( & ??? ; )

( & царь ; )

The Soldier keeps moving forward until he has made it to her side. That is where he stops, his eyes never leaving the man in front of them even when he feels her gaze turn towards him.

The names meant nothing to him. One common enough to belong to anyone, the other uncommon enough to be memorable if he had heard it.

“Я не знаю его либо.”

His words are quiet, nearly a whisper, meant only for her to hear. Like his czarina, he doesn’t question the disappearance of the stranger’s weapon. It’s not in his nature to question things. But his gun remains raised when Red’s lowers slightly.

He lets her talk. Lets her make it clear to him that she is not the one he’s looking for, while his finger hovers over the trigger.

His scattered mind took a long moment to process that these two, a strange human and a reaper whose face appeared in more frames of his cinematic record than any other, were speaking Russian, of all things. He could only guess at what the words meant, but it didn’t matter.

Language barriers couldn’t keep him from understanding that something was tremendously wrong here. 

Useless breath passed between parted lips, shallow and uneven as though his lungs actually needed the oxygen. Reaper-green eyes darted over the assassin’s face, as though the emotionless set of her features held some sort of answer if he’d only look close enough. Trembling fingers at his sides clench into fists, lest he reach out to shake some sense into her. 

Considering the gun pointed at him, that wouldn’t be wise—fatal or not, the pain of a bullet wound was substantial. 

He managed to turn his attention to the human man, eyes narrowing in accusation. Was this his doing? Had this human somehow sequestered the divinity of a grim reaper? Torn her memory from her and chained her down to be the pawn of their pathetic human whims? 

Rage boiled in his stomach at the very thought. Grell Sutcliff was too great a power to be controlled even by her own kind, let alone these mortal insects. 

“Lower that useless gun, you do not have the power to kill me.” voice rough and low, his temper got the best of him, even has he turned his eyes back to his former colleague. “You do, though. And surely some part of you still knows that. You’re not of this world, you’re not some pawn for the humans to toy with. Whatever they have done to make you forget me, they cannot make you forget what you are. A harbinger of death, a medium between man and god. You’re above this, some part of you must know that. Grell—you must still be in there. You must.” 

          ≺ ❤ ≻
          ❝ STAND BACK! ❞ THE words were clearly an order, gun raised once more at the stranger, finger darting to the trigger. his words were odd and she did not appreciate the tone of his voice when he addressed her czar.

          he was all she had, after all.

          ❝ i will repeat myself only once more – i am not the one you seek. ❞ something about his words, the certainty in his voice that he knew her and, perhaps more importantly, that she knew him, unsettled the redhead. she was trained to deal with witnesses, she knew what to do – but this was nothing they had ever prepared her for.

          ❝ leave. do not follow us. ❞ another order, and she took a step back to stand closer to her czar, turning her head towards him.

          ❝ пойдем. ❞