Chapter Text
It was an incredible feeling to be coming back to Leonid‘s main camp, hidden between the stations, victorious. It was admirable, what he made there and how he managed to make everything work. He grew up so much, Artyom thought when he saw him, with people around him, cheering and congratulating him. He had a long way to go before becoming a real, good leader – it was not an easy position – but he already went so far from that boy he met the first time.
Artyom and Pavel walked up to him and Leonid took them to a closed room with only few other people. There was Sergey – that man they already met, and a few others he trusted.
„So... Now, when… the hardest part is mostly done, we have to discuss how we‘ll proceed,“ Leonid seemed understandably stressed, he knew very well that if he doesn‘t win the election, all of this was for nothing.
„Anna is already on her way here, same as other representatives. They‘ll help with the political parts.“
„I was never one for politics,“ Leonid chuckled and ran with his hand over his face.
„It‘s going to go well, don‘t worry,“ Artyom squeezed his shoulder and gave him a supportive smile. Leonid was glad for his support, he respected Artyom and everything he did - he knew he may have been the one to help him escape that time, but without Artyom succeeding after that, he would have never been here in this moment. Everyone around him believed in him, maybe he had to believe in himself a little more, too. He went to his people to talk to them further, and Artyom turned to Pavel standing closer to the door. He seemed... a little broody.
„What‘s going on?“ Artyom stepped closer to him with his hands in his pockets. It didn‘t seem that it‘s what happened in the tunnel that‘s the problem now.
„I don‘t know, I‘m just… thinking about what we just did,“ Pavel anxiously looked around the room and people in it. They were all so young. They just killed one of the most experienced soldiers and politicians in the Red Line and this kid was going to lead the stations? „W-We… helped him to get into the lead. And we know that he… he will win the election, he will win with the people.“
Artyom frowned.
„You think it was a mistake?“
„Leonid‘s good little boy, alright? But maybe… too good, you know, D'Artagnan? He‘s naive and inexperienced. Maybe it‘ll be a better situation than with them, but it‘s not as easy to lead the stations as he thinks. It won‘t be sun and rainbows. Everything and everyone won't just bow down to him because he's young and sweet. There‘s… There‘s no way Red Line‘s gonna work like that, Artyomich.“
„Well, maybe you have to make it work. Maybe if Leonid is the leader, you can be his general secretary and use the old and new ways together,“ Artyom got that idea in that very moment and right then realized how perfect it is. „That‘s the perfect opportunity, Pavel!“ his eyes lit up but Pavel was still highly skeptical.
„I‘m… I‘m just a Major, I‘m not...“
„But you know how things work. You‘ve been a perfect Red Line soldier for your whole life. You understand the military side of it, you understand the Red Line. You can help Leonid.“ Artyom was so excited by the idea he wasn't able to see anything else. Putting Pavel on Leonid‘s side would create the perfect balance. Pavel could still feel like he‘s loyal to his original ideals – he could push Leonid, just a little, to preserve the original communist ideology, and Leonid on the other side would show him a fresh way to look at things and if they worked together… they could create something new without chaos. They could create… order. As he always wanted.
„There‘s no way t-that‘s going to work...“ Pavel looked at Artyom with doubts, mostly doubts about himself, but then when he thought about it, he realized the Ranger is right, like most of the time. It made sense. It made sense but there was no way for Pavel to see himself in the lead, next to the Leonid especially.
„Listen,“ Artyom stepped closer to him with a serious face. „This… is the Red Line after the D6, Pavel. There‘s a lot of things you‘ll just have to make work. The situation is already so tense, people are unhappy and this… this can be the compromise everyone needs. This can help Metro, this can help Red Line, this can help to create order, Pavel. Isn‘t that… what you want? You can help him, Pavel. You can help Leonid make things better,“ Artyom tried to really appeal to his good side, and he knew there is a lot good somewhere in Pavel.
He didn‘t seem too thrilled, but he also didn‘t refuse.
