Rainbow Six: November Sun

53: "MISS YOU ALL"

Finka gave Natalya a farewell embrace in the lobby before returning to her room on the seventh floor. The door clicked shut behind her, and she eyed the mini bar as she hung her jacket.

She was still tipsy from the drinks earlier, but the walk with Natalya had sobered her up.

She could handle another.

Lera took the bottle of vodka out of the freezer and tipped it for a moderate pour to an icy glass. She sipped it, savoring the chill as it iced her lips, and set the glass down before heading to the bathroom.

She was tired, but didn't want to sleep yet, and so she showered quickly before emerging to retrieve her drink. The woman went to the living area and dimmed the lights, cracked open the blinds, and slumped onto the outrageously comfortable sofa.

She watched the glow of the city beyond her window, and Lera sipped from her drink as she unlocked her phone.

After a few minutes of scrolling, she sighed in exasperation. Every part of her wanted to look up the news and hear details of what happened in D.C. that day. She knew her teammates were okay, but it killed her not to know the details.

Lera opened a new text to Alexsandr. Who all went? she asked.

She deleted it. Frowned. Took another drink.

Did you all debrief yet? Lera looked at the unsent text for a long moment before erasing it. Being away from her colleagues was agonizing. Did that make her dependent? Weak? Had she really grown so attached to Rainbow?

She felt guilty, like she should have at least been on base while her teammates were in harm's way.

Our safety does not depend on you. Harry's words echoed in her mind. This is not your burden.

Lera rolled her eyes and got to her feet. She stalked to the bedroom miserably, kicking her shoes to the floor and stepping out of her jeans as she moved. She didn't bother turning on the light as she collapsed onto the edge of her bed with a sigh, crawled up toward the headboard, and let her face fall into the absurdly comfortable pillows.

The woman let out a frustrated growl that was muffled by the pillows, and lay there for a long moment before turning onto her side and unlocking her phone. She opened another text to Alex, and Lera watched the blinking cursor for what felt like longer than she should have before finally tapping away at the screen.

Glad you're safe. Miss you all.

Lera sent the text and then pulled up the pic Tachanka had sent. She studied it with a grin before bursting into laughter once again.

She realized she missed them all so much because they were family. Her entire adult life, all the woman had was her sickness, and her research; then in 2018, Operation Chimera happened in New Mexico, and she was recruited to Rainbow. Everything changed for her.

A pain suddenly stabbed into her gut, and the woman curled up with a grunt, clutching at her stomach. "Fuck," she hissed.

Almost everything had changed. It seemed her neuropathy would always outrun her.

She sighed, still curled up in a fetal position on her bed, and took some deep breaths. Her symptoms had decided to skip the numbness and tingling, and go straight for what felt like a burning blade in her abdominal muscles.

And then suddenly, it was gone.

Finka relaxed, afraid to let go of herself for a moment, and then exhaled in relief as she rolled onto her back. She thought about texting Doc to see how things were going.

Her phone pinged softly with a notification. She assumed it was a cheeky reply of sorts from Alex, but she was wrong. It was a pic sent from Natalya.

The Moscow city lights spread far and wide beneath the night. A ferry boat glowed on the Moskva River in the distance. The stars were barely visible, but the moon shone brightly upon as far as the eye could see.

There was no text with the image.

Finka was still dazed by her neuropathy's sudden attack but she managed a smile.

Seconds later, Natalya sent a Spotify link to a song. The artist was "ELMAN", an attractive young man striking a to-be-expected edgy pose on the cover for the track; the song was "Антигерой" - or, "Antihero".

In love with this song right now! Natalya's message read. I remember you hate pop music but check it out. Lyrics are kind of a downer lol

Finka crinkled her nose in dismay. She hated when people thrusted videos, songs, links, or articles on her to "check out." She found it annoying. She was less likely to watch or listen to something if it was suggested by someone else.

It didn't help that she did hate pop music, but she was more surprised that Natalya was sending her a song to listen to. Perhaps, if it was anyone else, she would have just returned to scrolling Reddit without a word.

But her old college friend had been quite the breath of fresh air, and so the woman obliged. Finka plugged in her earbuds - she would never dare listen to music played on a phone speaker - and collapsed backward onto the bed.

She closed her eyes, was about to hit play when a knock sounded at the door, jarring her silence.

Finka leapt to her feet in surprise and made her way to the door, her bare feet stepping lightly on the carpet. She put her eye to the peephole and was surprised to see Natalya standing out in the hallway.

She opened the door. "Talya?"

"H-hey." Natalya's eyes were pink, like she had been crying. "Sorry. I'm okay. I swear. I just... I need to talk to you. I'll be quick."

Finka's eyes narrowed in momentary confusion, and she instinctively looked up and down the hallway before opening the door for the woman and beckoning her inside.