Walking into the church, Kirov takes a look around. The icons showing saints of old, wooden doors older than any block in Sofia, and the scent of incense that has been burning for hundreds of years. Walking through, he sees the faded paintings and reaches the main hall. Finding his way to a bench, he sits down. Taking out a cigarette, he puts it to his lips and lights it.
"You know, most people don't have any respect for the church anymore. You are not like them, so why disrespect it like this?" Kirov looks up at the priest, who has a smile on his face, even though Kirov's cigarette is still filling the church with smoke. Kirov looked down and put the cigarette out on his shoe, and put the cigarette butt in his pocket.
"That's much better," The priest says as he sits down next to Kirov, "You have not been here in quite some time, although I saw your car outside about a week ago."
"It's been a hell of a week, Father," Kirov puts his head in his hands, fingers running through his hair, "I'm afraid I'm not here to make a donation this time." The priest simply chuckles and puts his hand on Kirov's back.
"While we appreciate your donations, I have a feeling I will appreciate this conversation much more." Kirov turns to face the man.
"Father… I know you know who I am, what I do for a living, and you have never judged me. Maybe because I come bearing gifts, maybe because you see something in me, maybe because… I don't know."
"I don't pretend to truly know who you are. I know that you are a man who has what most would consider everything this world can offer: riches, status, power, and youth. And yet, you come here, a forgotten relic of the past to nearly everyone. My question to you is why? Why do you come here?" Kirov stares blankly at the walls, icons scattered across the entire hall. His eyes lock onto St. Peter.
"I don't know, Father. I really don't know. It's always been interesting to me, the church. More as an institution than anything, I don't believe in God, no offence."
"There is nothing to be offended by, whether you believe or not, I know He is real." The priest leans back in the bench, "If you do not seek absolution, how can I help?" Kirov chuckles at that comment.
"I don't think that you can help me out here. I'm at a crossroad in my life."
"You need to make a decision as to what your life will look like five years from now. I'm not going to ask what that decision is, since you won't tell me, nor will I tell you what to do. But I can give you some advice." Kirov simply nods, waiting to hear what the priest has to say.
"When one is at a crossroad, there are usually two options: go straight ahead, continue your course, or take the option of least resistance. Or make a turn, change, veer off course. The mere fact that you consider making a turn shows that the destination you will find after the turn entices you more than the destination on the path you are currently on. That can be for good or for bad. What you need to do is figure out what the two destinations truly are that you are looking at, and make a choice based on that, no matter the cost."
"No matter the cost? That's not what I expected to hear."
"Maybe it's not what you wanted to hear."
"Maybe… I think it's time for me to go." Kirov stands up and walks toward the exit, "Light a candle for me." The priest simply smiled as Kirov left.
Walking out of the church and up to his car, he peeked through the window to see Marto sleeping. Uponn closer inspection, Marto was twitching as he slept, and Kirov simply sighed.
KNOCK KNOCK
Marto was startled awake and threw his fist through the window, barely missing Kirov's cheek.
"Kirov… You scared the life out of me!" Kirov had a concerned look on his face, simply walking to the driver's side of the car and getting in.
"Your bill is getting more and more expensive, good thing I'm getting rid of you soon." Marto chuckled at this comment, but saw a troubled look on Kirov's face.
"Why are we doing this at a church? Are we in Greece yet?" Marto asks, waiting for a response from the clearly stressed-out Kirov.
"No, we are still in Sofia. There is a complication." Marto was taken aback by this comment.
"What kind of complication?" Marto barked at Kirov, getting unsettled.
"I left a tracker on Krsi and Vasko's bags-"
"When did you leave a tracker-"
"It doesn't matter!" Kirov shouted, "They are travelling towards Sofia now… Because of my father."
"What do you mean, because of your father? What does he have to do with this? We left them in Serbia with Nikol. What went wrong?"
"I don't know, I called Nikola, and he told me my father told him to bring them back to Sofia, they will be in Sofia in about an hour." Marto leaned back in his seat. After a loud exhale, Marto met Kriov's gaze and asked,
"So what are we doing? Should we intercept them? Get them back. They can come to Greece with me, then to the NUSA-"
"Stop!" Kirov's interruption took Marto by surprise.
"What do you mean by 'Stop'? Them coming back can't be good, we need to stop them before they reach Sofia." Kirov broke eye contact with Marto. He could feel his heart start to beat faster.