Pavel nervously looked at Leonid as he was talking with others and studied him. Since he knew him, he was just this boy, running from everything – it was simply near impossible to imagine him as a leader but still… he changed, he wanted to change and he was serious about it. He really wanted to help people and… his father didn‘t. Or maybe he did, but not in a good way. Pavel tried to realize what Korbut made him do and what they convinced him is a good thing for people and this on the other hand… He didn‘t have to be convinced that what Leonid wants to do is the right thing. He knew.
In a moment of hesitation, when Pavel tried to think of what to do, Leonid turned his gaze to him, feeling his stare.
He smiled at Pavel in a very strange way he hasn‘t seen before – he remembered that Leonid always looked at him with this… disgust. He looked at him like at what he was – he looked at him like on a sheep following orders of those madmen in the power. Now it was different, now there was respect and gratitude in Leonid‘s eyes. Maybe he just knew that without Pavel‘s help, this whole thing was most likely never going to end up with him as a winner, or maybe it was because he really felt respect for Pavel now.
Major looked down, his eyes unsure.
„Maybe… you‘re right,“ he finally pushed these words out of himself. „Maybe this is a good thing…“ Pavel looked back up at Leonid. No matter if it was going to work or not and if they‘ll actually help the Red Line, this was… the plan for now. And after everything that happened, after all he has done, Pavel knew he has to work for it, he needs to give this new life a chance…
Either way, it was beginning of something big for everyone and for the whole Metro, no matter if people realized it.
Leonid Moskvin won the elections and became the leader of the Red Line, with Pavel as his counselor. Although there was still some resistance, and Nazi‘s didn‘t seemed to see it as the end of their disputes, it calmed down their relationships with Polis and Hanza. While Leonid tried with all his power to find that golden mean where people are happy while still staying true to the communist ideology, Pavel was gaining respect from the military, with help of few other allies, and began working on ways to minimalize their loses and tried to send more bullets to the hungry people than for the soldiers.
It was exciting, new time for the Metro – for the first time, the younger generation got into the lead which was going to show if they really can lead the Metro better than the ones from before the war and if the new ways actually can change things for the better.
There were a lot of first times for everyone, especially for Artyom.
He saw his first child being born.
He held Anna‘s hand as she pushed, her forehead sweaty and red until he saw that little bundle of happiness before them. The doctor gave him on her chest and after hours of painful labor, Anna was smiling, same as Artyom, when she could finally touch these little fingers of that little beautiful baby, slowly calming down in her mother‘s embrace. Artyom kissed Anna on the forehead and carefully caressed the boy. It was a moment he never imagined he will experience and nothing could make it more perfect.
As beautiful as other moments…
Like when they were lying on the bed in Pavel‘s room in Komsomolskaya, illuminated only by a dim light from an old oil lamp. It was another first time, as Artyom moved his oiled up fingers inside Pavel, trying to get him used to it even more than they already managed, putting the third finger in. When he heard a positive response in the form of pleasurable moans and groans, he took them out and gripped his own dick, making it as oily as possible for it to go in nicely. Artyom took his manhood and carefully placed it to Pavel‘s entrance, pushing in just a little.
„Relax, it‘s going to feel good. It‘s going to feel wonderful,“ he promised him in that sweet, sweet voice that made Pavel shiver with anticipation. Artyom still had problems pushing himself further but he remained patient, no matter how much he wanted it. „You‘re perfect to me,“ he whispered, moving his hand over Pavel‘s shaved head from the back all the way to the front until he reached his face and traced his prominent scar with his fingers. „All of you,“ Artyom smiled and moved his other hand to Pavel‘s cock, squeezing it and rubbing the head with his thumb. All of it was more than enough for Pavel to blissfully moan and relax, making Artyom‘s penis slip deeper into him like a knife through butter.
