Mirror

A mirror reflects what is. Similar to the original, but also in reverse. Written for SpyFest Week 1. Prompt: "Mission gone wrong. All because of a 6-year old girl"

Italics = Conversation in a foreign language (Spanish in this case)

Sorry, my Spanish is…lacking.

Alex cursed himself for not seeing it sooner. Really, as a child spy himself, he should have seen it, of all people. There had been very few times he'd been caught off guard since Egypt, but this was one of them. The mission had started out just fine, but with his predictable Rider luck, it had turned out to be a lot more significant and a lot more disastrous than even Tulip Jones could have suspected, though he was starting to suspect she was setting him up. Then again, he was being kept in a cell and was inclined to feel bitterer at the moment. He decided to scour his memory in hope of seeing exactly when he fucked up. The cell was nothing remarkable and the people here seemed more intent on torturing Ben than him for once. Which was ironic, considering he outranked the man, but he wasn't going to complain. Alex sighed and rubbed his eyes, attempting to take in his surroundings. The cell (if you could call it that) was completely filthy. It seemed to have been constructed as a giant hole in the ground. The walls were made of dirt and parts of it even had plants growing out if it. He heard a plop beside him. It was the girl. She can't have been more than six. Alex could barely get up - the sedatives were taking a while to wear off. "What are you doing here?"

A small hand touched his face. "No hablo inglés."

Alex sighed. Time for all of his Spanish lessons to kick in. "That's fine. I speak Spanish. What are you doing here?"

The girl shrugged. "It is where they keep me when I'm not busy. I have no home and no parents, after all."

Alex groaned. "You will be sleepy for at least another hour."

The girl seemed fascinated with his hair. He hadn't thought to dye it because his cover was a tourist. "Your hair is very soft and light."

Alex shrugged. "You are like me, aren't you?"

Why was she so talkative now? Alex lightly removed her hand. "I have no home and no family, yes."

Jack had died for real this time. It had been almost five months. Jones had let him live alone and Smithers had helped him sell the house. There were too many memories there, after all. "You know it was me that got you here."

Alex shrugged. "It was always going to happen. After a while, you get used to the idea of dying in a cell."

The girl paused. "Did you ever try to escape?"

Alex almost laughed bitterly as he recalled all the times he tried to tell MI6 no. "Of course I did. It's human nature."

The girl was now running her fingers along one of his many scars. "Then they gave you these."

Alex wasn't sure a six-year-old would grasp the complexities of working for MI6. "In a way. Some of them came from the enemies I made, as well."

The girl decided that was her invitation to get cuddly. Weren't abused child slaves of drug cartels supposed to be more suspicious? Alex didn't exactly blame her for being an informant. Being orphaned in a country that was not in the first world left you incredibly vulnerable. Even in the first world, the system still had cracks you could fall through. Here, they were probably more like chasms that flowed straight to the cartels. "They killed your partner."

Alex felt his mouth drop open. "Shit. Really?"

The girl shrugged. "Yes. He wasn't breathing and he felt cold."

Alex knew then and there he had to get out of here. With the girl. He wasn't going to leave her to these monsters. God knew what would happen when she got older. "We have to get out of here."

The girl shrugged. "There is a passageway that will fit us, but not the men. They are too big."

Alex got up. "Why didn't you mention it sooner?"

The girl gave him a half-shrug. "You wouldn't leave without him."

Alex felt vaguely sick as he saw a how the six-year-old had flawless cold logic. She reminded him of himself, after Egypt. "Alright, then."

He would just have to trust that this wasn't a trap.

He took her small warm hand with trepidation. "What is your name?"

The girl shrugged. "I don't remember. They just call me girl, here."