"I can't go against my father… I need to talk to him, see what he wants-"
"What are you talking about? We both know that your father will sell them off to the highest bidder; sure, you have Kang Tao blackmailed, but what about Vasko? The second he is in Sofia, they will kill him because of the rogue AI. That's if they haven't already killed him!" Kirov once again met his gaze, but couldn't find the words to reply to him.
"Kirov, we need to go and save them. What are we waiting for?"
"Do you ever stop to think that I also have a life! That going against my father would mean that my entire life is gone! That's not even considering the fact that the kind of muscle my father hires would be too much for even us to take on!"
"It doesn't matter! We can't just sit around and do nothing!" Marto grabbed Kirov's shirt and pulled him, "Don't act like you don't care! Like you don't care for Krisi and Vasko, especially Krisi!" Kirov grabbed Marto's shirt in response and responded,
"Marto, you don't know what you're talking about!" Looking deeper into his eyes, he demanded, "Let go of me."
"And what if I don't?" Marto grabs on tighter, "Show me how much of a man you are, how much you really don't care!"
"Step out of the car." Kirov lets go, as does Marto, as they both exit the car.
Stepping out into the rain, Kirov takes off his watch and rings, as Marto takes off his hoodie and shirt, and they turn to face each other.
BANG
Without any warning, Marto activated his chrome and punched Kirov clean on the jaw. Kirov, now on the floor, felt that all too familiar taste of metal in his mouth. Marto walked over to Kirov, as he blinked, something happened. Kirov wasn't there. A barrage of punches landed on Marto as Kirov appeared behind him. It wasn't enough to bring Marto down, however. They started exchanging blows. With every punch Marto threw, Kirov threw three. But Marto's punches had a weight that Kirov couldn't handle. While on the back foot, Kirov activated his Sandevistan once again, trying to get around Marto, only to be caught mid-step.
Marto's metal fingers started to crush Kirov's throat,
"You had enough! Are you done!" Marto screamed, Kirov, trying to get free of his grip, punching his arms and face, to no avail.
"Be honest with yourself for once! Be honest about what you want to do! Do you really want to let your friends die, just so that you can keep living in your gangster paradise?" Kirov tries to respond, but the vice around his throat is too much to let any air out. Marto started to lose control, using his free hand to start launching punches at Kirov. He hits him again and again, the sound of ribs cracking with each hit. Kriov winces in pain, realising that this was no longer a fistfight, but rather a fight to the death. Kirov reaches down to his waistband and takes out his gun. Putting it on the side of Marto's head in an attempt to stop him. Marto did not seem to care, not stopping his punches; if anything, he started going harder. Kriov realises what he has to do and cocks the gun, getting ready to shoot.
"Boys!" Two of them started to see a figure standing at the doors of the church. The shock made them distracted, just for a moment. But a moment was enough for Kiropv to push Marto away, gasping for air. "Kirov, I told you that you needed to make a choice. I don't believe that decision was to kill this man."
"Father, it's more complicated than-"
"Silence!" Kirov was taken aback by the strict reprimand by the priest, "I already spoke with you, what about you, young man? What is your quarrel with Kirov?" Looking at Marto, he didn't know what to say.
"He's throwing away the lives of our friends for a life that he doesn't want!"
"Shut up!" The priest looked at Kirov after hearing his sharp rebuttal, "I'm sick and tired of people telling me what I want. What if I want to keep going, to have an easy life, live in comfort for a few more years before meeting my eventual end? Is that so bad?" Marto had visibly calmed down at this point,
"Kirov, you're only thinking about what you have to lose. What about what you have to gain? Don't you ever dream about something more from this life!" Kirov turned his back to the two of them, not wanting to hear this.
"You need to look inward and tell me, not what you want, but what you are sacred to admit that you need!"
Kirov looks at Marto, who was nearly in tears. He knew that he had to make a choice. A choice that would follow him to the grave, whether it be tonight, tomorrow, in ten years, or in fifty. For the first time in a long time, he needed to be honest with himself. To truly answer the question, why did he walk into that bar that night? Why was he looking for a break from a routine? Why was he putting his neck on the line for people he barely knew? Why do Krisis' words hurt him? And why do his words to Krisi hurt him even more?
He knew that he didn't have all the answers, and maybe he never would. But he knew that he could not leave things as they were. He turned to Marto and simply said,
"Get in the car… You're coming to a Kirov family reunion."