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alessiathepirate · 8 months

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Resident Evil 3 Remake

THE PRICE OF LIFE: Nikolai Zinoviev/Nicholai Ginovaef x fem!reader

Summary: Nicholai was too interesting to not care about. He was too interesting to be left behind - maybe she cares a bit too much.

Notes: English isn't my first language. I apologize for any mistake I made while I wrote this short story.

My Russian isn't the best, I only know a few words in that language so I used Google translator to help me. If something isn't correct and/or something is used in the wrong context, please tell me so I can learn and improve :)

Warnings: mentioned wounds, referenced manipulation (only vaguely, you have to decide what it really is), slightly unhealthy relationship tropes

•••

Nicholai was a very calculated man.

She was very well aware of that fact as soon as she first saw him and talked to him. He knew what to expect from her, when to expect it and how to use that knowledge in his favor. She knew that it was a very useful skill to have, especially in a situation like theirs.

That was until she figured out another thing about him.

Nicholai was also a man mostly driven by greed and power.

And greed mixed with the ability to deduce someone's next move and worth was a pretty dangerous skill.

He may have been greedy, but he was also too interesting to not care about. She liked to listen to him talk and then understand the meaning of those words, because even if money was clearly the main motivator, he was right. He was a great survivalist who understood the very basic rule of life: no one else's life matters, but your own.

He wasn't an ordinary man she'd meet around every corner and that led to her being too interested in him to leave him alone. Even if Jill didn't trust him, even if he made her leave her friend behind to save her own life - she knew he was right and she was glad she decided to stick with him.

If anyone can make it out of the city alive, it was Nicholai - and perhaps, if she isn't too annoying and boring - she can leave with him too.

It was because of these facts she had managed to know about him that she became scared, doubtful and a bit disappointed. There he was, the man she decided to trust, the man she decided to believe - and he was wounded.

He was wounded, defeated - destroyed because of his own ego. He thought he was clever, he thought he knew Jill Valentine, yet he underestimated her.

She shot him to save her own life - she learned that from Nicholai himself.

"There's a price tag for everything. Even letting the world burn."

Once again, he was right. Even if it wasn't a thing she'd do, it was something others are definitely doing right in that same moment somewhere else.

"Who are you working for?"

Carlos was on his way towards the helicopter and he tilted his head, trying to make a silent sign so she'll get moving and help him. She shook her head and looked at Jill - I can't: that's what her movements said, but I don't want to was what she really wanted to say.

Carlos nodded, seemingly understanding - or misunderstanding - what she meant to say. He thought she tried to look out for Jill, when in reality it was another person she tried to look out for.

"I'll tell you if you get me out of here." that first line was for Jill, she was sure of it, but then his eyes found hers as he continued: "I'll pay you whatever you want."

As Carlos climbed into the helicopter leaving no one to look directly at her, she tilted her head with a small smile.

You'll pay, huh?

She did her best to look inside herself and find her main motivator what followed her throughout the whole night. It was the want and need to survive. And she survived - she was here and Jill will for sure take her out of the city. They were friends and Jill won't rub anything into her face or scream at her saying: 'What did you do to save yourself?' No, she loves her too much for that.

But money? She doesn't want the money. She doesn't need it at all. She won't be able to spend it, knowing at which part of her life she had gotten it.

Respect on the other hand...

"You're a fool. You're a fool!" Jill turned away and walked up to the chopper, she followed her letting Nicholai shout all he wanted - it wasn't the right moment. For a second she couldn't decide who he shouted at, but then realized it was for Jill - it was the performance for Jill. Nicholai would never beg. "If I die you'll never find out the truth."

There it was - the effect he had on her and on her whole being from the first second they've met. She liked him. She respected him. She could love him.

She didn't want him to die. Sure, he'd deserve a punch or two, but not death.

As Jill helped her climb into the chopper she realized that Nicholai knows that. He knows she likes him and respects him and that a part of her wants him in ways she shouldn't. He knew from the first talk they've had that he won't die here - no, because she will be the right escape plan.

"I don't mind a little detective work."

Jill climbed in - she didn't. She sat down, letting her legs dangle. Jill disappeared behind her, deciding to talk to Carlos.

She kept her gaze on Nicholai, who kept pressure on the wound. Their eyes met.

She tried to make herself unreadable, something new and uncertain - she wanted to shock him, surprise him even if she knew nothing can really come as a shock to a man like Nicholai Ginovaef.

She kept her mouth in a straight line, pressured her muscles to keep herself from smiling. But her eyes told him everything he needed to know.

Nicholai smiled and let out a laugh. She didn't laugh with him.

"Did you learn?" the question came as a shock.

Did she?

She learned the basics. She knew what her own life meant and what a good accomplice meant. She learned to survive...

... yet she's about to do something what could kill her.

The answer is no. She didn't learn. Her wants and pure needs were greater than the voice inside her head saying: Go with Jill and repair the friendship as long as it can be repaired.

She didn't want to go with Jill - or Carlos.

