Their Guardian

Chapter 11

Edited

*Noella's POV*

It took hours for the train to pull into the Russian countryside. It was a sight that you would only see in books. Gentle rolling hills covered in a budding spring. It was the kind of place that Noella imagined in her future. A time when she would have been happily married in a time without war. In truth she always knew that life would escape her. She just had no way of knowing that this would be the way. 

The moment the train pulled to an abrupt halt all of the passengers began to collect their luggage and move towards the exit. All in a hurry. 

Noella was different she waited until the traffic cleared and her team had passed before she leisurely grabbed her things, breathing in the fresh smell of freedom. 

She patted her pocket, assuring herself that her note was still there before hopping down the stairs. 

Security was light here, just the bare minimum, all of which looked like they were counting the minutes before they were allowed to return home. She just glided by, not even stopping until she was far out of the station and away from everyone's eyes, including the team's. 

She needed time to process everything, per the plan they would meet in an hour at some little restaurant just in town. They would not miss her if I was a few minutes late. It was a worthy trade in her opinion, she did not need them doubting her any more than they already do. 

Noella leaned against the wall and allowed herself to finally shed that mask that she knew so well. It was a relief to finally allow herself to feel something other than fear. The only issue was that she didn't know what to feel. When she saw his face, all she wanted to do was run into his arms and never let him go. In truth, she still didn't know why she didn't, but seeing that note should have made her feel less guilty, not more. She feels like she betrayed him, but if she had stayed, she would have betrayed her team instead. Decisions Decisions, all of them wrong.

Her new team may be the difficult, and more than a little overprotective, but they haven't failed her yet, and she didn't plan on failing them. They were all Noella had now. 

After steadying herself she took a quick look at her surroundings, making sure that she was the only one here before she started stripping down. Here, the rich looking costume would attract more attention, seeing as they were safely away from the city her theatrics weren't really warranted.

Noella changed into a simple sun dress and sandals. The weather was quite nice, and she wanted to take full advantage of it. 

She walked leisurely through the quaint little town, taking in the fresh air. The residents eyes followed her as she made my way towards the meeting spot, but for once she didn't really care. They were all harmless, just people who were trying to survive in these hard times. Just people, she repeated to herself.

She was almost to the spot when a few of the local boys got bold and decided to approach her. 

"Hey Gorgeous, I don't think we have seen you around here before." The leader said looking her up and down like piece of meat. 

Noella had to fight her grimace. Ugh, gross. 

"I'm not from around here. Now if you will excuse me, I need to meet with my family." She spoke firmly, attempting to step around them. She really didn't need this right now. If she started punching, she might not stop. 

"Don't be like that, I'm sure we could walk you, maybe even show you some things you've never seen before." 

She was this close to dropping the nice guy approach, and when that happened they are going to need more then a doctor to fix the damage.