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The following work of fiction contains graphic homosexual interaction, violence and non-consensual sex. With this work of fiction the authors do not condone in any way any form of intolerance and injustice, e.g. racism, sexual harassment, incitement of hatred, religious hatred nor persecution, xenophobia and misogyny. Neither do the authors through this work of fiction promote violence nor make light of such grave matters as genocide, any taking of human life, murder, execution, rape, torture, persecution of sexual orientation.

By accessing this work of fiction you hereby accept and agree that this is a work of fiction and does not reflect in any way the opinions of the authors. The authors do not necessarily endorse the views expressed by the fictional characters.

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All characters are fictional. Any similarities with living or deceased people are coincidental. In case of real life events, creative license has been applied. All stories are intellectual property of Marquesate and Vashtan. Copyright © 2006-2009. All rights reserved. Feedback is very much appreciated.

October 1984, Scotland

It had been two months since corpses, cave and survival. Two months since the events that were still coursing through Dan's mind, unable to shrug their memory off and forget about the Russian's actions.

Two months in which he had made his way back to Kabul after being holed up for days in the shelter the Russkie had taken him to. Staggering across the mountains once he could stand on his own two feet, slowly picking his way along the pass, still dizzy and limping, but at least fit for survival. Thanks to his enemy. He'd encountered a friendly Muja patrol from a tribe he'd had dealings with and whose warlord had made sure he was taken down to the lowlands on one of the packing mules.

'Never give up, never surrender'.

Two months, and he hadn't been able to leave a message with the tea house owner, before his contacts had insisted he'd get immediate medical care, as rudimentary as it was, then bundled up and flown straight out of Kabul and back to the UK. A week observation in a military hospital down South, near Portsmouth, and then two weeks of R&R. 'Relaxation', they'd said. 'Go and rest up'. Relaxation, my arse, he'd thought. Fucking unlikely! How to relax without the body of the Russian, hands on his cock, lips, cock cumming in his throat, musk and heat, strength like his own, and losing himself deep within the body of the other.

Two months minus four and a half weeks and Dan had gone up to Scotland, sitting in a train from London King's Cross, staring out of the window for four and a half hours, while mixing cups of bitter coffee with overpriced cans of beer. Feeling like a visitor in strange lands as the English countryside went by, green and entirely too lush. Even further up North, crossing the wide open planes of Yorkshire, they seemed like claustrophobic strips of land after the Afghan mountains. Then York, briefly wondering as they approached the station if he should get out, get pissed, and try to get laid, but in a small historical tourist place? He hardly remembered tales of where to pick up a whore - since a throat was a throat -, let alone a rent boy. Knew nothing about the gay scene in this country - as little as he knew about what was hidden beneath the women's burkhas, back in Kabul.

Newcastle soon, promise of a thriving Northern English city, endless pubs and bars, enough booze to forget, but fuck it again, Dan stayed in the train, determined to cross the border. He'd given his word to his brother he'd come visit their father whenever he was back in Blighty. The family was waiting: brother, sister-in-law, three nephews. Felt hardly like relations, had lost interest in their lives when he'd joined up, seventeen years ago. Was easier, for all, in case he died, like that mate of his. John, and a dog tag his Russkie had brought him.

Dan stayed, the train passing along what he'd once thought was a magnificent coastline, now everything in Britain seemed small. Too many people, grey skies and grey faces. Grey lives all around him, and his own? Black and white, but never grey.

Getting himself another minuscule can of beer in the buffet coach, after he'd pissed out the others, Dan stared at the sea and its equally grey waves, crashing against the Scottish coast. Thinking of his brother, four years younger and so much better suited to take over the farm, bringing up kids and all that stuff that men tended to do in the village. Those were the ones who stayed, the others found a measly paid labouring job, went down to England for better prospects, or joined the army. Just like him, but he was the only one who had made it into the Special Forces.

Dan frowned at the drizzle outside, remembering his brother's words and his 'threat' via Bluey military mail: their father had had a second heart attack, seriously ill, and if James Douglas McFadyen was going to die before he'd seen his oldest son at least one last time, then whatever little was left of his family would never forgive him nor speak to him again. Him, Daniel Ewen McFadyen, the son his father was so insanely proud of, boasting in the pub for the last fifteen-odd years about his Dan's exploits across the world, doing heroic deeds in the SAS.

His brother was a good guy, and he'd been taking care of their father's farm and of Dan's money, better than Dan would ever have. Best he reacted to the 'threat'.

Edinburgh at last, and he felt like a stranger as he stepped out of the train at Waverly station. Shouldering his oversized bergan, some of the voices around him sounded familiar with their variety of Scottish accents, but most of them were simply foreign. Listening to a cacophony of languages from all over the world, thought he'd caught a snippet of Russian and his head flew around, then stopped, grinned wryly to himself. Almost a month and he reacted to a few sounds of Russian like Pavlov's dog to a bell.

Dan made his way up towards Princess Street, looking around himself, while letting the people pass who were busily going about their lives. A stranger in a strange place and Edinburgh, fine, genteel, beautiful Edinburgh, was too fucking perfect. The city felt like a lady, sneering at him, her long discarded piece of rough. The lover she had thrown back out of the tradesmen entrance, and who was clumsily finding his way into a cold and lonely bed.

He had almost a couple of hours to kill before getting into his next train, enough time for a few pints in Rose Street. Glancing up to the castle he wondered if he should check if some of his mates were still stationed there, but there was no point. If they were they'd be on duty, and he'd figure it out on his way back. Perhaps.

Two hours and several pints later he caught the train to Oban, sufficiently mellow to stay in a half-sleeping state while glancing intermittently out of the window at the Highland scenery passing by. Thought he'd missed his home, the glens and the mountains, barren rock and green covered sweeps, but he'd been wrong. Everything paled compared to the magnificence of mountains, dust, rocks and tank-flattened villages and that endless sky, merciless sun and murderous cold of Afghanistan.

He'd been there four years; four years too long.

'Relax', they had said, and Dan tried his best, once he arrived at the station, phoned his brother and was picked up in a battered Landrover. Sitting at his family's heavy wooden kitchen table, he felt taken back into a time and a 3D moving picture into which he simply no longer belonged. Perhaps never had, come to think of it, or he hadn't wanted nothing but leave and join the army. Soldier. 'Be All You Can' and all that shit. And that's what he was now, no way back, and he didn't want to. SSgt Dan McFadyen, SAS.

