Fall 2011
Russia

"Are you staying up tonight, Miss Persephone?" The young girl asked in her thick Russian accent as Persephone checked the windows inconspicuously as to not alarm her. "Da." She replied back with a smile. It was technically Petrov's night to keep watch while Persephone got a few hours of sleep, but she couldn't bare to tell Anastasia no. The wizard would probably take issue with her staying up to do a watch, but her priority was to that little girl and her parents. The girl smiled brightly in return at her and snuggled deeper into her blankets. It was rare that Anastasia woke in the middle of the night, but when she did Persephone liked to be the one up to sit with her. While she was sure Petrov treated the girl well she still preferred to be the one that directly worked with her. Yes she was helping out his company but he was the one who called in for ministry work. He'd have to deal eventually. Persephone's walked over to the young girl and brushed the blond locks from her face with a warm smile. "ночь." She whispered softly before leaving the room and gently closing the door behind her.

She walked down to the kitchen and made herself a cup of coffee as she waited for Petrov to return from the perimeter check. This was bound to be another fun argument as this was not the first time she had taken it upon herself to take over his shift instead of sleeping. They had only been working the case for a few months but neither one had brought up the elephant in the room whenever they were alone together. How was it that the first wizard she had a one night stand with just had to be in the same career as she was? It wasn't as if they had done much talking that evening to know that about each other. It was Moscow, statistically speaking there should have been a slim to no chance of them meeting again. She cursed the Russian Ministry for sending her out there though she should have taken it as a compliment that they specifically had chosen her for the task.

Persephone leaned up against the counter taking a long sip of her coffee as she waited for Petrov to return. She was sure the coffee would be a dead giveaway of her intentions for the evening, it was a common occurrence after all. She hoped it would be one of those nights where the argument didn't last long and he'd just piss off in a timely manner. She wasn't going to bed and she'd be damned to comply if he told her to.

@nikolai

Perimeter checks were the best part of the damn night at this point, because they got him out of the house long enough to stop himself from going absolutely crazy. If he had known that asking the Ministry for an auror to be sent for assistance in this case would bring him a woman who was determined to irritate him on a daily basis, Nikolai never would have contacted them. After all, this situation hadn’t been one that he’d felt he really needed help on, preferring to do everything himself in any case. But this woman wanted to cause him issue at every damn turn, making everything twenty times harder seemingly on purpose. Cursing under his breath in Russian, Nikolai entered the house, heading for the kitchen first. At least her shift was over, which meant he could have some peace without another argument with the brit. If this was how woman were in the United Kingdom, then Nikolai was certainly glad that he’d never been there—or Italy, assuming that was her background because it seemed probable enough with her appearance. Both two countries to avoid, so he supposed he could thank her for bringing him that realization and saving him headaches down the road.

The second he entered the kitchen, Nikolai realized that while her entire existence might have helped him avoid headaches by visiting either of these countries, she was about to cause him another one. Did she not know the damn difference between his shift and her shift? From the coffee in her hand, clearly not. “Your shift is over,” he stated, looking her over briefly as he anticipated the incoming argument, before moving to pour himself a coffee. Nikolai already knew he’d need one to handle this conversation, “You’re no good to me with no sleep,” Nikolai added, hoping that the statement would be enough for her to leave.

Nikolai had no idea what the odds were that he would have a one-night stand with a woman and find himself working with her only a few months later. It was something that would only happen to him, and he wondered if that was partially why she was so irritating—was she trying to prove a point to make up for the fact that she’d slept with her boss? Probably not, he mused, taking a sip of his coffee. She probably didn’t even consider him her boss, but since she was working for his company, that was certainly the right word for it.

