AN: My second fan-fiction. Please read and enjoy!
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Alex fell onto his knee pads for the second time. He had been rafting, kayaking, and even water skiing, but he could not grasp roller skating. Jack was trying to teach him during his summer break.
"Alex, hurry up!" Jack called, amused, from the next street. Alex frowned at the street sign – it was Liverpool, the street with MI6's headquarters. Jack had apparently not noticed, and she turned the corner.
Gripping the guard rail by the side of the road, Alex slowly pulled himself towards Jack, while trying to stay on his feet.
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When Alex turned the corner, he saw Jack staring at the Royal & General Bank's door. "Alex, this is where Ian worked, isn't it?" she said, almost too quietly. Alex pulled himself to her and sat on the guardrail. He nodded solemnly when she looked at him after a moment.
Jack started to roller skate to the stairs that led up to the door, despite Alex's verbal protests. He moved to stop her, but quickly sat again when he remembered his roller skating skills. He watched as Jack went inside, wondering what they would do to her. Most likely, they would keep up the bank front, as she was a civilian. Alex sighed softly.
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Alice, Betty, and Carol were skipping along with their jump ropes. They were all first graders who were walking around the block. Alice stopped in front of a bank upon noticing what she thought was a sad, lost, older boy.
"Are you lost?" Alice said comfortingly to the older boy. Betty and Carol stopped behind her, also feeling compassion for the 'lost' boy, even though he was older.
The boy looked at her emotionlessly and then shook his head slowly. Alex didn't want to deal with a bunch of precocious children at the moment. He wished Jack would hurry up and come out.
"Are you sure?" Betty asked, drawing out the last word.
When Alex mentally rolled his eyes and nodded firmly, Carol piped up, "Let's keep him company! He looks so lonely, doesn't he, Betty?" Betty agreed, and they sat beside him on the guard rail, chattering to each other. They forgot about Alex quickly.
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Alex waited for another few minutes while half-listening to the girls' incessant chatter. Unable to properly stand (as only Jack knew how to remove the skates), he watched as a black Ford Mustang van drove up to park beside the bank. Alex absently noted the car's sun roof was open when he heard music.
A burly man stepped out of the car's passenger side onto the curb. Alex frowned at the obvious bulge in the man's pocket; he thought MI6 agents knew how to look more inconspicuous. Jack still hadn't come out; she was probably still yelling at the teller.
"Hey! You guys can't do that!" Alex chastised Alice, Betty, and Carol. They had tied their jump ropes together and one end to the car's back window shield wiper, and now one of them was turning the other end.
"Well, it's not like he's coming back soon. He went into that bank," Betty pointed out. "Besides, it's not like he'll mind."
Alex sighed and started to stand while holding onto the guard rail. He should untie the rope, or that MI6 agent might be angry. Plus, another one was probably in the car, if the music was anything to go by – and who knew what he would think of these 3 little girls? At least luck was somewhat on Alex's side; the back of the car wasn't visible to the bank's entrance.
"Here, let me turn instead," Alex said as he moved to untie the jump rope, using the car for support. As Alex started to maneuver his feet into a steady "T" position, a gunshot rang out from the bank followed by a scream. Alex slipped in surprise, landing on his bottom facing the car, still holding the rope tied to the window shield wiper.
Alex hoped it wasn't Jack that had been shot, but it was her scream that echoed in his ears. He moved the three little girls out of sight of the bank, so that they were all behind the car. The three little girls had dropped the rope out of fright. A few moments later, the same burly man ran out of the bank with a suitcase and the gun drawn, smoke pouring from the barrel. Alex understood what had happened.
The man was a robber that didn't know the bank's true identity. In he went to steal, but maybe Jack had attacked him? Alex didn't know and felt rage at his ignorance of Jack's condition. Anyhow, the man had obviously gotten some money from MI6- not that he would have it for long. Alex would deal with this guy.
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The robber leapt into the passenger's seat and the vehicle took off. It went straight for a while, running a few red lights and losing the pursuing policemen on the motorbikes and in the cars. The getaway vehicle took a gradual right turn to almost U-turn as it completely lost sight of the cops. It then turned off the main street onto a smaller one, traveling more slowly to avoid suspicion. The driver was excellent and had lost the police in a matter of minutes. He didn't notice his extra passenger.
Alex was holding onto the jump rope and riding his roller skates; it was just like water skiing, he thought. For him, it was fairly easy. The vehicle was moving him, and self-propelling was the only part of skating Alex didn't understand.
The driver looked in his rear-view mirror again, checking for cops. He noticed a rope tied around the back window shield wiper for the first time. With the sunroof open, Alex heard the man's expletive as the driver stepped on the gas. Alex knew he couldn't shoot in the car, for fear of ricochet, and his partner couldn't safely stand.
The driver began to turn left as a bus ran along beside it, traveling in the same direction as the getaway vehicle in the next lane over. The man obviously was trying to kill Alex by swinging him into the bus.
Alex jumped and twisted his body so it was parallel to the ground. He used his wheels to trace the bus's side, much to the shock of the passengers. They watched as the boy outside their window rode their bus.
