The last several months had been nothing like Elizabeth expected them to be. Coming into this assignment, she figured her life would be a never ending mental checklist of everything she needed to report to the Bureau. Saturday evenings, the one night a week she was free to do as she wished, Elizabeth would drive twenty miles into the next city to meet with an FBI liaison and turn in all the information she had gathered. She knew it was a matter of time before the Bureau had everything they needed to start cracking down on the Panzermensch and their associated criminal activity.
But since she had come, Elizabeth had become rather close to Radek. She still couldn’t believe someone as kind and sociable as him could truly be in a gang as infamous as this one. Though she was loyal to her duty as an undercover agent, she couldn’t help feeling guilty every time she reported on the gang. Radek, as well as a few others, didn’t seem like they truly wanted to be with Panzermensch, and did so because they had to. Whether it was out of sympathy or spending too much time with the gang was causing her to develop a “loyalty amongst thieves” attitude, Elizabeth never revealed their identities to the Bureau liaison. She wanted to protect them, especially Radek.
Today was a special occasion of sorts. Radek talked almost every day about his friend’s bakery, raving about the food and various sweets that could be made there. He had promised her dozens of times to bring her something someday and well, today was the day. A surprised look dawned on her pale face when she saw the good looking Russian walk into the room, his arms filled with goodies. “Radek, did you buy out the whole bakery?” She joked. “Honestly, I thought you’d only have one cupcake for me!”
Elizabeth could smell cookies and promptly picked one up. As he had said, it was still warm and soft. “But seriously, this is perfect. Everything looks wonderful.” She took a bite of the round disk of chocolate chips. “Wow.” She murmured, her mouth full. Elizabeth chewed for a moment before speaking again. “You weren’t kidding. This is amazing.”
Not wanting to spoil her lunch by having dessert first, Elizabeth carefully put down the remainder of the cookie and picked up one of the sandwiches. Also warm, when she unwrapped them, the heavenly smell of freshly baked bread filled her senses. “Did I imagine my life to be like this?” No, she didn’t. Joining the Bureau, she never thought she’d be placed into Deep Cover so soon. “No. I thought I’d be waitressing tables for a few years then maybe work up to restaurant manager. And double no. To be frank, I didn’t expect my life with the Panzermensch to be anything like this. I mean, in what other gang would a high ranking member bring his subordinate baked goods?”
At this point in time, Radek was completely unaware of her affiliation with the bureau, which was for the best currently. “Not the whole bakery no...just a good chunk is all.” He laughed, flashing her a grin. It was always so easy to smile around her he found himself doing so often. He was glad to see she seemed to feel the same way. “I told you so. She’s the best at baking. To be honest she was part of why I joined the Panzermensch. I never really had a dream for myself, but she had a dream. Her own bakery, helping and feeding people...I thought it was worth fighting for. I didn’t have a dream to fight for and hers seemed worthwhile” He shrugged, relaxing. He felt safe opening up around her, like he could tell her things he couldn’t tell others,not even his friends within or outside the gang. She knew his soft and happy side, but she had also seen him beat a man’s face in when he wouldn’t talk, and she still accepted him afterward. He honestly hoped she would stay in the gang for a long time like him, but a small part of him really hoped she didn’t and that she would find something safe and good for her to do with her life. He didn’t really see any other path that was open for him outside of the Panzermensch.
“I bet this beats busing tables by a long shot.” He chuckled before taking another bite of his food. “But to be fair...I don’t think other people’s subordinates look quite as nice as you. I honestly don’t understand how you do it, even after a rough fight and covered in blood and bruises you still manage to look like you walked out of a magazine page.” He smirked at her, always happy to pay her a compliment, especially when he thought it was true.
“I think you would like her if you met her.” He said, before clarifying. “My friend who owns the bakery. She was the first person to ever really show me any type of kindness in this world. You guys have a lot in common, personality wise. You’re both very kind, and care about others.” He said ,remembering the reason she told him for why she had joined the gang. “We need more people like you two in this world, I think.” He sighed, before shaking his head. “I’m doing that thing where I get weirdly serious for me, aren’t I?” He laughed, leaning back again. He didn’t mean for the words to come out, but he trusted her at this point, and she had made an effort to get to know the man behind the gang commander ranking and he had noticed and appreciated it. He was glad she was by his side for whatever battles they might face next, however temporary her place in his life might be.
