Chapter 23, All Expenses Paid Vacation
Erin leant against the wall; eyes clenched shut against the pain that was battering her mercilessly. What little pain medication she's had in her system had worn off, and her bullet wound was causing her terrible pain. Downstairs, she heard Yassen talking to Alex, probably dosing him up with hot drinks and generally making sure that Alex wasn't going to randomly keel over. Alex may have got past the immediate danger of hypothermia, but the possibility of getting severely and possibly fatally ill was still a genuine danger for him.
Breathing out heavily through her nose, Erin braced herself and stood up slowly. The torn muscle and tissue in her shoulder screamed in protest. Swaying slightly, she stumbled down the staircase and into the kitchen. Alex looked up from where he was sitting grumpily at the table. The foul temper seemed to be a result of their argument. The fact that he wrapped up like a marshmallow in thick blankets probably didn't help. Erin couldn't help but smirk at the humiliation he was doubtlessly feeling.
"I wish I had a camera." She declared sweetly, her innocent smile marred slightly by the way her teeth were clenched tightly.
Alex scowled, but didn't respond. He picked up the mug in front of him and took a long swig from it. He narrowed his eyes slightly as he did so, fixing his stare at a point just behind Erin. Erin raised a brow and turned around. Yassen stood watching her, carrying a nylon laptop case in one hand.
"Coming downstairs just to argue is unusually immature, even for you Erin." The Russian noted.
Erin dropped her hostile glare.
"I didn't come down to argue." She muttered.
"I'm so glad to hear that." Yassen said with just a touch of sarcasm, moving to the table and deftly unpacking the laptop.
"Why did you decide to grace us with your presence then?" Alex asked, putting his drink down with a thud.
Erin mumbled something under her breath. Alex frowned at her.
"What?" he asked.
Erin sighed and looked up.
"I came to ask for some pain meds." She stated, grimly but otherwise perfectly clear.
Alex smiled widely, obviously delighted to be able to mock her.
"I wish I had a voice recorder!" he said, imitating Erin's previous comment. "So I could record this great moment, Erin begging!"
Yassen shook his head, but otherwise didn't look up from where he was busy on his laptop.
Erin started to tense herself, but her aching muscles gave a spasm of pain. With a whimper, she stopped what she was doing. Alex's smile grew in size.
"Poor Erin, do you need my blanket?" He asked, in a mockingly worried baby voice. He stood and offered his mug.
"Or maybe you should have some nice hot milk to calm your nerves?" he asked, an evil glint in his eyes. Alex was enjoying needling Erin far too much to worry about the repercussions. Erin lost it then, she was in pain, worried and Alex's hostile attitude towards her was the straw that broke the camel's back.
"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM RIDER?!" She screamed, "WHY THE HELL DO YOU HAVE TO KEEP DOING THIS TO ME?!"
Alex's eyes widened in shock at her outburst, but his surprise was short lived. He quickly regained his composure and returned the verbal onslaught in kind.
"IT'S YOUR OWN BLOODY FAULT, YOU'RE THE ONE WHO STARTED ALL THIS BY DRAGGING ME INTO MI6!!!" He shouted back, fists clenched. Alex stood up abruptly, blankets sliding off his shoulders. Erin started to reply, but she suddenly tensed and turned around sharply.
Yassen was standing in view from the kitchen, by the front door. The Russian was absolutely still and silent, his eyes revealed an intense level of focus. On what, neither Alex nor Erin was sure. Both the teens fell quiet, curious. Concentrating, Erin heard something from outside: The faintest noise of crunching footstep over snow. Then, nothing. Alex opened his mouth to ask the obvious question, but he never had the chance. Yassen suddenly darted away from the door a split second before it imploded with a loud explosion. A smoke grenade's cloud of crimson obscured Alex's view, so he never saw the men storming in through. He heard them though, a dull thudding noise as combat booted feet invaded the house through the gaping opening that was a front door. Alex was frozen with shock, mind still struggling to catch up to the events. In his confused state, he barely reacted when a man suddenly loomed out of the smoke. The stranger grabbed Alex and opened his mouth to shout, presumably an alert to his comrades. However, the man suddenly released his grip on Alex. His eyes rolled up, and he toppled sideways, a hole in the side of his neck pouring blood, some of which dripped onto Alex's front. Recoiling in disgust, he looked up. Yassen was standing in front of him impassively, a large serrated knife that was dripping blood in one hand. The Russian motioned for him to be silent, the other men were still crashing and screaming wildly through the house, and only sheer luck had prevented them from being caught so far. Alex gave a brisk nod to show he understood. He followed Yassen quickly through the rapidly thinning smoke to the staircase. Bodies running through the smoke loomed out randomly from all directions; it was a struggle not to crash into people. Once they were at the staircase, Yassen crouched. Alex did likewise. He watched in surprise as the Russian knocked quietly at one of the large wooden squares that made up the side of the staircase.
