Part one of Coincidences. Sorry for taking so long on this, but Coincidences is the third in my Safehouse arc, if you don't include my crossover, Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost. (If you like NCIS, please check out my crossover!) To the rest of you, hope you like this and thanks for waiting. R&R ~ SamayouTamashi
"You do realize that I'm only fifteen, right?"
"Yeah, but if anyone were to ask ask, I'm sure you could wave your ID card or something and say 'You never saw me.'"
"Wolf, why the hell would I have a card saying I'm a spy? That's counterproductive."
"All you MI6 types say that, but you're like a Swiss Army knife—every time it looks like you've pulled out all the gadgets, you find another one tucked away."
Alex swung around in his chair. "Hey, Ben! Do you have an ID card from MI6?"
"Yeah, why?"
The teenage spy facepalmed himself. "Nothing. I think I need some of that alcohol you have stashed over there."
"Not while on duty, Alex."
Wolf set down his beer. "I thought we were celebrating you guys being off-duty?"
Leaning back in his chair, Ben tossed his feet up on his table. He had called everyone from K-Unit over to his flat for pizza and beer, saying that he was celebrating Alex and his first break in awhile. "Well…not really."
"You really think I have time to party with all that paperwork after my recent promotion," Alex laughed evilly. "Speaking of which, I feel so sorry for Crawley for having to deal with all the work I conveniently forgot to do."
"Now that is a guy who needs a break," Ben agreed, while feeling incredibly sorry for the overworked agent, "but back on topic, no, we're still on duty."
Reaching into the small fridge, Alex deliberated before pulling out a pop. He flicked off the top before falling back into the couch beside his partner. "See he's actually a little worried about the mission we're about to go on so he thought that if he got you guys drunk, you wouldn't yell quite as loud when he told you where we're going."
Snake leaned forward in his chair. "You're actually worried?"
"Personally, I've given up on worrying. It gets you nowhere and makes you doubt every action you make. I just lean back and take the hits as they come. Ben's the one who's gotten all worried over nothing."
"I'm not worried over nothing," he retorted.
"Yeah, sure. That must be why you keep tapping the floor with your foot, rubbing your sweaty palms against the couch and can't even take a sip of pop without your hands shaking."
"Can't you keep anything to yourself?"
"Only while I'm in the field. Can't hold a secret while I'm relaxing."
Wolf rubbed a toe against the edge of the carpet. "So where are you guys going?"
"We're going to infiltrate SCORPIA," Ben grunted as he tilted his head up to watch the small crack in his ceiling, waiting for the outbursts to start.
It didn't take long.
"What?"
"That's suicide!"
"Who put you up to this?" Wolf growled.
"I did," Alex murmured quietly.
No one even dared to breathe in the silence that followed.
Snake was the first to speak up. "Why?"
Not in the least unnerved by the eyes on him, he took a sip of his pop. "I never intended for Ben to go. Actually, I was going to ensure he never found out about the mission at all, but one of the papers must have leaked to him."
"And that's precisely the reason I check your emails," Ben muttered under his breath.
"So I requested permission from Blunt, he agreed, Ben decided to get permission as well, and here we are."
"But why?" Snake gritted his teeth. Getting the smallest things from the spy was like getting your wisdom teeth pulled. Necessary, but complicated and painful.
The teen just shrugged. "No reason. They've become a hassle lately and I figured we need updated intel on them."
"Liar."
"Ben, hush."
"You tell them, or I will."
"They don't need to know!"
"They're our friends."
Alex crossed his arms and frowned.
"Fine." He ignored his partner and turned to K-Unit. "Something got leaked from the lower departments about where Alex was living. While he got lucky, his housekeeper didn't. They left a calling card with her, and he's been working non-stop to get back at them ever since."
"I've taken breaks."
"No, you haven't. So that's the main reason for the pizza and such, the second that I'm fairly sure we're on a suicide mission so I figure I might as well have a good last meal."
"Then where are you living now?" Falcon worried.
"The house has been boarded up until MI6 gets the house cleaned up and I've bunked on Ben's couch for the last week. After that, I'll have to get somewhere new, I guess."
"What about your parents?"
"Dead for quite awhile."
"Relatives?"
"More recently deceased."
"Jesus, Cub. Who do you have left?"
A blindingly innocent smile answered him. "You guys and MI6. I'm legally an orphan now, and MI6 has all my papers in order if I ever need to challenge that."
Ben snorted. "If we don't die."
"True. There'd be a whole other problem then."
"How can you two make jokes about this whole scenario?" Eagle asked from behind the counter. "Even I can't really see any humor in this."
Alex snorted. "If we weren't laughing, we'd be crying. It's one of those things about being a spy that you have to learn. You either laugh it off or bury your head in the sand to ignore it all. Instead of going insane, I just find the humor in the situation."
"Which would be…?"
"If I'm going out, I'm going to go out with a bang." There was something behind the words that evidently meant something to the spies. They clinked their cans in a toast, while K-Unit stared quizzically on, clearly missing the hidden meaning.
Ben made sure the mood lifted for the next few hours, keeping all mention of SCORPIA or tomorrow morning from the conversation. Awhile later, Alex yawned. "I'll see you guys later," he nodded at K-Unit. A look passed between the two spies, and Alex vanished in the next room over.
"You sure you'll be alright?" Wolf asked for the hundredth time. "There aren't any units anywhere near where you guys probably are heading off to, but I'm sure I could work something out through the SAS. Unlike MI6, they are rather understanding towards these kinds of things. Despite what Cub says, we still owe you both for last month."
"While backup would be great," he acknowledged, "it isn't something I could ask of any of you. No matter how many favors we could tally up, neither of us would ever take anyone else with us. Alex has the luck of the devil on his side, but fate is going to catch up with the both of us on this one, I'm sure of it. Besides, if SCORPIA found an SAS unit where they shouldn't be, it would be bad on both of us. Don't worry about it."
"Is there anything we can do?" the unit leader nearly pleaded.
"I-I wish I could get Alex to reconsider, but he's out for blood, James. There's nothing anyone can do for him anymore." Ben put his head in his hands. "I just hope that by being there, he won't be entirely suicidal. He seems reluctant to do crazy stunts if there's a chance I might get left behind, and maybe that will get us out in one piece."
"Then if nothing else," Snake said, leaning toward the spy in his chair, "keep us in the loop. Send us messages whenever you get the chance, and we'll watch for your crazy stunts in the news."
"You mean Alex's. I'm the sanity in our group."
Eagle and Falcon laughed at that, seeing as how blurry shots of Alex were always leaking into the news reports. Even without a name, they could tell it was him.
"I'll try my best," he grinned, but looked to the floor, "but pray for us will you?"
"Paired with Alex? You're always in my prayers," Snake rolled his eyes. "Remember his last partners while you're out there."
"I always do."
A/N: Sorry for the shortness of the beginning, but I didn't want to put too much in all at once. You have to come back for the rest!
And to speechbubble, one of my best reviewers, I have accepted your dare. In one of the following chapters, watch for the scene you asked for!
To anyone else out there who wants to request a scene/idea for either this story or another upcoming one, give me a shout-out! I look at both my PMs and reviews daily (if not hourly…).