„That‘s it, that‘s it,“ he happily responded to Pavel‘s panting. „I‘ll be… careful. I swear.“ He knew he can't go all the way, not the first time, even though he wanted to. Oh how much he wanted to be all inside Pavel and see him underneath, both of them completely joined. It was all he could think about, dream about.
„Y-You… can move, chuvak,“ his voice was weak and quiet, almost to the point Artyom couldn‘t hear him. „Sdelayte eto, Artyom.“ Oh god, it was turning him on so much when he spoke like that, begging him in that beautiful accent. Pavel was doing good in getting used to… all of this. He was definitely better than Artyom expected. He needed his time, still. It all took a while, to erase all of those toxic thoughts he was brainwashed for his whole life to have. It took a while before he was able to look at Artyom after they kissed without quickly turning away. But he was quickly getting better in showing his feelings and letting him get closer. This was just one of those beautiful moments.
„Ugh, fuck… Yeah,“ he moaned into the sheets, lying on his chest with ass arched to give Artyom good access. The Ranger loved it when the comrade talked - it wasn't often, so when he did - when he begged him - it was driving him mad. He felt Artyom slowly filling him, making his cock ache and twitch. „O-Oh god, vy yebat' menya,“ his breathing intensified, and although he still wasn‘t looking at Artyom, he was talking and that was a lot more than the Ranger wished for.
He was the quiet one most of the time but that didn‘t mean he hasn‘t had those dirty thoughts Pavel cried out loud at that moment.
„You‘re so tight,“ Artyom whispered in a choked voice, his fingers firmly holding Pavel‘s ass cheeks. He was probably halfway in, maybe more. It was making him crazy. And when he reached down and felt Pavel‘s hard cock dripping with pre-cum, he knew he wasn‘t the only one. „I‘m… Shit… I‘m gonna move, alright?“ Artyom asked him while trying to hold onto his self-control. When Pavel nodded, he slowly moved his pelvis back and then thrust back in, going a little further than before.
As he fucked him, Artyom was touching every part of Pavel. He loved to touch him. After these few months, his body got back into its previous state – he had a little bit of a belly again, not too much. He was still muscular, but it was there and Artyom like him that way. His leg injury was getting better so Pavel was back to his former glory of capable Red soldier. When he was meeting Artyom in his new uniform, all proud and serious looking, Ranger wanted nothing more than to tear it all off him and fuck him right there, which was basically what happened before that moment…
„M-More, Artyomka,“ Pavel begged after he took his hand off him just for a moment. „I‘m gonna-… Touch me more,“ his mind was in a haze, all he wanted was to feel Artyom and feel good, it was all he thought about for the whole day, like every day they were supposed to have their secret, love-filled meeting.
Artyom smiled almost from ear to ear.
„As you wish, Atos,“ he kissed him on the cheek and grabbed his member again. It was taking a lot of self-control and concentration from Artyom to think about not pushing himself all the way in while moving and stroking Pavel. Together with his sweet moans, he wanted to just forget everything and let it go.
„M-Mmhmm… Blin…“ he cursed here and there, quietly, trying to hide his pleasure.
„Oh yeah, Pavel,“ Artyom kept thrusting faster, his usually calm and deep voice now colored with incoming orgasm as he felt climbing it higher and higher to the top but still tried to hold back just a little bit longer. Pavel was usually first to come – it was understandable with the way he had to suppress himself for so many years.
„Blyakha, it feels so… S-Shit, Art… Artyom...“ Pavel desperately squeezed his hand.
„I-I know, me too,“ he pushed his half-open mouth to Pavel‘s cheek, breathing hot air into his face as they both felt their bodies tremble and their dicks almost evenly ready to blow. And when they came, they fell tiredly to the bed next to each other, holding their shaking hands.
Once Pavel tasted how oh-so-beautiful it felt to have Artyom next to him, and inside him, he never wanted to be without it again. They met as often as their busy schedules allowed them to. Sometimes, Artyom had a mission, and Pavel had to deal with the Bandits, other times he had to help Leonid and Artyom was supposed to go and report something at D6. No matter what happened, they found time and met at one of their places, closing the door behind them and hugging tightly before giving each other a heated kiss.
