Chapter 70: Extractions and Engagements

Alex woke with a jolt. He wasn't sleeping well. Grim's warning did nothing to make him more at ease. Larry had finally had enough of his insomnia, though, and Alex was pulled onto the balcony. "Alright, kid, what's going on?"

Alex sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "I think I'm just cracking."

Larry lightly whacked him. "You've only got a few more weeks, c'mon." Alex sighed. "Do you want me to drug you or something?"

Alex's eyes widened. "No. That would make it worse."

Lance blinked. "Good to know."

Alex sighed. "It's Card."

Larry rolled his eyes. "You like him, but you know you're probably going to have to do him in."

Alex paused. "Well, yeah."

Lance patted him on the shoulder. "Those are always the worst. Just think of it like a nasty breakup. You enjoyed the time you had together, but it just didn't work out."

Alex snorted. "You're bad."

Larry clasped his shoulder. "But you like me."

Alex's lips twitched. "Well, you're relatively nice to me."

Larry shrugged. "I'm not a nice person, though."

Alex raised a brow. "No shit, Sherlock."

Lance whacked him lightly. "Hey, now. I'm not that obvious."

Alex rolled his eyes. "You are to me."

Lance smirked. "That's because of your special upbringing." Alex moved to punch Larry. "If you wanna dance, kid, we can dance."

Lance's eyes took on a distinctly predatory glint as Alex moved to strike him. After a very short scuffle, Alex was being dangled over a balcony. "Are you going to put me down?"

Lance grinned. "You don't seem very terrified."

Alex shrugged. It was only the second floor. "I'm not afraid of heights."

Lance grinned. "That would be unfortunate in our profession."

Alex was put down on the balcony. "So, what now?"

Lance shrugged. "It's Sunday. You can do whatever you want."

Alex leaned against the balcony. "I'm not really sure."

Larry frowned. "Why don't you talk to your online friends for a bit?"

Alex started. "How did you-"

Lance looked at him. "I'm not fucking stupid, even if I never got my high school diploma." Alex sighed. "Besides, your little friends seem to come in handy."

Alex looked at Larry. "I wouldn't put it like that."

Lance nodded. "Uh, huh. You're a bit young for a girlfriend."

Alex glared. "I'm bisexual."

He had figured it out eventually in the past life. Eventually. "It's all the same to me, kid."

Alex felt his heart stutter. "That's good to know."

Well, that could have ended badly. Alex knew he should probably work on impulse control. Larry's eyes danced. "So, for your bachelors' party would you want male or female strippers?"

Alex turned bright red. "LANCE!"

The man cackled as he went back inside. Alex would have preferred if lightning had struck him then and there. Sadly, Grim was not feeling obliging. He stared at the open sky and watched as the sun went lower and lower. His heart eventually slowed. Alex felt his cheeks finally cool and went back inside. Oddly enough, he felt a little bit better. Lance was waiting for him in the living room. "So, Belinda said my reaction wasn't the most sensitive and -"

Alex held up a hand to cut him off. "It was everything I needed and wanted. I don't want a party or some shit. It's not a big deal."

Lance gave him a half smile. "Oh, good. I was worried I screwed the pooch on this one."

Alex waved him off. "What's for dinner?"

Lance looked horribly amused. "You'll have to wait and see."

The woman known as Ms. Davis knew that their deadline was approaching. She knew Alex would likely take at least part of the responsibility of eliminating the teachers and staff who weren't on their side. She wanted to remove some of that burden. Though Davis was not physically imposing, she did have a few ways to even the odds. And, frankly, she didn't feel like Alex should murder people if she could do it for him. Davis knew how to poison people. It was one of the things she was actually good at. The second thing she was good at was messing with the plumbing systems. Davis went into the basement of the school. The teachers had all read her hints. About half of them had joined her. Davis winced. These were her colleagues. Though she tended not to be sentimental about the adults in her field, she did feel a small twinge of guilt as she slid the poison device into place. It would slowly add poison to water, killing her colleagues over the course of a few weeks. Davis slowly inhaled. The device lit up. She closed the access portion to the water lines. This was going to be a long couple of weeks. Davis wondered how this would all turn out. She would just have to trust that Alex had a plan. The teacher made her way up to the upper levels, sealing the doors behind her. Welp, here went some mass murder. At least Xander and Lance made decent company. It was almost fortunate that her family were all dead. It would protect them from retaliation. She ran into Allen on the elevator. It had been a surprise that the woman had joined them. Davis wasn't entirely sure that Allen was or would even stay loyal. "Checking the pipes."

Davis sighed. "I've been having some hot water issues lately."

The woman nodded. "You are needed with Eric. He seems to be struggling with something regarding Xander."

