A Partisan's Fight - COMPLETED!

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"Here are your papers." Aldrik threw the documents on the counter in front of Markus. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, watching the man reach for the papers and read them over. "Can you read it?"

Markus glanced up with brows arched. "Did Mina not tell you that I was born here? I can read German just fine."

"Just a little rusty, right?" Aldrik cracked the briefest of smiles. The fact that he was taking the time to poke fun of him made it seem all that realer that they were fitting in together and weren't just a house full of friends with a stranger. Or a house full of enemies for that matter.

Markus couldn't help but chuckle. He wasn't accustomed to hearing the people that he normally would call enemies be more human to him. He hated to admit it, but he was warming up to them much quicker than he had anticipated. The speed of the comfort left him questioning if he really truly hated these people, or if he'd just been hiding behind the emotion to shield himself from something else. Something deeper.

Ignoring his own personal thoughts, Markus refocused on Aldrik. "When do we start planning this?"

Eyeing him up curiously, Aldrik shook his head. "I am not the one to ask. Mina has it figured out."

"You can't seriously be thinking about letting her help with a bun in the oven." Markus couldn't wipe off the incredulous shadow that had crossed his face. The woman, no matter how much she argued, was in no condition to help at this point.

"Why not? She is the one that has planned this up to this point." He didn't look at all phased by the fact that she was pregnant and putting herself at risk.

"Because it's not safe!" Markus couldn't stop himself from blurting out. He'd raised his voice higher than he'd intended.

"This is war, Markus. It is not meant to be safe. People will get hurt. People we know. It is the risk that we take. The risk that we do not always have the choice in making." As always, Aldrik had wisdom in his words. Markus knew there was truth to the speech, but it didn't mean that he had to like it. He was wondering how long it'd take before Aldrik's perfect answers and calm demeanor would break. There was no way that a man who had lost as much as he did could stay in control forever.

"She's just so young. She should have a chance at raising that child within her." He sighed, staring out the window behind Aldrik. He wondered how his mother had taken care of him and the family when they had left Germany and went to America. It couldn't have been easy.

"War might have made you feel older, but I can assure you that she is not much younger than you." Aldrik stepped closer to the counter. "That fire you felt when you joined the fight in this war is the same fire that she feels. I will not pretend to know who you have lost; but she has lost her parents, her fiancé, and her home to this war alone. She has lost much more than that throughout her life, but she has made her way through it all stronger. Just because she is pregnant does not mean that she will not give her best to this cause."

"I get that. I really do. But how much can she really do as she grows bigger and becomes closer to having that baby?" Markus couldn't stop his arms from flying up for a moment in emphasis. He understood that women had it tough being with child during this time. Why should he expect her to be able to take on more when she was in this condition?

"Like I said, she is the brains of this operation. With that being said, I am not letting her begin her attempt at becoming a guard until she has that baby." Aldrik's stubbornness was obvious. He took being protective to a necessary extreme. Markus should have guessed there had been an underlying agenda to Aldrik's calmness. The man had a plan just as much as the woman did.

"And who put you in charge of that?" Mina stood in the doorway, arms crossed in front of her and an unusual look of completely innocent defiance. The only way Markus could describe it was that she hadn't planned on disagreeing with them, but had been taken by surprise at their conversation and plastered the necessary look for the situation. He didn't completely blame her there.

Straightening, Aldrik pinned her with a look. "I will not hold back you completing a suicide mission for yourself, but when it endangers the lives of others, including your unborn baby, I will tell you what to do. "

"We do not even know if this baby lives. Let me do what I need to do." Mina remained strong, but her voice betrayed that strength with a slab of emotion. She was fighting for that control that kept her from unraveling.

"And you want to take that chance?" Markus wasn't sure if he should step in, but this affected him too. He had the right to have a say in this. He could have cringed from the way that Mina shot him down with a glare. Aldrik had stayed focused on the woman as well, giving Markus the right to continue speaking. "We all know that your heart is in the right place. You just want to help people. That is a very good thing. A commendable thing. It takes sacrifices to help people too, though. We need you at the top of your game to achieve success. Right now, you are not at that point. If you can prove to us that you are able to fully complete your duty in this mission, then I will back you on being more involved now."

Aldrik's shoulders had tensed, but he nodded his agreement.

"What do you want me to do? I can prove it." She nodded, clearly ready to complete any task.

Markus glanced at Aldrik, quickly returning his gaze to Mina. "Walk without limping."

He could feel Aldrik's gaze shift over to him. Markus couldn't help but look point blank at him, brows raised at the questioning look. "Come on! You haven't noticed her barely being able to walk? Her ankles are clearly swollen. It's perfectly normal in pregnancies. I've been around enough women to hear the things that bothered them the most. There is absolutely no way she could be completing guard duties without resting throughout the day. They'd sooner shoot her than let her rest and take up their valuable time I'm sure."

Mina's gaze had dropped. She full well knew that she couldn't complete his request. It must have taken a lot of will power to admit the defeat; perhaps that's why she shielded her gaze from both men. "You are right."

"I hate to say it, but it's only going to get worse over the next few months. I'm not going to set you both up for failure by not mentioning that." Markus grabbed his documents and left the room. He wasn't going to wait around for a potential argument. He'd said his peace and now he needed to study what these documents had to say about him. Just because Mina needed to wait to join in the fight didn't mean that he couldn't get started sooner. Much sooner.