His father looked frail, nothing like the tall, strong man he remembered from a little more than a year ago. Still dark, hair barely grey, but eyes dimmed and the once broad back that belonged to a proud Highlander now bent with disease. No longer fit to work on the farm, the deed written over to Duncan, his younger son, he still heftily clapped Dan's shoulder, sitting opposite to him and urging him to talk tall tales and tell stories of his exploits. Slamming his fist onto the table with roaring laughter, calling both his sons 'his bairns' and cursing them for 'silly fools', while the kids were playing outside and Duncan's wife Mhairi prepared the evening meal.

Two months minus two weeks. Scottish food, home cooked meals, stodgy and rich, and time for Dan's leg to heal, the bruise on his head to vanish, and his body to return to well-nourished strength. Yet his memories never faded. Mountains, over and over again; heat and freezing cold, endless skies and sheltering caves. Blood, pain and an all surpassing lust for one man, settled so deeply into his bones, the need had become part of him. Bottomless, like the touch he craved.

Only relaxing when he could finally walk without pain, hiking up the hills and mountains on his own, looking over the Scottish Highlands. Sitting or walking for hours on end, watching. Thinking. Smoking cigarettes and following the smoke with his gaze as tendrils curled up into the cloud-torn sky. Scotland, his home - once upon a time.

Two months minus a week and a half, and Dan knew when he left his family's farm that he'd never see his father again. Yet he felt hardly anything. Hadn't mourned much when his mother had died, shortly before he joined up, couldn't grieve now, had seen too much death and decay, and death had lost its meaning. What did they have in common? A name, their hair and eyes, and a fierce temperament. What did that old man mean to him? Blood relations. No more, no less. Of no consequence to his life.

His finances once more settled with his brother, all accounts squared and explained, investments, interest, savings, payments, rent and bills, and most of all the properties that Duncan had bought on his behalf, bringing in money slowly but steadily. Dan didn't care about his finances, as long as he had enough and what did he need? Back in Kabul? Hardly a place to march into the nearest bank, get out a few quid and storm off to the next pub. Glad his brother dealt with it all, happy to pay him percentages for his troubles. Surprised when checking the sum below the line, where all that money had come from, and what to do with it one day. The day he dreaded thinking about: retirement after twenty-two years of service. He had five more to go, he'd worry about the abyss when he stepped over the edge.

The way back down to England was just as unspectacular. Stopping over in Edinburgh, he remembered to check in with his old mate, still stationed up on the rock, spending the evening in the Sergeants' Mess in the castle compounds. Drinking pints with Infantry blokes, swapping more of those tall tales of danger and escape within hair's breadth. Boozing while settled on proverbial sand bags, pissed and loud, raucous and big. All of them. Real lads, just like him, envious of his SAS job, and none of them knew that Dan couldn't help but notice tight arses in black trousers and broad chests beneath polo shirts.

Finding himself down South the next day, with pounding head and fragile stomach, Dan stepped through the gate of the military camp that would take him back to his job when his hangover had receded. Ready for the usual round of briefings the following day, before he'd be flown out in a Herc.

Two months minus one week, and Dan was finally back in a troop carrier. Ear plugs kept the worst of the deafening noise away, yelling at comrades above the mayhem of engine and air, and pissing into a sand filled bucket, spending the final hours curled up beside his bergan, on top of the sleeping bag. Conked out despite the hellish noise, being carried back into a wilderness that was so goddamned familiar, if he understood the notion of 'home', he'd know he was flying home to the mountains, heat and cold, skies above an endless expanse of nothing. Unkempt bands of goat-fuckers, flea infested caves, guts, fear and danger, and the familiar mosaics in an unexpected oasis. Shade, green, over-sweetened tea and sticky pastries, in the very centre of Kabul.

Afghanistan, his fate, his life, and probably his death. Afghanistan - and his Russian.

Two months minus three days, and Dan's first action after checking in with his contacts was to leave a message for Vadim with the tea house owner. Welcomed back like a long-lost friend; a friend with money and practical gifts from lands in the West. The search for a safe house had become easy, four years and he knew Kabul better than his village up in the Highlands. Sleep, food, re-acquaintance with waning heat that was turning into autumn, and dust. Always dust in the lowlands. No matter the heat nor cold.

Two months, almost to the day, and Dan sat in the shade on one of the tattered cushions, sipping strong tea, stuffing himself with honeyed nuts and pastry, while watching the tea house patrons come and go. Face partly hidden beneath a rag, sporting the same light colour as his native clothing. Sandals, long, loose coat, and the Western clothes beneath. Safer to stay native for the time being, even though his contacts had reassured him there would be no repercussion for being the only survivor of the massacre two months ago.

Two months, and he was sitting, waiting. Waiting and hoping.

October 1984 - Afghanistan

Vadim's only way of dealing with the nervous tension was to exhaust himself. That meant gathering favours with the other officers, getting stuff done, in essence volunteering for all kinds of work that they couldn't be bothered to do.

Pulled shift after shift, working like a madman, he hardly managed to squeeze in the time to answer any of the letters. It was difficult to pretend. Yes, darling, I'm missing you, too. He wondered whether Katya ever actually meant it when she wrote about it. Their letters were almost genteel, well-written affairs, with the tenderness understated - at least if he compared their letters with the raucous missives other married men received, or sometimes wrote - but she made sure to include allusions to her 'cold bed' and 'missing him' in every one of them. Just to ensure that whoever read them thought their married life included sex. Katya, in her strange ways, did her duty, but he missed her like a sister, while every other thought focused on Dan. Dan, beaten up, Dan looking up from a steaming mug of tea, flashing a grin, Dan, naked, glancing over his shoulder, checking on him.

Work did help. He dreaded the moment when anybody would mention they'd found a western mercenary, or see Dan's kit show up on the barrack's black market. Dreaded Dan had been found and interrogated, and used as barter against the Brits. A scandal: British soldier in a war that was the Soviet Union's internal affair. Of course they were involved, but the Soviets were still keen to be able to prove it - to play the game of finger-pointing and political blackmail, use Dan to make a point in diplomatic circles. But they'd need a confession and needed to verify whatever Dan would give them.

And Vadim just couldn't stand the thought of Dan beaten up, chained to a chair and interrogated. He'd have to commit suicide if it ever came to light - he wouldn't survive either way, Vadim knew that much, and he was determined to not give them that much power. Suicide was the only act of treason that they'd ever be able to prove. Removing himself from the army of faceless henchmen his one act of defiance. If it could have worked out with Richard. But he was no fool. No true option. No real choice. The puppet could only sever the strings and refuse to walk, not walk of its own free will.

