Red, White, and Blue Chapter 3 by akhusky

Alexei Pavlov had been waiting in a cold, empty cell for what had seemed like hours. He was exhausted, what had seemed like an unreasonably short Monday had been distorted into the longest day of his life, a veritable hell that would not end. He looked almost as bad as he felt, with bruises and cuts on his face and chest from when he had been tackled to the ground by mysterious operatives from a group called H.U.R.T., and red marks stained his wrists from where the zipcuffs had been applied. His black suit had been torn in several places, and he lost his mask a while back. He had been provided with a gray t-shirt and camo fatigue-type pants, which he gladly changed into. He thought about how that day had just been too much, and how he wanted to go home. Then he remembered he had no home to go back to. Before Alex could really start wallowing in his sorrows though, the door to his cell opened and the black cat from before, now out of his combat uniform and wearing just the same t-shirt and pants Alex currently wore, motioned for Alex to come out. The cat asked Alex if he needed to cuff him again, and Alex said no, honestly believing that compliance was the best option here.

Alexei and the black cat journeyed throughout the maze of halls that appeared to be the headquarters of H.U.R.T., presumably toward the office of the "boss" the cat had mentioned earlier. His surroundings all seemed blurred as they passed what looked like a secretary's desk and came to a solid wooden door. Alex noticed a light above the door turn from red to green, heard a click, and saw the door budge slightly. The black cat pulled open the door, and gestured for Alex to take a seat on the near side of a desk at the back of the room. Alex sat down in the comfortable chair as the cat closed the door and took his spot on a seat next to it. The chair opposite the desk from Alexei spun around, revealing a well-built and serious-looking Rottweiler. The Rottweiler spoke first, "Alexei Pavlov?" Alex shook his head in affirmation. The dog then extended a paw and introduced himself as David Mansfield, director of H.U.R.T. Alex shook the paw, and Mansfield declared that they should get down to business.

"You most likely have many questions regarding the fate of your father, and the ensuing conflict," Mansfield began, "and I will try to answer them through the course of this briefing. First of all, we are horribly sorry about Ant- ah, your father. He helped our organization a lot over the years, and together we've made the world a safer place, one step at a time. We believe his murder was orchestrated by one Igor Kossenko, a Russian wolf with a nasty reputation." Mansfield showed a picture of Kossenko to Alexei. He appeared to be a stark white wolf, with a scar that ran from the bottom of his right cheek to the tip of his snout. Mansfield carried on, "Kossenko has been known to desire control over a worldwide mafia, and your father was a threat to his power. We can also deduce that he thought killing him would grant access to you."

"Ok, stop there," Alexei interjected, "Why is this Kossenko guy concerned about me anyway?" "Are you kidding me?" asked Mansfield, "You single-handedly subdued half a team that consisted of ex-SEALs, rangers, and SWAT and JTF2 operators, at age seventeen no less, and you seriously don't know why a power-hungry megalomaniac would want you on his team?" "SEALs? JTF2?! You've completely lost me now, what are you talking about?" asked Alexei. Mansfield showed signs of confusion on his face as well, "You mean your father didn't tell you about H.U.R.T.?" Alexei, with an exasperated look on his face, said, "Um, no. I'd never even heard of it until I found the note in my drawer earlier tonight." Jesus, Anton, mumbled Mansfield under his breath.

"Alright then, if you don't know who we are, I can definitely understand why you're confused right now. Welcome to H.U.R.T., the High-priority Urgent Response Task force. We're a special forces conglomerate, if you will, that was formed in the 90's as a compromise between the United States and Canada. The organizations I mentioned before are our primary "feeder" organizations, where operatives come from before they are assigned to our unit. Maybe assign isn't the best word, because everyone here volunteered for the job, but I digress. The operators that come to H.U.R.T. are the best of the best, and we take the missions that are considered the most important or dangerous. Every member of the unit has a separate cover, no one can directly claim membership outside of this building or company of other members. Our operations don't get media coverage, and our members don't get Medals of Honor, and we like to keep it that way, for the good of the planet. Your father supplied us with information on many of our targets and objectives, and though we offered to let him join us outright, he refused, claiming the family was more important than money or a government organization. Unfortunately that turned out to be the death of him. We tried to make it to your residence as soon as we heard there might be an attack, but we were too late. Has that clarified anything?"

Alexei, still trying to process everything, paused, and then spoke, "Yes, I think so. So, you're saying my dad helped you guys with your assignments, this Kossenko person found out he was helping the government, offed him, but wants me because he thinks I'm some kind of assassin prodigy that he can use as an enforcer of some kind?" "Yes, exactly," Mansfield assented. Alexei was still doubtful, "What proof do you have of any of this?" The Rottweiler pulled out a short stack of papers from under his desk, informing Alex that they were personal written communications between him and Anton, and that the two were close friends for a long time. Alex could recognize his father's handwriting from anywhere, and he could tell from the tones and the dry sense of humor used in the letters that Anton definitely wrote them. The ultra-personal evidence immediately convinced Alexei that he was in the right place, as opposed to winding up as Kossenko's bitch.

"So, you've got me. Dad worked with you. What do you want me to do?" Alexei questioned solemnly. Mansfield sighed, looked Alex in the eyes and tried to explain H.U.R.T.'s goal for Alexei, "Look, Alexei, first off, we're not going to force you into anything. Period. What we would like, however, is for you to join us, and help us catch this bastard." "What if I decline?" asked Alex. "We can't just leave you alone in Washington; Kossenko would catch up with you too fast. Though we could live without you being an ally, we couldn't take the chance of you being an enemy. We would have to move you into hiding, maybe across or even out of the country. You wouldn't have to take a side, but you would have to stay where Kossenko couldn't get to you," Mansfield explained. Alex needed only a little more information before he could make his decision, "What exactly would joining entail?" Mansfield smiled slightly, explaining that Alex already had much of the skills he would need as a member, and he would only need a couple sessions of training before he could become an active operator, like any other member of H.U.R.T.

Alexei considered his options. Choice A was to turn his shattered life into a thoroughly disintegrated one by moving away from everyone he knew and loved and going into indefinite hiding, while Choice B involved being selected to join an organization made up of elite soldiers of the caliber Alex had only dreamed of being associated with, and getting the opportunity to avenge his father and straighten out some of the worst problems plaguing the world. Alex knew his answer almost before he started thinking about it. He addressed Mansfield, succinctly uttering, "Where do I sign?" Mansfield grinned, "You don't have to sign anywhere. Welcome to your new family."

