Chapter 2

The woman once called Evelyn Salt had meager experience with Mothers of any sort as a CIA or sleeper agent; she was an orphan quite a few times over. The Spymaster had mentioned her birthmother to her in the disastrous interview when he'd exposed her (she took his story with a great deal more than a pinch of Salt, ha) but previously her closest relationship resembling a maternal influence had been her cover identities paternal great Aunt. This paternal great Aunt had been estranged from the cover father's father and had only nominal custody of a young Evelyn; true custody being in the hands of the family estate lawyers. A boarding school had been an agreeable solution for everyone involved. Michaels' mother had passed away before they had ever met. On the job the only contact with mothers she typically had was in occasionally admiring a male co-worker' proffered family photo. Most of the rare female co-workers in her division could be said to be married to the job rather than to men. That said Evelyn had always adored the mother from The Brady Bunch; perhaps her next identity she would be a Carol. She glanced at the back seat where messy hair just peeked out from under her coat. Responsible mothers made sure that their kids weren't cold and were safe after all.

She frowned as she scanned the traffic stretching ahead; a car seat and maybe several parenting books needed to be obtained along with documents and a new vehicle. Then there was the mission to finish up of course. She was fortunate that the current target was a series of bank deposit boxes located in pro-American countries and the associated safe house for this area was in a lovely area in Kent that functioned as a B&B except for a hidden basement room. The previous owner had passed away, it hadn't been her doing just old age catching up to the crippled patriotic gospodin a year ago. He'd deeded it in such a way that any KA agent with the right passcode could claim it as his 'child' within a period of 10 years after his death and if no one did then the ownership went to the rental agency he'd employed to manage the place once he ended up in a old folks home for his last few years. The rental agencies main office was in Surrey instead of Kent which was why she'd rented a car and driven down from Kent based lawyers to handle the new property arrangements in person. She could launder a bit of the money she had collected on her hunt by taking on the business and doing the necessary repairs to update and run the place remotely but staying in England permanently wasn't in her plans so making sure everything was set up correctly was key.

A hundred and twenty of the agents known as KA's had once existed, four generations of the program before it was shut down, ten dead with Michael, two dead in the White House, forty-seven names she had turned over to Peabody or 'neutralized' in the USA, that left sixty-one left if she counted herself and she most certainly didn't so sixty of them left to go. The records Orlov had kept indicated that 33 of his 'children' had returned to Russia from various postings and been enfolded back into the KGB infrastructure over a period of 25 years instead of remaining under his control while 8 were confirmed dead and 2 were missing but presumed dead. The seventeen sleepers left were all male and had been placed throughout South America mainly with three in Germany and four on the African continent. She was planning on cleaning Germany next; it infuriated her to have Michael's killers in his old country.

Fortunately for combining her plans to eradicate the KA agents and her new plan to raise a child; hunting sleeper agents takes planning time even with a master copy of the insertion list; people do move after all. Speaking of moving her new baby boy was starting to make small sounds while stirring underneath her coat. He had burned through the injection more quickly than calculated but she can adapt. She spotted another Tesco up ahead and pulled into the adjacent parking lot smoothly; this coming conversation could either make or break the connection between them according to her knowledge of the psychology of similar situations. The injection was known to give adult victim both nausea and dry mouth which would allow her to physically show him that she cares for him. She wanted him to feel that she was on his side and caring for him when he was feeling ill should forge a positive bond quickly. That's going to be necessary if she wants him to be with her willingly and not fight to get away. He may have been in a bad situation but it's a basic instinct ingrained in humanity to resist sudden change even if that change saves you. Salt leaned over the seat and fished a sealed water bottle out from under the left passenger seat. You never know when you will need water so she has always placed a few water bottles under the passenger seat of whatever company vehicle she's going to be driving on assignment; Winters used to laugh at her about it…the backstabbing bastard.

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It was the swaying motion of traveling in a car that he felt first. Then he was smelling a nice smell, kind of like Aunt Petunias' shampoo but nicer and less like dead flowers. The weight of a warm blanket covering most of his body and feeble sunlight being felt on his face registered simultaneously. It felt like forever until his mind finally fought free of the clutches the deepest sleep he could ever remember. Harry was only a little boy but all of what he could feel or sense seemed off somehow. He couldn't make his body move! Harry started to struggle against the weight of the blanket and his own paralysis, inarticulate whimpering moans slipping out as he struggled and started crying silently. The movement of the car changed and then stopped completely. Harry started to push the blanket except he could see it was a nice coat now not a blanket at all, away from his body and kicked it off his feet to free himself entirely. He was so tired, and nothing made sense, and, and Aunt Petunia was going to be so mad and then Uncle Vernon would shake him and shut him away forever! Where was he! He was in the store and now he wasn't and he couldn't remember what happened! The car door was opened abruptly by a strange lady he didn't know and at that point Henry gave up on keeping quite like his aunt and uncle always told him to be when he cried and started wailing his misery loudly.