His thoughts remained dark, and he showed his brooding and reserved face for weeks, which turned into months. Paperwork. Exercises. Inspections. Working out. Last few thoughts, alone in bed, of Dan's smell and Dan beneath him, and how Dan sounded when he came. Sometimes he lacked the energy to jerk off, just remembered, pulling those thoughts up like a different kind of blanket.

Kept up the habit of checking the tea house. One day, two months later, Dan was there. Vadim fought hard to keep his face a mask of disinterest, and was pretty sure he fooled nobody - he wondered what the tea house owner thought of them, why they met and why they left after a few brief words. It was clearly not about the conversation.

* * *

Watching. Waiting. The shade comfortable, and yet the age old game of patience was starting to turn stale, when Dan looked up, stilled. Slow smile spreading across his partly hidden face as he made a negligent gesture towards the cushions in front of him.

Shit, the eyes smiled, no, the whole man smiled at him. See Dan alive and smiling. Vadim felt an odd tightness in his chest that didn't belong there, similar to the worry and fear, the concern. Vadim nodded a greeting and grinned back, approaching like to a friend. Wanted to take both his hands and shake them, press the other into a hug, kiss his cheeks, the whole thing, and held back. They weren't friends, but he was so glad to see Dan alive.

"Long time no see, Russkie." Dan said in Russian, while one of the waiters was approaching. Whatever the tea house owner thought, he was getting a good deal out of all of this.

"Oh yes." Vadim sat down, glanced at the waiter and leaned forward, studying Dan. "You look", good, "rested."

"Aye," Dan grinned even wider, part of his lips shaded by the rag, "they told me to 'relax'. Not an easy feat without the proper means to 'relax'." Suggestive, flashed his teeth, nodded at the waiter to bring more tea and baklava.

Vadim inhaled, then grinned. Why did everything Dan said go straight to his cock? "So. How did you … fare?"

"They shipped me off straight away, couldn't leave a message." For two months he'd felt guilty. "Got the whole hog: hospital, observation, then family. Home cooked food, exercise, sleep." Tilting his head in the way peculiar to him, looking Vadim up and down, "in short, bored to fucking death."

"But at least it was proper food." Vadim shrugged, and leaned back, trying to find the calm place, the relaxed place, get out of this need, this craving, this wanting, this missing thing. Pondered saying something that was cool and banter, better than: fuck, I missed you, better than: I knew you couldn't be dead, something that wasn't anything that jeopardized his face. "Hope you're healed alright?"

Dan nodded. "Fully healed. De-wormed, de-loused, de-nitted." He smirked, "must have had more poison inside and out than the average grunt during a gas attack."

Vadim gave a dry laugh and shook his head.

The waiter brought the tea and a fresh plate, setting it down at a nod from Dan, who took one of the glasses, handed it to Vadim without thinking. "Got poked and prodded, fingers down my neck, up my arse, needles stuck in my flesh, blood sucked out, and x-rayed to hell and back. In short, I'm fit as a fiddle."

"Good." Vadim took the tea glass and kept his eyes on the Brit. Didn't want to look away - had long since stopped watching his hands for a suspicious motion towards weapons. Looked at him glad he was there, that he was alive, and looked as healthy and rested as he did - underneath the native rags. "I … just worked. Usual things. Nothing … exciting."

Leaning forward, Dan slipped a piece of baklava between his lips, chewing the honey sweet concoction of greasy pastry and nuts with obvious delight. "No more genocide for the last two months, I reckon." Odd how such a word could be used in light-hearted banter, but he was reckless enough.

Vadim shook his head. "Nothing what's not already going on." Drive the Pashtuns from their villages, hundreds and thousands of refugees. If one ethnic group refused to yield or cooperate, get rid of it. Even if they were the majority in this country. Just as insane a plan as anything Stalin had cooked up.

"Which brings me to something else." Dan was pondering, watching intently, before relaxing once more, leaning back and taking the fresh tea for a sip of the hot, strong liquid. "I've been thinking." He pushed a corner of the rag away that had been partly obscuring his lips. Lips that were curving into a minuscule grin. "I want to know if you can do anything other than what you did." Leaning forward once more, close enough to talk quietly, in Russian, Vadim leaning forward as well.

"What I did?"

"I want to know if you can do anything but rape men," Dan's hand slashing the air diagonally, "stroke, me." Dark eyes betraying an odd glint, intense on the other's pale ones, which darkened as the Russkie frowned. "So, can you? Can you fuck men without going into raping mode? Or, should I rather ask, can you fuck me without raping?"

Dan leaned back again, casual, slouched on his cushions, against the wall. Watching Vadim with undisguised curiosity tinged with cynical amusement.

Can I? Vadim tightened his lips, felt strangely challenged and accused, in broad daylight. Platon. Hardly any force. No, no true force. Platon hadn't had much of a choice, but rape? Rape was the wrong word. Coercion? Dan had triggered it, deliberately … well, as deliberate as a wounded, shell-shocked man could be … he'd tried to go slowly, gently, fuck, had tried hard to make Dan enjoy it. "I … am not sure."

"That's why I want you to do it again. Because after last time I'm inclined to go back on my word, but I want to know. Get me?"

Vadim was numb with surprise, but nodded. Dreaded another loss of control, and wanted nothing more. Felt strange whenever he thought of last time, like he'd taken advantage of a wounded man, which was partially true, betrayed trust. Not guilt, just uneasiness. Had decided to keep that thing, fucking Dan, shackled in the back of his mind, a fantasy, and nothing else. "What if it goes wrong again?"

Crossing his arms, Dan pulled his legs up, knees bent under the robe, resting. "Well, if I figure you can't do it," didn't repeat the word, not from the distance, "then it's back to square one and trust me, Russkie, I will kill you …" lowered his voice, barely audible, designed for the other to just about make it out, "if you tried again after that." Didn't mention fingers, though.

A challenge and a threat. Reluctance to accept either. Could he? Could he control himself enough? Control that dark flood, the rising waters? Impossible odds. Wanted Dan, needed Dan, even wanted him wounded, hurting, struggling to throw him off, but also wanted him wanting. The paradox could only be explained by accepting that he wanted Dan in whatever state, whatever way, whatever opportunity. "Do you have a room?"

Dan nodded, smiled with the self-confidence of someone who'd known how the odds were going to be. "Of course." Pushed another piece of baklava between his lips, talking while chewing. "How long do you have?" Added, before washing the honeyed pastry down with the rest of the tea. "Been a while." As if that explained anything, and yet it did. All of it.