Alexei, thinking he knew where the briefing was headed, inquired, "So I'm assuming my first assignment or whatever is to take out Kossenko?" "Eh... Not exactly," Mansfield started, "if getting him was that easy, trust us, he'd be six feet under right now. We need to start lower on the totem pole, so to speak. You see, Kossenko's behind everything, but he neither ordered the specific hit on your father, nor executed it as far as we know, so our first priority right now is to find out who did. That's more of a job for our intelligence branch though, so in the meantime you'll be training with our top operational specialist, Bronco Shadowstep. If for some reason you do find a lead to the identities of the aforementioned offenders, however, feel free to come forward with this information." Alex nodded, "That makes sense. Bronco Shadowstep, huh? I assume he's a horse, then." "Aaaaaaaaannnnnd you'd be wrong," Mansfield chuckled, "Bronco, say hello to Mr. Pavlov." The black cat at the other side of the room waved and said, "Top of the mornin' to ya." Mansfield snickered, jesting, "This guy..." Alexei cursed the world as he found he had something else strange to process, "So. You're a cat. Named Bronco." "Yep, crazy, huh?" answered Shadowstep with a smirk. "That's a lot to live up to," commented Pavlov. Mansfield added, "You know, I've never really thought about it, but I guess it kind of is..." Here Bronco openly laughed and stated that he did his best to.

Alex expressed that he was already beginning to like his new mentor, and Mansfield stated that this was a good thing, because Pavlov would also be living with Bronco and his family. Upon seeing the husky's startled face, Mansfield expounded, "What? We couldn't send you out to live by yourself, so we figured we might as well put the -hopefully- future best up with the current best. Also, before you ask, yes, we have all your junk from your apartment, and it's already in a room for you at the Shadowstep residence." "Can I ask why you already had my stuff ready there if you weren't certain I was going to join?" Alex questioned the Rottweiler.

"We were pretty certain you would."

"How?"

"Call it a hunch."

"What are you going to do about dad's body?"

"We've already taken care of it, don't worry. He is to be cremated as he requested."

"...Ok... Um, what time is it exactly?"

"Almost 1:00 A.M. We've already contacted the superintendent of your school district (and your football coaches, so your starting job wouldn't be affected) and told them you would not be attending school tomorrow, or today rather, so you can rest up. You've had a helluva day."

"You can do that? Just like that? Say 'Alexei Pavlov isn't going today' and then just be done with it?"

"Mentioning national security usually helps, but essentially, yeah."

"So can H.U.R.T. literally do anything?"

"Mostly."

"I doubt it."

"Really?"

"Yeah. This oughta prove it one way or the other. I'm sure every organization like this has an armory of state of the art weapons the size of the Vatican, so I'll skip arms entirely. Do you have... a SLURPEE machine? Not just a generic one, a legit SLURPEE machine."

"Yes. In the break room."

"The hell? Why do you have a break room? Or a SLURPEE machine for that matter?"

"Because we're a massively overfunded international government organization, and we can."

"Holy. Balls."

Mansfield laughed at the exchange then proceeded to inform Alex that Shadowstep still had things to finish at the HQ, and that it would be an hour or two before they left. Alex was once again presented with two options with which he could spend his time. As Mansfield put it, "You've had a long day, and we do have a number of sleeping areas throughout the building if you want to catch up on some rest early. Alternatively, you can take a tour of your new "office", guided by my personal secretary Elise McAlester. She'll show you the finer points of our establishment, and it will get her out of her desk for a while. Just a word to the wise, though, if you go with Elise, be extremely careful." Alexei shot Mansfield a puzzled look. "She's Australian," Mansfield explained. Alex signaled his understanding as Mansfield dismissed the meeting.

As Alexei moved toward the door to leave Mansfield's office, he was definitely leaning toward sleeping. The night had been almost unbearable, and he felt dead on his feet. Alex wasn't ever really a big fan of tours to begin with, and he hadn't remembered seeing a secretary when he came in, but then again, he couldn't remember seeing anything really. Everything had just been a blur. Eh, she's probably just some pruny old Moneypenny that would explain the place like a bad geography teacher, Alex thought to himself. Bronco opened the large wooden door, and before Alexei could tell him his intent to hit the sack, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly. "Is that...?" Alexei stammered out quietly to Bronco. The black cat grinned and nodded in affirmation. Alexei proceeded to tell Shadowstep that he'd have all day to rest, and that he shouldn't let a good tour offer go to waste. Bronco called out to the secretary, "Hey Elise! We got one ticket for the grand tour!" The dingo alighted from her chair, saying some choice words at the cat in an impenetrable Australian accent until she turned toward Alex, speaking, "Oh. Oh hello, there." Alex stood uncomfortably as he saw and felt her eyes look him over.

Not that he felt uncomfortable for long. Elise looked to be in her early twenties, very blond, and had light tan fur. Her long hair often fell in front of her left eye and tumbled down her shoulders, giving her a coy sort of attractiveness. Alexei also couldn't help but notice she had a quite developed chest, and wore a bright red shirt that showed so much of it, he couldn't imagine it would be allowed in any company or organization with a philosophy less "Aw, fuck it" based than H.U.R.T.'s. Alex noticed a necklace that culminated in a gold heart around her neck, and she completed the image with a black skirt that didn't go quite halfway to the knees of her long, toned legs. Alex collected every fiber of his fading being and commanded himself not to stare anywhere. Holy shit, thought Pavlov, she's like Australian Natalya.

"Elise McAlester," the dingo introduced herself, extending a paw, and standing almost as tall as Alexei in her heels. "Alexei Pavlov," the husky responded, firmly taking Elise's hand. He briefly contemplated pulling a cliché move and kissing her paw, but with consideration to his environment, he doubted he'd survive the maneuver. After letting go of Alexei's paw, Elise smiled and rhetorically asked, "Shall we get started, then?" As Alex nodded his assent, he heard a voice from the corner that he associated with Bronco Shadowstep calling, "You kids have fun now!" Elise visibly rolled her eyes as she led Alex to an elevator. Upon entering, Elise pressed a button that read B10 at the bottom of the panel, remarking that she liked to start from the bottom and work her way up. Yeah, I bet you do, laughed Alexei inwardly, unsure if the innuendo was intended or not.