The square swung open a little on well oiled hinges, Erin squatted behind in what appeared to be a small room. Rushing now, Alex followed Yassen into the small space, barely getting in before Erin pulled the door shut. As soon as she did so, it was pitch black in the space, a tiny bar of light leaking out from underneath the door. There was a tiny crack, and green light suddenly appeared. Yassen held a snap activated light, similar to the ones children bought at circuses and concerts. He took a second to check that both Erin and Alex were okay before moving further away from the door. To Alex's amazement, there was a narrow staircase that led steeply down into what looked like shaft.
"The house used to have an underground level." Erin whispered by Alex's ear, so quietly that he had to strain to hear her. He gave a silent nod and followed (not without a fair amount of trepidation) as Yassen led the way down the staircase. After about half a minute's progress, Erin seemed to associate some landmark with safety, because she began to speak.
"Who were they? They were wearing combat clothing and they were well trained whoever they were." She stated voice low.
Yassen didn't miss a beat in answering.
"That doesn't narrow it down, many terrorist organizations, Liberty included, use military equipment. However, it was a good indicator of our attacker's identities."
Erin frowned, obviously not satisfied by her Father's answer. There was a moment's silence as the stairs levelled out into a narrow, roughly made passageway. It led on through the dark, slowly sloping upwards. It seemed that they were underground, making slow progress upwards.
Yassen seemed to know that his answer wasn't shedding any light, so he addressed Alex.
"Did you recognise any of them?" he asked.
Alex frowned, trying to concentrate on his footing whilst answering.
"No, why should I? I've never-" He trailed off mid-sentence, realization suddenly dawning on him. Alex stopped where he was and looked at Yassen.
"They were SAS soldiers!" He exclaimed, starting forward again as Erin poked him in the shoulder.
Yassen nodded as he continued leading the way through the passage.
"You are correct; I recognised their Kevlar jackets and their specific attack method. Just a tip, mainly for you Erin; SAS soldiers' bullet proof jackets don't protect their necks, aim there for maximum damage."
Erin peered at her Father suspiciously.
"I thought you never wanted me to be a killer?" she asked, half wary, half curious.
Ahead of her, Yassen appeared to shrug.
"Things change." The Russian said, so quietly that Alex thought that maybe he wasn't meant to be heard. Unsure exactly what was going on, Alex continued following the other two silently for a few more minutes. Soon, a distant pinprick of light appeared, heralding escape from the dark tunnel. Encouraged by this prospect, Alex picked up his pace and began to jog.
Suddenly, Yassen stopped. Alex and Erin did likewise, glancing at each other in confusion. Looking ahead, Alex began to worry. Yassen was standing very still, looking very tense. Erin seemed to draw some conclusion from this; she gave a hiss and closed her eyes. Confused, Alex tried to see what was causing the hold-up, but the tunnel was too narrow; he could only see Yassen's back. Then, a low, menacing voice echoed through the tunnel.
"Drop your weapon now!"
Only then did Alex notice that Yassen had pulled out a handgun, the action had been so subtle he'd missed it. Erin had gone pale, she looked very worried.
"Drop the weapon now, last warning!"
Panicking slightly, Alex shoved past Erin to stand just behind Yassen. Then, he saw what had caused everyone to freeze.
Six SAS soldiers wearing balaclava's and combat gear stood approximately 5 metres in front of them, every one of them looking extremely scared and holding an absurdly large gun. Yassen didn't move, but Alex saw that the Russian was tense, every muscle in his body coiled tightly as if in preparation to spring. The SAS soldiers seemed to notice it too, the one who'd spoken before raised his gun level with Yassen's head.
"Do it Gregorovich, don't make me match the hole Cray put in you!"
