Hunter and the Hunted - Kapkan x Reader

5

Monika and Dominic scuttled off to help their friend Marius and left you at your table. You weren't alone in the cafeteria. There was a few others at the counter and at other tables. You decide to visit the garden Dr. Kateb told you about before you return to the ward. Standing up from the chair, you ventured out again still afraid you would loose your way again. The cafeteria was in a more open recreational space than the hallways you had been trekking before. It was a good checkpoint and you chose a direction to start looking for the garden. You had tried your hardest to remember Doc's directions but they escaped you. But you didn't loose hope and you followed what you could recall of the directions. You had been walking for around five minutes when you heard a reassuring sound, bird song echoed through the area. Relief washed over you and you followed the sound and the emerging daylight until you reached a large glass window, though it you could see the outside world.

You stepped out and sucked in lungfuls of fresh air. You hadn't seen daylight for a week and your skin and hair was pale and dull. The sunlight warmed your face and you looked out into the garden. The garden was actually a large green meadow, wildflowers dotted the rich grass. A bit further up there was a tall pine forest that seemed to stretch around the entire perimeter of the headquarters, hiding it from the outside world. Your eyes scanned the meadow, taking in it's incredible beauty. You spotted someone in the grass, sitting cross-legged just before the forest. You squinted your eyes trying to make out who it was, moving closer as you did so. The person snapped around at you, staring for a moment before quickly turning away again, their frame looked more frigid than before. You felt a pang of guilt from disturbing their peace, you thought it was best to leave them be but something told you to go up and say hello. The closer you got the more unsettled the person seemed, they dipped their head slightly to hide them self, yet you edged closer. You noticed a familiar black jacket with a Russian flag embroidered on the arm draped over their shoulders.

"Hello Maxim, I'm not disturbing you am I?", you asked timidly. You knew damn well he wanted to be alone but your gut pushed you on.

"Of course not, y/n", he turned up to face you and mustered up a weary smile.

"Mind if I sit?", you kind of wanted to leave him alone now but your mouth had a mind of its own. Maxim scooted over and patted the ground beside him, the soil is damp but refreshing. The pair of you just sat in silence, you glanced at him a couple times awkwardly, too afraid to break the silence. Maxim's eyes were fixed on the treeline, he had switched his posture and he was now leaning back on his arms lazily, you noticed that his ears were unusually red compared with the rest of his skin.

"How are you doing?", Maxim said quietly, never looking away from the trees.

"Better, this is my first day out of the room".

"Stunning isn't it? This is my favourite place ", he takes a deep breath of the sweet air.

"I see why, it's beauti...".

Suddenly he froze and gestured at you to do the same. This gave you a sudden, awful flashback to the night at the bank and Maxim's signals and careful movements. You practically stopped breathing as you watched Maxim slowly rise from the grass, his steel grey eyes glued to the pine trees. He silently inched his way toward the treeline, then he turned back to you and waved you over to him. The grass rustled as you stood up, you had tried to mimic his absolute silence but it was more difficult than you expected. You crept after him into the forest, there was an awful sinking feeling in your stomach, why was he being so quiet? What was in those trees? Maxim disappeared behind a wide tree and stopped. Peeking around the tree you could see him kneeling at its base. He moved aside so you could see the tiny deer fawn he was feeding shoots of grass. You gasped and placed your hand over your mouth in delight, Maxim plucked more grass for you to feed the fawn. You gently knelt down and held your palm out flat with the grass blades on, the fawn timidly stretched it's neck out to nibble the food in your hand, it's fuzzy lips tickled your hand making you giggle.

"Where's his mother?", you gently stroked the fawn on the back as it chewed the grass.

"It's unusual she isn't with him. Hes much too small to be on his own", Maxim gazed off into the deep, dark forest.

"I hope nothing bad happened to her, maybe we should find her".

"It's best we leave, we can't upset the balance of nature any further". He grabbed your wrist rather harshly and walked you back into the meadow.

"Let's get you back to Gustave before he sends out Jackal to track you down".

Maxim walked you back to your ward, he was going faster than you and you couldn't keep up because your side hurt when you went too fast. Maxim stopped every now and again to let you catch up but he never walked by your side for long. You got back to your room and found Dr. Kateb was stood beside the door.

"Y/n, I need to speak with you a moment. Maxim can come too if you'd like".

You glanced up at Maxim, he shrugged and stepped into the ward. You sat on the side of your bed and Doc pulled a chair in front of you, Maxim stood to your side.

"You've come on so well y/n and in a few days you will be back to your same old self with a bit of physical therapy. I have spoken with the director and she brought up a valid point. White-masks are still out there, and at large, they never forget a victim. One of the other captives we extracted was found again a year later and ... executed". Your stomach tightened in dread, "for your own safety we suggest you remain here for a few months or years, until the heat dies down. You can leave whenever you wish to see whoever you want but here is the safest place for you right now".

You stared down at your hands and thought hard, the thought of suddenly just disappearing off the face of the earth frightened you but you knew it was necessary. You quite liked it here already and you wanted to meet more of the 'world's best' as Dominic said.

"You don't have to make a decision right now. If you stay, you'll share quarters with one of the units of your choice. You can even start some military training to make your stay more worthwhile".

"I'll stay", you looked Dr. Kateb in the eye.

"Are you sure y/n?".

"100%".

"Manifique, I'll sort that out right away. Do you have any idea who you might want to bunk with?".

"I'll take her", Maxim piped up. He gave you a strange look.

"Sort it out with Alexsandr and the rest, I'm sure they'll be happy to have you", Doc rose from his chair, gave you both a nod and left down the hallway.

"Let's go meet your roommates".