And things worked out that way. They were happy.
One of those many blissful days, they ended up in Artyom‘s room again. Artyom was just cleaning Pavel‘s face from the white, sticky substance with a vicious smile plastered over his face.
„You like it,“ he said playfully, slightly biting his lip.
„Huh?“ Pavel looked up at him, still catching his breath, his cheeks red and dirty.
„When I cum on your face. You… You do it often. You like it, don‘t you?“ It was Artyom‘s little victory every time he figured something like that out. The little kinks and likes Pavel had. Pavel was a lot more open but he was still kind of shy in this sense so it felt nice to know what he truly likes. Pavel snorted and turned his head, slightly shameful. Well, he had cum all over his face, and before that, he was sucking Artyom dick for a good few minutes, so it was kind of hard to deny it...
„Sure I don‘t. Shut up, Artomyka,“ he jokingly pushed him and timidly smiled. Artyom knew what he really thinks before Pavel said the word, so he just leaned to him and kissed him. After that, Pavel grabbed a towel lying next to the bed to cleaned his face with it, while Artyom zipped his pants.
„How is Leonid, anyway? I didn‘t even have the time to ask, you jumped on me right when you came here...“ Ranger sneered at him.
„It‘s alright, um, you know. Same old, same old,“ he shrugged his shoulders. Pavel was still learning to work with Leonid but it seemed that they slowly got used to each other. They discovered their beliefs aren‘t as different as they first thought. It was just the way they went about it. They found the middle ground and they learned to work things out most of the time – for the people and for the Red Line. „We‘re doin‘ pretty fine, yeah.“
„I‘m happy to hear that,“ Artyom smiled sincerely.
„How‘s Anna?“ he looked at him, sounding slightly bitter. Artyom already found out how insecure Pavel is when it comes to Anna – he was worried Artyom will realize he wants to be with her, with a woman, with their son, and even though he tried to hide it, it was clearly something that bothered him a lot.
„It‘s great,“ Artyom nodded and took Pavel‘s hand to calm him down, giving him that ‚come on, don‘t worry‘ expression. „She‘s been acting… a little bit crazy these days – trying to work while taking care of the baby. Miller keeps telling her to take her time but she won‘t listen. But she‘s a good mother. She takes care of him well,“ Artyom smiled.
„I‘m sure you‘re a good parent too, chuvak,“ Pavel sighed, laying down again, leaning on Ranger‘s chest while he hugged him with his hands and kissed him on the cheek.
„You know, you should come to see him sometime.“
„I‘m not sure if she would be so happy about it,“ Pavel chuckled nervously.
„She‘s going to be fine, Pavel. She‘ll… get used to it, trust me. She will. Anna doesn‘t trust you too much still, but she will change her mind. She knows you‘re important to me and that you‘re actually helping now. She just needs her time,“ Artyom was fondling Pavel‘s shaved head while talking.
„And does she… knows…?“
„No. Of course not. I haven‘t told her about us, as you wanted. Don‘t worry, alright?“ he made Pavel look him in the eyes. „I haven‘t told anyone. We‘ll wait until you are ready. I already promised you and I meant it. We will wait, as long as you want.“
Pavel sorrowfully smiled.
He felt stupid. He felt so damn stupid for making Artyom keeping them a secret but… he wasn‘t ready. He just wasn‘t ready for everyone to know yet. He loved Artyom and he loved what they had but this was just another step he needed a little more time for. It made things difficult, and he could see on Artyom that he wanted to just scream it into the world because how proud and happy he was but…
„Spasibo, chuvak...“ Pavel gently caressed his cheek. He couldn´t be more grateful for someone like Artyom. „I, um… I finally... told Leonid a-about us yesterday…“ he breathed out slowly.