Vadim felt lust rise to the surface, moving with all the purpose of a glacier. "To curfew." Six hours. He just couldn't resist the offer, would never be able to. Back to their games. Stakes rising. It had got so much more complicated since the beginning. Too many thoughts, dangers of a different kind these days.

Dan nodded. "Remember the hotel? Got a similar one, close by, top floor. Two streets parallel and to the East. Doesn't have a sign on the door." Chewed on another pastry, could never get enough, even with the slow-burning lust beginning to rise.

"I do." Vadim remembered his tea and took a sip. Didn't feel hungry, his stomach a knot of tension.

Dan licked his fingers, glanced carefully to the sides before nodding at the other. "I meet you at the old hotel, aye? Will guide you to the new place. Safe house. Safer than you'd think you could be in the centre of Kabul. No one asks questions, no one cares."

"I'll be there, waiting." Shit, that had come out wrong. Vadim stood again, thought he should move before too many people saw what sitting near that man did to his body. He'd have enough time to calm down. "Finish your food." He grinned, made it sound generous, mocking, when all he wanted was to rip the clothes off Dan's body right there and then.

"Cheers, Russkie, I'll hurry." The grin that was growing on Dan's face left no question as to what he thought about the generosity.

Steadily working his way through the sweets, Dan watched Vadim leave, tried to take his time but failed miserably. Couldn't help but eat faster and faster. Baklava still in his mouth, chewing, he left money on the plate, as usual paying at least twice as much to keep the owner's discretion going, and went on his way.

True to Vadim's word, Dan saw the tall and broad figure standing close to their erstwhile hotel. He turned around a corner with a barely perceptible nod, expecting the other to follow. No more than five minutes, and they entered a dark alley. The door to the building no different to all the nondescript others they had been in before, but this one higher than any other. Not two stories, not even three, but four stories built out of something more substantial than mud and shit.

Vadim debated with himself all the way, knew that was dangerous, he couldn't be very alert and thinking about how to keep in control, what would happen if he failed, and what Dan would smell and taste like. Relieved and nervous when they'd reached the place, heading upstairs in Dan's wake. Couldn't help the thoughts, and wondering why the recklessness. Why did Dan want that? Was it some kind of game? But what a strange stake, there. Allow him that to prove a point. What was the reason? The gain? He doubted Dan had taken much pleasure the last time. And before that, no. Then why?

Pulling out a rusty key, Dan unlocked the door, pushed it open. Similar room to the one before, but the bed was bigger. Grimy, tattered, dirty, with a ceiling fan that was lazily making its rounds, chopping the air to give a semblance of a breeze on that still-hot autumn day. "Here we go." Dan stepped inside and out of the way, making space. Waiting until they were both in the room, then locked the door and pushed a nearby chair in front of it. At least it would make a noise to warn them.

Vadim smirked. Exactly what he would have done.

"Water seems to work as well. Luxury, eh?"

"Yes, Soviet engineers have repaired some damage. I read report." To keep the population happy. To show it wasn't all bad. To curry favours, as usual.

Sitting down on the bed, Dan started to unwind the rag from his head, and shook his hair. Still as long as it had been, but cut into shape, and in better condition than ever. No vermin, no grease, dark and thick, it looked well cared for, and Vadim was curious what it would feel like. Smell like.

Vadim realised he was too dressed and pulled the rag free, rubbed the burn scar under his throat with an odd feeling of reluctance. Wanted Dan, wanted to win time with washing, nervous almost about getting naked. And enter that strange competition, take the challenge. Opened the vest, belt, pulled off the shirt, placed them near the bed.

"Do you know that British saying 'curiosity killed the cat'"? Dan flashed a grin at Vadim.

"Yes." Vadim paused. Cat. Tiger. Who was calling the shots? Was Darren right? Dan had set down the rules, despite him being the one who would get fucked. Then why had he never put down any rules when he was getting fucked? Just allowed himself to be washed away? No control, certainly not over Dan when he fucked him. "Won't be that bad." I promise. I won't hurt you this time. "What was it again? Three time's charm?"

Dan's eyebrows had raised, won't be that bad, he couldn't recall everything since he'd woken from being wounded and shell-shocked, but he sure as hell remembered that promise. Hadn't forgotten either how he had not been able to bear the care, the lack of speed. How he had remembered, and couldn't abide remembering.

"Charm?" He suddenly laughed, leaned over, let himself fall onto the side to reach over to the floor, right beneath the bed. "You're one charming bastard."

"First one ever to call me that. Even in joke." Vadim gave a smirk. True. Charm was one of the things he was decidedly lacking. Not quite what he'd been getting at, but in no mood to argue the point.

Still fully clothed, Dan pushed himself back up and dragged his bergan from under the bed. Pulled it close, opened the flap and undid the cords that were keeping it shut. Pulling out a plastic carrier bag, strange sight in the dusty and dim surroundings, he dropped the full bag in front of Vadim. The colourful writing across the white announced the supermarket brand, its gaudiness obscene in this place.

"Here." Pushed the bag closer to the other. "I depleted your stocks. Fair's fair." Added with a grin, "you won't even lie if you claim it's from a turkey."

Vadim reached for it, reluctantly, didn't like presents, made him feel strange, especially now, knew that was stupid, they'd given each other more than this kind of stuff. Food, water, care. Sex. Of course, sex above all else.

He sat down to check the contents. A glass bottle of Balvenie 'single malt' whisky, half a litre, a pile of bandages, good stuff, looked sterile and new and clean, Dima would love those, packs of pills, seemed to be generic antibiotics and penicillin, then sprays and creams that were antiseptic, another small pile of plasters. Vadim took the bottle of whisky and put it down on the floor, right next to the bed, then checked the rest. A bumper pack of peanut butter energy bars. He gave a dry laugh at that, and shook his head at Dan. "I'll never get to eat different flavour from this, eh?"

"Nope," Dan grinned, "that's because you're such a weird-ass who likes that creepy flavour."

Two tins of chocolate, 'Assam' black tea, and dextrose tablets. Vadim went carefully through this small fortune in barter and survival, then returned everything to the bag. Thinking, over and over, how valuable the gifts were, and that they were gifts and that they, in turn, showed much more care than he'd anticipated. Felt too self-conscious again to say much, too aware what it meant, and struggled with the words. "Very … useful."

