"Fate..."

She chuckled at the thought of word.

"I don't, I believe that the choices you make lead to your future. That is not fate, which I must say is such a silly word. It's for people who believe things are meant to be because something happened in their favor. That's just shit luck if you ask me."

She could tell she was starting to wear a bit on his nerves. Even though he did a really good job at hiding it. The kicker was the dumping out of the vodka, she was actually surprised he didn't do anything to stop it. It wouldn't have taken much for him to take the bottle from her hands. She was strong willed and had an attitude and temper about her which made her seem tougher then she actually was, even though she was quite the petite one.

Boris didn't believe in fate as your one path either, but he did feel like certain things came together for a reason.

"Maybe your right. But I think me and you were not coincidence. Lets go grab dinner, at best, maybe you start to like me, at worst I pay for expensive meal for you and you never see me again. What do you say?"

Boris had no real intention of his dinner plan failing, he figured that if he could get her to agree to this, that he was on the high road to something more. 

Sophia shook her head slowly in disbelief, how could someone suggest something about faith and then in the next sentence agree that it doesn't exist. At this point she knew she had broken him down just a little bit, a stubborn Russian like himself would normally never agree during a conversation like this even if they were assured they were wrong. Was just something in their DNA. It was something she learned during the year she had spent in Moscow, which is the reasoning how she knew some Russian. 

"I'm not hungry, I ate earlier. The owner here makes a pretty good burger, if you have never tried it."

She waved down the owner, originally she was going to head home and call it an early night but something told her she needed to stay. Of course it wasn't fate nor was it anything this Russian had in mind. In fact it was something more, she couldn't put her finger on it just yet but figured another glass of wine might help her figure it out. 

"Hey, gimme another glass of red. Oh and this guy might want some food but so you know he isn't with me."

Boris shrugged and nodded to the bar keep to get him a burger, it would have to do. At this rate the bar was going to make a killing off of him.

"I knew you did not want to leave yet. We vere just getting to know each other. How is it that you know so many languages?"

He did get a chuckle out of her clarification to the bar keep that they weren't together. 

"My parents were professor, father taught French literature and my mother English history. There were many times we would pick up and go to other countries so they could teach for a year or so. So needless to say it was either learn the language or be the outsider."

The owner came over with her glass of wine and left the almost empty bottle sitting next to her. It was something that he usually did when there wasn't enough left for a full glass. It was something that she never complained about.

"Even though knowing the native languages I was still an outsider, that was until a couple people caught black eyes from me."

She began to reminisce on a couple of the fights she had gotten into as a youngster, which immediately put a smile on her face. 

"So.. yeah...."

She was about to continue but realized she was beginning to rant on and on. So she picked up her glass and took a big sip.

He listened to her tell her story, she came from an educated family, and she traveled quite a bit. He could imagine this fiery woman woman pummeling kids across the world, it made him chuckle. As he did so he noticed her smiling as she thought about it. The woman had a beautiful smile, she had done nothing but scowl at him since he had first come over. 

"That sounds like you have had interesting life, my life is not so interesting. Please talk more if it will keep you smiling, looks better than scowl."

She instantly put that scowl back on her face, she wanted to make sure that he knew that it was just from the memories and not the conversation. Since she had been around these parts in the states she really hadn't found her niche just yet. Yeah she had some friends but still didn't fit in. It was like she was back to her traveling days, trying to learn a new culture. It wasn't the most fun but it was something that she was quite used to.

"No no no, I could talk for hours. Let's here your story."

Boris shrugged, took a long drag from his vodka, and began to dredge up old feelings and memories.

"I was second oldest of 7 boys, we were trouble, but we had a great time. Ended up starting a gang when we were young men, no surprises there. Everything was good for long time. Then my youngest brother fucked up and killed someone he shouldn't have. In retaliation my brothers were killed one by one, I fled to America, leaving my father and mother. They were killed instead of me. I was found by a mobster in Detroit, worked for him for long time. When he found me I was a broken man, with nothing to live for, he helped rebuild me up. Some assholes killed him, then they killed his family. Now I took over his work, and here I am. This is the short story of Boris."

