A/N: Please read Author's note at the bottom after reading. :)
-X-
The Royal and General Bank stood looming over Alex as he pushed open the glass doors. He stared irritably at the nearest person in uniform, who was on the phone. Luckily for her, she finished her call before Alex reached the desk.
"Tell Blunt and Mrs Jones I'm here. They're expecting me." He practically snarled at her.
The staff at the Royal and General were all quite used to dangerous people walking into their lobby. They'd all heard the stories too, of the young boy who went up the top floor, who'd been shot at the doorstop. This particularly secretary was a veteran. She'd worked at the desk for ten years. She had never, however, seen anyone so young looking quite so deadly and quickly allowed Alex use of the MI6 elevator.
Alex was almost disappointed it had been that easy. Better though, he decided, to save all his energy for the real targets of his wrath.
As the elevator dinged, Alex stepped out into the carpeted hallway. Normally, this was the part where he dragged his feet, unwilling to go to his personal doom sooner than absolutely necessary. This time however, his steps were quick and light as he almost ran to the dreaded door.
He didn't open it with a bang, theatrics only looked cool in movies after all. He wanted to be seen as mature. That is, mature enough to yell at them and not be told calmly that they knew best. Instead, he walked calmly (alright maybe he stalked a little bit), through the door and into the room.
Alan Blunt and Tulip Jones, who was for once not sucking on a peppermint, stared at him.
"Right." Alex declared firmly. "I want answers and I want them now. Don't dodge the questions, tell me, truthfully, if you can," He added snidely. "What exactly was going through your moronic minds when you deported Jack."
"Now Alex," started Mrs Jones gently, but a look from Blunt shut her up and he turned his glare onto Alex.
"As the protectors of this country," He began," It is our duty to perform to the best of our ability. If we don't, people die. It was decided, that you, as one of our greatest, ah, assets, need to be at the best performance level possible. It has been decided that to be at your best you need to be, unattached, so to speak. You can't have people close to you in this business, they will be used against you."
His voice was dull and monotonous, the tone unchanging. Uncaring.
Alex was currently wishing very hard that looks really could kill, if so he was positive the glare he was giving Blunt would have murdered him on the spot. How dare he say that Jack was a liability! She was the one of the only slices of normal he had left! And now she was gone, removed like an unimportant chess piece in the game of his life. A pawn in a game of pawns. Controlled by the people sitting in front of him.
Well, he was sick of it. Sick of being used and manipulated by MI6. With Jack gone, what did they have to keep him under their control? They'd already broken their promise not have Jack deported. He'd done what they wanted, but it seemed, he'd done his job too well. One of their best assets, indeed. Why, Alex wondered, did life seem to hate him so much?
"Well," He began slowly, picking his words carefully. "If Jack is gone now, I don't think I will be working for you any longer. Obviously, there is no one left in this country worth saving."
"Alex," Mrs Jones stood from where she had been sitting at the end of the desk and came towards him. He stood still, unsure of what she meant to do. "I'm afraid there is a bit more to discuss." She pushed him gently but firmly towards the chair beside hers. While he childishly shook her hand off his shoulder, he sat quietly, knowing there was little else to do. He was angry not delusional.
"Yes," Blunt began, still speaking as if he was partaking in a particularly tedious conversation about the weather. "Obviously, there is the matter of where you are going to stay, now that Miss Starbright is in America."
"Well, this is your fault isn't it?" Alex couldn't help but exclaim. "If you hadn't deported her we wouldn't even be having this conversation!"
Blunt simply stared at him for a moment before he resumed speaking.
"There are several options. You can go to a Boys Home. It will be a nice one, we'll even arrange for you to continue to attend your school and when we need you we'll simply take you out. All the details will be arranged. Mr Crawley has also agreed that an arrangement could be made for you to stay with him. Or you can stay with Mrs Jones."
Alex stared at them, those were his options? They all sounded like torture, in fact, Alex would rather have been water boarded or strung up above crocodiles, than live with any of the options presented.
"What about Mr Smithers?" He asked desperately. "Or Ben Daniels?"
"I'm afraid Alex," said Mrs Jones, "That is out of the question."
Alex glared at her, his stomach churning with bile.
"So I have to pick out of you, Mr Creep and Crawley or a bunch of strangers who will no doubt hate me?" Alex was horrified to feel the prickly feeling out tears threatening to spill onto his cheeks and he hurriedly faced away from the two MI6 Heads, until he'd gained control of himself.
"There aren't any other options." Blunt said gruffly.
"And you just expect me to decide NOW? What about the house? What about school tomorrow? Do I have to have a babysitter tonight?" A brilliant thought struck him. "In fact, why can't I just be emancipated?"
"Because Alex," Mrs Jones started tentatively. "You really aren't old enough to live on your own."
