It was a nice, sunny day, so the students were lounging around outside instead of in the cafeteria.

A 15 year-old Zoya Dubovitskaya, sans dyed hair, was reading a book under a large oak tree behind the school. She was hunched over her book in an attempt to hide the title, Spells for Young Witches, as her peers had taken to calling her Baba Yaga. She had to give the credit for research, the jerks.

"Hey, Baba Yaga!" Her most frequent tormenter, Alan Stacey and his goon squad were making their way over.

"Leave me alone." she growled. She didn't want another fight, she didn't want to have to lie to her family about why her clothes were dirty or eyes red from crying. She didn't want to burden her brother with something she should be able to deal with herself.

"What are you gon' do? Hex me?" Alan made some swooshy gestures with his hands, earning chuckles from his cronies.

"Don't you have something better to do, mu-dak?" she spat, getting to her feet.

The atmosphere changed, and Zoya couldn't help but back up into the tree as Alan's smile dropped.

"What did you call me?" he asked softly.

"I called you a mu-dak!" she replied defiantly.

Alan rushed forward, and before Zoya could react he'd shoved her to the ground.

"Take that back, you little Devil worshipper!" he yelled, pushing her down again when she tried to get back up.

"You don't even know what it fucking means, you idiot!"

Alan grabbed her by the back of her shirt and effectively threw her into the tree. Zoya felt the rough bark scrape her face, and when she touched her cheek, her fingers came away spotted with blood.

Flanked by two of his friends, Alan crouched down in front of her, leaning in so close that she could hear his heavy breathing.

"You tell anyone, and that scratch gon' seem like nothin'. You get me?" His cold gaze never left hers and she could feel her breathing start to pick up.

When she didn't answer he grabbed her wrist hard enough to bruise.

"You get me?!" he screamed, pulling her in until they were nose to nose. Zoya tried not to let the tears that were forming show, instead resolutely meeting his gaze.

"Trakhni tebya."

He sneered, raising his fist-

"Hey!"

Alan jumped to his feet, only to be knocked down by a hit to the face. Zoya watched as her brother threw himself at Alan, punching and kicking like he'd gone mad. She winced, hiding behind her hands when Alan landed a hit of his own on what looked like Alexie's cheekbone.

Get up! Fucking do something!

Zoya hated herself for not doing something and just letting her brother save her. But it had never been this bad before.

She didn't dare look up even once the noise had stopped, only moving when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Please, don't hurt me!" she cried, trying to scramble away but she ended up tripping over her bag.

"Zosha, it's just me..." Alexie murmured, holding his hands up as if trying to placate a wild animal. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, despite the tears streaming down her cheeks. Alexie didn't believe her for one minute. She shuffled closer, ignoring her protests and gathering her into a hug.

Zoya struggled, trying to get away. "I'm fine, Alyosha! Please, I'm fine!"

But the words slowly gave way to crying, and she curled up tighter, a vice-like grip on his arm.

"How long has this been happening?" he asked, switching to their native tongue for privacy.

"Not long after Mama died..." she whispered.

Alexie hugged her tighter, trying not to let his rage take over again, hard as it was.

You've been letting them hurt her for nearly three years now... he thought.

"Let's get you to the nurse."

Zoya shook her head frantically, letting out a frightened whimper.

"I don't want people to look," she mumbled.

Alexie patted her head consolingly.

"Everyone's outside, Zosha. And if we spot anyone, and I mean anyone, you make a break for it, while I cause a distraction." His tone was so serious that Zoya couldn't help letting out a watery laugh.

Alexie smiled, gently pulling her to her feet and dusting off her book, before handing it back to her.

~~~

The two siblings sat in silence as the school nurse fussed over them. Zoya still hadn't let go of Alexie, now holding onto his sleeve.

"Don't tell Dad about this." she begged, her voice still hoarse from crying.

Alexie looked at her nonplussed, causing the nurse to hold his face still so that she could disinfect his various cuts without poking him in the eye.

"You want me to lie to him about his daughter being bullied?"

Zoya ran her finger over the plaster on her cheek absentmindedly.

"He's still broken up about Mama. I don't wanna make things harder for him."

While Alexie could understand not wanting to be a burden, it still didn't feel right.

"Okay."

Zoya simply stared at the floor tiles, only nodding slightly in thanks.

When their father pulled up to the front door ten minutes later, the two siblings had settled on an excuse.

The entire drive home was dead silent, from when he'd ushered them into the car to stopping in the driveway of their house.

"You want to tell me why I'm getting calls that my children are in the nurse's office?" he finally asked.

"Things got a bit rough in P.E, that's all." Zoya tried to give him an easy smile. Their father glanced back at them through the rear view mirror, a sceptical brow raised.

"That's it? You're not getting into trouble or anything?" he asked. "No drugs or knife fights?"

"Dad, it's just school!" Alexie cried.

"I'm just checking in!" He turned around in his seat to face his children. "Things have been...hard since your mom died and-" He paused to clear his throat. "I just want to make sure you're doing okay."

Zoya gave a genuine, albeit sad smile, leaning forward to hug him.

"We're okay, Dad. Thanks." she whispered.

He patted her back before pulling away.

"Now get inside. Your Dedushka needs help with the newspaper. This week's puzzles stumped him." he said.

Zoya left the car a bit more eagerly, but before Alexie could follow her the locks clicked. He looked up at his Dad in confusion.

"I know she's lying, Alyosha." he murmured, his eyes downcast. "What's so wrong that she can't talk to me?"

Alexie didn't want to go against his sister's wishes, but something had to be done in order to keep her safe. He met his father's eyes, trying to ignore the now ever present sadness in them.

"She's being bullied at school," he admitted. "It's been going on since just after Mom died."

His Dad swore under his breath, running a hand over his tired face.

"She didn't want me to say anything, didn't want to worry you. But they're-" Alexie's voice broke. "They hurt her, Dad."

Alexie sniffed, trying to stop breaking down.

"I'll talk to her,"

Alexie simply nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

"Hey, you did the right thing telling me." His Dad sent him a comforting smile. "And by standing up for her, even if it wasn't in the best way."

He pointed at the bruises and cuts on Alexie's face, specifically the now visible black eye.

"No more of this," he demanded. "I don't like seeing either of my kids hurt."

"Yes, Dad."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Coruscant_Cosmonaut SincerelyLoki curiosityanddreams Avengers14 ceaseless-watchr

mu-dak - literal meaning: shithead. derived from an old Russian word meaning a castrated pig

Trakhni tebya - fuck you

look at me posting another chapter so soon, even if it is just a flashback! *high-fives self*

anyway, i wanted to give some ✨angsty backstory✨ before fun friendships and deadly shenanigans ensue, so here's some kids beating each other up. enjoy! also, if you're curios, i kinda picture the dad as Timothy Olyphant