Alex was internally horrified but decided to resolve it later. They walked through the tunnel, quietly. The girl had picked the lock. Alex mentally resolved himself to be her guardian. He was barely seventeen himself, but he thought he could do a better job than foster care or the cartels. They would have to live on the run, but he would try for stability. It was fortunate that he'd opted to do the accelerated lessons and take his GCSEs early. He could give her at least that much education. Alex knew if he went back, they'd take her away and send him on more missions. Smithers had helpfully transferred most of his money into different accounts that MI6 couldn't touch a few weeks before the mission. Alex had transferred that to other accounts Smithers didn't know about, just to be safe. Alex saw the passageway abruptly narrow. He had to really try to get his head and torso through. Ben would have definitely gotten stuck. As it was, he had a bit of a scrape. Alex supposed he would have to avenge his partner. They walked through the jungle and made their way back to the city. Alex began carefully stealing clothes off of the lines. It wouldn't do to get caught. He made sure they got changed relatively unseen when it was close to nightfall. The banks were still open. He remembered his account number and passwords. Alex went to a relatively safe hotel. The girl's eyes widened slightly. "A room for my sister and I, please."

The receptionist eyed him suspiciously. "Your sister?"

The girl piped up. "Half-sister, but brother is nice."

The receptionist relaxed instantly. The girl was holding him in a death grip by the time they got to the room. "You are staying here, right?"

Alex knew he couldn't lie. "There is one other thing I have to take care of. I'll get us dinner and bring it back after, okay?"

Alex sighed as she stared at him pleadingly. "I promise I will come back."

The girl glared at him. "You better."

Alex left the room and went down the (unalarmed) fire escape. He was pretty sure someone had broken the fire alarm. Oh, well. The girl should be safe enough here. It was time to stock up. Alex went to the store to get what most people would consider normal cleaning supplies. These were to explode a certain base, however. Alex smirked wryly. He supposed you could consider that cleaning, in a way.

It was almost too easy to sneak back into the base. Then again, this time he had the cover of night and no partner that would keep him from demonstrating his full stealth skills. Alex had gotten a different outfit, too. Tight fitting solid black. This was more his speed. Alex had decided to blow up the base. There was not much there that was worth doing something more subtle about. Alex knew they sent the kids out at night to steal or worse, anyway. There shouldn't be anyone innocent left in the base. He climbed the base, which had vines all over it. Absolutely none of the guards bothered to look up. Alex decided not to question his good fortune. He stuck his makeshift explosive on the roof in the center of the base and lit the fuse, careful to drop silently on to the ground and run into the jungle. Alex ditched the solid black for a more civilian outfit once he got closer to civilization. A knife or any other weapon would have been great. Alex was careful to avoid areas that made his instincts tingle. Now to locate dinner. He had a kid to feed. As it happened, most Mexican bars were open late and you could get a few small things that would make a decent, if not entirely healthy, meal. Alex ended up getting a whole bunch of different tapas that smelled absolutely delicious. What? It had been days since he'd eaten. He was nearly dead on his feet by the time he got back to the room. The girl had showered. Darn, he forgot to get them both a change of clothes. Alex placed dinner on the hotel desk. The girl looked hesitant. "Go on. I need a bath, anyhow."

Alex stepped into the shower. The dirt and blood came right off. There was glorious hot water pouring from the faucet. Alex let out a sigh of relief. He'd probably have to get them a few changes of clothes and toiletries in the morning.

Alex sat down after having taken his shower. He decided to just wash both sets of clothes and used a giant shirt he'd grabbed on his way to the base from another washing line. It was so large it reached his knees. He wondered who on earth the shirt fit. The girl froze mid-bite after he wandered out from the bathroom. "It's okay. I'll join you in a bit."

She eyed him but kept eating until she slowed down and stopped. "I'm not hungry."

The girl sounded amazed. Alex chuckled. At least he'd had the foresight to get toothbrushes. "Yeah, I got some for me too."

He sat down and ate as the girl stared at him. "You don't want something, do you?"

She was suspicious, but she had a right to be. "Nah, I always wanted a daughter, but you don't have to stay with me if you would rather go somewhere else."

Well, it was true. He had hypothetically wanted a little girl someday. "No orphanages! They are terrible!"