"Oh, baby don't cry I know it's frightening; you don't know where you are do you? It's OK I'm not going to shout at you and nobody's going to hit you while I'm here. You don't know me yet but can you nod if I can touch you?" The gentlest voice Harry had ever heard directed at him before (that he could remember) was directed at him by the stranger. She had big, interesting eyes, a light blue and grey with brown around both pupils; in that moment with the sun back lighting her body her eyes looked almost green and her short dark hair was haloed in a fiery red. A strangely pretty face with a pointed chin, high cheekbones, and her lips were what if he'd been older, he probably would have defined as pouty but to a neglected little boy the gentle sympathetic smile they were curved into was a great deal more important.

He nodded and reached his arms out automatically to her as he'd once done to other barely remembered people as a younger child, she sounded a bit like when Aunt Petunia was comforting Dudley after one of his many tantrums so maybe...? She sat on the edge of the back seat of the car, reached in and pulled him across the seat into her lap. He cuddled close and she ran one of her hands up and down his back for a moment.

The crack of the water bottle opening was a startling noise; "it's going to be alright now," Salt whispered to him as she helped him sip between shuddering sobs. "Do you understand?" The boy nodded against her shoulder, burying his head into her neck. "Right, that's good. What's your name then?"

"Harry," the distressed boy croaked through his sobs, not lifting his head. "Harry Potter, I be four."

"That's a nice name Harry, you will be a bit woozy for a while yet, but you won't suffer any long-term effects from the shot I gave you, just an upset stomach or maybe a headache I would imagine. I know for certain you're thirsty the medicine I gave you always does that. Would you like some water?" She said brushing his hair back from his face while he struggled to catch his breath, to stop crying, to understand, and calm his racing heartbeat. "Are you feeling alright, Harry? Are you happy with your Aunt Petunia?"

He hesitated for a moment too long before shrugging. "They're good an decent folk," he muttered slowly, wiping at his eyes with the backs of his hands. It had been drilled into him a long time ago that that was always the answer he should give if anyone asked him anything about his life with Petunia and Vernon. It was a lie, and Harry didn't understand why it was a big deal not to tell people he deserved it because he was bad and a no-good burden on decent folk, but he had learned his lesson well enough to know that it was all he could say without being smacked and sent to his cupboard. Even if this woman felt like he thought a Mum would, it didn't mean that it would be okay for Harry to talk to her about what his aunt and uncle called 'private business'. So, he shrugged of the unfamiliar feeling of hope and ventured to say, "I'm fine, thank you very much fa asking."

Somehow, the lady seemed to know that it was a lie, and she sighed. "It's okay, little Harry. You don't need to protect people who hurt you and are mean to you. I saw her hit you in the store. That's why I stole you away. I want to keep you away from her. With me if you'll let me but if you don't want me to keep you I won't. I can give you to officials to find a new home." Well, that was a new thought. He'd never been offered a way out of his relatives' house before. It sounded almost too good to be true. Maybe this was all actually some kind of trick, a plan to trick Harry into giving a bad answer that would get him into trouble. But something about her made him think that that couldn't be the case. She FELT like she was telling the truth.

"Perhaps I should outline what the 'rules,' so to speak are if I keep you." The woman who was called Salt said quietly. "I know I always felt better when I knew the rules as a child and as scary as it could be I always felt better knowing what would happen if I broke the rules too. For today there are only three easy rules, okay? First rule is that we're going to have to play games of pretend when I say so. Starting now we are going to pretend that for the rest of today you're a little girl not a boy and I'm your Mommy and I always have been. This isn't a forever pretend, okay? We are only playing that you're a little girl for today so no one knows I took you away. If you stop playing the game before I say the game is over that will break the first rule and the woman you called Aunt Petunia, who you were with at the store will probably get you back and whoever was hurting, you;" she reached over and tugged the shirt collar to expose the mottled yellow and green hand shaped bruise on his bony shoulder.

