The Fox and The Hunter

Viktorya focused on her final tasks of the day.

“You’ve been anxious all day,” Evie observed. She and Viktorya’s shifts ended at the same time, and they hadn’t had much time to talk during work, “What’s up?”

“I have a visitor coming today,” Viktorya admitted.

“Who?”

“Someone special.”

“Mr. New Years kiss?” Evie practically vibrated with excitement. You’d think she was the one in a new relationship.

Viktorya nodded.

“I actually went to his family reunion with him when I took that week off.”

“How are his family?” she asked.

“Intimidating,” Viktorya admitted, “But I didn’t hate them. I don’t think they hated me either. I actually was friends with his cousin already.”

“Good for you. Did you sleep in his childhood bed?”

As far as Viktorya was aware, his childhood bedroom went up in flames. So too did his board dedicated to finding out who Chamberlain was, not that it was needed anymore.

“No, his family’s moved since then.”

“Shame. You can learn a lot about a man by what his past looks like.”

“I prefer the man I’ve come to know.”

“How noble,” Evie complained.

Viktorya turned away at just the right time to spot her visitor waving for her, with coffee in his other hand.

“I should go to him.”

“Tell him I said hi,” Evie said, “And ask if he has a brother.”

“I met his brother. You can do better. His sister’s great though.”

Evie rolled her eyes.

“You mages are freaks.”

Viktorya shrugged, waving goodbye as she walked over to Jon, careful to keep her pace slow.

“Evie says hi,” Viktorya said, taking the coffee out of his hand, “Is this for me, or did you need something to drink while I was at work?”

“I finished mine.”

She took a swig. Exactly her usual order.

“I’m surprised you remembered.”

He pulled the piece of paper she’d written the order on after he got her tea out of his jacket pocket.

“Well, that’s sweet, too.”

They just stood there for a moment. They’d spent most of their nights together during the reunion, and their days when they could help it, but now they were in a different context, and they hadn’t seen each other for awhile. What were they supposed to do?

“Are you going to walk me back to my apartment?” she offered, “Or did you plan to take me out to dinner?”

“Do you have a preference?”

She grimaced. Why was this so awkward?

“Not really. I was just throwing ideas out there. I was hoping you already had a plan in mind, so we wouldn’t just be standing here like kids who don’t know how to hold hands.”

He grabbed her hand.

“Well at least we have that part figured out.”

They laughed. What the hell were they doing?

“Why don’t we start going toward your apartment,” Jon proposed, “And if you figure out a good place to eat, we can start there.”

She nodded. She could do this.

Takeout on Viktorya’s hastily cleared table was just as good as more expensive food in a building full of strangers, better in some ways.

Jon had been kind enough to actually order in the owner’s native language, which landed them with a bonus dessert he still insisted on paying for.

They ate in relative silence, just complimenting the food instead of actually talking. At this rate they’d wind up going to bed with barely 20 sentences between them since Jon had arrived.

Fun as the prospect seemed, she had to plan things out, make sure things went as she needed them to.

“I’m visiting my dad tomorrow,” she finally admitted. Luckily it felt more like ripping off a band-aid than pulling a tooth.

“Should I go with you?”

“No.”

Considering how her father responded to Jon being on her mind, she didn’t want to risk what he might do if Jon was there in the flesh.

She’d started to recognize when Jon was “staring” at someone. He’d seem to focus a little more on whatever task was at hand, so right now he was stuffing his face full of beef, broccoli, and rice.

“What are you trying to figure out?” she asked.

He took a minute to swallow, then a few more to actually answer.

“Why don’t you want me to meet your father?” he asked in a careful tone that made her feel like a dangerous animal.

The fact he was the reason her father attacked her would lead to explaining the Wall of Destiny. She didn’t need to peer into the future to be sure of that, and visions weren’t going to make his reaction to the wall any clearer. She only had her own preemptive embarrassment to make the decision on.

“I prefer my privacy,” she answered.

He clearly saw right through the lie, but didn’t push the issue.

“Can I drive you, at least?”

“I can take the bus,” she said on instinct.

“I came down to see you, Viktorya.”

The awkwardness suddenly clicked. Last time he’d been here, this had been work for him, and inconvenient for her. Now it was supposed to be romantic. She’d never been romantic in this apartment, or at this job, without some ulterior motive, even if that motive was just to fluster Jon.

It was easy to be sweet when she didn’t have to cede any control for it.

She blew out whatever fear she could before accepting his offer.

“Thanks,” he said, almost returning to his food before dropping the utensil and looking back at her. “Do you want me here?”

“Yes,” she answered immediately. “Of course. I just…” There was just so much that felt new. She hadn’t maintained many close relationships in the past few years, especially not romantic ones.

“I can book a hotel,” Jon offered. “I don’t need to stay here if you’re not—”

“Absolutely not,” Viktorya insisted, “I just wasn’t as prepared for you as I thought; the hotel would probably make it worse.”

She needed to acclimatize, get comfortable.

“Are you sure?”

She nodded.

Jon brought his hand closer to her, slowly as if to keep her from running again.

