[IC] In the Black (QueenOfTheBee and kingkonrad)

[FourtyTwo]

(Copied material)

Somewhere in Belarus

Liam peered down the PSO-1 optic, as things span into action. Shifting inside the building, bullets flew over the thick concrete, as Pavel signalled to Ariana.
"Three of them, really shit cover. I'll spray a few over and grab one, you take the other two!" Pavel yelled over the noise, as one reloaded, giving Pavel's full mag a chance to find itself somewhere. Pavel sprayed at first, putting his weapon around the corner and pulling the trigger in that direction, before moving to the buttstock of the SA-58 and taking down one with the top of the ACOG's iron sight, and sending another one into Ariana's route to take down, already having being shot in the arm. The adrenaline of what was going on was so liquid, that Pavel had made sure that any target he had shot had taken at least three or four rounds, just to make sure that the adrenaline that surged within the combatants didn't fight back in shooting at him.
"Pavel, Ariana, make it quick in there. Grab the two and get out of there, we can't afford to piss off the rest of them if they hear this gunfire!" Liam said over comms, as Pavel replied harshly back. Liam looked down the optic and watched Sarah moved down toward the front door, as Liam analysed what was going on around the building. A pair of combatants ran out from the woods, and using the optic, Liam identified the range, and where they were. Changing the zeroing, he held his breath, and lashed out three hard shots, taking them down quickly- with one receiving two shots to the chest, and the other a simple one straight through the temple, planting them onto the floor. Liam hoped Sarah knew that that, was covering fire at it's finest.
"With all due respect, it's going to take some time. Got Sarah taking the front?" Pavel asked, as he loaded a new magazine in, flicking around his corner by the concrete pillar and gunning down another militant, before planting himself into cover by another one to avoid fire from down the hallway by the front door.
"Should be just about...now. Sarah, breach when ready." Liam said, watching her move closer and closer, ready to hit the flank and sideswipe the enemies that kept Pavel and Ariana inside down for a moment.
kingkonrad
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Re: In The Black IC (supersoccerball and kingkonrad)
Postby supersoccerball » Thu Jan 16, 2014 1:29 am

Ariana shifted a bit as she crouched, ready to go storm in on the tangos that were firing on her. She waited for Pavel to to fire his bursts of fire, before Ariana sprinted on their flank, quickly pivoting on her foot and setting her weapon fast enough to be able send a whole bunch of rounds down range to slaughter her enemies. She didn't even bother aiming down the sights, she just held it at her shoulder and squeezed the trigger until nobody was moving. "Tangos down!" She shouted as she regrouped with Pavel, reloading her AK107 on the way.

Sarah continued to push on down to the building, hopefully fast enough to get to Pavel and Ariana in time. She pointed her shotgun down as she sprinted as fast as she could, which opened her up to gunfire from enemies if she didn't react quick enough. The shotgun only had 8 shells + 1 in the chamber, which meant Sarah had to transition quickly between her shotgun and Glock 18 if she ran out of ammo, but she was hoping the spread of the pellets would be enough to take care of multiple enemies. However, Sarah could quickly spot two combatants obviously ready to fire on her, and she transformed her sprint into a slide towards the nearest piece of cover- a concrete barrier.

She was about to duck out and fire on them from her back, but as soon as she ducked out, she could watch them fall and crumple as bullets hit them, pointing to the shotgun in disbelief. She rolled back out and stood up, a bit annoyed but grateful that Liam took out the enemies for her, "Y'know, I could've taken them easily." She said, continuining onto the house.

Ariana followed Pavel down to the front hall as they met a bunch of tangos. Ariana rammed herself against a pillar and stayed close to it as she peeked out and fired a burst from her AK. Sarah was supposed to be here any moment, but she feared that if she waited any longer they would be overwhelmed. She needed to stick close to the pillar and reduce the chance of bullets hitting her. She wanted to live through this operation and rescue the damned hostages already.

