Time has finally been kind to us. Over the past few years, things have been relatively smooth and easy sailing. Kuzma has done really well in high school. Still playing soccer, still very good at it. Good enough that not only did he go out for varsity team as a freshman, he made the team and plays often. His grades are looking good as well and I've already had to chase away college recruiters that come to watch games.

Morgan ended up deciding to stay on with the Army. Her last contract ended over the summer and we had a long discussion about whether or not she wanted to continue to serve. With her being so close to 20 years of service, she decided to make one final contract extension to reach that milestone before retiring with her full Army pension. She was also in line for another promotion soon, this time to Major. She is just waiting to the end of the year to see who would be retiring so she could move up into those empty holes.

As for me, I just got through my third year on the job as a full time firefighter. I have grown to really love what I do now much more then my time in the Army. Life saving is much more fulfilling then life taking. I still keep up with VFW post on base and my old Gold Team friends. Some of which are starting to move onto bigger and better things. Including Rob. He is leaving the service at the end of this year now that he reached his 20 years. He's looking forward to getting some time off to be with his wife and kids. Which is now going to leave Gold Team in Monica's command. I was overjoyed for my friend when I found out the news.

I was just coming home from my last shift on my 5 day tour swing when I found Kuzma sitting on the couch waiting for me, ready to leave for school just watching TV. The morning news was playing as I put my duffle bag down and walked over to him and kissed the top of his head before sitting down next to him. Over the past year, Kuzma started to shoot up. The more soccer he plays, the last of his baby fat is starting to fall off, leaving him pretty lean and muscly.

We sat quietly together as the news played for another few minutes, just killing time before I needed to bring him to school. Just when I was about to bring up us leaving for school, the news started to play a new story.

"Preparations are currently underway in Ukraine to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the end of the Russian lead invasion into the country. It is said that this anniversary gathering is going to be the largest of its kind as most of the country has been restored to it's former glory. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is going to be delivering an address to the nation during this ceremony. I'm sure we will be hearing more about the event as we get closer to the date in November."

Kuzma turned the TV off after the anchor moved onto another story and we sat in silence for a few moments. Neither Morgan or I have told him about what else happened when we were over there to help free his country. He still hasn't asked but in the recent weeks I could tell it looks like he wanted to bring something up to us.

"Can, can" Kuzma started before he stopped in his tracks. From years of raising him I knew to let him find his words before supplying them.

"я хочу бути там на ювілей." Kuzma finally spoke in his first language. It took me a few seconds to realize what he saying. I want to be there for the anniversary.

I gulped and brought my hand up over my ribs subconsciously suddenly feeling a phantom pain shoot through my side.

"You have been thinking about this a lot, haven't you?" I lightly questioned him.

"так." He answered. I only nodded and saw the time on the clock on the wall.

"I have to talk to Morgan about it okay, but for now, you need to get to school." I said and stood from the couch. Kuzma didn't say anything else as I deflected from the subject and grabbed his backpack while I took my keys off the keyring and walked out to my car.

The drive over to school was quiet, nothing else had to be said right now. Before he got out of the car, I reached over the center console and took his hand in mine and brought it to my lips so show him I wasn't or annoyed at him for bringing up the question. Kuzma softened a bit before leaning over to kiss my shoulder before he got out of the car.

I didn't bother going home, I drove straight to base to find Morgan. It didn't take long for me to get to her building but I needed to wait until an MP could escort me up to her office. By the time I got there I didn't bother knocking, just walked right in and found her in the middle of a meeting with two junior officers. They both looked startled to see me but I didn't care, I needed to talk to my wife. Morgan kicked them both out of her office and just as the door shut behind them, I sank into one of the chairs in front of her desk.

"What's going on, are you okay? Where's Kuzma?" Morgan asked and kneeled in front of me to try and find my eyes.

"He's fine, at school, he uhm. We watched the news together before going to school." I said and finally met Morgans eyes. She stayed silent and let me find the words I needed.

"He wants to go to the anniversary ceremony in Ukraine." I finally spit out. The words tasted like lava on my tongue and they burned every part of my throat as they came out.

Morgan almost fell over in shock, I barely managed to catch her arms to hold her upright. I could see her swallow a few times before she took the chair next to me, my hand never left hers.

"What did you say?" Morgan finally asked.

