Rainbow Six: November Sun

49: "HEROES AND SELFIES"

Rainbow's plane departed for Hereford that afternoon. The operators onboard had parted ways with the grateful security agencies of all three Heads of State, loaded up their gadgets and gear on the cargo hold, and took their seats inside.

Much like during the plane ride back to base after the Belgium incident, Harry, who sat in the rear of the plane, looked out as his team. The night sky outside the cabin windows looked even darker with the dim overhead lights switched on.

Some of Harry's operators were asleep. Some were quietly mulling over the day's events, staring out the windows.

The Germans were uncharacteristically quiet. The usually-jovial Blitz leaned his head against the window and stared into the night. IQ had fallen asleep, and her head bobbed slightly on the man's shoulder as the plane hit soft turbulence.

Bandit and Jäger were whispering amongst one another. Harry knew they were shaken at their two teammates having faced such a close call with the enemy grenade in the stairwell.

Tachanka straightened in his seat, positioned his phone for a wide selfie, and nudged Kapkan. "Oi. Show that resting bitch face to the camera."

Kapkan glared. "I will cut you."

"Whatever. On three: one, two...."

The phone's camera flashed. Kapkan muttered something grumpily, and Alibi cursed in the row behind them. "The fuck?" she hissed, blinking her eyes. "That was bright, Alex!"

Tachanka shrugged. "It's a flash."

"No shit."

"We have six hours of the flight left," Alex protested, a mischievous light in his eye. "We have to make the best of it, Aria."

Alibi kicked his seat. "You do whatever your dumbass wants to do. Just don't wake me up."

Tachanka chuckled. "Fine." He opened his contacts, scrolled to Finka's number, uploaded the photo, and hit SEND after adding a short bit of text.

* * *

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL
MOSCOW, RUSSIA

Finka was relaxing in the extravagant lobby of the hotel, sitting on a couch and scrolling her phone. It wasn't exactly the kind of place optimal for the "self-introspection" that Harry had urged her to embrace in his letter, but it was a start.

She took comfort in the soft gold and amber hues that lit up the lobby, coupled with the bubbling fountain nearby.

Her phone vibrated, and the caller ID displayed a goofy photo of Tachanka giving a mega-cheesy thumbs-up.

She opened the message and was greeted by one of the most obnoxious selfies she had ever seen. Tachanka was grinning sideways at the camera with a suave grin - he reminded her of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's Instagram selfies - and beside him sat a rather miserable Kapkan, with his signature flat scowl being interrupted by the bright camera flash.

Finka laughed out loud when she saw Alibi in the row behind them, throwing up a middle finger while squinting her eyes against the blinding flash.

We saved the world today. We're all okay. Enjoy your vacation.

Finka couldn't keep from grinning, and she was about to send a smart-ass reply comparing the camera flash to a flashbang when the front door to the hotel opened, and Natalya strode in with a rush of cold night air. She smiled from afar and walked towards her.

"Hey," Finka called, getting to her feet. "You're early."

"So are you!" Natalya paused and checked her watch. "Oh, shit. It's only 8:30."

"It's okay."

"I'm not a weird stalker or anything. I promise."

Finka chuckled. "Sure. Where do you want to go?"

"Topaz is right down the street. Have you been there?"

Finka's eyes widened. "That place is pretty... classy."

Natalya brushed strands of dark hair from her eyes. "Shit. You suggested coffee or something - or maybe I did - not full-blown dinner." The woman sighed and held up her hands in exasperation before slumping to the couch. "I'm sorry, Lera. I'm in a... weird place right now."

"What?" Lera eased back into the neighboring seat. "What's up? It's totally fine. I didn't have any specific idea or anything of where to go."

The other woman was chewing lightly on her lip. Her dark brown eyes were staring off into space, and she was clearly fraught with worry.

Lera's expression hardened, and she cleared her throat. "Are you okay?" she asked in a low voice.

Natalya pursed her lips together and shook her head. "I just got fired."

"What?"

"Yeah. I'm done. Canned. Garbage." She raised her hand, flattened her palm, and pretended it was an airplane crashing to the earth, whistling as she plunged her fist to the couch cushions.

Lera straightened in her seat, unsure of what to say. "I... Jesus, really?"

"Da," Natalya replied. She was staring at the floor now. "Really. They even cancelled my hotel reservation."

"Fuck." Lera frowned and searched for the right words for a few moments before realizing there weren't any. "You want to talk about it?"

Natalya tossed her head back with a sigh. "No. Maybe. Probably? No - what I need is a fucking drink right now."

Finka stood. "I won't argue with that. I know a place. Drinks are on me." She extended a hand and helped the woman up from the couch.