John Wick: Within a Dark Wood

"What?" His voice was low and nearly inaudible. John Wick was not a man to show emotions, but his eye gave a slight involuntary twitch in shock. It was subtle enough that no one would have noticed except Elisa. Her words had struck him deeply and she saw it in the faint flinch of his dark eyes even as his face remained stoic. "You sold your body..." he whispered, unable to finish the sentence as a myriad of emotions went through him. Shock gave way to a rolling mix of sadness and anger that thundered inside his soul threatening to tear him apart even as he stood in perfect stillness.

His heart ached that she would have ever believed it necessary to compromise herself just to make a dream they had shared come true. He was angry at what he perceived as his own failure and he wished he could have been there to stop it. When they were children had he not promised to protect her? If he had known then he surely would have killed The Elder when he met him a few days ago at his desert oasis. The man had even mentioned that he had not taken his gun. True, it was doubtful he could have made it out of there alive, but if anyone could, it was John fucking Wick. He really didn't know which was worse, that she even entertained the notion or that she thought he would have approved.

"That you believe I would ever do that is beyond insulting and tells me just how much you have changed John." she clapped back, insulted by his assumption. "The deal was five years. For five years I would have to work as his personal bodyguard and assassin. I made it very clear that I would tolerate nothing but professional behavior from him or anyone. If he thought I would perform any other 'duties' he was greatly mistaken and he agreed to those terms. There was one stipulation and that was I could have no contact with you or any other associate. I thought this was simply an arbitrary decision until I realized just how much time was spent dispatching would-be assassins with more ambition than brains. The only ones with knowledge of my whereabouts were The Elder of course, the members of the high Table and the top members of the Tarasov family."

"For a year I didn't hear from you," John commented softly. "I talked to every shadow informant I could find. I thought you were dead."

"I surmised as much. After completing my third year I received a large anonymous envelope with pictures along with my breakfast." Here Elisa grew quiet as she remembered that particular morning. She couldn't have told you if it was sunny or cloudy, cold or hot, but she could remember every detail of that brown paper envelope. "It contained a number of pictures. They were of you and a woman... Helen. You looked so happy." Indeed he had been. Never had she seen him looking so peaceful and it radiated from his smile and eyes in a way she had never believed possible. She could also remember the woman in the pictures as well. She was soft, with a delicate air, smiling and bright. How could he not be drawn to her? She was everything Elisa was not and she envied her. Whatever feelings Elisa had, died as she looked at those photos. "The package had no return address and the letter inside was typed, but I was fairly confident that it had been sent to me by Viggo Tarasov because it spoke in detail of the 'little task' you were engaged in to secure your freedom. I think he was hoping that I would come running and break you two up so he could keep you in his employ."

"Little task," John echoed, knowing she was being sarcastic in her description. For anyone else it would have been impossible, but one by one, John had taken down each and every enemy on Viggo's hit list as well as made deals and blood oaths with high ranking members to ensure a foundation of power was laid at Viggo Tarasov's feet. All of this had taken a great deal of time and given the period of which Elisa was speaking, he would have only just begun his trials. Perhaps Viggo was already beginning to suspect that the task was not as impossible for John Wick as he had thought.

"Obviously I did not come running, but I did approach The Elder and explained that things had changed and I would not be leaving the organization so the contract was now null and void. That is when he offered me a new deal. He wanted to see what exactly had changed my mind about staying so I showed him the photos. He was silent for several minutes then asked if I intended to fight for you and I told him no. He said I was wise because even if I could persuade you to walk away from Helen it would cause you pain and regret. He added that if I truly loved you then I would let you go and let you be happy. I laughed and reminded him that I never once claimed to love you only that we both desired freedom. That's when he laughed and said that such a declaration proved I had great wisdom besides great skill."

"I assume he amended his deal then." John's dark eyes burned like fire as he watched her, impatient to know what sort of deal she had made. He was still unconvinced that she had not sold herself and while he did not regret his choice to be with Helen, he did wonder what would have happened if he had tried harder to find his childhood friend. "Elisa..." In his mind he was imagining the worst possible scenarios, none of which sounded like something the woman he had known would ever willingly agree too. Once more he felt a surge of anger, disappointment and sadness and he couldn't tell who it was directed at more. Was it The Elder for making the proposition, her for taking it, or himself for not being there to stop it.