“As long as your hands aren’t dirty, you can touch me,” she said, “I’m not a museum piece.”

“Right,” Jon said, pushing her hair back behind her ear.

“Do you want that hotel?”

“That would be counterintuitive since I’m trying to kiss you right now.”

“Are you?” she believed him of course, but there was something fun to teasing him, helped break the ice.

“My last relationship ended before you were born, I’m out of practice.”

“I can tell if you used that line. You make it sound like you’re robbing the cradle.”

“Shush.”

“Yes, sir.”

He laughed, pulling his hand away from her face.

“You’re awful.”

“Oh, there’s worse things I could have said,” she warned, “Gramps.”

“I am your father’s age at the oldest.”

“Oooh.” She was getting embarrassed for him.

“That hotel room’s getting more appealing,” he took a moment, “Young lady.”

They both laughed at that final one.

“Let’s agree to never bring up our respective ages again,” she begged.

“Oh, am I not allowed to turn this back on you?”

“I don’t sound as much like a creep when I do it.”

“Fine.”

Jon stood up, tossing the rest of his food and putting his dish in the sink.

“What, no kiss?” Viktorya asked.

“Not after that discussion.”

“Are you sure about that?”

She stood up slowly, trying to walk as seductively as possible.

Jon let her walk right up to him before answering, “Positive.”

Viktorya spent the car ride trying to pick out things to think about other than Jon Hunter, a difficult task with him in such close quarters. It took concerted effort not to think about the slight scent of him that had lingered on her sheets that morning. If things didn’t go awful, she could probably ensure that scent got stronger tonight.

She silently chided herself for thinking about that as she fought a blush. Luckily Jon was focused on the road enough to not notice the color on her cheeks.

Of course that was the moment they stopped at the hospital.

“Are you alright?” Jon asked.

“I’m fine.”

Bring him with you, her father ordered. A mild fear for Jon’s safety coursed through her.

“He wants you to join us.”

“Really?” Jon sounded worried. That was the right attitude, “How did you find that out?”

She tapped her temple.

“He told me.”

Jon’s expression got slightly more worried. The way Viktorya’s voice had gone quiet probably wasn’t reassuring.

They entered the building together, exchanging pleasantries with the desk as they were given two visitor passes.

“Bringing in your boyfriend?” the person at the desk asked.

“And hopefully bringing him out again.”

“Max is in the garden.”

“Thanks.”

“Boyfriend?” Jon asked as they walked toward the garden.

“I’ve met your family and we’ve slept together. Boyfriend is the least I could call you.”

“I’d put creep on a lower rung.”

“I didn’t call you a creep, I said you sounded—”

“Viktorya!”

She stopped in her tracks. That was her father’s voice, but her father never called her by the right name when she came to visit.

“Are you going to introduce us?” he asked her, gesturing at Jon.

She closed her eyes, trying to see if she’d find her father anywhere else, but the only place he would be was right in front of them. He was still in his wheelchair, but he was brighter somehow.

“Right,” Viktorya said, “Dad, this is Jon, he’s—”

“Someone you imagine spending the night with,” her father finished. Viktorya gave an awkward nod.

“Jon,” she said, “This is my father, Maxwell Renfield, a mind mage, if you hadn’t already guessed.”

Jon extended a hand, and her father shook it back without any malice, which was somehow more terrifying.

“I believe there are things I need to discuss with you in regards to my daughter,” Max said.

“I’m an adult, dad. I make my own decisions.”

“Of course, but I’m allowed to advise where I see fit.”

She scowled, but made no more comments.

“Jon what?” Max asked.

“Hunter,” he said.

“I met a Jon who was also called Hunter, but not a surname, met two actually, but the older one had moved to a more administrative role, and his son flirted with my wife.”

“That’s not how I remember it, Max.”

Viktorya’s eyes widened, but her father was smiling.

“Strange how things have worked out, Walters,” he commented.

“You two know each other?” Viktorya asked.

“Our paths crossed once or twice during the war,” Max admitted. Jon nodded in agreement.

“How long were you aware of this fact?” she asked Jon.

He sucked in a breath.

“I suspected when you told me your mother was named Kseniya. I didn’t know until now.”

“And flirting with said mother?”

“I may have let jealousy get the better of me in our interactions,” Max admitted, “I tended to stay behind, while our more physically capable went on without us. That included your mother, and the Hunter here.”

Viktorya gave a nod, satisfied with the answer. She didn’t need to worry about dating a guy who flirted with her mother. The timeline would have placed their meeting around Eleanor’s time, and Jon seemed to be the loyal type.

“Let’s speak in private from here on out,” Max said, “Onward!”

He moved through the garden, Jon and Viktorya following a few feet behind.

“Is something wrong?” Jon asked, low enough to keep Max from hearing, assuming he wasn’t in their minds right now.

“He isn’t usually this lucid,” Viktorya said, “He hasn’t been in years. I guess I don’t fully trust it.”

Jon carefully took her hand, rubbing the back of it with his unexpectedly calloused thumb. She leaned into him a little as they walked.