The sound of someone hitting the wall next to the side doorway was audible as Sarah arrived at the building, she stayed there for a few seconds to catch her breath after the crazy sprint towards the building. "Alright I'm here, prepping flashbang. Better look away." Sarah took a flashbang and held her finger on the ring, creeping up to the doorway before pulling the ring. She chucked it inside the building, the signature bang emitted, and Sarah turned to move at the enemies. She aimed down the sights, focusing on each target and pulling the trigger as soon as her sights were set. The process was very sequential, firing on one target, pumping the shotgun as she obtained another target, and fired again. She pretty much repeated this process until the room was clear. There wasn't really that many people in there, so she didn't have to empty her shotgun. "Area clear, what do we do now?"

[FourtyTwo]

Pavel looked over at Ariana, as Sarah breached, quickly flanking the last three militants out. Pavel moved from his cover, a full magazine in as he looked over at the two, before pointing ahead, raising his gun as he spoke.
"Right ahead, they've got to be there. Liam, ready the van, we're about to finish this." Pavel said, as he looked over at the two, moving with a combat stance as he moved forward, his pale hands gripping the Czech weapon tightly. Moving up, he leant against a breezeblock, looking over at Ariana.
"Okay, I think they're here. Identify, shoot anyone, we get them out. Prep a flash Ariana- Sarah, make sure that nobody cuts us up from the rear, we can't spare to fill this room with buckshot. On my mark, straight in." Pavel said, looking at the weak wooden door as he knew that when she had it ready, he'd pelt the door in with his foot.

Meanwhile, from his position Liam had moved, running down the hill towards the van as he slid down part of the embankment, already gunning it towards the driver's seat. Throwing himself in, he started the cold diesel engine, water still pissing down as lightening struck and the thunder almost a second later boomed loudly, as the engine of the Transporter ignited into life. With wheelspin, Liam drove straight ahead, his pistol out as he saw a single man head towards the front entrance. Pulling his own P226 out, he cocked it as he took both hands off the steering, and let the window down. Slowing down, he saw the man and shot randomly at him, clipping him once as Liam then pulled hard on the handbrake and used the chance to focus the weapon, skidding as he put two clean 9mil rounds through his skull. Shifting gears clunkily, he put it into reverse, and moved towards the door, unaware of what was inside.

Pavel watched Ariana, as he knew it was time.
"Okay. Let's do this." He simply said, as his heel slammed into the weak wooden door, and it banged wide open, leaving the chance for Ariana to bundle the flashbang in. He kept himself back, as he knew it would sting like fuck if you were unlucky enough to be in there. Pavel hung back, already raising the SA-58 as the loud bang sent a vibration through the wall, being non-lethal but a devastating weapon. Pavel swept in first, as he swept the left, aware that breaching tactics in this sort of scenario demanded precision and movement tactics. Pavel knew that Ariana would have the right, and together, they had the room covered. In what felt almost like an adrenaline fuelled movement, time felt slow, as Pavel slammed two rounds into the lungs of one militant, before shooting another in the head, and turning harder to put an innaccurate spray into one that had been out of his sight initially. Sweeping round, he saw the two Germans lying down at the end of the room, and Ariana almost effortlessly cover her side, as Pavel's rush wore slowly off. He slid into cover by a concrete post, shooting a single man at the end of the room, as the mag ran out. Letting the SA-58 downwards, he scooped his pistol out as he knew that Ariana had his back, and almost reflextively, put the quickest of shots into the last man in the room, the 9mm CZ75 filling three shots in the last militant. Pavel exhaled hard, cursing as he looked over, and wiping his brow, aware that they had been lucky. He stepped over and saw the two on the floor- one a young man, hardly any older than himself, and a more senior looking female, who had clearly been crying for the time she had been in captivity, and somehow ran out. Pavel looked over, as he had to make the news simple.
"Liam, we found them, get the doors open and let's get the fuck out of here." Pavel simply said, wiping the sweat off his brow as he untied the young-20 something and uttered what little German he knew to tell him to follow behind.

