Disclaimer: I do not own Red Eye, or any characters originally involved. Any OCs are, of course, my own.

Chapter Thirteen:

Hero Syndrome

10 Years Ago…

Gabriel huffed, trying his best to supply his body with more oxygen as he sprinted off through the alley. He dared a quick glance over his shoulder, checking to see if his pursuers were still hot on his trail. He smiled to himself to see the alley devoid of people. He had made it out. He turned his head back around, facing front once more, and nearly plowed over a wiry young man.

"Watch it, kid!" he shouted at Gabriel as he righted himself and continued down the alley.

Gabriel didn't have time to stop and apologize. Any minute now, the people who had been hunting him down for the past week would come bolting down the alley after him. He should have told the man to make a run for it. He could get killed just hanging around and having seen Gabriel. Gabriel made it to the end of the alley and decided to take a small break behind the wall to catch his breath. He inhaled quickly and inspected his arm. Why his next door neighbor, Mrs. Wallace, had decided to break in last week and murder his mother was far beyond him. He closed his eyes, fighting back tears. She would have killed him, too, if the katana had made it a few more inches to the left. Mrs. Wallace had managed to slice his arm pretty well before he lunged at her with the kitchen knife. Now, for all he knew, she was dead and the police were after him as well as these strange people she worked for. When Gabriel opened his eyes, he started, pressing himself closer to the wall, willing himself to atomize and disappear. The wiry man was standing in front of him, large hands pressed to his hips. Gabriel took notice of the guns on either hip and swore.

"Watch your mouth," the man scolded. "What the fuck are you doing just sitting here? Is it nap time?"

The man peered around the corner and swore himself.

"You're one to talk," Gabriel muttered, noticing the man's own foul language.

"Considering you've led them right to us, I'm not the happiest of campers."

The man withdrew both guns and cocked them. Gabriel slid an inch to the left on the wall, trying to ease away. The man narrowed his eyes and brought up one gun to Gabriel's chest.

"Don't think I won't hesitate to kill you, rookie. It'll save me some trouble. Now, I can do some damage, but I need you to act afraid of me. Got it?"

"Not hard to do," Gabriel whispered, visibly shaking.

The man smirked at Gabriel before he raised the gun near Gabriel and let off one shot.

"Tell me who you work for!"

"No one!" Gabriel cried out, legitimately afraid. "I have no idea what you people want from me!"

Suddenly, three large men barreled around the corner, guns drawn.

"I've got him," the wiry man said to them.

"Are you kidding me?" Gabriel shouted. "You said-"

"One more word, kid, and I'm painting the wall behind you with brain splatter red, got it?" he asked, raising the gun to Gabriel's temple.

Gabriel swallowed hard, his eyes trying to plead with his captors. He should have kept running. He should have called for help. He had fallen into this man's trap and now he would be handed over to whomever it was that was after him.

"And just who are you?" one of the large men asked.

"I was sent by Mitchell, since you three apes are having such an issue capturing one little tween."

The man spoke with disgust, both at their failure and at the fact that Gabriel was just a kid. Gabriel, himself, was disgusted. The last thing he remembered, he had been living an average life. He was just a normal kid in DC. He hadn't known his father, though his mother assured him he would come back one day. He knew the odds were that his father was a drug dealer, or user, and he had been sent off to jail. His mother, bless her, had been trying to spare him the heartbreak of a deadbeat father. But, Gabriel didn't let it hold him back. He got good grades in school. He had perfect attendance. And now, at the ripe age of 16, Gabriel was involved in something that he had only ever witnessed on crime shows and movies on TV.

"Mitchell," one of the men spit, "The bastard. Like we can't do our jobs?"

"Apparently not. I'm here to do it for you."

"You look familiar," one of the men commented, stepping closer.

"Yeah, I do private contracting. Enough jibber jabber, fellas. If you don't mind, I'll be taking the kid here over to Mitchell now. No hard feelings."

The wiry man turned like he was going to walk away, placing a gun-holding hand on Gabriel's back and giving him a gentle shove forward.

"Actually, we do mind," he heard them call.

Together, Gabriel and the wiry man stopped walking. Gabriel heard him sigh before he turned slightly. Gabriel turned with him, the wiry man's hand now draped casually over his shoulder as if they were old friends.

"I thought you might say that." The men looked around. "Well, it's been fun, boys."