"That I would talk to you about it." I said and turned to look over at my wife. Morgan sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"That's why he's been twitchy whenever the news comes on." Morgan said and let go of my hand and really sank into her chair.

We sat in silence for a little while, just in our own heads about what Kuzma asked of us. The official ceremony won't be happening until the middle of December so there was still time to make a decision, but not a ton.

"I'm going to call Reneé for an emergency session with her. We should probably make an appointment to see her together as well, to see how we can move forward with this." I said finally breaking the silence.

"The sooner the better." Morgan said and looked over at me. I could only nod before getting up from the chair. I leaned over Morgan and pressed and kiss to the top of her head before I left her to the rest of her day. The MP walked me back downstairs and out of the office. Once I got into my car I called Reneé to set up both appointments. I even set up an appointment for Kuzma's therapist. He hasn't seen him in a few months but I feel like it would be beneficial for him to talk to his therapist about this as it seems like he is having a hard time bringing it up to Morgan and I.

With the appointments made, I went to the gym for the rest of the afternoon. Monica met me not long after I got there and we went through a heavy lift circuit to try and take my mind off of things before I had to go pick up Kuzma. After the circuit, my mind felt numb for a bit and by the time I showered off, it was time to get Kuzma. When I got him from school, I told him I talked to Morgan about about this request before I also told him about the appointment I set up with our therapists. His appointment is going to be tomorrow after school. Kuzma seemed to accept it and not question it as we got home but thanked me for not shutting down the idea of going.

When Morgan got home from the office, we were all tense and had a quiet night. Kuzma went up to his room early leaving Morgan and I on the couch together. We were going to met with Reneé tomorrow afternoon for our session and thought it was better we didn't bring anything up until then. So for the night, we just held each other close.

The next morning we took Kuzma to school together. When we got home, I left for a run. By the time I came back, two hours past and my legs were aching as I finally sat down on the floor of the shower. It took me a few minutes before I was able to get up and get clean. After I was dressed and a bit more put together, I met Morgan downstairs and found her waiting at the kitchen table with lunch already made. We ate together and once we finished, it was time for us to go and see Reneé.

When we got into her office, she took one look at us and knew we were seriously on edge about something. She wasted no time and pulled the band-aid right off as we dove right into it. I brought up my fears about going back there and Morgan's concern about having Kuzma return to his home country and it bringing up a lot of pain for him.

Reneé went in depth with different things we can do to help Kuzma and ourselves when we come to a decision about going. By the end of the session, Reneé really wanted us to consider going to Ukraine. It can bring some closure to us and Kuzma if we go. But she also wanted us to keep in mind that if we push ourselves to hard into going, then this trip could bring a lot of unpleasant memories.

By the time we left her office, we both felt a bit more settled about entertaining the idea as we picked up Kuzma from school. We took him straight to his therapy appointment and waited in the lobby for his session to conclude. After his finished up, his therapist pulled us into his office and he gave us some insight on what was going on with Kuzma. There was an offer made to have a session with the three of us but I think we all just needed a few days to process everything for now.

We picked up some Chinese food on the way home and ate it together on the couch in the living room. Morgan let Kuzma pick what he wanted to watched and he picked Cars dubbed in Ukrainian. It brought tears to my eyes as I remember this was one of the first movies we played for Kuzma to help him with his English. I had to push away the rest of my food as the lump in my throat wouldn't let me finish it.

At some point Morgan got up and went to the kitchen to wash up somethings and I sank on the floor and sat behind Kuzma. I pulled him into my chest and he sank into my arms as the rest of the movie played. When it was over I turned the TV off and I felt Morgan's hands start to run through my hair.

"I'm going to make some phone calls this week to try and found out some more information about what's going on there. When I have it Morgan and I will talk about it and see how we can go about doing this for you Kuzma." I said.

Morgan and I knew that in the end, we would do anything we could for Kuzma. He never asks us for anything so the fact that he wanted to go Ukraine for this huge event, we thought we would have to push pass our discomfort to bring him there to see it in person. Kuzma didn't say anything but just squeezed my arm for a few long seconds before he got up from my lap. He kissed the top of my head and did the same with Morgan before going up to his room for the night.

"It'll be okay" Morgan said and gave my shoulder a good squeeze. We didn't stay downstairs much longer before we turned in for the night.