Alex could imagine. "If you want to stay with me, you'll need a name. I won't call you girl for twelve years straight."

The girl looked at him. "Like what?"

Alex thought for a second. He had no idea what his parents would have named any of his siblings. "My mother was named Helen. Would you like to be named Helena?"

The girl had tears in her eyes. "You are naming me after your mother?"

Alex shrugged. "Yep. What else would I do?"

The girl shrugged. "My real name is Alex Rider. You can be Helena Rider. We might have to change names to get rid of my boss, though."

The newly dubbed Helena Rider looked pretty happy with that name. Alex supposed that just about anything was better than just being called a girl. There were two twin beds. "You take the left and I'll take the right."

Alex plopped himself down. "I get a bed?"

Alex exhaled and wished he'd given the cartel a slower death. "Yes, you get a bed. Goodnight, Helena."

The girl smiled. "Goodnight, Alex."

Alex sighed and rolled over. He just hoped he didn't get one of his nightmares and wake up screaming. That would be difficult to explain. Or maybe it wouldn't and he'd want to commit murder again. He rolled over on the stiff hotel mattress and tried to get comfortable. Heaven helps him, he'd just rescued a child to raise as his own. A girl. Alex wondered if he hadn't lost his mind. Oh, well. He was just going on the run with a six-year-old. What could possibly go wrong?

Tulip Jones was beginning to worry. Neither Agent Daniels nor Agent Rider had made their last check-in call. Then, there had been news of an explosion that destroyed the entire base and collapsed its underground tunnels. Jones had reluctantly authorized a recovery crew. Smithers had said that Agent Rider's tracking device had been removed, but the one monitoring his vitals said he was fine. Or not in danger of dying. They had found Ben Daniel's corpse and the forensics team had informed her that he'd been dead for some time before the explosion. Alex had done it then. Most likely as some sort of revenge, not that she blamed him. The cartel he'd been sent to spy on was truly awful. Why hadn't Rider checked in? He'd managed to do so before, even when his phone was destroyed. It had been weeks. Tulip wondered if he'd decided to go AWOL again. He'd done it after Starbright had died in his arms. Fox and Rider had been decently close. Perhaps he simply needed time to grieve. Jones remembered the deaths of her children all too vividly. Yes, that was it. Even she had needed time off after losing part of her family and the subsequent divorce from her husband. Tulip Jones was sure Alex Rider would be back soon.

Alex Rider was preparing to enter the US without being tracked down by the CIA. He had papers ready for him and Helena. He'd taken the risk of getting plastic surgery in Mexico and had gotten just enough done that he wouldn't be flagged by facial recognition. The bruises had faded to the point that it just looked like he'd come out worst in a bar fight. The papers listed him as twenty-one-year-old Alex Starbright, a British-American citizen, with Helena as his half-sister. Alex had picked it in honor of Jack. Helena was listed as Helena Rodriguez, an American citizen. They were moving back to the States after the death of their mother and his father and stepmother had died years ago in a car accident. It was fortunate that he'd filled out a lot in the past few years, or nobody would ever believe he was twenty-one. The papers had been done properly, so they could live in peace. Alex would just have to wrap up his CS degree in a community college and teach Helena English in time for first grade. The transfer credits had been tricky, but he had the skills to back them up. He'd kept up with computers after being Felix and Smithers had taught him a few tricks. Alex would at least try to go for a legitimate job before he went into the shadier side of IT. Alex also knew how to get an apartment thanks to Jerry teaching Tom. The trick was to pick one that wasn't nice enough to break into, but also one that had a decent enough neighborhood to avoid getting caught in a shoot-out. Alex had enough to live off of for a while, especially since he'd gotten his inheritance, but if he didn't have a job, it would draw attention. Helena was happily learning the English alphabet. He was teaching her some basic words, too. The other passengers seemed torn between amusement and wondering if he was old enough to be a father. Currently, she was very rusty. "Bubby, can we get gaseosa?"