One of the three went for his gun, and the others followed suit, but the wiry man tugged Gabriel uncomfortably close and began shooting. He shoved Gabriel off to the side and Gabriel curled himself up, praying not to be hit by a stray bullet. Cries resounded as bullets pierced flesh and shattered bone in the back alley. Then all was quiet. Gabriel simply heard his own breathing. Then, footsteps. He wondered briefly what being shot in the head would feel like. Isn't that what they'd do to him? He didn't know how this worked.

"Come on, get up," a voice said.

He looked up and the wiry man was holding one of his strong hands out to Gabriel. When Gabriel continued to stare, he reached down and hauled him up to his feet.

"Are you hurt?"

"I…" The wiry man rolled his eyes, placing his guns back in the holsters on his hips. "I don't think so."

"Peachy. Let's go."

"Wait. I don't even know who you are! You could be one of them!"

"Does it look like I'm one of them, kid?"

"My name is Gabriel. Quit calling me kid," Gabriel snapped.

"Name's Jackson," the man said with a smirk. "Now c'mon, kid. More of them will be coming."

Jackson took off on a light jog down the side alley. They needed to get back into the crowd and loose any tails as quickly as possible. He had a car waiting for them. They bobbed and weaved through the crowd. Jackson was surprised at the kid's ability to stay so close without touching him. He appreciated it. Teenagers, especially ones who had been on the run for a week, were dirty. He couldn't believe Alicia had assigned him to babysitting duty. This kid was practically in diapers, still! They made it to the parking garage around the corner without incident and Jackson flung himself into the driver's seat of a Jeep. Gabriel cocked is head to the side as he got in.

"Problem?" Jackson asked, whipping the Jeep from the parking space and peeling out into the street.

Gabriel hung on for dear life, terrified of this guy who seemed to be an ally for the time being. Either way, he had saved Gabriel. But, Gabriel was confused.

"I thought spies drove flashy, fast, cars."

Jackson chuckled, weaving in and out of traffic.

"First of all, I'm not a spy. Second of all, a Jeep gets you from A to B the same as a 'flashy, fast, car,' but it's not as noticeable."

"When you're driving like a bat out of hell, I'd say you're pretty noticeable."

Gabriel could feel the car slowing, ever so slightly, but Jackson grimaced.

"You know, I've got some tranquilizers in here somewhere. You keep up with the smart mouth and you'll be out like a light, kid. While my boss prefers you to come in alive and well, accidents happen."

Gabriel pressed his lips together. If he was unconscious, he couldn't fight back. He wasn't entirely sure who this man was, or what his boss wanted from him, so Gabriel decided to keep his thoughts to himself for now.

"You're bleeding," Gabriel stated, unable to hold it in.

Jackson followed Gabriel's gaze for a split second, his eyes connecting with his upper right shoulder. It was surely a lot of blood, and Gabriel was amazed that Jackson was still standing.

"It's just a flesh wound," Jackson said casually. "There's a first aid kit behind your seat. Reach back and grab me some gauze, would you?"

Gabriel moved in a flash, panicking. How Jackson could be so calm when he was bleeding to death was beyond him. He grabbed the kit in a flurry and pulled out all of the gauze he could find. Jackson chuckled meanwhile, stealing glances as they made it onto the highway.

"What do I do?"

"First of all, take a deep breath." Jackson swiftly pulled off his shirt, a skilled move, Gabriel thought. "Then, give me some of that gauze."

Gabriel did as instructed, and Jackson wiped it clean, showing Gabriel it was "barely a scratch."

"There's certainly a lot of blood for a scratch," Gabriel murmured.

He began wrapping around the gauze Jackson held on the wound and then secured it with a bit of tape.

"Great job," Jackson said, placing both hands on the steering wheel.

Gabriel still looked shaken and Jackson could feel the tension seeping in. He hated awkward situations like this. He knew he should ask the kid what's wrong. Try his hand at being sensitive. But, it simply wasn't in Jackson's character. Sympathy was for the weak. He sighed and leaned his head into his hand on the door. Gabriel gazed out at the trees whizzing by the Jeep.

"Alright," Jackson groaned. "What's the matter?"

Gabriel turned and simply stared at Jackson.

"Are you serious?"

"Nope. I just enjoy invoking the wrath of teenagers. Forget it."

Jackson turned his eyes back to the road and tightened his grip on the wheel. He had never been any good at this sort of thing.