"Well once people get done punishing me for rescuing you, they'll keep hurting you the same way they have before and I won't be able to help you again, okay?" Harry nodded frantically. "Okay, don't be scared, it's okay, the second rule is a forever rule, okay? If you need or want something you must use your words and tell me, even if you whisper because I don't know those things if you don't tell me about them. I'm not saying I can always say yes to whatever you ask for but you can always ask, ok? If you break this rule, it will make both of us sad and I won't be able to take care of you very well. Can you use your words to talk to me?"

Harry took a breath and with it gathered his courage up and opened his mouth too whisper; "I wanna be llowed to ask questions and I need more water please."

"You are very good at that rule," the woman praised as she twisted the lid off the water bottle again and handed it to him. "I'll tell you the last rule and then you can ask questions. I took you for a lot of reasons, you looked smart and lonely, and I could tell you weren't being treated nice. I was smart and lonely when I was younger, and I was treated very badly for a long time. I also took you because you are kind and brave; you rescued that little spider when it was going to be hit by your aunt and my husband was kind and brave like you are. Don't interrupt with questions yet, you are these things and I looked at you and thought how you are like me and like my husband and I wanted you to be my baby, my little boy and grow up with me as my son. My husband is dead and we never... I can't change that he's gone, and that people treated me badly but I can help you and love you till you're all grown up. The third rule is another forever rule; you must work together with me to learn and grow up to be smart, strong, brave, do you think you can do that Harry Potter?"

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Harry had a lot of questions before he would agree and he reveled in asking them while he sipped on tepid bottled water while cuddling in the back seat of the car. He asked if she was his new Aunt and she said she was she going to be a Mum instead if that was okay with him. He asked if she had ever met his parents and she hadn't. He asked if he got to go to school and she said that it would depend on where they lived at if he went to school or had teachers come to teach him at home but she would always make sure he learned. Did she not know where they would live? Well, it might change a lot but she wouldn't leave him and would always keep him safe. Did she really think he was kind, smart and brave he asked and she said she really did believe he was all of that and a handsome child too! She promised to feed him and not punish him by taking away his meals but desserts might be taken if he did things, she felt were dangerous and bad. What would happen if he were bad, if he was an ungrateful and awful freak? She promised to talk to him about why he was acting naughty and until he was older, he would not be allowed dessert and would have to sit quite in a corner until she said so! That wasn't too bad Harry thought, he'd heard of those punishments from other kids at school before. She would teach him how to fight back if people tried to hurt him but otherwise would never hit him ever she promised and he felt very relieved.

Harry asked her 'if he hadn't been a son since his parents died and she hadn't ever been a Mum ever before how were they going to learn how to be any good at it? She laughed and said they would have books, TV programs and anyway every Mum and son got to be different from other mums and children anyway. She called him a clever Pochemuchka and told him it meant being made of why in Russian and was a good thing.

Abused kids tend to learn early how to be non-compliant, manipulative, and passive-aggressive while appearing to be obedient, honest, and most importantly above any sort of suspicion. For the KA sleepers those had been positive program goals; they learned for emotional survival and to get their basic needs met from cold frequently harsh instructors. They began to learn these lessons informally first in their dorms from the examples of the other children and caretakers and then in mock-up intelligence gathering situations from instructors. The woman once called Evelyn Salt had been especially good at understanding those lessons.

At four Harry had already recognized that his family life was in some way not the way it should be and had responded by developing exactly these already mentioned traits. His passive-aggressive campaign to do everything his relatives asked but do it the wrong way was a work of art in her opinion; he would scuff his shoes across floors after washing them, hide one sock from a pair behind the dryer every chance he had, and he made sure to sweep crumbs under appliances to attract bugs whenever possible. In public he would ask for whatever treat Dudley was getting in front of the salesperson so that Petunia either had to give in and share it with him too or say no in front of someone. If his relatives were out of striking range, he would back talk even though it meant no food and the cupboard for hours. Harry carefully revealed these misdeeds and asked what Salt would do if he did any of that to her and she laughed and told him he was very clever; she'd ask what bad thing she had done to make him mad! She said they had deserved it and that she used to make the children who were mean to her think they had wet the bed when she was young! An abused toddler without any current positive attention and no control over life's circumstances was just starting to develop into a young boy who refused to allow anyone he thought of as normal and in charge any control over him, good, bad, or otherwise because they would just use it to hurt him. Salts offering to take him away was disrupting that development and changing it with her love and unique understanding into something new; the consequences would be long lasting.