As the elevator descended to the bottom of the extensive basement, Elise struck up conversation, "So, where do you come from?" "What do you mean?" asked Alex. "Who were you with before coming to H.U.R.T.? Rangers? Marines? With a name like Pavlov... FSB perhaps? Wouldn't think we'd recruit in Russia but you never know," expounded the dingo. "I'm not ex-special forces," started Alex, "I worked in my father's mafia as an assassin, hitman, enforcer, whatever you want to call it. My father, Anton, was killed, and our apartment was trashed, and then I went to this house, there was a fight, and I got picked up by H.U.R.T. Didn't even know what it was until Mansfield offered me the gig."

"When was all this?" Elise asked, small signs of incredulity beginning to show on her face. "In the span of the past few hours," Alexei stated wearily. The elevator doors opened, and Elise led Alex out into a hallway, questioning if he was tired at all. Alexei lied that days of football practice combined with his father's training had made him physically able to cope, and that he was just a little mentally tired. He also tacked on that he couldn't pass up a walk with a pretty dingo, and he felt mixed emotions after saying this. He was proud because he hadn't stammered over himself and looked like a scrub like he did with the cat at school, but was also upset with himself because he actually just said that to a female who could probably easily kill him right now. Elise crossed her arms, "Save it. I've heard it all before, and I bounced around with military types here long enough. I'm done with it. You said football, though? You're still in school then?" Alexei thought back to the old Just for Males fur coloring commercials where obnoxious basketball commentators would shout "Rejected!" at unsuccessful males. "Yeah, I'm a Junior. And I don't like to consider myself a 'military' type, either," Alex frowned. "That's a shame then, don't know how much you'll like our first stop," Elise said as they came to a door. She used a keypad that opened the door and said, "Welcome to the armory."

The door was apparently a gateway into Alexei's version of heaven, an expanse of racks and shelves with every type of offensive weaponry he had ever imagined, and some he hadn't. "I'm assuming you want to take a look around," Elise noted, "just don't drool on anything." "Hey, that was uncalled for," said Alexei. The dingo rolled her eyes, "Hardly." "Assault rifles, machine guns, and rocket launchers, oh my," Alex said, parodying the movie The Wizard of Oz. He came across a large, shiny rifle that he recognized immediately from overdosing on Call of Duty, and he took it off the rack. "M82? Nice," he said to show off his knowledge of weaponry. "It is nice. It's just not an M82," Elise corrected him, "It's an M107. Nice try though." Alex, now visibly embarrassed, racked the weapon and decided he'd just move on when Elise called his attention to another rack. She pulled out a different weapon, which she called the SR-98. "You can't always rely on brute force and bullet size, especially in this profession," she began, "I for one prefer something more compact, lightweight, and, well, not American." "Oh. What a surprise. She's not just a secretary," Alex commented sarcastically, "So are you like a sniper specialist or what?" "I wish," she said, putting away the rifle, "but Mansfield won't allow me to go on operations, even though I've set records in the firing range." "That's both unfortunate and kind of impractical really. Why won't he let you fight?" "Because I was sent here simply to be a secretary. My parents were associates of H.U.R.T., and they wanted to keep me out of actual violence, but still put me into the organization. I got here when I started university, at Georgetown, and have been trying to convince Mansfield to put me out into the field ever since. You said you were a Junior? Me too, I guess, though it's impossible to balance study with work like this. Where do you go?"

They started to leave the armory, and Alexei replied, "Um... I'm actually a junior in high school..." Elise practically doubled over in shock at that statement, "You're WHAT?! You've got to be what, seventeen? And you did that to Team 4? I've been here for a few years, and I never thought we'd be picking up teenagers, let alone claiming they're among the best we've got. What exactly did you do for the mafia, Alexei?" "Targeted killings, mostly. In the time I officially became a killer, I had 47 assignments. Never failed, never detected." "That's mad. How'd you do it?" "I don't think I'll ever be certain."

The stunned dingo led Alexei through the highlights of the H.U.R.T. base, including the firing range, which had multiple courses that could be transformed to represent specific mission parameters. This functioned as the primary training and practice ground for H.U.R.T. operatives. As they walked through the immense facility Elise began to soften up to Alex, her doubtful and isolationist exterior falling away piece by piece as she talked to the surprisingly experienced, yet beleaguered husky. Elise wondered what was going through Alexei's head right now, seeing as he's experiencing all this for the first time on a tired mind. She was also beginning to trust him a little, and wondered if he would see her as a friend. Alexei thought if he could make friends with Elise, she could totally buy him beer.

Nearing the end of their excursion, they got off on the tenth floor (the H.U.R.T. building was built ten floors above ground and ten below), and Elise showed Alex the top floor break room. She was sufficiently confused when she could have sworn she heard Alex mumble under his breath, "They do have a fucking SLURPEE machine." Disregarding this, she decided to take him to an "extra" spot where she could test his sincerity to a point. Alex followed her to a stairwell which took them up to the roof of the building. It was still the early morning hours, so visibility was poor, but he could tell that on a good day, the vista was probably remarkable, as the roof provided an excellent vantage point overlooking Washington. Elise walked toward a railing at the edge of the building and leaned on it. Alex followed cautiously, unsure if he was safe or if she was going to try to push him off the building. He soon took a spot next to her at the railing, where she explained was the only place in the building where she could get away from everything and just relax. Alex agreed that it was peaceful, and asked her why she was still working at 2 A.M. to begin with. She explained that she worked odd hours, and that she had trouble finding any free time.

She added that most people at H.U.R.T. didn't take her seriously, and viewed her almost as half a person in comparison to themselves. Alex asked jokingly if a change in wardrobe could help solve that problem, and she told him she dressed like that as a statement to others that she didn't care what they thought of her. Elise hung her head over the railing slightly and admitted, "I don't really have a lot of friends here." Alex decided to take a chance here, "I know you have at least one." This was a response Elise was unused to hearing. She stared off into the inky blackness of the sky in disbelief; he sounded like he actually cared.

