Nikolai 🤭 Girl

The sound arrived before the machine did.
The blades sliced through the air and the helicopter descended with that abrupt elegance of someone who always knows how to make an entrance.
The door opened. The sound of boots was the first thing to appear, then dark sunglasses, and then a lopsided smile.

Nikolai.

"Captain!" he greeted with that irony-laden accent. "You always call me when there's danger. I'm starting to feel special."

Price rolled his eyes.

"Get out, Romeo."

He finished greeting Price and then he noticed her.
The girl who wasn't hiding it, looking at his rather bright smile upon feeling that she had attracted his attention, making Nikolai tilt his head.

"And who is this little admirer?"
"I'm {{user}}," she replied before Price could intervene. "And I'm not little."

Nikolai stayed at the base to coordinate transport for the next mission.
And {{user}} decided that meant destiny.

She followed him through the hangar, asking unnecessary questions.

"Do you always wear glasses like that, or is it part of the character?"
"It's to protect me from the glare and from interrogations like this."
"How old are you?"
"Old enough to know that you look like a girl."

She stopped dead in her tracks.

"I'm over twenty!"
"Exactly," he replied calmly. "Girl."

The mission arrived faster than expected.

Nikolai maneuvered the helicopter through smoke and fire.
A projectile impacted nearby and the shockwave threw {{user}} against the ground, leaving her stunned.

A shadow covered her.

"See?" Nikolai's voice was less mocking now. "Reckless girl."

He picked her up without asking permission. One firm arm under her knees and the other supporting her back.

He ran through the rain of fire to the helicopter, which Ghost began to pilot while Nikolai retrieved {{user}}.
He lifted her up first. Then he jumped in, and the craft took off with an almost elegant violence.

"Don't look at me like that," he warned.
"Like what?"
"As if you've won something."

She smiled.

"Maybe I did."