Persephone hadn't been in the kitchen long when Petrov had finally entered. It seemed like he was already preparing himself for their nightly ritual. She could understand that it was best for her to get some sleep seeing as she usually spent most of the day with the family. Whenever they left the home she was always the one to escort them posing as the nanny for Anastasia. It was a rather good cover seeing as she was sure anyone that meant to cause harm to the Belikovsky's wouldn’t suspect the English woman of being an auror. A Brit in Russia wasn't a common occurrence and even when she did speak in Russian her accent could be heard which was often the cause for Anastasia's fit of giggles on quite a few occasions. For larger events with the family Petrov normally came with them which was always awkward seeing as a lot of people were confused to see someone else with the nanny and family. Most people often assumed Petrov was her significant other during these trips and in order to keep their cover she would just smile and nod when asked if that was the case. After all everyone knew the family was close to their 'nanny' and it would make sense for a boyfriend to accompany them on occasion.

Unfortunately there was another event like that the following day that they both needed to be at. It was going to be an obscenely large event with several opportunities available for something bad to happen. While she personally did not like being around Petrov unless absolutely necessary it gave her much more comfort for him to be around during large gatherings with the family. She shrugged her shoulders at his comment about her shift being over and took another sip of her coffee. ”No I believe it is your shift that is over.” She replied smoothly looking him over as if to size him up before quirking an eyebrow at his next comment. Why he thought she cared about his wishes was beyond her. They had been working together long enough that he knew the drill. Though she hoped tonight wouldn’t be one of those nights that they ended up nose to nose. ”No good to you?” She laughed condescendingly. ”My duty is to the Belikovsky’s first and foremost, then the Russian Ministry. Nowhere in my job description does it say that I have to be good to you. Besides Miss Anastasia has requested I take the night shift. Her wants and needs far surpass yours.” She paused for a moment looking from his coffee cup back to him. ”You are going to have a dreadful time getting to sleep if you drink that.” She added offhandedly as she drained her cup.

Nikolai really didn’t understand why she had to make everything so challenging, and wondered if she did this shit to everyone or if he was simply unlucky. If it wasn’t bad form to retract his offer for assistance from the Ministry, he would consider it; well, annoyingly enough, that wasn’t necessarily true—he could grudgingly admit that she was good at her job, or at least acting the part of the nanny since she hadn’t had to do much else. Nikolai had no idea if she was worth all this trouble as far as if something were to actually come up, but he could only assume that she must be or the Ministry wouldn’t have chosen her. But it didn’t make it any less annoying, particularly when she wouldn’t even leave when her shift was over. They argued enough when she was supposed to be there, but staying longer was just testing his damn sanity. The woman was trying to drive him insane, “Well then, next time I contact the Ministry I’ll have to stipulate they send an Auror that can tell time,” he replied, raising an eyebrow. Didn’t people like having time off, he thought that was relatively normal. No one in the world worked as much as he did, but other people actually had lives. After how long they would have to spend together tomorrow, Nikolai would think she’d want a damn break herself, as being in public always ended with having to pretend they were in a relationship for the sake of keeping a low profile. At least people were content with them admitting it without having to actually do anything to hold that cover.

Taking an irritated breath, Nikolai set his cup onto the counter, before moving his gaze back to her. He actually didn’t know if there was a more aggravating woman on this entire planet, but she was at least the most irritating one in Russia and the surrounding countries. Why had he contacted the damn Ministry? He would have been content keeping her a one-night stand that was so far in he past that he didn’t have to think about it anymore. She’d been far less aggravating naked and not working for him, distracted momentarily by the thought, “You’re not good to anyone with no sleep, then,” he rephrased, leaning against the opposite counter before crossing his arms. Nikolai knew that Anastasia had grown attached to DiTraverso, and vise versa, which was something he’d anticipated but never allowed to personally happen. Getting attached to cases never went well, “Last I checked you don’t report to Anastasia, unless she’s taken over when I wasn’t paying attention,” Nikolai said, dryly, before reaching behind him to pick up his coffee again and took a long sip, “It’s a good thing I’m working tonight, then,” he added, wondering if she actually thought a few snarky words were going to get him to leave. Just why did she have to make everything so much more damn difficult?

Persephone was trying to be nice, hoping that a full blown argument wouldn’t occur. Granted she couldn’t think of one single time an argument didn’t break out over any disagreement they may have had. While she had always worked below someone else she had always had free reign. She had been trusted enough to just be handed a task and be sent on her way without any real further discussion. At most she’d be asked about what her potential game plan was and that was that. Unfortunately this man didn’t share the same sentiment. She was still a little cross with the Ministry for not disclosing full details; then again it wasn’t like she would have even recognized the name ‘Petrov’ if they had told her. How she had managed to spend an entire evening with him months back was a mystery to her. He was the single most agitating man she had ever met.

