Quaranteam: Ruins United Ch. 05

"Yes, Dan," Lara's voice was soft and warm. "How can I help you?"

"Um... privet, Lara. Can you, please, run something for me?"

"Anything for you."

"I want to check on my old Uni professors, Sergey Baranov and Andrey Morozov."

"Give me five," she disconnected.

He leaned on the backrest. Tash slipped out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her, and sat beside him. Dan gave her an upwards nod.

"It looks like she's..." Tash stumbled. "She's been raped, Dan."

He ground his teeth.

"Go on."

"See, one of the vaccine's primary functions is to repair any damage to the reproductive system, not only inside but outside too, so if she was indeed raped and imprinted, all the damage to genitals would've been repaired by now... but... her thighs and hips are covered in bruises..."

Tash sniffled, and Dan wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. I'm going to drive him to the woods, break his legs and leave him there.

"She's so strong... he probably had to drug her or make her drunk before doing that... and she still put up a fight..."

The bathroom door opened, letting Rina and Masha out. Rina helped the girl to sit on the couch again, then turned to Dan with an absolutely grave face.

"Imprinted," she confirmed. "I found a needle mark, an amateurish one."

"Did you know the vaccine can do that?" He asked. "The suggestions? The programming? The fake memories?"

"I had no idea, but I wouldn't be surprised," she looked away. "Karina had McCallister working on it for a reason. That psychopathic kozel... there's nothing he wouldn't do... just for the hell of it..."

"How does this even work?" Dan furrowed his brows, trying to get the whirl of thoughts into some kind of order. "I mean, what's the process to give someone an instruction to follow blindly?"

"The vaccine is not some chemicals, everything it does is done by nanobots. My guess is the only window of opportunity for this is between the priming orgasm, when bots receive the first DNA sample and get into standby mode waiting for further genetic data, and the imprinting orgasm, when they receive the confirmation. Before and after any communication with them shouldn't be possible," Rina shrugged. "At least I don't know about it, nothing like that has been tried in the lab."

"Masha, do you remember anything at all about your... private time with Artemi?" Dan turned to the girl.

She suddenly blushed.

"Um... All I can tell you is he's been very sweet and made me feel good..." She blushed and half-whispered, switching to that dreamy voice again.

That doesn't help at all.

His phone rang.

"Found something?" He picked up.

"Hate to tell you this, Dan, but your profs are dead. I haven't found any obituaries, but Morozov's activities stopped in April, Baranov's in June - socials, banking, everything. Interesting detail though - both their University email accounts have been recently accessed from the same location."

"Let me guess - Grey House."

"Bingo."

Fuck.

"Okay, one last request. I need an address for one Artemi Brazhnikov."

"The Moskal on your team?" Of course she knows who he is. "Don't hang up."

He heard her furiously typing for several seconds, then came a pause, then some clicks.

"Repina Street 13, apartment 194."

"Thank you, Lara."

"Anytime, Dan," she poured some more syrup into her voice, then disconnected.

"So how do we help Masha?" He turned to Rina.

"My best bet would be to break and reset her imprinting," she shrugged, not looking at him.

"You can do that?" He raised one brow.

"Yeah. I won't tire you with details, just keep in mind it will put her into a primed state immediately and also make her feral, so we'll need her new partner there too ready and waiting," she briefly glanced at him. "I don't suppose you want to..."

"Oh nonono," he raised both his hands. "No offense, Masha, you're beautiful and all that..."

"Aw," the girl interjected with a smile. The smile was crooked and pained.

"...but there's a guy who's head over heels into you and also a decent man."

"You mean Eldar?" She sighed. "He's cute. Honestly, I would've jumped him years ago if he was just a bit more straightforward with his intentions... I'm not even sure he feels that way."

"He does, trust me."

"It doesn't really change anything," she shrugged. "I'm dating Artemi now..."

"No, you don't," Dan shook his head, even though she couldn't see it behind the mask. He tried to speak slowly and softly to not traumatize the girl further. "Masha, you met him on Friday, just like the rest of us did. You haven't said two words to each other. You dating him is nonsense. He drugged you, raped you and put a bunch of shit into your head, including the story of you two dating."

"But..." She began, clearly confused. "Wait... oh my God, my head is such a mess..."

