Sorry for the wait!

There was deadly silence in the bunker for a good four and a half minutes; everyone getting to grips with what they'd just been told. Everyone contemplating the impending task ahead of them, silently praying for some form of release. They took seats around the table so that they were sat in a circle, although they knew they were together in this there was still some nervous glances shot towards Paulo, Hex and Alex.

"Li," Hex said and leant forwards, the woman sighed and leant forwards to hear him, "Paulo's just a good guy who did a bad thing for the right reasons." Hex said and the group nodded, it was strange that for a few moments Hex should take charge as they were so quickly falling apart. "Look, at leas there's nothing to hide anymore," he said quickly and before Amber could interrupt him. "But now we have to think about Lily and Eva; we can talk about who says what's right later." Everyone nodded and looked over to Alex.

"We need a plan; you do this for a living." Paulo said. Alex rubbed his eyes in the semi-darkness.

"Thank you." He said to them all before he began to act like his usual self when at work. "Brent?" He didn't wait for an answer, "do you have a mission brief?" He asked and a file was thrown in front of him, they all waited in silence as Alex read to himself. No one else really wanted to know the full details; there was a strange idea that if they knew all of what they were doing, it would just make the deed worse. They simply wanted to know what they were doing and when they could leave. "Alright," Alex put the file down and looked around at them all, "I need T&A results too," he added as an after thought; he knew their skills anyway but just in case they'd changed he'd have to know. These too were given to him by Brent and he skimmed them quickly. He glanced at his watch, "time, 9.46 pm, all present, begin…" his voice trailed away as he looked up and blushed; he'd thought he was back in his office, talking out loud to his secretary who'd write these things down.

"No wonder Lily said you needed a holiday," Li giggled.

"Oh right." He said and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment as they all grinned. "Basically," he said quickly, "Paulo you'll deal with transportation, that means no causalities as our medic is out, so Li, try to stay out of trouble." Everyone smiled at her as she pouted. "Hex, inside navigation, Amber, outside navigation." He ticked off their strengths in his head, "Li will be support in field and I…I'll be off field." All of them who tried to keep up with his fast delegation of roles.

"I have no idea what you mean mate." Hex said after five minutes of everyone nodding and saying they understood, "inside navigation?" He looked uneasy and Alex sighed.

"We need to make a shopping list." He concluded and they immediately started to argue about what they needed.

"Answer it." Amnias whispered to her, his eyes darted to the kitchen door as Matt opened it. Eva was in his arms and put a hand to her mouth; imitating what Amnias was doing to her mother. "I didn't know you were good with kids." He muttered to Matt who shrugged.

"Neither did I." He said and looked to Lily. "What're you doing? We need someone to get the door." Amnias took his hand away from her mouth and she rubbed her shoulder that he had pinned to the wall.

"Get out there," Amnias pushed her into the hallway, "and if they get any inkling that things aren't as they should be…" Lily didn't need to hear the rest; she knew what they'd do if the visitor came in. Lily was surprised to find her front door was back on its hinges and in perfect condition, in fact it looked brand new. She walked to the door and opened it slightly. The sun was falling behind the horizon and so dazzled her for a moment. She finally was able to see three figures stood outside her door. Two men in front, followed by a woman she recognised.

"Mercedes." She said breathlessly and continued to speak in Spanish, "what are you doing here; you weren't meant to come until tomorrow." Lily tried on purpose to ignore the two men in front of her; it didn't work and she cursed herself for thinking it would. They were tall and well built; practically obscuring the woman from view.

"Good evening. Señora Regal says that on her way by she heard some sort of commotion, coming from inside the house," the first man said in a deep voice that made Lily shiver. Lily shook her head and shrugged.

"Everything's fine in here Sir." She smiled at him but they could see from the way she was glancing over her shoulder that she was uneasy. The slightly shorter, more impatient police man licked his lips hurriedly.

"Well if you're sure," he began to walk away, "sorry for-"

"Señora," the younger officer, who probably joined the service because he wanted to actually help, took a step forwards. "If there is something you want to say but you can't," he spoke slowly and nodded his head, "you can just nod and we can help." It was sweet; he was an enthusiastic guy who wanted to offer help but Lily, being slightly older and a lot wiser knew it was doomed. For the first time in the conversation she allowed the real fear and panic she was feeling show on her face.

"Look, my husband and I are just having a bad time at the moment," Mercedes raised an eyebrow; Alex and Lily never fought, at least, not loud enough to be noticed. "I apologise for disturbing anyone but we're fine. I'm fine." She added quickly as she could see the young man was more concerned for her. He was about to speak again when Eva ran to the door. Lily risked a glance back and saw Amnias shove Matt to go and get her. The three visitors outside the door smiled at the little girl as she began conversation; her usual nonsensical language meaning nothing to them. "Time for a nap!" Lily said quickly for she knew Matt was behind her; if Mercedes saw him what would she think? She picked Eva up, waved the three away from her door and shut it. She leant against the wooden door, closed her eyes and let out a sigh of relief. She opened them and jumped as she found Matt and Amnias on either side of her. Matt took the same pose as Lily, relaxed but tense after the encounter with the police. Amnias stood at her side, one arm above her head, leaning in so she could feel the heated moisture on his breath.