"I was on the point of leaving when he asked me if I had ever heard the story of the blind meadowlark. I tried to recall every book we had ever read and honestly I had never heard of that one. He explained that because the bird was blind it knew nothing of freedom, beauty or the world, but it sang beautifully. So beautifully that an old king offered it all the riches and love he had if it would sing for him each day. The meadowlark accepted the offer and was content until one day a powerful young god heard its song and was so pleased that he gave the meadowlark its sight. For the first time the bird could see the beauty of the world and could go wherever it wanted. The god begged the bird to fly away with him and see and experience all of the majesty and wonders the earth had to offer. The meadowlark longed with all its heart to go, but would not break its word to the old king and remained where it was. In the end the bird died alone and broken-hearted. He then asked if that was really how I wanted to end up."

"You had spent three years burying yourself in death, hoping for life." He summed up exactly what The Elder had seen and on this point they agreed.

Elisa could still hear him reminding her that there were other roads, other futures and even other men. He followed this up by sending everyone away and leaving them alone. It was only then that he admitted that she had come to his attention long before she ever came into his personal employ. Usually an admission of this nature was of little to no interest to her. Plenty of men had been attracted to her before and she always dismissed them. If they were too insistent then there were other ways of quietly but effectively getting your 'no' across. A knife to the femoral artery was a favorite. This time was completely different and she couldn't help but be intrigued.

Rising from his chair, The Elder was an imposing figure, a King Solomon dressed in his finest linen robes that were decorated in brightly colored silk brocade, edged in silver and gold thread. His thick dark hair was hidden beneath a matching bejeweled Shemagh head scarf, but his glittering dark eyes watched her intently while his fingers momentarily stroked his well trimmed goatee. While Elisa was flattered to have garnered the attention of such a powerful man, there was still a problem.

"You love him then," John could not say he approved of such a choice, but if The Elder made her happy and took care of her then who was he to question it. No doubt if Helen or her family had known anything about his past then they certainly would have objected to such a match.

"Hardly. I felt nothing for the man but indifference and I told him so. In response, he only laughed. She could still remember his words vividly.

"Would you so readily throw away the chance to open your eyes to a world you have never experienced and a life you have only dreamed of all because of an unimportant emotion?" he had asked her. "I'm afraid your John has found his own beautiful young goddess with which to live his life, why shouldn't you? I have no expectation of securing your affections, but then people like you and I are not about following anything as petty as our emotions, that would be a weakness. It is, however, within our power to help each other fulfill our wildest dreams and imaginings without allowing anything so messy as feelings to interfere."

"What he said made sense to me, but I also knew that The Elder never gave anything without receiving something in return. The more we talked, the more the details came out. I would be able to walk away from the Tarasov's, the High Table and the world of assassins, while pursuing whatever my heart desired or nothing at all. He offered me a fortune above and beyond what I had already achieved for myself. All I had to do was give him one thing in return."

John could already guess the answer to that and indeed, a thousand names for it (some more crude than others) were already passing through his mind. He wasn't angry that she had chosen to be The Elder's mistress, just terribly disappointed that she would demean herself in such a manner. That they could be so unthinking as to have allowed such a "business arrangement" to accidentally produce offspring bothered him too. Children need a home, family and affection, not a cold business arrangement or the unfeeling grooming of the Tarasov 'Russian Ballet'. He would have thought that Elisa, of all people, would have known that.

Believing that he now understood what The Elder had wanted, Elisa Drake was puzzled by her friend's look of disappointment. Of all the intangible dreams they had once spoken of, children had never even been a thought. She doubted that in the five years he was with Helen they even breathed the word 'child' or 'offspring'. They were assassins, ate up with death and pain, not nurturers. Children are far too innocent and should never be exposed to such a thing if it can be avoided in any way. So why Baba Yaga should be disappointed that she would give an heir to The Elder and not him was baffling.

Of course Elisa had failed to reckon with the possibility that she was projecting her own unrequited feelings onto John Wick and assuming facts not in evidence. She had never really seen herself as the motherly type and were it not for a month of hard negotiation that would have tested the most dedicated of diplomats, Harun, would never have been born. Now she would not trade her son for any price, but there had been moments when she had wished his father could have been John rather than The Elder. Seeing her old friend's disappointment and feeling this desire within herself, she mistakenly believed that he wished the same.

"I've never known you to care about having an heir, John."

"What?" he looked up at her sharply, this was not a thought he had ever even allowed to cross his mind let alone actually entertain. Seeing the flash of shock, Elisa instantly realized her error, but quickly buried it behind her mask of stoicism.

"That was what he wanted. A blood heir to be groomed to take his place above the high table when he had either died or had become too old to do so effectively." No doubt John was wondering the same thing she had when the Elder had made that initial proposal, why her. This was a question that Elisa still couldn't answer.