Boris never smiled once while regaling his tale, rather at points he fought back the emotions that threatened to flood onto his face. He thought first of his brothers and all the mischief they would get into, it was a warm memory but it was followed with the memory of him holding his brother in his arms as he bled to death. he could remember how scared Nik had been, he remembered howling with rage and despair, swearing revenge. Him and his brothers had tried too, and maybe thats why the retaliation was so hard. These memories were hard and so he did what all Russian men did when faced with complex emotions, he picked up his bottle and he drank. 

Sophia sat back, initially she wasn't paying too much attention to his story. Part of it was the fact of his thick accent, it wasn't until she heard the part where his brothers started dying that she really concentrated on the words coming out of his mouth. She was a bit shocked to hear all of this and truthfully wasn't expecting it. The Moscow that she knew was relatively nice but then again her parents never really venture too far with them knowing.

For a couple moments she started to feel bad for the big guy, which was very unlike her. Perhaps she had drank too much and the alcohol had started to interfere with her emotions. Which was something quite uncommon for her. She shook her head and took another swig of her wine and waved to the owner once more.

"Can you bring over one of those bottles of vodka, I think the big guy needs another drink."

Boris looked down to the bottle in his hand it was getting low, and he was starting to feel the booze, it was the empty stomach. He needed to eat, lucky for him, this vodka was watered down, if it was true Russian vodka he would be passed out in a booth by now. He could smell the burger meat cooking behind the bar, he could feel his stomach growl in recognition as well.

"I must eat first. Don't want to get drunk and be bad company. Is your turn to tell story."

The large Russian, like most people when drunk, tended to make a fool of himself, he needed his wit to keep up with the attractive and very intelligent, Sophia. 

Sophia gave him a funny look, she thought that she had already kind of told him her story. There was more but none of it that was important. She paused for a moment as the owner brought over the bottle of vodka she had just ordered for the Russian. Which to her knowledge she hadn't quite found out his name yet, it was her own doing though. For her it was never learn someones name unless you plan on seeing them again. For now she would just call him the Russian, it worked for her and that's all that mattered at this time.

"I already kind of told you, didn't I?"

Perhaps he wanted something more in depth but it wasn't something that she wanted to get into, especially with a stranger at a bar. What she had learned when frequenting a bar, that guys usually have a one tracked mind when it came to approaching a woman. Sophia was definitely not that type of girl.

She was about to speak again but as she opened her mouth, the Russians food was placed in front of him.

"No this is not what I am saying. How come pretty girl like you carries such a big knife, and has no fear of using it on big Russian like me? Your story did not tell me this, I must admit, I am curious."

He grabbed the big burger and took a great bite out of it, eyes rolling back a little at the taste of it. God it was good. Boris had a habit of eating fast, when growing up in a poor family with 7 growing boys, he who ate quickest got the most. The burger lasted him a few more bites until it was gone, it had hit the spot too, absolutely delicious. He had to hand it to the bar owner, the man had a decent place here. If this girl frequented it often, he would definitely come back.

She smiled as she picked her knife off the bar and placed it back in her bag, she leaned in a tiny bit closer as she didn't want everyone knowing her business.

"So you want to know why I have this knife and you want to know why I'm not scared of the likes of you or anyone?"

She could see the Russian nod as he took his last bite of his burger.

"Truth be told, I wasn't always like this. Not many people know this and I'm not even sure why I'm going to tell you what I'm about to tell you but anyways here it goes."

She reached for her glass of wine, picked it up and took a large sip.

"It was during my time in Moscow, I was walking through an alley. It was a short cut back to the place I was staying at with my parents. I remember hearing an odd noise from behind me but when I turned around to look there was nothing. It was almost as soon as I turned around that I felt it."

She turned around and pulled her shirt just off her left shoulder exposing a 4 inch scar.