Yassen still didn't move, but Alex knew it was not from fear. The Russian was furious, never before had he been caught out like this. The SAS soldiers all raised their weapons, and it seemed like they were about to shoot. Not knowing exactly what he was doing, Alex suddenly stepped out in into the space between the two parties. He turned to face Yassen.
"What are you doing?!" He hissed, "Do you want to get killed? Didn't you learn your lesson on Air Force One?!"
Yassen pressed his lips together irritably, but after a minute's hesitation, the Russian released his death grip on the gun. The weapon clattered to the stone ground with a metallic clatter. Behind him, Erin did the same. Immediately, the SAS soldiers surged forward. One rushed forward to Alex and removed his balaclava. Alex started as Wolf was revealed abruptly.
"Cub! Thank God you're alive!" The soldier exclaimed, "We had no idea whether you'd be killed or not."
Alex frowned slightly, ignoring the sounds of a scuffle behind him.
"Why would I be killed?" He asked, "How did you find me…us?"
Wolf smirked.
"When Erin made her call, we tracked her using the phone's signal. Pretty stupid of her to forget we could do that." He said with a slight laugh. "Now come on, we're going back to headquarters now."
Alex opened his mouth to respond, but he turned around to look behind him instead. Erin was being forcibly restrained by an extremely pissed off looking soldier. She was lashing out wildly, struggling to get free, but she was outweighed. Slightly apart from her, Yassen was silent, on his knees with both hands being held up behind his head. Apart from an angry gleam in his eyes, the Russian was calm and cast a curious glance in Alex's direction. Yassen seemed to be oblivious to the four SAS soldiers standing guard over him, all of whom looked terrified to be near the Russian. Alex didn't say anything; he wasn't sure what he was supposed to feel about the scene. Frowning slightly, Wolf put a hand on Alex's shoulder.
"Cub? We need to go now; my men will deal with this."
Alex didn't move, his expression looked as if he was struggling to think of something. Then, after a second's deliberation, he looked up and faced Wolf.
"No." Alex said quietly, shaking his head a little.
Silence fell in the tunnel as his speech echoed around eerily. Wolf stirred first and frowned.
"Cub, you don't understand, we're taking you away now where you'll be safe-"
Alex suddenly scowled and interrupted.
"No! You don't understand, I'm staying and there's nothing you can do to stop me!" He snapped. Behind him, both Yassen and Erin were listening, probably nonplussed by his odd behaviour.
Wolf shook his head and rolled his eyes. With a sigh, he reached forward to grab Alex by the arm. He stopped abruptly as Alex bent down quickly and straightened up again, Yassen's gun in his left hand.
"Alex what are you-" Wolf never got a chance to continue, Alex smoothly brought his other hand up to grip the weapon steadily. He shifted into a stance he vaguely remembered from firearms training in Scorpia. Around him, all the SAS soldiers were slow to react, they were supposed to be rescuing the boy, yet he was resisting and was holding them all at gunpoint.
"I told you, I'm staying with the others!" Alex said, voice grim. He wasn't sure what was prompting his act of loyalty to Yassen and Erin, but he felt that it was the right thing to do for some reason. Wolf scowled and looked angry now.
"Stop being stupid Alex, we're not going to put you in custody, we were sent here to rescue you." He snapped.
Shaking his head, Alex spoke.
"Well, I tried to warn you." He shrugged as if to reject any responsibility for the followings. Then, he pulled on the trigger. The gun gave a loud bang and Alex felt the recoil all through his arms. The gun was more powerful then any weapon he'd used before. All the SAS soldiers ducked, but there was no need. The shot had been designed to make a point, not to injure. A single bullet had drilled into the rock, between Wolf's feet. The soldier looked a little shocked, as if he hadn't thought Alex capable of shooting.
Alex gave a slight smile.
"There, I opened fire on SAS troops, so you have no choice but to either shoot back or take me into custody. It's your choice, but I'd prefer custody." He said, obviously very pleased with himself.
Wolf shook his head, but gave a sigh and gave in.
"Alright, fine, we'll play your immature little game." He growled, motioning for one of the soldiers guarding Yassen to take care of him.
