Work Text:
Sergei was sitting in his new office, working on plans to help the astronauts stranded on Mars, when a figure appeared in the doorway. For a moment, he thought it was Margo – coming to linger, albeit momentarily, in the door frame, as if afraid if she took her eyes off him for too long, he would disappear like smoke. His second guess was Emma. She had been delighted to see him at JSC; had personally arranged for his ID card and a new plant for his office. But it was neither Margo, nor Emma.
Aleida stood. Arms crossed. Scowl etched into her features. No hello. No small talk. Just: "What are you getting Margo for Christmas?"
He paused. Unsure of his words, and his answer. "I, uh, have not yet purchased something. Yet,” he added.
But his answer did not appear to appease Aleida. "Get your coat."
Sergei did as he was bid. He had no desire to upset Aleida any more than his presence already had. Their last conversation before this simple exchange had been in April: his last act of love towards Margo before he was to be dragged back to Lefortovo was to tell Aleida the truth about her engine designs. She had responded...poorly. By the time Margo had arranged his defection in the September, they were not on speaking terms. In November, Aleida’s husband Victor had arranged a small truce after Javi had shoved an entire green bean up his nose. By early December, an invitation had been proffered for Christmas Eve dinner, extended to both Margo and himself.
But Aleida had not spoken to him at all until that moment, in his doorway.
Together, they left JSC, passing several armed guards, security still tight after the bombing back in September. Sergei was forever grateful that the assailants had been stopped in time: his nightmares of his time in Lefortovo were enough; he had no desire to add Margo's body, laid amongst the rubble, to his horrors. He wondered, briefly, if Aleida ever thought about what could have been. But, staring at her from the passenger seat, Sergei did not voice his observations. It seemed an odd second sentence since their last, charged conversation. So, they sat. And drove. In silence.
Far too slowly, they approached a shopping mall on the outskirts of Houston. Aleida swore loudly at the holiday traffic, before pulling into a mammoth parking lot. The shopping mall was loud, bright, with children dragged from store to store and harried shoppers laden with bags and boxes. Sergei took it all in with a grin.
"A little different from the Soviet Union, huh."
Sergei nodded. "Oh, yes. Last week, when we went shopping for gifts—" Aleida bristled at the mention of we; how quickly Margo and him had become a singular unit. "—I was surprised at how many choices there were. We–I wanted to buy something for Javi. I was told nothing too loud, or with too many parts. Margo was very clear on that."
"Boy swallows anything and there's never enough batteries." Aleida seemed to thaw at the thought of them shopping for Javi, even if she still appeared perturbed at the closeness between them. "So, Margo. What do you want to get her?"
"I...I do not know. We have never exchanged gifts before."
A muscle in Aleida’s jaw clenched. "Yeah. Must be difficult. She sold out her country – and me – for your life so it should be something fucking good, right? Right?"
Sergei drew in a sharp breath, the pit of his stomach falling at Aleida's words. Beside him, she seemed to realise she had crossed a line and moved to take back her words but Sergei raised his hand, waving off her unnecessary attempt at apology. "You are right. She deserves something...exquisite. Like her."
"Okay.” Aleida’s jaw unclenched. “Let's go."
They wandered the lower deck of the shopping mall, peering at the garish store fronts, and bouncing suggestions between them that were tossed aside just as easily. Margo enjoyed reading fiction, but Emma had already purchased the recent King novel in paperback. There were clothes, but that felt too forward for Sergei. They lingered, for some time, outside a jewellers. There was a gold astronaut pin in the window, cleverly placed to entice shoppers buoyed by the recent mission to Mars. Bracelets and earrings and necklaces. Diamonds and rubies and sapphires. An engagement ring, next to the astronaut pin. Too soon, too soon, too soon.
They quickly moved onto a perfume store, with heady scents calling them inside. Sergei hesitated – but eventually shook his head. No good. The second floor it was.
On the escalator up to the next level, Aleida began a new topic of conversation. "So, are you and Margo dating now?"