Davis sighed. "Eric might be right."

Allen shrugged. "He attends classes. Xander's scores are some of the highest ever achieved, even if we don't take his age into account, and his skills rapidly improve."

Davis snapped. "Performance isn't everything. There's always those students in the Ivy League who jump off of towers."

Allen shrugged. "He has a psychiatrist for an adopted mother. I think he will be fine."

The elevator brought them to the school's first floor. Davis stepped out and went to calm Eric down.

Larry reflected that they had perhaps been putting far too much stress on Alex. It was the night before they were supposed to act and Xander had been pacing for the past three hours. Lance sighed. Belinda was good at the squishy feelings shit. He rolled over. "Do you think we're putting too much pressure on him?"

It was telling that Belinda didn't have to ask which 'him'. "You're asking now?"

Lance huffed. "He's been pacing for hours."

Belinda sighed. "He just has to make it one more day. I think he'll do fine."

Card had been gone for two days. He wouldn't be back for another week. "You think?"

Belinda sounded annoyed. "It's not an exact science."

Lance sighed. "Now I can't sleep."

The woman looked at him. "Why don't you go to Xander and see how he's doing?"

Lance got up. "Er, you don't mind, right?"

The blue eyes looked right back at him. "No."

Larry went to Xander's room. The door opened before he could knock. "You're going to pace a hole in the floor."

Xander's lips' twitched. "You should fire the contractors, then, if the flooring is that cheap."

Lance laughed. "You should sleep, kid."

Xander huffed. "I would if I could."

Lance shrugged. "Why don't you sit down?"

Xander sat on the bed. The dog joined him. Xander buried his face in the fur. They looked so cute like that. If he could, he would have taken a picture. "What now?"

Lance paused. "Well, you're a little old for a bedtime story, but we can try that."

Xander looked at him. "What kind of bedtime story would you tell?"

Lance scoffed. "I have a few good ones."

Xander looked at him. "Uh, huh."

Lance glared, but he knew it had no bite to it. "Well, if you lie down, you can find the fuck out."

Xander actually followed instructions. "So, do I get my story now?"

Larry ruffled the kid's hair. "Where were we in the story rota?"

Xander looked at him through slitted eyelids. "You got out of prison at fourteen after being framed for murder by your ex-friend and stepdad."

Lance grinned. "Right. Well, I wasn't about to let that stand, so I got right on my revenge plan…"

The kid passed out right as he was retelling the part where he encountered his original mentor trying to ditch the bodies. Oh, well, there wasn't any rush. He lightly pulled the covers up, turned out the light, and closed the door soundlessly. Time for bed.

Antonio knew that his currents extraction plan was a risk. The cartel boss inhaled softly. This was far from the usual "intelligence gathering" he had done. For one, he actually cared about the person gathering the information. This was a far greater wealth of information than he'd ever had access to. Technically, he'd already possessed the information, but Alexander was the mastermind of the whole plan and Antonio would have felt odd starting the planning without him. Antonio inhaled. The child had, by all accounts, not that there was much to go by, been trained essentially from birth. He prayed Alex made it out. Explosions were always risky and nerve-wracking. "Father?"

It was Miguel. His son had been asking about Alex for a good while, especially after the hints that Alex was doing something risky. "Yes, son?"

Miguel eyed him. "Are you planning something risky?"

Antonio blinked. Miguel was slowly becoming more perceptive. "I am. Is there something you need?"

Miguel just looked at him. "Are you going to be alright?"

Antonio sighed. "I hope so, my son."

Miguel looked startled. "Why are you being more honest now?"

Antonio felt a flicker of something. "You are getting to the age where you can handle the fact that I am just as mortal as anyone else."

Miguel extended his hand. Antonio took it. "But it is okay to hope that you do not die tomorrow."

Antonio held the hand a bit tighter. Miguel looked afraid. "I hope you do not wish for my death."

Miguel looked at him. "I never truly did. I was just angry for a long while."

Antonio felt his lips twitch. "It is okay to be angry, Miguel. Just try not to let it rule your thoughts and actions."

Miguel embraced him. Antonio leaned into the hug. It was rare to get hugs from your teenage son, after all. He lightly kissed his son's head. "Sleep well, Miguel."

Miguel's tone was rather dry. "I'll do my best, father."

Antonio watched his son go. Perhaps their relationship was a bit more salvageable than he'd thought before. Miguel was starting to shape up. Antonio sighed. There wasn't really a way for Miguel to safely meet children his own age, but he hoped that Alex and Miguel would get along. Things wouldn't really end well after his death if they didn't. His lieutenants were somewhat split on the matter. Some were more comfortable with a bloodline heir and others preferred his protege. Antonio had taken note of both sides. Civil war within the cartel would not do at all.

