Chapter Text
Ahh~ Nothing like a lazy morning after such a busy night.
That was what Leonid Toptunov thought once he woke up that warm late morning, but decided to keep laying in bed for longer, tired after last night’s deal. But of course, the smell of sweet pancakes and coffee was impossible to ignore for long. So after gathering energy, he finally woke up and got out of bed, going straight to the kitchen.
“Lenya, good morning! I was wondering how the shift was last night since you slept so deeply,” greeted Sasha, giving him a small peck before returning his attention to the pan. “I too decided to stay in bed longer than usual. But well, someone had to make breakfast.”
“Morning, Sashenka,” he slurred, smiling as he still rubbed his eyes before he yawned. “It was a nice shift, but I took time going to my flat first. You know grab some things, make sure everything is fine at home.”
“I got a bit worried, you know? Especially after the number of events that have been happening recently. Look at this,” pointing to the newspaper on the counter. “Last night there was a murder near your place!”
“Oh, right… About that, Sasha,” he said nervously as he fidgeted his hands.
“And before that, like three months ago, there was a guy who ended up with head trauma, near the river. Yet nothing was stolen from him, he was just attacked. And do I need to remind you about what happened before that as well? That old dacha on the outskirts of the nearby town got burned down, with important documentation inside.”
“Sasha… I didn’t hear anything last night, and there were no strange movements or people, so stay calm, please. I wouldn’t move too much around the city if I didn’t know it is safe,” Leonid said, hugging him from behind.
“I-I know, Lenechka, but I can’t help worrying about you. What if- what if they find out? What if they hurt you? I wouldn’t know what to do.”
“And that’s why you’re so dear to me,” he whispered next to his ear. “Everything will be fine, I promise. Now come on, let’s enjoy the amazing breakfast you just made or it will get cold. I really need it after last night’s shift, and so do you.”
As they sat down for a late breakfast, they discussed that event on the main page, among other topics. Akimov could tell there was something wrong with his companion; he was shuffling in his seat, not looking at him directly. He looks as if he were hiding how he felt while trying to appear as if nothing happened yesterday.
I’m stupid, all of this happened near his flat. Of course, he’s going to feel paranoid.
“Sorry, maybe this isn’t the best thing to talk about.”
“It’s alright, Sasha. The thing is that…,” Toptunov started to say before the phone started to ring.
“Hmm, I wonder who could that be,” Sasha wondered as he started to stand up, but his boyfriend was one step away, already rushing to the living room.
“I’ll get it! I’m sure it’s for me,” Leonid exclaimed after gathering his breath and picked up the phone. “Hello? Shura! Yes, I’m at Sasha’s place. Yes, I haven’t forgotten, jeez. At 1 pm then? Ok, see you later!”
“Shura?,” Aleksandr asked once he saw him go to the room instead of the kitchen table.
“Oh, haven’t I told you? Well, you’ll be glad to hear this then. Remember Yuvchenko? Well, we get along now… with some jokes every now and then, but hey, that’s...”
“That’s a step up!,” Sasha finished the sentence for him, a smile on his face. “I was going to tell him to stop with all that excessive bullying. Jokes are fine, but he did step out of the line plenty of times.”
“Yeah, thank goodness that’s no more,” he sighed as he came back, carrying a bag and leaving it on the table, going immediately back to the bedroom to get dressed. “As you may have heard, we’ll meet past midday; he has some questions as some of his numbers don’t add up to our activities. So I offered to meet up to solve any issues regarding it, as you had such a troubled week.”
“Aw, Lenya, that’s kind of you. I’d have totally offered to go, but yeah, this week was quite hard, and well, I too wanted to clean and tidy up a bit-,” but he couldn’t speak anymore. He contained his breathing; his muscles, paralyzed, seemed to tense while his throat closed as he stood up and glanced into the bag. Because curiosity killed the cat, right?
A gun.
And it seemed to be loaded. At least the bunch of bullets beside it gave that impression.
Why on Earth does Leonid, lovely, fragile, scaredy-cat Leonid… have a gun?
Yet it was his voice that brought him back to reality.
“I really wish you could come, Sasha. Maybe next time, so you can see how he has changed.”
“Leonid Fedorovych, could…. could you explain that? ,” Akimov inquired while pointing to the bag; his face all white and his eyes opened with fear, trying to search for an answer in his partner’s face or reaction.
But all there was to see was Toptunov’s widened eyes, but not because he was scared or shy. He was taken aback. Alert, cold, calculating; he had to be, as he had imagined this scenario would happen one day.
Leonid swallowed, closing his eyes as he did; looking even paler than usual, he got close to him, and placed his hands on the table, supporting his weight. A few seconds passed until he looked Sasha in the eye, with a sorrowful look in his eyes and a slightly trembling voice.
“Yes, I-I have acquired a gun recently. At first, I wanted to try it for hunting, you know? It’s much lighter than other weapons, easy to conceal; ideal for my body type, before moving on to something heavier. But then… all these attacks and now murders… I-I just want it to feel safe. Even without the bullets, I can use it to strike, right? You know about this.”
