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Artyom looked up from his journal to watch the passing scenery in front of him. If he wasn't so worried, he would have been struck by how beautiful this place was. But right now his only hope was that the clean air would make Anna start feeling better.
"Yes… I must say I'm rather partial to this valley!" Alyosha said, sounding awestruck. "The air… Makes your head swim, never smelled air like this in my life."
When Artyom obviously didn't reply, he continued. "I bet if we spend a week here, it won't just cure Anna, it'll make Colonel grow his feet back!"
Artyom only managed to huff a very weak laugh at his joke, which Alyosha didn't seem to mind, thankfully. There was a long moment of silence before the railcar hit a large bump, causing him to almost drop his journal. He quickly put it away in his jacket.
"Damn, this is one bumpy ride… The rails are all bent. The whole track seems fixing to slide down - I sure hope it can hold our weight…" Alyosha.. That's just asking for something to go wrong. "Let's hail the Aurora and tell them they have to take the other track.
Come in Aurora, this is forward recon! Do you read? Over!"
It took several moments for them to reply, long enough that Artyom's worry grew for a moment. "Aurora here, reading you loud and clear, over!"
"Colonel, sir… This track won't hold the Aurora, take the main one. Over!"
"I see…" Miller didn't sound happy. "This track requires some repairs, this will hold us back.. Regardless, the plan stands, we rendezvous at the Dam. How is the general situation there? Over!"
"The general situation is completely awesome, Colonel, sir! Anna is going to love it here, over!"
"Haha! Glad to hear that-" Artyom looked up nervously to the cliff towering over them, watching as a few rocks shifted and a dust cloud formed. That wasn't comforting. "Carry on. Aurora, over and out!"
Alyosha seemed to have not noticed. "So, the plan goes like this: we get to that Dam, check it out quickly, and call them over.
Just take a look at all of this beauty! Don't you want them to see it sooner, eh?" Artyom could admit it was beautiful, but he was most hoping this place could help Anna.
"Look at that church, for one…" Alyosha was interrupted by some of the loudest roaring Artyom had ever heard in his life. In seconds he was thrown violently from the railcar and into the freezing cold river. Fuck, he hated water.
That was his only thought as he was tossed about like a toy by the rushing currents. He heard Alyosha yell his name just seconds before his head came into violent contact with a rock and his entire world went dark.
Next thing he knew, his world was still shrouded in darkness but he could distantly hear… voices. He couldn't understand anything they were saying.
BANG
He was suddenly pulled harshly into consciousness, the bright sunlight blinding him and almost distracting him from the burning pain in his chest. He hacked and coughed loudly as he tried to get the water out of his lungs, barely noticing the woman in front of him.
"Good… Our guys caught your friend, but I can see you two are not bandits. I'll help you out, if you don't do anything stupid. Gotta run now, just stay out of sight and you'll be fine."
He watched, still coughing as she got to get feet and ran off. "Catch you later!" He tried to reach out after her, but his world fell quickly back into darkness.
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Pavel hummed quietly to himself as he picked his way down the shoreline of the river with a net of fish slung over his shoulder, looking for anything useful that could have washed up when he last visited. He really didn't come to this part of the river often, he tended to stay on the edge of Pioneer territory as to not bother them but they seemed to have retreated closer to home today… And well, he needed to resupply.
A body lying half way out of the water stopped Pavel in his tracks. He is just about to search it for anything useful when.. No… He knew those markings. He knew that helmet. No…. No it can't be.
His hands shook as he reached out to touch the Spartan Order insignia on the man's armor. This couldn't… He doesn't… What the fuck.
The fish net falls to the ground behind him as he drops to his knees. He can't. How? How was Artyom here? How long had it been since he last saw this wonderful and so, so forgiving man? He reached out to touch the man's helmet, just to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Pavel had had dreams about this type of thing before, but usually they ended with himself dead.
He gentle lifted the visor of his helmet up to see his face and he really didn't look good. His face was pale and slightly blue, there was water leaking out of his mouth and there was blood dripping down his face from somewhere unseen on his head. Thank god he's breathing, at least. He needed to get Artyom out of here, out of the open where the wolves could find him.
He wrapped his arms around Artyom and tried to lift him into his arms. Oh fuck he's really really heavy. Okay, that's not going to work. Hm.