She raised her eyebrows at his comment about telling time, as if to ask him if he really wanted to get into this with her. No, she hadn’t insulted him, but now she was unfastening the proverbial gloves and getting ready to slide them off. ”Oh you misunderstand. I am well aware of the time. You apparently have no concept of verbal cues. I think the bigger issue is that I was assigned to work with a man that obviously doesn’t have enough blood in his body to fuel his unnecessarily large musculature as well as his brain. I mean… I’m assuming you have one seeing as you are breathing and talking.” She said coolly keeping her eyes trained on him. Maybe if she could get him aggravated enough he would call it a night and fuck off. He would have to deal with her all day tomorrow after all, not only that but pretending to be her boyfriend. It would make things easier to fake if they weren’t at each other’s throats constantly.

Persephone shook her head absently as he continued to speak though had to stop halfway through to chuckle as he spoke about who she was to report to. ”I know you are not insinuating that I am obligated to report to you. Last I checked you needed my help on this detail, not the other way around. Will I check in with you, absolutely because that is what I was taught to do with anyone I work with, but I in no way report to you. Besides I’m not leaving Anastasia to wake up to some belligerent wizard whose ego is so massive it’s bordering on a national threat.” She added giving him a sweet smile as she mirrored his movements crossing her arms. ”But if you feel it necessary to stay up and argue with me, then by all means go for it. But I think we both know that unless you physically move me, I’m not going to budge.” She paused for a moment rethinking her statement. ”Actually I would advise against that.” She said pulling up the hem of her shirt to show where her wand was holstered.

Over the years, Nikolai had had to work with plenty of stubborn Aurors. First of all, he used to be one—so he understood better than most about getting caught up in a case. Hell, he still did that to this day, with all of the cases he took on. He knew that he could get tunnel vision and focus on nothing but a case until it was solved. That was the entire reason that he didn’t let himself get attached to anyone he was working for, because personal attachment in a job where a bad day meant someone getting killed was never a good idea. So had he possessed the same cocky attitude that DiTraverso was giving off? Of course he did—that was why he was his own damn boss now, as it worked a hell of a lot better. Except when, having his own company and doing what he loved without having anyone to report to apparently meant overconfident British aurors that wanted to just take the case out from under him as far as he could tell. She certainly must have thought she could do a better job or she wouldn’t be causing him trouble at every turn and trying to take his shifts. Did the Auror Department in the U.K. have no structure or damn chain of command? “I find myself far more concerned that the Auror Department would assign someone to work for my company that clearly has issues with others’ authority. Are you always like that or is this behavior just reserved for men you’ve slept with?” He asked, carelessly. From the moment that they’d met and realized who the other was, neither of them had brought up their one-night stand from months prior. But it was clearly causing issues, unless she really did act like this to everyone.

As he had suspected, DiTraverso apparently didn’t consider herself as working for him, which only further proved her problems with having someone to report to—which made him honestly wonder why she was chosen. She had to be damn good, obviously, but the Auror department knew better than anyone how he was, and had brought over someone that a deaf and blind person would have realized he would clash with. A detail like this wasn’t the time to have issues like this, which Nikolai hoped she would realize by now as opposed to arguing with him every step of the way, “It was a situation involving criminals in the magical world, calling in the Auror department was regulation, not any kind of cue that I actually required assistance,” he stated, robotically, as it was shit he’d had to say so many times in the past working with aurors. They all liked to call out being brought on specifically, when it was simply the way things were done, “If you’re so concerned that my threatening ego is going to frighten the child, then by all means go babysit,” he told her, gesturing toward Anastasia’s room. DiTraverso would be far easier to deal with if she was in the other room. Nikolai scoffed slightly, a smirk growing across his face, though he didn’t speak immediately. His hand tapped against the counter behind him, “If I really wanted to physically remove you from the room, trust me, you wouldn’t be able to stop me,” Nikolai told her, taking a casual drink of his coffee before continuing, “Luckily for you, even belligerent wizards have a bit more respect than that—but don’t tempt me,” he added under his breath. Nikolai always hoped for a case to come to a close quickly, as long as they had good results, but he was unsure if he’d ever wanted one to end this badly. Dealing with DiTraverso on a daily basis was a damn nightmare

