A/N: Hi everyone! I hope you hag a good Christmas. My wonderful boyfriend got me the wonders of the solar system & universe DVDs and I planned to watch at least one today, but it turns out our DVD player isn't working. *pout*. But, onto the story!

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing that you recognise.

-o-O-o-

Alex was getting rather sick of sneaking into rooms in the middle of the night. This time, he didn't have to deal with professional stalkers, but he hadn't been invited either, which made the entire operation ten times creepier.

The window, thankfully, was open, and he slipped through noiselessly before crossing to the bed.

He slid his hand over the boy's mouth and shook him awake.

The kid woke with a start and began to struggle to get his mouth free.

"Matt," hissed Alex. "Matt, shut the fuck up, it's me."

Matt stared at him, and muttered something from behind Alex's hand.

"I can't hear you," said Alex, softly. "If I move my hand do you promise not to scream?"

Slowly, Matt nodded, his wide eyes not leaving Alex's face, and the blond lowered his hand.

"You're dead," said the dazed boy.

Alex blinked. "No, I'm not."

"But. I saw you get shot."

Alex smiled, reassuringly. "It takes more than a bullet to kill me," he promised.

"Why are you here?" he asked, softly. "MI6 think you're dead."

"No, they don't," said Alex. "But I'm here about David. Do you know what happened to him?"

Matt swallowed and looked down.

"The soldiers got him," he admitted softly. "I was going to ask Mrs Jones what happened to him, but my dad said not to!"

Alex frowned. "I don't think I like your dad much. He made you go on that mission?"

"He didn't make me do anything!" protested Matt, loudly, and Alex clamped a hand back over his mouth.

"Keep it down," he snarled, lowly.

"Sorry," murmured Matt, as Alex lowered his hand.

"Not as sorry as you're going to be," growled a voice from the door, and Matt scrambled out of bed.

"Dad!" he exclaimed. "I can explain."

"Hanging out with a known assassin?" sneered the man. "I don't think so. I should have known you'd disappoint me, again."

Alex growled, low in his throat. He really didn't like the man's tone.

"Don't bother going anywhere, assassin," snarled the man. "I've already contacted six."

"Well then, you can explain how you failed to hold me here," grinned Alex, and sprang.

The man was good, but Alex was better and all of a minute later the man was unconscious.

"Dad!" shouted Matt, rushing to his side.

"He's just unconscious," said Alex, then added, "You'll have to come with me, for now."

"You just knocked my dad out! Why would I go with you?!"

"You seem to be under the impression that I am giving you a choice," said Alex, coldly. "Now you can either get some stuff together and come with me willingly, or I can knock you out and carry you out of here in your pyjamas."

Matt frowned, then began to pull a rucksack from under his bed. But he was moving slowly. Stalling, Alex's mind quickly labelled it, and the assassin struck.

He caught the boy before he hit the floor and lowered him onto the bed, before grabbing the rucksack with a sigh.

Quickly, he stuffed in some clothes, a book on the nightstand and an iPod from the desk. He left the phone, and carefully checked everything for alterations by Smithers. Finally, he put shoes on the kid and wrapped him in the coat, before slinging the rucksack and its owner over his shoulder and heading back out of the window.

This had apparently been a bad idea.

-o-O-o-

Matt's head was killing him, and he was fairly sure that he'd been knocked out, which pissed him off.

"You have got to be kidding me!" barked a voice, and Matt winced. His head really hurt.

"You pulled me over here to play nursemaid?"

Matt groaned, and the voice fell silent.

"Grab that tape," muttered another voice, male this time, and after a moment, Matt placed Thanatos. So stalling hadn't worked, he assumed.

He pushed himself up and against the wall he had been lying against.

"Stay away," he said, his voice high and tight, to his embarrassment.

"We're not going to hurt you," said Thanatos. "But we can't afford to let '6 talk to you until we've broken David out."

"I wouldn't have told them!" protested Matt.

"And when they tortured you for information?" asked Thanatos, inquisitively.

"They wouldn't do that," said Matt, his face going blank with shock.

"They would."

"But I'm just a kid!"

"Doesn't matter," said Thanatos, his voice low and angry. "You have information they want."

"Why don't you just lock him up somewhere?" asked the girl, irritably.

"Do you know Sasha?" asked Thanatos. "She was at the school, and she's damn good, if a trifle over-enthusiastic."

"Thank you, sir," muttered Sasha, "but you still haven't explained how you knew he had information about David."

"He did a mission for MI6," said Alex, curtly. "His dad bullied him into it-"

"No he didn't!" exclaimed Matt, and Thanatos glared at him.

"You asked David to get him out, didn't you?" asked Sasha, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"Yeah, I did. Thought the kid would get himself out afterwards, but apparently not."

"You'll keep an eye on him?" he asked, softly.

"If you get David out," she bargained with a sigh.

-o-O-o-

Tulip frowned over the reports. Almost every agent that reported in was mentioning the Coalition, now, but still all they had was the name. She could infer enough to conclude they were bad news, however. How much of a threat they would prove to be, she wasn't sure, but not knowing was unacceptable.

"William," she said, pressing a button on her intercom. "Get me an update on Cell 13. I want to know if they think the subject is ready."

Hopefully, the student would know something.

-o-O-o-

David felt like he'd never be warm again. They wouldn't let him sleep, loud noises, or cold water coming out of nowhere when he was just drifting up. He was still shivering from damp clothes and the cell was cold enough to have his breath curling white in front of him.

It couldn't be that late in the year, so he was fairly sure that the temperature was deliberate. He hadn't been fed in several days now. He thought this was a sign that someone would soon try talking to him.

Whether he'd be able to stand, after however many weeks in a cell three paces in any direction, and not tall enough for him to straighten up, he wasn't sure.

He had just started to tense and stretch his legs when the door opened.

Show no weakness.

"Everything alright, gents?" he asked, lazily.

-o-O-o-

A/N: Poor David, huh? Have to admit, I still don't know what i'm going to do with MI6, or even how this will end! Any suggestions are welcome!

No, seriously, ideas are seriously needed here! The best I have at the moment is everyone dies. Although, we're still very close to the beginning here, so I'm not panicking much, yet.

But what did you think of the chapter? Remember, reviews are love!