"Look. I haven't slept much in this past week, I've hardly eaten, I'm being chased by murderers who want God-knows-what, I've been possibly kidnapped by another," Jackson gave Gabriel a threatening look to which he shrugged in response, "and... I'm an orphan now."

Jackson grimaced. Now was when the kid would spill his whole sob-story and expect Jackson to be there to console him, bring him into a hug and tell him the world hadn't gone to shit. But, Jackson wouldn't do that. The truth of it was that this is how the world is. It is shit. People try to kill you, people love and hate you, and then you die.

"Well, we'll be there soon, and you can have a cheeseburger or something," Jackson replied awkwardly.

Gabriel could tell that this probably wasn't a spy's area of expertise: consoling. So, he took the comment as it was, laced with a sympathy that Jackson could never speak. Gabriel imagined that the subject was probably sore for Jackson, too, or maybe that in his line of killing and espionage, that he had never learned to have an emotional side. They rode the remaining few hours in silence. It had long since been dark when they arrived at a moderately sized log cabin in the middle of the George Washington National Forest. Gabriel was exhausted and hungry. Not to mention, he imagined Jackson had to be at least in a bit of pain from the grazing gunshot would he had received on his arm.

"How do you just have a place in the middle of the woods…?"

Jackson shut his door and inhaled deeply. He had always loved it outside of the crowded cities. He could breathe and think and run free, just like the animals.

"Secret stuff," he commented with a smirk to Gabriel. "Maybe when you're older you'll know. Assuming you last."

Gabriel stopped walking, his feet planted by the hood of the Jeep.

"There is no way I'm going in there," he called to Jackson, who was already up on the porch.

"Ah, but she knows you're here. Now you have to."

"Curiosity killed the cat," Gabriel said, not wanting to give in to the temptation.

"Suit yourself. I'm sure that the black bear I saw last week is long gone by now."

Jackson casually unlocked the door and let himself inside, leaving Gabriel alone in the darkness. It wasn't long before he caved and bolted up to the house and clambered through the door.

"Something have you spooked, kid?"

"Quit calling me that. You don't seem that much older than I am."

Jackson laughed.

"Ah, but I am older, and that's all that matters. Show some respect. Now, follow me."

Jackson edged his way up the stairs into a long hallway. Warm orange light came through a cracked door at the very end of the hall, slicing the dark in two. Jackson seemed like a superhero of sorts to Gabriel. He had saved his life. He had gotten shot in the process, but acted as if it was no big deal. And now? Now Jackson seemed as if he could navigate completely in the dark.

"Alicia?" Jackson called, approaching the door and knocking twice.

"Come in, come in," a woman called.

Jackson opened the door and stood off to the side, allowing Gabriel to enter first. He took a step inside and wanted to recoil. The woman had her back turned to him, but he somehow felt the negative aura coming from her. She turned her head slightly, a cup of tea steaming in her hand. Gabriel's breath hitched as Jackson steered him to a chair near the fireplace. She looked like a vampire to him, and they were encased in a room of glass. The better for her to spot her prey, I'm sure, Gabriel thought.

"Ah, you made it! Wonderful."

She turned completely now and strutted over to a chair across from his. She set her tea carefully down on the small end table and remained standing. She was tall, snakelike and elegant, with deep black eyes and a small nose. Gabriel felt a chill run up his spine. She smiled, and he took solace in the fact that she didn't actually have the fangs he had imagined. Her hair seemed almost black in the light, though Gabriel thought he could see hints of red. She had it smoothed into a small ivory clip at the base of her neck. Gabriel thought, possibly with glasses and a white lab coat, she could be a doctor.

"You must be Gabriel," she said, approaching, with one hand extended, on blood red stilettos, and Gabriel thought once more of a vampire. "I'm Alicia, and it's a pleasure to meet you."

Gabriel nodded and shook her hand, not sure of what to say. It was all confusing and she was so intimidating. She looked like a predator, her features to angular and sharp, and those eyes so dark.

"Great job, Jackson. Do me a favor and go fetch us something to eat? I'm sure Gabriel, here, is pretty hungry after the trip. Aren't you, sweetie?"

Gabriel simply nodded, hypnotized by her. Jackson also nodded and disappeared from the study in a flash.

"You're so lucky Jackson found you in time."

