Disclaimer: None of this belongs to me and I make no money with it.

Summary: Debriefing.

Author's Notes: From here on out there'll be an increasing amount of Crocodile Tears spoilers. If you haven't read the book yet you might want to do that first.

Date: Jan. 4th - 7 pm, between Trouble Lurking and Foreign (Timeline: http :/ shiruy. livejournal. com/ 3602. html)

Edited: 19.12.10


29. Happiness


An hour after he had accepted the call Alex found himself standing in front of yet another door, hesitant to knock. He really didn't want to go in there. The receptionist in the lobby had said that he could just go on right up which probably meant that both Jones and Blunt were just waiting to pounce on him and demand information. He took a deep breath, reminded himself that the security guards watching him over camera would start laughing at him if he waited any longer and knocked.

"Come in, Alex."

He entered the office - still as gray and impersonal as ever - and nodded at the two people already in the room. As always, Mr. Blunt sat behind his desk and Mrs. Jones stood to his right, arms crossed.

"Alex," she smiled at him, looking honestly happy to see him. He couldn't bring himself to return the gesture. "When we lost contact with you and your partner we didn't think we'd see you again."

Yeah, and what a tragedy that would have been. They sure as hell didn't look as if they'd lost any sleep worrying about him. He sat down in the chair in front of the desk. "What do you want?"

"Tell us what happened after the gala," Blunt demanded. "The people in the adjacent room noticed raised voices that night. The cleaning lady found Agent Barner dead the next morning and you had vanished."

The chief executive of Special Operations sounded as cold and uninterested in the topic as ever but the implied accusation made Alex bristle in outrage. The pure nerve of that man... He took another deep breath and forced himself so speak calmly, "Barner and I had an argument after we got back to the hotel. I left for a while to calm down. When I got back our rooms were ransacked and Barner was dead. I had no way of getting in contact with you, so I ran."

"It took you six days to get back to London," Mrs. Jones stated, clearly wanting an explanation.

The teen shrugged uncomfortably and shifted in his chair. "The men who killed Barner found me after I left the hotel. I ended up in the river and got a bit sick. It made travel difficult." Which was easy to believe, considering that he still looked like death warmed over.

"Your injuries...?" Blunt again. Alex hated how they tag-teamed him every time they talked.

"A few of them caught up to me before I got to the river." He cocked his head to the side, knowing full well that the motion called attention to his bruised face. "As I said, travelling was a bit difficult." Let them draw their own conclusions from that.

Mrs. Jones cleared her throat. "Did you manage to complete the objective before you were found out?"

"It might have helped if anyone had bothered to tell me what the objective was," he answered pointedly. "But if I'm guessing right-" He slipped the keycard out of his pocket and held it up between two fingers. "Then you've got reason to be happy anyway." He threw the card onto the desk.

"How did you get this?" Mrs. Jones asked in surprise and picked up the white slip of plastic.

"Took the wrong coat when I first left, I guess," he explained with a shrug.

"Fortunate," Blunt stated non-committally.

Alex didn't entirely agree with that but he had the feeling that if he opened his mouth right now a lot more than a simple 'Not really' would slip out and he was just too tired for this fight. He wanted to go home.

"Are we done here?"

"In a moment. Mrs. Jones, if you would." The chief of Special Operations waved at the keycard.

The woman nodded sharply before smiling at Alex. "It was good to see you again, Alex."

He inclined his head at her and watched as she left. Once she'd closed the door behind her he turned back to Blunt, an eyebrow quirked questioningly.

"Your class is going on a field trip to Greenfields in a few days. There is something we need you to do."

Barely back and they already had his next task lined up for him. But this was what he had agreed to, wasn't it? If you have no way to get out, make the best of what you have. The terms of his contract said that he got breaks between assignments.

"I only got back a few hours ago. This is too soon." There, calm and reasonable. Maybe the man would listen.

"The trip isn't scheduled until the 14th. You have sufficient recuperation time."

Funny how even a contract killer's face was more expressive than the one of this spy master. Alex gnashed his teeth. Counted to ten. Thought about kicking Blunt in the gut until it stopped being funny. Took a deep breath and nodded.

"What do you want me to do?"