The question, surprisingly, was not full of bitterness. Instead, Aleida seemed genuinely interested. From the little Margo divulged about her relationship with Aleida, they had barely spoken since the green bean incident, and even less since Victor had made the invitation in the lobby of JSC. A good sign, that Aleida was asking.
"We are...getting to know each other, in this setting. Before, we talked weekly, saw each other a handful of times a year. It is rather novel to see Margo every day." Sergei beamed. "Now that the threat of my government – my previous government—" Sergei corrected with a grin. "—is gone, we can explore what this means. What we mean to each other. It took us nine years to share our first kiss. We now have the luxury of time."
"Wait. All this time? All of...that. And you two haven't even..." Aleida made a series of indecipherable hand gestures, accompanied by an awkward facial expression. "What the hell have you been doing since ‘83?"
Sergei paused, reflected. Smiled at the good parts. Felt it fall at the bad: the lies, the betrayal, the noose around his neck. For a moment, in the central floor of this American shopping mall, he could not breathe. But then he thought of Margo. Of yearly IAC conferences and shared drinks and expensive meals in London. Of cold telephone calls, Sergei warmed solely by the sound of her voice. Of records sent, and listened to. Of a piano in a dimly lit club, with unapproved music, with an unapproved girl.
"I know what to get Margo."
The record store was on the third floor of the mall. Sergei sprinted in his desperation, chest heaving as he made his way to the top. He dug into his wallet for the list he kept, creased and folded, with scratched ink staining the pages. Every record he had ever sent her, to ensure no duplication. To ensure every gift would be well-received. With renewed vigour, Sergei approached the jazz section of the store and pulled out every single record that was not on his list.
Aleida, after finally catching up to him, stared unimpressed. "Sergei, I know Margo likes her records and we all know she's into music – wouldn't have a fucking huge piano in her office if she didn't – but is this special enough?"
"Yes." His face split into two, cheeks hurting with the weight of his smile. "Yes. After this, I will never need to send her another record again."
Aleida didn't question him further. She seemed content with his joy at finding Margo the perfect gift, at realising that she would never be privy to the ins and outs of their unusual courtship. Once he had handed over a crisp set of bills to the cashier, they headed back down the escalator, out of the mall, and back to Aleida's car. Their mission had been a success: Sergei had the perfect gift for Margo. In his small home, close to JSC, there were the rest of his gifts: a toy model of Sojourner for Javi, a bottle of top-shelf tequila for Aleida and Victor, and boxes and bags of household gifts for his parents and sisters, who had joined him in the States with nothing but the clothes on their back. He had been grateful to Margo for her help in finding these gifts. Like he was grateful to Aleida, now. But also unsure as to why, after everything, she had offered her help.
Outside, by Aleida's car, Sergei paused. Asked her that very question, not expecting a truthful answer. But he was given one.
"I'm still so angry. Angry at her for giving away my designs. Angry at her for lying to me for years. Angry at her for not even telling me about you." But that anger seemed to leave Aleida in a rush. She deflated against the car. "I get that she felt she had no other choice. I get that she loves you. But all I know of you is the stern head of Roscosmos on the news, and a vague memory of you being drunk and brilliant and kind. You needed to be good enough."
"I see."
"Because if you weren't good enough, if you didn't love her back with the intensity of committing treason, then all of this was for nothing. The lying and the stealing and the breaking my heart was for nothing. So, yeah, you had to be good. Or I had to make you good." Aleida unlocked the driver's side door. "But just so you know: you weren't for nothing."
Sergei tipped his head in thanks, knowing that any further words would be rebuffed. Aleida had said what she needed to; it would be up to he and Margo to rebuild the bonds that had formed many years before. As they got caught in holiday traffic, they discussed the upcoming plans to support Happy Valley. It was pleasant, sitting in the car, discussing the work. Halfway between the mall and JSC, Aleida even smiled. It was then that Sergei knew, whether it would take until next Christmas or another twelve years of Christmases, that all would be well. It would just take time. And thankfully, that was one thing they now had in abundance.