[FROLO]
Zhenya stared at the files like he had read them wrong.
Like this was just impossible.
After the bunker attack by Sergei, the bunker project was slowly being eliminated, and the government was relocating the citizens and soldiers into housing programs across the city.
It was a small feat and was done slowly, not to raise suspicions. But there was nothing more suspicious than the paper Zhenya was staring at.
He’d asked for Katya’s medical reports because he needed to know if there had been any side effects of the drugs they’d injected Katya with over the weeks.
Zhenya wanted to make sure his nephew was fit and didn’t have to worry about anything in the future because of the mistakes Boris made.
But then he saw this.
An abortion plan.
For a moment Zhenya wondered what the fuck this was.
The first time, the second.
Hell, even the third time, hoping the patient’s name was different.
But it was the same.
Someone had administered abortion pills and had left it there on the report for anyone to read.
Zhenya hadn’t known.
It had been nearly three weeks since Katya was back in society. Two since he went back to work.
Zhenya had been watching him from a distance, careful not to spook Sergei or even the omega, but Zhenya knew enough about Sergei to know that Sergei knew he was watching Katya.
The only reason Sergei hadn’t confronted Zhenya yet was probably because he thought it was a request by Mr. Romanov. After all, the weeks Katya had been away hadn’t exactly been the kindest of them all.
But now...
Zhenya had so many questions.
He knew of the man who’d been assigned to Katya.
Tyler B.
The soldier who had served in the presidential palace for over fourteen years.
The man was loyal as hell, and Zhenya was confident he would never try to hurt Katya like that. He’d followed rules and never questioned the legitimacy of most things.
But what Zhenya was seeing...
It was crazy.
Still, he assumed it was a wrong report.
He hoped it was a wrong report.
Besides, he knew Sergei.
If someone had violated Katya like that, Zhenya was confident Sergei wouldn’t take it with his arms folded.
And with that last thought, Zhenya went to bed, hoping to the gods that he was wrong.
He had to be.
Meanwhile, Sergei and Katya were wandering across the city, dancing to random tunes of music, singing along to shit Sergei had never heard in his life. But he sang along because Katya loved it.
They’d gone to three karaoke bars tonight, with Katya insisting that he was there with his boyfriend, not the Devil of Frolo.
Of course they couldn’t turn the omega away given the mountain of a man he was dragging around while trying to convince people Sergei was warm and likeable.
The plan had been to gatecrash parties.
Yet somehow by the fifth karaoke bar of the night, they found themselves inside a club with the rest of the Hercules team.
The only person who wasn’t here was Anya, who had said she was too old for that shit.
Rastenkin had wanted to come along, but he stayed behind because apparently someone had to stay behind with his Zaychik and make sure Anya didn’t break a spine while sleeping in bed.
It was the dumbest excuse, but then it was no secret that those two matched each other’s energy.
Where Anya was fire, Rastenkin was the ice that kept her steady, which was interesting because Rastenkin was always the one to lash out and ruin lives.
"Svett!! I missed you!!" Katya shouted as the music blasted through the speakers.
"Why does your bald boyfriend look like he is about to kill everyone in here?!" Andre asked, and they burst out laughing while Sergei just watched.
"He’s not... He’s warm and a nice person!" Katya said, before joining the dance.
Sergei sat on the lounge, watching as Katya and his friends interacted again freely. It was the sight he’d hoped to see for so long, just Katya being so happy despite everything.
Katya smiling like tomorrow was not to be worried about.
It was a happy moment...
...until Volkov and Meera came and sat beside the bald alpha.
"We have a problem, boss," Volkov said to Sergei, whose eyes stayed on Katya the whole time.
His Solnyshka was happy.
"The Solana cartel is here. They allied with Alek earlier today. Reports have it that Alek lost an arm and needs more people to help him fight. The Solana cartel only has one target...
"...the Romanov omega," Meera said carefully, knowing damn well that this wasn’t the time to play catch-up with Sergei Moskowsky.
But then this was the life they lived in. One where happiness wasn’t always fully guaranteed because there was always going to be some shit to think over. Some shit to be worried about either way.
"Look at him," Sergei said softly, as he looked at Katya, who was dancing with Svet, Yaroslav, and the rest of the team. They were having the time of their lives, and honestly, to fuck that up was just an insane thought for anyone.
"Boss..."
"They took his child again... Our child," Sergei said, eyes still on Katya.
And the Hercules team instantly turned in the direction of Sergei before they looked at Katya, who was wasted and dancing the night away happily.
But they had heard him.
Even Yaroslav heard him.
They may have been having the time of their lives on this night, but the Hercules alphas were always, always attentive, always listening for anything.
And with their boss in here, their focus would always remain on Sergei’s voice first and then everything later.
Even as the music blasted through.
"If someone scares him in here..." Sergei said, not finishing the sentence.
"We’ll get on it, boss," Meera and Volkov said before they got up and went to get busy.
One by one the Hercules crew with Katya on the dance floor dispersed, leaving Katya with Sergei who he hadn’t even heard come closer to him.
"They disappeared one by one, Vladimirrr... but that’s on them for missing the fun... Come, I’ll show you a trick Andre taught me," Katya said, dragging his alpha through the busy club and to the bar.
The bartender stiffened at the mountain man beside Katya. But Sergei didn’t even bother with him.
His eyes stayed on Katya.
Not around Katya.
On Katya.
He watched as Katya gave the bartender instructions on how to arrange shot glasses for both of them. He watched as there were glasses over glasses in some sort of row Sergei didn’t even care for.
But his Solnyshka thought it was interesting.
So he paid attention.
"Go on. Vladimir. Do it..." Katya smiled sheepishly, and Sergei stared like he didn’t know what to do. Katya sighed, pulling Sergei’s finger and pointing at the glasses.
"If you push one, the others are going to drip into the next glasses, and then we can drink the night away!!" Katya cheered.
Sergei helplessly looked to the bartender, who lined drinks in a separate small line and showed Sergei what to do.
"Thank you," Sergei said earnestly to the shocked man.
And then he did what Katya had been asking.
Poked a finger, and the glasses fell like dominoes. It was a simple thing, but Katya was so excited, and Sergei watched with a smile on his face.
"Drink up, alpha, and let’s toast!" Katya said, handing his alpha a glass, and Sergei took it and waited.
"What are we toasting to, Solnyshka?"
"Freedom, more beautiful babies, and... And your hair... You really... really... need hair, alpha... Should I shave mine and give you some?" Katya teased, and Sergei couldn’t help but laugh at that.
"You said you liked my head," Sergei dared to pout at Katya, who was stumbling.
Sergei pulled one of the chairs and sat him there, careful not to interrupt the people who were dancing too.
This was normal.
Sergei wanted normal.
For Katya.
"I love giving you head, alpha... Really love it," Katya crawled, and the bartender suddenly found the sight a very beautiful phenomenon, even as Sergei choked on air.
He was not being dragged into whatever the fuck was wrong with these two.
"Oh, yeah?"
"But I also love you and your new look. You’re lucky you’re handsome, or I’d be watering your hair every morning like a basil plant," Katya teased, and Sergei couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him.
"My beautiful Solnyshka..."
"Yours. Always... Now let’s drink to the night!!" Katya cheered.
Behind them, the Hercules fought the Solana cartel, katanas clashing with katanas.
But that didn’t matter.
What mattered was Katya.
His happy Katya.