The next morning after I dropped Kuzma off at school I drover over to Annabelle's house. She was sitting out on the porch with Reneé when I pulled up. When I got out, Reneé kissed Annabelle's check before going inside and I sighed.

"Sorry" I said as I walked up the sets to the porch.

"Don't be, she warned me that you might be swinging by sometime soon, didn't think it would be bright and early this morning." Annabelle said as I took a seat next to her.

"Kuzma wants to go to Ukraine for the anniversary. Morgan and I are thinking of actually taking him." I said filling her in.

"What can I help with?" She asked and looked me over.

"I was so out of it when it happened and my memory is still a bit hazy, but do you have contact information for anybody in the President's office?" I asked.

"I don't know if it's current but I can swing my weight around a little bit and see what strings I can pull for you." Annabelle said.

"And as much as I would appreciate that, I would like to call myself. I need to do this, for him and for Morgan and I." I said.

"Alright, give me a few days to shake some trees and I'll swing by." Annabelle said and gave me a smile.

I could only nod and thank her. Just as I was going to try and leave to let her have time with her wife, Reneé walked out of the front door with her bags in hand. She gave Annabelle a kiss and gave me a wave before she was off to work. Annabelle pulled me inside her house and made me a coffee before we went into her backyard to sit on the deck in the sun and relax for a little bit.

The years since her retirement have been kind to Annabelle. Her and Reneé take frequent vacations around the globe together, but other then that, Annabelle is really enjoying her retired life. She picks up freelance work every once and a while from Peyton when she needs the assist and she is a frequent attendee to Kuzma's soccer games, so much so that she has her own custom gear.

The major and I caught up for a little while before I left her to go back home and start on some laundry and so she could make her phone calls. I used today to try and relax and not think to much about going back to Ukraine. Today was for me to settle my mind a bit. The boring repetitive nature of doing laundry helped in that way and before I knew it, it was time to get Kuzma from school.

It felt like I blinked and a few days past. I spent the rest of my days off duty relaxing, doing some house work, building a gun for a solider looking into getting into sniper school, and then before I knew it, I was clocking in for my shift at the station again. It was a quiet day in the office, not much going on. I was sitting on the couch in the rec room when one of the guys walked in to let me know someone was looking for me out front.

When I got to the apparatus floor, Annabelle was standing there with her hands in her pockets, looking at the trucks. Even though she didn't see me coming, she knew it was me.

"So, which on is yours again?" Annabelle asked then turned to face me.

"Very funny." I said and pulled her into a hug.

"Do you have a few minutes?" She asked when we pulled away from each other.

"As long as the tones don't go off, I'm all yours." I said.

Annabelle nodded and I led us over to the front of the Engine and we took a seat on the bumper. Once we got settled, Annabelle pulled a piece of paper from her pocket and held it out for me.

"This is the phone number for a staffer in the Ukrainian's President office. You can give them a call when you're ready to set something up. Just be mindful of the time." Annabelle said as I took the piece of paper from her. It took me a few second of staring at the foreign phone number to let it skin in. This is happening.

"Thank you." I said held onto the piece of paper tightly.

We sat together for another few minutes in silence before the tones went off and I needed to go. The phone number temporarily forgotten as I jumped into my turn out gear and jumped onto the truck. I gave Annabelle a salute as we pulled out of the station. The call turned out to be a house fire and I quickly needed to get my head into the game to help put it out.

Pretty much the rest of the shift was spent at the scene putting out the fire and dosing hot spots whenever they flared up. Once everything was out, we went inside the burnt out house for over hall and to try and see if anything was salvageable for the family. Turns out the safe they have inside stood up to the intense heat and we were able to get everything out of it undamaged. Since there were a few guns inside, the guys let me handle them and make sure they were all unloaded before I handed them off to the home owner who put them away into spare cases he happened to have in his truck.

By the time we got back to the station, it was already late evening and we all just wanted to shower and eat something before we passed out. When I was pulling off my dirty pants, I remember the piece of paper in my pocket and found there was no damage to it thank god. Since I would be one of the last getting to shower, I started making simple sandwiches for the crew until a few of the guys stumbled into the kitchen looking for food. After I had two peanut butter no jelly sandwiches I went up to shower myself.

The rest of the shift was quiet and we were all thankful for it. By the time we left for the day, I was still ready to go back to sleep. When I got home, Morgan was dressed and running around the kitchen with Kuzma trailing after her. After a kiss, she told me she was going to take Kuzma to school so I could go back to sleep for a bit. I saw the pair off and sat down on the couch for a few minutes before I pulled out the piece of paper from my pocket again.