Alex felt his lips twitch. "You mean, brother and soda, little sis."

Helena gave him a wide-eyed stare and pouted ever so slightly. "Pleeeeeeeease."

Alex laughed. "Fine, but we can't have too much soda. It's not exactly good for your teeth."

Alex figured it was the big brother thing to say. Helena was dragging him through the airport and staring. "It's so big! And full of people!"

Alex chuckled. "Yes, it is, sissy."

Helena seemed fascinated by the luggage machine and practically bounced off the walls as they waited in line at customs. The customs agent looked at them. "You really think you can take care of your sister?"

Alex glared at the man. "Yes, I do."

The man shrugged and waved them through. It was CPS' problem now, Alex thought, huffing to himself. He could and would take care of her. It would take a lot of drawing on his memories of Jack (not so much Ian) and maybe a parenting book or two.

The first month had been the hardest. He'd had to arrange housing and clothing for both of them. Alex was debating the merits of the different daycares and whether Helena could even handle them. Alex hadn't realized how much work even a six-year-old was. He'd gotten Helena a few of his favorite toys at that age, plus a few more feminine ones. There was signing up for college, bills, and food. Plus, there was cleaning and him having to put in paperwork to adopt his 'sibling'. There was also the fact that he knew next to nothing about her (probably) horrible life. Oh, well. He'd cross that bridge if he got to it. Therapy might not be the best approach, considering they were trying to be covert and fit in. Don't even talk to him about insurance and cars, either. Alex was trying to be legitimate here. The people had been mildly concerned about his age but had gone for weekly and then monthly check-in visits. Alex had his eyes on a few part-time jobs around the neighborhood and close to the community college. He'd have to arrange some sort of babysitter or take Helena with him. Alex was pretty sure leaving a six-year-old alone was not a good idea, even if it was just for a few hours. One of his retired neighbors seemed like she'd be up for it. Already dropping hints the size of bricks, too. Alex had checked her out and she seemed clean. Alex had also broken into her house and that had been clean (literally and metaphorically) while she was on her weekly grocery run. He supposed in a few weeks, he might give Celia a trial run. She seemed nice enough if a bit lonely. Alex would invite her to dinner a few time before that, nothing seemed off, but he should probably get to know her.

Joe Byrne had been contacted by a slightly frantic Tulip Jones nearly three months after Alex Rider had vanished from an assignment in South America. Apparently, she hadn't thought his decision to disappear off the face of the earth would be permanent. Joe had sighed and decided to talk to some people in the area. Nothing much turned up, except the fact that he'd been seen reserving a hotel room for two. The receptionist had long-ago forgotten about them and only reluctantly handed over the security footage. The camera had been shitty and hadn't even caught whoever he was with. It was after Ben Daniel's death, so why would he reserve a room for two? Unless he'd rescued someone else. Alex had definitely been the type to do so, too. Byrne would bet money whoever it was had been a victim of the cartel they'd been fighting. Why only save one, though? The rest of the children had been quickly absorbed back into the street. Amazingly enough, all but those that had been murdered by the cartel prior to the explosion had been out at the time. Well, Rider had been odd, Byrne supposed. He'd miss the kid's slightly sarcastic sense of humor, though. It was rare enough to have one in this business. It was with slightly more reticence that he authorized a search almost a year later. Jones wanted her top agent back. The kid hadn't been on contract, so he wasn't a deserter. Byrne had also heard that the kid had moved all his money firmly out of MI6's tentacular grasp. Smart cookie. Joe figured that Alex Rider deserved whatever kind of normal life he could recover after everything the world could put him through. Joe only half-heartedly passed on the information to everybody else. It was cruel. Jones could find somebody else for whatever it was she wanted. Joe had a feeling that Alex could evade them all if he wanted to. Byrne passed on his (mostly unhelpful) report to Tulip. The only sign that they had that Alex was alive was the email sent to Tom Harris. They had acquired it through dubious means. The email account had been shut-down and the IP had been masked.

