Advantages

It's never been about making Alex into a superkid or some such nonsense. Ordinary is a very loose definition that fits nobody and Alex having a few unusual skills – well, so does millions of other children. Many children speak several languages fluently, many children know all sorts of extreme sports and many children know the tricks behind pick-pocketing. Alex isn't the only one. And, yes, not many children have all these different skills at once, but Alex has always been special – overlooking that there's really no such thing as special in the same way that there's no such thing as ordinary.

Alex is special to him though. Alex is his child. Not biologically (he's never been all that interested in sex; that was John's thing), but Alex is his responsibility. He just wants what's best for him. Never mind that other people question his motives. It really is all for Alex.

After the 'accident' (which he knows wasn't an accident) he started having all sorts of dreams. He'd imagine John screaming for help in the wreck and Helen -beautiful, innocent Helen- lying broken at his side. He had several others (John dying in enemy crossfire; Helen being stabbed to death; John and Helen dying in a fire) and it really shouldn't have surprised him that he eventually started thinking about Alex.

Alex dying in a plane crash (like his parents before him); Alex being shot by a sniper; Alex caught in a fire; Alex taken as a hostage (they have all sorts of enemies); Alex drowning in the Thames; Alex falling out of his cot and dying.

And then there are the tamer ones:

Alex lost in London; Alex bitten by a dog(they won't get a pet, he decides suddenly in the middle of the night); Alex breaking a bone; Alex getting into the - very sharp - cutlery; Alex having an unknown allergy(testing might be a good idea); Alex getting sick.

And Ian wonders if this is how a parent feels, regardless of the fact that he's not a real parent. He really isn't. Someone like him can't be; so he tells himself.

Staring into that chubby face, knowing that he's responsible for someone to such a large extent, was terrifying at the time when he first realized that he was all Alex had. Ash never showed much interest in Alex and Ian knows that they're on their own.

It terrifies him. It takes him weeks to leave Alex out of his sight for more than a few seconds. He doesn't return to work until a month has passed, and even then it's under protest. Ian needs the money – he can already picture the university expenses and the other things Alex will want. He needs to work. Besides, it's a desk job. It's boring and tedious, but it's safe. He won't leave Alex like Ian and Helen did. It takes him six months to stop checking up on Alex every other hour.

He ignores it when people say that he's training Alex to follow in his father's footsteps. He ignores the need to very pointedly ask them in which situation they think knowing an extra language or two might hurt. Or a situation where Alex knowing how to use karate might be a disadvantage (now he can see Alex disabling his would-be-hostage-takers in his dreams). It isn't their business.

Pick-pocketing is useful if you lose your money and identification in an unknown country. Alex knows that you have to pay people back. It's just intended for borrowing purposes, until Alex is home safe. Until Alex is back with him.

It's all about giving Alex advantages. It's all about making sure Alex survives. Even if Alex never becomes anything more than a football player – which Ian thinks he can accept easily (much safer than going into the army or something like that) – all the skills he gains as a child will be helpful in his future. Maybe there's one or two that he'll never use, but that's a good thing.

Ian just wants Alex to stay safe.