Alex was comfortable standing out in the cold night; his fur was made for far worse conditions. He then remembered dingoes were NOT built for cold weather, and looking over at Elise, now shivering and hugging herself, noticed that her outfit wasn't helping much. "You're cold," Alex declared. Elise questioned, "How are you not?" Alex pointed at himself and simply said, "Husky." "Oh... Right, nevermind..." spoke Elise. Alexei, gaining some confidence, yet still ready to cover vital areas such as his throat and crotch in case of a wrong move, extended an arm, and commented with a smile that he probably had enough fur for both of them. He had defied Elise's expectations so much by this point that she was kind of shell-shocked, and thinking of no better option shuffled closer to Alex as he closed his arm around her. Wow, Alex, Pavlov thought, how'd you pull this one off? Maybe I should try making passes at girls while sleep deprived more often. Elise slid her arms around her makeshift heater's torso, and Alex deliberated over making a move on her, but second guessed himself quickly, not looking to press his luck, especially while they were still standing a hundred feet off the ground. Instead, feeling his tiredness come back to him, he suggested they return back to where they started, as Shadowstep was probably ready and he didn't want to keep his new mentor waiting.

As they rode the elevator down, Elise expressed confidence in Alexei's potential as an operative. When he asked why, she explained, "You have tremendous focus. I can tell because you're one of the few people I can claim to have walked around with for over an hour and not caught staring at my tits. After our little roof experience, I think I can also assume you're not gay, so that's ruled out." Alex raised an eyebrow as the elevator neared the ground floor, and Elise continued, "As I said, I don't talk to a lot of people here anymore, so if you could... I don't know... just stop by whenever you're around, that'd be nice." Alex smiled tiredly, "I can do that."

They walked together down the last little strip before reaching the door that housed Elise's and Mansfield's offices, and upon entering they found an agitated black cat who exclaimed, "Jesus Christ! It's about time! Where've y'all been?" He then spied the uncharacteristic smiles on their faces, and their messed up fur and clothing. One last look from Elise to Alexei involving fluttering eyelashes as the secretary sat down at her desk sealed it for Bronco, and he came to his own conclusions. Holy shit, son. I don't even want to know how you managed that, Shadowstep thought to himself. The cat led Alexei down to his SUV in the basement motor pool, and once they were in the car and were driving to his house in the suburbs, he asked the husky what the hell had happened.

Pavlov recounted the highlights of the tour for Shadowstep, and the cat now seemed to be getting a clearer picture of what actually happened.

"So you're saying y'all looked all disheveled because of the wind on the roof?"

"Yes, exactly."

"And you two looked at each other like loons because?"

"We had both found a friend at H.U.R.T."

"You're positive you did not have sex with Elise?"

"Absolutely. I would know."

"I guess so. I do have one question though. If you had her like that, why didn't you? I mean come on, she was right there."

Alex was really starting to like this guy. "She's Australian. I didn't want my hopefully long and illustrious career to end embarrassingly prematurely because I had been kicked off a building following a failed romantic move."

"I see. You realize you'll never reach the top of somewhere like H.U.R.T. if you play 'better safe than sorry' all the time right?"

"I do now."

"You know, even if you didn't go as far with her as I thought you did, Elise has maintained her policy on no relationships with H.U.R.T. members successfully for over a year. You crushed that in two hours. Maybe I should send you to our budding espionage division; they can use someone with natural charm like that."

Alexei laughed out loud, "Natural charm? There's something that doesn't apply to me at all. I was just lucky."

"Whatever you say, son."

Alex proceeded to ask Shadowstep about his family, which he saw as important information if he was to be living with them indefinitely. Bronco said that his family consisted of himself, his wife Mandy, his 14-year old daughter Jessica, and his 10-year old son Nathan. He said they would definitely be ok with having someone like him stay at the house, and his room would be quite spacious. Upon their arrival at the house in the very nice suburb just out of town, Alex stared in wonder at it. Compared to his apartment, this place was a mansion. Actually, compared to a lot of homes, this place was a mansion. "H.U.R.T. pays well," Shadowstep commented. "Clearly," Alex commented, "Do I get paid like this?" "Not quite this much as a rook, but you'll receive a substantial paycheck for your contributions, yes."

They quietly stepped into the house, and Bronco pointed Alexei's upstairs room to him. Alex went in and closed the door. Upon examination of the room, he found that, indeed, all his possessions were here, including his gaming, musical, and athletic equipment. It was bigger than anything he was used to, as it even had a couch in front of a good-looking TV off to the right side of his bed. At the left side of the room, he noticed he had his own full bathroom, which was an enormous plus. As Pavlov collapsed on his new bed, he took solace in the fact that even though his life had been turned upside-down, he had landed in extreme comfort.

*****

Alex was rudely awakened to the sound of an alarm clock blaring in his ear. It was already Saturday, the past week picking up speed again since Monday night. He was beginning to be able to cope with his loss, although he had nearly slipped when Kurt confronted him on Wednesday and told him he knew something was wrong. Alexei trusted Kurt on everything, and he was the only one of his friends to know his true "profession". At one point during the day, Alex and Kurt had talked privately, and Pavlov told the truly massive wolf (they thought he had stopped growing before, but it turned out he hadn't. He's 270 pounds now. Surprise!) all that happened with his father and H.U.R.T., and Kurt claimed in disbelief that that was beyond crazy. He said he still believed him though, because there was no way he could make all that up.

Alex struggled out of bed, as last night had been another road game, and yet another loss, 10-3. Shadowstep had gone to the game himself, and said he wanted to throw something at the offense. Pavlov didn't even keep track of his stats for this one; he was too excited for today. Today he began his official training to become active in H.U.R.T. and finally get out there and fight. He got dressed and ate faster than he ever thought he would before noon on a Saturday morning, and could barely contain himself in Bronco's SUV on the way to H.U.R.T. HQ. Shadowstep briefly explained what his regimen today would include: familiarization with weapons, and teamwork exercises. He said since Pavlov was also a prime candidate, he would already be given a chance at commanding a squad.

As the SUV pulled into the underground garage, Alex mentally prepared himself for his trials ahead. He knew that it was probably make it or break it today, and he had to prove to the others that he wasn't an incompetent kid and that he could be a capable operative. Bronco and Alexei walked to the elevator for the first time for the husky since Tuesday morning, and upon entering it, he hesitated and looked at the ground floor button, which would lead to the offices, instead of the one for the firing range. Seemingly reading his mind, Bronco said, "Don't even think about it. Personal life comes after training," and directed the elevator to the training ground.