Finally, after almost an hour Harry took a breath and his courage along with the front of Salts shirt in both hands and opened his mouth and said "I'd wke to be yous boy and yous can be my mum please." Salt hugged him closer for a moment and kissed his forehead, "I'm so extremely glad you're willing to give me a chance my Pochemuchka. I'm going to do my best to be a good Mom to you Liebling. I wasn't expecting to get a son today so let go and get a few supplies from this store before we head to where we can stay the night alright?"

"I 'tend to be a little girl and yous all been my mum right;" Harry asked a little anxiously, as they got out of the car and Salt grabbed a big purse and a pair of horn rim glasses out of the trunk. Harry patted the bright red head band with its pretty flower and smoothed the skirt of his white sundress with big strawberries fussily while admiring his shiny white Maryjane shoes. He really was pretty he thought with the easy admiration of a child, although not wearing trousers felt a bit off and his grungy off -white underpants very definitely didn't match this outfit. "That's right Harry, we are pretending that you are a little girl and you and I are going to get food, some little boys' clothes for your pretend foster cousin and a couple of other things as well;" she said with a flourish as she pulled a stuffed bunny with a blue bow tied around its neck and presented it to him. Harry gasped in shocked delight and carefully took it, giving its face quite an intense examination to Salt's amusement as she re-arranged the contents of her purse to exclude drugs paraphernalia but include a taser and zip ties. "Are you ready baby girl," Salt asked extending a gloved hand to him and pulling his attention away from examining his new toy.

"I'm ready Mummy!" Harry crowed gleefully taking her hand and tucking his new bunny close with the other. This new Tesco was set up a little differently from the last but the fluorescents still bleached the color out of its many patrons and the cameras were mostly for show. Harry gets to sit in the cart itself and they gathered baby safe liquid soap, baby safe shampoo, and baby lotion that all smell of lavender along with a towel set patterned with a spotted doggy although it's a tough choice between it and the froggy patterned set. Salt assured him seriously that baby safe just means its extra unlikely to give children a rash. It doesn't mean the person using it has to be a baby. A brush and comb set in a brilliant red along with a children's toothbrush of the same color and swallow safe mint toothpaste are chosen next. The medicine isle is perused for children's acetaminophen, a children's safe decongestant, several bottles of rehydration fluid, a small bottle of sunscreen, antiseptic cream, and two boxes of colorful bandages because when Salt says he can pick he likes both the dinosaurs and the wild animals a lot so he gets to have both. They look at a Stroller (for younger children Harry insists) and the Diaper bag that includes a travel changing pad but Harry reminds Mummy that he doesn't wear diapers so neither will his new 'cousin'. A car seat is generally important they agree but the Tesco isn't selling one they like so it can wait. Lightweight sleepwear sets are half off so he gets to have both the boats and the stripes. Three striped t-shirts in red, blue, and green to go under a set of overalls that are much better than regular trousers they agree, two long-sleeve button shirts all in pastel baby blue that will go with a pair of tan corduroy trousers with a stretchy waistband very well when tucked in and worn with his very grown up new dark brown belt. They get a straw sun hat and a pair of navy swim trunks that are a size too big now but have cords to make them fit while he grows a bit more. A hooded jean jacket that's big enough to be worn over a sweater and a red fleece jacket with an embroidered black train on the pocket are picked as well as one packet of white socks, and one set of black. Then they come to the pants. Harry has always envied Dudley his cartoon underpants so is quite firm with his new Mummy that he needs to have awesome pants for his new 'cousin' and takes a good fifteen minutes' debating between different packets and the deciding factor is that they buy that last three sets that he was agonizing over because Mummy assures him that the robots, cars, and superhero pants are all awesome and understands that he can't pick just one. He can't stop looking at them as Mummy grabs milk, bananas, bread, and peanut butter. He does put them down next to his bunny while they pick out jam and they get both a small grape jelly and small strawberry jam.

Then they head to the deli and they buy the dinner special from the white aproned butcher who is doing both counters and is the tallest, darkest man Harry has ever seen before and calls them 'a couple of adorable ladies,' in a funny sounding accent while scooping the food into containers. Harry tells him thank you very much as they leave to go up front. Mummy pays the cashier in cash and they are out the door and everything gets loaded into the car. Mummy makes a nest out of the bags of new clothes and a couple of coats on the floor behind the passenger seat and Harry is asleep before the car is halfway to Kent.