[Bee]

Sarah and Ariana turned and followed Pavel as they prepped to breach, pointing their guns to the lower left as they sprinted briskly towards the weak looking wooden door standing in the frame. Ariana stepped in front of Sarah, pulling a flashbang out of her vest as she pulled the pin, waiting for Pavel to kick the door open and chuck the flashbang inside. Sarah nodded and switched from her shotgun to her Glock 18, switching the fire rate selector from automatic to semi-automatic. She didn't want to risk spraying the 9mm bullets all over the place, so it was best to play it safe, especially in a hostage situation like this.

Ariana waited for Pavel to kick in the door, and once he did. she threw in the flashbang, both ladies looking and turning away as the flashbang exploded inside of that room. Once it did, Ariana stormed in to the right of the room, scooping out her USP as she went right, Sarah staying back in the door way as she squeezed the trigger in quick intervals, snapping to each target quickly as fired two bullets into each. Ariana did the same, timing her shots to make sure they all hit a target. Eventually, all the targets dropped and the bullet stop flying, which meant it was all over.

Pretty much everyone was dead, and there were only two other people in the room, obviously cowering in fear. Ariana went by and picked them up by the shoulders, signaling them to follow her as she followed Pavel out the room. Sarah drew her shotgun, walking out with it pointed forward as the two hostages were guided to the van, letting Pavel and Ariana take point. "Thank god they're okay..." Sarah said, as they arrived to yet another door. Ariana opened the door, knowing that Sarah would have their back just in case there were tangos behind that door. Luckily, it happened to be Liam and his van, and Ariana opened the door, letting the two hostages inside as she followed them. Sarah walked around the front to enter the van, sitting next to Liam once again, "You have fun getting here?" She asked, trying to joke with Liam.

[FourtyTwo]

Liam looked over at Sarah, a smile on his own face as he looked back at Pavel bungling in, along with the two hostages.
"Thank fuck for that." Liam simply said, as Pavel shut the rear doors, the two hostages confused but reassured by Pavel that they were getting out.
"This is Hydroxide, we got them. What's the plan on extract Malcolm?" Liam said, as he hit the throttle, accelerating hard as he drove out of the yard, the rain almost hail as he sped back onto the dirt roads.
"Understood...plan is simple, get to Bialystok, we'll recover leave them with the Germans from there. They intact?"
"As best as they can be. Fuck, the sods weren't half badly armed." Liam simply replied, looking over at Sarah, as he shifted up again, going faster as he skidded the van around the corner, wanting to make a fast escape before anyone else came.
"Copy. Ditch your guns at the Polish border. That's an order- we have no authority, we're bloody contractors, remember, not militants. Let's not make it look as if we did it in the way we did. The Germans care about their hostages, but the Polish authorities, if they catch you, will really mess up your day." Malcolm said simply, as Liam listened to his handler.
"Got it mate. Give us two hours." He said simply, before looking to Sarah, with a pissed off face.
"Well...fuck that. We ain't even out of Belarus, and if we get caught at the border, we'll have no defense. I ain't ditching my P226 either. Pavel, you hear?" Liam said, knocking on the metal behind him, and hearing his Czech fellow contractor's voice, a bit muffled though.

"I heard that. I got a friend back home in Liberec, he can hide them and get the shit we want back, and keep the shittier weapons."
"You suggesting we drive all the way there?"
"Well...."
"Fuck me." Liam simply said, as he looked ahead on the road, his pistol still at the ready. A UAZ came to a stop, as Liam cursed loudly, again. Slowing down, Liam looked at the car, watching as three soldiers got out- they looked like they were government. His eyes turned to Sarah, implying to keep quiet for the moment, as he made a simply utterance:
"Let them come up, but be ready."

