Nikita

[NIKITA]

The Colonel looked at Carrie, waiting for a sensible explanation from the woman who was scared of nothing other than losing her spot in the military. The woman who wasn't scared of anything and yet was willing to risk it all for a friend.

Whoever she was doing it for had to be unique to her, and it was true. Nikita Rostova was a lucky son of a bitch to have two platoon Commanders ready to down their tools for him. Still standing at attention, Carrie sighed deeply before speaking.

Hopefully, she didn't jeopardize her mission this time to save Nikita at any cost.

"We were called in because of the Pavlenko news, and I believe the Commander knows that; he is just not feeling good at the moment," Carrie said without looking at the Colonel. It was their judgment right here, and the government could possibly get involved.

Being the leaders of Pavlenko would make it hard for them to balance, especially with the government having tried to acquire Pavlenko over the years and failed miserably. 

There was a chance that they would now use Carrie and Qiao to get their hands on it, but would the two Commanders let that happen?

Carrie wanted to give an explanation, a better explanation like they were early to do this for their friend who wasn't in the mental state to be himself and didn't really want to get an admission to the mental health facility because he was worried that someone would kill his brothers.

She wanted to tell the Colonel everything about the Pavlenkos so he would have a good bearing on the situation, but that just wouldn't help her case or Qiao's. So they had to sit and wait.

"Do you know the consequences of your actions could involve your stripping ceremony?" the Colonel asked Qiao Xi and Carrie. 

"Yes, sir," the duo responded. Of course, they knew the risks involved and knew what was at stake, to them and to their dear friend. They knew what they were risking and what they would lose if all of this continued, but they were still willing to continue this path.

They were still ready to go on ahead and be the chiefs of the conglomerate whose hero was busy hunting answers. They knew it would take Nikita a lot of time and that there was the risk of them choosing between their military service and the young heir.

One look into their eyes, and the Colonel knew what their decision was. Here with him, in that tiny office, Colonel Dmytri knew the two Commanders were fighting for something they held dear to them.

Something they were determined to save, and he wasn't going to be a heartless man and take it from them.

He understood. But he just needed them to be aware of what was waiting to form them if they decided to use the train that no one took into the midlands.

"And you would still wish to continue this?" Colonel Dmytri insisted, making Carrie and Qiao understand that there was more at stake.

However, whatever the Colonel was thinking of, they had already thought of it because they were here and had just served their punishment with the rebels. Hell, they had even brought the stupid Hogwarts with them to Todorov and ensured that there would be peace in the lands for a while.

Hopefully, there would be more security for the people in that area; otherwise, a lot would be lost because there wouldn't be two crazy Commanders who were always troublesome, who would also be getting the peacekeeping punishment again.

"Permission to talk to the Colonel," Qiao requested after a while of listening to the Colonel. Carrie looked at him, wondering what he wanted to say. Whatever it was, she was ready to back him up.

One thing about Qiao, Carrie, Ren, and Nikita was that they always had each other's backs.

Nothing would break them apart; not even the loss of their best friend had managed to tear them apart. Because here they were, fighting to hold onto their other best friend so he wouldn't leave them too. This is what their little family of misfits looked like, and they loved it here.

"Permission granted. What is it, Commander Xi?"

"I have been running a private task force under the military laws that you approved, and I was thinking we could engage Commander Tabakov since she is familiar with how the medical scope works. If you can approve that, sir, it would be an honor," Qiao said.

He had gotten tired of listening to the Colonel who was there holding them captive with his rank when there were perpetrators outside who needed to be caught. He couldn't let Todorov lose its best doctor to insanity when they could have helped him get better and get his closure.

The chances of Nikita going back to the operating room and picking up the scalpels and defibrillators were thin already, and if they let him wander out there, then there would be nothing for him when he came back, not that he would care anyway.

So his friends would worry for him.

They would make things make sense for him, and he would show up because he had made a promise and Nikita Rosotva never backed out of his promises. Hopefully, this could be one of the many ways they would get through to him, right?

"The justice task force?" Colonel Dmytri asked. He had heard of the task force in the past six months and had received reports about it. Of course, he had to know it, considering one of his Commanders was heading it.

The military had had no option but to let Qiao Xi do his thing, and he had promised that it wouldn't interfere with his work as a Russian soldier, and even at the moment, nothing had gone wrong with their planning.

The Colonel really had no reason to stop them from doing what they loved best—getting justice and saving lives.

"Yes, sir," Qiao said without faltering. He knew the Colonel could ruin him or make him by what he would say next, and he just continued. Maybe there was a reason for all this, but then this was a sacrifice he had decided upon, and it was only fitting that they see it to the end. 

"How sure are you that Commander Tabakov will be useful to the taskforce and not in Afghanistan?" the Colonel questioned.

They had been at war with afghan for the longest time, and they needed their best people, yet here they were requesting to be ȧssigned to a task force of all the things? This was just insane.

Anyone with eyes to see their prowess and ears to what the great Commanders of Tabakov could have thought that Qiao and Carrie were high on something stronger than alcohol.

"Permission to talk, sir," Carrie requested

"Granted."