Alex had been wondering how he was going to murder the good majority of the staff and some of the teachers when they collapsed, convulsing violently. Poison, he was sure of it. Alex felt his mouth drop open at the sight. Ms. Davis was standing tall and dignified. It was Allen who spoke up, however. "You should really thank Davis for this."

All of the children eyed Alex with fear. Alex felt his chest clench. Lance was behind him and clasped his shoulder. The man whispered in his ear. "Show time."

Alex drew in a deep breath. "When I came to this school I lied about my purpose here, however, I did it with the best intentions. What the CIA was doing to all of you is immoral and, not to mention, illegal." There was a pause. The children were all fixated on him. "The UN declares that children have the right to protection, education, healthcare, shelter, and good nutrition. You should never have been trained as assassins from the age you were. Your healthcare, food, and shelter should not have been dependent on your willingness or apparent willingness to perform the tasks the state had no right to ask of you." Alex drew a breath in. So far, so good. "In short, I came here to set you free, to give you the choice you should have had, and to gather enough information to topple the house of cards that Tom Card has built for himself." Alex inhaled again. His throat felt like it was about to close up. "I want all of you to come with me. I want to help you find a different way in the world."

The children were all gazing at him with a mix of emotions: shock, betrayal, awe, and a few he couldn't place. Kenneth spoke first. "I'm coming."

Alex exhaled the breath he didn't know he was holding. "Good."

Alex turned his gaze onto the rest of the room. "And the rest of you?"

There were nods of assent around the room. "Good, let's get to the extraction point before this place blows. I've got a guy breaking us out."

Alex didn't look back to see if the others were following.

The pieces were finally in place. Antonio knew that his teams were in place. Tonight would make or break all the plans he had been making for the last two years. For the rest of his life. It would either succeed or fail. He gave the order. "Let us begin."

Explosions began to ring through the building. Alex got several wide-eyed looks. "It's part of the plan."

Alex set his jaw and moved forward as the sound of the explosions rang through the building. It wouldn't do to grin like a maniac as he ran through the explosions. He sighed as they made it to where he was supposed to be without the roof caving in on them. Everyone looked at him as another explosion rang through the air. Alex opened the door and stepped out into the night sky. There was Antonio standing in the moonlight. Alex noticed that several of the adults' eyes widened. "And here I didn't think you would ever leave your home."

Antonio arched a brow. "There are times I do well being on the front lines with my men."

Alex shrugged. "Tell them to come in groups of four."

Alex sighed. "Groups of four, people."

Alex made sure there was at least one adult per group. Lance rolled his eyes, but allowed Eric and Madison to join them. The two stared at Alex, trying to comprehend what was happening. "We are going last."

Antonio sniffed. "You don't trust me?"

Alex glared at the man. "I want to make sure the others are safe first."

Antonio looked at him. "Very well."

The helicopters landed on the launch pad. Alex watched the other board before he got into the helicopter, strapping in the two younger children before helping himself. They both looked afraid. Alex felt his chest beginning to ache as the helicopter took off. Tom Card would never forgive him, he knew. Alex took a good long look at the children he'd saved. With any luck, those two would never be sent on an assassination mission, particularly not before they were adults. He watched as the missile shredded the last bit of the building above ground and created a huge crater where the school had been. Larry glanced at him, face illuminated by the light of the explosion. The helicopter was too noisy for them to converse until they landed back at Antonio's house. Everyone was silent as they got out. Antonio started in English. "Tonight, you will be given rooms to stay in. Tomorrow we will discuss your fates."

Alex rolled his eyes. Drama queen. "Don't worry. It'll be fine."

Everyone looked at him. Alex tried to look fairly confident in his statement. It must have been fairly convincing, because most of them seemed to relax. They all followed their escorts without incident. Antonio waited for him in the alcove. "How old are those two?"

Alex frowned. "Ten and eight, as far as I know."

Antonio looked at him. "We made the right choice."

Alex sighed. "Yeah."

His stomach still turned at the idea of Eric and Madison anywhere near fieldwork. "Goodnight, Alejandro."

Alex turned back to the man. "Goodnight."

The first group was in place. They knew that this was possibly the most important assignment of their life. It was nerve wracking to wait for the order. Finally, it came through. "We got a go. Attacks are coordinated for fifteen-hundred. Alpha team - "

Tom Card arrived to find his school in ruins. He inhaled in shock. "Holy fucking shit! Get the senator on the phone, now!"

The pilot protested. "It's three in the morning."

Card glared. "A CIA base and the village nearby just got bombed!"

