Anastasia awoke to the dim light of a room, the familiar surroundings of her dorm room filled her vision. The air smelled sterile, and the low hum of the TV filled the room. She tried to move, but her body felt heavy, and a dull ache resonated throughout.

Amina noticed Anastasia's stir and approached.

"You're awake Boss. How are you feeling?"

Anastasia struggled to speak, her throat dry and scratchy.

"What the fuck happened?"

"You fainted on a balcony, after puking all over Natalya."

Amina explained.

The memories rushed back, and Anastasia recalled the events of last night right before she collapsed. The embarrassment of Natalya flirting with her, of her vomiting all over her new friend, the panic attack that followed, and then the darkness.

"Is Natalya... alright?"

Amina smirked while nodding,

"She's fine, a bit dirty but she's unharmed, and she's been waiting for you to wake up. Do you want me to fetch her?"

Anastasia hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.

"Nah, I will come down to the lobby by myself once I stop feeling like someone just put a fukin' bullet in my head.

Anastasia grinned before taking out a syringe from a first-aid kit.

"Now hold still boss, this will sting a bit."

Anastasia braced herself for the shot and before she could even grit her teeth, Amina stabbed the syringe in her shoulder.

Moments later she was thankful that all she had to worry about were aches and pains instead of a fuckin' headache and several hours of nerve-wracking pain. Her mind flashed back to last night's debacle, and her smile vanished the second she remembered how she had puked all over her new friend.

She could never look Natalya in the eye again, and the thought of such a thing almost caused Ana to puke once more.

I need a cigarette.

The thought of a cigarette gave Ana a sudden desire for one, she slowly got to her feet and got dressed, not even bothering to comb her hair or try to hide the dark bags under her eyes. As she went through the drawers in search of a cigarette pack, a soft voice called out to her from across the room.

"B-boss… could I ask you something…?"

Amina's sheepish tone set Anastasia on edge, the memories of her disastrous night with Natalya still fresh in her mind. She knew Amina wasn't trying to be adorable with her tone. Something else was going on. 

"What is it, Amina?"

Anastasia asked, trying to keep her tone neutral as she watched her former Mossad Kidon. She was not suspicious of Amina, after all, it was the system that ensured her loyalty, but she wanted to see what Amina wanted regardless.

"It's..." 

She trailed off, her expression becoming slightly nervous as she considered how to continue.

"It's about last night..."

"Is it true... that... that you gave Natalia a... a nickname?"

Amina looked down at Anastasia, her eyebrows raising in surprise as she waited for her boss's reply. Then her expression changed abruptly, the shyness vanished and her face was revealed, a knowing grin forming on her lips as she looked into Anastasia's eye.

"Well... I did give her a nickname. So, what of it?!"

Amina leaned over, her face close to Anastasia's as she smiled mischievously.

"I mean, who wouldn't want to be with someone like Natalya? She's beautiful, sweet, badass, strong, and a total killing machine. Who could resist that?"

Anastasia couldn't help but chuckle at Amina's sudden change in demeanor. The tension in the room eased and Anastasia found herself amused by Amina's teasing.

"Yeah, yeah, she's all those things. You seem to have a pretty high opinion of her."

Amina nodded with a playful glint in her eyes.

"Well, yeah! She's strong. And I've seen you being all... bossy with her, and then suddenly giving her a nickname. It was unexpected, but I kind of get it."

Anastasia raised an eyebrow, her curiosity piqued.

"Oh, do you now? What's your take on it?"

Amina leaned back, crossing her arms as she considered her words.

"Well, it's like... you're not just a boss to her. There's something more, something personal. And I think you needed that. Someone who's not just a subordinate, someone who can... I don't know, balance you out?"

Anastasia mulled over Amina's words. This woman had a perceptive side, and her analysis hit closer to home than Anastasia expected. Natalya did bring something different to the equation, a dynamic that went beyond the typical employer-employee relationship. Most likely a bit of stress relief maybe?

"Yeah, you might be onto something there."

Amina grinned, satisfaction evident on her face.

"So, what's the nickname, boss?"

Anastasia sighed, rolling her eyes at Amina's eagerness.

"Fine, fine. I called her Alya. Happy now?"

Amina's grin widened.

"Alya, huh? That's cute. I approve, Boss."

Anastasia shook her head, a smirk playing on her lips.

"Good to know I have your approval. Now, if you don't mind, I need that cigarette."

Amina chuckled, and together, they left the dorm room. As Anastasia made her way to the lobby, she couldn't shake off the mix of emotions lingering from the events of the night. The camaraderie with Amina had lightened the mood, but the thoughts of Natalya and the events on the balcony remained at the forefront of her mind.