Alex dropped down onto the asphalt again. He was now behind an accelerating car. The knot or the window shield wiper could break at any second, and if it did, Alex would be injured as he came to a halt. Mustering his strength, Alex pulled himself to the car. He climbed up to the roof. Now he was holding the metal bars on top of the van, with his wheels loosely balanced on the bumper of the car. He tried to hoist his body onto the roof. It didn't work, so he tried to jump up.
The driver took advantage of Alex's hanging off the back of the car. He knew that if he stopped suddenly, Alex would be thrown off violently – if he wasn't winded or the recipient of serious internal damage first from the pressure of hitting the car. As Alex kicked the bumper to throw himself up, the driver slammed the brakes.
Alex prepared for slamming into the car- but it didn't come. He had jumped hard enough to bring himself up to the point where he would be thrown over the top if the car stopped. As the world began to flip, Alex noticed the Thames was ahead of them. He would likely drown if he let go, so Alex gripped the metal bars on top of the van harder, while letting his wrists move freely. It was like watching someone do a backwards handspring- but with their hands glued to the floor.
In the half-second before he slammed into the car roof, Alex remembered the sun roof. Arching his back and bending his knees, he approximated the passenger and driver's heads and aimed his feet at them.
His kick connected on each person's head while his bent knees and back absorbed the impact. Alex's momentum carried him forward though, and he placed both hands on the sunroof's front edge to stop. He was almost doing a split while standing on the two unconscious robbers.
Unfortunately, the car was still moving towards the Thames River. Acknowledging that, Alex dropped down into the car onto the driver's lap to take control. He slammed the brakes just in time- the car stopped a mere 2 feet from the river's edge. Alex remained in the driver's lap, panting as an adrenaline rush hit him.
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A few minutes later, he heard a car drive up.
"Cub! That was you?" called a familiar voice. Alex nodded.
"Were you watching?" Alex inquired, wondering why Eagle hadn't intervened earlier. He also noted the policeman's outfit.
"Kinda- that suitcase the robbers took had a tracker and a three-sixty view with thermal cameras. We could see your outline moving," Eagle said simply. Alex looked away, feeling mildly stupid at thinking MI6 would let the bank robbers get away. Eagle laughed. "The tracker was in the suitcase, and with modern-day tech the robbers probably would have switched cases just in case. Since we lost them, they could have switched easily if it wasn't for you." He paused while more officers arrived. "Well, you knocked 'em out pretty hard, but maybe you ought to let us cuff them too." Eagle reached over and pulled the door open. Alex started to get out.
There was one thing Alex forgot- he was still wearing roller skates. He had swung both legs around and pushed off the edge of the seat, so the wheels touched the ground at the same time. Losing his balance, his feet formed an upside-down "V" as he pitched forward.
Eagle watched as the teenager hopped out of the car and fell towards him. Without thinking, he reached up with his right arm and caught him as Alex's hands shot forward for support. It almost worked, but Alex's wheels slid backward again, so Eagle was forced to pull Alex into an awkward embrace to keep Alex from falling. Nearly all of Alex's weight was supported by Eagle's arms that were wrapped firmly around his midriff.
"Don't tell me you don't know how to skate," Eagle chortled. Alex reddened; he was grateful for the fact Eagle couldn't see his face. "Wait, then how did you follow the car?" Evidently, Eagle hadn't noticed the jump rope contraption or realized what had happened from the video.
"It was a drag," replied Alex.
Eagle sighed, amused, and picked Alex up in a bridal fashion. "H-hey!" Alex cried as his knees and back were swept up by the older man. Eagle chuckled and placed Alex inside of the police car he came in.
"I guess you'll need a ride, after seeing your skills."
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In the car, Alex asked Eagle a few questions.
"Where's K-Unit?"
"K-Unit was for training purposes only. We all got split up according to personality after that, and regrouped. I'm still in K and Wolf is too, but Snake switched to M-Unit and Fox went to MI6." Alex nodded. He knew about Fox.
"So, what have you been up to?" Alex felt like he was forgetting something, but right now he wanted to keep Eagle from commenting on his skating skills.
"Nothing much; K-Unit went to Iraq for a while, so we got some action. Right now we're keeping up our undercover skills in the 'London' field for special training. You know, at the bank," he added after seeing Alex's blank expression. Alex remembered what he had forgotten.
"Eagle, were you in the bank? Was there a red-headed woman?" he asked breathlessly.
Eagle raised an eyebrow. "Did you know her?" He frowned as Alex nodded an affirmative. "Man, that woman! She wouldn't stop talking to the poor teller. Saying things about Mrs. Jones and you and someone called Ian and how MI6 was a bunch of amoral jerks. She's alright, if that what you mean," he added, thinking back to the robbery. "That woman started to yell at the guy who entered about not hiding his gun well, and he fired straight up as a warning to everyone in there. I don't think she realized the guy was a bank robber right away; she seemed shocked at first, if her shriek was anything to go by. I think she understood what happened with the robbers not knowing afterwards, because she rolled her eyes, snorted, and sat down on the bench. Then the guy got his money and left." Eagle laughed. "I wonder what she's doing now."
Back at the bank, Jack sneezed.
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AN: Thanks for reading- I hope you enjoyed it!
I didn't mark this as complete because I was thinking about making it into a series of action-filled one-shots (and adding my other story to this one) or making it an actual story with some plot. Or maybe do a combination, whatever I can do.
頑張ります!
(Ganbarimasu! = I will work hard!)