The pilot flushed at the reprimand. He pulled out the phone and dialed in the codes. Tom stared at the ruins of the school. Were there any survivors? It was all quiet, which meant people were dead. Or afraid of screaming. Card felt the fury begin to burn as he got the senator on the phone. "We've been betrayed."

Card knew it in his heart that betrayal was the only way this could have happened. "How bad?"

Card sighed. "The school is in ruins. We'll have to dig it up to know the full extent of what happened."

The man on the phone sighed. "You'll have three teams by morning."

Card thanked his lucky stars. At least somebody understood. "Shouldn't we up the alert on the other bases?"

The senator's reply was harsh. "No. The place is not affiliated with the farm. As far as we're concerned, it never existed. As a matter of fact, you'll see to it that everyone carries on as normal."

Card sighed. "And the school?"

The senator let out a long slow breath. "It will take some time to bring up, much less source the funding. Focus on what we have now and we can get back to the pet projects after the investigations are concluded."

Card withheld a sigh. That was expected, but still he had hoped for better news. The senator hung up without a goodbye. Card assumed he would brief the president. Card sat down and sighed. The rubble was still glowing faintly from the aftermath of the bombing. The numbness began to spread through him. Alright, let's set up the tent now. The helicopters came with gear and food for a few days in the wilderness. Card himself always carried a knife. Card began to set up the tent with the silent helicopter pilot. The man swallowed as he prepared to leave Card alone. "Do you...do you think there are any survivors?"

Card looked at the man. "I hope so."

The man was silent. Card looked back at the crater. "You can go now."

The man left. Card watched the embers die for quite a while after the helicopter had flown away. It had been years since he had slept in the wild. It had been longer since he had failed on a magnitude of this scale, if ever. Failure, he reflected, tasted like ash. Card knew he was alone in the world once more. At least until he found out who the traitors were. He supposed he should try to sleep.

The other teams continued the fight through the night. They knew they had until dawn to take the territories. Antonio had been very clear. They tapped into the communications network. "- get the updated intel from the snipers. Bravo team, we still don't have the intel we need for the bunkers. Work around it. We have one chance to get this right, or the bosses will have our balls on a platter for fucking this up."

Xander was the last to get up. Antonio had already been at the table when Eric had gotten there. The man hadn't said anything. Well, other than that they would wait for the others and that he could start eating if he wanted. Eric had decided to wait and see what Xander did. He was still Xander. Eric didn't care what his real name was. Eric wasn't his birth name, but it was his real one. Xander descended the stairs with his usual silent walk. Eric watched him as he smiled at Antonio. "Good morning, everyone."

Xander was talking in his adult voice. "I suppose you've been waiting for a bit."

The adults all looked at Xander. "Alright, someone cough up an explanation."

Ms. Allen had never been the best at being nice. Eric wondered why Xander ad volunteered for more hours with her instead of Mr. Perez who was now- Eric bit his lip. Best not to think about that. "Right."

Xander's accent sounded British now. Was that what he usually sounded like? "First off, my real name is Alexander Johnathon Rider, in case the lot of you hadn't pieced that together. It came to my attention a while back that the CIA had become corrupted in this particular area. At first, I had planned to simply raze the branch to the ground, however, several items complicated the plan. There was not enough intelligence to do the job properly. It had also come to my attention that there were other child assassins in the area, being trained to be pawns for an agency instead of growing up in peace with their families. In other words, the children here will be given the option of choosing their own futures. The adults, I expect will help with my effort at cleansing the area. My ultimate goal is to bring peace, justice, and security to the larger society."

Eric blurted out. "What about you?!"

Alex arched a brow at him. Eric felt...dadded. "I have made my choice. I will lead the war effort in tandem with Antonio over here."

Eric felt his stomach do a little jolt. "I'm sorry we mucked up your plans."

Xander shrugged. "It was worth it."

Ms. Allen looked at Xander. "And what makes you think that Antonio is any better?"

Xander looked...amused. "Well, first off, he has a 'no children' rule for his cartel. And second, if you want to look at his finances, he's been slowly going legitimate."

Allen arched a brow. "And what sort of government were you planning?"

Xander looked at her. "A constitutional oligarchy that transfers over to a democracy over a period of thirty years or so."

Ms. Allen looked almost impressed. "Ambitious."

Xander gave her a dry look. "I imagine the lack of CIA interference in elections will do wonders."

That shut the adults up. Eric went back to his breakfast. He had a feeling it was going to be a long confusing day.

After breakfast adjourned, Alex joined the adults as the children filed off for a group session with Belinda. He hoped the group therapy got off to a good start. Belinda had also informed him that there would likely be a need for individual sessions. The adults did not look very reassured. "So, I was hoping you would help out."