„Y-You did?“ Artyom looked at him with shock. „That‘s… That‘s great," his eyes lit up in the cutest way.
„I told him, y-yeah. He keeps talking about trust and how we need to… work together, so I… did it. He seemed happy… for us, you know. He's a nice guy. He seems to understand. But it‘s all I‘m ready for right now, D'Artagnan,“ he squeezed Artyom‘s hand and pushed himself closer to him. „Just give me a little more time.“
„Of course,“ Artyom deeply kissed him, happier about what he said than Pavel expected he'll be. „I‘m proud of you. Truly.“
„Blin. How is it so damn late? 'Have to go to that meeting soon,“ he tiredly sighed when he noticed the time on Artyom‘s watch as he laid next to him, coming for a kiss.
„Uh, yeah. We knew we won‘t have much time together today. I need to talk with my people too, when I get back,“ Artyom said but they still just laid there for few other minutes in silent embrace, enjoying the moment. „Just promise you‘ll come look at Portos soon, okay?“
„Tche,“ Pavel burst into laughter while shaking his head. „Damn, Artyom. I still can‘t fucking believe you convinced her to name him Portos. It‘s just… fucking marvelous,“ he immediately seemed to be in a genuinely better mood just thinking about it.
Artyom grinned.
„Well, she doesn‘t really know about all this. And she better never figures it out, for all of our‘s sake,“ he laughed. „I thought it‘s… nice nod to… what we have. He may be my and Anna‘s son but… he‘ll learn how important you are to me when he‘s older. We will go on a lot of adventures together, the three of us. Like the actual Musketeers,“ he felt warmth in his heart thinking about it. „They may be my blood family but… you‘re my family too. That won‘t change. I don‘t want it to change, ever,“ Artyom warmly smiled and looked at Pavel in a way… that just screamed that he‘s so in love with him and every time he did it, it just touched Pavel‘s soul.
„You see, Artyom,“ he remembered something he meant to tell him for a longer time, „next time you talk with… those apes, just tell them… I guess just tell them I‘m glad they… fucked up my life the way they did. Okay?“ he said with a thoughtful smile on his face, quite unusual for the Major. Artyom looked at him in shock for a few moments. Was he… grateful to them? Pavel? „But they better not get into my head again, ponimat'?“
„Do not worry,“ Artyom quickly kissed him. „They won‘t. I will tell them next time,“ he smiled at him.
„Alright,“ Pavel nodded and after another moment finally got up with an unhappy moan. He didn‘t want, but they were out of time. „Gotta go, Artyomich. I… promise I will meet our little Musketeer soon, khorosho?“ Pavel stretched out for his shirt and then turned back to Artyom to give him a kiss. He just laid there, looking happy, with no worry in the world, at least for a moment.
„Alright.“
„I‘m sure he‘s handsome. Will be real heart breaker when he‘s older,“ Pavel chuckled for himself when he was getting dressed. He didn‘t want to admit it but no matter how complicated the situation was, he was… happy with how everything ended up. Everything was in a right place and he never felt that good in his life.
Life in the Metro definitely still wasn‘t perfect.
There was no way of saying when‘s the next big threat gonna appear, be it mutants or humans… But for the first time in Artyom‘s and Pavel‘s life, they got into the point where their current situation was the most important, because it was wonderful and perfect and no matter what, they were just gonna protect and preserve it as long as possible.
They had each other, after all of the struggles and suffering, they had something they could cherish, something they didn‘t wanted to lose.
And maybe that was just the thing they really needed, everyone. People living in a broken world, surface destroyed by the radiation, maybe all of the people really needed a bright future to look forwards to, to keep their darkest side hidden, to stop more bloodshed.
Maybe that was what Dark Ones really wanted them to understand. No matter why they did what they did, no matter why they kept helping Artyom, if it was for him or just for humanity itself, he was grateful and he was going to repay it to them for the rest of his days.