“Has Viktor been to see you recently?” Max asked as Viktorya closed the door to his room.

She took one of the empty seats, gesturing for Jon to take the other, then looked away from her father.

“I asked you a question, Viktorya.”

“No,” she said, “Viktor has not been to see me in a few years.”

“So he doesn’t know.”

“He doesn’t need to.”

“Who doesn’t need to know what?” Jon asked.

Viktorya silently begged her father not to reveal anything about the wall or Uncle Viktor’s strange behavior about it.

“Kseniya was able to defect from the Union when she married me. Partly due to her brother’s negotiation. Viktor himself was too valuable, a name isn’t the only thing my daughter shares with him.”

“He’s also an oracle,” Jon guessed.

Max nodded.

“The state wasn’t, and still isn’t, willing to give him up. He’s a skilled tactician even without the magek. If he weren’t so softhearted, we’d be in great trouble.”

Viktorya scoffed at softhearted. Uncle Viktor was anything but.

“That and the state isn’t very fond of Jews,” Max continued, “Especially ones like us, so he isn’t very fond back.”

“I didn’t know you were Jewish.”

“Where do you think this comes from?” Viktorya replied, gesturing to her somewhat excessive curls, “My great, great grandfather married and converted.”

“I just—”

“That’s possibly the only reason Viktor gave his blessing on the marriage, our common heritage.”

“Is that why you’re worried about him knowing about me? Because I’m neither mage nor Jewish.”

Her father remained blissfully silent, just watching her.

“That’s not the big one,” she admitted, hoping for something to stop her right then, “But the big one requires going back to my apartment.”

Jon looked critical.

“Please, trust me.”

He took a deep breath and nodded.

“Now how did you two actually meet?” Max asked.

This was going to be a long discussion.

24 hours earlier:

Viktorya focused on her job, like she usually did, though this time was special.

Jon had acquired some time off, this was the first time he’d be visiting since the reunion. She’d think it was surprisingly fast, if she hadn’t seen the excited grin on his employers face when they were together.

“Working for family has its perks.”

Among those perks, Diana was going to live with Gareth for the foreseeable future, which made Jon worry a little less for his employer’s safety. Viktorya wasn’t sure what such a tiny woman could do in the face of a threat, but given that Diana raised Jon, Viktorya could believe she was dangerous enough for the task.

“Excuse me?” someone asked at the desk. It sounded a bit like Jon, but closer to someone imitating his voice. The man she looked at had covered himself in baggy clothes, let his hair go without product, and hid his eyes behind a pair of sunglasses. Her fist tensed up, but she couldn’t very well fight him here.

“What do you want?” she asked, “And I’ll warn you, your brother is arriving today, so your timing’s not great.”

Senator Richard Walters smiled.

“I wanted to talk with you, and I needed to be sure we could actually talk.

That’s why he was at her work. Anywhere else and she’d start a fight, maybe even stab him.

“Go on…” If she couldn’t remove him as a threat, she may as well learn what he wanted.

“The plan’s going well,” he said.

“What plan?”

He just smiled again.

“Last I checked,” Viktorya added, “You failed, because the little girl is safe and your family hates you now.”

“My family always hated me, they just didn’t want to, except for Valerie. She hated me from the start.”

Viktorya stayed silent, giving him the opportunity to reveal more.

“But that’s not the point, my dear. The point is what I need from you.”

“Luckily for me, I don’t think I can help you.”

“On the contrary. You see, this was never about the girl. Telepaths are a useful asset of course, but there’s always more out there. Think for a moment, the timeline doesn’t match up if this was about her.”

“What do you—”

“Her mother died after I set this whole plan into motion.”

Viktorya held her hand over her mouth to keep quiet. Obviously something happened with Mandie’s parents, but something about all this made the death feel intentional.

“And no, I didn’t kill Helena Piec. I didn’t even know Diana had any connection to her.”

She moved her chair back as quietly as she could. He grabbed the arm of it before she got very far. There was no one around to notice the invasion of her space.

“If it’s not about Mandie, who is it about?” she asked.

“That can’t be hard to figure out. You have to do a lot of work to get someone like him to let his guard down, but I’ve known what you were capable of since you took something from me.”

She scowled.

“You shouldn’t have published that book under your legal name. I’ve been watching you for a long time.”

She tightened her grip on the arms of her chair. She knew the next threat.

“From now on,” Senator Walters said, “You’re going to listen to me, or your dear father is going to get much worse, very quickly.”

Viktorya was more scared than she’d ever been in her life. She began thinking of her whole life on that timeline. Had her father started deteriorating before or after she published the book? What did Walters mean by worse? And how fast? He had to have someone at the facility if he could manage that threat…

“Who knows, if you play your cards right, he might even see a full recovery.”

Definitely someone at the facility. She couldn’t get him out though. It wasn’t like she could afford to take care of him full-time. There had to be something she could do.

“Make your decision.”

She slumped with a sigh. She wasn’t going to win this. All she could do was what Walters wanted.

“What do I need to do?”