I got a pad of paper from the kitchen and sat down at the kitchen island before dialing the number. I knew if I waited any longer then I would end up chickening out of making the phone call. It took a few minutes for the phone call to connect but when it did, I heard a mans voice speaking in Ukrainian. It took a few seconds to get the point of my phone call across before I was able to tell him who I was. Once he got my name and I guess looked it up, he was speechless for a few long moments.

Then I got put on hold. There was no hold music so for a few seconds I thought he hung up one me. But then he picked up the phone again told me I was getting transferred to speak with someone else. I didn't even have a chance to ask who I was speaking with before the call connected to another man. This time I didn't have to go through the whole speech again as to who I was and why I was calling. I was able to get all the information I needed from him and he basically told me that if I spoke with Morgan about it, if we wanted to come, all of the arrangements would be taken care of for us. He gave me his direct number and told me to call at anytime.

After I put my phone down I looked at the pad of paper and found it full of notes for everything that was talked about on the call. I sighed and picked up the phone again and called Morgan to ask if she was going to be free for lunch today. When she said yes, I offered to bring her something to eat as I wanted to go over everything I found out and didn't want to sit on this.

Morgan was waiting for me in the lobby when I got in with lunch. We didn't say anything else as we walked up to her office. Together we started to eat our lunch and when I got half way through my sandwich, I pulled the pad of paper out so I could give Morgan the all the information I found out. It took a few minutes to get through everything but when I was finished I handed Morgan the pad of notes to look at. She took it scanned it for a few minutes before putting it on her desk and look at me. The sandwich was long forgotten as Morgan rubbed her forehead for a few seconds before she reached across her desk. I put my hand in hers and with one more look, I knew we were on the same page.

I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed the number that was circled four times on the paper. Artem answered pretty quickly when the call connected. We spoke for a few seconds before I put the call on speaker so Morgan can listen and add her input. She was taking notes of everything we discussed and all the important dates. A half an hour later, everything was set and we would be flying to Ukraine on November 12 for the official ceremony taking place on November 15. Kuzma is going to be missing a chunk of school but we have a feeling his teachers will be accommodating to the situation.

After the phone call, Morgan pushed the notepad back towards me and I took it so it didn't get lost with the rest of the stuff on her desk. Somehow I still had an appetite so I finished off my sandwich while Morgan started to put in the requests to get official time off to make sure she doesn't run into any problems and I'll do the same when I get back to work in a few days. Just as Morgan picked up the other half of her sandwich there was a knock on her door. One of her junior officers peaked there head inside holding a stack of paperwork. I couldn't help but laugh as she took it and shooed him out afterwards. Looks like that was my cue, so I packed up the few things I brought with me before going around the back of her desk and pulled her in to a kiss.

As I left the office building I sent Annabelle a thank you text and went home. When I got there, I started on some chores and it wasn't long before the end of the school day came and I went to go pick up Kuzma. Morgan did send a text to let me know that she is going to be getting off early today so we could talk to Kuzma about everything. So when we got home, I went into the garage to work on building a gun for a new commission I picked up while Kuzma sat at the table and started on some homework. It didn't take long before Morgan came home. When I came to a natural stopping place in my build, I packed everything away for now and went inside.

Morgan just pulled off her jacket when I sat down across from our son while Morgan took the head of the table. It didn't take long for Kuzma to realize something was up so he put down his pencil and looked at us. Morgan gave me a nod and I swallowed hard before my lips started to move.

"Morgan and I talked about everything and today I made some phone calls. We are officially going to Ukraine for the anniversary. Everything is covered, we are going to be staying there for ten days. Do you have any questions that we can answer right now?" I asked trying to keep everything simple even though this trip will be far less then that. Kuzma looked shocked. He kept turning his head back and forth to look at the both of us like we are playing a trick on him.

"It's true, we are going, there is no tricks, this isn't a game. We made the arrangements this morning. We are flying out on November 12th." Morgan said picking up on my train of thought.

"Дякую" Kuzma said with tears in his eyes. I got up from the chair I was sitting in and went around the table to pull him into me. Morgan met me on the other side of Kuzma and we sandwiched him in a hug. Thank you.