Dear Tom,

I'm sorry I couldn't say goodbye. I'm alive. I'm fine. Don't look for me. Goodbye, Tom. I'll probably never see you again. I had to go on the run. Tell everybody I'm okay, but gone forever.

Your friend,

Alex

P.S. I apologize in advance for the tactless and obvious surveillance teams. They'll send them.

Alex had decided on mixing the tactics Jack and Ian had used to raise him. He could never be quite so distant, but he did his best as a father. Helena would know how to survive, though. Just in case something happened. He taught her multiple languages, self-defense, and the rest of it. Alex tried to make her life as normal as possible, but he knew that if his enemies found him, she might need to be like him. Fast. Smart. Potentially dangerous. The first sleepover had been nerve-wracking. He'd taught her to read well past the first-grade level, but still remembered the anxiety of dropping her off for the first day of both daycare and school. He was familiar with the other parents but kept them as reliable acquaintances rather than friends. The neighborhood knew him to be pleasant, but a bit on the shy side. Alex had done surprisingly well in college. He'd ended up working part-time at Ben & Jerry's, though none of the staff could figure out why he couldn't say the name of the store with a straight face. Smiles were good for customer service, so the manager had just shrugged and written him off as a weird little computer nerd. Alex had gotten himself certified in addition to his bachelor's degree and gone to work form an IT firm. He tried not to draw too much attention at his job. His coworkers knew he was better as a pentester than as the other team. It had taken them years of persuasion to convince him to switch from defensive to offensive. Alex was worried it might have made his intelligence background too obvious but figured he was safe enough after a few years if he stuck mainly to the private sector. He avoided government work like the plague, telling his co-workers that he'd had to file one too many tax forms and didn't want to lose the firm clients. The manager had chuckled at that but questioned him more seriously. In the end, Alex had gone with one word: Ethics. The man gave him a long look that made Alex internally panic before taking it. Smith was ex-military and had his own issues with the government. The boss hadn't pried heavily but seemed to keep a closer eye on him after that. Alex had gone about his work and picking up Helena from an elementary school like normal.

There had been some awkward conversations with Helena. He'd given her the talk the same age as he'd gotten it from Ian, eight. Helena had then corrected him on a few points. Alex had never wanted to punch the sick bastards who'd had her before him more. She'd then asked why he never brought anyone home for 'special adult fun time'. Alex hadn't actually considered dating for a while. He'd told her that he wanted to finish raising her first and that he preferred not to lie to his future spouse about his checkered past. "But what about me?"

Alex looked at her. "You can tell them I rescued you from very bad men and that I'm your father now. You can also tell them the reason you got a new name was so they don't come after you."

Helena had hugged him. "You don't have to wait."

Alex had laughed. He honestly couldn't imagine himself being all that intimate with strangers. "But I want to Helena. Besides, I'm not sure if I'm ready for another woman or that you are, hmm?"

Alex had worried that they would mock her for being an orphan or from a mixed family. So far, they hadn't had any issues yet. He'd helped her fill out the family chart when they sent it home but made a quiet statement by putting their parent's birth and death years on there. The teacher had apologized profusely and had been tearfully explaining the assignment was completely innocent before Alex had waived her off. Americans seemed really paranoid about lawsuits, but who could blame them? They'd had some of the more frivolous lawsuits on television. Alex used Ian's hard limit of one hour per day for both of them, something that had shocked some of the parents he met. Most of the kids Helena had invited over liked playing board games or athletic games better once they got over the initial shock. One of the moms had commented. "Your daughter isn't very feminine."

True. Helena did not like ribbons or pink and she could wrestle most of her male peers into the ground. Alex had felt snappy, for some reason. "My sister is whatever she wants to be. She's only eight, for god's sake."

Alex was glad he looked old enough to be mistaken for her father. He was only nineteen and claiming to be twenty-three. The woman had seemed startled. "I didn't mean to offend."

