Had he been drinking too much coffee for the past several days? “Alright, then,” the woman said, tiredness obvious in her voice. “Take me away, stranger.”
Nikolai didn’t expect to get to her apartment that quickly.
They had talked for hours about the random things they could think of, with him trying to jab a few compliments to his reply when he saw the chance, and she would just brush it off with an eye roll or a shake of her head.
But when Zoey—or so what she had told him her name was after a couple of drinks and to which he introduced himself as Napoleon—ended up drinking one too many shots, she drunkenly told him to take her back to her place.
He obliged, of course. To have the chance to search her place , he reminded himself. And also out of respect. Nikolai wasn’t one to leave a woman in her drunken state in public.
That was how he ended up guiding Zoey to her door, with her fumbling for the key to open the lock. When she finally opened the door after several tries, Nikolai stood awkwardly over the door frame, seemingly nervous about the sudden turn of events.
Zoey stumbled through the door, and then turned to look at him expectantly. He blinked, staring right back at her. The guarded aspect in her blue eyes was gone and replaced by an obvious desire. Nikolai felt his throat become dry.
With a roll of her eyes, the raven-haired woman grabbed him by the lapels of his coat and pulled him inside, clumsily closing the door behind him. And then her hands were roaming over his shoulders and down his chest as she tried to shove the coat off his shoulders.
Nikolai let out a nervous laugh, reaching a hand up to stop her ministrations. “Alright, let’s take it slow, my dear,” he murmured. The feel of her hand in his felt just right . “Let’s get you to bed.”
“No,” she slurred, trying to pry her hands away from him. “ Distract me. ”
She sounded desperate and strained, and he knew that it was because of her mission that kept being delayed by his doing. But Nikolai held firm. He refused to take advantage of her state. “Hush now. You’re drunk.” Then he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom, tucking her in the bed carefully.
Zoey had already fallen asleep in the short span of the walk from her door to the bedroom. She looked peaceful in her sleep, the furrowed eyebrows and the full frown completely gone. A stray hair was on her cheek, and Nikolai’s hand twitched at his side as he fought the urge to brush it away.
He still did it anyway. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” he said, though he knew he should be finishing the mission tonight while he’s already in her apartment and she was fast asleep.
Zoey grumbled back something in Russian, and turned to her side. Nikolai chuckled softly. She could be the death of him, he realized, and he could only hope it wouldn’t be too literal.
He searched her apartment for a bit, careful not to misplace anything, and he spotted a safe under the bed. A laugh escaped him. Bingo .
The safe had a wheel combination lock, and Nikolai eyed it a bit longer before a knock on the front door startled him out of his spelunking. He’d figure out how to get it later.
He figured he could prolong their tryst for a few more days. It wouldn’t be that much of a problem. Hopefully.
Their ‘meetups’ continued for the next week. Mostly it was Nikolai trying to follow Zoey to the places she’d go in hopes to continue to track down ‘Nikolai Lantsov’. That’s why it was always fun and amusing seeing her surprised expression whenever he happened to be around after she gave up in tracking her ‘leads’.
Nikolai had always asked her out for a drink at the pub, and more times than not, she accepted his invitation. Though she never got that drunk after the first night they actually met.
There was even a time when he had invited her to a strange play with tickets that he had managed to snag from the seller. Zoey hadn’t enjoyed a minute of it, and it was quite amusing to see her furrowed brows and deadpan expression all throughout the night as he kept stealing glances on her way.
He had driven her back to her place and when he looked at her, Nikolai was sure he could have seen an expectant look in her eyes. His heart did a weird flip, but he only brushed it off with a laugh and leaned forward to kiss her cheek. He hadn’t planned to do it—it was as if his body acted on its own and he was left questioning his reasons for prolonging this tryst.
He knew he should have finished the mission after a few days; feeling around for the combination to the safe would be a child’s play for him, but somehow Nikolai couldn’t stop their nightly rendezvous. His infatuation for her was slowly growing into something more.
Maybe that was why when a message came to his pager on a particular night in a pub while they were drinking did Nikolai decide that he would finally get the mission done.
He had excused himself in the restroom to read it, and was floored by the lone message.
“The woman that KGB sent was Zoya Nazyalensky. They’ve called off the operation. This is your chance. Get out now if you want to live.”
Nikolai reared back in shock. No wonder her name sounded so familiar. The KGB had sent their deadliest and most cunning agent to stop him. And he had been confident of himself to prolong their dalliance.
Shit .
He thought back of the times Zoey—or Zoya —had agreed to his offer. Had she really been interested in him? Or had she just needed something to distract her for her frustrations over a dead end? Or worse, did she know who he was and this was all an elaborate trap?
Nikolai stopped himself. It wasn’t the right time to think about those things. The mission was still ongoing, and he wasn’t going to back down from it just because the KGB had sent their gorgeous yet deadly agent for him.
He put the pager back in his coat. This would be done tonight.
He returned to their spot by the bar, trying his best not to show the strained expression on his face. Zoya was still on her seat, lazily swirling the drink in her hand. Her eyes lit up a little when she met his gaze.
“Leaving?” she asked.
Nikolai forced a smile to his face, but it felt more like a grimace. “Far from it.”
They ended up in her apartment again. But this time, neither of them were intoxicated.