The soldier at the front raised his AKM, as Liam stopped the van. Keeping the pistol in the door, ready at his left hand if needed, he let the window down as the man came up. "No Belarussian, no Belarussian! We are tourists!" Liam said in his best "foreign" pointing and English as he could, the man then proceeding to open the door. The second soldier came to Sarah's side, as Liam realized something more would be needed than a simple shot to the head. Sarah had time. But he didn't. He let the door open, and unbuckling his seatbelt, he half got out, aware the man was armed, but his weapon for the moment was lowered. Using his momentum as he got out, he gave a sharp kick with his left prosthetic to the soldier's knee, the soldier dazed as he howled in agony from the sheer force that Liam lashed out with. In that moment, Liam was able to fully get out, and grab the soldier's bald head, slamming it against the side of the door, as he watched the third man raise his gun. Using the door as cover, Liam kept his head down, as bullets flew past the window, Pavel and Ariana staying in with the hostages as planned in case shit went wrong. It was up to Liam and Sarah to sort this out- and Liam knew that one was now firing bullets at them. Grabbing his P226 from the door, he shot five loose rounds through the shattered window, with one hitting the Belarussian soldier, before he got a proper aim and shot three more into his torso. Looking over, the man on the ground was bleeding heavily from the head, but went for Liam's right leg, bringing him down as he threw a weak punch at his head, dazing Liam but giving him the chance to elbow him hard in the shoulder and get a hold. Twisting, his adrenaline running liquid in that moment, he heard the man howl again, as he grabbed his loose pistol, and executed the man, wiping the blood as he coughed hard.

Dragging the body away into a ditch, he looked over at Sarah, with an inclination.
"Don't just sit there lass. Let's get them hidden, we'll have to burn the car too. Jesus Christ." Liam said, coughing again as he wiped the blood from his cut left leg, just above his prosthetic. He put the P226 back in it's holster, as he looked over at her, his walk a simple one as the bandana-wearing contractor approached the man he had killed with his P226 earlier on. Dragging his body by the car, he wanted to make it look as if it was a simple ambush from the group they had just been fighting. The rain pissed down, with the blood washing a slght muddy grey and red in the ditch where the two bodies now were. This third one would burn with the car- it made sense to do that, to make it look more like an ambush rather than an execution. Getting into the UAZ, Liam searched for a can of petrol- it was unreliable to find it these days in these parts, after all. He found a five litre can in the back, already aware of what was going to happen.

Throwing the petrol can over the UAZ, as he finished emptying it, he looked over at Sarah, his bruised and soaked face saying everything.
"It isn't the most pleasant line of work. But they're all bastards, and we'd be dead by now if we didn't do this. Let's get going." Liam said, pulling his lighter out as he got a flame, the blue flame emerging from the Zippo a pleasant sight for him. Approaching the fabric roof at the back, he got a slight burn of a wet rag, aware that the petrol would soon burn and combust the whole car. Walking away with Sarah back to the Transporter, Liam looked back only once, as the entire thing engulfed into flames, a small explosion going off as the fuel tank went up, and the frame burned, leaving a smoke cloud. Starting the engine, Liam hit the gas again, driving past the burning car as he knew it was time to leave Belarus, and go home. He wiped his face, almost inert in what had happened. They did what they could, and they did what they have to. He knew he wasn't perfect, and to Sarah, perhaps he was even a little bit mad. But he did what he felt had to be done, and he knew that it was the way things would work in the team.

[Bee]

Sarah sat by idly as Liam talked with Malcolm, her gaze was very vacant as she looked out the window, spacing out as Liam discussed extraction with Malcolm up there. As Liam finished up her conversation, Sarah sprang back into reality, watching Liam knock on the metal plate separating them and the other two pair of operators in the rear. Meanwhile, a metal plate away, Ariana also sat by idly as Pavel talked about some buddy he had in a city she didn't really know much about. Sarah could spot a UAZ and groaned when it arrived, "Well speak of the fucking devil... guess who just came up..." Sarah groaned, as she put her hand onto her Glock 18, pulling it out slightly as she readied up to shoot the people if necessary. Sarah got Liam's clue, and stayed quiet, lowering her legs a bit so the guards wouldn't see her weapons.