If she could have peered into John's thoughts she would have found that he knew the answer better than she did. It was no exaggeration to say that The Elder had met more than a few assassins, but never had he looked into the eyes of any woman and seen his equal until he met her. As the man ruling over the High Table, he was accustomed to unwavering loyalty from those beneath him, willing to do whatever he wanted regardless of price, but in Elisa he saw something more desirable. She had fire, spirit, an ability to bite back rather than blindly obey. These were traits he wanted his child to possess along with a few others. 'Focus', 'commitment' and 'sheer will' were the favorite words used to describe either Baba Yaga or Azhdaya, at least by those lucky enough to survive an encounter with them. This was a woman strong enough to bear a healthy child and more than a match for anyone attempting to abduct or assassinate the heir to the High Seat.

Elisa tried to read her old friend's face, but couldn't make out what he was feeling or thinking. The look of disappointment was gone and in its place was the motionless mask he was famous for. No doubt he was taking in what she had said and the implications of what it meant. Such information could be easily bought and sold then used to topple The Elder and herself. It could also mean certain death for her son. Yes, she had placed the very life of her son in his hands, but if there was one man she could trust to never breathe a word of it, then it was John Wick.

"Where is he now?" John asked.

"Safe," she answered. Yes, she trusted her old friend, but was still not foolish enough to disclose the whereabouts of The Elder's son. Not to mention, the less he knew the less anyone could try to force out of him. Elisa was confident that he still wouldn't tell, but there was no reason to risk him needlessly enduring the depraved kinds of torture their associates could dish out.

"You said a small band of gold was too valuable to give as a show of fealty to The Elder, but he'll never be able to take away my time with Helen or the memories I have of her. She'll live as long as I do. You... you bound yourself to him forever when you gave him an heir. You wear the mark of freedom on your skin but you'll never be free!" he wasn't thinking about the life she had created but rather the ultimate price as he saw it. A different sort of servitude and far more binding than any fealty he could have sworn. He looked at the woman before him and for a moment saw only the small scared child that she had once been in the dormitory, the little girl he had once promised to protect.

"I knew the cost when I made my decision and believe it or not I could have walked away as soon as he was born. It's what I had planned to do... then I saw him." Elisa's blue eyes looked past her old friend at the wall behind him. She wasn't seeing the stainless steel shelving at all, but rather remembering that small little red face squalling with its oversized closed eyes, shock of dark hair and small wrinkly body. Until that moment she had never known what absolute pure innocence looked like and nothing in her existence had prepared her for what such a sight would do to her heart. Suddenly she was more than willing to tie herself to The Elder if it meant protecting her son and she was not the only one who changed. As The Elder looked upon his son he found himself wanting something better for him than a palace oasis built on nothing but death and decay.

"Yes, I am bound to him because of Harun but The Elder is forever bound to me as well. There are no vows between us, nor will there ever be, but when it comes to that boy we are as one mind. He does not know who or what we really are and we don't want him to. We are both determined to give him a life filled with joy and light, not darkness and death." Elisa leaned forward and placed her hand on John's cheek, the dark hair of his beard feeling smooth and soft beneath her fingers. It was warm, comforting and familiar. Touching him again was like experiencing that first warm spring day after a long cold winter. If only it could last. "Did you not feel something like that with Helen?" John closed his eyes and covered her hand with his own. Yes he had. He could not say that he agreed with her initial choice, but now he understood why she stayed. "To keep Harun safe, I was granted more than freedom, I was given full immunity. Attacking me is the same as signing your own death warrant."

John had no doubt this was true. Until now he had only heard stories about such a mark as well as vague sketches, but this was the first time he had ever known someone with it. He closed his eyes and thought back to those simple quiet nights on the roof of the dormitory. How simple the world had seemed back then. His heart also ached for those few short years with Helen when his soul was at its lightest and brightest. He was also thinking of something Viggo Tarasov had once said, the words haunting his memory.

"A lot of us are rewarded for our misdeeds, which is why God took your wife and unleashed you upon me. This life follows you. It clings to you, infecting everyone who comes close to you. We are cursed, you and I."

Elisa's life had been equally as violent and wicked as his own and try as hard as she liked she would never be able to wash herself clean of it. The check would come due. For a moment he wanted to yell at his old friend to grab her son and run as far from the city as she possibly could before God presented her with a bill that could only be paid for with the life of her son. He didn't want Elisa to have to feel that kind of pain. He also knew that there was no way to cheat death if his icy hand reached out for you, but still, he felt compelled to say something... to warn her.

"Erzsébet," he began, his voice wavering as his hand gently squeezed the one she held against his cheek. He didn't know how to proceed, but it didn't really matter. Before he could go any further a small light in the corner of the store room began to flash, alerting Elisa to intruders on the property.