At the training ground, Alexei found H.U.R.T.'s total on-station combat contingent in training, and Bronco took him to the locker room to get his equipment straightened out. The moderately heavy Kevlar that he now wore was much more cumbersome than what he was used to, and he now found that he had slots and pockets for things he didn't even know existed. He asked Bronco whether there was any particular reason why his uniform was patterned in desert camouflage, and Shadowstep explained that the simulations he'd be running today would take place in a mock desert environment. Pavlov noticed his belt had two holsters for pistols on it, and he asked if this was normal. "It most definitely isn't, but I didn't think I'd need to train you at all on handling these," Bronco said as he opened a small box and pulled out Alexei's own two shiny Glock 19 pistols and handed them to him. Alexei holstered his sidearms and put on the last piece of equipment, his helmet. This did it for him. Being an actual soldier sucked; moving was just too goddamn hard.

With his gear now ready, Pavlov followed Bronco out to the actual range, where he was introduced to the weapon he'd be given for the day. Bronco explained that though H.U.R.T. maintained an enormous armory, as a new recruit Pavlov would be given his equipment on the decisions of higher-ups, and once he gained more experience, he'd be more free to choose what he liked. The philosophy made sense; why risk all the money of expensive equipment on an unproven operator? Alex met his gun, a C8SFW, and questioned why they used Canadian weapons. Shadowstep sighed, "Mansfield's a Canuck, so he fills our armory with Canuck weapons. I don't like it much either."

Bronco gave Alex some quick pointers on the use of the carbine, and promptly told him that he had half an hour to practice. WHAT? That's it? I'm totally screwed, thought Alex, who had never fired a rifle before. Throwing caution to the wind, Alexei fired a magazine from the weapon downrange. Good news: he hit a couple targets. Bad news: he missed a lot. He heard some of the snickers coming from the other members. They called him a waste of space and wondered why Mansfield liked this guy so much. Alex had assumed the whole organization was against his existence when one sole soldier felt for him and went out to help him. Well, technically, two stepped up, but the first one dragged the other into it. Pavlov instantly recognized his helper; he was the Doberman from the house, and his buddy was a cheetah that he thought he also remembered as being part of that team.

The Doberman introduced himself as Kristoff Zimmerman, a former member of JTF-2, and a veteran member of H.U.R.T., and the cheetah was Maynard Carlisle, a decorated ranger. Zimmerman explained that Alexei was at a tremendous disadvantage, because all the other operatives already knew how to use all kinds of equipment before they got there. Kristoff stated that he felt bad for Pavlov because he had read his file, and briefly seen him in action, and he knew how potent of a fighter he was and thought it was unjust that he would be singled out for lack of rifle training. Zimmerman and Carlisle corrected many of the basic mistakes he was making, and Pavlov saw his accuracy improving dramatically. He was still by no means perfect, but under the two veterans' tutelage, he became at least passable. Most surprising to Alexei was the amount of respect Kristoff and Maynard showed him, and he was delighted he had at least two people that didn't want him to go die in a hole on his side.

Shadowstep returned as promised 30 minutes after he left, and he immediately asked to see an examination of Pavlov's expertise. Zimmerman and Carlisle looked at each other with worried expressions. Their intimate knowledge of small arms combined with Alexei's natural talent had already made him good in record time, they just didn't think he was that good. Nevertheless, Alex took up his position, and took the test, which involved simply shooting targets that popped up on the range. Pavlov relished in the pressure, and fed of both it and his coaching, and inexplicably passed comfortably. The members of H.U.R.T. were stunned. They expected him to fail miserably, and their laughter died prematurely. Bronco commended Alexei on a decent showing, but also stated that he had seen better. Kristoff asked Bronco if he knew Alex had never shot a rifle before. The black cat's expression told all. Shadowstep practically freaked out, "If I had known that, I wouldn't have thrown you in there so early! Why didn't you say anything?" "Because I need to finish this as soon as possible," Alexei said grimly. Some of the soldiers were still unimpressed, and interrogated Shadowstep as to what skills the seventeen year old could possibly have. On a similar note, Maynard inquired as to why he had to pistols. Shadowstep announced a demonstration, and told Alexei to take a similar test with his Glocks. He drew the weapons and fired bursts into every target, not missing a single one, or a beat.

With the soldiers in shock, Alexei asked Bronco if he was still running a course today. Bronco replied, "Aw, to hell with it. We'll give it a shot." Taking Alex to the start of the course, Shadowstep explained that it was made up to look like a mock Afghan town, and that Alex would simply have to get from the start to the finish, preferably alive. His enemies were normal targets that would pop out at different points throughout the course, and had laser projectors attached to them. Each vest in the possession of H.U.R.T. had a satellite monitoring chip so an operative would be less likely to go off the radar during a mission, and the laser would activate something in the chip that would recognize how many times the wearer had been hit. As Alex switched out his regular weapons for ones that used a laser beam (bullets might strike the projectors on the targets, and replacing them was an annoyance for the budget, so the targets had sensors as well) and walked to the entrance of the course, he realized the sheer size of the range. It was about three stories high, and he didn't even want to know how far it stretched. He soon heard a buzz, and gathered his focus as he went in to the makeshift city.

His first steps in were very quiet. Everything was very quiet. Alexei wasn't stupid; he knew this was a bad sign. The path to where he was going was a pretty straight shot, so he couldn't get lost. With this in mind, he concentrated completely on being on the lookout for targets as he brought his weapon to bear. He stayed off the main path, going behind buildings and using alleys for cover. The passageway he was in led to a dead end, and reluctantly Pavlov returned to the main path, which now opened into an open plaza surrounded by small buildings. He noticed a door to his right was open, but no target came out. As he tentatively set foot in the plaza, Alex shouted a few four-letter words as seven targets came out of the surrounding buildings. He rapidly dropped into cover in the open building, and successfully removed four of the targets by popping in and out of cover. With all the adversaries he could reach eliminated, Pavlov hugged the outside wall of the building and hit two more, and finished by swinging around the corner into the plaza and finishing the last one.

Advancing, he noticed a conspicuously placed car in the road. Assuming it was for cover for an impending ambush, he aimed his carbine at a house on a right turn in the road ahead. He almost missed the enemy that rose up from behind the car. He shot that target, but was still forced to take cover behind the car when he was fired upon by something he couldn't really see on the second floor of the house ahead. Behind the car, he reloaded his carbine (he was forced to change magazines when he had fired enough times to use up a clip to simulate real-world conditions) and prepared to take on what he assumed was a sniper. He then reprimanded himself for assuming anything, based on what happened last time. He peeked around the car, and waited for the replication muzzle flash once the sniper fired. Using this as a guide, he fired two quick bursts into the window, removing another target.