Liam tried to wave the guards off, and it was obviously failing as they proceeded to walk over to their respective doors. She took the time to unbuckle her seatbelt silently, and pressed her arm against the door, the other going on the door handle as she prepared to to slam it into the soldier and knock him back and give Sarah the immediate upper hand in this fight. Once Liam opened his door, Sarah slammed hers open, knocking the soldier back substantially as Sarah jumped out, diving onto him and landing some nice elbows. He managed to escape from bottom position though, making Sarah and the soldier take this standing. Of course, Sarah shot in and carried him, driving him towards the van and pushed him against, her elbow pinning his neck to the car as she rained punches from her right hand, before he managed to dodge a punch, causing Sarah to punch the van- making her recoil. The soldier took the opportunity launch a punch at Sarah, which had connected and landed another elbow, cutting her somewhere near her left eyebrow. Blood immediately started pouring out of the cut, which sort of infuriated Sarah.

She retaliated with shooting in for a takedown again, driving him towards the van and slamming him, then pulling him down so Sarah could bend over and rain punches. Only she didn't, and returned with a killer knee to the face, which dazed the soldier. The Glock 18 was pulled out as she stepped back, shooting him in the head once to finally end the fight. She tried to wipe the blood off of her face, but it only smeared on her cheek, giving her a sort of gritty appearance. A grimace formed on her face as she lifted the dead body up, carrying him all the way to the UAZ. He felt a bit lighter than earlier, and that startled Sarah a bit, but it was just how the battlefield worked. She arrived next to Liam, dropping the body in the ditch. She had to turn away from the sight otherwise she'd probably puke. She looked really sick.

She still faced away as Liam commenced the burning of the UAZ, unable to face the sight of human beings being burned alive. Once she could feel the heat engulf the UAZ, she walked back with Liam to the Transporter, still not looking back even as it exploded. She entered the car with Liam, adjusting in her seat because it would definitely be a long ride home.

[FourtyTwo]

Liam looked over, shifting up, aware he had to break the silence.
"Shit, I'm really looking forward to getting a drink when I get home." Liam simply said, leaning back into his seat as he slowed down for a puddle, the spray kicking up as Liam accelerated hard through the muddy ditch on the road, aware that they were coming close to his GPS. Turning on the corner, Liam kept up the previous pace he had, with the Volkswagen Transporter now steaming towards the border. Liam knew that from here on out, it shouldn't be too much of a worry. He looked at his left leg, the bottom half- the prosthetic limb feeling as if it was always there. And on the clutch, it was fine- he didn't have any issues, just figuring out the pressure was the main thing. In the back of the van, Pavel reassured the Germans to stay quiet, and looking at Ariana, knew that it was all that they could really do. But they were being paid, and that was one thing that Pavel looked forward to. Just that aspect, and getting out of Belarus.

---

(Something a bit unplanned. But I think it works well, and though it isn't much Liam/Sarah focussed, it's really good on Pavel/Ariana.)

Two Days Later
Somewhere in Prague, Czech Republic

The phone rang. Pavel picked up instinctively, looking out at the rainy day that sat outside. The hotel room wasn't much, but it was enough for Pavel in some ways- the team had crashed out here since Belarus, and after Pavel had sorted out the guns with his friend, he had managed to convince them to come to Prague for the rest of the weekend. Liam and Sarah left yesterday night, mainly due to paperwork back in the UK, but Pavel and Ariana were free here. To be honest, Pavel didn't have an instantaneous crush on her, but Pavel had at least suggested it to her to give Prague a go, and that was why they were there.
"Pavel? Hello?" It was nothing but his former wife. Pavel almost wanted to curse. He swore he had her number on recognition, but she must have changed
"Hi. Look, if it's about me, I'm fine..."
"No, no, no, it's just...never mind. I just wanted to know if you're alright with all of this. I know it isn't the best, but we both know that." She replied, as Pavel looked over out the window, his tone simple.
"Of course. It's fine, Magda- I haven't got the time right now to speak about all of this. I've got issues that are a little further than this."
"The Army didn't call you up again?"
"No, but I'm getting good money now. For easy work. But there's paperwork, and there's a lot of it, I have to get to it Magda you see. I have to go- just tell Janas that it'll be fine." Pavel simply said, aware that she was a little tense about it.
"Okay, I understand. Goodbye, Pavel." She simply said, as Pavel disconnected the call, swearing in Czech as he checked the other contacts on his phone. Ariana was still there. And in the room opposite. For some reason, Pavel felt a little inclined to just surprise her in this way.