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Artyom woke slowly to the sound of music. His thoughts and movements were sluggish, almost at a snail's pace so he tried to wait until he could think properly, just listening to the nice music.
By the time he realized that it wasn't just music, it was someone humming , he was definitely well enough to move. He pushed himself as fast as he could into a sitting position and immediately regretted it as his vision swam and the contents of his stomach threatened to come up. He groaned involuntarily which made the humming stop and someone come over to his side.
They clicked their tongue disapprovingly and when they spoke, their voice made Artyom's entire world flip. "Don't move yet, priyatel! You'll hurt yourself!"
Artyom opened his eyes despite the pain and dizziness and stared at the sight in front of him. That… That's Pavel. H-How did he get all the way out here? They were thousands of miles from Moscow, how had he gotten here? And how had he found him?
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Pavel gently took a cloth to Artyom's head to wipe the blood off and made himself seem uncaring of his gaping and staring at him, only concerned about his health. He just wanted Artyom to be okay before he got his revenge.
He let Artyom push him away so he could sign at him, using the signs he had taught Pavel in the short time they had known each other.
'H-O-W?'
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Pavel sighs, like Artyom's question drags up painful memories, and stands up to go put the cloth away. He feels guilty for asking for a moment before he remembers again, how far they are away from Moscow. It's too confusing to leave unanswered. So, he signs Pavel's name, the letter P and then comrade.
' Pavel.'
'IT OKAY'
Pavel smiles at him a little at him, which brings a little comfort to him. The other man sits down on the chair next to the bed and finally tells him. "I'm sorry, chuvak… After you saved my life I… There was no where for me to go. I could not go back to the Red Line after my failure and especially not after they.." Pavel stopped and stuttered a bit before becoming frustrated with himself. "Ah, blin! After they were mostly wiped out."
Artyom still wondered to this day if it would have been better for the Dark Ones to have left most of the soldiers alive, the battle of D6 was a massacre.
"I decided to try to leave to find where my father grew up here in Kazakhstan, I didn't know him too well but I thought maybe I could find out more about him…"
Artyom thought he was done and was about to sign when Pavel spoke again, not looking at him.
"I did not think I would make it here. I thought I would die before I even made it out of Moscow, but I didn't. And now I'm here."
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Pavel didn't want to tell Artyom how he had been feeling when he left, but he had to know. He doesn't know what to expect from Artyom but he definitely doesn't expect to suddenly be pulled into the other man's strong arms. He just about squeaks in surprise before his brain finally catches up enough to hug Artyom back.
If Artyom realizes Pavel is crying, he thankfully doesn't say anything.
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When Artyom gets Pavel into his arms, he feels like he doesn't want to let him go ever again. When did he get so attached to this communist bastard? He puts his hand against the other man's chest gently and signs to him, hoping he can tell what he's saying just by feeling the signs.
'Missed you.'
'F-O-R-G-I-V-E'
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Pavel jumped a little as Artyom pressed a hand to his chest, his heartbeat immediately speeding up and his face flushing red. What was he-
'Missed you.'
Artyom had missed him? Him? Why?
'F'
'O'
'R'
'G'
'I'
'V'
'E'
What? Artyom forgave him? "Why? After all I did?"
The other man finally pulled away and reached for the notebook on the nightstand, which Pavel had put there to dry out overnight. Pavel leaned over to watch him write.
'The little dark one showed me your thoughts, told me how you felt. I know you were forced and you would never do it again.'
Artyom put his notebook and pencil down in his lap before making Pavel look at him. His thoughts raced as he looked into those beautiful green eyes.
'I'
'LOVE'
'YOU'
When their lips met, Pavel's entire world disappeared around them. Artyom loved him and was kissing him. Holy shit.
Slowly, he melted into the kiss and put a hand on the other man's chest as he kissed him back. The most beautiful man he'd ever met, that he had betrayed, was kissing him. And he was kissing back.
After several moments, Artyom pulled away to breathe and Pavel struggled not to chase after the other man's lips. "I-I love you too, Tyoma."
The other man smiled brilliantly at him, which made his heart skip a beat or two. He moved in to give Artyom another quick kiss before he pulled away to get up. "D'Artagnan, let me get you something to eat, you were out for quite a long time."