"Her current partner is needed too for the switch," Rina said.

"I was going to pay him a visit anyway," his nostrils flared and his jaw clenched. Seeing his face, Rina nodded approvingly. "Okay, get dressed, we're leaving now."

Rina pulled the freezer open and took a couple of vaccine shots out.

"Do you have sterile syringes?" She turned to Dan.

"Yeah, in there," he pointed to the first aid cabinet on the wall. "Take everything you need with you."

Ten minutes later, the women were helping Masha to get into the back seat of the Escalade. Dan took the driver's seat, checked the PM in his pocket, then started off the parking lot, getting them out of the block into the street.

"Hey Google, call Partizan."

The car filled with ringtones, and after a couple of them he picked up.

"Qué pasa, hermano?"

"Ilyusha, I need you and Tony for a delicate job."

"Right now?"

"Yeah. Meet me at Repino west gate in twenty, we're rolling."

"On our waaay," Partizan singsonged and disconnected.

Good to have people like that on my side. Reliable, understanding, not asking unnecessary questions, always ready for the jump.

"I'm so sorry, Dan..." Masha sniffled from the back seat. "I've created so many problems..."

"It's not your fault, girl," Dan shook his head. "Nothing to be sorry about. If anything, you've helped us uncover problems we weren't aware of."

"Forgot to tell you - I managed to get Lara off the hook..." She sniffled again.

"Awesome!" He looked into the mirror and saw both of his women smiling. "Great news for a change!"

"Y-yeah... So, Vetlitskaya took one glance at it and started the process, and also requested the other cases from the pocket judges to be reviewed. It will take some time for Lara to be completely exonerated, so she just amnestied her for now. Bailiffs should be visiting her in a couple of days to take the bracelet off."

"Get ready, Dan, your harem is about to get bigger," Tash, grinning madly, loud-whispered so everybody heard.

"Don't knock it, I'm still not convinced," he shook his head.

The black Camry was already parked on the curb when they arrived, with Partizan and Tony sitting on the trunk. He killed the engine and stepped out.

"Who are we hitting today?" Partizan asked lazily, shaking his hand.

"One fed rat who's about to choke on my boot," Dan turned to Tony. "Remember how we met?"

"Will you stop rubbing that in?" The guy winced.

"No, I'm talking about the show you put on for me. For someone with less experience, that would've been pretty convincing actually, so I want you to play fed tonight."

"Go on," Tony tilted his head.

"Here's the deal..."

Repino was a ghetto. A nice one, with playgrounds and even some trees, but ghetto nonetheless - concrete blocks crowding each other in the middle, concrete boxes forming walls along the perimeter. Formerly a home to fifty thousand people. Mini Kowloon. At least the rent is low.

Five minutes later, Tony's Camry stopped in front of the Repina 13 entrance, Dan and Partizan standing behind the corner of the building in the dark. Tash took the wheel of the Escalade and parked it out of sight. Tony stepped out of the car and put his phone to the ear.

"Brazhnikov? Colonel Grishin sends his regards. Come on down, you have a new assignment... Yes, now, I'm downstairs. Make it quick, I don't have all night."

"He's perfect," Partizan whispered, grinning.

Dan just nodded.

Two minutes later, the door to the building swung open, letting Artemi out, t-shirt, sweatpants, slippers, cloth mask and phone in hand. Tony scoffed.

"First of all, good job. Your girl completed the assignment," he drawled. "Koval is dead."

"Oh blyat yes!" Artemi actually fistpumped. "That vaccine shot wasn't easy to get, even with my father's connections!.. Damn... Such a fucking relief, that pidor was really getting on my nerves!"

Tony's eyes became cruel as Dan and Partizan silently approached Artemi from behind.

"Don't worry, kid," Dan's voice was full of quiet rage. "I'm not going to get on your nerves for much longer."

Artemi spun on his heels and nearly stumbled backwards, wildly swinging his head to find an escape. They blocked him from all sides, and Dan reached for his phone.

"I'll be taking this," he put the phone away, then nodded to the car. "Get in, we're going someplace quiet to talk."

Tony swung the back door open, and Partizan got in, patting the seat in the middle invitingly.

"Dan, I-..." Artemi croaked.

"Get. In." Dan deadpanned.