Alicia picked up her tea, blew on the edge daintily, and then took a careful sip. It was still too hot for her liking, Gabriel noticed, as she grimaced and set it carefully back on the table.

"Yeah… I thought he was going to kill me."

Alicia laughed, relaxing into the high-backed chair and propping her heels up on a small leather ottoman.

"Oh heavens no," she chuckled again, folding her hands across her stomach. "Jackson just enjoys the theatrics. You'll come to learn that about him."

"No offense, but I'm really just trying to learn what is going on. My mother is dead."

Alicia frowned.

"Well, your neighbor, Mrs. Wallace, was it? She worked for some… questionable people, Gabriel. People who found out about your father. Then, of course, he's been dead for years, so it wasn't him they thought would hinder their mission."

"So you are spies!"

"Not quite, though we do employ a few 'spies.'"

"And… my father is dead?"

"Oh," Alicia said, her eyebrows furrowing in disappointment. "Your mother never told you…?"

"No. She said my father was coming back. I always assumed he was in jail or something."

"I'm sorry. He was killed a few years back on a mission for us."

Gabriel tightened his grip on the chair. So, now both of his parents were dead because of these ridiculous spy wannabes?

"Well, now I'm an orphan I guess," he spat. "What a great week this has turned out to be."

"My sympathies," Alicia crooned, rising from her chair to crouch down next to his. She placed her hand slowly on top of Gabriel's, not wanting to spook him further. "But, we can offer you protection."

Just then, Jackson returned with a tray of sandwiches. He set them on the end table next to Alicia's tea. Gabriel noticed he had put a shirt back on.

"Thank you, Jackson," she murmured.

"We um… we didn't have much," he said, feeling awkward for interrupting, "Just some sandwiches."

"Yes, thank you Jackson," Alicia murmured once more, not taking her snakelike eyes off of Gabriel.

Gabriel managed to tear his gaze away and look at Jackson. He looked perplexed, slightly confused.

"You can have a seat, if you wish. We're discussing business."

Jackson nodded and planted himself in the window seat. He folded his long legs up to his chest and stared off into the darkness. Gabriel looked back down at Alicia. She smiled.

"Like I said, we can offer you protection."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, those people who have been after you for a week now can be eliminated. Taken out. And we can train you. You can be like your father."

"You want me to be a spy?"

Alicia closed her eyes and swallowed hard.

"Not a spy," she commented through gritted teeth. Jackson eyed the pair from his window seat. "An operative. A trainee. Jackson, here, can be your mentor."

Jackson was up in a flash.

"No more babysitting duty," he pleaded. "He's a child."

Alicia leapt up from her spot on the floor and took one deadly step towards him.

"You're still a child, Jackson. You have promise," she said, softening, "but you're also arrogant. You were like him once. Scared, alone. You were given this life, Jackson, just as you will give it to him."

Jackson nodded humbly, not wanting to disobey Alicia. She turned her gaze back down on Gabriel and smiled once more. Gabriel found himself smiling back. Maybe she wasn't as deadly as she seemed, at least not to Gabriel.

"We've been watching you for quite some time, actually. Monitoring you. Had we realized that your father's final mission would come back to harm you, we would have interfered before now."

"Well, it's not me who was harmed. It was my mother."

"Well, sometimes bad things happen to good people," she murmured. "I truly am sorry for your loss, Gabriel. But, I hope you realize the offer we're extending to you. You can be a part of something bigger than anything you've ever known. You can be calling the shots. Or taking them. Whatever suits your fancy."

Alicia turned and went back to her tea. She inspected the sandwiches and nudged the tray closer to Gabriel.

"Have one. Jackson is good at making sandwiches."

She winked over at Jackson, a sort of atonement for her anger a moment ago.

"Thank you," Gabriel said to them both as he picked one up off of the tray.

"Jackson, come eat." Alicia paused, finally able to drink her tea, and let her words sink in. "We'd train you, of course. It's no cakewalk, that's for sure. We're in the business of life and death, Gabriel. Do you understand?"

"Yes. And… I think I'd like to try."

Jackson laughed and Alicia smirked.

"Gabriel, there is no 'try.' There is success and failure. With success come rewards. With failure come serious repercussions. Either you're in and you succeed, or you fail and you're out."

Jackson smirked and crossed his thin arms across his chest.

"Then, I'm in."

Jackson looked slightly disappointed, while Alicia smirked.