Michael raised his hand. "Uh, can you switch back to your other accent?"

Alex had been using a southern accent for his entire stay at the compound. He switched back. "You people get that I'm from London, right?"

The adults all gave him a look. "Right, moving on. I want the kids to stay out of this."

Allen cut in. "You're barely thirteen."

Alex fixed her with a look. "I feel fuckin' eighty. I meant the other kids."

Lance shrugged. "I don't see why not. We have the intelligence now and most of us have years of experience on the kiddies, even if some of us haven't killed in years."

Alex sighed. "This is not a debate point. It's a fact of life. A fact of life I will kill people over."

Ms. Davis looked startled. "I think we get the picture."

The other two teachers looked a bit unsure. Perez had seemed nice enough. Smith was harsh, but overall a fair teacher, even if he let slip the occasional cutting remark. Plus, he had let Alex advance as needed without standing in his way. Alex appreciated that sort of thing. "So, uh, what were your original jobs and specialties?"

Allen replied first. "I was an assassin for nearly twenty years."

Next was Ms. Davis. "I was the support staff. Mostly, I did things like dead drops or handling assets. I can continue the antidotes lessons if you like. There was quite a bit of poison involved."

Alex knew full well that Michael and Larry were cleaners and saboteurs. And that Belinda specialized in treating and assessing Black Ops people. Perez spoke up. "I was a trainer and hostage negotiator before I switched to this job."

Mr. Smith was last to go. "I was a handler and before that I was an analyst."

Alex tilted his head. "Alright. Uh, I was raised as primarily a spy, but had significant overlap with assassination, field command, and all-around problem solving."

Alex figured that covered his specialties in both lives quite nicely. Antonio shrugged. "I started at the bottom of this cartel. I am now at the top and with about the same number of troops as Card."

Smith raised his hand. "Who are the other interested parties?"

Alex sighed. "The Russians and SCORPIA have poked around, but I doubt they're going to blatantly side with us."

Smith swallowed. "And your uncle?"

Alex shrugged. "He'd have already come for me if he was able."

The adults began to talk rapidly about logistics of their lodging with Antonio. Alex let out a mental sigh of relief.

The teams took days to dig through the rubble. Card was unsurprised at that. Implosions were a bit of a mess. Well, a lot of a mess. He got no calls from the other bases on the continent, but in this case no news was good news. He hoped. There were no alerts from Washington, either. Card watched as they finally found the first body. Dental records and an autopsy were going to be needed. They continued to dig through the rubble. Card felt a pang at everybody they found, but was relieved that there were no obvious children. Yet. He hoped that the few of them he was somewhat fond of at least made it out. The noise of the cranes seemed to fade away as Card watched the bodies slowly stack on the tarp. Card felt a wave of nausea as he examined them. His people were dead. Dead. There had been bombs. The work continued into the night. They were paying for triple shifts. It wasn't like he didn't have the budget. Card got a phone call. He sighed. "Card."

The man on the other end of the line was his family lawyer. "Yeah, we have a problem."

Card groaned and rubbed his forehead. "What now?"

The man let out a long sigh. "Your wife is going back to court."

Card huffed. "For what?! She has my house, my kids, and eighty percent of my listed salary. Not to mention the car."

The lawyer sighed. "She thinks you're hiding your income."

Card felt a sneer cross his face. Well, she had a drop of sense after all. "Well, then. I'll have my secretary send her the papers."

It wasn't like he didn't have enough paperwork to drown a large horse to hide his somewhat illicit income sources. "Were you hiding income?"

The lawyer sounded amused. "Even if I was, I would hardly tell you. Don't worry, the paperwork is all in Arabic since it fits my official cover."

The man actually chuckled at that. "I'll try to stick her with the translation fees when they don't find anything, then."

Card shrugged. He was mostly just done. If he was being honest, he'd put more energy and love into the school and his job than his marriage or children. "See what you can do."

The cranes found another layer of rubble. Great, the underground section had been penetrated. There went one of his hopes. There were still no children found. Some of the teachers had been, though. Slightly less than half. Card vaguely wondered if he should try to call Larry. If anyone had survived, it would probably be the damn snake. Card figured he had nothing to lose. It went straight to voicemail. Well, it was worth a shot.

The explosion of the not-so-secret child assassin school sent shockwaves through the intelligence community and SCORPIA was no exception. Brendan Chase knew Pierre had something to do with it. Things might heat up. That fucking piece of shit. Doctor Three looked more amused at the pun than anything else. Of course, they hadn't informed the rest of the board, but were now stuck in a meeting about it. "And just where was Nile during all of this?"