Alex gave a smile that was borderline sarcastic, but didn't react as he was roughly put in handcuffs and dragged over to Yassen and Erin. He felt his knees being kicked out from underneath him and Alex ended up kneeling. The soldier's attention shifted to Erin, the look on her face suggested a re-run of her struggle in the campsite. One particular soldier instinctively put a hand up to his chin, Alex smirked to himself, it was obvious he was the one who'd been kicked by Erin. This time however, they weren't taking any chances with the girl. Erin barely had time to draw breath before she was smashed from behind with the butt of one of the soldier's guns. Erin was out cold before she hit the ground. Once she was taken care of, they moved towards Yassen. Before one of them even raised their weapons, the Russian looked around and glared furiously at them. Immediately, the soldiers backed off, seemingly trying to escape Yassen's cold, blue eyes.
"I wouldn't" The Russian warned quietly, "I'll come quietly anyway."
The SAS soldiers backed off quickly, nodding hard. Wolf growled at his men's cowardice, but didn't do anything other then snarl,
"No talking!"
Alex gave a snigger, and felt rather then heard the two soldiers move over to behind him. He turned around and tried to give the men the same treatment as Yassen, but for his trouble, ended up getting the gun in his chest. Incapacitated by the blow which was also directly over his old sniper wound, Alex fell to the ground, winded.
"Ass…hole!" he managed to gasp out.
Above him, Wolf shrugged.
"You asked for the royal treatment as well." He said in a reasonable, albeit amused voice.
Yassen spoke at this.
"I presume that most of this is for my benefit, but I feel inclined to ask, why exactly are we being given 'the royal treatment' instead of being killed on the spot?" The Russian asked in a tone that suggested that he was only mildly curious about his ultimate fate.
Wolf crouched down so he was eye to eye with Yassen.
"The reason you and your daughter here weren't shot straight away is both of your presences are required at MI6 headquarters ASAP."
To the side of the pair, Erin had regained consciousness in time to hear this.
"Oh shit no!" She moaned, not picking herself off the ground.
Wolf smiled at her reaction. He grabbed her by her uninjured shoulder and pulled her up into a kneeling position.
"Think of it as your all expense paid holiday to Greater London!" he suggested lightly, standing fluidly. Erin didn't reply, she merely scowled at the ground. Wolf watched her for a second before remarking,
"I suggest you do as you're told if you want to avoid having your head bashed in by a blunt object again."
Just then, one of the soldiers' radios gave a squawk. The man picked it up and spoke rapidly, too quietly for Alex to hear. Then, he put it back on his belt.
"Transport's ready sir!" he said loudly. Wolf nodded once and turned to the men standing guard over Alex, Yassen and Erin.
"Get them up!" he barked, turning back around to talk quickly to his radio man. Alex winced as he was picked up off the ground and dragged forward, towards the end of the tunnel. No one spoke during this short journey, but Alex noticed that no one was dragging Yassen. The Russian had his hands cuffed in front of him and walked on his won, although two bulky soldiers stood either side of him, looking wary. After a minute's walking, the party emerged from the tunnel and stepped out into a blindingly bright, sunny day. Alex squinted as his eyes took in too much sunlight.
A huge Black Ford Expedition with tinted windows was parked under a pine tree, sunlight glinting off the shiny body. As they trudged through the snow towards it, Alex realised that there were only enough seats in the car for 5 people, and there were 9 of them.
"There's not enough seats for all of us." He muttered, more to himself then to the soldiers. Wolf heard him however and gave a laugh.
"Trust me; there'll be enough room for all of us." He said, keeping his eyes fixed on the car. Up close, Alex saw why the SAS man had said that, there was a seat-less space in the back of the car that was usually used for cargo. The space was empty and one look at it told Alex that it was a big enough spot for a couple of people. With a sigh, Alex followed dejectedly as his guard pulled him along to the back of the car. The boot door was already open. Alex didn't have time to protest before he was thrown bodily into the back of the car.
He landed hard, a protruding metal nail of some sort scratching his cheek. Sore, he raised himself in time to see Erin be tossed in behind him. She was luckier; the girl landed on a smooth area and quickly sat herself up next to Alex. They both watched curiously as the SAS soldiers guarding Yassen warily backed off. The Russian looked grim, but began climbing in after Alex and Erin on his own. As he did, one of the soldiers's pulled out a tazer and before Alex could give a warning, gave Yassen the good news with it. It doubtlessly hurt like hell, but Yassen merely gave a grunt and gingerly continued climbing in. His eyes had a vicious glint in them though as he sat cross legged across from Alex and Erin. Alex could tell the Russian would like nothing better then to take out the entire SAS team there and then. Alex scowled as one of the soldiers climbed in after them and sat with his back to the boot's door. The assault rifle that he cradled said it all without the man having to open his mouth. The rest of the man's team piled into the car, Wolf climbed into the driver's seat. Once they were all settled, the radio man spoke up again.