"Good. I'm sure you won't disappoint us." She nibbled on the corner of a sandwich before looking back up at the boys. "Well, if you gentlemen don't mind, we'll continue this discussion bright and early tomorrow. I have some blueprints to go over. The damn French team was compromised last night."

Alicia and Jackson rolled their eyes with smiles like two friends sharing an inside joke. Gabriel remained seated, feeling more comforted, but still detached. He supposed after being on the run, worrying about survival, he hadn't really had a moment to come down and let the facts settle in just yet.

"C'mon, Gabriel," Jackson instructed, leisurely walking to the door. "I'll show you to your room."

"Goodnight, boys," Alicia called as Jackson cracked the door.

Both of them called a "goodnight" out to her from the dark. Jackson walked without effort through the blackened hallway, though Gabriel had some trouble. There were small tables, he thought, setting up against the walls. He tripped every now and then, frowning when he heard Jackson laugh.

"Not so good at tailing me in the dark, are you, Gabe?"

"How do you do that?" Gabriel asked, avoiding his question with another question.

"I've memorized the layout," Jackson stated simply.

"Oh. Well that's cheating."

"No- it's being observant and smart."

Gabriel heard a door click open and Jackson flicked on a light, flooding the hall with more light and causing Gabriel to squint. It was a simple room. For an organization that, to Gabriel, still seemed full of spies, this place was remarkably ordinary. There wasn't a single computer around, that Gabriel had noticed. A small twin-sized bed sat in the corner of the room. A deep blue comforter complimented the pale blue of the walls. Even a pair of simple pajamas sat on the comforter.

"What's wrong now?" Jackson asked.

"Where are all the gadgets? The computers? The alarm systems and spy cams?"

Jackson smirked and glanced around the room.

Then, he leaned in to Gabriel's ear and whispered, "That's above your security clearance, 33."

"Is that my code name…?"

Jackson slapped Gabriel on the back and his laughter pierced the silence.

"No! Are you kidding me? This is not Mission Impossible or James Bond. All of the security systems are hidden. And besides, this is a safe house, not headquarters. This is not a game, kid," Jackson said, his voice like razors. Jackson stepped closer to Gabriel, intimidating him until he was standing flush against the bed. "You make one wrong move out there, and it's all over. Not just for you, but for all of us. You go into this thinking you're some hero, and we're going around on zip lines, poisoning presidents, all while reporting back to base in the small chips in our ears, you're going to get everyone killed."

Jackson glared down at Gabriel, disgusted with the boy he saw. Alicia may have said he was once a boy like him, but Jackson couldn't remember ever being so care-free and ignorant to the world. He was grown up at the ripe old age of ten, from what he remembered. That was when Jackson killed his first mark. You grow up quickly when you have a man with a machete chasing you through his base in a foreign country. You grow up quickly when you have to watch him bleed out on the floor in front of you. You have to grow up when your parents show no remorse for what they made you do. Jackson turned away and stopped at the door.

"Get some sleep. We're up at sunrise."

With that, he slammed the door behind him, leaving Gabriel alone with his thoughts and his fears. Over the years, as Gabriel came to know Jackson, he found out they, in fact, did have members who acted like real-life James Bonds. Gabriel didn't long to be one of them anymore. He wanted to be in a position of power. He wanted to be like Jackson, revered among even the eldest of members, feared by the most skilled assassins. He was the prodigal son of the founders of the Order. Even if he wasn't, Gabriel had a sinking feeling that Jackson would still be the alpha male. Gabriel knew he would do anything to receive the praise and recognition that Jackson received. It would have to be radical; something to make Jackson pale in comparison and make Gabriel out to be the hero.

While Jackson didn't necessarily like Gabriel, he found himself able to tolerate the boy. He was simply a lost "kid" looking for a friend. Jackson thought he remembered the feeling. Jackson found Gabriel's obsession sort of flattering. What was the harm?

A/N: Ohhhh, I suspect something is going on in Gabriel's young mind. Perhaps it has to do with the cruise? Or something that has made Jackson despise him? Perhaps it has to do with the Red Eye…? :D
I figured a good villain needs a good back-story. More will be revealed later, of course. But! For now, a taste of their past.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I'm glad you all liked the past two chapters… Some of you, it seemed, needed to take a dip in that waterfall! I'm right there with you.

Reviews and such are much appreciated!