Ah, Winston Yu. Chase wasn't sure how or what Nile had done to piss the man off, but the poor man seemed to have attracted the former Major's permanent ire. "He was in the city, chasing your target instead of mine."

Chase wasn't going to take that jab lying down. Besides, Nile had his good points, like not being a British-obsessed cannibalistic snake. Well, the cannibalism was probably a rumor, but Chase was not about to eat anything the man served. "Regrettable."

Yu didn't even have the grace to sound remorseful. Kurst perked up. "Alex Rider was in the area."

Chase rolled his eyes. "The kid's fucking thirteen."

Grendel sat up. "I was thirteen when I committed my first murder. Besides, the kid already did a mass poisoning."

Chase shrugged. "I've met him. He's not bad company."

The entire board stared at him. "It was two dinners, relax."

The room went back to being somewhat less tense. "Byrne wouldn't let me near him."

Chase could swear he heard a pout in Kurst's tone. "Shocker."

Kurst looked like he was about ready to punch Chase. Chase looked forward to the opportunity to stab the man with a poison dart. "Quit."

Doctor Three was chairing the meeting for a reason, unfortunately. "We will have Nile keep a close eye on the situation."

The room quieted. "Should we send someone a little subtler?"

Three considered it briefly. "Find one of your operatives you consider suitable."

Chase mentally sighed. "Alright, then."

Chase tuned out as the rest of the meeting degenerated into various amounts of sniping and moaning about the John Rider situation with the occasional directive to vote on.

Patrick Beckett felt smug. Everything seemed to be going quite swimmingly for Alex. Perhaps leaving him alone had been the best choice after all. He flipped through the report that his operative had sent him. So far, no major mental breaks. Well, as far as anyone could tell. Patrick was quite sure somebody would have noticed. Kurst's interest was concerning, however, nobody seemed particularly anxious to set up that particular meeting. Not even other members of the board. That meeting would likely be...explosive to say the least. Marion, of course, came knocking at his office door. She never could leave anything involving the family alone for any reasonable length of time. "Come in."

The woman threw open his office door. Patrick sighed. "Is there something I can help you with?"

Marion huffed. "Alex. Large explosions."

Patrick just looked at his daughter. "Yes, he seems to be making a habit of them."

Marion huffed. "I know for a fact that both you and Ian have an informant in there somewhere."

Patrick frowned. "Informant is, perhaps, the wrong word, but we have sources of information, yes."

Marion rolled her eyes. "Don't finagle me, give me the details."

Patrick's eyes flashed. "Absolutely not."

Marion's reply was close to a hiss. "Excuse me?"

Patrick gave her a stern look. "You heard me."

Marion glared. "And why not?"

Patrick sighed. "First of all, you lost the right to handle Alex-related items not addressed to you the moment you pulled that stunt in France. Second of all, I don't believe that you'll keep out of things unless asked and I have no intentions of breaking my promise to Alex, indirectly or not."

Marion huffed. "I can be subtle."

Patrick stood. "Whether you could be was never the question. Whether you would be is another one entirely."

Marion got up close to him. "Don't you think this is a bit soon to be letting him off on his own?"

Patrick shrugged. "Sometimes, the extreme way is the best way. Besides, he seems to be doing fine at building his power base."

Marion huffed. "He's barely thirteen."

Patrick shrugged. "Be as that may, he seems to be competent enough."

Marion made an aborted movement towards him. "Don't you care at all?"

Patrick looked at her. "Of course, I do. But I know that one day the children will have to find their own way and forge their own path. I will not hold him back if he has found what he chooses to stand for. To do so would be quite selfish, not to mention destructive towards our relationship. You'll notice that the main parts of his arguments with Ian were when the man tried to interfere with his life goals."

Marion interjected. "He just wanted Alex safe."

Patrick arched a brow. "There is no safe in our world, Marion! Even the boy realizes that! Perhaps he simply wants his life to mean something instead of cowering in the metaphorical corner while Ian gambles both of their lives on the odds that they won't be recognized on his assignments with MI6."

Marion looked as though he'd slapped her. His daughter closed her mouth and left after a few more seconds. Perhaps he'd been a bit harsh.

Antonio was in a meeting with Alex. If all went well, they'd be taking out the majority of their enemies that night. The crime lord had been rather stunned at Alex's ability to see holes in the defenses of various bases. He wondered how much the child's relatives had exploited that particular skill for their own benefit. It left a somewhat bitter taste in his mouth to realize that he did genuinely need Alex to participate in parts of the conflict. Antonio had hoped to make him more of a ceremonial leader or perhaps keep him on the civilian side of things. It appeared he would have no such luck. The blond child stretched in front of him, rubbing his eyes. "Go to bed, Alejandro."

