After the funeral Alex went to visit Ian's work. He wanted to see the bank his uncle had worked at and see if he had left a will in a deposit box with them perhaps. They had invited him to speak to the bank manager and that was when fate had started to work. He'd seen his uncle's office. It was locked and they wouldn't let him in. The flagpole was just too handy and Alex's instincts had taken over. He was in the office and the computer was password protected, and knowing his uncle he had only one chance. As his fingers rested on the keyboard one thought struck Alex. It was an old memory, from where and when Alex wasn't sure.

Maybe it was on that rock climbing trip, but Ian had looked Alex right in the eye and said, "the once thing you must always remember is keep control, once you lose control you will lose everything." At the time it had just seemed like a nice safety tip, but now….

"keep control" Alex typed in quickly and was suddenly surprised by a retinol scan. Ian always been cautious but only now did Alex realize how much forethought his uncle had possessed. Alex's eye print was saved on his uncles computer and it automatically pulled up his uncles parting message.

"Alex, if you are reading this there is only one thing left I can do for you. If you ever trusted me please follow this last advice, whatever they do and whatever they tell you, don't let them use you. Keep control, and walk away from them without regrets please. Always remember I care for you so much Alex, and I'm sorry it had to end this way."

It wasn't signed; Ian had never signed his messages to Alex. Alex knew him so well he didn't need too.

Alex's mind was reeling. What did this all mean? Who were they, and what wasn't he supposed to do? Alex thought back to his conversation with the bank manager at the funeral now with a shiver.

"My uncle was a very careful man." Alex remembered saying.

"Not careful enough." The cold grey eyes of that man named Blunt had bored into him as he said it.

It was as though there was a puzzle that was finally fitting together in Alex's mind, but he was missing one piece.

What had his uncle been involved in?

Men crashed into the room and the fight was quick and violent. Alex was brought before Mr. Blunt and the last piece of the puzzle fell into place.

"Your uncle was a spy." Mr. Blunt stated as thought this was perfectly normal. "I am the director of MI6, British intelligence, and now we need your help."

"Your help" So this was what his uncle had warned him about. They were MI6, and he wasn't supposed to become a spy, this had been Ian's last advice. Mr. Blunt was blathering on and on about "his mission" but Alex's mind was already in other places.

His uncle had been prepared for this. Ian had known he would die. Maybe that was why he was always taking Alex on those trips. Maybe that was why Ian had treated Alex as an equal and taught him like an adult. Because Ian knew he might not live long enough to see Alex reach adulthood. It had been one of the things that made Ian so different from other adults, and it had been one of the things that had drawn Ian and Alex so close. Ian had never needed to command Alex, just ask. He had always trusted Alex to think things through and make the right decision. Alex had never let him down before. Now, even in death Ian had trusted Alex to do as he asked…

Then Alex was abruptly jerked back to the present. Blunt was threatening Jack and he was saying something about shipping him off to training. He was handed a case packet and before he could even offer his dissent he was manhandled off into a jeep. No one would speak to him on the long drive to the SAS camp that he Blunt had called Brekons Beacons.

He would soon acquaint the name with hell on earth…