When we pulled away from him, Kuzma took a few minutes to get himself together before he went back to working on his homework. Morgan and I quietly decided on getting his favorite Chinese food for dinner and it wasn't long before we were all sitting on the floor of the living room watching Cars in Ukrainian again while eating dinner.

The rest of September went by in a blink of an eye. Once I got back to work, I pulled my captain into his office to speak with him about taking the sudden two week vacation and why exactly I was going. He was pretty understanding about it all and approved my leave on the spot. Once I finished filling out the paperwork, he would run it up the chain of command and request a floater to come in to fill my spot while I'm away.

Morgan had a bit of a harder time getting her leave approved. Command didn't really like that she was going to be leaving for a foreign country, especially for the reason why we were going in the first place. It took until mid-October for the final approval to come through.

As time continued to pass and the date to closer, I got in touch with Cosima. It's been a while since we last spoke. The last I heard from her, she made the final switch over to serve in the Army Reserves so she can go to nursing school. Every once and a while she would make regular appearances to the house to see Kuzma. The pair kept their bond over the years, whenever Cosima would come home from a trip back to Ukraine, she would bring him back little pieces of home. She has been going back and forth since the end of the war to help rebuild and offer medical help to those in need.

When I finally got in touch with her again, I found out that she is going to be in Ukraine for the anniversary. After I told her that we were going to be coming, I asked if she would be open to letting us come up to the farm to visit her father. Cosima was all for she started speaking in fast past Ukrainian that I couldn't keep up with. By the time I got off the phone with her, we made arrangements to stay at the farm with her family for half of the trip. My heart felt a bit lighter when we got to catch up a bit more.

Speaking with Cosima was a breath of fresh air compared to other phone calls I had to make on the same subject. When I called moms to tell them about our travel plans, I was met with silence. It took a few minutes before either of them had anything to say back to me. Mom was not happy, she wanted me to cancel the trip completely. Mom was so mad that she didn't even really give me a chance to explain why we were going before she started yelling and stormed out of the house. Peyton stayed quiet most of the time on the call, only really breaking her silence when mom stormed out. She told me she would try and calm her down but told me that she was proud of me for being okay enough to make the decision to go back to Ukraine.

After mom's explosion, Dominic gave me a call later that night. He sounded pretty upset about the news but unlike mom, he didn't yell. He let me explain why we were really going and after a few tense moments, he came around to us going. He wasn't overall happy about the trip but he understood what this meant for Kuzma, Morgan and myself.

It took a few more long days before Mom called me back. This time she let me explain what we were going there to do. There was still a little bit of yelling but I wouldn't back down. Kuzma wanted to go. He wanted to be there and return to his home country. As his parents, Morgan and I were going to anything in our power to try and find him the peace we think he is looking for. After the call, Peyton called me back privately to let me know that she is going to have a friendly face come as backup for us. She wanted to come herself but she knew if she left mom home alone to join us, mom wouldn't be okay.

Going to therapy continued and I started to see Reneé twice a week again. The closer we got to the date, the more anxious I got and flashbacks started up again. For the first time in a long time I didn't want to go to sleep. I knew I couldn't last like this especially having to work and being on top of my game all the time. Reneé prescribed me some sleeping pills along with anti-anxiety medication to try and help my mind settle. She also thought it would be a good idea for Morgan and I to sit down with Kuzma and telling him a bit more about what happened while we were there. That was a hard conversation to have. I saw exactly where she was coming from, wanting Kuzma to know what Morgan and I were reliving right now and what we still would be when we get there. But I didn't want to expose that to him. To me, I was still his Wonder Women. This would shatter that illusion. In the end, after a very long therapy session with Morgan and myself, we agreed to tell Kuzma just a little bit of what happened to us.

But, we pushed that conversation off for as long as we could. Kuzma had a nice birthday party with his friends. We took a group of them to play at a pinball arcade not far from the house. The best surprise came in the form of Logan though. Mallory and Tori drove down with Logan to surprise Kuzma for his birthday. It was the best surprise that had Kuzma in tears when he saw his best friend. After some pizza at the arcade, Kuzma's friends were picked up and we went home. Mallory, Tori and Logan were all going to be staying with us for the weekend. Kuzma was over the moon, even more so once he realize that Logan was going to be coming with us to the aquarium.