Alex opened his mouth. "But-"

Antonio grabbed the papers. "It can wait. Bed."

Alex pouted, but went to bed. Two fingers tapped his shoulder. It was "Lance". Antonio sighed. "What is it?"

The man frowned. "Well, if you're going to-"

Antonio held up a hand. "I did not mean it to be that direct."

Lance huffed. "Alright. I just wanted to say thanks for looking after the kid."

The cartel leader crossed his arms. "There is no thanks needed."

Lance huffed. "Still. I think he's overdoing it."

Antonio shrugged. "Some would argue that this entire scheme is overdoing it."

Lance sighed. "He's a smart kid, resourceful, but-"

The man shrugged. "He is still a child."

Lance sighed. "Yeah. And, frankly, he's more of a spy than a war general."

Antonio shrugged. "You and I make a decent one."

Lance glared. "We're going up against the United States."

Antonio snorted. "You forget that they are also spies."

Lance frowned. "True, but a lot of them used to be in the army."

Antonio huffed. "Special Forces tend to have a limited tactical view and scope."

Larry rolled his eyes. "My point still stands. You think we should call in any of Xany's friends?"

It took Antonio longer than he would like to admit to figure out that "Xany" was Alexander. "It would not be a good idea. The most likely end scenario is that we trade one world power for another."

Lance huffed. "Point. Plus, we all know how paying SCORPIA to stick their grubby mits in shit usually ends."

Antonio's lips twitched. "Are your mercenary actions any different?"

Lance huffed. "At least I don't report to a psychotic board that tries to sneak in and steal the show at the last minute."

Antonio actually felt himself laugh at that. He was not exactly fond of the SCORPIA operatives he'd encountered. The board hadn't considered him "worthy" of their attention, a fact for which he was thankful. Not enough territory or personal wealth, plus the general instability of the area. "This is true."

Antonio paused. "You and Allen work for his family, don't you?"

Lance scowled. "They pay me. Allen would be his grandfather's, I guess."

Antonio arched a brow. "But?"

Lance shrugged. "If this turns into a long-term assignment with him as me and Allen's apprentice running a cartel together, I'm not going to try too hard to stop it, you know."

Antonio felt entertained. "I see. He does have that effect on people, doesn't he?"

Lance scowled. "They'd waste his potential and you know it."

Antonio shrugged. "I mean, that is why we are all here, is it not?"

Lance gave an equally droll shrug. "Davis was definitely a surprise."

Antonio snorted. "Was she really?"

Lance shrugged. "Fair enough."

Antonio felt that their meeting was done. "Good night."

They both left in silence.

Alex woke up the next day with a sense of finality. Whatever happened today, there was no going back. Ready or not, here they came. He wondered how Card was going to take the destruction of such a huge chunk of what he worked. Their propaganda campaign seemed to have been successful enough for Alex and Antonio to get away with it. He inhaled softly. Antonio rested a hand on his shoulder. "Ready?"

Alex entered the room he nicknamed "The War Room" for one of the longest nights of his life. The reports began rolling in after sunset. Alex crossed out each base as it was reported destroyed. He knew that they would be able to get all of them in one night, but a good chunk of them would be destroyed. It helped that Alex had locked down their ability to communicate with each other electronically. It had been Maddox who suggested it. It took away some of the fairness of the fight, but Alex knew that they needed all of the advantages he could get. After the first hour, he'd turned off the sound from the intercepted communications. There had been too many screams and explosions. Alex watched the reports roll in. So far, they were winning by a wide margin and minimal casualties. Lance and the rest of the adults didn't seem to be judging him too hard. Alex took a deep breath. "Are you alright?"

Alex almost jumped at the sound breaking the silence. "Fine."

It was Davis, who was shockingly unemotional regarding the mass death of her former colleagues. So were the rest of them. Alex sighed and began going over the television speech he was supposed to make the next day. This was going to be a doozy. He slid the draft over to Antonio. "Too self-righteous?"

Antonio read through and paused, crossing more lines out. "Not necessarily, but you switch between formal and informal and there are still several tense issues." Alex wanted to scream. "Overall, it sounds pretty good."

Alex rubbed his eyes. "Are you sure we should show any of the kids' faces, let alone all of them?"

Antonio arched a brow. "It will eliminate a good deal of their usefulness to the CIA."

Alex paused. "True, but they might also be endangered."

Antonio gave Alex a look. "They will be under heavy guard at my house."

Alex scowled. "They better be. Especially Madison and Eric."

The adults sighed. "Any other main points?"

Antonio sighed. "People already know you are being backed by adults, don't admit to it. Also, lose some of the technical military speech and focus more on what you want the future to look like."