Alex snorted, read; we need you under our control.
"Besides, you have no money. It's in trust, with us." Ah, now it was a subtle reminder of exactly who was in charge. Well, Alex decided, he wasn't going down without a fight. If they wanted to make him live with one of their lackeys (or the Head Lackey), he was going to fight them every step of the way, kicking, screaming, biting, scratching and whatever else it took.
"No." He said.
"I'm sorry?" Alex was surprised, was that a tinge of emotion in Blunt's normally droning voice?
"You heard me, I said no." Alex was having quite a bit of fun with this, apparently people, especially teenage boys, didn't tell them no very often. Well, Alex smirked inwardly, it was about time someone said it.
"Alex, there isn't another option here." Mrs Jones said, exasperated.
"Yes," Alex retorted. "There is. I say no. And I have. And I will continue to do so until you morons leave me alone. Clear?"
"Now Alex-" Blunt began, but was cut off as Alex stood up.
"No! You've treated me like cattle since the moment I stepped through these doors after my Uncle died. You've put me in danger so many times. I've killed people for you! And this is how you repay me for saving the world. You ruin my life! You take it away it bits and pieces, closing ties, making me lose people, until suddenly I have no one but you. Until I'm dependant," He sneered. "On you. I won't have it anymore. I'm not a child, you keep putting me in adult situations so you can at least treat me like one. You can't control me like this. What if I fail a mission, hey? What if I die? I know you don't have a conscience but let me say this. One day, you will get what is coming to you and when you do I will laugh. I will laugh so hard they will hear me in Australia and The Bermuda Triangle. I will laugh so hard I will probably be admitted into an Asylum, but it won't matter, because you will be gone."
Mrs Jones looked sufficiently shocked but Blunt remained impassive. Well, momentarily. He then deigned to lift an eyebrow, as if unimpressed by Alex's rant. Alex stared at them both for a moment, before shaking his head and leaving the room.
Before the door slammed shut behind him, Alex heard Blunt's voice.
"You have tonight to decide Alex, but tomorrow you will move in with someone. It's the law."
-X-
When Alex reached his Chelsea home it looked the same as when he had left in the morning. It seemed years away. Jack wasn't at the grocery store, she wasn't coming home and apologising for letting him sleep in. She was gone. Suddenly, Alex felt intensely lonely, it was an ache is his heart, a sort of emptiness that surrounded him. The house felt very big and silent. Empty. Alex felt overcome by the events of the day. He walked almost blindly to his room and sank onto the bed, cradling his head in his hands.
Sure, he'd stood up to MI6, but he knew he wouldn't be getting Jack back. In the heat of the moment, Alex could say no, but in the long term how could he possibly?
But what could he do when all of his options sounded like things that came only from his darkest nightmares?
Alex sat there for a long time, mulling over the options in his mind. It wasn't until the lights on the alarm clock beside his bed changed to 8:00 that he finally came out of his trance. He blinked rapidly, he hadn't noticed how dark it had gotten and turned on the light. He was starving, he'd had very little breakfast and no lunch at all.
Tiredly, Alex stood to make himself some dinner, wishing Jack was there with him. He settled on making a sandwich and set about getting the ingredients and putting two slices of bread in the toaster. We really do need to go grocery shopping, Alex caught himself thinking before shaking the thought out of his head. No, tomorrow he probably wouldn't even live here any more and there was no 'we', to think about.
As he sat down at the table, sandwich in front of him, he noticed a sticky note on the cabinet in front of him. Curious, he walked around the table and took it down, staring at the words on it.
Alex,
I'm sorry. I'll always love you and miss you.
Jack
Obviously, he'd overlooked it in the morning, Alex thought.
Suddenly though he was angry. Just a note. A few words. No explanation. No contact address. Just, 'I'm sorry'. Why hadn't Jack woken him up to him she was going? Why hadn't he noticed people in the house? Or her room? Her things had still been there in the morning when he'd checked, he was sure he would have noticed the stripped room. Why hadn't Jack put up more of a fuss? Said goodbye?
In a fit of anger Alex kicked the chair in front of him, sending it sprawling to the ground.
Why was it that everybody left him?
A/N: Ok, so I have a question! Would you like Alex to go to a Boy's Home of live with Mrs Jones? I have a plane trip to plan either one on Thursday, so tell me which you'd prefer! (Crawley isn't as interesting so I'm just saying, let's skip him). Let me know whom'd you would prefer (even if it is the lesser of two evils, because yes, I'm being pretty mean to Alex right now.)
And, thank you guys so much for all the amazing reviews I've gotten so far, they've been awesome! I can't promise when I'll next update as I'll be in New Zealand and will have to borrow other people's computers… but, I promise the chapters will come after that, I can plan on paper after all!
Again, thanks so much for all your support and tell me what you think!