"Aye," Dan nodded, lifted his arse off the bed while pulling on the long native gown, "figured it was only fair. You're not particularly flush on useful stuff." Struggled out of the garment, caught halfway while pulling it over his head. "Besides, you bought me food and left me dollars, when I got caught out with nothing. Surviving would have been real shit without your help." Still trapped, all that was seen of Dan were olive green clad legs in faded BDUs, bare feet, and glimpses of a t-shirt, its cotton worn thin.

Vadim barely resisted touching him now, or kissing him, or both, put the bag down on the floor. "Yes, only fair." He shook his head. "Fair play, eh? Very British thing, that's what my teachers said." He bent down to untie his laces and pull off his boots, distracted by the sight.

"Guess it is damn British." Dan grinned when he finally wiggled out of the garment, the t-shirt coming off at the same time, discarded both on the floor beside the bed and reclining in just the trousers. Chest bare, slightly filled up, yet despite the muscles and strength his body always remained on the lean side, increasingly with every year. Hand on the fly, looking up and watching the other. He stalled suddenly, gaze intense.

"As I said, Russkie, I had time to think." Popping a couple of buttons on his fly, the shadow of dark curls visible, "why the fuck are you so desperate to fuck me? It's good stuff, when I fuck you, but with you … it's somehow different. It's more than that. It's something that eats you up."

Vadim's eyes were on the buttons. On what was being bared, slowly, not fast enough, tantalizing. Cock, hair, the skin contrasting the BDUs, the hair. He found it hard to look up and meet the gaze, because the hand there transfixed him. "What … do you mean?" Hunger. Wanting.

"I mean that fixation of yours. You got me, overcame me, raped me." Dan shrugged as if it meant nothing. "That's past." Was it? Didn't matter. "That's four years ago. I still don't understand, though, what's going on in your head when it comes to fucking my arse." Lifted his hips off the bed, pushed the trousers down. Almost baring his cock, half-hidden beneath fabric. "You're fixated. Why. Why is fucking me such a big deal for you. Fucking me with your cock, that is."

Vadim stared at Dan's body, aroused just from looking, from it being there, and being so fucking strong. Why. He'd never thought it was strange or wrong or any kind of exaggerated. He took the BDUs with a hand and pulled them down the rest and off Dan's feet. "Nothing else … no, wrong. Because I want to have you, completely. Your strength. Your … pain. Every motion of your body. Everything."

"What?" Dan shook his head as if he hadn't heard correctly, too taken aback at the answer and what it could possibly mean.

Vadim swallowed dryly. "Would you not fuck me if … I didn't like it?"

"No." Dan looked up, eyes widened. Surprised at his own answer. Had he been too indoctrinated by shagging girls for the first thirty-one years of his life? "Don't think I would." Shrugged, frowned, "at least not like that. Would try to fix it. Make you like it. Can't bloody expect to continue fucking around with the same person if I keep doing shit that this person doesn't like, right? That's bollocks. Nobody would be that fucking stupid."

Naked. Without a shred of self consciousness. Dan lay back, one hand across his taut stomach. Pulled the grubby pillow under his head. "And what the hell does that mean, having me completely. Sounds like a cannibal. Complete, what? My body? Me?"

"Yes." Vadim answered. Didn't make sense. Both answers were good. As if there was a difference between the man and the body. He knew only too well that having the body meant having it all. There was nothing besides. A body could be forced … coerced … and tricked into yielding any response. All it took was control over the flesh. The mind was nothing but chemical and neuronal responses to outside stimuli. "All. All there is."

Dan was shaking his head again, slowly this time. "When you have me, what then? And why? And what is it that you have when you have me? What difference does a cock in my arse make to a fist? To tongue and fingers inside my body and your cock down my throat?"

"It's stronger." I can feel you break. I can feel you yield. Not just one muscle, but your whole body. Your mind. And I can lose myself. Fuck. That was what Darren had said. He didn't actually want control. Did he? "Pure poison, not adulterated stuff. Having you is like … owning you." Shit. Too much truth there.

"Owning me?" Frowning, Dan's face darkened, then let one leg, bent, fall to the side, opening. Open. "Why the fuck do you want to own me?"

You're lying there like that and still ask, thought Vadim, staring at the body. Shit. Groin, ass, legs. The scar from the wound still fresh, but well healed. Owning. One of his favourite fantasies. Dan as his prisoner. Completely at his mercy. His to fuck, his to punish, his to touch and kiss and do whatever he pleased. Still strong, nothing like Gavriil. Resisting him at every turn. Strong and clever enough to turn the tables, take him instead, just as uncompromising and brutal as he had been treated. Shit. That struck deep. Somehow, that was just as good. Slave material. No. No fucking way. He couldn't even think that without being disgusted and appalled, and worse - aroused. Fuck. Dan, of all people, prodded his mind into regions that he didn't want to explore. Not like this. Not now. Not when his face could give too much away. He shook his head. Needed focus to remember. Owning. Why.

"So I can keep you", Vadim murmured. "So it doesn't end."

"It won't." Dan answered, firmly. "Why should it." Letting his eyes move slowly down the other's body, back up once more. "Not as long as there is Afghanistan, the war, and our bodies aren't rotting anywhere yet."

"Two of those aren't going to last forever." Vadim smirked.

Dan shrugged, gestured onto the bed, "right now, we seem to be pretty alive and there's Vaseline in my bergan."

Vadim nodded, glad to be able to push the thoughts away, concentrate on the sex. On something he did want, was ready for. More than ready. And still strangely reluctant. Too aware of the cost, the stakes. Too aware of knife and pistol, but those were part of what they did. Blowjob at knifepoint. Rape with a pistol to the back of the neck. Cutting his back open in revenge. He leaned over to pull the bergan closer and opened it, digging around to find the tub, then placed it on the bed and stood again to pull down his BDUs, removing the rest of his uniform. Apart from the watch. The usual.

Stood there for a moment, in the reddening light of the afternoon, what little found its way through the shutters, tensed his body, looked down at Dan, who was watching him intently. Pretend, maybe, that there was more to it. What if? Did he have any words for the thing they shared? He couldn't define it, measure it. Only knew he didn't want it to end. Climax set them free, it meant Dan could leave, and that he himself could leave, of course, part ways like tigers after the mating. No other way. Not meant to be.

Dan said nothing, waited, let his leg slide down, both parallel, still open. Vadim climbed onto the bed, on hands and knees above Dan, dipped down to take Dan's cock between his lips, while his hand reached for the Vaseline, opened the tub while awakening Dan's interest.