The tone rang for about twenty seconds, before it changed to something different.
"Hello? Ariana...uhh...you up for some sightseeing later when this rain subsides? We've got the best bars in the world here, they practically invented larger here after all- you up for it?" Pavel asked, as he stood up from his bed, looking out, before itching his forehead, himself currently wearing a Superdry jumper and a pair of dark blue jeans- and for some absurd reason, still wearing his beanie hat.

[Bee]

Ariana and Sarah sat by idly in their seats as Liam drove on. The two of them stayed quiet as Liam mentioned something about a beer, and only awaited for the time they would get home. It was definitely obvious that the two ladies in the van had the same thing on their mind- both of them missed their kids dearly, and couldn't wait to see them once again. The both of them took this line of work to provide the best line of work for their family, because once again- they were both single mothers. Sarah checked her shotgun, and put it down for the last time for this operation as the transporter went on.

---

Two Days Later

Ariana lied on her bed, holding up her tablet as she was on a video call with her daughter and caretaker. Ariana was really glad that this hotel had Wi-Fi, because she wouldn't know what she would be doing without it. She was smiling as her daughter giggled and laughed. She was just really happy to see her daughter once again, and had nothing to say at the moment.

"When are you coming home, mommy?" Her daughter asked rather eagerly. Ariana grimaced and scratched her head, looking down as she thought up of a response.

"You'll know when I get home." She winked, chuckling softly.

Her daughter groaned, "I hope it's soon! You know my birthday is coming up soon!"

Ariana rubbed her face with a hand, thinking up of yet another response, "Don't you worry, I'll be home in time for your birthday."

Ariana spaced out as her daughter talked about how Janey Smith did this one thing and what her plans were for the party. She snapped back to attention as her caregiver butted in, telling the little girl that it was time to get off and go do things. Ariana's daughter of course groaned, and Ariana's heart dived to her feet as she saw both the caregiver and her daughter in the same screen.

"Bye mommy, I'll see you later!"

Ariana nodded and waved, "Bye, I'll see you soon."

The call ended, and Ariana rolled over on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She knew that she'd definitely have to do something to get herself the hell out of there in order to get back home for her daughter's birthday. The problem for her was that she didn't know what Malcolm or the company had in store for Hydroxide in the future, so she definitely needed to communicate between him and her. Her phone rang as she was thinking, and it was definitely out of her reach. She groaned, and sat up, wondering who it would be at this moment. Much to her surprise, it was Pavel. She picked up and listened, hoping that Malcolm didn't assign them yet another operation. Turns out, it was the polar opposite of another operation. She stood up from her bed and placed her free hand on her hip. She currently wore a pair of skinny jeans and a black sweater underneath an olive drab jacket, something suitable for an environment like this, "Of course I'm up, I need something do to here anyway."

[FourtyTwo]

(Not the most creative post.)

Pavel smiled, looking over at the door he sat on his bed, the next hour or two becoming a blur as he watched some local TV, and generally, lounged around a little. He enjoyed relaxing, just resting and thinking, and in some regard, it was what he enjoyed. Ariana was pretty to him, to say the least.

---

When the rain cleared, it Pavel was already out of his room, aware that it was probably a good time now to get going. The sunset was just passing the tops of metropolitan Prague, and Pavel wanted to get going now while the clear lasted. Walking to Ariana's door, he knocked, hoping she knew who it was. Adjusting his hat a little, he waited till she had the door open, so that they could get going. From when he had met her, a few weeks back when she was assigned to the team, Pavel had found her a funny companion, a friend for sure, and someone pleasant indeed. Pavel's mind was blurred however, on if to go to the next step. In some ways, his mind was already doing it right now, making the choice. Over tonight, Pavel just wanted to be able to just get it out of him, what he wanted with her. Just a simple, professional friendship, or a relationship. He just hoped he'd come to some choice, he really did, as he saw her open the door.
"Hey Ariana. You all set?" Pavel asked, looking into her eyes as she looked into his, as he checked his wallet for a moment, before slipping it back into his pocket.

