Angels (Pavel Chekov)

Chapter 18 - Surviving

Chapter 18 - Surviving

Some people are quite fond of routine, where as others can't stand it. There's a certain comfort in knowing how things are going to unfold but there's also something fun and desirable about being spontaneous.

His house wasn't too far away from Star Fleet, but it was still a pretty nice house. He didn't seem to be sharing it with anyone. Pavel brought our bags into the house and looked around. It was a pretty nice house, it had a few photos of this little girl on it. He saw me looking at the picture, "That's Joanna, my little girl. She only comes over once a month. My ex-wife took the whole goddam planet in the divorce, all I've got left is my bones." Before I could say anything Pavel's phone rang, and he quickly pulled it out of his back pocket. He looked at it for a second before pulling it to his ear. I only knew a few words in Russian, but Pavel was swearing into the phone. I'd seen Pavel annoyed before, but never this angry. I looked at Leo. Pavel closed the phone angrily and took a deep breath. "I'll be back soon," He muttered, walking out of the house and closing the door behind him. "Pavel!" I called out. Leo put his hand on my shoulder, "There's no point, he's gone but he'll be fine." I sighed. "What if he does something stupid?" I asked, staring hopelessly at the door. Leo shrugged, "He's angry not upset, he just needs to calm down."

It was dark outside and I was starting to freak out about Pavel. I sat next to Leo on the couch and turned my phone in my hands. "He mightn't pick up but go for it," He said turning the TV volume down. I dialled his number and sat there. It rang a few times. I groaned. He picked up. "Pavel?!" I asked. "Vienna?" He asked. "Are you alright, where are you?" There was a pause. "Ah, I just went for a walk, I'm coming back now." I sighed, "Are you alright though, I'm worried about you..." He dismissed the thought, "no I'll be fine, I'm coming back now I just needed to calm down, I'll see you soon." We hung up and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in. "He's fine," I muttered, lying back on the couch. "Told you so," Leo shrugged.

There was a knock at the door about ten minutes later and Pavel walked through the door, I jumped up and wrapped my arms around him. "What happened?!" I asked, not wanting to let him go. "It was Erik on the phone, he just said stuff and uh..." He finished exhaustedly, coming and sitting down with me. "I heard you swearing at him in Russian," I said, watching him smile. "Yeah, I probably shouldn't have done that." He looked at his phone and scrolled through some names till he found Erik. He dialled it and pressed the phone to his ear. He started speaking in Russian again, but slowly this time. Pavel was silent for a while, and then he muttered something and hung up.

He put his phone down and groaned. "He's planning on coming to America to see me. He says he has stuff to tell me." Pavel ran his hand through his hair. "All that stuff that happened I can't help but think it's his fault," Pavel admitted, closing his eyes. I took his hand, "don't worry about it, we're fine aren't we and Erik isn't too bad..." Pavel raised an eyebrow at me. "Eh you just don't know him well enough yet."

Pavel wasn't in bed when I got up, I missed him. I crawled out of bed and started to look around for him. I came into the kitchen and sat Leo there drinking a coffee. "Hey," I greeted, "Have you seen Pavel?" Leo put down his coffee. "He said he was going for a run or something." I sat down next to him, "Since when does Pavel exercise?" I asked myself out-loud. Leo grinned, "he's been cramped up in hotels and small spaces for a while, he probably has energy he needs to get rid off, he's only a kid anyways." I rolled my eyes, "Maybe..." Leo stood up and poured himself another coffee. "Want one?" He asked. I shook my head, "no thanks I'm all good." I didn't want coffee I wanted Pavel. I looked up to Leo, "Can I call you Bones?" He raised an eyebrow, "why?" I shrugged. "You'd suit it and remember what you said yesterday, all I've got left is my Bones." He smirked and continued to sip it.

Pavel texted me about an hour later saying that he had just gone for a run, and to get some more fresh air. I helped Bones clean out his basement, in the hopes that there would be a larger room for us to stay in if we needed it. I sorted through a box of photos. "Do you see Joanna much?" I asked, blowing dust off an old photo of him pushing her on a swing set. "Once a month and half a day on Christmas. Tomorrow actually," he said, smiling to himself. "Pavel and I can go somewhere if you want. We need to get more clothes and stuff from our dorm and things like that." Bones shrugged,"I won't be in the house anyway, I'm taking her to the zoo." I dusted off another photo and smiled. It was Bones, Joanna and what looked like his ex-wife. "Do you miss her?" I asked, staring at their smiling faces in the picture. Bones walked up behind me and took the photo slowly, smiling. "Sometimes, I miss the life I used to have, and I miss seeing Jo that often," he answered putting the photo frame down.

I was sweeping downstairs with Bones when Pavel came back. He came down the stairs, brushing a few curls out of his face. "Hey," he smiled. I grinned, "How do you feel?" He shrugged, "Less caged up." Pavel carried down a shopping bag and passed Bones a bottle of something. "I noticed you have whiskey, but it's not the same as wodka," he grinned. Bones smirked and rolled his eyes. "Thanks Chekov, and you really couldn't be more Russian if you tried..."

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"Are you sure going back is a good idea?" I asked Pavel and Bones from the back of the car. "Yeah the school term's starting again soon, and since neither of you have been to class for a while it might be best if you guys keep going and make your lives as normal as possible," Bones said pulling up towards the car park. "You two will be safe here there's too many people for him to do anything anyway." Pavel wanted to return to his normal life, but I wasn't sure it was safe. Bones had let Pavel and I rent out his basement, it was safer than the academy dorms were, and we'd already been to our rooms and cleared them out.

It was almost weird being back in class, every one was asking where I'd been, and it was pretty hard to explain. I just told them that I had to go away for personal reasons but I don't think they really believed me. I quickly found Pavel at lunch, and he seemed to be happy to be back into a routine. He sat down in the cafeteria, "It's better than being a fugitive," he said biting into an apple. "I don't feel safe," I argued. He nodded, "It's zhe best we can do." Pavel studied my expression. "You don't haff to come to classes if you don't vwant to." He smiled. "You're in a really good mood, did something happen?" He smiled and pulled out a letter. I turned it over in my hand, seeing the star fleet crest on it, similar to my acceptance letter to the academy. "Open it," he urged. I ripped through the paper and careful pulled out the paper inside. I started reading it, and Pavel watched me eagerly. "Congratulations are Extended to Pavel Chekov and Vien-" I stopped reading out loud and smiled. "For early acceptance abord the Enterprise!" Pavel jumped up and wrapped his arms around me. "We got on! We start in March next year!" A wiped a happy tear out of my eye and kissed Pavel. "It's all goign to be alright, we just haff to survive the next few months. I grinned at him, "It's the surviving part I'm worried about." He kissed my cheek again, "We haff each ozher, we vill be fine."

(Author's note)

Thanks for reading! Enjoy!