Alex gave her a slight smile. "Yeah, sorry. I was up until eleven convincing her that the nasty men on television weren't coming for her."

In Helena's case, the fear was entirely valid. In more ways than one. "You must have the worst luck for what the TV lands on."

Alex shrugged and lowered his voice. "Yeah, it landed on the new sexual harassment stuff, so I had to explain what sex and rape was."

The mother patted his shoulder sympathetically. Did Alex mention he hated the news? And the bad news that seemed to feed the empire? Oh, well. The children seemed happy enough to play football or soccer as the Americans called it.

Alex Rider was twenty-three and pretending to be twenty-seven when he first began to fear that Helena would not want a normal life. His little sister had come home furious one day. "What's wrong?"

Helena had burst into tears. "The cartels are still running parts of my counter and nobody is doing anything! Nobody even takes it seriously!"

Alex sighed. Politics tended to be lost on twelve-year-olds, but it didn't take a genius to figure that much out. Helena was also very intelligent. "If you still want to do this after you graduate high school, I will help. I would prefer you go to college and have a normal life, but I won't stop you from trying to make a difference. I'll even help you learn in depth about the situation. Knowledge is always good to have."

She had hugged him after that. "Everybody else thought I was being ridiculous."

Alex had decided to save some of the deadlier lessons for later. They might come in handy if people came after her. He remembered the politics lectures Ian had given him and began researching the situation in addition to his actual job. Giving his daughter and sister combination more information seemed to make her more determined. Alex had decided that even if his daughter was fully trained and grown, he would go with her. The experiences he'd had in his own attempts to help would be relevant, plus he had computer skills. Helena would have him as a partner, friend, and brother-in-arms if she wanted. Alex had kept up his workouts from the island and insisted his daughter have a similarly active schedule. After all, she needed to be able to defend herself. Alex would not be alive forever. As it was, he'd had several close calls to his identity being discovered. The idea of discovery kept him up some nights. What if SCORPIA found them? Or MI6? Not to mention, this was America; they had more agencies than a lot of other legitimate governments. Alex was just glad that knowledge of his exploits had been kept out of the general agency circulation. One of the close calls had been when Helena was eight and he'd nearly had a heart attack. Alex was both amused and terrified by the memory.

The office had gotten a new worker from God knew where (translation: Alex didn't care enough to ask). The man had claimed to be ex-CIA, something Alex had personally doubted, but wouldn't contest. He was supposed to be a shy computer nerd, after all. Smith (his boss/manager) had wanted to beat the shit out of him for all his snide comments about the others on the team. Alex had held Smith back a few times. His manager had seemed rather shocked. "You have actual muscle mass under that shirt, huh?"

Alex had snorted. "So do you, Smith."

Smith had swatted him. "Yeah, I'm ex-military. What's your excuse?"

Alex had smirked. "I have a kid to look after, so I can't have a heart-attack before I'm thirty."

Smith had winced and snorted. "Fair enough. Why won't you let me punch him, though? You heard what he was trying to spread about you, right?"

Alex knew full well that the man was attempting (and failing) to convince his other coworkers that he was a homosexual prostitute. "Yeah, boss, I did. As much as I want to throw a pot of coffee at him, he's the suing type."

Smith had made a noise somewhere in between a growl and a groan. "Besides, I've been keeping careful documentation complete with recordings so you have enough to fire him."

His boss gave him an assessing look. "I could kiss you right now."

Alex had laughed. "Please don't. I can already hear the rumors."

Smith had taken his coffee and walked off. As it turned out, they didn't need Alex's evidence after all. The height of his (and everybody else's) irritation had come when the odious man had gotten the idea that someone had wanted to kill him using anthrax. Gee, he wondered why. One day, the man had opened a letter, panicked, and called the hotline. Alex and every person who worked on the open office floor (including the odious rake) had to surrender their current personal belongings. Thankfully, Alex hadn't been wearing anything particularly nice that day. Unfortunately, Alex had given everybody in the office a glimpse of his heavy scarring before he realized there were privacy screens up. Oops. His boss had openly stared for a few seconds. "Sorry, Smith. I don't swing that way."

