Dora was thoughtful; she looked at the light lining the edges of the drapes. "Ilya, Katya, I wanted to nail Navuka when I thought they were just doing illegal testing on animals. And then I looked into them even further. I saw piece by piece of evidence that they were involving people, innocent people in their experiments. I pushed harder. I learned about shifters. I pushed harder. I've been wanting to expose them for over a year at this point. But now that I know what they've done to Anton, what they did to that - that thing in the woods that tried to kill me, well. I wouldn't be a Katsaros if I didn't expose them now. My father would turn over in his grave if I turned away from corruption like this."
She didn't see Danil in the doorway as she gripped his parents’ hands, and stared in their faces.
“Trust me. I won't stop until Navuka is dismantled piece by piece."
"Enough for now," Danil said, making the three of them jump. Ilya and Katya rose from the bed like guilty children. He said something to them in Belarusian and Katya spoke back to him in the sharp tone of a good, stern mother.
Danil bowed his head, but not his eyes. He was still fired up.
Dora figured that a Battle Royale in the woods might do that to a guy.
When they left, Danil closed the door after them, and crossed the room to Dora in two quick strides.
“So quiet. You were so quiet when I saw that monster over top of you. Why don't you scream? Scream for me. And I will come to you. Every time.”
Dora felt his words settle over her and she pulled them around her like a cape. A coat against the world. For so long, all she’d had was herself. The only place she could look to for protection had been her father. And then it was just her. But he was right. It was time. Time to lean on him. The way that he needed her to.
“Do the thing,” she said, reaching out for him. “The thing where you say words and then they come true.”
Something softened in his eyes when he realized that she was acquiescing, agreeing, opening. He changed his stance, stood straight up.
“You will call for me when you need help. Reaching at the top of the closet. Lifting a heavy grocery bag. Or when there are monster bears trying to dismantle you. You will call for me.”
“And when we’re in bed,” she added, to make him smile.
He didn’t smile. He took it very, very seriously. “Especially then.”
He simply climbed into the bed then and lay completely over her. His weight was constricting but deeply welcome as his scent filled her nose.
She rubbed a hand over his back and he winced. Dora quickly lifted the collar of his shirt to see a large, white bandage covering his shoulder.
"Danil," she started, but he shushed her, one hand over her mouth.
"Not now, my love. My wife. Later, when we wake. When we wake we will say it all." He laid his head onto her chest and Dora couldn't say no to that.
***
When they woke, the light in the room had dimmed with the coming evening. They could smell Katya's cooking wafting up the stairs.
"You're not going to stop, are you," Danil said in a careful voice. "Even though they tried to kill you today."
"Danil, I can't. Don't you see, it's so much bigger than I am."
He sighed. "My Pandora, where little curiosities turn into the grand search for truth."
"And justice," she added.
"And justice," he agreed. He was quiet for a moment before he propped himself up on his elbows. "But we must be married immediately. If you're going to keep pursuing this, putting yourself in harm's way, then I will be there by your side. Every time you do something I might not like, I must be there."
"Danil, you have a job yourself. You can't be there every time."
He frowned, seeing the truth of it. "Fine. Then at least two of my brothers must be with you."
Dora laughed. "It's either you or two of your brothers? Think a little much of yourself, huh?"
He smiled, hauling her up out of the bed to head downstairs.
They were all down there, even AJ. All except Anton, who was nowhere to be seen.
Dora went to take her place at the table next to Danil but was stopped as she passed Maxim. Reaching up, he took her face in his hands, planting a noisy kiss on her lips. "Here's to our little bird, who is going to help us be free from Navuka."
Next came Emin, who kissed her soundly as well. His kiss was just a touch passionate. Muscle memory, Dora supposed, from kissing so many women in his life.
And then came Ilya. Then Katya.
AJ held out her arms to Dora. "We're both American so I suppose we can just hug."
Dora laughed and embraced the small, sweet woman. She heard the back door of the house clang open and a moment later, Anton came into the room, pulling a shirt over his head. He must have shifted outside and come back for dinner.