Persephone almost felt smug after her snarky remark to the Russian. He could have made this easier on the both of them by just walking away instead wasting both of their time arguing. It almost felt like he enjoyed getting a rise out of her though she wasn't completely wound up just yet. She wasn't so much cocky as she was stubborn and stuck in her ways. She operated a certain way and that's just how it was. Him reminding her that his position was, technically, above hers was annoying. Most of the things she did with and for the family were her ideas and he hadn't had a problem with her just checking in to tell him what she was doing. But she'd be damned to ask permission. The nanny idea for one, had completely been her idea so that one of them could be with the family at all times, especially in public without anyone suspecting they were being protected. The only thing she agreed to thus far with the man was him accompanying her for events. She did have a sneaking suspicion that Mrs. Belikovsky was the one that had started the 'relationship cover' for the pair. She was a sweet woman but she asked far too many questions for her tastes. The most anyone knew in Russia was that she was an auror from England that came to Russia for additional training and that's how she planned to keep it.

She rolled her eyes at him before locking them on his her mouth becoming a thin line on her face as she felt her wand hand twitch towards her holster. It had been months and she had been content to pretend the one-night stand hadn't happened but now he had taken it upon himself to verbalize their past meeting so casually. "I'm one of the better Aurors you are going to have a chance to work with. No that is not me being cocky, I've worked my arse off to get where I am. And I'm going to do you a favor and pretend I didn't hear that last comment you just made." Her voice had dipped down a bit lower than her normal as felt herself become angry. It was a voice she didn't use often, and she was fairly certain he had never heard it before. If he wanted to see her in action he was certainly getting close to seeing it firsthand.

"I didn't realize actually caring about a client amounted to babysitting. I don't think you realize just how intimidating you can be to the average person, granted I'm not one of them which should be quite obvious at this point." She moved around him to pour another cup of coffee still fighting the urge to hex him about the comment he made about them sleeping together. She snorted in amusement as he said he could easily remove her from the room if he wanted to. While she was certain he probably could accomplish that he would be pretty messed up by the time he got her out of there. She quirked an eyebrow as he mumbled about her tempting him to do so. She was distracted by a fleeting inappropriate thought though brushed it off quickly. "Unless you would like to see first-hand exactly why I was specifically chosen to work with your company, I’d advise you to keep your distance." She brought her cup to her lips grumbling under her breath. ”Not like it takes much to tempt you anyway…” She wasn’t sure if he heard the snide remark but decided quickly that she really couldn’t care less at that point.

Every so often, Nikolai actually missed being under cover with the gang that he’d been apart of for several years. It had certainly never been dull, that was for sure, and the anticipation and constantly being on guard was something he’d been incredibly good at. The risk of getting caught made the work more dangerous, of course, but it was an important job and he’d gotten a hell of a lot of experience out of it. There had been incredibly bad days, obviously as being apart of gang activities wasn’t exactly a pretty sight for the most part and it was a rare occasion that someone got out of deep cover like that alive and relatively unscathed. But he was sure that he’d rather immediately go back under cover and risk all of it again to get away from this woman. She was far more aggravating than any gang member that Nikolai had ever had to deal with—of course she wasn’t a murderer, or rapist, or guilty of much else of what those men had dealt with, which was good. Nikolai was just realizing he might be better suited to dealing with those types than dealing with Persephone DiTraverso.