"Sir, stage one will begin in exactly one minute, I suggest we remove ourselves from the vicinity before then."
Erin perked up at that.
"What's stage one?" she asked.
Wolf made an exasperated noise and nodded at the man sitting in the back with the captured trio. Once more, Erin got the good news from the butt of the gun. Luckily for her, it was not quite so hard this time. It was hard enough however, to shut her up.
"No talking!" Wolf snapped.
Then, he started the car up. The engine roared into life and suddenly, it was speeding over the snow and through the evergreen forest.
"20 seconds to initiation!" the radio man yelled out, struggling to be heard over the car's engine. Alex tensed himself, instinctively knowing that something was about to happen.
"15 seconds!"
Wolf gave a grunt and pressed down on the accelerator hard. The Expedition leapt forward, speed doubled.
"10 seconds!"
Yassen went completely still, looking through the window over Alex's head. The look on his face was one of cold impassivity. Alex slowly turned around in time to see the Liberty base camp through the trees. The image only lasted a split second before it dissolved into an immense ball of fire. An enormous explosion burst into life, debris, snow and dirt being thrown in every direction. Even though the Liberty base (or what remained of it) was a good 10 kilometres away, the sound of the explosion was deafening, Alex and Erin clapped their hands over their ears, wincing as a shockwave ripped though the forest. The Expedition was only just ahead of it, tress mere metres behind them crashed to the ground as the shockwave of the explosion chased the fleeing vehicle. Yassen barely reacted; the sound didn't seem to bother him. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the explosion died out. The fire died out into a group of small separate blazes and all the debris thrown into the air plummeted out of the sky, probably killing anyone unlucky enough to be caught underneath. Then, Alex shook himself; Liberty was a terrorist organization and deserved any misfortune it received.
As the former site of enormous firepower was annihilated in a storm of fire and debris, all the SAS soldiers gave a cheer. It was obvious now what 'stage one' was. Liberty's headquarters was no more, and hopefully neither was the organization.
"What the hell was that?!" Erin half gasped, obviously stunned by the sheer power of the explosion.
Wolf glanced at her over the seat, his smile revealing too many teeth to be truly friendly.
"That, Erin, was a little something that half the British defence force has been working on for a year."
Yassen glared at Wolf as he said that.
"Well, your little British toy just destroyed my employers." He snapped.
Wolf snorted.
"What a pity. Since when have you cared about human life anyway?" He asked, never taking his eyes off the snow in front of them.
Yassen gave a short laugh.
"I don't, when I say 'my employers' I actually mean 'my money'." The Russian admitted. Wolf shook his head in amusement.
"I feel so bad." He said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "No more talking."
Yassen narrowed his eyes angrily, and shot something out in Russian rapid fire. Erin gave a furious nod and spat to the side of her. This time, sheer intimidation alone wasn't enough to guarantee that Yassen remained untouched. The Russian was given the same treatment as Alex and Erin, only the SAS soldier who delivered the blow was only too happy to put plenty of muscle behind the swing. Yassen didn't pretend the hit didn't hurt; he jerked forward, and spat something out in Russian. Erin narrowed her eyes, but obviously loath to encourage any further displays of force from the SAS soldiers, didn't respond. Yassen glared angrily at his attacker, but didn't speak again. Alex noticed that the gun had left a scratch over Yassen's right eyebrow; it was bleeding profusely, so he motioned to the Russian by tapping the spot on his own forehead. Yassen nodded his thanks and grimly wiped the cut, smearing the blood with his sleeve. Erin hissed when she saw the cut, but went back to looking out the window quickly. Alex pursed his lips angrily, but like Yassen, stayed silent and still. The drive was going to be a long one, and Alex wasn't at all looking forward to the 'all expenses paid holiday' that Wolf had promised at the end. However, despite his misgivings, Alex didn't say or do anything for the entire drive.