"You know," he said conversationally as though nothing happened, "you work quite well under pressure. You ever considered working for me?" She stopped leaning against the door and began to walk away.

"I'm putting Eva to bed." She said quickly and heard Amnias grunt with impatience, he pushed Matt again to follow her. Eva's babbling quietened now as she could sense her mother was preparing her to sleep; she looked over Lily's shoulder to Matt and stared at him sleepily. "Are you my shadow now?" Lily asked Matt who'd been having a staring competition with Eva and lost.

"I've just been asked to make sure you don't try anything." They entered Eva's room and Matt took in the unfamiliar sights of a child's room; how long had it been since he'd been home, to his own room? He shook himself out of it; he grew up a long time ago, there was no point looking back. Lily put Eva on the bed and the little girl looked up at Matt. She beckoned him over and after a hesitant moment he obliged. Lily turned around and stood and Eva's cupboard, wondering what it was about Matt that reminded her of Hex. Eva put a book in the boy's hands and he looked over to Lily for some explanation. For the first time since meeting Matt, Lily laughed.

"She wants you to read obviously," Lily took a sideways glance at the book, "El burro que fue muy rápido…the donkey that went too fast." Lily had always found that title amusing but Matt just seemed annoyed by her laughter. He turned to Eva and handed the book back.

"I can't read Spanish." He said simply and was surprised to find that Eva understood him, she rolled her eyes and took the book away from him.

"El burro sabe mas que tu. " The little girl said quietly. "Eva." Her mum said in a warning tone and Eva smiled innocently at her.

"What did she say?" Matt asked Lily who sighed.

"The donkey knows more than you." Lily said and began to change Eva's clothes. Matt watched the way Lily acted with her daughter, wondering when the last time was anyone had ever smiled at him. He shook his head again; what was wrong with him? "Goodnight." Lily said and brought him out of his reverie, he saw Eva close her eyes quickly and fall asleep. Lily stood up and watched as Matt looked at her daughter; he was a strange kid, it was like he'd never seen a child up close before. "That really is all she does when she sleeps," Lily whispered, "just breathes, and dreams." She smiled and began to walk out of the room.

"You'd leave me in here with her?" Matt asked, surprised by her actions. Lily turned around at the door way and nodded.

"As much as you'd hate for me to say, you remind me of your brother." Matt shook his head and stood up. "How can you be so calm?" He asked; finally annoyed with the woman.

"How can you just stand there and smile at me when your life is in the hands of five people whose lives have been ripped apart by that freak-"

"Don't you know anything?" Lily asked suddenly, "do you have no recollection of love, or friendship, or faith?" She took a few steps towards him and he stood up from Eva's bed. "I know them; they won't care about each other's past; they'll do this." She reached him and put a hand to his cheek, his skin burned beneath her touch, "what don't you understand?" But after a moment she nodded as she understood. "Hex, was always bad with affection because he was locked away in the world of cyberspace," she laughed, "but your excuse is?" He could think of nothing to say. "Did your brother never care for you? Did anyone?" She whispered and could see in Matt's eyes she was breaking him. "You're not use to affection either-"

"Ahem." Lily moved her hand away and lowered her gaze as Amnias cleared his throat by the doorway. Matt looked up to him and jumped back from Lily. "As cute as your psychological torture is Lily," he walked into the room and stood behind her, "I'm afraid we've had a phone call." He looked quickly up to Matt, "we'll talk later." He said and the three of them walked out of the room.

"Konichiwa Mina-san!" Amnias shouted to the group as they came on screen, his smile faded and he rolled his eyes, "oh it's just you guys."

"Who were you expecting?" Hex asked coldly and Amnias sneered at him.

"Hello Kitty." He grinned at Hex who just shook his head in annoyance. "Anyway guys and dolls, look who's here to see you!" He grabbed lily's arm and forced her to sit on his lap. "Eva's asleep, bless her. But Lily has agreed to stay up for a while." He rested his head on her shoulder and she just rolled her eyes at him. "So Alpha Force, what's your answer to my little proposition." Amber stood up.

"We'll do it," she said and looked down to read off a piece of paper, "and here's what we need…" she began to read and on the other side Matt wrote down their requests. Lily smiled over at them all, glad they had stuck together, and that they had proven her point to Matt. She glanced over to him now and knew what she had to do if she was going to get out of this; Matt was weak. What he thought was a strength; the fact that he felt nothing for other people as people had never felt anything for him, was actually his one weakness. She'd break him, she had to.

Yeah, not too proud about this chapter but hey, needed to build Matt's character and...whatever XD