Alex eased carefully forward and around the turn, as there were no back roads here. As soon as he turned the corner, a target popped out from a doorway. They're like fucking temple guards, Alex thought as he put a couple bullets into the enemy. He walked a little further and came to another plaza, this one with some form of structure in the middle. Ready for an ambush now, Alex found another open doorway, and he quickly stepped into and out of the plaza to set off the attackers. Scrambling back to the doorway, Alex found there was a guest inside his cover. His guest had a laser projector. "Sonnofamuthafuckinbitch," Alex muttered as he shot the target and went inside. When he went to use his tried and true strategy on the plaza, he noticed a target come out from a doorway across from him. After dealing with this one, he turned again to the plaza, eliminating several targets, and hugged the wall and used the corner to take out the others as before. He checked the corner of the structure in the middle, and found this was for good reason, as a target waited for him behind it. After removing the threat, Alex proceeded into the last area, which looked like a kind of market.

He slowly and carefully moved through the stalls, watching for any movement. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the popping of a target, and quickly turned and dealt with it, instinctively pulling a 180 to get another. Reloading his weapon, he continued a few more feet, taking out a couple hidden targets. He could now see the end of the course, and he tried to not let this get to him. Right as he was about to leave, targets appeared on either side of him. He dropped to the ground, let go of the carbine, and pulled out his pistols, taking down both simultaneously. He holstered them, picked up his rifle and walked through the finish, pleased with his spectacular finale.

Alexei took the long walk to get back to the entrance of the firing range, where the others were waiting. The first words he heard from Shadowstep were, "Nice job Pavlov, you only died seven times." "Not too good...," Alex sighed. "Actually," Bronco corrected, "It is pretty good. Most die about ten times on their first try solo, and they're trained military. Only three people, including myself, have made it through unscathed."

"Oh. Well that's not so bad then."

"Not at all. What we try to instill here is the difficulty of going it alone. The next step is to show how much easier it gets when you have a team behind you. Today, Mr. Pavlov, you have the ability to choose and lead your own team through a second go. The course will be the same, but the targets will be in different spots. You may select your team from any on-station H.U.R.T. staff (though I'd advise against one of the janitors) with the exception of myself or Mansfield. Recommended team here is three other members, one of which should be a long-range specialist, for those pesky, pesky snipers."

"Well that's easy," Alexei began, "I have to pick the people I can trust. Zimmerman and Carlisle." The Doberman and cheetah walked up to the husky, smiling and patting him on the shoulder. They had a more than fair amount of confidence in Alexei's abilities now. As for the last member, Pavlov was in a bit of a bind. He looked over the specialists in front of him, and none of them looked too willing to help him out. He needed to pick one soon though, he couldn't just stand there forever. The only problem was he didn't know any "long-range specialists". He felt his ear twitch as he heard an extremely faint clicking that sounded like it came from the hall outside. The corners of his mouth turned slightly upwards. "You said ANY on-station member of H.U.R.T.?" he asked Shadowstep. "Yes...?" the confused cat responded. A shrewd grin formed on Alexei's face. He hadn't felt this smart since he destroyed Dex in chess a month ago, hustling the sucker out of ten bucks and a bottle of Mountain Dew. The clicking got somewhat louder, and Bronco's eyes shot wide open as he came to a revelation. "Oh, for the love of...," he muttered, descending into a facepalm. The sound reached its loudest point as its manufacturer passed the open door of the range. Alexei Pavlov loudly and clearly uttered one simple word, "Elise."

The clicking stopped. All eyes turned on Alex, still grinning broadly. "Um. What?" Zimmerman asked Alex. "I want Elise," he sort of clarified. Carlisle was about ready to smack the husky, "Yeah? Me too. What does that have to do with picking a sniper?" "Because I want her to be the sniper, ya' scrub," Alex stated. Shadowstep regained his composure a little, "Pavlov, I can't believe you actually just did that. But, alas, McAlester: You've been nominated. You can take it or leave it, it's your call." The blond dingo needed little time to think. She was sure her new friend had something up his sleeve. "Of course I'll do it," she responded, staring down the now slightly uncomfortable husky.

Shadowstep let out a sigh, "Okay, you're in. You know how to get basic equipment on. Hit the locker room. Pavlov, you're going with her. Explain the terms of the exercise." Alex managed to let out some sort of alien mumbling noise that sounded like "Eeerlluhhhhwhaa?" but meant "What a strange thing to say. The object of the exercise is very simple and can be explained in about two sentences, why must I go into an awkward locker room where an attractive woman is going to be taking her clothes off to explain this?" Shadowstep explained, "If someone is on your team, you have to get used to seeing them in a variety of different ways. If you don't want to do it, pick someone else. Besides, I'm still not entirely certain that you haven't seen most of her already." Elise stood impatiently at the locker room door, beckoning Alexei over. Carlisle grabbed him by the neck of his uniform and told Alex if he didn't get his ass over there he would revoke his Man Card permanently. Alex walked toward the locker room, commenting that everyone needed to just relax a little.

He followed the dingo inside, and she found a spare set of equipment that would fit her. Starting to take off her shirt, she asked, "Alright, Alexei, what's the plan?" The husky, seated on a bench near her, said, "It's really nothing complicated. We go into this course (I already have it practically memorized), and we shoot some targets. If you get hit with one of the lasers they shoot, you die. Dying doesn't kick you out though, they just keep track of it like a statistic. You're gonna be the sniper-ish person, Kristoff Zimmerman and Maynard Carlisle are going to be the other members of the squad, and I guess I'm the leader. So that's... Um... It... And stuff..." By this point her customary skirt had come off too, leaving only a skimpy set of undergarments on the dingo, basically psyching out Pavlov.

"What happened? See something you like back there Alexei?"

"Yes. I mean no. But not like that. So yes. Er... That was mean and you know it. It'd be a lot harder to lose my train of thought if your ass wasn't in my face."

"You have a problem with my ass, Pavlov?"

"Nope. Glad to see you've got most of your clothes back on now though, that ends the awkward for the most part. You're gonna wear that under a combat uniform, though? That looks uncomfortable."

"Military locker rooms don't come with spare ladies' underwear, Alexei. Besides, I'm not taking anything else off in front of you yet. Don't get too excited."

"Oh. Darn."

"Right, what was Shadowstep saying earlier though? Something about seeing all of me?"

"He thinks we fooled around the other night."