Alex took the draft back and began scribbling. This was going to be on live ass television. It had to be perfect. The reports kept coming in. Alex crossed the bases off the map. One by one. He wondered vaguely what Ian would think of him after this. Then again, Ian seemed to not care about risking the lives of his fellow colleagues, so perhaps not all was lost in their relationship.

Alex arose the next morning and pulled on the white clothing that had been laid out for him. Personally, he thought wearing white, blue, and gold was overkill, but Antonio had insisted that his public image was important. And, no, he couldn't show up in full body armor wearing solid black. He desperately tried to wipe the sulky expression off his face as he put on the clothes. I am an adult and I am not sulking over the stuffy fashion design. Grim's voice entered his head. Sure, sure, keep telling yourself that. Personally, I think white washes you out. Alex suppressed a groan. Fuck off, Grim. Surprisingly, he did. Maybe he sensed that Alex needed to concentrate for once. Alex took a deep breath and walked into the recording room. Everyone was rushing with last minute preparation. Someone was trying to convince the younger children to wear makeup, but Alex wasn't having any of it. "Look at their faces. What on earth do they need makeup for?"

The assistant paused. "It would help with the lighting."

Alex frowned. "We want them to look their age. Besides, it's not like they have acne. Better leave it off."

The woman nodded and walked off. Eric flounced up to him. "Thanks for rescuing us, Xander."

Alex leaned into the hug. "I think that's a bit of an exaggeration. Poor woman was only trying to help."

Eric huffed. "Makeup is icky. It feels like I'm wearing mud!"

Alex choked back a laugh. "You don't need it to look good anyways."

Eric perked up. "You think so?"

Alex suppressed an eyeroll. "No, I know so."

Eric smiled. Alex felt his heart crack a little bit, but ruffled the kid's hair. "Go sit down."

Alex felt the lights beginning to burn his corneas as they went live. Thankfully, he did not need to pull a convincing smile out because he was fairly certain that the light was off-putting enough that he would not manage to pull it off. "I come to you, the people of South America, today with news and an urgent plea." Alex took one last glance at the other children before starting. "The Central Intelligence Agencies have committed many crimes against the people. Sabotage. Supporting cartels. Unseating elected officials. Yes, these are familiar and repeated stories. But today I bring to you evidence that their crimes go much, much further. They commited a sin against families everywhere and trained children as assassins." Several people in the room inhaled as he continued his speech. "For that, I have decreed no more. No more child soldiers. No more secret bases. No more undermining the democratic processes they claim to be bringing to our country while they parade in dictator after dictator for favorable trade deals. No. More." Alex glared into the camera. He wasn't sure if he was or could pull off intimidating at his physical age. "Leave or die, CIA."

Alex paused. He glanced at his former classmates. "Are you ready?"

The kids all nodded. Alex had never seen them look so serious. Alex had decided to present them in order of youngest to oldest. Eric's cute fluffy baby face was unmistakably a child's. The boy padded up to him and clung for dear life as he stuttered through the first sentences of his story, occasionally burying his face in Alex's waist. Madison was next. "My chosen name is Madison Monroe. I started out as a normal girl…"

Last, but not least, was Adrian, very clearly almost grown, but not quite. The adult in Alex knew that Adrian had just barely started shaving. Alex did his best to look stoic through most of their stories. He was trying to look like a man. Even if this made him want to cry. Alex paused after the end of their testimonies. Everyone stared at him. He swallowed heavily and inhaled. "I implore those who hear this message to consider the words that were spoken here today. The records of this are going to be publicly available within twelve hours. In the meantime, I am doing my absolute best to remove the perpetrators of these heinous acts. My goal is to bring peace, security, and justice to this great continent." Alex paused and looked up at the camera again. "I urge those in the CIA to try to remember why they originally joined. Is this what you were fighting for? I hope not." Alex paused again. "As for the rest of the world, I have a few words. If you use child assassins, stop. If I find out that you have been using child assassins, I will find you and I will make your deaths slow." Alex looked up at the camera. "And with that, I leave you. Remember that even in the darkest of times, even one person standing against the tide can make a difference."

The camera cut off. Alex closed his eyes and sat down after sucking in a breath. Eric and Madison were at his side almost immediately. Alex felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Larry. "Relax, kid, the first one is always the hardest."

Alex felt his lips twitch. "You realize this goes against everything I was raised to do, right?"

Lance grinned. "I think you'll do great."

Alex sighed. "Here's hoping this isn't a flop."

Lance grinned. "It wasn't. Just trust us."

Alex snorted. "I'm a spy, not a TV personality."

Larry arched a brow. "Why not both?"

Alex stood up. "Alright, let's sleep and see what comes in the morning."