A Hero's Journey

Ohio

The Ghost had been an official SHIELD member for about a year. They were halfway through 1994 when Ghost took time off to go to Ohio. He wanted a vacation.

Shortly after arriving and checking into the hotel he was reminded of his last vacation. It's been almost 10 years and he still remembers her. He's had numerous one night stands to numb himself, but they have never worked.

He sighed before going out. He had a gun on his side in a hostler. He also had his knife in a holster on his side too. He had a knife attached to his boot and he was wearing the boots that were apart of his suit. He had the whole suit just in case. And he still checks for trackers.

He ended up finding a bar. He entered and went to it before sitting down. A bar wasn't new to the twenty-four-year-old assassin. He had entered them many times. Some for the sake of missions and the last few years, to attempt to get drunk. Not like he actually could as his tolerance to alcohol or anything else that could take away his senses was extremely built up. He could get drunk if he spent all day drinking though. He was actually working on something to get him drunk.

He sat down and ordered some vodka. The man next to him glanced at him. "Vodka is not something people normally drink here. You new?" The man asked. Hint of a Russian accent. Probably immigrated. Hidden well though. He will give him that.

"Something like that." Responded Kyler. He took the shot before putting it back down. He glanced at him. "What about you? Are you new? Because with the accent I can already tell you're not from here."

The man tensed. "What accent? I moved here from the East Coast. Wanted me and my family to live somewhere quiet."

Kyler chuckled before calling the bartender over. He put some money down and the man left the bottle. It was easy to communicate. He was still chuckling. "Bullshit. Sure, people are still on edge because of the whole USSR thing but I'm down with Russians as long as they don't try to kill me. You have the accent. Hidden well, but it's there." He took a drink straight out of the bottle.

The man relaxed. "You can tell? I haven't met many people that can see through the act. I've lived here since 1992 and I just wanted to get away." The man said.

Kyler analyzed him. Half-truth. All but the last part of the second sentence was true. He would ignore it though. Maybe his wife wanted to move or something. It wasn't his business. He was on vacation. "Got here earlier. Vacation. My job is stressful, and I just wanted to get away. What about you?"

The man waved his hand in a dismissive way. "That doesn't matter. What matters, is that an American and a Russian are getting along. That is progress of itself! Let's toast, to new friends!" He held up his drink for a toast.

Kyler chuckled before tapping his bottle against his beer. "To new friends." He copied emotionless. They both drunk their respective alcohols. After he set the drink down, he looked over. "The names Kyler. Kyler Alaster. What's yours?"

The man paused, like he was thinking. Dammit, Kyler. Quit analyzing. You are on approved vacation. "Alexei. Alexei Shostakov."

They talked. A lot. Kyler kept his mouth shut so he wouldn't say anything about his past, only speaking when asked a question. Eventually Alexei decided Kyler was going to come home with him. Eat some food his wife cooked. He tried to decline but Alexei forced him into it. He had to say, he was one persuasive Russian.

When they got to Alexei's house, he was pleasantly surprised. It was a nice house for someone who came here with nothing only two years ago. It was also a little past one am and Alexei also wanted to use the excuse of he was drunk and needed someone to walk him home. What helped was the fact that Alexei actually was very drunk. Kyler chuckled before agreeing. So here they are!