Natalya awaited in the lobby, her expression a mix of concern and genuine care. Anastasia approached her, giving a small nod.

"Hey,"

Natalya greeted, a hint of a smirk on her face.

"Hey,"

Anastasia replied, without any of her feelings leaking into her voice. Natalya's eyes glinted.

"Glad you're okay. Gave me quite the fright with all that puking and on top of that you went and fainted. I mean, I did say we were the best combatants, but first aid was never my specialty."

Anastasia appreciated Natalya's rant of concern but at the same time, it was causing her another headache.

"Yeah, yeah. Now will ya' shut up for a damned second."

Natalya raised an eyebrow as she looked down in confusion. She watched as Anastasia quickly lit a cigarette and took a long draw before exhaling, closing her eyes and savoring the smoke. Then, without warning, she leaned up and placed a quick kiss on her cheek.

"Y'know, I thought about what you said last night…"

A sly smirk appeared on Anastasia's face as she looked up at Natalya who asked with a smirk of her own,

"So... can we try it out?" 

"Yeah, of course,"

Anastasia said after a moment, her eyes sparkling with a strange gleam of anticipation.

"Let's finish off the Italians first, then we can try out a relationship," 

"It shouldn't take too long."

Natalya's lips curled up into a half-grin, her eyes shining with excitement as she nodded at the proposition. But soon her face turned back to a stoic one.

"Mikhail talked with some of his old comrades and so did I. Although we only managed to talk to about a sixth of them, there are about twenty-four former VDVs who are combat-ready, and all of them are looking for a job."

"That's… not bad."

Natalya gave a slight nod as Anastasia assessed the situation. It seemed that Mikhail was able to find several of his former comrades who wanted a profitable job.

"Alright. What about any former Spetsnaz guys? Any ALFA who you were able to convince to join in on the fun?"

"Well, about that... I managed to recruit a few guys and gals from the Spetsnaz,"

Natalia said with a grin,

"A few are even from the Alpha units too, although they were a bit harder to convince than the rest. They had a lot of grievances towards me from the time I ditched their unit in a sandstorm."

She chuckled, her expression turning smug as she recalled the heated argument she had once those guys survived the shitty hell hole.

"They're good soldiers though,"

Anastasia chuckled before she suddenly stopped,

"Wait... gals?"

She paused for a moment, stunned by Natalya's words.

"There are… women from the Spetsnaz and alpha units?"

She hadn't expected Natalya to say that, especially when considering how elite units of the Russian military were, in general, an all-male affair. Natalya with a raised eyebrow as she spoke. 

"Course they had, though their primary roles were as a medic or com unit but once in Afghanistan you couldn't tell the difference between a teenager and an old bat. The supply and auxiliary units bore more damage than some of the frontline troops. Let me tell ya, those women had a mean streak to them."

A slight grin crept onto Natalya's face as she remembered the incident in Afghanistan, her eyes growing distant as she stared out into space. 

"Ah, yes, back in Afghanistan."

As she reminisced about the past, she couldn't help but recall the moments of both triumph and tragedy - the victories and losses, the instances of death and survival.

"The women from the Spetsnaz were particularly vicious. Even if they had the role of a medic or a com, they could still fight like rabid animals. You could say sometimes they were the backbone of operations, charges, or even major maneuvers."

Natalya looked back at Anastasia with a smile, remembering the memories of that time.

"The boys in Alpha… even called them 'the bitches from hell.'"

She spoke as if remembering something important. Something from the past that was worth remembering.

"They might sound scary, but they're tough. And they don't let anything get in their way. That's… how a lot of the women in the Spetsnaz acted, especially the ones that fought at Afghanistan… at least, those that survived."

Well, that turned gloomy rather quickly. 

In an attempt to distract Natalia from the topics of her past, she asked the question that had been bugging her for a while,

"So, how many people were you able to convince?"

Natalia turned to Mikhail who was busy watching some sort of children's show on the TV, something that featured a pair of cat and mouse.

"We both took a couple of hours, before you woke up, to contact some old numbers that we could still remember. We managed to talk to about a sixth of them, roughly around a hundred and fifty."

Now that's a large number, not at all consistent with the number she said were combat-ready.

"But most of them are now part of the Russian army or some other country's armed forces. Around forty or fifty of them left the army and half of them are not fit for combat anymore. Mostly it's old age or injuries, some are even suffering from Trauma. But we managed to convince about twenty-four from the old VDV units and half a dozen from the Spetsnaz."