The propeller started to move and then the helicopter started to ascend.

Half a meter - for a moment she saw something new on Nicholai's face.

One meter - it looked like pure betrayal.

"Hey, Jill!" she shouted through the sound of the propeller.

"Yeah?"

One and a half meters - she has to make sure they'll go without her.

"Go on a vacation after this!"

"You'll come with me, right?"

Right? She left her when the Nemesis attacked them in the subway. She felt sorry she did that, but she didn't regret it one bit.

She smiled at her friend.

Two meters.

"Go somewhere calm and sunny."

Jill's smile faded. "What do you mean?"

"It was nice to meet you Carlos." she looked at their temporary pilot and then back at her friend. "Have a great life Jill."

"What--"

Two and a half meters. She jumped.

She jumped and she heard Jill scream after her. She jumped and saw as the chopper stopped in the air for a few seconds.

She heard Carlos' voice through the noise, probably explaining that they don't have much time left. They knew that - everyone knew that: Carlos, Jill, Nicholai, herself. She calculated it perfectly.

She landed perfectly with a small, quiet puff.

"You didn't learn at all, did you?"

She made sure the chopper moved away and only then did she start to walk towards Nicholai.

"Sure thing I did." she started, trying to not grin. "You said it yourself, there's a price tag for everything."

Nicholai chuckeled, he understood the reference.

"And I really hope you'll pay me well enough."

She stretched out her arm, letting him grab her hand so she can pull him up.

"What makes you think I will? I could kill you, we could both die here."

She looked up at him when his grip on her hand changed. His hand moved up until it had a firm hold on her wrist.

"We won't die here. I'm pretty sure you have the keys for that other chopper right there." she tilted her head towards it. "You're too calculating to just wait for your own death."

"Why did you jump? You could've escaped with your friends. You have no further use of me just like I have no further use of you."

She looked up at him as if this would be the first time she really looked at him, examining his features, his eyes, his grin. She looked at him and for the first time she really saw what he tried to hide. She saw that he fell into the same trap she did.

"I did it for the same reason you didn't kill me." she started, swallowing, getting herself ready to say the next words: "You like me. And I like you too."

His gaze was cold. It explored her whole being, all the small cuts she had on her face and shoulders.

And he smiled. He smiled like he knows something she doesn't.

"Ty vazhen dlya menya. Ya nenavizhu eto." she didn't understand a word he said even if her heart fluttered at the sudden Russian. "Malen'kiy vyzhivshiy." he grinned.

"So," she began as she swallowed down the softness and hope she felt when he spoke up in Russian - it was pretty attractive just like his accent. "let's get out of here, no?"

His grip tightened even more and for a second she was afraid there'll be an ugly purple mark left behind. Her heartbeat quickened. God he had such a hold on her, on her whole being, he could control her in ways no one else could.

"What'll happen if you're wrong?" he leaned in, she was able to feel his breath on her face and he kept the eyecontact no matter where she looked. "What'll happen then, zólotse? You'll get nothing out of it, no? No money, no man, no life. Nichego."

She didn't hide away. She didn't take a step back. Nicholai wouldn't like that.

No, he wants her to answer, to say something, to prove what she is: is she worthy of survival or is she too shy and meaningless? He wouldn't leave her. It'd hurt him a bit too much, but she'd get a place in his book, a term.

She put one of her hands on his shoulder, her fingertips getting lower, closer to the wound. He took a deep breath - it must've hurt like Hell.

"But I am right. So it doesn't matter, does it?" she watched as her fingertips became red. "And let's be honest if I'd die tonight your money wouldn't be able to buy me back. I'm too interesting to play with, no?"

He liked that. He liked that short challenge. He liked that she didn't back down.

Her hand traveled lower until it reached a pocket. She kept the eyecontact even as she reached in to grab the keys she had suspected were there.

"Let's get going so we won't have to figure out what happens if we both die." she said after she held the keys in her hand.

She took a step back, but he stopped her. Even if he was wounded, he was still strong - stronger than her at least. He pulled her close, much closer than before. He only stopped when they were so close their noses almost touched.

She felt her eyelids get heavy. Her stomach fluttered, her heartbeat quickened. Every instinct in her, every piece of her body told her to get comfortable and get ready. Everything inside her told her to lean closer and kiss him.

But she didn't. And Nicholai didn't move either.

He just smirked and then whispered: "Malen'kaya ved'ma." It sounded like he teased her.

"You really want to die tonight, don't you?" she whispered too. "We should hurry up."

"Fine." he let go of her and then continued to press his hand on his wound.

They walked toward the other chopper and just as they got in, he continued to talk: "Ty mne nravish'sya."

She didn't know what it meant, but it sounded honest and soft - and Nicholai was a pretty rough man. He smiled and so did she.

No one was left behind that night. No one died and no one got paid. Because she didn't want to leave him and he didn't want to let her go.

Nicholai was a man driven by greed. If he found something he liked, he kept it. And he didn't like to share.

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