The trip to the aquarium has kind of become a birthday trip staple. It was something that Kuzma always looked forward to. The morning of the trip, Kuzma could barely contain himself when we were getting ready to leave. Once we paid the admission fee, Kuzma grabbed Logan's hand and started to pull him to his favorite exhibits. Watching the pair together for about an hour, I pulled on Morgan's hand to pull her behind Mallory and Tori so they couldn't overhear.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" I asked as I watched Logan looking at Kuzma like he hung the stars in the sky while Kuzma was explaining the different species of fish in the tank.

"That Logan might have a crush on our son?" Morgan said filling in the blanks.

"Oh good you guys are finally noticing, I thought I was the only one." Mallory said coming out of nowhere watching the boys together, still holding hands.

"Wait, how long have you been seeing this?" I asked Mallory.

"Since almost the very beginning Dani, you need to step it up." Mallory said and pointed over to the boys again.

I turned so I could fully face them now, Kuzma finished his speech and turned to face Logan now. That's when he caught Kuzma already staring. A blush started to spread over Logan's checks as Kuzma's smile got bigger. Kuzma just bumped his shoulder into Logan's chest before tightening his grip on Logans hand. My heart wanted to burst out of my chest while watching the boys together. But the moment was over when both boys turned and found all four of us staring at them. Much to my relief, Kuzma didn't pull away from Logan, he held his hand tightly still and waved us over to them.

We joined the pair in front of the fish tank and stood behind them while Kuzma said he wanted to go into the main room next. He led the way with Logan being dragged after him. Morgan tucked her arm around mine as we followed them there and watched as Kuzma sat down in his usual seat in the middle of the room to get the best view of everything. When I thought that Kuzma was going to pull Logan down with him, I was surprised to see him let go of his friend completely and looked back at us.

"Dani" He said and I gave him a half smile before I walked over to him and sat behind him before wrapping my arms around him.

"Happy Birthday bud." I said in his ear and kissed his temple as he leaned into me. Just like every year, Kuzma pointed out the fish I have tattooed on my arm but instead of just to me, he did it to everyone, having them share in our birthday tradition.

When we all piled into the car and started the drive home, it didn't take long for almost everyone in the car to nap. As I pulled up to a red light only a few minutes from home, I couldn't help but turn to look at the group behind me when I noticed it. Kuzma and Logan tucked together in the third row fast asleep. I had to snap a picture for myself before I started driving again.

The rest of the weekend was quiet, I actually had to start my tour, so I said bye to everyone Saturday night as I would be out of the house early on Sunday. But it turns out I was the one in for a surprise when they all showed up at the fire house Sunday afternoon. I gave them all a tour, let Logan get into my turnout gear for some pictures and got them some shirts from the station before Mallory drove them all home. Before they left, I got a chance to send Mallory, Tori and Morgan the picture I snapped of the boys in a group chat I made. As the day went along, we all started to take guesses on how long it was going to take for the pair to admit there feelings for each other.

With the calendar flipped to November, I tried not to think so hard about the trip. Celebrating Kuzma's birthday was a wonderful distraction, but once I pulled out our suitcases, things started to get real again. Annabelle came over a bunch and started to help me pack for the trip. The thing that was starting to get to me was that this was going to be a huge event for the Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. A lot of people are expected to be there and it made me even more anxious that I had to go to this ceremony as a civilian, unarmed. Anything can happen and if this event becomes a target of hate, I don't have anything available to me to try and stop it. Annabelle did give me a knife that would make it through customs though as she hid it in my checked bag.

Kuzma didn't really want help with packing, he told us repeatedly that he got it. So Morgan and I let him get everything ready on his own. When we spoke to his teachers at school, they didn't end up wanting to give him much make up work. A few of them just ask if he would be willing to write a few papers about what he does in Ukraine that will count as his classwork. I was happy that he didn't have to stress about extra homework while we are away.

Then the day finally came. We are taking an overnight flight to London then we have a two hour layover before our three hour flight to Kyiv. Rob drove us over to the airport for the flight. After saying goodbye to him, we checked in for our flight before we went through security. Nothing was set off and I was happy to finally get over to our gate for the flight. Kuzma wanted some snacks for the flight so we went to one of the stores we past before we settled down by the gate. I took one of the sleeping pills Reneé prescribed hoping it would kick in just in time for us to takeoff.