Squeezed in the middle seat between Partizan with a homicidal look on his face and Dan with a stone cold one, Artemi spun his head wildly, until Partizan elbowed him in the gut.

"Sit still, you fuck."

Tony started the car and slowly rolled away from the building. A hundred meters later he flashed the headlights, and the Escalade left the parking lot to follow them.

"Dan, I can explain..."

"I don't doubt that, but I'm not interested in bullshit," Dan squeezed the words through his clenched teeth, fighting the urge to strangle the guy with his bare hands right here. "How many people Grishin has inside the City Hall and the Governor's Office?"

"I- I don't know... we never met each other, everybody gets their orders separately!" Despite a rather cold night and lack of outerwear, the guy was already sweating profusely.

"So more than one, got it. How do you receive your orders?"

"They call me. Different phones, different people. Grishin almost never calls himself."

The guy is ready to spill just about everything to save his ass.

"Where does Grishin live?"

"I don't know! I swear! Nobody knows!"

Well, that's disappointing.

The cars rolled into an abandoned construction site, overgrown with grass and tiny bushes, everything still green in November, the gravel cracking under their tires, and stopped in the middle, on the edge of the spot of yellow light from the streetlamp. Dan stepped out of the car first, pulling Artemi out by grabbing his neck with his hand, then pushed him forward towards Rina, who was already stalking towards them. Tony and Partizan circled the Camry, coming closer, Tash stayed in the car with Masha.

"He's useless to me, doesn't know shit I need," Dan looked at Rina. "Ask your questions."

She turned her glare to Artemi, who's been shivering from cold and fear and tried to look as small as possible.

"What did you give Masha?" She demanded.

"C-clophelin... and wine... it didn't work..."

"That explains it. The vaccine cleared alcohol and drugs, she came to her senses and started to fight back," Rina looked at Dan, then turned back to Artemi. "What was in the vaccine?"

"I don't... I don't understand..."

"What kind of vaccine did you use on Masha?" Rina stepped closer and nearly shouted at him.

"S-sputnik Q, the common one... Date on the syringe said August..."

Oh blyat. Rina had the same thought, judging by the shock and fear in her wide open eyes.

"What do we do, Dan..." She mouthed.

He rubbed his face with both hands. It suddenly became hard to breathe in the crisp November night air, and he tore the mask off. The boys silently exchanged glances.

"Dan, please," Artemi's pleading face was now turned to him. "I will leave the city and never return... nobody has to know..."

Ever so slowly, Dan turned to face him, then planted his fist into Artemi's solar plexus with enough force to possibly rupture internal organs. The guy folded in half and collapsed to his knees, gasping for air, unable to even scream from pain.

"Whatever we need to help Masha - do it now, I don't want to see his face a second more than necessary," he said to Rina, turning his back on Artemi.

She walked closer to Dan and suddenly hugged him, hiding her face in the crook of his neck.

"I'm sorry, Dan..." She whispered. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you the whole truth... and I'm sorry for what I'm about to do..."

"Uh... what?"

He missed the moment when she pulled the PM out of his pocket, and only the movement of her hands gave him the idea, but too late. The gun barked behind his back, its sound thunderously bouncing off the surrounding concrete slabs, and Dan turned on the spot in a split second to watch Artemi fall to the ground with a hole just above his eyebrow and a mix of fear and surprise on his face.

"Eb tvoyu mat'!*" Partizan looked more surprised than shook. "How about a bit of warning next time?"

[*Literally fuck your mother, connotationally close to Spanish puta madre]

Tony froze. Tash, worried, slowly stepped out of the car, keeping the door open and not approaching the scene.

"Rina, kakogo huya..." Everything Dan could say.

She shoved the gun flat into his chest, holding it with two fingers by the handle, without looking at him, and he caught the weapon, switching the safety back on and stashing it into his pocket.

"I'm sorry, love... It's the only way to help Masha."

She squatted near the body and put her fingers on the neck to check for pulse, then switched her attention to his sweatpants, pulling them down along with boxers. The poor fucker pissed himself, so his pants were wet and stuck to his skin. Rina pulled a pack of wipes out of her handbag and began cleaning his groin. The men watched her manipulations with bewildered expressions on their faces - until she pulled a sterile syringe out of the bag and stuck the needle right in the testicle.

