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Yuri could no longer bear the guilt he felt for betraying the man he loved so dearly. All the times that words of love and adoration nearly slipped from his lips, but instead were swallowed down, leaving the bitter aftertaste of unrequited feelings. Vladimir loved him too, Yuri could feel it in his bones, times when he would actually notice the distress in Yuri's bright blue eyes and he would embrace him so tightly. Vladimir never spoke about it, but he knew Yuri felt something far more than friendship toward him. He didn't want to address it, it was a complication he didn't need, so he left it a loose end. But he needed Yuri, there was no life without him.
After spending weeks drinking himself to sleep, trying to forget who he was and the life of perdition he was living, Yuri reached the end of the line. He decided the only way to find peace was to seek Vladimir out and die by his hand. He knew where to find him if Vladimir was still the same man after they split up. He went to Ivanovo, taking several days to get there by train from where he had been hiding. He wore his grey suit; the one Vladimir bought for him to wear during the airport mission. Vladimir often had such visions of grandeur, right down to the detail. He wanted his Inner Circle to look superior and important as they gunned innocent people down. As Yuri crept into the large, old house he was immediately struck with a familiar musty smell. The smell of wood and textile, leather and parchment. The sound of an eerie, hauntingly gorgeous melody filled the lower level, someone was playing the piano in a slow and elegant manner. The strings seemed to weep and tremble under the soundless tapping on the ivory and as Yuri approached the form cast in shadow, seated on the old piano bench the song become slightly discordant and unnerving.
He knew it was Vladimir as he looked at his profile, the heavy velvet curtain blocking out the sunlight billowed in a strong breeze casting light over the room.
"You shouldn't have come here, Yuri." Vladimir spoke with a snarl. He didn't look up, he continued to play the piece, picking up the pace a little and Yuri watched his black leather gloved fingers dance over the keys. "Yuri... my dearest friend..." He paused as he played, "My ally..." He hit the keys harder as if punctuating his words. "My betrayer." He growled as he frowned and hammered the keys for a bar two.
There was a long pause before Vladimir spoke up again, still playing. "I know you told them everything... did you think you could stop me?" He started to press the keys harder and his jaw clenched up.
Yuri stepped closer and reached his hand out to touch Vladimir's shoulder, but stopped as Vladimir continued to speak without looking at him.
"Nothing can stop this...." He stopped playing, leaving the piece hanging mid bar and looked up at Yuri with a gaze that pierced Yuri's heart. "Not even you."
Yuri cleared his throat and took a moment to find his voice. "V-Volodya, I haven't come to discuss the betrayal. I've come to accept my punishment."
Vladimir's blue and green eyes sparkled for just as moment as they grew a little damp in response to Yuri's unexpected acquiescence. He looked back down at the keys and started to play again, almost as if Yuri hadn't spoken at all yet. "This song... it is a lullaby my Mother would sing to me when I was a boy."
Yuri stood and listened as he gazed at Vladimir. It felt like a dream, standing beside a man who should be shooting him but wasn't. He kept his company without violence as he played the tune.
"I changed it a little." He spoke almost too softly that time.
He played the last note and pushed the bench away from the piano. Yuri dropped to his knees and dared to place his hands on Vladimir's thighs. "Please, make your decision, Volodya, I can't live like this anymore. This guilt... this emptiness."
Vladimir looked down at him with an expression as cold as ice, staring down his nose at him he reached out and gently traced the gaunt of Yuri's cheek. "You have suffered long enough, Yura. Since the moment you feel in love with me, you have been suffering. Don't think I forgot that you gave me everything and would have given me even more had I asked. I should shoot you as you kneel before me like a guilty hound, but that is too merciful isn't?" He tilted his head a little as he wore a cruel little smirk.
"I could never tell you how I really felt... the storm in my heart and the rumbling ache in my soul each time we parted. I thought you would perish on that last mission, I had to..." Yuri stopped and looked off to the side, but Vladimir gripped him hard by the chin and forced him to lock eyes with him.
"Had to what?" He hissed.
"I had to stop you in order to save innocent lives and to protect you from becoming even more monstrous." A few hot tears escaped his big blue eyes and Vladimir thumbed them away with a look of distaste on his weathered face.
"I am doing God's work, you know that. He has charged me with things no other mortal could bring themselves to do." Vladimir pointed at his own chest as he spoke with very little emotion.
Yuri knew he was overstepping, he knew that Vladimir was going to kill him so he decided to speak from his heart. He reached up and Vladimir flinched for only a moment before letting Yuri cradle his face. Yuri wore a look of saintly pity as he gazed into Vladimir's fiery eyes. "God does his own work, he would never ask you to damn your soul like this."
"Enough, Yura you don't know anything." Vladimir slapped his hands away, but couldn't ignore the fact that Yuri's loving touch made his heart race. He stood up. "Stand up, Yuri."
Yuri stood up and dusted off. Vladimir took the gun out of his shoulder holster and pressed the barrel to Yuri's heart. Yuri drew in a deep breath, balling his fists as his sides and shut his eyes. He waited for the burst of searing agony, and then however long it would take for his body to cease functioning. He felt a strong grip slip around the back of his neck and then warm lips press against his. He dared not open his eyes, it was a dream and it would end if he did. Then he felt another hand grip around the base of his skull and pull him down, deepening the kiss. The soft sigh that came from Vladimir as he kissed Yuri, set Yuri's heart on fire. He knew then that this wasn't mockery, this wasn't some twisted new game. He pulled Vladimir closer and melted into the kiss until their lips parted more and Yuri slipped his tongue into Vladimir's mouth, tasting the coffee and cigarettes. Their tongues twirled and danced and Yuri couldn't stop himself from giving Vladimir's rear a hard squeeze. All the good memories came flooding back and Yuri grew so painfully desperate to have more, he couldn't fight it. He held on to Vladimir possessively and with each parting of their lips they gasped for air.
Both men were being crushed by unanswered need and desire from decades ago. Finally they had to pry themselves apart before their lungs exploded. "Is this real, Volodya?" Yuri panted. His lean muscular chest heaved beneath his tailored dress shirt.
"No, not a dream or a nightmare. You came back to me, willing to die in order to be absolved. I know I'm not a merciful man, but... for you I will make an exception. There is no other way to handle this." Vladimir panted softly.
"What do you mean by that?" Yuri asked him as he gently ran his fingers through Vladimir's short, messy black hair.
"I mean... I cannot be without you. That card isn't on the table. I can't ever forgive you, Yura, but I will accept you." He took Yuri's hand into his own. "We once swore that when the time came, we would die together and I'm not ready to die yet."
Yuri could have sworn there was a hint of a smile on Vladimir's scarred lips. He gave him a quick kiss, unable to stay away for long.
"Please stay in hiding. You have already gotten the world to rise up, you're work is done." Yuri stroked the scar over Vladimir's lip with his thumb very delicately. "I love you so much that it hurts." Yuri spoke with his brows raised a little.
"I always thought love was supposed to hurt... yet now as I look at you I only feel...light." Vladimir told him as he removed his glove and stroked the side of Yuri's neck.
Yuri's heart tightened as he heard Vladimir indirectly confess his love.
"I am not meant for love, I never was. But I want to be with you in the closest way possible." He told Yuri with a slightly softer look on his stern face.
"Yes, Volodya, me too."