By the time we boarded the flight, I was ready to go to sleep. The drugs started to kick in and all I wanted to do was sleep. I barely managed to listen to the pre-flight safety instructions before I was out like a light. When I woke up, it was to the thud of landing. As we pulled into the gate and started to get off the plane, I was barely able to wake myself up. I was happy we had some time on this layover so I went over to the bathroom and washed my face a few times to try and wake myself up. When that failed, we found a place open for breakfast in the airport and got some food and coffees.

When boarding rolled around for our second flight, I felt a bit more awake. Takeoff went great and we were in the air for three hours. Touching down in Ukraine felt different. Because we drove in from Poland, landing already in Kyiv set my guard right up. We got off the plane, collected our bags from a mostly empty airport and found a man standing by the exit with our last name written on a white piece of paper. Turns out, it was Artem, the man we spoke with who set all of this up.

He brought us outside to a waiting car. The door of the back seat was already open and waiting for us. The driver took our bags and put them into the trunk as we got inside the car. When the driver came back, we were off to one of the few hotels that were back up and running in Kyiv. I tried not to look out the windows, I wasn't ready to see anything yet. I pulled my hat down further onto my head as we drove through the city streets.

When we got to the hotel, our driver helped us bring our bags inside while Artem got us check in. The suit has a connecting bedroom for Kuzma to have a bit of privacy if he wanted it. Before he left, Artem did say that he made dinner reservations for us for tomorrow night and a car would bring us over to the restaurant and we were to dress up for the evening. With that, we started to unpack a bit. We would be staying in Kyiv for five days before we would be meeting up with Cosima to drive down to her families farm.

As we finished unpacking, my phone started ringing. When I checked the caller ID, I saw it was Peyton. I stepped into the bathroom to answer the call, unsure who I would be getting on the other end of the phone.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hey, you get in alright?" Peyton asked and I sighed in relief.

"Yea, we just up to the hotel room. It's really nice, haven't taken a look around outside yet though." I said and took a seat on the edge of the tub.

"You'll get there, in about a half an hour, I want you to go down to the lobby for me, I have a friend for you to meet with." Peyton said.

"Do I know them?" I asked when she didn't give me a description of who I'm looking for.

"Yea, you know them. Everything will be okay Daniella, you'll get through this trip." Peyton said.

"Thanks mom, I'll give you guys a call soon." I said. The call was over shortly after that and I looked at the time to know when I should go down to the lobby. It was already mid afternoon and I was starting to get hungry again.

When I left the bathroom, I told Morgan about the call and we went back to unpacking some more things. As I went to check on Kuzma, I found him sitting at the small table in his room, staring out the window. He was just watching the streets and taking everything in. It was the first time since we got here that I finally allowed myself to do the same. The streets are quiet, cars driving through town, people walking down the sidewalks, shops busy. It looks like the capital city is really back to it's former glory.

I stayed with him for a little while to kill time then gave him a kiss on the top of his head before joining Morgan again. She was on the phone when I pointed to my watch and then the door. Morgan nodded and gave me a kiss on the cheek before she went back to her phone call. I made sure I had the knife Annabelle gave me on my hip and easily reachable before I walked out the door and made my way to the lobby.

There were a few guests checking in at the front desk and the hotel staff walking through the place as I surveyed the layout of the place for the best vantage point. When I found it in the corner of the lobby I made my way over there and took a seat. I grabbed the news paper that was sitting on the table in front of me and opened it while I scanned the lobby for whoever I was supposed to be meeting. I looked down at the paper a few times to give the appearance I was just reading the paper instead of watching the front doors of the lobby.

A good five minutes went by before I saw two large guys walk into the lobby. They both had some two bags with them but had no interest of going over to the front desk. My eyes locked on them and I was ready to get up and run towards our room when they looked around the lobby before they found me. My heart was in my throat but then, they both smiled at me. I lowered the paper from my face and as they got closer, I realized I did know who they were.

Master Sergeant Ryan Strome and Master Sergeant Raymond Cortez. I put the paper back on the table and stood to great them with hugs.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked kind of not believing they are really in front of me.

"After we left the Army, we both got a phone call if we had any interest in doing contract work and here we are." Ryan said with a smile.

"Great company, good pay, great benefits. Also a really great boss who happens to be very protective of you." Raymond finished and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Alright, alright. How about we move this reunion up to our room before we create an international incident." I said.