DiTraverso was good—Nikolai knew that. The Ministry wouldn’t have sent her to him if she wasn’t, and she’d had several ideas that had gone over quite well for her part in this assignment. He could appreciate creativity in their field, as it was usually handy for keeping people alive. But her creativity only barely made up for her ability to aggravate him in ten seconds flat, which was almost making her more trouble than she was worth, “And do you think I just came across my job by luck?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. Nikolai wasn’t exactly aware what she did or didn’t know about him, but he did know that she’d know quite a bit if she talked to anyone in the Auror department. He’d made his mark there, after all, and it wasn’t cocky to say that most of the aurors were fond of him—something DiTraverso probably wouldn’t understand, “I don’t doubt your abilities, if so you wouldn’t be here,” Nikolai added, offhandedly. For someone who wasn’t her boss, he sure as hell had a lot of sway on whether or not she got replaced, “Oh by all means, don’t do me any favors,” he added, challengingly, raising an eyebrow at her tone. Nikolai was sure that was supposed to be threatening, but he’d been around his fair share of dangerous individuals to be afraid of a British auror of all people.

“It’s not but it’s just as much a waste of time,” he muttered into his coffee cup, before taking a quick sip. Caring about clients was a rule that he didn’t allow himself to break, as it made everything far too complicated. It was amusing to him that she didn’t think he realized how intimidating he could come off, which was clearly the opposite of the truth. Nikolai had to be well aware of that, and it was how he’d be chosen to go undercover in the first place, “So you’re either brave or stupid,” he commented, taking another sip of his coffee, not moving out of the way as she moved to get more of the beverage herself. It wasn’t as though he thought her confidence was misplaced, Nikolai simply didn’t know enough about her to make that determination for himself, “Perhaps seeing it firsthand would prove that the Ministry brought me an Auror that’s actually up to par,” Nikolai stated, before chuckling under his breath at her muttered comment, though he was irritated that he found anything she said even remotely funny, “Could say the same about you,” he replied, a brief thought moving through his mind about their one night sand, and he brushed it away. Perhaps this was why he hadn’t brought it up, because now he was irritatingly thinking about it again. If it weren’t for the fact that DiTraverso was the most aggravating woman he’d ever met, then that would be all right. But she was, and also working for him, which made any thoughts about the encounter ridiculous.

The man was obviously trying to get hexed at this point. She wasn’t necessarily trigger happy but she was itching to show him just who he was working with. Granted she knew there would be no way she could take him out physically. She could most likely hold him off, that was part of her training in Russia. Part of that training involved sparring with men about his size. At first it had been jarring. It was shocking her first day when one of the larger auror’s approached her and said they had wanted to gage where she was by having her spar with the bloke. That had to be the fastest match in history as within the blink of an eye she was on the ground with the wind knocked out of her. She learned quickly that agility, not brute strength was going to work in her favor. It had only taken a few months for her to adjust, taking out quite a few of her fellow aurors. She had more fun when they merged magical and muggle training. Not only was she faster than most of the other aurors but she was also a legilimens which she used quite frequently to know how they were going to attack before they actually did. She wasn’t sure if her supervisor had mentioned her ability to Petrov or if they had just dropped her in his lap without saying much about her.

”I never said you didn’t work hard to start your company. Stop putting words in my mouth.” She snapped. Honestly it was like talking to a brick wall and the sooner this was over the better. Things had always felt a little strained, at least on her end as it didn’t amuse her that she was expected to take orders from a man she had slept with. Petrov finally verbalizing their little tryst was just going to make things worse. ”I don’t think you could get rid of me even if you tried. You’d risk the security of the family. We already have a good set up going. The nanny suddenly disappearing while her ‘boyfriend’ is still hanging around would look very suspicious.” She was becoming even more irritated as it seemed he wasn’t going to let things go so easily. ”We slept together once. There is no discussion necessary for that. It’s done and over with. We both made a mistake, and as long as that mistake doesn’t occur again I think it’s best to leave it at that.” She said simply though she was somewhat confused as to what she had just said. Had she been insinuating that sleeping together again was even a slight possibility? She quickly decided that wouldn’t be the case and she was reading into it way too far.