[Bee]

The time had passed rather quickly for Ariana, spending the past hour or so catching up on the things she loved most. She had the TV on in the background as a deterrent to the absence of any noise. Ariana didn't like to feel lonely at any point whatsoever.

She lied on her bed for the time being, reading about her beloved American football team, and how one of the players carried the team to a victory. Ariana really did want the rain to go away, so she could go out on the town with Pavel. She would've done so herself but she didn't speak a lick of Czech. Plus, it would've been less lonely if she went with Pavel.

Not to mention she really did like Pavel. Ever since she met him, she had grown to start becoming very fond him. She hadn't felt that way since she met the father of her child, who ended up ditching her once he found out she was pregnant. Pavel was an especially pleasant person underneath that tough shell of his., it was like candy, really. Hard on the outside, soft on the inside. She was well aware that he was a father too, and basing on what she observed when talking to him, she liked to assume he was a good one. Ariana did have a funny feeling inside of her that roughly translated into a crush of some sort. Maybe Pavel felt the same way?

However it was, Ariana had a feeling something was going to go down tonight. She heard a knock on the door as she spaced out, her attention focusing on the door. She got up, carefully walking to the door and peering through the peephole. It was Pavel, much to her delight, and opened the door. She smiled as she saw him, her own blue eyes staring into his. "Yeah, I'm all set. Let me just take care of something." Ariana turned off the TV in her room and grabbed her wallet and phone, walking out of the room and closing the door behind her.

"Where to first? You're the Czech so you must know the good spots."

[FourtyTwo]

Pavel smiled, upon hearing the Czech comment.
"Yeah, I think I know a decent place. Should be good to go really." Pavel said, looking over his shoulder as he led the way to the lift, to go back downstairs and down to the ground level. He felt like a drink- he hadn't had one in a long while, and a nice creamy larger would do him plenty of good. Or maybe several. He didn't know, but as a Czech, it was almost a responsibility to like the real Pils that originated from this region of the world. None of that Budweiser stuff for him- only the real thing, the local thing really cut it, and he particularly liked to have that good taste in alcohol.
"Not many drunks there, it's upmarket but still the best you'll see of beer culture here." Pavel said, adjusting his hair as he pressed the button, taking them down.

As the doors opened, and they were at the ground level of the not-so-special hotel, Pavel led the way out, turning to check if Ariana was there.
"That last thing was a hoot. Got the pair out of there without too much blood. I hear the Germans are going to pay well, they don't like the fact that there's a mess, but you know how it is. We'll just have to deal with it, and they got their people back, so I couldn't care less until I get paid." Pavel said, walking out onto the evening streets of Prague, just across a road towards a pedestrianized street, where Pavel knew he'd find his bar, the wet tiles having a few puddles but the sky now turning a greyish haze of orange, the sun slowly coming down now.
"Liam's a good man, I can tell you that much. I don't fully agree with him sometimes, but he knows how not to get people killed on your side and kill everyone else. Tough fucker, can't believe he still goes on without that left leg of his." Pavel said, holding her hand in a friendly, less romantic gesture. Something to show that he wanted to keep her safe, although real reasoning would have said she would have been fine herself.
"I've seen him a few times, he seems to really enjoy this line of work. I can't say the same, it's the money. Just that you get paid a lot more for fucking doing shit that security can sometimes handle, but you can tell why they need us. When shit hits the fan, I don't really know of many other soldiers in the regulars that would be able to put up with it." Pavel said, as they walked down the pedestrianized street, the cobbled path leading to a square of sorts, where Pavel knew his bar was near. Ariana to him felt close, something valuable. He liked her, to say the least- she seemed like quite a pleasant woman be around, and most importantly of all, wasn't like his ex-wife. Just some grabber of fortunes, she seemed like someone who Pavel could trust through the good times and the bad. In some ways, Pavel had done far too much, too young. He had a kid, a wife that he had already divorced and still was only 25. In comparison, he knew Liam hadn't done any, and he was 37 after all. That perplexed him, but somehow, he knew they were all different.