"Damn." Dan murmured, jerked. First touch, sensation, of lips on sensitive skin, tightness and wet heat, right there, where the other reduced him to nonsensical sounds within seconds. "Two months … fucking long." Lifting his hips towards that mouth, the reaction immediate, he was fully hard within a few heartbeats. "No whores." Lifted his head, stared down at the sight. He could never get enough of watching how his cock vanished between those lips, sucked in, cheeks hollowed, jaw muscles working, strong, moving, neck and fist.

Vadim glanced at him with a touch of irony. Whores. Couldn't imagine Dan with women, didn't want to. Pondered to make him come as his fingers dipped into the tub to gather some of the thick grease and warm it in his palm. But while that would relax Dan, the aim was to get him ready to get fucked. The sole purpose. His hand moved between Dan's legs, shoulders low and brushing Dan's thighs, while he worked on Dan's cock, liking the tension that built, and the warmth, the silky feeling. Allowed the cock to slip almost out, then sucked it back in, harsh, with strength, and breached the muscle with two slick fingers, causing Dan to hiss out, "Shit!" hips lifting on their own, towards the throat, and without meaning to, further down onto the fingers.

Giving Dan a wink as Vadim pulled back again, kept his lips tight, pulled away from the neck, resisting it as the cock slipped out. "Been two months for me, too. Not very patient."

"No." Breathless, Dan lifted his head even higher, neck muscles tense and abs creating a hardened pattern. "Neither am I. So, get fucking." His shoulders moved, intent to turn around, wouldn't do this on his back.

Vadim pulled back to allow Dan to turn, preferring that position as well. Greased hand slowly pumped his own cock, going slow enough to keep the lust simmering, forced himself to hold back, just for a few moments longer. On his stomach or on his knees, he'd have Dan. With the distinct possibility to ruin and break it, waste the other's … generosity. Or game.

Turning, lying on his front, all fours and doggie style was what Vadim did, but not Dan. Not ever. Arms bent, face resting on his hands, no, fists. Already clenched. Dan wondered for a moment why the hell he'd planned this? Remembered. That logic, had all made sense back in Scotland, sitting on top of Ben Nevis and staring into the distance. Wasn't so sure about the logic right now. Said nothing, just spread his legs. That 'fucking' thing was strange. Penetration? Why the hell would anyone want to have anything shoved up their arse, but … fuck. He remembered another life, each and every of his usually drunk attempts to get his birds to take it up the shitter. Had been obsessed with their sphincters, breaching, taking, tight and virginal, and owning and wanting and … possessing.

Vadim ran fingers from between Dan's shoulder blades, tracing the spine under the muscles, down towards his ass. Rounded, powerful, some dark hair, exactly what he hadn't seen the first time. If it became anything like the first time, it was the last time. Just don't fucking ruin it. He glanced to where the knife was, on the ground. There would most likely be no knife involved. They were beyond that kind of security. Shit, and why was he feeling nervous about it. He lay down on top of Dan, kissed the back, rubbed his forehead against the tense muscles, while working more grease into the other, listening for any signs of panic or discomfort. Again.

Dan tensed even more. That kissing ... was strange. Faint recollection of what he had tried to do with his girls. Soothing, talking, to get what he wanted. Dan murmured, "If you start telling me I'm beautiful, I'm the one, and I'm special and you'll leave your phone number and you'll want to see me again, I'll fucking kill you after all." The gallows humour eased Dan's tension.

"No. None of that." Vadim slowly moved, to spread the cheeks further apart and press in. Slowly. Shit. Too slow for his taste, too slow for what he really needed. Could feel sweat on his temples, as he inched inside, every muscle in his body coiled to control the hunger.

Dan didn't like it. That 'thing' was an invasion that didn't - couldn't feel good. Filled, spread, strange sensation of needing a dump but he pushed back. Stopped. Stilled. Waited, then tensed. Had been easier for a moment, but fuck, he was far too sober. No booze, nothing. Just a grimy bed in a shitty hotel cum secret brothel in fucked-up Kabul. Fists clenched, but heck, he'd had worse, and he'd given his word, would feels this, test it, whatever, not sure why and didn't matter just that thing and the man, the weight and heat, and a desperately controlled tension emanating from the body on top. Inside.

He was rapidly getting soft, but fuck, he'd do it. Would stay true to his word. And he'd come with a whole fist up his goddamned arse?

"But I need you", murmured Vadim, not knowing where that came from. Maybe from the tension and revulsion he could feel in the other. The fight. But there was nothing to fight against. No anger, no rape, no nothing. Just that kind of uneasy, barely controlled lust. "Always fucking need you", Vadim breathed, pushing further in, could feel no softness, no yielding, saw the fists on the mattress.

"I know." And Dan did. Four years of pain, hatred, lust, mercy, greed, and decency. Fuck, he'd even been walking through the aisle of a fucking supermarket in fucking Britain while thinking of the bastard, fucking shopping for him and yet … couldn't. Didn't want that cock inside his arse.

No. Dan wouldn't yield. Didn't want this. Was about to just suffer through it, nothing but an exercise in willpower and endurance. Vadim would have preferred real torture. At least, no mixed signals there. Not a man that lay spread out under him like the most stoic victim he'd ever had.

Dan buried his face in the grubby blanket, right between his fists, pushed his hips up, moving his arse towards that cock. Fuck, if he was going to do this, he'd get it done and over with in a proper way. Wasn't a simpering bimbo who laid back and thought of England, he was special forces, and if he got his arse fucked, he'd do it SAS style. Discomfort, dislike or not. Breathing out, he pushed again, this time harder. He wouldn't just take that cock like a passive victim, he'd do something with it at least.

'Never give up, never surrender' took on an entirely new meaning.

Vadim bit back a groan when Dan suddenly moved, moved as if demanding. Stopping was no option anymore, the strange queasiness left him as he concentrated on the feeling. Dan almost fucking himself against his cock, maybe tried to speed it up, but without asking for it, just did. Strength, and power, and Dan giving him a rhythm, which forced groans out. All he did was fall into the rhythm, move against Dan's motions, slowly, but with a measure of force, began to sweat, felt the pressure build, wanting. Shifted his weight back to allow Dan more freedom to move, to go slowly, controlled. Thought for those moments, maybe that Dan liked it, wanted him, and he bit into the other's shoulders, murmuring nonsense in Russian, knead the tense shoulder, kiss and bite the neck, feeling the heat rise, his body gleaming with sweat.

"Ah, shit." Dan's voice muffled from the bedclothes. That bite, right there, fuck, that was … different. Lifted his head, twisted his neck back to glance into the other's face, lips. Wanted teeth, again. There.