The door wasn’t even completely closed when Zoya yanked at his tie and crashed her lips to his. Nikolai had expected her eagerness, her release of frustration because of a failed mission.
But he didn’t anticipate his own.
Nikolai responded almost immediately, pushing her against the back of the door after he kicked it close. His hand came to the back of her neck, and he kissed her harder as he felt her hands working on the buttons of his coat. He felt on fire under her touch. He helped her take the garment off of his shoulders, only pausing for a second to breathe before they were onto each other again.
He could still taste the vodka on her tongue, and if she had been a drink Nikolai was sure he would be intoxicated the moment he got a taste of her.
The sudden feel of her hands reaching up to his hair was the one that brought him back from his stupor. His mind started thinking straight again.
The hair color would come off. She would discover his true identity.
You still have a mission, Lantsov.
It was those alarming thoughts that made him pull away, albeit reluctantly, a light laugh coming from his lips. He started to think of excuses to get to the bedroom. “Let me freshen up first, okay?”
Zoya’s eyes were dark with want as she looked back up at him, and for a moment, all he wanted was to kiss her senseless again. But his duties were pushing back hard to his mind. She stepped away reluctantly. “Alright,” she said, almost breathless.
Nikolai took the chance to slip to the bedroom while she was still rooted by the door. He could hear clatters and thuds as she straightened something out. How fortunate for him that she was distracted. His fingers were shaking as he felt around for the combination of the safe, carelessly spinning around the wheel.
The memory of her against him was enough to distract him from unlocking the safe, and he cursed his stupidity for letting it overcome him. He shouldn’t have prolonged this affair for a week; he should have just gotten around and unlocked the safe that night when she was drunk and went his own way. But instead he almost let her crawl her way to his heart because of his foolishness, and he nearly lost sight of what he needed to do.
So much for being the heartbreaker and womanizer. It came back to slap him in the face. You break hearts, Lantsov, not give your own away.
A click finally resounded after several tries, and the safe opened. Nikolai quickly grabbed the manila envelope and searched for a way out. No time for distractions. He got what he needed.
The window was his only option, and he hoped he didn’t have to jump off the ledge that might ruin his suit. He paused by the pane, turning back to the nightstand. Perhaps he could get himself a token to remind him of KGB's deadliest agent.
After getting some souvenirs from her drawer, Nikolai went out through the bedroom window. Thankfully, there was a metal staircase leading to the ground floor and Nikolai bolted for his car parked by the curb.
He thought he had lost her back in the apartment complex. But as he looked over his rearview mirror, he saw another car gaining up on him. At the driver’s seat was his raven-haired almost-lover. And she looked murderous.
Despite the danger and probable death he was in, Nikolai let out a laugh. Oh, how he had gotten in this situation. He supposed he was still fond of her, even if she wanted to kill him.
A shot rang out, and there was a loud sound of bursting tires. Now would be the perfect time to panic.
“Come on, love. Let me go this once,” Nikolai muttered as he tried to keep on driving despite the busted back tire. He was almost near the checkpoint.
Another shot rang out, and the other back tire exploded. Nikolai cursed under his breath. The woman was deadly, indeed. Without having much of a choice, he ditched the car and settled for running instead. The guardhouse by the checkpoint was at least half a kilometer away.
Nikolai risked a glance back, and wished he didn’t. Zoya had also gotten out of the car and was calmly following him, like she had all the time in the world. He finally reached the checkpoint and was immediately stopped by two guards.
“Look, man, I’m American, okay? I know I missed the curfew by an hour but look, I have an American passport,” Nikolai knew he was babbling, but with Zoya Nazyalensky at his tail? It was only normal to talk quickly. “And my crazy ex-girlfriend is out to kill me. Let me pass?”
To his surprise, the guards chuckled. “Damn, that’s rough, buddy.” One of them patted him on the shoulder, and they only took a glance at his passport before they were waving him through.
The moment Nikolai was beyond the barricades, he let out a relieved sigh. He got to live for another day.
“KGB. Let me through.”
Nikolai whirled around to see Zoya’s disheveled yet still deadly presence by the guardhouse, and she was staring right at him even as she spoke to the guards. He leaned over the bridge railing, watching as the guards stopped her from pushing through the barricades.
“Identification, please,” one of the guards said.
He watched in amusement as Zoya tapped around her dress in search of her identification card. Nikolai let out a laugh, and it caught the raven-haired woman’s attention. She looked up just as he produced a card from his vest pocket and waved it in the air.
A shadow crossed her face, and he was sure she was thinking of all the ways to murder him. He’d definitely miss her glare. Particularly her . It wasn’t often that he got to meet someone as cunning and beautiful as Zoya Nazyalensky. He could only hope that she’d remember him.
Just then, his mind suddenly came up with an idea.
Something to remember me by. With another smile, Nikolai teasingly hovered his hand holding her ID card over the railing. He saw Zoya’s eyes widen, her lips moving as if to say something spiteful at him, and it only gave him more reason to go through with his idea.
He flicked the card into the river.
If it was possible for her to look much more murderous, he was sure that her current demeanor would pass as one. He could practically hear her thoughts about wanting to murder him, but Nikolai only gave her a wink, a silent promise to meet her again, before he turned and went on his way.
Until next time, love.