"He jumps to conclusions like that. Is this about the other night, though Alexei? I mean we-"

"Stop talking for a second. I'll explain. It is about the other night, but not the roof or anything. I don't know how you feel about me, and it doesn't matter how I feel about you, but I did notice you said you always wanted to be in the field. Well, here's your shot. You do well, then you look good, and you make me look good for making a good decision to pick you instead of one of the other guys."

"Alexei, this is still kind of a gamble. You're probably going to end up with something in your mouth after this one, and whether it's going to be my tongue or a recently discharged bullet is the question. I hope you know what you're doing," Elise said, tying her hair back and refusing to don a helmet.

"Heh, me too. Though, if you're as good as you say you are, this shouldn't be a problem. Also, you can totally just call me Alex. Saying Alexei all the time kinda gets old."

"Alright, Alex. I'm ready, let's get this over with."

"That's what she said," Alex mumbled barely audibly under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

The pair left the locker room and retrieved Elise's rifle for the exercise, a C14 Timberwolf, not her favorite but it would do. They met up with Zimmerman and Carlisle at the start of the course, and got into formation, a sort of ranger file with Zimmerman at the point, followed by Pavlov, McAlester, and Carlisle. The gate opened, allowing them to proceed into the course, and Alex directed them off the main road and into the stretch of alleyways. He sensed something different this time, and he instinctively turned to a second floor window of a building and shot a just-deployed target. Okay, that figures. I took this route last time, of course it's going to be defended now, Pavlov thought. He directed Carlisle and Elise to take up positions behind a building on each side of the alley way as they came to the last stretch before the dead end. He told Zimmerman to go to Elise's side, and he proceeded to take a spot next to the cheetah. He signaled to Kristoff to move with him and for Carlisle and Elise to stay put, stepping into the street as two targets emerged from inside a building. Alex and Kristoff each took the one closer to them and called for the others to follow them.

Coming to the first plaza, Pavlov ordered Maynard to check one house on the right of the street leading up to it, and he took the one on the left, reminding the team to be wary of targets in the doorways. Sure enough, the house on the right side yielded a target, which thanks to Alex's warning, Maynard readily eliminated. Pavlov beckoned Elise over to him, and sent Kristoff to Maynard. He told Elise to cover him while he went into the plaza, and signaled to the other two to create crossfire. In a stroke of luck, when the ambush began and Alex hit the dirt, there were only two targets that could effectively hit him, and Elise flawlessly removed them both, as Zimmerman and Carlisle shredded the other side of the plaza. Alex turned the left corner, hitting a target and finishing the area. He whistled to his team, and had them work around the edge of the zone, coming to the next street. He saw the car from before, and he told Maynard and Elise to stay behind and watch over himself and Kristoff as they advanced to cover in front of the car. A target once again came up from behind the vehicle, and it was quickly disposed of by Carlisle. Two targets came out from the building in addition to a repeat of the sniper on the second floor, and Alex devised a coordinated attack where he would shoot from the left of the car, Zimmerman would shoot from the right, and Elise would take the sniper from around the corner. Using this strategy, the three targets were downed, and they made the turn, this time encountering no surprise adversaries.

At the second plaza, they employed much of the same tactics as before, once again successfully negotiating the zone, and moving on to what Alex considered the trickiest portion, the marketplace. He instantly spied two targets, calling out for someone to hit one while he got the other. He told the group to fan out, with Kristoff taking the left, Maynard the right, and himself and Elise the middle. Advancing slowly, the team was able to spot targets hidden in the stalls, taking them out one by one until they reached the end of the marketplace, where Pavlov gave the order to hold up. He said to get ready for one last set of targets, and true to his word, four popped up when they stepped forward. All the targets shot up, the team walked comfortably through the finish line to end the course.

Shadowstep watched the team approach the entrance of the training area with nothing more than a blank stare. "What? Aw, crap... I screwed up, didn't I?" Alex questioned. Bronco replied in a shocked tone, "No, no, that's not it at all. You didn't die- Your team didn't die once. It was a perfect run. The death rate's supposed to improve from solo to squad testing, but that was incredible for your first time." Kristoff patted him on the back, and Maynard gave him a colossal high-five. Elise just smiled, but that was enough for Alexei. The husky proceeded, "So what happens now?" "Well," the black cat started, "McAlester, you're free to go. Get changed and get the hell out of here. You three, we're going to discuss what exactly this means for the future of the team."

Once Elise had gone, Bronco explained that H.U.R.T. was considering building a brand new team, one that was preferably centered around Pavlov. He said that if Alexei's team could perform as well as they did in the simulation, they could potentially be a dominant force in the real world. Zimmerman and Carlisle were asked if they would like to stay with Pavlov's team, and both agreed, not doubting his skill at all anymore. The team necessitated five members, however, so two others would have to be selected. Alexei asked why they needed two more members, as he believed Elise could fill her role on the team quite well, and Bronco echoed Mansfield's decree of not allowing her into the field. The remaining two personnel did not have to be picked until later, though, and in the next few weeks the team would train and prepare to first and foremost strike at Kossenko's operations, and take some other assignments on the side. With the brief summary over, Shadowstep claimed Pavlov's training for the day was over. As one last note to the husky with high expectations, the black cat said, "Oh, Pavlov, we leave in twenty. If you want to talk to your little girlfriend I'd suggest you hustle."

Several minutes later, Alexei stepped out of the elevator and checked his phone. He had a solid twelve minutes left. After all he had accomplished today, he still had doubted that he could change out of combat gear into a shirt and pair of jeans that fast. He didn't even really know what the hustle was; he didn't need to tell her anything, really. Except the fact that she was turned down for the team. That was kind of important, actually. He speedwalked down the hall, and finally reached the office, knocking two times on the frame of the open door. "Mansfield's out. Who are you and what do you want?" asked a seemingly agitated dingo, not even looking up from her desk. "Well now. What'd I do to deserve that?" Alex asked playfully. "Alex?" "The one and only." Elise hopped up from behind her desk and threw her arms around the neck of the tired husky, locking him in a hug and asking what Bronco was talking to him about. When he told her about the new team, and how she had been shot down, she reacted less severely than Alexei had expected. She explained she assumed that had happened, and it had been what was getting to her. She relaxed her hold on Alex and asked if he wanted to get off his feet for a while, and sit in one of the two chairs set up at the front of her office for people waiting to see Mansfield. Pavlov obliged, and Elise took the adjacent seat. She leaned into him, putting one arm behind his neck and the other across his chest, while nestling her head in the space between his head and his shoulder. Alex slipped an arm around her as she confided in him that she felt kind of gross and needed a shower. Alex grinned widely, remarking, "Well... You need a shower, I need a shower, I bet we could save a lot of water if we just took one together." She smacked him fairly hard in the chest, and he choked out, "Oof. I guess I probably deserved that. So, what's on your mind?"