Something changed, shifted. Not a mountain of epiphanies, no sudden switch to see stars, not even a re-found lust that had been hiding somewhere, but the sensations had changed. The feeling, stretched, filled, the discomfort was gone. As if his arse had just accepted that cock, just like that, suddenly. Another bite, his Russkie seemed to get the message and Dan hissed, drew air into his lungs between his teeth. Good, more.

"Shit, shit, shit." Dan caught his breath, forgot to notice the cock, just the teeth and hands, body heat and weight and the strength that was behind every movement - matching his own. Arching his back, head far in his neck, he hadn't noticed he'd pushed himself up on his fists. Muscles coiling-rolling between shoulder blades down his back. Tensing. Clenching. Taking that cock in stride, just another one in his arsenal of weapons.

Vadim groaned into the muscle he kept between his teeth, lips pulled back while biting on the flesh, Dan's sounds and motions better now, responsive, how Dan lifted from the bed as if to get closer, greet him right there, in all the places that mattered, and the bared throat especially. His hand came up to touch the throat, to pull him back further, feel the ragged breath, the pounding pulse, bit into the side of his neck and elicited a growl, while his body just kept on going. Concentrating on Dan more than any need to come, more on biting than pushing, which was good, great even, free hand moving around to take hold on Dan's cock.

Friction suddenly. Dan felt his cock taken, stroked, he was hardening, not fully hard. Took the bites, though, and relished the abandon. Shuddered, swallowed, that hand on his throat pulled his head further back and created pressure. Pushed into the hand and at same time backwards, arching between body - groin and hand - force. "More." Rough voice, demanding. Pressed his throat against the hand again, pushed himself up, almost slid onto his knees.

Vadim tightened the grip on Dan's throat, on instinct, that was what Dan wanted, moved the fingers up to press into jugular and against the throat, knew too well where he could put pressure and where it was too dangerous. Knew all about killing, about what the body did when there was a lack of oxygen. "Sick … bastard", he breathed, groaning with every thrust now, into increased resistance, Dan's strength that did half the work for him, could feel Dan was still not quite into it, but it strangely didn't make much difference - not to what he felt. Wanting. Needing. Possessing. Getting close.

Dan didn't answer, just a strangled groan, sounds made no sense, felt pressure, danger. Body went into fight mode, attack, defence and kill. His body tensed, moved faster, harder. Pressure building inside his head and chest. He felt like climbing those goddamned mountains and struggling in the thin air. Brutalised himself on the other's cock, but it wasn't about that 'thing' anymore, the intrusion hardly noticed. It was simply about being. Forgetting. Fight and fuck. He was getting hard, not enough, but damn, that struggle for air made his body buck and thrash wildly, turning his mind blank.

It was impossible to keep up, Dan's body struggling, but the man still working with him, against him. Vadim thrust harder, and harder still, unleashing the force slowly, but with no regret, no compassion, knew Dan could take it now, had taken the decisive step, like in the cave when he'd been barely himself. With a few more thrusts, he came, and just about managed to not collapse on top of Dan, instead stayed inside and pulled him back, up into kneeling position against him, hand stroking that bared throat, the other slipping away from his cock, ran up Dan's stomach, up to his chest while he fought to regain his breath, panting near his ear.

Dan's breath just as ragged, eyes open, unseeing, he felt hands, body, cock, heat, all rolled into one assault of sensations. Pulled his head back, coughed, moving his body and throat snake-like back into the hand. Sitting on his heels until his back touched Vadim's chest, sweat on sweat, skin touching, still connected. There. In that point. That … sensation. Pushing Vadim's hand from his chest back down to his cock. Bodies. Arms, hands. Heat. Dan's voice rough from the choking. "Jerk me off."

"Aye", murmured Vadim, grinning, grinning like a fool, Dan demanding in this situation was just too precious. His right hand slipped down again, remembering how Dan liked to touch himself from so long ago when he'd seen his technique up close and personal. Took hold of his cock, felt it twitch when he bit into the neck again. Interesting. Left hand was still against Dan's throat, to keep Dan under control, keep him upright, just perfect, their bodies close and tight, hot, sweating, and one. Nothing could be better.

Harsh breathing, lips parted, Dan's eyes almost closed. A hissed breath caught in his throat at another bite, expelled, then drawn back into his lungs. He shuddered, felt more passive than only a few moments ago. Held between body and hands, and fuck, he couldn't move away, even if he had any brain left to try. Chained to the spot, with nothing but skin, teeth, touch.

Vadim was stroking him, with strength, but still slow, enjoying Dan like this too much, at the same time placing small bites on shoulder muscles and throat, especially the side with the jugular, tight and smooth and powerful, Dan's hair brushing his face. "Now … right now you're mine."

Words didn't make much sense, all Dan could hear was mine and you and fuck and lust and want and mine again. Body, mine. Yours. Whatever. Lust, ours, each. Growing, increasing. Covered in a sheen of sweat, heat between their body culminating in that one connection. Burning, intense, no longer a softening cock that had filled his arse, but an extension of the man whose hands and mouth were making him whimper like a pathetic, helpless creature.

If I could only touch that sound, that low, needy sound, thought Vadim, and stroked Dan's throat, wanted to feel as much of him as possible, felt that throat move and vibrate under his hand, especially as he gripped him harder there, moving up to the jaw bone, feeling the adam's apple jump under his palm when Dan swallowed. Wanted to keep him like that, put something around his throat, something like chains or rope, and going faster, stronger, pushing him on, feeling generous as he did, and couldn't wait to feel Dan come.

Took longer than it should, not as fast and desperate as expected with two months of nothing but Dan's own hand, but the orchestra of sensations proved an over-stimulation. The hand, more force. Closing around his throat once more, the other stroked harder, faster. Pressure building, and the intensity made him groan between the whimpers and sounds of need. Unseeing, unknowing, nothing but body, no mind. Seeking both hands, body struggling-fighting backwards, against the unwavering chest, and he cried out, spasming, thrashing, coming. Noticing nothing more than that hand closing around his throat, choking him fiercely, for just one moment, that very moment of orgasm.

Vadim reluctantly released Dan's throat, remembering to leave no traces, no marks beyond a slight reddening. Professional courtesy, if nothing else. That thought made him smile. Hand was safer than a garrotte. He licked a drop of sweat from his skin that was running down from his temple as he kept Dan close against him, and wiped his hand against his thigh, then ran the fingers down Dan's flank. Not daring to speak, not daring to let him go. Not just yet.