The boss had flipped him off. Alex had just grinned. Unfortunately for Captain Paranoia, in addition to having his expensive suit and watch reduced to fine ash, corporate (they'd merged about a year into his working for them) had enough of his shit and fired him. There was only so much they put up with, even for the son of a CEO. His coworkers had left him alone after Alex said he didn't want to talk about how he got a bullet to the chest and some of the worst burn scars that even the ex-military ones had ever seen. Maybe adults were less curious? Or maybe they'd all seen enough to know to mind their own business? Smith had barged into his cubicle a week later. "Your medical records are clean. So clean, they don't have your chest as a sniper wound. Car accident, huh? I know what that really is. Medically, you shouldn't be alive."

Alex sighed. "I get that a lot."

Smith shrugged. "Just tell me one thing. Are you current or former?"

Alex shrugged. "Former, but good luck finding anything."

Smith had shaken his head. "I know when not to push for answers. Intelligence is the one kind of people I don't mess with. Those guys are fucking scary."

Alex smirked. "You're not wrong."

MI6 had been scary, after all. Alex was glad that Smith wasn't the curious type.

Alex wondered at how the years went by at Helena's graduation. He was even on the verge of shedding a few (definitely manly) tears. He was now twenty-nine and pretending to be thirty-three. Helena was eighteen. Alex mused on how she'd grown over the years as the speeches dragged on. It hadn't always been easy, but he had some of his favorite memories to go with the times they'd had to have serious talks and the time they both got the flu. There was the time in six grade that he'd bought blueberries, washed them, and turned around for a minute, only to find Helena had stuffed all but three into her mouth. Alex had laughed at her comically bulging cheeks so hard that he'd forgotten to punish her, but told her that next time he wanted her to leave him some, he wanted more than three berries. There had been the time her middle school had grown a Meyer lemon tree and they'd made lemon bars for dessert that week. Alex remembered trying one of Rachel Ray's recipes. It had taken an hour and a half instead of thirty minutes (with Helena helping) but still been pretty good. At the time, he'd been mentally cursing the existence of said cookbook. He remembered high school. Helena hadn't really seriously dated, but he'd still had in-depth talks with her about birth control and consent. Helena had stayed passionate in her want to free South America from the cartels. Alex was going to help her. She was his little butterfly. Alex felt his chest swell with pride as he watched his now grown little girl stride across the stage in her gown and cap. She was now just over five feet tall, with shiny black hair, and a woman's figure. The day she got interested in men was the day he'd have to get a pole to fend them off with. For now, she wanted to crusade into South America. Alex had explained to her how things might turn bloody and how there might be war, but she wanted to do it. He couldn't find it in his heart to stop her.

Later that night, they sat down to talk. Helena had a plan. "So what's our first move?"

Helena stared at him. "I didn't think you would come, big brother."

Alex frowned. "Oh? I've already quit my job. I could've retired ages ago, you know."

Computers had turned out very lucrative and very interesting. "You argued so hard with me these last few years."

Alex sighed. "I was worried about you. This is going to be risky."

Helena shrugged. "We've lived in safety these past twelve years. I know how to fight and how to hide. This time, we should help other people. I want to save the children."

Alex could barely contain his pride. He wondered how she grew up so fast. "Well, the first thing we'll need is codenames if we want to crash the drug market."

It would be a longtime run if it ever stopped. "I will be Artemis. You can be Apollo."

Alex shrugged. "Good enough for me."

Artemis and Apollo. Twins, brother, and sister. Protectors of children. Hunters. By the end of this, they would be infamous. Revolutions were never bloodless after all. It was time for the next great adventure. And to think, this all started with a mission gone wrong and a six-year-old girl.

Fin.