"Too much," she began, "How do you think I did today?" "Elise, you did perfectly. The whole team did perfectly. I couldn't have asked anymore out of anyone. Also, I think you look really sexy in camo," Alex said, retaining his grin.

"I don't have to hit you again do I?"

"No, I think we're good."

"Alex, can I ask a stupid question?"

"Of course. I ask plenty."

"Do we have to talk right now? I mean, nobody's really held me like this since I left Australia."

"Absolutely not, if you just want to sit, that's totally okay."

And so they did just that, sat and relaxed. Occasionally Alexei brought his free paw up to stroke her hair or smooth out the fur of her snout, but they just enjoyed each other's company until Shadowstep came up and played the killjoy, telling Alex they had to leave. Elise squeezed him one more time before he slipped away and said his goodbyes. After he departed the floor, and eventually the building, Elise tried to remind herself not to get attached to anyone here. Usually it wasn't a problem, and she felt he wasn't coming too close, it was just Alex seemed... different, and she couldn't tell exactly why. She resolved to figure it out later, and sat down at her desk to continue her normal work.

*****

Meanwhile, on the way back to the 'burbs, Shadowstep had dropped the drill sergeant façade and resumed his adoptive father stance. He said he was only hard on Alexei at training because of how much it mattered, and he promised to be much more relaxed as soon as it ended. Alex asked, "If you were hard on me because of the importance of training, what was the point of getting pissed afterwards with Elise?"

"Just trust me there. You don't want to get into any committed relationships with other H.U.R.T. employees."

"Who said we were in a committed relationship?"

"No one, but things can develop pretty fast in high-stress settings."

"Okay, who said we were even in a relationship at all to begin with?"

"Now you're just shitting me."

"Nope."

"Really. Do you really not think that doing, well, whatever you were doing with her about 5 minutes ago does not fall into a relationship category? Honestly Alex, sometimes I can't tell if you're being serious or just -how do you kids call it- 'tolling' me."

"Trolling. And no, I don't see myself as being with her at all. The cuddling, or whatever it is, is just how we hang out. As friends. Which, you know, the whole concept of having friends in a government organization who can easily kill you is still new to me, and I thought it might have been kinda normal behavior."

"It's kinda not. Also, I wanted to get out of there because I wanted to get home to my wife, because my marriage is more important than your -ah- 'friendship'"

"Thanks. I appreciate it."

Upon his return to his new home, Alex just chilled out for a few hours. Though he hadn't really killed anyone that day, he still unwound a bit by playing guitar until Nathan Shadowstep came into his room wanting to play some video games. In the short week he had been staying with the Shadowsteps, Alexei had already stepped into some sort of a big brother role to Nathan (a plain black cat like his father), who didn't get any attention from his sister, and whose father worked continuously. Alex had somehow found time after school and practice to play Xbox and try to teach guitar to the kid. While they were playing Madden on this certain day, his mind drifted from gaming. This wasn't unusual, as he was playing against a 10 year old who wasn't completely aware of what the plays he called even did, so it didn't require much effort to win. Many times his mind drifted to females, and many of those instances chiefly featured Natalya. What was different about today was the way she appeared in his mind. She was distorted, parts of her didn't belong, in fact they looked more at home on a... dingo. When Alex realized he was imagining some sort of grotesque amalgamation of Natalya and Elise, he figured he'd been inside way too long, and needed some fresh air.

At almost that same moment, Mandy Shadowstep appeared at the entrance to Alex's room and asked Nathan to get Jessica from a friend's house down the street. Once Alexei heard Nathan's protests, he jumped on the opportunity, offering to go in his stead. The orange tabby housewife was satisfied by the idea, and gave the newest member of her family the address of where her daughter was located.

As he stepped outside, Alex felt some of his mind clear, but not completely. He was confused, he didn't know what to think anymore. Maybe it was all the compiled stress from loss and exhaustion that was messing with his mind. He was so wrapped up in thought that he almost missed the house he was heading for, which was about as extravagant as the Shadowsteps'. Pavlov half-wondered if everyone in this neighborhood was in the employment of H.U.R.T. He wouldn't ask. Walking up to the front door and ringing the doorbell, he was greeted by a middle-aged female white tiger, whom he supposed was the mother of Jessica's friend. He introduced himself, and explained the purpose of his visit. She invited him inside and directed him toward her daughter's room and told him Jessica would be in there. Why does everything today have to be so needlessly awkward? asked Alexei inwardly. He tentatively knocked on the door, and heard a voice he recognized as Jessica's inquire who was at the door. He stated his name and purpose, and the door opened. He was content with getting the kid and just leaving, until he noticed who her friend was, at which point his mind gave up all hope and exploded into a million pieces.

"You're the pretty white cat from the hallway!" the husky exclaimed.

"You're the charming football player!" the white cat reciprocated.

"Um... Alexei Pavlov," Alex said, extending a paw.

"Stephanie Hemingway," the cat said, stepping forward to make introductions.

"So why are you picking up Jessica?" Stephanie asked.

"I live with the Shadowsteps now."

"Why?"

"It's complicated."

Alexei and Stephanie spent a few minutes getting to know each other, learning that they had some things in common, and some very broad differences. On her first impression, the white cat seemed to be a nicely well-rounded girl to Alex, with looks as an added bonus. They both played guitar, which was a plus (though she admitted she wasn't very good at it), he learned she sang and loved reading, writing and anything to do with words. She also mentioned that she was in Alexei's class, and she played tennis for the school. As they swapped questions back and forth, Stephanie learned some of the finer details of Pavlov's life, too (the ones in public knowledge anyway). As the exchange continued, Alexei noticed Jessica getting impatient. He then remembered his point in being there, and told Stephanie that unfortunately he had to go. He tacked on, "One more question, though. What are you doing tonight?" The cat smiled at him mischievously, writing down a number and giving it to him. "Lucky you, I didn't have any plans. You better not back out, Mr. Football." Alexei showed his own grin, "I can promise you, that won't be a problem." Leaving the house, he was sure that if anything could take his mind off of the whirling monsoon that was his life, this would be able to do it. At least, that's what he hoped and prayed for.

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