Coughing, drawing in breath, Dan collapsed, resting against the other. His eyes were closed, unheard of. Too dangerous to let go and blind himself, but not now. Trusting the Russkie with his body, his life. Kneeling. Returning. His slow-moving mind, sluggishly dragging itself back up to the waking surface.

"Guess I won't have to kill you, after all." Voice raspy, dry, Dan felt he could do with water or something stronger.

Vadim gave a toneless laugh. "Damn, and I thought you keep me alive because I'm so tight." He wanted to hold him like that, but as the seconds and moments stretched, the position became too close, too awkward, too much demanding words and explanations and acceptance that he had no idea how to provide. It opened up a whole new can of worms, and Vadim decided that 'snuggling like poofs' was done and they should move on to resting up. He pulled back and Dan let himself fall forward, sprawled spread-eagled on the grimy bed.

Vadim stepped off the bed to straighten out his legs, and bent down to pick up the bottle of whisky, opened it and took a swallow. Not bad. He offered it to Dan.

Turning his head, glancing up one-eyed then frowning, Dan mumbled, "You should be shot for drinking Balvenie out of a bottle. That's one of the best fucking whiskies, you peasant!" Slowly turning over onto his back, despite his words holding his hand out for the bottle. He was sticky, but the damp was cooling his skin.

"Peasant?" Vadim pulled the bottle away again. "You said you were born farmer. I'm from Moscow. No peasant."

"Oh fuck off, Russkie," Dan grumped, too mellow to argue, his hand flopping back down on the bed beside him. "Anyone who doesn't worship a good Scottish whisky the way it should be worshipped is a fucking peasant in any true Scotsman's books." Baring his teeth in a lazy flash of half-grin, he thumped his hand on the blankets. "Now be a good Muscovite and give me the bottle."

"Might be that Scottish whisky is not exactly staple in Red Army shops." Dan rolled his eyes while Vadim sat down on the bed and handed the bottle over, just now realizing that Dan was about to break his own rule. "So, you're drinking from bottle yourself."

"Aye," Taking the bottle, Dan raised his brows the same time he raised his head from the bed. Mighty effort. "That's because I'm a fucking peasant. You said so yourself." Smirking, set the bottle to his lips and took a generous mouthful. Keeping the whisky inside his mouth for a while, his head dropped back, bottle in his hand floating in mid air and his eyes closing with an expression of bliss. Swallowing bit for bit, slowly. Relishing every moment. Dan let out a deep sigh. "Not quite as good as an orgasm, but getting there."

Vadim grinned and shook his head, relaxing as well, but facing the door, wondering if they had been loud, if anybody had noticed. If anybody cared. "Getting there? You are strange man, Dan."

"The whisky, Russkie. The whisky's getting there." Opening one eye, Dan peered at the other, handing the bottle back. "This is a twelve year old single malt whisky, Doublewood. Means it's matured in two casks." He closed that eye, opened the other. "First one, traditional whisky oak, second one, sherry oak. Makes for that rich, mellow flavour with a hint of sweetness from the sherry oak, and undertones of spice." The second eye closed as well before both opened and he grinned. "Mark my words, Russkie, if you ever taste a fifteen year old, you hear the heavenly chorus singing, but if you'd be so lucky to get your hand on the twenty-one year old? Your taste buds will explode in hints of vanilla, cherry and the whole fucking force of Scotland's finest. And that, my very own cunt, that's as good as an orgasm."

Vadim gave a laugh. "There. And I thought you had not line of poetry in your body." He took the bottle and smelled the whisky, trying to smell anything of that stuff that Dan had described. Maybe that was all just imagination. He took a small sip, actively listened to his tongue and mouth. The heat seemed mellow, rounded somehow, several different leagues from the rough jagged spikes of moonshine.

"Ahhhh!" Dan exclaimed, waving one lazy hand about. "I can see it in your face that you're getting some of what I told you. Perhaps I can make you an honorary Scotsman after all."

And why should you want that? Vadim didn't want to pursue that thought, not that he could have been … something else, a traitor, double agent, spy, and could have earned enough money to buy this, even the older ones.

Shifting slightly on the bed, Dan frowned. "Bugger. Fucking sticky mess. Got to get rid of that." Only way was to get out of that room, two stairs down and to that stinking hole that was used as the loo. He grunted.

Vadim nodded, pulled his legs up on the bed, reached down for his pistol and placed it on his stomach. Felt the need to piss, too, but was too lazy right now. Looked at Dan's throat, but it only seemed reddened, not bruised. Shit. Strangling. But it made so much sense. As much sense as the blade, the pistol, the rope. Natural. "Thanks for trying", he murmured.

"Trying what?" Dan was in the process of rolling out of the bed, had one foot on the floor.

"Trying me. Trying it again. Was as … good as I thought." Vadim shook his head. Couldn't have said what was better: Dan fighting him or Dan wanting it, losing himself. Two different things. Having him, that was it. That was the connection, the thing that gave everything meaning. "Next time, your turn."

Dan shrugged, then nodded. "You fucking bet on it." He had had to know, and know he did, now. Looking around for something to half-dress with, the trousers would just get soiled, he pulled the native long coat close. Turning his head he flashed a grin before pulling the 'dress' over his head. "Besides, unless you'll be sent out," His dark-haired head pushed through the neck opening, shrugging the garment down while standing, "I'll be here in Kabul for a few months." Leaned to the side, fished about in his webbing and the sound of his pistol being uncocked was heard in the room.

"No idea. Can't say where I'll be, but I won't try getting out of Kabul." Vadim leaned his head against the wall, regarded the other from under heavy eye lids.

"Don't go anywhere right now." Dan grinned, slipped bare feet into the sandals, hand and pistol hidden in the folds of the garment. "There's always round two."

"Already waiting", murmured Vadim in Russian and smiled. Round two. He still didn't have any words for it. Not happiness, not joy, but maybe an odd peace, despite what they did, because they bled the poison out of their veins and minds like this. Hanging on to sanity in all this filth and senselessness.

Dan flashed another grin before he left, carefully moving the chair to the side. Not long before he returned, to have another wash in the trickle that came out of the basin. Luxury, that room, and the best he could get that was safe enough and still standing. No way he could be seen anywhere near a place that had any semblance of luxury left.

Their bodies once more drawn together after rest, banter, and some food Dan had brought. Forever able to raise lust another time, for the last time could be too soon.

And then rest, before the hours were over, once again.