As ever, have no idea why so many people seem to like this story. Nice Reviews make me write faster. Enjoy

Chapter 7

"Rogi Vopradan? The mind wiper? The KGB's finest mind controller?"

"That's right, Creepy." Vixen leant back in her chair, watching the non descript man on the screen. "Volk's got a team out looking for him, but it's probable that he's skipped the country."

Mr. Crawley chewed at his bottom lip.

"Latest intelligence indicated that Vopradan was with..."
"SCORPIA." Vixen moved her head. "Working theory is that Sarov goes to his old friends in Scorpia, get's them on side and brainwashes the kid." She shrugged. "Probably promises them the kid."

Crawley nodded.

"You need protection."

Vixen snorted.
"Like Blunt's going to take me seriously." She sighed. "We both know what Scorpia's capable of."
Crawley nodded.

"I'll have team with you in 24 hours. Stay with him."

"Like I'm going to do anything else." Vixen said, breaking the connection.


The woman, Vixen was there when Jack arrived. She was sitting in a chair by the bed and made no move to leave. Her eyes rested on Jack with a good deal of suspicion.

"So," Jack asked. "What was he like? John, I mean. Was he anything like Ian?"

The agent regarded Jack for a few seconds before speaking.

"In appearance, yes. In character." She paused. "John was like my father."

Jack flushed.

"I only met the major a couple of times."

"That should be enough." Vixen said, with a grin. "For my father, his country came first. It was more important than anything else. Including us." She looked sad.

She sighed. "To Ian and me this is a job. You do what you have to. John and my father, it was anything for your country." She shook her head.

"But he did love Helen."

"Yury said you were friends."

Vixen smiled.

"Not at first. The first time I met Helen she poured a milkshake over John and called me a whore."

She shrugged at the surprise on Jack's face.

"I had just kissed her boyfriend fairly passionately on the lips, so she may have had justification." She shoved her hair out of her face.
"We were investigating an arms smuggler who was using young honeymoon couples to get the goods out of the country. So we pretended to be engaged and waited for their agents to contact us. The mission was a success, but Helen broke off their engagement."

She sighed.

"I was already in love with Ian, and I like John. I understood him, though I could never condone his attitude. So I went to her and explained as far as I could."
"She knew about him?!" Jack's voice was incredulous. Her mother had only found out about her father's involvement when they'd been forced to hiding.

"Knew some. Guessed the rest." She sighed. "She hated him been involved, but she understood, better than any civilian I've met. She was smart and she was strong, her one weakness was that she loved him too much. If she hadn't she'd have left him and taken Alex." There was a great sadness in her eyes.

"She went though her whole pregnancy on her own did you know that? The scenario they'd set up wouldn't have had Ian talking to her. I was out of the country for a lot of the early stuff."
"And Ash?" Jack asked. There was a slight change in Vixen demeanour that only someone with a life time of experience with agents would have picked up on.
"Helen didn't like Ash." She said. And changed the subject.

"Mind if I ask a personal question?"
"You can ask," Jack said slowly. "I don't have to answer."
Vixen smiled.

"You're your father's daughter." She said grinning. "Basically what happen between you and Ash. Why did you stop seeing him?"

"I never stopped seeing him." Jack replied. "He stopped seeing me. He and Ian went out for a drink one night, and the next..." she shrugged. "He was gone."

Vixen nodded, silently thanking a god she stopped believing in a long time ago that Ian had taken her advice.


Wolf had long ago learnt to never question a mission. It was a bad habit and more importantly was bad for morale. But the rumours flying around about this mission were making him think.

If, and experience taught him it was a big if, they were to go out there and protect Cub, there was going to be trouble.

The Russian authorities weren't likely to react well to a show of lack of faith, and Moscow would almost certainly create trouble.

He'd grown up with his father's and later his sister's horror stories of the Russian Secret Service, and had no desire to find out the truth about them.

However one other thing was overwhelmingly present. You didn't leave a team member behind.

With that thought in mind he lay back against the side of the Jeep that was taking them to the airport, and hope Eva wasn't in over her head.

TBC