"I didn't know what hit me, all I knew was the pain that radiated through out my body. I almost immediately fell to the floor, all my personal belonging went flying out of hands and were scattered all throughout the alley. There was a deep voice, of course in Russian. Which at that time I didn't know at all, he had his knee placed into my back and held a knife to the back of my neck. For a moment I passed out, which I guess gave him enough time to rummage through my bag. Suddenly out of no where this guy came out of no where and tackled my attacker to the ground, with a couple quick punches he was out cold."

Sophia paused for a moment to take another sip of her wine.

"It was so surreal at that point, I was in a sort of trance. Didn't even get a look at the guy that helped me. All I remember is picking up the knife of the guy who attacked me, which was still covered with my blood. Walked over to him and his unconscious body and without hesitation plunged the knife right through his chest. I took the knife out and put it in my bag with some of the other stuff I could find and kept walking down the alley. That was until I passed out and woke up in the hospital."

She pulled the knife back out of her bag and held it in her hand.

"It was this knife." 

Boris listened to her story with deep interest, Russia was a hard mother, her children often suffered, but it made them strong. Her scar was a nasty one, by the sound of it, she was young too, much younger then he, when he killed his first man. Boris had been shot, and he had been stabbed before, but none of his experiences were quite like hers. She was tough, he was glad that someone had helped her, that she got to see some of the good of his homeland as well. 

"I understand now. Russia is the hammer at the forge, it hardens and shapes people. Russia made me strong, and Russia made you strong. Who would have thought that Boris and Sophia had such a big thing in common."

He stowed his knife as well, it had no special meaning, he had picked it up while in Tommy's employ, but it was a trusty piece of steel. 

"Boris you say... yeah I can see that. You look like a Boris."

Sophia glanced at herself through the shine of the blade in her hand and with her free hand brushed a piece of her hair out from her face, before putting the knife back in her bag.

"So yeah, from that moment on I have never been one to hesitate to whip that knife out and use it. From that moment in Moscow, I lost most sense of emotion. Inflicting pain upon someone else that fucks with me almost soothes me."

Realizing what she was saying she turned back around to her glass of wine, picking it up and gulping down the rest of the contents. She then picked up the bottle that the owner had left her put it to her lips and chugged the rest of the bottle.

"I wouldn't say it made me stronger, it started my corruption."

"Corruption? Maybe. More like the the callus on a farmers hand. It is hardened from pain and experience, but protects him from future pain. I think you got strong, your wise to the dark in the world, and you do not put up with it. Not such bad thing to me. I am same way."

Boris had seen his share of pain and darkness in the world, he considered himself numb to it, he didn't hesitate to kill someone who meant to do the same to him or someone he cared about. He did not lose sleep over it, he wasn't afraid of death, because he and death were not strangers. In life you either got lucky, got smart, or you got dead. Boris got smart.

By now Sophia had three to four glasses of wine more then she was used to. Which had gotten her a bit on the tipsy side and when she got tipsy she was one who told people things they probably shouldn't know. She waved to the owner once more, getting his attention from across the bar.

"Another one, actually just give me a bottle..."

The owner looked at her in a bit of disbelief, in the times she had been to this bar she had never once left drunk. He hesitated for a moment but figured money was money and got her the bottle of wine. He pulled out the cork and placed the bottle in front of her. As soon as it was placed within her grips she picked it up and took a swig directly from the bottle.

"Ahhhh, I like wine...."

She placed the bottle down and moved in a bit closer to Boris.

"Want to hear a secret?"

Boris grinned as she ordered her bottle, he raised his bottle and took a swig when she took a swig of hers. He felt like drunk Sophia and Boris got along far better then sober Sophia and Boris, and so he was quite pleased.

"Yes. Tell me, vat is secret?"

He leaned in to respect her privacy, doing a quick look around to make sure no one could eavesdrop.

Sophia looked up and around making sure no one else was in an ear shot of them.

"I'm kind of wanted in England."

She giggles as she sat back and reached for the bottle of wine this time with two hands. Placed it to her mouth and took another swig before she leaned back in towards Boris.

"I'm also wanted in France."

She started laughing out loud, catching the notice of the couple guys who strolled into the bar earlier.