These Are Very Dangerous and Difficult Times [dated to 10/31]

[chesspolitik]

By the day of Halloween, Anatoly was completely convinced that danger was lurking around every corner and that no corner of the island was safe. There was simply no telling where Molokov or de Courcey could be and he was afraid that if he stepped outside, even for a moment, that they would find a way to snatch him. He could only begin to imagine what sort of things they would have in store for him and he did not want to find out how the reality matched with his fears.

But as inconvenient as it was, he did need to do things like shower and eat and for that, he had to leave his hut. If Lex had not been there to act as his faithful bodyguard, he would have been content to remain a hungry and rather ripe grandmaster. Their trip to the compound passed without incident and after being reassured several times that Lex would be waiting in the rec room for him, Anatoly went to take a shower.

When he emerged and headed to the rec room, clean (if not exactly clean shaven), he found not Lex but a note in his handwriting. Opened, it simply said that Lex had spotted Molokov lurking about and advised him to leave the compound as soon as possible. He would be waiting outside and then the two of them could go to the IPD.

Without thinking or even stopping to pack up his chess set, Anatoly fled the rec room, heedless of the startled looks around him. He burst outside of the Compound and turned the corner, expecting to see Lex waiting for him. Instead, he found Molokov with de Courcey besides him with a nasty smirk. There was a burst of pain as Molokov's fist connected with his face and then he knew only blackness.

When his consciousness finally returned, he found himself tied to a palm tree on a deserted stretch of the beach. Lex was tied to a tree beside him, looking rather worse for the wear. Molokov and de Courcey weren't in sight but he had no doubt they were near, concocting some devious plan.

"Molokov, you Chekist bastard!" he shouted in Russian as he struggled futilely against his bonds. "What do you hope to accomplish by this?"

Comments

[loveofmasters]

Florence was staying home. Not only had Jack insisted, but she really had no inclination to go wandering about when people's worst nightmares were supposed to be wandering around. She just knew she wouldn't be of any help and if anything, she'd be in the way. So today, she wasn't doing anything that took her more than a few steps away from her own front door.

Like building up the fire pit outside so she could make something for lunch and dinner. She was getting pretty good at cooking in the rough so to speak, but she was thinking that an actual stove was going to be needed eventually. Maybe she could get Jack to find her one as a wedding present. But for now, she lit the fire and started building it up before she placed the grill top over it, pausing as she thought she heard something in the distance.

[lysistrategic]

Since the afternoon she read Anatoly in on her covert status, Joan's been watching for Molokov and de Courcey. She hasn't seen even a hint of them, except in Anatoly's increasingly panicked behavior. Arthur tells her that this is like the amnesia, effecting people selectively, and while she's terribly glad neither of their fears has shown up to haunt them and push her toward the clinic's narcotic stores, she's as concerned for Anatoly as she would be if he were one of her assets. More, because she loves him dearly. Arthur, fortunately, has been a rock, never once questioning the appropriateness of their relationship.

So when Halloween rolls around and the island fills with terrors, some recognizable, some not, it's to Arthur that Joan turns immediately. She's been to see Anatoly this morning and he's not around; there are signs of struggle. This all she tells Arthur and then says, "I have a plan, but you're not going to like it."

[pitythetrumper]

Unbelievable. Anatoly hadn't showed up for their game. Freddie's immediate thought was that it was because he was sick. What other reason could their be for him to miss a game? Though he thought that even sick, Anatoly would at least drag himself to the table if not be entirely coherent. The problem was that there was a chess board in their usual spot. There was Anatoly's board in their usual spot and that just made his stomach clench. No. Impossible. Freddie refused to believe it. As much as he might have wanted Anatoly gone at one point, things were different now and he refused to believe that he was gone for good. Refused.

Steeling himself, he decided to look. It had done a fat lot of good last time, but he wasn't just going to break down without at least a fight. He'd done that once in his life and he wasn't going to do it a second time.

That meant doing the rounds. Unfortunately, he didn't know Anatoly's life as well as he had Prior's. The Compound, Anatoly and Lex's hut, and...and he wasn't sure. Except he was and he just didn't want to risk it. So before stopping off at Florence's, he went to go see if he could find the boyfriend. As much as Freddie didn't want to formally introduce himself, he didn't want to see the look on Florence's face if she was his last resort in finding Anatoly and he wasn't with her.

Now all he had to do was find...what was his name again?

[molokovcocktail]

With Lex captured and de Courcey off to apprehend the irritating Miss Vassey, there was only one person left to take before Molokov could begin his game in earnest. How Sergievsky managed to draw beautiful women into his spell he did not know but by all accounts, this Joan was certainly his type.

Certainly he would have expected him to drop the little rent boy he was living with and fling himself into her arms but that had always been the problem with Sergievsky. He was completely predictable until something caught his fancy and then he would stick with this person long beyond reason would have said to let her go. Molokov had never quite figured out Sergievsky's critera for his moments of stubborn stupidity but that wasn't a matter of concern any longer. Tonight, he and de Courcey were going to have their revenge.

[capable_of]

As Lex started to wake up, he groaned. Not from the fact his head hurt, because it did, but because he hadn't missed the feeling of waking up with a sore head from Smallville. Then, he remembered why he was feeling this way and he sat up, straining against the bonds holding him to the tree.

"Anatoly, are you alright?" He asked in a low voice, his anger growing as he looked around for the damn cause of this mess.