Tony turned his face away, shutting his eyes tight, Partizan grabbed his head with both hands and gave out an incoherent uhh, Dan's jaw dropped. Finishing the extraction, Rina capped the syringe, stuffed it back into the handbag, stood up and stepped over the body, heading to the Escalade. Halfway to the door she stumbled, doubled over and threw up. Tash darted to her, bringing the water bottle from the door pocket.

"I'm okay... I'm okay..." Rina took a sip of water and washed her mouth, spit on the ground, then straightened up and turned to Dan. "We're done here, let's go."

The men exchanged glances.

"Should I update the others?" Partizan asked.

"I'll do that myself," Dan shook his head.

"What do we do about him?" Tony nodded to the body.

Dan gave the corpse one last glance.

"Dogs will take care of it."

-//-

"We don't really have time or energy to explain, Eldar," Dan tiredly shook his head.

The short guy was slowly looking the company over with wide eyes - the grim Dan in his samurai mask he hastily put on, two obviously tired but very beautiful women he never met before, and Masha, every bit as beautiful, but still blindfolded and with her hands still tied behind her back.

"I can only say Masha is in a vaccine-related predicament right now, we have a solution and I thought you'd be a willing participant in the process of her rescue."

"Uh... vaccine? The DuoHalo's Sputnik Q vaccine?"

"Yeah, that one," Dan nodded. "We need to re-pair Masha to you."

"T-to me?" Eldar stuttered. "Are you sure? Masha?"

"Yes, El," she responded softly. "You're my best... no, that's not right. You're my only chance. Just, please, make sure I won't regret this?"

Eldar suddenly turned pink.

"I... I'll do my best."

"Remember one thing - no talking during the bonding process," Dan said to Eldar. "You two will have plenty of opportunities for dirty talk later."

"O...okay," Eldar turned red.

"Good," Dan sighed and turned to Rina. "You don't need me for whatever comes next, I'll wait in the car..."

Fifteen minutes later, the women joined him, climbing into the backseat without saying a word.

"Everything okay?" He asked, looking in the mirror.

They just nodded in response.

"Let's go home then," he started the car.

Eldar was waving to them from the window.

-//-

Dec 1st, 2020.
00:12am

"I want you to know I will never judge you," Dan whispered in Rina's ear.

The tall brunette was sandwiched between him and Tash on the bed. They'd been lying in darkness for a long while, not talking, just holding each other.

"I was raped ten years ago," Rina suddenly said in an even voice, and Dan felt Tash immediately clutch her, trying to pull her closer into the hug, but Rina resisted, staying in place. "I’d just finished undergrad and went to work for a small pharma company. My boss did that... and that ruined my life. The people around me divided into two camps, and none of them were on my side - one told me it's not a big deal, the others just refused to believe me. Cops made me withdraw my statement. I quit the job and fell into depression for a year. I stuffed this so deep it couldn't hurt me anymore, but I guess it was there all this time, just waiting to jump me again. I never got to work through this trauma... until tonight."

She spun on the bed, facing Dan, and clutched his t-shirt with both hands.

"And you know what was the most horrible thing in those ten years? I couldn't let a man near me, and it was a crying shame because I really fucking love sex!"

She hid her face in his chest and broke down in tears, Tash and Dan gently holding her and stroking her hair and back without a word.

"I'm so fucking lucky Tash brought me to you, Danila..." She sobbed. "I finally feel free and complete..."

They lay in the dark until both women fell asleep, but Dan couldn't. He quietly left the bedroom, made himself tea and sat on the couch in the kitchen. Sitting with tea didn't help and he started pacing around the kitchen like a caged tiger. After an hour of that, he stopped and reached for his phone.

"Allo?" Ivan's voice was sleepy. "You know what time it is, don't you..."

"Vanya, listen," Dan didn't waste time on apologies. "What I said on the last council? Forget about that."

"Oh? And what do we do about it?"

Dan slowly inhaled, then breathed out.

"Let's waste the motherfucker. One million rubles for Colonel Grishin's head."

=====================

In the next chapter:

Take a little walk to the edge of town and go across the tracks
Where the viaduct looms, like a bird of doom as it shifts and cracks
Where secrets lie in the border fires in the humming wires
Hey man, you know you're never coming back
Past the square, past the bridge, past the mills, past the stacks