She shrugged as she took another sip of coffee. ”To you it’s a waste, but I’m willing to bet anything when it comes to their protection and any risk that comes with it my abilities will far surpass yours. I would jump out in front of them without hesitation, would you?” She shook her head in amusement when he spoke about seeing her abilities first hand. She was tempted to answer him by throwing a hex but thought better of it. ”A kitchen is no place for me to put you in your place properly. It would be quite rude to do so in a client’s home…” She said cocking an eyebrow at him as she brought the cup to her lips to hide the smile pulling up at the corner of her mouth when he laughed. It would have been a nice life had it not been coming from a total asshat. ”I think you are forgetting who approached who. Not that that matters now. You really should get to bed.” She added the last bit as she reached forward to take his cup from him. Her mind had already started going to places it was not appropriate to go to and it was probably be best he left. Or if she at least pissed him off more the thoughts would stop.

As far as Nikolai was concerned, he couldn’t be in a worse situation. Out of all of the aurors that could have possibly been sent to help on this case, it had been a woman that he’d slept with. Then, she turned out to be the most irritating woman in a thousand kilometer radius, or more. Then, he grudgingly had to bite his tongue about it because she was annoyingly good at her job. At least if she was awful, he could have had her replaced. But no, of course they found themselves still working together and dealing with the fact that they couldn’t stand each other. Luckily, they still managed to remain professional when the Belikovskys were around, but when they weren’t… the gloves came off quickly. He had no idea why she was so damn impossible to be around, and how he hadn’t noticed that when they’d met at the pub months back. Perhaps it was because that any manner of conversation hadn’t really been on their minds. But that was beside the point now, “And I don’t recall claiming I thought you didn’t work hard either, yet you still felt the need to bring it up,” he stated, slightly amused, though the statement was true. He certainly hadn’t say a thing about her abilities, so it was almost curious that she felt the need to defend them.

He didn’t like that she had a point, knowing that if he even wanted to get rid of her at any point, it would be incredibly difficult. Annoyingly, and begrudgingly, he was considered her boyfriend by outsiders, and his continued presence while she vanished would certainly be suspicious. He could always take Polyjuice Potion to change his form to someone else, so that he would be a fresh face—but that was a step that would add extra work at this point, “Then don’t give me a reason to need to,” Nikolai replied, bringing the mug to his lips to take another sip of the hot beverage. He would get rid of her in a moment and take the extra step of Polyjuice if she ever became a problem—which obviously included if her dislike for him ever passed a point that it interfered. His lips quirked up in a smirk at her comment, though luckily the mug more than likely blocked her from being able to tell, “So you are always this impossible to work with, then?” Nikolai asked, still amused. He heard her brushing off their one-night stand, which he had been doing as well, but really all he was wondering was if that explained why she was always so damn difficult.

His eyes darkened momentarily at her next words, taking a moment to relax slightly before even attempting to reply. As hard as he had worked and as many people as he’d protected, Nikolai didn’t particularly appreciate her brushing off how much he cared. Just because he didn’t tuck the daughter into bed and do other jobs that a nanny would clearly do, didn’t mean that he wouldn’t jump in front of the girl if it came down to it. People making assumptions and judgments with no knowledge to back it up was something that irritated him, but since apparently everything about DiTraverso irritated him, Nikolai was able to push past the irritation rather quickly. Or, at least, he was able to reply without sounding pissed off, “I suppose you’ll have to see for yourself if it comes down to it,” he stated, dryly. Hell, if it came down to it, he’d throw himself in front of DiTraverso—simply because it was his company and he wouldn’t have anyone getting hurt if he could take their place, “Well let me know what location you require to put me in my place and I’ll see what I can do,” he told her, raising an eyebrow. He knew that she would have had to go through physical training as an aspect of her training here, but all he was hearing was that she wasn’t able to do in the kitchen—which, as far as he was concerned, meant that he’d proven his point. He could certainly remove her from the room if he decided to. “Oh, I’m not going anywhere,” he replied, deciding it was best to not even reply to her first statement, as apparently any talk of their past one-night stand was distracting, “If you refuse to do everyone a favor and get some sleep, I’ll be staying up to make sure your stubbornness and fatigue doesn’t affect your ability to do your job,” he concluded, moving his hand away from her to keep his coffee in his possession. Stubborn damn witch, he thought, really wishing that she’d just go to bed.