Nikita

"You have definitely gone crazy, Nikita," Qiao said, not changing his position. He was tired, and right now, he was tired of Nikita and his madness. 

"No, brother. You guys are the only family I have left. Maggie is too, but I can't trust the Pavlenko empire to her. Also, if you both are worried about the chaos and the possible link to the military, don't worry.

"All the legalities have been taken care of. Your position in the military won't be affected by you and Cassie stepping in as the new CEOs of Pavlenko. You will be soldiers and businessmen. Do whatever you can to make it work.

"I don't care if at some point you have to slander me, brother—" Nikita said, and Qiao just looked at him, still in his statue position.

"Are you dead?" Nikita asked as he pushed Qiao, but the soldier didn't make any move, just looked at him.

"No, brother, I'm just wondering when you had the time to make all of this when you have always been in the hospital either treating patients or running away from reality," Qiao said, without batting an eye.

His statement should have sounded offensive, but it wasn't. He had simply told Nikita what he was thinking; besides, they had a truth code, one that prohibited them from lying to the other even in the toughest of situations.

"I've been busy…Also, could you give me back my crisps?" Nikita politely asked, but Qiao did nothing.

It was apparent he was holding onto the crisps for the sake of his sanity. He didn't trust Nikita's following words. The man could be selling himself, and Qiao wouldn't know how to react to that. At least with the crisps, he would eat one and pretend like he didn't hear anything.

"Anyway. I know this is abrupt, but please don't say no. I have to be better so I can be able to comfort Yuri—"

"I accept, but on one condition," Carrie said, interrupting the discussion. How long had she been listening to them?

"How are you—" Nikita asked, but Carrie just laughed at him.

"You didn't send your best trackers because you wanted me to know they were following me. You wanted me to know you needed me, and with all the shit in the media and how hopeless Qiao looks, I figured you needed me.

"I just didn't think you'd be this crazy. What the hell?" Carrie said as she punched Nikita in the guts, making Qiao's eyes lighten up.

"Qiao, help me," Nikita said, but Qiao just decided to eat his crisps like he wasn't even there. He was smiling ear to ear.

"Qiao who? Man, I don't even know who I am right now. And thank you for the crisps, and I know there's more. Oh, and any of you bastards want coffee? Nikita bought a new coffee machine, and this should make his coffee how he likes it," Qiao said.

He was just abandoning Nikita to his fate. Well, when it came to Carrie, it was every man for himself. The times Nikita had jumped ship when Qiao wanted to be saved from Carrie were countless, and that was just his karma.

"I'll have a cappuccino, and he'll have a latte," Carrie said, not letting Nikita go.

"Yes, what she said," Nikita said hopelessly. He really needed new friends. 

Nikita was still clutching onto his stomach when Qiao returned with their coffee, like a waiter who had brought their orders. 

Even though Nikita was miserable at the moment, he couldn't help but be thankful that his friends were here with him. He couldn't have managed shit with them, honestly. They were like a system, and even though Nikita was drowning, he knew he didn't have anything to worry about.

"So, how have you been?" Carrie asked once they settled on the seats.

"Angry"

"Hungry," Qiao and Nikita said at the same time, making Carrie roll her eyes.

"You don't look too good, Rostova. What have you been doing to yourself? I thought we agreed you'd take care of yourself? This is not what we agreed on, Nikita," Carrie said defeatedly. She was also worried about their friend.

Everything was pinning him down, and he wasn't accepting help from anyone. He would use a tactic to avoid the state of things and that wasn't healthy, not in any way. He needed to snap out of it, and he needed to be back with them.

"I have to do this, Carrie. This is the only way I know that won't involve giving up everything. I know that both of you will hunt me down and bring me back here, which is why I made you the custodians," Nikita said as he drank his coffee.

He missed Ren so much. They all did, but today wasn't about Ren; today was about him.

"Oh, you said you had a condition, Carrie; what is it?" Nikita asked.

He knew Carrie was always strict and cared for them like they were her younger brothers when in reality, she was the youngest of their group, but no one had the balls to say that to her face. No one wanted to risk their lives.

"I will do anything to help you get better, hell I will even kill on your behalf, but you have to stay within Todorov. I'm not going to be taking over with Qiao if we're always going to be worried about you.

"And we have to get back our dinner times, the movie nights, everything we did with en before the crash. You can be a ghost or whatever you want to be, but you must not miss out on our traditions," Carrie said with a tone that left room for arguments.

Nikita looked at her, then at Qiao, who just shrugged. What was he supposed to do? What decision was he supposed to make when his friends depended on him just as he was on them? 

"Can I think about it?" Nikita asked, and Carrie responded, "only if I also get to think about my position in the Pavlenko empire." 

"Me too. If you think about it, then I will too," Qiao said.

Nikita looked at them and realized they were right. He couldn't expect them to sacrifice their time to run Pavlenko while he was unwilling to commit to their tradition.

It would definitely be hard for him, especially since the traditions were held at the Pavleno residence. If he thought he had been in hell before he woke up, this right here was hell.

"Alright, fine. I'll show up, I promise," Nikita said defeatedly. I hadn't expected them to want his crazy ȧss in the house even after all that had happened, but what was he even to do? 

"Perfect.. Now let's talk about the press conference."