“I do, but why didn’t you tell me?,” Akimov asked, placing a hand on his shoulder, now understanding better the situation at hand.
“I didn’t want you to get too worried for me, Sashenka. You already have too many worries on your back.”
“Lenya, you know you'll always be one of my worries. You know I care for you… but a gun? True, it can be useful for hunting, but…”
“You could teach me how to use it properly, love,” he said suggestively in his ear.
“V-Very well. Now go or this flat won’t clean itself,” and with a kiss, they each went to do their thing: Sasha stayed home and Leonid went to his meeting.
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Pripyat - 13.00 hs
That blazing summer day was quite full of life outside. Families were enjoying themselves; kids were playing with each other, running all around; dogs barking here and there, as they chased a toy their owners’ threw at them. No one suspected a thing as three fellow citizens were all going towards one place, meeting at the entrance of the building. After casually greeting each other, they check both the time and their surroundings.
“Well, here we are. Let’s tell him, so we can get right on to it, shall we?,” commented Yuvchenko, pressing one button in the intercom. “Hey, T. It’s us.”
“You know the apartment. Come in,” a voice answered cryptically through the machine. Aleksandr then turned to his comrades and nodded, prompting them all to go inside. Once they have arrived at the apartment, and after they made sure they were alone on that floor, they knocked 3 times and waited. A knock was then heard from the other side and the door opened slightly with a clicking sound, as steps were heard quickly leaving somewhere else inside.
“Welcome everyone! You made it on time, as always! Come on in, make yourself at home,” the voice said from the kitchen. With that, Ignatenko, Toptunov, and Yuvchenko stepped inside, approaching the source of the voice. They all knew that place well.
“Really, Sitnikov? Why are we meeting here and now?,” asked Yuvchenko, leaning on the doorframe with his arms folded.
“Why? Well,” he smiled and talked in a much calmer way than usual, making the rest take a step back and keep a safe distance. “Because it’s the perfect excuse to meet without suspicion, and because you ALL saw the cover story of today’s issue of Izvestia, right, Toptunov?,” Anatoly glared at his direction, paralyzing him and shocking both Aleksandr and Vasily. Sitnikov was not the type of person to get mad, especially not that easily, making the entire situation even more uncomfortable.
“I-I’m sorry! You must know that I didn’t expect it to end up like this! The silencer didn’t work, the shot wasn’t in sync with a passing truck because it made a sudden stop, a-and well… someone, of course, had to wake up and check outside!,” Leonid said in a fast, loud whisper, managing to hold his superior’s gaze, as he got closer to him.
“ You better be sorry, ” Anatoly muttered dangerously. “ And you better make sure this never happens again, because… ”
“… There’ll be no next time,” concluded the blond man, noticeably trembling and trying to breathe deeply.
“Good,” and with that, he went back to his usual self, relieving both Aleksandr and Vasily. Leonid was still visibly shaken, pale as a ghost.“With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy the meal, because we have a lot of work to do afterwards. We are not going to let those bastards get away with it.”
And like that, the four of them proceeded to begin their meeting, foreign to the outside world, especially what was happening only a few blocks away.
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After spending most of the afternoon at their weekly tedious and extenuating meeting, Leonid was finally on the way back home, ready for a good rest before calling Sasha like every other night when they were each at their own place. Searching the keys to his apartment, he believed that despite the minor throwback from last night, everything was going well and according to the plan.
Or that’s what Leonid thought when he heard a sudden noise from inside his home just when he was about to open.
Someone was inside.
Could it be that he was discovered? Who else might know about him and rummage his stuff, trying to find a way to foil him and his comrades’ plans. It had to be them, they must have found out and they were going to take him out as soon as he opened that single door, the only thing keeping him alive.
Fine then. They can take him out, but the rest must be kept safe, so they could continue with the plan until it gets fulfilled. This way, no one else will have to suffer from this. Not even his friends, nor the innocent citizens from that small, ever-growing city.
But they didn’t know that fragile-looking Leonid was keen at being stealthy, always had his gun ready to strike… or shoot if things went south. He pulled it out and loaded it, his index finger next to the trigger, and he opened the door as usual.
Everything was quiet, with no lights on. The room, barely illuminated by the streetlights, seemed to be in order, minus the ominous shape of a person against his balcony, seemingly staring back at him, but without making any movement.
The entire atmosphere was strange; it wasn’t like any other job he had to do previously. In fact, this felt… like a mistake. As if that person was someone normal. Someone familiar. Someone…
“So you will shoot me as well then?,” replied a voice all too familiar to him.
Horrified, Toptunov stopped aiming, careful not to drop the gun, and gathered himself before speaking, dumbfounded as he was.
“No… Why?! W-What are you doing here?!,” he cried.
This simply couldn’t be happening, it just had to be a nightmare. One worse than getting on the bad side of Sitnikov if he ever failed him again.
“This might be your apartment, but I should ask you the same… Lenya,” he said as he took a step forward, finally showing himself.
There was no simple way out of this.
Sasha has found him out.