Both guys agreed with me and we made our way up to the suite. When we got there, I found Morgan sitting on the balcony with Kuzma. I went outside and called them to come in. When Morgan saw who was here, they both greeted her with smiles and hugs before we introduced Kuzma. Kuzma just told us both that he was hungry before going back onto the balcony. Morgan chatted with the guys for another few minutes before she went back out onto the balcony to give a few minutes alone.

"We were already in Europe doing some private security work when Peyton called and asked if we would come out here for a few days to be some extra eyes. It was a no brainer for us." Ryan said.

"And we also come barring gifts." Raymond said before putting one of his bags on our bed and unzipped it. He pulled out a hand gun and two magazines before putting them onto the bed. He dug into his bag a little deeper and pulled out a holster as well.

"For you use while you're here. We are under no surprise that being here is bringing up some bad memories from the last time you were here." Ryan said as I picked up the concealed waist band holster and strapped it in place before picking up the gun. The pistol already had a magazine in the handle and I loaded a bullet into the chamber before tucking it into holster. The extra magazines just went into my pocket as Morgan walked back into the room.

"Are you guys going to be joining us for lunch?" Morgan asked.

"No, we are going to get check in and have some work to do, but we will see you guys tomorrow. I sent my phone number to Daniella so you have it if anything comes up." Ryan said as Raymond zipped up his bag.

It didn't take long for the guys to grab their stuff and head out of the hotel room. Once they were gone, Morgan turned to look at Kuzma still out on the balcony before pulling me into a hug. It only took a few seconds of her holding me for her to find the gun they just gave me. Morgan sighed and pulled away from me so she could look in my eyes.

"You know you could get into a lot of trouble for having that on you right?" Morgan said.

"I know and I hope I don't have to use it, but the thought of not having something on me makes me more unsettled." I said.

Morgan let the conversation drop and gave my check a kiss before calling Kuzma to come inside so we could go out and get something for lunch. We found an open pub not far from the hotel and went inside. The place looked new as we took our seats and a waiter came over get us something to drink. When we started to order in Ukrainian, the waiter looked a little shocked but took it in stride as I ordered a local beer while Morgan and Kuzma got soda's as we looked over the menu. Kuzma helped a bit with the translation as reading Cyrillic alphabet was never my strong suit. It didn't take long to place an order and it ended up being pretty large as we were all really hungry.

We talked quietly about different things as we waited for the food to come out. I kept my eyes on a swivel taking in the whole bar. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, a few TVs were playing an old soccer game and there were only a handful of other people in the pub. As the waiter came over with our food, I was able to relax a bit and enjoy the good food. We ended up taking some of it to go so we would have it for later to snack on when we got hungry.

As we finished up our meal, we went down the street a little more and found a grocery store to get some waters and other snacks for the room. Kuzma was quiet as he looked at everything in all the aisles. Morgan and I kept an eye on him as we gave him a bit of space to pick out what he wanted. When he was finally finished, he came over to us with a large handful of things. He looked a bit guilt but put everything in the cart we had.

"I remember getting these with my parents." He said quietly as we made our way to the check out counter. The store clerk didn't pay us any mind as she rang up our items. Morgan took Kuzma outside while I stayed back to pay for everything. I met them right outside the door. Kuzma's eyes were red but there were no tears. I looked over Morgan and she just shook her head. Together, the three of us went back to our hotel.

When we walked into the lobby, one of the hotel staff that was working the front desk had something for me and I went over to collect it before joining Morgan and Kuzma in the elevator up to our room. Kuzma barely stuck around when we got back to the suite to get his snacks before he went into his room and shut the door behind him.

Morgan took to putting some things in the mini-fridge while I opened the envelope with my name on it. We are staying in the same hotel, just down the hall in room 608. If you want to do anything tomorrow, let us know and we'll met you. ~Ryan. I sighed and put the note down on the nightstand before pulling the handgun from my waistband and putting it in the top draw. The magazines came next and so did the knife. After I was unarmed I changed into pajama's and laid down on the bed.

"Anything important?" Morgan asked.

"Just Ryan letting me know what room they're in." I said already feeling my body relax on the comfortable bed. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep.

a/n: surprise! I actually finished this mini-series quickly as I found a grove and forced it out. there are four parts total, this is part one, just like before, regular updates, all on Sundays. Hope you guys are ready for Dani and Morgan to relive their past, this time with Kuzma in tow.